RTHK: Scientists alarmed by newly identified Covid variant

A newly identified coronavirus variant that has spread in South Africa is the most concerning that British health officials have seen as it has double the number of mutations of the Delta variant including some associated with evading immune response.

Earlier this month, it was found in Hong Kong in two people quarantined at the Regal Airport Hotel. The Centre for Health Protection said one of them - a man who had flown in from South Africa - had brought in the variant.

The UK Health Security Agency said that the variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that Covid-19 vaccines are based on.

It has mutations that are likely to evade the immune response generated both by prior infection and vaccination, and also mutations associated with increased infectivity.

Lab studies are needed to assess the likelihood of the mutations resulting in greatly reduced vaccine efficacy, scientists said.

Earlier on Thursday, South African scientists said they had detected the new Covid-19 variant in small numbers and were working to understand its potential implications.

The variant has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible, the scientists told reporters at a news conference.

The variant has also been found in Botswana.

The UK Health Security Agency said that no cases of the variant had been detected in Britain and they were in contact with South African colleagues over their data. (Additional reporting by Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: New unit in the Presidency to focus on local government

With about 70 councils hung in several municipalities after the recent municipal elections, which led to majority and minority parties to hold coalition negotiations to constitute councils, President Cyril Ramaphosa says a new unit will be established in the Presidency to help local government fulfil its service delivery obligations.

He said this when he responded to oral questions In the National Assembly on Thursday.

We must ensure that these councils provide the services that people need and create an environment conducive to the growth of businesses and the creation of employment. Ultimately, this will depend on the political will, commitment and capabilities of the parties and individuals running these municipalities.



As national government, we are firmly committed to support all municipalities in ensuring that they fulfil their responsibility to the people they were elected to serve.



We will be establishing a unit in the Presidency that will allow [us] to have a closer focus on local government, said the President.

The President said it was significant that on the same day that the Local Government Elections on 1 November were held, the Municipal Structures Amendment Act No 3 of 2021 came into effect.



He said the interventions that were introduced through these amendments will go a long way towards addressing many governance challenges that have been experienced by municipalities, and to ensure improved and sustained service delivery to all communities.



The Amendment Act strengthened the Code of Conduct for Councillors and makes it mandatory for all municipal councils to establish Municipal Public Accounts Committees.



The purpose of these committees will be to review various reports and thereafter make recommendations to the municipal council. The Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, National Treasury and SALGA will, soon after all municipal councils have been constituted, embark on an intensive councillor induction programme, the President said.



This aims to ensure all our newly elected councillors, especially those who are serving for the first time, receive the appropriate orientation to effectively perform their duties as councillors, and where appropriate, the specific roles and responsibilities that are entrusted to municipal office-bearers, such as Speaker, Mayor, Executive Mayor or Whip.



We are confident that these interventions that we are making will help to strengthen governance at a local level.



However, the achievement of stable well-managed municipalities that provide quality services to all residents depends on effective collaboration between all political parties, all local stakeholders and the different spheres of government," he said.

The current situation in local government  including the unprecedented number of councils where no party has an outright majority  is the product of a democratic process.

"On the 1st of November, the people of South Africa freely and fairly, and in conditions of peace and stability, voted for the people and parties they want to represent them in municipalities.This is the will of the people and we must accept it."



He said while there are certainly particular challenges associated with so-called hung municipalities, the challenges are by no means insurmountable.



"And while the countrys experience of coalition or minority government at a local level has not always been favourable, it is essential that we nevertheless make these councils work, for the sake of the people of these municipalities," said the President. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Africa should prioritise adequate, hygienic sanitation facilities for vulnerable groups

Water and Sanitation Deputy Minister Dikeledi Magadzi has called on ministers on the African continent to prioritise adequate and hygienic sanitation facilities for women, children, youth and people with disabilities.

The Deputy Minister made the call while speaking during a virtual Africa Water and Sanitation Week and the 6th Africa Sanitation Conference, jointly convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) and the African Union Commission on Thursday.

As a woman, I would like to implore ministries mandated to deliver adequate sanitation services on the African continent to accelerate and exceptionally improve the provision of dignified sanitation facilities, most particularly for disadvantaged groups and communities, she said.

She said clean running water and good hygiene were significant to winning the fight against illness, saying the continent should consider innovative technologies that use less water or none.

South Africa is a water scarce country and as such, I implore all of us to accelerate the uptake of alternative sanitation technologies that use less water or no water while also strengthening hygiene and user education, she said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Sanitation is working tirelessly to attain the sanitation focused 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 through the process of developing the National Sanitation Integrated Plan which prioritises sanitation provision aligned to the 2030 National Development Plan (NDP).

The provision of appropriate and adequate sanitation to all South Africans is a constitutional requirement which the Department has committed to in order to ensure citizens rights to have an environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing is upheld.

Magadzi also reiterated the departments commitment to achieve universal access to basic sanitation services to all by 2030 and to ensure that no one is left behind.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: Mining sector urged to prioritise safety of workers

With the mining sector experiencing fatalities and injuries that can be prevented, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has called on the sector to prioritise the safety of workers.

The provisional number of reported fatalities and injuries for 2021 stands at 58 and 1 810, respectively. All employers should now walk the talk. We cannot condone poor compliance with mine standards as this leads to the loss of lives. Many of these incidents are repeats and they can be prevented, the Minister said on Thursday.

Addressing the media virtually on the measures to ensure sustainable improvement on Mine Health and Safety, Mantashe said mining companies must take the necessary steps to save lives.

Surely, we cannot say things are in order when the corrective measures that have been taken palpably demonstrate minimal impact as workers continue to die in this industry, he said.

Fall of ground accidents remain the largest accident category and the predominant cause of fatalities followed by general accident and transportation categories respectively.

This is regrettable as it is expected that all mines should have appropriate measures and expertise to enhance the health and safety of miners. So, we urge you to go back to the drawing board and constantly focus on safety performance.

He urged mineworkers not to risk their lives because of production bonuses.

We need to collectively adopt the fundamental stance that if mines cannot mine safely then they should not mine at all until the necessary measures have been put in place to protect the lives of all mineworkers, the Minister said.

The Minister expressed concern at complaints received from workers who are intimidated or victimised whilst exercising their rights to withdraw or refuse to work under dangerous environments.

Allow me to remind every worker and employer that mineworkers have a right to refuse dangerous work and to leave a dangerous working space. I call on all companies, to work with organised labour, to ensure that mineworkers have appropriate knowledge, skills and support to exercise their rights to withdraw or refuse to work under dangerous conditions.

As government, we will take as serious offence where a mining company refuses to attend to incidents of safety but instead forces workers to continue working, the Minister said.

The latest statistics and reports on occupational health matters at mines demonstrates that some employees are still exposed to occupational hazards, which exceed the occupational exposure limit.

Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Noise Induced Hearing Loss remain a great concern particularly in the gold, platinum, and coal sectors. Silicosis is still of concern in the gold sector where crystalline silica is most prevalent.

The silicosis novice cases from the gold mines require an in-depth investigation in line with provisions under the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA). Lastly, non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes further exacerbate the disease burden we already have in our industry, Mantashe said.

He said the sector needs to continuously prevent and manage all these health issues, as they affect the workforce average work life expectancy.

We end up losing crucial resources because of medical incapacitation and mine deaths, the Minister said. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: National Command Council expected to meet

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to convene the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) this Sunday to assess developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, including the emergence of the new B.1.1.529 variant.

Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said in a statement on Friday that the outcomes of that meeting will be communicated in the coming days.

He said the detection of the new variant is a testament to the high level of scientific research at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).

The detection by theNICD of a new Coronavirus variant demonstrates South Africas constant vigilance and scientific capability in our management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NICD is in intensive engagement with all established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be.

While this work continues, South Africans must take all measures to protect themselves against Coronavirus infection, beginning with vaccination against COVID-19, the Minister said.

Gungubele implored those living in South Africa to exercise extra care in observing COVID-19 precautions.

Government urges South Africans to remain vigilant against COVID-19 and play their part in protecting themselves and the broader community by having themselves vaccinated, while scientists investigate a newly identified Coronavirus variant, B.1.1.529.

Alongside vaccination, the wearing of face masks, frequent washing or sanitation of hands, keeping a social distance and the avoidance of gatherings remain a proven, effective means of stopping or slowing the spread of Coronavirus infection, he said.

The Minister reminded people living in South Africa that the virus has not been eradicated with vaccination the only means to protect us from serious illness, hospitalisation or death.

Vaccination is free to all people living in South Africa, and anyone aged 12 years and older is encouraged to vaccinate. Government urges all South Africans to vaccinate and to remain disciplined in applying the known safety measures, to ensure a safe and joyful festive season with families and friends, he said.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: New councilors urged to continue with housing projects

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has appealed to all incoming councilors to remember their oath of office and honour the principles of Batho Pele, regardless of the political parties they represent.

Local government is critical to the delivery of human settlements and it is worrying that I have already received reports from members of the public about some of the new executives in municipalities who have decided to stop ongoing human settlements projects, Kubayi said.

Addressing the media on her departments work earlier today, the Minister reminded the new councilors that there are beneficiaries - including orphans, widows and the elderly - who are destitute and eagerly waiting for the completion of their houses.

The Department of Human Settlements is responsible for a sector that is central to the service delivery system of our government and the restoration of dignity for the majority of South Africans. It is central to the elimination of the legacy of apartheid, Kubayi said.

The Minister said it is important that in dealing with human settlements, government makes good on the promise that it will work with all South Africans to deliver sustainable human settlements.

Though government have made many breakthroughs and achievements in the sector, the sector has many challenges that we have to confront. When I joined the department three months ago, I made it a point to visit provinces so that I could engage with leaders in the provinces, visit projects and listen to beneficiaries.

So far, the Minister has visited seven provinces and is expected to visit the North West next week and the Western Cape in January 2022.

Kubayi said during her visits, she had been pleased to see that much has been achieved, many families have been granted access to decent shelter and there are men and women who are working very hard to make this possible.

One of the highlights, was to meet Grade 7 and 8 women-owned companies in construction who are on the ground building houses for families. This is a practical demonstration of our governments intention to equalise the playing field by deliberately supporting women entrepreneurs and workers in our sector.

I am delighted to announce that MinMec has approved 40% to be set aside for women in our sector and 10% for youth and 5% for people with disabilities, the Minister said.

Kubayi said she was disappointed by the number of projects that were incomplete with beneficiaries who have been waiting for their houses for 20 years or more.

I was concerned about the poor workmanship that endangers the lives of beneficiaries, left behind by contractors who worked in collusion with government officials.

It was heartbreaking to listen to would-be beneficiaries who we have been wronged one way or the other to an extent that they have lost confidence in our housing delivery system, Kubayi said.

The department, she said, will have to sharpen its systems so that they are properly geared to deliver housing opportunities for the majority of South Africans.

The department has over the years drawn lessons from our practical experience in the sector, designed programmes and established institutions as interventions in the sector to put the system on a continuous improvement path, the Minister said.

In a bid to ensure effective service delivery, Kubayi announced the appointment of new boards for the five departments entities, which are Housing Development Agency (HDA), National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), Social Housing Regulatory Authority (SHRA) and the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).

Collectively, the entities together with the national department, provincial departments and municipalities, form a human settlements delivery system which is critical for the implementation of the departments priorities.  SAnews.gov.za

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South Africa: PRASA granted extension for Langa relocation

The High Court in the Western Cape has granted the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) an extension for the lawful relocation of residents illegally occupying the agencys property along the Langa railway lines.

In a statement on Friday, the agency said the extension has been granted from 26 November 2021 to 31 July 2022 to allow for further consultations with affected communities.

This week, PRASA approached the High Court in the Western Cape to seek an extension on the 26 November 2021 deadline in terms of rule 27 (1) of the Rules of the Court to allow for further consultations with the affected communities and to ensure compliance with all statutory requirements.

While the court has granted PRASA an eight month extension, further delaying our plans to refurbish the lines, if the consultative process takes less than the stipulated deadline, PRASA will commence with the relocations ahead of the July deadline, the agency said.

In July 2021, the Western Cape High Court made an order to evict people illegally occupying PRASA property (railway lines and land) on or before 26 November 2021.

However, during the consultation processes, PRASA and officials from the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town and the Department of Public Works were confronted with challenges, including, accessibility to the earmarked land in the Eerste River.

It is also public knowledge that the receiving community of Eerste River issued a petition in September opposing the proposed move of Langa residents to their area. Consultation with the receiving community is still ongoing.

The closure of the Central Line has come at a huge cost and inconvenience for the hundreds and thousands of commuters who rely on affordable railway transport to get to and from work, not to mention the economy of the City of Cape Town, PRASA said.

PRASA said the further delay to the repair work on the lines bears no comfort for the affected commuters, however, any relocation needs to comply with all statutory requirements.

This also includes public engagements, preparing of the land, including geo-tech assessment, feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, earthworks, installation of and interim engineering infrastructure.

PRASA, in partnership with the Human Development Agency (HDA) has had successful ongoing discussions with the leadership of the Langa informal dwellers.

This has allowed the official counting of the communities on the ground to take place in order to establish the official number of people to be relocated.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
South Africa: Lucky draw for those vaccinated by end of the year

Everyone vaccinated against COVID-19 before the end of the year will stand a chance of winning up to R100 000 in a lucky draw managed by the DG Murray Trust, working with the National Department of Health.

Winners will receive prizes totalling R2 million in lucky draws to be conducted in December and January.

The value of the Vooma Vaccination Voucher has also been increased to R200 from Monday, 29 November, given the heightened urgency to ensure that all people aged 50 and older are vaccinated without delay.

The offer of the grocery voucher, issued by SMS and redeemable at Shoprite stores, is made to all people aged 50 and older who come for vaccination for the very first time.

To be fair, those people who have already received the R100 voucher will automatically receive another R100.

The new variant is a wake-up call for us all, says Dr David Harrison, CEO of the DG Murray Trust.

In the past month, the rate of first dose vaccinations for adults has plunged by nearly 50%. While three-fifths of people over 50 are now vaccinated, there are still 4 million individuals in that age group who are not.

We must do everything we can to prevent their families spending the festive season in hospital or in mortuaries. But this crisis is not only about older people as thirteen million people aged 18 -34 are still unvaccinated.

They are driving the new wave. We have to make their COVID-19 vaccination mean more in their lives, and one way is to encourage them through incentives such as airtime and lucky draws. We dont know whether they will work, but we do know that we must try.

Anyone who has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, confirmed through the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) will automatically be entered into the lucky draw.

This includes all those already vaccinated as well as anybody who receives the jab before 31 December 2021. Between 3 December and 31 January, the winners will receive:

 One of five prizes of R100 000 each

 One of 50 prizes of R10 000 each

 One of 1 000 prizes of R1 000 each.

The final lucky draw will be held on 25 January 2022 to allow for all paper records of people vaccinated before the end of the year to be captured. Winners will be notified by telephone on the number given at the time of registration for vaccination.

Both Vooma Vouchers and the lucky draw are facilitated by a private foundation, the DG Murray Trust, which manages a number of donor-funded initiatives to support the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hong Kong: Govt tightens rules for arrivals

The Government today announced that the boarding and quarantine requirements for people arriving from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe will be tightened from November 27.

The move came in view of the latest developments of the COVID-19 epidemic situation. Along with South Africa which is already a specified high-risk place, non-Hong Kong residents who have stayed in these places within 21 days will not be allowed to enter Hong Kong.

The Government explained that the mutant variant B.1.1.529 has been detected in South Africa and Botswana and while scientists are not fully certain of its potential effects on the epidemic situation or whether the relevant mutations would affect the efficacies of vaccines, it has to stay vigilant.

Therefore, along with South Africa, which is currently a Group A specified place, Botswana as well as the adjacent Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe will be specified as Group A specified places.

With these eight southern African locations specified as Group A specified places, non-Hong Kong residents including visitors who have stayed there within 21 days are not allowed to enter Hong Kong.

For Hong Kong residents, they can only board a flight for Hong Kong if they have been fully vaccinated and hold a recognised vaccination record. They must also undergo compulsory quarantine in a designated quarantine hotel for 21 days upon arrival.

The control and prevention measures applicable to these places under the prevailing mechanism are more stringent than the measures recently announced by the UK, Singapore and Israel, the Government added.

Click here for details on the relevant boarding and compulsory quarantine requirements for respective specified places.

This story has been published on: 2021-11-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
An illustration showing what the TRAPPIST-1 system might look like from a vantage point near planet TRAPPIST-1f (right). CREDIT NASA/JPL-Caltech

Seven Earth-sized planets orbit the star TRAPPIST-1 in near-perfect harmony, and U.S. and European researchers have used that harmony to determine how much physical abuse the planets could have withstood in their infancy.

"After rocky planets form, things bash into them," said astrophysicist Sean Raymond of the University of Bordeaux in France. "It's called bombardment, or late accretion, and we care about it, in part, because these impacts can be an important source of water and volatile elements that foster life."

In a study available online today in Nature Astronomy, Raymond and colleagues from Rice University's NASA-funded CLEVER Planets project and seven other institutions used a computer model of the bombardment phase of planetary formation in TRAPPIST-1 to explore the impacts its planets could have withstood without getting knocked out of harmony.

Deciphering the impact history of planets is difficult in our solar system and might seem like a hopeless task in systems light-years away, Raymond said.

"On Earth, we can measure certain types of elements and compare them with meteorites," Raymond said. "That's what we do to try to figure out how much stuff bashed into the Earth after it was mostly formed."

But those tools don't exist for studying bombardment on exoplanets.

"We'll never get rocks from them," he said. "We're never going to see craters on them. So what can we do? This is where the special orbital configuration of TRAPPIST-1 comes in. It's a kind of a lever we can pull on to put limits on this."

TRAPPIST-1, about 40 light-years away, is far smaller and cooler than our sun. Its planets are named alphabetically from b to h in order of their distance from the star. The time needed to complete one orbit around the star - equivalent to one year on Earth - is 1.5 days on planet b and 19 days on planet h. Remarkably, their orbital periods form near-perfect ratios, a resonant arrangement reminiscent of harmonious musical notes. For example, for every eight "years" on planet b, five pass on planet c, three on planet d, two on planet e and so on.

"We can't say exactly how much stuff bashed into any of these planets, but because of this special resonant configuration, we can put an upper limit on it," Raymond said. "We can say, 'It can't have been more than this.' And it turns out that that upper limit is actually fairly small.

"We figured out that after these planets formed, they weren't bombarded by more than a very small amount of stuff," he said. "That's kind of cool. It's interesting information when we're thinking about other aspects of the planets in the system."

Planets grow within protoplanetary disks of gas and dust around newly formed stars. These disks only last a few million years, and Raymond said previous research has shown that resonant chains of planets like TRAPPIST-1's form when young planets migrate closer to their star before the disk disappears. Computer models have shown disks can shepherd planets into resonance. Raymond said it's believed that resonant chains like TRAPPIST-1's must be set before their disks disappear.

The upshot is TRAPPIST-1's planets formed fast, in about one-tenth the time it took Earth to form, said Rice study co-author Andre Izidoro, an astrophysicist and CLEVER Planets postdoctoral fellow.

CLEVER Planets, led by study co-author Rajdeep Dasgupta, the Maurice Ewing Professor of Earth Systems Science at Rice, is exploring the ways planets might acquire the necessary elements to support life. In previous studies, Dasgupta and colleagues at CLEVER Planets have shown a significant portion of Earth's volatile elements came from the impact that formed the moon.

"If a planet forms early and it is too small, like the mass of the moon or Mars, it cannot accrete a lot of gas from the disk," Dasgupta said. "Such a planet also has much less opportunity to gain life-essential volatile elements through late bombardments."

Izidoro said that would have been the case for Earth, which gained most of its mass relatively late, including about 1% from impacts after the moon-forming collision.

"We know Earth had at least one giant impact after the gas (in the protoplanetary disk) was gone," he said. "That was the moon-forming event.

"For the TRAPPIST-1 system, we have these Earth-mass planets that formed early," he said. "So one potential difference, compared to the Earth's formation, is that they could have, from the beginning, some hydrogen atmosphere and have never experienced a late giant impact. And this might change a lot of the evolution in terms of the interior of the planet, outgassing, volatile loss and other things that have implications for habitability."

Raymond said this week's study has implications not only for the study of other resonant planetary systems, but for far more common exoplanet systems that were believed to have begun as resonant systems.

"Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes are very abundant around other stars, and the predominant idea is that they migrated inward during that gas-disk phase and then possibly had a late phase of collisions," Raymond said. "But during that early phase, where they were migrating inward, we think that they pretty much - universally maybe - had a phase where they were resonant chain structures like TRAPPIST-1. They just didn't survive. They ended up going unstable later on."

Izidoro said one of the study's major contributions could come years from now, after NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope and other instruments allow astronomers to directly observe exoplanet atmospheres.

"We have some constraints today on the composition of these planets, like how much water they can have," Izidoro said of planets that form in a resonant, migration phase. "But we have very big error bars."

In the future, observations will better constrain the interior composition of exoplanets, and knowing the late bombardment history of resonant planets could be extremely useful.

"For instance, if one of these planets has a lot of water, let's say 20% mass fraction, the water must have been incorporated into the planets early, during the gaseous phase," he said. "So you will have to understand what kind of process could bring this water to this planet."

Additional study co-authors include Emeline Bolmont and Martin Turbet of the University of Geneva, Caroline Dorn of the University of Zurich, Franck Selsis of the University of Bordeaux, Eric Agol of the University of Washington, Patrick Barth of the University of St. Andrews, Ludmila Carone of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, Michael Gillon of the University of Liege and Simon Grimm of the University of Bern.

The research was supported by NASA (80NSSC18K0828), the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (88887.310463/2018-00), the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (313998/2018-3), the University of St. Andrews, the German Research Foundation (SP1833-1795/3), the European Union's Horizon 2020 program (832738/ESCAPE), the Swiss National Science Foundation (PZ00P2 174028), the French National Centre for Scientific Research's National Planetology Program, France's National Computer Center for Higher Education (A0080110391) and the Gruber Foundation.

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Read the Nature Astronomy paper at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01518-6

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Khanh Hoa welcomes first interna

Khanh Hoa welcomes first international tourists after pandemic hiatus

The central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, home to famous beach towns Nha Trang and Cam Ranh, on November 25 welcomed the first international tourists with vaccine passports after a long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first international tourists with vaccine passports are welcomed in Khanh Hoa province. (Photo: Tien Phat)

The visitors who are Americans and Canadians of Vietnamese origin took a flight of Bamboo Airways from Seoul, the Republic of Korea (RoK).

After their arrival, the tourists were transported to a lodging facility in Nha Trang and tested for the coronavirus.

Khanh Hoa is one of the five localities, together with Kien Giang, Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, and Da Nang, selected to roll out the pilot vaccine passport programme.

The programme is divided into three phases, starting from this November.

In the first phase that starts this month, designated places and tourism facilities in Phu Quoc, Khanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Quang Ninh can receive foreign tourists within package tourism programmes arriving via either charter flights or international commercial flights.

In the second phase that takes effect from January 2022, the scale of the pilot plan will be expanded by connecting destinations through regular charter and international commercial flights.

The tourists could participate in travel programmes that combine multiple destinations after completing their tours at the first destination within seven days. Five destinations  Kien Giang, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ninh  will be piloted first and some other localities will be added to the programmes later as long as the pandemic conditions permit and the local authorities submit proposals to welcome international tourists.

Vietnams tourism market will fully open to international tourists in the last phase, the starting time of which will be based on the contemporary pandemic situation on the evaluation of the two previous phases.

The plan will apply to foreign tourists and overseas Vietnamese arriving from Vietnams key and potential tourism markets. They must prove certificates of taking full doses of the COVID-19 vaccination or COVID-19 recovery that are recognised by the authorities in Vietnam, except children under 12 years old accompanied by parents or guardians. For COVID-19 recovery patients, the time from being discharged from the hospital to the time of departure must not exceed six months.

Other conditions include having negative results for SARS-CoV-2 test by RT-PCR/RT-LAMP method within 72 hours before departure and certified by the authority of the country conducting the test (from time of sampling) and having medical or travel insurance that covers COVID-19 treatment with a minimum liability of 50,000 USD.

Tourists within the pilot tours must have their temperature regularly checked and use the IGOVN application during their stay. Masking is required, and there will be no quarantine mandate.

On the first day of entry, tourists will be taken to the accommodation facility and have COVID tests. They could continue their stay if the tests prove negative; otherwise, they will be taken to a medical facility and the cost will be covered by insurance or travel agency.

Within the first seven days, tourists must adhere to the schedule, ensuring pandemic prevention regulations and taking self-tests every two to three days. In case of having any symptoms of fever, cough, shortness of breath or sore throat, they must notify medical staff for screening tests.

After seven days, those who continue to stay in Vietnam must test themselves for COVID-19 and could travel to other localities within the programme if the results are negative. Those who want to see their relatives in Vietnam need to register with their tour operators.

Vietnam stopped receiving international visitors since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 and only allowed foreign experts entry.

Source: NDO
POLITICS Hoa Binh works to boost development in ethnic minority-inhabited areas

(HBO)  The Prime Minister has issued Decision No. 1719/QD-TTg dated October 14 approving the National Target Programme on boosting socio-economic development in ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in the 2021-2030 period, with its first phase spanning from 2021 to 2025. The approval of the progamme has specified the Party, State and Governments policies on ethnic affairs, while giving solutions to boost socio-economic growth in association with the implementation of the policies, meeting the expectations of ethnic minority groups.





Photo: Thanks to investment from programmes and projects, a number of schools in Nanh Nghe commune in Da Bac district of Hoa Binh province have been built to meet locals demand.





The programme has ten component projects, focusing on solving the shortage of land for housing and farming as well as clean water; arranging and stabilising the living conditions of residents in difficult areas; developing sustainable agricultural and forestry production; building essential infrastructure system; improving the quality of education and training to develop human resources; preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities in association with tourism development; improving health care services for people; implementing gender equality; investing in the development of ethnic minority groups with very few people and groups facing many difficulties; strengthening communications in the ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous regions.





Hoa Binh has 145 out of 151 communes, wards and towns which are ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas with 86 villages and hamlets facing extreme difficulties. In the past years, the province has prioritised the allocation of human resources to investment programmes and projects for ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas, especially those with extremely difficult conditions. The efforts have made positive impacts on people's lives, creating a motivation for the development of ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas, gradually narrowing the development gaps among regions.





Mountainous areas have seen many positive changes. However, according to the provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, due to a low starting point, the living conditions of people from ethnic minority groups in the villages and communes with extremely difficult economic conditions remained poor. They mostly live on small-scaled agricultural and forestry production. Their livelihood remains unstable, and their access to social service is still limited. Although the ratio of poor households has decreased, the risk of falling back into poverty is high, while the quality of human resources is low, with modest capacity of local officials. In addition, gender equality remains a problem among ethnic minority groups, along with outdated customs such as child marriage, consanguineous marriage, social evils, and socio-economic development gaps among regions.





In this context, the building and approval of the National Target Programme on socio-economic development in ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in the province has an important and urgent significance, aiming to promote sustainable development, consolidate and enhance people's confidence in the Party and State.





The objectives of the ten component projects in the period of 2021 - 2025 include doubling income of people from ethnic minority groups in 2020; reducing the ratio of poor households by 2.5-3 percent each year; bringing 50 percent of communes and villages out of the list of areas with extremely difficult conditions; building roads for automobiles to 100 percent of communes, concreting 90 percent of roads connecting the centres of communes and villages; upgrading 100 percent of schools and health care stations; and establishing public internet service supply centres in all communes./.




















'No Room for Jesus' at the U.S. Capitol Building, as Permit is Denied to Hold a Christmas Celebration on the Capitol Grounds

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christian Defense Coalition

Nov. 26, 2021



WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2021 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Christian Defense Coalition was told their permit application could not be processed, as the Capitol grounds were restricted.



The areas which are restricted would include all the grounds immediately surrounding the U.S. Capitol building.



Simply stated, "Speaker Pelosi and the Capitol Police Board are saying 'Bah Humbug' to free speech, the First Amendment and Christmas at the U.S. Capitol."



Yet, business is going on as usual in those areas. Members of Congress and their staff are entering and using the Capitol. Vendors, the media and their crews, invited guests, lobbyists and thousands of weekly visitors are allowed to enter and use the Capitol grounds.



The only thing being prohibited on the Capitol grounds is the granting of permits for peaceful and prayerful First Amendment activities.



On their permit application, the Christian Defense Coalition said the gathering would include, "Celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas by singing Christmas Carols, praying for peace in our nation, and reading the Bible stories of Christ's birth."



For past year the Christian Defense Coalition has been denied permits to hold a:

Good Friday prayer service



National Day of Prayer Remembrance



4th of July Prayer gathering



9/11 20th Anniversary Memorial, and prayer gathering on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

Here is a link to a national news story where Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, is discussing a federal lawsuit he filed against Speaker Pelosi and Vice-President Harris after he was denied the right to hold a Good Friday service at the U.S. Capitol:

https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/christian-minister-sues-pelosi-harris-capitol-prayer-vigil



Rev. Mahoney's legal actions in federal court are continuing.



Rev. Mahoney, Director of the Washington, D.C. based Christian Defense Coalition, states,

"It is hard to imagine we are being denied the right to hold a peaceful and prayerful celebration of Christmas on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol as we want to pray for peace, sing carols, and read the Christmas story.



"Simply stated, Speaker Pelosi and the Capitol Police Board are saying 'Bah Humbug' to free speech, the First Amendment and Christmas at the U.S. Capitol.



"We will continue to work until 'The People's House,' is returned to a place where all Americans are afforded the right to come and peacefully celebrate and express their First Amendment Rights. Tragically, those rights and freedoms are currently being denied and prohibited."

For more information or interviews call

Rev. Patrick Mahoney at 540.538.4741



SOURCE Christian Defense Coalition



CONTACT: Rev. Patrick Mahoney, 540-538-4741


Vietnam to use locally-packed Sputnik V vaccine from December

Vietnam has successfully packed over one million doses of the Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine and will start using the vaccine from this December.













Vietnam has successfully packed over one million doses of the Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine and will start using the vaccine from this December.



President of the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production 1 (Vabiotech), Do Tuan Dat revealed the information to Dan Viet Newspaper on November 26.



"Thanks to some sponsors, these first doses will be given to Vietnamese people as part of the country's free Covid-19 vaccination campaign," Dat said. "We expect to start using this vaccine in early December."



In June, Vabiotech signed a contract with Russia's developer of the Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine, Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology to import semi-finished Sputnik V vaccines for packing.



According to the contract, Vabiotech is importing five million doses of semi-finished Sputnik V vaccine a month for packaging from July 2021. The company will then receive technology transfers from the Russian partner to produce 100 million doses a year.



In July, Vabiotech sent a batch of 10,000 doses of the vaccine to the Russian developer for testing who then concluded that the batch met quality requirements.
News  Headlines

Overseas remittances estimated at US$18.1 billion despite pandemic
Fourth death linked to adverse Covid vaccine reaction in Thanh Hoa

A fourth worker has died due to anaphylaxis after a Covid-19 inoculation in the northern province of Thanh Hoa.













The workers are treated at the Thanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital



Authorities in Thanh Hoa Province reported on Friday that a 36-year-old woman in the group of workers who had serious reactions after receiving Covid-19 vaccine at Nong Cong District Healthcare Centre on November 23 had died after two days.



Earlier three others died on November 24 after showing the same symptoms.



According to a report from Thanh Hoa Provincial Health Department, the incident occurred at Nong Cong District Healthcare Centre on November 23 when 400 workers from the Vietnam Kim Viet Footwear Company were given their second dose of Sinopharm's Vero Cell Covid-19 Vaccine.



"Over 60 workers showed side effects after receiving the vaccine and had to be sent to Nong Cong District General Hospital for first aid treatment," the report said. "Some of them had strong reactions and were then transferred to Thanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital where they received intensive care and treatment but three women aged 29 and 30 died on November 24."



A doctor from Nong Cong District General Hospital said that most of the workers who showed side effects were women aged between 25-30. Eight of them are still being treated at Thanh Hoa Provincial General Hospital but they are recovering. All the other workers who stayed at Nong Cong District General Hospital have also recovered and some have been discharged.



At a meeting held on November 25 on the incident, experts from the Ministry of Health concluded that the workers suffered severe anaphylaxis after vaccination. Investigations showed that there were no problems with the vaccine storage and inoculation process.



Thanh Hoa authorities have stopped the distribution of the 43,000 doses of the Vero Cell Vaccine that belong to the same batch given to the local workers.



Vietnam has received and allocated a total of 135 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, including 48.50 million doses of Sinopharm's Vero Cell, 46.70 million doses of AstraZeneca, 33.30 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna and the remainder being Abdala and Sputnik V.



As of November 25, the country had successfully administered over 114.59 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine with over 46.10 million people fully vaccinated.
Locally assembled vehicle registration fees cut 50% from December

The Vietnamese government has just officially approved the Ministry of Finance (MoF)'s proposal to cut registration fees for all locally-assembled automobiles by 50 percent with an aim to increase sales and encourage recovery in the automobile industry.















Illustrative photo.



The current fees will be halved from December 1, 2021 until May 31, 2022.



According to the Ministry of Finance, cutting registration fees for domestically assembled automobiles will stimulate consumer demand and promote domestic manufacturing and assembling enterprises. This fee reduction may reduce tax revenue in the short term, but if the number of vehicles sold increases as a result, total revenue can be maintained or even increase.



Over 102,900 domestically produced automobiles were registered in the first half of last year. That number doubled in the second half of the year when the fee was halved in a similar way to the latest proposal. As a result, tax revenue increased by VND14.11 trillion (USD613.48 million).



In their draft, the Finance Ministry acknowledged challenges when applying preferential policies, even if they are in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The concern is that Vietnam may not fully comply with the provisions of the World Trade Organisations General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade if preferential treatment is given to local manufacturers. Vietnam has already received requests to rethink from some manufacturers that do not have domestic production and assembly activities in Vietnam.



On 25 October, 11 foreign automobile firms that do not manufacture in Vietnam, including Audi, Volkswagen, Subaru, Volvo, Jeep, and Porsche, called on the Vietnamese Government to apply the registration fee cut to imported vehicles too.



They said the government should not only be giving incentives to domestically assembled automobiles and proposed the reduction in registration fees be applied to imported vehicles too.



These car importers argued that it would be unfair to give preferential registration fees on cars locally manufactured and assembled only. The Covid-19 pandemic had affected all auto businesses, both assembled and imported, not only those produced locally.



However, the reduction policy is proposed to only last for six months, as a short-term measure to reduce difficulties in the domestic manufacturing industry as it recovers from the negative impacts of the pandemic.



As well as this, many major international car companies, such as Toyota, Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia, have their assembly plants in Vietnam. This means that any preferential policies to promote domestic production would benefit the international companies operating in Vietnam too.



Neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have also offered preferential treatment to their domestic automobile industry amid the Covid-19 outbreaks.



In the draft proposal, the Ministry of Finance has not stated a reason for not applying tax reduction to imported cars.



Since the beginning of this year, the number of cars imported into Vietnam by these 11 importers accounted for only 8 percent of the total imported cars in Vietnam. Currently, car importers and showrooms employ 3,000 people. Their income largely relies on revenue generated by sales.



The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association has also called on the ministry to make similar cuts on both local and imported products, but the ministry rejected it as not appropriate.



The association said its members sold 170,073 vehicles in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 1 percent. The numbers do not include sales of Audi, Jaguar-Land Rover, Subaru, Volkswagen, Volvo and some others did not reveal their numbers.



According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam imported 112,000 pre-built vehicles in the first nine months of this year, up 67.9 percent.



Economist Ngo Tri Long said a reduction in registration fees would stimulate consumer demand while boosting production and circulation of goods, encouraging economic growth.



However, the reduction of registration fees for locally assembled vehicles should be carefully considered to create a fair business environment and avoid discrimination between imported and locally-made cars.
Two million Pfizer vaccine doses donated by the US arrive in Vietnam

A shipment of 2,074,410 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Hanoi early Friday morning, donated to Vietnam by the US Government.













The US-donated Pfizer vaccines arriving at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Friday morning.  Photo from DHL via the US Embassy in Hanoi



The US has donated over 18 million vaccines to Vietnam through the global vaccine sharing initiative COVAX, as part of a "steadfast commitment to supporting Vietnam in the fight against COVID-19," according to a notice from the US embassy in Hanoi.



More are on the way, it adds.



Earlier this week, a senior administration official from the US Government told AFP that 4,149,990 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were being sent to Vietnam.



As of Friday afternoon, Vietnam has administered 116.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 92 per cent of people aged 18 and above having received at least one dose of vaccine.
Nanjing company in E Chinas Jiangsu province wins Green Innovation Award under 2021 Paulson Prize for Sustainability

People's Daily Online) 17:55, November 25, 2021

Nanjing TICA Climate Solutions Co., Ltd. in Nanjing, east Chinas Jiangsu Province, won the Green Innovation Award, one of two award categories under the 2021 Paulson Prize for Sustainability on Nov. 23 for its project entitled Global Cooling: Innovating HVAC System and Investment Pattern to Boost Energy Efficiency.

Photo shows the award ceremony of the 2021 Paulson Prize for Sustainability. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Today, we have an opportunity to go down a more sustainable path, one where we tackle the twin crises of climate and biodiversity together, Henry Paulson, chairman of the Paulson Institute, said at the award ceremony.

Paulson added that there was an incredible spirit of innovation from businesses, government and organizations in China.

The combination of these forces with new thinking, smart investments and breakthrough technologies has a potential to galvanize the world and its happening today. Thats the essence of what the Paulson Prize celebrates, Paulson said.

The winner of the prize was announced by Zhuang Weimin, co-chair of the prizes jury committee and president of the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University.

Based on the urgent and large-scale demand for green cooling in China and other countries around the world, we believe that the replication and application of the TICA model can effectively promote the green and efficient development of the cooling industry and have a positive impact on the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets and climate change mitigation, Zhuang said at the award ceremony.

TICAs innovative project has been widely applied in commercial buildings, rail transportation, good manufacturing practice (GMP) pharmaceutical plants, electronic plants, data centers and other industries. TICAs model has helped a high-efficient machine room for Guangzhou Metro Group in Guangzhou, south Chinas Guangdong Province to save 764,000 kWh of electricity per year.

The Paulson Prize for Sustainability is awarded annually to projects in China that present innovative, scalable, and market-based solutions at the intersection of economics and the environment to address climate change, improve environmental quality and promote green and low-carbon development.

The prize is co-organized by the Paulson Institute, which was founded by former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Tsinghua University.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Xi's letter gives guidance for closer exchanges among media

Xinhua) 08:08, November 26, 2021

The fourth World Media Summit opens in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's congratulatory letter to the fourth World Media Summit (WMS) has highlighted the media's important social responsibilities, and given a significant guidance for closer exchanges and cooperation among media outlets across the world, foreign media leaders have said.

In his letter, Xi expressed the hope that participants at the summit will endeavor to help foster friendship between peoples and facilitate cultural and people-to-people exchanges, making due contributions to championing the shared values of humanity and promoting the development of a community with a shared future for humanity.

Ajay Kaul, editor-in-chief of United News of India, a multilingual news agency in the country, said the pandemic has not only caused human suffering but also widened the divide in the world.

"Thus, media has the additional responsibility of bridging the divide and amplifying hope for people around the globe, and needs to put more effort in highlighting the positive elements," Kaul said.

Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of Delovoy Kazakhstan newspaper, attended via video link the fourth WMS held Monday by China's Xinhua News Agency in Beijing. Korzhumbayev said that since the first WMS in 2009, the platform has witnessed a continuous strengthening of media cooperation.

The fourth World Media Summit opens in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

The summit has become a unique platform that facilitates the exchange of views among media outlets across the world on the most pressing global issues, he added.

The fourth WMS was attended online and offline by almost 400 guests of more than 260 media outlets and institutions from nearly 100 countries and regions.

Editor-in-Chief of the English-language newspaper Times of Oman Mohammed Essa Al Zedjali said this year's summit, with a large number of participants and rich content, has built a bridge for communication among different civilizations, as well as for mutual understanding between people around the world.

This event is essential in light of the common responsibilities and challenges that media organizations will face for the years to come, said Luis Enrique Gonzalez, president of Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.

For Prensa Latina, he said, this year's summit serves as a great opportunity to forge relations with media outlets from all over the world and get updated with trends dominating the current media landscape.

Savious Kwinika, editor-in-chief of the South Africa-headquartered CAJ News Africa, said that in this era, media can use social media platforms to enhance communication with the public, adding that the role of media is to provide information objectively, fairly and accurately.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Chinese PLA ready to smash "Taiwan independence" bids: spokesperson

Xinhua) 08:12, November 26, 2021

(Photo source: mod.gov.cn)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is ready at all times to fight and smash any separatist attempts at "Taiwan independence," and to resolutely defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a defense spokesman said on Thursday.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference in response to a so-called "defense report" issued by the Taiwan authorities' defense department.

Wu stressed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and such a report makes no sense.

He said that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has been inciting hostility across the Taiwan Strait for its own political gain, colluding with external forces and making provocations by seeking "Taiwan independence."

Such acts have seriously harmed the welfare of Taiwan compatriots and severely damaged peace and stability across the Strait, Wu said.

The reunification of China is an irresistible historical process, Wu stressed, warning that "seeking independence by force" will prove a dead end.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
UK coronavirus cases top 10 mln amid concerns over new variant

Xinhua) 08:14, November 26, 2021

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a COVID-19 safety sign in London, Britain, on July 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Ray Tang)

A new variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana. Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful" on Twitter.

LONDON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 10 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Britain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country reported another 47,240 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,021,497.

Britain also recorded another 147 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 144,433. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

People walk past a sign of free rapid COVID-19 tests in Manchester, Britain, Nov. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

The latest data came as coronavirus cases surge across Europe, making the continent the epicentre of the pandemic again.

Meanwhile, a new variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana.

Designated as B.1.1.529, scientists are still unclear whether existing antibodies would react well to the variant, which has 32 spike protein mutations.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful" on Twitter.

"Given the large number of mutations it has accumulated apparently in a single burst, it likely evolved during a chronic infection of an immunocompromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient," said Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology and director of Genetics Institute at University College London.

"For the time being, it should be closely monitored and analysed, but there is no reason to get overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency in the near future," Balloux said.

People queue up outside a vaccination center in Manchester, Britain, Nov. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

Earlier this month, England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, said the modelling is "getting more difficult to give us any clear sense of whether things will turn up or down."

"We're in for potentially some difficult months over the winter," he told reporters.

However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that there is "nothing in the data saying we need to move to Plan B" in Britain.

"The best single thing you can all do is get your booster. When you are called forward to get it, please do so," Johnson said to reporters after his speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference.

A man receives the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Hyde Leisure Centre in Greater Manchester, Britain, on Jan. 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

Plan B involves advice to work at home and requirements to wear masks in certain scenarios.

In a recent report, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that the coronavirus pandemic exposed Britain's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies and left the British government unprepared.

The government did not act on warnings from pandemic simulations carried out prior to COVID-19 based on an influenza outbreak, said the NAO.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: "This pandemic has exposed the UK's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies, where the emergency is so broad that it engages all levels of government and society. Although government had plans for a flu pandemic, it was not prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19 and did not learn important lessons from the simulation exercises it carried out."

A man wearing a face mask walks past a bus in London, Britain, on Nov. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

In its conclusions, the NAO called on the British government to strengthens its preparations for system-wide emergencies. It suggested the Cabinet Office establish who leads and manages system-wide risks, and strengthen oversight and assurance arrangements over preparations for system-wide emergencies.

Meanwhile, a research has found the NHS is facing the "most difficult winter in its history," with almost 90 percent of hospital trust leaders feeling "extremely concerned."

NHS Providers, which carried out the survey, said that while cases of COVID-19 are "well below" their peak in January, some trusts are "beyond full stretch."

People pass an ambulance outside the emergency entrance at St Thomas' Hospital in London, Britain, on Nov. 9, 2021. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

It is urging the government to offer cash bonuses of about 500 pounds to stop social care staff leaving for jobs in "hospitality, supermarkets, or online firms such as Amazon."

More than 88 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 28 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose 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.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Thanksgiving -- a day to give thanks or beg for forgiveness?

Xinhua) 08:16, November 26, 2021

-- A look at U.S. modern history reveals that the country has been founded and consolidated not on genuine gratitude nor a critical review of the history of the genocide of Native Americans, but rather on a real-life Aesop's Fable of the "helpful" woodman and the "ungrateful" serpent.

-- The discovery at the Genoa School, which operated from 1884 to 1934 as one of the largest in a system of 25 federally-sanctioned Indian boarding schools -- housing 599 students aged 4-22 on its 640-acre campus at its peak in 1932 -- revived calls for a full and thorough reckoning with the legacy of U.S. Indian boarding schools.

-- Typical as it is, the Genoa School, however, offered just a snapshot of the cruel mistreatment, or, as gaiashkibos bluntly called, "genocide" of Indian students who were forced to leave their families -- in many cases forever -- and attend boarding schools where they were made to adapt to the way of life preferred by the ruling elite.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Behind all the hearty meals of turkey and textbook stories of people across race and culture celebrating in unison, few in the United States are aware of Thanksgiving's origins.

A look at U.S. modern history reveals that the country has been founded and consolidated not on genuine gratitude nor a critical review of the history of the genocide of Native Americans, but rather on a real-life Aesop's Fable of the "helpful" woodman and the "ungrateful" serpent.

Researchers in the U.S. state of Nebraska have recently identified 102 Native American students who died while attending a now-closed boarding school in the state where they were forcibly relocated by the federal government.

Authorized by the Civilization Fund Act that Congress passed in 1819, the federal government funded more than two dozen Indian boarding schools by the turn of the 20th century with the aim of stripping the Indigenous people of their cultures and assimilating them into the mainstream "American way of life."

GENOA SCHOOL DISCOVERY

Piecing together the history of abuse and isolation against those Indian pupils, which the United States once wanted to erase from the memories of its people, has proven an uneasy task, as researchers hoping to find government records on student deaths at the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School turned out only able to verify the names of the deceased in newspaper archives.

Photo taken on July 6, 2021 shows the St. Boniface Indian Industrial School Cemetery in Banning, San Bernardino County, California, the United States. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

While the true death toll is expected to far exceed what has now been confirmed by the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project that led the investigative effort, the search for the children's graves, spearheaded by the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs (NCIA), has yet come to fruition.

"I think America needs to take these little children back home, and if we're not able to find them, I think we need to do something to recognize that they lost their lives there," Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the NCIA and a citizen of the Ponca Tribe, was quoted as saying by the Omaha World-Herald, which first reported the discovery of the students' names.

According to the Omaha World-Herald report, multiple references to children buried in the school cemetery have been found in newspapers and in the stories of the school's former students, and gaiashkibos' team during their search relied on a 1920 map that denoted the cemetery's location. All of that seems to suggest the cemetery does exist.

"These children died at the school; they didn't get a chance to go home," Margaret Jacobs, a professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co-director of the aforementioned project, was quoted by the Omaha World-Herald as saying. "I think that the descendants deserve to know what happened to their ancestors."

According to Jacobs, infectious diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis were the most common cause of death for the students, while reports carried by local newspapers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries also revealed that there were students who died in fatal incidents like drowning, being hit by a freight train or being shot by fellow students.

The executive director of the NCIA, gaiashkibos, uses a lowercase letter for her last name as a sign of humility. She told Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in an interview that given the above incidents were "not typical happenings at most schools in the world," she suspected that some of the deaths might not happen by accident, "and some kids may have committed suicide and some were killed when they were running away from the school."

Regardless of the nature of the causes of death, these records, after all, are proof that the school lacked both sufficient guarantee for the students' physical health and appropriate measures to protect their safety, constituting atrocious violations of the most basic human right -- the right to life.

The discovery at the Genoa School, which operated from 1884 to 1934 as one of the largest in a system of 25 federally-sanctioned Indian boarding schools -- housing 599 students aged 4-22 on its 640-acre campus at its peak in 1932 -- revived calls for a full and thorough reckoning with the legacy of U.S. Indian boarding schools.

Photo taken on July 6, 2021 shows the St. Boniface Indian Industrial School Cemetery in Banning, San Bernardino County, California, the United States. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

For gaiashkibos, whose mother and aunts were former students of the Genoa School, unearthing the largely untold sufferings by her Native American ancestors has brought "a lot of mixed feelings," she told the Omaha World-Herald.

"As a country, I think there was a collective decision that this isn't the history that we want to tell. That the truth is too painful to reveal. I think it's time to take responsibility for that, and to do something positive for the future," said gaiashkibos.

PAINFUL HEALING PROCESS

Typical as it is, the Genoa School, however, offered just a snapshot of the cruel mistreatment, or, as gaiashkibos bluntly called, "genocide" of Indian students who were forced to leave their families -- in many cases forever -- and attend boarding schools where they were made to adapt to the way of life preferred by the ruling elite.

The assimilation of Native Americans through learning and laboring at boarding schools was a systemic undertaking by the U.S. government and religious institutions that lasted for one century and a half until the 1960s.

There were at least 367 boarding schools that sprawled across 29 states, of which 73 remain open today and 15 are still boarding, according to data compiled by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization devoted to addressing the legacy of the schools.

Photo taken on July 6, 2021 shows the St. Boniface Indian Industrial School Cemetery in Banning, San Bernardino County, California, the United States. (Photo by Zeng Hui/Xinhua)

Estimating that nearly 83 percent of Indian school-age children were attending boarding schools by 1926, the coalition said the "multigenerational impact of removing children from families and communities cannot be overstated," and such government-run facilities "are directly responsible for and inextricably linked to loss of Tribal language, loss of Tribal cultural resources, and ongoing intergenerational trauma in Native communities today."

The true number of students enrolled in those schools has never been fully counted, neither is it known exactly how many perished at the schools.

An 1885 report by the Commission of Indian Affairs cited by The New York Times made crystal clear the government's view toward the Indian children and what it intended to achieve by establishing the residential schools.

The report said the institutions, where historical photos showed students also worked by cooking, cleaning and farming, was "the only remedy" to protect young Native Americans from "contamination of such gross immoralities" in the "wild" environments in which they were born.

"It's taken a while for Americans to realize that the boarding schools are not a benevolent institution, that they were set up to separate Indian children from their families and communities, to sever their ties," Jacobs was cited by The New York Times as saying.

For those who survived, what they had endured at the boarding schools still came back to haunt them these days, and healing won't happen easily, if at all, as long as the truths are still hidden.

"Nobody escapes from the historical drama of the boarding schools," Agnes Williams, a Haudenosaunee elder living on the Cattaraugus territory in the state of New York, said in a June podcast by the National Public Radio.

She said brutalizing students for speaking their native language has caused a spiritual wound for them, since the mother tongue was "very meaningful for people's sense of belonging and mental health."

Sharing in an op-ed the stories of her ancestors who also attended the federal boarding schools, Deb Haaland, secretary of the interior and the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary, said she herself is "a product of these horrific assimilation policies."

"The lasting and profound impacts of the federal government's boarding school system have never been appropriately addressed," Haaland said.

Days after the opinion piece was published in The Washington Post, Haaland announced in late June that the Interior Department launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative to review the troubled legacy of federal boarding school policies and provide resources to investigate known and suspected burial sites.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China-Africa cooperation supports Africa's transition to green energy

Xinhua) 08:52, November 26, 2021

CAPE TOWN/KAMPALA/NAIROBI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- As the world is grappling with climate change in consensus to move to green energy, China-Africa's renewable energy cooperation is bearing fruits. In various parts of Africa, China-Africa cooperation brings in clean electricity to boost power supply.

WIND FARMS UNINTERRUPTEDLY PROVIDE ELECTRICITY

In De Aar, central South Africa, long and white blades on high towers were rotating like fans on top of the mountain.

Companies formed by China's Longyuan Power through its South African subsidiary Longyuan South Africa Renewables (Longyuan SA), which holds 60 percent of shares, and its South African partners including South African renewable energy developer Mulilo Group, a community trust, Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) company installed 163 wind turbines in two phases of the De Aar wind power project, converting wind energy into power. The total investment of the projects stands at 500,000 South African rands (about 31,440 U.S. dollars).

The installed capacity of the project is 244.5 megawatts (MW), which can stably supply clean power of about 760 gigawatt hour (GWh) annually, equivalent to saving more than 200,000 metric tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions of 700,000 metric tons.

Since its operation in 2017, the project has been running in good condition and hasn't experienced any interruption, said Sheng Bin, manager of Safety Production and Technology Department of Longyuan SA, who attributed the good operation to Chinese technology and a team of technicians.

The wind turbines manufactured by China Guodian Group use higher configuration among similar types of equipment and Chinese technology for improvement in line with the local conditions of South Africa. The technicians working on the project have been strictly selected to ensure quick resolution of problems, according to Sheng.

Longyuan SA won the tender in 2013 in the Bid Window 3 of Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) Program, which was established by the South African Department of Energy in conjunction with the National Treasury and the Development Bank of Southern Africa at the end of 2010 as one of South African government's urgent interventions to enhance the country's power generation capacity.

Its main objective is to secure private sector investment for the development of new electricity generation capacity, diversifying South Africa's energy mix. It is also designed to contribute to broader national developmental objectives such as job creation and economic transformation primarily through the broadening of economic ownership.

According to Zhao Mingming, director of Longyuan SA, Longyuan actively responds to the South African government's plan of developing renewable energy through bidding for the projects, practically providing South Africa with clean energy and extra electricity capacity.

"I'm really proud of working with the company that is basically in the direction of renewable energy. I see there is a need for it," the project's site manager Regardt van Tonder told Xinhua on the phase one site, stressing that it is necessary to improve on methods of electricity generation.

The 30-year-old also said such project promotes the relationship between the countries, creates jobs and enhances understanding of each other's culture. "There are a lot of positives we can take from this," he said.

Longyuan SA is also praised by different levels of the South African governments for fulfilling social responsibility in South Africa not only in De Aar but also in other parts of the country.

HYDROPOWER PLANT ADDS MEGA CAPACITY WITH GREEN DESIGN

In the midwestern district of Kiryandongo, Uganda, workers from Sinohydro Corporation were busily completing the final stage work of Karuma Hydro Power Plant, along the Nile River.

Karuma Hydro Power Plant, with 85 percent financed by the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of China, including soft loan, and 15 percent financed by the Ugandan government, will be the largest power-generating installation in the east African country when completed with the capacity of 600 MW.

The plant is expected to generate 4 billion Kilowatt hours of electricity annually and provide over 200 million dollars in revenue to the government, which is close to 1 percent of Uganda's current gross domestic product.

When compared with other conventional energy, hydropower is low-cost and easier to shift peak load, which is conducive to promoting utilization of water resources as well as social and economic benefits, said Li Ji, deputy general manager of the project.

Due to the stable water resources provided by Nile River, the power plant will be able to have a continuous and stable ability of generating and supplying electricity, he said.

Generating and using clean energy is a key area of Uganda's sustainable development and the country is pushing for increased uptake of renewable energy, said Mary Goretti Kitutu, former minister of energy and mineral development. Uganda heavily relies on hydropower generation, and its total generation capacity would reach 2,000 MW once the Karuma Hydropower Plant comes online, according to her.

The 1.7-billion-dollar project had the environment protection fully considered from the design to the actual construction, as it is constructed in an environmentally-sensitive area, the Murchison Falls National Park, which has rich flora and fauna.

A bigger part of the power plant was built underground to limit the footprints on the surface and the structures on the surface have also been designed and constructed in a way to conserve the environment.

The dam includes channels for fish, which allows them to migrate, said Li, adding that the project is fenced to avoid hurting animals during construction while preserving the passage for hippos to find food.

"We hope to promote the development of Uganda, while at the same time protecting the environment of Uganda as much as possible," he said.

KENYA'S PARTNER IN REALIZING POTENTIAL for SOLAR POWER

Official figures showed that the installed capacity of solar power in Kenya is more than 100 MW, while China-financed Garissa Solar accounts for 50 MW.

Located in northern Kenya's Garissa County, it is the largest grid-connected solar power plant in East and Central Africa. The power plant, designed and built by China Jiangxi Corporation for International Economic and Technical Co-operation (CJIC) in conjunction with Kenya's Rural Energy Authority (REA), was launched in 2019 and has been connected to the national grid.

According to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Garissa solar plant puts Kenya on the path of achieving green energy sufficiency and adds to Kenya's rich profile as the center of green energy generation in Africa. It is part of a broad government renewable energy strategy to harvest 400 MW of electricity from the country's vast solar resources, he said.

Kenya is rich in solar energy and has a wide prospect of solar energy development.

It is a prudent decision to tap into the region's high solar intensity to support the national grid by constructing the solar plant, said Hannington Gochi, a renewable energy technician at REA.

"With steady power and low cost of electricity, Garissa can invest in industries and businesses," said Gochi. He noted that more households and businesses have connected to the grid in the region, boosting artisans like those with welding workshops.

"I am so proud the project was successfully completed and has state-of-art equipment. We are hopeful it will serve Kenya for the next 25 years," said Zhang Jian, country representative of CJIC in Kenya.

"China has been the leading partner in the continent's desire to switch to solar and wind energy," Kenya-based international relations scholar Cavince Adhere wrote in a commentary earlier this month.

According to Adhere, the forthcoming Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar, Senegal, provides a platform to explore innovative ways, where the long-standing partners can reinvigorate the climate fight.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
UNESCO member states adopt first global agreement on AI ethics

Xinhua) 08:55, November 26, 2021

PARIS, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The first ever global standard on the ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) was presented by Audrey Azoulay, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), on Thursday.

The agreement was adopted by the member states of UNESCO at its General Conference on Tuesday.

"AI has the potential to benefit societies and economies in many ways, but it also presents risks and challenges," UNESCO said in a press release.

The Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence sets out common values and principles to assist in the creation of the legal infrastructure required to ensure the healthy development of AI.

"The world needs rules for artificial intelligence to benefit humanity. The Recommendation on the ethics of AI is a major answer," Azoulay told the press conference in Paris.

The Recommendation has three main parts: values, principles and strategic areas.

The main contents of the Recommendation include protecting data, banning social scoring and mass surveillance, helping to monitor and evaluate, and protecting the environment.

On Dec. 7 and 8, the 2021 International Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education will be held as a "hybrid" (online and in person) event in Qingdao, China.

Participants will consider how AI governance and innovation networks can be enhanced to direct AI towards the common good in education, and for humanity.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Serbia hosts 3rd China-CEEC virtual art cooperation forum

Xinhua) 08:55, November 26, 2021

BELGRADE, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 3rd China-Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) Art Cooperation Forum opened here on Thursday.

Under the slogan "The Future We Already Live," this online forum offers a platform for artists and experts to discuss ways to improve cultural cooperation, especially in the areas of visual art, film, animation and video games.

The two-day event, co-organized by Serbia's Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, was opened by the two countries' culture ministers, Maja Gojkovic and Hu Heping.

Hu highlighted the sincere determination of the participants to promote cultural cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and said that the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism is an important platform for enhancing friendship, expanding cooperation and seeking opportunities for common development.

He recalled that over the past nine years, China-CEEC cooperation has expanded significantly to include areas such as culture and tourism, and that the exchanges were especially intensive in literature, music and dance.

"In particular, efforts are being made to build the China-CEEC Art Cooperation Forum, open channels for art exchanges and cooperation, display the latest achievements in art research, and share new and valuable experience in art practice," Hu said.

He said that his ministry is willing to further engage in win-win cooperation with 17 European partners to "lay a solid foundation of public opinion for deepening exchanges and cooperation in other fields and make new and greater contributions to promoting the progress of human civilization and building a community with a shared future for mankind."

Gojkovic stressed that amid the COVID-19 pandemic the countries are increasingly aware of the importance of mutual support, but warned that art and culture in general are the most vulnerable areas, although they are going through a quick digital transformation.

"I am sure that over the next two days the participants in the forum ... will make a significant contribution to the understanding of potentials and development paths in visual arts, film, animation and video games. These areas are going through transformation on a daily basis thanks to rapid technological development."

She said that the key to the realization of projects is in entrepreneurship in culture, innovation while making use of new technologies, as these lead to the establishment of new cultural capital and bring additional value.

"We will continue with our dedicated work within associations and expert networks of the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism ... we support the further development of the mechanism in this field," Gojkovic said.

As an example of Serbia's dedication to the China-CEEC cultural cooperation, she recalled that the Serbian city of Novi Sad will be the European Capital of Culture in 2022 and that the programs will feature numerous artists from the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Chinese military demands clarification of U.S. nuclear-sub incident

Xinhua) 09:00, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson Thursday urged the United States to explain in detail the incident involving a U.S. nuclear submarine in the South China Sea.

The U.S. side must make clear the real intention of the submarine navigation, the accurate location where the incident occurred, and whether the incident caused nuclear leakage and marine pollution, said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference.

The Chinese side attributes the incident to large-scale and frequent military activities by U.S. vessels in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the U.S. acts seeking militarization in the South China Sea and navigation hegemony, said Wu.

"We urge the U.S. side to immediately cease these moves before it is too late," Wu said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China to host 2nd int'l forum on military education

Xinhua) 09:02, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Army Engineering University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will host the second international army forum on military education from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, a Chinese defense spokesman announced Thursday.

Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said that the forum will revolve around future trends, challenges and solutions in the cultivation of junior army officers.

Representatives from military academies in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Egypt and Pakistan will attend the forum online and 12 academies of the PLA Army will send representatives to the main meeting venue in Nanjing.

The forum aims to contribute insights into the reform of military education in a post-pandemic era and build a platform for international exchanges and cooperation on military education, said Wu.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China slams Indian military official's "provocative" remarks

Xinhua) 09:08, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday voiced firm opposition to an Indian military official's recent remarks which claimed that China is a threat to India.

Calling the Indian official's comments "provocative," Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, said hyping up "China threat" has severely breached the strategic guidance set by leaders of the two countries that China and India pose no threat to each other.

Inciting geopolitical confrontation is both irresponsible and dangerous, Wu said, adding that the Chinese border troops are determined to safeguard national sovereignty and security and are also dedicated to maintaining peace and stability along the border.

He expressed hopes that the Indian side can meet China half way and jointly maintain sound development of bilateral ties.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Huawei, UNESCO call on Kenya to devise ICT talent cultivation strategy to spur digital economy

Xinhua) 09:11, November 26, 2021

NAIROBI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Huawei and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday called on Kenya to develop an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) talent cultivation strategy to spur the digital economy.

Huawei Technologies Kenya and the UNESCO launched their ICT Talent Cultivation for Kenya's Digital Economy report in Nairobi, which has identified a gap between the existing ICT knowledge and skills in Kenya and those demanded by industry.

The report collects a range of evidence to support Kenyan policymakers in developing a country-level strategy on talent cultivation for the digital economy.

The report recommends Kenya to improve academia, industry collaboration and also support the upscaling of private sector initiatives in the ICT sector.

Fiona Pan, deputy CEO of Huawei Kenya, said that Kenya is amongst the few countries in Africa that are taking an early lead to tap the benefits of digital technologies for economic growth.

He noted that interventions that can contribute to further strengthening the digital economy in Kenya are highly desirable and one such intervention is talent cultivation.

The tech firm said that it takes pride in not only helping grow the ICT infrastructure within the country but also the local ICT talent through various initiatives such as internships, training programs, and full-time recruitment.

"We believe Kenya must have a skilled workforce empowered and equipped to take up new opportunities that new and emerging technologies will present as we work towards achieving a digital economy," Pan noted.

Joe Mucheru, cabinet secretary of Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs said that the report not only provides relevant findings on the situation of the local ICT talent development but also provides clear guidelines and recommendations to better improve the existing programs in place by academia, industry and government.

Mucheru noted that the launch of the report is timely especially with the growth of the digital economy and the digital transformation of industries taking precedence.

He observed that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated digitalization globally and opened up new opportunities for all.

"This transformation requires a massive investment in the relevant skills set that will allow for the youth and the old alike to partake and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital economy and the gig economy," said Mucheru.

The government official also hailed Huawei for its commitment and investment in developing Kenya local ICT talent.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
SCO stresses urgency to forge new type of int'l relations, vision of common development

Xinhua) 09:17, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has reaffirmed its commitment to protecting regional security and achieving common development.

In a joint communique issued after the 20th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of SCO Member States on Thursday, the SCO delegation heads underscored the urgency to advocate building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and forging a common vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

During the video conference, the delegation heads pointed out that the SCO has made important contributions to ensuring regional security, promoting global economic development and enhancing social, cultural and scientific exchanges among regional countries.

The SCO member states will further promote policy coordination, security cooperation, unimpeded trade, financial integration and closer people-to-people bonds in a joint effort to build a peaceful, secure, prosperous and clean world, they noted.

More work is needed to bolster SCO multilateral economic and trade cooperation, and the bloc plans to strengthen cooperation in finance, trade, investment, industry, transportation, energy, agriculture and the digital economy.

The SCO member states consider it important to further improve the global economic governance system and will continue to consolidate an open, transparent, just, inclusive and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system based on the principles and rules of the World Trade Organization, they reaffirmed.

The SCO supports member states in enhancing cooperation in industry and investment in order to promote all-round development of the SCO region, they noted.

They also noticed that innovative technologies are playing an increasingly important role in promoting sustainable economic development and digital transformation in the region.

The heads of SCO delegations opposed stigmatization associated with COVID-19 and stressed the need to further strengthen international cooperation against the pandemic, including deepening cooperation with the World Health Organization and other international organizations to overcome the economic and social impact of the pandemic on the world.

There should be more importance attached to ecological issues and their negative impact on the economic and social development of SCO member states as well as more support to strengthen SCO regional cooperation on ecological and environmental protection, they noted.

They also spoke highly of the achievements of people-to-people cooperation and voiced support for stronger multilateral cooperation in this regard.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China, Africa to embark on new journey of cooperation in new era

09:18, November 26, 2021 By Xiao Han ( People's Daily

China and Africa have both done an excellent job in the past year in dealing with the severe challenges brought by profound changes and a pandemic unseen in a century.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has worked to fight the pandemic, improve livelihood, ensure economic growth and expand opening-up, advancing with unstoppable momentum toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Chinas is currently leading the world in terms of economic growth, injecting a strong impetus for global recovery. It has made a miracle of poverty eradication and achieved the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The countrys technological achievements command the attention of the world, and breakthroughs are being made continuously in the high-tech field. Besides, China has achieved a major victory in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. It has administered over 2.4 billion doses of vaccines across the country, and the number is the highest in the world.

African countries have made active responses and united together facing the impacts from the pandemic. Earlier this year, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was officially initiated. It will create a market that covers nearly 1.3 billion people with a total GDP of more than $2 trillion. The AfCFTA is expected to offer new opportunities for Africa to release development potential and vitalize regional economy. Weeks ago, the World Bank raised its 2021 economic growth forecast for Sub-Saharan Africa to 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent in 2022.

In the past year, China-Africa cooperation has withstood the test of the pandemic.

On one hand, the cooperation between the two sides showed strong resilience, and in particular, their pragmatic cooperation has been accelerating vigorously. China-Africa bilateral trade has been steadily increasing for the past 16 years. China has remained Africas largest trading partner for more than a decade, with the volume of trade reaching over $180 billion last year. Chinas direct investment in Africa hit $2.96 billion last year, which surpassed the pre-pandemic level of 2019. During the pandemic, all Chinese projects in Africa maintained operation, and none of them has recalled personnel or been defunded. Over 1,100 cooperation projects kept running amid the pandemic, with nearly 100,000 Chinese engineers and technicians sticking to their posts.

On the other hand, China-Africa cooperation is advancing with robust vitality, constantly revealing new highlights and growth points. China has actively fulfilled its commitment of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public product, and taken the lead in providing vaccine doses to Africa.

Apart from the cooperation in the fight against COVID-19, China and Africa are also delivering outcomes of their close collaboration in digital economy, aerospace, clean energy and new infrastructure.

For instance, a national data center, a national broadband network and an e-government platform funded and technically supported by China have been put into use in Senegal. Besides, the Smart Senegal e-infrastructure project built by China is also about to be delivered, offering a solid foundation for the countrys digital transformation.

Such resilience reveals the profound basis for cooperation between China and Africa, and the vitality of their cooperation is heralding a bright future. Though the pandemic has placed roadblocks on the way of cooperation between the two sides, China and Africa has never stopped their steps of cooperation or wavered in their determination to maintain solidarity. The Chinese and Africans are getting increasingly closer for cooperation. This is a choice made by the two sides upon the past, the present days and the future.

From a historical point of view, both China and Africa cherish their traditional friendship. The two sides enjoy a long history of friendship. Especially since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, China has always adhered to the principles of equality, mutual respect, non-interference in each others domestic affairs and not attaching political strings to its foreign aid, laying a solid foundation for the robust development of China-Africa cooperation in the 21st century.

Both China and Africa are optimistic about Africas prospects. Considering its own development course and experience, China has always been positive about the future of Africa and been committed to enhancing its cooperation with the continent, so as to break the biases and stereotypes about the continent. We firmly believe that Africa is completely capable of independently exploring a path of vitalization that suits its own conditions.

Both China and Africa are unswervingly following multilateralism for a better future of humanity. At the crossroads that concerns the future of mankind, the two sides see an urgent demand to reinforce solidarity and cooperation, and safeguard the legitimate rights of the Chinese and African people to jointly fight the pandemic, oppose external interference, follow equity and justice, and live a better life, so as to contribute positive energy to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and a new type of international relations, as well as world peace and development.

As representatives from the two sides are expected to gather soon at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held in Senegal, China and Africa are about to jointly embark on a new journey and usher in a new era.

The event, to be held amid the pandemic, reflects the mutual trust and support between the worlds largest developing country and the continent that is home to the largest number of developing countries, as well as their resolution, courage and responsibility to answer the questions of the times.

China and Africa, adhering to the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, will deepen their partnership, promote sustainable development, and build a community with a shared future between China and Africa. Together, they will strive for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the vitalization of the African continent.

(Xiao Han is the Chinese Ambassador to Senegal.)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Chinese military expects even better relationship with Russian counterpart: spokesperson

Xinhua) 09:20, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that the Chinese military always expects an even better relationship with its Russian counterpart, and is willing to play a larger role with it in safeguarding world peace and stability.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference.

Recent years have witnessed closer strategic communications between the two militaries, especially at the leadership level, along with more pragmatic cooperation on military exercises and training, and ever-improving mechanisms for military cooperation, Wu said.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation, which is of unique significance to the two countries, Wu noted.

"The Chinese military is willing to enhance the strategic partnership and mutual exchanges with its Russian counterpart, and to increase the wellbeing of the two countries and the two peoples," he said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Guangdong endeavors to help enterprises go global since inception of BRI

09:20, November 26, 2021 By Li Gang ( People's Daily

Since the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), south Chinas Guangdong province has been devoted to developing itself into a strategic hub, economic and trade cooperation center, and important engine of the BRI, and leveraging its advantage of being close to countries along the routes of the BRI in terms of geographical location and people-to-people relations to help local enterprises and brands go global.

Photo taken on April 29, 2021 shows a China-Europe freight train carrying 50 containers departing from Xiayuan railway station in Guangzhou, capital of south Chinas Guangdong province, for Malaszewicze in Poland. It was the first sea-rail cross-border China-Europe freight train that left Xiayuan railway station for Malaszewicze. (CCTV.com/Wei Xing)

The province has seen a large number of projects, which involve small investment, yield quick results, and benefit peoples livelihood, take root in countries along the routes of the BRI.

Since 2018, it has invested in nearly 3,000 projects overseas, among which over 94 percent come from private enterprises and more than 80 percent have an investment volume of less than $5 million.

By promoting the establishment of overseas industrial parks and economic and trade cooperation zones, Guangdong has enabled enterprises to support each other in expanding overseas operations.

The provinces first batch of seven provincial-level overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have attracted a total of 147 companies and a cumulative investment of about $1.74 billion, and generated over $3.83 billion of output value. They have driven the import and export of about $1.4 billion worth of goods, and brought $72.55 million in tax revenue to host countries.

Photo taken on Oct. 20, 2021 shows the Shekou, Chiwan, and Mawan container terminals in Shenzhen, south Chinas Guangdong province. (Peoples Daily Online/Wang Meiyan)

The China-Vietnam (Shenzhen-Haiphong) Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Vietnam has housed 28 high-tech enterprises, including Wolong Electric Group Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Sanhua Intelligent Controls Co., Ltd., and Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. The cooperation zone is expected to attract 30 to 40 companies and $1 billion of investment and create 20,000 to 30,000 jobs for local people in the first phase of the project by 2022.

In May, Guangdong province published a document on its focus of work in participating in the BRI construction in 2021, aiming to promote the in-depth cooperation with countries and regions along the routes of the BRI.

The document includes specific arrangements covering such aspects as deepening policy communication, optimizing integrated transportation system, boosting international industrial capacity cooperation, enhancing the capability to provide financing support and financial services, facilitating people-to-people connectivity in various fields, and improving service guarantee mechanism.

Meanwhile, seizing the opportunity of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the province will join hands with Chinas special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao to promote overseas operations of local enterprises and strive for tangible and solid outcomes of the BRI construction, powering up enterprises in exploring overseas markets.

Recently, a China-Europe freight train carrying a batch of liquid crystal display panels and electronic components required for the production in the factory of Chinese multinational electronics company TCL Technology in Poland left Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, for Malaszewicze in Poland. It is expected to arrive in its destination 15 days after its departure.

Photo shows the China-Vietnam (Shenzhen-Haiphong) Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in Vietnam. (File photo)

With the new China-Europe freight train route linking Guangzhou and Malaszewicze launched in April this year, the factory of the Guangdong-based company in Poland has gained another convenient transportation line, said an executive of the factory.

Taking advantage of the BRI and China-Europe freight train services, TCL Technology has made the factory in Poland the central link of its European industrial chain and managed to cover all regions on the European continent with its smart terminal products, services and solutions, according to the executive.

Guangdong Vanward New Electric Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese gas water heater manufacturer headquartered in Foshan city, Guangdong province, has quickened its pace to promote its self-owned brands in overseas markets.

The company opened its first overseas experience store in the central business district in Azerbaijan in 2017 and its first experience store in Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, one year later. In 2019, the company set up its Russian subsidiary.

A manufacturing base invested and operated by Chinese footwear maker Huajian Group in Ethiopia. (Photo/Website of Huajian Group)

In recent years, the companys export performance has improved continuously. Its gas water heaters and gas stoves have outperformed similar products in the industry in terms of export volume for many years and have been sold to nearly 90 countries around the world.

Gree Electric Appliances Inc., Chinas leading home appliances manufacturer based in Zhuhai city of Guangdong province, has realized localized production in Lahore, Pakistan. With its annual output of air conditioners exceeding 300,000, Grees production base in Lahore once increased the companys market share in Pakistan to more than 30 percent, significantly improving the awareness and reputation of the brand.

Well-known Chinese footwear maker Huajian Group headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong province, has built a production base in Ethiopia. Within merely three month, the production base was completed and put into operation.

The production base has greatly increased the export volume of local leather products and effectively promoted the development of the local economy.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Mainland to continue providing opportunities for Taiwan enterprises: official

Xinhua) 09:22, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland will continue to improve institutions and policies to benefit Taiwan compatriots, and expand the development opportunities and space for Taiwan compatriots and enterprises, a mainland official said on Thursday.

Liu Jieyi, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks at a cross-Strait forum on technology development held simultaneously in Beijing and Taipei via video link.

Citing the mainland's market advantages, and the advantages of its modern industry system, high-tech self-reliance, innovation, green economy and business environment, Liu encouraged Taiwan compatriots and enterprises to play a greater role in business cooperation on the mainland.

Liu said the separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence" are the common enemy of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He urged Taiwan compatriots to distinguish right from wrong and resolutely thwart the separatist forces in their attempts to undermine the peaceful reunification of the country.

Participants from government departments, industry associations, enterprises and the sci-tech sector carried out in-depth discussions on high-tech industries, high-end services and other topics.

Beijing Mayor Chen Jining said the forum is an important platform jointly built by business communities from the two sides for exchanges and cooperation.

New paths of integrated development will be explored through the platform to make greater contributions to promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and delivering more benefits to compatriots on both sides, Chen said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Israeli, Chinese researchers develop stitchless smart dressing to heal, monitor wounds

Xinhua) 09:37, November 26, 2021

JERUSALEM, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Israeli and Chinese researchers have developed a smart medical dressing to heal and monitor wounds without the need for sutures, the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) said Thursday.

The dressing, developed in a study published in the journal Advanced Materials, binds the wound together, wards off infection, and reports on the wound's condition directly to the doctors' computers or smartphones, the Technion explained.

The study was led by the Technion and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in collaboration with Sun Yat-sen University Shenzhen Campus and Xidian University in Xi'an.

The dressing is first applied to the planned incision, and then the incision will be made through it.

Following the surgery, the two ends of the wound are brought together, and within three seconds the dressing binds itself together, holding the wound closed, similarly to sutures.

The dressing then continuously monitors the wound, tracks the healing process, checks for signs of infection like changes in temperature, pH, and glucose levels, and reports to the medical personnel.

The smart bandage also releases antibiotics onto the wound area, preventing infection.

The new method is based on a new antibacterial polymer, structured like a molecular zipper, made from sulfur and nitrogen.

In experiments, wounds closed with the smart dressing healed as fast as those closed with sutures and showed reduced rates of infection, the researchers reported.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Chinese women's federation issues evidence guide on domestic violence

Xinhua) 10:04, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The All-China Women's Federation has released a guide on collecting evidence of domestic violence amid efforts to help victims safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The guide lists validate evidence of domestic violence, including proof of police involvement, police caution for domestic violence, and proof of support from women's federations, social organizations, and employers. The lists also validate medical records and bills, recordings of the abusive process, written undertakings to stop abusive behavior, and testimony of witnesses.

If the abuser makes threats or intimidates the victim via phone calls, text messaging, WeChat messaging, or email, victims should document these with recordings or screenshots, the guide said.

Nov. 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China clamps down on illegal medical beauty products, services

Xinhua) 10:04, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's police authority has stepped up efforts to crack down on illegal medical cosmetic products and services, said the Ministry of Public Security Thursday.

The ministry's food and drug-related crime investigation bureau said in a statement that it requires intensified crackdowns on relevant crimes regarding the production and sales of cosmetic medicine products, unlicensed services, and false advertising in the medical beauty industries.

The crackdowns will also target fraud crimes in the name of medical beauty-related loans, the statement said.

Key links of these industries, including manufacturing enterprises, service providers, and live-streaming platforms, are among the focuses of the inspections and checks in the campaign, it said.

The statement also pledged better coordination to build a synergy with other government departments, including market regulation and health authorities.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China-Laos Railway demonstrates spirit of community with shared future, says Chinese envoy

Xinhua) 10:23, November 26, 2021

Aerial photo taken on July 29, 2020 shows the China-Laos railway over the villages and fields in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

The China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong said.

VIENTIANE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The China-Laos Railway is the road of connectivity and the road of friendship as well, and the project cooperation embodies the spirit of the China-Laos community of a shared future, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong has said.

Referring to the characteristics of and inspirations from the China-Laos Railway, Ambassador Jiang said in a recent interview with Xinhua that it is a project in which the two sides sincerely cooperate and pursue excellence under the guidance of top leadership, and both sides should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

The construction of the railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021.

The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2021 shows the China-Laos Railway's Luang Prabang bridge across the Mekong River in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

Jiang said the project is a major achievement of the docking of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos's development strategy to convert itself from a land-locked country to a land-linked hub.

As a landmark project of China-Laos friendship, the railway carries the aspirations of the two peoples for a better life and demonstrates the strength of solidarity and cooperation between both countries, he said.

The construction of the railway has been receiving strong guidance and promotions from the two countries' top leadership. The relevant departments and local governments of the two countries have worked closely together to open "fast-track lane" for personnel and "green channel" for goods to ensure smooth construction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ambassador noted that due to the complex geological terrain in northern Laos, bridges and tunnels make a significant part of the Lao section.

Photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows the construction site of the China-Laos Railway near the villages and fields in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

The Chinese and Lao engineers have overcome the unfavorable geological condition to build the railway with high standards and sound quality, which has laid a solid foundation to ensure a timely opening of the railway and its smooth operation in the long run.

Jiang noted that the China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity.

The Chinese ambassador suggested that the companies concerned should work on connecting the China-Laos Railway to the Laos-Thailand Railway so as to further connect the networks of the Singapore-Malaysia railway and the China-Europe Railway Express.

Jiang also encouraged comprehensive development along the railway to facilitate the flow of passengers, goods and capital against the pandemic, and to inject impetus for the recovery of the Lao economy and pragmatic cooperation between China and Laos.

The waiting hall of the Vientiane Station of the China-Laos Railway is pictured in Vientiane, Laos, Nov. 20, 2021. (LCRC/Handout via Xinhua)

He also hoped that the railway will improve the people's livelihood in Laos.

The construction of the railway has offered more than 110,000 job opportunities for Lao people. Around 2,000 km of roads and canals have been built along the railway in Laos, according to the Chinese ambassador.

Regarding the future cooperation of both countries, Jiang said that the Chinese side is willing to cooperate with the Lao side on the projects including building a modern oil refinery and the national backbone power grid in Laos, while promoting the Lao cattle export to China.

"Both sides should continue to bring more visible and tangible benefits to the two peoples to demonstrate the spirit of the China-Laos community with a shared future," he said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
45 pct of China's foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 goes to African countries: white paper

Xinhua) 11:10, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- About 45 percent of China's foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 went to African countries, according to a white paper published Friday.

China's foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 totaled 270 billion yuan (about 42.28 billion U.S. dollars). Of this sum, 45 percent went to African countries in the form of grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, said the white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Over 80 pct of Chinese peacekeepers deployed in Afirca: white paper

Xinhua) 11:18, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 80 percent of Chinese peacekeepers have been deployed in Africa since China first took part in UN peacekeeping operations in 1990, according to a white paper published Friday.

Over 30,000 Chinese peacekeepers have been sent to Africa to perform tasks in 17 peacekeeping mission areas, said the white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

More than 1,800 peacekeepers are currently performing missions in five of these areas, namely Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC), Abyei, South Sudan and Western Sahara, it added.

China supports the UN in playing an important role in maintaining peace and stability in Africa, the white paper said, adding that among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, China has sent the largest number of peacekeepers to the continent.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Iraq says 617 stranded migrants evacuated from Belarus

Xinhua) 11:20, November 26, 2021

Stranded Iraqi migrants wait to return to Iraq at Minsk's International Airport in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 25, 2021. The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it has evacuated 617 migrants stranded in Belarus, most of whom are women, children and the elderly. Thousands of migrants have been gathering on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland, in an attempt to enter Poland and then Germany to seek asylum in European countries. (Photo by Henadz Zhinkov/Xinhua)

BAGHDAD, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it has evacuated 617 migrants stranded in Belarus, most of whom are women, children and the elderly.

"The ministry's efforts are continuing to evacuate the migrants voluntarily, and 617 Iraqis are now returned, in coordination with Iraqi Airways, from the Belarusian capital Minsk," Ahmed al-Sahaf, a spokesman of Iraq's Foreign Ministry, told the official Iraqi News Agency.

In an earlier statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stressed the importance of taking all "necessary joint measures to preserve the security and safety of Iraqi citizens and work to avoid any Iraqis becoming a victim of human trafficking networks."

"The Iraqi government is working to bring back all stranded Iraqis voluntarily," al-Kadhimi said.

Earlier in the month, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced the suspension of direct flights to Belarus to protect Iraqi migrants from human trafficking gangs.

Thousands of migrants have been gathering on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland, in an attempt to enter Poland and then Germany to seek asylum in European countries.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Democracy summit wont salvage Uncle Sams sinking reputation

11:24, November 26, 2021 By Qing Ming ( People's Daily Online

Illustration/People's Daily Online

Uncle Sam is in summit mode. First, as a nation with the most COVID-19 cases and deaths and a self-inflicted low vaccination rate, the US hosted a virtue summit last September to discuss such issues as vaccinating the world and saving lives now. Then, last month at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, the worlds biggest GHG contributor of all time stole the scene in an attempt to reclaim its frail leadership . Next month, the US will be holding the so-called Summit for Democracy, a culmination of its dramatic year that is defined by COVID-related tragedies , racial injustice, gun violence, and national division at home, brutal and inhumane treatments of asylum-seekers along the border , and implacable misdeeds aimed at inflaming tensions, fomenting unrest, and fostering instability abroad.

Call it what you wantthe emperor of democracy propagating his stainless and invisible clothing of democracy; a 21st-century Salem witch trial filled with name-calling, blackwashing, and smear campaigns; or a Cold War-like faction game where dissimilarity in social systems is deemed as an irreconcilable riftthe Summit for Democracy wont save the US from its democratic new low. Neither will it erase or ease the sufferings and agonies America has inflicted elsewhere in the name of planting its so-called democracy.

If American leaders have anything to address at the democracy summit, maybe they should start from a confession.

For starters, a confession of a crime against humanity. In the shadow of its medical dystopia where the virus, protests and mandates coexist, over three-quarters of a million Americans have been deprived of the right to life, even with overflowing vaccine doses. Amidst a parallel pandemic of gun violence blended with racismin which a teen carrying an automatic gun can kill two and still get acquittedthe rights and liberty of owning lethal weapons rise up, even though innocent people, be they school children or the elderly or international students , can be gunned down anywhere, at any time. If there are causes of death in a democracy, the US governments inaction and counteraction on COVID-19 mitigation and gun control are definitely among them.

The host of the summit might also need to come clean about its heinous and failed attempts in disseminating its brand of democracy in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, to name but a few, at the expense of civilians livesor collateral damage according to what the superpower and its media backers cold-bloodedly call them. This month, a New York Times expose disclosed a horrifying atrocity committed and covered up by the US military, in which a 2019 US military operation in Syria slew at least 70 women and children for no reason. That number, however, is merely a drop in the bloody ocean that US has bombed out of. According to Statista, US airstrikes have killed at least 22,000 civilians since 9/11 in the aforementioned three nations alone. But look what the US has brought to Afghanistan and its peoplea duplicate of American-style democracy? To borrow a metaphor from the Washington Post, if there was a tinge of democracy in Afghanistan, that democracy died in the storm of shots and shells fired by the US.

Moreover, the US should explain what is in the formula of American-style democracy that has allowed US politicians and American media to have so much pride and prejudice so as to make them always stand in a position of strength when criticizing others despite its numerous wrongdoings. Is it something to do with Americas electoral system in which a losing candidate can still blame his defeat on voter fraud and subsequently incite a Capitol riot? Or is it associated with the fact that policymaking can be easily swayed by lobbyists and the rich elite while politicians can only represent half of the population at any one time?

No democracy is perfect or superior. But with a democratic model as flawed as Uncle Sams, it is just unimaginable to witness it step up to the podium to act as the supreme lecturer and guardian of democracy. It is no less ironic than seeing America hosting a COVID-19 virtue summit when its leaders cant even convince many of its own people to get vaccinated or act responsibly to save lives. Summits of all issues, champion of none. Instead of chanting build back better or making its country great again, why hasnt the US always made every effort to pursue goodness for itself and for the world as a whole?

(Web editor: Meng Bin, Bianji)
Chinese time-honored brands find new ways to rejuvenate business for multiple generations of consumers

People's Daily Online) 13:20, November 26, 2021

It will take about half an hour, a manager said, preparing customers for the long wait as they snaked slowly in batches into a newly-opened Beijing Daoxiangcun store.

The outlet is situated at the same location where the time-honored food brand resumed operations back in 1984 at Dongsibei Street in Beijing. It was named store zero, a place to begin afresh with surprising new products.

A staff member of Daoxiangcun, a time-honored food brand, takes freshly baked pastries out of an oven at the brands new store situated at its original founding address. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

When our store opened in late August, some customers queued up for two hours for our pastries, said the store manager Rao Fengqin, revealing that the brand has won growing popularity among customers.

After entering our store, young customers will take photos while senior residents living in nearby neighborhoods will also have a look around, Rao said, explaining that a wall that features the brands culture and some unique ornaments can only be found at the store zero location.

In order to reach out to the next generation of customers, Beijing Daoxiangcun entrusted the interior design of the store zero outlet to a young team led by Li Weiqi, chief creative officer of a Beijing-based company.

We selected the most representative elements of the brand with a history of over 100 years and redesigned them to attract younger generations, who are fond of an immersive experience and value innovation, Li said.

Like Daoxiangcun, Beibingyang, a traditional soft drink brand based in the city, also opened a store situated at the address of its predecessors founding location, an ice-making factory built in 1936. The store, which despite being located along a narrow traditional hutong alleyway that allows only one-way traffic, has attracted numerous young people and nearby residents.

By opening new stores based on their original founding address, time-honored brands are aiming to create a scenario whereby consumers will link the past with the present, said Shen Ye, head of a research team on time-honored brands from the Institute of Cultural Economy at Tsinghua University.

In this way, Chinas time-honored brands, including Daoxiangcun, aim to utilize nostalgia and social interactions to restore their former glory.

Shen noted that the Daoxiangcun stores are also where consumers, especially local residents, will be able to enjoy social interactions with one another.

Shens view was echoed by Cao Siyuan, a woman born in the 1990s in Beijing who also serves as a project manager for Daoxiangcuns store zero outlet. Cao pointed out that her childhood memories about the brand are closely connected to past life experiences, including times when relatives would visit each other during the Spring Festival while enjoying some of the brands pastries and chatting away merrily.

So far, Cao and her team have launched 24 different kinds of freshly baked pastries and drinks, including traditional pastries, along with new products inspired by themes revolving around Chinese chess, Beijing hutongs, and Peking opera, as well as Beijing-style milk tea.

For most of our products, we draw inspiration from the citys culture and residents own living habits. Daoxiangcun, as a part of the citys culture, has attracted all age groups, including both youth and the elderly, Cao said, adding that the opening of the store zero outlet was not meant to cater to a specific age group but instead aimed to continue fostering connections with and between consumers.

To some extent, continuing to build emotional links with customers and preserve memories is what distinguishes time-honored brands from new and emerging brands, said Shen Ye.

Meanwhile, continuous innovation is the key to the rejuvenation of Chinas time-honored brands, Shen said. For example, the store zero outlet under the Daoxiaocun brand has launched new products, and Beijingyang has meanwhile rolled out new drinks alongside other cultural and innovative products.

Shen suggested that time-honored brands should seek to develop innovative products, services and business forms that truly represent their brands unique culture.

There are currently 1,128 time-honored brands that have obtained official recognition from Chinas Ministry of Commerce. According to the ministry, 84 percent of these brands realized profits in 2019, and about 75 percent managed to make profits in 2020, despite the negative impacts brought by the COVID-19 outbreak.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
China denounces "debt trap" smears on China-Africa cooperation

Xinhua) 13:53, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese official on Friday denounced the allegation that China has created so-called debt traps for African countries.

The allegation is a cliche and has been disproved by a wide range of research conducted by governments, scholars, and institutes across the globe, said Wu Peng, head of the department of African affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press conference.

Not a single developing country has fallen into the so-called debt traps because of Chinese loans, Wu said.

He added that development is the solution to African countries' debt issue.

In recent years, African countries have been striving to boost social development, however, the funding shortage acts as a major bottleneck constraining Africa's development, according to Wu.

As a genuine partner of Africa, China has been taking the funding needs of African countries seriously, while paying high attention to their debt sustainability, according to Wu.

He said that China has been supporting the move to ease African countries' debt burden and actively implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has the highest deferral amount among G20 members.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China had announced the cancellation of 15 African countries' debt in the form of interest-free government loans that were due to mature by the end of 2020, Wu said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China pledges to enhance cooperation with Zimbabwe

Xinhua) 13:58, November 26, 2021

HARARE, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun on Thursday reaffirmed China's commitment to enhancing its strategic cooperation with Zimbabwe.

China's assistance to and support for Zimbabwe are based on the historical sisterly relationship that exists between the two countries, Guo told a media briefing.

"A handful of rogue journalists, media agencies, non-governmental organizations keep making up slanderous stories against China. There is no evidence to the stories," Guo said.

Investigations carried out by Zimbabwe's largest daily newspaper the Herald recently revealed that the United States is funding and training local reporters to write anti-China stories and discredit Chinese investments.

Guo said that China will continue to support Zimbabwe by pursuing non-interference policies for mutual benefit.

"We respect Zimbabwe and try to help Zimbabwe. We always pursue mutual benefits and put the greater good first," he said.

The ambassador also said China will never forget Africa's assistance to its effort to restore its lawful seat in the United Nations 50 years ago.

China now remains a main foreign investor in Zimbabwe, with investments in Zimbabwe's agriculture and the energy sector, as well as for the upgrading of its telecommunication networks and the construction of a new Parliament building.

In addition, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China has donated the critically needed ventilators, personal protective supplies, and vaccines to assist Zimbabwe's fight against the pandemic.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China sends 23,000 medical team members to Africa, treating 230 mln patients: white paper

Xinhua) 14:00, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has sent a total of 23,000 medical team members to Africa, who have treated 230 million patients over the past 58 years, said a white paper released Friday.

At present, there are nearly 1,000 Chinese medical workers in 45 African countries, working at 98 medical centers, according to a white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

To date, China has helped 18 African countries establish 20 centers in different medical specialties, covering cardiology, critical care medicine, trauma and endoscopy.

Paired cooperation mechanisms have been established between the Chinese side and 45 hospitals in 40 African countries, the white paper said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China actively supplies Africa with COVID-19 vaccines: white paper

Xinhua) 14:01, November 26, 2021

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has supplied 50 African countries and the African Union (AU) Commission with COVID-19 vaccines in support of their battle against the pandemic, said a white paper released Friday.

They are among the over 110 countries and international organizations to which China had provided over 1.7 billon doses of COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 12, 2021, said the white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

In addition to donating 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccine to developing countries including those in Africa, it noted.

Also, Chinese firms are actively engaging in joint vaccine production in Africa with local firms, helping countries, in accordance with their wishes, to realize localized vaccine production, it added.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Inheritors pass down intangible cultural heritage of traditional incense craft in SE Chinas Yongchun county

People's Daily Online) 14:06, November 26, 2021

Pu Lianggong is the 10th generation inheritor of a line of local incense-making crafts that runs in his family in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province.

Pu Lianggong produces materials for making incense in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

Pus Arab ancestors brought spices with them along the ancient maritime Silk Road and settled in Quanzhou to trade spices during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

In 1646, one of Pus ancestors moved to the Hankou village of Dapu town in Yongchun county, bringing with him traditional Arabic incense-making skills. Since then, Pus ancestors began their tradition of making Yongchun incense by using natural spices and Chinese herbs.

Pu Lianggong weighs incense powder in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

As a family tradition, Pu started to learn to recognize hundreds of different kinds of spices at the age of 5. When he was 9, he was taught the ancient craft of making Yongchun incense.

The craft consists of more than 10 procedures, including dipping incense sticks into water, flipping and rolling them in incense powder, and then drying them.

Pu revealed that he needed to combine dozens of spices and herbs in order to make incense. It might take two or three generations to develop a product of such classic quality, the craftsman said.

Pu added that his family would continue to pass down the traditional craft to future generations.

Pu Lianggong makes incense in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

With a history of more than 300 years, the craft of making Yongchun incense earned a place on the list of provincial intangible cultural heritage in 2017. This year, it was also listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Today, the incense industry continues to flourish in Yongchun county. So far, the county has 20 inheritors of the local incense-making craft at the provincial, city and county levels.

Pu Lianggong makes incense in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

With an 80-hectare incense industrial park, Yongchun is home to about 300 incense manufacturers, with more than 30,000 people working in the industry. These manufacturers sell their products under as many as 300 categories to Europe, the US, and southeastern Asian countries. It is said that one in every three incense sticks sold across the world is made in the countys Dapu town. The output value for the incense industry in the county has already hit 10.2 billion yuan (about $1.6 billion).

Pu Lianggong makes incense in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

Pu Lianggong flips incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

Pu Lianggong makes incense in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

Workers dry incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

Workers dry incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

Workers dry incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

Workers dry incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

Workers dry incense sticks in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Zhang Wenqing)

Photo shows an incense industrial park in Yongchun county, Quanzhou city of southeast Chinas Fujian Province. (Photo/Kang Qingping)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji)
Chinese FM meets Hungarian counterpart via video link

Xinhua) 15:03, November 26, 2021

HANGZHOU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto via video link on Thursday.

Noting that China and Hungary are comprehensive strategic partners with fruitful cooperation outcomes, Wang said the two countries have always shown mutual respect, trust and support, forging a model of win-win cooperation between countries of different systems.

In regards to Lithuania's allowing the establishment of so-called "Taiwanese representative office," Wang reiterated China's firm opposition to any acts aimed at creating "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," saying China is firmly resolved to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Szijjarto said that cooperation with China is supported by the Hungarian people and no external force can influence or change the country's friendly policies towards China.

Hungary firmly adheres to the one-China policy, respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and firmly supports China's legitimate position, said the Hungarian foreign minister.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Biden's China strategy stirs concern at home and abroad: Business Insider

Xinhua) 16:36, November 26, 2021

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The foreign-policy strategy by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, which prioritizes contest with China, is running into "angst" at home and abroad, Business Insider has said.

In an article published Wednesday, the U.S. media outlet said that the Biden administration has made clear that it wants to "focus on competition with China" and "reduce the U.S. footprint in theaters seen as less vital to U.S. interests."

Washington's moves in the Middle East, such as withdrawing from Afghanistan, planning to remove combat troops from Iraq and scaling back elsewhere, have prompted allies and partners to "seek reassurances about the U.S. support for their security," it said.

These moves are part of a broader effort to ensure the U.S. military's global presence "is correctly sized and supports strategy," informed by a Pentagon review, the article said, adding that such moves "have already caused concern overseas."

The administration is caught in a dilemma as it tries "to develop a more disciplined foreign-policy strategy" while heading toward "a hazily defined, global contest with China," it said, quoting Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
China will maintain a green development strategy under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, further protecting the country's natural resources and contributing its experiences to global ecological conservation. During the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from Nov 8 to 11, a resolution was passed on the Party's major achievements and historical experience in the past century. "Since the Party's 18th National Congress, the Central Committee has devoted greater efforts than ever before to ecological conservation. The whole Party and the entire nation have become more conscious and active in pursuing green development, and made significant progress in building a Beautiful China," said the resolution. It noted that the CPC Central Committee has emphasized that ecological conservation is of vital importance for the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. "To protect the environment is to protect the productive forces, and to improve the environment is to boost the productive forces," said the resolution. Since 2012, the development of ecological civilizationa concept aiming to promote green developmenthas gained greater momentum as the idea that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" (also known as the "Two Mountains Theory") conceptualized by President Xi Jinping, has taken root in the country. In the report to the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, ecological development was included as a major task in the country's overall plan and the report proposed building a "Beautiful China" as a grand goal for ecological progress. Eco-civilization was also included in the CPC Constitution as a principle for development during the meeting. It was the first time in the world that a ruling party had highlighted green development in its guidelines. According to the resolution, the country's environmental protection endeavors have resulted in sweeping, historic and transformative changes. A total of 35.27 hectares of trees were planted, while the vegetation coverage of grassland increased to 55.7 percent, according to the statistics from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. Moreover, the country has established nature reserves covering 18 percent of its total territory. Those reserves have protected 90 percent of the country's plants and 85 percent of the wild animals. It also initiated its first pilot program to construct grassland nature parks last year, with 39 pilot parks launched covering a total of 147,000 hectares of grassland in 11 provinces and autonomous regions. Thanks to these resolute efforts on environmental protection, some endangered wild species in China have witnessed stable population growth in the past five years. By the end of last year, the number of the giant pandas had reached 1,864 after decades of steadfast conservation efforts to protect their habitat. The crested ibis, an endangered bird known as "the oriental gem" that was once thought to be extinct, has also witnessed stable population growth, rebounding from less than 10 to more than 4,000. "In the past five years, we've spared no efforts to perfect the country's wildlife protection regulations and management rules and maintained a firm resolve in cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade. All those efforts will be further strengthened in the future," said Zhang Zhizhong, head of the administration's wildlife protection department. The resolution noted that China will continue to advance law-based governance in all respects, uphold the core socialist values, ensure and enhance people's well-being in the course of development, and promote harmony between humanity and nature. The statement has been echoed by the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), in which multiple measures will be taken to improve the environment with some specific goals set for the next five years. Under the plan, the vegetation coverage of grassland in China is expected to reach 57 percent by 2025. Moreover, more than half of the country's wetland will be protected and 60 percent of the sandy land will be under control. Also, some vigorous measures and policies will be taken by China's forestry authorities, such as the expansion of areas of grassland and forests to fulfill its commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. "China has promoted its own approach to climate governance that highlights green recovery. The forestry authorities at all levels will strengthen our green industries, further contributing to our commitment to climate change," said Li Chunliang, deputy director of the administration. The resolution also emphasized that China must act with greater resolve to promote green, circular and low-carbon development, and adhere to a model of sustainable development featuring increased production, higher living standards and a healthy ecosystem. Currently, the Ministry of Natural Resources is also speeding up the establishment of a national territory spatial planning systema 15-year plan on the use and protection of the country's natural resources, which prioritizes environmental protection. Wang Hong, vice-minister of natural resources, said related regulations and management guidance will be made. "We will stick to the principles of prioritized environmental protection and green development to promote sustainable development."


Five students were awarded 120,000 yuan (about $18,792) for avoiding major equipment damages in the laboratory, according to Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale at the University of Science and Technology of China on Nov. 24th.

A water leak occurred in a chemistry laboratory and affected the laboratory of quantum computer Jiuzhang downstairs at around 2 am last Sunday. The leak from the upstairs lab attracted the attention of a student in the computer lab first. As he immediately called other students in the neighboring labs to drain water together, and promptly informed the property management, only one computer was damaged in this incident.

The reason for those students still at the laboratories at 2 am was that they needed to measure one more set of data after yesterdays discussion, one professor said.

Due to the five students timely disposal, huge economic losses and delay of scientific research tasks were avoided. Therefore, the lab decided to award them a total of 120,000 yuan after taxes.

(By Li Ruichuan)
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday voiced firm opposition to an Indian military official's recent remarks which claimed that China is a threat to India.

Calling the Indian official's comments "provocative," Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, said hyping up "China threat" has severely breached the strategic guidance set by leaders of the two countries that China and India pose no threat to each other.

Inciting geopolitical confrontation is both irresponsible and dangerous, Wu said, adding that the Chinese border troops are determined to safeguard national sovereignty and security and are also dedicated to maintaining peace and stability along the border.

He expressed hopes that the Indian side can meet China half way and jointly maintain sound development of bilateral ties.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday said that the United States should compensate the families of Syrian victims of an airstrike by the U.S. armed forces and bring those responsible to justice.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks responding to a U.S. airstrike in 2019 that killed civilians, including women and children, in Syria. Following the media disclosure early this month, the U.S. Central Command reportedly said the airstrike was "legitimate."

"Syrian lives also matter," Wu stressed, adding that, through the incident, the U.S. side has shown its arrogance, hypocrisy and double standards on human rights issues.

Wu also described the U.S. move as a "stain and shame" on the history of human rights and urged the United States to cease its interference in the internal affairs of other countries, earnestly respect and protect human rights, and prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Army Engineering University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will host the second international army forum on military education from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, a Chinese defense spokesman announced Thursday.

Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said that the forum will revolve around future trends, challenges and solutions in the cultivation of junior army officers.

Representatives from military academies in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Egypt and Pakistan will attend the forum online and 12 academies of the PLA Army will send representatives to the main meeting venue in Nanjing.

The forum aims to contribute insights into the reform of military education in a post-pandemic era and build a platform for international exchanges and cooperation on military education, said Wu.
The United States should not expect the Chinese military to compromise on the Taiwan question, a spokesman said on Thursday.

"We have repeatedly stressed that China has a principle in dealing with relations with the US military. The principle is that our national sovereignty, dignity and core interests can't be jeopardized, which is especially applicable when it comes to the Taiwan question  there is no room for compromise in our position and the US shall not have any illusion about that," Ministry of National Defense spokesman Senior Colonel Wu Qian said at a news conference in Beijing.

He made the remarks when responding to a question on the Chinese military's expectations on bilateral military ties after the Nov 16 virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden.

Wu said that one of the meeting's achievements was that it had pointed out the development direction for military-to-military relations and injected new momentum into such ties.

"The military ties are important parts of the overall bilateral relations," he said. "Maintaining good, stable military-to-military relations is in the interest of both nations and is the shared hope of the international community.

"President Xi has emphasized that China and the US must find the right way of dealing with each other and this is the most important matter in the global system for the coming 50 years.

"The Chinese military is willing to work with the US to take practical steps to honor the presidents' meeting; uphold the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation; adopt farsighted and practical perspectives; strengthen communication, exchange and cooperation; and appropriately handle our divergences so that we can improve the bilateral military relations to benefit the peoples of both countries and the rest of the world."

However, the US side has made a lot of irresponsible statements and provocative acts in terms of the Taiwan question, the South China Sea and its close reconnaissance by air and naval forces, prompting the Chinese military to respond through firm, targeted actions, Wu said.

In response to a request for comment on claims by some US officials and media reports saying China is a major threat to the US, Wu said those pursuing and being obsessed with hegemony always fear that others would replace them.

"For a long time, some people in the US have indulged themselves in the persecutory delusion, and have kept fabricating the so-called Chinese military threat. Such acts are merely intended to find excuses for their efforts to seek absolute military supremacy and global hegemony," Wu said, adding that those people are affected by their wrong perceptions about China.
The screenshot shows the notice released by the Weihai Maritime Safety Administration on the website of China's Maritime Safety Administrationon November 25, 2021.

BEIJING, Nov. 26 -- According to a notice released by China's Weihai Maritime Safety Administration on Thursday, military exercises will be carried out in waters of the Yellow Sea from November 26 to December 1, 2021.

YELLOW SEA

MILITARY EXERCISES 0200UTC TO 0600UTC DAILY FROM 26 NOV TO 01 DEC IN AREA BOUNDED BY THE LINES JIONING:

37-39.5N/121-52.0E;

37-33.0N/121-52.0E;

37-33.0N/121-59.5E;

37-39.5N/121-59.5EENTERING PROHIBITED.

SHANDONG MSA CHINA.
By Wu Minwen

The Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation recently announced that Russia had begun to deliver the S-400 air defense missile systems to India. The US, who has been objecting military cooperation between the two countries, failed to tank this deal.

For a long time, the US has been courting India to intensify its strategic containment of China. While India, who seeks to elevate international standing and gain some ground on the border dispute with China, has been trying to have it both ways between Russia and the US. However, India's self-serving calculation seems unrealistic.

There is a long-standing contradiction between the US and Russia. Nowadays Washington said to improve the ties with Moscow, while on the other hand, it aggravated the discord between its European allies and Russia. No country could succeed in putting money on both sides with two conflicting countries.

The incompatibility between American and Russian weapon systems is also a challenge for India. Since the days of the Soviet Union, India has been highly reliant on Russian weapons. But the Russian weapons and American ones lack compatibility with totally different technical specifications. The Indian troops have had a hard time achieving basic coordination in training, and the overall efficiency in wartime remains a question.

Besides, Countries strong in military technology have been generous and uninhibited in selling arms to India, which makes its arsenal a big pot of medley and makes it difficult for the Indian military to change this situation and rely less on weaponry import. It is strengths and actions that decide Indias position in the alliance. Not based on an even footing and leveraged only on the mixture of weapons and equipment, it might be a bit naive for India to imagine being in a major country position to try its hand with the US and Russia.

On November 11, Indias Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat named China enemy number one. "India needs the United States and Russia, both We need both to be on our sides if we have to fight China if the need arises," he hoped. However, it might be nothing more than his wishful thinking.

Indias domination in the Indian Ocean isnt in USs interests. A key principle of USs foreign policy and military strategy is that it will try and nip any regional domination that might shake its own global hegemony. Therefore, Indias domination in the Indian Ocean isnt in USs interests, so Washingtons military support to New Delhi will definitely follow a line, that is, to achieve its own strategic goal through India while keeping it from interfering in and damaging USs interests.

In the meantime, the close Russia-India ties will dilute Washingtons trust in and expectation for New Delhi. The US doesnt like its allies using Russian weapons not only because that would make the allies rely less on itself, impair the alliances cohesion, and hurt its own arms sales, but also because it would threaten the combat system of the American military. Modern warfare is a systematic project that has a lethal flaw  any local defeat would collapse the whole system. Thats the underlying reason why the US emphasizes the importance of keeping Russian weapons out of its allies weapon systems.

The close military relation between Russia and India has changed the way the US sees India. First, the listing of names at the Quad talks changed from the US, Japan, India and Australia to the US, Japan, Australia and India; then India was excluded from the newly formed trilateral regime AUKUS. Therefore, Indias dream to have it both ways between Russia and the US will be nothing but a pipe dream, either strategically or tactically.

(Editor's note: The author is from the College of Information and Communication, National University of Defense Technology. This article is originally published on China Youth Daily, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.)
BEIJING, Nov. 26 -- The Shandong Provincial High Peoples Court announced the final judgment on the massive smuggling case, which involved RMB 12.3 billion in total, solved by the Shandong Provincial Coast Guard and Shandong Provincial Public Security authorities.

The captain and first mate of the large foreign smuggling cargo ship (the so-called mother ship) were sentenced to seven and six years in prison separately on the charge of smuggling of general cargo. They will be evicted and the ship involved will be confiscated.

Featuring a large amount of money involved and frozen, the case is the first time that China Coast Guard (CCG) busted and confiscated a foreign smuggling mother ship in Chinese waters and rooted up the smuggling ring along the whole chain from procurement overseas, transshipment on the sea, to distribution in China.
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin respectively sent congratulatory letters to the closing ceremony of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation on Friday.

In his message, Xi recalled that when the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation opened in August 2020, he and President Putin respectively sent letters to express their congratulations and high expectations.

For more than a year, Xi said, China and Russia have joined their hands, overcome the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and carried out in a creative fashion more than 1,000 cooperation and exchange activities related to scientific and technological innovation.

He also noted that the two countries have actively facilitated the achievement of fruitful cooperation in such fields as pandemic prevention and control, aerospace and aviation, nuclear energy, and digital economy, while highlighting the successful launch of the China-Russia science and technology innovation fund and important cooperation progress in major strategic projects.

It has been proved that there is a great potential, as well as a broad prospect, for the China-Russia cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, he said.

Xi stressed that China and Russia, which are each other's largest neighbors, have jointly been playing an increasingly important role in the current international political and economic arena.

The Chinese president called on the two sides to uphold the concept of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and push forward cooperation in various fields in a practical manner.

He also urged the two sides to promote bilateral relations to a higher level, higher quality and higher standards, and to inject new impetus into the forging of a new type of international relations, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In his congratulatory letter, Putin said with joint efforts from both sides, the Russia-China Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation has been a success, which has fully demonstrated the significance of undertaking bilateral scientific and technological cooperation under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Over the past two years, Russian and Chinese scientific researchers have overcome the impact of the pandemic and carried out more than 1,000 scientific research activities, he said.

Principal results from the cooperation, he underlined, includes China's participation in the construction of the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider facility (NICA), a large-scale scientific facility, and the establishment of the Russian-China Mathematical Center by both sides.

Putin said he believes the two sides will continue to uphold the notion of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and continue to inject strong impetus into the promotion of all-round cooperation between Russia and China.

The China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation concluded on Friday.
The number of Japanese restaurants in Korea has more than tripled from 5,272 in 2006 to 17,290 this year. The bustling commercial districts near Hongik University in northwestern Seoul, posh Gangnam south of the Han River and Seoul National University in southern Seoul are now packed with Japanese restaurants.

Japanese restaurants now swamp trendy neighborhoods in Seoul, making some of them look like the back streets of Tokyo.

When Korea opened its door to Japanese pop culture some two decades ago, many feared that it would lead to a cultural invasion and wipe out Korean culture. But 20 years on, it is the Japanese who have become big fans of K-pop and dramas, while Koreans have embraced Japanese food.

So popular are Japanese-style restaurants that they have become the favorite business venture among Koreans in their 30s and 40s who quit their office jobs.

One culinary school in Gangnam is filled with people learning how to make Japanese food and baked goods. Sohn Woo-hyung (45), who quit his job at an IT company this year, said, "I started learning to cook Japanese food because I feel that I can make a success of a restaurant business if I focus on a few good dishes."

Most of the students are former office workers who quit their day jobs. Tetsu Nakamura, the head of the school, said, "More than 70 percent of my students are people in their 30s and 40s who plan to start their own restaurants. When I opened my school nine years ago, the only Japanese restaurants in Seoul were sushi places, but now there are many selling anything from home-style food to desserts."

Moon Jung-hoon at Seoul National University said, "As more and more Koreans prefer to eat either alone or in small groups, demand has risen for the simple dishes available in Japanese restaurants. People tend to think of Western and Chinese food as heavy and Japanese meals simpler and lighter, which seems to coincide with the latest consumer trend."

Also fueling the demand is the surging number of Korean tourists who visit Japan. Some 73.6 percent of the 7.14 million Koreans who traveled there last year said the food was a main reason.

"In the past, Koreans usually traveled to Japan to go shopping in Tokyo's Shinjuku or relax at a hot springs resort, but nowadays a growing number of visitors go to Japan to try out Michelin-rated and other famous restaurants," said Yoo Jin at the Japan Tourism Agency.
The British government announced that it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon Friday, and that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test. U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were concerns the new variant "may be more transmissible" than the dominant delta strain and "the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective" against it.

The WHO's technical working group is to meet Friday to assess the new variant and may decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet.

South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in new infections, Phaahla said at an online press briefing. "Over the last four or five days, there has been more of an exponential rise," he said, adding that the new variant appears to be driving the spike in cases. Scientists in South Africa are working to determine what percentage of the new cases have been caused by the new variant. Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers from South Africa, he said.

The coronavirus evolves as it spreads, and many new variants, including those with worrying mutations, often just die out. Scientists monitor for possible changes that could make the virus more transmissible or deadly, but sorting out whether new variants will have a public health impact can take time.

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province, Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday.

 'Constellation' of Mutations

The new variant has a "constellation of new mutations," said Tulio de Oliveira, from the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, who has tracked the spread of the delta variant in the country.

The "very high number of mutations is a concern for predicted immune evasion and transmissibility," de Oliveira said. "This new variant has many, many more mutations," including more than 30 to the spike protein that affects transmissibility, he said. "We can see that the variant is potentially spreading very fast. We do expect to start seeing pressure in the health care system in the next few days and weeks."

De Oliveira said a team of scientists from seven South African universities was studying the variant. They have 100 whole genomes of it and expect to have many more in the next few days, he said. "We are concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant," he said. One piece of good news is that it can be detected by a PCR test, he said.

After a period of relatively low transmission in which South Africa recorded just more than 200 new confirmed cases per day, in the past week the daily new cases rapidly increased to more than 1,200 on Wednesday. On Thursday, they jumped to 2,465.

The first surge was in Pretoria and the surrounding Tshwane metropolitan area and appeared to be cluster outbreaks from student gatherings at universities in the area, said Phaahla, the health minister. Amid the rise in cases, scientists studied the genomic sequencing and discovered the new variant.

 Seriousness Required

"This is clearly a variant that we must be very serious about," said Ravindra Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge. "It has a high number of spike mutations that could affect transmissibility and immune response." Gupta said scientists in South Africa needed time to determine if the surge in new cases was attributable to the new variant. "There is a high probability that this is the case," he said. "South African scientists have done an incredible job of identifying this quickly and bringing it to the world's attention."

South African officials had warned that a new resurgence was expected from mid-December to early January and had hoped to prepare for that by getting many more people vaccinated, Phaahla said.

About 41 percent of South Africa's adults have been vaccinated and the number of shots being given per day is relatively low, at fewer than 130,000, significantly below the government's target of 300,000 per day.

South Africa has about 16.5 million doses of vaccines, by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, in the country and is expecting delivery of about 2.5 million more in the next week, according to Nicholas Crisp, acting director-general of the national health department. "We are getting in vaccines faster than we are using them at the moment," Crisp said. "So for some time now, we have been deferring deliveries, not decreasing orders, but just deferring our deliveries so that we don't accumulate and stockpile vaccines." South Africa, with a population of 60 million, has recorded more than 2.9 million COVID-19 cases including more than 89,000 deaths.

To date, the delta variant remains by far the most infectious and has crowded out other once-worrying variants including alpha, beta and mu. According to sequences submitted by countries worldwide to the world's biggest public database, more than 99 percent are delta.
African health officials say the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed on the continent, raising concerns about stopping the pandemic. They are calling on Africans to get inoculated as soon as vaccine arrives through the COVAX initiative, which aims for equitable, global access.

The World Health Organization African Region also is warning people against lowering their guard during this festive period. Speaking at a virtual press briefing Thursday, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the number of Africans seeking COVID-19 vaccinations has gone down.

"Only 55 percent of the vaccines that have arrived have been used in the continent. That's a really unacceptable situation because of distribution which means that if people want to be vaccinated, they can be vaccinated. We are making an appeal to everyone in the continent who has access to vaccines to go get their vaccines and thats the only way we can protect ourselves," he said.

The continent's health agency says the slow pace of inoculations is not about hesitancy or lack of vaccine, but moving the vaccine from the airport to people's arms.


Six new restaurants scored one star in this year's guide: Goryori Ken, Soseoul Hannam, Sushi Matsumoto, Sushi Sanghyeon, YUN Seoul, Kojacha and Hane, and five of them at least serve partly Japanese food, bringing the total starred Japanese restaurants in the Korean capital to eight.

The latest Michelin Guide Seoul published on Thursday awards its coveted stars to 33 restaurants, many of them Japanese or Japanese-inflected rather than Korean.

Just two years ago, there was only one Japanese restaurant among the starred eateries in Seoul, but now there are as many of them as there are Korean restaurants.

Sushi Matsumoto, Sushi Sanghyeon and Hane are all sushi restaurants, reflecting the never-ending popularity of the fish-and-rice delicacies.

Two Korean restaurants landed two stars, but one of them is closed until early next year. Soseoul Hannam in Yongsan is helmed by chef Eom Tae-cheol, who cooks traditional Korean food with a modern twist, while YUN Seoul is a Korean-style tavern serving traditional liquor, which is why it closed during the coronavirus pandemic and will not reopen until March.

Instead, innovative chef Kim Do-yun went to New York to research new ingredients. When the Chosun Ilbo asked Michelin about the closure, it promised to list the fact on its website.

Since 2016, when the first Seoul guide was published, Korean restaurants Gaon and La Yeon have had three stars, while Korean restaurant Joo Ok has risen from one star last year to two this year.

The rising might of Japanese restaurants has spurred rumors that the Michelin reviewers are not as impartial as they might seem because it coincided with the end of sponsorship from the Korea Tourism Organization last year. One industry insider said, "After the sponsorship ended, there are rumors that Michelin Guide stopped giving extra points to Korean food."

Bib Gourmand, which lists the best cheap-and-cheerful restaurants, naturally focused on noodle joints. About 25 of the 61 restaurants chosen this year serve noodles, be it ramen or pasta.

"There has been an increase in the number of restaurants serving noodles from a wide range of countries, such as kalguksu and naengmyeon as well as pasta, udon, pad thai and Taiwanese beef noodles," a Michelin staffer said.
Booster jabs seem to cause fewer side effects than first or second coronavirus vaccinations.

Some 2.26 million Koreans had had their booster shots as of Thursday morning, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and only 19.4 percent have reported side effects, compared to 34.3 percent of those who had complained of side effects after earlier shots.

Some 17 percent of booster recipients complained of local reactions like swelling at the site of injection and 18.3 percent of general reactions like muscle pain and fever. The proportions were 31.9 percent and 33.7 percent respectively for the earlier shots.

"The U.S. National Institutes of Health has also found that booster side effects are similar to earlier vaccinations and that there's no statistically significant difference between ages or vaccines," the KDCA said.

KDCA chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said, "We hope to finish giving booster jabs to the over-60s in December, but interpersonal contact needs to be reduced to some extent for four weeks" before their immunity is boosted.

Meanwhile, concerns are rising abroad about a new South African variant of COVID-19 that may be more virulent. The Guardian daily warned of the emergence of B.1.1.529, which has been described as "the worst COVID-19 variant yet." The variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein, compared to 16 for the Delta variant, which suggests it could break through immunity more easily.


A rapid surge in coronavirus infection cases in Korea has brought the daily number of severe cases to 617 as of Friday morning. The number of deaths also rose to a record 39, and some of those who died had been waiting for hospital beds. The occupancy rate of hospital beds for severe cases rose to 83.9 percent in the metropolitan area. In Seoul, 295 out of just 345 available hospital beds were occupied, with just a handful of beds available in five major hospitals. With that, the ICU bed occupancy rate has surpassed the 75 percent level the government set as a threshold when it would reconsider the gradual return to normal that began on Nov. 1. Considering the shortage of medical staff and the time it takes for COVID-19 patients to recover, an 80-percent hospital bed occupancy makes it almost impossible to accept more patients.

But why are so few beds available in the first place? Korea has a population of 58 million, but the available ICU beds range in the hundreds. In advanced countries of comparable size, available beds number in the high thousands. Medical experts had been warning since last summer of a surge in infections in winter and urged the government to secure enough hospital beds ahead of time. They also advised the government to set up separate treatment facilities for severe COVID patients or set aside existing wards for them and allocate equipment and workers there. Securing hospital beds is a basic requirement of dealing with the outbreak of any infectious disease. Until now, the government had assured the public that it is making preparations to deal with 5,000 or even 10,000 infections a day. But it is a mystery how.

The government's budget for this year was W558 trillion, and six supplementary budgets have been created totaling tens of trillions of won to deal with the pandemic since last year (US$1=W1,191). The government handed out W55.8 trillion in coronavirus relief payouts so far. If the government had spent just 1/1,000 of that money to secure hospital beds, the country would not be facing this emergency. The government should be accused not just of complacency, but dereliction of duty. Winter is just around the corner and the number of infections and severe cases are highly likely to rise further. What is to be done in this life-threatening situation that is wholly due to the government's unbelievable lack of preparation?


Doctors care for newborns in quarantined hospital

By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-11-26 16:09

Pediatricians have become temporary moms and dads for newborn babies in the citys Ruijin Hospital which is now under lockdown due to the epidemic.

In the hospital, a baby who is only 9 days old has to stay in a phototherapy box where there is a blue ray lamp to treat hemolysis. With the medical staffs careful care, the newborn is now in good recovery. However, her reunion with her parents was delayed because of the new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in Shanghai.

Due to epidemic control, the babys parents are not allowed to enter the hospital for the time being. But they can rest assured because doctors in the newborn wards are acting as the babys moms and dads. Some female doctors even set up a cot next to the infant incubator to take better care of her.
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Press Release

November 26, 2021 Reprimand police commander of cop involved in indiscriminate firing - Dela Rosa SENATOR Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa proposed that in the event that indiscriminate firing occurs involving a cop, aside from the violator and his or her immediate supervisor, the police commander of the area of the incident must also be reprimanded. Dela Rosa, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, made the suggestion as an administrative policy to the newly-installed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Police General Dionardo Carlos, during the public hearing on Wednesday on Senate Bill No. 1531 and House Bill No. 6123, which both seek to impose stiffer penalties for indiscriminate firing and discharge of firearms. ?Currently, the administrative policy of the PNP is to immediately relieve just the police officer who committed indiscriminate firing of firearm and firearm discharge and his or her immediate supervisor. "Siguro mas maganda, isang pulis nagpaputok... ang 'tatamaan' dito is dalawa, 'yung kanyang immediate supervisor at tsaka 'yung commander noong area kung saan siya nagpaputok. Mas maganda 'yun," he said. Carlos welcomed the suggestion and told Dela Rosa, "Yes sir, that can be done." "About indiscriminate firing, 'yung area commander doon, 'yung chief of police nuong municipality kung saan siya (violator) nagpaputok, ibig sabihin hindi sila nagpapatrolya. 'Yung chief of police, hindi sila nag-implement ng, 'yung policy natin na maximum deployment... Pero kung nahuli nila ('yung violator), ibang usapan naman 'yun, di ba? 'Pag nagpaputok tapos nahuli nila, nahuli nuong area commander, ibang usapan 'yun. Pero 'pag hindi nahuli, ibig sabihin pabaya sila. Parang ganun na administrative policies natin," Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa, a former chief of the PNP, even recalled an ?incident in December of last year when an off-duty policeman assigned in the National Capital Region Police Office shot and killed a mother and her son in Tarlac. Carlos also said the PNP is still implementing the practice Dela Rosa initiated when he was the PNP chief of deploying more police personnel from the headquarters to police stations that have jurisdiction over the communities in the provinces where they will spend the holiday season. "This brings the number of our policemen, the bigger number of our policemen on the streets... Send them to their provinces, or their communities, but they will be performing their duties as police officers. Hitting two birds with one stone, they are with their families but at the same time they are serving the communities," Carlos said. "Napakaganda po, dapat i-institutionalize n'yo 'yung practice na 'yun, plus with this proposed measure [Senate Bill No. 1531], mas lalong matatakot 'yung mga gun holder na gumawa ng indiscriminate firing. So I suggest i-continue n'yo 'yun dahil it's really an amazing feat na [Christmas and New year celebration] 2017 na zero tayo, zero injuries, zero death, at zero indiscriminate firing incident," Dela Rosa said.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 De Lima urges anew for the passage of bill protecting rights of refugees, stateless persons Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima urged fellow stakeholders and advocates in the academe, civil society, international organizations, and public service, to come together and urge members of Congress to push for the swift passage of her measure seeking to define and protect the rights of refugees and stateless persons in the country and allow them to live a life with dignity. Senator De Lima's message was conveyed on her behalf by her Deputy Chief of Staff, Atty. Catherine Sy, during a webinar, entitled "Strengthening our Commitment: Advocating for Stronger Legislative Framework for a Rights-based and Sensitive Durable Solutions for Refugees, Stateless Persons, and Other Persons of Concern" last Nov. 23. The said webinar is part of a four-part webinar series, entitled "Borderless Perspectives: A Conversation Series on Understanding and for the Rights and Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons in the Philippines." Atty. Sy recalled that on July 11, 2019, De Lima filed Proposed Senate Bill (SB) No. 379 or the "Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Act of 2019" to strengthen and promote the rights of refugees and stateless persons and create the Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Board. These measures aim to facilitate a fair and efficient procedure for status determination and eligibility for protection and strengthen the government's cooperation and coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and other relevant institutions and agencies. More importantly, SB No. 379 defines the rights of refugees and stateless persons, which are geared towards allowing them to live a life consistent with the dignity of all persons, as well as the obligations of the State to protect them and their reciprocal obligation to respect Philippine laws in exchange for such protection. In pushing for the passage of the proposed measure, De Lima underscored the need to take a rights-based approach to refugee recognition and protection. SB No. 379 remains pending in the Committee on Justice and Human Rights since its filing on 11 July 2019. "We hope that we can all work together in asking Committee on Justice and Human Rights Chairperson Sen. Richard Gordon to calendar this bill for hearing before Congress adjourns next year so that we can have a head start for it when Congress convenes after the elections," Atty. Sy said. The webinar series, which was organized by the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), aimed to foster greater understanding among members of civil society, non-government organizations, the academe, including law students, the general public, and even public servants in the legislative and executive branches on the situation of refugees and stateless persons in the Philippines and across the region. Among the other resource persons invited by the AHRC and the UNHCR were a refugee, Mr. Rafae Salem El-Hawi, who shared his experiences as the first Palestinian refugee to arrive in the Philippines to escape the conflict in the Gaza Strip, having arrived in the Philippines in the 1970s, Ms. Almalyn "Bea" Akmad, a Filipina belonging to the ethnic group Sama-Bajau, who shared her experience as volunteer assisting refugees, and State Counsel Ma. Lorena "Laurie" Calo, who represented the DOJ's Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (DOJ-RSPPU). Under DOJ Circular No. 58, s. 2012, as then Secretary of the Department of Justice, it may be recalled that De Lima set up the Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (RSPPU) in the Legal Staff of the DOJ, making the Philippines "the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to establish a procedure to protect both refugees and stateless people." Moreover, Sy said De Lima is optimistic that SB No. 2233 or the "Foundling Recognition and Protection Act" will be signed into law under the present administration, as she urged the conclusion of plenary debates after the budget deliberations. "The proposed legislation aims to recognize the status of 'foundlings' as another category of Persons of Concern, in order to, among other things, 'reduce and prevent statelessness', considering these children's distinct vulnerabilities to neglect, statelessness, and abandonment," she noted.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 Dispatch from Crame No. 1182:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Duterte's futile rejection of ICC's power The PH government now trying hard to protect Duterte from the ICC is in a bind. After the Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands requested the ICC Prosecutor to defer investigation and prosecution to the Philippine criminal justice system, it will soon be required to provide information that indeed the PH criminal justice system is working. So there's the catch. Before the ICC can go any further acting on the Duterte government's delaying tactics, the latter must submit to the former's requirements. Otherwise, the ICC will stop acting favorably on the PH government's request for deferment. For the request of deferment on the investigation to be granted, the government must at least respond to any of the ICC Prosecutor's demand for more information. If the government does so, then that is already a clear acceptance of the ICC's jurisdiction over the process to which the PH government must submit. On the other hand, it cannot simply ignore any ICC requirements as Malacanang says it is wont to do, without jeopardizing its own request for deferment. If the Duterte administration truly believes the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines, it should have just ceased from availing of the ICC procedural remedy whereby the country situs of investigation can request for deferment of the investigation. However, by availing of this ICC procedural remedy, it has thereby submitted to the legality of said procedure and, hence, of jurisdiction. Simply put, by seeking for a remedy provided in the ICC procedure, the Duterte administration accepts that the ICC investigation cannot be ignored, and that it cannot go on as if the ICC has no power to order the arrest of Philippine officials and try them in The Hague. The Philippine request for deferment is the Duterte administration finally blinking to the authority of the ICC. There is no question about that. Otherwise, they would have just ignored the ICC and its processes altogether. That is what Duterte was bragging about all along but, at the final moment, his own government eventually gave in. Andami pa kasing satsat, bibigay lang rin pala. (Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1182, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_from_crame_no._1182)


STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS ON AYUNGIN SHOAL

I stand with Secretary Lorenzana in his assertion that Chinese personnel taking pictures and videos of Philippine forces is indeed an act of harassment and intimidation. China has no right to make our own people feel threatened or unsafe in our own seas.

China's foreign minister is also incorrect to say that Ayungin Shoal is part of China, when Ayungin is well within our Exclusive Economic Zone as ruled by the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

But China is trying to blockade us into submission. Our military personnel at Ayungin Shoal are practically under food blockade. China wants to starve us out, force our personnel to leave, then occupy Ayungin.

It will be in the interest of all for China to cease its blockade of Ayungin immediately to avoid any incidents that risk the peace and stability in the region.

We have the right to go anywhere we please in our EEZ, and the Philippines will fight for our right.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 Pag-asa Is Ours! Lacson Resolution Condemns Chinese Bullying in WPS

More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/pag-asa-is-ours-lacson-resolution-condemns-chinese-bullying-in-wps Pag-asa Island, a part of the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea, is ours - and our government must consistently act to thwart the bullying in the area by China. This is the gist of Senate Resolution 954 filed by Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson, who visited Pag-asa Island in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security last Nov. 20. "Be it resolved, as it is hereby resolved by the Senate, to condemn the continued presence and hostile acts of Chinese Maritime Vessels within our EEZ and urge the government to fortify, amplify and enhance our positions in the West Philippine Sea thru defense and security agreements with other nations, and by consistently invoking and protecting our internationally recognized rights through continuing diplomatic dialogue with nations of mutual/common interests in the West Philippine Sea," Lacson said in his resolution. He also called for a comprehensive development plan that includes concrete projects to improve the quality of life and to ensure the efficient delivery of public services. "Resolved further, that in pursuit of sending a stronger message of assertion that Pag-Asa Island is ours, a comprehensive Development Plan must be crafted laying-out concrete projects, programs and activities aimed at improving the quality of life and efficient delivery of public services therein," he said. Lacson, in his resolution, noted Pag-asa Island is considered a municipality in Palawan by virtue of Presidential Decree 1596 dated June 11, 1978 - yet is surrounded by Chinese maritime vessels despite our repeated diplomatic protests. Also, he warned that if these continuing acts of the Chinese maritime vessels in the West Philippine Sea remain unchecked and unchallenged, they may "constitute clear and present danger not only to our national interest and territorial integrity but also to the peace and stability of the entire Asia Pacific Region." He noted that in 1995, China seized Panganiban (Mischief) Reef and turned it into a 550-hectare air and naval outpost that can deploy military assets and conduct surveillance over the West Philippine Sea. In 2012, China disregarded an agreement brokered by the United States to end the standoff in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal by not withdrawing from the area, and instead constructing chain barriers to prevent access by the Philippines. China also refused to accept the Philippines' arbitral victory in 2016 and continues to occupy and enjoy the marine resources. Worse, at least three Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked and water-cannoned two Philippine supply boats en route to Ayungin Shoal, which is well within the Philippines' 200-nautical-nile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), last Nov. 16. Philippine officials including President Rodrigo Duterte issued a statement in the ASEAN-China Special Summit abhorring the Nov. 16 incident and urged China to exercise utomst self-restraint in Philippine territory. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. condemned the incident while Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana maintained China has no right to impede, prevent or harass our ships within our EEZ. Only last Nov. 20, Lacson had a firsthand experience of Chinese bullying while en route to Pag-asa Island, as Chinese authorities issued a radio challenge to the pilots of the plane he was riding. Despite the challenge, Lacson and his party managed to visit the island - but received text messages that read "Welcome to China!" In calling for a balance of power in the region and for development programs for Pag-asa Island, Lacson stressed the importance of the West Philippine Sea in ensuring freedom of navigation and unhampered international trade. "Considering the importance of the West Philippine Sea in ensuring freedom of navigation, unhampered international trade and commerce in the Asia Pacific Region and the vital role it plays in the security and safety of the region, there is a need to uphold a rules based maritime order in the area to maintain the balance of power and stability therein," he said.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 Lacson: Policy of Discipline, Bodycams to End 'EJKs' and Other Abuses

More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/lacson-policy-of-discipline-bodycams-to-end-ejks-and-other-abuses A policy of discipline, backed by the use of body cameras, will be the answer of the Lacson administration in stopping extra-judicial killings and other abuses by rogue members of the Philippine National Police. "One word - Discipline. Disiplinahin natin ang uniformed services. Nagsisimula ang abuso kung nawala ang disiplina sa PNP, AFP and uniformed services (One word - discipline. We will ensure discipline in our uniformed services. Abuses start when discipline is lost in the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and uniformed services)," Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson stressed on Thursday at the weekly LACSON-SOTTO Meet the Press media forum. Lacson said the discipline-based policy has worked before - particularly when he won back the people's trust in the PNP when he headed it from 1999 to 2001 due to a no-nonsense "leadership by example" approach. He also said one tool that would help prevent abuses is the use of body cameras by police personnel, to ensure transparecy in their operations. "On the spot makikita kung may violation o wala. Para rin sa protection ng pulis yan (On the spot, you will see if the police committed violations. But that is also for the defense of police accused of abuses)," he said. He added he will not allow the mentality of some rogue police personnel to manipulate evidence, stressing the need to keep the trust of the people especially in far-flung areas where the only representative of the government is the police officer. "Knowing their mentality I would know how to address the issue of manipulating evidence. Hindi natin papayagan yan (We will not allow that). It is important to restore trust," he said.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 Conflict of Interest? Lacson Bares Ties of Dargani Lawyer to Government Office

More at: https://pinglacson.net/article/conflict-of-interest-lacson-bares-ties-of-dargani-lawyer-to-government-office Is there a conflict of interest involving one of the lawyers of the Dargani siblings, who are linked to the mess involving the procurement of medical supplies to deal with the Covid pandemic? Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson raised this issue Friday as he bared that Daryl Valles, one of the Dargani siblings' lawyers, is working for a member of the House of Representatives. "I am particularly interested in the lawyering business of Atty. Valles. Because when the new spokesperson of the President was interviewed, he averred that Atty. Valles used to work in the office of the Special Assistant to the President until March 1, 2021. And since then, he's now connected with the office of a member of the House of Representatives," Lacson said at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the procurement row. Mohit Dargani, an official of Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. who was arrested along with his sister Twinkle earlier this month, replied that he believed Valles "was connected with the House of Representatives but he left that job." But when Lacson asked Dargani if he knew that for a fact, Dargani replied, "I take his (Valles') word for it," adding that Valles had resigned from the House as of August 2021, when they spoke. Lacson said that if Valles is still connected with the House at this time, he is violating Republic Act 6713, the ethical standards for government employees. Under Section 7, Paragraph (b)(2) of the law, it is unlawful to "engage in the private practice of their profession unless authorized by the Constitution or law, provided, that such practice will not conflict or tend to conflict with their official functions." The law penalizes such violations with imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine not exceeding P5,000. Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Richard Gordon instructed the panel to verify Valles' status. "Even if he has limited authority granted by the House Speaker, meron pa ring limitation. Kung government ang kalaban sa kaso, he is not allowed to practice his profession no matter how limited (Even if Valles had limited authority granted by the House Speaker, there is still a limitation. If you will be lawyering against the government, you will not be allowed to practice your profession no matter how limited)," Lacson said.
Press Release

November 26, 2021 Team Robredo-Pangilinan to double agriculture budget in six years CAVITE -- Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan has shared this key agriculture policy to double the budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in six years or by 2028 or earlier, ensuring the food security of all Filipinos. Pangilinan said this during a dialogue with rice and vegetable farmers in Barangay Sampaloc 2, Dasmarinas City, Cavite on Thursday, Nov. 25. DA's 2021 budget is about P85 billion. The strategy in the next six years, according to Pangilinan, is to increase government assistance to farmers and fishermen, help them manage their own enterprise, and lift them out of poverty. During the dialogue, the farmers openly discussed their problems, ranging from inadequate technology training, soaring prices of farm inputs, lack of equipment, and access to the market. Larry Bustos, one of the farmers in the dialogue, said they are very much interested in improving the quality of their produce through organic farming but are in need of government support in the area of technology training. While he lauded the passage of the Sagip Saka Law authored by Pangilinan, Bustos said the government should ensure that these laws are "properly implemented". Responding to questions on irrigation, Pangilinan said he has filed a measure that seeks to harvest rainwater for irrigation and cleaning needs. Senate Bill 36 seeks to manage, control, regulate, and utilize rainwater runoff for rural irrigation, firefighting, watering of plants, washing of cars or floor yards, flushing of toilet, among others. Another farmer from Dasmarinas also asked the senator to find ways on how to lower the cost of fertilizer. "Mahal ang abono, kadalasan umuutang na lang. Ito talaga ang pinakamasakit na problema ng farmer sa mga nagdaang panahon. Huwag na sana aabutin pang muli sa darating na 2022," the farmer told the senator during the open forum. Pangilinan acknowledged the need to extend more help to farmers and fishermen who have been providing food on the table of every Filipino family. He assured the farmers that he will personally call Agriculture Secretary William Dar to follow up on the different incentives and subsidies that the agency can offer such as the "Pantawid Saka at Pantawid Palaot" program for farmers and fisherfolk. In the 2022 budget of the DA, Pangilinan said a total of P3 billion was allocated to extend direct fuel subsidy to farmers and fishermen amid the series of oil price increases since January this year. Apart from the fuel subsidy, farmers and fisherfolk can also avail themselves of discounts on fuel, a program under the Department of Energy (DoE) in coordination with the local government units.
King Hamad of Bahrain has handed an invitation letter to Pope Francis to visit the Gulf country, Arab News reports citing the State news agency of kingdom, BNA.

The invitation, Saudi media notes, was delivered by Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed, the kings adviser for diplomatic affairs, during a meeting with the pope at the Vatican.

Sheikh Khalid expressed King Hamads appreciation for the pontiffs pivotal and prominent role in establishing and strengthening interfaith dialogue and understanding between different cultures and civilizations, and spreading the values of human brotherhood and coexistence among all according to BNA.

The Bahraini official reportedly reiterated the kings support for the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration, and the importance of building on it to ensure a more prosperous future for all of humanity.

The declaration was signed in 2019 between Pope Francis on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, and the grand imam of Egypts Al-Azhar in 2019 in the UAE. The leader of the Catholic church made a historic visit to Gulf peninsula in 2019.
The Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), a subsidiary of state holding company ADQ, has acquired Etihad Holidays, the destination and leisure management arm of Etihad Airways, Zawya reports.

The transaction, ADNEC is a statement said, will expand its footprints in the tourism sector.

[The company] is taking the next step in its business diversification strategy with the strategic assets transfer of tourism business unit from Etihad Airways to ADNEC Group, the statement noted. We hold a long-term investor perspective in identifying and acquiring key assets in developed markets. This move will strengthen the Groups competitiveness and will increase direct and indirect economic contributions to the UAEs tourism sectors, said Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, managing director and group CEO of ADNEC.

Tourism 365, which is ADNECs tourism promotion business, will operate Etihad Holidays, taking it from a platform focused on the local market to a fully-fledged tour operator supplying online and traditional travel agencies with Etihad network holiday packages from key source markets.

ADQ is Abu Dhabis third-largest sovereign wealth fund and manages $110 billion in assets, owns companies across a broad range of sectors including utilities, tourism and hospitality, aviation, transport and logistics.
The Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development (AFESD) is expected to sign an agreement with one of the Egyptian banks to finance SMEs with $30 million, Arab Finance reports.

The future new funding comes on top of the ongoing financial support of the fund valued at $2 billion, and a portion of which has been directed to Decent Life initiative benefiting 58 million rural citizens, the media notes.

The fund has also contributed to the financing of Bahr Al Baqar Wastewater Treatment Plant, the worlds largest. The fresh financing will focus on green economy and the private sector.

Based in Kuwait and established in 1974, the funds investment portfolio has hit $5.2 billion in the sectors of electricity, energy, agriculture, water supply, waste water, and transportation, Arab Finance notes.
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NEWSALERT-US-STORM-TOLL Kentucky governor says he fears tornadoes in state killed at least 70 people and that death toll may exceed 100. (AP)Kentucky governor says he fears tornadoes in state killed at least 70 people and that death toll may exceed 100. (AP)

IND
The Spanish-Mexican team has found that the boundary between those objects which destroy lithium and those which preserve it lies at 51.5 times the mass of Jupiter. The brown dwarf Reid 1B is a major deposti fo lithium which will never be destroyed. Planets such as Jupiter and the Earth are even less massive and do not destroy their lithium. The Sun has destroyed all the lithium that was in its nucleus and preserves some in its upper layers, which are slowly mixing with its interior. CREDIT Gabriel Perez Diaz, SMM (IAC)

Brown dwarfs, also known as "coffee coloured dwarfs" or "failed stars" are the natural link between stars and planets.

They are more massive than Jupiter but now sufficiently to burn hydrogen, which is the fuel the stars use to shine. For that reason these substellar objects were not observed until observers detected them in the mid 1990's. They are particularly interesting because it was predicted that some of them could preserve intact their content of lithium, sometimes known as "white petroleum" because of its rarity and its relevance.

In the past twenty years astronomers have detected, and followed the orbital motions of binaries formed by brown dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood. They have determined their masses dynamically using Kepler's laws, the mathematical formulae produced in the XVII century by Johannes Kepler to describe the motions of astronomical bodies moving under the effects of their mutual gravitation, such as the system formed by the Earth and the Sun. In some of these systems the primary component has a mass sufficient to burn lithium while the secondary may not have this mass. However until now the theoretical models had not been put to the test.

Using the OSIRIS spectrograph on the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC, or Grantecan) currently the largest optical and infrared telescope in the world, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), a team of researchers at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE) made high sensitivity spectroscopic observations, between February and August this year, of two binaries whose components are brown dwarfs.

They did not detect lithium in three of them, but they did find it in Reid 1B, the faintest and coolest of the four. Doing this they made a remarkable discovery, a deposit of cosmic lithium which is not destroyed, whose origin dates back before the formation of the system to which Reid 1B belongs. It is, in fact, the coolest, faintest extrasolar object where lithium has been found, in a quantity 13 thousand times greater than the amount there is on Earth. This object, which has an age of 1.100 million years, and a dynamical mass 41 times bigger than that of Jupiter (the largest planet in the Solar System), is 16.9 light years away from us.

A chest of hidden treasure

Observations of lithium in brown dwarfs allow us to estimate their masses with a degree of accuracy, based on nuclear reactions. The thermonuclear masses found this way must be consistent with the dynamical masses found, with less uncertainty, from orbital analysis. However the researchers have found that the lithium is preserved up to a dynamical mass which is 10% lower than that predicted by the most recent theoretical models. This discrepancy seems to be significant, and suggests that there is something in the behaviour of brown dwarfs that we still don't understand.

"We have been following the trail of lithium in brown dwarfs for three decades" says Eduardo Lorenzo Martin Guerrero de Escalante, Research Professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) at the IAC who is the first author of the article, "and finally we have been able to make a precise determination of the boundary in mass between its preservation and its destruction, and compare this with the theoretical predictions". The researcher adds that "there are thousands of millions of brown dwarfs in the Milky Way. The lithium contained in brown dwarfs is the largest known deposit of this valuable element in our cosmic neighbourhood".

Carlos del Burgo Diaz co-author of the article, a researcher at the INAOE, a public research centre of the Mexican CONACYT, explains that "although primordial lithium was created 13.800 million years ago, together with hydrogen and helium, as a result of he nuclear reactions in the primordial fireball of the Big Bang, now there is as much as four times more lithium in the Universe". According to this researcher "although this element can be destroyed, it is also created in explosive events such as novae and supernovae, so that brown dwarfs such as Reid 1B can wrap it up and protect it as if it was a chest of hidden treasure".

This research has been financed by funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation (MINECO) and by the European Fund for Regional Developomente (FEDER) via project PID2019-109522GB-C53.

The Gran Telescopio Canarias, and the Observatories of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) are part of the network of Singular Scientific and Technical Infrastructures (ICTS) of Spain.

JOURNAL

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stab2969



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Kainji Lake, a reservoir on the Niger River in western Nigeria, is featured in this true-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

Kainji Lake was created in 1968 by the construction of the Kainji Dam and covers an area of around 1300 sq km with a mean depth of 12 m. Water from the Niger River, the third-longest river in Africa, enters the lake in the north. The grey-coloured waters here mix with the striking, yellow-coloured waters of Kainji Lake, creating a distinct sediment plume moving southwards. The emerald-green streaks are vegetation and algae floating on the surface of the lake.

The creation of the lake submerged Foge Island, the town of Bussa and permanently flooded other riverine settlements - leaving around 50 000 people displaced. Foge Island can be seen dividing the river into two channels at the northern end, and the channels merge again north of Old Bussa. During low water tides, large parts of Foge Island rise above and are temporarily inhabited by migrating fishermen.

Kainji Dam, located in the centre of the image, produces electricity for most of Nigeria's cities. The dam is the largest of the dams on the Niger, over 66 m high and 550 m across. The dam provides electrical power, improved river navigation, water control of the Niger, as well as waters for irrigation and fishing.

Kainji Lake National Park, visible as a dark green patch of land in the left of the image, is Nigeria's oldest national park. Covering an area of around 5300 sq km, the park contains three distinct areas: a part of the Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve to the west of the lake, and the Zugurma Game Reserve to the southeast. Around 65 mammal species, 350 species of birds and 30 species of reptiles and amphibians have been recorded in the park.

Sentinel-2 is a two-satellite mission to supply the coverage and data delivery needed for Europe's Copernicus programme. The mission's frequent revisits over the same area and high spatial resolution allow changes in water bodies to be closely monitored.

This image, captured on 11 November 2020, is also featured on the Earth from Space video programme.

- Download the full high-resolution image.

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By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The Azerbaijan Railways CJSC and the German Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG intend to establish cooperation in the field of container transportation.

The issue was discussed at a meeting between the first deputy chairman of the Azerbaijan Railways, Alirza Suleymanov, and representatives of the German companies operating in transport, logistics, and construction, who are on a working visit to Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the parties focused on new opportunities for new bilateral business cooperation.

Suleymanov stated that various German companies are involved in the design, supply, and installation works of the Azerbaijan Railways.

He noted that cooperation can be established with a subsidiary of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG - Metrans, to transit containerized cargo through Azerbaijan from Europe to Central Asia and China, and in the opposite direction.

Moreover, the first deputy chairman added that Metrans could deliver containers to Turkey's seaports and then send them from there along the Azerbaijan-Central Asia-China route through the subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways- ADY Container LLC.

Executive director of the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce Tobias Baumann emphasized that his organization supports the expansion of cooperation with companies operating in the field of services in Azerbaijan.

Noting that the delegation of German companies is on a working visit to Azerbaijan with the support of the German Economy and Energy Ministries, he expressed confidence that the meeting would contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries in the field of railroads.

It was noted that the purpose of the visit is to familiarize with the services of German companies, including projects and proposals in order to create opportunities for them to cooperate with potential partners in the Azerbaijani market.

The meeting also touched on large-scale construction work in Azerbaijans liberated territories, including railway projects.

The guests provided detailed information about the companies they represent and offered to participate in various projects in the railway sphere.

Azerbaijan and Germany are successfully cooperating in various fields of economy. Azerbaijan is the main economic and trade partner of Germany in the South Caucasus.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Germany amounted to $817.5 million in 2020. In addition, trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $714.2 million in January-September 2021.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Turkey have discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of insurance, Azerbaijans Insurers Association (AIA) has reported.

As part of a memorandum signed earlier between the AIA and Turkeys Insurance Association, AIAs representatives have paid a working visit to Turkey.

During the visit, AIAs delegation and executive director Elmar Mirsalayev met various Turkish insurance companies and organizations. He familiarized himself with the experience of insurance in Turkey.

Moreover, as part of the visit, a meeting was held with the leadership of Turkeys Insurance Association. The parties discussed the formation of relations between the two countries in the insurance field.

Associations Chairman Atilla Benli invited, as a guest of honor, the AIA leadership to the traditional Insurance Week to be held in Istanbul in 2022.

A meeting was also held with the leadership of the Turkish Insurance Institute, which organizes mass training sessions to improve the human resources of local insurance market participants, as well as to increase the knowledge and skills of insurers. It was decided to identify areas for new training, which will be organized at the next stage in accordance with the needs of the local market.

The visit also included meetings with insurance companies operating in Turkey in the field of life insurance, non-life insurance, and reinsurance. During these meetings, AIAs representatives were provided with information on current trends and tendencies in the insurance market of the brotherly country.

As a result of meetings with companies, an agreement was reached to organize Zoom meetings and webinars with Turkish insurance specialists working in relevant fields in Azerbaijan in order to exchange experience and information.

It was noted that such visits and events, organized to study the world experience and its application in the local market, will be continued at the next stage.

Earlier it was reported that a memorandum of understanding was signed between the AIA and Turkeys Insurance Association on December 21, 2020.

Azerbaijan and Turkey cooperate in various fields of economy and have jointly completed giant energy and infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, and TANAP.

In the first nine months of 2021, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Turkey amounted to $3.2 billion. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $4.1 billion in 2020.

The two countries set up a goal to bring the mutual trade turnover to $15 billion in 2023. It should be noted that so far, Turkey is Azerbaijans second-largest investor followed by the UK.

Additionally, Turkey was one of the first countries that expressed its interest and readiness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijans liberated territories.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and Romania have discussed the prospects for expanding the existing bilateral cooperation in the green energy sphere.

The discussion took place during the meeting between Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and newly-appointed Romanian ambassador Vasile Soare on November 26.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Romania, including the existing energy cooperation.

They emphasized the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor project in the development of this cooperation.

The minister and the ambassador discussed the transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Europe, as well as the potential of the Bulgarian-Romanian interconnector and the Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria gas pipeline project for the future expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Moreover, Romania's participation in the Southern Gas Corridor Advi Council meetings and its support for the project and its further expansion was highly appreciated.

They also focused on bilateral cooperation in trade in crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemicals.

Additionally, the parties discussed the importance of the transition to renewable energy sources, reforms carried out in this direction in Azerbaijan, in particular, the countrys potential in the offshore wind energy field, plans for future production of electricity and green hydrogen from this resource.

It should be noted that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Romania amounted to $172.4 million, including export of $104.2 million and import of $68.1 million in the first nine months of 2021.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Culture Minister Anar Karimov and the Greek Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikolaos Piperigos have discussed issues of mutual interest.

Welcoming the Ambassador, Anar Karimov expressed satisfaction with the development of bilateral ties. He praised favorable opportunities for further expansion of cultural ties.

The meeting discussed cooperation based on specific projects, cinematography, archeology, restoration of Azerbaijan's cultural monuments, especially in the liberated territories.

The Culture Minister stressed the importance of identifying areas of mutual interest and expanding partnership with interagency and international organizations.

The Greek Ambassador thanked for the reception and expressed his views on the development of action plans for the further development of cultural ties.

Earlier, the Culture Minister has hosted a series of meetings aimed at the expansion of Azerbaijan's international cultural cooperation.

He met with Croatian Culture and Media Minister Nina Obuljen Korzinek to discuss prospects of cooperation.

The sides stressed the importance of diversifying the book industry, inter-publishing cooperation with Azerbaijan, as well as strengthening the field of translation.

The Croatian Culture Minister also expressed readiness to share the experience of Croatian specialists in the restoration and reconstruction work in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

In turn, Anar Karimov praised Croatia's support for Azerbaijan in demining and reconstruction of the liberated territories.

The two countries will also continue to work closely on a number of projects in the field of energy and IT in near future.

At the meeting with Czech ambassador to Azerbaijan Milan Ekert, Karimov stressed the high level of bilateral ties between the two countries. He spoke about the existence of favorable opportunities for further development and expansion of these relations in various areas, including culture.

The culture minister expressed the need for the protection of cultural heritage, the development of film and music industries.

Karimov also met Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) Secretary-General Altai Efendiyev.

The sides discussed the prospects of cooperation within the organization.

The culture minister named GUAM a major platform for the development of lasting peace and regional cooperation, as well as the connection between the East and the West.

He pointed out that the organization also plays the role of a cultural corridor, and cooperation between the member countries will be further developed by strengthening the project-oriented activities.

Karimov informed the GUAM secretary-general about the "Peace for Culture" platform initiated by the Azerbaijani Culture Ministry.

Altai Efendiyev, in turn, said that the GUAM secretariat has always supported the deepening of relations with member states. He stressed the need for further broadening and deepening partnership between GUAM member states.

At the meeting with the Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan Claudio Taffuri, Karimov pointed out the high level of bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Italy.

The minister drew attention to the historical and cultural ties between the two countries, favorable opportunities for further cooperation.
By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Nizami Ganjavi International Forum participants have been awarded with a memorial badge "Nizami Ganjavi-880".

First Deputy Minister of Culture Elnur Aliyev presented the badge to the honorable guests of the forum.

In his speech, Elnur Aliyev stressed the importance of the badge in promoting Nizami's poetry. He regarded it as a symbol glorifying Nizami's legacy in the international arena.

The memorial badge was prepared in accordance with the "Action Plan for the 880th anniversary of the great Azerbaijani poet and thinker Nizami Ganjavi" approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in connection with Year of Nizami Ganjavi in Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Nizami Ganjavi International Forum will last until November 26.

The forum features panel discussions on multiple topics such as "The influence of Nizami's work on the political and social traditions of the medieval East", "Nizami Ganjavi: a view of the modern world" and others", etc.

Within the forum, it is also planned to organize a wide range of events, including book presentations, bilateral meetings and much more.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan has handed over two persons of Armenian origin to Armenia, Trend has reported, quoting the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing persons on November 26.

Guided by the principles of humanism, Azerbaijan handed over two persons of Armenian origin to the Armenian side on November 26, 2021, the statement of the commission said.

It is noted that one of them is Arin Zhiraevich Aramyan, born in 1993, who was detained wounded during military operations on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border on November 16, 2021.

During this time, Aramyan was provided with the necessary medical assistance and treatment, the statement added.

Another one, Mihran Ernest Musaelyan, born in 2000, was detained after entering the territory in the direction of Aghdam region, where Azerbaijani servicemen are serving.

As a result of the preliminary investigation, it was established that Musaelyan is a civilian who lost in the indicated area, the statement said

Prime Minister Ali Asadov earlier said that Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged 122 servicemen and detainees with the participation of Russian peacekeepers from December 2020.

Asadov underlined that Azerbaijan fully complies with the paragraphs of the trilateral ceasefire deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan in November 2020, which also envisaged the transfer of detained servicemen.

"With the participation of Russian peacekeepers, a total of 122 servicemen and detainees have been returned since December 22, 2020. Of these, 105 returned to Armenia and 17 to Azerbaijan," the prime minister said.

Referring to the 62 Armenian servicemen who were detained on the Azerbaijani territory after the signing of a trilateral statement, Asadov stressed that "according to all international laws they are not considered prisoners of war.

"They were detained after the war, entered our territory with a subversive purpose, and the status as prisoners of war does not apply to them. However, Azerbaijan returned 29 of them to the Armenian side. Thirty-three of this group were convicted by our courts and will be held responsible," he added.

It should be noted that Armenia has failed to provide any information about more than 4,000 Azerbaijani citizens who went missing during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 1990s. At the same time, Armenia does not provide information about the Azerbaijani citizens who were in captivity during the first Karabakh war.

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. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus Annika Soder have discussed the current regional security situation.

At a videoconference meeting held on November 25, the parties discussed the issues related to the implementation of trilateral statements and the measures taken by Azerbaijan to unblock the regional transport communications.

Bayramov stressed that Azerbaijan voices the position of ensuring long-term peace in the region and is ready to start the process of delimitation with Armenia on the basis of international law principles. He noted that there is no response from Armenia yet.

The minister also briefed on the construction work carried out by Azerbaijan on the liberated territories. He also noted that large-scale regional projects carried out on the initiative and with the participation of Azerbaijan serve the progress of a huge geographical region.

Expressing support for Azerbaijans efforts, Soder noted that activities in this direction are important for the development of the entire region.

The parties discussed Azerbaijan's cooperation with the OSCE, including current projects and plans for the future, as well as preparations for the 28th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, to be held in Stockholm in December this year. They also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

As OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries Russia, the U.S. and France had been mediating a peaceful solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts resulted in no progress as Armenia refused to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from Azerbaijani territories, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.

The trilateral ceasefire deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh region which along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.

On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement is set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.
By Trend

On November 26, Sochi will host a meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, at which a number of issues are expected to be discussed, including the opening of communications, delimitation and demarcation of borders, Trend reports.

The very fact that the meeting is to be held suggests that Yerevan has finally come to terms with the new reality. In this regard, expectations are very high. The Sochi meeting is a continuation of the act of surrender signed last year, forcing Armenia to act in accordance with the conditions put forward by Azerbaijan, accepting the realities that have emerged as a result of the victory of the Azerbaijani army.

Famous Russian political scientist, TV presenter, and public figure Maksim Shevchenko thinks that the meeting will bring concrete results.

"I believe that only a meeting in Sochi can give concrete results. The process seems to me very promising," he noted.

Regarding the topics that are expected to be discussed during this meeting, Shevchenko stressed that border delimitation is the most important topic.

"Some time ago, when there were tragic events on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, then people died, I wrote in my telegram channel that if Armenia continues to behave this way, it will cry over Zangazur the same way it cries over Karabakh. There was a rough reaction. But it's true. War will not bring anything good for Armenians," said Maksim Shevchenko.

In turn, Peter Tase, US expert, strategic adviser on international affairs and public diplomacy to governments, universities, and corporations in Europe and the Americas, thinks that participation in the trilateral meeting of the heads of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia is a huge step forward.

Russias Sochi will host trilateral talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Nov. 26. Despite Azerbaijan's calls to start a dialogue on the signing of a peace agreement, Armenia tried its best to avoid negotiations, resorted to provocations at the border, thereby undermining stability in the South Caucasus. The very fact that the meeting was held in Sochi suggests that Yerevan has finally come to terms with the new reality. In this regard, expectations are very high.

According to Tase, in the last decade, Armenia has demonstrated an example of poor governance of the country, and participation in the trilateral meeting in Sochi is a chance for the country to interrupt a series of unsuccessful decisions.

"Armenia must respect the International Order, come to terms and explore further the cooperation measures in the fields of Trade and Commerce with the Republic of Azerbaijan," he said.

According to Tase, the upcoming meeting has another very important political moment, namely the discussion of the status of the statements signed on November 10, 2020, and January 11, 2021, which is of particular importance for the further development of the region.

"Armenia must reject offensive rhetoric and embrace measures that restore the development of regional trade, economic and transportation projects that will definitely help Yerevan overcome the current economic recession inside Armenia," Tase said.

According to political analyst and Deputy Director of the Russian Institute of Socio-Political Research Darya Grevtsova, Pashinyan is afraid of the upcoming meeting in Sochi, since very acute and painful issues for Armenians will be touched upon.

"Armenia tried by all means to avoid this meeting. One of the topics discussed at the upcoming meeting will be the issue of border demarcation and delimitation. Most likely, a working group will be created, which will begin to deal with this issue more actively, so that Armenia can no longer push it aside. Another issue that may be raised in Sochi is the Zangazur corridor," she said.

Grevtsova also believes that during the meeting, all parties will support their commitment to the implementation of the agreements signed on November 10, 2020, and January 11, 2021.

"We know that the situation on the border can be turbulent due to provocations, thus, strict adherence to the agreements will be emphasized at this meeting," Grevtsova said.

There are many expectations from the meeting in Sochi. All hopes of Armenia, which it pinned on changing the realities that developed after the Second Karabakh War, collapsed, so official Yerevan is forced to negotiate on the unchanged conditions of Azerbaijan and fulfill its obligations. At the Sochi meeting, Armenia has no choice but to accept the prevailing realities, so expectations from the meeting are great. The intensity of the meetings is important from the point of view of the signing of a peace treaty.
By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has arrived in the city of Sochi, Russian Federation for a working visit at the invitation of Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Azertag reported on November 26.

Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are to meet in Sochi on November 26.

The meeting has been organized at Putin's initiative and it is dedicated to the anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement on a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities in Karabakh on November 10, 2020.

It is planned that the parties will consider the progress of the implementation of the trilateral statements and outline further steps to strengthen stability and establish a peaceful life in the region. In addition, particular attention will be paid to the restoration and development of trade, economic, and transport communications.

After the three signed a peace deal to end the 44-day war, they later met on January 11, 2021. During the meeting, the parties signed the second trilateral statement, which consists of four clauses. The second agreement envisaged establishing the trilateral working group co-chaired by the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian deputy prime ministers to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.

On November 10, 2020, Baku and Yerevan signed a Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that brought an end to 44 days 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.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said that Azerbaijan informed the international community about Armenias war crimes committed against civilians during the 44-day war late last year.

Abdullayeva made the remarks at a Baku-based ceremony to present the internet resource - Karabakh Memorial in memory of the Armenian war crime victims.

Each crime committed by Armenia is documented and brought to the attention of the relevant international organizations. Also, work is underway to ensure that these crimes are presented internationally in the form of claims against Armenia, Abdullayeva stressed.

She underlined that after restoring its territorial integrity, Azerbaijan doubled its efforts to convey to the world community the truth about Armenias crimes.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) continues to work on the lawsuit filed in January this year. The trial is also ongoing in the case sent in September 2021 to the International Criminal Court. But it is not over yet. Claims will continue to be filed. This is very important, firstly, to ensure international justice," Abdullayeva added.

She emphasized that the country will witness the return of the former IDPs to their homes in the coming months.

Addressing the event, Human Rights Commissioner Sabina Aliyeva also stressed that Armenia grossly violated international law, as well as childrens rights during the war.

"Armenia grossly violated many norms of international law, but no measures were taken against it," Aliyeva added.

She noted that the UNICEF reports had not indicated the number of Azerbaijani children, who died as a result of the Karabakh conflict, as well as the facts related to their murder.

"In this regard, a note of protest was sent to UNICEF and a proposal was made to organize a mission to deal with this issue," Aliyeva underlined.

Speaking about certain threats for children, the ombudsperson noted that they must never suffer or be attacked during military conflicts.

The project Karabakhmemorial.com is dedicated to the memory of victims of military crimes committed by Armenian against civilians during the 44-day war in late 2020.

As a part of the Karabakh.Center project, the website was set up to systematize and spread unbiased information about the reasons for the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and the results of Armenia's military aggression.

It should be noted that some 93 (12 children, 27 women) civilians were killed and 454 were wounded as a result of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan between 27 September and 10 November 2020.

Overall, Armenia launched nearly 30,000 shells and 227 rockets on Azerbaijani civil settlements and inflicted considerable damage on the property, destroying numerous residences, auxiliary structures, residential blocks, governmental buildings, mosques, churches and cemeteries.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Russian political scientist Maksim Shevchenko has described as "very promising" the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders' meeting in Sochi on November 26, Trend has reported.

Shevchenko made the remarks at a meeting with reporters held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku.

I believe that only a meeting in Sochi can give concrete results. The process seems to be very promising, Shevchenko stressed.

He said that the Armenian-Azerbaijan border delimitation is the most important topic that is expected to be discussed at the meeting by the leaders.

Commenting on the recent Armenian-Azerbaijani border escalation, Shevchenko noted that war will not bring any positive outcomes for Armenia.

They will complain about losing Zangazur as they do it for Karabakh if they do not change their manner regarding the problem, the expert said.

He added that President Ilham Aliyev offers Azerbaijani citizenship to Armenians in Karabakh, which is a very generous offer.

You have great prospects for nation-building, the formation of a truly modern nation of united Azerbaijan, in which people of different ethnic groups live, speaking different languages, but considering Azerbaijan to be their homeland. These are Azerbaijanis, Lezgins, Avars, Russians, Udins, Jews, Talish and others. As I understand it President Aliyev proposes Armenians to live in Karabakh as well to be Azerbaijan's citizens. This is a very generous offer that can come from the heart and soul of a real son of Azerbaijan, Shevchenko underlined.

He added that following the war Azerbaijan proposed Armenia to forget all the negative results of the conflict and look to the future.

I was very interested in the riddle of the Azerbaijani character, soul. I have been researching this issue for almost my entire adult life. All the same, I cannot fully understand the secret of your people. How do you manage to be warriors, and poets, and musicians, and open to the world, and kind, not to be angry with anyone," Shevchenko emphasized.

He also expressed his admiration for Azerbaijans speedy restoration of its territories liberated from Armenian occupation.

I visited the city of Shusha. I drove along the beautiful Victory road, saw the Fuzuli International Airport. This is a real miracle. The liberated territories of Azerbaijan are being revived. Soon, as I was told, and the even more modern roads will be launched, tunnels will be constructed leading to the city of Shusha. There I saw guys who work and restore. Aliyev strategically coordinates all this work with his will and clear mind, Shevchenko stressed.

On November 26, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Russia's Sochi for a working visit at Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin's invitation.

Ilham Aliyev, Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan are to meet in Sochi on November 26.

The meeting has been organized at Putin's initiative and it is dedicated to the anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement on a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities in Karabakh on November 10, 2020.

It is planned that the parties will consider the progress of the implementation of the trilateral statements and outline further steps to strengthen stability and establish a peaceful life in the region. In addition, particular attention will be paid to the restoration and development of trade, economic, and transport communications.
By Trend

The Russian side hopes that during the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in Sochi, it will be possible to outline promising areas for the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan, Trend reports on Nov. 26 citing TASS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said.

"We, like all people who live in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the South Caucasus region, expect that the long-awaited peace and stability come very soon to the region," Rudenko said.

According to him, the meeting as a whole is aimed at summing up certain results of the past year after the signing of the trilateral statement [between Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders to end the second Karabakh war] on November 10, 2020, to see what has been done and can be done next to advance the peace process and the process of normalization between countries in general.

The diplomat also stated that in the process of settlement in the Karabakh region, there remain commonly known problems.

"They relate to the opening of transport communications, the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where, unfortunately, we periodically witness certain armed incidents and even death of people," added the deputy minister.
By Azernews

By Orkhan Amashov

All eyes of those to whom the fate of the South Caucasus is a matter of deep concern or interest are focused on Sochi. Although there is a relatively sufficient degree of clarity as to which subjects will be discussed, it is by no means indubitable that the day will end with a declaration of clearly defined commitments. Another point, which is of particular relevance, is what the Sochi meeting means within the larger picture of current geopolitical developments, in particular, given that it is happening prior to the get-together set to take place in Brussels later, in mid-December.

Differing agendas

A meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, following a period of aggravated tensions, is a positive development on its own. But it will be of little importance if the meeting proves to be nothing but a mere photo opportunity and a forum for the expression of mutual accusations couched within the limits of diplomatic propriety.

Azerbaijan, emboldened by its rising political and diplomatic fortunes after its successes in last years Second Karabakh War, is interested in a quick breakthrough in the negotiations which could lead to a definite peace deal, whereas Armenia is being careful to ensure that nothing will develop too quickly.

Pashinyan, in his recent online press conference, candidly confessed that it was Yerevan that postponed the trilateral meeting twice during the course of November. On the first occasion, the meeting was set to take place on 9 November, but since the date was associated with tragic connotations in the Armenian psyche, as Pashinyan said, official Yerevan requested that it should be held on another date. The meeting scheduled for 15 November was postponed too.

Whatever the actual reasons that prompted Pashinyan to take recourse to procrastination might have been, it is increasingly clear that Yerevan is uncomfortable with the trilateral format, the foundations of which were laid down last year after the cessation of the hostilities, and remains desirous of taking the Karabakh issue to the field in which the EU could exert greater influence and the discredited OSCE Minsk Groups co-chairs could regain their employability.

The framework established pursuant to the 10 November deal does not give any room for the question of the status of the liberated Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and it is only through the negotiations led by the OSCE Minsk Group that Armenia may have a hypothetical hope of revitalising the deceased.

As to what could emanate from the discussions that are currently underway, views differ. It is clear that the two principal subjects, namely, the delimitation and demarcation of the borders and the unblocking of communications are on the agenda. Those espousing a reserved approach, such as Fyodor Lukyanov, Russian political expert of the International Discussion Club Valday, believe that the fact of the meeting taking place is far more important than the question as to what will be agreed upon.

Peter Tase, a prominent political analyst, believes since there will be a separate discussion on the statements signed on 10 November 2020 and 11 January 2021, and that the meeting is important in terms of clarifying the sides commitments and could lead to significant progress.

Incidentally, the timing of the occasion is of some moment. On 19 November, the European Council president announced that there would be a meeting between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels on 15 December. Some believe that since the Russian initiative on holding such a meeting came after the EUs proposal, as the Sochi forum, amongst other indicators, serves the purpose of enabling Moscow to reiterate its vital importance in the negotiations.

Juggling with formulations

As a journalist, Pashinyan knows how to play with words. Yet in politics, mere obfuscation through prevarication is not always good enough. When the Armenian PM failed to explain to famous BBC journalist Stephen Sackur how the slogan that Karabakh is Armenia and full stop and any solution as to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be acceptable to all the sides involved are compatible with each other, his answer revealed that his rhetorical skills were not crafted for a grander stage. Pashinyans words were not exonerating when he pretentiously declared the trilateral ceasefire declaration was not a defeat, as it could have only been a defeat, had Armenians considered themselves defeated.

Pashinyan is still engaged in prevarication by constructing idiosyncratic formulations by which he appears to be suggesting sensible solutions in line with the common interests of the region, whilst simultaneously providing his own peculiar interpretations, in the light of which the interests of the regressive part of the Armenian society appear to have been satisfied. For instance, in his recent online press conference, he said that Azerbaijan and Armenia recognised each others territorial integrity in 1991 and there would be no issue in reiterating what was already agreed upon. At the same time, he declared that this mutual recognition would not mean that the status of Karabakh was consigned to the past.

At this juncture, the information is scarce and speculations are numerous. Although the general course of events shows that Armenia will eventually find itself in a position of being unable to resist Azerbaijani demands on agreeing to a comprehensive peace deal, it would be too naive for commentators and pundits to expect that some definite agreement will be signed in Sochi.
Gradiant, a leading global end-to-end cleantech water treatment solutions provider and projects developer, has announced that it has raised over $100 million in Series C funding.

The round was led by financial and strategic partners Warburg Pincus and Schlumberger New Energy and was oversubscribed from its initial target of $65 million. The round brings Gradiants total funding to date to over $200 million since inception.

Gradiant develops and delivers advanced water and wastewater treatment facilities around the world, with a primary focus in the rapidly growing Asia Pacific region for global brand owners and manufacturers with mission-critical needs in cleantech water and sustainable operations.

The company offers a broad portfolio of proprietary and patented technologies and services for end-to-end cleantech solutions that focus on water reuse, resource recovery, brine concentration for minimum and zero liquid discharge (MLD / ZLD), and digital solutions for plant performance optimization.

Gradiant offers flexible models for the design-build, operate-maintain, and financing of projects based on customers specific needs and situations.

The funding will enable Gradiant to further expand into strategic markets and industries; finance the equity contribution into new project assets; accelerate the deployment of Gradiants innovation and technology offerings; and strategically acquire complementary and synergistic companies in cleantech water and sustainability.

The company plans to grow its business in key sectors such as food and beverage, microelectronics, pharmaceuticals, and mining, from its already established geographies in the Asia Pacific, the US, and the Middle East.

Roy Ben-Dor, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, said Gradiant was on an exciting growth trajectory, led by a strong management team with a deep understanding of the water solutions required for their customers to increase sustainability in the supply chain.

"Gradiants consistent success is a reflection of the progress the team has made in offering differentiated and effective cleantech water solutions to the top brands in the world," stated Jeff Luse, a Principal at Warburg Pincus who will also join the companys Board of Directors.

"Gradiant has experienced tremendous growth, with 2021 revenue expected to triple versus the prior year and the near-term financial forecast expected to continue to expand at an accelerated pace through its growing backlog of design-build (DB) and design-build-own-operate-manage (DBOOM) contracts," he added.

Recent strategic acquisitions of Sigma Water (Malaysia) and CRS Water (Australia) have created opportunities to access new customers, applications, and geographies when coupled with Gradiants clean water technologies and project development and financing capabilities.

The groups recent growth is driven by significant project wins in Asia Pacific, where the regions rapid industrialization and population growth have been driving the demand for clean water and sustainable technologies.

Anurag Bajpayee, Co-Founder and CEO of Gradiant, said its customers are global Fortune 100 brand owners in core markets and industries.

"With the common theme that they consume and treat incredible amounts of water for mission-critical operations that make the world go round for their essential products and services. Our customers are increasingly facing financial and social pressures to lead sustainable development by maximizing water reuse & resource recovery and minimizing discharges to the environment and energy usage," stated Bajpayee.

"They look to Gradiant for innovation, leadership, and execution. Our solutions are in the sweet spot for enabling our customers to reach their sustainability goals to meet the expectations of the stakeholders and communities they serve," he added.

Ashok Belani, Executive Vice President, Schlumberger New Energy, said: "We look forward to collaborating with Gradiants expertise in resource management & recovery and advanced wastewater treatment through synergies in technology and strategic markets."

"Gradiant offers game-changing clean water solutions which we can leverage moving towards our shared vision for a sustainable future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Ericsson has announced the launch of a graduate programme in Bahrain to give young talent world-class learning and career development opportunities.

The Ericsson Bahrain Graduate Program is focused on nurturing Bahrains technology leaders of tomorrow.

With experts from Ericsson training and supporting young Bahraini talent, the Ericsson Bahrain Graduate Program provides on-the-job, project-based, and online learning in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and advanced technologies within the 5G era and as a contribution to the kingdoms Digital Transformation Journey.

The graduates are gaining valuable work experience, skills and knowledge that assist them in advancing their career including the chance to work on cutting-edge technologies including 5G and Internet of Things (IoT).

Country Manager for Bahrain Ahmed Ben Messaoud said: "The Ericsson Bahrain Graduate Program aims to develop the skills and knowledge of the young and bright graduates while empowering them as technology experts that will lead the Kingdom on its digitalization journey."

"Bahrain is one of the countries at the forefront of telecommunication advancements in the region and this is evident with the caliber of the graduates. We are confident that the program is cultivating leaders and we are looking forward to a bright and technological future for the Kingdom," he stated.

"The young, curious, and innovative graduates are working alongside world-class industry expertise at Ericsson and are supporting the development of projects that are changing the world of communication in Bahrain and the region," he added.

A major global industry player, Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity.

Its portfolio spans the business areas Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services and Emerging Business. It is designed to help customers go digital, increase efficiency, and find new revenue streams.-TradeArabia News Service
Moro Hub (Data Hub Integrated Solutions), subsidiary of Digital Dewa, the digital arm of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), has signed a SD-WAN Managed Service Provider (MSP) agreement with OmniClouds, a leading technology start up in the cloud service provider (CSP) space and migrator for the Middle East region.

The agreement was signed during the GITEX Technology Week at the Dubai World Trade Centre, in the presence of Mohammad Bin Sulaiman, CEO of Moro Hub and Amr Eid, CEO and Board member of OmniClouds.

As per the agreement, OmniClouds will offer a set of Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) services to Moro Hub which compliments Moro Hubs SD-WAN offering and end-to-end SD-WAN services.

OmniClouds will provide a range of SD-WAN services and solutions that include cloud migration, connectivity and security managed services which means organisations can seamlessly move from traditional internet connectivity models to modern, cloud-based network infrastructures.

The objective of this partnership is to work together to deliver enhanced cloud connectivity for Moro Hubs enterprise customers in the UAE region and beyond.

Moro Hub CEO Mohammad Bin Sulaiman said: "We are committed to our objective of enhancing our customers digital transformation journey and this partnership is a testament to that. Our association will empower the regions enterprises to help businesses cost-effectively connect to multiple cloud providers, as well as ensure effective operations."

The collaboration between Moro Hub and OmniClouds will enable enterprises to seamlessly move to the cloud by simplifying operations and providing security for a critical part of their business.

Amr Eid, CEO and Board member of OmniClouds, said: "Our partnership with Moro Hub plays an integral role in supporting the digital transformation journey of the Middle East. Through this strategic partnership, OmniClouds aims to provide the state-of-the-art SDWAN as a Service platform where enterprises can leverage and achieve enhanced performance agility and cost optimization without compromising security and reliability."

"These services deliver a seamless end-to-end, managed experience that helps the enterprise and government marketplace manage change and accelerate their digital transformation initiatives," he added.

OmniClouds hybrid platform aids in reducing costs and complications by connecting its enterprise customers data centers, headquarters and branch operations and remote users to multiple public and private clouds.-TradeArabia News Service
Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, has signed a multi-year marketing distribution agreement with Tawfeeq Technologies and Services (TTS).



The agreement will see TTS market and distribute Sabres products and services to travel companies in Qatar.



Qatar has proven its resilience during these challenging times and the region is recovering at a significant rate, said Hashim Abdulla Al Hashemi, Board Member, TTS.



Speaking with our customers, we understand they are receptive to technology and believe that the way forward requires reliable technology and intelligent solutions. Sabre is an ideal partner to help empower our customers and provide them with innovative technology and solutions to help drive growth, boost revenue and transform their businesses.



Our partnership with TTS will combine Sabres strong global technology capabilities with TTS deep local expertise to provide the travel agency community with unprecedented innovation and service options, said Aditya Varma, Regional Director, Sabre Travel Network Middle East. Its an exciting venture between two companies that share many synergies, and we look forward to growing our business with them and transforming travel in Qatar.  TradeArabia News Service
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Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in Assam in 2016, the state has witnessed a spree of evictions uprooting thousands of people. The forced eviction drive became rampant after Himanta Biswa Sarma took charge as chief minister in 2021.

Mahibul Hoque | TwoCircles.net

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GUWAHATI  The forced eviction drive of Bengali speaking Muslims in Assam by the state government was aimed at serving vested interest with ulterior motives against the people who were victims of climate-induced displacement and who were already cultivating the land, said an enquiry report conducted by Indias academicians and anti-displacement activists.

Moinul Hoque and a minor Sheik Farid were gunned down by the state police during the eviction drive on September 23. The most brutalizing aspect of the forced eviction was sheer contempt on part of the government for the safety of the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people, said the report while referring to the uprooting of over a thousand families who were displaced from their homes.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed the government in Assam in 2016, the state has witnessed a spree of evictions uprooting thousands of people. The forced eviction drive became rampant after Himanta Biswa Sarma took charge as chief minister in 2021.

The inquiry team, an initiative of Delhi-based Janhastakshep included Professor Vikas Bajpai of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Professor Biswajeet Mahonty from Delhi University and Bhubaneshwar based journalist and anti-displacement activist Sudhir Pattnaik. They visited the area where Moinul Hoque and 12-year-old Sheik Farid were gunned down by state police during the eviction drive on September 23.

Professor Bajpai, the author of the enquiry report highlighted the design of the BJP government to target the poor Bengali Muslims by projecting them as encroachers and invoking Assamese nationalism.

Exercised Deception

The district police administration deliberately exercised deception to catch the people unawares. Citing the eviction notice served to one villager, the enquiry team in its report said that the notice was served upon him (Zaheerul Islam) at 12 am on the night of 19 September, and the next morning the police and administration descended upon his house to demolish it.

The words stating that he needed to be evicted from his place within three months of receiving the notice had been erased with white ink. This clearly illustrates the intent of the administration.

Victims denied compensation

The team said that there was little intent of the state government to provide appropriate compensation or rehabilitation of the evicted people.

The government is post-facto imposing conditions for giving compensation to the affected people such as those whose names appear in the NRC, or incumbent upon people being able to prove that they were not illegally occupying any land, read the enquiry report.

The enquiry team called out Assam Chief Minister Sarmas comment that only 60 families lived in the villages affected by the forced eviction drive. We found that a total of 966 families amounting to about seven thousand people have been evicted. Also, the evicted people pointed out that more than half of the allegedly encroached 77,000 bighas had already been eroded by the Brahmaputra River.

Temple in the background

The report underlined that the contentions at the villages began with the demand for freeing encroachment of temple land by a certain section of Hindus living at a distance where they demanded that 180 bigha land of an ancient temple was encroached upon by the Muslim dwellers.

The supposedly ancient temple  a Shiva Temple situated atop the hillock at Dholpur No 2 village was set up by the husband of Parvati Das during 1983-84.

The enquiry team alleged that there is an ulterior motive behind Assam governments move of forced evictions, and said that Parvatis testimony substantiated their allegations.

Muslims contributed to building temple

According to the report, Parvati Das said that the Sattra (temples of the Vaishnavite cult in Assam) in Dhalpur village had been set up by her husband. Even though there were no Hindu families in the neighbourhood, the Muslim households in the village had contributed to the building of the temple.

After the temple was built, some Hindus belonging to the villages across the Brahmaputra started performing puja in the temple and formed a committee to manage its affairs. On the temple committees demand, the temple was allocated 120 bighas of land to generate revenue for its upkeep. However, this land got eroded by the river over the years, and now a fresh demand has been raised by the committee for 175 bighas of land to be allotted.

Temple founders house destroyed in eviction drive

Though Parvatis husband had set up the temple, she had little say in the matters of the temple after her husband passed away. Her house was also destroyed during the June round of evictions at Dholpur Two village.

The Assam government planned to convert supposedly 77,000 bigha land in the riverine sandbank to an agricultural farm for employment generation for indigenous people. However, evidently, the land was utilized by the villagers who are mostly victims of climate-induced displacement using their traditional farming knowledge.

Mahibul Hoque is a SEED Fellow with TwoCircles.net. He tweets at @H_Mahibul.
Today's headlines: Fukushima on alert for partial melting of protectivebarrier; new South African variant causes stock market to plummet; Pyongyang bans leather clothes, imitation of Kim deemed "disrespectful"; in Istanbul, police attack women demonstrating against violence.

INDIA

For the first time ever, India has more women than men. The National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the government between 2019 and 2021 rhas revealed that for every 1,000 men there are 1020 women, a sign of significant social change. It is a historic event for a nation famous for the millions of girls killed shortly before or mmediately after birth because of their gender. Other scholars call for caution, saying the data could be "overestimated".

ASIA

Fears about the effects of the new Covid-19 variant that has emerged in South Africa have torpedoed Asian markets, which have recorded their worst losses in the last two months and caused oil prices to slide (minus 2%), while gold rose. Investors fear that the new mutation, perhaps more contagious than Delta and more resistant to vaccines, could deal a serious blow to the global recovery.

JAPAN

The protective ice barrier around the Fukushima plant, scene of the 2011 nuclear accident, may have partially melted. TEPCO plans to shore up the underground wall as early as early December and is considering further measures. The 7-meter-thick barrier powered by refrigeration tubes is intended to isolate the plant, preventing radioactive water from spilling into groundwater.

NORTH KOREA

Pyongyang has launched a crackdown campaign against those wearing leather trench coats, saying it is "disrespectful" to emulate leader Kim Jong Un. Imitations have spawned a thriving market for cheap, low-quality clothing. Hence the patrols of the "fashion police" with confiscations from sellers and citizens. Leather clothes are a symbol of power even among women.

AFGHANISTAN

Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed "Afghan girl", the modern-day Mona Lisa made famous by Steve McCurry's 1985 shot for National Geographic, is safe in Rome. Her image had become famous as a symbol of the tragedy of the conflict that the country and its people were going through. After the return of the Taliban, he asked for help to leave Afghanistan.

TURKEY

Turkish riot police fired tear gas and engaged in heavy clashes with protesters, mostly women, who took to the streets in their thousands on the International Day Against Gender Violence. The demonstrators called for the resignation of the government because of the economic crisis and criticized the decision to withdraw from the Convention signed in Istanbul, the scene of the protest.

RUSSIA

The toll of an explosion in the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in Siberia is high.Local sources speak of 52 victims among miners and rescuers. According to local officials there is no possibility of finding survivors. Of the 285 people present at the time of the accident, 239 have been evacuated. President Vladimir Putin speaks of a "great tragedy".

TURKMENISTAN

According to the state newspaper Neitralnyj Turkmenistan, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has entrusted his vice-premier, his son Serdar, with control of the country's entire energy and oil complex. The Central Asian state possesses enormous natural gas resources, the proceeds of which largely end up in the underground economy, as well as in the budgets of the presidential family.
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Ive eaten something like 90 different fried chicken sandwiches over the past few years, so it takes a lot to surprise me. But just as I was about to chomp down on the enormous offering from this Chatham restaurant on Chicagos South Side, I stopped to admire the tangle of onions just above the freshly fried chicken. Were those dark red specks on the onions sumac, an ingredient far more at home in Middle Eastern restaurants?
The central characters played by newcomer Cooper Hoffman, son of the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, who worked with Anderson five times. Its a valiant, often affecting, genially funny debut performance. Alana Haim, also new to acting, is a true, offhand revelation. Without outclassing her co-star, she gives Licorice Pizza a heart and a soul. In the scene where she steers an ungainly rental truck, delivering a water bed to a coked-up Jon Peters house in the hills, you worry: Is this going to turn into pure shtick? And then it doesnt. It builds and builds, blithely, into a film within a film showcasing a) fictional Alanas driving skills and nerves of steel, and b) Haims uniquely blase authority as a screen presence.
More challenging yet, they are immediately readable as two stark contrasts in how men of the era dealt with their then-illegal sexuality, and they just dont grow or change enough as the relationship progresses from St. Louis to Chicago, which means that the play lacks dramatic tension. To some degree, thats the point Dawkins wants to make, and there is biographical truth therein. But that doesnt mean we dont need to see more subtlety and complexity in the performances. Even those of us afraid of ourselves sometimes let truth peek out, before we clamp it down. Even those who are comfortable in our own skin sometimes let doubt peek out, before we push it away. You just dont see enough of the moments when the characters are pushing back against the roles that life, and their own personalities, have assigned them to play.
In 2016, 36 miners were killed in a series of methane explosions in a coal mine in Russias far north. In the wake of the incident, authorities analyzed the safety of the countrys 58 coal mines and declared 20 of them potentially unsafe. Media reports say the Listvyazhnaya mine wasnt among them, however in 2004 a methane explosion in the mine killed 13 people.
Her brother, Will, 8, tried to climb the crevices of a streetlight pole, peeking over the top of peoples heads to see as his mom, Liz Gaebler, 42, kept her hand on his back making sure he wouldnt fall. It was the Gaeblers third time going to the parade, Wills second and Emmas first.
Illinois saw an extended period of high minimum temperatures across the state in summer and fall. The average minimum temperature for July through October was the second highest on record statewide, below only 2016, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records going back to 1895. The October average minimum temperature is the highest on record for the state  about 8 degrees higher than the average.
Ornelas had been helping at the store since he was 15 years old. Hes seen the drastic changes in the neighborhood, and also the community that has been built in the cantina by loyal customers over the years.
The extension project of the Institute of Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) Musanze campus, in the Northern Province of Rwanda, has been completed after more than two years' construction and handed over to the Rwandan government.

The extension project, built as a grant from the Chinese government, included a multi-functional hall, an administration office building, a comprehensive classroom building, students' dormitories, training workshops, an outdoor training shed, auxiliary functional rooms, and a parking lot.

"The campus where we are today is another flagship achievement in the field of educational cooperation between our two countries," said Chinese Ambassador to Rwanda Rao Hongwei at a handover ceremony held in Musanze, Northern Province of Rwanda, Wednesday.

"Phase 1 of the IPRC MUSANZE, also constructed as a Chinese donation and inaugurated in 2015, has become the largest government college of technical and vocational education and training in the Northern Province," said Rao.

Both phases of the Institute of Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) Musanze campus cover an area of 14 hectares, according to IPRC officials.

The Minister of State in Charge of ICT and TVET at Rwanda's Ministry of Education Claudette Irere said that Rwanda is very thankful to China.

"I am touched by the generosity of the People's Republic of China for providing to us the grant of this magnitude as a symbol of good friendship between Rwanda and the people of China," Irere said.

Irere is confident that the project is one of such achievements that will allow Rwanda to learn from China effectively.

"We have a lot to learn from China's development in manufacturing, construction, clean energy, ICT, business (from startup to big firm), hospitality, agriculture, and food industry," she said. "This is only possible through the continued China-Africa partnership that helps to improve our TVET sector in the above-mentioned areas."

The extension project started on June 1, 2019, and was completed on Aug. 31, 2021.
Wuzhen again hosts event in a celebration of innovation and drama.

Actor-director and co-founder of the Wuzhen Theater Festival Huang Lei can easily recall the planning and discussions in 2010 when preparation for the inaugural event, that would be held in 2013, got underway. It would grow to become an annual festival hosted by the picturesque town of Wuzhen, Jiaxing city, Zhejiang province, on the west bank of the Grand Canal.

Last year, the team was looking forward to hosting its 10-year reunion, but the festival was suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The pandemic led to adjustments in format and content, including reconsidering the theme of the festival's next edition.

"Two years ago, at the end of the seventh edition, we announced that the next theme would be mao (flourishing). At the time, we didn't expect there to be a pandemic," says Stan Lai, the event's co-founder and festival director.

The English translation of this year's theme was then changed from "flourishing" to "burgeoning", which signifies new beginnings and new hopes.

The festival returned this year from Oct 15 to 24. A total of 66 performances of 24 productions from around the country were staged in Wuzhen's 12 theater venues. Nearly half of the plays were created by female theater artists.

Due to international travel restrictions, the festival highlighted young Chinese theater practitioners with a special section called Above the Clouds, the Sky Opens.

The section included five plays featured in Theater for Living, a reality show produced by video streaming platform iQiyi earlier this year that brought young theater artists to live and create together in Wuzhen.

"To see the works live is different from watching on TV," Huang says. "Drama is meant for theater. For the festival, the young artists adapted and extended their works, and we were truly awestruck seeing them live.

"The recordings can show us the moving aspects of the works, but they cannot match the awe of seeing the actors perform in front of you. What's important is that the show can introduce more people to theater."

Apart from the new works, the section also featured Ago, a six-hour play written and directed by Lai, and starring celebrity performers Hao Lei and Zhang Jie.

Meng Jinghui, co-founder and artistic director of the festival, says that the plays can be categorized into three types: works by young directors that offer a sense of vitality; professional and classic works; and the "bizarre" ones that emphasize innovation. His own adaptation of the literary classic Le Rouge et le Noir was the opening play of this year's festival.

"Wuzhen Theater Festival is very diversified. It can amplify your emotions and give you a special kind of artistic freedom," Meng says. "You can swim freely in the endless ocean of your own imagination. Such a theater festival is not only professional, international and contemporary, but also individualized."

The festival has set up for the first time a Best of World Theater section, with classic performances from major international theater festivals screened in Wuzhen's Canal Side Theater.

"Coming to the eighth edition of the festival, we have established strong connections with many international theater festivals. Despite the fact that international artists cannot come and perform, we still want our audience to be able to experience, and welcome them to come here if things go well next year," Lai says.

The festival again included the Emerging Theater Artists' Competition, which received a record high of more than 500 entries this year. It also has the Wuzhen Dialogues, featuring panel talks, workshops and read-through sessions, the Outdoor Carnival, and a Theater Night Market that enriches the visitor experience with music, film, art and food.

"This is something that many of our friends look forward to each year. It doesn't require any preparation at all. It doesn't even matter if you've never seen a single play in your entire life. Even if you couldn't buy a ticket, you can attend the carnival, or the Emerging Theater Artists' Competition," Lai says.

"Wuzhen Theater Festival is a place for people to dream. We as creators are dreaming, and the audience members are here to dream. It's a unique experience. You can come here for one day or 10 days, be immersed in performances, eating, drinking tea or coffee, or chatting with strangers about plays, life and your thoughts."
In Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, many public parking spaces have gotten new looks thanks to attractive graffiti patterns.

Grasslands, deserts, cartoon characters... These were created by 34-year-old urban artist Guo Hanyuan.

"I started the graffiti this summer because I wanted to add some elements of people's lives to the parking spaces. I first painted a dozen and the first one was pretty popular. Then I kept on painting even in searing temperatures," said Guo.

Guo was born in Ordos and went to his first painting course at the age of seven. He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Art and decided to go back to his hometown for more opportunities from its modernization. Since 2012, he has drawn inspiration from local scenes and landmark buildings.

While painting, he also uploads his works online and his motifs gradually change from real life to imagination.

The local government also appreciates Guo's paintings and has signed an initial contract with him on 1,000 public parking spaces.
China strongly protests U.S. sanctions imposed against 12 Chinese companies and will lodge solemn representations with the United States, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday.

The United States has overstretched the concept of national security and imposed sanctions arbitrarily, MOC spokesperson Shu Jueting told a press conference in response to questions regarding the U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies.

"This action seriously lacks a factual basis, and its procedures are very opaque," she said.

The new sanction list introduced by the U.S. Department of Commerce does not conform to the consensus reached by the two heads of state, does not serve the interests of the two countries and undermines the safety of global industrial and supply chains, as well as global economic recovery, Shu said.
The outstanding renminbi (RMB) deposits in London hit record as the Chinese currency becomes increasingly appealing to international investors, a new report showed on Thursday.

Total London offshore RMB deposits balance jumped to 88.5 billion yuan (about 13.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter, up 23.27 percent on the previous quarter and 19.23 percent year on year, according to the London RMB Business Quarterly, released by the City of London Corporation and the People's Bank of China Representative Office for Europe.

Britain remains the biggest RMB foreign exchange hub in the world and the second biggest offshore RMB payments center. In June 2021, offshore RMB foreign exchange transactions in Britain accounted for 36.74 percent, up 3.8 percentage points from last June, the report said.

Cross-border RMB transactions between China and Britain kept a rising momentum, reaching 456.53 billion yuan (about 71.39 billion dollars), up 79.11 percent year on year, it said.

China Construction Bank (CCB) London Branch became the RMB clearing bank in Britain in June 2014. By the end of June this year, the total cumulative RMB clearing volume since June 2014 reached 57.24 trillion yuan (about 8.95 trillion dollars), according to the report.

Catherine McGuinness, chair of the Policy and Resources Committee of the City of London Corporation, said the London RMB Business Quarterly report supports Britain's position as a leading RMB hub outside China, providing an overview of the market for the Chinese currency in Britain.

"The report demonstrates the UK's financial and professional services (FPS) sector innovation and resilience, as the sector seeks out new innovative ways to engage with the Chinese currency in a post COVID-19 world. The UK market strength is reflected in its ability to retain its position as a leading RMB trading hub outside China," McGuinness said.
Chinese courts will boost judicial efforts to combat environmental law violations in the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basins, and strengthen legal accountability and penalties for such activities, according to a press conference on Thursday.

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) launched two documents at the press conference, which review the principles and judicial experience of protecting the ecological environment in the two river basins, and provide a universal standard for courts at all levels to make impartial judgments in such cases.

The SPC has stepped up judicial efforts to crack down on illegal sand-mining, fishing and solid-waste pollution in the Yangtze River basin, and to hold the perpetrators accountable, said Yang Linping, vice president of the SPC.

The SPC also stressed intensified punishments for environmental crimes such as water pollution in the Yellow River basin in accordance with the country's criminal code, and specified a range of factors that should be taken into account when dealing with Civil Code violations, Yang said.
You are here: China

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is ready at all times to fight and smash any separatist attempts at "Taiwan independence," and to resolutely defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, a defense spokesman said on Thursday.

Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference in response to a so-called "defense report" issued by the Taiwan authorities' defense department.

Wu stressed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and such a report makes no sense.

He said that Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has been inciting hostility across the Taiwan Strait for its own political gain, colluding with external forces and making provocations by seeking "Taiwan independence."

Such acts have seriously harmed the welfare of Taiwan compatriots and severely damaged peace and stability across the Strait, Wu said.

The reunification of China is an irresistible historical process, Wu stressed, warning that "seeking independence by force" will prove a dead end.
You are here: China

Shadeed Abdulmateen, an American national charged with intentional homicide, appeared in court on Thursday in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province.

The first trial of the murder case took place at the Intermediate People's Court of Ningbo City.

Shadeed was charged by the Ningbo Municipal People's Procuratorate with the murder of a woman in Ningbo on June 14, 2021.

The victim, surnamed Chen, died on the scene at the age of 21.

Shadeed met Chen in 2019. He lied to Chen that he was divorced and single and then entered into a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with her.

In May 2021, Chen told Shadeed she wanted to break up, but her request was met with opposition and verbal intimidation from the latter.

Shadeed asked Chen for a meeting near a bus stop in Ningbo on the evening of June 14, 2021, where he stabbed Chen in her neck and face with a folding knife, killing her. Shadeed then escaped from the scene.

The prosecutors and the defense of Shadeed presented relevant evidence to the court. A translator was hired by the court for Shadeed.

Both the prosecutors and Shadeed's defense, as well as the proxy of the victim's relatives, gave their respective full accounts. Shadeed also made his final statement.

The court has adjourned, with a judgment expected in due course.

Legislators, political advisors, members of the press and the public, and officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai were present at the hearing.
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday met with Abdulla Shahid, president of the 76th session of the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) and foreign minister of the Maldives.

Wang said the UN should help maintain fairness and justice, rather than being an onlooker of hegemonism and bullying. The UN should be a major platform of multilateralism, instead of a battling field for major power games. The UN should take actions to respond to challenges, rather than sitting idly by and doing nothing.

For his part, Shahid congratulated China on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of its lawful seat at the UN, adding this session of the UNGA is ready to enhance coordination with China to jointly maintain fairness and justice, practice multilateralism, respond to global challenges, and help safeguard the UN's authority and credibility.
 Flash

Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua co-chaired the 25th session of the committee for regular meetings between Chinese and Russian heads of government Thursday via video link, together with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, pledging to promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture and other fields has achieved fruitful results, which reflects the comprehensive, high level China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Hu said.

China stands ready to work with Russia to earnestly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, consolidate the good momentum of trade and investment cooperation, properly solve new situations and new problems through cooperation, focus on expanding cooperation in emerging sectors, strengthen communication and cooperation in international economic affairs, promote new progress on China-Russia cooperation, and make relevant preparations for the meeting between leaders of the two countries, Hu said.

For his part, Chernyshenko said the bilateral cooperation in various fields has resulted in positive progress and achieved remarkable results.

Russia is ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with China, further expand the breadth and depth of pragmatic cooperation and inject new impetus into the Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, he said.
 Flash

More than 10 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Britain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country reported another 47,240 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,021,497.

Britain also recorded another 147 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 144,433. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

The latest data came as coronavirus cases surge across Europe, making the continent the epicentre of the pandemic again.

Meanwhile, a new variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana.

Designated as B.1.1.529, scientists are still unclear whether existing antibodies would react well to the variant, which has 32 spike protein mutations.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful" on Twitter.

"Given the large number of mutations it has accumulated apparently in a single burst, it likely evolved during a chronic infection of an immunocompromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient," said Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology and director of Genetics Institute at University College London.

"For the time being, it should be closely monitored and analysed, but there is no reason to get overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency in the near future," Balloux said.

Earlier this month, England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, said the modelling is "getting more difficult to give us any clear sense of whether things will turn up or down."

"We're in for potentially some difficult months over the winter," he told reporters.

However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that there is "nothing in the data saying we need to move to Plan B" in Britain.

"The best single thing you can all do is get your booster. When you are called forward to get it, please do so," Johnson said to reporters after his speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference.

Plan B involves advice to work at home and requirements to wear masks in certain scenarios.

In a recent report, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that the coronavirus pandemic exposed Britain's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies and left the British government unprepared.

The government did not act on warnings from pandemic simulations carried out prior to COVID-19 based on an influenza outbreak, said the NAO.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: "This pandemic has exposed the UK's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies, where the emergency is so broad that it engages all levels of government and society. Although government had plans for a flu pandemic, it was not prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19 and did not learn important lessons from the simulation exercises it carried out."

In its conclusions, the NAO called on the British government to strengthens its preparations for system-wide emergencies. It suggested the Cabinet Office establish who leads and manages system-wide risks, and strengthen oversight and assurance arrangements over preparations for system-wide emergencies.

Meanwhile, a research has found the NHS is facing the "most difficult winter in its history," with almost 90 percent of hospital trust leaders feeling "extremely concerned."

NHS Providers, which carried out the survey, said that while cases of COVID-19 are "well below" their peak in January, some trusts are "beyond full stretch."

It is urging the government to offer cash bonuses of about 500 pounds to stop social care staff leaving for jobs in "hospitality, supermarkets, or online firms such as Amazon."

More than 88 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 28 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose 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.
You are here: World

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Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend and deliver a keynote speech to the opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Monday via video link, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday.


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Russia's 'Prichal' module docks to space station, adds new ports



November 26, 2021  The International Space Station now has five new docking ports with the arrival of a new Russian-made module.



Launched on Wednesday (Nov. 25) with a modified Progress cargo spacecraft, Roscosmos' "Prichal" nodal module completed an autonomous approach and docking to the space station on Friday morning. The ball-shaped node made contact with the Earth-facing port on the Nauka multi-purpose laboratory module on the Russian segment of the orbiting complex at 10:19 a.m. EST (1519 GMT).



Now extending out from the "bottom" of the space station, the Prichal module restores and expands the ability for Russia to dock Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as well as add future modules. The node replaces the capabilities of the former Pirs docking module, which after 20 years of use was detached and discarded in July to make way for the addition of the Nauka laboratory module.



Similarly, Russia undocked the Progress MS-17 cargo spacecraft from Nauka on Thursday (Nov. 25) to open up the port for Prichal to connect. The Progress took with it a passive docking unit adapter that enabled Progress and Soyuz to link directly to the MLM. With Prichal in place, the adapter was no longer necessary.



Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, both members of the station's Expedition 66 crew, monitored the approach of the Progress M-UM with Prichal, ready to take over manual control of the docking if necessary. The two are scheduled to perform a spacewalk together in January to run power and data cables, completing the addition of Prichal to the space station.



In addition to delivering Prichal to the station, Progress M-UM also carried 1,540 pounds (700 kg) of cargo, including expendable equipment, medical supplies and food rations for the Expedition 66 crew.



Named for the Russian word for "port" or "berth," the five-ton Prichal nodal module is 16 feet long by 11 feet in diameter (4.9 by 3.3 meters). The interior is divided into two sections, a habitable volume and a utility area for on-board systems. The node's six-port layout (with one port used to connect to the space station) differs Prichal from the other Russian docking modules, Rassvet and Poisk, which have only one port each to support one visiting vehicle at a time.



In addition to Prichal, Rassvet and Poisk, Russian spacecraft can also dock to the rear-facing port on the Zvezda service module. On the U.S. operating segment, two international docking adapters attached to the Harmony node support visiting U.S. commercial spacecraft.



Roscosmos had originally intended Prichal to only be a temporary addition to the International Space Station  to ultimately become part of a new Russian space station, the Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex, or OPSEK  but that plan was put aside in 2017.



"Today we can state the fact that the formation of the Russian segment of the International Space Station has been completed," said Dmitry Rogozin, General Director of Roscosmos.



Roscosmos' "Prichal" nodal module (at top) docks with the Nauka multipurpose laboratory at the International Space Station, adding six new docking ports, on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. (NASA TV)







Roscosmos logo for the new "Prichal" nodal module. (Roscosmos)







Roscosmos' Prichal node mated with the Progress M-UM cargo spacecraft approaches a docking with the International Space Station. (Roscosmos)



(Roscosmos)



(Roscosmos)



(Roscosmos)



(Roscosmos)





Roscosmos' Prichal nodal module seen being prepared for launch, prior it to being mated with the Progress M-UM cargo spacecraft. (RSC Energia)



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Report Description

A recent market intelligence report that is published by Data Insights Partner on the global Online Dating Services Market makes an offering of in-depth analysis of segments and sub-segments in the regional and international Online Dating Services Market. The research also emphasizes on the impact of restraints, drivers, and macro indicators on the regional and global Online Dating Services Market over the short as well as long period of time. A detailed presentation of forecast, trends, and dollar values of global Online Dating Services Market is offered. In accordance with the report, the global Online Dating Services Market is projected to expand by healthy CAGR over the period of forecast.

Market Insight, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunity & Trends of the Market:

Definition

Online dating services are computer and smartphone based and web-based applications for dating. Such services make use of mobile wallet applications, digital photo-gallery accessibility and location tracking features to improve the delivery of services. These services simplify and hastens the flirting process, chatting process, meeting process and the process of romantic involvement relative to the traditional process of matchmaking. This helps in connecting people possessing almost similar traits with the help of algorithm.

Request for Report Sample: https://datainsightspartner.com/request-for-sample?ref=957

Market Drivers

Technological advancement and its implementation in matching activities is primarily driving this market. The increasing development of algorithm and its deployment is driving the growth of the online dating services market.

Internet penetration and the development of social media coupled with the availability of smart phones are fueling this market. Smartphones and internet connectivity has witnessed tremendous penetration in the recent years across less developed, developing and developed regions which is thriving this market.

The transitioning lifestyle patterns of the population are bolstering the growth of this market. Humanity has always driven positive energy from meaningful connections. Owing to changing habits of the people in general, the initiation of connections was lost which can be restored by these online services. Through these online services, the user can search for partners beyond the traditional circle, social ties. Partners can be chosen on a global basis breaking all national and racial boundaries. Further, the user can choose accordingly by matching their hobbies, tastes, likings and disliking.

Changing communication patterns and the spurring proportion of time spent on smartphones, laptops and tablets are accelerating the growth of this market. Users are increasingly trying to detach themselves from monogamous relationships and becoming absolutely uncompromising with regard to their desired satisfaction level which is tending them explore further. Communication between partners have taken new folds in the digitization era which is augmenting the online dating services market.

Market Restraints

Fraudulent practices and the vulnerability to romantic scams is hindering the growth of this market. Women safety norms has been possibly violated according to some users. Scammers attack, abuse, publish intimate photos and many others which is impeding the growth of this market.

The number of fake profiles in online dating services application in on a rise which is lowering consumer confidence on these services and hindering its market.

Further, although with the development of technology these services are gaining importance, there exists no alternative to person-to-person communication which is likely to help in a long run. In a short run, these services can be used to spent time and events. But choosing a partner with whom relationship will last a lifetime requires more that online dating services which is taking a toll on this market.

Opportunities

The implementation of advanced technology complementary to rapidly developing technology and the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and Algorithm is likely to open up new avenues for the online dating services market.

The hectic daily schedules of the individuals parallel to the changing living patterns of the population is bringing evolution in the online dating services which is likely to thrive in the years to come.

Trends

In terms of age group, the 15-24 years segment dominates the market for online dating services. However, the 55-64 years age group is expected to gain traction in the forecast period. In terms of services, the relationship services hold a significant share of the market. But the Social/Event networking sites is expected to emerge as the fastest growing segment in the forecast period. In terms of product, the websites are dominating the online dating services at present. But the application product is estimated to witness burgeoning growth in the forecast period. In terms of subscription, the paid online services are estimated to witness significant growth. The North America market dominates the market for online dating services owing to the large share of singles in the US population. Globally, the online dating services market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.26% in the forecast period.

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Segment Covered:

This market intelligence report on the global Online Dating Services Market encompasses market segments based on services, age group, product, subscription, and country.

By Services the global Online Dating Services Market has been divided into:

q Social/Event Networking Sites

q Relationship Services

q Niche Online Dating Services

q Merging Online Dating Services

q General Online Dating Services

By Age Group the global Online Dating Services Market has been divided into:

q 18-24 years

q 25-34 years

q 35-44 years

q 45-54 years

q 55-64 years

By Product the global Online Dating Services Market has been divided into:

q Apps

q Websites

By Subscription the global Online Dating Services Market has been divided into:

q Paid Online Dating Services

q Non-Paid Online Dating Services

By country/region, the global Online Dating Services Market has been divided into:

q North America (the U.S., Canada),

q Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and other countries),

q Europe (Germany, France, the U.K., Spain, Italy, Russia, and other countries),

q Asia Pacific (India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand and other countries),

q Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, Israel and Other countries).

Profiling of Market Players:

This business intelligence report offers profiling of reputed companies that are operating in the market. Companies such as:

q Zoosk

q eHarmony

q Badoo

q Tinder Inc

q Plenty of Fish

q OKCupid

q Match.Com

q Elite Singles

q BlackPeopleMeet

q Bumble

others have been profiled into detail so as to offer a glimpse of the market leaders. Moreover, parameters such as Online Dating Services Market related investment & spending and developments by major players of the market are tracked in this global report.

Report Highlights:

In-depth analysis of the micro and macro indicators, market trends, and forecasts of demand is offered by this business intelligence report. Furthermore, the report offers a vivid picture of the factors that are steering and restraining the growth of this market across all geographical segments. In addition to that, IGR-Growth Matrix analysis is also provided in the report so as to share insight of the investment areas that new or existing market players can take into consideration. Various analytical tools such as DRO analysis, Porter's five forces analysis has been used in this report to present a clear picture of the market. The study focuses on the present market trends and provides market forecast from the year 2020-2028. Emerging trends that would shape the market demand in the years to come have been highlighted in this report. A competitive analysis in each of the geographical segments gives an insight into market share of the global players.

Few Recent Developments

Zoosk

In July 2019, the closure of the acquisition of Zoosk was announced by Sparks Network SE, a leader in the global dating company market. This acquisition was expected to make Sparks the second largest dating company located in North America.

Badoo

In May 2018, an announcement with regard to the incorporation of live video chat and face-to-face discussion among users in its application.

eHarmony

In November 2018, the launch of AI-based functions that provides suggestions to nudgers to meet personally after a consistent period of conversation was announced by eHarmony.

Salient Features:

 This study offers comprehensive yet detailed analysis of the Online Dating Services Market, size of the market (US$ Mn), and Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR (%)) for the period of forecast: 2020-2028, taking into account 2019 as the base year

 It explains upcoming revenue opportunities across various market segments and attractive matrix of investment proposition for the said market

 This market intelligence report also offers pivotal insights about various market opportunities, restraints, drivers, competitive market strategies of leading market players, emerging market trends, and regional outlook

 Profiling of key market players in the world Online Dating Services Market is done by taking into account various parameters such as company strategies, distribution strategies, product portfolio, financial performance, key developments, geographical presence, and company overview

 The data of this report would allow management authorities and marketers of companies alike to take informed decision when it comes to launch of Type of models, government initiatives, marketing tactics and expansion, and technical up gradation

 The world market for Online Dating Services caters to the needs of various stakeholders pertaining to this industry, namely suppliers, manufacturers, investors, and distributors for Online Dating Services Market. The research also caters to the rising needs of consulting and research firms, financial analysts, and new market entrants

 Research methodologies that have been adopted for the purpose of this study have been clearly elaborated so as to facilitate better understanding of the reports

 Reports have been made based on the guidelines as mandated by General Data Protection Regulation

 Ample number of examples and case studies have been taken into consideration before coming to a conclusion

Reasons to buy:

v Identify opportunities and plan strategies by having a strong understanding of the investment opportunities in the Online Dating Services Market

v Identification of key factors driving investment opportunities in the Online Dating Services Market

v Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data

v Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industrys growth potential

v Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events

v Identify key partners and business development avenues

v Respond to your competitors business structure, strategy and prospects

v Identify key strengths and weaknesses of important market participants

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Global Industrial Tapes market is accounted for $44,100.45 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $88,975.5 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. Growing usage of manufacturing and assembly of commodities and appliances and increasing industrialization are fuelling the growth of the market. However huge cost of raw materials is hindering the market growth.

Industrial tapes offer high level of adhesive force compared to normal tapes which are used on a daily basis life. It is used for wrapping in different industrial operations. Heavy materials and spare parts cannot be attached using normal tapes as these materials require high level of adhesive bonding. Those are used for attaching several components such as cushions, foams and lighting fixtures.

By Tape Backing Material, polypropylene segment held significant market growth over the forecast period. Polypropylene applications is estimated to grow owing to its low-cost material and huge flexural potential coupled with a small coefficient of friction, which makes it as a perfect backing material for industrial tapes.

Asia Pacific dominates the global market during the forecast period. The growth is accredited to the growing urbanization and industrialization. The region has a huge automobile and electronics industry which is further positively influencing the market growth. Moreover, increasing construction facilities in the emerging countries such as China, India, and Indonesia is driving the market growth in the region

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Some of the key players profiled in the Industrial Tapes market include DOW Chemical Company, Avery Dennison Corporation, H.B. Fuller Co., Henkel AG & Company Kgaa, Shurtape Technologies, Ashland Inc., DeWAL Industries, Saint Gobain SA, Eastman Chemical Co., VON Roll Holding AG, Sika AG, Berry Plastics, Advanced Flexible Composites, Merck Group and Microseal Industries.

Mode of Applications Covered:

 Acrylic based application

 Solvent based application

 Pressure sensitive application

 Hot melt based application

Products Covered:

 Adhesive transfer tapes

 Filament tapes

 Duct tapes

 Aluminium Tapes

 Other Products

Tape Backing Materials Covered:

 Paper

 Polypropylene

 Polyvinyl chloride

 Other Tape Backing Materials

Applications Covered:

 Packaging application

 Masking/ protective application

 Specialized application

 Other Applications

End Users Covered:

 Electrical & Electronics

 Construction

 Manufacturing

 Logistics

 Automotive

 Aerospace

 Other End Users

Regions Covered:

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Global Reclosable Films Market is accounted for $107.45 million in 2017 and is expected to reach $250.01 million by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2017 to 2026. Some of the factors such as growing demand for reclosable films due to its re-closability feature and rise in utilization of flexible lidding are fueling the market growth. However, legislative regulations are negatively impacting the market growth. The usage of a reclosable lidding films as a promotional medium acting as an opportunity for the market growth.

Amongst Packaging Type, Trays segment is driven by due to the ease in opening and reclosing. For tray-sealing, the trays are equipped with two opening points that are positioned diagonally opposite each other. This makes it irrelevant in which way the trays are placed on the in-feed conveyor, thus preventing costly errors due to rotation of the trays. It is Easy-to-grip peel corner for effortless removal of top film is of the major benefit for this segment. By geography, the North America region is dominating the market during the forecast period due to the demand for reclosable films in the food industry.

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Some of the key players in Reclosable Films market include Winpak Ltd., Termoplast srl, TCL Packaging Ltd, Sudpack Verpackungen GmbH + Co. KG, Stratex Group Limited, Sealed Air Corporation, Schur Flexibles Holding GesmbH, Plastopil Hazorea Company Ltd, Parkside Flexibles (Europe) Limited, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Korozo Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS, Industria Termoplastica Pavese SpA, HFM Packaging, Ltd, Folian GmbH, DowDuPont Inc., Coveris Holdings S.A., Buergofol GmbH, Berry Global Group, Inc., Bemis Company, Inc. and AS Estiko Plastar.

Thicknesses Covered:

 Up to 100 Micron

 Above 200 Micron

 100 to 200 Micron

Peel Strengths Covered:

 Medium Peel Films

 Easy Peel Films

Material Types Covered:

 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

 Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA)

 Polypropylene (PP)

 Polyethylene (PE)

 Other Material Types

Packaging Types Covered:

 Trays

 Pouches & Bags

 Cups

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End Users Covered:

 Industrial

 Personal Care & Home Care

 Pharmaceutical

 Food & Beverages

 Other End Users

Regions Covered:
Global LATIN AMERICA ADVANCED FARMING MARKET Growth 2021-2027 was just released by Trends Market Research. The report offers an in-depth examination of the main elements that can assist well-known firms in the sector in developing effective future action plans. Market revenue and market size are the two primary parameters analysed in this study. In the projected period 2021-2027, the market research offers key information such as market share, market size, and growth rate. The research offers insights into market developments, trends, and supply and demand changes in a variety of global regions.

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The research offers insights into market developments, trends, and supply and demand changes in a variety of global regions like:

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Rest of South America)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa)

The study examines the worldwide LATIN AMERICA ADVANCED FARMING MARKET -supported product type, application, and end-use across a variety of nations.

Segmentation by Technology

The advanced farming market is sub segmented by the following technologies- Variable-rate technology, High Precision Positioning Systems, Automated Steering Systems, Remote Sensing and Integrated Electronic Communication.

Segmentation by Applications

The market is segmented by the following applications- Fleet management, Livestock farming, Forest farming, Aqua farming and Horticulture.

Segmentation by Services

The market is segmented by the following services- Integration services, Maintenance services and Training and consulting.

The report displays the stated data in the form of pie diagrams, line graphs, and different updates that isolate the real data. The study examines the market in depth, covering dynamic growth determinants, limitations, challenges, and possibilities.

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It also includes a study of important market participants and their most current market strategies in order to assist new market entrants, stakeholders, and shareholders in developing lucrative company plans.

Major players in the market include:

The prominent players in the market are Trimble Navigation, AGCO Corp., John Deere & Company, Raven Industries, and Ag Junction Inc.

The research examines the various tactics used by market participants to retain their position in the worldwide LATIN AMERICA ADVANCED FARMING MARKET.

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Global HEALTHCARE HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING MARKET Growth 2021-2027 was just released by Trends Market Research. The report offers an in-depth examination of the main elements that can assist well-known firms in the sector in developing effective future action plans. Market revenue and market size are the two primary parameters analysed in this study. In the projected period 2021-2027, the market research offers key information such as market share, market size, and growth rate. The research offers insights into market developments, trends, and supply and demand changes in a variety of global regions.

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The research offers insights into market developments, trends, and supply and demand changes in a variety of global regions like:

North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)

Europe (Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, and Rest of Europe)

Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia)

South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Rest of South America)

Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, South Africa, and Rest of Middle East & Africa)

The study examines the worldwide HEALTHCARE HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING MARKET -supported product type, application, and end-use across a variety of nations.

Segmentation of end-users

Hospitals

Diagnostic centers

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries

Research centers

The report displays the stated data in the form of pie diagrams, line graphs, and different updates that isolate the real data. The study examines the market in depth, covering dynamic growth determinants, limitations, challenges, and possibilities.

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It also includes a study of important market participants and their most current market strategies in order to assist new market entrants, stakeholders, and shareholders in developing lucrative company plans.

Major players in the market include:

A majority of the leading healthcare hyperspectral imaging companies focus on developing high-quality cameras that provide an assessment of diagnosis and treatment for various chronic diseases. The manufacturers are emerging with different strategies to compete in the market along with various brands, models, and designs.

The research examines the various tactics used by market participants to retain their position in the worldwide HEALTHCARE HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING MARKET.

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feed acidifiers market is estimated to grow from USD 2.7 billion in 2018 to USD 3.5 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the feed acidifiers market include the rising consumption of livestock by-products, high threat of diseases in livestock, growing government aids or funds promoting the wellness of the feed industry, and ban of antibiotics in the European Union (EU). The feed acidifiers market is experiencing strong growth due to initiatives being taken for improving animal health globally. Theis estimated to grow from USD 2.7 billion in 2018 to USD 3.5 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 5.1% during the forecast period. The major factors driving the feed acidifiers market include the rising consumption of livestock by-products, high threat of diseases in livestock, growing government aids or funds promoting the wellness of the feed industry, and ban of antibiotics in the European Union (EU). The feed acidifiers market is experiencing strong growth due to initiatives being taken for improving animal health globally.

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Opportunity: Encapsulation techniques being used for feed acidifiers

Feed acidifiers have positive effects on livestock health but are often difficult to properly process in feed. Acidifiers tend to lose their efficacy and efficiency, owing to their vulnerability to high temperatures, dusty environment, significant odors, and other volatile properties. As a result, manufacturers are now coming up with newer technologies that help improve feed efficiency by successfully locking in feed acidifiers along with their relevant efficacies and properties. Encapsulation acts as a novel technology for feed products, especially for acidifiers that allow them to improve their release and enteric action and have a longer shelf-life by protecting them against environmental changes, by keeping the liquid, gaseous, or solid acidifier substance packed in a tiny millimetric capsule. These acidifiers are encapsulated in such a manner that the digestive tract obtains small quantities of various acids in a progressive manner. As a result, the amount of acidifiers released into the stomach remains low while the amount reaching the intestinal tract is higher, thereby improving operating efficiency. Along with this protection against extreme environmental factors, encapsulation also maintains the key properties of acidifiers, such as the enhancement of palatability, stability in ration, improved digestion, and better livestock performance.

Dry Feed Acidifiers To Outpace the Sales of Liquid Feed Acidifiers in the Market Throughout 2023

To maintain consistency in the application and enhance the nutrient quotient of crops, the dry form of feed acidifiers is utilized extensively. Demand for dry feed acidifiers is preferred as they are convenient to store, transport, and use. Also, the dry form of feed acidifiers can be used efficiently due to their free-flowing structure. Owing to these factors, dry feed acidifiers are projected to outpace the sales of the liquid form during the forecast period.

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The Feed Acidifiers Market To Record the Fastest Growth in South America During the Forecast Period

As governments in the South American region focus on investing in the livestock sector, rearers in various countries of this region are allocating their budget to utilize feed acidifiers. Rearers are mainly focusing on improving the meat quality by utilizing feed acidifiers and offer GRAS-certified produce in the market. The demand for meat and poultry products is also projected to increase in parallel to the population growth and disposable income of consumers in this region. Due to these factors, the market in this region is expected to record the highest growth during the forecast period.

Leading players in the feed acidifiers market are adopting strategies such as product launches, acquisitions, expansions, and collaborations & divestments. Key players identified in this market include Yara International ASA (Norway), Kemira OYJ (Finland), BASF SE (Germany), Biomin Holding GmbH (Austria), and Kemin Industries Inc., (US).

Overall, the growth of the feed acidifiers market is projected to remain moderate during the forecast period. As the competition to offer effective feed acidifiers intensifies in the market, leading players to focus on expansions and collaborations to enhance their brand presence across regions and expand their customer base. These factors are projected to encourage high growth during the forecast period.
According to a new study published by Polaris Market, the global consumer network attached storage market is anticipated to reach USD 10.2 billion by 2026. The demand for consumer network attached storage globally is driven by increasing demand for cost-effective storage systems, efficient data backup systems, and speedy data transfer. Further, the market is also bolstering due to easy installation and low-cost of product, coupled with network sharing of data that improves the accessibility of users to data, among the office or in-house network. Furthermore, innovative offerings including cloud backup that is capable of integrating with consumer network attached storage system, is also driving the market growth for consumer network attached storage.

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The market by end-user is dominated by SMEs segment. The demand is highly attributed to the cost-effectiveness as well rising awareness for consumer network attached storage system. Also, by regions, Asia Pacific is expected to notice the highest growth. Further, region Middle East & Africa is also expected to notice considerable growth during the forecast period. Rising awareness among people and their increasing spending capability are the major factors driving the market growth in these regions. The North America region is expected to dominate the market, with US being the major contributor. The market in US is driven by presence of several start-ups in the country also, US in one of the hub for start-ups and a major location of several large technology companies. By design, the market is segmented into 1-Bay, 2-Bays, 4-Bays, 5-Bays, 6-Bays, and 6-Bays & above. The 4-Bays segment is dominating the market by design however, 2-Bay segment is expected to grow at a highest CAGR during the projected period.

Some of the key players operating in the consumer network attached storage market are Western Digital Corporation, Netgear Inc., Synology Inc., ASUSTOR Inc., QNAP Systems, Inc., ZyXEL Communications Inc., Buffalo America Inc., Drobo Inc., D-Link Corporation, and Seagate Technology Public Limited Company among others.

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Key Players:

 Western Digital Corporation

 Netgear Inc.

 Synology Inc.

 ASUSTOR Inc.

 QNAP Systems, Inc.

 ZyXEL Communications Inc

 Buffalo America Inc.

 Drobo Inc.

 D-Link Corporation

 Seagate Technology Public Limited Company

Consumer NAS Market Size and Forecast by Type Rackmount Standalone

Consumer NAS Market Size and Forecast by End-user Residential SMEs Large Enterprises

Consumer NAS Market Size and Forecast by Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Asia Pacific China South Korea Japan India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



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About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world.

Contact us-

Polaris Market Research

Phone: 1-646-568-9980

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

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The Report Contact Lenses Market [By Product Type (Soft Lens, Hybrid Lens, Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lens); By Design Type (Toric, Spherical, Multifocal, Others); By Usage (Corrective, Therapeutic, Cosmetic/Lifestyle, Prosthetic) By Regions]: Market Size & Forecast, 2017  2026 According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global contact lenses market is anticipated to reach USD 18.9 billion by 2026.

Once of the key factor driving the contact lenses market is to enhance aesthetic appearance by using them as fashion accessory particularly, by the youth population. Also, constant development in technology of product materials and given a boost to colored or decorative contact lenses, which is further anticipated to influence the demand. Moreover, the rising incidences of visual imparities such as myopia, presbyopia, hyperopia and astigmatisam is propelling the market growth. The World Health Organization, in 2015, estimated that approximately 1.9 billion people across the globe have been affected by myopia and the number is anticipated to be more than 2 billion by 2020. Thus, the demand for contact lenses during the forecast period will experience a growth.

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The contact lenses manufacturers and vendors are appealed by the high profit margins offered by the contact lenses thus, boosting its manufacturing as well as enhancing the network of distribution. Also, advancements in technology in form of material will provide new opportunities to the manufacturers with time. By type segment, the Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) Lenses was valued over USD 800 million in 2017 owing to factors including, sharp vision, high oxygen permeability, cost-effectiveness in the long run, and durability.

The contact lenses market by usage type is segmented into Corrective, Therapeutic, Cosmetic, Prosthetic, and Lifestyle-oriented. The corrective lenses usage segment is currently growing at a CAGR of more than 6.2%. The demand is attributed to its various applications. Whereas, cosmetic lenses segment is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. On the basis of design, the hybrid lens segment is anticipated to experience a noteworthy growth as it is a combination of both soft lenses and rigid gas permeable lenses. Thus, it provides comfort of soft lenses coupled with the visual clarity offered by rigid gas permeable lenses. The growth of hybrid lenses segment is expected to propel with the increased demand from people with keratoconus and astigmatism conditions.

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The North America market holds the largest share owing to presence of better eye care treatment facilities as increasing elderly population. Although, the Asia Pacific market is expected to bolster with a high CAGR attributed to the increased awareness regarding contact lenses among the population as well as their increasing ability for healthcare spending.

The key strategies adopted by the market players include long-term partnerships among the other players in supply chain particularly, distributors and suppliers with an aim to increase their geographical footprint. For instance, in 2016, Vision Direct Group Ltd. was acquired by Essilor International S.A. for the enhancement of its online retailing business presence. Major industry players include Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Abbott Medical Optics, Inc., Bausch + Lomb, Incorporated, Carl Zeiss AG, CooperVision, Inc., Contamac U.S., Inc., Hoya Corporation, Essilor International S.A., Medennium and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. among others.

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Contact Lenses Market Size and Forecast by Product Type Rigid Gas Permeable Lens Hybrid Lens Soft Lens

Contact Lenses Market Size and Forecast by Design Type Spherical Lenses Toric Lenses Multifocal Lenses Others

Contact Lenses Market Size and Forecast by Usage Type Corrective Lens Therapeutic Lens Cosmetic Lens Prosthetic Lens Lifestyle-oriented Lens

Contact Lenses Market Size and Forecast by Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Asia Pacific China South Korea Japan India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa



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About Polaris Market Research

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world.

Contact us-

Polaris Market Research

Phone: 1-646-568-9980

Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com

Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com
The hybrid composites market is expected to grow from USD 436 million in 2018 to USD 876 million by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.0% during the forecast period. The report " global Hybrid Composites Market by Fiber Type, Resin (Thermoset and Thermoplastic), End-Use Industry (Automotive & Transportation, Aerospace & Defense, Wind Energy, Marine, Sporting Goods), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", The major factor driving the market is balanced cost and performance characteristics offered by hybrid composites. Hybrid composites offer properties comparable with carbon fiber such as high strength, low weight, and increased resistance to corrosion, but with the lesser price than carbon fiber composites.

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Carbon/glass and glass/carbon hybrid fiber composites accounted for the largest share of the global hybrid composites market

Carbon/glass fiber hybrid composite parts are lighter and stronger than their metal counterparts, due to which, they are extensively used in many industries, including automotive & transportation and wind energy. Carbon/glass hybrid fiber composites are used in high-end vehicles to reduce the overall cost.

The wind energy industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the global hybrid composites market during the forecast period

The hybrid composites market has been segmented on the basis of end-use industry into 5 categories: automotive & transportation, aerospace & defense, wind energy, marine, sporting goods. The wind energy end-use industry is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, due to increasing wind turbine installations across the globe especially in the APAC region.

Europe is expected to the largest hybrid composites market during the forecast period

Europe is estimated to account for the largest share of the market in 2018. The region is considered the most advanced region in terms of technology adoption and infrastructure development. Europe is home to some of the major automotive and aerospace & defense equipment manufacturers, which create demand for hybrid composites in the region. The wide presence of the key industry players offering hybrid composites for automotive & transportation and aerospace & defense is the main driving factor for the growth of the hybrid composites market.

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Royal DSM NV (Netherlands), SGL Group (Germany), Gurit (Switzerland), Hexcel Corporation (US), Teijin Limited (Japan), General Electric (US), Exel Composites (Finland), Innegra Technologies, LLC (US), Solvay (Belgium), and PlastiComp, Inc. (US) are some of the key players in the hybrid composites market.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court was Friday informed that Chief Ministers of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh met on November 9 and agreed to constitute a committee to look into the controversy related to territorial jurisdiction dispute over 21 villages.

The Odisha government, which has filed a plea in the apex court seeking contempt action against some senior officials of Andhra Pradesh for notifying panchayat polls in three disputed area' villages, told the top court that some positive development has happened in the matter.

The two chief ministers met on November 9, 2021 and they have agreed to constitute a committee to look into this matter, senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Odisha, told a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar.

The counsel appearing for the Andhra officials said while meeting has happened in a very cordial atmosphere, the looming specter of contempt can be avoided.

He said the court can close the contempt and leave it open for the petitioners to approach the court again.

The contempt action has to be taken forward, what is the difficulty. If settlement does not happen, the contempt has to proceed. There is clear direction of maintaining status quo. If that is breached, that is the grievance. We have to deal with it if you are not able to resolve, the bench observed.

The counsel appearing for the Andhra officials said they have already said there has been no violation.

Urging the bench that the matter be deferred for some time, Singh said pendency of this matter would help resolve the controversy.

The state authorities are interacting at the highest level to find out amicable solution. We defer hearing of this matter till first week of January 2022, the bench said in its order.

More than five decades since the first status quo order on the territorial jurisdiction dispute with Andhra Pradesh over 21 villages, Odisha has moved the top court seeking contempt action against some officials of the southern state for notifying panchayat polls in three villages.

The Naveen Patnaik government has said the notification amounts to invading Odisha's territory.

The dispute over territorial jurisdiction over 21 villages popularly called as Kotia Group of villages first reached the top court in 1968 when Odisha on the basis of three notifications -- issued on December 1, 1920, October 8, 1923 and October 15, 1927 -- claimed that Andhra Pradesh had trespassed into its well-defined territory.

During the pendency of the suit filed by Odisha, the top court had on December 2, 1968 directed both the states to maintain status quo till the disposal of the suit and said, there shall be no further ingress or egress on the territories in dispute, on the part of either party.

The suit filed by Odisha under Article 131 (the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction over any dispute arising between the states or between the Centre and state) of the Constitution was finally dismissed on technical grounds by the top court on March 30, 2006, and with the consent of both the states it directed that status quo be maintained till the dispute is resolved.

The petitioner state of Odisha is invoking the contempt jurisdiction of this court against the alleged contemnor for having wilfully and deliberately violated the order dated December 2, 1968 and the judgement dated March 30, 2006 passed by this court in original suit filed by State of Orissa and State of Andhra Pradesh, the plea said.

The Odisha government further claimed that administratively and otherwise, it has been in control of these villages but of late clandestinely the contemnors have entered into the impugned act of contempt by which the order of this court has been violated.

The Andhra Pradesh government had told the apex court that there was no breach of its direction and it has been duly administrating its own territories and did not infringe upon the neighbouring Odisha's area.

Seeking dismissal of the contempt plea filed by Odisha, the Andhra government has said in its affidavit that Odisha is seeking to achieve indirectly what it failed to achieve directly as the apex court in its 2006 judgement dismissed the suit filed by Odisha on the ground that it was not maintainable under Article 131 of the Constitution.

"Without prejudice to the above, it is most respectfully submitted that assuming that there was any undertaking given to the court by the parties, it is settled law that an action for contempt can only be taken in respect of a breach of undertaking if the court has passed an order on the basis of such an undertaking. There was no such undertaking in the present matter," the state government has said in its affidavit.

"It is most submitted that the State of Andhra Pradesh has not taken any step in violation of any agreement/ direction. The State of Andhra Pradesh has been duly administrating its own territories and has not infringed upon the territory of the petitioner," it said.
One person who suffered serious injuries has been shifted to a private hospital. (Photo: Representational Image)

Karimnagar: Four people were killed in a road accident in Karimnagar district on Friday, police said.

The mishap occurred when a car heading to Karimnagar hit a tree at high speed near the police station at Manakondur, the Manakondur police inspector Krishna Reddy said.

"The accident took place at about 4 AM, which resulted in the instantaneous death of four people including the driver, " he added.

One person who suffered serious injuries has been shifted to a private hospital here, the police official said, adding that his condition is stable.

The bodies of the deceased were shifted to the Government Headquarters Hospital in Karimnagar for post-mortem, he said, adding that a probe is underway.
HYDERABAD: BJP corporators are facing the heat as they are under tremendous pressure from people over delay in civic works in their respective divisions under Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

Compared to their counterparts from TRS and MIM, BJP corporators are lagging

behind when it comes to taking up developmental works. Delays in convening the general body meeting of GHMC or in allocation of funds have come as hurdles for the last few months. As a result, the corporators are facing criticism from people, who are blaming them for not taking up new works.

BJP represents 47 of 150 wards. Barring three, all others are first-time corporators. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, senior BJP corporator from ward no. 71, Devara Karunakar said that TRS and MIM corporators are getting

funds from their MLAs in Greater Hyderabad.

TRS government is intentionally not releasing funds to BJP corporators, he said.

By centralising powers, municipal minister K.T. Rama Rao has destroyed the spirit of local body representatives, he said. BJP will not be a silent spectator to such discrimination and will fight this, he said. Mylardevpally BJP corporator T.

Srinivas Reddy alleged that the state government diverted 13, 14 and 15 state finance commission funds released by the centre. Earlier, GHMC provided loans to RTC and now it is forced to take loans of Rs 4,500 crore, he said.

The TRS governments inept administration has driven the civic body into a debt-trap. It has been paying Rs 34 crore interest every month, he said.

Central unit leaders of BJP Hyderabad demanded a general body meeting of GHMC immediately. They also demanded special funds for corporators to take up civic works in their wards.

Mayor Gadwal Vijayalakshmi should take the initiative to protect the interests of corporators cutting across party lines, they said.
HYDERABAD: The talks held between the Centre and the Telangana government in Delhi late on Friday to break the deadlock over paddy procurement ended in failure as the Centre reiterated that it would not purchase paddy from Telangana during rabi. It asked Telangana not to sow paddy during rabi season.

The talks were held between union minister for food and PDS Piyush Goyal and the Telangana delegation comprising ministers S. Niranjan Reddy, Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Ch. Malla Reddy, chief secretary Somesh Kumar and senior officials of agriculture and civil supplies departments.

The state government put forth two major demands before the Centre. The first is to procure paddy from Telangana during rabi and the second is to declare annual paddy procurement target for Telangana clearly stating how much paddy the Centre will procure from Telangana during kharif and rabi seasons every year.

The Centre rejected both these demands and categorically stated that it would not purchase paddy from Telangana and it was also not possible to declare annual paddy procurement target in advance at present.

Piyush Goyal asked the state government to tell farmers not to sow paddy during rabi henceforth as the Food Corporation of India will not purchase it. Goyal also stated that the Centre would form a committee to recommend measures on crop diversification and prescribe MSP for various crops and until the committee report came, it was not possible to declare annual procurement targets for every state.
Addressing the media in virtual mode, Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the government has colluded with the rice millers and is deliberately delaying the purchase of paddy. (DC file photo)

HYDERABAD: TPCC former president and Nalgonda MP Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday said Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao has lost the confidence of the states farmers.

Addressing the media in virtual mode, Uttam alleged that the government has colluded with the rice millers and is deliberately delaying the purchase of paddy. The TRS government has been turning the farmers desperate to create conditions for them to sell their produce to millers at a price lower than the MSP, he said.

He demanded that the government procure paddy whether it is discoloured or has high moisture content. The state government should purchase every grain of Paddy at MSP, he said.

He made it clear that the Congress would not accept restrictions on paddy-sowing in the Yasangi season and urged farmers to go ahead with the sowing of paddy in that season. He said the Congress party would fight in the assembly and in Parliament to force the governments to procure paddy from farmers.

Uttam said Telangana is the only state that did not have a crop insurance policy. Even though three years have gone by in the present term of the TRS government, so far the loan waiver scheme for those who face crop loss has not been implemented.

CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said farmers have been losing their lives due to heart strokes as their produce has not been procured. Paddy stocks are giving sprouts as they got soaked in the rains, he said.

MLA D Sridhar Babu said though the state government claimed it would open about 6500 procurement centres, so far only very few centers were opened. The government has no knowledge even on the number of gunny bags required for the purpose, he said.

Congress Kisan Cell national vice-chairman Kodanda Reddy ridiculed minister Dayakar Rao for his statement that paddy was not procured due to the Model Election Code.

AICC official spokesperson Dasoju Sravan said there was gross negligence on the part of the government in procuring paddy and farmers have been shedding blood through their eyes.
CBI`s argument was that Nimmagadda (in image) had in connivance with Jaganmohan Reddy acquired huge swathes of land in the name of port development with the help of the then government headed by YS Rajasheker Reddy. (DC file image)

Hyderabad: Nimmagadda Prasad, representing the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Group in signing an MoU with composite Andhra Pradesh for the setting up of the VANPIC project, submitted before the High Court here that CBI is the only entity that raised objections to the deal.

No other entity did so vis-a-vis the Vadarevu and Nizampatnam Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) project, for which land was acquired in 2008, the court was told on Thursday.

During the hearing on the third consecutive day, Prasad, through his counsel Niranjan Reddy, submitted his arguments against the CBI charge-sheet before Justice Ujjal Bhuyan of Telangana High Court. He filed the petition seeking to delete his name from the case lodged by CBI vis-a-vis Vanpic.

Vanpic was related to YS Jaganmohan Reddy`s quid pro quo cases.

Prasad`s contention was that after 2008, ever since the agreement was made and till date, the project is in existence, but no one other than CBI raised any questions about the conditions in relation to Vanpic.

We had acquired 13,000 acres for this project by paying our own money (RAK) of around Rs 530 crore. No Rythu or land owner had objected to the land acquisition. We paid handsomely to the land owners, more than what the government had notified. All the land is patta land. Nowadays, acquiring even 100 acres of land is leading to several complications and protests. But, we negotiated and paid the full money to the land-owners. How could the CBI object to this and term it fraudulent when we paid money from our own pockets, Niranjan Reddy submitted before the court on behalf of his client.

CBI`s argument was that Nimmagadda had in connivance with Jaganmohan Reddy acquired huge swathes of land in the name of port development with the help of the then government headed by YS Rajasheker Reddy. Refuting this, counsel submitted that the government did not give any benefit to Nimmagadda. No land was given free of cost. Then, how can the CBI attribute the deal as a quid pro quo, he asked.

Moreover, our client Nimmagadda Prasads fairness is clearly evident in that he only rejected the government`s proposal to acquire 28,000 acres. Prasad asked the government to exclude the lands belonging to the government -- assigned, forest and other lands except patta lands -- from the notification. If he aimed to play a fraud, he could have acquired all the land, counsel argued.

Either the land owners or RAK or the state government or subsequent governments would have complained about the deal if the land was gained fraudulently by misleading the cabinet. But, no such complaint came up till now and the project is still in existence, counsel said.
Hyderabad: After hitting the streets twice this month demanding the Centre to procure paddy from Telangana in rabi, the ruling TRS is all set to raise the issue of paddy procurement in Parliament.

The winter session of Parliament is set to commence on Monday and the party wants to utilise the session to step up pressure on the Centre to procure paddy from Telangana in rabi.

TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will hold the party's parliamentary meeting on November 27 where he will guide MPs on the strategy to be adopted in both Houses of Parliament during the winter session.

The TRS has nine members in Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha. Rao wants them to strongly pitch their case. He also wants the party MPs to raise their voice against the electricity amendment bill, which imposes restrictions on power subsidy to farmers.

The TRS leadership wants to utilise the upcoming Parliament session to take up issues concerning the state, especially the promises made to Telangana in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, which remain unfulfilled even after seven years of the states formation.
Its basically a no-brainer: We all have our own idea of India  even those of us who dont live in India and are not Indian. Thats the fun part. Opinions are free  bilkul moofat. No tax, nothing. And everyone is entitled to them, including Vir Das. But, poor guy, he with his two versions of India, is getting slaughtered across the board. Kyon bhai? Now with all this noise around Vir Das, it has really indeed created two Indias  the India that loves Vir Das, and the India that hates him.

Meanwhile, Das himself is posting glammed red carpet looks from the 49th International Emmy Awards, and receiving another round of applause for his sartorial choice. Smart Das generated fresh content by putting it out there in September after the nomination was announced that he was launching a design contest for his Emmy look  anyone could apply. The prize? The chosen designers outfit would be worn by Das while strutting on that red carpet, with the likes of David Tennant and our very own Nawazuddin Siddiqui (who wasnt savvy enough to announce such a contest, and wore a rather unfortunate tux that his stylist picked for him). Das shrewdly selected Pradeep Bhatt, a 22-year-old unknown, third year fashion student designer from Haldwani, Uttarakhand.

Wait theres more! The young Bhatt let it be publicly known that he was suffering from a rare eye condition called keratoconus, which causes blurred vision and a higher sensitivity to light. Taalis! Double whammy. The outfit was constructed at Bhatts friends mens design wear studio in Delhi. Bhatt created an Indo-Western outfit for Das, which won fan approval and many plaudits. This is called class, gushed a young person, as Das announced his decision to auction the outfit for charity. Das and Bhatt belong to different Indias  but does it really matter?

I have a problem with binaries, which are this simplistic. Rapists vs Saints. Goddesses vs Victims. Freedom vs Tyranny. Farmers vs Politicians. This sort of very obvious playing to the galleries doesnt convince me at all. If only life could be as easily carved up! Despite the lack of complexity or sophistication in the six-minute monologue at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, Vir Das managed to alarm and impress his country, and started an important conversation. FIRs were promptly filed against him, and he received death threats too, which is a given these days. Most important, citizens began to ask themselves which of those two Indias they belonged to, quite forgetting there were multiple Indias out there to choose from.

These were the thoughts racing through my own head as I landed in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to address members of the CII in the capital city of the state that has been declared the cleanest in India, with Bhupesh Baghel bagging the Best Performing CM honour. Well, here I was gliding to the venue (The Courtyard by Marriott) in a gleaming Jaguar XJL, personally driven by Sandeep Goel, president of the Chhattisgarh CII chapter. During my short stay in Raipur, I got to visit the government-run Tribal Welfare Crafts Centre and a government approved textile showroom selling the pride of Chhattisgarh  pure Kosa Silk.

Both these stops were eye-openers for more than one reason. The crafts showroom was managed by an attractive young lady in fitted denims, who had been on the same flight from Mumbai. Behind her was a portrait and write-up of the national award-winning Dhokra metal craft artist whose wonderful pieces I had just acquired. She proudly identified him as her father and said that everything in the store had been made in the workshop of her village. The salesmen at the saree store were also from the Bastar region, and knew their Kosas! Their sense of identity was intact and there was zero confusion or insecurity displayed. Which India did they belong to?

At exactly the same time, an unbelievably vulgar desi wedding was being celebrated by a gutka king in Paris. The videos left me speechless! The hideousness of it all  the flashy jewellery and clothes, the ghastly display of wealth, combined with the complete absence of sensitivity  it was terribly puke-making! This ostentatious extravaganza was being staged in a city known for its beauty and good taste, and at the exclusive Maurice (Hotel), known for its snob appeal. Social media posts informed the world that the invitees were given 2,000 euros each as pocket money. A high-profile entertainer called Jason Derulo was hired to keep the folks amused, though they would have vastly preferred Badshah or Daler Mehndi. Id like to think these show-offy people are also entitled to their version of India  much as some of us may loathe the thought of anybody making money out of gutka. Mercifully, Amitabh Bachchan has stopped any further ads for a paan masala brand, but Ajay Devgun and SRK are still promoting this disgusting product, much to the disapproval of their fans. Shall we say there is a Gutka India and a non-gutka India at war here?

On the packed flight back to Mumbai, I rubbed shoulders (literally) with multiple Indias. The stories I had heard in Raipur will remain with me as will the invigorating CII session, ably moderated by the seeds king, Sanjay Jain. Young girls in the conference hall had raised interesting questions about binaries and LGBTQ issues confronting India. So much dramatic change is under way in our society its both heartening and inspiring. The downside is known to all and theres hardly any point in pretending that Vir Das made it all up in order to defame India on foreign soil and therefore must be crucified. No, he didnt make up a thing. He merely treated these troubling concerns as incendiary material for a provocative stand-up comedy act. He is well within his rights to make money out of our national shortcomings. It may shock his virulent detractors to know that it is Vir Das India too, as much as they claim exclusive rights over it! Go on, guys, write your own gigs and beat him at it if you can! The Kennedy Centre is open for bookings.
Scientists have raised the alarm about a new "worst-ever" super-mutant COVID-19 variant that would reduce vaccination effectiveness by at least 40%.

Experts previously detailed how the B.1.1.529 variation contains around 30 mutations, the most ever observed in a variant and twice as many as Delta, implying that it might be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any previous form.

Scientists warn new COVID-19 super variant

The super variant, which the World Health Organization is expected to call "Nu" in the coming days, has caused an exponential surge in infections in South Africa and has already spread to three nations, including Hong Kong and Botswana.

The federal government keeps a close eye on the variant and may prohibit flights from the African nations impacted. "If we need to target closures in specific places, we won't hesitate," Finance Minister Simon Birmingham told Sky News Australia.

Per Daily Mail, Australia is closed to visitors but will reopen on December 1 to foreign skilled migrants and students vaccinated and tested negative. Due to a serious Delta outbreak on the subcontinent, the Australian government prohibited flights from India for two weeks in April.

In South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana, just 59 confirmed instances have been found. The variant has about twice as many mutations as the Delta variant, which might make it more transmissible and evade the protection provided by past infection or vaccination.

The decision to impose travel restrictions was "prudent," according to the expert whose research influenced the first coronavirus lockdown. Scientists are optimistic that it can be contained, and the UK has responded quickly to prevent any further spread.

Read Also: US FDA Recalls Pain Medicine Methocarbamol 500mg; Patients Advised To Stop Taking the Pill

UK, South Africa work to study the new variant's implication

In addition to prohibiting travel from six countries - South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe - persons who have come from those countries in the previous ten days would be requested to take a PCR test. It's vital to remember that viruses are known to change, and they can also die out. It was discovered during a recent spike of COVID-19 cases in South Africa.

They grew to over 1,200 per day on Wednesday and 2,465 per day on Thursday, up from a little over 200 per day earlier. According to South African health minister Joe Phaahla, the first surge occurred in and around Pretoria, with clusters of infections related to student gatherings.

The COVID-19 super variant was identified when scientists investigated the genetic sequencing of these new cases. Importantly, they're now determining how much this uptick is due to the new B.1.1.529 variant. It is being studied by experts from seven South African universities, which have 100 entire genomes. They also claim that a PCR test reveals the variation.

Scientists in South Africa stated they had discovered the novel COVID-19 variant in modest numbers and attempted to figure out what it meant. The variant features a "quite uncommon constellation" of mutations, which the scientists said are alarming because they might enable it to dodge the body's immunological response and become more transmissible.

The UK Health Security Agency stated that authorities had found no variant cases in the United Kingdom. They were in contact with South African colleagues to discuss their data, Newshub reported.

Related Article: WHO Warns Against Complacency With Coronavirus, Says Vaccines 'Do Not Fully Prevent Transmission'

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It's hard to realize we're only five weeks away from the year's end. We'll have celebrated Christmas by then, and many folks will have received at least one more stimulus check. In many situations, there are several.

A few of the new checks and payments will be unexpected. Others, of course, are already known to us, and their families are anticipating their arrival. On December 15, for example, the sixth and last Child Tax Credit will be available. We'll go through some of what's coming in this post, including the surprises and everything else.

December's stimulus check may be unexpectedly large for certain people. That's because not every Child Tax Credit check will be the same next month, as per BGR via MSN.

New stimulus checks in child Tax Credit

The majority of recipients will get the same amount as the previous five stimulus checks. In other words, a few hundred bucks will be given to each qualifying child. Meanwhile, other families have only recently begun to get these payments. If that's the case, the IRS will send you a type of catch-up payment in December if you signed up by November 15.

Families will receive a lump-sum payment in December for what took them six stimulus checks to obtain. What's more, keep in mind that yours will still only be an advance payment for half of the total Child Tax Credit amount you're qualified for.

The second half will be distributed as a tax credit to everyone next year when they pay their federal income taxes. Meanwhile, many individuals may be unaware of another stimulus benefit that they might take advantage of. The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is what it's called.

This is another another significant tax break for working families. In essence, parents will be able to recover up to 50% of their childcare expenditures up to $8,000 in 2021. For a maximum of two children. However, it isn't solely for child-related expenditures. As the name indicates, the costs may be incurred as a result of caring for a spouse, parent, or other dependent who is unable to care for themselves.

"The child and dependent care tax credit is a credit that allows a taxpayer to claim a proportion of job-related costs incurred for the care of qualified individuals to enable the taxpayer to work or seek for work," the Internal Revenue Service said.

Read Also: Build Back Better May Extend $3,000 Stimulus Check in Child Tax Credit; How To Apply for the 2022 Monthly Payment?

Rental assistance

You are not alone if you are having trouble paying your rent. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted thousands of Americans around the country, making it difficult for them to make ends meet and pay their rent.

Newark Emergency Rental Assistance deadline is extended to January 7th. Apply at https://t.co/h7Nc3mvDWz pic.twitter.com/oQVDIbTKuf  City of Newark (@CityofNewarkNJ) November 18, 2021

According to The East County Gazette, there are rental aid programs all around the country that can help you obtain up to $10,000 in rental assistance if you qualify. Treasury has compiled a list of websites related to our grantees' Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) programs to assist renters and landlords in locating rental assistance in their communities.

You'll be able to search for programs in your region by state, territory, tribe, and tribally designated housing entity. In Texas, for example, the Texas Rent Relief program, which is operated by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, may be able to help.

The rental aid program's criteria will vary depending on the program, however most will require:

Financial hardship

Income requirements

State residency

Rather of trawling the internet for local help programs, you may go to the Treasury Department's website to look for rental aid in your area.

California citizens who meet the criteria will get a $1,100 stimulus check. Before the end of 2021, around nine million people are expected to receive a state stimulus payment.

Beginning November 29, the next set of checks will be mailed out. The assistance is provided as part of the Golden State Stimulus II program. According to the California Tax Board, paper checks might take up to three weeks to arrive. Your CAAGI (California Adjusted Gross Income) must be between $1 and $75,000 to qualify.

Wages and self-employment income, tips, interest, dividends, rental income, retirement income, and profits on the sale of a property are all examples of income. Those who rely on Social Security as their sole source of income, on the other hand, will not get a payout. By October 15, 2021, eligible residents must have filed their 2020 taxes, as per The Sun.

Related Article: Many Americans Will Receive $1,800 Stimulus Check Before Christmas Along with Monthly Payments Waiting in 2022

@YouTube

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According to a former aide, Princess Diana was the first to stray before Prince Charles began an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

For decades, royal gossip has speculated that Prince Charles' first love was never the Princess of Wales, who was forced to suffer in silence for much of the time during his marriage to Princess Diana.

Princess Diana allegedly had an affair to a bodyguard

It's a version that was popularized by the Netflix series 'The Crown,' in which he was shown leaving to see Camilla while Princess Diana cried at home. However, a former protection officer has questioned this account, claiming that Princess Diana had other love interests before marrying.

According to Allan Peters, Princes Charles rekindled his connection with Camilla after learning that Princess Diana was having an affair with another security guard, the late Barry Mannakee.

Sergeant Allan Peters, the princess's former police bodyguard, has given a startling interview in which he claims Prince Charles returned to Camilla's bed only after he discovered Princess Diana had been having an affair with a fellow protection officer, Barry Mannakee, as the Mail's diarist Richard Eden revealed.

Peters claims that he was the one who told the prince about his wife's affair. Claims concerning the princess and Mannakee, a burly father-of-two who died in a motorcycle accident in 1987, are not new; but they have taken on a new dimension because to the Peters dimension.

However, it seems like an inappropriate time to bring this up again, given the public's interest in the Queen's health and the continuous simmering tensions between Prince Harry and the Royal Family, Daily Mail reported.

With Prince Charles drawing progressively closer to the throne, it's no surprise that many are believing that Sgt Peters' action may have been subtly encouraged. Others have speculated that Peters' recollections may contain a hint of jealousy.

Read Also: Prince Harry, Prince William Rift Exposed: Royals Brace To Back Duke of Cambridge After BBC Releases Bombshell Documentary

Similar allegations about Princess Diana, Prince Charles' doomed marriage

Since the two split ways in 1989, the ex-policeman has seldom spoken publicly about Princess Diana; but judging by the interview he gave to CNN, the American news network, he has a lot on his mind.

Princess Diana's relationship with Mannakee is thought to have begun on a fishing trip to Balmoral in Scotland in 1985. Peters' account of events matched statements made by Jonathan Dimbleby in his authoritative biography of Charles, released in 1994, as per Express.co.

Peters told CNN that when Prince Charles asked him why Princess Diana was acting differently, he told him that he needed to speak with her about it. "Well, I've tried everything, and the only thing that appears to be troubling her is that Barry Mannakee is going back to uniform," he alleges Prince Charles informed him.

In his biography Prince Charles, released in 1994, royal author Jonathan Dimbleby presented a similar narrative. After meeting in their 20s, Jonathan said that Prince Charles and Camilla renewed their love in 1986.

Princess Diana's protection officer Barry began working for her in 1985, and their affair is supposed to have begun on a fishing trip at Balmoral that year. He was transferred from the palace to the Diplomatic Protection Squad in 1986, and he died in a road accident a year later, at the age of 39.

Per The Sun, he was riding a motorcycle in East London when he was struck by a 17-year-old motorist. Princess Diana subsequently claimed that he had been "bumped off." Princess Diana and Prince Charles famously split up in 1992 and divorced in 1996 after marrying on July 29, 1981. Following Prince Harry's birth in September 1984, the couple began a new chapter in their lives.

Related Article: Princess Diana Documentary Reveals She Witnessed Father Slap Her Mother; Here's What The Royal Has Been Through Before Marrying Prince Charles

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For most people, Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate, but for Native Americans, the holiday represents a time for mourning and honoring the victims of centuries of racism and mistreatment.

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, members of Native American tribes across New England gathered and mourned the lives that were lost to hundreds of years of cruelty. History recorded that European settlers allegedly brought disease and oppression to North America.

Native American History

Kisha James, the granddaughter of the event's founder, Wamsutta Frank James, and a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag and Oglala Lakota tribes, said that Native people had no reason to celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving.

"We want to educate people so that they understand the stories we all learned in school about the first Thanksgiving are nothing but lies. Wampanoag and other Indigenous people have certainly not lived happily ever after since the arrival of the Pilgrims," said James, Fox News reported.

Historians said that it was highly unlikely that anyone at the time of the first harvest feast in 1621 ate turkey in celebration of the holiday. The Wampanoags' alliance with the Pilgrims is also believed to have been less about cooperating together as a community and more about surviving in a time of drastic change.

Read Also: Donald Trump Thinks Joe Biden Needs To Take Cognitive Test Amid Latest Embarrassing Gaffe

The more pressing matter is that the United States does not mention the fact that the Indigenous people suffered greatly during their people's encounters with English colonists. Native Americans suffered from genocide to disease and theft of their land.

Thanksgiving was considered a holiday in 1637 when then-Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed it to be a day to celebrate the safe return of the men who went to fight the Pequot in Mystic, Connecticut. Journalist Matt Juul explained that "the fighting led to the enslavement and massacre of over 700 men, women, and children from the New England-based tribe, a bloody precursor to what would be centuries of strife for Native peoples in the U.S.," CNN reported.

Thanksgiving as Day of Mourning

Another Native American, Dennis W. Zotigh, who is a member of the Kiowa Gourd clan and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Winter Clan, also claimed Thanksgiving as a day of mourning. He is a descendant of Sitting Bear and No Retreat, two principal war chiefs of the Kiowas.

He said that the majority of Natives did not see Thanksgiving as a celebratory holiday, but instead, remember it as the attempted genocide of their people. Zotigh is also a writer and cultural specialist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

New England's United American Indians meet each other once a year at Plymouth Rock on Cole's Hill to mourn their ancestors. The people gather at the feet of a statue depicting Grand Sachem Massasoit of the Wampanoag. They spend their day remembering and reflecting, in the hopes that the United States will never let itself forget the atrocities, sacrifices, and tragedies that befell its Native people for hundreds of years in the hands of the people whom they considered were the perpetrators of their people's suffering, USA Today reported.



Related Article: Sunken Spanish Village Flooded in 1992 Exposed After 30-Years Revealing Ruins Like a Spanish Atlantis

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Joe Biden's Build Back Better program includes a proposal for paid parental leave to benefit women in the workforce.

According to reports, millions of women left their jobs during the pandemic because they must tend to their sick loved ones. Even though their male counterparts are sometimes tasked with caring for their sick relatives, women still primarily do caregiving.

Women will return to the workforce with paid parental leave

VOX stressed the importance of passing the paid parental leave program as part of the Build Back Better bill because it will give women four weeks of paid family and sick leave. It will also serve as protection that millions of women in the United States do not currently have.

The publication believes that more women will return to work once they know that they are protected in times of need. But the program won't be launched until 2024.

However, the true challenge lies in having the paid parental leave program approved. Last week, it already passed the House of Representatives, but the bill still needs to go through the Senate.

Read Also: Joe Manchin Wants The Congressional Budget Office To Evaluate The Build Back Better Act, Says $1.75 Trillion Bill Has Budget Gimmicks

Sen. Joe Manchin thinks paid parental leave will result in fraud

Sen. Joe Manchin has been pushing back on paid parental leave. After all, he thinks it would entice fraud because some people could illegally obtain unemployment benefits.

Manchin also had reservations regarding the logistical burden that small businesses could face due to federal paid-leave legislation.

"To expand social programs when you have trust funds that aren't solvent, that are going insolvent - I can't explain that, it doesn't make sense to me. I want to work with everyone as long as we can start paying for things. That's all. I can't put this burden on my grandchildren," he said via Business Insider.

However, some people do not understand Manchin's refusal to support the bill when it's meant to boost an employee's morale to continue working.

Who is qualified for paid parental leave?

Not everyone will also be qualified for the program, so the senator doesn't have anything to worry about. Reports revealed that workers need to have made at least $2,000 over the two years before applying for paid leave.

The paid parental leave program also aims to provide financial support to those who were left of the existing Family and Medical Leave Act program, which allows employees to take unpaid leave.

Senate could approve the Build Back Better Act next month

According to JD Supra, the Senate will consider the Build Back Better Act in December after returning from the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Senate can make several adjustments to the bill to provide spending support on healthcare, education, child care, climate change, and energy incentives throughout ten years.

The Build Back Better bill will also cover the expansion of premium tax credit and cost-sharing subsidies, insulin coverage, development of open enrollment, expansion of non-emergency services, mental health parity penalties, prescription drug pricing, Medicare expansion, Medicaid, and more.

Related Article: Joe Biden Confident Build Back Better Bill Will Be Passed on Nov. 15 After $1 Trillion Infrastructure Plan Win

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The notorious terror group Al-Shabaab is responsible for the several attacks taking place in Somalia in recent months.

On Thursday, they were linked to another bombing that took place at around 7:30 a.m. in Mogadishu's Hodan district, where former President Abdikasim Salat Hassan currently resides.

According to reports, the terrorist group targeted a United Nations security convoy that was passing near two schools in the area. The tragic incident reportedly took the lives of eight civilians and injured 17 individuals, 13 of which are students.

Victims of the bombing speak out

One of the students, who was hit on the head by a brick, detailed the incident that took place while he was in his classroom. Abdisalan Omar Ibrahim, 13, said that he was about to write his note in history class when he heard an explosion followed by the screams of his classmates. Shortly after the incident, Ibrahim and his classmates were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Mohamed Hussein, a nurse at the nearby Osman Hospital, said that he was pulled out from rubble following the explosion.

"Our hospital walls collapsed. Opposite us is a school that also collapsed. I do not know how many died," Hussein said via Al Jazeera.

Read Also: Man Assaulted A Sherbrooke Pharmacy Nurse For Vaccinating His Wife Without His Consent; Quebec Police Searching For Suspect

Mohamed Malick Fall, the regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa for U.N. children's fund UNICEF, expressed his disappointment over what happened.

Fall said that schools are a place where students should be kept safe at all times. Unfortunately, the tragic incident took place without any regard for the youth's wellbeing.

Notorious terrorist group Al-Shabaab takes responsibility for attacks

According to reports, there has been a string of bombings by the notorious terrorist group. And they have been targeting the Somalia military and the African Union-mandated AMISOM force that helps protect the government.

In March, a deadly car explosion took the lives of 20 people and injured 30 others after the terrorist group targeted the popular Luul Yemeni restaurant.

Weeks earlier, a car explosion also took place near the Somalian presidential palace. One person was killed, and at least ten others were injured.

In January, another bombing took place at Mogadishu's Afrik Hotel gate, where Mohamed Nur Galal, a former Somali defense minister, was killed.

Last week, a well-known Somali journalist was also killed by a member of the Al-Shabaab group. Abdiaziz Mohamud Guled worked for the government-owned Radio Mogadishu. He also covered the notorious terrorist group extensively.

His cousin, Abdullahi Nur, told reporters that the journalist was killed right after leaving a restaurant. Guled died while he was being rushed to the hospital.

The notorious terrorist group Al-Shabaab confirmed their involvement in all the recent attacks, and they are once again being tied to the most recent bombing, according to CNN.

According to Reuters, Al-Shabaab has been fighting Somalia's central government, and they have also been trying to seek power to impose their interpretation of Islam's sharia law. A representative from the government of Somalia has not released a statement following the incident.

Related Article: Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed's Spokesperson Defends Him Amid Claims That He's Inciting, Supporting Violence

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'Women For America First' co-founder Amy Kremer reportedly played a key role ahead of the "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington.

According to reports, Kremer was the one who came up with the idea of using burner phones paid via cash to ensure that they wouldn't be traced. She reportedly encouraged fellow organizers of the rally to follow suit.

Amy Kremer in contact with Eric Trump before the insurrection

Kremer also stayed in touch with Trump's son, Eric, as well as his daughter-in-law, Laura using the burner phone that she purchased herself. She also spoke with Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, via the burner phone.

"That was when the planning for the event on the Ellipse was happening, she needed burner phones in order to communicate with high-level people is how she put it," a source said via The Independent.

Donald Trump accused of inciting violence

This information is reportedly crucial, especially since Trump and his allies are being investigated regarding their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Multiple sources say that Trump incited violence at a "Stop the Steal" rally and encouraged attendees to flock to the Capitol amid allegations that the 2020 election was rigged.

Read Also: Donald Trump's Former Personal Attorney Michael Cohen Drags Ex-POTUS' Kids Eric, Don Jr., Ivanka in His Campaign Finance Violations Following House Arrest

Eric Trump drags Joe Biden, Hunter Biden into the issue

According to Business Insider, Eric threatened to sue the Palmer Report for suggesting that he spoke with rally organizers using a burner phone ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The publication tweeted about the report linking the ex-POTUS's son to the Capitol riot and said that using a burner phone is something you do in a criminal plot.

The original published article did not say that Eric and his wife, Lara handled the burner phone themselves. But they reportedly spoke to someone who used a burner phone. In his tweet, Eric said that it would be fun to sue the publication for defamation. He also stressed that he's an incredibly honest and clean guy because he doesn't do drugs and has a healthy lifestyle.

In his tweet, Eric also mentioned Joe Biden's son, Hunter, and dragged the latter's battle with addiction. The publication also pointed out that Eric referred to an article about Biden purchasing a burner phone.

Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations still ongoing

As of press writing, an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is still underway. The House select committee is still trying to get their hands on Trump's files to link him to the Capitol riot. However, the ex-POTUS's lawyers have been trying to push for Trump's executive privilege, which he no longer has.

Earlier this week, Trump's attorneys released a statement saying that refusing to grant the former ex-president his executive privilege will cause more problems to the institution of the presidency in the coming years.

They also said that this will pave the way for incumbent presidents always to condemn a former president's actions from a rival party. Not granting an ex-president executive privilege will also break confidentiality on important matters, according to NBC News.

Related Article: Donald Trump's Attorneys Respond to House Committee's Pursuit of Ex-POTUS' Records Pertaining to Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

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The United Kingdom is taking drastic measures to prevent the further spread of a new COVID-19 variant called B.1.1.529 that was recently detected in the country.

Besides suspending six flights from South African countries where small amounts of the new variant were detected, officials have also been attending meetings to discuss their battle plans. Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Botswana have also been banned from entering the United Kingdom.

On Friday, Sajid Javid, the United Kingdom's secretary of state for health and social care, announced the cancelation of flights following the World Health Organization's briefing on the new variant.

"More data is needed but we're taking precautions now. From noon tomorrow six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travelers must quarantine," Javid said via CBS News.

COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 detected in three countries

According to reports, the B.1.1.529 variant rapidly spread through the Gauteng province, home to the country's largest area, Johannesburg. The B.1.1.529 variant has also been detected in Hong Kong and Botswana.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the COVID-19 technical lead at WHO, admitted that not much is known about the new variant. What is only known is that it has a large number of mutations that can impact how the virus behaves.

Read Also: British Government Criticized For Failing To Act Quickly Amid A Rapid Rise of COVID-19 Cases

The United Kingdom Security Agency also said that the new variant has a spike protein dramatically different from the ones found in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also said that B.1.1.529 is the most significant variant they have encountered ever since COVID-19 was first detected last year, according to Reuters.

The United Kingdom could have another lockdown

According to the BBC, the United Kingdom suffered another spike in their active COVID-19 cases at the end of October, recording 50,000 cases. Numbers have since dropped, but the seven-day average is still around 40,000, which has caused an alarm.

Javid said that authorities are still monitoring the situation in the island country. And he also encouraged those who are not yet vaccinated to get the jab immediately.

Two months ago, the health secretary also announced new measures that will be imposed if the NHS suffers unmanageable spikes in COVID-19 cases. These measures include mandatory COVID-19 passports, compulsory wearing of face masks, reverting to work from home set-up, and more.

Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of the possibility of getting into a hard lockdown in the winter. He also urged unvaccinated individuals to take responsibility and avoid fresh restrictions for the country.

When asked if a lockdown will undoubtedly take place around the holidays, Johnson said that the current data doesn't show the need for a lockdown. But the prime minister that the option has not been ruled out completely, according to Bloomberg.

Another lockdown in the United Kingdom will depend on the number of active cases, the deaths, and the need for the NHS.

Related Article: WHO Approves India's Home-Grown COVID-19 Vaccine by Drugmaker Bharat Biotech, Says It Can Be Used for Emergency Cases

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In a statement read, Joe Biden's physician Kevin O'Connor claimed the president had a single three-millimeter polyp removed from his ascending colon during surgery last week. The tumor was diagnosed as tubular adenoma, according to Dr. O'Connor. It was a noncancerous, slow-growing lesion that was "potentially precancerous."

According to O'Connor, the surgery was comparable to one Biden had in 2008. The 46th president's doctor also predicted that he would have another colonoscopy in seven to 10 years.

Despite his age, health Biden intends to run for re-election

Vice President Kamala Harris, 57, temporarily took over as President while Joe Biden underwent colonoscopy surgery. President Biden plans to run for re-election in 2024, according to the White House.

On the presidential plane, Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied, "Yes, it is his intention" to run for re-election in three years, Express.co reported. If he decides to run for re-election. Biden will be a fortnight away from becoming 82 years old on the day of the next election. Biden previously served as the 47th Vice President of the United States under Barack Obama, 60, from 2009 to 2017.

Per The Independent, Dr. O'Connor stated in his initial report that Biden, who turned 79 this week, is still fit for duty after undergoing a colonoscopy and physical check on November 19th.

In a lengthy health assessment, he said that two characteristics of Biden's health merited investigation: recent "throat-clearing" and a rigid stride. He noted that the president was suffering "throat-clearing" with growing frequency and intensity, which he linked to gastroesophageal reflux, a digestive disease.

According to the doctor, the president's foot injury last year may contribute to his injured ankle. Biden is also said to be suffering from "peripheral neuropathy" and spinal arthritis. Crestor for high cholesterol, Dymista nasal spray, Allegra for allergies; Eliquis as a blood thinner; and Pepcid for gastric reflux are among the president's prescriptions.

Dr. O'Connor described Biden as "a healthy, active, 77-year-old guy, who is fit to properly execute the duties of the President" in his most recent detailed health assessment before the presidential campaign in 2019.

Read Also: Joe Biden Reacts to "Horrific Act of Violence" in Waukesha Parade Incident; White House Claims President Is Closely Monitoring the Tragedy

Biden's minor health scares

Biden's most recent complete medical examination took place in December 2019, and he was certified "healthy, vigorous, and fit to properly fulfill the duties of the Presidency." The president has suffered episodes of atrial fibrillation, a potentially fatal but curable kind of irregular heartbeat.

Biden's most major health crisis occurred in 1988 when two brain aneurysms necessitated surgery. As the oldest president in US history, Biden's health has been the subject of considerable examination, notably from Republicans, who have argued that his frequent verbal gaffes are a result of his older age and deteriorating mental capacity.

According to a new survey, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about the president's physical and mental health. Last week, in a Politico/Morning Consult survey, 50% of Americans said they did not believe Biden was in excellent health, while 40% said they did, as per Daily Telegraph via MSN.

Related Article: Most Americans Believe Joe Biden is Not in Good Health, Mental Condition, New Poll Reveals

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For some American families, opting out of the Child Tax Credit might be the best choice. This can reduce the tax bill and increase tax refund for next year.

Be warned, however, that there are only three days left before the deadline.

In July, the Biden Administration launched its advance Child Tax Credit, a program that budgets $3600 for children under age six and $3000 for children ages six to 17.

The government released half of these payments as advance Child Tax Credit this year. CTC issued $250 to $300 monthly payments, which started on July 15 and would end by December 15. Afterward, recipients have to complete their 2021 tax return to receive the rest.

Some might be curious why opting out of free money would be a good idea. However, there are a lot of benefits families can take advantage of if they miss the ongoing monthly payments.

3. Get CTC Payment in a Lump Sum

Keep in mind the ongoing payments are "Advance Child Tax Credit" because the government released the payment ahead of schedule. Child Tax Credit is a program based around 2021 tax returns, which will be completed in 2022.

Depending on the 2021 tax return, payments can increase or decrease. The key takeaway is that eligible families can still receive the full $3600 and $3000 payments next year after submitting their 2021 tax returns, which will be paid in a lump sum.

Read Also: Thanksgiving Price Inflation Sparks Demand for More Financial Aid: Will There Be a $2000 Fourth Stimulus Check?

2. The Dependent's 2021 Age

IRS calculates its payments based on the dependent's age by December 31 this year. If the dependent moves out of the bracket, Child Tax Credit payments will be adjusted accordingly.

For example, a child who is five years old qualifies for $300 monthly payments. However, the child will turn six by December, meaning they should only be eligible for $250 payments. Any extra payments credited to this age mistake have to be reimbursed to IRS, which means a bigger tax bill.

1. Eligibility and Income by 2021

A dependent's age is not the only dangerous factor for reimbursement. Recipients who experience a sudden change in income status by 2021 are also subject to CTC payment adjustments.

Typically, IRS issues Child Tax Credit payments based on 2019 or 2020 tax returns, whichever was filed more recently. However, the final amount will be based on the 2021 tax return, so individual circumstances will matter.

For example, losing a job in 2019 and earning below $75,000 means they are eligible for Child Tax Credit. However, if their income went over $85,000 in 2020 or 2021, CTC might be considered an overpayment. Be warned that the government will reclaim overpaid money during tax season.

For readers who belong in any of these circumstances, it is suggested that they immediately opt out of Child Tax Credit payments. They can do this by visiting the IRS's Child Tax Credit Update Portal and clicking on "unenroll from monthly payments."



Related Article: $1100 Fourth Stimulus Check: Schedule of Golden State Payments, How to Check Eligibility
Mercedes-Benz has given fans a first look at its forthcoming hyper-efficient electric car offering over 1,000 kilometers of range.

Mercedes-Benz Electric Car Release Date Set for January 3, 2022

The luxury German automaker teased an image of Vision EQXX, which it said would be rolled out on January 3, 2022. It shows a sleek, modern design with impressive, eye-catching contours on the vehicle's front end.

Mercedes-Benz is reportedly testing new technology to enhance efficiency in its electric cars, Electrek reported. It previously announced an updated electrification strategy, which set a move to go all-electric by 2030. New programs have also been set in motion to reach that goal.

Part of this strategy is the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX, positioned as a new ultra-efficient electric vehicle.

The new offering was first announced in 2020, but at that time, Mercedes-Benz was targeting around 1,200 kilometers of range. Earlier this year, Mercedez Benz revised its range to have over 1,000 kilometers in a real-world setting.

To achieve such impressive range and efficiency goals, the Vision EQXX needs to excel in aerodynamics. Mercedes-Benz's target is to surpass the 0.20 drag coefficient of the EQS, which holds the record in such specification for production cars, Inside EVs noted in a post.

Read Also: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS Luxury Electric Car: Specs, Interior, and More First Look Behind the Wheel

Daimler Group Research and Mercedes-Benz chief operating officer Markus Schafer said in a LinkedIn post that the automaker has been working on realizing its electrification goals for some time. Their efforts have led to the Vision EQXX, which it sees as "the most efficient electric vehicle we have ever built," Schafer said.

Mercedes-Benz Set Impressive Hyper-Efficient Consumption Targets for Vision EQXX

The Mercedes-Benz exec also said that the company needs to enhance efficiency in its electric vehicles to reach its electrification goals. This is the reason why the progress of EVs should "move faster" and because of this, the automaker has "set a more than ambitious goal for ourselves with the Vision EQXX," Schafer added.

This goal was to develop a compact-class EV that can reach 1,000 kilometers in a stretch on a single battery charge under real-world road conditions. All of these while consuming only a single-digit value for kilowatt hours per 100 kms at normal speeds.

Attaining this is a big milestone since the most efficient electric vehicle on sale today, the Tesla Model 3 RWD, has a European Union-certified average consumption of 14 kWh per 100 km.

Since the Vision EQXX is depicted as an "interdisciplinary technology program" rather than a plain show car, the EV will play a major role in reaching that single-digit consumption figure.

Schafer noted that the VISION EQXX will be equipped with battery cells having 20 percent higher engine density than the EQS.

While Schafer is only discussing about the concept vehicle, Mercedes-Benz has pointed out the technology used in the Vision EQXX will also be featured in new EV platforms supporting the automaker's future electric vehicles.

Related Article: Mercedes-Benz All-Electric Vehicles Debut in IAA Mobility Show: AMG, Maybach, G-Wagen Get EV Treatment
Kobea Group CEO Lee Chang-yong, right, receives a license for cryptocurrency exchange from Davron Maksudov, deputy director of the National Agency of Project Management under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in this December 2019 file photo. Courtesy of Kobea Group





By Park Jae-hyuk







Korean-owned Kobea Group's UzNEX, which has been the only licensed cryptocurrency exchange in Uzbekistan since 2019, is expected to enjoy benefits from the country's new law that allows its residents to trade cryptocurrencies.







The law, which came into effect Monday, allows Uzbek residents to carry out all types of cryptocurrency trading, such as exchanging virtual assets for the national currency and selling such assets to non-residents in exchange for foreign currencies.







In addition, Uzbek companies and citizens have been able to issue and distribute tokens as well as list them on a cryptocurrency exchange.







Kobea said it received its license in December 2019 from the National Agency of Project Management under the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan and has attracted large investments from global companies, including EMURGO, a global blockchain technology company serving as the commercial arm of Cardano that issued the ADA cryptocurrency.







"We have collaborated with the Korea Blockchain Enterprise Promotion Association and the Korea-Uzbekistan Business Association to help blockchain companies expand their presence abroad and to enhance economic ties between the two countries," Kobea Group CEO Lee Chang-yong said. "We hope our company serves as a foothold for Korean firms to expand their presence abroad."


A Nolboo restaurant selling "bossam," boiled pork belly, and "budae jjigae," sausage stew. Courtesy of Nolboo





By Park Jae-hyuk







Lotte Group's appointment of former Nolboo CEO Ahn Se-jin as the new leader of the group's hotel business in its latest reshuffle of top executives has unintentionally signaled that Morgan Stanley has become less likely to unload Nolboo in the near future.







Nolboo is a Korean food restaurant franchise which was acquired by the U.S. investment bank's private equity investment team here for about 120 billion won ($100 million) in 2011.







Ahn has been known for his expertise in devising business strategies, as he previously worked for global consulting firms  A.T. Kearney and AlixPartners  and served as an executive in charge of strategies at LG and LS. Those who led Nolboo before Ahn built most of their careers at the company or other restaurant franchises.







When he started managing Nolboo from 2018 as the leader of an in-house operation team of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia's Seoul office, he was therefore expected to enable the U.S. firm to sell the restaurant franchise that has suffered snowballing losses since 2017.







In October, it was reported that Morgan Stanley was in talks with SL&C to sell Nolboo to the Samchully Group's restaurant business unit which operates the Chai797 Chinese food restaurant chain and Just Butcher's Korean barbeque restaurant chain.







Morgan Stanley apparently tried to sell Nolboo for a price much lower than that what it paid to buy it, although both Nolboo and SL&C have denied it. According to industry sources and media reports, Morgan Stanley and SL&C failed to reach an agreement on the price of Nolboo.







Two weeks after news reports came out about the failure in their negotiations, Nolboo announced that Cho Gap-sool, who joined the company in 1991 as a chef, was appointed as the new CEO, indicating that its largest shareholder decided once again to entrust restaurant business experts to manage the chain.







"Ahn worked for our company until the first week of November," a Nolboo spokesperson said. "Our new CEO will focus on the company's expansion in other countries, as he has contributed to our company's growth in other Asian nations."







Industry experts said Morgan Stanley will continue to face difficulties trying to sell Nolboo unless it increases the franchise's enterprise value, considering that buyers are still concerned about uncertainties surrounding the restaurant industry amid the coronavirus pandemic.







"Fierce competition in the restaurant industry has lowered the valuations of restaurant franchises," said Suh Yong-gu, a professor of marketing at Sookmyung Women's University. "This is not an appropriate moment to sell restaurant franchises as it is still difficult to offer face-to-face services."










Korea and Uzbekistan agreed Friday to expedite efforts to clinch a bilateral free trade agreement and to boost cooperation on stable supply chains of key industrial items, Seoul's finance ministry said.







The agreement was made during a meeting in Seoul between Hong Nam-ki, Korea's deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, and Sardor Umurzakov, Uzbekistan's deputy prime minister for investment and foreign economic relations.







During the talks, the two sides agreed to step up efforts for an early conclusion of FTA negotiations, which were launched in January, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.







Hong and Umurzakov also vowed to work closely to forge stable supply chains by jointly developing technologies needed to produce key materials for advanced industry sectors.







They also discussed measures to enhance cooperation in information and communications technology, digital health care and smart cities, according to the ministry.







Hong asked Umurzakov to support Korean companies seeking to participate in Tashkent's major infrastructure projects.







Some 100 Korean companies have entered the country, the largest figure in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As of 2020, it was Korea's third-largest trading partner among the CIS countries.







The annual high-level meeting, launched in 2018, has served as a chance for the two sides to discuss a wide range of bilateral economic issues. (Yonhap)


By Dustin Edward Hinkley







North Korea recently proclaimed that Australia's new agreement with the United Kingdom and the United States to develop nuclear-powered submarines will lead to a nuclear arms race, but the true risk of that lies much closer to home. This emerging trend of intensification of the arms race on the Korean Peninsula is destabilizing in a way that puts South Korea on the path towards proliferation, but there are still opportunities to pursue threat reduction and prevent this outcome.







In the months since the United States lifted restrictions on South Korean missile development in May, the arms race has taken several new steps forward as North Korea continues to develop its nuclear program and South Korea continues its military buildup. In late August the Yongbyon nuclear plant in North Korea resumed operation, sparking concerns that North Korea is creating new fissile material to build new nuclear warheads. After that, South Korea tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, a new hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile, and a new air-to-surface missile. North Korea also conducted its own series of missile tests, including launching a new rail-based missile, firing a cruise missile into Japanese waters, and a new short-range ballistic missile test conducted during its representative's speech before the United Nations General Assembly. Recently, leading South Korean opposition presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party also stated that he would demand the United States forward deploy nuclear weapons in South Korea, as it did before 1991. This sort of military posturing with increasingly advanced missiles has gone on with no indication of de-escalation.







These developments establish a norm of pursuing new weapons that could be part of a future nuclear deterrent, advance the ability of South Korea to quickly develop nuclear weapons, and set up a confrontation with the United States over the credibility of its nuclear umbrella.







For its part, North Korea views continued expansion of its nuclear program to be the only way to maintain its independence. This is reinforced by Kim Jong-un's perception that he won the 2017 nuclear crisis with the United States and now holds an advantageous position relative to the United States and South Korea.






By Lee Yoon-ki







Nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea are at a stalemate and despite numerous high-stakes summits and diplomatic engagement in recent years, there has been no substantive breakthrough. Earlier this month, North Korea fired another round of short-range missiles into the sea in a recent streak of weapons tests accusing the U.S. of maintaining a "hostile policy" towards Pyongyang. Hitherto U.S.-North Korean negotiations have typically revolved around debates over sanctions relief, denuclearization, and security guarantees. While these talks will inevitably continue in the future, it is now time to bring something new to the equation and provide a framework that will revitalize diplomacy through a cooperative approach to denuclearization. Although the introduction of a cooperative threat reduction (CTR) approach alone will not address all of these issues, it could still serve as an effective mechanism to build trust. Against this backdrop, the Nunn-Lugar CTR program warrants a closer examination as some of its lessons and history can be applied to North Korea's situation today.







Leading up to the historic 2018 North Korea-United States Singapore summit, former U.S. Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar penned an op-ed in The Washington Post revisiting some vital lessons from the 1991 Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program. As chief architects of the successful CTR program, they once again proposed the concept of "cooperative threat reduction" for North Korea. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the CTR program provided Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan with financial assistance and technical expertise for the dismantlement of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD).







Despite the fact that there are significant differences between North Korea in 2021 and the former Soviet Union in 1991, it is imperative to analyze some of the best practices and lessons learned from the CTR program because it can be adapted to the needs and realities of North Korea. The CTR program served as a de facto confidence-building measure and helped former Soviet Union states eliminate and secure nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Additionally, the United States provided funding to restore military hotlines, convert the Soviet Union's military-industrial complex into peaceful civilian industries, and guarantee new employment for former Soviet nuclear scientists and engineers.







How could CTR incentivize North Korea? The first step is to convince North Korean elites that this would be good for them in the long term. The Nunn-Lugar CTR initiative helped to secure productive and meaningful scientific work for former Soviet scientists and engineers who were employed in the weapons complex which prevented the dissemination of their technical know-how and expertise. In a similar vein, North Korean elites and highly-skilled workers will want to maintain their job security and privilege as North Korea retains some of its civil nuclear capabilities. The transition to a peaceful civil nuclear program will help to redirect the existing nuclear-related workforce into productive employment while forgoing the need for major retraining programs which will be costly and time-consuming. Moreover, a cooperative process that ensures the conversion of weapons facilities to peaceful civilian industries will demonstrate that it is possible for North Korea to have a peaceful and prosperous future even in a post-nuclear weapons context.






By Miriam Astrid Machado Rieback







On Sept. 28 North Korea fired a missile which landed in the sea on the Korean Peninsula's east coast. Following the launch, North Korea's neighboring countries Japan and South Korea and the United States condemned the missile launch. South Korea's President Moon Jae-in expressed the importance of stabilizing the peninsula and found the launch regretful. Hours before the launch, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations had urged that the hostile policies against North Korea led by the United States must end and claimed that the country has the right to self-defense and to test its own weapons.







Since its first test in 1984, North Korea has performed some 150 tests of strategic missiles and six nuclear tests. Though the United Nations and individual countries  the U.S.  have imposed heavy sanctions on the country in an attempt to persuade a denuclearization process, sanctions have been largely unsuccessful.







Still, North Korea's position is clear: there is a double standard about which countries may and may not build a defense of nuclear weapons. This double standard claim, which North Korea specifically pointed to the U.S. as having, is not new. When the Non-proliferation Treaty was extended indefinitely in 1995, the purpose of the pact was to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and 191 countries have ratified it. However, the treaty has not been without controversy: Israel, Pakistan, India and South Sudan never ratified the treaty and North Korea pulled out in 2003 after decades of refusing inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). North Korea's statement regarding double standards has been voiced by Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Pakistan, the latter of which possesses nuclear weapons. Iran has been trying to develop its own nuclear program and has on multiple occasions called out the U.S.-led sanctions as "biased" because Israel has never been officially condemned by neither the U.S., other Western countries nor the international community as a whole for its development of nuclear weapons.







As a result, the question concerning nuclear weapons has become ethically and morally disputed: Who is to decide which countries may or may not have nuclear weapons? Is it fair that those who in fact do possess nuclear weapons also get to decide who may and may not develop them? After the World War II's end the devastating potential of nuclear weapons ought to have deterred any nation from developing it further and/or using it again, but that is, of course, not the case. Instead, the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a four-decades-long build-up, what scholars call "balance of power," in which neither country would or could attack the other because the results might literally destroy the world. When the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union fell, many states and non-state actors were (naively one might argue now) hoping that an international effort toward denuclearization would come about. While some states did dismantle their nuclear programs, including Ukraine, South Africa, Belarus and Kazakhstan, it would seem that for the superpowers of the world denuclearization is still not an issue. The hegemonic world order lends itself to disputable ethical dilemmas in which some countries are in theory and practice superior to others. Although the United States has alluded to the security dilemma in its defense, and as its explanation for having nuclear weapons, the issue remains that North Korea's statement cannot, should not, be bypassed.






By Lee Sang-ou







On Sept. 15, Washington, London and Canberra announced a new strategic pact to strengthen their ties across various sectors including military, cyber and maritime domains. The pact is named after a clever abbreviation of the acronyms of the three countries, namely AUKUS. However, unlike the brevity of its name, AUKUS has already started to spark conflicts from day one.







The core of AUKUS is simple: the U.S. and the U.K.  nuclear states  providing nuclear-propelled submarines to Australia  a non-nuclear state. This flagged up serious attention from countries including China and France. Beijing expressed its concern, claiming that AUKUS will escalate the tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. Paris also showed a grumpy face after Canberra renounced a multi-million-dollar diesel-electronic submarine deal with Paris. However, in my opinion, it is most noteworthy that Australia will acquire high-enriched uranium (HEU)-based nuclear submarines, the same HEU that can be used as a nuclear weapon without additional enrichment. This will not only temper International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) safeguard but also there are some safety concerns that have not been properly addressed.











In fact, IAEA Information Circular 153-the father of all non-proliferation measures complied by non-nuclear states including NPT- carries a serious loophole; IAEA's safeguard for nuclear materials such as HEU can be exempted if the material is dedicated to unforbidden military activities like naval reactors. That is, a specific member of IAEA can pull out HEU from IAEA's watch list if it is used for fueling a "military vehicle."







Noting the fact that HEU can also be directly converted to nuclear weapons, Australia may be the first country that exploits the aforementioned loophole, which can further facilitate other non-nuclear states to possess HEU without violating IAEA's safeguards. Indeed, Australia intentionally abusing or misusing HEU is highly unlikely. However, its case can leave a bad precedent for other members of NPT and IAEA. In the near future, this loophole might be misused as a good excuse for nuclear weapon proliferators.







In 2018, Tehran actually toyed with this loophole by saying to IAEA that they plan to build naval nuclear propulsion. Obviously, this stirred a huge backlash around the world, which made Iran give up its plan. However, as the AUKUS submarine deal is now in place without any serious objections, the basis for this kind of backlash will be weakened. Iran might take this case as a precedent when it tries to abuse this loophole in the future. In conclusion, the AUKUS deal unintentionally posed a negative impact on non-proliferation.










South Korea is monitoring North Korea's nuclear and missile activities in close cooperation with the United States, the unification ministry said Friday, following reports the North appears to be continuing the operation of a nuclear reactor at its mainstay Yongbyon complex.







38 North, a U.S. monitoring website, said Wednesday steam was detected emanating from the 5-megawatt reactor in an indication at least one generator is in operation, citing recent satellite imagery.







Asked to comment on the report, deputy ministry spokesman Cha Duck-chul declined to confirm "intelligence matters" but said the government is keeping tabs on the North's nuclear facilities.







"The government continues to monitor North Korea's nuclear and missile activities under close South Korea-U.S. coordination," he told a press briefing. "South and North Korea agreed to a shared goal of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula ... for which the two sides should jointly make efforts."







The government is also monitoring possible signs of an event in North Korea to mark the 2017 launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Cha said, adding no unusual activities have been detected as of now. (Yonhap)


A student receives a coronavirus vaccine at a clinic in Yangcheon District, Seoul, Oct. 18. Joint Press Corps



Vaccine pass system may be expanded to children



By Lee Hyo-jin



Mixed messages being sent by the government and medical experts on COVID-19 vaccination for children are creating confusion among parents, who are weighing the risks and benefits of inoculation following the full resumption of in-person classes at schools.



Authorities are "strongly recommending" parents to vaccinate their children, following a recent surge in infections among people aged under 18, but some health experts are calling for a prudent approach considering potential side effects.



The infection rate of minors outstripped that of adults for the first time in October, according to a study conducted by Choi Eun-hwa, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Seoul National University.



During the four weeks from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, 99.7 out of every 100,000 children aged under 18 were infected, compared to 76 out of 100,000 people aged 19 or older.



Citing such data, the education ministry encouraged parents and guardians to sign their children up for vaccine injections, expressing concerns over the low inoculation rate. As of Thursday, the full vaccination rate among children aged between 12 and 17 stood at 18.7 percent, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.



But some medical experts are calling for a more prudent approach.









Seo Joo-hyun, an emergency physician Myeongji Hospital believes parents should more carefully weigh the risks and benefits of the vaccine on children, saying that she has seen an increasing number of minors in the emergency room suffering from side effects of the injections.





Students attend class at an elementary school in Dobong District of Seoul, Nov.22, the first day of the full resumption of in-person classes. Joint Press Corps




Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday Korea will work to ensure equitable and timely supply of COVID-19 vaccines across the world as he attended a virtual summit of Asian and European leaders.







"Sufficient, stable and extensive distributions of vaccines is the key to overcoming COVID-19," Kim told the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit.







Korea, which has produced four COVID-19 vaccines under consignment contracts, is committed to fulfilling its $200 million pledge to COVAX, the U.N.-supported program to supply vaccines to developing nations, Kim said.







Korea will also expand its vaccine donations to Asian nations, Kim said.







ASEM members account for about 65 percent of the global economy and 60 percent of the global population.







When united, ASEM members will significantly contribute to international solidarity and cooperation in the world's fight against COVID-19, Kim said.







Kim said global supply chains must be restored to address the uneven pace of post-pandemic economic recovery.







To keep open markets and re-energize multilateral trading systems, cooperation among ASEM members is indispensable, Kim said.







"Korea too will vigorously take part in the collective efforts to rebuild supply chains," Kim said.







Kim also called for ASEM members to join forces to tackle the climate crisis and help accelerate their carbon neutrality and energy transition.







Last month, Korea finalized a decision to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2018 levels by 2030. The nation also confirmed its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.







At another session during the summit, Kim briefed ASEM leaders on President Moon Jae-in's proposal of a declaration ending the Korean War. The 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire.







Kim told the session Korea has made strenuous efforts toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.







The end-of-war declaration is expected to open the doors to dialogue and mark a pivotal point of departure in shaping peace on the Korean Peninsula, Kim said.







Kim urged ASEM members to support South Korea's efforts to bring peace on the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)






Some 900 victims of the brutal crackdown on a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju launched a damage suit against the government Friday, a law firm said, days after the death of former President Chun Doo-hwan, accused of ordering the crackdown.







LKB & Partners said it has filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs who were subject to brutal violence by soldiers during the democracy protests in May 1980 in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, to demand the government pay 94.3 billion won ($79 million) in total for their psychological sufferings.







Chun, an ex-Army general who seized power in a military coup in 1979, was accused of ordering his troops to ruthlessly quell the pro-democracy civil uprising, leaving more than 200 dead and 1,800 others wounded in the crackdown.







Chun had faced widespread condemnation over his repeated denial of responsibility.







The lawsuit is reportedly the largest litigation filed by survivors since the Constitutional Court ruled in May that past compensation failed to properly address and heal the psychological pains of victims.







Earlier this week, a separate group of 70 victims also launched a damage suit demanding state compensation for their past traumatic experiences from the Gwangju suppression. (Yonhap)






Foreign ownership of South Korean land expanded 1.3 percent in the first half of the year from six months earlier, the land ministry said Friday.







Foreigners owned 256.7 square kilometers of land here as of end-June, up 3.39 million square meters from the end of December last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.







The amount accounts for 0.26 percent of South Korea's total land area and is slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan in New York.







The value of land held by foreigners increased 0.6 percent to 31.7 trillion won ($26.6 billion) over the cited period.







U.S. nationals topped all nationalities in terms of ownership, holding 136.75 million square meters, or 53.3 percent of all land owned by foreigners.







Chinese citizens came next with 7.9 percent, followed by Europeans with 7.1 percent and Japanese with 6.5 percent.







South Korean expatriates held 55.9 percent of the total land owned by foreign entities, trailed by joint ventures with 27.7 percent, foreign individuals with 8.8 percent and foreign firms with 7.4 percent.







By region, Gyeonggi Province surrounding the South Korean capital of Seoul took up 18.2 percent of all foreign-owned land in Asia's fourth-largest economy, with the southern resort island of Jeju accounting for 8.5 percent, according to the ministry. (Yonhap)


Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae, right, greets students at Geumyang Elementary School in Yongsan District, Seoul, Nov. 22, when all schools in Korea resumed full-scale in-person classes. Joint Press Corps



By Nam Hyun-woo



With President Moon Jae-in's tenure ending in six months, his Cabinet is feared to face a vacuum, as its members are weighing up bids for local elections that will take place three months after the presidential election next year.



Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is striving to bring Cabinet members under control, but concern is growing over a potential malfunction of the government next year in the event of several members' departures, as Moon is unlikely to appoint new ministers for the remaining months of his term and it will also take a couple of months for his successor to appoint his or her Cabinet after inauguration.



During a radio interview with broadcaster CBS, Nov. 19, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae showed her intention to run in the local elections, which are slated for June 1.



"Since I am a politician, it would be a lie to say I am not thinking of running in the local elections," Yoo said when asked if she intends to run for the Gyeonggi Province governorship. "I think I should contemplate it and make a decision before it's too late."



Rumors have long been spreading that Yoo is eying the Gyeonggi governor post, which is already vacant as former Governor Lee Jae-myung resigned to run in the presidential election as the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate.



"Since I started as a politician, the political role for me is to serve the people to improve their livelihoods," Yoo said. "I am now thinking of what I can do for this purpose."





Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki speaks during a National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee meeting at the Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Nov. 11. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-keun



Along with Yoo, another Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, who is double-hatted as minister of economy and finance, is also mentioned as a strong contender for Gangwon Province governor.



Rumors of Hong's bid have been spreading for some time in the political circle, but he has neither admitted nor denied this, with the DPK showing signs that it is considering Hong as a contender.



During a press conference in Gangwon Province, Nov. 18, Rep. Lee Kwang-jae of the DPK was asked which DPK member will be running in the local elections and he answered, "We have Hong Nam-ki."



Gangwon-based newspapers reported that Hong met Taeyoung Group founder Yoon Se-young, a businessman hailing from the province, earlier this month, and the two discussed Hong's potential election bid.



Since the local elections will take place soon after the presidential election, chances are high that their campaigns will be overshadowed by the presidential campaign. Due to this, critics said there will be "greater advantages" for those who are already serving in ranking positions and getting their names out to the public, which is becoming a huge temptation for current Cabinet members.



If the two deputy prime ministers decide to run, they must resign from their posts 90 days before the day of election as stated in the country's Public Official Election Act. For Yoo and Hong to run in the local elections, they would have to quit before April.



This, however, may cause setbacks in government operations, given the time required for replacing deputy prime ministers and ministers.



Even if Yoo or Hong resigns now and announces their election bids, it will take time for Moon to search for the right nominees for the posts, and those nominated have to be approved through National Assembly hearings.



For example, Cheong Wa Dae announced its nomination of Prime Minister Kim on April 16, and Moon awarded him a letter of appointment on May 14. Even though Kim's Assembly hearing went without a major resistance between the rival parties, it took a month for Kim to officially begin his job.



Given this, new deputy prime ministers of Moon's choice will likely end up serving for no more than a couple of months.



Thus, critics say there will be no people willingly to endure a tough confirmation hearing at the Assembly to serve for such a short term. So it is said the deputy education or finance minister may become acting ministers.



If a Cabinet vacuum is created, it is expected to last for a long period, because it will also take time for the new president to organize his or her Cabinet given the aforementioned hearing processes.



This is especially so, if the main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl takes office. Because the ruling DPK is holding a majority in the Assembly, chances are high that the two sides will clash fiercely over the Cabinet nominees Yoon picks.





Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum speaks during a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting at the Government Complex Sejong, Nov. 24. Yonhap
Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), speaks at an event with college students in Seoul, Nov. 25. Yonhap



Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), on Friday slammed the Moon Jae-in administration's nuclear phase-out policy, calling it "disaster caused from ignorance."



The nuclear phase-out scheme set by Moon's government centers on slowly breaking away from nuclear energy by refraining from building additional plants while retiring old ones. Under the roadmap, South Korea plans to decrease the number of nuclear plants in operation to 17 by 2034, from this year's 24.



To cover costs of nuclear power plant closures and expenses already incurred from nuclear power projects, the government decided to use an electricity industry infrastructure fund that is financed through electricity bills paid by people.



"Why do people have to take responsibility when the government always makes trouble?" Yoon said. "If it did not recklessly push the nuclear phase-out, there would have been no pressure for electricity rate hikes, and we may have prevented making up the loss with a fund that is supported by quasi-taxes from people."






Lee Jae-myung, the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, speaks at a discussion with foreign correspondents in Seoul, Nov. 25. Yonhap



Ruling Democratic Party presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung pledged Friday to expand government subsidies for the electric vehicle industry and increase the production of the cars.



In a Facebook post, Lee said government subsidies have fallen far short of the amount needed to produce enough EVs to meet consumer demand.



He noted the biggest obstacles to getting more EVs on roads are their high price and lack of charging facilities.






A hydrogen bus in operation in Asan, South Chungcheong Province / Korea Times file



South Korea plans to step up the production of clean hydrogen and expand its production and consumption infrastructures to make it the country's No. 1 energy source by 2050, the industry ministry said Friday.



The plans are part of the government's comprehensive blueprint on the hydrogen economy, as the country is pushing for the development of hydrogen and other renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels with a goal to go carbon neutral by 2050.



Under the plan, the government will provide 27.9 million tons of hydrogen per year by 2050, all of which will be either green or blue hydrogen, while excluding grey hydrogen, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



Grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas, which generates carbon emissions in its production process, while blue hydrogen is cleaner, as the carbon emissions are captured and stored. Green hydrogen is produced using electricity generated from renewable energy.



To achieve the goal, the government plans to establish large-scale production facilities for green hydrogen and lower the production costs.



It also plans to secure carbon storage facilities with a capacity of 900 million tons or more by 2030 so as to produce 2 million tons of blue hydrogen each year by 2050.



As of 2020, South Korea had not produced clean hydrogen.



The government also vowed to boost cooperation with hydrogen producing countries to secure around 40 hydrogen supply channels by 2050.



"Hydrogen will become our largest single energy source in 2050, which will account for 33 percent of the total energy consumption," the ministry said in a release.



Currently, oil is the No. 1 source of energy for South Korea, taking up nearly 50 percent of the total.



More than 2,000 charging stations will be set up nationwide by 2050, with at least one charging station to be established at 226 wards and counties nationwide, according to the ministry.



The government also plans to encourage such sectors as steel and chemical to turn to hydrogen-based production process and to apply the clean energy source to various means of transportation, including drones, trams and vessels, it added.



"Hydrogen is the most powerful means of achieving the zero-carbon goal," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, presiding over a meeting of the hydrogen economy commission.



"We will establish an innovative ecosystem across the hydrogen economy. We will focus on developing and commercializing key advanced technologies and nurture talents," he said. (Yonhap)


This file photo shows shipyard of STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in Jinhae, South Gyeongsang Province. Korea Times file



New orders for ships won by South Korea's midsized shipbuilders more than doubled in the first 10 months of the year from a year earlier after finalizing their sale deals, industry data showed.



The three midsized shipbuilders  Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, STX Offshore Shipbuilding and Daesun Shipbuilding Engineering  were put up for sale last year to cope with their financial difficulties since the 2008 global financial crisis.



But the sales had been hampered by a slump in the shipbuilding industry and the COVID-19 outbreak.



As the shipbuilding industry started recovering from its slump this year, the midsized shipbuilders have completed their sale deals and posted robust performances in bagging new orders for ships, according to data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



Daesun Shipbuilding Engineering was sold to local steelmaker Dongil Steel at the end of last year, while local builder Dongbu Corp. took over Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction in April.



STX Offshore & Shipbuilding was acquired by a local consortium comprising local private equity fund KH Investment and United Asset Management, South Korea's biggest bad debt clearer, in July. STX Offshore & Shipbuilding was renamed K Shipbuilding following the conclusion of the acquisition.



Among the three shipbuilders, K Shipbuilding posted the strongest performance in the January-October period.



Compared with the same period a year ago, K Shipbuilding's new orders rose nearly fourfold to 333,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs).



The shipbuilder bagged an order for a 50,000-ton petrochemicals carrier in March.



Three months later, K Shipbuilding signed deals to build 12 ships with Oceanian companies in June, which include two 10,000-ton petrochemical carriers (PCs), six 50,000-ton PCs and four 115,000-ton oil tankers.



The deal for four oil tankers has an option to construct two additional oil tankers.



In October, the midsized shipyard also joined forces with Kongsberg Digital AS, a Norwegian company that has technology for autonomous ships, to narrow the technology gap with large shipbuilders in the area of smart ships with its autonomous navigation system called K-ADIS, or K Shipbuilding Advanced Intelligent Solution.



In particular, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction obtained a 310.5 billion won ($261.4 million) order to build four container carriers in October, which was the first order for commercial vessels in six years.



Hanjin Heavy failed to win orders for ships in 2020.



Daesun Shipbuilding Engineering won new orders of 250,000 CGTs in the January-October period, more than double from a year ago.



The shipyard struck a deal with Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the big three local shipbuilders, to receive technological support for smart ships in July.



Another midsized shipbuilder Daehan Shipbuilding achieved its annual target order of 14 ships in September, bagging new orders for 15 ships.



Along with the four midsized shipbuilders' performance, all local midsized shipbuilders' new orders rose nearly threefold in the first 10 months of the year, compared with the same period a year ago, said the ministry in a statement released a week ago.



The robust results came from the government's program to support the midsized shipbuilders in areas of ship design and technology manpower cultivation, the ministry said. (Yonhap)


Koo Ja-eun, new chairman of LS Group / Courtesy of LS Group



Conglomerate carries out biggest reshuffle involving 9 CEOs, 47 lower-level executives



By Yi Whan-woo



LS Group said Friday it appointed Koo Ja-eun, the chairman of LS Mtron who was the first in line for leadership succession, as its new chairman in a year-end reshuffle of the top brass.



The appointment of Koo, 57, comes under a succession tradition of cousins taking the family-owned conglomerate's leadership by turns. The group was founded by their fathers in 2003 as a spinoff of LG Group.



The measure also comes in what the company called its "biggest-ever reshuffle of the top executives" involving nine affiliates.



Koo will officially take the helm of the conglomerate in January, continuing a nine-year cycle of leadership that has been carried out by his two older cousins  Koo Ja-yeol, 68, and Koo Ja-hong, 74  since 2004.



"The newly appointed chairman especially is seen as the most qualified leader in leading LS to take its second leap," the company said in a press release.



It noted Koo was behind its signature energy-efficiency project, in relation to global transition to green energies as well as the international business principle of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).



Some market observers viewed the new leadership can help enhance the generational shift.



Koo began his career at LG in 1990 as an entry-level employee, working in and outside Korea and building an extensive expertise in business areas that were once all covered by LG but now split among LS and another LG spinoff, GS.



The areas include electronics, oil refinery, trade, metal refining, power and telecommunication cables and agricultural machinery.



He joined LS in 2004 as the China director of LS Cable & System, the progenitor of the conglomerate, before being promoted to chairman of its agricultural machinery unit, LS MTron, in 2019.



Since then, he has represented LS Group at domestic and foreign events on behalf of Koo Ja-yeol and also managed LS Corp., the holding company of LS Group spearheading digital transformation and other innovative efforts.





Myung Roe-hyun, new chairman of LS Corp. / Courtesy of LS Group





Koo Bon-kyu, new chairman of LS Cable & System / Courtesy of LS Group





Shin Chai-ho, new chairman of LS MTron / Courtesy of LS Group
By Kim Bo-eun





SK's battery affiliate is moving quickly to secure much-needed funds to finance aggressive investments in the U.S. and China.







SK Innovation split off its battery business in October into a wholly owned subsidiary, SK On, as a means to raise funds via an IPO.







Given the company's stock market debut is set to take time, as SK has yet to generate profit with its battery business, it is considering a pre-IPO, according to reports.







Local reports stated SK On has selected managers for the project, which would offer SK On stocks to foreign investors prior to its stock market listing.







SK On's valuation is estimated at around 30 trillion won ($25.12 billion), and the company is reportedly seeking a pre-IPO for 10 percent of its valuation, which comes to 3 trillion won.







"We are currently reviewing a variety of strategies to secure financial soundness and funds for new investments, but details have not been decided," SK Innovation stated on Friday.







SK, the latest market entrant among Korea's top three battery makers, has moved aggressively to expand its market share by securing clients and investing in battery plants to boost its production capacity.







SK On's cumulative book orders have exceeded 1 terawatt-hours, which ranks the company third among global battery firms.







SK On set up a joint venture with U.S. carmaker Ford Motor in September, under which three battery plants with a combined annual production capacity of 129 gigawatt-hours will be built in the U.S. by 2027.







SK also recently signed a deal to build its fourth EV battery production plant in China. The plant will be located in Yancheng city in the northeastern Jiangsu province.







SK On's IPO is set to take place in 2024 at the earliest, given the company is waiting to proceed with the listing once it begins generating stable profits.






Coupang headquarters in southern Seoul / Korea Times file



Coupang Play, a homegrown streaming service, will premier Korean drama "One Ordinary Day," starring actors Kim Soo-hyun and Cha Seong-won, Saturday as its first-ever original series.



It is a Korean adaptation of a 2008 British drama series, "Criminal Justice," about an ordinary college student who becomes a murder suspect overnight and a small-time lawyer who struggles to prove his innocence.



During an online news conference to promote the new series Friday, Kim said he chose to be in the Korean remake, as he was deeply impressed by the original drama.



The forthcoming title is the star's first small-screen work after "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" in 2020.



"I wanted to make the charm of the original drama mine if possible. So when I heard of the plan for the new drama, I thought, 'This is an opportunity,'" Kim said. "As Hyun-soo in the drama, I was innocent, deeply resentful, sad, hurt, swayed and grew up."



His character, Hyun-soo, steals his father's cab one night to attend a party with his friends. He happens to pick up a young woman on the way and ends up canceling his plans to attend the party so he can spend the night with her. After a night of sex with the woman, Hyun-soo wakes up and finds her stabbed to death in her bedroom.



He tries to run way from the scene but is soon arrested as a prime suspect in the murder case. With every circumstance and material evidence pointing to him as a murderer, small-time lawyer Shin Jung-han (Cha Seung-won) approaches and offers to represent him.



For the co-star of "My Love from the Star" (2013), "One Ordinary Day" is his first work in any streaming service original.



Asked if he felt much pressure for the challenge, Kim said, "I think I cannot live without pressure, because I feel it every time I do new projects and get older. There is always pressure to work better, but I think this kind of pressure is a necessary thing."



Before the Korean remake, the British hit drama was made into an eight-part American television drama series with the title "The Night Of" in 2016.



Kim said he aimed to incorporate all the charm of the lead character in the British and American dramas into his Korean character, rather than trying to portray it differently.



Lee Myung-woo, who took the helm of the new drama, said he intended to throw a question about justice in the judicial system through the series.



"There are cases of alienation within the judicial system, and I wanted to tell the story of people who are not protected by law," said the director behind SBS drama series "Punch" (2014) and "The Fiery Priest" (2019).



"After watching the original work, I couldn't get rid of the emotions I felt for a few days," he added. "The message the drama throws was very intense, so I remade it into a Korean show."



"One Ordinary Day" will release new episodes every Saturday and Sunday at 12 a.m. (Yonhap)


A woman holds a child as migrants gather for their departure to Iraq at the airport in Minsk, Belarus on Nov. 25. Reuters-Yonhap



A second batch of Iraqis returned home to northern Iraq on Friday after a failed quest to reach the European Union, citing maltreatment and abuse suffered in the hands of Belarusian authorities.



Over 170 people returned on a flight that landed in Irbil International Airport after 2 a.m. in Iraq's northern Kurdish-run region. A disproportionate number of repatriated Iraqis from Belarus have been Iraqi Kurds. It is the second repatriation flight to return from Minsk. On Thursday 430 Iraqis returned home.



Another flight was expected to arrive at 7 a.m. Friday morning, according to a tweet by Lawk Ghafuri, spokesman for the semi-autonomous Kurdistan government. Word on that flight has yet to emerge.

All cited the cruelty of Belarusian border authorities _ from beatings to threats _ and attempts to push them to cross into neighboring European Union countries Poland and Lithuania.



"We are very thankful for arriving home, because the humanity and justice that people say about Europe is far from reality. It is not true at all. We have been beaten badly," said Awat Nassir, a returnee at the airport.



"Now people are regretting they went there and demand to come back home, because it is 15 degrees below zero in Belarus now,'' he said.



Thousands of migrants remain stranded between borders. Most are fleeing conflict or hopelessness in the Middle East and aim to reach Germany or other western European countries. But Poland has taken a hard line about letting them in, and Belarus didn't want them returning to the capital of Minsk or otherwise settling in the country.



The West has accused Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of using the migrants as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian regime. Belarus denies engineering the crisis, which has seen migrants entering the country since summer and then trying to cross into Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.



"The most difficult thing is when you see children stuck there," said Emad Hussein, another returnee. "It is very hard.'' (AP)






French fishing crews are threatening to block French ports and traffic under the English Channel on Friday to disrupt the flow of goods to the U.K., in a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses.







It's the latest tension point between the neighboring countries, who are also trading blame for not doing enough to prevent the deaths of at least 27 migrants whose boat sank Wednesday off Calais, in the choppy waters of the world's busiest shipping route.







French fishermen are angry at the British government for not granting more licenses to fish in U.K. waters _ and angry at their own government for not doing more to defend them.







The fishing industry is economically tiny but symbolically important for both Britain and France.



Friday's threatened blockades are ''a warning shot,'' Olivier Lepretre, president of the regional fishing committee, told reporters.







Fishing crews are expected to use their boats to block ports in Calais, Saint-Malo and Ouistreham, and to use cars to block the highway leading to the tunnel beneath the Channel.







The fishers are protesting to ''respond to the derisive and humiliating attitude of the English,'' Gerard Romiti, president of the national fishing committee, told reporters.







A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. was "disappointed by threats of protest activity.''







Before Brexit, French fishermen could fish deep inside British waters. Now they need to be granted a special license from British authorities to fish in certain areas. Most French boats have received the special licenses, but not all. (AP)






Philippine government lawyers have opposed Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa going to Oslo next month to collect her award in person, describing the journalist in court documents as "a flight risk".







Ressa, co-founder of news website Rappler, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the prize in October for their efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression".







The former CNN correspondent, who is on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, has applied for court approval to travel to Norway for the December 10 ceremony.







But the solicitor general has filed an objection to the Court of Appeals arguing that Ressa's right to travel was "not absolute" and she had not shown a "compelling reason" for going to Oslo, according to a copy of the document seen by AFP on Thursday.







"Her recurring criticisms of the Philippine legal processes in the international community reveal her lack of respect for the judicial system which consequently makes her a flight risk," the solicitor general said in the document dated November 8.







A ruling by the Court of Appeals is pending.







Ressa has been a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his government's policies, including a drug war that has killed thousands.







Since Duterte was swept to power in 2016, Ressa and Rappler have endured what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, investigations and online attacks.







She faces a total of seven court cases, including the appeal against a conviction in the cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison.







Ressa, who is also a US citizen, is currently in the United States after receiving court approval to travel there.







The Nobel Institute said it was a "disgrace for any nation not to release its citizens to travel to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize". (AFP)


Republican Nancy Mace talks to supporters during her election night party in Mount Pleasant, S.C. in this photo taken on Nov. 3, 2020. Five U.S. lawmakers including Mace are visiting Taiwan on Nov. 26, in a surprise one-day visit, the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, announced. AP-Yonhap



Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen Friday morning in a surprise one-day visit intended to reaffirm the United States' "rock solid'' support for the self-governing island.



The bi-partisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and were planning to meet with senior leaders including Tsai, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy. No further details were provided about their itinerary.



The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.



''When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office received a blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call off the trip,'' Representative Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is part of the delegation, wrote on Twitter.



Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are also part of the visiting delegation.



"We are here in Taiwan this week to remind our partners and allies, after two trying years that we've endured, that our commitment and shared responsibility for a free and secure Indo-Pacific region remain stronger than ever," said Takano.



Takano added that the U.S. relationship with Taiwan is ''rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened."



Tsai, who welcomed the lawmakers and the AIT director at the Presidential Office in Taipei, noted the two sides' cooperation in veterans' affairs, economic issues and trade while reiterating the island's close alignment with the U.S.



"Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and to ensure peace and stability in the region," Tsai said.



The visit is the third by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan this year and comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican members of Congress visited the island. That delegation met with President Tsai, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.



In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.



The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.



China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday, "What the U.S. did proves that the so-called democracy is just a pretext and tool for it to pursue geopolitical goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, serve its own interest and maintain its hegemony in the world." (AP)




In a world where it's never been harder for brands to capture and keep customers, experience is everything. An independent, global marketing agency, Ansira believes designing relevant, persuasive experiences for all the right moments is the only way to strengthen relationships, cultivate brand loyalists, and assure profitable growth. That's why Ansira arms brands and their sales partners with solutions to make those experiences possible: strategy, performance marketing, loyalty marketing, martech consulting and integration, channel partner marketing, and local marketing activation. For more information, visit or .

The Operations Specialist provides local channel partners and their advertising partners with the tools needed to help promote brand enhancing advertising and fund utilization, as well as take advantage of corporate sponsored rebates, incentives, and loyalty initiatives. What you will do: Review marketing materials against an established set of guidelines and brand standards, enter results into database, and communicate results of the review to marketers

Conduct primary review of post campaign activities to determine whether materials were executed as specified in program guidelines

Perform website functionality quality assurance checks

Perform quality control checks at both the pre-approval level to ensure accuracy and compliance with program guidelines (QC)

Monitor claims from start to finish, verifying and updating information on submitted claims, reviewing the policy to determine which charges are eligible for reimbursement, reconciling a claim, negotiating payment to all parties and following up to ensure that payments are made

Review pre-approvals submitted to ensure compliance with brand guidelines

Execute email campaigns

Answer multiple incoming lines, emails and chats and respond or direct to appropriate individuals

Train and onboard partners both at launch and ongoing

Complete administrative tasks such as filing, letter processing, mailing, etc.

Perform a variety of duties to support the client operations and marketing/communications teams Background/ Experience: Bachelor's degree in marketing/advertising preferred

Second language (Portuguese) REQUIRED

2+ years' experience in a fast-paced office environment with administrative and/or customer service experience

Proven technical competence including experience with Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook

Strong attention to detail and excellent time management

Ability to organize work, multitask and meet deadlines

Exceptional ability to work within a team environment

Strong verbal and written communication skills We are a culture of passionate, collaborative and respectful people. We are curious about finding the most strategic solutions, while being fearless in our pursuit of pushing the limits.

Category



Business Operations Specialists, All Other

Education



Bachelor's Degree

Experience



2 to 20+ years

Job type



Full time




Description



System ID 753338

Category General Management

Relocation Type No

Employment Status Full-Time

Unit Description

Sodexo is seeking a Regional Operations Support Manager 3 for Food & Nutrition in Healthcare in the Portland, OR and surrounding areas. Is this opportunity right for you? At Sodexo, you will find the ingredients for a great career in food service management. With benefits including schedules that encourage work-life balance and continuing education opportunities, you'll enjoy an improved quality of life that's unique in the hospitality industry. Are you the experienced food service manager we're seeking? We are looking for candidates who will: have oversight of day-to-day operations;

deliver high quality food service;

achieve company and client financial targets and goals;

develop and maintain client and customer relationships;

develop strategic plans;

create a positive environment; and

ensure Sodexo Standards are met. The ideal candidate: has flexibility to travel and work at different hospitals in the Northwest region;

has a work history demonstrating strong leadership skills, as well as previous supervisory experience and the ability to work collaboratively;

has culinary production experience and a strong background in safety and sanitation compliance;

has the ability to manage multiple priorities, demonstrate professional communication skills, and a passion for a high level of customer service;

can demonstrate the ability to prioritize tasks and exhibit flexibility to take on additional responsibilities as needed; and

can demonstrate working knowledge of Sodexo Food Management Systems (FMS) and The Market Connection (TMC), and is proficient in computer skills and report management experience. Careers in Healthcare: Working for Sodexo in Healthcare allows you to offer patients, healthcare professionals and caregivers around the world the best healthcare experience possible while influencing patient satisfaction, as well as cost reduction and increased productivity for our clients. Sodexo's unique CARES culture develops a dynamic atmosphere where employees are respected, turnover is low and career growth opportunities are created from within. Working for Sodexo: How far will your ambition, talent and dedication take you? Sodexo fosters a culture committed to the growth of individuals through continuous learning, mentoring and other career growth opportunities, along with the performance of organizations. We believe it is important for our work to be meaningful to all who contribute to it, and we remain faithful to our mission, our core values and the ethical principles that have guided us since 1966. We support these values and help them thrive in each employee. We strive to make working for Sodexo a genuinely great experience with benefits to promote your professional, personal and financial well-being, and to improve your Quality of Life now and into the future. Our experiences with our over 50 million customers each and every day enable us to develop Quality of Life services that reinforce the well-being of individuals, improving their effectiveness and helping companies and organizations to improve performance ... every day. Apply Now! Are you ready to start your Sodexo career? Apply now! Not the job for you? At Sodexo, we offer Food Service Management positions in a variety of business segments, including Corporate, Schools, Universities, Government and Agencies, Healthcare, Senior Living and Sports and Leisure locations across the United States. Continue your search for Food Service Management 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




Les ministres ont pris note de la presentation prochaine au parlement du Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Bill.

Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services Bill into the National Assembly. The object of the Bill is to provide a comprehensive legislative framework to regulate the new and developing business activities of virtual assets

and initial token offerings. The Bill has been rendered necessary with a view to meeting international standards of the Financial Action Task Force by making provisions for managing, mitigating and preventing money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation risks (AML/CFT) associated with those emerging business practices.

The Financial Services Commission, established under the Financial Services Act, shall, amongst its other functions and powers, be responsible for regulating and supervising virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings. Accordingly, the Bill

makes provisions for the Financial Services Commission to, inter alia, 

(a) license virtual asset service providers;

(b) register issuers of initial token offerings; and

(c) determine whether virtual asset service providers and issuers of initial token offerings are, for the purpose of combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation, complying with the Financial Intelligence and AntiMoney Laundering Act, the Financial Services Act and the United Nations

(Financial Prohibition, Arms Embargo and Travel Ban) Act 2019.

In addition, with a view to protecting the rights of clients of virtual assets and virtual tokens, and to combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation,

it shall be a financial crime offence 

(i) to carry out business activities as a virtual asset service provider without being licensed as such;

(ii) to carry out business activities as an issuer of initial token offerings without being registered as such; and

(iii) for a person to, otherwise, be in breach of this new regulatory regime.

-

2. Cabinet has agreed to the Minister of Labour, Human Resource Development and Training amending the Workers Rights (Prescribed Period) Regulations 2020 so as to extend to 30 June 2022, the prescribed period during which an employer shall not reduce the number

of his workers either temporarily or permanently or terminate the employment of any of his workers. The main objective of the amendment is to continue preserving jobs and ensuring that, in sectors where the economy is picking up, recruitment of new workers is not done to

the detriment of the workers already in employment.

-

3. Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development would make the 

(a) Economic Development Board (Invest Hotel Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2021;

(b) Economic Development Board (Property Development Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2021; and

(c) Economic Development Board (Smart City Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2021.

These Regulations implement, mainly, measures announced in the Budget Speech 2021/2022 and its Annex in relation to schemes administered by the Economic Development Board, namely the Invest Hotel Scheme, Property Development Scheme and Smart City Scheme.

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4. Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development would make the Social Contribution and Social Benefits (Contributions by Public Sector Employees) Regulations 2021 and the Income Tax (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2021. Following the implementation of the 2021 Report of the Pay Research Bureau and with a view to putting at par public sector employees with private sector employees, public sector employees would pay as from November 2021, their share of social contribution as follows 

(a) 1.5 percent on basic salary not exceeding Rs50,000 per month; and (b) 3.0 percent on basic salary exceeding Rs50,000 per month.

The Social Contribution and Social Benefits (Contributions by Public Sector Employees) Regulations would bring the appropriate legislative amendments to implement this decision. The Regulations also make provision for employees of a statutory body which does not fall under the Pay Research Bureau to start paying their share of social contribution as from the date a salary review exercise becomes effective after November 2021. TheIncome Tax (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2021 provides for an allowance equiv alent to the amount payable by the employee as social contribution, received by anemployee from his/her employer to be exempt from income tax.

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5. Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Health and Wellness would make, under section 42 of the Medical Council Act, the Medical Council (Additional Qualifications) (Amendment) Regulations 2021, to enable the recognition and inclusion of medical postgraduate qualification obtained by a registered medical practitioner as additional qualifications in the register, following the recommendation of the Medical Council of

Mauritius.

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Page 3 of 8

6. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of the revised Protocol on the Sale of Navigational Charts now known as the Protocol on Sale of Navigational Products between the Government of the Republic of Mauritius and the Government of the Republic of India to also cater for the sale of Electronic Navigational Charts of Mauritian waters. The existing protocol on the sale of navigational charts, signed between the Government of the Republic of Mauritius and that of the Republic of India in April 2009, spells out the modalities for the sale

of nautical charts in paper format only. These charts are produced following hydrographic surveys carried out by the Mauritius Hydrographic Service of the Ministry of Housing and Land Use Planning and the Indian Naval Survey Ships, which are deployed once yearly in Mauritian waters.

-

7. Cabinet has agreed to the submission of the 5 th Periodic Report of the State of Mauritius on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment covering the period 2017 to 2021 to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1984. It aims to prevent the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world.

-

8. Cabinet has taken note of the comments made by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in respect of the Follow Up Report to the International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights examined the Follow Up Report to the Concluding Observations during its 70th session held from 27 September to 15 October 2021 and had recently communicated its assessment.

The Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade would request the relevant Ministries/Departments to take necessary remedial measures as appropriate or initiate policy decisions thereon.



9. Cabinet has agreed to the publication and official launching of the National Human Rights Action Plan Progress Report 2012-2020 in the second week of December 2021 in the context of the commemoration of the International Human Rights Day 2021. The Progress Report highlights the main achievements of the State of Mauritius under 10 objectives and 100 priority actions. These emanate from the recommendations of the various treaty bodies that Mauritius is a party to and has an obligation to submit State Reports. The Progress

Report provides an overview of 

(a) the legislation enacted to domesticate human rights in Mauritius;

(b) the measures taken to strengthen the administration of justice, improve rule of law, ensure independence of the judiciary and enhance practices on the part of law enforcement authorities;

(c) the policies implemented in respect of economic, social and cultural rights, and for the improvement of quality of life for the whole Mauritian population with emphasis for vulnerable groups;

(d) the strengthening of the framework for national human rights; and

(e) the capacity building programmes initiated to promote greater and better understanding of human rights.

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10. Cabinet has taken note that a Memorandum of Understanding would be signed between the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA).

The Memorandum of Understanding has the following main objectives 

(a) enhancing the bilateral investment relations between the EDB and the ZIPA, thereby developing reciprocal business cooperation between the two countries;

(b) establishing a practical framework agreeable to both countries for cooperation with regard to investment and trade promotion;

(c) strengthening institutional relations and capacity building through mutual cooperation;

(d) maintaining a continuous working relationship between the two countries for the achievement of their common objective of promoting economic ties and ensuring a coherent approach to identify areas of comparative advantages, competence and complementarities; and

(e) establishing a Joint Investment Committee which would be responsible for the preparation of an Action Plan to support the investment cooperation between the two countries.

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11. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the 21st Meeting of the Mauritius-Seychelles Joint Commission of the Extended Continental Shelf which was recently held in Mauritius. The main outcomes of the discussions related, inter alia, to 

(a) a proposal for exploratory fishing from Seychelles;

(b) the drafting of the Strategic Plan 2023-2027;

(c) a Multi-Client Seismic Survey;

(d) a draft Memorandum of Understanding between the Coast Guard authorities of Mauritius and Seychelles;

(e) the setting up of four working groups for the implementation of Marine Spatial Planning; and

(f) the conduct of Marine Scientific Research.

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12. Cabinet has agreed to the dissemination of the Report of the Technical Committee on Medicinal Cannabis. A Steering Committee chaired by the Senior Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health and Wellness will be set up to look into the implementation of the recommendations in the Report. The Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking, in 2018, recommended that a study be conducted jointly by the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection together with local research institutes in collaboration with foreign research laboratories to determine the properties and tetrahydrocannabinol level of the locally grown cannabis. The study would also recommend whether local cannabis may be used for medicinal purposes. The Technical Committee on Medicinal Cannabis was chaired by Professor Bahorun.

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13. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of a Request for Information for the Setting up of Renewable Energy Hybrid Facilities launched by the Central Electricity Board with a view to gauging the market on the availability of Renewable Energy technologies, in the quest to

achieve the 60 percent of Renewable Energy in the electricity mix by year 2030 and to substitute utilisation of coal by the same time frame, as well as the way forward. The Central Electricity Board would launch a Request for Proposals shortly.

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14. Cabinet has taken note that the Central Electricity Board (CEB) would issue two General Notices on Electricity Tariff 110A and 215A, applicable mainly for socially vulnerable households and small businesses. The CEB introduced Tariff 110A in 2015 with a view to

alleviating the financial difficulties faced by socially vulnerable households including those on the Social Register of Mauritius.

During the confinement period in 2020, the Tariff 110A was reduced by 20 percent to further assist those families who were in difficulty. The Tariff 215A was introduced to allow small commercial consumers to benefit from a reduction of 10 percent in their tariff of

electricity as their businesses had suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. These tariffs were made applicable up to 31 March 2021. The Tariffs 110A and 215A have been extended from 01 April 2021 to 30 November 2021. Given that the borders had now opened and economic activities were picking up, the relevant electricity prices under the above two tariff categories would be resumed to their pre-confinement 2020 rate.

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15. Cabinet has taken note of the status regarding the phasing out of ex-CHA housing units containing asbestos. In December 2019, the Solid Waste Management Division of the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change enlisted, for a period of 24 months, the services of a private contractor for the dismantling, removal and disposal of cemented asbestos sheets from 216 ex-CHA housing units. From December 2019 to midNovember 2021, a total of 118 housing units have been dismantled, out of which 69 were occupied and 49 unoccupied. Works have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing two confinement periods. Six additional housing units would be dismantled by the end of the contract. As the current contract would expire in December 2021, a new

bidding exercise would be carried out for the enlistment of a new service provider for a period

of 24 months.

-

16. Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change has recently acquired 15 units of portable and user-friendly smoke opacity metres to enable better control of exhaust emissions of diesel-powered vehicles and would sign a Memorandum of Understanding with relevant enforcing agencies in that context.

-

17. Cabinet has taken note of the status of drain projects being implemented by the different stakeholders and spearheaded by the Land Drainage Authority, under the National Flood Management Programme. In Budget Speech 2021/2022, Government announced the implementation of the National Flood Management Programme comprising 1,438 projects over the next five years. For the Financial Year 2021/2022, some 400 projects are expected to be implemented on site.

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18. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. Some 259.9 million cases have been reported globally, of which 235 million persons have been successfully treated.

With regard to Mauritius, as at 25 November 2021, there were 1,164 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 41 were admitted at the New ENT Hospital. Over the period 18 November to 24 November 2021, 122 deaths were attributed to COVID-19.

Cabinet has further taken note of progress in the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, including the administration of the booster dose in the Republic of Mauritius. As at 25 November 2021, 922,805 persons had received a first dose of vaccine (representing 72.9 percent of the population). 889,442 persons had been fully vaccinated (representing 70.3 percent of the population). 77,789 persons had received a booster dose. 33,808 adolescents aged between 15 to 17 years had received a first dose of vaccine and 27,948 adolescents were fully vaccinated.

Cabinet has also taken note of the identification of a new COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.529) in South Africa and neighbouring countries and has agreed that strict sanitary measures be put in place in relation to passengers coming from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana,

Eswatini and Zimbabwe, pending the suspension of all commercial passenger flights from South Africa to Mauritius with effect from Monday 29 November 2021. Repatriation flights will be organised and will be subject to strict sanitary protocols. In that connection, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will issue a communique outlining, inter alia, the sanitary measures being put in place.

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19. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in the context of World AIDS Day 2021, observed on 01 December. The theme for World AIDS Day 2021 is End Inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics. The activities would comprise the launching of a campaign on HIV Screening and Counselling Day around the island on 01 December 2021 to allow the maximum number of persons to know their status. Sensitisation and awareness programmes would be carried out on TV and radio.

Virtual HIV prevention sessions by a psychologist would be held for adolescents and young adults with focus on their vulnerabilities where sexuality is concerned. The NGOs Prevention, Information et Lutte contre le Sida (PILS) and Aides, Info, Liberte, Espoir et

Solidarite (AILES) would be carrying out HIV testing and counselling in the community across the island, along with the health service providers of the AIDS Unit of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

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20. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the participation of the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change in the 26th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which was held from 31 October to 13 November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Minister attended the World Leaders Summit along with the Prime Minister.

The Mauritius delegation attended various formal and informal sessions under the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP), the Conference of Parties serving as the meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and the Conference of Parties serving as the meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement and the COP Subsidiary Bodies namely, Subsidiary Bodies for Scientific and Technological Ad vice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation which culminated into the Glasgow Climate Pact

.

The wide-ranging set of decisions, resolutions and statements that constitute the outcome of COP26 is the fruit of intense negotiations. The package that has been adopted, is a global compromise that reflects a delicate balance between the interests and aspirations

of the 197 Parties to the core instruments on the international regime that governs global efforts against climate change. A key outcome is the conclusion of the Paris Rulebook. An agreement was reached on the fundamental norms related to Article 6 on carbon markets, a

mechanism to reduce emission of greenhouse gases by putting a price on the carbon, which would make the Paris Agreement fully operational.

The Minister also participated in the Powering Past Coal Alliance event. He acted as panellist in the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure side event for the operationalisation of the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States.

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21. Cabinet has taken note of the constitution of the Price Observatory Committee with Dr (Mrs) Rooba Yanembal Moorghen as Chairperson.

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22. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Board of the Tourism Employees Welfare Fund with Mr Abdool Rackib Jeewoth as Chairperson.

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23. Cabinet has taken note of the composition of the Road Development Authority (RDA) Board following the amendments made to the Road Development Authority Act in the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021. The RDA Board is chaired by Mr Louis Joel Yves Jose

Patron.

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24. Cabinet has taken note of the nomination of Mr Nazir Bheekhun as Chairperson of the Real Estate Agent Authority Board.

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International

43 people dead, 46 villages burned, looted in Darfur

A view of a village which was burned down during the conflict.

KHARTOUM, NOV 26 (IANS) | Publish Date: 11/26/2021 1:41:30 PM IST

At least 43 people were killed and 46 villages were burned and looted during a conflict between Arab nomads and farmers from the Misseriya Jebel tribe in West Darfurs Jebel Moon locality, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) said. According to the OCHA, the conflict broke out on November 17, reports Xinhua news agency. Initial reports indicate that at least 43 people have been killed, 46 villages have been burned and looted, and an unknown number of people were injured due to ongoing fighting.

Several people are reportedly missing, including children, the Office noted.

Sudans Darfur region has witnessed a civil war since 2003 during the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted on April 11, 2019.

The transitional government in Sudan sought to end the armed conflict in the Darfur region through an agreement reached on October 3, 2020, but some armed groups are yet to sign the agreement. An estimated 66,500 people live in Jebel Moon locality, and more than 43,000 are people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the 2021 Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview.

Over 13,300 people of Jebel Moon are in crisis and above levels of food security between October and December 2021, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.

Security allowing, an inter-agency assessment will take place between November 29 and December 2 to determine the needs and type of response required, the OCHA added.
International

Zelenskiy says Ukraine thwarts coup plot involving Russians; Kremlin denies role

KYIV, NOV 26 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 11/26/2021 1:49:04 PM IST

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said Ukraine had uncovered a plot to overthrow his government next week involving individuals from Russia, although he declined to say whether he thought the Kremlin was behind it.

Speaking at an hours-long press conference, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian intelligence had obtained audio recordings of the plotters, including people from Russia, trying to rope business magnate Rinat Akhmetov into joining a coup.

The Kremlin swiftly denied any role in any coup plot, saying it had no plans to take part in such acts. A spokesperson for Akhmetov, Ukraines richest man, had no immediate comment.

We have challenges not only from the Russian Federation and possible escalation - we have big internal challenges. I received information that a coup detat will take place in our country on Dec. 1-2, Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy was speaking amid rocketing tensions between Ukraine and Russia that have raised fears that a simmering conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists could escalate into open war between the two neighbours.

Ukraines sovereign dollar bonds tumbled to their lowest in more than a year on Friday and the cost of insuring exposure to the countrys debt soared amid rising security concerns.

Zelenskiy did not give full details of the coup plot. Asked explicitly whether he thought the Kremlin was involved, he said: Im sorry, I cant talk about it.

But he also spoke at length at the press conference of a threat of Russian military escalation, and said Ukraine would be ready for it.

Russia has been building up forces near its border with Ukraine. Kyiv, the United States and NATO have voiced concerns in recent days about a possible Russian attack -- a suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false and alarmist.

We are in full control of our borders and are fully prepared for any escalation, Zelenskiy said.

The head of Ukraines military intelligence told the Military Times outlet last week that Russia had more than 92,000 troops massed around Ukraines borders and was preparing for an attack by the end of January or beginning of February.

Ukraine, which wants to join the NATO military alliance, received a large consignment of U.S. ammunition and Javelin missiles earlier this year, prompting criticism from Moscow.

Zelenskiy also said his chief of staff Andriy Yermak would soon be contacting representatives of Russia about the standoff between the two countries. Separately, Yermak said he would be contacting senior Kremlin official Dmitry Kozak.

Russia has said it suspects Ukraine of wanting to recapture separatist-controlled territory by force. Zelenskiy said Ukraine had no such plans and added that Russias rhetoric about NATO expansion - Ukraine hopes to join the Western alliance, a step which Moscow strongly opposes - was a worrying signal.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-21 02:16:30|Editor: huaxia

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The Libyan Red Crescent staff carry the body of illegal immigrant who drowned at sea off the coast of the western Libyan city of Sabratha, Nov. 25, 2021. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Nov. 20 said more than 75 illegal immigrants have drowned at sea off the coast of western Libya, while trying to reach Europe. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)

TRIPOLI, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Saturday said more than 75 illegal immigrants have drowned at sea off the coast of western Libya, while trying to reach Europe.

"Over 75 migrants drowned on Wednesday after departing from Libya according to 15 survivors rescued by fishermen and brought to Zuwara," IOM tweeted.

"This latest tragedy brings the number of lives lost in the Central Mediterranean this year to over 1,300," IOM said.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores. Enditem

The Libyan Red Crescent staff exhume the body of illegal immigrant who drowned at sea off the coast of the western Libyan city of Sabratha, Nov. 25, 2021. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Nov. 20 said more than 75 illegal immigrants have drowned at sea off the coast of western Libya, while trying to reach Europe. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-25 23:06:26|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2021 shows the hands of an injured man at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

"Instead of being admired and emulated, the United States is becoming for other countries, including some allies, a power to be at best ignored and at worst avoided," The Wall Street Journal said in an article published on Monday.

NEW YORK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The United States has failed to promote basic rights in Afghanistan, and is pushing an "avant-garde concept of rights" with the result of isolating itself, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has said.

"Instead of being admired and emulated, the United States is becoming for other countries, including some allies, a power to be at best ignored and at worst avoided," WSJ said in an article published on Monday.

The United States should respect other countries' differences and not impose a stilted uniformity on them, it added. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 02:30:21|Editor: huaxia

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A woman wearing a face mask walks past a COVID-19 safety sign in London, Britain, on July 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Ray Tang)

A new variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana. Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful" on Twitter.

LONDON, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- More than 10 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in Britain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to official figures released Thursday.

The country reported another 47,240 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 10,021,497.

Britain also recorded another 147 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 144,433. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.

People walk past a sign of free rapid COVID-19 tests in Manchester, Britain, Nov. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

The latest data came as coronavirus cases surge across Europe, making the continent the epicentre of the pandemic again.

Meanwhile, a new variant of the coronavirus with a "constellation" of mutations has been identified in Botswana.

Designated as B.1.1.529, scientists are still unclear whether existing antibodies would react well to the variant, which has 32 spike protein mutations.

Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, branded the mutations "really awful" on Twitter.

"Given the large number of mutations it has accumulated apparently in a single burst, it likely evolved during a chronic infection of an immunocompromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient," said Francois Balloux, professor of computational systems biology and director of Genetics Institute at University College London.

"For the time being, it should be closely monitored and analysed, but there is no reason to get overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency in the near future," Balloux said.

People queue up outside a vaccination center in Manchester, Britain, Nov. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

Earlier this month, England's deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, said the modelling is "getting more difficult to give us any clear sense of whether things will turn up or down."

"We're in for potentially some difficult months over the winter," he told reporters.

However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier this week that there is "nothing in the data saying we need to move to Plan B" in Britain.

"The best single thing you can all do is get your booster. When you are called forward to get it, please do so," Johnson said to reporters after his speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) annual conference.

A man receives the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Hyde Leisure Centre in Greater Manchester, Britain, on Jan. 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Jon Super)

Plan B involves advice to work at home and requirements to wear masks in certain scenarios.

In a recent report, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that the coronavirus pandemic exposed Britain's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies and left the British government unprepared.

The government did not act on warnings from pandemic simulations carried out prior to COVID-19 based on an influenza outbreak, said the NAO.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: "This pandemic has exposed the UK's vulnerability to whole-system emergencies, where the emergency is so broad that it engages all levels of government and society. Although government had plans for a flu pandemic, it was not prepared for a pandemic like COVID-19 and did not learn important lessons from the simulation exercises it carried out."

A man wearing a face mask walks past a bus in London, Britain, on Nov. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

In its conclusions, the NAO called on the British government to strengthens its preparations for system-wide emergencies. It suggested the Cabinet Office establish who leads and manages system-wide risks, and strengthen oversight and assurance arrangements over preparations for system-wide emergencies.

Meanwhile, a research has found the NHS is facing the "most difficult winter in its history," with almost 90 percent of hospital trust leaders feeling "extremely concerned."

NHS Providers, which carried out the survey, said that while cases of COVID-19 are "well below" their peak in January, some trusts are "beyond full stretch."

People pass an ambulance outside the emergency entrance at St Thomas' Hospital in London, Britain, on Nov. 9, 2021. (Photo by Stephen Chung/Xinhua)

It is urging the government to offer cash bonuses of about 500 pounds to stop social care staff leaving for jobs in "hospitality, supermarkets, or online firms such as Amazon."

More than 88 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 80 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 28 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose 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. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 09:50:16|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on July 29, 2020 shows the China-Laos railway over the villages and fields in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

The China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong said.

by Zhang Jianhua, Chanthaphaphone Mixayboua

VIENTIANE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The China-Laos Railway is the road of connectivity and the road of friendship as well, and the project cooperation embodies the spirit of the China-Laos community of a shared future, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong has said.

Referring to the characteristics of and inspirations from the China-Laos Railway, Ambassador Jiang said in a recent interview with Xinhua that it is a project in which the two sides sincerely cooperate and pursue excellence under the guidance of top leadership, and both sides should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

The construction of the railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021.

The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

Photo taken on Feb. 5, 2021 shows the China-Laos Railway's Luang Prabang bridge across the Mekong River in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

Jiang said the project is a major achievement of the docking of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos's development strategy to convert itself from a land-locked country to a land-linked hub.

As a landmark project of China-Laos friendship, the railway carries the aspirations of the two peoples for a better life and demonstrates the strength of solidarity and cooperation between both countries, he said.

The construction of the railway has been receiving strong guidance and promotions from the two countries' top leadership. The relevant departments and local governments of the two countries have worked closely together to open "fast-track lane" for personnel and "green channel" for goods to ensure smooth construction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ambassador noted that due to the complex geological terrain in northern Laos, bridges and tunnels make a significant part of the Lao section.

Photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows the construction site of the China-Laos Railway near the villages and fields in northern Laos. (Photo by Pan Longzhu/Xinhua)

The Chinese and Lao engineers have overcome the unfavorable geological condition to build the railway with high standards and sound quality, which has laid a solid foundation to ensure a timely opening of the railway and its smooth operation in the long run.

Jiang noted that the China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity.

The Chinese ambassador suggested that the companies concerned should work on connecting the China-Laos Railway to the Laos-Thailand Railway so as to further connect the networks of the Singapore-Malaysia railway and the China-Europe Railway Express.

Jiang also encouraged comprehensive development along the railway to facilitate the flow of passengers, goods and capital against the pandemic, and to inject impetus for the recovery of the Lao economy and pragmatic cooperation between China and Laos.

The waiting hall of the Vientiane Station of the China-Laos Railway is pictured in Vientiane, Laos, Nov. 20, 2021. (LCRC/Handout via Xinhua)

He also hoped that the railway will improve the people's livelihood in Laos.

The construction of the railway has offered more than 110,000 job opportunities for Lao people. Around 2,000 km of roads and canals have been built along the railway in Laos, according to the Chinese ambassador.

Regarding the future cooperation of both countries, Jiang said that the Chinese side is willing to cooperate with the Lao side on the projects including building a modern oil refinery and the national backbone power grid in Laos, while promoting the Lao cattle export to China.

"Both sides should continue to bring more visible and tangible benefits to the two peoples to demonstrate the spirit of the China-Laos community with a shared future," he said. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 14:27:54|Editor: huaxia

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Lei Qiyuan checks trees in Dongxiang Town of Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

Lei Qiyuan rides heading to the forest area in Tunying Village of Dongxiang Town in Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

Lei Qiyuan rests during a forest patrol in Dongxiang Town of Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

Lei Qiyuan patrols in Dongxiang Town of Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

Lei Qiyuan patrols the forest area in Dongxiang Town of Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

Lei Qiyuan stands during a forest patrol in Dongxiang Town of Wuxuan County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nov. 24, 2021. Lei Qiyuan, 66, has been engaged in forest protection for 17 years. Working at an altitude of over 1,400 meters above sea level, Lei is in charge of an area of 5,800 mu (about 386.7 hectares). Lei, trekking several hours every day in patrols, shoulders the responsibility of keeping the forests safe from fire and illegal cutting-down. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 17:38:00|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken with a mobile phone shows the business district along the Grand Canal in Tongzhou District of Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council has released a guideline on promoting the high-quality development of Beijing's sub-center and easing the non-capital functions of Beijing.

Oriented on innovative and green progress, the sub-center of Beijing shall see more functions and population transferred into its administrative area to relieve the city's non-capital duties, the guideline noted.

In the sub-center, technology and innovation, administration, business services, culture, and tourism would be elevated, said the document. Policies, measures, and pilot demonstration projects would also be carried out and tested in the sub-center.

Integrated and high-quality development of Beijing's sub-center in Tongzhou District and neighboring suburban counties and cities in Hebei Province would also be promoted, said the document.

The guideline urged the Beijing municipality to implement its primary responsibility in promoting the high-quality development of the sub-center and grant it more reform, opening-up, and innovative-development power. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 17:40:14|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message of condolence to Russian President Vladimir Putin over a coal mine accident in Russia that caused heavy casualties.

In his message, Xi said he is shocked to learn that a gas explosion occurred in a coal mine in Belovo, a city in the Kemerovo Region, and caused heavy casualties.

Xi, on behalf of the Chinese government and people, as well as in his own name, expressed deep condolences to the victims and extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved families and the injured. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 19:54:21|Editor: huaxia

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Aerial photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Luang Prabang station along the China-Laos Railway in Luang Prabang, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

VIENTIANE, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- In order to better meet the socio-economic development along the China-Laos Railway and the logistics needs of enterprises, the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC) has recently held an online promotion meeting for its transportation service.

The LCRC, a joint venture based in Lao capital Vientiane in charge of the operation of the railway's Lao section, told Xinhua on Friday that it hopes the meeting will help local enterprises' development and better act its role in railway logistics services.

Altogether 138 Lao enterprises, including some local joint ventures, participated in the video conference held on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the LCRC introduced the stations in Laos which provide freight services, the type of goods suitable for railway transportation, the price of railway freight and the procedure to order freight services, etc.

At the starting period, the railway's Lao section may only provide container transportation, but will offer 24-hour customs clearance convenience, and will meet domestic transport needs in Laos and cross-border transportation demands.

The China-Laos Railway is a docking project between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub.

The electrified passenger and cargo railway is built with the full application of Chinese management and technical standards. The construction of the project started in December 2016 and is to conclude and open to traffic in the coming December. Enditem

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Luang Prabang station along the China-Laos Railway in Luang Prabang, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Vangvieng station along the China-Laos Railway in Vangvieng, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

A Lane Xang EMU train pulls into the Vientiane station along the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, Laos, Nov. 21, 2021. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 21, 2021 shows a section of the China-Laos Railway on the ourskirts of Vientiane, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Vientiane station along the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Vientiane station along the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Aerial photo taken on Nov. 22, 2021 shows the Vangvieng station along the China-Laos Railway in Vangvieng, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Nov. 21, 2021 shows the control center of the Vientiane station along the China-Laos Railway in Vientiane, Laos. The construction of the China-Laos Railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021. The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour. The railway is a docking project between China's Belt and Road Initiative and Laos' strategy to convert itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked hub. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 20:48:22|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The administration is caught in a dilemma as it tries "to develop a more disciplined foreign-policy strategy" while heading toward "a hazily defined, global contest with China," said the article, quoting Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The foreign-policy strategy by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, which prioritizes contest with China, is running into "angst" at home and abroad, Business Insider has said.

In an article published Wednesday, the U.S. media outlet said that the Biden administration has made clear that it wants to "focus on competition with China" and "reduce the U.S. footprint in theaters seen as less vital to U.S. interests."

A container ship of China's COSCO Shipping docks at a new container terminal of the Port of Long Beach in California, the United States, Aug. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Gao Shan)

Washington's moves in the Middle East, such as withdrawing from Afghanistan, planning to remove combat troops from Iraq and scaling back elsewhere, have prompted allies and partners to "seek reassurances about the U.S. support for their security," it said.

These moves are part of a broader effort to ensure the U.S. military's global presence "is correctly sized and supports strategy," informed by a Pentagon review, the article said, adding that such moves "have already caused concern overseas."

The administration is caught in a dilemma as it tries "to develop a more disciplined foreign-policy strategy" while heading toward "a hazily defined, global contest with China," it said, quoting Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 22:24:28|Editor: huaxia

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A Chinese worker and a Russian worker communicate with each other as they walk in a construction site where Units 7 and 8 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant are about to be built, in Lianyungang City, east China's Jiangsu Province, May 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Lu Huadong)

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin respectively sent congratulatory letters to the closing ceremony of the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation on Friday.

In his message, Xi recalled that when the China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation opened in August 2020, he and President Putin respectively sent letters to express their congratulations and high expectations.

For more than a year, Xi said, China and Russia have joined their hands, overcome the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and carried out in a creative fashion more than 1,000 cooperation and exchange activities related to scientific and technological innovation.

He also noted that the two countries have actively facilitated the achievement of fruitful cooperation in such fields as pandemic prevention and control, aerospace and aviation, nuclear energy, and digital economy, while highlighting the successful launch of the China-Russia science and technology innovation fund and important cooperation progress in major strategic projects.

Photo taken on May 19, 2021 shows the launch ceremony for the construction of Unit 3 of the Xudapu nuclear power plant in Huludao City of northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Xinhua/Yao Jianfeng)

It has been proved that there is a great potential, as well as a broad prospect, for the China-Russia cooperation in scientific and technological innovation, he said.

Xi stressed that China and Russia, which are each other's largest neighbors, have jointly been playing an increasingly important role in the current international political and economic arena.

The Chinese president called on the two sides to uphold the concept of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and push forward cooperation in various fields in a practical manner.

He also urged the two sides to promote bilateral relations to a higher level, higher quality and higher standards, and to inject new impetus into the forging of a new type of international relations, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In his congratulatory letter, Putin said with joint efforts from both sides, the Russia-China Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation has been a success, which has fully demonstrated the significance of undertaking bilateral scientific and technological cooperation under the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era.

Visitors watch plane models at Russia pavilion during the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 6, 2019. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

Over the past two years, Russian and Chinese scientific researchers have overcome the impact of the pandemic and carried out more than 1,000 scientific research activities, he said.

Principal results from the cooperation, he underlined, includes China's participation in the construction of the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider facility (NICA), a large-scale scientific facility, and the establishment of the Russian-China Mathematical Center by both sides.

Putin said he believes the two sides will continue to uphold the notion of enduring friendship and win-win cooperation, and continue to inject strong impetus into the promotion of all-round cooperation between Russia and China.

The China-Russia Year of Scientific and Technological Innovation concluded on Friday. 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 22:35:58|Editor: huaxia

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-- The 1,776-km high-speed railway links Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, with Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. Up to 462 km of the line in Xinjiang is located in windy areas.

-- When the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway became operational in 2014, a series of windbreak facilities were put into use, which greatly improved the safety and smoothness of train operations.

-- While railway operators have adopted windbreak facilities to battle wind and sand, railway construction workers near the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang have opted to plant trees.

by Xinhua writers Lyu Qiuping, Hao Yu and Aman

URUMQI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Yu Guorong was once afraid of the wind. For more than 30 years, the railway maintenance worker from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has battled winds in the Gobi Desert to ensure safe rail operations.

Now, with the technology and windbreak facilities that have been adopted for a high-speed rail, he has found himself getting along with his invisible enemy.

The 1,776-km high-speed railway links the regional capital Urumqi with Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province. Up to 462 km of the line in Xinjiang is located in windy areas. Some sections see winds at speeds of more than 20 meters per second for an average of 200 days a year, with the maximum wind speed exceeding 32 meters per second.

A bullet train runs on the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway in windy areas of Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 12, 2014. (Photo by Hu Zhigang/Xinhua)

In the 1990s, when there were no high-speed railways, moving sand often buried the rail subgrade and rails, forcing train operations to be suspended.

Yu and his co-workers often had to remove sand from the rails using shovels in strong winds.

"To avoid being blown away, we had to tie ourselves with rope while working, with one end of the rope fastened to a concrete pole," Yu recalled.

When the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway became operational in 2014, a series of windbreak facilities were put into use, which greatly improved the safety and smoothness of train operations.

Photo taken on Nov. 24, 2021 shows the windbreak facilities constructed in windy areas of Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Aman)

At Liaodun north station in the city of Hami, dispatcher Wang Renjie monitors the wind speeds of different stations on a computer.

"The monitoring system automatically sounds an alarm if the wind speed exceeds 20 meters per second, and the dispatcher will warn related departments to activate an emergency plan," Wang said.

Rainfall, earthquake and snowfall can also be monitored by the natural disaster monitoring system.

WIND BARRIERS

Near the rails, there are concrete walls designed to be wind barriers. The walls span more than 340 km in Xinjiang, and have guaranteed train operations to a significant extent.

To prevent trains from being overturned by crosswinds, overground tunnels have also been built.

"Like armor, the tunnels shield the rails and the trains from crosswinds so that trains running at speeds of up to 250 km per hour can operate smoothly," Yu said.

Photo taken on Nov. 24, 2021 shows windproof overground tunnels constructed for high-speed railway in windy areas of Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Aman)

In a windy area, 120-plus railway bridges are equipped with steel board barriers. The boards have small holes and are fixed to the bridges with H-shaped steel pillars.

"The pillars and small holes are designed to prevent the steel boards from being blown away," he said.

GREEN SOLUTION

While railway operators have adopted windbreak facilities to battle wind and sand, railway construction workers near the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang have opted to plant trees.

"Sand control comes before railway construction," said Wang Jinzhong, who manages the company in charge of the construction of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway.

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 27, 2021 shows a section of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway undergoing track-laying work in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Gu Yu)

As a key national railway project extending 825 km, the railway will link Hotan City with Ruoqiang County in the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, running through the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert.

Workers have created straw grids covering an area of nearly 50 million square meters near the railway line, and they have planted nearly 13 million shrubs and trees, according to Wang.

"Tall trees have been planted along the outer areas to reduce wind speeds, while shrubs have been planted along the inner areas of the railway to fix the sand," said Wang, noting that automatic irrigation control has been realized using smartphones.

The railway line is expected to open in June 2022.

(Video Reporters: Aman and Hao Yu; Video Editors: Zhao Yuchao, Mu Xuyao and Zhu Jianhui) 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 10:22:19|Editor: huaxia

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HARARE, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe on Thursday joined the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) to launch a 16-day campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) as the country witnessed an increase in child marriages.

A safe market space and a one-stop center were set up in Epworth, a suburb of Harare, at the launch of the campaign themed "End Violence Against Women Now: No to child marriages."

As a global strategy to tackle GBV, the campaign runs from Nov. 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, and ends on Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. It is a global demonstration of solidarity in eliminating violence against women and girls, calling for collective action from governments, citizens, civil society organizations and the private sector.

The safe market model is one of the many programs across the country the UN has built through its partnership with the EU under the Spotlight Initiative.

Since the launch of the Spotlight Initiative in 2019, some 3.8 million beneficiaries in Zimbabwe, including 2.3 million women and girls, have received various services, the UN said.

According to the Research and Advocacy Unit, an independent non-governmental organization based in Harare, 31 percent of girls in Zimbabwe are married before the age of 18 and 4 percent are married before their 15th birthday, despite the fact that Zimbabwe has criminalized all marriages below the age of 18.

The COVID-19 pandemic and protracted national lockdowns have compounded the challenge of child marriages in the country.

"The COVID-19 crisis has also resulted in increased school dropouts, resulting in increased early marriages and a consequent alarming increase in teenage pregnancies," a statement released by the UN office in Zimbabwe on Thursday said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 10:38:51|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A white paper released on Friday said the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) has turned into a pacesetter for international cooperation with Africa in the new era.

The white paper, titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals," was released by China's State Council Information Office.

At the initiative of both China and African countries, FOCAC was inaugurated at its first Ministerial Conference in Beijing in October 2000, with the goals of responding to the challenges emerging from economic globalization, and seeking common development.

Over the past two decades, FOCAC has become an important platform for collective dialogue between China and Africa and an effective mechanism for pragmatic cooperation, the white paper said.

FOCAC now has 55 members comprising China, the 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with China, and the African Union Commission.

To date three summits and seven ministerial conferences have been convened, releasing a series of important documents to guide cooperation, and promoting the implementation of a series of major measures to facilitate development in Africa and solidify China-Africa friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation, according to the white paper.

At the end of November 2021, FOCAC will meet in African co-chair country Senegal. The meeting will evaluate the implementation of the outcomes of the 2018 Beijing Summit, and make plans for friendly cooperation in the next phase, the white paper said.

Together the two sides will plan and discuss the outcomes to be adopted at this FOCAC meeting regarding such key areas as health, investment and trade, industrialization, agricultural modernization, climate change responses and digital economy, and both will make every effort to produce a meeting that will build new consensus, explore new fields of cooperation, and be of benefit to both the Chinese and African peoples, it added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 10:49:26|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- About 45 percent of China's foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 went to African countries, according to a white paper published Friday.

China's foreign aid from 2013 to 2018 totaled 270 billion yuan (about 42.28 billion U.S. dollars). Of this sum, 45 percent went to African countries in the form of grants, interest-free loans and concessional loans, said the white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals." Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 11:22:13|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China and Africa have cooperated to establish 61 Confucius Institutes and 48 Confucius Classrooms on the continent, said a white paper released Friday.

China has helped more than 30 African universities set up Chinese language departments or Chinese language majors, according to a white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

In cooperation with China, 16 African countries have incorporated the Chinese language into their national education systems. Since 2004, China has sent a total of 5,500 Chinese language teachers and volunteers to 48 African nations, said the white paper. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 11:23:15|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has sent a total of 23,000 medical team members to Africa, who have treated 230 million patients over the past 58 years, said a white paper released Friday.

At present, there are nearly 1,000 Chinese medical workers in 45 African countries, working at 98 medical centers, according to a white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

To date, China has helped 18 African countries establish 20 centers in different medical specialties, covering cardiology, critical care medicine, trauma and endoscopy.

Paired cooperation mechanisms have been established between the Chinese side and 45 hospitals in 40 African countries, the white paper said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 11:56:08|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has supplied 50 African countries and the African Union (AU) Commission with COVID-19 vaccines in support of their battle against the pandemic, said a white paper released Friday.

They are among the over 110 countries and international organizations to which China had provided over 1.7 billon doses of COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 12, 2021, said the white paper titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals."

In addition to donating 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX, China will donate 100 million doses of vaccine to developing countries including those in Africa, it noted.

Also, Chinese firms are actively engaging in joint vaccine production in Africa with local firms, helping countries, in accordance with their wishes, to realize localized vaccine production, it added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 17:01:36|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese officials on Friday denounced the allegation that China has created so-called debt traps for African countries.

The allegation is a cliche and has been disproved by a wide range of research conducted by governments, scholars, and institutes across the globe, said Wu Peng, head of the department of African affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press conference.

Not a single developing country has fallen into the so-called debt traps because of Chinese loans, Wu said.

He added that development is the solution to African countries' debt issue.

In recent years, African countries have been striving to boost social development, however, the funding shortage acts as a major bottleneck constraining Africa's development, according to Wu.

As a genuine partner of Africa, China has been taking the funding needs of African countries seriously, while paying high attention to their debt sustainability, according to Wu.

He said that China has been supporting the move to ease African countries' debt burden and actively implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has the highest deferral amount among G20 members.

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China had announced the cancellation of 15 African countries' debt in the form of interest-free government loans that were due to mature by the end of 2020, Wu said.

Developing countries need development, and development takes money, said Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao.

"It cannot be said that only the loans provided by Western countries in the past are development aids while the loans from China now are called 'debt traps,'" he said, adding that the logic is untenable.

The "debt trap" allegation is coined by the governments and media of Western countries, he said, urging a more just, balanced perspective on the issue. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 22:24:58|Editor: huaxia

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ABUJA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 villagers were killed early Friday when a group of unknown gunmen attacked a community in central Nigeria's Plateau state, the police said.

Uba Ogba, the spokesman for the police in the Plateau state, told reporters in Jos, the capital city of the state, that over 30 houses were razed by the gunmen who attacked the Ta'agbe community of Miango Chiefdom in the Bassa local government area of the state.

The gunmen invaded the community early in the morning and began to shoot at residents while setting fire on buildings, Ogba said.

He said the police had immediately moved to the scene of the incident to chase away the gunmen.

The motive of the attack has not been known by the police, Ogba added.

Armed banditry has been a primary security threat in Nigeria's northern and central regions, leading to deaths and kidnappings in recent months. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 23:14:32|Editor: huaxia

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TRIPOLI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday strongly condemned any form of electoral-related violence after it was alarmed by an attack on a court in Libyan southern city of Sebha.

"The UNSMIL is alarmed by the reported attack today on Sebha court. Recalling the UN Security Council Resolution 2570, Paris Conclusions and the Presidential statement of the Security Council with regards to accountability for acts that obstruct the elections, the Mission strongly condemns any form of electoral-related violence, and reiterates that the electoral process must be protected," it said in a statement.

"Attacks against judicial or election facilities and personnel are not only criminal acts, punishable under Libyan law, but also undermine Libyans' right to participate in the political process," the statement added.

The Mission reiterated its calls for holding transparent, fair, and inclusive elections on December 24, in accordance with the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LDPF) roadmap and relevant Security Council resolutions.

According to local media, a group of unidentified gunmen attacked the Sebha court on Thursday, as the court was processing a challenge submitted against the disqualification of the presidential candidate Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi who was toppled and killed in the 2011 uprising, was disqualified on Wednesday along with 24 other presidential candidates by the High National Elections Commission (HNEC).

The disqualification was decided based on recommendations of the Attorney General, Criminal Investigation Department, and the Citizenship and Passport Department, the commission said.

The Libyan Government condemned the attack on the court, ordered investigation and strengthening of security in courts processing parliamentary and presidential candidacy challenges. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 23:42:50|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken on Nov. 26, 2021 shows the construction site of the Headquarters Building Phase I Project of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union (AU) Commission on Friday marked structural completion of the main building of the China-aided future headquarters of the Africa CDC. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The African Union (AU) Commission on Friday marked structural completion of the main building of the China-aided future headquarters of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Senior officials from the AU Commission and the Africa CDC, representatives of African countries, diplomats from the Chinese mission to the AU and other dignitaries were present at the topping-out ceremony of Africa CDC Headquarters Building Phase I Project in the southern suburb of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

Amira Elfadil, AU Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, dubbed the landmark project the latest manifestation of the ever-blossoming and long-standing China-Africa ties.

"While celebrating our success in reaching 45 percent of the total project completion within an impressive record of 348 days, the African Union would like to express its sincere appreciation to the government of People's Republic of China for funding of the whole project," the AU Commissioner said. "Special thanks to the Chinese teams and local workers who devoted days and night to crafting this magnificent structure."

The project, featuring modern offices, high-end laboratories and accessories, is being constructed on nine hectares of land with a total building area of 23,570 square meters and is expected to be completed within 25 months.

Liu Yuxi, head of the Chinese Mission to the AU, said the close coordination between Chinese and the AU Commission teams enabled the project to enter into the fast lane of basic construction and only several months to achieve the topping-out of the main structure with high standards.

"The smooth progress of the project perfectly illustrates the friendly and cooperative spirit of brotherhood between China and Africa and will make great contributions to strengthening pandemic prevention and control in Africa," Liu said.

Noting that the Africa CDC future HQ is a vivid manifestation of beneficial and practical work for the African people, Liu stressed that China will proceed to try its utmost to assist African countries in responding to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and restoring economic and social development.

"China and Africa are close friends, reliable partners and good brothers. As we speak, the COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc across the globe. However, it cannot prevent China-Africa cooperation from growing in depth and substance," he added.

The multi-building facility, which is under construction by the Chinese construction giant -- China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) -- is said to be an essential part of the health care initiative adopted at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit, representing an important step toward a stronger China-Africa community with a shared future.

Benjamin Djoudalbaye, head of Policy and Health Diplomacy at the Africa CDC, told Xinhua that the project, which came on the backdrop of the China-aided AU headquarters, will be another landmark embodying the China-Africa partnership.

Africa, which has long been suffering from various infectious diseases, particularly the recurrent Ebola outbreaks and the raging COVID-19 pandemic, is in urgent need to improve its disease control system, in which the timely completion of the future Africa CDC project is expected to inject much-needed momentum.

According to Djoudalbaye, on completion, the facility will enable the AU's specialized healthcare agency to better play its role of coordination, mobilization and emergency management in public health, eventually helping realize Africa's new public health order, with better healthcare delivery across the continent. Enditem

Photo taken on Nov. 26, 2021 shows the construction site of the Headquarters Building Phase I Project of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union (AU) Commission on Friday marked structural completion of the main building of the China-aided future headquarters of the Africa CDC. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-27 02:21:13|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Morocco on Friday imposed travel restrictions on passengers from South Africa and its neighbors amid concerns over a new COVID-19 variant.

The travel ban covers South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, according to a statement by the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry statement said passengers coming from or transiting through the above-mentioned countries are not allowed to enter Morocco.

The decision "is taken to preserve Morocco's achievements in terms of management of the COVID-19 pandemic and to deal with the deterioration of the health situation in some countries," it explained.

A new variant of COVID-19 identified as B.1.1.529 was recently detected in South Africa, which according to scientists could evade the immune system and become more transmissible.

The Moroccan Ministry of Health reported 154 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, raising the total confirmed number in the North African country to 949,532. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-27 06:08:16|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 43rd edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) opened on Friday evening at Egypt's Cairo Opera House with the participation of about 100 films from over 60 countries.

Running from Nov. 26 to Dec. 5 under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, the 43rd CIFF's opening ceremony was attended by Egyptian Minister of Culture Inas Abdel-Dayem.

CIFF President Mohamed Hefzy said the festival hosts more films this year than last year as the coronavirus-related restrictions are eased given the success of Egypt's precautionary measures and the administration of vaccines.

"We are determined to restore normal life. Cinemas have started to operate at full capacity ... and festivals around the world have started to be held not virtually this year," Hefzy told Xinhua on the red carpet.

"This year, we didn't only increase the number of films but the number of guests is much higher and we have more activities and very distinguished films," he said.

After a big red carpet ceremony at the yard of Cairo Opera House, which gathered Egyptian and foreign filmmakers, producers, artists and critics, Spanish-Argentine fiction film Competencia Oficial (Official Competition) was screened as the opening film of the festival.

The festival has four main competitions, the top of which is the International Competition for feature fiction and documentary films where 13 works are contesting, including Egypt's Abu Saddam, France's Softie, Argentina's Seven Dogs and Tunisia's Tomorrow.

The International Competition's awards include the most prestigious Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film, the Silver Pyramid, Special Jury Award for Best Director and the Bronze Pyramid Award for Best First or Second Work, as well as awards for best actor, best actress, best screenplay and best artistic contribution.

Egyptian veteran film star Hussein Fahmy, who once had been the president of CIFF for four years, said CIFF is a category A international festival and one of the few important film festivals in the world.

"It has a great value and a very distinguished status in the Arab world. It constantly revitalizes itself because it features very good films and selects very distinguished juries," the Egyptian actor told Xinhua.

As for the International Short Film Competition, it features 22 films including It's Nothing Nagy, Just Hang up! from Egypt, Poem for a Distant Village from China, Prairie Flowers from Mexico, Skin River from Portugal and Happy Town from Colombia.

Maysaa Al-Mumin, a director from Kuwait expressed happiness and honor to have her seven-minute documentary And I Was Left Behind competing in the Short Film Competition.

"Actually it means a lot to me, because the CIFF is the grandmother of all festivals in the region," she said, noting she used to visit the festival as an audience and it's her first time to visit it as a director.

Among the guests in the opening ceremony was Lebanese film producer and distributor Mario Junior Haddad, whose family has been running a film production company for over 100 years and owns theaters in Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

"Cairo (film) festival is one of the most important in the Middle East, and Egypt has always been the pillar of film production in the Arab world," the Lebanese producer told Xinhua, adding holding the festival despite COVID-19 and the difficult conditions the Arab world is going through is "an important accomplishment."

Launched in 1976 and recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, CIFF is the oldest annual film festival in the Arab world, Africa and the Middle East. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 12:50:15|Editor: huaxia

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CANBERRA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison will send letters to all Australians urging them to book their coronavirus booster vaccine as soon as possible.

In a letter to every Australian home, Morrison said booster shots were the key to keeping Australia open and avoiding a deadly fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

"Thanks to the high vaccination rates, we are now reopening, our economy is strongly re-emerging, and people can get back to seeing family, travelling and living a more normal life," he wrote.

"An important part of this process is ensuring that every person in Australia has access to vaccine boosters to help maintain the best possible defence against serious illness or death," said Morrison. "Everyone in Australia is encouraged to take up the vaccine boosters to make sure we can keep each and every one of us safe."

Every Australian aged 18 and over is eligible for a booster vaccine six months after their second jab.

Australia on Friday reported more than 1,600 new locally-acquired coronavirus infections and seven deaths.

As of Thursday 92 percent of Australians aged 16 and over have received one COVID-19 vaccine dose and 86 percent were fully inoculated.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday confirmed Australian authorities are working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate a new variant that was found in South Africa. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 17:45:53|Editor: huaxia

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Photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) shows conservationists releasing Royal Turtles into a river in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia on Nov. 26, 2021. Fifty-one of Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles were released on Friday into their natural habitat in the Sre Ambel River in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province, a conservationist group said in a press release. (WCS/Handout via Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Fifty-one of Cambodia's nearly-extinct Royal Turtles were released on Friday into their natural habitat in the Sre Ambel River in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province, a conservationist group said in a press release.

The Royal Turtle, globally known as Southern River Terrapin (Batagur affinis), is among the world's 25 most endangered freshwater tortoises and turtles. It is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, the press release said.

Som Sitha, landscape project manager for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Cambodia, said all the 51 Royal Turtles were collected immediately after emerging from their nests along the Sre Ambel River and Kampong Leu River in Koh Kong and Preah Sihanouk provinces from 2006 to 2015.

They were sent to Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center, where they have been cared for and prepared for a life in the wild, Sitha said.

"The turtles, 31 females and 20 males, range in age from six to 15 years old. Each turtle was implanted with a microchip, and an acoustic transmitter was attached to their shell," he said.

"These measures will allow the conservation team to monitor each individual and track their movements through the river system," he added.

This is the sixth release of Royal Turtles into the Sre Ambel River system since 2015, returning a total of 147 turtles to the wild, he said.

Poum Sotha, director general of Cambodia's Fisheries Administration, highly appreciated the participation of local authorities, community and the WCS team for working together to conserve this critically endangered species.

"All stakeholders should continue their efforts to conserve the threatened species, and those who still trade protected species will face legal action," he said.

The European Union is funding this wildlife conservation project, in which the WCS and the Fisheries Administration partner with local communities to counter illegal wildlife trafficking and to protect endangered species, the statement said.

The Royal Turtle has been designated as Cambodia's national reptile by a royal decree issued in 2005. The species was believed extinct in Cambodia until 2000 when a small population was rediscovered by the Fisheries Administration and the WCS in the Sre Ambel River.

Since then, the WCS and the Fisheries Administration have been working together to protect the species from extinction, including a nest protection program, head-starting of young turtles, law enforcement, research and monitoring, prevention of illegal trade, and outreach and livelihood support. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 18:29:54|Editor: huaxia

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KABUL, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Spokesman for the Taliban-led administration Zabihullah Mujahid has said talks between Taliban and the United States would resume in Qatar's capital Doha.

"The officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would resume talks and continue the talks with U.S. representatives in line with the Doha agreement and the talks could be helpful," the state-run news agency Bakhtar quoted Mujahid as saying.

The talks would help renew commitments, remove concerns and efforts would continue for the release of Afghanistan's frozen money, said Mujahid.

In the meantime, Spokesman for the Afghanistan foreign ministry Abdul Qahar Balkhi said that a ranking Kabul delegation led by acting Foreign Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi will stay in Doha from Nov. 27 to Nov. 29 to talk with the U.S. delegation.

Matters pertaining mutual interests including releasing frozen assets, humanitarian assistance, reopening the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan would be discussed in the talks, local media reported. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 20:17:52|Editor: huaxia

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DHAKA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- "Most of our vaccine has come from China, and it's still coming. Long may it continue to arrive," Muzaherul Huq, former Southeast Asia adviser to the World Health Organization, told Xinhua recently.

"We're grateful to the Chinese government and the Chinese people. The vaccines have helped us achieve herd immunity, something we could not have done alone. Our infection rate has fallen steeply," he said.

According to the Directorate General of the Bangladeshi Health Services (DGHS), more than 90 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Bangladesh. About 57.12 million people have received at least one dose, while 35.69 million have received two.

On Nov. 20, Bangladesh had recorded zero death from COVID-19 for the first time since April 3, 2020. Both infections and deaths have fallen significantly in recent months as vaccinations increased.

Bangladesh began the vaccine rollout with Indian supplies in January but quickly ran into delivery problems. In June, the vaccination drive resumed with Chinese Sinopharm vaccines.

"The credit goes to the Chinese government and Chinese people, as well as the Bangladesh government," said Huq. "Mass vaccination would not have been possible without China."

Huq added that Bangladesh, like many countries with large populations, had been in a real crisis. "The vaccine was an acute need for us, and we were looking anywhere we could."

Bangladesh paid in advance for AstraZeneca vaccine through the Serum Institute of India, but after providing a few consignments, the Institute understandably cut supplies to meet India's domestic needs.

"We're very fortunate that China came forward with both Sinovac and Sinopharm. Our supply is reliable and we no longer have to rely on India."

Nabil Zunayed Sidny of Bangladesh's Shaheed Mansur Ali Medical College said mass vaccination helped a lot of Bangladeshi people: "I really want to thank China and Sinopharm. I would also thank the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, for her important support."

Fatalities are almost at zero in Bangladesh. "China helped Bangladesh out of a dire situation when a lot of people were dying," he said. "The situation was very tense. Our hospitals were completely packed with no beds in ICUs. Oxygen demand was extremely high. Vaccine doesn't guarantee immunity, but yes, it has saved many lives."

Mushtuq Husain, adviser to the Bangladeshi Ministry of Health, said China's contribution was of immense help to Bangladesh in sustaining its mass inoculation drive, assuring lower mortality in any future wave.

"We appreciate all of China's great contribution to our effort against the pandemic and hope our friendly cooperation will continue for years to come," said the official. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 21:05:53|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- India will resume international flights on Dec. 15 after suspension of over 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, media reported on Friday.

However, 14 countries will be barred from international flights to and from India, including Britain, France, Germany, Singapore, Botswana, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa and Brazil.

The decision was reportedly taken in consultation with the health ministry.

Meanwhile, India has a travel bubble that permits a certain number of flights a week, which will continue, officials added.

The civil aviation ministry had started some special flights to ferry Indians who got stuck in other countries during the pandemic. After these special flights, the ministry had entered into air bubble agreements with some countries allowing international travel. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 21:51:30|Editor: huaxia

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NEW DELHI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to India on Dec. 6 for the 21st India-Russia annual summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

At the summit, the two leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The summit will also afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest, said the ministry.

The last India-Russia annual summit was held in September 2019 during Modi's visit to Vladivostok, Russia.

The annual summit did not take place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders after the BRICS Summit in Brazil in November 2019. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 22:30:28|Editor: huaxia

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MANILA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has imposed travel restrictions on travelers from South Africa, Botswana, and their neighboring countries "effective immediately" due to concerns over a new COVID-19 variant, a government official said on Friday.

Cabinet Secretary and presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the imposition of the "heightened border control measures" is to prevent the entry of the variant known as B.1.1.529, which is believed to have many mutations.

Nograles said the government's inter-agency COVID-19 task force approved Friday night the temporary suspension of inbound international flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, among others.

Passengers coming from or having been to these countries within the last 14 days prior to arrival shall be temporarily barred from entering the Philippines, Nograles said, adding the ban will stay until Dec. 15.

Nograles said the government has directed the Bureau of Quarantine to coordinate with local government units "to locate travelers from these countries who may have arrived in the recent seven days before the temporary suspension of inbound travel."

Meanwhile, all passengers merely transiting through these countries will be allowed to enter but must comply with existing testing and quarantine protocols.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 863 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections on Friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,830,387.

The Philippines has recorded less than 1,000 cases for three straight days. The DOH also reported that 142 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 48,017. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 22:43:30|Editor: huaxia

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MANILA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Friday called for stronger partnership at the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, saying enhanced multilateral actions are needed to ensure an "inclusive socio-economic recovery" from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duterte said COVID-19, coupled with the worsening effect of climate change, has reversed the gains on economic growth and poverty reduction.

"We need more multilateral action to address these constraints. Our ultimate goal is to speed up more economic exchanges and people mobility in the new normal," Duterte said at the meeting via video link.

Duterte also stressed the need for a framework on vaccine certificate negotiation that is scientific, non-discriminatory to facilitate safe cross-border travel. "All the recognized vaccines work. Geopolitics should not pick and choose," he added.

The 13th ASEM Summit is hosted by Cambodia on Thursday and Friday via video link. ASEM is comprised of 53 partners, including 21 Asian countries, 30 European countries, the ASEAN Secretariat, and the European Union. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 18:11:25|Editor: huaxia

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MINSK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Roughly 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Belarus have expressed their readiness to return home, and a group of refugees returned to Iraq by plane from Minsk airport on Wednesday, reported Belarusian media.

The Iraqi side received requests from about 1,000 people wishing to return to Iraq, Majid al-Kinani, the Iraqi consul in Russia and Belarus, was quoted as saying.

Thousands of refugees, mostly from the Middle East, are attempting to enter Poland, Lithuania and other European Union countries from Belarus in order to eventually obtain asylum in Western Europe. Countries like Poland have tightened border controls and prevented illegal entry, leaving large numbers of immigrants stuck at the border. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 21:16:42|Editor: huaxia

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BUDAPEST, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Hungarian government is going to extend its special vaccination week launched on Nov. 22 for another week, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced here on Friday.

"The government will extend the vaccination action week, which started on Monday, by another week," Orban said on public radio MR1.

The special vaccination week was started in a bid to boost stagnating vaccination amongst the population, during its course, people can get inoculated nationwide without any prior registration or appointment.

Health authorities have called the ongoing program "a big success," as the country has registered more than six times as many vaccinations than the usual amount.

"We could have a big Christmas this year, but only if the number of people taking the third vaccine increases," Orban also said, adding that most people were taking the third dose in the frame of the ongoing vaccination week, with a smaller proportion applying for their first jab.

"A lockdown is only able to slow down the spreading of the virus, the solution is the third vaccination," Orban said, recalling that people also needed to adhere to the protection measures previously ordered, like the mask mandate indoors.

The Hungarian chief of government also said that Hungary would be starting the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 in the near future.

"The first shipment of the vaccine for 5-11 year olds will arrive on December 20, the government has ordered two million vaccines, the first shipment means 130,000 doses, to be followed by the rest," Orban said, urging parents to vaccinate their children.

Hungary on Friday reported 11,871 COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,068,888.

In the past 24 hours, 162 people have died from the disease, taking the toll to 33,866 in the country, while 862,534 have recovered. Currently, 6,913 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 695 on ventilators, figures from the government's coronavirus information website showed.

As of Friday, 6,087,474 people have received at least the first shot of a vaccine, while 5,823,818 had two jabs, and more than 2,269,551 got their booster shot, according to the website. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 23:10:14|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Britain on Thursday expressed firm opposition to Britain's accusation against China over alleged cyber attacks.

Commenting on an annual report by Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, the spokesperson said the accusation against China "has no factual basis."

"China is deeply concerned over and firmly opposed to such irresponsible smear," the spokesperson said.

The British report claimed that China has been launching cyberattacks in recent years and is interested in British commercial secrets, and that Britain needs to work with its allies in response to the challenges posed by a rising technological China.

China is a main victim of cyber theft and attacks and a staunch defender of cyber security, the spokesperson stressed, noting that China launched the Global Initiative on Data Security last year, which calls for all state parties to stand against the use and abuse of information and communications technology for destruction of critical infrastructure or theft of important data of other states.

The initiative provides a constructive solution for safeguarding global data and online security, the spokesperson added.

"The UK, for its part, has designated cyberspace as a new frontier and has been developing offensive cyber capabilities aggressively in recent years, which will undoubtedly heighten the risks of friction and conflict in cyberspace and threaten global peace and stability," the spokesperson said, urging the British side to reflect upon its mistakes instead of throwing accusations at others.

Cyber attacks are a common challenge, the spokesperson said, adding that the international community needs to work together in response, instead of seeing the cyber security issue through the narrow prism of geopolitics. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 23:48:50|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has achieved remarkable results in the development of renewable energy, and the country will play a leading role in this field, Russia's Sputnik news agency has reported.

"Data shows that China made impressive progress in the development of renewable energy, and this achievement was largely possible due to the strong support of the government," Zheng Tingying, a research fellow at Beijing Jiaotong University, was quoted as saying.

A series of policies have shown that China is clearly committed to fulfilling its carbon peak and carbon neutrality commitments, he added.

As technologies used in wind power generation, photovoltaic power generation, and other renewable energy sources continue to advance, their economic costs are declining year by year, causing renewable energy to develop faster, Zheng said.

"China will achieve its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals by developing the renewable energy industry, and will eventually set an example when it comes to energy conservation and emission reduction," he added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-27 05:37:48|Editor: huaxia

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MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan agreed to create mechanisms for demarcation and delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan by the end of the year, Putin said Friday following their trilateral meeting in the Russian city of Sochi.

"I would like to note that we have agreed on a number of key issues. The first is the creation of mechanisms for demarcation and delimitation of the border between the two states, and we agreed to do this by the end of this year," Putin said, according to the Kremlin.

"Hope this happens as soon as possible. There are no obstacles to the creation of these mechanisms," he added.

According to the Russian president, the leaders also discussed humanitarian issues and economic issues, "and above all, as a first step, we talked about unblocking transport corridors."

The consultations are timed to coincide with the anniversary of the signing of the statement on a complete ceasefire and termination of all hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone on Nov. 9, 2020, said the Kremlin. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 15:28:16|Editor: huaxia

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ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government on Thursday urged the U.S. government and organizations to cease spreading false information regarding the country's current situation.

The Ethiopian government has warned the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa and organizations against their continued practice of spreading false information, state-television Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation quoted State Minister of Ethiopian Government Communication Service Kebede Desisa as saying.

This came a day after the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia issued caution to its citizens residing in Ethiopia over possible terror attacks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Earlier, the U.S. government repeatedly warned its citizens to leave the East African country over the expanding conflict in the country.

The conflict, which erupted in November last year in Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, has over the past months spread across neighboring Amhara and Afar regions as forces loyal to the TPLF have advanced southward.

This prompted huge popular mobilization in the regions as well as other states in the country to fight back the TPLF's expansion.

Earlier this month, the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives ratified a six-month state of emergency rule to contain the TPLF's advancement and ensure the country's peace and security. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-26 16:25:42|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The foreign-policy strategy by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration, which prioritizes contest with China, is running into "angst" at home and abroad, Business Insider has said.

In an article published Wednesday, the U.S. media outlet said that the Biden administration has made clear that it wants to "focus on competition with China" and "reduce the U.S. footprint in theaters seen as less vital to U.S. interests."

Washington's moves in the Middle East, such as withdrawing from Afghanistan, planning to remove combat troops from Iraq and scaling back elsewhere, have prompted allies and partners to "seek reassurances about the U.S. support for their security," it said.

These moves are part of a broader effort to ensure the U.S. military's global presence "is correctly sized and supports strategy," informed by a Pentagon review, the article said, adding that such moves "have already caused concern overseas."

The administration is caught in a dilemma as it tries "to develop a more disciplined foreign-policy strategy" while heading toward "a hazily defined, global contest with China," it said, quoting Stephen Wertheim, a historian and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-11-27 05:30:08|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. oil prices plunged more than 13 percent on Friday due to concerns over the discovery of a new variant of COVID-19 in South Africa.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery sank 10.24 U.S. dollars to settle at 68.15 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, Brent crude for January delivery lost 9.53 dollars, or 11.59 percent, to settle at 72.72 dollars.

The two benchmark crude oil futures marked the deepest single-day drop since April 2020.

The United Kingdom announced it would ban flights from six African countries starting midday Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced Friday that the United States would impose travel restrictions on eight African countries due to the new variant.

Canada also announced on Friday banning the entry of foreigners who have traveled through southern Africa in the last 14 days.

The light trading during Thanksgiving holiday in the United States was also blamed for the heightened market volatility.

"Once again, Thanksgiving oil markets lived up to their notorious holiday reputation plunging on light holiday volume in response to reports of a new COVID variant found in South Africa," said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst with The PRICE Futures Group on Friday. Enditem
The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has said it stopped producing and selling mealie- meal hence members of the public must not fall prey to conmen who purport to be employees of the parastatal.

This follows reports that a man in Bulawayo who is masquerading as a soldier duped 12 companies of more than $6 million in a bogus deal to supply the army with mealie- meal from the GMB.

Purporting to be a sergeant Muriro from Lookout Masuku Barracks (formerly Llewellin Barracks) near Bulawayo, the man allegedly phoned the companies and expressed an interest in awarding them tenders to supply mealie- meal to the army.

He would claim that the companies were carefully picked from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe register.

In a statement, the GMBs chief executive officer Mr Rockie Mutenha said the company stopped producing mealie-meal.

The GMB used to produce mealie-meal as part of its Silo-products manufactured by its commercial unit.

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) would like to warn the public not to fall prey to conmen who purport to be employees of GMB that could facilitate the buying of its mealie- meal, said Mr Mutenha.

He said GMBs core business now is to store and manage the Strategic Grain Reserve and also sell grain to millers and stock feed manufacturers.

Mr Mutenha urged members of the public to report suspicious people claiming to be GMB employees to its risk department or the nearest police station.

For further enquiries the public can contact GMB Corporate Communications Department through the hotline telephone line 0242 707898 or email at publicrelations@gmbdura.co.zw, said Mr Mutenha. Herald
The government has lamented the UKs decision to temporarily ban all flights from SA and five other countries as of 2pm (SA time) on Friday due to the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant.

International relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor said the decision appears to have been rushed.

SA, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia have been added to the UK travel red list as a precautionary measure.

While SA respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UKs decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed, as even the World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to advise on the next steps.

Pandor said the decision had huge ramifications for various economic sectors.

Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will do to the tourism industries and businesses of both countries, she said.

In September, the UK placed SA on the red list, subjecting travellers to stringent restrictions and high costs when entering that country.

Pandor fought tooth and nail to get SA off the list, saying there was no reasonable basis for the decision to keep SA on the red list as it was administering thousands of vaccines daily.

However, the new variant, also detected in Hong Kong, has been flagged as worrying by scientists and is spreading fast among young people in SA.

Health minister Joe Phaahla said the cabinet would meet President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the variant with premiers, raising fears of another Christmas under lockdown.

From the experience over the past 21 months, we can predict how this is going to move. Within the next few weeks this will be all over, Phaahla told a media briefing on Thursday. TimesLIVE
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A total of 93 asylum seekers, who were living in precarious conditions in Libya, were evacuated to Italy on Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - The Tunisian police opened fire on Friday afternoon on an individual armed with a cleaver who tried to attack a security patrol in the centre of the capital, according to videos relayed on social networks
Washington-US (PANA) - United States President Joe Biden said here Friday the US would bar entry to most travellers from eight southern African countries over concerns about a new coronavirus variant found in South Africa, reports Reuters
Oil plunges 11% Friday as new COVID variant sparks shutdown fears

Reuters



U.S. benchmark falls back below $70 a barrel

By William Watts and Barbara Kollmeyer / MarketWatch



SAN FRANCISCO

Petroleumworld 26 11 2021



Oil futures were slammed to 11-week lows on Friday, pushing the U.S. benchmark back below the $70-a-barrel threshold on Friday after the discovery in South Africa of a new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Traders dumped oil after the U.S. holiday on Thursday, trading on fears potential lockdowns and other restrictions on business and consumer activity could hit fuel demand as a result of the new coronavirus variant. Analysts also weighed whether the move could prompt the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to slow planned production increases when members meet next week.

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery CL00, -11.80% CLF22, -11.80% fell $9.16, or 11.7%, to $69.22 a barrel, trading below the 200-day moving average, a marker of an assets long-term trend, for a most actively traded contract for the first time since Nov. 2, 2020.

Trading volume was expected to be light, amplifying price swings, in a shortened session on the heels of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday. Trading in oil futures will close an hour early at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

January Brent crude BRNF22, -10.23%, the global benchmark, fell $8.50, or 10.3%, to $73.72 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. The Friday selloff sent both WTI and Brent to levels last seen on Sept. 10.

Oils fall, along with sharp losses for U.S. stocks and Asian equities, came after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant with a high level of mutations in South Africa, which has been experiencing a massive spike in cases in recent days. Investors poured money into gold GC00, +0.07%, Treasurys TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.508% and other perceived havens such as the Japanese yen USDJPY, -1.79%.

Some analysts saw the selloff as overdone.

Traders are putting the fear of this new strain ahead of the reality. While we have to take it seriously, oil should find a floor in the $72 area, said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group, in a note.

The worries are still that U.S. volume today will be light but the markets look to be ahead of the risk even though we are not even close to understanding how bad this new variant might be, he said.

Presently known as B.1.1.529, the variant had also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers who had visited South Africa. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the variant, which scientists arent sure is more deadly or to what degree it might be more easily transmissible.

Read: World takes action as new coronavirus variant emerges in southern Africa

But scientists say it is the most heavily mutated variant so far, which could make it more transmissible than the delta variant which plagued the U.S. and Europe in the summer and autumn.

Already countries were taking precautionary measures, with the U.K. halting travelers from South Africa and five other nations from Friday. The variant shock comes as Europe has been battling a spike in cases across many countries, such as the economic powerhouse Germany. Austria has locked down its population, while other countries are also rolling out restrictions.

Depending on how this virus-led selloff evolves, and how concerned the WHO is of it, the calculations surrounding the OPEC+ meeting next week could change, said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

OPEC+ has stated repeatedly that one area of caution was the resurgence of COVID-19 eroding oil demand as the grouping raises production, he told clients in a note. Halley added that OPEC+ is likely to not increase production above its previously agreed 400,000 bpd target next week, unless the market situation really deteriorates next week, and oil prices experience a much deeper slump.

Traders have been questioning whether Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies  called OPEC+, will decide next week to scrap those output increases after a coordinated release of strategic reserves by several countries, including the U.S.

The cartel and its allies has previously pushed back against requests by the Biden administration and others to speed up production increases. OPEC+ has boosted output in monthly increments of 400,000 barrels a day as it unwinds earlier production cuts.

Natural-gas futures rose, with the January contract NG00, +3.87% NGF22, +3.87% up 2.5% at $5.241 per million British thermal units.

December gasoline RBZ21, -11.57% fell 11.6% to $2.0497 a gallon, while December heating oil HOZ21, -10.78% dropped 11.5% to $2.1066 a gallon .

______________________________________
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With actor Kamal Haasan unavailable to host 'Bigg Boss Tamil 5' for at least two weeks due to his treatment for Covid-19, the question now is who will anchor the weekend episodes of the popular reality show.

There are unconfirmed reports that Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti Haasan has been approached in this regard and that she may anchor the show until her father is back.

Rumours are also rife that actress Ramya Krishnan and Vijay Sethupathi have also been approached and that one of the three actors may end up stepping into Kamal's shoes for a week or two.

However, Star Vijay, the television channel on which the reality show is aired, has so far chosen to keep the cards close to their chest.

When IANS got in touch with the channel, it said it couldn't comment on the issue at the moment and was neither willing to acknowledge or deny the rumours.
The three accused in the Mahant Narendra Giri death case had circulated an objectionable audio, defaming the seer and putting him under immense mental and psychological trauma due to which he ended his life.

In its 19-page chargesheet filed in the Mahant Narendra Giri death case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that accused Anand Giri, Adya Tiwari and Sandeep Tiwari were guilty of abetment to suicide.

A video recorded by Mahant before his death has been treated as dying declaration by the CBI, while the report of the seven-page suicide note sent for forensic and handwriting analysis is awaited.

On September 20, Mahant Narendra Giri, president of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), was found dead at the Baghambari Gaddi in Prayagraj.

The chargesheet states that on May 26, a truce was struck between Anand and the Mahant in Lucknow but it did not work out.

Mahant Narendra Giri became head of the Baghambari Mutt in 2004 and Anand became his disciple in 2005. Differences cropped up between them when Anand formed 'Ganga Sena' and held a camp without Mahant's permission.

On January 7, 2010, Mahant named Swami Balbir Giri as his successor but on August 29, 2011, nominated Anand in a fresh will.

The Mahant again changed his will on June 4, 2020, nominating Balbir as his successor and saying Anand had started visiting foreign countries and raised a separate entity.

Mahant had said in his will that Anand was involved in 'anti-religious' activities and also wrote about expelling the latter for his misdeeds.

The CBI probe stated that Anand requested Mahant Ravindra Puri of Niranjani Akhara to play interlocutor and get his expulsion revoked.

On May 23, Ravindra made a call to Mahant which was recorded by Anand.

During the chat, Anand threatened the Mahant saying he is in possession of many objectionable audios and videos.

On September 11, Narendra Giri asked his disciples about 'sulphas' and its impact on the body. On September 19, he asked another disciple to bring a nylon rope.

The CBI chargesheet mentions that Mahant was seen taking the nylon rope inside the guest room and next day told his disciples that Anand was going to release edited videos showing him in objectionable position with a woman.

The CBI mentions that the video found in the Mahant's phone reflected he was under grave trauma due to the conspiracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hit out at the opposition parties and said that 'how can the parties which have lost their democratic character protect democracy'.

Prime Minister Modi was speaking at the Constitution Day celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament, which was boycotted by 14 opposition parties, including the Congress.

Pointing out that the country is heading towards a crisis, he said, "In the form of family-based parties, India is heading towards a kind of a crisis, which is a matter of concern for the people devoted to the Constitution, a matter of concern for those who believe in democracy."

"More than one person from a family joining the party on the basis of merit does not make the party dynastic. Problems arise when a party is run by the same family, generation after generation," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister lamented that the spirit of the Constitution has also been hurt, every section of the Constitution has also been hurt, when political parties lose their democratic character.

"How can the parties, which have lost their democratic character, protect democracy," he asked.

The Prime Minister also warned against the tendency of forgetting and glorifying convicted corrupt people. "While giving an opportunity to reform we should refrain from glorifying such people in public life," he said.

The Prime Minister also paid homage to the far-sighted great personalities like Babasaheb Ambedkar, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Mahatma Gandhi and all those who made sacrifices during the Freedom Struggle.

He mentioned that today is the day to salute this House, under the leadership of such stalwarts, after much churning and discussion, the nectar of our Constitution emerged.

The Prime Ministers bowed to the martyrs of 26/11 also. "Today, 26/11 is such a sad day for us, when the enemies of the country came inside the country and carried out the terrorist attack in Mumbai. The brave soldiers of the country sacrificed their lives while fighting the terrorists. Today I bow to their sacrifices," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said the Constitution Day should also be celebrated because our path should constantly be evaluated whether it is right or not.

"Mahatma Gandhi had tried to prepare the nation for the duties, even while fighting for the rights in the freedom movement. It would have been better if the duty had been emphasized after the country's Independence. In the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav', it is necessary for us to move forward on the path of duty so that our rights are protected," he added.
In a special session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is likely to move a resolution to repeal the Centre's three farm laws.

Along with that, the Delhi government will demand compensation for the families of over 700 farmers who lost their lives during the protests and a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, according to an official source.

Besides, the state government will also demand the withdrawal of cases registered against the protesting farmers in the past one year.

It will seek the removal as well as the arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra in connection with the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The resolution will be moved by Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai.

In a bulletin issued on Monday, the Delhi government had said that the sessions of the Legislative Assembly will commence on Friday at 11 a.m.

The Assembly has asked MLAs to follow all Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
Two explosions were reported in Afghanistan, leaving four children killed and one child wounded, authorities confirmed.

In the country's national capital of Kabul, a bomb struck a civilian vehicle at a busy traffic circle in Karte Parwan locality, Police District 2 at about 4:15 p.m. local time, causing no casualties, Qari Saeed Khosty, spokesman of the Afghan Ministry of Interior, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Taliban security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures. The blast sent a column of thick smoke into the sky and damaged several vehicles, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the eye witnesses.

The obvious target of the blast remained unknown and no group has claimed responsibly for the attack so far. Islamic State (IS)-affiliated militants have staged several bomb explosions in Kabul and other places since Taliban's takeover in mid-August.

Earlier on Thursday, four children were killed and one child was wounded after some explosive remnants exploded by accident on the outskirts of Taluqan, capital of northern Takhar province, Ansarullah Ansar from the provincial directorate of information and culture told the news agency.

The victims were carrying scrap metals for sale as they did not notice the explosive device was among the materials collected, the official said.

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), landmines and anti-personnel mines left behind from previous wars kill or maim over 100 people every month on average in the country, according to official sources.
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On the basis of report- titled segments and sub-segment of the market are highlighted below:

Global Delivery Takeaway Food Market By Application/End-User (Value and Volume from 2021 to 2026) : Household, Office & Others



Market By Type (Value and Volume from 2021 to 2026) : , Pizza, Sushi, Burgers, Kebabs & Local Portuguese Cuisine



Global Delivery Takeaway Food Market by Key Players: TAKEAWAY.COM, Eat Delicious, TelePizza Portugal, Comer em Casa, Comidas.pt, Uber Eats, Prodto & Glovo

Geographically, this report is segmented into some key Regions, with manufacture, depletion, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Delivery Takeaway Food in these regions, from 2015 to 2026 (forecast), covering China, USA, Europe, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia & South America and its Share (%) and CAGR for the forecasted period 2021 to 2026.



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Key poles of the TOC:

Chapter 1 Global Delivery Takeaway Food Market Business Overview

Chapter 2 Major Breakdown by Type [, Pizza, Sushi, Burgers, Kebabs & Local Portuguese Cuisine]

Chapter 3 Major Application Wise Breakdown (Revenue & Volume)

Chapter 4 Manufacture Market Breakdown

Chapter 5 Sales & Estimates Market Study

Chapter 6 Key Manufacturers Production and Sales Market Comparison Breakdown

..

Chapter 8 Manufacturers, Deals and Closings Market Evaluation & Aggressiveness

Chapter 9 Key Companies Breakdown by Overall Market Size & Revenue by Type

..

Chapter 11 Business / Industry Chain (Value & Supply Chain Analysis)

Chapter 12 Conclusions & Appendix



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Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2021 -- According to MarketsandMarkts, the directed energy weapon market is valued at USD 4.3 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 10.1 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 18.7%. The key drivers propelling the growth of the global directed energy weapons market is the defense of terrorist attacks, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials so that civilian lives and the national security of a country can be preserved. Directed energy weapons like lasers, high power microwaves, and electromagnetic weapons are being used to defend against attacks from threats like ballistic missiles, anti-satellite weapons, and nuclear weapons, etc. The Asia Pacific region will dominate the market due to the growing investments in directed energy weapons solutions.



Based on product type, the lethal weapons segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



These lethal products, mainly focused for military application, include rail gun, electromagnetic bombs (e-bombs), plasma cannon (electrothermal accelerator), microwave gun, plasma grenade, navy laser cannon, gun-launched guided projectile, automatic shotguns, and several others. Huge investments are being made in the R&D as well as demonstration and testing of lethal directed energy weapons.



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Based on platform, the Naval platform segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



Naval directed energy weapon systems consist of weapons that are used in naval applications, for instance, on combat ships and submarines, among others. The naval segment is further divided into combat ships, submarines, and unmanned surface vehicles. Defense ships are specifically designed for use by coast guards and naval forces to ensure the security of water borders.



Based on technology, the High energy laser technology segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



Based on technology, the high energy laser segment is projected to account for a share of 59.4% in 2021. This segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.06% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to the easy installation and low power consumption of high energy laser weapons. Compared to conventional ordnance, they have next to zero time of flight, which allows for a longer decision time and a quicker reaction time.



The directed energy weapons market in Asia Pacific is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2021 to 2026



Asia-Pacific contributed a share of 22.49% to the directed energy weapons market in 2021. China, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and rest of Asia-Pacific have been considered in the Asia-Pacific directed energy weapons market. The demand for directed energy weapons market has increased in recent years, due to the rapid economic development and increasing security threats, across Asia-Pacific region and the increase in border disputes. The military spending of China, Japan, and India has been increasing in recent years due to increased possibilities of being targeted by terrorist attacks.



Key Market Players:

Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Raytheon technologies (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), The Boeing Company (US), Thales Group (France), Leonardo SPA (Italy), BAE Systems (UK), Elbit Systems (Israel) and L3Harris Technologies (US).
Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2021 -- The global Industrial Gearbox Market is expected to grow from an estimated $25.91 billion in 2018 to $31.90 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.25% from 2018 to 2023. Increasing requirement for efficient energy gearbox and clean energy sources are driving the growth of the industrial gearbox market. The increasing automation in manufacturing technology is facilitating the growth of the industrial gearbox market. In addition, increasing investments in renewable power generation, with a skew towards wind power, is driving the industrial gearbox market.



The wind power segment is expected to grow at a high rate in the industrial gearbox market



The wind power segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the industrial gearbox market. The growth in the wind power segment is driven by the increasing investment in wind power installations in the Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe. The Global Wind Energy Council has projected the installation of more than 300 GW of wind power during the forecast period. A large number of installations are projected to be in the Asia Pacific, North America and European regions. The growing installation of wind turbines will drive the growth of industrial gearboxes.



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The Industrial Gearbox market has been segmented on the basis of end-user into wind power, cement & aggregate, chemical, rubber & plastic, construction, food & beverage, marine, material handling, metals & mining, power generation, recreational vehicle, transport industry, agriculture, automotive, and others.



The Asia Pacific is expected to be the largest industrial gearbox market



Asia Pacific region is estimated to lead the Industrial Gearbox market in the forecast period. The market in Asia Pacific is expected to hold the largest share and is forecast to grow at the fastest rate during the forecasted period. The region holds the largest market share globally as the countries such as China and Japan are among the largest manufacturing countries in the world. In addition to this, the projected installation of wind power and the growing automation in the manufacturing industries in the region is driving the growth of the industrial gearbox market in the Asia Pacific.



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Some of the top players in the Industrial Gearbox Market include Siemens AG (Germany), Bonfiglioli Italia S.P.A (Italy), Bondioli & Pavesi (Italy), Sew-Eurodrive (Germany), and Dana Brevini (Italy).



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Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2021 -- The latest update on Worldwide Medical Battery Market study provides comprehensive valuable insights on the market development activities demonstrated by industry players, growth opportunities and market sizing for Worldwide Medical Battery, complete with analysis by key segments, leading and emerging players and geographies (2021-2027). The 115 page study covers the detailed business overview of each profiled players, its complete research and market development history with latest news and press releases. The study helps in identifying and tracking emerging players in the market and their portfolios, to enhance decision making capabilities and helps to create effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage. Some of the players profiled/ part of study coverage are GE Healthcare, Siemens, Integer Holding, Saft Groupe, Boston Scientific, EaglePicher Technology, Philips, Draeger, BD, Medtronic, Stryker, EnerSys, Ultralife Corp, Defibtech, Shenzhen Zhongli Energy Technology, Mindray, Laerdal Medical.



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HTF Market Intelligence released study explored over 15+ countries with detailed data layout spread from 2017 to 2027 and nearly 12+ regional indicators of Worldwide Medical Battery Market. The study is designed using data and information sourced from various primary and secondary sources, proprietary databases, company/university websites, regulators, conferences, SEC filings of Worldwide Medical Battery players, investor presentations and featured press releases from company sites and industry-specific third-party sources.



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MARKET SCOPE & TARGET WITH KEY FINDINGS / OBJECTIVES



1. The Worldwide Medical Battery Market Key Business Segments Growth & % Share

Life Support Equipment, Medical Imaging Equipment, Patient Monitoring Devices & Others are the segments analysed and sized in this study by application/end-users, displays the potential growth and various shift for period 2017 to 2027. The changing dynamics supporting the growth makes it critical for businesses in Worldwide Medical Battery space to keep abreast of the moving pulse. Check which segment will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to overall growth. , Medical Battery markets by type, Lithium and Lithium-ion, Lead Acid, NiMH & Others have been considered for segmenting Worldwide Medical Battery market by type.



Additionally, the study provides an in-depth overview of country level break-up classified as potentially high growth rate territory, countries with highest market share in past and current scenario. Some of the regional break-up classified in the Worldwide Medical Battery Market study are The United States, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Nigeria & South Africa.



2) How Worldwide Medical Battery study have considered the Impact of Economic Slowdown & Current Scenario?

Analyst at HTF MI have conducted survey and have connected with opinion leaders and Industry experts from various region to minutely understand impact on growth as well as local reforms to fight the situation. A special chapter in the study presents Impact Analysis of current scenario on Worldwide Medical Battery Market along with tables and graphs related to various country and segments showcasing impact on growth trends.



3. Who is staying up in Competition?

Due to pandemic, significant economic challenges confront China. Amid the growing push for decoupling and economic distancing, the changing relationship between China and the rest of the world will influence competition and opportunities in the Worldwide Medical Battery market. Negotiations between the 2-largest global economies will continue in 2020, shaping all the uncertainty and worry-making still some emerging players are tapping highest growth rate and establishing its market share whereas reliable giants of Worldwide Medical Battery Market still tuned with their strategic moves to challenge all competition.



How Key Players of the Worldwide Medical Battery Market are Identified and What all Scenarios are considered while profiling players such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Integer Holding, Saft Groupe, Boston Scientific, EaglePicher Technology, Philips, Draeger, BD, Medtronic, Stryker, EnerSys, Ultralife Corp, Defibtech, Shenzhen Zhongli Energy Technology, Mindray, Laerdal Medical, Medical Battery markets by :, In North America, In Latin America, Europe, The Asia-pacific & Middle East and Africa (MEA).

- Disruptive competition tops the list of industry challenges

- Customer experience, Revenue Monetization models and cost analysis.

- Top innovative Strategies, drivers, competitive moves in



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Extracts from the Worldwide Medical Battery Market Research TOC:

The exhaustive study has been prepared painstakingly by considering all important parameters. Some of these were

- Market sizing (value & volume) by Key Business Segments and Potential and Emerging Countries/Geographies

- Worldwide Medical Battery Market driving trends

- Consumers options and preferences, Vendor and Supplier Landscape

- Regulatory Actions and Regional Policy Impacts

- Projected Growth Opportunities in Worldwide Medical Battery

- Industry challenges and constraints

- Technological environment and facilitators

- Consumer spending dynamics and trends in Worldwide Medical Battery

- other developments



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Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/26/2021 -- The security screening market is estimated to be worth USD 7.5 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 10.1 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 6.3 %. The global increase in terrorist attacks and illegal immigration, public gatherings fuel demand for security enhancement solutions and surge in demand for biometrics solutions in the private sector are some of the prominent factors for the growth of the security screening market globally.



COVID-19 Impact on the Global Security Screening Market



The travel and tourism sectors were among the most affected sectors in North America owing to border closures and travel restrictions across the world. This has affected the security screening market. The grounding of flights in North America due to the pandemic has limited the number of visitors in the country, thereby affecting the sales of security screening systems. As per the US Travel Association, the impact of COVID-19 is harsh in the US, with the total economic output at USD 1.5 trillion in 2020, a steep decline from USD 2.6 trillion in 2019. However, the intense vaccination drive has changed the situation in the region, with restrictions being eased. This could facilitate the opening of travel and tourism sectors; however, these sectors are not expected to grow to their pre-pandemic levels any soon.



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Biometric technology held the major market share in the security screening market in 2020



The biometric systems used for security screening include face scanners, fingerprint scanners, and iris scanners. These systems help in the identification of criminals by comparing the scans with the database of existing biometric records. Biometric systems require less time to scan and have more accuracy. Hence, these systems can be used in applications such as access control in offices or buildings, e-commerce, immigration, and border control. The biometric systems segment holds the largest share of the security screening market. Biometric technology has evolved from fingerprint scanners to facial recognition. Thus, its demand is on the rise for security screening purposes to enable authorities to screen a person accurately. The deployment of biometric systems is on the rise at airports and for homeland security purposes.



Security screening market for transportation end use to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



The transportation sector includes transit locations such as airports, seaports, rail stations, and bus stations. The global passenger traffic is expected to increase tremendously by 2025. A large number of passengers pass through these transit locations, and to maintain security at these sites, contraband detection systems, such as metal detectors and X-ray scanners, are used. The rising passenger traffic has made it essential to regularly and rigorously inspect people, cargo, baggage, and vehicles. Individual and baggage screening is very important at airports and other transit locations, while cargo screening plays an important role in preventing illegal activities at seaports. Many countries are focusing on installing security measures at airports, bus depots, and train stations due to the increasing incidents of terrorist attacks and crimes.



Security screening market for baggage and cargo screening application to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period



The delivery of mails and parcels is witnessing a boom, especially due to the extensive growth of e-commerce. By the end of 2021, worldwide e-commerce sales are expected to reach almost USD 5 trillion, or 17.5% of all retail sales. With a lot of parcels and small packages moving around owing to the rise in e-commerce sales, parcel screening becomes critical. While convenient for consumers and companies, the huge flow of post and package deliveries to homes and businesses represents a growing security vulnerability. This vulnerability demands the screening of mails and parcels and, hence, could create a huge demand for security screening systems and solutions.



Key Market Players

The major players in the security screening market are Smith Detection (UK), OSI Systems (US), Leidos (US), Thales (France), and NEC (Japan).
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed HH 45, a Herbig-Haro object embedded in the nebula NGC 1977.

Herbig-Haro objects are small bright patches of nebulosity associated with newborn stars.

They are formed when gas ejected by young stars collides with clouds of gas and dust nearby at high speeds.

Herbig-Haro objects occur when hot gas ejected by a newborn star collides with the gas and dust around it at hundreds of km per second, creating bright shock waves, Hubble astronomers said.

In this image of HH 45, blue indicates ionized oxygen (O II) and purple shows ionized magnesium (Mg II).

We were particularly interested in these elements because they can be used to identify shocks and ionization fronts.

HH 45 is located in NGC 1977, a reflection nebula located some 1,500 light-years away in the constellation of Orion.

Otherwise known as C 0532-048, NGC 1977 is part of a trio of reflection nebulae that make up the Running Man Nebula.

NGC 1977  like its companions NGC 1975 and NGC 1973  is a reflection nebula, which means that it doesnt emit light on its own, but reflects light from nearby stars, like a streetlight illuminating fog, the researchers said.

Hubble observed this region to look for stellar jets and planet-forming disks around young stars, and examine how their environment affects the evolution of such disks.
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The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

November 26, 2021

The importance of sensible and prudent budgetary allocations cannot be overemphasized as the budget itself is an expression of public policy. It is the major economic policy instrument that indicates a governments priority and is also a tool to correct anomalies and inequities within the society.



An efficient budgetary system is critical to economic growth and developing sustainable fiscal policies. On the flip side, a poorly designed budget where attention to detail is neglected and figures just altered from existing templates can only exacerbate social and economic problems within a country. However, the effect of faulty budget choices, where recurrent expenditure is the hallmark of the budget, will inevitably be felt mostly by the ordinary citizens who are at the mercy of dysfunctional government policies and facilities.



And this is the case with the government of Liberia's draft budget for the fiscal year 2022. Despite a month-long delay in the submission of the 2021/2022 draft budget to the National Legislature, the draft budget was officially submitted by the Executive on Thursday, November 18, 2021. In his communication, President Weah said of the total revenue envelope of US$785,587,340, external resources total US$145 million. Out of the total budget, the recurrent component of expenditure is US$643,207,340, while the total cost of the Public Sector Investment project is projected at US$142,380,000.

In this case, the government has failed to understand that there is a proven correlation between declining economic growth and sluggish investment in Africa. In an Africa Pulse report by the World Bank released in October, the Bank disclosed that Sub-Saharan Africa including Liberia had failed to make sufficient public capital investments and as such were unable to address infrastructural needs.



The World Bank 2021 Africa Pulse report stresses that reducing the countries debt burden and wasteful spending will release resources for public infrastructure investment, in areas such as education, health, and infrastructure. The 2017 Africa Pulse report revealed that closing the infrastructural gap for the affected countries could increase their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita by 2.6% per year. Despite these reports, persistent yearly increases in the recurrent expenditure, which is a continuum from the previous administrations in Liberia, have become a permanent feature in the last fours. Specifically, the last budget (FY 2017/2018) under President Ellen Johnson Sirleafs government had 499.2 million recurrent expenditure (94.8%), out of US$ 526.5 million total plan, followed by President George Weahs first budget (recast 2017/2018 budget) at US$563.5 million with US$489.3 million recurrent expenditure, while in 2018, it moved to the US$511.3 million out of US$570.1 million total budget, followed by President Weahs second recast budget for 2019/2020 at US$518.0 million with US$445.82 (86%) in recurrent expenditure.



Liberia in 2021 apportioned US$511.4 million (89.7%) out of its US$$570 million budget to recurrent expenditure. This left 10.3% of the total budgetUS58.1 million to capital expenditure. In the same year, a special budget was approved for July to December of 2021 to the tune of US$301.5 million of which US$272.1 million for recurrent expenditure and US$29.3 million for capital expenditure.

In the 2021/2022 proposed budget, Liberia is once again trotting down this well-traveled route with its proposed US$785.5 million budget. As usual, recurrent expenditure received a prominent percentage of US$570.1 million (89%) leaving capital expenditure at US$58.7 million (10.3%). The recurrent expenditure in the proposed 2021/2022 budget is bigger than the 2020/2021 budget. It is a known fact that most of the recurrent expenses in Liberias budget are used to fund the most mundane of activities. Purchase of new cars, furniture, and office equipment for legislators, gas slips, travels, per-diem, huge salaries & incentives for government officials, renting a presidential private jet, or at worst, a series of never-ending renovations of the Executive Mansion. Continue increment in Liberias recurrent expenditure cannot be the sign of a system that is taking steps to remove waste, inefficiencies and build sustainable public infrastructures and economic growth.



At the presentation of the appropriation bill, the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Samuel Tweah said the 2021/2022 budget was scripted to solve educational and health challenges; while also helping to protect women and mothers from childbirth complications, issues of drugs, and other administrative issues across hospitals, teachers, and primary spending in education. However, the discordant tones in the policy documents pointed to the lack of synchronization of recurrent and capital expenditures in fiscal plans to tackle development.



The major trouble with Liberias budget over the years is the overbearing interest of those charged with the responsibility of preparing the document and appropriating its contents for the benefit of the Liberian people. Rather than see themselves as stewards, they believe they are the primary and ultimate beneficiaries of the budgeting process. For instance, the rationale for the yearly budget of the National Legislature, which had been pegged an estimated US$555 million over the past 15 years, with no downward. Yet, the proposed 2021/2022 budget is increasing the legislature budget from US$44.6 million in 2020/2021 to US$54.5 million and additional providing US$3.5 million for the so-called Legislative Engagement and Public Accessibility. In 2020/2021 approved budget additional US$3.6 million was given to the legislature for their Legislative Engagement and Public Accessibility in which each sitting legislator took home US$ 30,000.



But is Capital expenditure implemented? Much of the spending through the countrys budgets go to service the establishment  MDAs, and in the end, very little is spent in a way that benefits the ordinary man. An assessment of the performance of the 2020/2021 budget so far showed various reasons for the failure of the budget implementation, while its impact has remained unimpressive.



The budget Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and policy objectives over the years had shown that the nation has not moved from the old practice of heavy recurrent and light capital projection and subsequent poor implementation of the budget in the past year. The pattern is that recurrent expenditure is fully drawn down while the capital expenditure bears the brunt of all kinds of delays, bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and outright economic sabotage. There have been various figures bandied around on the government of Liberia's budget implementation performance. The figures from the MDAs are at variance with what is coming from the Finance Ministry. But what is clear in all of these is that capital budget implementation has not been satisfactory.



This has been a recurring trend in budget performance over the years. Whereas recurrent spending often achieves close to 100 percent, the story for capital expenditure is quite different. The figures speak for themselves. The fiscal year 2020/2021 mid-year performance report revealed US18 million was disbursed for the infrastructure sector. In 2020/2021, US$371.3 million was released for compensation of employees, use of goods and services. Yet the critical problem of infrastructure deficit can only be addressed by scaling up capital budget performance and strengthening domestic revenue mobilization to generate saving for roads, bridges, railway lines, dams, airports, seaports hospitals, schools, colleges, agriculture, etc. instead of borrowing and spending it heavily on recurrent expenditure.



Our recurrent expenditure is Outrageous! It might seem convenient now because the government doesnt want to incur the wrath of the civil service or elected political office holders as the 2023 elections get nearer, but the country is suffering.



Liberias inability to prioritize its needs and allocate resources accordingly through the years has finally accorded us the unenviable rank of amongst the top tenth poorest countries in the world according to the World Banks 2021 World Development Indicators (WDI).



In conclusion, the proposed 2021/2022 budget is a trip in self-delusion and the propagation of falsehood. This is symptomatic of a rent economy whose long-term growth is not sustainable. The ratio of recurrent to capital expenditure does show that our present leadership has the Will to change the status quo. There must be the political will to restructure this equation if, as a nation, we are mindful of the need to ensure a bright and prosperous future for our citizens, particularly our teeming youths, the majority of whom are presently in the labor market.



Economic growth and development are mainly enhanced by investing in roads, bridges, railway lines, dams, airports, seaports, hospitals, schools, colleges, agriculture, the encouragement of foreign and local investments, low-cost housing, environmental restoration, and the strengthening of the agricultural sector. If government spending is used to finance investment in roads, bridges, railway lines, dams, airports, seaports hospitals, schools, colleges, agriculture, and other assets that are crucial for rapid economic growth and development, these investments will have direct social and beneficial economic effects on the country. Furthermore, it will provide new opportunities and expand the capabilities of the masses while ensuring sustainable economic growth.
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

November 26, 2021

The formulation and expected evolution of anything that is intended to last far beyond its simple beginnings must be built upon footings that are supported by a solid base that is far larger and more embedded than that which it supports. No organization can survive the rigidity of time if it entirely relies upon an individual to guarantee its longevity. Man is here for a limited time; Liberia is here forever! How can we guarantee the continued wellbeing and development of Liberia if we entirely entrust national aspirations to the limitations of one flawed human being and not to institutions?



The issue of governance is a very simple and straightforward affair. It is only made complicated when people stray far away from time-tested principles that strengthen the governance process. For example, relying on self-indulgent men/women and not institutional guidelines. There must be a defined platform upon which any organization can build  that platform must be futuristic in nature; but most importantly, it must be rooted in the belief that it is bigger than any one person, the idea of continuity and robust enough to confront and overcome future challenges.



In this light, a government that will succeed must stand on the foundation of institutions. Liberia, on the other hand, did not begin with institutional intentions; it was begun as a temporary outpost with no solidifying, national ambition. Google Restart Liberia and Build a New Foundation (https://frontpageafricaonline.com/opinion/commentary/restart-liberia-and-build-a-new-foundation/) to learn how we can reorient Liberia and begin rebuilding that foundation that will propel us forward with an institutional approach that takes future generations into account, and guarantee country-wide, developmental results.

Furthermore, institutional processes and regulatory provisions that force a particular outcome must be calculated, planned, organized in a targeted faction, and aggressively enforced. The governmental approach must be holistic; it should be open, effective, and move to make positive, life-changing differences for citizens, the economy, and society. Effective public sector governance and developmental finance can promote economic transformation that strengthens the institutional process. For a society to grow and move in the direction of true development, its public sector governance must be institutionally grounded in strengthening core state functions such as accountability and transparency, justice, equity, and responsible public administration. There is no other way if controlled continuity and sustaining the process are the ultimate objectives!



A countrys fiscal health can only be a guarantee if there exist strong public sector arrangements, adequate financial management, a developed procurement system, a judiciary that uncompromisingly administers justice, and an educated citizenry that understands and takes its role seriously. Your governing process must be designed to make sure all of this is systemically synced and aligned to the institutional processes  know that part of your institution formulation must incorporate positive aspects of local cultures and traditions to further solidify the base.



In so doing, appreciate that governance is a combination of processes and a broad reach to implement, manage and monitor the entire operation of government, be it infrastructure, national policy, or the desired citizen action. Understand that governance is a means through which national aspirations are determined and executed. The best way to actualize national vision is through organized means and a process that looks at issues with a broader lens that scrutinizes public agenda through the institutional process.



Conversely, the all-powerful presidency is hurting Liberia in more ways than one cares to describe; couple this with an absent legislature and a dormant judiciary. Liberia is going nowhere. The only solution lies in aggressive political agitation and non-negotiable demands for strong government institutions from the people. We must revisit the Liberian Constitution with purposeful intent and push to set stringent guidelines for political office. Our new institutions must weed out harmful mediocrities that continue to hurt us in so many ways. Organizational and structural guidance must direct our public, governance processes and determine national outcomes, not vagrants with personal corrupt agendas.



On the other hand, governance is not a childs plaything. The actions of those who lead can make or break a society. It is a very serious matter that must be viewed with a heightened sense of responsibility, both by the voters and those positioned to check officials of government. There must be a concerted effort to provide the framework to govern our organizations, build our institutions on good governance principles such as inclusive participation, rule of law, consensus building, equity, responsiveness, transparency, and accountability. Anything outside these measures will continue to widen the developmental gap between us and the rest of the world.

Effective governance requires that implementation strategy goes through the full wringer of the institutional process, ensuring all compliance, laws, and regulations are met; making sure public sector financial performance standards are in line with policy  cut no corners. To fully benefit from the structures of institutions, the reporting standards, and organizational financial performance requirements must be strictly followed - apply penalties and punishments without hesitations. Audit without season and make public records public. Hide nothing from the people except justified national security issues. Arm and protect the press to check the system. Your goal should be to strengthen our institutions are all levels, both publicly and privately.

In this age of all things on camera social media, it is in the best interest of the government to get ahead of this and govern responsibly, respond to the peoples needs, and quit being neglectful about governance. Shoulder the peoples trust with the highest degree of care and reverence. The reason is simple: You can no longer continue to cheat the people out of a quality standard of living when they can now see for themselves what good governance looks like around the globe. Soon, corrupt and financially irresponsible government officials like ours will have nowhere to hide; they will either have to turn the corner, build institutions to guide our governance process, or be forced to taste the wrath and power of the people.

About the Author: Mr. Dualu is the author of a series of articles that focus on finding solutions to some of Liberias pressing national issues. Some of those papers include The Liberian Dilemma, A Guide to Increasing Liberias $500M National Budget to Over $2B in Ten Years and Why Diaspora Liberians Matter. The author works as a financial professional out of Massachusetts.
The Perspective

Atlanta, Georgia

November 26, 2021







President George Weah, through his Minister of Finance and Development Planning (MFPD), Mr. Samuel D. Tweah, presented $785,587,340.00 for the calendar/fiscal year 2022 on 18 November 2021, which is about $272M more than the $513M projected in June 2021 for the fiscal year 2022 as per the revenue component (See Page XIII of Special Budget [July-December 2021]). The MFDP Minister says that the increase in the budget indicates that there are better days ahead for Liberians.

|

The Liberian Peoples Party (LPP) craves your indulgence here to do some reality checks; let us remind Liberians that experts and ordinary citizens often use and/or manipulate numbers all the time for hidden purposes. For instance, an individual might embellish a self-appraised value of his/her assets to meet certain financial requirements. Some companies on Wall Street and/or other financial markets sometimes erroneously add dividends as part of their regular business receipts to meet revenue targets or they might reduce their liabilities to impress moneylenders.



Former President Ellen Johnson used the Number Game during her administration. For example, the country was owing the Central Bank of Liberia $260M by 31 December 2016. Yet, she asserted in 2018 that Liberia had $153M in excess cash reserves. Moreover, her Administration impressed upon the gullible minds that Special Drawing Rights were not debts owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but that such values were money owned by Liberia.



Presumably, to present a rosy revenue outlook, President Weahs Administration has projected an increase in government revenues by $272 in 2022, less than five months after it previously projected $513M as revenues for 2022. How did the CDC-led Administration compute that amount? It is so obvious that they are using the Number Game as was frequently done by their predecessor.



Why do we analyze so and what is their game plan? The CDC-led Administration asserted that it would borrow $145M from foreign creditors in 2022. Unfortunately, it has not provided any explanation as to the basis of the increase from a projected loan of $18M in 2019/20 (See page XI) or a projected loan of $19M in 2020/21 (See page # XIII). Moreover, it had projected that the government will not borrow money in 2022 and 2023 to finance its programs.



The next Number Game was to increase the Nontax revenue by $65M ($148M minus $83M). Did the CDC-led Administration assume that it will generate bonuses and/or more royalties and rents from concessionary agreements in 2022? If not, can the CDC-led Administration provide evidence for the 78% increase ($65m/$83M) in the nontax revenue? LPP did not find any documentary evidence to explain any such increase.



Nontax revenue such as Property income (i.e., income from mining, forestry, agriculture, road funds, or administrative fees.) is predictable and errors can be reduced. Also, the yearly collection is almost on the average, meaning, the increase/decrease might not be so significant.

The use of the Number Game does not end at the credit side (revenue), but it is also used on the debit side (expenditure). Item F, under the caption 1.3 Preface on page v of the 2022 Budget, the CDC-led Administration stated that debt service was projected at $120M, meaning it will use $120M of the $785M to pay creditors (domestic $85M and foreign $35M). However, the Special Budget presented in July of 2021 reported domestic payment to be $32M ($20M-principal and $12M-interest). For foreign debt payment, it was $30M ($23M-principal and $7M-interest). Is the CDC-led Administration indicating that its payment capacity had changed within the last three months?



Now, what was the benefit of increasing the debt payment from $62M ($32M and $30M)? The higher revenue picture indicates that things will be better because the government has more money to do things. Another item was the $125M appropriated for Use for Goods and services. Again, within the Special Budget of semi-fiscal (July-December 2021), the amount was $42M, $52M for calendar/fiscal year 2022, and USD 65M for calendar/fiscal year 2023.



LPP calls upon the relevant legislative oversight committees to robustly and diligently scrutinize this fiscal Budget of 2022, which the CDC-led Administration boasts about as being a novelty in post-war Liberia lest the economy delves into a tailspin of irreversibility. The Public Accounts and Expenditures Committee and the Committee on Ways, Means, and Finance of the House of Representatives should thoroughly investigate whether Liberia is poised to collect a windfall of a higher amount of revenues, as Minister Tweah is leading us to believe.



Also, the legislative Committees should question the wisdom of the CDC Economic Management Team to include $80M (i.e., an amount from the IMF called Rapid Credit Facility) as revenue. The Rapid Credit Facility is an emergency economic privilege that the IMF gives to a country that is experiencing cash shortfalls, but only after the country presents a request and the IMF approves. So, why did the tax experts include $80M as cash-in-take in 2022 since the cash shortfalls have not occurred as yet? Or, is the CDC Economic Team confirming the inevitability of cash shortfall(s) in 2022?

Given the sudden astronomical jump in the projection of 65% (from $513M projected in June 2021 to $785M being projected in November for the fiscal period 2022), coupled with the lack of evidential basis and inconsistencies emanating from the CDC Economic Team, LPP urges the Legislature to forensically examine the 2022 Budget before giving its final stamp of approval.

LPP SECRETARIAT

Tel: +231-776491322/777547710/886558912

HQ Address: 80 Benson Street, Monrovia, Liberia
Commodore Khan (third from left), Ambassador Ayub, Rear Admiral Al Asam (fifth from left), and other guests on board PNS Behr Masah

A contingent of three ships from the Pakistan Navy led by Mission Commander Commodore Rehan Ali Khan has made a goodwill visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain, reiterating its commitment to the region's maritime security.

Docked at the Mina Salman Port, they arrived on November 23 as part of an overseas deployment and to celebrate 50 years of PakistanBahrain diplomatic relations.

A reception was held on board PNS Behr Masah, one of the three visiting ships. It was attended by the Commander of Royal Bahraini Naval Force (RBNF), Rear Admiral Mohammed Yousef Al Asam, the chief guest. Others in attendance included Pakistans Ambassador to Bahrain Muhammad Ayub, officers from the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), ambassadors and other local and foreign dignitaries.

Speaking on the occasion, Commodore Rehan said: Pakistan ascribes great importance to its relations with Bahrain and is keen to further enhance these brotherly relations in all spheres. Our current visit to Bahrain will open new vistas for future cooperation in the maritime arena:

He expressed Pakistans will and desire to make all out efforts for eradication of piracy and elimination of its underlying causes.

Pakistan Navy has deployed its units for Regional Maritime Security Patrol (RMSP), fulfilling international obligations towards maritime security and safeguard national shipping while observing freedom of navigation across high seas.

Pakistan Navy has the rare distinction of commanding CTF-150 and CTF-151 eleven and nine times, respectively. Pakistan also has created its own Regional Maritime Security Patrol.

Pakistan believes in promoting peace and security in the region and has remained committed to international community for maintaining stability and to curb terrorism in all its forms, Commodore Rehan said.

Also speaking on the occasion, Pakistans Ambassador to Bahrain Muhammad Ayub, said: Pakistan Navy is a longtime contributor to international security operations as a participant in the multinational CMF, particularly the groups Combined Task Force 150 and anti-piracy Combined Task Force 151.

He said: As a partner of the Combined Task Force, Pakistan Navy ships with strategic assets and personnel are carrying out important missions to promote security, stability, and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million sq miles of international waters, encompassing some of the world's most important shipping lanes.

ADVANCED VESSELS

Part of the visiting contingent is PNS Dehshat, a missile fitted fast attack craft indigenously built in Pakistan. The ship is equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and command and control system.

The second ship, PNS Behr Masah, is an advanced survey vessel used to explore marine recourse and mapping of uncharted waters. Commodore Rehan said the benefits of its mission will equally be accrued by the regional maritime community.

The third ship, PMSS Hingol, is the lead ship of the Hingol-class maritime patrol vessel. It is equipped with modern law enforcement tools and can efficiently conduct maritime operations, such as counter piracy, counter narcotics, anti-smuggling and human trafficking operations. The ship also plays a pivotal role in enforcing all national and International laws as per the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Commodore Rehan conveyed wishes from Chief of the Pakistan Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi NI to the people of Bahrain in general and the RBNF in particular.

He said Pakistan Navy has always been forthcoming in training personnel from brotherly countries in its institutions. To date, it has trained a total of 554 personnel of RBNF while another 57 are currently undergoing training. --Tradearabia News Service
About

The Underhanded C Contest is an annual contest to write innocent-looking C code implementing malicious behavior. In this contest you must write C code that is as readable, clear, innocent and straightforward as possible, and yet it must fail to perform at its apparent function. To be more specific, it should perform some specific underhanded task that will not be detected by examining the source code.

Every year, we will propose a challenge to coders to solve a simple data processing problem, but with covert malicious behavior. Examples include miscounting votes, shaving money from financial transactions, or leaking information to an eavesdropper. The main goal, however, is to write source code that easily passes visual inspection by other programmers.

C is an ideal language for this contest because of both its universality and its ability to do horrible things. C lets you overwrite stack entries, screw up function pointers, and poison all data at the bit level. C nods encouragingly as you attempt to execute a floating point array. In terms of enforcing program correctness, your typical C compiler is basically the two guards from Swamp Castle in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

This contest goes for about 3 months every year. The prize was originally a case of beer, which was a huge mistake (the original submissions all came from outside the US.) Now it is a gift certificate to ThinkGeek.com. For the 2015 contest, however, the Nuclear Threat Initiative has generously donated a prize of $1000.
Chennai, Nov 26 (UNI) CV major Ashok Leyland today announced



its MD and CEO Vipin Sondhi has decided to step down and Dheeraj



Hinduja has stepped in as Executive Chairman with immediate effect.



A company release said Mr Vipin Sondhi has expressed his intention



to devote more time to take care of certain personal and family



commitments in the post COVID pandemic situation, that require



his extended presence in New Delhi and consequently step down as



Managing Director and CEO with effect from December 31 this year.



Respecting his personal reasons, the Board has extended its support



and agreed to his decision to move on.



To assist in business continuity and a seamless transition, the Board



has requested Chairman Mr.Dheeraj Hinduja to step in as Executive



Chairman with immediate effect.



The Board will meet shortly to decide on the further course of action



for identifying the next CEO and MD.



UNI GV 1753
New Delhi, Nov 26 (UNI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that the BJP government will be remembered for its atrocities towards farmers and their agitation will be known for unshakable satyagraha.

Priyanka Gandhi has made these remarks as the farmers on Friday marked one year of their agitation against three farm laws.

The agitation would be known for the 'unshakable satyagraha of the farmers, the martyrdom of 700 farmers and the arrogance of the ruthless BJP government and its atrocities towards the farmers, she tweeted in Hindi.

Priyanka Gandhi also hailed the agitation and said, Farmers have always been victorious and will always continue to win in future, she said and ended with a, Jai Kisan.

The farmers particularity from Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against the three farms laws at various borders in Delhi, since the government had passed the three laws by Parliament in September 2020.

The agitation has been spearheaded by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of several farmers unions.

Farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country gathered at Delhi's borders on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the farmers agitation.

Farmer groups once again reiterated that their protest is going to continue as hundreds of farmers reached the Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and other borders to observe the first anniversary of the farmer protest on Friday.

Despite the fact that the Prime Minister announced the decision of repealing of the three farm laws last week, farmer's protest has been continuing, they are demanding acceptance of the other long-standing demands of the farmers, which includes guarantee of MSP, which is determined as per the formula given by the MS Swaminathan committee, scrapping of the electricity amendment bill, withdrawal of cases against agitating farmers and compensation and resettlement for kin of the farmers who lost their lives during the protests.

A farmers mahapanchayat is underway at Singhu Border to decide future course of action.

Rakesh Tikait, in a tweet, said that Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee law is the right of farmers.

Farmers have also planned to take out tractor marches to Parliament every day from November 29 onwards. November 29 is the day the Winter Session of Parliament starts.

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New Delhi, Nov 26 (UNI) India is set to allow scheduled commercial international flights from December 15, after almost 20 months of suspension in the wake of Covid pandemic.

Countries have been divided into three categories with separate capacity restrictions for resumption of flights.

Full capacity would be allowed with countries classified as "not at risk" by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

"The matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India may be resumed from 15.12.2021," Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a communication to aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on November 26.

The Ministry said that resumption of international flights would imply reversion to bilaterally agreed capacity entitlements and termination of air bubble arrangements.

Air bubble is temporary arrangement between two countries aimed at restarting commercial passenger services when regular international flights are suspended.

"The seats under air bubble arrangement which have already been sold by airlines, which are in excess of capacity entitlements under bilateral ASAs/traffic rights available with the airlines, will be allowed to be operated till 14.12.2021," the Aviation Ministry said.

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New Delhi Nov 26 (UNI) Leader of opposition in Delhi assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on Friday alleged that the Kejriwal government did not allow the opposition to speak on important issues, like the new alcohol policy and increasing pollution level in the National Capital.

BJP MLAs under the leadership of Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri staged a sit-in in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the assembly premises for not being allowed to speak on issues like the new alcohol policy, pollution etc, said Ramvir Singh Bidhuri in a tweet.

Alleging that the Kejriwal government is spending crores of rupees on advertisements, Bidhuri said, The amount of money the Chief Minister @ArvindKejriwal government has spent on advertisements, he would have built a 1500 bed hospital in Delhi.
Huge protest rally in Guwahati on second anniversary of parliament passing CAB 11 Dec 2021 | 9:23 PM Guwahati, Dec 11 (UNI) The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) on Saturday took out protest rallies to mark the second anniversary of the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in parliament. see more..

Second anniversary of the controversial CAA observed as black day in Meghalaya 11 Dec 2021 | 8:55 PM Shillong, Dec 11 (UNI) Placards and a black flag are hoisted across Meghalaya as a mark of protest against the passage of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Saturday. see more..

Odisha government, Industry Leaders call for a strong FOPL to minimize disease burden 11 Dec 2021 | 8:51 PM Sambalpur,Dec 11 (UNI) Odisha government and Industry Leaders on Saturday called for a strong Front of Package Labeling (FOPL) to minimize Indias disease burden. see more..

Naveen demands 15 lakh houses under PMAY for Cyclone Fani hit tribal, KBK districts in Odisha 11 Dec 2021 | 8:47 PM Bhubaneswar, Dec 11 (UNI) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday demanded 15 lakh houses under PMAY for the people affected by cyclonic storm Fani basically comprising of tribal districts and KBK districts. see more..
New Delhi, Nov 26 (UNI) India said on Friday that it has taken up with Pakistan the matter of overflight clearance for the Srinagar-Sharjah flights, which were abruptly stopped by Islamabad after a few days, and hasnt received a response so far.

We have taken up the matter with the government of Pakistan for overflight clearances of the flights from Srinagar to Sharjah.

I dont have any update on that; we havent received a response, said Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at a media briefing.

Earlier this month, India requested Pakistan through diplomatic channels to grant overflight clearance to GoFirsts recently-inaugurated Srinagar-Sharjah flights, after Islamabad abruptly put the clearance on hold after a few days.

India asked Pakistan to allow GoFirsts Srinagar-Sharjah flight to use its airspace in the larger interest of the common people who had booked tickets on this route.

Pakistani authorities had granted overflight clearance to GoFirst flights to operate the Srinagar-Sharjah sector on October 23, 24, 26 and 28.

Subsequently, Pakistan put the clearance on hold for the period October 31 to November 30.

With Pakistan refusing clearance, the budget airline has been forced to reroute the service and add 40 minutes to its flying time.

GoFirst's Srinagar-Sharjah sector flight service was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 23. GoFirst was formerly known as GoAir.

UNI/RN
Army organises rock climbing event for children 11 Dec 2021 | 10:01 PM Srinagar, Dec 11 (UNI) On the occasion of International Mountain Day, a rock climbing event was orgainsed by Army for Children in north Kashmirs Baramulla district. see more..

GDC Hyderpora renamed after eminent Poet, Moti Lal Saqi 11 Dec 2021 | 9:59 PM Srinagar, Dec 11 (UNI) The name of the Government Degree College, Hyderpora in Srinagar was changed during a name changing ceremony presided over by the Principal of the Institution. see more..

Srinagar Craft Safari launched by Handicrafts & Handloom Department 11 Dec 2021 | 9:55 PM Srinagar, Dec 11 (UNI) After the nomination of Srinagar as a part of UNESCO creative cities network, the Department of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir on Saturday launched its first craft safari from the Safakadal area of the old Srinagar. see more..

J&K reports 182 new positive cases, one death 11 Dec 2021 | 9:51 PM Srinagar, Dec 11 (UNI) J&K on Saturday recorded 182 new positive cases of Coronavirus, including 33 from Jammu division and 149 from Kashmir division, the government reported on Saturday. see more..
Riyadh/New Delhi, Nov 26 (UNI) Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced the opening up of direct flights from India and five other countries to the kingdom from December 1, in a major move to ease travel.

The Indian embassy in Riyadh on Friday thanked the Saudi authorities for the gesture and said it will facilitate travel between both nations and strengthen the strategic partnership.

In a tweet, it said: Saudi government announces opening up of direct flights from India to the Kingdom from Dec 01. We thank all relevant Saudi authorities for this gesture which will facilitate travel between both nations & strengthen our strategic partnership.
London, Nov 26 (UNI/Sputnik) The United Kingdom has banned flights to six southern African nations  South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia  until November 28 over the spread of the B.1.1.529 strain of the coronavirus, the UK government said.

"From midday Friday 26 November, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia will be added to the UKs travel red list ... Direct flights from the six countries will be banned from midday Friday until hotel quarantine is up and running from 4am Sunday 28 November," the government said in a statement.

Starting from Friday, non-UK and Irish citizens, who have visited the six African nations within the past 10 days, will be refused entry to the UK, while the UK and Irish citizens will be required to self-isolate for 10 days.

Earlier this week, scientists from the UK had warned of the appearance of a coronavirus strain, which contains 32 mutations, in Botswana. Many of the mutations indicate its high transmissibility and resistance to vaccines, the strain has more changes in the spike protein than all other COVID-19 variants. The South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases later also confirmed that the new strain had been found in South Africa, with 22 cases to date.

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China, Russia co-chair session of committee for meetings between heads of govt

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Over 80 pct of Chinese peacekeepers deployed in Afirca: white paper

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Conducted from 1 to 31 October 2021, Operation DEMETER VII demonstrated Customs commitment to helping to protect the health of both people and the planet, by enforcing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) which regulate cross-border movements of environmentally sensitive commodities. Strategically placed at borders, Customs is the primary line of defence against illicit cross-border trafficking, and is mandated to monitor and control commodities.

Operation Demeter VII tackled the illicit trafficking of waste, ozone depleting substances (ODS) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are very potent greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and climate change. These commodities are regulated under, respectively, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention), and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montreal Protocol).

By controlling the compliance of goods that cross borders, Customs is a crucial actor in the fight against climate change and environmental impoverishment, said the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya. The success of Operation DEMETER VII once again demonstrates the importance of joint actions to stop and prevent illicit trade in waste and substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol, and the WCO is committed to continuing to work closely with its partners in these endeavours, he added.

With 87 Customs administrations participating  the largest DEMETER Operation yet  Operation DEMETER VII achieved great success in its objective of thwarting illicit trafficking. The lead actors in this Operation were the WCO Secretariat, the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILO) for Asia/Pacific and Western Europe, and China Customs.

The Operational Coordination Unit was set up at the Asia/Pacific RILO based in Seoul, Korea. In addition, the Operation was supported by the Basel Convention, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the WCO-United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Container Control Programme, INTERPOL, Europol, the EU Network for Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL), and the WCO RILO network.

Using risk indicators and focusing on pre-identified routings and hotspots, Customs officers controlled suspicious shipments and seized illegal waste and ODS. The Operation resulted in a total of 107 seizures, including:

3,851 tons of waste and additional 6,108 pieces

101 kg and additional 493 pieces of substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol.

The DEMETER Operations, with the first edition dating back to 2009, have become synonymous with global Customs enforcement efforts aimed at intercepting and disrupting illegal shipments of hazardous waste, especially plastic waste, as well as substances controlled by the Montreal Protocol, namely ODS and HFCs.

Under the Kigali Amendment, Parties to the Montreal Protocol are now required to gradually phase down HFC production and use.

The WCO and its partners will continue to intensify their efforts to address environmental risks, with more enforcement initiatives planned for the future.
On 25 November 2021, during his visit to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) was awarded the Presidential Medal of Uzbekistan for his contribution to Customs reform and modernization in the country.

Dr. Mikuriya was handed the Presidential Medal by Mr. Viktor Makhmudov, Secretary of the Security Council, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in recognition of his service to the country. Secretary General Mikuriya stated It is a great honour for me to receive the medal representing the WCOs continuous effort to support the modernization efforts of Uzbekistan. He added, the journey for Customs modernization will continue and we will further assist the Uzbek Customs to become a showcase for Customs reform.

Earlier on the same day, Secretary General Mikuriya attended a ceremony dedicated to the recognition of the Bachelor of Customs Affairs programme of the Uzbekistan Customs Institutes as being compliant with the WCO PICARD international standards. Dr. Mikuriya said Customs need Human Resources equipped with adequate knowledge on a range of areas in revenue, trade supply chains and border security to meet the challenges of the quickly changing trade landscape.. The recognition was supported by the EUs Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA).

During the ceremony, the Customs Institute of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan awarded Dr. Mikuriya the title of Honorary Professor. Secretary General Mikuriya said it is an honour to be given this title to symbolize the WCOs endeavour for professional education and research to transform Customs into knowledge-based and data-driven organizations
From 24 to 26 November 2021, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) visited Tashkent, Uzbekistan to participate in various activities. On 26 November, he met with H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan, during a working meeting and reviewed the progress of Customs reform during the past two years as well as the development of a roadmap for the upcoming two years. He also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a WCO Regional Customs Laboratory (RCL).

The President of Uzbekistan thanked Dr. Mikuriya for his continuous support for Customs modernization in his country and congratulated him on receiving the Presidential Medal on the previous day. He appreciated the WCOs result-oriented and effective support in assisting Customs administrations in acceding to the WCOs key Conventions, introducing digitalization, and building human resource capabilities.

President Mirziyoyev welcomed the establishment of the WCO Regional Customs Laboratory and the recognition of the Uzbekistan Customs Institutes Bachelor of Customs Affairs Programme for compliance with the PICARD standards, and promised to provide further support to these institutions. He wished to continue the progress achieved in close cooperation with the WCO.

Secretary General Mikuriya suggested some concrete measures to make the reform sustainable in order to improve the business environment and better protect citizens from illicit trade while securing Custom revenue. Among the suggestions, he proposed the simplification and digitalization of Customs procedures, continued investment in digital technology while maintaining the interoperability of IT systems for successful transit operations, the development of anti-corruption and compliance strategies, and the expansion of the pool of experts. He also pledged to support Uzbekistans accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

At the conclusion of the meeting, President Mirziyoyev expressed his satisfaction to discuss high-level strategies with a Customs specialist such as Secretary General Mikuriya and the latter in turn thanked the President for his strong interest and support for Customs.

During his visit in Tashkent, Secretary General Milkuriya and Mr. Akmalkhuja Mavlonov, the Chairman of the State Customs Committee, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a WCO Regional Customs Laboratory (RCL) in Uzbekistan, officially conferring this status to the Tashkent Customs Laboratory.

During the in-person ceremony, Secretary General Mikuriya expressed his appreciation for this initiative and stated that the establishment of the RCL exemplified the progress achieved by Uzbekistan in reforming its Customs administration. He added that the presence during the ceremony of Customs representatives of the neighbouring countries as well as international organizations, is promising for the future of regional cooperation. He indicated that together with the RCL in EU and Russia, the network of 3 RCLs in the European region will contribute to broaden the connectivity at regional and global levels.

The representatives of Customs Laboratories from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, as well as representatives of the UNODC and the World Bank expressed their support and congratulations for this initiative. The participants visited the RCL and it was noted that the situation room was yet another example of technological advancement and innovation of the Uzbek Customs.
"Uncertainty is always a factor that tends to stop investments; whenever an impeachment motion is presented, it generates a situation of uncertainty and institutional fragility. We have already witnessed that in the past, and it is worrying ()," he said in remarks to RPP radio and TV station.





The high-ranking official mentioned that the U.S dollar price rose one cent yesterday. According to the economist, it is not a coincidence that this happened at the same time that the aforementioned motion was being submitted.





The Cabinet member argued that although this motion is unlikely to succeed it generates instability, which is negative for the nation. Likewise, it contrasts with the spirit of consensus and agreements reached by the Executive and Legislative Branches regarding the recently-approved Public Sector Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022.





"This does not seem reasonable to me; if we have concerted plans for next year, it seems contradictory to me that a motion of this type was raised," he added.





Faced with this context, the minister deemed it important to insist on concertation efforts and agreement on joint plans.





In addition, Francke pointed out the urgency of rejecting the expressions of violence that have been registered over recent days.





Lastly, he called for dialogue and debate without falling into a scenario of violence.





(END) VVS/MVB




The decision was approved with 116 votes in favor, 2 against, and 6 abstentions.





On the occasion, Parliament also approved the Bill on Financial Balance, with 117 votes in favor, 1 against, and 7 abstentions.





Legislators also passed the Bill on Public Sector Debt for the same fiscal year, with 116 votes in favor, 1 against, and 7 abstentions.





The budget bill did not require a second voting session, in accordance with of Article 78 of the National Parliament Regulations.





Before the vote, Congress Budget Commission head Hector Acuna provided details about the latest amendments to the bill and thanked the Executive Branch and Parliament for having engaged "in a harmonious work."





"This work has allowed us to develop a decentralized budget with a human touch and social sensitivity," he said.





As is known, the Public Sector Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022 amounts to S/197 billion (over US$48.9 billion), up 7.6% compared to 2021.





(END) JCC/JCR/RMB

During a plenary session on Thursday afternoon, Congress approved the Public Sector Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2022 , which was debated for three days.Published: 11/25/2021
?? ATENCION | Si tienes 18 anos o mas y recibiste tu segunda dosis hace mas de 5 meses, desde este 26 de noviembre podras recibir la dosis de refuerzo.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Russian side hopes that at todays meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, it would be possible to outline the prospective directions for the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told TASS.

According to Rudenko, Russia expects long-awaited peace and stability to be established in the two countries as soon as possible.

The meeting as a whole aims at summing up the results of the last year after the signing of the trilateral statement on cessation of fire on November 9, 2020, to see what has been done and what could be done to move forward the peace process in the future, how to promote the further normalization process between the two countries in general. We hope that at that meeting the leaders of the three countries, who signed that statement, will outline these prospective directions, the Russian deputy FM said, commenting on the question about the expectations from todays meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Sochi.

The top diplomat added that there are still well-known issues in the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process.

They relate to the unblocking of transportation communications, the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where, unfortunately, we witness some armed incidents from time to time, and even people are being killed, Rudenko said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan said in a statement that one the November 26 repatriated nationals is the resident of Artsakh who had accidentally crossed into Azeri-controlled territory earlier this week while the other returned captive is a serviceman who was shot and wounded and subsequently captured on November 16 in a military position.

He said the two captives were returned from Azerbaijan through the mediation of the Russian peacekeepers. Id like to thank the Russian side for their effective mediating mission, with hope that through their continuous efforts it will be possible to swiftly repatriate all our countrymen who are still held in Azerbaijani captivity, President Harutyunyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan does not agree with the statement of the President of Azerbaijan that all the points of the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement, except for the unblocking of the regional communications, have been fulfilled, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan said during the trilateral meeting with the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in Sochi.

Addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nikol Pashinyan reminded that they have repeatedly discussed the issue of Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees kept in Baku during personal meetings and telephone conversations. The Armenian PM noted that its a very important issue.

"But I want to say that we have gathered today not only to raise the issues, but to discuss their solution. I have also stated many times that Armenia is ready to start the process of delimitation and demarcation. The issue of unblocking, opening of transport and economic communications is also very important for us. We are sincerely interested in resolving these issues, PM Pashinyan said.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in Nagorno Karabakh after the November 9, 2020 ceasefire, and Russian Federation in general, play a key role in stabilizing the situation in Artsakh and the region as a whole, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia NIkol Pashinyan said at the trilateral meeting with the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in Sochi.

The Prime Minister of Armenia reminded that since November 9, 2020, there have been dozens of casualties from both sides, incidents have been registered in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, and since May 12, 2021, there is a crisis situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, following the invasion of the Azerbaijani forces into the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

It is obvious that the Russian peacekeepers and the Russian Federation play a key role in stabilizing the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the region in general. But I want to emphasize that, unfortunately, the situation is not as stable as we would like. Dozens of people have been killed from both sides since November 9, 2020. There have been incidents in both Nagorno Karabakh, and since May 12 this year, there has been a crisis also on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and our assessment is that the Azerbaijani troops have invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia. Of course, the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are not demarcated and delimited, but the state border exists, it is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, Pashinyan emphasized.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) and Ameriabank, the largest universal bank in Armenia, have signed a US$30 million long-term senior loan agreement to support private sector development in the country, ARMENPRESS was informed from Ameriabank.

Nearly 50 per cent of the OPEC Funds loan will be directed at financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), providing access to finance and allowing businesses to receive the necessary funds to grow their businesses and to retain and create jobs. The other half of the loan will be dedicated to support green projects, increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in Armenia. The financing is in line with the partners commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7  Affordable and Clean Energy, and SDG 8- Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Tareq Alnassar, OPEC Fund Assistant Director-General, Private Sector and Trade Finance Operations, said: We are happy to continue our successful cooperation with Ameriabank with a new facility to finance SMEs, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Armenia. Our new loan will help to provide working capital for SMEs, promote sustainable energy and contribute to economic resilience.

The OPEC Fund and Ameriabank have been cooperating since 2015, contributing to the Armenian economy through SME financing and trade finance facilities. The first financing (US$20 million) supported SMEs in Armenia across a diverse range of sectors including wholesale trade, material production, food production and the hotel industry. The second (US$25 million) loan helped fund the expansion of Ameriabanks international trade portfolio. The two facilities supported over 130 businesses in Armenia.

Artak Hanesyan, CEO of Ameriabank, commented: I would like to express my gratitude to the OPEC Fund for our long-standing fruitful cooperation. SME financing has been our strategic focus, and we are happy to be joining efforts again to offer long-term financing to our small business clients. In line with our green strategy the funds will be primarily directed to energy efficiency projects, improving Ameriabanks environmental footprint further.

Ameriabank is the largest bank in Armenia by key indicators and rapidly growing its business with a special focus on green financing. Since 2009, the bank has financed more than US$250 million in renewable energy projects including solar photovoltaic and wind power.

About the OPEC Fund

The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was established by the member countries of OPEC in 1976 with a distinct purpose: to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of US$187 billion. Our vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all.

Ameriabank CJSC

Ameriabank is a dynamically developing bank and one of the major and most stable financial institutions in Armenia with clearly formulated digital agenda. The first investment bank in Armenia, Ameriabank is a universal bank offering innovative corporate, investment and retail banking services in a comprehensive package of banking solutions. Ameriabank is the leading bank in Armenia as measured by all key financial indicators (assets, liabilities, loans portfolio, net profit and equity) according to Q3 2021 reportable data.

For further information, please visit www.ameriabank.am
YEREVAN, 26 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. Russia hopes that the meeting of 3+3 format (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Iran) will take place in not too distant future, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko told TASS.



While that issue is being elaborated, it is necessary to receive the consent of all participants. When we reach that agreement, we will announce where the meeting will take place. We hope that it is a matter of not too distant future said the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.



Andrei Rudenko added that the chair intended for Georgia will remain vacant if Georgia does not confirm its participation. And when Georgia expresses readiness, it can be a full participant.

The 3+3 format was proposed by Turkey following the 44-day war. The initiative envisages a new platform, in which the three countries of the South Caucasus - Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan - and their three neighbors - Russia, Turkey and Iran - will participate.
President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan sent a condolence letter to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

November 26, 2021, 16:09 President Harutyunyan sent a condolence letter to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 26, ARTSAKHPRESS: The letter runs as follows:

"Honorable Vladimir Putin

In Artsakh, we have learnt with deep sorrow about the accident that took place in Kemerovo, region of the Russian Federation and which took dozens of lives.

On behalf of the Artsakh people, authorities and myself, I express condolences and support to You dear Vladimir Putin, to relatives and friends of the miners who fell victim to the tragic disaster. I wish all the injured a speedy recovery.

At this difficult moment we bear the brunt of loss and pain with the fraternal Russian people."
(Bloomberg) --

Most Read from Bloomberg

The World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said a new strain discovered by South African researchers is a Variant of Concern, as global markets swooned at the prospect of a setback in the fight against the coronavirus.

Governments from the U.S. to Hong Kong tightened restrictions on travel from countries in southern Africa after the discovery of the new mutation. In its first response, South Africa called the travel bans unjustified.

Scientists are trying to ascertain how quickly the new variant, officially assigned the Greek letter omicron, can spread and whether its resistant to Covid-19 vaccines.

Global equities dropped, with the S&P 500 posting its biggest one-day slide since February and travel stocks among the biggest decliners. Commodities from copper to crude oil dropped, while U.S. Treasuries and the yen strengthened on haven demand.

Key Developments:

Virus Tracker: Cases reach 260 million; deaths pass 5.18 million

Vaccine Tracker: More than 7.84 billion shots given

What we know about the new virus variant thats rocking markets

Black Friday Sale Comes to Wall Street as Pandemic Fears Return

New Covid-19 Variant Is Already Disrupting Travel Across Globe

The winners and losers from a year of ranking Covid resilience

Canada Bans Foreign Nationals from Southern Africa (2:05 p.m.)

We are acting quickly to protect the health and safety of Canadians, Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters in Ottawa. We are banning the entry of foreign nationals into Canada that have traveled through southern Africa in the last 14 days.

U.S. Imposes Travel Limits on Southern Africa (2 p.m. NY)

President Joe Bidens administration will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday, according to senior administration officials. In addition to South Africa, they include Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

Story continues

The policy doesnt apply to American citizens and lawful permanent residents, though they must still test negative prior to travel to the U.S.

Netherlands Tightens Curbs (1:10 p.m. NY)

The Dutch government will force bars and restaurants to close in the evening for the next three weeks, seeking to cap a surge in infections thats heaped pressure on the nations battered health system.

The country will enter an evening lockdown, with non-essential sites from cinemas to gyms shutting down at 5 p.m. each day from Sunday. Supermarkets will close from 8 p.m., and schools will be unaffected.

WHO Says B.1.1.529 is Variant of Concern (1:11 p.m. NY)

The World Health Organization has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, posing a threat that could confound countries efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19, according to a web statement.

The WHO assigned the Greek letter omicron to the variant.

The variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage, the WHO said.

Vaccine Makers Study Variants Impact (12:55 p.m. NY)

AstraZeneca says its investigating the impact of new Covid variant on the vaccine developed with University of Oxford, with studies under way in Botswana and Eswatini.

The company is testing antibody treatment against new variant, and says its hopeful of efficacy due to potent antibodies with different and complementary activities against the virus.

Johnson & Johnson, maker of a one-dose Covid shot, is already testing its vaccine against B.1.1.529, CNBC reported, citing the company.

BioNTech said earlier it expects the first data within two weeks of how the strain interacts with the vaccine it makes with Pfizer.

Back to Netflix and Chill? (12:34 p.m. NY)

So-called stay-home winners, stocks that benefit from higher demand in lockdowns, rose on Friday as concerns about the impact of a new Covid-19 variant hit broader markets.

Video-conferencing firm Zoom Video rose as much as 13%; home exercise company Peloton was up 6.8%; food delivery firm DoorDash ros 1.2%; and streaming giant Netflix advanced 2.6%.

EU Members Ban Travel From Southern Africa (12:19 p.m. NY)

European Union member states agreed to introduce restrictions on all travel into the EU from seven countries in reaction to the new Covid variant, Commission spokesman Eric Mamer says in a tweet.

The measures apply to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe.

Emirates Suspends Flights From Variant Areas (11:56 a.m. NY)

Emirates Airlines suspended flights from seven Southern African countries starting Monday. Travelers originating from or transiting from those countries wont be accepted into Dubai.

Saudi Arabia also made a similar decision, suspending flights from countries after the discovery of the new coronavirus strain. Mauritius also plans to suspend flights from South Africa.

Norway to Enforce Quarantine for African Travelers (11:45 a.m. NY)

Norway will introduce mandatory quarantine from Saturday for all arrivals from South Africa and six other countries in the region to prevent the spread of the new virus variant, NRK says, citing Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

S. Africa Calls Travel Bans Unjustified (11:19 a.m. NY)

South Africas Health Minister Joe Phaahla said new travel bans imposed on the country after the discovery of a new Covid strain, particularly by the EU, were unjustified.

The moves are completely against the norms and standards advised by the World Health Organization, Phaahla said during an online press conference.

U.K. Daily Cases Top 50,000 Again (11:02 a.m. NY)

The U.K. reported 50,091 more coronavirus cases on Friday. According to government statistics, this was the first time since Oct. 21 where cases were above 50,000.

The country recorded 160 Covid-19 deaths on Friday. The U.K.s high vaccination rate has been credited with keeping deaths at a fraction of levels from last winter even with Covid cases persistently high.

Singapores Cases Continue to Fall (10:25 a.m. NY)

Cases are falling in Singapore. The city-state reported 1,090 new positives on Friday, down from 1,275 a day earlier. New cases have been falling for about a month.

Some 1,064 new cases were found in the community; that compares with 1,633 a week earlier. The weekly infection growth rate was at 0.74 as of Friday, versus 0.75 on Thursday. Singapore reported a further three deaths from Covid complications.

EU Agency Names New Covid Strain Variant of Concern (9:50 a.m NY)

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control labeled the new Covid-19 straight first identified in South Africa as a variant of concern.

The B.1.1.529 variant, a highly contagious variant with cases already detected in Israel and Belgium, has roiled global travel plans and markets, driving steep sell-offs in airline stocks and buoying lockdown staples like Zoom.

Hong Kong is Latest to Bar Travelers From Southern Africa (9:46 a.m. NY)

Hong Kong said it would bar entry to non-residents whove stayed in eight southern African countries within 21 days, citing the latest coronavirus variant.

Fauci Says U.S. Needs Data Before Limiting Flights (8:55 a.m. NY)

More data is needed about the new variant before the U.S. can determine whether to halt flights from southern African countries, said Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser.

Theres no evidence the new variant, with some mutations that are raising some concern, is already present in the U.S., he said on CNN.

Obviously as soon as we find out more information, well make a decision as quickly as we possibly can, Fauci said.

Israel On the Verge of Emergency, PM says (8:36 a.m. NY)

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel was on the verge of an emergency after the new variant discovered in southern Africa was detected in a passenger arriving from Malawi.

Israel widened a travel ban to include all of Africa, with the exception of nations in the continents north, and said theyd purchase another 10 million PCR tests calibrated to detect the new variant. Sewage will be examined to locate any outbreaks and quarantine rules for Israelis returning from barred countries were tightened.

Belgium Confirms Case of New Strain in Traveler (8:13 a.m. NY)

Belgium said it has confirmed one case of a concerning new Covid-19 variant in someone who had traveled from abroad.

Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told reporters the variant was detected in an unvaccinated person who tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov. 22.

Belgium also Friday ordered a new set of steps to combat the spiraling growth of Covid-19 cases, including a closing nightclubs for three weeks and restricting privately organized parties.

Golfers Quit South African Event Ahead of Flight Ban (8:00 a.m. NY)

More than a dozen British and Irish golfers withdrew from the Joburg Open before Fridays second round in an attempt to return home just ahead of a ban on flights from South Africa.

The U.K. announced Thursday night it was suspending flights from six southern African countries from midday on Friday.

The European golf tour, rebranded the DP World Tour this season, just started a three-week swing in South Africa. It announced it would cancel the third event, to have been played Dec. 9-12.

Two Welsh rugby teams are also caught up in the scramble to get out.

Serum Institute of India Resumes Exports to Covax (7:51 a.m. NY)

The Serum Institute sent out its first batches of Covishield, an Indian-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, for distribution to low- and middle-income countries. This is through Covax, the program set up to deliver Covidvaccines equitably around the world. The supply of doses via Covax is expected to increase substantially into the first quarter of next year, the institute said. The SII will produce other vaccines under license, including the Novavax candidate.

Separately, India is stepping up screening of all overseas visitors traveling from or through South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong following the discovery of the new variant.

New Variant Most Worrying: Top U.K. Adviser (6:11 a.m. NY)

A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa is the most worrying yet, a senior U.K. government health adviser said.

The U.K. announced Thursday night it will temporarily ban flights from South Africa and five neighboring countries in an attempt to limit the spread. No cases have yet been confirmed in the U.K.

A number of British and Irish golfers withdrew from the Joburg Open before Fridays second round after the government announcement, according to AP.

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Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has told migrants stranded at the border with Poland that his country will help them to return home if they want but will not force them.

Thousands of migrants are stuck on the European Union's eastern frontier, in what the EU says is a crisis Minsk officials engineered by distributing Belarusian visas in the Middle East, flying them in and pushing them across the border.

But Lukashenko said it was the EU that deliberately provoked a humanitarian crisis that needed to be resolved and he told the migrants he would not play politics with their fate.

In his first public appearance at the border since the start of the crisis, Lukashenko met migrants at a warehouse turned into shelter and told them they were free to head west or go home as they chose.

An Iraqi teenager told Lukashenko she could not return home and hoped to continue on to Europe.

"We won't only hope," Lukashenko answered.

"We will work together on your dream."

Lukashenko said no one would be coerced.

"If you want to go westwards, we won't detain you, choke you, beat you," he said as hundreds of migrants applauded.

"It's up to you. Go through. Go."

He added: "We won't in any circumstances detain you, tie your hands and load you on planes to send you home if you don't want that."

Poland and other EU countries say the crisis is part of a "hybrid war" Belarus is waging in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed in response to Lukashenko's crushing of protests against his disputed re-election last year and is designed to destabilise the bloc.

The EU has agreed on new sanctions in response to the border crisis, which diplomats in Brussels say should be approved and adopted in early December.

Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, bearing the brunt of the crisis, have deployed thousands of border guards, soldiers and police to seal the border and push back migrants attempting to cross over from Belarus.

Story continues

Lithuania on Friday said it could close its border crossings if more migrants attempted to cross from Belarus in trucks.

Belarus has begun to fly some migrants home but has said it is waiting for an answer from the EU on its demand that Germany should accept 2000 stranded at the border, which the EU has rejected and Germany has denied agreeing to it.

On Friday, two planes brought hundreds of Iraqis back from Belarus to Erbil, capital of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region.

Two more flights were expected on November 26-27, the TASS news agency reported.

Poland has said the repatriation of migrants marked a change of tactics rather than a genuine attempt at de-escalation and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, touring European capitals this week to rally support for a tough response, raised the possibility of further sanctions if the crisis escalated.

Poland and Lithuania continue to report crossing attempts by migrants who are increasingly desperate with the onset of winter conditions.

Polish authorities also reported unrest at one of the detention centres set up for migrants who made their way into the country.
South Africa has recorded a recent surge in cases with fears the new variant could make up most of them. (Reuters)

A new COVID variant spreading through southern African countries has prompted calls for the government to act quickly and add them to the red list to prevent its arrival in the UK.

The variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations, which are concerning because they could help it evade the body's immune response and make it more transmissible, South African scientists have said.

Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said the variant could be of real concern because of its "horrific spike profile".

South African authorities said the variant had already spread through Johannesberg and could have made it to all corners of the country.

South Africa has confirmed around 100 cases of the variant but it has also been found in Botswana (where it was first detected) and Hong Kong.

Watch: COVID-19: 'Really awful' new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 identified in Botswana

Read more: Coronavirus pandemic 'could have been a lot worse', says ex-vaccine chief

Professor Christina Pagel from University College London called on South Africa to be red-listed due to the sharp increase in detection of the variant among positive tests in recent days.

She said the data suggested the new variant may have significant advantages over Delta - the current dominant strain in the UK and many other areas of the world.

She added the mutations might mean it can significantly get around the vaccines.

Dr Pagel said: "It's hopefully not here yet. We don't have definitive evidence on transmission advantage or immune escape but we have plenty of cause to suspect both.

Scientists have warned the new variant could be more transmissible than Delta. (Reuters)

Read more: Speed of COVID spread in Europe 'concerning' and virus 'will surprise us', warns WHO expert

"Let's be super protective of our vaccine programme and take precautionary action.

Ewan Birney from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory said the new variant "does definitely look like a code red" and called for a South Africa travel ban.

Story continues

Doctor Anthony Costello made a similar call saying the variant was "causing great concern."

The World Health Organization said in a statement it was monitoring the development of the variant.

They said: "So far under 100 sequences have been reported. Early analysis shows that this variant has a large number of mutations that require and will undergo further study."

The WHO said they would convening a meeting on Friday "to better understand the timeline for studies that are underway and to determine if this variant should be designated as a variant of interest or variant of concern."

The potential spread of a new risky variant will draw parallels to the spread of the Delta variant that originated in India earlier this year.

Experts have called for South Africa to be put on the red list. (Reuters)

At the time Boris Johnson was harshly criticised for not putting India on the red list soon enough despite urgent warnings from experts.

Downing Street said a coronavirus variant would be kept under close investigation.

A Number 10 spokesman said: We continue to monitor new variants as they emerge with our partners around the world.

We have one of the largest genomic sequencing programmes here in the UK that allows us to spot and track variants as they emerge and, as we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to keep an eye and keep this particular variant under investigation.

Asked whether travel restrictions would be needed before Christmas as a result of the variant, the spokesman said: We will continue to keep the latest situation, the latest scientific evidence and data, under review, as we have done throughout the pandemic.

We have said before if we believe we need to take action we will, but we will continue to monitor this variant and other variants in the same way that we have done throughout the pandemic.

The UK effectively ended the traffic light system for travel when it took all countries off the red list at the end of October.

South Africa was the first country to detect the Beta variant last year, which is only one of four the WHO's 'variants of concern.'
Cayuga Community College's nursing program was rated the top associates degree program for nursing in New York by Nursing Schools Almanac, CCC said in a news release this week.

The almanac's online ranking dubbed CCC's program the best among nearly 70 associates degree programs in the state, the news release said. Ratings are based on an evaluation of each colleges record of graduates passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses on their first try.

Mary Driscoll, the program's director, praised the college's students and the faculty's hard work.

Cayugas Nursing program is rigorous from the first day to the last day, and our faculty are dedicated to preparing our students and ensuring they have the knowledge and training to succeed, Driscoll said in the news release. Our students have a proven record of not only excelling on the NCLEX, but of being talented, reliable nurses once they join the field. Were proud of the effort they demonstrate in our program and of their commitment to helping those in need.

The almanac's statewide rankings tracked examinations pass rates for most colleges from 2011 through 2020. Aspiring registered nurses are required to pass the NCLEX before they begin practicing.

CCC's pass rate of 98.1 percent for first-time test-takers was the top score of associates degree programs in the state. From 2011 through 2020, 405 of the 413 graduates from the college's program passed the examination on their first attempt, the news release continued.

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Nissan Magnite has been a success story for the Japanese auto brand in India since it was launched on December 2 of 2020. Despite stiff competition in the sub-compact SUV segment and other factors such as Covid-19 pandemic, recovering economy and global shortage of semiconductor chip, over 30,000 units of Magnite have now been delivered. Similar Cars Nissan Magnite 18.75 kmpl|999 cc|Manual  4.99 Lakhs* Onwards Get On-Road Price Add to compare Nissan Kicks 1498 cc|Petrol|Manual  9.5 Lakhs* Onwards Get On-Road Price Add to compare Nissan Gt-r NA Get On-Road Price Add to compare Nissan, in a press statement issued Friday, said that while it has so far received 72,000 bookings for the Magnite, deliveries now stand at 30,000. The 30,000th unit was handed over to a customer at a ceremony held at a Nissan dealership in Gurugram. I am pleased to handover the Nissan Global President Award to the Nissan India Operations for the successful launch of Nissan Magnite under the Nissan NEXT transformation plan," said Guillaume Cartier, Nissan AMIEO Chairperson for Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania region. With this car we wanted to shake up the highly competitive compact SUV segment in India."

The 'shake-up' initially may well have been due to a competitive price tag for the Magnite. Regarded by many as a do-or-die product for Nissan, the Magnite was launched at under 5 lakh for the base variant. Since, however, prices have been revised.

Magnite is also offered in a subscription-based model while the option of buying the vehicle is also available through Nissan's digital platform.

The Nissan Magnite gets two petrol engine options and there is no diesel on offer. Its 1.0-litre Turbo engine claims to be the star performer and pits out around 97 bhp of power and has 160 Nm of peak torque. Transmission duties are handled either by a five-speed manual or an X-TRONIC CVT gearbox.

While there is a waiting period for the vehicle, Nissan is also exporting Magnite units from its facility near Chennai. The overseas markets include Nepal, South Africa and Indonesia.
Tesla is making a massive investment of over $1 billion in its latest factory for electric vehicles, in Texas' Austin. As per reports in the US media citing construction filings, Tesla will spend at least $1.06 billion on its newest Gigafactory which would be the manufacturing hub of popular models like Model 3 and Model Y as well as the upcoming Cybertruck and Tesla Semi.

In recent times, Tesla has shifted its focus within the US from its home base of California to Texas where the upcoming factory will be built. In October, Tesla had announced plans of shifting its headquarter to the southern state even as it continues to operate facilities in California, Nevada and China's Shanghai.

But just why is the Tesla facility in Texas creating headlines time and again, and what could it mean for the EV giant?

Here are five big highlights of the upcoming Tesla facility in Texas:

1 The Tesla Gigafactory is expected to be the largest buiding in the world - 1.21 km long - while still being powered by renewable energy, primarily solar. The current structure has a footprint of more than 1.9 million square feet, which houses approximately 5.3 million square feet of operational space across several floors.

2 The Tesla facility is being constructed in Travis County and is located near Austin. The plan is to have general assembly, paint, casting, stamping and body shop facilities here and the construction of these are likely to be completed by the end of the current calendar year.

3 The Tesla facility in Texas is expected to create over 5,000 jobs over its initial four years of operation. The company has already been advertising position it wishes to fill.

4 Tesla is also expected to bring in bots for various specialized operations inside the Texas facility.

5 According to local media reports, real estate prices near where the Tesla facility is being constructed have gone up significantly in recent times. It is estimated that the zip code in which the facility is being developed has seen an average real estate price hike of around 40%.
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With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.



Geely files trademark application linked to the metaverse

Photo credit: Geely



Nike has filed the application for the trademark Geometry Metaverse, which is currently in patent-pending status.

Henan province eyes over 300,000 units of annual NEV outputs by 2025

Central China's Henan province expects its annual new energy vehicle (NEV) outputs to exceed 300,000 units by 2025, according to a document Henan provincial government recently issued.

Besides, Henan also aims to build over 2,000 centralized EV charging and battery swap stations, and deploy 150,000 plus charging piles by 2025.

Haima Auto starts R&D of third-generation FCV models prototype

Chinese automaker said earlier this month the R&D of its third-generation fuel cell vehicle (FCV) models prototype had already commenced.

Shanghai expects 96% new buses to be NEVs by 2025

Shanghai hopes new energy vehicle (NEV) can account for up to 96% of total volume of newly-added buses, and 100% buses stations and parking spaces will be equipped with charging piles by 2025, according to the Plan on the Development of Shanghais Road Transport Industry for the 14th Five-year Plan Period.

Ford's new F-150 Raptor to hit Chinese market in 2022

Ford Motor China announced on Nov.26 that its latest generation of the signature F-150 Raptor pickup would be seen on the Chinese market next year, with presale starting in the first quarter.

Xiaomi, Huawei said to invest in NIO's solid-state battery supplier Welion

Beijing Welion New Energy Technology Co.,Ltd. (Welion), who supplies solid-state batteries to companies including NIO, will nab around 500 million yuan ($78.261 million) from strategic investors like Xiaomi and Huawei, according to a local media outlet.

Chery Auto celebrates 20 years of exportation, introducing global line at Auto Guangzhou 2021

On Nov. 25, China's major automaker Chery Auto celebrated its 20th anniversary of branching out overseas, with almost 2 million international users to date.

Tesla begins deliveries of made-in-China Model Y Performance version

Tesla has started delivering the China-made Model Y Performance version, the automaker announced on Nov.25 via its Weibo account.

SoC supplier Black Sesame teams up with RTOS developer RT-Thread

China's SoC supplier Black Sesame has formed a strategic partnership with real-time operating system developer (RTOS) RT-Thread, to construct a basic integrated computing platform for the automotive intelligence industry.

Tesla to upgrade Giga Shanghai's manufacturing lines for higher capacity

Tesla plans to invest 1.2 billion yuan ($187.826 million) in revamping the assembly lines of its Shanghai Gigafactorys first phase, 7.08% of which will be used for environmental protection business, according to a document dated Nov. 26 on a governmental website of Shanghai enterprises and public institutes' environmental information.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Tesla plans to invest 1.2 billion yuan ($187.826 million) in revamping the assembly lines of its Shanghai Gigafactorys first phase, 7.08% of which will be used for environmental protection business, according to a document dated Nov. 26 on a governmental website of Shanghai enterprises and public institutes' environmental information.



China-made Model Ys; photo credit: Tesla



The document shows that construction of the facility retooling is expected to start in December this year and be completed in April next year.

Tesla said it has finished the calculation of carbon footprint and carbon emissions.

Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory currently has four functional areas for the production and the testing of complete vehicles, the manufacturing of auto parts, and the maintenance of vehicles and components.

The restructuring works will be carried out in the existing production area. Vehicle models to be made will still be the Model 3 and the Model Y.

According to the document, the new project mainly focuses on the expansion of stamping, car body, painting, and assembly workshops, as well as logistics operation center. The automaker noted car production capacity will be raised due to the increase of working hours, staff members and materials turnovers. However, the capacity to be added has been undisclosed in the document.

It is estimated that the number of staff members at the Giga Shanghai will be increased by 4,000 to 19,000 upon completion of the retooling works, said Tesla.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Tesla has started delivering the China-made Model Y Performance version, the automaker announced on Nov.25 via its Weibo account.

Model Y Performance; photo credit: Model Y



According to the website of Tesla China, the all-wheel-drive Model Y High-Performance is priced at 387,900 yuan ($60,715). It features a NEDC-rated range of 566km and can zip from 0-100km/h within only 3.7 seconds.

The China-made Model Y hit the market in January 2021. With the delivery of a cheaper version, namely, the Model Y Standard Range (SR), in August, the monthly sales of the Model Y have been higher than that of the Model 3 for many months.

According to the data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), the Model Y recorded insurance registrations of 13,408 units in October, accounting for up to 97% of Tesla's total insurance volume of locally-made vehicles. It was also honored the second-best-selling NEV model in China by Oct. registrations.

Of the 209,441 Tesla's made-in-China vehicles registered during the first ten months, 46% were contributed by the Model Y, according to the CBIRC.



Earlier this month, Tesla dropped the Standard Range monicker in China, simply calling the EV the RWD Model Y. Post-subsidy price of the Model Y RWD was raised by 4,752 yuan ($745) on Nov. 25 to 280,752 yuan ($43,945).
China began piloting commercial autonomous driving services in Beijing on Thursday in the latest step in its application of self-driving technology.

Baidu and Pony.ai, two strong players in the autonomous driving business, have been granted the first batch of commercial licenses covering 60 square kilometers in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in Yizhuang, southeast suburb of Beijing.

On the premise of fair market competition, service providers can adopt a market-oriented pricing mechanism, but are required to make information such as charging principles and payment methods clear to passengers, authorities said.

"This time, we licensed two enterprises for commercial pilot operation," Jie Fei, executive deputy director of the office of the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area, told China Media Group (CMG). "People will be able to hail autonomous cars from more than 700 points with nearly 100 cars available."

Baidu is reported to have over 600 pick-up and drop-off points operating from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the pilot area. Pony.ai will set up some 200 points from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., the company said in a post on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform.

The licensing signifies the testing of Baidu's services to see whether users are willing to pay, and is also an effort to build a healthy competition mechanism, Wang Shengnan, head of Baidu's autonomous driving commercial operation, told CMG.

"It's a step forward to make autonomous driving a real mobility service," Wang said.

Peng Jun, co-founder and CEO of Pony.ai, said the unmanned testing and the pilot of commercial autonomous driving services "mark that the development of autonomous driving technology has entered the next stage."

Source: CGTN
Computer Weekly - 30 November 2021: Digital beats - how Warner Music turned to the cloud

In this weeks Computer Weekly, we talk to the CIO of Warner Music about how cloud computing helps it meet the needs of music lovers. AstraZeneca discusses how its enterprise social media system helped through the pandemic. And we assess the tech sectors response to the governments plans to tackle digital skills shortages. Read the issue now.
What's I Thank For on Nov. 25, 2021?

by Limin Wang

Nov. 25, 2021



On the ridicule-footed Thanksgiving Day, I need to thank for these and those

people, organizations, and countries who have been fighting against the

AMERICAN EVIL SYSTEM. I am one of the fighters, so I thank myself too.



The American Evil System's specific humanscums known by or unknown to me

have attempted murders, besides torts and tortures, to me and my family

members, at slavery "work"places, at residence locations, and even at public

space. The AES has also used the Medical System to professionally carry out

professional assaults and murder-attempts, under its shroud of "medical

service". The INFAMOUS AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM then either bluntly denies or

shamelessly twists or viciously fabricates things to only deny the REAL

JUSTICE. Furthermore, The AES has used my family members such as my "wife"

Li Li who has entered into the spousal relationship not via love at all from

the very beginning, and my YOUNG children, to say and do things against me,

while they themselves have also got the direct torts, tortures, harms, or

even murder-attempts directly from the AES. The AES has again and again used

their state-terrorism institutions such as police to directly and openly

threaten their attempts of murder on me. On the morning of Nov. 25, 2021, a

so-called Thanksgiving Day, I found two open packs of "legal documents"

about the "child neglect" case this AES has manipulated my 17-and-a-half-yrs

-young child Alexandria Wang to ALLEGEDLY throw onto the parents and to

actually target me the fighter. Such packs must be delivered by humanscums

during the time span from early last night to early this morning. These AES

humanscums can not even allow the cruelly tortured victims to have any

moment of good time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I am still contributing my efforts to the common fight against the American

Evil System. One way is to input some thoughts publicly to challenge those

cowardous murderers within the American Evil System. Russian and China both

now have enough understanding of the American System, supposedly, and appear

to be determined to fighting back. If you do, I would suggest that YOUR

EAST IS YOUR MAJOR OFFENSE DIRECTION, WHILE OTHER DIRECTIONS MAY BE HELD ON

ACTIVE DEFENSE. The lands are close enough. No military expert has said the

American Homeland or military posts at foreign countries can not be attacked

for the overthrow of the American Evil System. When the AES is destroyed, I

truly believe, many many many oppressed people around the globe, including

within the U.S.A., will feel FREE, FREE AT LAST.
You might not recognize the name Sharbat Gula, but odds are that you recognize her face. She gained international attention in 1985 after gracing the cover of National Geographic in 1985, and her portrait has been compared to the Mona Lisa.

She has made recent headlines for evacuating the Taliban rule. According to Italy's office of the prime minister, Mario Draghi, she has found refuge in Italy.

Gula has experienced more than her share of geopolitical instability. As a girl, Soviet helicopters bombed her village and killed her parents, leading her to move to a refugee camp in Pakistan where her iconic photograph was taken.
Customers who ordered and prepaid for Thanksgiving dinner from Boston Market in Rancho Cucamonga, CA were sorely disappointed. When they arrived at the restaurant yesterday to pick up their food, the doors were locked with a sign that said, "No employees showing up today  We are unable to fullfill [sic] the orders!!! We are sorry!!!"

But there had obviously been at least one employee on the premises that morning to put up the sign. Rubbing salt into the wound (rather than the turkey), the restaurant had left the prepared, ready-to-go food stacked inside the restaurant where customers could see it.

Some customers had driven for an hour to pick up their holiday meals, according to CBS, and were stuck scrambling to come up with a last-minute Plan B.

From CBS:

In a Facebook post, David Kinder, who says he recently returned to work for Boston Market as an hourly shift manager, claims the walkout was the result of several weeks of mismanagement. In a series of posts that included his resignation letter, he wrote the store has been without a working water heater for three weeks, has only one point-of-sale system that work, his general manager was hospitalized last week, and the area manager who had been helping with some catering orders had already put in his notice and is leaving at the end of Thanksgiving week. "It's time for Boston Market corporate to stop being the 'fat cats' and reinvest in their facilities and their people," Kinder wrote in his two-page resignation letter. "What has been happening here is appalling. Fix it. But you won't fix it with me." In a statement, Boston Market says they will refund the orders of every guest "impacted by our Rancho Cucamonga store."
Prankster Rob Dobi (who is an illustrator IRL) called into conservative talk show "Life with Liz" in Nashua, New Hampshire to "punk" her and her posse. Although they never caught on, Dobi "slammed" the left with a bit of poetry that included as many punk band names as he could fit in. By the end, Liz and crew, although oblivious to his shenanigans, are laughing hard as they say goodbye to their "Republican" caller. Good times were had by all.

See how many punk bands you can catch by listening. (Or read the transcription below.)

i called a conservative morning show and tried to name as many punk bands as i could before they caught on. pic.twitter.com/2D3KyTZQ1R  Rob Dobi   ! (@Robdobi) November 24, 2021

"One of my main problems is I'm a Republican in a fairly liberal area and I feel like everyone is just, like, Against me, so I feel like what we need to do is listen to what our Descendents told us. Because in the past, we Refused to live, like, a Life of Agony. I'm Sick Of It All. Im sick of people thinking we're just a Minor Threat. Enough of that Fugazi. A lot of these people just got Bad Brains, that are Misfits that wave Black Flag and they're practically Anti-Flag. I think we need to Converge and help the Youth Of Today because every time you Blink-182 Kids, they go Missing, so I don't think we should be Exploited anymore. We need to Rise Against, or they're going to have to deal with the Fall Out, Boy.  I'll let you guys go. I'm going to head out and Catch some Reel Big Fish.  [but] not if it tastes Rancid."

[Updated at 8:52am after rereading my transcription and finding a few more bands in there to capitalize! Hope I caught them all this time.]

Via Digg
FILE PHOTO: The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna

(Reuters) -Iran wants the verifiable lifting of economic sanctions it is under, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Friday, three days before nuclear talks resume in Vienna.

Mondays indirect talks between the United States and Iran, with the participation of major powers, aim at bringing the two countries into full compliance with a 2015 deal. Washington abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.

If the opposing sides are prepared to return to their full obligations and the lifting of sanctions, a good and even immediate agreement can be reached, Amirabdollahian said in a telephone conversation with the European Union's foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell.

Iran wants a good and verifiable agreement, Iranian media quoted Amirabdollahian as saying.

Separately, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, said the Vienna talks will not be about "nuclear issues", but rather about the United States' return to the 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian media reported.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday following a trip to Tehran this week that he had made no progress on several disputes, the most pressing of which was getting access to the workshop at the TESA Karaj complex two months after Iran promised to grant it.

The workshop makes components for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, and was hit by apparent sabotage in June in which one of four IAEA cameras there was destroyed. Iran removed the cameras and the destroyed camera's footage is missing.

"We are close to the point where I would not be able to guarantee continuity of knowledge," Grossi said.

However, Amirabdollahian told Borrell that Iran would attend the Vienna talks in good faith - despite the U.S. violation of the 2015 agreement.

(Reporting by Dubai NewsroomEditing by Frances Kerry and Alistair Bell)
Nearly half a million people aged 60 and over have been saved from dying due to Covid-19 as a result of being vaccinated, according to a European study.

Researchers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have estimated 470,000 people have been protected against dying from Covid-19 after being vaccinated.

For their study, which has been published in the Eurosurveillance medical journal, the authors estimated the number of deaths among adults aged 60 and older in 33 countries in Europe that would have taken place without any vaccines, using the weekly reported death counts.

They then calculated the number of lives saved due to Covid-19 vaccines as the difference between these estimates and the reported number of deaths from December 2020 to November 2021 for those aged 60 and over.

The researchers estimated that Covid-19 vaccines saved 469,186 lives in this age group in the nations during the study period  reducing the expected number of deaths by roughly half.

Uptake of vaccines for people aged 60 and over in the nations ranges from 20% to 100%.

The authors estimated the largest number of lives saved was highest in the nations where the vaccine rollout was early and uptake was high.

Other countries experienced limited effects of vaccination because their vaccine rollout was either slower or rolled out in parallel with effective public health measures.

The study did not take into account lives saved from the indirect effect of vaccination because of a reduction in transmission.

The 33 countries analysed were Iceland, Israel, Norway, Malta, Spain, Finland, Ireland, England, Cyprus, Portugal, Greece, France, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Sweden, Hungary, Lithuania, Switzerland, Estonia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Ukraine and Scotland.

(PA Graphics)

Frank and Barbara Durrant, from east Devon, both caught Covid-19 after their second jabs but found they did not have severe symptoms.

Story continues

Mrs Durrant, 74, said: I contracted Covid-19 approximately five weeks ago and suffered only a mild cold and loss of taste for a couple of weeks.

I feel quite sure that being double vaccinated saved me from being much more seriously affected. Sadly, I lost a very dear, very fit friend who died of the virus before the vaccine was available. She had no choice.

Mr Durrant, 78, said: Having received my second vaccination, I caught Covid-19 following an extended time spent in close contact with a friend who had the virus.

The symptoms were so mild that were it not for a positive test I would have considered myself to have been fully fit. I attribute this, without doubt, to the fact that I had been doubly vaccinated.

According to the WHO, more than 1.5 million people have died after contracting Covid-19 since December 2019 in the WHO European Region.

(PA Graphics)

More than 90% of those who died were aged 60 and above.

Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said vaccines need to be given alongside other public health measures.

Wear a mask in crowded, closed and confined spaces, cover coughs and sneezes, keep physical distance from other people and wash your hands regularly, he said.

Ventilation is important too, so if its safe to do so open a window or a door to let in fresh air. Its important that authorities take these measures and that we do all of these for the protection of ourselves and others, even if we are fully vaccinated, because based on the available evidence vaccination greatly reduces but cannot stop virus transmission altogether.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, said 95 million jabs have now been given across England in less than a year, saving thousands of lives.

He urged people who are not yet vaccinated or who have not got their booster jabs to go out and get one.

Prof Powis said: Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff and volunteers, we have carried out almost two million vaccinations a week on average since the largest vaccination drive in NHS history began last December  with more sites than ever delivering jabs across the country, including in schools, pharmacies, hospital hubs and walk-in sites, as we deliver hundreds of thousands of first and second doses, boosters and third doses every day.

A member of staff prepares a Covid-19 Pfizer jab at a pop-up vaccination centre at Westfield Stratford City (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

Latest Government figures show 50,852,133 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by November 24.

A total of 46,232,258 second doses have been delivered while a combined total of 16,383,575 booster and third doses have also been given.

As of Thursday, the total number of deaths within 28 days of testing positive in the UK for Covid-19 is 144,433.

Following the discovery of a new variant of Covid-19, which has been identified in cases in South Africa and Botswana, the Government said it is keeping it under close investigation.

A Number 10 spokesman said: We continue to monitor new variants as they emerge with our partners around the world.

We have one of the largest genomic sequencing programmes here in the UK that allows us to spot and track variants as they emerge and, as we have done throughout the pandemic, we will continue to keep an eye and keep this particular variant under investigation.

Asked whether travel restrictions would be needed before Christmas as a result of the variant, the spokesman said: We will continue to keep the latest situation, the latest scientific evidence and data, under review, as we have done throughout the pandemic.

We have said before if we believe we need to take action we will, but we will continue to monitor this variant and other variants in the same way that we have done throughout the pandemic.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  Ben&Ben will take their fans to their biggest pandemic era concert on Dec. 5.

Members of the local folk pop band on Friday spoke to CNN Philippines' New Day about what to expect from their digital concert "Kuwaderno."

"What we tried to do with this concert isthink of the elements of a live show that really make it a distinct experienceand try our best to put them to an online live experience," lead vocalist Miguel Benjamin Guico said.

The show will feature songs from the band's latest album Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno.

Guico said the band collaborated with director Paolo Valenciano and the Philippine Educational Theater Association for their upcoming concert to be shot live at the Araneta Coliseum.

How will Ben&Ben replicate the concert experience in a virtual show?

"The answer is just really so simple. It is just the power of imagination. We really have to keep in mind na kailangan talagang i-imagine ang sarili namin (that we need to imagine ourselves) in Araneta with so many people," keyboardist Patricia Lasaten said.

"Kahit sa rehearsals, you have to keep that mindset para rehearsals pa lang, nasasanay ka na, nai-imagine mo yung liwanag, nai-imagine mo na yung sigaw ng mga tao tapos nai-imagine mo rin ang energy," she added.

[Translation: Even during rehearsals, you have to keep that mindset, so you will get used to imagining the lighting and the crowd's screams and energy.]

For Miguel Benjamin Guico, theres a way to set a digital concert apart from a show with a live audience.

"We know that people are going to be watching through the screens, right? And we can only do so much to interact with them. But then if the story can draw them in then that's also a way of setting this experience apart from an actual live show," he said.

Kuwaderno concert tickets are selling out fast so grab yours now at ktx.ph.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) Cebu's league of municipal mayors has endorsed presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. in the 2022 elections.

Christina Frasco, president of the League of Municipal Mayors-Cebu, expressed their support for Marcos during the former senator's visit to the Visayas region on Friday.

"In behalf of all the 44 mayors of the province of Cebu, particularly to the mayors of the 5th district, as well as my fellow mayors in the Visayas, for whom I am the national vice president, we hereby express our unequivocal support to you, for your candidacy and we will do everything in our power to ensure an unequivocal victory in the coming elections," said Frasco, who's also the spokesperson of Marcos' running mate  Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Frasco added that there is "no other presidential candidate [who] possesses the competence and experience" that Marcos have, given his previous experiences in holding various public offices that have "prepared him for the most difficult job in our country."

In response, Marcos described the endorsement as a tremendous help for his and his running mate's candidacies.

But on Saturday, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia said her family and her party One Cebu have not yet endorsed Marcos or any other presidential bet.

Frasco later clarified her statement. "My declaration of support for the presidency of Bongbong Marcos, I said in my capacity as president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines - Cebu, whose membership consists of 44 municipalities," she said.

The Liloan town mayor added she respects the process of the One Cebu party  the biggest local party in the province.

"With deference to the leadership of One Cebu, my hope is that the BBM-Sara Uniteam would be given serious consideration," Frasco said.

On Thursday, the political parties of three former presidents teamed up to express their support for the Marcos-Duterte tandem.

Marcos said he is also having discussions with other major political parties to gather more support for next year's elections.

CNN Philippines' Rex Remitio contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  Embattled personalities Lloyd Christopher Lao and Michael Yang were a no-show during the 15th hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on the management of COVID-19 response funds on Friday.

Yang, a former economic adviser of President Rodrigo Duterte, was unable to attend the hearing as he was diagnosed with pharyngitis, according to a letter sent by his legal counsel Raymond Fortun.

His doctor has recommended that he rest for one week in order to aid in his treatment and recovery, read the letter, adding the Chinese businessman is currently in isolation as COVID-19 has not been ruled out for him yet.

Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the committee, stated that the resigned budget undersecretary was absent, noting he earlier filed a motion for reconsideration of his contempt citation and arrest order.

The Senate has since denied the motion.

Earlier this week, Fortun filed on Yangs behalf a petition asking the Supreme Court to void the Senates arrest warrants against him and stop the committee from compelling him to provide information on his properties.

Senators have been looking into issues surrounding the government's handling of pandemic response funds. These include the purchase of allegedly overpriced face masks and shields and questions on tax payments of personalities and entities involved like the state's top medical supplier, Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) The Philippines will temporarily suspend inbound flights from South Africa, Botswana, and other countries with cases or with the "likelihood of occurrences" of the new coronavirus variant, Malacanang announced on Friday.

The policy is effective immediately and will last until Dec. 15, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement.

Nograles said the the Bureau of Quarantine  in coordination with local government units  was tasked to trace passengers from these countries who may have arrived in the past seven days.

"These travelers shall be required to undergo full 14-day facility-based quarantine with RT-PCR test on the 7th day or upon location of the passenger, whichever is later, with the date of arrival as Day 1," Nograles added.

The country's pandemic task force also approved the temporary suspension of inbound flights from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique  which are adjacent to South Africa and Botswana. The entry ban will also be in place until Dec. 15, according to Nograles.

For passengers already in transit and those who have been to these countries within 14 days who arrive before 12:01a.m. of Nov. 28, Nograles said they will not be barred from entering. However, they will be subject to stricter quarantine (facility-based) and testing protocols.

"All passengers, whether Filipinos or foreigners, merely transiting through the abovementioned countries shall not be deemed as having come from or having been to the said country if they stayed in the airport the entire time and were not cleared for entry into such country by its immigration authorities," Nograles noted.

With the temporary ban, South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe have now been removed from the Philippines' "green list" of countries.

"This is to clarify that the Inter-Agency Task Force's temporary suspension of inbound international flights from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe contained in IATF Resolution 150, supersedes the earlier green list classification of the three abovementioned countries," Nograles said in a separate message on Saturday.

Health experts earlier urged the government to impose early travel restrictions amid the threat of the new B.1.1.529 variant  which the World Health Organization (WHO) later designated as a "variant of concern" named Omicron.

The WHO said the Omicron variant  which has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, and other nations  "has a large number of mutations" that can have an impact on how the virus behaves.

South African officials also expressed concern that the mutation could result in immune evasion and enhanced transmissibility of the virus.

READ: What we know about the Omicron variant
(CNN)  Shops in the United Kingdom could run short of wine and liquor ahead of Christmas because there aren't enough drivers to make deliveries.

The warning was made in a letter sent by the UK Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WTSA) to UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps last week. It was signed by 48 members of the industry association, including champagne and cognac makers Moet Hennessy, owned by LVMH, and Laurent-Perrier.

"This is an urgent issue for our businesses, and it is imperative that [the UK] Government takes immediate steps to help mitigate the impact of the driver shortages crisis before the Christmas period," the letter stated.

The industry wants help with better routing of freight from ports, as well as more regular updates from the government on how quickly it's processing heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driving tests and licenses.

It also urged the government to extend by one year a temporary visa program allowing drivers from abroad to meet shortfalls over the longer term. The three-month program is set to expire on February 28 next year.

"We are already seeing major delays on wine and spirit delivery times which is pushing up costs and limiting the range of products available to UK consumers," WSTA chief executive Miles Beale said in a statement.

In 2019, 54% of adults in England reported drinking alcohol at least once a week, according to research by the UK parliament.

The drinks industry association said that it was taking up to five times longer for some of its members to import wine and spirits than a year ago. It also said rising costs have been passed on to importers by freight forwarders having to pay more for scarce drivers.

Ed Baker, managing director of wine distributor Kingsland Drinks, said his company fills around 185 million bottles of wine every year, equal "to about one in every eight bottles" drunk in the United Kingdom.

The backlog of deliveries has meant container spaces at rail hubs are in high demand, he said in a statement.

"We would normally expect to have 80 to 100 tank spaces, but at the moment we can be down at 10 to 20. This is limiting the amount of liquid getting to our plant and comes on top of the HGV driver shortages doing the deliveries," Baker said.

The UK government said in a statement that it did not expect disruption to the supply of alcohol this Christmas.

"The government acted quickly to tackle the challenges to our supply chains, which were brought on by global pressures including the pandemic and the international shortage of HGV drivers," a government spokesperson said.

The shortage of truck drivers caused a fuel crisis earlier this year, with many gas stations closed and long lines at the ones that were lucky enough to get supplies. In September, the UK government deployed army fuel tankers to plug the fuel supply gaps.

Supermarkets have also been struggling for months to keep their shelves fully stocked amid a supply chain crunch caused by the pandemic and worker shortages partly caused by the country's departure from the European Union.

Some EU workers left after Brexit, and farms, food processing factories and trucking companies can no longer recruit from the European Union because of new UK immigration rules.

The government issued 5,000 temporary visas for foreign drivers, but the UK's Road Haulage Association has said Britain needs 100,000 more drivers to meet demand.

Farmers, bankers, retailers, logistics firms and restaurateurs have all warned the government in recent months that tighter immigration rules put in place after Britain left the European Union were making it hard for them to find workers and keep their businesses running.

This story was first published on CNN.com 'Country where 54 percent of adults drink alcohol once a week may run out of liquor for Christmas'
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  Here's one good way to make the most out of your budget this season: Buy your Christmas gifts and other Yuletide needs at Araneta City's exciting Black Friday Sale!

Head over to the Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, Farmers Plaza, and The SM Store in Araneta City from Nov. 26 to 30, 2021 and enjoy up to 70% discount on select items.

Grab this limited-time offer to get your desired Christmas must-haves at the City of Firsts.

Shop for new clothes, holiday gifts, home and office decors, or other Christmas needs from your favorite brands at very affordable prices.

And as you enjoy your Black Friday Sale shopping, you also get a chance to win 1 of 40 exciting prizes with Araneta City's Bring Home the Magic of Christmas promo.

Get double e-raffle entries for every 1,000 single-receipt purchase from any Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, or Farmers Plaza store during the 5-day sale.

Check out the official website and Facebook page of Araneta City to see the great deals and raffle promo mechanics waiting for you on the Black Friday Sale.

Experience the thrill of Christmas shopping only at the City of Firsts!
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  Someone once said having a Twitter account is like talking to yourself, hoping someone will join in.

Not everyone is lucky to have a following that even many brands have difficulty finding a corner of Twitter where they can convey their messages to the right audience.

However, beverage giant Pepsi did not let this problem bring it down, and eventually became one of the most talked about brands on social media, specifically Twitter, and is now the most hyped in the beverage/drink category.

In 2020, Pepsi was the only non-tech brand in the Top 10 of the Most Tweeted Brands for the year, alongside Spotify, Apple, Netflix, Lazada, and Shopee. This was achieved with an advertising budget lower than that of other big beverage brands as seen in a study. This is called connecting with your audience.

Forward to 2021, the buzz about Pepsi continued online with content that's relevant and always timely.

"What makes a content stand out is its cultural relevance; if the community shares the same sentiments and if it echoes the conversations prevailing at the moment. In Pepsi's case, they were able to cut through the noise by incorporating the language of their target audience and tapping the right people to get it across," said Tina Pang, head of Twitter's Client Solutions, Southeast Asia.

Pepsi's campaigns, which include the viral #PepsiHitSaSarap, are innovative yet traditional. For the Hit Sa Sarap campaign, the brand emphasized the importance of enjoying meals with family and friends. The campaign included giant screens on the streets of LA and New York featuring the faces of Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, SB19, Mimiyuuuh, and Ricci Rivero.

Pepsi Hit Sa Sarap reminded us of how nice it is to sit down for a meal with people we love and treasure.

Photo from Pepsi

"At a time when consumers have the full power to determine what goes viral, it is not enough for people to enjoy our advertising material. Our communications need to stand out and be captivating for consumers to share, post, tweet, and pin. They need to love it," said Gutzee Segura, CSD Marketing lead of PepsiCo PH.

As a brand, Pepsi is attuned to what is happening on Twitter. It listens to what its audience is saying and responds to what it sees as relevant content.

As Segura puts it, "it boils down to knowing what your target market wants, what they're looking for, and serving that to them."

"People are keeping it real on Twitter, so these conversations definitely give a brand its much needed boost on awareness or engagement and in a way, in driving purchase intention, and sales," Pang said.

Pepsi looked at Twitter insights on K-pop and P-pop, then used these to highlight content about Blackpink and SB19. From these insights, the brand knew what type of content their target market  young millennials and Gen Z 16-25 years old  was looking for.

This target market values its online identity, being digital natives.

"Being at the prime of their youth, they always want to enjoy and maximize life's experiences. However, given the pandemic, these experiences have been limited to in-home activities so Pepsi provides them with the experience that satisfies their need for variety, novelty, and excitement from their usual days," said Segura.

According to Kantar, 91% of Pepsi's target market drink carbonated drinks so the brand's endorsers and brand ambassadors are selected based on who best personifies the brand's personality, values, and purpose.

Blackpink was chosen because the group has a youthful attitude and zest for life that perfectly embodies the Pepsi brand.

Photo from Pepsi

Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, SB19, Ricci Rivero, Alyssa Valdez, Kiefer Ravena, and Mimiyuuuh were picked because their young fans are inspired by their success, hard work, and positive attitude.

"Our endorsers and brand ambassadors serve as a seamless extension of Pepsi and help amplify our story," Segura pointed out.

A brand's social media presence plays a critical role in establishing its identity and Pepsi has succeeded in establishing itself as brand with a fun and youthful vibe that aims to push the next generation to reach their goals and dreams.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The country is at moderate risk in managing corruption in defense institutions, the London-based Transparency International (TI) reported.

According to TIs Government Defence Integrity Index 2020, the country scored an average of 55 out of 100 across five risk categories: political, financial, personnel, operational, and procurement.

The index assesses the existence, effectiveness, and enforcement of institutional and informal controls to manage corruption in defense and security institutions. This includes more than 80 countries across the world, while data were collected from December 2019 to February 2021.

Institutional resilience to corruption is modest across the Philippines defence institutions. Oversight of policy-making and procurement by parliament is particularly weak and transparency remains limited throughout the sector, including with regards to financial management, TI reported.

Nevertheless, corruption risk mitigation is relatively robust in military operations, it added.

Notably, the country was assessed as critical in internal audit, organized crime links, whistleblowing, high-risk positions, military doctrine, corruption monitoring in operations, and offset competition. It scored 0 to 16 over 100.

Risk was very high in intelligence services oversight, lobbying, legislative access to information, objective appointments, offset contracts, and financing packages. The countrys score was 17 to 32 over 100.

The United States, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Singapore were also classified as being at moderate risk in managing corruption in defense institutions.

In a statement, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles assured that the governments defense and security sectors would consider the issues raised by TI.

He also said the civil society organization acknowledged that corruption mitigation in the Philippines is relatively robust in military operations. He associated this to President Rodrigo Dutertes zero tolerance against allegations of official malfeasance.

Nograles also noted how Duterte relieved many high-ranking military officials over alleged corruption activities at a military hospital in 2018. From November 2020 to June 2021, Duterte announced the dismissal of 261 public officials and the suspension of 187 others.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, in a separate statement, emphasized that the countrys Defense System of Management played a great part in achieving our rating.

The level of professionalism of our AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) personnel, which is continuously advancing and driving the organization towards more efficiency and effectiveness in all our operations, also contributed to our rating, he added.

Lorenzana also said the AFP would consider the recommendations of TI to improve their system to eliminate corruption in the military.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The political party backing Senator Bong Gos presidential bid is not threatened by the Marcos-Duterte Uniteam alliance.

Natalo nga sila kay PNoy eh sama-sama din sila noon natalo sila, said Greport Belgica, national adviser of Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS).

[Translation: They lost to President Noynoy Aquino even though they joined forces.]

Four political parties have signed an alliance vowing to support the candidacy of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for president and vice president, respectively.

Belgica also expressed confidence that Go will not withdraw from the presidential race.

I believe he will not give up, hayaan natin siya (let's leave him alone) but he is doing his responsibility," Belgica said in an online press conference on Friday. "He is preparing for his campaign, talking to people, pushing his advocacy about healthcare and everything.

Go recently said he was willing to withdraw his presidential bid to avoid conflict.

RELATED: Bong Go not ruling out possibility of withdrawing presidential bid

Tao lang po ako na nasasaktan at napapagod din," Go said. "O baka dahil sadyang napakarumi at ganun kainit lang talaga ang pulitika.

[Translation: I'm only human who gets hurt and tired, or perhaps politics is just so filthy.]

Belgica said it is not unusual for those running for office to feel exhausted at times.

He added that Go has a lot of time to gather strength since the campaign period will not officially begin until February.

PDDS was founded by Greport Belgica's father, Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission chairman Greco Belgica, and was accredited by the Commission on Elections in 2018.

The group is also supporting Dutertes vice presidential bid.
(CNN) -- For the first time in history, an Airbus A340 plane has landed on Antarctica.

Hi Fly, a boutique aviation company, was behind the flight. The company specializes in wet leases, which means they hire out both aircraft and air crew and are responsible for handling insurance, maintenance and other logistics.

Hi Fly 801 took off from Cape Town, South Africa on Tuesday, November 2.

The plane was commissioned by Wolf's Fang, a new upscale adventure camp on the world's southernmost continent, and brought much-needed supplies to the resort. Wolf's Fang is a new project from high-end Antarctica tourism company White Desert.

The crew of Hi Fly 801 (and its return trip to Cape Town, Hi Fly 802) was led by Captain Carlos Mirpuri, who is also Hi Fly's vice president.

Each flight took between five and five and a half hours, and the team spent less than three hours on the ground in Antarctica, covering 2,500 nautical miles.

The blue-ice runway at the Wolf's Fang property is designated a C Level airport, despite not technically being an airport. That means that only highly specialized crew can fly there due to challenging conditions.

"The cooler it is the better," Mipuri explained in his captain's log.

"Grooving is carved along the runway by special equipment, and after cleaning and carving we get an adequate braking coefficient; the runway being 3,000 meters long, landing and stopping an A340 that heavy on that airfield wouldn't be a problem."

Although the blue ice is gorgeous, it can also be concerning for pilots because of its glare.

Mipuri added: "The reflection is tremendous, and proper eyewear helps you adjust your eyes between the outside view and the instrumentation. The non-flying pilot has an important role in making the usual plus extra callouts, especially in the late stages of the approach."

The first recorded flight to Antarctica was a Lockheed Vega 1 monoplane in 1928, piloted by George Hubert Wilkins, an Australian military pilot and explorer. He took off from Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands. The project was funded by William Randolph Hearst, the wealthy American publishing tycoon.

Short exploratory flights like these were how scientists and mapmakers got vital information about Antarctica's topography.

To this day, there is no airport on the White Continent, but there are 50 landing strips and runways.

Australia and South Africa are just two of the global powers with interests in Antarctica.

As aviation website Simple Flying notes, the Russian Antarctic research station organized a half-dozen trial flights to their 3,000-foot blue ice runway between 2019 and 2020. Those were carried out by wide-body aircrafts as well.

Since the vast majority of people get to the White Continent via ship, seeing the A340 landing on an ice runway is certainly dramatic -- and means there will likely be more such landings in the future.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Airbus A340 plane lands on Antarctica for first time".
(CNN) -- Five US lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Thursday to meet with government officials, defying Beijing to visit the contested island.

"When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office received a blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call off the trip," Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, wrote Thursday on Twitter. "The auto industry's largest supplier of microchips is here in Taiwan, so supply chain issues will most definitely be on the agenda."

Slotkin said the side trip to Taiwan came after celebrating Thanksgiving with US troops in South Korea and that the stop would "be good to connect with leaders here to discuss a whole host of economic and national security issues."

Taiwan holds a fraught position in the deteriorating relationship between Washington and Beijing, with tensions running high as China increases its military posturing and warplane flights around the self-ruled island. The congressional delegation's visit comes on the heels of another informal visit from US lawmakers earlier this month.

House Veterans' Affairs Chairman Mark Takano, a California Democrat, led the delegation that arrived Thursday. It included fellow panel members Slotkin and Reps. Colin Allred, a Texas Democrat, Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican, and Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, according to Reuters, which first reported the trip.

The news of the lawmakers' trip comes a day after the Biden administration extended an invitation to Taiwan for its "Summit for Democracy," which will take place next month -- a decision that the Chinese government dubbed a "mistake," Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden made clear that he was not encouraging Taiwan's "independence" after using the word to describe the progress he had made during a discussion of the island with his Chinese counterpart.

"I said that they have to decide -- Taiwan, not us. We are not encouraging independence," Biden said on an airport tarmac in New Hampshire where he was promoting his recently signed infrastructure law.

"We're encouraging that they do exactly what the Taiwan Act requires," he went on, referring to the 1979 law dictating the American approach to the island. "That's what we're doing. Let them make up their mind. Period."

Explaining his position while greeting attendees following his infrastructure speech that day, Biden said he had made limited progress on the topic with Chinese President Xi Jinping. "We made very clear we support the Taiwan Act, and that's it," he said at the time.

"Its independence," he went on. "It makes its own decisions."

Earlier this month, an unspecified group of US lawmakers landed in Taipei on a Boeing C-40 military plane, and subsequently took off for Okinawa after a brief stay at the airport.

The delegation's arrival sparked immediate condemnation from China, with Beijing describing the trip as an "act of provocation."

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that visit and said the trip was arranged by the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy in Taipei. It did not disclose the names of the lawmakers involved in the visit, nor their itinerary.

The American Institute in Taiwan did not confirm a list of lawmakers but directed CNN at the time to Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn's office.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that trip "seriously violated the one-China principle" and demanded the US "immediately stop any form of official interaction with Taiwan."

"We urge the US congressmen to recognize the situation. Collaborating with the 'Taiwan independence' forces is a dangerous game; playing with 'Taiwan independence' will eventually lead to fire," Wang said.

Beijing views the self-ruled island as an inseparable part of its territory -- even though the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

In a statement at the time, China's Ministry of National Defense condemned the US for "grossly interfering in China's internal affairs" and said it should stop "provocative actions" that may escalate tensions on the Taiwan Strait.

"(The US) should refrain from sending wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' forces," the statement read. "The People's Liberation Army will always be on high alert and adopt all necessary measures to resolutely smash any interference by foreign forces and separatist attempts."

The visits aren't the only time delegations of US lawmakers have flown to Taiwan. In June, an American delegation including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, landed on a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III freighter to announce the donation of 750,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine. And previously, US officials and politicians have flown to Taiwan on the C-40, a military version of the Boeing 737 commercial airliner.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby had told reporters following the unspecified group's visit that "congressional delegation visits to Taiwan are fairly routine" and the visit was "in keeping with our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act, which has been supported by multiple administrations, both Democratic and Republican, that reinforces our requirement to help Taiwan with its self-defense needs."

Relations between Taipei and Beijing are at their lowest point in decades. Last month, China's military sent a record number of warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone -- the area surrounding the island where Taipei says it will respond to any incursions.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Five US lawmakers defy China by meeting with officials in Taiwan".
(CNN)  The Solomon Islands government has advised all public servants to stay at home as violent protests continued for a third day on Friday, with crowds gathering at the Prime Minister's residence.

Honiara, the Solomon Islands capital, has been hit by civil unrest since Wednesday, with protests, looting and burning of shops and businesses. Defying a 36-hour curfew, thousands of demonstrators have come out onto the streets calling for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's resignation.

A Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) spokesperson told CNN by phone on Friday fire trucks had been sent to Sogavare's residence as a precaution and that protesters had moved out of the city's Chinatown district, where the violence had previously been concentrated.

On Friday, the central government advised all public servants to stay at home due to the unrest, with the exception of essential workers, and encouraged staff to ensure they had food supplies "due to the uncertainty of the current situation." On Thursday, a local journalist said fires were blazing in Chinatown, and the police had lost control in eastern Honiara.

Australia has dispatched police and military troops to the Pacific island nation to help quell the unrest after receiving a formal request from the government under a bilateral security agreement for assistance and to support the RSIPF.

Prime Minister Sogavare has refused to give in to protesters' demands, saying in a public address posted in local media on Thursday, "If I am removed as Prime Minister, it will be on the floor of Parliament."

Many of the demonstrators have come from neighboring Malaita province  home to the country's most populous island  to express their discontent with the Sogavare government and its handling of a range of domestic issues, including a lack of development and unrealized infrastructure promises.

"The events illustrate the sense of exclusion of many from development in Honiara and Guadalcanal that arises from the retail, mining, logging and increasingly construction sector being dominated by companies and workers from Asia," said Anouk Ride, a researcher on aid, development, conflict and social inclusion, writing on the Lowy Institute's The Interpreter website.

Prime Minister Sogavare, however, blamed unnamed foreign powers for encouraging the unrest, according to an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation.

Malaita province opposed the Solomons central government's decision in 2019 to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish a formal relationship with China.

"I feel sorry for my people in Malaita because they are fed with false and deliberate lies about the switch," Sogavare reportedly said.

"These very countries that are now influencing Malaita are the countries that don't want ties with the People's Republic of China and they are discouraging Solomon Islands to enter into diplomatic relations and to comply with international law and the United Nations resolution.

China has said it is "gravely concerned" over what it said were attacks on Chinese citizens and businesses in Honiara, on Thursday. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian said authorities "have asked the local government to take all measures necessary to protect the safety of Chinese nationals and institutions."

"We are confident that under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's leadership, the government of Solomon Islands can restore social order and stability soon," Zhao said.

The Solomon Islands was one of a handful of countries that had diplomatic relations with the democratic self-governed island of Taiwan but in 2019, the archipelago swapped allegiances for China. Beijing considers Taiwan part of China, and refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that doesn't recognize its "One China Policy."

Zhao stressed the One China Policy "is a basic norm governing international relations" and since the Solomon Islands established diplomatic ties with China, "bilateral relations have enjoyed sound development with fruitful outcomes."

"All attempts to disrupt the normal development of relations between China and Solomon Islands are just futile," he said.

This story was first published on CNN.com "Solomon Islands tells public workers to stay home as violent protests continue for third day"
(CNN)  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says that a group of Ukrainians and Russians is planning to carry out a coup against him next week.

Speaking at a news conference in Kiev on Friday, the President said he had received intelligence information, which included audio, that the coup is planned for the first or second of December.

Zelensky said there was audio of Ukrainian and Russian plotters discussing the plan. Ukraine's president said the alleged plotters also mentioned the name one of Ukraine's richest men, Rinat Akhmetov.

Zelensky alleged that Akhmetov -- the owner of Ukrainian financial and industrial holding company, System Capital Management (SCM) -- was "drawn into the war against the state of Ukraine" by people who surrounded him, but he didn't explain what he meant or provide any evidence to support his allegations.

Zelensky said he has invited Akhmetov to his office to speak about the alleged plot.

The Ukrainian president noted that unlike his predecessors Viktor Yanukovich and Petro Poroshenko, he "will not run anywhere," but will invite all the people involved to work this out at his office.

Zelensky stressed that this was an attempt to destabilize the country. "I don't think that society wants that. The country does not want that. The people who want that are those who have lost power," Zelesnky said.

Akhmetov dismissed Zelensky's comments as an "absolute lie."

In a statement to CNN shared by his company System Capital Management, Akhmetov said he was "outraged by the spread of this lie."

"The information made public by Volodymyr Zelensky about attempts to draw me into some kind of coup is an absolute lie. I am outraged by the spread of this lie, no matter what the President's motives are.

"As a Ukrainian citizen, the country's biggest investor, taxpayer, and employer, I will continue to defend a free Ukraine, a free economy, democracy, and freedom of speech. I will do everything I can to prevent authoritarianism and censorship in Ukraine," he added.

The Kremlin rejected Zelensky's claim that Russia is involved in plotting a coup in Ukraine. "Russia never had any plans to take part. In general, Russia is never engaged in that kind of thing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with journalists Friday.

Border maneuvers

For weeks, Western officials have been expressing growing concern about Moscow's military activity on the Ukrainian border -- with the US considering sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine.

"We don't know what President [Vladimir] Putin's intentions are, but we do know what's happened in the past," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during a trip to Senegal last week, referring to Russian military incursions, acknowledged or not, into neighboring countries.

The head of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Agency, Brigadier General Kyrylo Budanov, told the US defense newspaper Military Times that Russia was increasing troop levels and weapons systems in Crimea for an offensive that could come at any time.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said Russia has no plans to invade the Ukraine, accusing Western countries of "hysteria."

This story was first published on CNNcom, "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says group of Russians and Ukrainians planning coup against him."
Source: AdobeStock / Olivier Le Moal

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news  investigating the stories flying under the radar of todays crypto news.

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CBDC news

The Bank of Canada should issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can be converted into a loonie, the colloquial term of the Canadian dollar, as cryptocurrencies grow in popularity, a new report by C.D. Howe Institute said. Such a feat by the Bank of Canada will require any potential stablecoins to be well designed and regulated to make them attractive to Canadians, they added.

should issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that can be converted into a loonie, the colloquial term of the Canadian dollar, as cryptocurrencies grow in popularity, a new report by said. Such a feat by the Bank of Canada will require any potential stablecoins to be well designed and regulated to make them attractive to Canadians, they added. Tanzania plans to introduce its own digital money, following similar decisions in several emerging markets including Nigeria, which was the first to make the move in Africa, Bloomberg reported. The Bank of Tanzania Governor Florens Luoga said that the country is ensuring it will not get left behind when it comes to these types of innovations.

Adoption news

Crypto payments firm MoonPay has quietly launched a new concierge service to help celebrities and the super-rich purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency. TV host Jimmy Fallon explained that he had used MoonPays services to acquire an NFT piece during an interview with digital artist Beeple.

has quietly launched a new concierge service to help celebrities and the super-rich purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrency. TV host Jimmy Fallon explained that he had used MoonPays services to acquire an NFT piece during an interview with digital artist Beeple. Financial services firm Fintonia has launched its Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund and the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund in Singapore, per Fund Selector Asia. The bitcoin (BTC) assets in the fund will be secured with a licenced and insured custodian with expertise in crypto/digital assets security and technology, and the fund manager is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

has launched its Fintonia Bitcoin Physical Fund and the Fintonia Secured Yield Fund in Singapore, per Fund Selector Asia. The bitcoin (BTC) assets in the fund will be secured with a licenced and insured custodian with expertise in crypto/digital assets security and technology, and the fund manager is regulated by the (MAS). Digital asset management company Arcane Crypto will apply for a dual listing on OTCQB, a US trading market operated by OTC Markets Group for securities not listed on a national exchange. They expect their listing to be approved during Q1 2022, after which the securities will be available to all US investors.

Regulation news

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has said it cant rely on crypto investors to keep track of their crypto transactions and profits, even though most investors try their best. ATO commissioner Chris Jordan stressed that many new crypto investors may not entirely understand their tax reporting obligations, and that the ATO has been working on ways to nudge people in the right direction such as pre-filling data on tax returns to prompt crypto users to report their investments.

(ATO) has said it cant rely on crypto investors to keep track of their crypto transactions and profits, even though most investors try their best. ATO commissioner Chris Jordan stressed that many new crypto investors may not entirely understand their tax reporting obligations, and that the ATO has been working on ways to nudge people in the right direction such as pre-filling data on tax returns to prompt crypto users to report their investments. The UK Law Commission has said that England and Wales do not need statutory law reform for smart legal contracts in the digital asset space, as they are permissible within Englands and Wales current legal framework. The authority recommended only an incremental development of the common law as needed for existing frameworks, but also encouraged any parties to smart contracts to explain risks relating to the performance of the code and any other necessary terms.

DeFi news
News

Mike Trimble, former award-winning editorialist for the DRC, remembered for his wit and honesty

Al Key/DRC file photo Former Denton Record-Chronicle Opinion Editor Mike Trimble is shown in 2009 at his desk. Mike Trimble DRC file photo Mike Trimble, left, watches as accordion players serenade him in the Denton Record-Chronicle newsroom in 2004. Trimble had penned an editorial scoffing at the U.S. Air Forces search for an accordion player, so local accordion players converged on the newsroom to play a protest polka at the writers desk.

Friends and former sources remember Mike Trimble, an Arkansas native and career newspaperman who ended his career at the Denton Record-Chronicle, as an inimitable wit who was as gentle and insightful as he was unabashedly honest. Trimble, a longtime editorialist and writing coach, died on Nov. 20 at age 78.

He died from complications of cancer in Denton while in hospice care.

Travis Mac Trimble was born Nov. 3, 1943, to Edgar Mac Trimble and Frances Trim Trimble, schoolteachers who had moved to Arkansas from Louisiana and settled in the small burg of Bauxite.

His mother taught English  Mike and his sister, Pat, were her students  but his father moved on to work as the personnel and safety director at Alcoa, which had a big aluminum-production plant at Bauxite.

Mike Trimble was the center and linebacker for the Bauxite Miners football team. His time on the team and the boys who played with him would become the subjects of articles in the Arkansas Times magazine that aficionados reportedly clipped, saved and read aloud at parties.

Trimbles career spanned 48 years, starting at the Texarkana Gazette and followed by jobs at the Arkansas Gazette, Arkansas Times, Pine Bluff Commercial, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Denton Record-Chronicle.

Trimble met his late wife, Jane Ramos Trimble, at the Pine Bluff Commercial. She was the executive editor, and after they married, Jane Trimble had to fire her husband to comply with the Commercials nepotism policy. The couple were able to work together at the Record-Chronicle until Jane went to work for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She died in 2014.

Mike Trimble worked at the Denton paper from the late 1990s to 2012.

In 2006, Trimble earned an award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors for writing the best editorials in the nation that year.

His former colleagues recalled Trimble as a man whose wit could sting even as it delivered honest, wry observations about Dentons peculiarities with comedy and the occasional gut punch. While assembling the local newspapers editorial page and herding its letter-to-the-editor writers, Trimble wore social Kevlar but required a softer touch for his battalion of dueling readers (he called regular letter writers frequent flyers, sometimes with irritation, sometimes with admiration).

Now, listen, Trimble would say at least once a week as he called to verify the letters, you can write a letter, and you can call me stupid in it. But I wont let you call other letter writers stupid.

When the company relocated several years ago, staffers found a pair of Trimbles file folders in his old desk, one labeled Why I Suck and the other Why I Am Wonderful.

His editorials at the Denton Record-Chronicle earned a fervent following, and they sometimes got people out of their chairs. A Denton ISD superintendent donned a sandwich board and paced in front of the newspapers downtown office after Trimble wrote an editorial criticizing his idea of painting school buses with advertisements.

When Trimble wrote an editorial scoffing that the U.S. Air Force was scouring the country for accordion players in 2004 (musing uncharitably about pinkie rings and the less-than-soothing sounds of the instrument), a small group of accordion players came to the newsroom and subjected him to an abbreviated concert. Trimble grimaced but sat back and listened. In fairness to the accordion players of the country, Trimble had suggested an accordion player might best serve the country by being dropped from a bomber over hostile territory.

He could sling wry barbs at his subordinates, too. He once compared a reporter to a scavenging possum. One afternoon in 1997, a gaggle of Record-Chronicle sports writers were struggling to move an ancient desk to a better spot in their department. Trimble looked on and sipped his coffee. He finally remarked that the young men reminded him of three monkeys trying to romance a football, though he chose a coarser word than romance.

Denton resident Mike Cochran was a member of the Denton City Council during Trimbles tenure.

He was such an asset at the DRC, Cochran said in a message. His absolute integrity, along with his razor-sharp writing skills, were legendary. When something big happened in Denton, you could hardly wait for Trimbles editorial. You knew it was going to be good. He really took the term newsman seriously and was a consummate professional of the old school.

Donna Fielder, who worked for the Record-Chronicle for more than 30 years, had lunch with Trimble each week for the past 15 years. When Trimble got too sick to meet Fielder at one of their favorite places, Fielder said she just went to his home.

Their friendship was a testament to the days when the American media wasnt so balkanized; Trimble leaned left, and Fielder tilts more to the right.

But their friendship endured, and Fielder said Trimbles death leaves a void in her own life and the world a touch dimmer.

I would like to say that Trimble was a man of the greatest integrity, Fielder said. He didnt just expect integrity of others, he expected it of himself. He lived his beliefs. He gave up a job he loved rather than surrender his integrity.

At work, where he was considered a writing coach long before it became his official title, Trimble routinely demonstrated his ability in baroque swearing, initiating new staffers at the Record-Chronicle with his practiced, rapid-fire recitation of every obscene and vulgar word that isnt allowed in the newspaper in a single breath.

He also dispatched his duty to remind the news staff to complete their timecards by cupping his hands around his mouth, and yelling the software brand used to process staff payment: Kronos! Kronos! Kronos! When the staff got email, he stopped yelling. He simply sent a department-wide email that shouted Kronos! Kronos! Kronos! in the subject line.

He also shared the many productivity tips he disdained from corporate sources with the subject line: Harder! Work harder! The harrumphing was implied.

Trimble wasnt a fan of technology and often referred to himself as a techno-peasant. Once, after a particularly complicated data processing system was foisted on the newsroom, he grumbled to the human resources director that this here is the [expletive] that makes people want to retire.

Though Trimble enjoyed playing the curmudgeon, he wasnt too proud to play. He once led the newsroom in the famous dance to the Village Peoples YMCA during an office party and sometimes launched squishy balls at reporters who were gabbing too close to deadline. And when A.H. Belo Corp. renovated the creaky restrooms at the careworn downtown office, Trimble announced his approval of the brand new E-flat toilet paper dispensers that contained enough flimsy toilet paper to run the length of a football field.

For a Southern-born man who came of age during the sexual revolution, Trimble appeared unruffled by social change, and believed in the expansion of civil rights. He once told young Denton reporters that he surprised the big-haired emcee of a Little Rock drag show, where he was invited to be a judge.

This drag queen looked at me and asked, Honey? Do we disgust you? and then put the microphone up to my face, Trimble said. I had to tell her the truth. Hey, I cover the state Legislature.

Trimble is survived by his sister, Pat Patterson, and her husband, Carrick, of Little Rock; his daughter, Erin Trimble Gray of Little Rock; grandchildren, Camryn and Turner; a niece, Julia Taylor of Little Rock, and her husband, Mallory, and their daughter, Mary Ruth; a nephew, John Patterson of Atlanta, and his daughter, Josephine; and Meranda Barks of Denton, his friend and helper.

No service is planned.
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Indian multinational telecommunications services company Bharti Airtel has conducted India's first 5G trial in the 700 MHz band with mobile and telecom equipment manufacturing company Nokia.

The demonstration, which was conducted on the outskirts of Kolkata, was also the first 5G trial in Eastern India, the companies said in a joint statement. They achieved high-speed wireless broadband network coverage of 40 kilometres between two 5G sites in real-life conditions.

For the trial, Airtel used Nokias equipment from its 5G portfolio, including AirScale radios and standalone (SA) core.

Randeep Singh Sekhon, CTO  Bharti Airtel said: Back in 2012, Airtel launched Indias first 4G service in Kolkata.

Today, we are delighted to conduct Indias first 5G demo in the coveted 700 MHz band in the city to showcase the power of this technology standard. We believe that with the right pricing of 5G spectrum in the upcoming auctions, India can unlock the digital dividend and build a truly connected society with broadband for all.

Naresh Asija, VP and Head of Bharti CT, Nokia, said: 5G deployment using 700Mhz spectrum is helping communications service providers across the world to cost-effectively provide mobile broadband in remote areas, where typically it is challenging for them to set up the network infrastructure. Nokia is at the forefront in the development of the global 5G ecosystem, and we look forward to supporting Airtel on its 5G journey.

Airtel is spearheading 5G in India. Earlier this year Airtel demonstrated Indias first 5G experience over a live 4G network. It also demonstrated Indias first rural 5G trial as well as the first cloud gaming experience on 5G. As part of #5GforBusiness, Airtel has joined forces with leading global consulting and technology companies and brands to test 5G-based solutions.
Estonias parliament The Rigiikogu has approved new legislation that effectively bans the countrys operators from using network equipment from Chinas Huawei.

The ban comes as part of an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act which must now receive approval from the countrys President Alar Karis. According the CommsUpdate, the amendments are aimed at bringing Estonian legislation in line with EU standards.

ERR News reports that the proposals also seek to enshrine consumer rights across traditional phone services as well as OTT services such as WhatsApp and Viber. Presidential approval of the amendments would finally clear the way for Estonia to hold its long-delayed 5G spectrum auctions.

Citing concerns over security, several European countries have banned network operators from using Chinese suppliers  including Huawei and ZTE - for their 5G network equipment. Huawei has consistently defended itself against such allegations, stating that it would refuse to compromise a clients security even if requested by the Chinese government.
Is Africa a data centre opportunity or challenge? Either way, it is a market that is underserved relative to demand, so it may be no surprise that a new pan-African data centre company has announced its launch this week.

Open Access Data Centres (OADC) has announced a multi-year investment programme worth more than $500 million to construct and operate a network of more than 20 carrier-neutral, Uptime Institute Tier III-accredited data centres across Africa, optimised to serve the needs of the cloud provider and wholesale community.

OADC says it will deploy data centre facilities strategically throughout the continent, focusing on key locations for connectivity in each country.

OADC is a West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC) Group company. As we reported yesterday, WIOCC has announced a $200 million debt and equity capital raise which, the company says, will be used to expand its connectivity within Africa and internationally. This apparently includes planned OADC launches.

OADC has already started construction of its first two data centre facilities in Africas largest markets, Nigeria and South Africa. OADC Lagos will be sited on the largest data centre campus in West Africa. The Equiano submarine cable will be landing directly in this data centre.

OADCs Durban facility is also under construction and will house the cable landing for the Durban branch of the 2Africa submarine cable. OADC says that the Durban data centre will also offer exceptional connectivity into South Africas terrestrial fibre network.

A third OADC facility is being deployed in Mogadishu, Somalia, housing the cable landing for the Mogadishu branch of the 2Africa submarine cable and offering a range of colocation services to domestic and international businesses. OADC Mogadishu will be open to clients before the end of 2022.

OADC promises further projects in a variety of African markets, some of which, it says, are at an advanced stage of development.
I briefly mentioned postmarketOS in my Pinephone review two years ago, but after getting my Dutch SIM card set up in my Pinephone and having another go at using postmarketOS, I reckon they deserve special attention.

Lets first consider the kind of ecosystem into which postmarketOS emerged: smartphone hacking in the XDA Forums era. This era was dominated by amateur hackers working independently for personal prestige, with little to no regard for the values of free software or collaboration. It was common to see hacked-together binary images shipped behind adfly links in XDA forum threads in blatant disregard of the GPL, with pages and pages of users asking redundant questions and receiving poor answers to the endless problems caused by this arrangement.

The XDA ecosystem is based on Android, which is a mess in and of itself. Its an enormous, poorly documented ball of Google code, mixed with vendor drivers and private kernel trees, full of crappy workarounds and locked-down hardware. Most smart phones are essentially badly put-together black boxes and most smart phone hackers are working with their legs cut off. Not to mention that the software ecosystem which runs on the platform is full of scammers and ads and theft of private user information. Android may be Linux in implementation, but its about as far from the spirit of free software as you can get.

postmarketOS, on the other hand, is based on Alpine Linux, which happens to be my favorite Linux distribution. Instead of haphazard forum threads collecting inscrutable ports for dozens of devices, they have a single git repository where all of their ports are maintained under version control, complete with issue trackers and merge requests, plus a detailed centralized wiki providing a wealth of open technical info on their supported platforms. And, by virtue of being a proper Linux distribution, they essentially opt-out of the mess of predatory mobile apps and instead promote a culture of trusted applications which respect the user and are built by and for the community instead of by and for a corporation.

Where we once had to live with illegally closed-source forks of the Linux kernel, we now have a git repository in which upstream Linux releases are tracked with a series of auditable patches for supporting various devices, many of which are making their way into upstream Linux. Where we once had a forum thread with five wrong answers to the same question on page 112, we now have a bug report on GitLab with a documented workaround and a merge request pending review. Instead of begging my vendor to unlock my bootloader and using janky software reminiscent of old keygen hacks to flash a dubious Android image, I can build postmarketOSs installer, pop it onto a microSD card, and two minutes Ill have Linux installed on my Pinephone.

pmOS does not seek to elevate the glories of tiny individual hackers clutching their secrets close to their chest, instead elevating the glory of the community as a whole. It pairs perfectly with Pine64, the only hardware vendor working closely with upstream developers with the same vision and ideals. There is a promise for hope in the future of smart phones in their collaboration.

However, the path theyve chosen is a difficult one. Android, for all of its faults, presents a complete solution for a mobile operating system, and upstream Linux does not. In my review, I said that software would be the biggest challenge of the Pinephone, and 2 years later, that remains the case. Work reverse engineering the Pine64 hardware is slow, there is not enough cooperation between project silos, and there needs to be much better prioritization of the work. To complete their goals, the community will have to work more closely together and narrow their attention in on the key issues which stand between the status quo and the completion of a useful Linux smartphone. It will require difficult, boring engineering work, and will need the full attention and dedication of the talented people working on these projects.

If they succeed in spite of these challenges, the results will be well worth it. postmarketOS and pine64 represent the foundations of a project which could finally deliver Linux on smartphones and build a robust mobile platform that offers freedom to its users for years to come.
E-commerce web traffic from Vietnam is double that of Thailand and triple that of Malaysia in Q3, showing high demand for online shopping amid the pandemic, a report has found.

Digital consumption has become a new habit as the number of online vendors increases, with Vietnam becoming "a star" on the Southeast Asian e-commerce market, according to the Q3 market report by iPrice Group.

Vietnam is set to exceed Thailand by 2025 to become the second biggest internet economy in Southeast Asia with a scale of $57 billion, behind Indonesia at $146 billion, according to the e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2021 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co.

However, foreign companies are still dominating Vietnams e-commerce market in terms of web traffic.

Singapores Shopee accounted for 57 percent of traffic in the third quarter, followed by another Singaporean company Lazada at 16 percent.

Vietnamese startup Tiki ranked third with 13 percent of traffic.

The iPrice report also pointed out Vietnamese consumers interact on the social media pages of e-commerce platforms more frequently than Thai but less than Malaysians, showing the importance of Facebook in promoting brands in Vietnam.
Novartis has marked its 25 years of development with a certificate of merit from Vietnam's Ministry of Health for its social commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"This achievement affirms Novartis's leading position in the global pharmaceutical market and its long-term commitment to community health support," a Novartis representative stated.

Over the past 25 years, Novartis has achieved medical breakthroughs in cancer care, heart disease and the fight against inflammatory conditions. The company uses innovative science and technology to address some of society's most challenging healthcare issues. It discovers and develops breakthrough treatments and finds new ways to deliver them to as many people as possible.

Inheriting the 250-year legacy from predecessors Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz, Novartis has helped people increase access to medicines over the past 25 years. Photo by Novartis

Partner of Vietnams healthcare

Novartis began its journey in Vietnam in the 1950s through the presence of Sandoz, Ciba-Geigy, and other partners. Over the past two decades in the country, Novartis Vietnam has cooperated with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and domestic and international organizations to launch several programs to enhance public health awareness, promote training, and strengthen primary healthcare in many cities and provinces.

In 2008, the representative office of Novartis Pharma Services AG was established in Vietnam to promote and support the supply of medicines, and delivery of drugs to patients, as well as clinical trials of Novartis Group.

Over the past 13 years, Novartis Vietnam has been focusing on four areas including science-based innovation and clinical trials; scientific and academic cooperation; quality and local manufacturing, along patient access to high-quality, innovative healthcare.

The company has collaborated with the MoH to develop a strong healthcare system that covers the lowest income segments of the population and to provide the Vietnamese people with high-quality medicines, thus contributing to the MoHs objective to shape a strong and sustainable healthcare system and achieve universal healthcare coverage.

A lot of significant programs have been carried out over the past years. In 2014, Novartis and the MoH signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the Vietnamese peoples access to essential, affordable generic and innovative medicines, and strengthen the country's science, medical, and technology capabilities.

Amitabh Dube, Country President, Novartis Vietnam, affirms long-term commitments to community health. Photo by Novartis

It is followed by another MoU inked in December 2019 on raising primary healthcare in Vietnam through activities at commune and district levels from 2019 to 2021, making it a testament to public-private collaboration in this area, aiming to achieve the Universal Healthcare Coverage and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

2020 marked a special milestone in Novartis Vietnams development journey when it inaugurated its new legal entity in the country and became one of the first multinational companies to successfully transform from a representative office to a foreign-invested enterprise importer. Also that year, the company was honored as a pioneer in digital transformation for its efforts and outstanding contributions to the Digital Transformation of the Healthcare Sector at National Digital Transformation Congress.

Moreover, Novartis Vietnam teamed up with Docquity to offer an exclusive digital network for medical staff. The company has also been named among the top 100 Vietnam Best Places to Work in the country thanks to its appropriate human resource policies and quick response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the company keeps the momentum of good performance with its recognition as a Global Top Employer for 2021, thus contributing to encouraging Novartis to continue attracting talents and strengthening its offering as a destination for employers in the future.

Contributions to the Covid-19 fight

Novartis received the certificate of merit from the MoH for its social commitment during the Covid-19 pandemic and its contributions to the countrys Covid fight, and training of HCPs, among others.

Novartis received the certificate of merit from the MoH. Photo by Novartis

Novartis supports the initiative of six medical universities in Vietnam to train HCPs to serve Covid-19 prevention and control. At least 1,800 final-year medical students got training from April to July 2020. This effort was in response to the call of the government and the MoH, mobilizing more than 90,000 HCPs for the pandemic fight.

Moreover, the company has so far donated over $400,000 to the pandemic battle in Vietnam. The company also joined hands with other members of EuroCham Pharma Group to donate an equivalent total of $100,000 to the Vietnam Fatherland Front national campaign on the prevention and treatment of Covid-19, and donate via the HCMC Red Cross Society medical supplies to frontline hospitals, and Covid-19 treatment centers.

During the pandemic, Novartis has taken effective measures to ensure the continuation of the supply of medicines, as well as promote technology application to maintain regular medical training for HCPs, thus ensuring healthcare access.

Amitabh Dube, country president, Novartis Vietnam, said: "Vietnam and countries worldwide are still facing pressing health issues that need more innovations to address them. Novartis commits to be a reliable partner in this effort, and will continue the discovery and development of new treatments to help more people."

Long-term investment commitments

Novartiss strategy is to build a leading, focused pharmaceutical company powered by advanced therapy platforms and data science. Looking at the next 25 years and beyond, the company will continue reimagining medicine to improve and extend peoples lives.

After 25 years of development, Novartis has contributed to improvements in community health. Photo by Novartis

To implement the strategy, Novartis has five priorities to shape its future and help it continue to create value for the company, its shareholders and society: unleash the power of its people; deliver transformative innovation; embrace operational excellence; go big on data and digital; and build trust with society.

In Vietnam, the company will continue to collaborate with Vietnamese societies, associations, and health facilities in programs to improve healthcare services for Vietnamese, showing its strong commitment to accompanying the local health sector in future sustainable development.
As we approach the end of a complicated and challenging year, there is much to be grateful for, including the close partnership between Vietnam and the United States.

Our countries have a strong friendship anchored in mutual respect and we work closely in many areas including regional security, education, food and energy security, disaster response, and mitigating the impact of the pandemic that has upended lives, jeopardized employment for millions, and disrupted the global trading system on which both nations depend.

Life is slowly getting back to normal but the fight against the coronavirus continues and the pandemic is far from over. Case numbers keep climbing although that was expected following the relaxation of restrictions last month. This is what "living with Covid" looks like.

Serious cases in most parts of the country are at a manageable level and in Hanoi and HCMC, almost all adults have received at least one dose of vaccine and many people have either received their second shot or will get it very soon.

Following frequent requests to President Joe Biden from AmCham and others, the U.S. government is sending another four million doses of vaccine here this week. This latest shipment brings the total number of vaccine doses donated by the U.S. to Vietnam to around 20 million doses  by far more than any other country has given. In addition to vaccine donations, the U.S. has provided Vietnam with Covid test equipment, ultra-low temperature freezers, and life-saving devices such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and liquid-oxygen tanks.

AmCham is also working in partnership with the Global Task Force on Pandemic Response (GTF), a public-private partnership run by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that mobilizes and delivers resources across the globe. The GTF is working to quickly donate around $1 million of diagnostic and testing equipment including rapid antigen tests, PCR testing equipment, and genomic sequencing systems as part of the ongoing effort by both the U.S. business community and government to support Vietnam's Covid-19 response and recovery.

Vietnam's recovery from Covid is not only about physical health. It is also about economic health. Trade is the cornerstone of our bilateral relationship and great changes have taken place in the development of the American business community here.

Soon after the resumption of economic relations, a small group of Americans founded the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) at its first meeting at the Dragon Hotel near West Lake in April 1994. This was around the same time that Amazon was founded and Justin Bieber was taking his first breaths.

Since those early days, AmCham members have contributed significantly to the transformation and growth of Vietnam's economy. Together, AmCham members represent billions of dollars in foreign investment, tens of thousands of direct employees, hundreds of thousands of indirect employees, and a significant share of Vietnam's exports and tax revenues. Business activity started slowly for Americans here but now we see U.S. companies and investors active in almost every sector of Vietnam's economy. U.S. exports to Vietnam have more than quadrupled in the last decade, and the United States remains the largest export market for Vietnam, even during this terrible pandemic.

Containers at Cat Lai Port in Ho Chi Minh City, April 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

We expect to hit a significant milestone next month as 2021 could be the first year of $100 billion in trade between Vietnam and the United States. As we look towards the future, we hope both governments can begin efforts towards a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This would improve investment and trade flows, would assist sustainable supply chains, and would improve business conditions that strengthen the private sector, ensure sustainable economic and social development, and promote prosperity here.

Many of the American investors I work with are optimistic about business prospects in Vietnam. For Vietnam to be successful, non-productive red tape must be controlled and the country's regulatory framework must be stable and predictable. Many business people remain concerned with changes in policy and regulations which are not consistent with international best practices. We encourage continuous improvements in infrastructure development, protection of intellectual property, education reform, legal and tax policy certainty, and enhanced transparency in Vietnam.

AmCham members face continued challenges bringing necessary people into Vietnam due to: complicated and burdensome paperwork procedures on permission to enter Vietnam, and difficulties getting work permits because of unreasonable requirements established by Decree 152 earlier this year. While there has been some improvement lately, the requirements and procedures remain unnecessarily difficult. A faster and more dependable process for entry into Vietnam will help facilitate travel for both foreigners and Vietnamese, and promote greater trade and investment ties.

Maybe most important is to enact smooth, fair, and consistent tax and audit procedures that avoid retroactive rulings that vary from province to province, and conflict with global supply chain tax procedures. Progress in these areas will not only help attract more foreign investment, but will also support Vietnam's aspirations to propel itself to the next sphere of economic competitiveness.

With a growing trade imbalance, it is critical that our members encounter a fair, transparent, predictable, and streamlined regulatory environment that values innovation. This will not only attract new investment, but will also maintain and grow the investment that is already here. In addition, we recommend that foreign investment limitations, an overly restrictive legal framework of laws, and burdensome administrative procedures should be carefully reviewed and selectively relaxed to encourage increased U.S. investment.

I have lived and worked in Hanoi for 20 years and I see great opportunity and a bright future here. This year, however, is proving to be quite challenging for many people. The economic implications of the pandemic for Vietnam are severe and will impact us for quite some time. Even as the economy begins to recover, the financial pressure for many companies will remain significant.

Our members' top priority is the health and safety of their workforce. From the beginning of the pandemic, U.S. companies in Vietnam have taken every step possible to prevent the spread of infection. We can all do our part to help during these challenging times because social distancing does not mean social disengagement. AmCham members stand together with the Vietnamese people and U.S. businesses continue to donate goods and other resources to assist outbreak areas.

To boost economic recovery, AmCham will continue to work on lowering barriers to trade, to help the Vietnamese government make it easier to do business, and to promote an innovative and sustainable business environment so that all investors have fair access to the great opportunity here.
The Supreme Court ruling in 1973, named Roe v Wade after the parties involved, determined that it was unconstitutional for a US government to excessively restrict abortion. This led to a state of affairs today where it is legal in all states, but there have been renewed efforts to overturn the ruling, helped by a large conservative majority on the Supreme court; six conservatives and three liberal justices make up the nine.

Upcoming court dates could change the federal ruling altogether, threatening the constitutional right to abortion.

Roe v Wade, fetal viability, and what a ruling could mean for state law

The second ruling of Roe v Wade determines that the viability of a fetus is after six months of gestation. However, due to not taking into account technological advancements, someone's idea of what is a "viable" child is essentially up for debate. This is how anti-abortion campaigners have been rallying around their

This is why the upcoming Mississippi ruling is so important. The state has redefined the viability of a fetus from 24 weeks to 15. If it is decided by the Supreme Court that this time of viability can be changed, it opens up a whole new conversation about state s deciding for themselves when a fetus is viable, putting Roe v Wade under even more pressure.

If the precedent set by Roe v Wade were to be overturned, then 21 states have laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible.

By the time the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Mississippi case, beginning on December 1, there will be nine states with an abortion ban from before Roe v. Wade. Basically, these states never changed their individual state abortion law, so if the federal abortion law was overturned, it would revert to their state law, a ban.

Alongside this, there are 12 states with a trigger ban tied to Roe being overturned and five states with a near-total abortion ban after Roe v Wade.

Which states have the six-week restriction?

There are nine states that have passed legislation that would essentially ban abortion by the sixth week of pregnancy, referred to by anti-abortion proponents as fetal heartbeat legislation. At six weeks, ultrasound scanners can detect the group of cells that will become the heart as they produce their first electrical pulses, which is utilized by anti-abortion activists as the new stage of fetal viability.



According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization, the states that have banned abortion at six weeks include; Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The Texas law is the only one that is currently in effect while the others are being litigated. The South Carolina law is the only one that makes exceptions in instances of rape or incest.
Development of relations guided by principles of 'amity, real results'

Days after he was elected China's president in March 2013, Xi Jinping embarked on his first overseas trip as head of state. Three of the tour's four destinations were African countries.

When making a speech at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Xi said the trip was his sixth visit to the continent.

"When I visit Africa, I am always struck by two things," Xi said. "One is its continuous progress. Each time I come to Africa, I am deeply impressed by new progress in development, which is most encouraging. The other is the warmth of the African people."

Pointing out that China and Africa view each other's development as their own opportunities, Xi said China would treat African countries with sincerity, seek to deliver real outcomes in cooperation with Africa, build a close bond of friendship with Africa and resolve problems that may occur in the cooperation with good faith.

That speech, eight years ago, would go on to lay the foundation for future China-Africa relations.

Under the guiding principles of "sincerity, real results, amity and good faith", China has been taking concrete initiatives to promote its ties with Africa with strong momentum.

By the end of 2020, there was more than $43.4 billion of Chinese investment in more than 50 African countries, according to the Ministry of Commerce. China, Africa's largest trading partner for 12 consecutive years, is also its fourth-largest investor.

From January to September, bilateral trade grew 38 percent year-on-year to reach more than $185 billion.

Visiting Africa four times from 2013 to 2018, Xi's trips covered Tanzania, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Senegal, Rwanda and Mauritius. Xi was also the first Chinese head of state to visit Rwanda.

At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015 and the FOCAC Beijing Summit in 2018, Xi put forward a series of proposals to enhance China-Africa cooperation. During the Beijing Summit alone, Xi attended more than 70 bilateral and multilateral activities in eight days.

Even at a time when COVID-19 makes it difficult to meet African leaders in person, the president has maintained close communication with them through phone calls and messages over the past two years.

It's a long-term, firm and strategic choice for China to develop cooperation with Africa, and China "will always be a sincere friend and reliable partner of Africa", Xi has said.

With the eighth Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC scheduled to open in Dakar, Senegal, on Monday, China and Africa have pressed ahead with cooperation under the FOCAC framework. Meanwhile, they have been enhancing cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has signed BRI cooperation documents with more than 40 African countries, as well as with the African Union. Chinese companies have carried out a number of infrastructure projects in Africa, including a railway connecting Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya and another connecting the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa with Djibouti.

According to the China International Development Cooperation Agency, the country has constructed more than 6,000 kilometers of railways, more than 6,000 kilometers of roads, about 20 ports and more than 80 power facilities in Africa.

China and Africa have also set an example of joint response to COVID-19. Addressing the Extraordinary China-Africa Summit on Solidarity Against COVID-19 in June 2020, President Xi announced a series of actions China would take to help Africa respond to the pandemic, including that African countries would be among the first to get China's vaccines once they were developed and put into use.

China has provided about 120 shipments of medical supplies to Africa to tackle COVID-19, according to the China International Development Cooperation Agency. It has also provided vaccines to 50 African countries and the African Union, and has sent medical experts to 17 African countries.

Zeng Aiping, deputy director of the department for developing countries studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said the current frequency and extent of political exchanges between China and Africa is unprecedented.

President Xi, who attaches great importance to Africa, has greatly increased communication between Chinese and African leaders and taken bilateral cooperation to a new level, Zeng said.

The principles of "sincerity, real results, amity and good faith" show Xi's care and support for Africa, and they are what make China's policies toward Africa different from those of Western countries, which tend to attach political strings to their aid, which "often hurts the interests of African countries", Zeng added.
The China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong said.

The China-Laos Railway is the road of connectivity and the road of friendship as well, and the project cooperation embodies the spirit of the China-Laos community of a shared future, Chinese Ambassador to Laos Jiang Zaidong has said.

Referring to the characteristics of and inspirations from the China-Laos Railway, Ambassador Jiang said in a recent interview with Xinhua that it is a project in which the two sides sincerely cooperate and pursue excellence under the guidance of top leadership, and both sides should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.

The construction of the railway started in December 2016. It is expected to be operational in December 2021.

The 1,013-km cross-border railway consists of two sections, one in China and the other in Laos. The 414-km section in Laos will run from Boten border gate in northern part of the country to the Lao national capital city of Vientiane, with an operating speed of 160 km per hour.

Jiang said the project is a major achievement of the docking of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Laos's development strategy to convert itself from a land-locked country to a land-linked hub.

As a landmark project of China-Laos friendship, the railway carries the aspirations of the two peoples for a better life and demonstrates the strength of solidarity and cooperation between both countries, he said.

The construction of the railway has been receiving strong guidance and promotions from the two countries' top leadership. The relevant departments and local governments of the two countries have worked closely together to open "fast-track lane" for personnel and "green channel" for goods to ensure smooth construction amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ambassador noted that due to the complex geological terrain in northern Laos, bridges and tunnels make a significant part of the Lao section.

The Chinese and Lao engineers have overcome the unfavorable geological condition to build the railway with high standards and sound quality, which has laid a solid foundation to ensure a timely opening of the railway and its smooth operation in the long run.

Jiang noted that the China-Laos Railway is not only a key project of China-Laos cooperation, but also a key hub of the regional transport network, which is of great significance to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Laos, and regional connectivity.

The Chinese ambassador suggested that the companies concerned should work on connecting the China-Laos Railway to the Laos-Thailand Railway so as to further connect the networks of the Singapore-Malaysia railway and the China-Europe Railway Express.

Jiang also encouraged comprehensive development along the railway to facilitate the flow of passengers, goods and capital against the pandemic, and to inject impetus for the recovery of the Lao economy and pragmatic cooperation between China and Laos.

He also hoped that the railway will improve the people's livelihood in Laos.

The construction of the railway has offered more than 110,000 job opportunities for Lao people. Around 2,000 km of roads and canals have been built along the railway in Laos, according to the Chinese ambassador.

Regarding the future cooperation of both countries, Jiang said that the Chinese side is willing to cooperate with the Lao side on the projects including building a modern oil refinery and the national backbone power grid in Laos, while promoting the Lao cattle export to China.

"Both sides should continue to bring more visible and tangible benefits to the two peoples to demonstrate the spirit of the China-Laos community with a shared future," he said.




President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse welcomed at Geneva International Airport (Photo: VNA)

The President, his spouse and the Vietnamese delegation at Geneva International Airport were welcomed at the airport by representatives from the Swiss Foreign Ministry and Geneva administration, and Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to the UN, World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, among others.

Vietnam and Switzerland established their diplomatic ties on October 11, 1971. Since then, the bilateral relations have developed well in all aspects, especially in politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, development cooperation, and education and training.

Within the framework of his visit which lasts until November 29, Phuc is expected to hold talks with his counterpart Guy Parmelin, and meet with President of the Swiss National Council Andreas Aebi. He will also have meetings with the Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, and the Director-General of the World Intelligence Property Organisation (WIPO)./.
The figures represented a rise of 1.8% in volume and 7.9% in value against the same period last year, while the average import price of tea from the Vietnamese market also surged by 6.1% on-year to reach US$1,404.8 per tone, reported VOV.

Elsewhere, Argentina made up the largest tea supplier to the US during the nine-month period with 33,800 tonnes worth US$43.7 million, followed by China with 8,800 tonnes worth US$ 38.9 million.

Statistics from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) indicate that the US imported 85,900 tonnes of tea worth US$375.5 million throughout the reviewed period, a rise of 8.2% in volume and 14% in value compared to last years corresponding period.

(Photo for illustration/ Source: https://congthuong.vn)

Furthermore, the average price of imported tea in the US market increased by 5.3% on-year to US$4,372.2 per tonne.

Black tea made up a major imported item to the US market with 72,400 tonnes worth US$229.1 million, a rise of 9.2% in volume and 10.2% in value compared to the same period from last year.

The US imported the most black tea from markets such as Argentina and India, accounting for 55.4% of the total import volume of black tea to the US market in the reviewed period.

Vietnam became the sixth largest supplier of black tea to the US, with the import volume and value of black tea from the Vietnamese market enjoying an upward trajectory.

However, the US green tea imports from the country saw a decrease in terms of both volume and value with 500 tonnes worth US$952,000, a drop of 22.7% in volume and down 8.2% against the same period from last year.

Vietnams coffee export predicted to grow higher

The Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development has forecast that Vietnams coffee export will increase in coming months on the back of growing global demand and free trade agreements, reported VNA.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

According to the Vietnam Coffee  Cocoa Association, coffee export will reach nearly 130,000 tonnes monthly in November and December. If export prices remain high like at present, it could bring home additional 600 million USD, bringing the yearly total to 3 billion USD.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sale of coffee materials has met difficulties. With disruptions in supply from Vietnam and Brazil and hiking logistics costs, the world coffee prices are predicted to rebound in the coming time, prompting Vietnamese farmers to switch to growing them again after two years of inter-cropping practice.

At present, the Central Highlands provinces are harvesting coffee but facing shortage of workers caused by the pandemic.

Photo for illustration (Source: cafef.vn)

The Dak Nong provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that during the 2021-2022 crop, Dak Nong has over 130,000ha of coffee and needs about 13 million workers for harvest. However, only half of the workforce needed are available.

Provinces have built their own plans to pool workforce for coffee harvest depending on four levels of the pandemic risks.

In ten months of this year, Vietnam exported 1,286 tonnes of coffee worth 2.45 billion USD, down 4.2 percent in volume and up 5.4 percent in value year-on-year. Its biggest market was the European Union with a revenue of around 769 million USD, down 17 percent annually. ASEAN spent 259 million USD on importing Vietnamese coffee, marking an annual decrease of 19.45 percent.

Vietnams shipments of coffee to Germany, the US and Italy also dropped by 1.52 percent, 20 percent and 2.53 percent, respectively, to 319 million USD, 189 million USD and 172 million USD./.

Bamboo Airways brings first foreign visitors back to Khanh Hoa

A Bamboo Airways flight carrying 43 vaccinated passengers from Seoul (the Republic of Korea) arrived at Cam Ranh Ran International Airport in Khanh Hoa province on November 25, reported VOV.

The visitors wear protective clothing throughout the Seoul - Cam Ranh flight as part of COVID-19 prevention and control measures to protect them from possible virus infection. (Photo: thanhnien.vn)

The visitors wear protective clothing throughout the Seoul - Cam Ranh flight as part of COVID-19 prevention and control measures to protect them from possible virus infection. (Photo: thanhnien.vn)

This was the first flight bringing foreign visitors with vaccine passports to Khanh Hoa after nearly two years. The visitors bear American and Canadian citizenships.

Upon arrival, the visitors were transferred to a designated hotel they had earlier booked for a seven-day package tour. They were required to make a health declaration and undergo a COVID-19 test.

Khanh Hoa is one of the five localities in Vietnam that have received the Prime Ministers permission to welcome back foreign visitors on a trial basis. The other four localities are Quang Nam, Da Nang, Kien Giang and Quang Ninh.

To visit Vietnam this time, the visitors are required to have a vaccine passport and have a negative COVID-19 test at least 72 hours before their departure.

Vietnam had closed its skies to air travel since late 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister recently allowed the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism to implement a pilot scheme in five localities to receive back foreign visitors.

Last week Vietnam welcomed first groups of foreign visitors to Quang Nam and Kien Giang provinces./.
The figures represented a rise of 1.8% in volume and 7.9% in value against the same period last year, while the average import price of tea from the Vietnamese market also surged by 6.1% on-year to reach US$1,404.8 per tonne.



Source: VOV

Elsewhere, Argentina made up the largest tea supplier to the US during the nine-month period with 33,800 tonnes worth US$43.7 million, followed by China with 8,800 tonnes worth US$ 38.9 million.



Statistics from the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) indicate that the US imported 85,900 tonnes of tea worth US$375.5 million throughout the reviewed period, a rise of 8.2% in volume and 14% in value compared to last years corresponding period.



Furthermore, the average price of imported tea in the US market increased by 5.3% on-year to US$4,372.2 per tonne.



Black tea made up a major imported item to the US market with 72,400 tonnes worth US$229.1 million, a rise of 9.2% in volume and 10.2% in value compared to the same period from last year.



The US imported the most black tea from markets such as Argentina and India, accounting for 55.4% of the total import volume of black tea to the US market in the reviewed period.



Vietnam became the sixth largest supplier of black tea to the US, with the import volume and value of black tea from the Vietnamese market enjoying an upward trajectory.



However, the US green tea imports from the country saw a decrease in terms of both volume and value with 500 tonnes worth US$952,000, a drop of 22.7% in volume and down 8.2% against the same period from last year./.
Minister of National Defence Phan Van Giang hands over to the Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long over 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine sponsored by the Japanese Government. (Photo: VGP)

Immediately after the Prime Minister's plane landed, the handover ceremony and reception of vaccines took place solemnly at the Noi Bai International Airport, with the participation of Minister of National Defence Phan Van Giang, and Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

On behalf of the delegation, Minister of National Defence Phan Van Giang gave symbolically to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long the amount of 1,540,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine donated by the Japanese Government to Vietnam.

In addition, he gave a symbolic gift to Deputy Minister of Finance Vo Thanh Hung an amount of USD1 million from Sumitomo Mitsui Bank (SMBC) to support the Government of Vietnam in the prevention of the pandemic.

In the context that the pandemic is undergoing complicated development, the number of vaccines given to Vietnam by the Japanese Government is very practical, contributing to adding more resources for the country in flexible, safe and effective adaptation and control of the COVID-19 pandemic; gradually recovering and promoting the development of economic and social activities./.
Nuclear power plants (Illustrative photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)



Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien underlined that Vietnams contribution to the initiative demonstrates the countrys responsibility in promoting nuclear technology development for peaceful purposes.

He underlined the significant role of the IAEA and its research centres in nuclear technology application serving sustainable development.



At the event, IAEA Deputy Director General Liu Hua welcomed Vietnams contribution to the agencys technical cooperation programmes, thereby raising the countrys position.



IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi presents the token of a brick to Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Trung Kien (R) (Photo: VNA)



Vietnam was elected as a member of the Board of Governors of the IAEA (BoG IAEA), one of the two policy-making bodies of the agency.



At the regional level, Vietnam has actively engaged in the Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and the Pacific (RCA).



ReNuAL 2 was unveiled in September last year with an aim to renovate and expand the Seibersdorf laboratories to better meet the need for nuclear technology application in resolving global issues.



Vietnam announced financial commitment to the initiative this September and did the same for the first phase in 2019./.


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends the 20th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, and jointly step up to the mission of promoting prosperity and stability in the region, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday.

Li made the remarks in Beijing while addressing the 20th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the SCO via video link.

Li said over the past 20 years since its founding, the SCO has followed and carried forward the Shanghai Spirit, and effectively promoted security and stability in the region and common development of SCO member states.

At present, international and regional situations continued to undergo complex and profound changes, and countries were faced with serious challenges in realizing sustainable development, he added.

"China is ready to work with other SCO members to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, and jointly step up to the mission of promoting prosperity and stability in the region," Li said.

He called on SCO members to forge a strong security shield and safeguard durable stability and security in the region.

"We need to consolidate the basis of our law enforcement and security cooperation, implement SCO legal instruments including the Program on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism, Separatism, and Extremism and the Convention on Combating Extremism, and enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics and information security," Li said.

He said SCO members should join hands in fighting the pandemic and enhance public health governance.

"We need to well harness the SCO program of alerts about major epidemic emergency caused by infectious diseases, enhance cooperation on the research and development of vaccines and medicines, and improve the mechanism of joint epidemic response," he said.

Li called for staying open for win-win results and supporting the economic recovery in all SCO countries, urging SCO members to work toward greater openness, keep improving the trade and investment environment, and raise the scale and quality of trade.

"We need to promote connectivity and ensure unimpeded flows in the regional economy," Li said.

He said SCO countries should harness the geographical advantages of SCO members, and advance the building of transportation, energy and communications networks.

Li called on SCO members to focus on people's well-being and promote green, sustainable development.

"We need to resume personnel interflow in a careful and orderly way in light of the COVID situation," Li said. "We need to deepen cooperation on environmental protection, climate change, biodiversity conservation and low-carbon economy."

China proposes establishing an SCO information sharing system for multilateral coordination on emergency response and university alliances in medicine, law and agriculture on a voluntary basis, to further broaden and deepen our cooperation on sustainable development, Li said.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends the 20th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attends the 20th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) via video link at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

Editor: ZAD
The Russian Federation did not support Ukraine's initiative to increase gas transit volumes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"We are ready, but Russia did not agree to this. I heard rhetoric from the Russian side that they are ready to extend the contract. But apart from these statements I have not heard or seen anything else. There were not substantial meetings between our people, Naftogaz Ukrainy, for example, and Gazprom," Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

He said that there was a successful proposal from Ukraine  to initiate an increase in transit volumes and at the same time to reduce its cost.

"We have a contract until 2024. We back the extension of gas transit. We even said that, in addition to the contract, let's increase transit. Our capacities allow it. Let's reduce the price of transit. It will be less than any other flows I think it was a good step on our part," the head of state said.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks reaffirmed U.S. support for NATO allies on the eastern flank of the alliance and NATO's cooperation with the European Union, the Pentagon said.

"The Deputy Secretary affirmed the U.S. commitment to NATO's eastern flank and commented on recent Russian activity around Ukraine, the migrant crisis on the Belarusian-EU border, and strategic competition with the Peoples' Republic of China," the message posted by Pentagon reads.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks virtually addressed NATO eastern flank Allies at the Bucharest-Nine (B9) Defense Ministerial in Romania on Thursday. Co-hosted by Romania and Poland, this forum brought together B9 defense ministers from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia to discuss recent events in the region, defense cooperation, NATO strategic priorities, and EU-NATO cooperation.

She underscored that "EU defense initiatives should remain coherent, mutually reinforcing, interoperable with, and available to NATO."

Details of the address are not provided.

The Bucharest-Nine was established in 2014. It was formed by NATO and is designed to consolidate the alliance's eastern flank.
Ukraine managed to postpone the peak in the incidence of COVID-19 by introducing a norm on mandatory self-isolation for those returning from the Russian Federation, Chief Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin has said.

"It was due to the introduction of such a norm that we managed to delay the onset of the peak of incidence compared to the European peak, which occurred earlier than ours. The content of this norm is that any person who has been on the territory of the Russian Federation for seven days is subject to mandatory self-isolation, which is controlled through the Vdoma application, and isolation cannot be terminated early, even if this person passes at least 10 PCR tests," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

At the same time, Kuzin noted that more covid beds are being added in hospitals in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, since these regions were not fully involved in the spring wave and in the spring the bed capacity was not mobilized in full.
The information made public by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky about allegedly drawing me into some kind of putsch is a lie, businessman Rinat Akhmetov has said.

"I am outraged by the spread of this lie, regardless of what motives the president is guided by. My position was and will be unequivocal, an independent, democratic and integral Ukraine with Crimea and my native Donbas. My actions confirm this," press secretary of Akhmetov Hanna Terekhova told Interfax-Ukraine.

Akhmetov promised to continue to defend a free Ukraine, a free economy, democracy and freedom of speech.

"As a citizen of Ukraine, the largest investor, taxpayer and employer of the country will continue to defend a free Ukraine, a free economy, democracy and freedom of speech. And I will do everything in my power to prevent authoritarianism and censorship in Ukraine," Akhmetov said.
An overwhelming dust storm hit Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt, northern Upper Egypt, and the western coasts on Wednesday afternoon, ruining air quality and severely reducing visibility across the country.
The West and its allies need to be united against authoritarianism, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Saturday, as she hosted G7 counterparts with concern about threats from Russia and China.
US giant ExxonMobil and Qatar Energy signed a contract Friday for oil and gas exploration and production-sharing off the divided island of Cyprus despite Turkey's opposition to the deal. Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides, Varnavas Theodosiou, CEO of ExxonMobil Cyprus, and Ali al-Mana, director of Qatar Energy's International Upstream and Exploration, signed the contract in Nicosia.
Planning Minister Hala El-Said stated that the signed protocol aims to manage and provide the required finances for in-progress natural gas projects included in the initiative s plan

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources have inked a cooperation protocol concerning financing the implementation of natural gas grid projects in accordance with the Decent Life Presidential Initiative.

The protocol was signed by the Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, Magdy Gala, and the Planning Ministers Deputy, Ahmed Kamaly.

Planning Minister Hala El-Said stated that the signed protocol aims to manage and provide the required finances for in-progress natural gas projects included in the initiatives plan.

She noted that the estimated cost for the first phase of the project, which includes four million beneficiary housing units, will exceed EGP 17 billion during the current FY2021/2022. The first phase is expected to increase natural gas coverage in the initiatives areas from 4 percent to 100 percent.

This measure comes in line with Egypts transition towards a green recovery and implementing projects that consider clean energy prospects that save the average household around EGP 636 per year spent on buying butane gas cylinders, the minister elaborated.

On his part, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla said that the ministry is currently working on setting up grids that will provide natural gas to the 1,413 villages in the first phase of the project.

He added that gas delivery projects carried out under the Decent Life Initiative facilitate the accomplishment of Egypts goal to deliver natural gas to households across the country and double the delivery rates to over seven million housing units that will be linked to the natural gas grid for the first time over the coming three years.

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Ethiopia has ordered four of six Irish diplomats working in Addis Ababa to leave the country because of Ireland's outspoken stance over the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia, Ireland's government said Wednesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Ethiopia's government informed the Irish Embassy in the Ethiopian capital that the four must leave within one week. The Irish ambassador and one other diplomat were allowed to stay.

In a statement, the department said that Ethiopian authorities indicated this was ``due to the positions Ireland has articulated internationally, including at the U.N. Security Council, on the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia.''

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said he ``deeply regretted'' the decision, and noted that Ethiopia has been the largest recipient of Ireland's aid funds in the past five years.

He added that in light of the deteriorating security situation in Ethiopia, the government recommended against all travel to the country and all Irish citizens there should leave immediately.

Ireland and African members of the U.N. Security Council led a statement on Nov. 5 calling for a cease-fire, and stressing the importance of full humanitarian access to Tigray and political dialogue between parties.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the yearlong war between Ethiopian and allied forces and fighters from the country's northern Tigray region, who long dominated the national government before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office. Tigray forces are moving closer to the capital, and the United States and others have warned that Africa's second-most populous country could fracture and destabilize the Horn of Africa.

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Britain on Wednesday urged its nationals to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible, citing the potential for fighting to move closer to the capital.

"The conflict in Ethiopia is deteriorating quickly," Africa minister Vicky Ford said.

"In the coming days, we may see fighting move closer to Addis Ababa, which could severely limit options for British nationals to leave Ethiopia," she said.

"I am urging all British nationals_whatever their circumstance_ to leave immediately while commercial flights are readily available and (the airport) remains open."

Britain has been advising its citizens to leave Ethiopia since November 9 due to the worsening conflict between the government and the rebels.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice currently warns that the fighting "has potential to escalate and spread quickly and with little warning".

London has temporarily suspended the requirement for travellers unvaccinated against Covid-19 to test before their arrival in Britain to help those wishing to leave.

The announcement came after Ireland said Ethiopia had expelled four of its six diplomats in the country due to the country's previous comments on the conflict.

Last month, Britain announced a further 29 million ($37 million) in aid funding for people affected by the conflict in northern Ethiopia.

London has also called for an urgent ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid through and for Addis Ababa to lift an effective blockade of relief to the Tigray region.

It also joined more than 40 countries in condemning the expulsion of leading UN representatives from Ethiopia.

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Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad announced on Wednesday that there are 4,150,000 Egyptians who are eligible to receive a third booster coronavirus shot starting December.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Egyptian government approved the administration of a third booster vaccine shot to the most vulnerable groups in the country.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, the booster shots will be made available to patients who suffer from immunodeficiency, patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, the elderly, and healthcare workers provided that they took their second shot at least six months ago.

In media statements to Sada Al-Balad TV channel on Wednesday, Saad stated that citizens must register on the ministrys official coronavirus vaccination website to get the booster shot, adding that it is not mandatory.

The cabinet spokesperson clarified that the booster shot is not related or determined by the type of COVID-19 vaccine taken in the first two shots.

Furthermore, He revealed that there are still 36 million unused vaccine doses that will be utilised in the upcoming period to complete the governments plan to vaccinate 40 percent of the population as well as provide them with a booster shot.

Saad also stated that the government is studying to reduce the age of vaccination to 12 years old and administer the Pfizer vaccine to underage kids.

Additionally, Saad stated that following an analysis of 100 people who died due to the coronavirus during the current fourth wave of the virus, it was found that 98 percent of them were not vaccinated while the remaining 2 percent died due to chronic diseases.

Egypt has so far administered 44.2 million shots, according to Higher Education Minister and acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar.

The country launched its mass vaccination campaign in January, setting up over 1,000 inoculation centres nationwide and dozens of mobile clinics with the aim of vaccinating 40 million of its population by the end of 2021.

Earlier on Wednesday, Abdel-Ghaffar stated that Egypt secured a total of 80.5 million doses of all WHO-approved coronavirus vaccines, including both imported and locally manufactured vaccines.

The vaccines currently available in Egypt are: Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna.

The country is locally producing the Sinovac vaccine after receiving shipments of its raw materials under a deal with the Beijing-based Sinovac Company.

Egypt is currently experiencing a fourth wave of the virus, which started in early August, but the past few days have seen a slight drop in daily infections.

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Ethiopia on Thursday accused the United States of spreading false information about security conditions in the war-hit country and warned such statements could harm ties.

Washington once viewed Ethiopia as a vital security partner in the volatile Horn of Africa, but relations have soured over Ethiopia's year-long war against rebels who are now threatening to march on the capital Addis Ababa.

On November 5, the State Department ordered the withdrawal of non-essential embassy staff because of "armed conflict, civil unrest, and possible supply shortages", and several other diplomatic missions have followed suit.

This week the US embassy further rankled Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government by posting a warning about the potential for terrorist attacks in Ethiopia.

"Previously they disseminated the information that Addis Ababa is surrounded [by rebels], now they are saying this false information that a terror attack will be conducted," Kebede Desisa, a government spokesman, told a press conference for state media Thursday.

"These actions hurt the two countries' historical relations," he said.

The war erupted in November 2020 when Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into the Tigray region to topple its ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and promised a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray, including its capital Mekele.

Since then, the TPLF has pushed into neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, and this week it claimed to have seized a town just 220 kilometres (135 miles) from Addis Ababa.

The African Union's special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo, is leading a diplomatic push for a ceasefire, but there have been few signs of progress so far.

On Wednesday state media reported that Abiy, a former lieutenant-colonel in the military, had arrived at the front line to lead a counter-offensive, handing over regular duties to his deputy.

Also on Wednesday, Ireland announced Ethiopia had demanded the departure of four of its Addis Ababa-based diplomats because of Ireland's critism of the war.

Ethiopia has also expelled seven senior UN officials over alleged "meddling" in the country's affairs.

The Biden administration this month announced its intention to boot Ethiopia from a key trade pact that grants duty-free access for most exports.

But it has held off on imposing sanctions against the Ethiopian government and rebels in hopes of encouraging a settlement.

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Egypt reported 899 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total infection tally officially to 353,923 since the outbreak began in February 2020, the health ministry said in its daily COVID-19 update statement.

The ministry also reported 63 new COVID-linked deaths in the past 24 hours nationwide, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 20,172.

The statement added that 741 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 294,354.

Egypt has administered 44.2 million shots, according to acting health minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar.

Egypt secured a total of 80.5 million doses of WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccines, according to Abdel-Ghaffar.

On Wednesday, the government approved administering third booster shots of the coronavirus vaccines for the most vulnerable groups in the country.

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The Integrated Management of Cultural Tourism (IMCT) project was inaugurated at the Al-Azhar Park with the aim of improving the environment for private investment in cultural heritage tourism with a special focus on the partnership between the public and private sectors.

The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with Family Health International (FHI360) international nonprofit and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities as well as the Ministry of Culture.

The event started out with a speech from USAID Mission Director Leslie Reed who emphasized the significance of the project, explaining that todays partnership with EBRD demonstrates our commitment to supporting the vital tourism sector in Egypt and the thousands of people working in this sector. Together with our Egyptian partners, the United States has contributed more than $100 million over the past 25 years to preserve dozens of cultural heritage sites throughout Egypt, from Aswan to Alexandria.

The EBRDs Deputy Head Khalid Hamza stated, the EBRD is proud to be working alongside the USAID-funded IMCT project in Egypt, which champions our strategic engagement in tourism in Egypt and our vision for economic inclusion for women, youth, and local communities. We look forward to engaging with IMCT and the private sector, to further strengthen access to finance and skills development programs, and promote sustainable tourism.

Riham Arram, community engagement and product development specialist at IMCT, elaborated on the project, saying when the tourist comes to Egypt, we aim that he/she lives the true experience, we want them to spend as much time as possible in the historic area and that will increase the money spent in the district. The development of the district shall be implemented by the hands of the people of this district. The projects duration is four years in Historic Cairo and Luxor with the aim of enhancing the government efforts to attract investors in the realm of heritage tourism.



Arram added, we want to bring investment to Al-Darb Al-Ahmar and allow the locals to benefit, we want to rehabilitate the heritage and cultural sites. How many times have you passed across a monument that needed restoration and development? All of those elements will be part of our project. We aim to create a new touristic product from your heritage, one that only you know, how the traditional craft itself can create a touristic product, tourism is no longer limited to antiquities, now the tourist aims to see the origin of the craft, explore the authentic arts, traditional Egyptian meals or try authentic Egyptian activities. And the last thing is to promote the heritage and cultural tourism. the project shall enhance the marketing skills.

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Egypt has raised the level of preparedness at quarantine departments at all land, air, and sea ports, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday, after a new coronavirus variant was recently detected in southern Africa.

The ministry also announced raising the levels of detection to make sure travelers to the country are negative to possible infection.

According to the London-based Nature journal, the new variant B.1.1.529 harbours a large number of mutations, including the infectious Delta, and seems to be spreading quickly across southern Africa.

B.1.1.529 first emerged in Botswana then South Africa, forcing many countries, including UK, Singapore, and France to ban flights from southern Africa.

Scientific committees, experts, and researches at the Egyptian health ministry and Egyptian research centres are studying all the preliminary date related to this new variant, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry is following closely the preliminary data concerning the sharp rise of coronavirus infections, especially in South Africas Gauteng province, and assessing the relation between the spike in coronavirus cases and the new variant.

Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, the acting health minister, ordered finishing those studies as soon as possible to submit the results to the countrys Supreme Committee for the Management of the Coronavirus Crisis.

The committee, chaired by the prime minister, will then take the required preventive measures to ensure the safety of the health situation in Egypt, the acting minister said.

A group of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are scheduled to convene on 26 November and are expected to label the strain as a variant of concern, Nature cited Tulio de Oliveira, a bioinformatician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as saying.

Researchers seek to discover whether the new variant poses a threat to the coronavirus vaccines effectiveness and measure the variants potential to spread across the world.

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Pope Tawadros II and Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj attended on Friday a celebration dubbed Nahnu Qaderoun (We Are Able) to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is observed on 3 December.

The celebration was organised by the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Centre within the framework of a cooperation protocol with Ain Shams University.

Pope Tawadros II told the event: "We see hope. Society in the form of Egyptian universities have opened their doors to people with hearing impairment and speech disabilities to study and excel in life."

El-Qabbaj said people with special needs in Egypt total around 11 million citizens, including people suffering from learning difficulties and other severe disabilities.

The ministry places these cases at the forefront of its priorities, the minister said.

Around 1,500 civil associations provide people with special needs with care and services since birth, El-Qabbaj noted.

Early detection of hearing impairment and speech disabilities contributes to improvement in those cases. Nurseries now play a role in detecting these cases as well as other learning difficulties, she stressed.

El-Qabbaj also highlighted the importance of integrating disabled people into job market and securing relevant job opportunities.

A new website will be launched to facilitate employment for the disabled in Egypt, she announced during the event.

Over the past years, Egypt has taken several steps to empower people with special needs and ensure that they receive the appropriate health, housing, transportation, education, and rehabilitation services as per the country's constitution.

Egyptian law also reserves eight seats in parliament for people with special needs.

The Ministry of Manpower has also allocated a page on their website for people with special needs wiling to apply for jobs.

Egypt had designated 2018 a year for people with special needs.

In 2019, Egypt established the National Council for Persons with Disabilities as per a presidential decree. The council is an independent entity in terms of financing and administration and has the prerogatives to report violations related to disabled people to the authorities.

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War-hit Ethiopia has announced new rules against sharing information on battlefield outcomes in the war against Tigrayan rebels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government declared a nationwide state of emergency earlier this month as fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) advance towards the capital, the latest turn in a brutal year-long conflict.

International alarm is mounting about the escalating war in Africa's second most populous country, with anxious foreign governments urging their citizens to leave.

The new decree issued late Thursday said it was "forbidden to distribute in any communication systems any military movements, battlefield outcomes" that were not officially published by the government.

"Security forces will take necessary measures on those who have been found to violate" the order, it said in a possible warning to news outlets and social media accounts that have reported on rebel claims of territorial gains.

The government also barred residents from "using various types of media platforms to support directly or indirectly the terrorist group" -- a reference to the TPLF -- and warned of unspecified consequences for anyone who ignored the decree.

The state of emergency imposed on November 2 allows the authorities to conscript citizens who own weapons or suspend any media outlets believed to be "giving moral support directly or indirectly" to the TPLF.

The latest decree also bans anyone from calling "for a transitional government", days after a prominent opposition party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), issued a statement urging an end to the fighting and the establishment of an interim administration to facilitate dialogue.

"During the mandate of the interim administration, all parties will begin negotiations on the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government that shall last for 18 months. No major stakeholder shall be excluded from these negotiations," the OFC said Wednesday.

Ethiopia's war erupted in November 2020 when Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into the Tigray region to topple its ruling party, the TPLF.

He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and promised a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray, including its capital Mekele.

Since then, the TPLF has pushed into neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, and this week it claimed to have seized a town just 220 kilometres (135 miles) from Addis Ababa.

On Wednesday state media reported that Abiy, a former lieutenant-colonel in the military, had arrived at the front line to lead a counter-offensive, handing over regular duties to his deputy.

The fighting has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions, according to UN estimates.

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Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday in a surprise one-day visit intended to reaffirm the United States' ``rock solid'' support for the self-governing island.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and planned to meet with senior leaders including Tsai, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy. No further details were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.

China was quick to condemn the trip when news first broke Thursday night.

``When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office received a blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call off the trip,'' Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat who is part of the delegation, wrote on Twitter.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian condemned the visit, calling it a violation of the ``one-China principle`` under which Taiwan is considered part of China.

``That individual U.S. politicians wantonly challenge the one-China principle and embolden the 'Taiwan independence' forces has aroused the strong indignation of 1.4 billion Chinese people,`` Zhao said. He added that unification of Taiwan and China is an ``unstoppable historical trend.''

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are also part of the delegation.

``We are here in Taiwan this week to remind our partners and allies, after two trying years that we've endured, that our commitment and shared responsibility for a free and secure Indo-Pacific region remain stronger than ever,`` Takano said.

Takano added that the U.S. relationship with Taiwan is ``rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened.''

Tsai, who welcomed the lawmakers at the Presidential Office in Taipei, noted the two sides' cooperation in veterans' affairs, economic issues and trade while reiterating the island's close alignment with the U.S.

``Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and to ensure peace and stability in the region,'' Tsai said.

The visit is the third by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan this year and comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican members of Congress visited the island. That delegation met with President Tsai, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.

The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.

In the Solomon Islands this week, anti-government rioters held protests and looted parts of the capital city in part over complaints about a 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. China has been on a campaign to poach Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies.

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Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday promised food and warm clothing to migrants who opt to stay at the border between the ex-Soviet nation and Poland and won't return to their homeland.

Lukashenko made the pledge during a visit to a facility that accommodates migrants at the border.

``My task is to help you, people in trouble,'' Lukashenko said, addressing thousands of migrants during a visit to a facility accommodating migrants at the Bruzgi warehouse. ``We, Belarusians, including myself, will do everything as you wish, even if it is bad for Poles, Latvians and someone else.''

``We will work together with you on your dream,'' Lukashenko added.

Lukashenko, who has accused the EU of failing to meet humanitarian standards by refusing the migrants entry, told them his government would do nothing to prevent them from reaching Europe.

"If anybody wants to go West -- that is your right. We will not try to catch you, beat you, and hold you behind barbed wire," Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko's visit comes after weeks of tensions at the border, where hundreds of people remain stuck. Since Nov. 8, a large group of people, mostly from the Middle East, has been stranded in Belarus at a border crossing with Poland, trapped as forces from the two countries face off against each other. Most are fleeing conflict or a sense of hopelessness at home, and aim to reach Germany or other Western European countries.

Lukashenko again called on Germany to accept migrants.

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Friday strongly denied claims by Lukashenko that Germany had agreed to take in 2,000 migrants currently in Belarus.

``It's not true that Germany agrees to this,'' he told reporters in Berlin.

Videos and photographs taken by local media outlets show the authoritarian leader of Belarus surveying conditions at the migrants' crowded quarters. Russia's state RIA Novosti news agency reported that crowds of migrants applauded Lukashenko on his arrival.

Lukashenko said that apart from about 2,000 people at the border facility, another 2,000 to 3,000 more migrants currently remain in Belarus. He promised migrants that the Belarusian authorities would help them return to their home countries _ but only if they want to.

``In no case will we detain you, tie your hands, load you on airplanes and send you home if you don't want that,'' Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko said that about 200 migrants still manage to illegally enter the EU every day.

Over 170 people returned to Iraq's northern Kurdish-run region on Friday with another return flight expected later in the day. Last week, 430 Iraqis returned home after a failed attempt to reach the European Union.

The West has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of luring thousands of migrants to Belarus with the promise of help to get to Western Europe to use them as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation European Union in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian government. Belarus denies engineering the crisis.

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Al-Ahram Weekly reports on government efforts to vaccinate 40 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Health and Population is considering providing booster jabs against COVID-19 during the first quarter of 2022.

For the time being, however, its focus is on vaccinating those who have yet to receive jabs, with the goal of ensuring 40 million citizens have been vaccinated by the end of this year.

Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, official spokesman at the Ministry of Health, reported that 27.5 million people had received a first dose of vaccine while 14.5 million have had two jabs.

Abdel-Ghaffar said that in addition to 1,200 vaccination centres nationwide, the 14 vaccination points set up inside underground stations had vaccinated 500,000 people, and the ministry is in the process of establishing vaccination points in shopping malls.

Medical staff, the elderly and people with chronic diseases will be prioritized for booster jabs next year, said Abdel-Ghaffar, with a minimum of nine months having passed between the second and third doses.

Manal Salama, coordinator of the Health Ministrys Scientific Committee for Combating COVID-19, explained that the third dose acts to boost the bodys immunity system against the virus, and that the jabs will become available as soon as the ministry meets its target of vaccinating 40 per cent of Egypts 104 million population.

Salama said the ministry would not be prioritising people who have been infected with the virus but who had received two doses of vaccine since they will already have strong immunity against COVID-19. She added that the only restriction on third doses being administered is likely to be the availability of the type of vaccine which citizens received in their first two doses.

Egypt is producing two million doses of Sinovac-VACSERA vaccine each week, in cooperation with the Chinese government, and the Health Ministry expects to receive a further 26 million doses within weeks, added Salama.

Mohamed Hassani, assistant minister of public health initiatives, points out that the vaccine rollout is being hampered not by the availability of doses but by continuing vaccine hesitancy among some sections of the public.

The ministry, says Hassani, is currently focused on raising peoples awareness of the importance of being inoculated through several health campaigns.

In recent weeks the Ministry of Health and Population has been cooperating with the Ministry of Education to roll out vaccines to pupils aged between 15 and 18 years. According to Ministry of Education Spokesperson Mahmoud Hassouna, eight million doses are required to vaccinate all students within the age range, and the ministry expects to meet this target by the end of the current semester.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 25 November, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The Icelandic filmmaker Valdimar Johannssons Un Certain Regard-winning debut Lamb, showing in this round of the Panorama of the European Film as part of the Uncanny on Screen section, is based on an Icelandic folktale.

It follows the life of a couple, Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snaer Gudnason) living in the Icelandic countryside with a cat and a dog in what appears to be an isolated area where they have a sheep farm, breeding sheep for the wool and living with their hands.

A quiet, childless couple, often tired, their monotonous life is interrupted when one of their sheep gives birth to a half-human creature. Killing the mother, Maria takes the hybrid creature home, puts it into a cot treats it as her child, naming it Ada after a daughter she and Ingvar had lost.

Suddenly, Ingvars brother Petur (Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson)  who appears to have an amorous connection with his sister-in-law  arrives unannounced, and is so shocked by Ada he decides to kill her  only to end up accepting and treating her in an avuncular way.

Here as elsewhere in the landscape shots the influence of Johannssons mentor the Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr, also this films executive producer, is evident. But, while it deeply probes questions of parenthood and difference, the film has a rather baffling ending when a grown-up human-sheep hybrid arrives to kill Ingvar and take Ada.

In the Emerging Directors section is the Maltese film Luzzu, the American writer and filmmaker Alex Camilleris debut which won the the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Camilleri directed three short films; the first was Elli and the Astronaut (2009), and the second, a documentary, was Still Here (2010); he also made Prickly Pear (2017).

Luzzu is the name of traditional Maltese fishermens boats  usually a small, brightly coloured vessel with eye-like spots on the bow  and it depicts the way of life of traditional fishermen, showing how they are increasingly driven our of business by EU restrictions on fishing practices and the brutality and corruption of capitalism.

The film was nominated for the Golden Athena at the Athens International Film Festival, the Antigone dOr at the Montpellier International Film Festival and the Bronze Horse at Stockholm Film Festival. It won the Special Jury Diploma at the Molodist International Film Festival.

Luzzu follows the real-life character Jesmark, whose role is a modified version of his daily life, revolving around the boat and the fishing trade, which has run in his family for generations.

Jesmark and his wife Denise (Michela Farrugia) have two problems: their boat needs repairs, and their newborn child requires expensive medical care to grow properly. Jesmark is torn between continuing to fight a losing battle or handing in his boat in return for a sum of money.

Benefiting from powerful cinematography by Leo Lefevre, the film captures the culture and atmosphere of the island, with the fishermen mending their nets and a priest sailing from one boat to another to bless them. Towards the end of the film, Jesmark is tries to sell his fish at the market only to discover that a large fish he himself had released back into the water because it wasnt the legal season for fishing it was being sold there.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 25 November, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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A full-time teacher at a foreign language school in south China's Shenzhen spends most of his spare time shooting pictures of various bird species. Yang Junfeng captures the natural beauty of these birds in his photographs, taken at almost all the city's parks. Yang is delighted about finding more bird varieties in Shenzhen which he attributes to a gradually improving eco-environment. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]

A full-time teacher at a foreign language school in south China's Shenzhen spends most of his spare time shooting pictures of various bird species. Yang Junfeng captures the natural beauty of these birds in his photographs, taken at almost all the city's parks. Yang is delighted about finding more bird varieties in Shenzhen which he attributes to a gradually improving eco-environment. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]

A full-time teacher at a foreign language school in south China's Shenzhen spends most of his spare time shooting pictures of various bird species. Yang Junfeng captures the natural beauty of these birds in his photographs, taken at almost all the city's parks. Yang is delighted about finding more bird varieties in Shenzhen which he attributes to a gradually improving eco-environment. [File Photo: Xuexi.cn]
Ahmaud Arbery's mother woke up Thursday with a new, very important blessing on Thanksgiving Day.

But there will still be an empty chair at the family's celebrations. It is a reminder that while she feels justice was served when the three white men who helped shoot her son were convicted Wednesday for cornering and killing him as he ran through a coastal Georgia neighborhood, she will never be made whole again because her son is gone.

A painted mural of Ahmaud Arbery is displayed on May 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Ga., where the 25-year-old man was shot and killed in February. [File Photo: AP/Sarah Blake Morgan]

This is the second Thanksgiving weve had without Ahmaud. But at the same time Im thankful. This is the first Thanksgiving we are saying we got justice for Ahmaud, Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

The three white men who chased and killed Arbery in Brunswick in February 2020 were all convicted of murder Wednesday. They cornered Arbery after finding out he had been seen on a surveillance camera at a nearby house under construction and wanted to question him about recent burglaries in the area.

Arbery ran through the neighborhood and other areas near his home to clear his head. He had nothing in his hands and ran from the men for five minutes before one of them shot three times at him at close range with a shotgun. The men face life in prison when they are sentenced later and a federal hate crimes trial for them is scheduled for February.

Cooper-Jones said after the verdicts were read Wednesday, she thought of her son's supporters at the Glynn County courthouse every day who shouted Justice for Ahmaud!

I finally got a chance to come out of those courtroom doors and say, we did it, we did it together," Cooper-Jones said.

Sitting beside Cooper-Jones as she heard the judge read out guilty 23 times was the mother of Ronald Greene, a Louisiana man who died in 2019 after he was beaten and put in a chokehold by state troopers after a high speed chase. Troopers said Greene suffered his injuries in a crash, but his doctors reported that didn't appear to be true. A federal civil rights investigation into Greene's death continues.

In the days after her son was killed. Cooper-Jones got a call from the mother of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teen killed by a man who successfully claimed self-defense during his murder trial after confronting Martin as he walked in his gated community. Martin was visiting relatives.

She also spoke with the mother of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police who burst into her home without knocking while serving a warrant during a drug operation. Taylor's boyfriend fired on the group. The officers were not charged in her death.

Other mothers who have lost sons and daughters to racial violence or in police shootings also reached out. Cooper-Jones calls them a sorority.

We come together. We share our experience and we grow together, she said.

Cooper-Jones spent the past six weeks away from home, since jury selection started Oct. 18. She moved away from Brunswick after her son was killed.

So she plans a quiet Thanksgiving away from home today. She isn't sure if they will make Arbery's favorite  pork chops and butter beans, but if not Thursday, the they will have them soon because she said her son loved them for Sunday dinner.

Today is actually going to be a day of rest. Ive been sitting in that courtroom since October 18," Cooper-Jones said. I'm gathering my immediate family. Were going to have a small dinner. Weve going to be thankful. Were going to give our praises to God.

Other relatives are also grateful for the blessing of justice.

Were thankful for Ahmauds life. Thankful for the love that hes shown us, for the years we had him. Thankful for the fight we stayed in for justice. Thankful that now we can start healing, Arbery's aunt Thea Brooks told the AP.

Cooper-Jones is also thankful her son's killers are facing justice and his death will make Georgia a safer place.

After Arbery's death, Georgia became the 47th state to pass a hate crimes law. The Legislature also repealed the citizens arrest law that defense attorneys tried to use to justify chasing him, banning people who aren't officers from detaining people outside of shoplifting.

When they hear my son's name, they will say, this young man, he lost his life but he did bring change, Cooper-Jones said.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2021 - 18:47 | World, All

A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation, including five House of Representatives members, held talks with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday after arriving in Taipei the previous day, immediately triggering a backlash from China.

In her opening remarks, Tsai said self-ruled Taiwan will "continue to step up cooperation with the United States to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and ensure peace and stability in the region."

Democrat Mark Takano, who led the delegation, praised Tsai's leadership, saying that under her administration, "the bonds between us are more positive and productive than they have been for decades."

"Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened. Taiwan is a democratic success story, a reliable partner and a force for good in the world."

The third congressional delegation to Taiwan this year comes amid bipartisan support in Washington for the democratically ruled island that is facing diplomatic and military pressure from an increasingly assertive China.

Later Friday, China criticized the latest move by the United States and Taiwan, saying it has lodged a protest against Washington.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that the Communist-led government "expresses strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to" the visit by the U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan.

Takano and the four House members in the delegation include three other Democrats and Republican Nancy Mace.

In her meeting with the delegation at her office, Tsai cited a recent major upgrade in Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets and the resumption of negotiations under a bilateral trade and investment framework agreement as examples of strengthened partnership between Taipei and Washington.

"We believe these talks are laying a solid foundation for a stronger bilateral economic partnership," she said.

Takano said the delegation was in Taiwan to remind "our partners and allies" that "our commitments and our shared responsibility for a free and secure Indo-Pacific region remain stronger than ever."

The lawmaker voiced hope that frequent travels to Taiwan by U.S. policymakers will become "business as usual again."

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency, the delegation also met with former Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan in the morning. It is also scheduled to visit the Defense Ministry.

The delegation flew in by plane on Thursday. The American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy, has said that during its two-day visit, the delegation would discuss with senior Taiwanese leaders U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security and "other significant issues of mutual interest."

The administration of President Joe Biden recently invited Taiwan, along with Japan and dozens of other countries, to a virtual meeting of the leaders of the world's democracies to be held on Dec. 9 and 10.

Earlier this month, a 12-member bipartisan congressional delegation including four senators and two House members visited Taiwan and held talks with Tsai and Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng.

Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split amid a civil war in 1949. The government in Beijing, led by the Chinese Communist Party, regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.

Related coverage:

Taiwan, U.S. hold 2nd annual meeting of new economic dialogue

U.S. lawmakers visit Taiwan, draw Chinese rebuke

Taiwan leader, 1st official EU parliament delegation hold talks
KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2021 - 23:15 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

European Council President Charles Michel's visit to Japan has been "postponed," his spokesman said Friday, amid concern over a new coronavirus variant.

The spokesman, Barend Leyts, said on Twitter that the change in plan was due to a member of the council having tested positive for COVID-19. Michel was scheduled to hold talks in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday.

It would have been Michel's first visit to Japan since he took office in December 2019, according to the European Union, with Tokyo seeking to bolster cooperation with the bloc to counter China's growing military and economic clout.

Kishida and Michel were likely to discuss the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, democratic values and the rule of law as well as China's attempts to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China seas during their talks, a Japanese government source said.

In September, the EU released its new Indo-Pacific strategy that included stepping up relations with Taiwan.

The report came at a time when China has been ramping up military pressure such as by sending military planes into the island's air defense identification zone.

Earlier this month, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen held talks with a European Parliament delegation that was making a first visit to the democratic, self-ruled island.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Related coverage:

Japan PM Kishida, EU Council chief Michel likely to meet Nov. 29 in Japan
By Reito Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2021 - 18:26 | All, Japan

The Chinese military has integrated its land, sea and air conventional forces with new space, cyber, electromagnetic and cognitive domains to enhance its joint operations capabilities and will aim to equal or surpass the United States in 2050, a Japanese Defense Ministry think tank warned Friday.

The annual report on China's security strategy by the National Institute for Defense Studies was released as the rivalry between Washington and Beijing has been intensifying, and attention is growing on the timeline for a possible Chinese invasion of self-ruled Taiwan.

In March, then U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Philip Davidson said that China could try to invade Taiwan "in the next six years."

After decades of military reform, China has, to a certain degree, attained centralized command structures to defend its combat systems, and identify and strike potential adversaries' vital weak points, the China Security Report 2022 said.

The People's Liberation Army "went beyond merely imitating Western countries. It made the joint operations concept unique by basing it on the PLA's tradition and novel by taking new technological developments into account," the report said.

Beijing started to research joint operations capabilities after the Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990.

The multinational coalition against Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein comprised more than 30 countries. The military operation began in January 1991 with the United States surprising Beijing with its use of high-technology weapons.

Chinese President Xi Jinping accelerated the integration concept after becoming head of the Communist Party of China in 2012 and even more after becoming the country's president the following year, the report said.

Although Beijing had aimed to complete the process by 2020, the report pointed out issues remained in accomplishing integrated joint operations capabilities.

Firstly, the report asserts, China lacks "defense and science technology as well as personnel capable of realizing the concept," as it is challenging to recruit, train and retain high-level personnel, and upgrade the military education system.

Secondly, China will face difficulties due to the vague power balance between the Chinese Communist Party and the country's armed forces.

"I believe the party's grip is currently working well. The stronger the party's grip, the less autonomy the army has," Yasuyuki Sugiura, a senior research fellow at the think tank who authored the report, said.

"The party thinks that the more the army is updated to deal with modern warfare, the more it could undermine its party character, which is a constant worry," he said at a press briefing.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan from 2016 to 2020, the PLA conducted "more than 100 joint operations trainings involving mobilization of actual personnel," the report said, citing PLA Daily, the official paper of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.

The report said that China is learning from Russian forces.

"As the Chinese military has not had any real combat experience since the 1980s, China attaches great importance to Sino-Russian training. They have repeated such exercises several times," Sugiura said.

China and Russia have been ramping up joint military exercises around Japan recently.

The two countries' warships sailed around most of the Japanese archipelago last month, according to Japan's Defense Ministry. More recently, Japanese fighter jets scrambled in response to two Chinese and two Russian bombers flying over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea last week, according to the ministry.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2021 - 23:47 | Japan, All

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed strong concern over human rights issues in China during his remarks to a virtual meeting of leaders from about 50 Asian and European countries on Friday.

On the last day of the two-day summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting, Kishida voiced worries about the human rights situation in Hong Kong as well as the Xinjiang region in northwestern China.

Kishida also said he strongly opposes unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas, apparently criticizing China's military buildup.

Leaders of European countries on Thursday, the first day of the summit, also expressed concern about friction between China and other nations over human rights and other issues.

Related coverage:

Asia, Europe leaders meet virtually as China looms large

At the closing of the meeting on Friday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who hosted the summit, said, "Over the past 25 years, ASEM has proven to be a vital platform, connecting Asia and Europe and promoting the partnership between the two continents."

Cambodia as the chair issued statements on strengthened cooperation among ASEM member states in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. In the statements, the member states stressed the need for countries to have fair national access to coronavirus vaccines and accelerated cooperation for economic recovery from the pandemic.

They also expressed deep concerns over Myanmar, where the military seized power after toppling a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February.

The ASEM leaders urged the ruling junta to accept a special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who is supposed to mediate between the stakeholders in the country.

Myanmar did not participate in the summit, after being told that only a "nonpolitical representative" could attend, according to ASEAN sources.

Meanwhile, the leaders did not specifically refer to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, only mentioning the importance of a peaceful solution to conflicts in general based on international law and freedom of navigation.

ASEM involves about 50 countries from across Europe and Asia as well as the European Union and the ASEAN secretariat.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 26, 2021 - 20:09 | All, Coronavirus, Japan

Japan will tighten restrictions on travelers from South Africa and five nearby countries after the discovery of a new coronavirus variant there, the government's top spokesman said Friday.

Travelers who have recently been to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa or Zimbabwe will be required to spend 10 days in a government-designated facility upon their arrival, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference.

The move, which takes effect Saturday, comes amid mounting concerns over the spread of a coronavirus variant known as B.1.1.529, which infectious disease experts warn could be more contagious than previous strains or render existing vaccines less effective.

Britain has temporarily suspended all flights from the six countries in southern Africa, and the World Health Organization has called a special meeting to discuss the variant.

After leaving the government-designated facility, travelers from South Africa and the nearby countries will need to spend a further four days in quarantine at home to ensure they are not infected. Previously, they would have been allowed to spend all 14 days at home.
Washington:

NASA said Thursday that it's sending a drone called Dragonfly to explore Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

Using propellers, the drone will fly and land on several spots on the icy moon to study whether it can support microbial life.

The nuclear-powered mission is part of NASA's competitive New Frontiers program, which launched the New Horizons spacecraft that became the first to visit dwarf planet Pluto.

Dragonfly beat out nearly a dozen proposed projects, including a mission to collect samples from a nearby comet.

The drone is slated to launch in 2026 and arrive at Titan in 2034. The plan is to land on some of Titan's dunes and later on a crater. Development costs for the mission are capped at around USD 850 million.

"What really excites me about this mission is that Titan has all the ingredients needed for life," said Lori Glaze, director of NASA's planetary science division.

Titan is a haze-covered world with a thick atmosphere.

The moon has lakes of methane, mountains of ice and an ocean below the surface, making it an attractive place to explore whether its environment can support primitive life.

"We are absolutely thrilled, and everyone is just raring to go and take the next steps in exploring Titan," said project leader Elizabeth Turtle of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

Titan was last studied by the international Cassini-Huygens mission.

In 2017, the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn, ending two decades of exploration.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi :

Amid rumours of West Bengal Chief Minister roping in poll strategist Prashant Kishor for 2021 West Bengal Assembly polls, the two leaders today met at the state secretariat Nabanna, fuelling the speculation that he might take a lead role in preparing the Trinamool Congressas strategy for the state elections.

They had a closed-door meeting that lasted for around two hours, sources in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. Kishore, who is also a vice-president of Janata Dal-United, was accompanied by Trinamool MP and Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee.

This was the second meeting between Mamata and Prashant in a month. The development comes in the backdrop of several Trinamool lawmakers joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the saffron party making deep inroads in West Bengal.

Although the Trinamool leadership as well as Kishor remained tightlipped about his companya the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) preparing a roadmap for the next Assembly polls in the state, a highly-placed source said nothing was finalised as of now.

West Bengal: Political strategist Prashant Kishor leaves from Nabanna (State Secretariat of West Bengal), TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee is also present with him. pic.twitter.com/J9bTlt8Fmq a ANI (@ANI) June 27, 2019

"Kishor has a style of functioning. Before offering a suggestion or an opinion, he takes a lot of time to study the subject. If he is appointed, everyone will get to know," the source said.

Apart from Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee, there are only a few party leaders who are aware of what transpired at the meeting.

"It was a closed-door meeting. It can be guessed that they discussed about Prashant's formal appointment and the role he and his team would play in shaping the plan of action for the TMC," the source said.

Earlier, Kishore met Banerjee raising speculation about working with her in the near future to help her foil the BJP's growing influence in the state and maintain her grip on Bengal for the 2021 state polls.

Reeling under the aftermath of the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections, Banerjee is understood to have taken help of Kishor to infuse new energy into the cadre. But this ahelpa has lots of political ramifications for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is in an alliance with the BJP.

However, the JDU distanced itself from Kishoras new assignment in Bengal. Senior JDU leader KC Tygai was quoted as saying that people had no qualms over Kishor helping out Jagan Mohan Reddy. There was no concern, so why now? He also said that the JDU has nothing to do with Prashant Kishoras private firm and its dealings.

Prashant, who was with Jaganmohan Reddy earlier, played a pivotal role in YSR Congress chief Jagan Reddy's sweep in Andhra Pradesh, where the incumbent Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's party was voted out of power. After winning all 25 Lok Sabha seats and over 150 of the 175 assembly constituencies, Jagan Reddy took power in the state for the first time.

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New Delhi :

Indias S-400 missile defence system deal with Russia was not discussed during the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Japans Osaka, External Affairs Ministry said on Friday. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, informing about the bilateral meeting between Modi and Trump, said that primary focus was on Iran issue and to ensure stability in the region as a large Indian diaspora lives in Gulf.

"S-400 issue wasn't discussed. On Iran, primary focus was on how we ensure stability there, as instability affects us in many ways, not just in matter of energy needs, but also in terms of our large diaspora in Gulf, 8 million Indians in the Gulf," Gokhale said.

The S-400 deal with Russia was the major bone of contention between India and US with the later cautioning New Delhi that the deal with Kremlin would limit defence cooperation with Washington. Transactions with Russia risk imposition of sanctions by the US under the CAATSA (Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act).

Gokhale said that Modi and Trump agreed to meet again on an early date to sort out trade differences between the two nations. Ahead of the meeting, Trump had said that the tarrif hike on several US products by India was "unacceptable" and demanded it to be withdrawn.

"It was agreed that trade ministers of both countries would meet on an early date and try to sort out these issues. Both US trade representatives Robert Loghthizer and their Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were in the room. We expect an early meeting," Gokhale said.

Giving further details about the issues discussed during India-Japan-US trilateral meeting among the leaders of the three countries, Gokhale said that Indo-Pacific was the main topic focused upon during the meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka.

Main topic of discussion was Indo-Pacific, how the 3 countries can work together in terms of connectivity, infrastructure, ensuring peace & security, and in terms of working together to build upon this new concept, he said.

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Berlin:

Scientists in Europe said on Tuesday theyve successfully transferred a test tube rhino embryo back into a female whose eggs were fertilised in vitro, as part of an effort to save another nearly extinct sub-species of the giant horned mammal.

The procedure was performed last month on a southern white rhino at Chorzow zoo in Poland, said Thomas Hildebrandt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin.

Hildebrandt is part of BioRescue, an international team of scientists and conservationists trying to use IVF to save the rare northern white rhino.

Only two northern white rhinos both females are left. The last male northern white rhino, named Sudan, died in March 2018. Scientists had preserved frozen sperm samples from several males that they now hope to use to revive the species.

Scientists chose to test the IVF transfer on southern white rhinos, a closely related sub-species whose numbers have stabilized in the wild.

This is the first positive proof that the entire procedure weve developed in theory can be successful, Hildebrandt told reporters in Berlin.

But time is running out.

The BioRescue team is waiting for permission from the Kenyan government to harvest eggs from the last two surviving female northern white rhinos, a mother and daughter called Najin and Fatu. They are unable to bear offspring themselves, so once the embryos are fertilized in the lab they would be implanted in a southern white rhino surrogate mother.

Kenyas ambassador in Germany, Joseph Magutt, said his country supports the effort, but didnt say how long it would take to clear the paperwork.

Hildebrandt cautioned that while ultrasound tests show the embryo transferred at Chorzow zoo has grown, its smaller than expected and it remains to be seen whether it will implant in the mothers uterine lining and result in a pregnancy.

There are a lot of technical problems that will be solved, but it will take time, said Cesare Galli, whose Italy-based company Avantea specializes in artificial reproduction of horses.

The German government announced on Tuesday that it is supporting the project with 4 million euros (USD 4.6 million) funding.

In the meantime, others in the BioRescue team are working on ways to turn preserved skin cells from deceased rhinos into eggs or sperm, a procedure thats so far only been performed with mice.

Rhinos have long been under pressure from poachers because of their horns, and several sub-species are at risk of extinction. Conservationists say rhinos are important for the survival of many other species because of the role they play in landscaping their native habitat.

Earlier this week, five eastern black rhinos were transported from European zoos to Rwandas Akagera National Park to help increase the genetic diversity of the rhino population there.

More broadly, a recent United Nations report warned that a million species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades, largely because of human activity.

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New Delhi :

Terrorism is the biggest threat to humanity which not only kills innocents but also severely affects the economic development and social stability, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BRICS leaders at G20 summit in Japans Osaka on Friday. Speaking at the informal BRICS leaders meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Modi said that there was a need to stop all the mediums of support to terrorism as well as racism.

Modi said that there was an immediate need to strengthen the WTO, fighting protectionism, ensuring energy security and work together to fight terrorism.

"Today, I will focus on the three major challenges. First is the instability and downfall in the global economy. Unilateralism and competitiveness are overshadowing the rule-based mutilateral global trade systems.....Deficiency of resources, there is a shortfall of almost USD 1.3 trillion investment in the infrastructure, he said.

The second one is to make development sustainable and all-inclusive. Fast changing technologies like digitalisation and climate change pose a challenge to the current as well as future generations, Modi said. Development is worthwhile only when it reduces inequality and contribute in empowerment, he said.

The prime minister, who is in Osaka for the G20 Summit, congratulated Jair Bolsonaro on being elected as the President of Brazil and welcomed him in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) family. He also congratulated Cyril Ramaphosa on his election as the President of South Africa as the BRICS leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit Osaka.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

Three persons were killed and five others injured in rain-related incidents in Mumbai, which received the first spell of heavy rains this monsoon on Friday. Few hours of incessant rains left the financial capital struggling with the familiar monsoon woes of waterlogging, delayed trains, traffic jams and choked drains.

Three persons died of electric shocks, while two others were injured in two separate incidents in the western suburbs, a spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The deceased were identified as Kashima Yudiyar (60), a resident of Andheri (East), Rajendra Yadav (60) and Sanjay Yadav (24) - both from Goregaon (East), said civic official.

Two people suffered injuries in the Goregaon incident and were admitted to a local hospital, he said. The police were inquiring into the Goregaon electrocution incident, he added.

Three others were injured when a portion of a wall collapsed in Dadar (East). They were admitted to the civic-run KEM Hospital.

Waterlogging was reported from areas like Kurla, Dadar, Kandivili, Vikhroli, Wadala, Worli, Kanjurmarg, Chembur, Bandra, Andheri and Bhandup among others.

"Hello, Mumbai! The island city and suburbs have received 33 mm and 95 mm rainfall respectively. While we're on our toes, it may take some time to pump out all water from waterlogged areas owing to neap tide. Hopefully, all should be well by late evening," the civic body said in a tweet.

The BMC has appealed to the citizens to avoid driving in the waterlogged areas.

"We request all citizens to not drive into water logged areas till the water is pumped out. We understand you may get slightly delayed but let's not compromise on safety," the civic body said in another tweet.

Traffic snarls were reported from several parts of the metropolis and the residents took to social media to narrate their sufferings.

"The entire city is dug up. Blame your bad maintenance and infrastructure management...Don't blame the rains....It's just one day...The common man has to suffer," a woman tweeted.

Private weather forecaster Skymet has predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri and the adjoining areas in the next 24 hours.

"During the next 24 hours, light to moderate #rains with one or two heavy spells are likely to be witnessed over #Gujarat region, #Konkan and #Goa, Madhya #Maharashtra and coastal #Karnataka," it said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, some airlines issued advisories and asked flyers to keep more time in hand while travelling to the airport.

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New Delhi:

The Karnataka Exam Authority (KEA) has released the KCET Mock allotment result today i.e. June 27, 2019 for all the students. The exam authority had started the option entry process from June 21 onward for the seat allotment round 1. The candidates can check the KCET Mock Seat Allotment 2019 results on the official website of the authority.

KEA will release the final seat allotment list on June 30, 2019. With the release of KCET Mock allotment result 2019, candidates will be given the choice to make changes in the options from June 27 to June 29, 2019.

The candidates must note that the KCET 2019 Counselling will be held for only those candidates who clear the KCET 2019 exam. KCET seat allotment is the result of the counselling held by the exam authorities.
New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma blamed the mistakes in party manifesto for poor show in the Lok Sabha polls. Congress poll manifesto promised to repeal Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and sedition law. The very mention of three things, the repeal of sedition law, or of AFSPA, that was distorted to the hilt and misrepresented... I cant blame, this was a bitterly fought election and they (BJP) did it, Sharma told HTN Tiranga TV. The Congress manifesto had invited a sharp attack from BJP.



Agreeing to the difference in party, Sharma said, Yes, there is a crisis (in the party) because we were not expecting such a big defeat This marked uncertainty is not good for the party and we must honestly move forward.



ALSO READ | PV Narasimha Rao's grandson demands apology from Sonia, Rahul Gandhi



On Thursday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi stuck to his decision to resign as party chief, saying he did it to ensure accountability for the partys Lok Sabha poll debacle and there was no question of going back on it. He made the comments during a meeting with leaders from Haryana state coordination committee who urged him to continue to lead the party and take back his resignation.

I have resigned after taking full responsibility and ensuring accountability for the partys defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. I cannot ask others to resign too. It is up to them if they want to take responsibility, he told the leaders.

He added there was no question of going back on his decision.

Asked about the partys strategy for upcoming assembly elections, Gandhi plainly told the leaders to discuss it among themselves, leaving the state unit in the lurch.

The leaders later said they spoke to Gandhi separately and hoped the party would take a decision on the state leadership soon. Haryana goes to polls later this year.

Those present during the meeting, which remained inconclusive, were Congress general secretary in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Tanwar.



ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi sticks to decision to resign as Congress chief

Haryana CLP leader Kiran Choudhry, party MLA and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and Kuldeep Bishnoi were among the prominent absentees at the meeting.

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New Delhi:

In yet another major crackdown to his predecessor, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday served a notice to N Chandrababu Naidu for 'removal' of an illegal bungalow on the Krishna riverbed taken on lease by the latter. The Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority pasted the notice on the bungalow's wall as the owner, Lingamaneni Ramesh, was away. The bungalow was built on a six-acre land on the Krishna riverbed "without any legal permission and in total violation of rules and regulations," the CRDA said in the notice.

"Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority has served notice to Former CM, N Chandrababu Naidu to vacate his current official residence," the news agency ANI reported.

Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority has served notice to Former CM, N Chandrababu Naidu to vacate his current official residence. pic.twitter.com/E8KmJA3AqQ  ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2019

READ | YSR Congress to accept Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker's post only if...

The notice comes close on the heels of the authorities beginning demolition of a conference hall - 'Praja Vedika' - built adjacent to the bungalow. The demolition started on Wednesday. The hall was built at a cost of Rs 8.90 crore during Naidu's tenure as chief minister, essentially to conduct government conferences as there was no other facility in the state's new capital city.

The order by Jaganmohan effectively meant rejection of Naidu's plea to him earlier this month that the hall, used for official meetings in the previous regime, be declared as 'residence annex' of the Leader of Opposition.

These developments come nearly a month after the YSRCP, in a thumping performance, had won 151 of the 175 Assembly seats and 22 of the 25 parliamentary constituencies in Andhra Pradesh. Following this massive mandate, Reddy was unanimously elected as the leader of the YSRC Legislature Party and became the chief minister of the state.

READ | CM Jaganmohan meets Home Minister Amit Shah, raises special status for Andhra

The TDP, which suffered a rout in both Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, currently has 23 MLAs in Andhra Pradesh Assembly.

(With inputs from agencies)

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New Delhi:

Lok Sabha on Friday passed Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The bill aimed at providing benefits of reservation in reservation in direct recruitment, promotion and admission in professional courses to people living along the International Border (IB) in the state.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, will replace an ordinance issued by the previous government.

Earlier in the day, the Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah who was present in the House.

Some members from the opposition wanted to oppose introduction of the Bill but Speaker Om Birla rejected their demand, saying they had not followed the procedure for doing so.

The Bill seeks to provide relief to people living in areas adjoining the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir. They can now avail benefits of reservation in direct recruitment, promotion and admission in different professional courses.

The Bill will amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 to bring persons residing in areas adjoining the IB within the ambit of reservation, on par with those living in areas adjoining the ALoC.

People living in areas adjoining the IB in Jammu and Kashmir were not included in the ambit of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 and Rules, 2005.

The rules provided for reservation in direct recruitment, promotions and admission in different professional courses to various categories, including residents of areas adjoining ALoC. Thus, those living in areas adjoining the IB in Jammu and Kashmir were not getting these benefits for a long time.

Due to continuous cross-border tensions, persons living along the IB suffer from socio-economic and educational backwardness.

Shelling from across the border often compels residents to move to safer places, which adversely impacts their education as schools and colleges remain closed for long periods.

With PTI Inputs

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New Delhi :

India successfully test-fired indigenously developed nuclear-capable missile Prithvi-II on Thursday night as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range off the Odisha coast.

The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from Launch Complex-III of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, Odisha, at around 8.30 pm, sources said.

"It was a routine trial," a source said.

Prithvi-II was also successfully test-fired at night on February 21, 2018 from the ITR at Chandipur.

The missile is capable of carrying 500/100 kg of warheads and is powered by liquid propulsion twin engines. The state-of-the-art missile uses an advanced inertial guidance system with a maneuvering trajectory to hit its target, the sources said.

The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activity was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by the scientists of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of a training exercise, they added.

"The missile trajectory was tracked with the help of radars, electro-optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the DRDO along the coast of Odisha," a source said.

The down range teams on board a ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashed down, he added.

On November 21, 2016, two missiles were successfully test-fired in the salvo mode from the same base.

Inducted into the armory of the Indian defence forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fuelled Prithvi is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

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New Delhi:

The Satish Chander Dhawan Government College in Ludhiana is all set to release the tentative SCD 2019 merit list anytime soon. The institution was scheduled to publish the list at around 9 am today, following the closing of the online registration process on Friday, i.e. June 28, 2019. However, the list has not been published till the time and there is no official confirmation so far regarding the same.

Therefore, students who have registered their name, seeking admission to Satish Chander Dhawan Government College, are advised to keep a close tab on the official website of the institution that is scdgovtcollege.ac.in. Additionally, they can also log on to this page as News Nation will be providing a direct link to the official website of the college as and when the merit list is declared.

READ | DU Admissions 2019: NTA releases mock test for Delhi University entrance exam

Once the tentative SCD 2019 merit list is released on the website, students can raise objections till 11.00 am on July 4. Though the door for online registration is closed yesterday, registered candidates can review their SCD College application form and update marks till July 2. The final SCD College merit list 2019 will be made available at around 1.00 pm on July 5.

As per the official notification released on the SCD Government Colleges homepage, the counselling process will take place at the college campus later in July. Candidates who will successfully make it to the final merit list are required to update their merit list status in their SCD College Application Form 2019.

This year, the SCD College has received as many as 2,295 applications for 480 seats in BA (morning) course so far. On the other hand, BA (evening) course with 140 seat capacity has received 1,006 application forms for the academic year 2019. Around 1,545 and 756 applications were received for BCom and BSc courses respectively. BBA and BCA course, each with 40 seats, got 824 and 665 applications forms.

READ | SBI PO 2019 Prelims result to be declared soon

Meanwhile, the SCD Government College has also started accepting applications for various post graduate courses. Interested candidates should visit the official website of the college, mentioned above, for further details.
* Source says Russia not concerned yet by variant impact on OPEC+

* Oil plunges more than 10%

* OPEC+ meets on Dec. 2 (Updates oil price)

By Alex Lawler, Ahmad Ghaddar and Vladimir Soldatkin

LONDON/MOSCOW, Nov 26 (Reuters) - OPEC+ is monitoring developments around the new coronavirus variant, sources said on Friday, with some expressing concern that it may worsen the oil market outlook less than a week before a meeting to set policy.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, is already facing a release of oil stocks led by the United States to try to cool prices. Still, a source said Russia, a key OPEC+ member, was not concerned about the virus variant yet.

OPEC+ has resisted U.S. calls to do more to lower oil prices, continuing to unwind last year's record output curbs by adding 400,000 barrels of supply per day every month since August. Next week's meeting will discuss January's output.

Global authorities reacted with alarm to news of the B.1.1.529 variant, with the EU, Britain and India among those announcing stricter border controls. Oil plunged more than 10%, the largest one-day drop since April 2020.

"Not good as it adds bearishness to an already weak outlook," said an OPEC delegate about the new variant, asking not to be identified. Another said this could be the case, although it was too early to say.

OPEC+ meets on Dec. 2 to decide output policy. Another source said the group would assess the significance of the variant for the market.

Sources have said that an OPEC panel which advises ministers and met this week sees the U.S.-led oil stocks release as increasing the supply excess that OPEC has already warned of next year.

Another OPEC delegate, while noting the slide in oil prices on Friday, said it was not yet clear how significant an impact the variant would have. Oil demand has been recovering and is expected by OPEC to return to the pre-pandemic rate of 100 million bpd in 2022.

Story continues

"I am very concerned," he said. "There are many unknowns at the moment."

Prior to Friday, OPEC+ sources said the group had not discussed pausing their planned output hike in January. Iraq said on Thursday OPEC+ should stick to its existing plan.

A source familiar with Russian thinking on Friday downplayed the variant.

"I believe that the panic on the market because of the new COVID version should calm down," the source said. "The OPEC+ participants should...not chase after the speculators."

(Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Editing by Louise Heavens )
FRISCO, Texas  Dak Prescotts initial thought in the post-touchdown jubilation was to resist.

The Dallas Cowboys quarterback had just rolled out of a sack early in the fourth quarter, zig-zagging into what would become a somersault of a 6-yard rushing touchdown. In their 2018 Thanksgiving game against Washington, the Cowboys now had the lead. Prescott celebrated with his trademark kiss to the sky, a nod to his late mother and celebratory embraces with his offensive linemen.

Then running back Ezekiel Elliott raced to the end zone, lifting Prescott into his arms before promptly dumping  donating?  him into the Salvation Army red kettle.

"At the point he lifted me up, Im like, 'I better not resist or I might hurt something,' " Prescott said. "Zekes a person and player Im very thankful for."

GIVING THANKS: One thing for each NFL team to be thankful for

INSPIRATION: Cowboys channel legacy of late strength coach

The antics marked Elliotts third touchdown celebration with the red kettle, the Salvation Armys annual holiday collection campaign that launched in 1891. The Cowboys will host their 25th nationally broadcast Red Kettle Campaign Kickoff on Thursday, complete with kettles in the end zone and a halftime performance by country music entertainer Luke Combs.

 Ezekiel Elliott really put Dak Prescott in the Salvation Army kettle#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/O4ZlY763Uj  Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) November 23, 2018

This years red kettle involvement remains up in the air after Prescott and Elliott were fined in 2018 for what the league deemed unsportsmanlike conduct. But the Cowboys value what has become a source of team energy and philanthropic spirit. The campaign has served more than 748 million people with donations totaling $2.86 billion since 1997.

Story continues

"It has become that tradition," Cowboys Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones told USA TODAY Sports. "Its as much a part of who we are with the Cowboys as eating turkey is on Thanksgiving Day."

'A completely authentic moment'

Perhaps Combs recognition of the red kettle antics illustrates that reach. The multiplatinum artist and 2021 CMA Entertainer of the Year said hes "used to seeing" Elliott jump into the red kettle.

"How many times you jumping in this tomorrow, @ezekielelliott?" Combs posted to Instagram on Thursday.

Its possible Elliott hasnt decided yet.

Country music singer @lukecombs performing at halftime of tomorrows Cowboys-Raiders game. He knows whats up with Zeke and the Salvation Army red kettle pic.twitter.com/fuvTyRMpa2  Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) November 24, 2021

When he first took the plunge in December 2016, the scheme materialized during warmups. Elliott saw the kettle and thought: "That buckets just sitting right there by the end zone, so its only right someone jumps in it."

He checked before warmups to ensure nothing dangerous was inside.

His moment came after he scored 2-yard touchdown run against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still holding the ball, Elliott hopped in. He then peeked his head over the top as if checking for a clear coast, which became an iconic meme. A longtime friend texted Elliotts mother, Dawn, who was at the game and said: "That is totally something you would have done."

Dawn Elliott saw how quickly her son beelined for the kettle and figured he had eyed such an opportunity.

"I know my child: He was waiting to do that," she told USA TODAY Sports by phone. "Hes been always a big kid. Hes acted like that ever since he was little. He kind of never grew up."

 Tony Romo, Jason Garrett & Ezekiel Elliott's reactions after Zeke jumped into the Salvation Army kettle #DallasCowboys #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/rgLDOyLmpD  Fanatics View (@fanaticsview) December 26, 2016

Jones said that contagious spirit paired with Elliotts characteristic "Feed Me" gesture to form an eye-catching Salvation Army pitch. Watching from the owners box, she breathed a sigh of relief when Elliott emerged uninjured. After all, she said, the kettles were initially used to store pyrotechnics for the teams halftime performance. Jones also laughed when someone suggested she had put Elliott up to it as a marketing ploy.

"It was just a 20-year-old kid who thought it was a good idea to jump inside the kettle," Jones told USA TODAY Sports. "I almost think if it had been anybody else, it would not have been near as clever. But he has to even come up out of there peering, his full personality. To me, thats just such good spirit, such great generosity.

"It was a completely authentic moment."

Elliott subsequently donated $21,000 to the Salvation Army and solicited $21 donations from fans to help feed families in need. The campaign generated an additional $250,000 in donations, the team said.

And Elliott brought back the $21 donation in 2018 when he scored the games first touchdown. This time, Elliott had planted cash with an on-field photographer, donating the $21 after his own score a couple quarters before hed ultimately donate Prescott. The Prescott donation, Elliott concedes, was not preplanned.

"It was kind of spur of the moment," Elliott said. "Just remember I threw him in there. It was fun. We had a good time."

Ezekiel Elliott celebrates his 2016 touchdown in the Salvation Army red kettle.

Looking for a run

On Thursday, the 7-3 Cowboys will look to rebound from a loss at the Kansas City Chiefs when the 5-5 Las Vegas Raiders visit. The Cowboys struggled to establish the offensive rhythm and physicality they expect. Outside of one explosive 31-yard rush, their remaining 15 carries amounted to 51 yards.

"We need to re-establish our identity just being physical, obviously setting the tone at the line of scrimmage," Prescott said. "From there, after we do that, we can re-establish our pace of play, get some plays going, get some momentum."

Prescott's and Elliotts ground game can create that momentum on the field and off for the Salvation Armys campaign. The kettles will be there, the social service provider collecting for Christmas gifts, food, shelter, rent and utility assistance with heightened need due to pandemic poverty. The Salvation Army estimates it will need $175 million to keep Americans in their homes this holiday season, the organization said. Prescott said Elliott can be counted on for "always great spirit."

Jones said she would encourage a red kettle-involved celebration even as the league has penalized taunting more ardently this season. Her father, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, has said hed love to sue the league for such a penalty and bring even more awareness to the Salvation Armys cause.

"I encourage their ingenuity," Jones said. "Its certainly been something thats used our visibility to inspire others to want to help and give back, but equally as important to us, its inspired an ethos in our organization in how important it is and the responsibility we have to be part of this team.

"Every year, us building upon this and letting the guys understand how important it is. They truly have embraced it."

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cowboys' Salvation Army red kettle has become Thanksgiving tradition
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "European Automotive CNG and LPG Kits Market 2021-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The Europe automotive CNG & LPG kits market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 8.5% during 2021-2027.

This report on Europe automotive CNG & LPG kits market report provides holistic understanding of the market along with market sizing, forecast, drivers, challenges, and competitive landscape.

The report presents a clear picture of the Europe automotive CNG & LPG kits market by segmenting the market based on kit type, vehicle type, demand, and country. Also, detailed profiles of companies operating in the Europe automotive CNG & LPG kits market are provided in this report. We believe that this report will aid the professionals and industry stakeholders in making an informed decision.

Companies Mentioned

AC Spolka Akcyjna

Ford Motor Company

Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

Landi Renzo S.p.A

Lovato Gas S.p.A.

M.T.M. S.R.L. (BRC)

Renault SA

Tomasetto Achille Spa

Toyota Motor Corporation

Volkswagen Group

Volvo AB

Market Drivers

Increasing Government Support

Technological Advancements

Adoption of Eco-friendly Vehicles

Market Challenges

Impact on Vehicle Performance

Historical & Forecast Period

Base Year: 2020

Historical Period: 2016-2019

Forecast Period: 2021-2027

Market by Kit Type

CNG

LPG

Market by Vehicle Type

Passenger Cars

Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV)

Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (MHCV)

Three Wheelers

Market by Demand

OEM

Aftermarket

Market by Country

Germany

United Kingdom

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Netherlands

Rest of Europe

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f19bea

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SOURCE Research and Markets
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Technavio's latest offering, the Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment Market report provides a detailed analysis of the competitive scenario and the market growth across various regions. The glioblastoma multiforme treatment market is expected to increase by USD 1.41 billion from 2021 to 2026 at a CAGR of 8.48%. 37% of the market's growth will originate from North America. The US and Canada are the key markets for glioblastoma multiforme treatment in the region. The favorable government initiatives will facilitate the glioblastoma multiforme treatment market growth in North America.

Attractive Opportunities in Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

For more insights on the Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment Market - Download a free sample now!

Market Dynamics

Factors such as the increasing incidence of glioblastoma multiforme and the increasing geriatric population will drive the growth of the Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment Market. However, adverse effects associated with treatments might hamper the market growth.

Company Profiles

The glioblastoma multiforme treatment market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The glioblastoma multiforme treatment market report provides complete insights on key vendors including Amgen Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiochem Inc., Arbor Pharmaceuticals LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Merck and Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc., Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd., and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

Few Companies with Key Offerings

Amgen Inc.- The company offers an injection solution namely AMGEVITA for glioblastoma multiforme treatment.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. - The company offers injection solutions namely Acyclovir for glioblastoma multiforme treatment.

Angiochem Inc. - The company offers Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for glioblastoma multiforme treatment.

Competitive Analysis

The report includes the competitive analysis, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their industry position score and market performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.

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Market Segmentation

By End-user, the market is classified into Hospitals, Clinics, and Ambulatory Surgical Centers. The glioblastoma multiforme treatment market share growth by the hospital segment has been significant.

By Geography, the market is classified as North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW. North America will have the largest share of the market.

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Liposomal Products Market -The liposomal products market share should rise by USD 2.21 billion from 2021 to 2026 at a CAGR of 7.81%. Download a free sample now!



GERD Market -The GERD market share should rise by USD 793.85 million between 2021 and 2025 at a CAGR of 3.01%. Download a free sample now!

Glioblastoma Multiforme Treatment Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 8.48% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 1.41 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 6.88 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and ROW Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key consumer countries US, Germany, Canada, China, UK, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Amgen Inc., Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiochem Inc., Arbor Pharmaceuticals LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Merck and Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc., Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. Ltd., and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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SOURCE Technavio
Seattle, Washington--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Blockchain Today Correspondent Ji-hye Han, the Gyedom Foundation consortium, a company specializing in blockchain platforms, announced on the 25th that they have joined forces to support the global NFT art world.





Figure 1: 'Gyedom Consortium Partner' ARTII, Korean Fine Arts Association and global NFT standardization agreement.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8378/105248_649ee866f475b977_001full.jpg





Jaian Cuttari (left), CEO of ARTII, a major partner of the Gyedom NFT Consortium, and Kwang-soo Lee (center), chairman of the Korean Fine Arts Association, and Young-goo Cho (right), chief operating officer (COO) of Gyedom.

Korean Fine Arts Association

According to the announcement, Jaian Cuttari, co-founder and CEO of ARTII, a global member of the NFT consortium of the Gyedom Foundation, visited Korea on the 24th and officially visited the Korean Fine Arts Association located at the Korean Artists Center in Mok-dong, discussed various ways of cooperation for global NFT standardization.

ARTII is a Singapore-based NFT solution and artwork sales company that combines VR and AR into films, music sources, and games, including art. Recently, Endy Warhol's 'Campbell Soup II (Feldman & Schellmann II.63) was divided into 1,000 shares and sold for 300,000 KRW per person. The K Contemporary Art Museum is responsible for the storage and guarantee of the artwork.

On this day, ARTII said to the Korean Fine Arts Association, "It is an honor to visit the Korea Art Association. For the past 60 years, it has hosted the Korean National Exhibition (Korea Art Exhibition), and is a group of 37,000 selected and grand prize artists. We propose to collaborate with the Gyedom NFT Consortium for a unique and innovative solution worthy of its status."

The Korean Fine Arts Association has a number of documentary videos as well as many mid-level star painters. The two sides discussed various aspects such as holding art exhibitions in VR and metaverse using these elements of the Korea American Association, and selling and selling art through NFTs by realizing past videos and videos.

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Quotes from President of the Korean Art Association

Kwang-soo Lee, president of the Korea Art Association, said, "ARTII has discovered a level differentiated from some of the above-mentioned details such as the bubble phenomenon of art prices and the controversy over counterfeiting in the recent global NFT craze. As a member of the Gyedom NFT global consortium I look forward to ARTII's future roles."

At the same time, "I hope that ARTII will participate as a Gyedom NFT global partner in the overseas promotion and launch of the World Art Expo (2022 Worldwide Art EXPO), which is jointly promoted by the Korea Committee of the IAA (International Art and Sculpture Association) and the Korean Fine Arts Association."

Solution Provider for NFT

The Guyderm Foundation, the organizer of the Guyderm NFT Consortium, was selected as the exclusive solution provider for NFT and 2022 World Art Expo by the Korea Art Association on the 10th.

Young-goo, Cho Chief Operating Officer of the Gyedom Foundation, who is leading the NFT consortium by arranging the visit of the ARTII executives to the Korea American Association, said, "In the future, not only traditional art works but also films, TV dramas, online games, etc. It will not be long before the field will be regarded as a work of art."

On this day, the Korean Fine Arts Association decided to issue a certificate of authenticity to the Gyedom NFT consortium to confirm the authenticity of the artists belonging to it. With the cooperation of the NFT Guyderm Foundation consortium and the Korean American Association, attention is focused on whether the works of many middle-aged and emerging Korean artists will advance to the world through the ARTII Network.

On the other hand, ARTII plans to finish the schedule of visiting Korea with the 'ARTII Global App Launch Meetup Event' to be held at The-K Hotel Seoul Avenue Hall at 3 pm on the 30th.

Source: Blockchain Today (http://www.blockchaintoday.co.kr)

Media Details

Company Name: ARTII Foundation

Contact Name: ARTII

Email: Info@artiifoundation.org

Website: https://artii.org/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105248
This story was originally published by Searchlight New Mexico.

ESTANCIA - In late September, as thousands of Haitian migrants waded across the Rio Grande into Texas, video captured a horrifying scene of immigration officers chasing them on horseback and corralling them back into Mexico.

In the following days, many of the migrants had been flown back to Haiti or returned to Mexico, but at least 50 were brought to Torrance County Detention Facility, a desolate gray building about an hour southeast of Albuquerque. It is owned and operated by CoreCivic, a private prison company that houses male detainees for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Marshals Service, as well as male and female detainees for Torrance County.

The Torrance County Detention Facility, outside of Estancia, New Mexico, where 43 Haitian migrants are being held.

For weeks the Haitians were denied access to in-person legal rights presentations, and conditions at the facility were described as dire, advocates said.

On Nov. 5, a coalition of five immigrant-rights groups, along with attorney Allegra Love, with the El Paso Immigration Collaborative, delivered a letter to ICE. It included these demands: that pro bono attorneys be available for in-person legal consultations and confidential legal calls, that information in Haitian Creole be posted about these services, and that ICE halt deportations until migrants obtain legal counsel.

In addition, Love, who is working with 43 migrants, sent requests for parole  a mechanism that allows detained migrants to be temporarily released into the United States  for 23 of the Haitians, each of whom was sponsored by an American relative or friend.

ICE rejected 18 of the cases, saying there was no humanitarian issue that merited release, according to Love.

I think they're rubber-stamping it, Love said. Because I havent gotten a single response that leads me to believe theyve actually talked to this person and talked to their sponsors, or considered it on any level besides opening the email and immediately denying it.

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ICE did not respond to requests for comment.

More from Searchlight: CYFD sees another high-profile resignation with departure of deputy secretary

First-hand accounts from the facility

A Nov. 9 press release from the immigrant-rights groups described a litany of bad conditions, including poor food, mistreatment and inadequate medical care. One detainee told Love that he had a hernia and was given ibuprofen to treat it. Others complained that the water gave everyone rashes. Most suffer from anxiety, depression and weight loss following their traumatic trip north and ensuing detainment, said Love.

Love also asked her clients to fill out handwritten surveys, which were then translated to English from Creole, on Nov. 12. According to the translated survey shared by Love, one detainee wrote, The foods here are not fully cooked. You also do not get enough food to fill your stomach. Another wrote, I have lung issues. When I eat the food, it makes it harder for me to breathe.

Many complained about the water. One wrote, When I first arrived and I was given the water, it gave me diarrhea and a horrible stomach ache. My body is now getting used to it. Another wrote the water looked like bleach and had pieces of unknown crumbles in it.

Some expressed fear about being deported back to Haiti, dying in the detention center and not seeing loved ones again. They often did not know much about the asylum process.

If I dont have an attorney I think that they can deport me, a 25-year-old man was quoted in the press release. I dont know what asylum is. I wasnt allowed to speak. Nobody explained anything and they just told me I was supposed to have an attorney. I dont want to go back to Haiti. I cant go back. My family member was killed and his house was burned. My mom has just been crying because I cannot go back. If I go back I cant even leave the airport.

Asylum, explained

Asylum is the legal right of people to seek protection from persecution in their home countries. To seek asylum in the United States, a claimant must show persecution based on race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social or political group. Right now, the majority of migrants are unable to claim asylum because of Title 42, an order of the Centers for Disease Control, which authorizes their immediate expulsion. According to the CDC, the order is necessary from a public-health perspective during COVID-19.

That definition has typically worked against Haitian migrants who, according to immigrant-rights advocates, suffer from a historical prejudice that they are economic migrants  and not asylum seekers.

That distinction infuriates Nicole Phillips, legal director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits based in San Diego, California.

The stories coming from my clients, from friends, from my colleagues, from the news is one of utter terror, said Phillips. Anybody whos in Haiti right now  whether theyre rich, or whether theyre poor, whether theyre employed, or whether theyre not  is scared to leave their house every day.

What is happening in Haiti?

Haiti is one of the most long-suffering nations in the world. Decades of poverty and political unrest came to a head with the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. In the past year, the simmering crisis has been worsened by yet another major earthquake, Tropical Storm Grace, ongoing social unrest and COVID-19.

More from Searchlight: Locked out: New Mexico landlords filed more than 11,000 evictions during the pandemic

Tens of thousands of Haitians emigrate yearly, typically flying first to South America  usually Brazil and Chile  and then traveling by land, crossing perilous geographic regions such as the 60-mile-wide Darien Gap, located between Colombia and Panama and controlled by drug cartels. This route can take months or years, depending on the migrants economic resources.

Advocates said that upon their arrival in the U.S., these Haitian migrants' hearings were scheduled disproportionately faster than other nationalities. This fast pace doesnt allow migrants time to compile evidence about why they are seeking protection or even to fill out asylum application forms, which run pages long and are in English, Love said.

A history of violations

This is not the first time Torrance has made the news for alleged human-rights and health violations. Earlier this year, it was reported that a coronavirus outbreak infected more than 100 inmates. And last year, Searchlight reported that migrants on a hunger strike were attacked by pepper-spraying guards.

In May, the ACLU of New Mexico and the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center filed a lawsuit against CoreCivic on behalf of nine former Torrance detainees and the Santa Fe Dreamers Project.

CoreCivic, based in Tennessee, describes itself as the nations largest owner of partnership correctional, detention and residential reentry facilities. It has more than 100 facilities across the nation, and in New Mexico it manages facilities in Cibola and Torrance counties, as well as Grants, Albuquerque and Los Lunas.

This July, the Torrance facility received an overall rating of noncompliance with ICE standards, according to an inspection conducted by the Nakamoto Group, a private contractor hired by ICE to inspect its facilities.

The report found 22 deficiencies and the facility failed to meet basic standards of food service. It highlighted the fact that staffing levels were at 50 percent of the authorized correctional/security positions.

I cant stress to you enough how rare it is for facilities to fail their inspection, said Rebecca Sheff, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Mexico.

In 2018, a report by the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General (OIG) described Nakamotos inspections as being very, very, very difficult to fail. One ICE official told OIG that the inspections are so lax that theyre useless.

More from Searchlight: Utah ed-tech company was paid $4.6 million to phone, text, email New Mexico students

What's next?

It remains unclear whether CoreCivic will face any consequences for the failure to meet standards.

Ryan Gustin, public affairs director at CoreCivic, objected to the statement that Torrance had failed its inspection, calling it a gross misrepresentation and asserting that CoreCivic provides three nutritious meals a day. The facility gets its water, he said, from the City of Estancia, and that he was not aware of any issues.

But for Sheff, the inspection report speaks for itself.

This report, and the company's efforts to deny or minimize its findings, raise serious questions about CoreCivics ability to fulfill its duty to ensure the health and safety of people detained at Torrance.

Searchlight New Mexico is a non-partisan, nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigative reporting in New Mexico.

Others are reading:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Haitians seeking asylum in NM face dire conditions at ICE facility
By Crispian Balmer

ROME (Reuters) -Italy and France signed a treaty on Friday to strengthen bilateral ties and reinforce their coordination within Europe, at a time when EU diplomacy is being tested by the departure of Germany's Angela Merkel.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron put their names to the new pact in Rome's Quirinale Palace. Afterwards, twin formations of planes trailing smoke in the colours of the two nations, sped through a stormy sky.

"The treaty ... marks an historic moment in relations between our two countries. France and Italy are further consolidating our diplomatic, commercial, political and cultural ties," Draghi told reporters.

The signing ceremony came days after a new coalition pact was agreed in Germany, ending 16 years of rule by Merkel, who was the undisputed leader of Europe and forged especially close ties with successive French leaders.

The new Berlin administration is expected to be more inward looking, especially at the start of its mandate, and both Paris and Rome are keen to deepen relations in a period clouded by economic uncertainty, the pandemic, a more assertive Russia, a rising China and a more disengaged United States.

Macron said the Quirinale Treaty, named for the Roman residence of the Italian president, did not challenge French relations with Germany, but was complementary and aimed at boosting all of Europe.

Amongst the goals laid out in the 15-page document was a pledge to reinforce military connections, even at an industrial level, and work in tandem to enhance Europe's defence capabilities.

"The objective we are following ... is to have a stronger and more sovereign Europe ... A Europe that knows how to protect its borders and defend itself," Macron said.

RENAISSANCE

The treaty was originally envisaged in 2017, but negotiations ground to a halt in 2018 when a populist government took office in Rome and clashed repeatedly with Macron over immigration.

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There has been a renaissance this year following the appointment of Draghi to lead an Italian unity government, and the two men have met repeatedly in recent months, working closely on areas that were previous flashpoints, such as efforts to end years of conflict in Libya.

The Quirinale Treaty, loosely modelled on a 1963 Franco-German pact, will lead to Paris and Rome seeking common ground ahead of EU summits, just as France already coordinates key European policy moves with Germany.

Draghi said the two nations would launch "new forms of cooperation" in energy, technology, research and innovation. He added that at least once every quarter, an Italian minister would attend a French cabinet meeting, and vice versa.

France and Italy also committed to working together in the space sector, and would facilitate "reciprocal investment" and define "common strategies in international markets".

French companies have invested heavily in Italy in recent years, but Italian politicians have accused Paris of being less forthcoming when Italian businesses seek cross-border deals.

Earlier this year, state-owned shipmaker Fincantieri's bid to take over its French peer Chantiers de lAtlantique collapsed, thwarted by EU competition issues.

Italian officials suspected Paris actively sought to undermine the deal behind the scenes.

(Additional reporting by Angelo Amante in Rome and Elizabeth Pineau and Ingrid Melander in Paris; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff)
DUBLIN, November 26, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Construction in Portugal - Key Trends and Opportunities to 2025 (H1 2021)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Despite the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Portuguese construction industry expanded by 3.3% in real terms in 2020, driven by public and private sector investments in both building and civil engineering works. Industry growth decelerated in 2020, however, compared with the growth rate of 5.1% in real terms in 2019.

According to the Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (INE), the industry's value-add grew by 3.6% YoY in the fourth quarter 2020 and was preceded by growth of 4.4% in both Q3 and Q2 2020.

The construction industry is forecast to grow by 4.4% in real terms in 2021, and it is thereafter expected to post an annual average growth rate of 1.8% between 2022-2025, supported by the government's focus on developing the country's infrastructure.

In October 2020, the government approved the 2030 National Investment Program (PNI), under which it intends to spend EUR43 billion (US$48.1 billion) to develop the country's transport and energy infrastructure by 2030. The government plans to spend EUR21.7 billion (US$23.9 billion) on transport projects and EUR13 billion (US$14.3 billion) to develop the country's energy infrastructure, which is largely focused on hydrogen production.

The report provides detailed market analysis, information, and insights into the Portuguese construction industry, including:

The Portuguese construction industry's growth prospects by market, project type and construction activity

Critical insight into the impact of industry trends and issues, as well as an analysis of key risks and opportunities in the Portuguese construction industry

Analysis of the mega-project pipeline, focusing on development stages and participants, in addition to listings of major projects in the pipeline.

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the construction industry in Portugal. It provides -

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Historical (2016-2020) and forecast (2021-2025) valuations of the construction industry in Portugal, featuring details of key growth drivers.

Segmentation by sector (commercial, industrial, infrastructure, energy and utilities, institutional and residential) and by sub-sector

Analysis of the mega-project pipeline, including breakdowns by development stage across all sectors, and projected spending on projects in the existing pipeline.

Listings of major projects, in addition to details of leading contractors and consultants

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/et45qz

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211126005395/en/

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HALIFAX, NS, Nov. 26, 2021 /CNW/ - (TSXV: NXLV) NexLiving Communities Inc. ("NexLiving" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed today on its previously announced marketed offering of common shares (the "Offering"). Pursuant to the Offering, the Company issued 100,000,000 shares at a price of $0.20 per share for gross proceeds of $20,000,000. The Offering was led by Echelon Capital Markets and CIBC Capital Markets as co-lead agents and co-bookrunners, on behalf of a syndicate of agents including Cormark Securities Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., Canaccord Genuity Corp., iA Private Wealth Inc. and Richardson Wealth Limited (collectively the "Agents"). The Company has granted the Agents an option to purchase an additional 15% of the shares sold under the Offering (the "Over-Allotment Option"). The Over-Allotment Option may be exercised in whole, or in part, as determined by the Agents' upon written notice to the Company at any time up to 30 days following the closing date of the Offering. In addition, as previously announced, NexLiving has agreed to a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") on the same pricing terms as the Offering, which has been upsized from $4,000,000 to $4,450,000. Closing of the Private Placement is subject to a number of conditions, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

NexLiving Communities Inc. Logo (CNW Group/NexLiving Communities Inc.)

NexLiving intends to use a portion of the gross proceeds to fund the equity requirements of the previously announced acquisition of ten recently constructed apartment properties comprised of 370 units in Moncton and Riverview, New Brunswick, for an aggregate purchase price of $72.6 million, subject to customary adjustments (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisition is subject to certain closing conditions.

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In consideration for their services, and pursuant to the terms of an agency agreement, dated November 19, 2021, among the Agents and the Company, the Company has paid a cash commission of $1,150,000.

Further details of the Offering and the Acquisition are described in the final short form prospectus of the Company dated November 19, 2021 (the "Prospectus"), filed with Canadian securities regulators. A copy of the Prospectus is available under the Company's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under 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.

For more information about NexLiving, please refer to our website at www.nexliving.ca and our public disclosure at www.sedar.com.

About the Company

NexLiving continues to execute its plans to acquire recently built or refurbished, highly leased multi-residential properties in bedroom communities across Canada. The Company aims to satisfy the needs of the newly emerging 55+ resident. The demographic that has changed the world is now changing the way residential rental apartments cater to their requirements. Their desire for community, along with service, quality and convenience has led to the emergence of the 55+ active living segment. Apartments are their next "home", after years of owning they look forward to the carefree lifestyle provided through renting in a community of their peers. NexLiving intends to consolidate this emerging market niche. The Company currently owns 549 units in New Brunswick and Ontario. NexLiving has also developed a robust pipeline of qualified properties for potential acquisition. By screening the properties identified to match the criteria set out by the Company (proximity to healthcare, amenities, services and recreation), management has assembled a significant pipeline of potential acquisitions for consideration by the Company's Board of Directors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "projects", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "continues", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to: the Company's intention to complete the Private Placement and the anticipated timing thereof; the Company's intention to complete the Acquisition and the anticipated timing thereof; the Company's intended use of proceeds of the Offering and the Private Placement; and the completion of the Acquisition. Such forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations, including that the transactions contemplated herein are completed. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations of the Company's management regarding future events and operating performance, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors, including, without limitation, the failure by the Company to complete the Acquisition on the terms contemplated or on the anticipated timeline; material shifts in demographic trends or actual future market conditions being different than anticipated by NexLiving's management; material changes to government or environmental policy or regulations affecting NexLiving's operations; and the risks described under "Risk Factors" in the Prospectus and the Company's Annual Information Form. Although forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These material assumptions are more fully described in regulatory filings, including in the Prospectus and the Company's MD&A released on November 2, 2021. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

SOURCE NexLiving Communities Inc.

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CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new research report, the "Precision Guided Munition Market by Speed (Subsonic, Supersonic, and Hypersonic), Product, Technology, Mode of Operation (Semi-autonomous and Autonomous), Launch Platform (Land, Airborne and Naval) and Region - Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, is projected to grow from USD 32.8 billion in 2021 to USD 41.0 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2026. The growing demand for surveillance activities along the attack-prone borders, rising defense spending of emerging economy, increasing incidences of terror attacks and rising number of ongoing inter-country conflicts have led to the growth of Precision guided munitions market.

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The precision guided munition market includes major players Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Boeing Company (US), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), and BAE (Uk). These players have spread their business across various countries includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. COVID-19 has impacted their businesses as well. Industry experts believe that COVID-19 has affected missile defense system production and services globally in 2020.

Increasing need for defense programs to defend nations against various threats

The performance of US weapon systems is unmatched, ensuring that the US defense forces have a tactical combat advantage over any adversary in any weather condition. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 acquisition (Procurement and Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)) funding requested by the US Department of Defense (DoD) totals USD 247.3 billion, which includes funding in the Base budget and the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, totaling USD 143.1 billion for Procurement and USD 104.3 billion for RDT&E. The funding in the budget request represents a balanced portfolio approach to implement the military force objective established by the National Defense Strategy. Of the USD 247.3 billion in the request, USD 83.9 billion finances Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs), which are acquisition programs that exceed a cost threshold established by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.

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According to the Missile Defense Agency, there has been an increase of over 1,200 additional ballistic missiles over the last 5 years. The total of ballistic missiles outside the US, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, and China has risen to over 5,900. Hundreds of launchers and missiles are currently within the range of US deployed forces.

Hence, the increasing need for defense programs by nations to defend against various threats is driving the precision guided munition market.

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The weapon system technology segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR rate for the precision guided munition market during the forecast period.

A weapon system plays an important role in precision guided munition majorly for land, air, and marine platforms. The weapon system segment has been further sub-segmented into interceptors, gun/turret systems, and missile launchers. The weapon system segment is projected to reach USD 40,967 million by 2026. In the Asia Pacific region, this segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

The hypersonic segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period

Based on speed, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. Hypersonic precision-guided munitions are equipped with a propulsion system to enable them to attain a speed of Mach 5 or higher, which is five times faster than the speed of sound. Hypersonic precision-guided weapons are difficult to counter due to their high speed. Currently, these weapons are in a development phase and are expected to be operational in the near future.

The hypersonic missiles threat type segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR rate for the precision guided munition market during the forecast period.

Based on speed, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. Hypersonic precision-guided munitions are equipped with a propulsion system to enable them to attain a speed of Mach 5 or higher, which is five times faster than the speed of sound. Hypersonic precision-guided weapons are difficult to counter due to their high speed. Currently, these weapons are in a development phase and are expected to be operational in the near future.

By product, the tactical missiles segment is estimated to account for the largest share (41.4%) of the precision guided munition market in 2021

Based on product, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into tactical missiles, guided rockets, guided ammunition, torpedoes, and loitering munitions. Tactical missiles are used for a shorter range and can carry a variety of warheads that can be used for various purposes. They are very versatile and can be fired in various modes, angles, and platforms. These weapons are equipped with guidance technologies that enable them to hit targets with precision.

The North American market is projected to contribute the largest share from 2021 to 2026

North America is projected to be the largest regional share of precision guided munition market during the forecast period. Major companies such Northrop Grumman Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, and General Dynamics Corporation are based in the US. These players continuously invest in the R&D of new and advanced technology used in missile defense system.

Related Reports:

Electromagnetic Weapons Market by Product (Lethal Weapons, Non-lethal Weapons), Application (Homeland Security, Military), Platform (Land, Naval, Airborne), Technology (Particle Beam Weapons, Laser-induced Plasma Channel), and Region - Forecast to 2026

Missile Defense System Market by Technology (Fire Control System, Weapon System, Countermeasure System, and Command and Control System), Range (Short, Medium, and Long), Threat type, Domain (Ground, Air, Marine, and Space), and Region - Forecast to 2026

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NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. ("TCB" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: TCBI). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

Fighting for victims of securities fraud for more than 85 years (PRNewsfoto/Pomerantz LLP)

The investigation concerns whether TCB and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On March 29, 2021, TCB's stock price fell roughly 13% on unusually heavy trading volume as prime brokers associated with now-defunct family office, Archegos Capital Management ("Archegos"), unwound large U.S. stock positions linked to the fund. Then, on November 16, 2021, Bloomberg published an article detailing how Archegos built up a previously undisclosed position equal to 20% of TCB prior to the margin calls that forced Archegos's liquidation. According to the Bloomberg article, TCB was aware of the large position held by Archegos even while the Company raised additional capital from investors in February 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 7980





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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: FB). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

Fighting for victims of securities fraud for more than 85 years (PRNewsfoto/Pomerantz LLP)

The investigation concerns whether Facebook and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On September 13, 2021, during trading hours, The Wall Street Journal ("WSJ") published an article entitled "Facebook Says Its Rules Apply to All. Company Documents Reveal a Secret Elite That's Exempt." It would be the first of nine articles published by the WSJ based on documents provided by a then-unknown whistleblower (the "Whistleblower").

Following publication of the article, Facebook's stock price fell $5.17 per share to close at $376.51 per share on September 13, 2021.

Then, on September 28, 2021, during market hours, the WSJ published an article entitled "Facebook's Effort to Attract Preteens Goes Beyond Instagram Kids, Documents Show." Citing internal Facebook documents, the article reported, in part, that Facebook "formed a team to study preteens, set a three-year goal to create more products for them and commissioned strategy papers about the long-term business opportunities presented by these potential users."

On this news, Facebook's stock price fell $7.34 per share to close at $340.65 per share on September 28, 2021.

On October 3, 2021, CBS News aired a television segment on 60 Minutes interviewing the Whistleblower, revealed to be Frances Haugen, regarding her findings during her time employed at Facebook. On that same day, CBS published an article containing highlights from the interview, in which Haugen explained how "Facebook, over and over again, chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money," over the public good.

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Then, on October 4, 2021, CBS News published an article entitled "Whistleblower's SEC Complaint: Facebook Knew Platform Was Used to 'Promote Human Trafficking and Domestic Servitude'", which contained whistleblower complaints against Facebook filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The whistleblower complaints alleged, among other things, that Facebook knew that its platforms perpetuated misinformation but did little to stop it and that Facebook likewise did little to combat human traffickers using its platform.

Following these disclosures, Facebook's stock price fell $16.78 per share, or 4.9%, to close at $326.23 on October 4, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
Travis Scott has been spotted in public for the first time since the Astroworld tragedy.

The 30-year-old rapper was photographed with Michael Jordan, Mark Wahlberg, Said Taghmaoui, and Corey Gamble at Madison Club in La Quint in Southern California on Tuesday (23 November), according to People.

Ten people died and hundreds were injured during Travis Scotts performance at the Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas, on 5 November, when the crowd surged towards the stage.

At approximately 9.15pm, the crowd surge caused people to be crushed and trampled on. Scott had earlier offered to cover the funeral costs of the victims who died at the festival.

The rapper has also offered a full refund of all Astroworld 2021 tickets.

Travis Scott spotted yesterday with Michael Jordan and Mark Wahlberg. pic.twitter.com/Q9OIXMIQVe  hy (@TheMindOfHY) November 24, 2021

Scott and the organisers of the Houston festival are facing multiple lawsuits, including a massive new $750m one in the wake of the fatal Texas concert.

Earlier this month, Scotts attorney, Edwin F McPherson told Complex in a statement: I think if you talk to Travis, hed say there were times in his life as a young artist where he did things that he didnt realise how much impact he has from the stage.

I think hes matured, the power he has from the stage. He knows he cant do things hes done in the past. Ive seen the footage of this, I didnt see anything out of the ordinary in terms of what Travis was saying. Any performer wants the crowd charged up, wants them engaged in the show, I didnt see anything that went beyond that, he added.

Read More

Astroworld Festival  latest: Travis Scott and Drake sued

What happened at Astroworld? Everything we know so far

Theres someone dead! Videos show Astroworld guests begging for help




DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The US and European Electronic Monitoring Market: Size & Forecast with Impact Analysis of COVID-19 (2021-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The US and European electronic monitoring market increased significantly during the years 2016-2020 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years i.e. 2021-2025 tremendously.

The electronic monitoring market is expected to increase due to the high cost of incarceration and detention, growing migrant / asylum seeker populations, increasing digital enablement, growing globalization, increasing cybercrimes, technological advancements and government policies supporting the market. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as false alarms and costly electronic home monitoring.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the US and European electronic monitoring market. Since the onset of the pandemic, governments have been facing the dilemma of reducing jail populations to avoid the spread of disease, while still keeping the community safe.

The report provides an in depth analysis of the US and European electronic monitoring market by value, by segment, etc. The report also provides a detailed analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the electronic monitoring market.

The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall electronic monitoring market has also been forecasted for the period 2021-2025, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.

The US and European electronic monitoring market is fragmented with many major market players operating worldwide. The key players of the electronic monitoring market are G4S Plc., Big Technologies, Track Group and Satellite Tracking of People (Securus Technologies, Inc.) are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.

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Key Topics Covered:

The US Electronic Monitoring Market: An Analysis

European Electronic Monitoring Market: An Analysis

COVID-19 Impact on Electronic Monitoring Market

Impact of COVID-19 on Prison Occupancy Levels and Incarceration Rates

Impact of COVID-19 on Crime Rates

Market Dynamics

Growth Drivers

High Cost of Incarceration and Detention

Growing Migrant / Asylum Seeker Population

Increasing Digital Enablement

Growing Globalization

Technological Advancements

Increasing Cybercrimes

Governments Policies Supporting the Market

Challenges

False Alarms

Costly Electronic Home Monitoring

Market Trends

M2M Platform

Partnerships among Major Players

The US and European Electronic Monitoring Market Players: A Service Comparison

Company Profiles

G4S Plc.

Big Technologies

Tack Group

Satellite Tracking of People (Securus Technologies, Inc.)

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/u6dleg

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ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

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Sharbat Gula, better known as the green-eyed "Afghan girl" on the 1985 cover of National Geographic, has been evacuated to Italy, the Italian government said.



"Afghan citizen Sharbat Gula has arrived in Rome," Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office said on November 25.



The Italian government said it responded to requests from nonprofit organizations "for her to travel to Italy as part of the wider evacuation program in place for Afghan citizens and the government's plan for their reception and integration."



With her piercing green eyes, peering out from a red head scarf, Gula became arguably Afghanistan's most famous refugee when U.S. photographer Steve McCurry captured her portrait in a Pakistani camp in the 1980s and it was published on the front cover of National Geographic magazine.



Gula had arrived in Pakistan as an orphan in the early 1980s during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.



Her identity was only discovered in 2002 when McCurry returned to the region and tracked her down.



In 2016, she was deported back to Afghanistan after Pakistan said she held fraudulent identity papers.



In early September, Italy said it had evacuated almost 5,000 Afghans after the Taliban seized power in August.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters
If you go

What: "Disney on Ice Presents Dream Big"

When: 7 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Broadmoor World Arena, 3185 Venetucci Blvd, Colorado Springs

Price: Tickets, $20-$58, are available online at axs.com, by phone at 866-464-2626 or in person at the Pikes Peak Center box office.
Officials at Colorados primary mental hospital failed to protect a 20-year-old patient who suffered loss of brain function when he attempted to kill himself at the facility nearly three months ago, allowing violations in protocols meant to prevent such tragedies, state regulators determined.

Among the host of problems, state regulators found that a clinical care associate at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo violated requirements for safety checks of patients and their rooms the day of the suicide attempt.

Employees told The Gazette a contract health care worker was fired over the incident, although the state denied requests for termination information.

Another patient found Kersey resident Chase Falk hanging in his room at 2:03 p.m. on July 27 and alerted hospital staff, who rushed in to untie sheets Falk had fashioned as a noose, the regulators found. No heart rate could be discovered. Falk was transported to a Denver-area hospital, where he was in a coma, said his father, Carl Falk.

"They worked on him for 17 minutes before they got a pulse," an emotional Falk told The Gazette. "He never regained consciousness, and they froze him for three days in ICU. They had to work hard to get him back, and I'm super thankful."

The survey conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the wake of the suicide attempt found peril for other patients and wide-ranging problems so severe that federal regulators in September threatened to kick the Pueblo hospital out of the Medicare program by Dec. 14.

Risks discovered included telephones used by unsupervised patients that posed a suicide risk due to 14-inch cords, and, more generally, the lack of a hospital-wide, data-driven quality assessment and performance improvement program.

Terminating the Pueblo hospital from Medicare reimbursements would cripple the hospitals ability to bill for its psychiatric services. The loss of Medicare would also come at a time when Colorado is already struggling to adhere to a two-year old federal consent decree that found the state violated due process in the evaluation and treatment of mentally ill criminal defendants struggling with psychosis.

Not complying with the terms of the consent decree has cost the state at least $17 million in federal fines since March 2019. A major stumbling block to adhering to the consent decree is the backlog of nearly 350 people jammed in county jails around Colorado waiting for admission to the states Pueblo facility, where court-ordered mental competency evaluations or restoration services for criminal defendants take place.

Whether Colorado can avoid having the Pueblo hospital kicked out of the Medicare program remains an open question.

In response to the survey, the Joint Budget Committee, a legislative group that crafts the state budget, in late September allocated $4.1 million in suicide mitigation funds for the Pueblo hospital to bring the facility into compliance with federal standards. The money will pay for new surveillance cameras, address suicide risks in patients rooms and pay for other upgrades.

Officials with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in a September letter to Colorado officials said the Pueblo hospital still would have to pass another unannounced survey inspection by the state health department to stave off termination from the Medicare program.

Madlynn Ruble, a spokeswoman for the states Department of Human Services, said that an unannounced survey has not yet taken place, though she said, all immediate jeopardies have been removed.

We have requested and received funding to make environmental modifications for suicide mitigation, Ruble said. We expect surveyors to return to verify their implementation and clear all findings.

The previous survey that took place after Falks suicide attempt began in July and concluded in August. Officials with the state health department declined to release their agencys survey findings, as did the Colorado Department of Human Services, which operates the Pueblo psychiatric hospital.

In declining to release the report, the two state agencies said the suicide attempt was still being investigated, even though state law allows public release of state agency investigative records during an ongoing investigation if doing so is in the interest of public health, welfare or safety.

The Gazette obtained a copy of the surveys findings from authorities with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who disagreed with the determination from the state agencies that the findings werent a public record.

The document makes clear that state health officials found issues that put other patients beside Falk in peril.

In addition to failing to adequately check on Falk the day of the suicide attempt, staff at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo also allowed him to stockpile extra bed sheets and a large trash can he used in his attempt to take his life, the review by the states health department found. Other widespread instances of unauthorized linens were discovered in other patients' rooms, posing additional suicide risks, the regulators found.

An employee has told The Gazette that Falks was at least the third suicide attempt this year inside the hospital. An adolescent girl used shards from a broken mirror and a man used a razor to harm himself.

Suicide attempts are not common at the Pueblo hospital and occur at a frequency lower than other community settings, said Robert Werthwein, director of the Office of Behavioral Health in the state Department of Human Services.

"We serve at any one time 500 people with serious mental illness," he said. "In the course of a year, it could be up to 1,000 people."

The Department of Human Services would not provide statistics on numbers of suicide attempts inside its two psychiatric hospitals.

Falk said he is frustrated at the lack of answers and apparent mishaps in preventing his son's suicide attempt.

"We're like 'Why did you let this happen?'" Falk said.

Despite being told he would receive a copy of an outside investigation into what happened that day that his son tried to take his life, Falk said he's now been told the hospital has a "no contact" order in place with the family, so he has been unable to obtain any information about the case. He also claims his lawyer was threatened if they continued to pursue the matter.

While state regulators were examining conditions at the hospital, a patient escaped from the facility three days after Falks suicide attempt, according to the survey. The patient walked past four staff members and a kitchen employee and through an unlocked door, the regulators reported. The patient escaped from the hospital grounds for more than three hours before police escorted him back to the facility, the survey noted.

Escapes from the facility also occur infrequently  "from time to time," Werthwein said.

"When they think of escapes, people think of scaling a wall or digging a tunnel, but in some units, depending on the security level, people can walk off on their own accord," he said.

His department did not provide requested numbers of escapes from the facility. An employee said another had occurred in February.

Patients also were being locked regularly in their rooms, a violation of seclusion and restraint policies, the survey also said, stating the facility failed to ensure a safe patient care environment in multiple areas due to a lack of required patient wellness checks and environmental safety checks.

While the clinical care associate made rounds the day of Falks suicide attempt, his actual patient checks were cursory and insufficient to ensure safety, the state regulators found. Surveillance video showed he did not enter patient rooms during the rounds and stood before patient doorways for only one to two seconds.

He failed to detect the trash can and bed sheets used in his suicide attempt, according to the surveys findings. Falk wrapped the extra sheet around his neck and put it into the door and closed the door. He stood on top of the upside-down trash can to hang himself.

Protocols required staff to observe the patients face, neck, chest rise and fall, skin tone color, physical condition, emotional state, body language and tone of voice and document the observations.

Falk said the description of what occurred doesn't make sense since his son is "almost as tall as the doors."

And "that type of suicide takes planning  it seems like it would take more than 15 minutes just to tie the sheets together," Falk said.

Staff also regularly transported patients through an underground tunnel system, which had multiple pipelines, construction supplies, water leaks and additional unlocked doors to other tunnels that could allow for escape and criminal activity, according to the survey. The survey noted that nothing was done after reports of unlocked doors that would allow for escape from the facility. The lack of any follow-up contributed to a patient escaping from the hospital, according to the survey.

In June, contracted electrical workers left a 15 to 20-inch metal pipe in the hallway, but no measures were taken to prevent such hazards from occurring again, the survey noted.

Another patient in July hid a rusty, metal wire in his room, but when staff discovered the wire no interventions or investigation occurred. In another instance, a patient fashioned a weapon by filling a sock with rocks, but there was no evidence that incident was ever investigated, the regulators further reported.

State officials pledged in response that they would hire a quality-improvement specialist. They said the specialist would monitor reporting on adverse events and ensure follow-up occurs.
The El Paso County Sheriffs Office has lifted a shelter-in-place order in the Stratmoor Hills neighborhood Thursday as deputies continue to investigate a shooting in the area, according to a tweet from the department.

The sheriff's office tweeted the shelter-in-place order just after noon Thursday after officers arrived in the area of 1400 Willshire Drive near South Academy Boulevard near the south side of Colorado Springs.

Secure your home, stay away from the doors/windows, the tweet read.

Law enforcement received an emergency call at about 11:30 a.m. about a shooting in the area, according to department spokeswoman Lt. Deborah Mynatt. When deputies arrived, witnesses told them a man had fired multiple shots into a home before leaving the area on foot.

A public safety notice was immediately sent to registered residents living within a one-mile radius of the scene, advising them to stay in their homes, Mynatt said.

Investigators determined that the residence had in fact been hit by gunfire, and that no one was inside at the time of the shooting.

"The good thing is, no one was harmed in this incident," Mynatt said.

The sheriff's office followed with a tweet shortly after 1 p.m. that the shelter-in-place order was lifted.

Deputies are reviewing witness statements and video footage as they continue to investigate the incident, Mynatt said.

Shelter in place has been lifted: EPSO has resolved the situation in the area of 1400 Willshire Dr. Please resume normal activities. Thank you for your patience and cooperation. https://t.co/BwyrtvXgsV  EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) November 25, 2021

Residents are advised to be on the lookout for a man about 6 feet, 2 inches tall with an afro or ponytail, wearing a white t-shirt. Anyone who may have seen this man is asked to call (719) 390-5555. Individuals who feel they are in immediate danger should call 9-1-1 immediately, officials said.

EPSO is investigating a shooting that just occurred in the area. Again, secure your home and stay away from windows and doors. https://t.co/pCiz4RHnC7  EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) November 25, 2021

The area of the shooting is about a block from Coventry Drive and South Academy Boulevard, where a man was shot in the face on Nov. 19.
Late on the night of Nov. 5, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse walked alongside two fellow Democratic lawmakers as they made their way outside the U.S. Capitol, prepared to announce that a deal had finally been reached to allow for a vote on the infrastructure bill that had been idling for weeks in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Accompanying Neguse, the second-term lawmaker from Lafayette who arranged for the impromptu press conference, were U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a spokesman for a group of centrist Democrats.

The two represented competing factions of House Democrats who had been engaged in a stand-off over the Biden administration's signature legislative agenda, split between two massive bills with spending totaling more than $3 trillion.

Nearly three months after every Democrat and 19 Republicans in the Senate voted to approve the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill  tagged the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and formally known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act  the legislation was finally awaiting action in the House following a high-stakes game of chicken between the chamber's progressive and centrist Democrats.

Neguse helped to defuse the impasse, according to multiple sources, who recounted how the Colorado congressman served as a bridge between his party's feuding factions and nudged negotiators at crucial points to keep the talks from veering off course or collapsing.

Neguse wasnt the only Colorado lawmaker to play a crucial role bringing the infrastructure bill to fruition. U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, who campaigned on his ability to bring opposing sides together, helped write the bill over months of discussions with other moderate senators from both parties.

Its clear Colorados Democratic lawmakers played an outsized role in crafting the bipartisan infrastructure bill and ultimately getting it across the finish line," U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat, told Colorado Politics in a statement.

Perlmutter and Neguse are members of the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the terms for debating and voting on legislation before it reaches the House floor. The panel met multiple times in August to craft a rule involving the infrastructure bill aimed at satisfying all sides.

"Im proud of the work we did to get the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed and look forward to seeing Colorado reap its many benefits, such as rebuilding and modernizing communities across the state, new jobs, and a better quality of life for more Coloradans," Perlmutter added.

The broker

But before the late-night Nov. 5 vote could take place, the House Democrats' opposing groups needed a broker.

The crucial agreement capped talks that had been underway since late October between House leadership and the two groups of Democrats, who had dug in their heels and threatened to derail the Biden administrations domestic policy agenda if their demands werent met.

Essentially, members of the roughly 100-member progressive group were withholding support for the infrastructure bill until they had a firm assurance that the smaller group of moderate Democrats would support a vote on the budget reconciliation package, which includes social spending and measures to combat climate change.

Throughout, Jayapal said her caucus was worried that the social policy legislation would get sacrificed to pressure from moderate Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who had already cut the initial $3.5 trillion proposal's price tag nearly in half. (Under the Senate's budget reconciliation rules, Democrats only need a simple majority to pass the Build Back Better Act in the Senate, but since it hasn't attracted any GOP support, sponsors can't afford to lose support from any of the chamber's 50 Democrats, giving Manchin and Sinema veto power over the package.)

What had been lacking in the negotiations  and what Neguse brought to the table  was trust, said numerous Democrats who saw the legislative version of shuttle diplomacy up close.

Neguse, with feet planted in House leadership as a co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as a vice chair, played a pivotal role bringing the sides together.

At several key points as negotiations honed in on the agreement that teed up the Nov. 5 House vote on the infrastructure bill, Neguse was either in the room or shuttling between leaders of the factions, helping both sides get to a yes, as prominent progressive U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California put it after the House passed the bill.

Soon after the vote, Khanna tweeted that Biden and his chief of staff, Ron Klain, should know that no one did more than @JoeNeguse in the progressive caucus to help us get to a yes. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the deal.

Klain retweeted Khannas accolades, adding the 100 emjoj, signifying that he agreed 100%.

According to multiple accounts, Neguse helped nudge talks back on track at numerous points when negotiations stalled and the groups made clear that they didn't trust the process or each other, starting on Oct. 28, the day House Democratic leadership first made it clear they intended to bring the infrastructure bill to a vote.

The day began with Biden meeting with House Democrats to urge that progressives get on board with both bills before he departed for a diplomatic trip to Europe. Jayapal, however, insisted that progressives would only vote on the two bills together  and for that to happen, they needed to see the text of the reconciliation bill to ensure their priorities had survived before they would commit to providing the necessary votes to pass the infrastructure bill.

At the suggestion of Democratic U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Neguse and Schatz moderated a meeting between Jayapal and Sinema, with Neguse serving as "a bridge" between progressives and the moderate senator, the Associated Press reported.

I have new optimism, Schatz tweeted after the meeting, prompting Neguse to respond: "Same."

After the meeting, Khanna told CNN that the progressive group was pretty assured that this deal goes forward, adding, Its the first time I felt like that  and I really trust Joe and Pramila.

In the coming days, Neguse was on hand at subsequent meetings that brought the sides closer together. Khanna and Neguse were among House Democrats who met with Manchin on the Senate floor on Nov. 2, according to Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic, and they were also among about a dozen of the partys left-leaning House members who met two days later with Biden at the White House, Politicos Sarah Ferris reported.

With the progressive and centrist House Democrats still balking ahead of a planned vote and as the clock ticked toward midnight on Nov. 5, Neguse was the only member of the Progressive Caucus huddled with a small group of centrist Democrats who helped Gottheimer draft a statement. What resulted was intended to persuade the progressives that the moderates would stand by their commitment to vote on the budget reconciliation bill as soon as possible, once the Congressional Budget Office had scored the legislation, the New York Times reported.

As Biden joined the discussion by phone, Gottheimer finalized the language, agreeing to a deal proposed earlier that day by leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus  a group that counts Neguse as a member  to vote on the infrastructure bill and approve a rule to hold a vote on the budget reconciliation bill after the CBO completed its report. Four of Gottheimer's compatriots signed the statement, saying they would vote for the Build Back Better bill "in its current form other than technical changes" by the end of the week of Nov. 15: U.S. Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii, Stephanie Murphy of Florida, Kathleen Rice of New York and Kurt Schrader of Oregon.

And that's what happened.

NBC News reporters Leigh Ann Caldwell and Haley Talbot said that after the plan proposed by the Congressional Black Caucus began to gain traction, Neguse hunkered down.

"Neguse called progressives, members of leadership and Gottheimer. They ran from room to room where different groups of members were huddled," they wrote.

Breaking bread

Soon after he was sworn into office in January, Hickenlooper, Colorado's junior senator and a former two-term governor, was asked to join what eventually grew to a group of 22 senators  split evenly between Republicans and Democrats  who negotiated the bill before its passage this summer in the Senate.

Hickenlooper told Colorado Politics his role helping draft the bill began just days after he was elected last November, when Manchin invited him and incoming U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over to talk infrastructure and the legislative process over pizza and beer.

"Joe Manchin was really insistent that we needed to do this bill as a bipartisan basis," Hickenlooper said, noting he also worked closely with Republican senators in the working group, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio and Mitt Romney of Utah.

"We'd just talk about infrastructure and talk about other bills and places where people could work together. For him to take a couple of freshmen and say their opinion matters, too, and we want to make sure that they're part of this process, what a gift to Mark Kelly and to me to be part of this and get to put some of what I talked about in the campaign (into practice)."

Hickenlooper, who helped launch Colorado's brewpub industry before he entered politics, took heat from pundits when he launched his short-lived presidential campaign in 2019 boasting that he would bring his brand of bartender diplomacy to Washington by encouraging adversaries to hash out tough issues the way he had as governor and mayor of Denver. He said this week that the infrastructure bill's very existence supports his approach to politics.

Breaking bread helped, Hickenlooper said.

"We had a ton of meals, we had at least one lunch a month, sometimes two to three lunches a month where we'd have all 20 people in one room talking about the bill and haggling over the smaller details," he said, adding with a grin, "But, you know, with the smaller details, you're still talking $10 or $20 million. It's worth haggling."

Hickenlooper said he learned plenty about the process and didn't want to overstate his role  noting that his colleagues have much more experience in legislative matters  but acknowledged that he had a hand in several components of the final legislation, including its incorporation of a bill he sponsored to encourage local electrical utilities to offer better prices to consumers when they charge their vehicles.

"We worked so much with broadband (in Colorado) that I was on that little group of people," he said. "We really went into detail on some of these things. I was very involved with some of the issues around airports. It's not just (Denver International Airport). We have airports all over the state that need runways or need basic infrastructure, and they're going to get it."

Hickenlooper, a former petroleum geologist, added that he's particularly proud that the bill includes "real money" for capping inactive and abandoned oil and natural gas wells, both as a safety measure and to curb methane emissions, which he boasted builds on a program he pioneered when he was governor.

"It was our work in Colorado that alerted the world to it," he said, noting that an agreement he brokered between the fossil fuel industry and environmentalists to reduce methane emissions has become the model for regulations adopted worldwide.

"Methane in the first couple of years is 80 to 90 times more polluting, more harmful to the climate, trapping more heat than CO2," he said. "I was very proud that, as people tried to cut that out a couple of different times, and I was a loud voice  we expanded it to look at coal mines and abandoned mines that are both water pollution and air pollution."

In many ways, the infrastructure bill was a triumph not only for the Biden administration, but also for Colorado's Democratic lawmakers.

The statement presented to the press by Gottheimer and Jayapal just before the vote had been hammered out over hours of painstaking revisions with hands-on help from Neguse. It summarized the centrist lawmakers promise that they would vote on the larger, $1.85 trillion budget reconciliation package  the Build Back Better Act, nicknamed after President Joe Biden's campaign slogan, sometimes also dubbed the soft infrastructure measure  later in November after fiscal estimates had been calculated. That paved the way for most of the progressive lawmakers, led by Jayapal, to support the infrastructure bill that night.

Within hours, the narrowly divided House passed the infrastructure bill, 228-206, with 13 Republicans voting in favor and six of the most outspoken, left-leaning Democrats  led by U.S. Rep, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York  voting against it. Colorado's House delegation split on party lines, with the four Democrats voting "yes" and the three Republicans voting "no."

Biden signed the bill 10 days later, touting it as the largest investment in roads, bridges, railways, ports, broadband, utilities and water systems in decades.

Colorado was well-represented at the Nov. 15 signing ceremony on the White House lawn among a bipartisan  albeit heavily Democratic  invited crowd of lawmakers, governors, mayors and business and union leaders.

In addition to Neguse and Hickenlooper, attendees included U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Jason Crow, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock.

"Too often in Washington, the reason we dont get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want, Biden said before signing the bill. With this law, we focused on getting things done. He added that he ran for president on a message of delivering results through compromise and consensus.

Republicans: 'Garbage'

While Democrats applauded the infrastructure bill and touted the billions of dollars worth of improvements on deck for every state, Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation gave the legislation an emphatic thumbs down.

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs called the package a "bloated" attempt to expand the role of the federal government, while his colleague from Silt, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, aimed her ire at fellow Republicans who supported the bill and vowed to hold them to account. U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a former chairman of the Colorado GOP, warned that a vote for the infrastructure bill amounted to a vote for the budget reconciliation package, which he denounced as "socialist."

Lamborn said in a news release that he agrees the government needs to spend money on "traditional infrastructure," listing roads, bridges, the electric grid and broadband, but claimed the bill "focuses primarily on pushing the Green New Deal," even as Democrats, he alleged, weren't addressing "the southern border crisis, the growing supply chain shortages, or the labor crisis."

Added Lamborn: "After a month full of inactivity, it is apparent, the Democratic caucus is truly in disarray."

Boebert attacked "RINOs"  a derisive term for "Republicans in name only"  for helping Democrats pass what she termed a "garbage" bill in a tweet.

"Time to name names and hold these fake Republicans accountable," she noted before retweeting a message from a fellow Republican lawmaker that read, "Republicans who voted for the Democrats' socialist spending bill are the very reason why Americans don't trust Congress."

Ahead of the infrastructure bill's passage in the House on Nov. 5, Buck, in a tweet, accused House Republicans who voted for it of "helping Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden ram through their massive socialist reconciliation package. There is no justification to vote yes, Republicans should reject this!"
Barry Fagin is Senior Fellow at the Independence Institute in Denver. His views are his alone. Readers may contact Dr. Fagin at barry@faginfamily.net.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert faced mounting outrage and calls for GOP leaders to repudiate the Colorado Republican after remarks she made at a campaign event suggesting a Democratic lawmaker could be mistaken for a terrorist went viral on social media.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and one of two Muslim members of the U.S. House of Representatives, accused Boebert of making up a story about sharing an elevator with Omar, a Somali refugee who wears a hijab.

"Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout," Omar tweeted Thursday night after a video clip of Boebert describing an encounter with Omar had received millions of views.

Added Omar: "Anti-Muslim bigotry isnt funny & shouldnt be normalized. Congress cant be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation."

Boebert later apologized to "anyone in the Muslim community" she offended with the remarks, which appeared in an undated video clip posted online by Patriot Takes, a liberal organization formed to "research, monitor and expose the extremism and radicalization of the far right."

In the clip, Boebert said she was in an elevator at the Capitol with a staffer when she noticed a Capitol police officer running toward them "with fret all over his face" but was unable to stop the elevator doors from closing.

What's happening?" Boebert said. "I look to my left, and there she is: Ilhan Omar. And I said, 'Well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine.'" The comment sparked cheers and applause from her audience.

So we only had one floor to go, Boebert added. I said, Oh look, the "jihad squad" decided to show up for work today. Dont worry, its just her staffers on Twitter that talk for her. Shes not tough in person."

Boebert tweeted her apology Friday morning: "I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction."

A spokesman for Boebert referred to her tweet when asked for a comment on the remarks and Omar's contention that Boebert had fabricated the story.

Earlier Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim civil rights advocacy organization, called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other Republican leaders to repudiate what it termed "Boebert's Islamophobic smears."

In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said: Lauren Boeberts disgusting remark about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is merely the latest symptom of the anti-Muslim bigotry that has plagued the Republican caucus in the House for years. Leader McCarthy should repudiate Rep. Boeberts remarks and call on all Republican members of Congress to treat their American Muslim colleagues and constituents with the respect and decency everyone deserves.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican routinely at odds with his caucus over its support for former President Donald Trump, ripped Boebert on Twitter and shared a post by a Republican hoping to unseat Boebert in next year's primary.

"Boebert is TRASH," Kinzinger tweeted, linking to the video of his colleague's remarks. He later retweeted a comment by Marina Zimmerman, a political newcomer who is challenging Boebert, who linked to Kinzinger's tweet and added, "Help me take out the trash."

Zimmerman told Colorado Politics she's heard Boebert tell "the same stupid story" about the run-in with Omar at several political events in recent months.

Boebert's remarks spurred widespread condemnation from Democrats.

"These pathetic racist lies will not only endanger the life of @IlhanMN, but will increase hate crimes towards Muslims," tweeted U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, who is a member of the progressive "Squad" along with Omar. "The continued silence & inaction towards this hate-filled colleague and others is enabling violence. It must stop."

"Boebert is the ABSOLUTE WORST in this nation," tweeted state Rep. David Ortiz, D-Littleton, adding the hashtag "Racist."

Sol Sandoval, one of eight Democrats running for the nomination to challenge Boebert, tweeted that Boebert is "just a high school bully with a national platform."

"Real courage is a Congresswoman like Rep. Omar speaking truth to power on a daily basis," Sandoval added.
" " It is totally possible to capture the heat and reap the benefits of an in-studio hot yoga class in your own home. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are realizing there are countless ordinary activities we took for granted. Exercising at a favorite local gym or fitness studio may be one piece of everyday normalcy you're now desperately missing in quarantine life. And if you're someone who prefers a boutique class or specialty workout, then you may really be missing the ambiance of your familiar surroundings. But as we continue to self-quarantine and help flatten the curve, is there any way we can recapture the magic of an in-class experience? For example  can you do hot yoga at home?

First of all, it's important to understand what "hot" yoga really is  and what it isn't. While Bikram Yoga is often grouped in with other types of hot yoga, this specific branch of the practice started in the 1970s and consists of the same 26 postures performed over a 90-minute session in 105 degree F (40 degree C) heat at 40 percent humidity. The controversial practice has been criticized for its safety risks and the alleged sexual misconduct of its founder. And while plenty of people continue to participate in Bikram, it's not the end-all-be-all of hot yoga by any means.

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So, What Is Hot Yoga?

"Hot" yoga really just refers to any vigorous form of yoga that's performed in a very warm and humid space  that typically means something between 80 and 100 degrees F (27 and 38 degrees C). Those who prefer a hot practice say it improves their flexibility, and the amplified sweat helps get their heart pumping in a way room temp yoga can't. And while the majority of those claims can be chalked up to anecdotal data, individual preference plays a huge role in yoga and fitness, so for some, heat is an important aspect of the overall experience.

"I think people love the hot yoga process because you sweat so much it feels like it must be detoxifying  sweating is absolutely cleansing in and of itself," Kala MacDonald, a Los Angeles-based yoga teacher and founder of the nonprofit organization, Yoga to Cope, says via email. "Not to mention, hot classes allow the body and its muscles and tissues to open up more quickly, allowing the yogi to enter into bigger, deeper shapes more quickly than they might be able to in a non-heated or 'warm' room."

MacDonald believes maintaining a semblance of normalcy can be essential for some people navigating discomfort and sadness in this unprecedented era. "In uncertain times, it can alleviate some unnecessary stress  which isn't welcome or wanted in your practice anyway  to stop trying to control what you can't control," she says. "We don't know when our adored hot yoga studios will be able to reopen, so it's up to us to find the heat we so crave in the interim."

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Don't Be Afraid to Move It Outside

One way MacDonald suggests warming things up is to step out of the traditional studio headspace and step outside instead. "If it's sunny, maybe skip the mat (but not your sunscreen) and get out in the grass for a grounding sequence warmed by the sun," she says. "There is science to support that simply connecting with nature, removing the barrier between your feet and the earth, creates a chemical and emotional shift upward in the body, mind and mood."

If going outside isn't an option, or the weather isn't cooperating with your yogic intentions, MacDonald has some other ideas too, calling upon the formal breath control practice of pranayama, which includes variations that are thought to warm the body and stoke internal heat. "Opt to stay indoors and instead of wishing for or relying on external heat sources, build your own fire from within by incorporating heat-building pranayama and intentional movement into your practice. Begin with some enlivening Kapalbhati or Bhastrika, make every transition and asana [pose] effortful and purposeful, and continue to grow the breath throughout as you move toward a melty savasana [corpse pose]."

San Francisco-based yoga teacher Gillian Confair has a slightly more offbeat, if not equally effective, idea for heating things up. "I mean, keep your bathroom door shut and take a massively hot shower," she says via text. "Then throw down your mat in the literal sauna of your bathroom, pray you don't put your foot in the toilet, and ask yourself why your yoga has to be hot."

While Confair is kidding about the bathroom yoga idea (maybe?), she raises a valid point for anyone obsessively trying to recreate the sweatiness of a hot studio practice at home. "The world is on airport rules right now," she says. "We're all wearing sweatpants, obsessed with "Tiger King," and eating 12 meals a day. If there's ever a time to shake up your routine, it's now. I promise you, there's more than one path to a calmer mind, and sticking to a rigid idea of 'this is what works' will likely lead to tears and frustration."

MacDonald agrees that this unexpected global crisis may actually be an opportunity for yogis to do the challenging internal work of the practice instead of focusing solely on the external asanas [poses]. "Hot yoga lovers often seek intensity and a faster pace, which can be great," she says. "However, I think this COVID-19 shift is forcing us all to slow down and change things up, and it's giving many of us time to work with. Now is the time to slow down and to explore other aspects of the practice that are heat building and detoxifying. Without the hot room, it's up to us to do all the work. I think maybe up until now, it was easier to feel like we didn't have time or the desire to dive deep and do 100 percent of the work ourselves, but I challenge people to see what they can do without the hot rooms to help. I bet people will be surprised by how strong and capable they are in a stripped down session at home with just a little curiosity and playfulness sprinkled on their mats."

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Creativity Is Key

San Francisco-based yoga teacher Erin Gilmore has her own opinions on hot yoga, having taught regular classes for several years at San Francisco's Yoga Flow studios, which are each heated to varying temperatures (their newest location heats the practice space to 90 degrees F, or 32 degrees C). "I teach hot yoga and practice hot yoga because I like the challenge of it," she says via text. "It makes me focus more. And mostly, I just like to sweat."

And while the San Francisco Bay Area's shelter in place order has put a wrench in her regularly scheduled practice plans, she's found ways to recreate that temperature-controlled feeling outside the studio's walls. "I am missing this ingredient a little bit in my home practice, so my low-tech fix was to just put my Dyson space heater close to my mat and crank that baby up," she says. "My friends and students on Zoom noticed and I saw quite a few of them scurrying out of their Zoom square to retrieve their own space heater."

Another workaround Gilmore's taken note of during her virtual yoga classes: an impressive array of cold weather fashion choices. "I've also noticed some of my more avid heat lovers layering up in all their finest winter athleisure," she says. "Hats, hoodies, thick socks. The people will find a way to make it hot and spicy even from the confines of their shelter in place home studios. But do be careful with how close you put your Dyson to your mat. I started to feel like my eyelashes were going to catch fire. So watch out for that."

At the end of the day, a yoga practice is deeply personal, and most teachers would agree that the priority is your personal experience and safety. If cranking up your heater (from a safe distance) or piling on your ski gear elevates your experience on the mat, then by all means, get your sweat on. But MacDonald has some food for thought for those desperately craving their pre-pandemic routine. "I get that people want what they're used to and it's easier to try to recreate a comfortable setting they know and love as opposed to doing things completely differently in a whole new way and a whole new environment," MacDonald says. "I guess if it's easy and makes a person happy to set up a heater and try to recreate a hot studio vibe, great. If it's creating stress and anxiety trying to make something exist that just doesn't, it's best to just embrace the change and transformation and find new ways to be excited on their mat."

Now That's Interesting Whether you choose to go hot or not, you may want to consider integrating yoga into your stay-at-home routine for a variety of reasons. Research has shown that various forms of the practice can actually help reduce depression.

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Originally Published: Apr 9, 2020
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" " U.S. Military Academy superintendent Sylvanus Thayer and future Confederate leader Jefferson Davis were key players in the incident which saw military cadets riot over alcohol-free eggnog. Stock Montage/CSA-Archive/Getty Images

A student staggers back to his dorm after a late night tavern visit with friends, hoping to sneak in unnoticed. If caught, he'll be arrested on the spot  again.

But as he aims for campus, a massive ravine as deep as a five-story building materializes out of seemingly nowhere and he tumbles out of sight. His friends yell blindly into the darkness, urging him to answer if he's not dead. As luck  and booze  would have it, he doesn't really feel a thing.

It wasn't the first time Jefferson Davis  West Point class of 1828 graduate and future president of the Confederacy  had slipped away from his post at the military academy to get drunk, but it was the first time the plan nearly ended him.

Brandy and wine remained a European luxury, so Americans replaced it with the much more available, cheaper rum. Cyrus Roepers, Historical Food Blogger

Not long after Davis' unplanned spelunking trip, talk turned to throwing an epic, eggnog-fueled Christmas Eve party, and naturally, he was all in.

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Let the Eggnog Riot Begin

On Christmas Eve 1826, at least 70 cadets got rip-roarin' drunk on eggnog, assaulted two officers and nearly destroyed the North Barracks. They broke windows, threw furniture, shattered plates and even tore banisters from stairways. Their noisy antics drew the attention of officers assigned to guard against such shenanigans. A subsequent surprise inspection of student quarters revealed a "Where's Waldo" of drunk cadets. There were sloshed cadets poorly hidden under blankets and behind hats.

And in the hours that followed, the booze made them brave, so much so that they grabbed weapons and threatened to kill their superiors. One officer was threatened with a sword and hit with a piece of wood; another was shot at.

Alcohol was strictly forbidden at West Point in the early 1820s. The military academy, stationed on the west bank of the Hudson River was, after all, run by Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, an austere and stern superintendent bent on instilling discipline. If a student were caught with alcohol, or simply under the influence of alcohol, expulsion and arrest weren't far behind. Plus, West Point, just 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) north of New York City, had its reputation to consider.

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Maintaining Military Order

When West Point accepted its first class in 1802, a mere 10 students assembled in a handful of haphazard buildings. New students interested in joining the ranks were admitted  at any time throughout the year  with few questions. Then came the War of 1812, and Congress, hungry for military success, installed Thayer to whip the academy into shape.

By 1826, Thayer had done just as he was commanded.

Until Christmas Eve, that is. That's when students broke out their secret stash of liquor: about four gallons of the cheapest whiskey they could find. They'd lugged it across the Hudson River and bribed a guard to bring it onto campus, where they hid it among their personal effects. Imagine: whiskey in boots, coat pockets, under mattresses and blankets, until the moment it was hastily mixed with eggs, milk and a few spices to become eggnog  the Colonial equivalent of a Jaeger Bomb. (Watch the video below for an idea of what might've been in the mix.)

"There are a lot of different theories as to how eggnog came about, but there's a solid consensus that Medieval Europe played a large role in its creation," says Cyrus Roepers of Arousing Appetites, a food blog focused on recreating traditional recipes from cuisines all over the world. "Many believe that eggnog is an offshoot of an old drink called posset, which is hot milk curdled with wine or brandy, and some added spices."

Originally, says Roepers, posset was the preferred drink of the Old World's 1 percenters. But it didn't take long before this beverage of wealthy nobility became popular with the average person and hopped continents. As non-nobles in the New World began owning land and livestock, they started using readily available ingredients, like milk, eggs and liquor, to whip up their own grog.

"Brandy and wine remained a European luxury, however, so Americans replaced it with the much more available, cheaper rum, thanks to their Caribbean neighbors," says Roepers.

And, as West Point cadets discovered, whiskey was an acceptable substitute, too.

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AKA the Grog Mutiny

As the Christmas Eve 1826 eggnog riot stretched into Christmas morning, the revelry escalated. Students who weren't busy dismantling the barracks or fist-fighting, armed themselves with guns and swords in preparation for a battle with West Point's artillery men, who were expected to be summoned in an attempt to subdue them.

But then the eggnog's effects began to wear off. Morning roll call revealed a corps staggering to line up, with many of the 260 cadets somewhere along the eggnog continuum of well-oiled to full-on hungover.

Thayer elected to censure only the most destructive revelers, and neither Jefferson Davis nor his compatriot, the future general Robert E. Lee, were among them. In the end, 19 cadets were expelled.

No word on whether they ever drank eggnog again.

Now That's Interesting George Washington's personal eggnog recipe incorporated generous measures of three different types of booze  rye whiskey, rum and sherry.
" " Protesters enlist a giant barrel of beer in their demonstration against Prohibition. Henry Guttmann/Stringer/Getty Images

With artisanal cocktails and mile-long wine menus at just about every restaurant and bar from coast to coast, it's hard to imagine an alcohol-free era in America. But for 13 years, The National Prohibition Act, otherwise known as The Volstead Act, put the kibosh on recreational drinking and banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of "intoxicating liquors" in the United States.

And while bootleggers and speakeasy operators found ways to sneakily sell booze despite the law, one unlikely group legally provided easy access to alcohol: doctors.

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You may not think of your friendly neighborhood medical office as the most likely makeshift liquor store, but for a time in America, physicians were able to escape the law and make a few bucks on the side. "Doctors had long prescribed alcohol as medicine, but it became a thriving business during Prohibition," says Karen Blumenthal, author of "Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition." While alcohol had been widely used through history to treat an array of medical conditions, it eventually fell out of favor with doctors, and by 1917, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted to support the prohibition of alcohol across the country.

But by 1922  just two years after the Volstead Act went into effect  a national AMA survey called "Referendum on the Use of Alcohol in the Medical Profession" revealed some interesting developments: Suddenly American doctors believed alcohol was a useful treatment for 27 separate medical conditions including everything from diabetes and cancer to snake bites and lactation problems.

" " A woman smiles as she tucks a flask into her boot during Prohibition. From this picture, you can see how the term "bootlegging" arose. Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images

"Medicinal alcohol was a popular loophole in the Volstead Act, the Prohibition enforcement law," says Garrett Peck, author of "The Prohibition Hangover: Alcohol in America from Demon Rum to Cult Cabernet." "Before Prohibition, doctors widely recognized that alcohol is not medicine, but during Prohibition, the AMA changed its opinion, in part because patients still wanted to drink."

Even though the very same group that wanted to bring booze back had previously declared it had "no scientific value," the U.S. Treasury Department authorized doctors to write prescriptions for alcohol. "Doctors were given prescription forms to prescribe 'medicinal whiskey' at pharmacies," Peck says. "This was widely abused, as the forms were often copied, and much more whiskey was released from bond than the federal government ever intended."

"Doctors did it, for sure," Blumenthal says, "But pharmacists and others also sold bogus prescription forms. Many people never went to a doctor  they went to the pharmacist, who could provide a prescription form and deliver the 'prescription.'"

In fact, historians have suspicions about one famous pharmacist, Charles Walgreen, whose Walgreens chain expanded from 20 stores to 525 during the 1920s. Many credited the founder's introduction of the milkshake for the chain's success, but as Charles Walgreen Jr. later told an interviewer, while his father worried about the danger of fires in his stores, he "wanted the fire department to get in as fast as possible and get out as fast as possible because whenever they came in, we'd always lose a case of liquor from the back."

"The prescription exemption was eagerly sought by the same physicians who, in the walk-up to the 18th Amendment, had officially  through the AMA  argued that there was no real medical use for liquor," says Daniel Okrent, author of "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." "What they realized, as the Volstead Act was being drafted, was the opportunity to take advantage of it."

Doctors and pharmacists weren't the only ones able to circumvent the law; farmers were allowed to produce wine for their own consumption, and religious leaders including priests and rabbis were allowed to serve it during services and ceremonies. But physicians were the ones who stood to make a profit. "Any doctor could give a patient a prescription of a pint of whiskey (or other alcohol) every 10 days," Okrent says. "In most cities, $3 was the going price for the prescription, and a similar amount was paid to the pharmacist who filled it."

According to Peck, others found ways to get crafty during Prohibition, too. "George Remus, the man who inspired "The Great Gatsby," figured out that medicinal whiskey was a great business model," he says. "He bought up a bunch of distilleries, which had rickhouses full of whiskey that couldn't be sold, then bought up pharmacies to distribute the whiskey. He then bribed federal officials to allow a lot more whiskey to seep out of his rickhouses. Remus made a fortune in a short period of time."

And although some opportunistic alcohol pushers did in fact get reprimanded for crossing legal lines, the end of the 13-year ban put an end to most boozy corruption. "One of the last people in Wyoming charged with violating the Prohibition law was a medical doctor from the town of Kemmerer," says University of Wyoming history professor Phil Roberts. "Oddly, he was charged the very day before Wyoming's 'constitutional convention' met to vote on repeal of the 18th Amendment. Later, the charges against the doctor were dismissed."

Now That's Interesting The National Archives notes that New York City by itself boasted between 30,000 and 100,000 speakeasies in 1925.
" " Map of Palmyra Atoll, one the original islands that the U.S. claimed under the 1856 Guano Islands Act. The atoll is 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) south of Hawaii. Wikimedia Commons

Let's travel to the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument. These 370,000 square nautical miles (490,000 square miles) of protected islands and waters stretch from Wake Atoll in the northwest to Jarvis Island in the southeast. In this cluster of small islands, you might find the sooty tern nesting in Jarvis Island, the wandering tattler browsing around Palmyra Atoll and brown boobies roosting on Kingman Reef.

All of those birds mean you're going to see a lot of something else  bird droppings.

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Brace yourself for a little history lesson that might make you take a real interest in what islands have birds, and thus bird droppings. That is, if you're interested in claiming an imperialist stake in deserted islands and declaring them under vague, if legal, American ownership. All because of a pile of poop.

Let's start not too far in the past. In 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration decided to expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument from a respectable 86,888 square miles (225,039 square kilometers) to over 490,000 square miles (nearly 1.3 million square kilometers). That also meant banning commercial fishing, drilling and other disruptive activities in what became the world's largest marine sanctuary. But where did the United States get the authority to protect those islands  and their surrounding waters?

Bird poop.

More specifically, the Guano Islands Act of 1856, which essentially says that if a U.S. citizen finds a pile of guano on any rock, island or key and that location isn't already under possession of a government, you can consider it "as appertaining to the United States." (We'll get to "appertaining" later.)

This law didn't get on the books as a joke. In fact, it was a real crisis that caused lawmakers to take deposits of bird doo seriously. In the early 19th century, seabird droppings were all the craze in farming fertilizer, thanks to those droppings being super rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. Things got so wild there was even fake guano on the market, said Columbia law professor Christina Duffy Burnett, in an interview with Cabinet magazine. U.S. farmers really wanted to get their hands on the stuff, and the Peruvians, which had controlled the market, Burnett said, were running out of it.

So U.S. lawmakers created this nebulous act that says should you find guano on any unclaimed land, the United States can decide it's theirs for the taking. But it doesn't say what "appertaining" really means. It doesn't mean the guano-rich unclaimed land becomes part of the U.S. exactly. It just means, essentially, that the U.S. can use these islands or keys or rocks for collecting guano. And then they can get the heck out, for good measure.

In other words, what some argue is one of the earliest legal structures of American imperialism appears to be based on excrement.

And remember, the law is still on the books today. Five of the islands (including Palmyra Atoll) that the George W. Bush and Obama administrations included in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument were the United States to protect only because the country was desperate for the bird poop on them, and created a rather shady way to get at it. In total, about 70 islands were claimed based on the law. And while most of the islands remain formally unincorporated, Palmyra is technically an unorganized, incorporated territory, meaning . . . well, not much. Both the Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are now stewards of the atoll. You can check out the unique, remote spot in the Nature Conservancy video below:

Can't get enough guano? The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History had an entire exhibition devoted to the topic. The exhibition's now closed, but you can visit its digital counterpart online.

Now That's Interesting The guano craze didn't last forever. By the 20th century, synthetic fertilizers had become the solution (and perhaps problem) of the future.
One of the leading indicators of a good milking procedure is meeting the industry standard for two-minute flow rate. This metric indicates the amount of milk letdown within the first two minutes of milking. During the November 17 Hoards Dairyman DairyLivestream, Michigan States Roger Thomson shared the benchmark they recommend for their producers.

The goal has always been at least 50% of the entire milking event harvested in the first two minutes, he said during the webcast sponsored by Diamond V. Some of the impacts on that percent in the first two minutes can come about by how the prep is being done, not just if its a bimodal milkout or not. The longer the letdown delay, the greater the amount of milk not harvested.

Cornells Paul Virkler uses a very similar two-minute flow rate goal. His team typically suggests cows produce 15 pounds (3x milking) or 18 pounds (2x milking) within the first two minutes of milking.

This benchmark isnt only important for farmers counting on a milk check to support their businesses, but it also matters to cow health. Thomson shared a recent research study that detailed the importance of extended stimulation time during preparation to two-minute milk flow rates.

We did a randomized crossover controlled trial, shared Thomson. What we did was look at two different groups. One group had both forestripping and wiping; the other group just had wiping. We kept the lag time constant at 90 seconds. The difference is forestripping plus wiping, which took a total of 16 seconds of manual stimulation versus the other group that just had wiping for seven seconds.

Cows that had the extended stimulation time saw greater two-minute milk flow rates, healthier teats, and shorter unit-on time.

To watch the recording of the November 17 DairyLivestream, go to the link above. The program recording is now also available as an audio-only podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and downloadable from the Hoards Dairyman website.

An ongoing series of events

The next broadcast of DairyLivestream will be on Wednesday, December 8 at 11 a.m. CST. Each episode is designed for panelists to answer over 30 minutes of audience questions. If you havent joined a DairyLivestream broadcast yet, register here for free. Registering once registers you for all future events.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021

November 22, 2021
Digital infrastructure company Equinix has been selected by Sub.Co for the landing of the Oman Australia Cable into its International Business Exchange data centres in Perth, Australia, and Muscat, Oman.

Equinix says these locations will serve as strategic interconnection points for the 9,800-kilometre subsea cable system.

Perth has become an important gateway for subsea cables in Australia. It also serves a strategic role as the west coast connectivity point that provides geographic diversity from Sydney and eastern region.

Muscat is strategically located between Asia, Africa and Europe, serving as a regional interconnection hub between key global markets, and the OAC is expected to further enhance Omans competitiveness in the global digital economy.

OAC will be completed in Q2 2022 and will connect Australia to Oman. By providing a direct link between these two countries into Equinix IBX data centres, hyperscalers, enterprise customers, and network providers will have access to a dense ecosystem of networks and the lowest latency, and most direct path between Australia and onward into Europe.

The direct connection highlights the following key facts:

OAC is a three-fibre pair system that will deliver capacity between Australia and Oman. This new route complements the existing networks within the country and provides additional international bandwidth for an ever-increasing need for high-performance connectivity.

The suite of landing station infrastructure in PE2 and MC1 will provide security and diverse network entry points for building out OACs core network. Equinixs experience in deploying landing stations and PE2 and MC1s proximity to the Indian Ocean and multiple strategic subsea cable systems were an important criteria in the selection process.

Equinix says it is a natural destination for subsea cable operators. Today, 41 Equinix IBX data centres are subsea-enabled around the world. When subsea cable systems are linked to cloud and content ecosystems on Platform Equinix, customers can access more than 3,000 Cloud and IT service providers globally.

Equinix operates 17 IBX data centres across Australia. Equinix completed a US$11million (approx. A$15.6 million) expansion of its PE2 IBX data centre in 2019. This facility provides colocation, as well as a host of advanced interconnection services, enabling virtual interconnections to cloud service providers such as Google Cloud. The Equinix Perth campus will offer customers connecting to OAC long-term colocation capacity to scale their environments. Already a major interconnection point due to geographical proximity and next generation subsea cable connectivity for the ASC and Indigo systems, OAC positions Perth as Australias connection point to Europe.

Opened last October 2020, Equinix MC1 is located in Barka, South Al Batinah in Muscat, the capital of Oman. It is Equinixs first data centre in Oman and its fourth in the Middle East and North Africa. Equinix MC1 benefits from direct connectivity to strategic cable landing stations and subsea cable systems that terminate directly inside the facility. MC1 includes more than 23,600 square feet of colocation space and 725 cabinets. The site also has capacity to grow to more than 2,150 cabinets with future IBX builds.

"Building OAC was very important for us, as a key new route to mitigate against the risks inherent in systems that traverse from Asia to Europe, Middle East, and Africa via the Malacca Strait. Working with Equinix is another key component of ensuring OACs success, given their global capabilities and flexible approach, says Sub.Co founder Bevan Slattery.

Our customers on the OAC will be able to take advantage of Equinixs international ecosystem, in Perth and Muscat. Two great brands, working together to deliver amazing outcomes, adds Sub.Co CEO Jim Clarke.

"Perth is an important growth market for Equinix in Australia and a strategic interconnection point into Asia and now Middle East and North Africa thanks to the OAC. We are thrilled to provide our enterprise customers and partners in Australia even greater access to the growing network of global subsea cables, comments Equinix Australia managing director Guy Danskine.

Rapid growth of the digital economy has driven increased demand for global connectivity and hybrid multicloud solutions in the Middle East and North Africa. At Equinix, we are providing customers direct access to different markets via the best routes. The Equinix Internet Exchange link allows network operators, content providers and enterprises, to leverage a global subsea cable fabric connecting cities, countries, and continents together, concludes Equinix Middle East and North Africa managing director Kamel Tawil.
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1. Yes. The Schlueter Group has extensive experience and contacts. Its a good investment.

2. Yes. The firms namesake has a background as a legislator and knows Killeen well.

3. No. The expenditure is a waste of money. Our lawmakers should be doing that work.

4. No. The contract should be shorter, incentivized and based on performance benchmarks.

5. Unsure. Its not always easy to quantify the outcomes of lobbying efforts.

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#BlackXmas: Visioning Beyond the Weight of the Moment

This last several days have been heavy and dispiriting. Last Thursday, we breathed a collective sigh of relief that was all too brief. Our days, weeks, months, and years of organizing was successful in having the life of Julius Jones be spared from the death penalty in Oklahoma only hours before his scheduled execution. While the immediate theft of his life was blocked, Governor Stitts final hour clemency remanded Julius to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Julius has been on death row for more than 20 years for a crime that he was falsely accused of committing when he was a 19-year-old student at the University of Oklahoma. Just a day later, Kyle Rittenhouse, who  at 17-years-old  was driven by his mother across state lines and murdered two Black Lives Matter protestors and injured a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted on all charges. The criminal legal system protected this vigilante murderer, condoning the premeditated killngs committed at his hands, and made him a hero among white supremacists. Supposed liberals in the establishment gave a nod to Rittenhouse and the system, with President Joe Biden affirming, I stand by what the jury has concluded. The jury system works. Here in Los Angeles, Deputy Sheriff Luke Liu, the only cop to ever be charged under the tenure of ousted District Attorney Jackie Lacey of the 648 police killings on her watch, was acquitted in the murder of #FranciscoGarcia. This week we are bracing ourselves for the verdict in the McMichaels v. Bryant case  the murderers of #AhmaudArbery in Brunswick, Georgia, where Black pastors and organizers supporting the Arbery family at the trial have been cast as threats.

In the words of Paul Robeson, The battle front is everywhere. We are experiencing a full-on backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement-moment. Police violence is spiking in Los Angeles (with 61 people shot by LAPD so far this year) and across the country. Instead of defunding the police, police departments are proposing massive increases to their budgets, and elected officials, readying themselves for reelection or their next office, are falling in line. The erosion of Black political power through redistricting is happening everywhere from Galveston, TX to Los Angeles. Renewed attacks on ethnic studies in school districts around the country are gaining steam. Environmental racism is global and its effects are near permanent. Racist-misogynist-capitalist David Schwartzman was allowed to buy the Crenshaw Mall, despite the superior bid of Downtown Crenshaw. Gentrification is running rampant. Black folks are living in tentscomprising nearly 80% of the population on Skid Row and 40% of the unhoused city-wide and there is no plan to provide permanent-supportive housing. And we are witnessing support for Black Lives Matter wane among white folks. These hits can make it seem as if the system of white-supremacist-capitalism has won and is undefeatable.

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Rather than retreat, however, now is when we must pause only long enough to restore ourselves and each other. Now is when we must assess the battles that we face and the war to be won. Now is when we must renew our commitment to struggle  not simply against white-supremacist-capitalism, but towards imagining and building new visions for the world and for Black people.

Capitalism doesnt love Black people, says Jan Williams, core organizer of Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles and Downtown Crenshaw. Each of these struggles represent the convergence of white supremacy and a fundamentally exploitative economic system. White-supremacist-capitalism requires violent policing to protect it. Modern-day policing places the same targets on the backs of Black people through LASER zones, hot spots, and racist policing as the system of chattel-slavery-era paddy rollers from which it hails. White-supremacist-capitalism profits from gentrification, labor exploitation, environmental degradation, prison labor and consumerism. White-supremacist-capitalism is embodied by Walmartinside which both #JohnCrawford and #StevenTaylors lives were stolen by police. White-supremacist-capitalism says that an alleged petty theft is worth the lives of Black mothers #RedelJones and #YuvetteHenderson.

When we think about the enormity of what we facethe thousands of lives stolen by police violence, each hashtag, police budgets in the billions, tens of thousands of our folks living unhoused, poisoned water, people confined to cages, centuries of miseducation, and the oppression embedded into every crevice of every system, it is too overwhelming to fight against. We must hold the line nonetheless. More than fighting against these structures that pummel us constantly, though, we must build new systems. We must dare to set our own agenda. Rather than merely resisting white-supremacist-capitalism, we must embrace and build cooperative economics (ujamaa).

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For the last seven years, Black Lives Matter has been challenging people to dream of a Black Xmas, to intentionally use our resources to: #BuildBlack (invest in Black-led, Black-serving organizations), #BuyBlack (spend exclusively with Black-owned businesses from Black Friday through New Year), and #BankBlack (move our money from white corporate banks to Black-owned ones). In 2020, #BlackXmas expanded to a nationwide campaign, with a website, blackxmas.org, that provides a listing of organizations to support and businesses to shop. #BlackXmas is about not simply struggling against the systems that enable Rittenhouse, McMichaels, Schwartzman, Walmart, racist policing, violence, and exploitation, but fighting on our terms. #BlackXmas challenges us to shake off the chains of consumerism and step fully into our own collective power, to build new traditions, and run an offense as well as a defense. #BlackXmas is about being self-determined and felling existing structures by building new, and more viable, beneficial onesin the names of our mightiest and most righteous warrior Ancestors, in the names of those stolen by police violence, in honor of our community, and as a commitment to the generations to come.
We present the first of three parts of the short story "Benito Cereno." It was written by Herman Melville. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.

Captain Benito Cereno hurried aboard his ship. It was ready to sail. A bright sun and a soft breeze promised good weather ahead. The ship's anchor was raised. And the San Dominick -- old but still seaworthy - moved slowly out of the harbor of Valparaiso, on the west coast of Chile. It was carrying valuable products and slaves up the Pacific coast to Callao, another Spanish colonial port near Lima, Peru.

The slaves, both male and female, slept on deck. They were not chained, because their owner, Don Alexandro, said they were peaceful.

The San Dominick moved steadily forward under a clear sky. The weather showed no sign of change. Day after day, the soft breeze kept the ship on course toward Peru.

Slave traffic between Spain's colonial ports in this year of seventeen ninety-nine had been steady. But there were few outbreaks of violence. What happened, therefore, on board the San Dominick could not have been expected.

On the seventh day out, before daybreak, the slaves rose up in rebellion. They swept through the ship with handspikes and hatchets moving with the fury of desperate men. The attack was a complete surprise. Few of the crew were awake. All hands, except the two officers on the watch, lay in a deep untroubled sleep. The rebels sprang upon the two officers and left them half dead. Then, one by one, they killed eighteen of the sleeping crew. They threw some overboard, alive. A few hid and escaped death. The rebels tied up seven others, but left them alive to navigate the ship.

As the day began to break, Captain Cereno came slowly, carefully up the steps toward the chief rebel leader, Babo, and begged for mercy. He promised to follow Babo's commands if he would only put an end to the killings. But this had no effect. Babo had three men brought up on deck and tied. Then, the three Spaniards were thrown overboard. Babo did this to show his power and authority -- that he was in command. Babo, however, promised not to murder Captain Cereno. But everything he said carried a threat. He asked the captain if in these seas there were any Negro countries.*

"None," Cereno answered.

"Then, take us to Senegal or the neighboring islands of Saint Nicholas."

Captain Cereno was shaken. "That is impossible!" he said. "It would mean going around Cape Horn. And this ship is in no condition for such a voyage. And we do not have enough supplies, or sails or water."

"Take us there, anyway," Babo answered sharply, showing little interest in such details. "If you refuse, we will kill every white man on board."

Captain Cereno knew he had no choice. He told the rebel leader that the most serious problem in making such a long voyage was water. Babo said they should sail to the island of Santa Maria near the southern end of Chile. He knew that no one lived on the island. But water and supplies could be found there.

He forced Captain Cereno to keep away from any port. He threatened to kill him the moment he saw him start to move toward any city, town or settlement on shore.

Cereno had to agree to sail to the island of Santa Maria. He still hoped that he might meet along the way, or at the island itself, a ship that could help him. Perhaps -- who knows -- he might find a boat on the island and be able to escape to the nearby coast of Arruco. Hope was all he had left. And that was getting smaller each day.

Captain Cereno steered south for Santa Maria. The voyage would take weeks.

Eight days after the ship turned south, Babo told Captain Cereno that he was going to kill Don Alexandro, owner of the slaves on board. He said it had to be done. Otherwise, he and the other slaves could never be sure of their freedom. He refused to listen to the captain's appeals, and ordered two men to pull Don Alexandro up from below and kill him on deck. It was done as ordered. Three other Spaniards were also brought up and thrown overboard. Babo warned Cereno and the other Spaniards that each one of them would go the same way if any of them gave the smallest cause for suspicion.

Cereno decided to do everything possible to save the lives of those remaining. He agreed to carry the rebels safely to Senegal if they promised peace and no further bloodshed. And he signed a document that gave the rebels ownership of the ship and its cargo.

Later, as they sailed down the long coast of Chile, the wind suddenly dropped. The ship drifted into a deep calm. For days, it lay still in the water. The heat was fierce; the suffering intense. There was little water. That made matters worse. Some of those on board were driven mad. A few died. The pressure and tension made many violent. And they killed a Spanish officer.

After a time, a breeze came up and set the ship free again. And it continued south. The voyage seemed endless. The ship sailed for weeks with little water on board. It moved through days of good weather and periods of bad weather. There were times when it sailed under heavy skies, and times when the wind dropped and the ship lay be-calmed in lifeless air. The crew seemed half dead.

At last, one evening in the month of August, the San Dominick reached the lonely island of Santa Maria. It moved slowly toward one of the island's bays to drop anchor. Not far off lay an American ship. And, the sight of the ship caught the rebels by surprise.

The slaves became tense and fearful. They wanted to sail away, quickly. But their leader, Babo, opposed such a move. Where could they go? Their water and food were low. He succeeded in bringing them under control and in quieting their fears. He told them they had nothing to fear. And they believed him.

Then, he ordered everyone to go to work, to clean the decks and put the ship in proper and good condition, so that no visitor would suspect anything was wrong.

Later, he spoke to Captain Cereno, warning him that he would kill him if he did not do as he was told. He explained in detail what Cereno was to do and say if any stranger came on board. He held a dagger in his hand, saying it would always be ready for any emergency.

The American vessel was a large tradeship and seal hunter, commanded by Captain Amasa Delano. He had stopped at Santa Maria for water.

On the American ship, shortly after sunrise, an officer woke Captain Delano, and told him a strange sail was coming into the bay. The captain quickly got up, dressed and went up on deck. Captain Delano raised his spy glass and looked closely at the strange ship coming slowly in. He was surprised that there was no flag. A ship usually showed its flag when entering a harbor where another ship lay at anchor.

As the ship got closer, Captain Delano saw it was damaged. Many of its sails were ripped and torn. A mast was broken. And the deck was in disorder. Clearly the ship was in trouble.

The American captain decided to go to the strange vessel and offer help. He ordered his whale boat put into the water, and had his men bring up some supplies and put them in the boat. Then they set out toward the mystery ship.

As they approached, Captain Delano was shocked at the poor condition of the ship. He wondered what could have happened. . . And what he would find. That will be our story next week.

Download activities to help you understand this story here.

What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page.

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Quiz

Quiz - Benito Cereno by Herman Melville, Part One Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

For Teachers

This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the strategy of summarizing to help students understand the story.

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Words in This Story

suspicion - n. a feeling that something bad is likely or true

handspike - n. a wooden rod with an iron tip, used as a lever on board ship and by artillery soldiers.

hatchet - n. a small ax that has a short handle

authority - n. the power to give orders or make decisions

intense - adj. very great in degree; very strong

disorder - n. a confused or messy state; a lack of order or organization




Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the old city of Bethlehem in the West Bank was busy with visitors in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

But for the last two years, hotels are empty or closed. No one is coming to the shops.

A historic piece of woodwork inside the famous Church of the Nativity is being cleaned. However, not very many people will see how good it looks this year.

Bethlehem, known from the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus, is inside an area of the Middle East controlled by Israel, known as the West Bank. Israel opened to visitors who have been vaccinated earlier in November, but not many people are coming to Bethlehem.

In 2019, the city was busy with people visiting historic places such as the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square.

Aladdin Subuh runs a shop near the square. He said he has no customers. He only opens the door to let in fresh air.

For two years, no business, he said. Its like dying slowly.

The global health crisis reduced visitors in both Israel and Palestine. But the city of Bethlehems economy depends on visitors, so the situation is especially bad.

In the first part of this month, 30,000 visitors came to Israel. In November 2019, over 400,000 people came.

There is some government help for business owners in Bethlehem, but not much.

Majed Ishaq is marketing director for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. He said the Palestinian government is offering some businesses who depend on visitors from other nations ways to pay less tax and some new training. Ishaqs organization is working to encourage more people to come to Bethlehem this year.

But Fadi Kattan is not hopeful.

He is a chef and runs a hotel in the old part of Bethlehem.

I dont think tourism will come back very soon, he said. He closed his hotel in 2020 and does not plan to open it before Christmas.

Kattan said it will take a long time for the city to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions, and business owners want to be sure they can stay open for a long time if they re-open.

While people like Kattan are uncertain about the future. Work goes on at Bethlehems historic sites. At the Church of the Nativity, workers are finishing a cleaning and repair project that started in 2013. Gold tiles and marble floors look new again. Workers put holiday lights in Manger Square. Unlike in 2019, visitors these days can enter the church without a long wait.

More work needs to be done, however, raising the total cost of repair to almost $20 million.

Saki Pappadopoulos is a woodcarver working on another old piece at the citys Greek Orthodox Church. He said the project was a big challenge that took three years. But it is almost finished.

Issa Thaljieh is a Greek Orthodox religious leader at the Church of the Nativity. He said life is slowly getting better. He said the small groups coming to visit are a good sign.

Without visitors, he said, Bethlehem is nothing.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. Susan Shand was the editor.

Have you been to Bethlehem during Christmas? What do you remember about your visit? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

encourage  v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen

tourism  n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

tile  n. a usually flat piece of hard clay, stone, or other material that is used for covering walls, floors, etc.
Scientists in Ireland are collecting native seaweed to feed to cows and sheep to reduce the methane gas that the farm animals release.

Research has shown that seaweed fed to animals can cut the amount of the climate-warming gas they produce.

Ireland has Europes highest per capita output of methane gas.

At the recent United Nations Climate Change conference in Scotland, Ireland joined a worldwide goal to cut output of methane gas by 30 percent by 2030.

Irish officials have said such reductions will mostly be reached through a 50 percent cut in non-agriculture methane. The country expects to reduce farm-related methane by 10 percent by 2030.

The program aims to use seaweed additives in food to avoid having to reduce animal numbers to reach goals related to efforts against climate change.

About 20 different kinds of seaweed, most from Ireland's Atlantic coast, have been tested by researchers. Many other kinds have been collected by the project's partners in Norway, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Britain.

American and Australian scientists have already demonstrated the methane-reducing qualities of one seaweed, called Asparagopsis. Small amounts were added to animal feed in tests. But this kind of seaweed is not easy to grow in Northwestern Europe.

The Irish project aims to find native seaweeds within the country instead. But some researchers admit the local versions are not likely to reach the reduction in methane levels of over 80 percent shown with Asparagopsis.

"We have identified some brown seaweeds that are very positive and they're producing results," Maria Hayes told Reuters news agency. She is the project leader for the SeaSolutions project. The project team has reported methane reductions of between 11 and 20 percent in early tests.

Irish researchers are working on ways to bring the seaweed additives into the nations farming system for cattle. Most cattle are mainly fed grass.

On one farm southwest of Belfast, treats are used to persuade cows to put their heads into a solar-powered machine that measures the level of methane on their breath. This same method will be used to test animals that have been fed seaweed additives.

Dutch chemical company Royal DSM produces a food additive that it says can cut methane release by about 30 percent. The company said it had received government approval in Brazil and Chile and is currently seeking approval in the European Union.

Not everyone is sure that such additives can help meet the latest climate change targets.

Sadhbh O'Neill is a climate policy and environmental politics expert at Dublin City University. She has been critical of industry attempts to depend on technology rather than to seek workable long-term goals for Ireland's agriculture industry.

"Scaling up these solutions takes time. We don't have time," O'Neill said.

Jenny O'Halloran harvests seaweed by hand on Inis Mor island, off Ireland's west coast. She told Reuters she thinks interest in the industry will keep growing.

"Maybe the futureis actually farming seaweed, which I think has to be part of the conversation when it comes to the future of seaweed in Ireland," O'Halloran said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

seaweed  n. a kind of plant that grows in the sea

per capita  adj., adv. by or for each person

positive  n. a good quality or result

scale  n. the size or level of something

conversation  n. a talk between two or more people
The messaging service WhatsApp is going to make details about its privacy rules clearer.

The move comes after officials in Ireland gave the service a record fine for breaking European Union data privacy rules.

The new policy will start on Monday. WhatsApps privacy policy will be organized in a way that provides more information on the data it collects and how it is used. The company said it is also explaining in more detail how it protects international data for its global service and the legal reasons for processing the data.

WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, now named Meta Platforms. With the update, users in Europe will see a notice at the top of their chat list that will take them to the new information.

WhatsApp is taking the action after getting a record $267 million fine in September from Irelands data privacy officials. The fine is for breaking European Union data protection rules on openness about sharing peoples information with other Facebook companies.

The chat service said it disagreed with the decision. But it must update its rules while it appeals the decision. The update does not affect how data is processed. Users will not have to agree to anything new or take any other action.

Irelands Data Privacy Commission is the top privacy authority for WhatsApp under European Union rules because WhatsApps headquarters is in Dublin.

WhatsApp was involved in a separate privacy dispute earlier this year. A different update to its privacy policy raised concerns that users were being forced to agree to share more of their data with Facebook. That update led some users to move to other services like Telegram and Signal. It also led to an investigation by Turkeys competition authorities, a temporary German ban on data gathering, and action by other EU agencies.

A six-hour outage of Facebook services in October showed how important WhatsApp has become for its more than 2 billion users worldwide.

Im John Russell.

John Russell adapted this story from an Associated Press report. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

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Words in This Story

global adj. involving the whole world

update  n. a change or addition to computer software that includes the most recent information

chat  n. a talk held over the Internet or text message

authority n. : the power to give orders or make decisions; the power or right to direct or control someone or something
A new variant of COVID-19 found in Africa has international health organizations and national leaders again concerned about virus restrictions.

A group of World Health Organization experts has called the variant omicron, a letter in the Greek alphabet like delta.

Belgium and Israel said travelers who came from Africa recently tested positive for the variant.

It is not clear whether the new version of the virus causes more severe health problems. But nations are trying to prevent its spread.

The health minister in Belgium called the variant suspicious. Frank Vandenbroucke said: We dont know if its a very dangerous variant.

In The Netherlands, an airplane with passengers from Cape Town, South Africa was held on the runway for four hours for extra testing.

One passenger called the situation ridiculous.

Jens Spahn is the German Health Minister. He said problems from a new variant are the last thing we need.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said Europe needs to be careful until more is known about the variant. She asked travelers from southern Africa to respect strict quarantine rules. She asked for care to make sure the variant does not spread around the world.

The traveler who tested positive in Belgium spent over one week in the country before getting a test because of mild signs of infection. In Israel, a traveler and two other people were quarantined. All the individuals had been vaccinated.

Health experts say the spread of the variant in Africa shows the problem with unequal availability of vaccines. Fewer than six percent of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Michael Head is a global health researcher at the University of Southampton in Great Britain. He said the new variant coming in Africa results from wealthier nations buying more vaccine than they need. He said large countries should do more to send vaccines to smaller countries.

Investors around the world showed their concern about the new variant. Measures of stock prices dropped on Friday in Asia, Europe and the U.S.

Dr. Michael Ryan is the head of emergencies at the World Health Organization. He warned against knee-jerk responses to the variant. A knee-jerk reaction is one that is done without thought or reason.

However, Britain banned travel from southern Africa on Friday.

The United States announced restrictions on visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. Canada and the European Union also have placed restrictions on visitors from southern African countries. And Japan announced 10-day quarantines for citizens coming from countries in southern Africa.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

What do you think about the reaction to the new variant from Africa? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

variant  n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

test positive  adj. to have a test show the presence of a disease, virus or infection

suspicious  adj. causing a feeling that something is wrong or that someone is behaving wrongly : causing suspicion

ridiculous  adj. not serious; unreasonable

strict  adj. describing a rule that must be obeyed or followed

quarantine  n. the period of time during which a person or animal that has a disease or that might have a disease is kept away from others to prevent the disease from spreading

mild adj. not strongly felt
Every year around the Thanksgiving holiday, a strange ceremony happens in Washington, DC. The president stands outside the White House, gives a brief speech and then officially pardons a turkey.

A pardon is a declaration that someone will not be punished.

You might be asking yourself, "What is the connection between turkeys, Thanksgiving and grammar?"

In today's report, we explore what turkeys can teach you about English verbs.

In particular, we will show you how Thanksgiving can teach you to use stative verbs. We will also show you the difference between stative and progressive verbs.

What is a stative verb?

The term stative verb refers to a verb that has a stative meaning. In other words, these verbs show or describe conditions or situations that do not do anything but exist.

Verbs that commonly have a stative meaning include:

-verbs that show emotional states, such as love and dislike;

-verbs that describe sense perceptions, such as smell or taste;

-verbs that show existence, such as seem or look.

In the present tense, a verb with a stative meaning is generally used in its simple form. "I love turkey," or "Americans like turkey" are two examples.

Verbs that have stative meanings are generally not used in the progressive tense. So, you will probably not hear a native speaker say, "I am loving turkey," or "Americans are liking turkey."

Thanksgiving and stative verbs

Do not fear: we can use our Thanksgiving example to make the point clearer.

Imagine you are at an American store. You hear a conversation between a customer and a store employee. The customer wants to buy a turkey that weighs 10 pounds, or 4.5 kilograms.

Unlike the turkey from the pardoning ceremony, this turkey will have a sad fate: the dinner table.

The conversation you hear might go like this:

Customer: How much does that turkey weigh?

Butcher: It weighs 10 pounds.

Customer: How much does it cost?

Butcher: It costs 20 dollars.

In the dialogue, you can hear two examples of stative verbs: weigh and cost.

The butcher said, "The turkey weighs 10 pounds, and "The turkey costs 20 dollars." In both cases, the verbs have a stative meaning: The butcher is describing a condition or situation that simply exists  the weight and cost of the turkey.

Now imagine you are eating Thanksgiving dinner with an American family. You might hear any one of the following sentences:

"I love turkey!"

"I dislike turkey."

"The turkey smells wonderful!"

"The food tastes great!"

"The turkey seems undercooked."

"The turkey looks awful."

All these sentences include stative verbs. You might notice that the verbs are also in the simple present form.

Why not use a progressive verb?

So, why would an English speaker not say, "The turkey is seeming undercooked," or, "I am disliking turkey?"

Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber are two English grammar experts. They say that, in general, English speakers use the progressive tense only when the subject of the verb actively controls the state or action.

In addition, English speakers generally use the progressive only when the verb describes an action or state that happens over an extended period of time.

So, you would not hear an English speaker say, "The turkey is seeming undercooked" because the subject of the verb, the turkey, does not control its state  being undercooked.

For the same reason, you would not hear an English speaker say, "I am disliking turkey," because the verb's subject, I, probably does not have control over the action of disliking turkey.

Now, some verbs can have stative and progressive meanings.

Consider these examples:

"The food tastes good."

"The president is tasting the food."

In the first sentence, the food does not control whether it is good or bad. As a result, the verb taste has a stative meaning because it simply describes the condition of the food.

In the second sentence, "The president is tasting the food," the subject of the verb, the president, has control over his action.

In addition, the action takes place over an extended period of time: the president must think about tasting food, then raise the food to his mouth, then consider its quality. So, you could say that the verb taste in this example has a progressive meaning.

What can you do?

The next time you are reading or listening to the news, pay special attention to the verbs.

Notice when the progressive form is used, and when the simple form is used. Then ask yourself why. Does the verb's subject control the action? Does the action occur over an extended period of time? Or does the verb simply describe a condition that exists?

If you are still confused about whether you should use a simple or progressive verb in your own conversations, Conrad and Biber have one tip that might help you.

They say that in conversations, English speakers use simple verbs around 120 times in every 1,000 words.

Progressive verbs are much less common: they appear fewer than 20 times in every 1,000 words.*

I'm Alice Bryant.

And I'm John Russell.

John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.

* See Conrad, Susan and Biber, Douglas. Real Grammar: A Corpus-Based Approach to English. Pearson-Longman. 2009. Pgs. 4-6

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Words in This Story

stative  adj. expressing a state, condition, or relation

progressive  adj. of or relating to the progressive tense of a verb

dislike  v. to not like (something or someone)

undercooked  adj. not cooked enough
Days of violent protests in the capital of the Solomon Islands eased Friday after Australian forces arrived to help re-establish order.

A demonstration that started peacefully in Honiara Wednesday turned into riots and looting that continued through early Friday. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters, who set fire to the National Parliament, a police station and many other buildings.

A small group of Australian police and military forces arrived in the capital in recent days to help local police gain control of the situation. A curfew was set to go into effect at 7 p.m. local time.

The forces were requested by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare under a security agreement his government has with Australia. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the forces were expected to stay in the Solomon Islands for a matter of weeks.

The protesters were demanding the resignation of Sogavare. He has been widely criticized by leaders of the South Pacific nation's most populous island, Malaita, for his 2019 decision to drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of mainland China.

Sogavare blamed the protests on interference from foreign governments. While he did not name specific nations, he said the interference had helped fuel the violence.

Pressures from outside the country were a very biginfluence, The Associated Press reported Sogavare as saying. I dont want to name names. Well leave it there, he added.

Sogavares government has been upset over millions of dollars in U.S. aid that has been promised directly to Malaita, rather than through the central government. That issue is the latest in a series that have caused tense relations between Malaita and the main island of Guadalcanal, where the capital Honiara is.

"Most of the drivers of the tension have been in the country for many decades and generations, said Jonathan Pryke, who spoke to the AP. He is an expert on the South Pacific and the director of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute.

Pryke said the tensions are linked to the countrys longstanding problems with poverty, limited economic development and inter-ethnic rivalries. So everyone's pointing fingers, but some fingers also need to be pointed at the political leaders of the Solomon Islands, he added.

Critics also blamed the unrest on poor government services, corruption and Chinese businesses giving jobs to foreigners instead of locals.

Since the government ended its ties with Taiwan and established them with China in 2019, there has been an expectation of massive infrastructure investment from Beijing. But with the COVID-19 pandemic beginning shortly after the change, the Chinese investment has been delayed.

Malaita had threatened to hold a referendum on independence over the issue, but the move was blocked by Sogavare's government.

The prime minister said Friday he stood by his governments decision to establish ties with China. He said he believes that government position was the only issue linked to the violence.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

___________________________________________________

Words in This Story

loot  v. to steal something from a place

decade  n. a period of ten years

rivalry  n. someone or something that is competing with another person or thing

infrastructure  n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country or region

referendum  n. an election in which people in an area vote on a specific issue
Aliza Hochman Bloom (New England Law | Boston) has posted When Too Many People Can Be Stopped: The Erosion of Reasonable Suspicion Required for a Terry Stop in the Eleventh Circuit (Alabama Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review, Vol. 9.2 https://www.law.ua.edu/acrcl/files/2018/07/2.-Bloom.pdf) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

The Supreme Court and the Eleventh Circuit each acknowledge that the 'reasonable suspicion' required by the Fourth Amendment for a warrantless stop is imprecise. Nearly five decades after the Supreme Courts decision in Terry v. Ohio, courts find it difficult to explain what level of detail constitutes reasonable suspicion to stop a potential suspect following a completed crime. Given that judicial review of investigatory stops is based upon the totality of the circumstances before a law enforcement officer at a particular time, all relevant legal precedents are highly fact specific, making it difficult to determine the level of detail required to support reasonable. Moreover, some factors that the Supreme Court has found pertinent to assess reasonable suspicion are irrelevant when the warrantless stop occurs following a completed crime.

A review of Eleventh Circuit decisions assessing Terry stops following completed crimes reveals the erosion of particularity required to provide reasonable suspicion. These cases show the tendency of courts to provide retroactive justification of a law enforcement officers particular decision to detain an individual, and dont appropriately distinguish warrantless stops following completed crimes. As others have noted, the ability for highly general suspect descriptions to provide reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop has disproportionately deleterious effects on young minorities in 'high crime' communities. Moreover, a cyclical problem has been created in large part by the standard of review, wherein fact specific decisions provide little guidance for law enforcement and the trial courts reviewing their stops, leading to continued erosion of the reasonable suspicion standard.

Most recently, the Eleventh Circuit held, in an unpublished decision, that a particularly vague suspect description was sufficient to stop an individual following a completed crime who barely met even that description. In light of the paucity of published precedent on this issue, and the procedural difficulties with Fourth Amendment doctrine, practitioners must brainstorm methods to halt the erosion of the reasonable suspicion requirement for warrantless Terry stops following a completed crime.

This article attempts to explain why, in the context of a completed crime, some of the factors that the Supreme Court has held can support reasonable suspicion are actually irrelevant. Most importantly, once a crime has been completed, an individuals particular location within a high crime neighborhood is not a relevant factor supporting a warrantless stop. Next, in the context of a completed crime, there are two critical questions inadequately answered by the existing precedent: (1) how specific does a tip need to be in order to provide the reasonable suspicion required by the Fourth Amendment; (2) to what degree does an individual need to match that description in order for the officers Terry stop to be constitutional. This article suggests that the answers to these two questions are interrelated with negative correlation: if a description or tip is reliable, and provides a detailed suspect description, then stopping an individual who does not perfectly meet each detail within that description may still comport with the Fourth Amendment. Conversely, when law enforcement possesses merely a vague, general description, it is critical that the person they stop meet that description exactly. In other words, the broader the description, the more critical it is that the individual who is stopped meets that wide, broad description.
SARS-CoV-2 (shown here in an electron microscopy image). Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

It is, scientists say, the most worrying COVID-19 variant since delta and perhaps ever. Here is what we knowand what we don'tabout the strain thought to have originated in Southern Africa.

How worrying?

"This one is worrying and I've not said that since delta," British virologist Ravi Gupta said on Twitter, about the variant labelled B.1.1.529.

Concerns among disease experts stem from the variant's genetic characteristics, as well as the observed impact it is having in communities across southern Africa.

B.1.1.529 possesses a number of unusual mutations, notably around 30 to its spike proteinthe part that latches the virus on to human cells.

Based on the experience of previous variants, it is known that some mutations can lead to the virus becoming significantly more transmissible, and can even reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

"Based on its genetics, it's something very rare and could well be concerning," Vincent Enouf, from Paris's Institut Pasteur, told AFP.

Epidemiologically, the trends are also worrying scientists and governments: case levels in South Africa's Gautengthe region thought to be where the variant came fromare exploding.

The World Health Organization has stressed that it may yet take weeks to better understand the new variant and how much more transmissible, or dangerous, it is compared to previous strains.

"We need to remain calm, continue to monitor it and not completely alarm the public," said Enouf.

US virologist Angela Rasmussen, summed up on Twitter the general mood among peers.

"Virologistsincluding myselfare concerned. But I don't think anyone can conclude based on the data we have so far that we are screwed," she said.

Worse than delta?

Perhaps the main question is one scientists are so far unable to answer with any certainty.

Delta is today the dominant coronavirus variant, spreading globally thanks to its characteristics that allow it to pass more easily between humans and evade some vaccine protections.

Even as newer variantsmu or lambda to name just twohave emerged, delta has retained its near-hegemony.

Early evidence from Gauteng does leave open the possibility that the new variant may be capable of dethroning delta, however.

"Initial observations suggest that B.1.1.529 was able to become established in Gauteng province and out-compete delta," said Sharon Peacock, Professor of Public Health and Microbiology, at the University of Cambridge.

"There are several explanations for this. A large super-spreader event linked to B.1.1.529 would give the impression of out-competing delta (which is otherwise the 'fittest' variant we have seen to date). But the other explanation is that B.1.1.529 can actually out-compete delta."

Peacock stressed that more research was needed to ascertain the true cause and extent of the new variant's spread.

One positive could be the fact that the new variant is easily diagnosable by a regular PCR, which should enable governments to keep better tabs on case loads.

Is there anything we can do?

It took less than 24 hours between South Africa announcing the variant and European nations suspending flights from southern Africa.

But for Enouf, "this is probably too late".

"It's a measure that allows us to slow" the spread of a variant, "but would never allow us to stop it completely," he said.

Some experts fear that the variant will lead to countries stigmatising South Africa and Botswana, where cases have also been documented. The worry is that this might dissuade other countries from divulging the existence of future variants.

But, as shown by cases detected on a Belgium-to-Israel flight, the new variant has already spread elsewhere.

Will vaccines work against it?

Again, it is too soon to know.

"We need to check if the antibodies produced by our current vaccines still work, and what level do they work and if they can still prevent serious cases," said Enouf.

That requires a two-pronged approach of lab trials and looking at real-world data in affected countries.

German vaccine manufacturer BioNTech expects data from tests "in two weeks at the latest".

One potential point of good news is that mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are likely adaptable against most variants.

"It is urgent to adapt RNA vaccines and vaccine boosts to the circulating variants," virologist Etienne Decroly said on Twitter.

Of greater concern are populations in countries where very few people have received even a single vaccine dose.

"The more this virus circulates, the more opportunities this virus has to change, the more mutations we will see," said the WHO's Maria Van Kerkhove.

 2021 AFP
People with masks walik, at a shopping mall, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday Nov. 26, 2021. Advisers to the World Health Organization are holding a special session Friday to flesh out information about a worrying new variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in South Africa, though its impact on COVID-19 vaccines may not be known for weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

WHAT IS THIS NEW COVID-19 VARIANT?

South African scientists identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country's most populous province. It's unclear where the new variant first emerged, but scientists in South Africa first alerted the World Health Organization and it has now been seen in travelers to Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an "exponential rise" of cases in the last few days, although experts are still trying to determine if the new variant is actually responsible.

From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.

In a statement on Friday, the WHO designated it as a "variant of concern," naming it "omicron" after a letter in the Greek alphabet.

After convening a group of experts to assess the data, the U.N. health agency said that "preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant," as compared to other variants.

"The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa," the WHO said.

WHY ARE SCIENTISTS WORRIED ABOUT THIS NEW VARIANT?

It appears to have a high number of mutationsabout 30in the coronavirus' spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people.

Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations "consistent with enhanced transmissibility," but said that "the significance of many of the mutations is still not known."

Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, described omicron as "the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen," including potentially worrying changes never before seen all in the same virus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S.' top infectious diseases doctor, said American officials had arranged a call with their South African counterparts later on Friday to find out more details and said there was no indication the variant had yet arrived in the U.S.

WHAT'S KNOWN AND NOT KNOWN ABOUT THE VARIANT?

People wearing masks on an escalator at a shopping mall, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday Nov. 26, 2021. Advisers to the World Health Organization are holding a special session Friday to flesh out information about a worrying new variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in South Africa, though its impact on COVID-19 vaccines may not be known for weeks. Credit: AP Photo/Denis Farrell

Scientists know that omicron is genetically distinct from previous variants including the beta and delta variants, but do not know if these genetic changes make it any more transmissible or dangerous. So far, there is no indication the variant causes more severe disease.

It will likely take weeks to sort out if omicron is more infectious and if vaccines are still effective against it.

Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London said it was "extremely unlikely" that current vaccines wouldn't work, noting they are effective against numerous other variants.

Even though some of the genetic changes in omicron appear worrying, it's still unclear if they will pose a public health threat. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially alarmed scientists but didn't end up spreading very far.

"We don't know if this new variant could get a toehold in regions where delta is," said Peacock of the University of Cambridge. "The jury is out on how well this variant will do where there are other variants circulating." To date, delta is by far the most predominant form of COVID-19, accounting for more than 99% of sequences submitted to the world's biggest public database.

HOW DID THIS NEW VARIANT ARISE?

The coronavirus mutates as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying genetic changes, often just die out. Scientists monitor COVID-19 sequences for mutations that could make the disease more transmissible or deadly, but they cannot determine that simply by looking at the virus.

Peacock said the variant "may have evolved in someone who was infected but could then not clear the virus, giving the virus the chance to genetically evolve," in a scenario similar to how experts think the alpha variantwhich was first identified in Englandalso emerged, by mutating in an immune-compromised person.

ARE THE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS BEING IMPOSED BY SOME COUNTRIES JUSTIFIED?

Maybe. As of noon Friday, travelers arriving in the U.K. from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will have to self-isolate for 10 days. European Union nations also moved quickly on Friday to ban air travel from southern Africa, and the U.S. also said it would ban travel from South Africa and seven other African nations by non-US citizens beginning Monday.

Given the recent rapid rise in COVID-19 in South Africa, restricting travel from the region is "prudent" and would buy authorities more time, said Neil Ferguson, an infectious diseases expert at Imperial College London.

Jeffrey Barrett, director of COVID-19 Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, thought that the early detection of the new variant could mean restrictions taken now would have a bigger impact than when the delta variant first emerged

"With delta, it took many, many weeks into India's terrible wave before it became clear what was going on and delta had already seeded itself in many places in the world and it was too late to do anything about it," he said. "We may be at an earlier point with this new variant so there may still be time to do something about it."

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Netherlands will be "effectively closed" in the evenings with bars, restaurants and shops shutting early to curb a spike in COVID cases, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday.

Dozens of protesters held a peaceful demonstration in The Hague as Rutte tightened the country's partial lockdown, as hospitals warned they are being overwhelmed.

But fears of a repeat of the riots that swept the country last weekend over the government's coronavirus restrictions proved, for the time being, unfounded.

"From Sunday, the whole of the Netherlands is effectively closed between 5pm and 5am," Rutte told a televised press conference.

"We have to be realistic, the daily figures are still too high," he added, referring to infection figures which are running at more than 20,000 cases a day, despite an adult vaccination take up of around 85 percent.

Rutte acknowledged that the government had failed to get across the message that people with symptoms need to get tested, since it last tightened the measures two weeks ago.

"I blame myself for that," he said. "We have to do better."

Non-essential shops had previously been allowed to stay open until 6:00 pm, and catering establishments until 8:00 pm.

Amateur sports will also have to stop after 5:00pm, while professional sports including football matches will continue to be played behind closed doors.

Patrons must now wear masks and maintain social distancing of 1.5 metres (five feet), meaning that cafes, cinemas, theatres and other venues will have reduced capacity, Rutte said.

'Snot-bubble guideline'

Schools will remain open, despite the fact that the largest rise in infections is among children. Pupils aged 10 and above must wear masks in hallways.

The government is also tightening its "snot-bubble guideline" so that primary school children with even a mild cold must stay home and be tested, it said in a statement.

Hospitals will meanwhile cancel non-critical operations such as knee and hip surgery.

In the protest near government ministries, people rang bells, blew whistles and sirens while many held signs saying "It is not right". One wore a star of David on his mask.

Police vans and riot officers stood guard near the protest. Police said they had made several arrests for possession of illegal fireworks and failure to show ID.

"COVID is just like a flu, it is a virus that we need to learn how to live with as a society, not trying to fight against it because it doesn't work," said Babs, a 38-year-old woman holding a sign reading "stop lying".

Another protester who gave his name as David added: "The authorities are going in the wrong direction to use a virus which isn't dangerous for the 'great reset' to curb our liberties."

The protesters eventually dispersed peacefully but police said they remained on alert.

The Netherlands lifted most coronavirus restrictions in September but was forced to reintroduce them in October.

Riots broke out in Rotterdam last Friday and the trouble spread to The Hague on Saturday and to other cities including Groningen in the north on Sunday and Monday.

Explore further Riot-hit Netherlands braces for new COVID curbs

 2021 AFP
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Governments across Europe rushed on Friday to bolster their defences against a fresh coronavirus spike, as South Africa announced it had detected a new COVID-19 strain that scientists fear could torpedo efforts to beat the pandemic.

In recent weeks the continent has been in the throes of surging cases and violent riots, wrestling with booster programmes and dramatic lockdowns to stem the tide as its death toll surpassed 1.5 million and it once again became the global epicentre of an unceasing pandemic.

Scientists are now racing to understand the impact of the new, heavily mutated strain, feared to be more infectious than Delta, which brought the world back to its knees a year after the virus first surfaced in central China.

"This is the most significant variant we have encountered to date and urgent research is under way to learn more about its transmissibility, severity and vaccine-susceptibility," Britain's health agency chief Jennie Harries said in a statement.

Dutch riot fears

Ahead of Thursday's announcement by scientists in South Africa, countries across Europe were already accelerating booster campaigns, enforcing stricter curbs and targeting the unvaccinated as cases multiplied to record levels.

Authorities in the Netherlands were preparing for new riots ahead of an expected announcement Friday by Prime Minister Mark Rutte to tighten a partial lockdown as it faces a critical hospital bed shortage with infections reaching record levels.

The country has suffered four straight days of anti-lockdown unrest, led by people Rutte described as "idiots", the worst in the port city of Rotterdam where police opened fire on rioters, injuring five.

"We are keeping our eyes and ears open and we are prepared," Rotterdam police spokesman Gijs van Nimwegen told AFP.

Germany, the Czech Republic and Portugalwhich has one of the world's highest vaccination ratesall announced new measures in recent days to stem the tide of infections that has been worse than feared.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued an urgent warning to the country's incoming government on Thursday, saying "every day counts" as the country's death toll passed 100,000.

Europe is stepping up its vaccination drive to beat back rising cases ahead of the encroaching winter.

On Thursday, France made booster shots available to all adults and the European Union's medicines agency has approved jabs for five- to 11-year-olds.

'Many mutations'

Scientists and health officials in Britain and South Africa expressed alarm that the new variantexpected to be code-named by the WHO on Fridaycould undo much of the hard-won gains against the virus over the summer.

The WHO said it is "closely monitoring" the reported variant and is expected to determine if it should be designated a variant of "interest" or of "concern".

Scientists have said the new B.1.1.529 variant has at least 10 mutations, compared to two for Delta or three for Beta.

"The concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, said at a virtual press briefing.

South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla described the strain as "a major threat".

The finding has left British scientists "deeply concerned", Health Minister Sajid Javid said, because it could render current vaccines less effective.

In the first international move to protect against its spread, Britain said it would ban travel from six southern African countries.

The news of the variant's discovery spooked investors in early afternoon trade, with Tokyo stocks diving three percent.

Shanghai shuts schools

In Asia, China's strict zero-COVID policy pushed Shanghai to cancel hundreds of flights and close some schools after three local cases were recorded, health officials said Friday.

"China has accumulated lots of experience in 'dynamic zero-COVID'," said Zhang Wenhong, head of the Shanghai COVID prevention expert task force, at a Thursday briefing.

"So our strategy won't change."

There was more positive news elsewhere, however.

The Philippines said Friday it would welcome vaccinated foreign tourists back to its shores next week from countries designated as low-risk.

But the effects of the pandemic have pushed even the most hardened skeptics on the world stage into embracing some anti-virus measures.

"As far as I'm concerned, we shouldn't have carnival" in February, said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said in an interview Thursday, in a rare nod to social distancing.

Explore further South Africa detects new COVID variant with many mutations

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Members of the public watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London, Aug. 23, 2021, which is taking place for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File

The bars are shut in Vienna, and the Christmas market is empty in Munich, as several European nations tighten up or even lock down to combat a spike in coronavirus infections.

Meanwhile in London, couples sip mulled wine at a seasonal market near the River Thames, full-capacity audiences fill the seats at the nearby National Theatre, and friends huddle over pints in pubs throughout the city.

Not for the first time in the pandemic, Britain is out of step with many of its neighbors. But this time, it's happy to be different.

The U.K. has endured three nationwide lockdowns and recorded nearly 145,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest toll in Europe after Russia. Now, it is watching as hospitals struggle with surging cases in countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, bringing lockdowns and restrictions. But while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that a "blizzard from the east" could still ruin Britain's Christmas, many scientists say the wind is now blowing the other way.

"We are not behind Europe in this wave. They are behind us," said Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia.

The surge that is now hitting mainland Europe, driven by the highly transmissible delta strain of the virus, walloped Britain in the summer, just as the government removed all remaining legal restrictions on the economy and daily life.

People wearing face masks walk along the Oxford Street shopping area of central London, Oct. 20, 2021. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID=19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File

Because Britain got delta in the summer, when respiratory viruses are transmitted less readily, "it wasn't so explosive as we would expect it to be in the winter, and as we're now seeing in in some European countries," Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Edinburgh, said.

"I think the U.K. got its delta wave at a fortuitous time, whereas Austria, for example, it's the exact opposite," he said. Austria, where average daily deaths have almost doubled in the past two weeks, has gone into lockdown, and authorities there plan to mandate vaccinations beginning Feb. 1.

The World Health Organization said this week that Europe is the only region of the world where coronavirus cases are rising, and the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring unless urgent measures are taken soon.

A teacher gives on-line lessons via webcam at the temporarily closed elementary school in the town of Trebisov, eastern Slovakia, Nov. 8, 2021. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible.Credit: Roman Hanc/TASR via AP, File

But Britain stands somewhat apart.

Many scientists predicted the country would see a spike in cases after July 19dubbed "Freedom Day" by the mediawhen almost all restrictions were lifted. It didn't happen.

Infection rates that were then among the highest in Europe, drifted up and down but never soared again as feared, though they remain stubbornly high. Britain is recording more than 40,000 new cases a day, a level last seen during the past winter's surge. But a relatively high vaccination rateparticularly among the elderlymeans hospitalizations and deaths are far lower than in previous waves. Still, 130 people a day died in the past week after testing positive for COVID-19.

Britain's hospitals have not been overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, though they are extremely busy as the health system struggles to clear a huge backlog built up during the pandemic. Johnson's Conservative government has so far not had to trigger its "Plan B," which would reintroduce mask mandates and work-from-home orders to ease pressure on the health system.

Streets are empty in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 22, 2021, at the start of a nationwide lockdown due to the high rise in COVID-19 infections. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, File

That could yet change. The pandemic's capacity for nasty surprises was highlighted Friday when Britain banned flights from South Africa and several other countries over a new variant described by scientists as a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread.

For now, life in Britain can feel unusually normaleven festive, as many embrace the holiday season with renewed enthusiasm. But it is a new, more constrained normal.

Visitors from countries where restrictions are still in place are sometimes taken aback by Britain's voluntary, variable approach to mask use and social distancing. But Ivo Vlaev, a behavioral scientist at the University of Warwick who has studied data from across Europe, says people in the U.K. have largely stuck to protective measuresincluding limiting their contacts with otherseven when they were no longer required by law. Movement data suggests Britons still travel and mix less than before the pandemic.

A man walks by a closed Christmas market, next to the St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 22, 2021, as Austria entered a nationwide lockdown to combat soaring coronavirus infections. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File

"It seems to be the case that in U.K. people are more compliant in general across all health-protective behaviors" than in some other European nations, Vaev said.

Partly, he says, the reason is "fearwe actually are quite afraid to go out and do the usual stuff" after Britain's harsh pandemic experience.

While some European countries are turning to compulsion to get more people vaccinated, the U.K. is sticking with persuasion. Britain does not widely require proof of vaccination attend events or workplaces, and the government has ruled out mandating vaccines for everyone, though health and social care workers have been ordered to get shots.

Britain hasn't seen as much resistance to the vaccine as many other countries, and about 88% of people aged 12 and up have had at least one dose. But only about 68% of the whole population is fully vaccinated, a lower figure than in some other European nations, partly because the U.K. was slower than many of its neighbors to offer shots to children aged 12 to 15, and has not yet approved vaccines for younger kids.

A woman wears a face mask to protect herself against the coronavirus as she passes by an empty terrace in the Marrolles quarter in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 17, 2021. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Olivier Matthys, File

People travel on a London underground tube train on the Jubilee Line, in London, Oct. 20, 2021, where face coverings are required to be worn over people's mouths and noses. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File

People wait for the tram, backdropped by the Christmas market, now closed due to the national COVID-19 lockdown, in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 23, 2021. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File

A man passes closed Christmas stands in the empty city center, at the beginning of the fourth lockdown in Austria in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Due to the high rise in COVID-19 infections, on Monday morning, a nationwide lockdown started. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Lisa Leutner

A car makes his way on an empty highway near Innsbruck, Austria, on Nov. 21, 2021. Austria went into a national lockdown to contain the fourth wave of coronavirus cases on Monday, Nov. 22. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

People wait to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Zagreb, Croatia, Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021. As countries across Europe reimpose lockdowns in response to surging COVID-19 cases and deaths, the UK  long one of Europe's hardest-hit countriescarries on with a policy of keeping everything as normal as possible. Credit: AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File

The government's focus is on giving booster doses to those most vulnerable to serious illness, offering a third shot to everyone 40 and up six months after their second.

"Get your booster as soon as you can," the prime minister said this week. "Because it is by vaccinating our country that we have been able to get your staff back to their place of work, to open our theaters, our restaurants and get back for longer now than any comparator country, to something like normal life."

Some public health specialists and opposition politicians say the government is relying too much on vaccination to keep the virus at bay. They want the return of mandatory masks, social distancing and other measures.

But some epidemiologists are cautiously optimistic that enough is being done to keep a lid on the virus over the winter. Perhaps ironically, Hunter says Britain's heavy coronavirus toll puts it in a stronger position than those countries where the virus is now surging.

"They've got populations that are not as well immunized, whether that is from vaccine or infection, as we have," he said. "We still have a lot more immunity from natural infection than most European countries, and we're rolling out the booster. That is why we will have less of a troublesome winter than most."

Explore further Scientists urge UK to prep rapid return of COVID measures

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
People line up to get on the Air France flight to Paris at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday Nov. 26, 2021. A slew of nations moved to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday in reaction to news of a new, potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variant that has been detected in South Africa. Scientists say it is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province. Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay

A new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is leading to a new round of travel restrictions just as many had finally begun to ease.

The risks of the variant, called omicron, are largely unknown. But the World Health Organization has called it a "variant of concern" and governments around the world are not waiting for scientists to better understand the variant to impose flight bans and other travel restrictions.

The U.S. said Friday it will ban travel from South Africa and seven other African nations by non-US citizens beginning Monday. European Union nations agreed earlier in the day to impose a ban on travel from southern Africa to counter the variant's spread. The U.K., Canada and other countries have imposed similar restrictions.

The moves have renewed a debate over whether flight bans and other travel restrictions work to prevent the spread of new variants. Some say at best the restrictions can buy time for new public health measures to be put in place. At worst, they do little to stop the spread and give a false sense of security.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it strongly discouraged imposing travel bans on people coming from countries where the variant was reported.

DO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS?

They might buy countries more time to speed up vaccination and introduce other measures, like masking and social distancing, but they are highly unlikely to prevent the entry of new variants, said Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh.

"Travel restrictions can delay but not prevent the spread of a highly transmissible variant," he said.

Johns Hopkins University infectious disease specialist Dr. Amesh Adalja says the travel restrictions only give the public a false sense of security and should stop being the "knee-jerk" reaction by public officials. Adalja noted imposing restrictions makes politicians "look as if they're doing something" but doesn't make sense when countries now have countermeasures such as rapid tests and vaccines.

Meanwhile, Sweden's chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell told a local news agency said he does not believe that a travel ban would have any major effect, other than for countries with direct flights to the affected areas.

"It is basically impossible to keep track of all travel flows," Tegnell told the Expressen newspaper.

COULD IT BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME?

Jeffrey Barrett, director of COVID-19 Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, thought that the early detection of the new variant could mean restrictions taken now would have a bigger impact than when the delta variant first emerged.

"The surveillance is so good in South Africa and other nearby countries that they found this (new variant), understood it was a problem and told the world very fast about it," he said. "We may be at an earlier point with this new variant so there may still be time to do something about it."

However, Barrett said harsh restrictions would be counter-productive and that the South African officials should not be punished for alerting the world to the new variant. "They've done the world a service and we must help them, not penalize them for this."

WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?

Sharon Peacock, who has led the genetic sequencing in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said any decisions to restrict travel were political decisions, not scientific ones. She emphasized that there was still great uncertainty about the new variant, including whether it is actually more infectious or deadly. Although some of the mutations detected appeared worrying, she said there is still no proof that the new variant is any more lethal or transmissible than previous versions.

"It's possible to keep infection out, but you would need very, very severe restrictions and only some countries would be willing to do this," she said.

"Buying time is important and worthwhile, but this is a decision for policymakers," she said. "At the moment, we won't have any definitive scientific answers for a few weeks."

WHAT ABOUT ECONOMIC IMPACTS?

If there's anything the global economy didn't need, it's more uncertainty.

A new highly transmissible coronavirus poses an economic as well as a health risk, threatening to disrupt the global economic recovery and worsen supply chain bottlenecks that are already pushing prices higher. Markets plummeted around the world over worries about the variantand reaction from political leaders.

"The most worrying thing about the new strain at the moment is how little we know about it,'' said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst for the currency trading firm OANDA.

Explore further EU wants to stop flights from southern Africa over variant

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
People receive a shot of the Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling due to logistical challenges and other issues, and with holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could soon face another surge.

Indonesia started its vaccination rollout earlier than any other country in Southeast Asia on Jan. 13, and as infection and death rates soared in July and August, ramped up its program to more than 1 million shots per day.

But as the world's fourth most populous nation it had a lot more work to do than most, and today is only 33% fully vaccinated and 16% partially, far behind its smaller neighbor Malaysia, which boasts 76% fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.

Most vaccinations have been distributed in the more urban areas on the archipelago nation's biggest islands of Java and Bali, while many on smaller, more rural islandswhere health care systems are often rudimentary and the population tends to be olderhave not been reached, said Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist and academic adviser to the government.

As more people travel back to these areas over the holidays, there is a greater risk the virus will spread to those populations, some of which have been partially protected by their isolation, he said.

People register to receive a shot of COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

"It will not be as bad as what we saw in July and August, but if we maybe look at the first wave, in January 2020, maybe it will be similar due to their vulnerability," he said.

Because Indonesia started early with its vaccination program, there's also more likelihood that the effectiveness is now waning, he said. Boosters are planned but probably will not begin until early 2022.

The government is urging people to avoid travel if they can and has increased restrictions in all provinces over Christmas and New Year's, but some 20 million people are still expected to vacation on the popular islands of Java and Bali over the holidays.

Budiman said the country should accelerate the vaccination program now, while cases are down and health care systems are not overwhelmed.

Indonesia has reported more than 4.25 million cases and 143,000 deaths from COVID-19 among its 270 million people. At the peak of the last surge in July, it hit 56,757 cases per day as hospitals became overwhelmed by sick patients and ran out of beds and oxygen supplies.

People receive a shot of the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

With a poor record of testing and case reporting, many have questioned the official figures and the Health Ministry conceded this week that there have likely been about four times as many cases as officially listed.

A Health Ministry spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, noted that one study of antibodies in Jakarta residents earlier this year suggested nearly 50% of people in the capital had been infected with COVID-19.

Budiman said his own research suggests that as many as 30-35% of the Indonesian population has had COVID-19which may be a silver lining to the vaccination cloud, in that many would have developed a natural immunity to the virus.

"But it's still far from the threshold for herd immunity, and we know the immunity from both the vaccinations and the infections is waning," he said.

Beyond issues with distribution to remote areas, predominantly-Muslim Indonesia is facing increasing vaccine hesitancy from many over the belief that shots other than the Chinese-made Sinovac are not "Halal," or permissible under Islamic law, even though the Indonesian Ulema Council, the highest Islamic body, has said any of the vaccines are allowed.

People wait to receive a shot of COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

Safrizal Rahman, chief of the Indonesian Medical Association in the province of Aceh, on the northwest tip of Sumatra island, said officials need to reach out to local religious leaders to enlist their support in moving ahead with vaccines.

"We need to make it a priority, because they are role models for society," he told The Associated Press.

Aceh currently only has about 35% of its people partially vaccinated, up from about 30% in September, and it faces increasing headwinds, including the growing proliferation of misinformation, he said.

"Our education is still lacking compared with what people learn on social media," he said. "Unfortunately what comes out on social media is a lot of hoaxes, but it is more influential in society than what is found in official sources."

It has not helped that the prominent voice of former Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari, who served time for a corruption conviction, has been one of those sources, advising against getting the vaccine citing fully-debunked conspiracy theories.

A man receives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

As the number of cases has fallen recently, the sense of urgency to be vaccinated has also dropped, and the World Health Organization has noted strong declines in the numbers of shots given for three weeks in a row, most recently an 11.3% drop from Nov. 15 to 21.

The government is trying to ramp things back up, and is acquiring 102 million vaccine doses in December through purchases and donations from other countries.

More cold storage is also being added, so that each province would have at least one facility equipped to hold large quantities.

Noting the recent resurgence of the virus spread in Europe, Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged people earlier this week not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the current low number of cases.

He stressed they should take whatever vaccine becomes available, noting that AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna have been shown to be more effective than the more popular Sinovac.

A man receives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

People wait to receive a shot of COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

A woman receives a shot of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign at the Patriot Candrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Indonesia has significantly recovered from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling and holidays approaching, experts and officials warn the island nation could be set soon for another surge. Credit: AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim

"Don't worry, these vaccines have been proven safe, don't hesitate to get vaccinated immediately," he said.

"Don't let what happened in Europe happen to us," he added.

Explore further Indonesia first to greenlight Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A man who opposes coronavirus vaccine mandates wears a mask altered to make a statement, poses with a toy sheep and an outsized syringe as he rides a crowded train in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries.

The Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi and was investigating two other suspected cases. The three individuals, who had all been vaccinated, were placed in isolation.

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province.

At a Cabinet meeting convened Friday to discuss the new variant, Bennett said it is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant. He said authorities were still gathering information on whether it evades vaccines or is deadlier.

"We are currently at the threshold of an emergency situation," he said. "I ask everyone to be prepared and to fully join in the work around the clock."

The government later said that all countries in sub-Saharan Africa would be considered "red countries" from which foreign nationals are barred from traveling to Israel. Israelis are prohibited from visiting those countries and those returning from them must undergo a period of isolation.

A man who opposes coronavirus vaccine mandates wears a mask altered to make a statement, while carrying a toy sheep and an outsized syringe as he rides a crowded train in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

People shop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

A woman video chats with another woman at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

Girls ride the light rail in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man shops for fruit and vegetables in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem ahead of Shabbat and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Israel's prime minister says it is "on the threshold of an emergency situation" after authorities detected the country's first case of a new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. Credit: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

The Israeli military will work to locate all individuals who have been to red countries within the past week and instruct them to go into isolation while testing is carried out, it said.

Israel launched one of the world's first and most successful vaccination campaigns late last year, and nearly half the population has received a booster shot. Israel recently expanded the campaign to include children as young as 5.

But the country only recently managed to contain a wave of infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

Israel, with a population of more than 9 million, has reported at least 8,182 deaths since the start of the pandemic. It currently has more than 7,000 active cases, including 120 who are seriously ill, according to the Health Ministry.

Explore further South Africa detects new COVID variant with many mutations

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Japan said Friday it will require a 10-day quarantine period for travellers arriving from six countries after the discovery in South Africa of a new COVID-19 variant.

From Saturday, Tokyo will ask travellers coming from South Africa and neighbouring Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana to stay at designated facilities on arrival.

They will also be tested immediately after landing, as well as three other times during their 10-day quarantine, the government said.

South African scientists said they had detected the new B.1.1.529 strain with at least 10 mutations, with the World Health Organization "closely monitoring" the variant.

"We have seen reports that it might be more transmissible (than other variants) and that the effectiveness of vaccines against it might be uncertain," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

"So we have decided to take utmost precaution," he told a press conference, adding that no cases of the variant had been discovered in Japan.

The step follows a sharp drop in new COVID infections across Japan in recent weeks.

The seven-day average of new cases is now just above 100 per day, compared with record highs of more than 25,000 in August.

Explore further South Africa detects new COVID variant with many mutations

 2021 AFP
A typical NHS poster from during the pandemic, with its face covering depicted as a surgical mask.

Across western countries, people are polarised over wearing masks. While some support wearing them as an effective counter to the virus, others believe having to mask up is a contravention of their human rights.

Our interdisciplinary team is currently exploring the role the media plays in influencing the British public's thoughts and decisions on mask wearing. We've found that these polarised opinions have been reflected and reinforced by the media, where a clear divide has appeared.

Pro-mask messages are more present in mainstream media, including in public health adverts and on TV. Conversely, anti-mask wearing sentiments are more common in personalised sources like social media.

Here, mask wearing is often associated with the historical commands of authoritarian governments. Some have even compared mask mandates to the Nazi policy of forcing Jews to wear distinguishing yellow stars.

This split in attitudes is a relatively new development. People were more cooperative when asked to wear masks in response to earlier health epidemics and other dangers in the 20th century.

Indeed, a 2021 study outlines how approval rates for face coverings during earlier crises were far more collectively positive. During influenza in 1918, the Blitz in Britain in 1941, and the smog outbreaks that occurred in the UK from the 1930s to the 1960s, masks weren't contested like today. What explains this change?

The tangibility of past crises

The coronavirus is invisible to the human eye, and its worst effects aren't seen publiclythey occur at home or in hospital wards away from people's gaze.

Smog, on the other hand, could be seen. Similarly, the threat of a Nazi attack in the 1940s was manifested in smoke, debris and dust in the air after German bombing, as well as physical destruction and rubble. Even influenza in 1918, despite its symptoms being very similar to COVID's, had arguably more publicly visual characteristics (such as vomiting and diarrhoea) that allowed it to resist public scepticism.

It may be that the actual visibility of these earlier crises made them seem more threatening, and so wearing a mask seem more necessary. Indeed, in a bid to make the dangers posed by COVID appear more tangible, politicians and the media have invoked the language of war when discussing COVID, or used images of people on ventilators to materialise the threat.

But such tactics have yielded significant debates among health professionals and linguists, as these produce questionable implications, such as potentially identifying infected people as "enemies" who bear and spread the virus.

Variety of the media

A second factor is that formerly, media was restricted to channels controlled or influenced by government, and these all gave positive depictions of masks. Today, however, there are many other channels, which allow for resistance.

During earlier crises, the media promoted mask wearing as a patriotic act. However, the media's scope in the first half of the 20th century was far more limited than it is today. Promotion of mask wearing was mainly limited to government-approved posters and newsprint in the 1910s.

Mainstream radio didn't exist until a decade later. And TV was only introduced in the 1930s but wasn't widespread until much later. Radio, print and newsreels were the main sources of public information during past eras of mask wearing.

By contrast, today's media landscapeespecially social mediaallows for individual and personalised voices to be heard to an extent unthinkable in earlier decades. Media has become a way of denigrating as well as endorsing mask wearing.

Even music videos provide an opportunity for people to speak out against masks, providing a stark contrast to the propaganda films of the 1940s. For example, in the video for Living the Dream by US rock band Five Finger Death Punch, mask wearing is depicted as a way of enforcing people's compliance in an authoritarian reimagining of America. Eventually, though, the public rebel, and are shown ripping their masks off as they head into battle against their hypocritical unmasked leader.

Pressure to wear a surgical mask

Although public information from the NHS and UK government specifically promotes the use of any "face coverings" (including bandannas, scarves, old clothes and so on), such messages are nearly always accompanied by images of surgical masks. Graphics that represent the need to wear a face covering nearly always depict a surgical mask.

And when looking at a database of British newspaper reporting from the COVID pandemic, it's also clear that journalists refer to "masks" more often than to "face coverings". Despite official guidance only requiring proper masks to be used in medical settings, the way they are spoken about and depicted suggests other forms of face covering aren't as broadly acceptable.

While there's good reason for thissurgical masks have been shown to be more effective than other forms of face coveringin the mind of the public, this may limit the scope of what is proper to wear. This may then lower people's willingness to wear a mask, as it's known that people are more likely to accept doing something if they perceive that there is choice involved.

Yet in the past, the same pressure didn't exist. During the influenza and smog outbreaks, attitudes towards alternative face coverings were more permissive, with non-standard masks even being celebrated among the fashion-conscious cultures of London and Manchester that were impacted by the smog epidemic. Surgical masks of the day would also not have so widely available. The leeway this offered may also have led to a less controversial response to mask mandates compared to today.

Explore further Widespread masking encourages others to wear masks

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Thousands of Canadian women may have died needlessly of breast cancer because of the fallout from two flawed studies on breast screening, according to a group of prominent researchers.

In a commentary published today in the Journal of Medical Screening, the researchers say they have new evidence that the Canadian National Breast Screening trials carried out in the 1980s were not randomized properly so the results were skewed. They are asking for policies made based on those results to be changed.

"It's so damaging because those results continue to influence recommendations about that age group to this day," said co-author Shushiela Appavoo, associate clinical professor in U of A's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

"Evidence reviews that included the Canadian National Breast Screening results should be revised to exclude these studies and the studies should be retracted from the literature," said Appavoo, who is past chair of the Canadian Association of Radiologists' breast imaging working group, a founding member of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging and a partner radiologist with MIC Medical Imaging in Edmonton.

The Canadian studies were the only such trials carried out around the world to find no benefit from screening for the 40-49 year old age group, Appavoo said. Though questions were raised almost immediately about the validity of the results, they continue to be referred to by policy makers in Canada and elsewhere.

In their commentary, the researchers from Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, The Ottawa Hospital, the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta and Harvard Medical School say they now have eyewitness testimonials from former study employees about errors made in randomizing participants.

"The bottom line for Canadian women is that this study suppressed screening, especially for women 40-49, for decades and likely indirectly resulted in a lot of lives lost," the authors concluded. "The study's influence on policy has had a substantial impact on breast cancer outcomes in Canada and may have contributed to the avoidable deaths of over 400 Canadian women each year."

Flawed by design

Two major flaws were built into the study when it was designed, Appavoo said. First, patients were given a physical exam by expert nurses before being placed into supposedly randomized groups for either mammography or no screening. In fact, because access to mammography outside of the trial was limited, the staff put more symptomatic women with lumps or pain into the mammography group than in the control group.

"The study design put these coordinators into a very difficult position," she said. "They would examine a patient and feel a lump on their breast or under their arm and then be forced to decide whether to put her into a screening or non-screening limb of the study."

Secondly, surgeons' offices sometimes called the study staff to ask for symptomatic women to be added to the mammography group, again because there was little access through other channels, Appavoo said.

"That's why the study results showed you had more of a risk of dying if you had been screened than if you hadn't been screened," Appavoo said.

As a result, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommends routine mammography starting at age 50. In Alberta, only 20 percent of women in their 40s get screened, Appavoo said, and they have to ask their doctor for a requisition to get the test.

"Because the Canadian guidelines recommend not screening until 50, a lot of women are denied that requisition," she said.

Rebuilding trust

Appavoo said a new, better-designed study is unlikely to ever be carried out in Canada, partly because of the expense and partly because it would be unethical to deny screening to half the women. Most international experts now recommend starting regular screening at age 40 or 45.

"We now know without a doubt that mammography saves lives," Appavoo said.

While there can be downsides to screening, such as anxiety over false alarms, Appavoo recommends that women 40 to 49 get a mammogram every year.

"There have been a couple of studies that showed that in that age group, the risk of a missed late-stage cancer is about 25 percent higher if you screen biennially instead of annually."

Rather than shaking her faith in science, Appavoo said this is an opportunity to demonstrate that mistakes are part of developing scientific knowledge.

"My trust in the process will be renewed if this information is acted on," she said. "Science is fraught with foibles because we're human and it's natural to stumble. The important thing is to correct where we have made mistakes."

Explore further Model suggests extending annual mammography screening past age 75 may be cost-effective for some healthy older women

More information: Martin J Yaffe et al, The randomized trial of mammography screening that was notA cautionary tale, Journal of Medical Screening (2021). Martin J Yaffe et al, The randomized trial of mammography screening that was notA cautionary tale,(2021). DOI: 10.1177/09691413211059461
ARCHIVED - Murcia hotel industry makes net profits while Spain as a whole flounders



Tourism in Murcia is alive and kicking according to hotel occupancy statistics for October 2021

Hotels in the Region of Murcia received a total of 104,481 guests staying during the month of October 2021, which represents a growth of 127.6% compared to October 2020.

Obviously its not hard to beat 2020, the year of lockdown and next to no international travel, but when compared to 2019, this years stats are a decrease of only 9.1%. While a decrease may not seem great, its better than the 17.1% drop in Spain as a whole that month.

This Octobers figures make the Region of Murcia the autonomous community in Spain with the fifth highest growth in hotel profitability, with a rise of 11.4% compared to October 2019, when in the country as a whole there was a drop of 6.1%. This goes to show that Murcia is still an attractive option for holidaymakers coming to Spain.

Of the just over 100,000 people who stayed in Murcian hotels last month, 79,757 of them were residents in Spain and 24,725 came from overseas.

Image: Anthem of the Seas
Providing broadband service for everyone is an unworldly dream, and it requires operators improvised action to make these dreams come true.

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) enables operators to reuse their existing mobile networks, improve the quality of services, and provide faster and affordable connectivity.

There are several reasons why FWA has become a viable technology alternative.

Deployment is relatively easy, time to market is shorter, and it can also expand wireless broadband coverage and potentially provide more than 90% accessibility to the population.

The 4.5G and 5G network-based FWA services also have the capability to offer a fibre-like experience and enable connectivity service in those areas where fibre-based service is impractical or takes a long time to deploy.

Return of investment (ROI) is less than three years, and hence FWA can also be a more profitable proposition for operators.

Vast areas and households in need of connections and broadband upgrades benefit the most from FWA, says Samuel Chen, Vice President for Huawei Southern Africa region. Furthermore, small- and medium-sized enterprises receive huge benefits from FWA too.

During the pandemic, more than one-billion children globally have been forced to stay out of classrooms because of quarantine measures. Working from home is only a reality for service sector workers and administrators.

But not all children and workers can attend their online classes or work due to the unavailability or expenses of home broadband service.

FWA can help people continue their work and education during the epidemic without the conventional network deployment and cost barriers associated with fibre.

The benefits of FWA are recognized by operators worldwide, and numerous operators are investing in FWA in the form of lab trials, license acquisition, pilot projects, network deployments, or commercial service launches.

According to a GSA report from June 2021, FWA technology has been implemented in more than 436 networks in 171 countries based on LTE or 5G; that equates to more than half of all operators with commercial LTE or 5G networks worldwide.

There are 84 operators from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are delivering FWA service to households and micro and small enterprises.

Even now, more than 100-million internet users in urban, suburban, and rural areas benefit from FWA. The estimation result shows that in 2021, the FWA subscriptions will reach 7million in SSA.

According to Huaweis marketing insight, this market is expected to grow by 64% by 2025, to a total of 11.5-million subscriptions.

Fixed wireless access became one of the most significant growth drivers around the world, as seen in emerging countries such as South Africa.

The impact of 5G FWA is huge, many believe that 5G FWA will have an impact that is similar to the impact of 2G on fixed voice more than 20 years ago.

According to a financial report issued by Telkom in South Africa in 2021, its data revenue has increased a total of 41% from R8.66- billion to R12.21-billion.

Moreover, its FWA new subscriber base increased by 290 thousand in the fiscal year 2020.

Rain, in South Africa, plans to accelerate its 5G network rollout to cover an estimated 5 000 new households each day for 2021, and according to these figures, 1-million households will have 5G coverage end of this year.

Today, in this 5G era users expect ultra-fast networks everywhere, and SMEs (small and medium enterprises) are no exception.

SMEs are increasingly expanding their businesses to areas where the Internet is a must, such as e-commerce, e-payment, and a growing number of devices that need to be connected.

However, 5Gs enhanced capacity and speed also make it suitable for delivering connectivity to the enterprise where PCs, laptops, IP-phone, fax, and other work devices can be connected.

There could be particular demand for 5G FWA where offices and workspaces tend to be temporary, such as construction sites and SME premises.

The latter would benefit from positive proof-points in the home for small business owners. 5G FWA allows businesses to simply unplug the router and perform the setup process again at a new location, as long as it is in a 5G coverage area.

It is worth operators examining where FWA services fit into the rest of their already crowded business portfolio to extend their business and for more revenue opportunities.

In recent months, many operators around the globe have launched FWA services for businesses. Operator AIS from Thailand launched several 5G FWA business network products including 5G FWA Broadband, 5G FWA Corporate Internet, 5G FWA MPLS, and complementary product such as 5G FWA SD-WAN and Corporate Wi-Fi.

American operator AT&T launched 5G FWA for businesses in March 2021, described as the First Nationwide Business-Focused Broadband Network.

The operator positions these services as fiber alternatives, where fibre may be unavailable, or hints that there may also be cases where customers may appreciate the speeds, flexibility, and easier provisioning of 5G.

In Europe, Vodafone Germany launched FWA service for SMEs, mainly to digitals as stations by enabling cloud-based payments, mobile payments, video surveillance, Wi-Fi hotspots, electric billboards, and e-advertisement services.

VDF introduced several types of packages, which brings up to three times more revenue opportunities compared to a typical household connection.

FWA increases the inclusiveness of broadband connections, helping deliver the benefits of technology to all mankind this is a statement that cannot be denied. This should be the obligation of leading ICT players as well as a collective responsibility.

Today, there is still more than 7.5 billion population that are still unconnected to the digital world.

Therefore, this highlights the consistent and unwavering significance of global telecommunications operators and equipment vendors to explore the full potential of FWA as well as other connection technologies to bring benefits to everyone without wasting any more time.
The U.K. will temporarily ban flights from South Africa and five neighboring countries over worries about a new, dramatically different Covid-19 variant recently identified in the region.

The travel restrictions go into effect at noon Friday and are a precautionary measure to keep the spread of the new variant in check, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said. The six African countries will be placed on the U.K.s red list as of Sunday, requiring travelers to quarantine in hotels upon arrival.

Israel also has banned travel from the six countries, along with Mozambique, another neighbor of South Africa, BNO News said in a tweet, without citing the source of the information.

Scientists are still trying to determine whether the new variant, called B.1.1529, is more transmissible or more lethal than previous ones.

Whats clear is that it has the most mutations of any strain yet identified. Thats raised concerns inside South Africa and internationally, with authorities fearing a wave of cases that could increase pressure on already strained health-care systems.

As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant, Javid said in a statement, adding that the new strain its now under investigation.

The U.K.s move is a further blow to the airline industry, which was starting to recover from earlier travel restrictions and lockdowns but now faces fresh curbs and a resurgent virus in parts of Europe. The measures announced Thursday mark the biggest change in the U.K.s Covid travel rules since the so-called traffic light system was overhauled earlier in the autumn to ease border crossings.

From 500 to 700 people daily arrive in the U.K. via South Africa on flights, a number that would normally be expected to increase in the next four to six weeks due to seasonal travel.

Other Countries

In addition to South Africa, the countries covered by the new restrictions are Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

In South Africa, virologists have detected almost 100 cases linked to the new variant to date, according to Anne von Gottberg, a clinical microbiologist and head of respiratory diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. No cases have been identified in the U.K., the health department said.

World Health Organization officials have met to discuss the variant, which has also been detected in Botswana, where its been found in people who were vaccinated against Covid.

Armed by our experience and understanding of the alpha and delta variants, we know that early action is far better than late action, Ewan Birney, deputy director general of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, said in a Science Media Centre briefing note.

It may turn out that this variant is not as large a threat as alpha and delta, but the potential consequences of not acting on the possibility it could be are serious.

The new variant probably evolved during a chronic infection of an immuno-compromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient, said Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute.

The worlds biggest number of HIV cases has made it more difficult for South Africa to fight the Covid pandemic, because the virus can linger for longer in people whose immune systems are compromised, potentially offering a bigger window for mutations.

WHO experts are meeting Friday with authorities from South Africa, according to U.K. officials. It will take several weeks to see the impact of the new variant on hospitalizations and deaths and to study how it may interact with vaccines.
Napa County isn't rushing to spend $9 million in federal COVID-19 relief money it has allotted for community needs, with the goal of maximum impact.

The Board of Supervisors took up the issue of American Rescue Plan Act money again this month. Some issues came to the forefront.

I already know an area I want to be super laser focused on. It's child care, Board Chairperson Alfredo Pedroza said. We know thats a huge need in our community.

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Yet supervisors didnt immediately create a grant program and invite applications from local nonprofits, which was an option before them. They wanted to study and strategically address social service gaps.

County staff will identify needs and resources currently available and return after the holidays with recommendations, County Executive Officer Minh Tran said. This is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make transformational, impactful, meaningful, permanent changes to improve the community, he said.

So we definitely want to take the time to do this right, Tran said.

Supervisors heard from several nonprofit groups during a Nov. 16 public hearing.

Liz Marks of Mentis asked supervisors to make mental health a priority. The American Rescue Plan funds are coming at a crucial time, she said.

All the data and studies are showing us the levels of depression and anxiety have doubled since the pandemic, Marks said.

Mary Palmer of the Napa County Commission on Aging said senior transportation to such destinations as doctor appointments is an issue. The need was revealed in studies done in 2005 and 2015.

Now were talking about doing another study, she said. I understand we need the information from right now. But we need an action plan. We need something to happen after the study is done.

Michele Grupe of Cope Family Center represented the Community Leaders Coalition. She urged the county to take time to plan and not rush.

Theres a lot of opportunity to leverage money from other sources and really get the biggest bang for our buck, she said.

Supervisors werent inclined to rush.

Its so easy to just go in and invest the money because there are so many great causes, but its rare where you can pause and look at it globally, Pedroza said.

Yet some issues such as the need for child care are easy to identify, Pedroza said. He suggested a hybrid approach.

Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht wanted to look at how state, local and other federal money can be brought to bear. Perhaps an issue such as senior transportation can be solved by sitting at a table with others involved, he said.

Usually when we come with money, everyone says, I want mine now,  Wagenknecht said. Thats not necessarily what I heard.

The county is getting a total of $26.8 million from the federal government in American Rescue Plan Act funds. It previously divided this money into three buckets  county public health response, community and equity investment and infrastructure investment.

Last week's session focused on the $9 million community and equity investment bucket.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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Napas symbol of holiday cheer has emerged from a season in the dark.

Counting down from 10 seconds, hundreds of spectators cheered on the illumination of a 29-foot-tall fir at Veterans Memorial Park at the culmination of the annual tree lighting ceremony Wednesday evening. The display of gaily hued nighttime lights is adorning downtown Napa for the first time since late 2019, after nearly all of last years holiday ceremonies were canceled due to shelter-at-home restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Organized by the Downtown Napa Association, the tree lighting capped a celebration that starred an array of dance troupes, including members of the Tap Dancing Christmas Trees and the local Napa Valley Dance House, Pepperettes baton group, and Ballet Folklorico Quetzalli of Vallejo.

Napas tree ceremony opens a Thanksgiving weekend devoted to ringing in the holiday season for downtown visitors. Festivities will continue Saturday with the Kiwanis Club of Napas Christmas Parade, which will showcase more than 80 floats on Second, Brown and Third streets from 5 to about 6:30 p.m. Afterward, families can bring their children to meet Santa Claus in the lobby of the Archer hotel at 1230 First St.

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com

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Californias almost exclusively Democratic state legislators got a good look last summer at just how precarious their positions now are, and they didnt like it.

The result almost certainly will be quick changes in state laws covering recall elections. You can bet Gov. Gavin Newsom would sign off on such bills with alacrity if he got the chance. But he wont, because recalls are written into the California constitution and their structure cant change without a popular vote during a general election, next one coming up in autumn 2022.

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Theres a strong possibility the Legislature will put two or three measures before the people next fall, just to make sure at least one passes.

For as threatened as Newsom felt last fall before beating back the recall then aimed at him, many lawmakers felt much the same. One state senator, Josh Newman of Fullerton, has actually been recalled, only to win back his seat later. Others know they could be.

Thats because recalls now require signatures from only 12 percent as many voters as cast ballots in the last statewide election. In Newsoms case, it was about 1.3 million, achieved only because a judge gave recall proponents four months more than usual to gather names after they argued the COVID-19 pandemic posed unusual obstacles.

Legislators could be forgiven for believing recall backers in their own districts might gin up some unusual obstacle during almost any year, and also get extra time.

No one claims recall elections are the epitome of democracy. For one thing, it only takes 12 percent of the voters being sufficiently disgruntled to force a vote in the midst of any elected officials term. For another, the recall target can draw more votes than anyone on the ballots list of potential replacements, but still be voted out if theres a simple majority on the question of whether there should in fact be a recall.

So among the changes under consideration for next years ballot is one that would separate by days or weeks the vote on a recall from balloting on a replacement. Another would eliminate the replacement list in gubernatorial recalls and give the governors job to the lieutenant governor if a governor is recalled, as Gray Davis was in 2003.

Other proposals include giving recall organizers less time to gather signatures or requiring up to twice as many signatures for a recall as todays rules demand.

The Legislatures few Republicans, of course, oppose all this. Never mind that they would surely turn around quickly if they ever again elect a governor from their party, which now has barely half as many registered adherents as Democrats do.

Some of those Republicans point out that only 11 of 179 recall attempts against state officials since the possibility began in 1911 have actually reached a vote. But two of those votes, both against sitting governors, came within the last 18 years.

This is the last bastion of checks and balances we offer voters, said GOP Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto, a former mayor of Murietta. Making the process harder, he claimed, would have a chilling effect for voters.

Added Orrin Heatlie, the main proponent of the Newsom recall, as he protested outside a legislative hearing, The ability to recall is extremely difficult now, and to try and further complicate the process and make it more difficult for the people to exercise their rights works in (politicians) favor.

Those sentiments wont stop the Democratic tide pushing for change. Not while most Democrats believe, as moderate Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda observed, that recalls can turn into a backdoor for the losing side in an election to relitigate the results.

He notes California is one of only 19 states allowing recalls at all, but demands among the fewest petition signatures. Compared to the 12 percent of previous votes needed to get a recall going here, its 40 percent in Kansas.

Theres little doubt about the undemocratic nature of recalls, but Seyarto is nevertheless correct when he says recalls are a last-gasp outlet for unhappy voters.

This doesnt mean changing an election outcome should be as easy as it is now, but it also doesnt mean the bar should be raised to impossible levels.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. Readers may reach him at tdelias@aol.com.
Reviewed by Kushankur Ghosh / 2021-11-18

Keywords: Data Science, Development Practices

Searching online serves as a base to solve problems and has become an inseparable part of our regular life. Developers in the software industry also rely on extracting relevant information from Google and other search engines to maximize their efficiency. A comprehensive illustration of the web-search queries from the perspective of software developers is provided in Hora2021a . By analyzing 1.3M search queries from developers, the authors found that:

Almost half of the queries (54.5%) from the developers end refer to programming languages and software technologies.

Queries are short and are mostly focused on searching APIs and for code examples that can be reused.

Over 80% of the queries are formed of nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs; developers possibly believe that function words such as prepositions and conjunctions wont affect the search results.

60% of the queries have at least one other similar query.

Stack Overflow is the most popular source for software resources followed by YouTube and W3Schools.

The order of the search results are likely to change due to minor query change such as swapping the position of words, removing a word, or using synonyms.
UK urges allies to seek alternatives to Russia natural gas

168.am: Armenia ex-police chief hospitalized

NBC: US holds back additional military aid to Ukraine to avoid tension

Person, 26, found dead in Armenia water pit

Criminal case launched into killing of Armenia soldier

Man found dead in Yerevan

At least 2 killed from tornado in Arkansas

Investigative Committee: Staff left combat positions and fled as a result of which adversary invaded Armenia territory

Jill Biden comments on talks about US President's mental fitness

Poland PM issues ultimatum to Russia

30 new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh

Media: Islamic State takes responsibility for 2 blasts in Kabul

France presidential candidate Eric Zemmour to visit Armenia

US to sell 18mn barrels of oil from its strategic reserve

Famous Armenia singer declared wanted

Bright Armenia Party leader: ECtHR obliges Azerbaijan to pay 30,000 to Badalyan as moral damage compensation

Psaki: US seeks diplomacy in context of situation between Russia and Ukraine

290 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Biden believes leaders of all other countries would like to be in his place

Armenia PM: Internal patriots do not calm down because their foreign partners do not consider the mission over

Peskov: Russia concerned about NATO military equipment transfer via Greece port

Esplanade of Armenia opens in Paris

Armenia soldier dies, 2 others wounded

Newspaper: Bill that pampers Armenia banks to have very serious consequences

Newspaper: What to expect from Armenia parliament special session next week?

Boris Johnson threatened with resignation due to parties during pandemic

Kopirkin: Russia is ready to make all efforts to contribute to normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

Armenia MFA: '3+3' platform needs to refrain from duplicating formats with mandate to settle conflicts

RT: US may build facilities in Georgia and Armenia to support its 'defense activities'

Armenia 2nd President: We will continue the struggle, all the phony cases will be crushed

MFA: Armenia calls on Azerbaijan to refrain from provocative rhetoric

Hero of 44-day Karabakh war Garik Hovakimyan's sister Mariam is born

Republican Party of Armenia Executive Body holds session chaired by Serzh Sargsyan

Iranian Embassy: Iran supports '3+3' platform during meeting held in Moscow

Armenia ex-defense minister on Prosecutor General's Office imposing attachment on his assets

Alen Simonyan: Armenia is in one of the most crucial stages in its history, and opposition is demanding my resignation

PM: Armenia is committed to contributing to global mission of strengthening democracy, and we hope we're not alone

Armenia MOD: Soldier who was injured from gunshot fired by fellow serviceman has regained consciousness

Armenia Deputy PM: Omicron variant is not sufficiently explored

First meeting within scope of '3+3' regional platform held in Moscow

NEWS.am daily digest: 10.12.21

Armenia soldier killed while resisting Azerbaijanis' attack, 8 are injured, 6 of whom are in severe condition

Armenia PM introduces new Head of State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan

Armenia human rights activists: There were cases when POWs were brought to territory under Azerbaijan's control

The book Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman was translated and published on the initiative of Ardshinbank

Armenia regional governor, IFRC Secretary General discuss return of Armenian POWs originally from Shirak Province

Armenia human rights activist: Number of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan is 80 more than the confirmed one

Pashinyan: Environmental sphere is of strategic importance for Armenia

Armenia President: We must understand that we are entering completely different era for humanity

Dollar goes up somewhat in Armenia

Armenia State Revenue Committee chief meets with French Development Agency Regional Director

Opposition 'Armenia' faction MPs Artur Sargsyan and Mkhitar Zakaryan released from penitentiary institution

Head of Armenia's Norabak village: Azerbaijan has military post that is 2 km from us

Armenia finance minister receives France Ambassador and French Development Agency Regional Director

Armenia opposition MP Ishkhan Zakaryan leaving 'With Honor' faction

Russian and Armenian Deputy FMs meet in Moscow

Armenia PM highlights importance of speedy conclusion of full-format agreement between Iran and EEU

Armenia opposition MPs Mkhitar Zakaryan and Artur Sargsyan to be released without court decision today

Armenian opposition MP Armen Charchyan is released

Armenia MOD: Armenian side has one casualty, few soldiers are injured, exchange of fire is over

Armenias Pashinyan: High-tech component development also important in Eurasian integration context

Armenia Deputy PM dismisses his two assistants

Nazarbayev says Azerbaijan can become observer country in Eurasian Economic Union

Head of Armenia village: The Azerbaijanis tried to advance in direction of Sotk, but our soldiers didn't let them

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan attacked in eastern direction of border

Special court hearing underway on case of Armenia opposition lawmaker behind bars

Artsakh officials visit Stepanakert memorial

2 more die of coronavirus in Karabakh

Vardenis protesters dismiss Armenia MOD statement on obstructing car taking wounded soldier to Yerevan

Armenia FM briefs Francophonie chief on regional security issues (PHOTOS)

Armenia Police: 13 people apprehended near MFA building

Armenia protesting residents reopen Martuni-Vardenis motorway due to border tension

Armenia parliament passes changes to some laws

Armenia MOD: Deputy commander was told in Vardenis that car taking wounded soldier to Yerevan would be obstructed

347 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia opposition movement staging protest inside MFA building

Armenia has new environment minister

Artsakh MFA: Referendum on independence is solid legal basis for statehood

Special court session to be held on case of imprisoned Armenia opposition MP

Biden promises Zelenskyy to punish Russia in case of invasion of Ukraine

Newspaper: Armenia parliament recent fight case to have former ones fate

Newspaper: What is reason for recent long visit to Armenia by ex-commander of Russia peacekeepers in Artsakh?

Petition to arrest one of accused Armenia soldiers returned from Azerbaijan captivity is granted

Russian Aerospace Forces consider practice of reconnaissance and strike UAVs during Karabakh conflict

Investigative Committee: Motion filed for arrest of 5 of 10 POWs returned to Armenia on Dec. 4

Armenia State Revenue Committee chief hosts Iran Customs Administration head

Armenia Shirak Province ex-deputy governor Boris Aleksanov dies

Constitutional Court announces decision on release of arrested MPs of opposition 'Armenia' parliamentary faction

Iran, Azerbaijan discuss cooperation in petrol and natural gas sectors

Lavrov: We understand the complexity of the situation in Armenia, but it's not right to speculate Russia's role

Cem Ozdemir who initiated adoption of Armenian Genocide resolution is Germany's first minister with migration history

Armenia FM, France Secretary of State sign 'Roadmap for Armenian-French Economic Cooperation'

Armenia PM scheduled to deliver speech at Summit for Democracy on Dec. 10

Zakharova says news about recall of Russia's Ambassador to Armenia is misinformation

Opposition 'Armenia' Alliance: 3 deputies of parliamentary faction will be released

Attorney: MP Armen Charchyan needs to be released immediately by virtue of Armenia Constitutional Court decision

Armenia ex-environment minister Romanos Petrosyan appointed Head of State Supervision Service

Armenia MOD: 2 Armenian soldiers receive slight firearm injuries as a result of Azerbaijanis' provocation

NEWS.am daily digest: 09.12.21

Zakharova: Moscow hopes Armenia and Azerbaijan leaders reaffirm commitment to implementing agreements
At a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said about the importance of 'working on a comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.'

The President of Azerbaijan noted that during this year, Baku and Moscow maintained an active dialogue, the presidents met and often talked on the phone.

"We are very pleased with the dynamics of the development of bilateral relations," Aliyev said.

According to him, many issues were resolved in a bilateral format, and today we characterize relations as relations of strategic partners. This is not just a phrase, it actually is. And we are determined to further raise the level of our relations in all areas. The trade turnover is growing, there is a very great mutual interest in economic cooperation, including among business circles. And, of course, we are very pleased that our relations cover many areas. We are now implementing 7 roadmaps on practically the overwhelming majority of spheres of economy, transport, humanitarian cooperation."

The Azerbaijani president also expressed condolences to Vladimir Putin in connection with the tragedy at a mine in the Kemerovo region.

The President of Azerbaijan thanked Russia for the assessment on the popularization and preservation of the Russian language in Azerbaijan, including through educational processes, and for the excellent learning conditions for Azerbaijani students in Russia.

According to him, more than 15 thousand citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan study at Russian universities, receive a full-fledged education and automatically become a bridge between countries. Aliyev stated that this week is very indicative - the President received the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, the President of the Academy of Sciences. A representative for humanitarian cooperation was also in Baku with an important mission to establish contacts between cultural figures of Azerbaijan and Armenia with the active participation of the Russian side. A large business conference was held, with more than 30 Russian companies.

Of course, today we will talk in detail about the Armenian-Azerbaijani problems. I must note that this year, when the Russian peacekeeping forces began to operate on November 10 last year, there have been no serious incidents since then in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. There were no clashes, there were no serious events, there were sporadic incidents that were not some kind of systemic crisis.

There were clashes on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, but this is not the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers. But nevertheless, of course, this forces us to talk very closely today, including in a trilateral format, on how to control risks, minimize them and work on a comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

We highly appreciate your personal role in this matter, the role of the High Representatives of the Government of Russia, and of course the role of the Russian peacekeepers in maintaining peace in Karabakh. And we hope that next year the work will be continued and there will be good results," Ilham Aliyev said.
The aim of all our efforts is to create conditions for rebirth of the region. This is what President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin declared in the beginning of the meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Sochi.

A lot has been done in this period, but unfortunately, not all the issues have been resolved. I am aware of the tragic incidents that took place on the border, killing and injuring people of both sides. We have gathered to avoid such incidents in the future. Overall, a lot has been done over the past year. First, there are no large-scale hostilities, and this is good. A lot of work has been done for the return of refugees (53,000 people have already returned to their places of residence). The Russian peacekeeping contingent is working effectively to ensure peoples security, and the Russian-Turkish ceasefire monitoring center is operating.

The important thing is that conditions are being created for normal and peaceful life in the future. There is a trilateral commission at the level of Deputy Prime Ministers. Its not easy, but there is progress, and there are grounds to assume that in the near future we will be able to not only approve the work of the group for the unblocking of transport links, but also make the necessary decisions. All this needs to have a favorable impact on the living standard of the citizens of both countries. This is of great significance for Russia, taking into consideration the special nature of relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, Putin said.
Many issues can be resolved in the trilateral and even bilateral formats. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during the part of the trilateral meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation, Armenia and Azerbaijan that was open for the mass media.

Expressing gratitude for the organization of the meeting and the invitation, Pashinyan first on behalf of the Armenian people and then personally expressed condolences over the explosion that took place at a mine in the Russian Federation.

Your personal role and the role of Russia in stopping the war last year is obvious, and after November 9, Russian peacekeeping forces were already deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. It is obvious that Russian peacekeepers and the Russian Federation play a key role in stabilizing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the region. I want to emphasize that, unfortunately, the situation is not as stable as we would like it to be. After November 9 last year, several dozen people have already died on both sides, incidents have been recorded in Nagorno-Karabakh, and since May 12 this year we have an active crisis situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Our assessment is that the Azerbaijani troops invaded the sovereign territory of Armenia. The border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is neither demarcated nor delimitated, but there is a state border, and that is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the PM said.

Pashinyan also disagreed with the view of President of Azerbaijan that all the points in the trilateral statement have been implemented, except for the unblocking of communications. You know, and we have discussed personally and on the phone several times that there is an issue of hostages, prisoners of war and persons deprived of liberty. This is a major humanitarian issue, the Prime Minister said, adding that they have gathered to discuss not only the problems, but also solve the current issues.

I have also stated several times that Armenia is ready to launch the process of demarcation and delimitation of borders. The unblocking of transport communications is also very important. We are sincerely interested in the solution to these issues, Pashinyan assured.

Stating the Armenian sides position, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict needs to be settled within the scope of the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group. According to him, many issues can and need to be discussed and resolved in the trilateral and even bilateral formats.
Both sides are interested in the settlement and development of the situation. This is what President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin declared in the beginning of the meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Sochi.

We recalled the unblocking of communication routes. Everyone is interested in this, including Russia. We are neighbors and have whole-scale trade turnover. Nevertheless, we have also agreed to regulate the activities for demarcation and delimitation of the border soon. We will discuss this today, even though it is clear that this is a complicated issue. We have inherited it from the Soviet era. There was no specific border back then, but there is an opportunity to talk about all this, Putin said, addressing Pashinyan and Aliyev.

Putin also welcomed the upcoming meeting of the two leaders in Brussels.

I agree with my two counterparts that the more contacts there are, including direct contacts, the better, and direct bilateral contacts are generally viewed as a priority. I am aware that there will be another meeting in Brussels, and you have agreed to attend. We welcome this. I fully hope we will make progress and it will be possible to take the future actions on other platforms as well. I repeat  Russia only welcomes our colleagues engagement in dialogue, Putin stated.
Our work was very constructive, and it served as an in-depth analysis of the current situation. This is what President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin declared after his meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

We reached an agreement on a number of key issues. First, we agreed to create mechanisms for demarcation and delimitation of the border between the two countries before the end of this year, and I fully hope this takes place as quickly as possible, there are no obstacles for this. The second agreement is on the humanitarian issues, which are very important and sensitive, and we have made significant progress. The third agreement is on the economy, the development of economic relations and the unblocking of transport corridors. This concerns railway and automobile communication. I believe we need to express our gratitude to our Prime Ministers who are working on this issue. Next week, they will meet in Moscow, and this is another agreement that we reached, that is, to sum up certain results and announce the decisions that we agreed on today, Putin said, expressing gratitude to the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for their participation.
It was a very positive meeting, we actually discussed all the issues on the agenda. I would like to state that we clarified our stances on many issues. It turned out that there is no misreading in regard to several issues. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan declared during the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan held in Sochi.

Pashinyan expressed gratitude to Putin for creating a positive working atmosphere. In regard to the paths for all the transport and economic communication routes in the region, we recorded the fact that we have a common picture of the work that has to be done. The topic of delimitation and demarcation is not a new topic, and we discussed it. We adopted a trilateral statement in which we enshrined the fact that before that, we need to create relevant conditions, that is, create certain security and stability mechanisms on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Pashinyan said, adding that humanitarian issues were also touched upon.

Overall, I believe todays meeting was very positive, and once again, I would like to express gratitude to Armenias strategic ally the Russian Federation for this initiative. I believe if we succeeded in creating certain dynamics on the basis of this meeting, we can expect concrete outcomes. I affirm the willingness of Armenia and its government to open the era of peace and peaceful development for our country and our region. This is our goal. From the perspective of implementation of this agenda, todays meeting was favorable, Pashinyan concluded.
The Corruption Prevention Commission of Armenia has rejected the application lodged by the Human Rights Defender to institute proceedings against Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan.

Grigoryan gave an interview to RusArmInfo news website, and the video recording of the interview was posted on the official website of the Security Council on October 21, 2021.

In the interview, Grigoryan said the following when he touched upon Arman Tatoyan [Human Rights Defender of Armenia].

After the revolution, several circles presented themselves as members of the opposition, even though they need to be impartial, starting from the Constitutional Court and ending with several structures. If not structures, then certain people holding positions within those structures have tried to be counterrevolutionary, and this process is mainly over, even though not completely. Certain political circles have made statements, the person you mentioned made a political statement that the Ministry of Defense refuted; the Human Rights Defender, who has a bid to be a part of the opposition, tried to gain dividends by making political statements. He also has a few more months left before he gets involved in more overt political activities. His time is almost up, and I am certain that the Civil Contract faction will nominate its candidate. Have you heard any impartial statement from him? Those statements have been mostly political, at least in the post-revolution period.

Before this, Tatoyan had issued a statement claiming that the Azerbaijani troops which had invaded the territory of Armenia months ago, are carrying out fortification and engineering works, but the Ministry of Defense refuted this. The Human Rights Defender opposed the refutation by claiming that this statement and other statements of the Human Rights Defender are based on reliable data obtained through fact-finding activities, and that the mentioned statement is based on facts that the Office of the Human Rights Defender has consistently gathered after daily monitoring and studies of alarming reports. Tatoyan stressed that a campaign to discredit the activities of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia has been launched, and the Secretary of the Security Council has joined the campaign.

On November 1, Tatoyan applied to the Corruption Prevention Commission, stating that Armen Grigoryan has violated the requirement of the Law on Public Service according to which public servants shall be obliged to observe the principles of conduct prescribed by law and the rules of conduct arising from those principles.

To reject the application, the Commission has presented the rationale according to which the Corruption Prevention Commission had not adopted a code of conduct for persons holding state positions when the video showing the interview of Armen Grigoryan including his statements on the Human Rights Defender was posted on the YouTube channel of the Security Council, and consequently, according to the decision, it is impossible to clarify whether there is a violation or not.
HK bans non-resident arrivals from 7 African states

Hong Kong has banned non-residents who've spent time in seven African countries in the previous three weeks from entering the SAR due to concern over the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. File photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong authorities on Friday moved to ban non-residents who've spent time in seven African countries in the previous three weeks from entering the SAR, as global concern rises over the latest coronavirus variant.



The measures were to take effect from midnight, with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe added to the Group A specified places covered by the stringent travel rules. South Africa, which is at the centre of the variant outbreak, was already in Group A.



"The mutant variant B.1.1.529 has been detected in South Africa and Botswana," a government spokesman said.



"Although scientists are not fully certain of its potential effects on the epidemic situation or whether the relevant mutations would affect the efficacies of vaccines, we have to stay vigilant.



"Therefore, along with South Africa which is currently a Group A specified place, the Government will also specify Botswana, as well as the adjacent Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe as Group A specified places."



Under the rules for Group A countries, Hong Kong residents who've been in any of the nations can only board a flight to the SAR if they're fully vaccinated and can provide a recognised vaccination record.



They will have to spend 21 days in a designated quarantine hotel on arrival.



The government said the control measures Hong Kong is applying are more stringent than measures announced by other countries including Britain, Singapore and Israel.



Two cases of the variant were found earlier this month among patients in quarantine at the Regal Airport Hotel. The mutation has alarmed experts, who are concerned that it is likely to evade the immune response generated both by prior infection and vaccination.



The World Health Organisation was holding an emergency meeting on its response on Friday.



Earlier, government adviser and infectious diseases expert David Hui said officials should consider banning flights from South Africa.
South Africa criticises Covid travel restrictions

A departure board at London's Heathrow Airport shows a flight to Johannesburg cancelled. Photo: AP

South Africa said on Friday that imposing travel restrictions on it because of a newly identified Covid-19 variant was unjustified, after a British ban on flights from southern African countries that others have followed.



Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a media briefing that South Africa was acting with transparency and travel bans were against the norms and standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO), which held an emergency meeting over the variant.



Scientists have so far only detected the B.1.1.529 variant in relatively small numbers, mainly in South Africa but also in Botswana, in a quarantine hotel in Hong Kong and in Israel, but they are concerned by its high number of mutations which could make it vaccine-resistant and more transmissible.



The foreign ministry said South Africa would speak to Britain to try to get it to reconsider its ban, and President Cyril Ramaphosa will convene an advisory council on Sunday to consider evidence on the variant.



"Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries," Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement.



The rand currency slumped as much as 2 percent against the US dollar and South African hospitality stocks plummeted, as investors were unnerved.



Britain said the variant was the most significant found yet after banning flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia. European Union states have also agreed to suspend travel to southern Africa after the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, the presidency of the EU said on Friday.



However, Salim Abdool Karim, one of South Africa's top epidemiologists, said of the new variant that it was "important to deal with it globally," pointing out that the Delta variant had spread to 53 countries within three weeks of it being identified.



"So it doesn't really help to close borders... We've got to find solutions to this variant together. And part of that is not to overreact," he told Reuters in an interview, characterising the British travel ban as a "panic reaction" that was understandable.



Hong Kong had already included South Africa on its red list, but added seven more southern African states as of midnight on Friday. (Reuters/RTHK)
Five people rushed into a Nordstrom store in Southern California the night before Thanksgiving and fled with several purses, the latest incident in a string of grab-and-go thefts and organized robberies plaguing luxury stores.

Los Angeles police said a security guard was sprayed with an irritant meant to deter charging bears at the Westfield Topanga & The Village shopping center in Canoga Park. The stolen bags were estimated to be worth $25,000, local media reported.

The LAPD was also investigating a similar incident in which groups entered several stores in the Beverly Center on Wednesday, grabbed merchandise and ran out. And on Monday, about 20 people took roughly $5,000 of merchandise from a Nordstrom store at Grove mall.

Police have described the incidents as "flash mob thefts," and they've been happening in several other cities across California.

In the San Francisco Bay area last week, more than 80 people stormed another Nordstrom armed with crowbars. Donning ski masks, the mob ran off with thousands of dollars of merchandise. Three people were arrested.

Here's what to know about these recent thefts:

What is a 'grab-and-go' theft?

These incidents, which have been dubbed "grab and go" or "smash and go" thefts, involve people taking expensive items and running off, rather than traditional shoplifters who snag items here and there while shopping around.

Some of these thefts are also considered organized retail crime, which refers to professional shoplifting rings. They have cost U.S. retail stores and companies as much as $30 billion a year, according to the FBI.

Retailers and experts from the National Retail Federation say thefts have gotten more violent amid the pandemic and have moved from cities to the suburbs. With Black Friday and the start of Christmas shopping season, retailers say they're worried more robberies may be on the horizon.

Series of high-end store robberies: 'Mob of people' storms, robs California Nordstrom

Story continues

'Sad day for San Francisco': Walgreens closing 5 more San Francisco stores due to organized shoplifting

Where have they been happening?

There have been several thefts in major cities across California, including the San Francisco Bay area.

Nine people face felony charges in connection with the thefts last Friday at Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdales in San Francisco's downtown Union Square, police said. Cell phone video of the incident shows 20 to 40 people smash windows and grab merchandise, according to police.

In San Jose on Sunday, about $40,000 of items was stolen from a Lululemon store, the Mercury News reported. In Palo Alto, police said two women were arrested after 30 to 40 people tried to break the glass door to a downtown boutique Sunday night.

Then on Wednesday, four men fled with $20,000 of merchandise from an Apple store in Santa Rosa, according to police.

"These brazen acts will not be tolerated in San Francisco, said District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a Tuesday statement. "But the problem is bigger than our city. Last weekend, there were similar incidents in Walnut Creek, Hayward, Oakland and San Jose."

The thefts are also not specific to California. Police said over a dozen people in Chicago stole about $120,000 of items from a Louis Vuitton store on Nov. 17.

String of organized thefts: After Nordstrom robbery in California, will other retailers be next? Experts say yes.

Catalytic converter theft has surged: LA's top prosecutor is threatening a fight with auto companies to force change.

What's next?

Police in affected areas have increased patrols as stores have ramped up security.

Boudin said Bay Area prosecutors are collaborating "to share information and develop strategies to combat" organized and grab-and-go thefts. Districts attorneys from several Bay Area counties met Tuesday to discuss solutions to the spree of thefts.

Lynda Buel, president of Ohio-based security consulting firm SRMC, told CNN the decriminalization of low-level offenses in some states mean fewer consequences for people accused of participating in grab-and-go thefts. She said in California, a 2014 ballot measure raised the threshold for felony theft from $500 to $950.

"The threshold for a misdemeanor offense is $950  meaning that a person can steal up to that amount and only be charged with a misdemeanor," Buel said.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Looting at Nordstrom in LA: Grab-and-go, flash mob thefts explained
Activists are calling on companies to "fully extricate their supply chains from the Uyghur Region." Tunahan Turhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

China has been accused of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

Activists are pushing companies to "fully extricate their supply chains from the Uyghur Region," meaning Xinjiang.

Researchers say that cotton from that region of China is still ending up in stores.

Activists are calling on 82 major apparel and retail companies around the world to commit to sourcing cotton outside of China. In a letter to "apparel industry leaders," the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region cited a study that ties international cotton sales to accusations of brutal treatment of China's Muslim minority.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic Muslim minority ethnic group mostly congregated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, a massive autonomous region along the northwestern border of the People's Republic of China. Since 2014, accusations of widespread human rights abuses against the Uyghur people have been raised.

Beijing has been accused of implementing tactics like government surveillance, forced sterilization, and re-education camps, in a campaign that's been described as "ethnic cleansing." The Chinese government has denied these accusations.

In 2020, the United States banned the import of certain Xinjiang products, including cotton, over concerns about forced labor in the region.

China's International Press Center did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"In the Uyghur region, the Chinese government has set up a system of hundreds of internment camps," Laura Murphy, a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University, told Insider. "Every decision any Uyghur person might make in that region is dominated by the knowledge that at any point they could be sent to one of these internment camps."

Murphy added that "it's also against the law for them to refuse participation in a government program."

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Under President Joe Biden's administration, the US Treasury Department has sanctioned two high-level Chinese officials over allegations of "genocide and human rights violations" against the Uyghurs. Human Rights Watch has said that China could be detaining as many as 1 million Uyghurs. For its part, the US government has also warned that companies with supply chain ties to Xinjiang "run a high risk of violating US law."

The Chinese government has repeatedly denied committing genocide against the Uyghurs.

"These basic facts show that there has never been so-called genocide, forced labour, or religious oppression in Xinjiang," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN Human Rights Council in February, according to Reuters. "Such inflammatory accusations are fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice, they are simply malicious and politically driven hype and couldn't be further from the truth."

Murphy spearheaded the report "Laundering Cotton: How Xinjiang Cotton is Obscured in International Supply Chains." In her research, she initially identified five Chinese companies selling cotton yarn or fabric that was sourced from the Xinjiang region. She then tracked shipments from those five companies, which largely went to apparel manufacturers in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Ethiopia, China, and Mexico. The study then looked into which global companies had ties to those intermediaries, through shipping records, finding that Xinjiang-sourced cotton "circumvents certain supply standards and import bans to end up on clothing racks around the world."

On Tuesday, the Coalition sent an open letter to 82 top retailers and brands that have not yet signed a "call to action" demanding that companies "fully extricate their supply chains from the Uyghur Region." Several brands, including ASOS, Eileen Fisher, the Marks and Spencer Group, and Reformation, have signed onto that pledge.

Insider reached out to all 82 companies who received the letter on November 22. The brands that received the letter included retail and e-commerce giants like Amazon, Carrefour, Costco, Home Depot, Ikea, Jo Ann Stores, Kmart, Kohl's, L.L. Bean, Macy's, Patagonia, Sears, Target, Walmart, and Wayfair. Most of the recipients were apparel brands, including American Eagle Outfitters, Brooks Brothers, Chico's, Duluth Trading, Eddie Bauer, Forever 21, Gap Inc., Guess, Hanes, Hugo Boss, Land's End, Levi Strauss, Lilly Pulitzer, Lucky Brand, Madewell, Marco Polo, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Uniqlo, and Vineyard Vines.

Most did not immediately reply. JCPenney declined to comment.

"We are concerned about reports of forced labor in, and connected to, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)," a Nike spokesperson said in a statement sent to Insider. "Nike does not source products from the XUAR and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region."

Spokespersons for C&A, Everlane, Lacoste, L.L. Bean, and Tesco said that their companies' ethical codes for suppliers strictly prohibit the use of forced labor. The L.L. Bean spokesperson said that the company exited Xinjiang in August 2020, and that it has removed "all Chinese cotton from our assortment."

Lacoste said that it has only used cotton originating from the US, Australia, Turkey, and Peru for its 2020 production. An Everlane spokesperson told Insider that "our analysis and records indicate that none of our raw materials, yarns, and fabrics produced in the manufacturing units called out in your report (and otherwise) originate from the XUAR."

Timothy Voit, the vice president of strategic and international sales at textile-manufacturing company Thomaston Mills, told Insider: "We don't source anything from China. We do specify the origin of cotton to be used in any of our products anywhere in our supply chain to exclude the possibility of forced labor from Xinjiang or Xinjiang."

Murphy told Insider that given the sheer enormity of Xinjiang's cotton output, the burden of keeping the fabric off clothing racks should fall on governmental bodies and international corporations, not consumers.

"It is a wake-up call that we need to be much more attentive to where our products come from," Murphy said. "Because otherwise we're complicit in both forced labor and a pretty radical discriminatory global system where the worst consequences fall upon the most marginalized among us."

Read the original article on Business Insider
JACKSON  In an effort to alleviate barriers pregnant and new mothers face in accessing health care, a new Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center has been launched.

The unit is a partnership with Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, together with Adena Health System under the Better Starts for All umbrella, is providing women in Southeast Ohio with prenatal and postpartum care and reproductive health services.

The Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center is currently based at the Adena Health Center  Jackson, 1000 Veterans Drive, Jackson.

The effort is in response to limited availability of maternity care services in the region.

The new Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center, a key intervention of Better Starts for All, a partnership between March of Dimes and Reckitts Enfa portfolio of brands, will travel throughout the region, according to the news release.

In the state of Ohio, the rate of uninsured pregnancies is more than twice as high in Ohios rural communities as urban areas.

With 1 in 10 babies in Ohio born preterm, and a high rate of pregnancy-associated deaths for new mothers, we want to ensure that all moms and babies  especially those with the greatest need  get the care they deserve. My role as a primary care doctor is also to promote health after pregnancy. And when you have complex pregnancy and disease in pregnancy, that disease does not go away, said Dr. Seuli Brill, a physician at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and associate professor in the Ohio State University College of Medicine who co-leads the mobile health initiative, in the release.

"All moms and babies should have the opportunity to have access to the information and care they need. We are proud to stand beside our partners in Ohio and March of Dimes with their legacy of addressing some of the toughest health issues in our country. By partnering to offer the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center and many digital resources, we are confident that we are providing the best start for our most important person, every baby, at all times," said Robert Cleveland, Senior Vice President, Nutrition at Reckitt.

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The Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center is currently based at the Adena Health Center  Jackson, 1000 Veterans Dr., Jackson. Other services offered through Better Starts for All include:

Community health workers: Trained community members assist new moms to access care and provide education, referrals and resources.

Virtual education: Online prenatal education available for individuals and groups.

Community coalition: A coalition of community providers who develop and implement innovative strategies to increase access to care in maternity care deserts.

With the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center moms and moms-to-be can receive the vital care they need closer to home, which is particularly beneficial to women living in maternity care deserts in Southeast Ohio, said Natasha McCoy, a certified nurse midwife with Adena. Adenas team of certified nurse midwives provide weekly coverage on the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center.

Call 740-779-7201 to schedule an appointment at the Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center. Services are billed to the womens insurance; if they dont have insurance, theyre deferred to financial counselors. To learn more about Better Starts for All, visit betterstartsforall.com/ohio.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Adena has new Mom & Baby Mobile Health Center for southeast Ohio
Sharbat Gula, who became known internationally as "Afghan girl" after she was featured on a 1985 cover of National Geographic, has arrived in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's office said on Thursday.

Driving the news: Gula, who was pictured in National Geographic when she was 12 years old, was evacuated after appealing for help to leave the country following the Taliban's takeover in August, Draghi's office said.

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U.S. photographer Steve McCurry poses next to his photo, "Afghan Girl," at an exhibition in Hamburg, Germany, in 2013. Photo: Ulrich Perrey/AFP via Getty Images

Steve McCurry took Gula's photo in a refugee camp on the Pakistan-Afghan border, but her identity wasn't known until the U.S. photographer traveled back to the region in 2002 to track her down, according to National Geographic.

What they're saying: Gula's photograph came to "symbolize the vicissitudes and conflict of the chapter in history that Afghanistan and its people were going through at the time," Draghi's office said in a statement.

The company organized her evacuation "as part of the wider evacuation program in place for Afghan citizens and the governments plan for their reception and integration," it added.

The big picture: Since the Taliban declared victory in Afghanistan, Afghan women and girls have faced an uncertain future, with many fearing the total loss of the hard-won rights to education, employment and other freedoms.

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Three months ago, Zabiullah R., who served as a combat translator for the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan , did not know what would happen to him and his family after the U.S. military withdrawal.

Zabiullah, affectionately known by troops as Johnny, was able to escape Kabul in August, with the help of a U.S. senator, a private veterans group, and members of the 82nd Airborne. Johnny arrived with his family at his new North Carolina home back in October.

Today, his young daughters are already getting something they never would have received under the Taliban: an education.

TALIBANS NEW MEDIA GUIDELINES BAN TV DRAMAS WITH FEMALE ACTORS, MAKE WOMEN JOURNALISTS WEAR HIJABS

"Theyre happy and theyre excited," said Johnny. "Every morning  6 o'clock in the morning, my two daughters, they wake up and get ready  just come into my room and wake up us."

Johnny says the girls even ask to go on weekends.

"I tell them, like 'two days off, you have to stay home'," said Johnny. "They keep asking, 'We want to go to school, we like school. We have friends back school. We want to play with them. We want to meet them.'"

His daughters have been welcomed at their new school in Weddington, North Carolina, and embraced by the community, where many of the soldiers Johnny once served alongside now live.

Students and families at Rea View Elementary school waited in anticipation for Johnny, his wife, and his three girls with hand-made signs and greetings written in Dari.

"The moment they pulled up, it got to be so quiet like you could hear a pin drop. And the girls get out of the car, and they walked up, and, of course, they were smiling, beaming ear to ear," recounted Jennifer Parker, principal at Rea View Elementary School. "And my families and kids just were waving and saying hello in their native language."

They play soccer on the same team as the daughters of Sgt. Mike Verardo and his wife, Sarah.

Story continues

Johnny served as a translator for Verardo, who lost his leg in Afghanistan's Arghandab Valley in 2010 and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Mike has undergone more than 100 surgeries at Walter Reed after serving with the 508th Infantry Regiment, an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, first formed in October 1942 during World War II. Both Mike and Johnny each have three daughters.

Now, they are neighbors, and their daughters are best friends.

"Seeing our six girls play together, six little girls whose dads served together, shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghanistan, has healed all of our hearts a little bit more each day," said Sarah Verardo, Mike's wife and CEO of The Independence Fund and Co-Founder of Save our Allies. "These children are an example to all about what it means to love all people."

Their girls went trick-or-treating for the first time and now have play dates after school.

"That was actually the first Halloween in the United States. They were so excited," said Johnny. "They went to the Halloween party and house-to-house to meet other kids and families."

Muzhdah, 7, and Muzhgan, 5, did not speak a word of English when they arrived at school.

"Google Translate doesn't have Dari on it, so it's been an experience with that. So, a lot of hand gestures, pictures. I feel like we're playing a game of charades on a daily basis. But it's little things to get them to understand. And now they've started to understand," said Parker. "Last week, Muzhdah actually said a full sentence in English."

Her first sentence?

"'I like pizza. Yes, Muzhdah loves pizza," recalled Parker.

Parker says Muzhdah and Muzhgan take nothing for granted.

"Sometimes kids are like, Oh, I don't feel good, I don't want to go to school. And to them, it's such a privilege. And so, getting to come into school every day and learn, especially as a girl, they are just so excited and are little sponges," said Parker. "We talk a lot about gratitude and especially this time of year. This truly exemplifies how grateful that family is."

Johnny says his daughters are embracing their newfound freedoms.

"A hijab  [Muzhdah] said, I'm not going to do that. I want to be more free. I'm going to live in freedom," said Johnny.

This Thanksgiving one Afghan family has brought so much joy to this North Carolina community who opened their hearts and helped them start their new life in America.

"I'm grateful to be safe here," said Johnny. "I'm grateful for this first Thanksgiving I'm here with my family."
Reuters

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said he did not exclude holding a referendum on the future status of war-torn eastern Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. Zelenskiy did not give detail on how and when a referendum could be held, but said it was one of the options to revive a stalled peace process in eastern Ukraine and end a standoff with neighbouring Russia. Ukraine has scrambled to shore up support from Western allies in recent weeks, accusing Russia of massing tens of thousands of troops near its borders in preparation for a possible large scale military offensive.
Air Canada's stock (AC.TO) sank as much as nearly 11 per cent on Friday as concerns about a new variant of COVID-19 detected in South Africa roiled markets around the world.

The Montreal-based company was one of many airlines and travel industry firms that saw shares tumble on Friday after Europe said it would impose restrictions on travel from several African countries.

European Union countries have agreed to introduce restrictions on all travel from seven countries in Africa, including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to a spokesperson for the EU Commission. The U.K. has also suspended flights from six African nations over the new variant, which experts have called the "worst we've seen so far."

Air Canada's stock fell as much as 11 per cent in early trading on Friday. It ended the trading day at $21.24 per share, a decline of 9 per cent compared to Thursday's close.

In the U.S., Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines all fell more than 10 per cent on Friday. As of mid-day, Delta was down 8 per cent, United fell 10 per cent and American tumbled 9 per cent.

The new travel restrictions are a blow to the airline industry, which had started to see demand recover in recent months. Last month, Air Canada's chief executive officer Michael Rousseau said the company was "now in recovery mode" as revenue nearly tripled, thanks to increasing demand. According to the company, booking levels for some regions were equal to the demand seen in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

"There's no doubt that the length of the recovery has moved in from the consensus of 2025 to at least 2024 and maybe 2023," Rousseau said.

Whether the new COVID-19 variant disrupts this timeline remains to be seen. The World Health Organization designated B.1.1.529, calling it Omicron, as a variant of concern on Friday.

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Nov. 25About 50 years ago, Veryl Anderson started teaching three disabled children from the basement of Christ Church in Andover with a $100 budget.

That program became The Professional Center for Child Development, which now serves more than 2,000 children annually with a $7.5 million annual budget and 120 employees. The center's core day school program that serves students ages 3 to 12 years old was recently renamed the Anderson School in honor of the woman who founded the program.

"(Anderson) was a pioneer 50 years ago when children didn't have the opportunities they do now to be educated," said Kelley Granahan, director of development and marketing. "From those humble beginnings we are here today."

Over 100 school and community leaders gathered Nov. 18 to celebrate Anderson, a former Andover resident who visited for the special occasion.

She was surrounded by friends, colleagues and former students' families.

Brian Latina, a board member whose son was one of Anderson's students, was excited to be at the event to honor the woman who "is family to me."

Latina's son Matthew, 37, went to the school. Throughout the years Latina would continue to stay involved even after his son aged out partially because of the special relationship forged with Anderson.

He recalled one time when Matthew was in the hospital and Anderson was one of his first calls. With her former nursing experience she was a calming voice in the stressful situation, Latina said.

Similarly, Steve and Kristin Smith created a strong bond with Anderson and the school staff when their son Avery attended.

"His teachers and classroom assistants gave us people to lean on that genuinely made us feel they understood what we were struggling with and lent us a hand while at school when all we could feel was that we didn't want to let him out of our sight. That trust was hard to be willing to give but was truly well earned," Smith said.

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"The PCCD that Veryl built is a wonderful facility and an amazing collection of people to bring it's vision to life."

The renaming of the day program will help the school reach new heights, said Chris Hunt, executive director.

"Renaming allows us to honor our history and past while moving us into the future," Hunt said. "We stand on the shoulders of others who got us here."

The school has had a particularly hard time with branding, but recognizing the program as the Anderson School will allow for people to take more pride and ownership of it, Hunt said. The center will also be able to continue expanding the services it offers, he said.

"PCCD would never have become the leader in special education we are today without Veryl's vision, energy, and commitment," Hunt said. "She devoted her entire career to creating programs maximizing opportunities for children with disabilities and special needs to fulfill their potential. Naming the school in her honor grounds us in our history, officially recognizes the inspiration she provided, and the enduring foundation she built for our programs."
NEWBERRY, Mich. (AP)  A former Army officer and Detroit native who reported in 2005 that military prisoners in the Middle East were being beaten and abused by U.S. soldiers has died.

Maj. Ian Fishback of Newberry, Michigan, died suddenly Nov. 19, according to his obituary from the Beaulieu Funeral Home in Newberry. He was 42. No cause of death was listed.

Fishbacks family says he died in an adult foster care facility in Michigan, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Fishback wrote about the abuses in a letter to top aides of Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. John W. Warner of Virginia, according to the newspaper.

McCain and Warner were senior Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Warner was the committees chair.

Fishback and two other former members of the 82nd Airborne Division reported that prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq were assaulted, exposed to extreme temperatures, stacked in human pyramids and deprived of sleep in an effort to extract intelligence from them, or just to amuse the soldiers, The Times reported.

Fishback also said Army superiors ignored his complaints.

Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees, Fishback wrote in the letter to McCain. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of these abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

The allegations of abuse eventually led the U.S. Senate to approve anti-torture legislation in 2005.

Fishbacks family said in a statement on the funeral homes website that the community had supported him through his recent difficult times.

He faced many challenges and many of us felt helpless, the family wrote. We tried to get him the help he needed. It appears the system failed him utterly and tragically. There are many questions surrounding his death and the official cause of death is unknown at this time. We can assure you that we will get to the bottom of this. We will seek justice for Ian, because justice is what mattered most to him.

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The Associated Press left a message Wednesday seeking further comment from the family.

Fishback was named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 after sending his letter to McCain.

Friends and family were scheduled to gather at 1 p.m. Saturday to honor Fishbacks life at American Legion Post #74 in Newberry. The U.S. Army Honor Guard will conclude the services, according to his obituary.

Newberry is in Michigans Upper Peninsula.
SheKnows

Paris Jackson: fashion icon, singer, actress, and overall one of the coolest people in the industry isnt afraid to shy away from being bold. Whether it be a unique dress on the red carpet or staying ever-so blunt, Jackson keeps it real. And most recently, she bared all for her Instagram for this spiritual event. []
Carol Clay and Russell Hill. Victoria Police

An Australian airplane pilot was arrested Monday for the murder of two elderly campers.

Greg Lynn was charged with the murder of Russell and Carol Clay, who went missing in March 2020.

Lynn was suspended down from his job at Australian budget airline Jetstar, the BBC said.

A commercial airline pilot was charged with the murder of two elderly Australian campers who went missing on a camping trip in March 2020, police said.

Greg Lynn, a 55-year-old pilot for Australian budget airline Jetstar, was arrested at a campsite in Victoria on Monday, Victoria Police said in a press release.

He was charged for the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73. The couple disappeared after they went on a camping trip in the Wonnangatta Valley in March 2020, the BBC reported.

At the time of his arrest, Lynn was at a campsite some 34 miles from where the Clays were last seen more than 18 months ago, the BBC reported.

Clay and Hill were last heard from when they use a high-frequency radio to tell a friend they were setting up camp, according to the BBC. The following day, passers-by found their campsite destroyed by fire, the outlet said.

No bodies were found. But, according to the Guardian, police recently identified an area to search. It did not specify where it was.

The newspaper cited Victoria police assistant commissioner Bob Hill saying Thursday that he hoped to find remains of the Clays there.

The BBC said that Lynn was "stood down" from his job at Jetstar. The Australian employment term "stood down" amounts to being suspended without pay. Insider contacted Jetstar for comment.

Lynn appeared at the magistrate's court in Sale, Victoria, for a procedural hearing on Friday, Australia's 7News network reported. The network said he appeared by video link from the police station

His next court date was set for May 2022, the Guardian said, until which time he is due to stay in custody.

Read the original article on Insider
Beaver Falls council approved an addendum for the Beaver Falls Police Department regarding PepperBall equipment.

BEAVER FALLS  City council has approved an addendum to the police departments less than lethal weapons policy.

This addendum allows for the use of PepperBall equipment.

Mayor George Quay III said the equipment shoots non-lethal rounds that, once hit, releases pepper spray like a regular pepper spray machine.

Solicitor working matters

City Solicitor Shannon Steele said she is currently working on a waiver of liability for college students, such as from nearby Geneva College, who want to be interns for the police department, in regard to them driving with officers in police vehicles.

Council also agreed to have Steele begin the process of creating an ordinance to rescind a current ordinance that has the city collect taxes for the Big Beaver Falls School District.

Council members said since the city is moving into a new form of government, a home rule charter, they want the school district to collect its own taxes as to not overwhelm the city manager and soon-to-be-new chief financial officer.

Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver Falls council approves police addendum
Ron Nichols can tell you exactly where and when he bottomed out. It was the moment he knew, after a decade and a half of sobriety, that one bad decision had cost him everything.

I was sitting in my house with no power, no food, no money, he recalled matter-of-factly. Unfortunately, thats how bad it had to get before I admitted I was powerless and needed help.

Nichols said he began drinking and smoking marijuana when he was in his early teens. Back then, he recalled, it was just what you did if you wanted to fit in with the cool kids.

But by 2016, Nichols had put those early choices behind him. As the owner of a successful roofing business he was earning around $4,000 a week and had 15 years of clean living behind him. Then it all fell apart.

I made the mistake of going to a party one night and that turned into like three and a half years. I pretty much lost everything I had, he explained. I had two work trucks, all the tools I needed and they slowly got siphoned off for drugs.

Reviving Lives Ministries executive director Lainy White and House Manager Ron Nichols stand outside of one of two houses the New Bern addiction recovery program offers clients.

Nichols tells his story while sitting at a kitchen table in the immaculately kept house where hes lived for the last two years. Nichols remembers the exact date  Nov. 7, 2019  that he became a part of New Berns Reviving Lives Ministries, a long-term drug and alcohol recovery program that operates two houses for clients, one for men and another for women.

The houses can accommodate up to five residents at a time.

After entering the Reviving Lives Ministries program, clients are required to attend counseling at PORT Human Services, New Berns drug and alcohol addiction rehab center, and go to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings daily.

Residents are expected to work the 12 steps of AA and NA and must find a sponsor within 30-60 days. They are also drug tested randomly at the houses and at PORT on a regular basis.

Reviving Lives Ministries residents are often referred through detox facilities such as Dix Crisis Intervention Center in Jacksonville, Wilmington Treatment Center, and PORT Health in Ahoskie.

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People will come in pretty shaky off of detox. Sometimes their facility will set them up with an intake here at PORT in New Bern and theyll get evaluations and then get processed into classes, explained Lainy White, executive director of Reviving Lives Ministries.

The program also offers financial and psychoeducational therapeutic classes once a week. Since many of the residents have lost their license, transportation is provided to court and medical appointments.

The format changes according to the needs. We also offer a yoga class once a week. Theres a meditation meeting also. We have a lot of focus on self-reflection and developing self-discipline because thats a big part of it, White explained.

After two six-week recovery sessions, Reviving Lives Ministries provides vocational training, often through Craven Community College. Though residents are required to walk or ride a bike during their early days in the program, once they have a job they can begin driving again.

Those who enter the program are required to live in one of the Reviving Lives Ministries houses for at least six months. And while the paperwork says they can stay up to two years, some remain even longer.

They need at least six months just to give their brains a chance to heal," White explained. "It just takes time to develop a new mindset. Our house manager at the womens house has been here for seven years.

Nichols, who works as the manager of the Reviving Lives Ministries mens house, also decided to stay beyond the two year limit.

After trying out a different program that he described as too faith-based, he ended up in New Bern at Reviving Lives Ministries after being referred through the HOPE Initiative in Nash County.

Despite his very real struggles, Nichols laughs easily as he discusses his past and his present one day at a time recovery efforts.

From the time I was born I was going to church every Wednesday and every Sunday but I didnt necessarily agree with my parents' idea of a higher power. I just felt like this program was the best fit for me, they keep you focused on recovery, he said. Youve got that structure to where youre not left to your own devices, which can get me in trouble.

Battling the god of our misunderstanding

White understands all too well the kind of trouble that can come from drug and alcohol abuse. Before she became the executive director for Reviving Lives Ministries she was one of the programs clients. A recovering alcoholic, shes now two years sober.

We come into the program kind of immature and blaming other people for our problems and slowly we come to realize that our problems are sitting in our seat and we come to learn how to deal with them, White said.

If we didnt have this community, she added, then we would be back out there doing what we know doesnt work.

Reviving Lives Ministries started in May 2013 as an effort by local volunteers to address addiction issues in the community. The program, which was named by New Bern pastor Robert Johnson, began with a United Way grant for $833 a month to rent both houses. White said the program is now funded primarily through grants and support from local churches.

Residents also pay program service fees, or rent, of $300 a month. Programs such as the HOPE Initiative and Tommys Foundation of Goldsboro often assist with the payments until the clients are back on their feet.

Reviving Lives Ministries serves about 45 people a year, though more apply for their services.

My first couple of months here I turned away close to 20 people, White said. Weve had an opening in the mens house for about two weeks now and thats the longest that its been since Ive been here. We definitely need more residential programs in our area.

Though Reviving Lives Ministries is a faith based program, White described it as more inclusive than many others.

One of the catch phrases I hear is that we come into the program with the god of our misunderstanding and it takes a while to develop our own understanding, she commented. Theres enough room in the AA and NA 12 steps for that. We regularly talk about spirituality, thats a daily topic, but not everybody needs to be Christian.

The future of addiction treatment

White said treatment needs have only grown since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated an already spiraling opioid addiction crisis.

Were going to be dealing with that for a long time to come. In our houses we have a 50/50 split in the men right now between alcohol and opioids. In our women its about one third not alcohol, White noted.

White said she believes a more compassionate approach is gaining acceptance for the treatment of opioid addiction

Its just hit so many people, just because they got a surgery or had a tooth pulled, where people will just fall down this hole (due to prescription painkillers," she said. "Its becoming so common and people are understanding that they knew this bright shining person and then here they are really needing a hand.

White said Reviving Lives Ministries needs to grow if it plans to keep pace with the areas addiction issues. She said future plans call for the addition of several transitional homes that would provide a less structured, and more affordable, environment for those in recovery.

The work thats involved with getting out of a mindset thats been in active addiction for a long time, that cannot be done alone, it just cant be, said White. We need more of these communal spaces where people can do this together.

A county detox facility is also needed, said White.

Hopefully we can change that soon, she commented. We do have some people that just hear about us from family members or past participants and they can just give us a call. Our application is on our website.

As for Nichols, he said he owes his current good health to just the sort of addiction recovery approach through Reviving Lives Ministries. Though he has bigger plans for the future, he said hes trying to take a more humble approach to life these days.

I used to own my own business and now Im making $10 an hour working at a restaurant but Ive got money in my pocket and Im sober. Im not going to say its where I want to be but Im perfectly fine with it, Nichols said. Im definitely more at peace than Ive ever been in my life, thats for sure.

To learn more about Reviving Lives Ministries, visit www.revivinglivesministries.com/ or call (252) 624-9826.

This article originally appeared on Sun Journal: New Bern NC addiction program offers communal approach to recovery
Portland, Ore., neurologist Dr. Daniel Gibbs, who has spent his career caring for patients with Alzheimer's, has now moved to studying the disease from the perspective of a patient himself. "A Tattoo On My Brain: A Neurologist's Personal Battle Against Alzheimer's Disease" (Cambridge University Press), written with Teresa Barker, is his memoir of recognizing the symptoms of cognitive impairment before the disease could be diagnosed, and the effect that early-stage Alzheimer's has had on his life.

Read an excerpt below, and don't miss Susan Spencer's interview with Daniel Gibbs on "CBS Sunday Morning" November 28!

/ Credit: Cambridge University Press

Beacon Rock

A towering stump of basalt second only to the Rock of Gibraltar, Beacon Rock rises 848 feet from the Washington shore of the Columbia River, about 40 miles east of my home on the Oregon side, up a dead-end street in a woodsy hilltop neighborhood in Portland. The river feels like my second home, carrying years of memories and the promise of more good times spent on the water, first with my kids when they were kids, and now with my grandchildren. This is where they learned some lessons in resourcefulness and practical skills for life and where I learned some of the ropes myself.

Those days are numbered now, though the timeline is imprecise. Ordinarily, this would be maddening for me as a former research scientist and neurologist for whom precision is second nature. But I'm officially retired now, leaving me free to pursue any research I wish, and the whole point of my current project is to exploit this imprecise timeline confronting me and discover how to tweak it in my favor  turn the uncertainty of it to my advantage.

I have early-stage Alzheimer's disease, the beginnings of neurodegenerative processes that will progress over time and someday kill me if something else doesn't get me first. My interest now lies in navigating the progression of this disease in its early stages to find ways to slow it down. I want to buy myself more time on this end of the Alzheimer's continuum. Time with my family and friends. Time to study, read and write, for professional purposes as well as pleasure. Time to enjoy walks in the woods and time on the river. The good news is, I've discovered that all of these pursuits intersect. Each informs the others, advancing some aspect of the larger inquiry around science or life satisfaction, or setting up for the step of insight that will. How that all fits together neurologically  how a brisk walk affects the way your brain functions, for instance  is really pretty amazing in the landscape of the brain. For now, Beacon Rock is a good place to start.

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On a clear day, the Portland skyline is dwarfed by nearby Mount Hood, a sleepy volcano, and some sister peaks that thrill hiking enthusiasts. I've never been one of them. But, about five years ago, when I suspected that I had some very early signs of Alzheimer's disease, my thoughts turned to the bucket list of things I wanted to do in my lifetime. Years of volunteer work as a neurologist assisting at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania had put Mt. Kilimanjaro in my sights.

About that time, on one of my continuing annual volunteer trips to the region, my wife Lois came too, and we took a day hike to Mandara Hut, considered the first full stop for camping and allowing time to acclimatize to the altitude and to the physical exertion required to complete the climb to Kilimanjaro's summit.

One of the unique aspects of working with staff at the hospital in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro is the exposure to patients with high-altitude sickness and other climbing misadventures. Mt. Kilimanjaro is just short of 20,000 feet tall, the tallest mountain in Africa, but climbing it does not require technical climbing skills. It can be done by almost anyone. But it is physically demanding and can be deadly. Each year, about 40,000 climbers attempt to summit, and on average about 6 to 10 of them die trying. About 60 percent of deaths on the mountain are due to high-altitude sickness; 30 percent to medical illnesses such as heart attack, pneumonia or appendicitis; and about 10 percent to trauma from falls or being struck by rocks. In 2013, a famous Irish mountaineer was killed by lightning while climbing the mountain. High-altitude headache occurs in about 80 percent of unacclimatized climbers who have recently reached about 10,000 feet. It can usually be relieved by good hydration, simple analgesics and allowing time for acclimatization. The next step in severity is acute mountain sickness which combines headache with loss of appetite, nausea with vomiting or diarrhea, and sleepiness. The most severe stage is high-altitude cerebral edema. In addition to the severe headache and gastrointestinal symptoms of acute mountain sickness, the climber suffers confusion, loss of coordination, trouble speaking, and lassitude progressing to coma and death if not treated immediately. It is often associated with high-altitude pulmonary edema  the accumulation of fluid in the lungs that causes difficulty breathing. This occurs in about 1 percent of climbers above 15,000 feet. Most people recover fully if immediately transported to a lower elevation, but residual changes in the eye (retinal hemorrhages) and brain (microhemorrhages) may be seen months later [citation].

It took us about four hours to climb from the Marangu trailhead to a spot at about 9,000 feet. Even at this relatively low elevation  only about halfway to the top  both of us had mild symptoms of headache and queasiness. The symptoms rapidly improved as we descended the mountain, and once we returned home I was stoked to try again next year  for the summit. Lois thought this was a seriously bad idea, considering my high risk now for potentially lethal neurological complications, such as those from altitude sickness.

Mt. Kilimanjaro as seen from the KCMC campus where I worked in Tanzania. / Credit: From "A Tattoo On My Brain."

Lois wouldn't agree to go with me, so I asked my friend Henry, a seasoned trekker, if he'd join me. Henry suggested I train for it and offered to help me start to get in shape with some local hiking and climbing  perhaps eventually to summit Mount Hood, which he'd done many times. We started with modest day hikes in the Columbia River Gorge, and by the time I sensibly realized that Lois was right  Mt. Kilimanjaro was out of the question  Henry had introduced me to Beacon Rock.

At a glance, Beacon Rock looks daunting. The south face is. A 400-foot vertical climb reserved for experienced rock climbers only, it requires technical skill and equipment. But the west face, adapted more than a century ago for use by more casual weekend walkers, features wooded trails and an elaborate scaffolding of fifty-four switchbacks, some of them wide footpaths carved into the rock, others spanning wooden bridges (seventeen of them) and walkways, all lined with safety rails. If heights bother you, then it's easy enough to look straight ahead along the broad footpaths and pause to enjoy the scenic distant vistas. It's only scary if you look down the steep rock face.

The views from the riverbank and forest trailhead below and the summit are breathtakingly beautiful. Every step along the way is a walk through woods and rocky terrain that exist in geological time, millions of years in the making and absent any sense of urgency. There's something calming about that for me. A day on the river and the rock quickens the senses, and for me carries years of memories and current good times spent on the water with my family and friends. Once a year now, Henry and I do the mile-plus hike up. At the summit, the bald rock narrows as it juts upward still, and the last 50 feet or so of the engineered path follows concrete steps, a 45-degree Stairmaster climb to the top.

On my most recent hike up Beacon Rock, as I reach the top I feel a little winded, definitely sweaty, but also exhilarated with the pure joy of this incredible workout in my most favorite place. I am participating in a clinical trial of a new smartphone-based cognitive test that can be taken several times a day without significant learning bias  meaning it doesn't get easier with repetition. The goal of the trial is to see whether fluctuations in cognition can be linked to activity level. The cognitive data from the smartphone app is correlated with measures of exercise obtained through a fitness tracker. Lately, although I've started to notice some decline in cognition, more forgetfulness and befuddlement, I still think more clearly during and after exercise. This has been borne out in this study so far. On average, my cognitive assessment score increases 8 percent after aerobic exercise. Today, my fitness tracker says my heart rate is 131, up from a baseline of 64 at the start of the hike. After the 1.75-mile, 57-minute hike from the boat dock to the top of Beacon Rock, elevation gain 850 feet, the cognitive assessment score has increased by 15 percent.

Taking a cognitive test on the summit of Beacon Rock. Photo by my friend John Harland. / Credit: From "A Tattoo On My Brain"

I mention this later to a friend, who laughs at my endless interest in data even on a day when I'm out in this gorgeous natural setting. But for me, this sophisticated tracking program, the real-time feedback and the fact that it's part of a clinical trial only add to my enjoyment of the hike. Like the rock climbers who prefer the hard way up the rock face, I take pleasure in the gritty detail of the data. It's an inward-facing vista for me I can appreciate  an encouraging one for now  without taking a thing away from the trail views.

Hikers like us don't run into the rock climbers, whose treacherous ascent up the south face rewards them with a different viewpoint. But any way you look out at the gorge, it's spectacular. I'm just grateful that the easier trail option exists. It's the switchbacks that make the climb possible at all for me, however challenging it is on any given day.

Switchbacks on the face of Beacon Rock. / Credit: From "A Tattoo On My Brain"

Sometimes the thought of the years ahead with Alzheimer's feels especially daunting, a towering monolith, a sheer rock face. At those times, I think of Beacon Rock, the gift of switchbacks and the power of one step at a time.

From "A Tattoo On My Brain: A Neurologist's Personal Battle Against Alzheimer's Disease" by Daniel Gibbs, M.D., Ph.D., with Teresa H. Barker. Copyright 2021 by Daniel Gibbs. Published by Cambridge University Press. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

For more info:

"A Tattoo On My Brain: A Neurologist's Personal Battle against Alzheimer's Disease" by Daniel Gibbs, M.D., Ph.D., with Teresa H. Barker (Cambridge University Press), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound

Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo: Rock's Romeo & Juliet

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"Cagney & Lacey" star Sharon Gless' new memoir
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian conservationists released 51 critically endangered royal turtles back into the wild on Friday, in a drive to bolster a species thought to be extinct two decades ago.

Also known as the southern river terrapin, the large river turtles are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species, and the European Union is helping to fund the revival programme in Cambodia https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cambodia-turtles-idUKKBN22W1S3.

The turtles, collected between 2006 and 2015 immediately after hatching and reared in a conservation centre, were released into the Sre Ambel river in Cambodia's coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.

"With the increasing number of adults in the wild through this release, we do hope that this species will breed in the wild and that annual nests will increase in the next few years," Wildlife Conservation Society's Ken Sereyrotha said.

The turtles, 31 females and 20 males between 6 and 15 years old, are implanted with a microchip and have an acoustic transmitter attached to their shells.

The royal turtle was believed extinct in Cambodia until 2000 due to sand dredging, illegal fishing, and loss of habitat. It was designated the country's national reptile in 2005.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by John Geddie and Giles Elgood)
A Chicago woman was fatally shot Wednesday morning on the South Side as she went to light a candle at a memorial for her 14-year-old son  whod been killed days earlier.

Delisa Tucker, 31, was visiting the memorial for her son Kevin Tinker in the citys Roseland neighborhood, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

No suspects have been arrested in either case. Police would not even say if the shootings were connected.

Kevin was fatally shot Sunday while walking home from a friends house, according to local CBS affiliate WBBM. His parents described him as a quiet kid.

He liked to play games. He was not a gangbanger at all, his father, Kevin Tinker Sr., told the station. He stayed in the house most of the time, with his little brothers and sisters.

Police said Kevin was killed outside a house that had been shot at earlier in the day.

Before her son was killed, Tuckers mother had recently died, the Sun-Times reported. Tucker became the family matriarch and was raising five kids in addition to Kevin.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, one of the lawmakers who visited Taiwan. Chip Somodevilla via Reuters

Five US lawmakers visited Taiwan on Thursday.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin said the Chinese embassy in DC had told her to cancel the trip.

China claims Taiwan as its own and has been warning the US to stop engaging with the island nation.

Five US lawmakers traveled to Taiwan over the Thanksgiving holiday, defying China's demands.

The trip, led by Rep. Mark Takano, who chairs the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, landed in Taiwan on Thursday ahead of a 24-hour visit set to focus on security matters, Reuters reported.

China is obstinate that Taiwan is part of the country, whereas Taiwan, which has been self-governing for decades, is fiercely opposed to the idea.

The other lawmakers on the delegation are Reps. Elissa Slotkin, Sara Jacobs, Nancy Mace, and Colin Allred. Takano, Slotkin, Jacobs, and Allred are Democrats, while Mace is a Republican.

After news of the trip broke on Thursday, Slotkin tweeted that her office received a "blunt message" from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, "telling me to call off the trip."

In the message, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, the embassy said the trip threatened US-China relations.

"We strongly urge the Congresswoman immediately cancel the planned visit to Taiwan, and not to support and embolden separatist forces of 'Taiwan independence,' lest it cause huge damage to the China-US relations and the peace and stability of Taiwan Straits," it said, according to NBC News.

The delegation has gone ahead with their trip regardless.

A US Air Force plane carrying a US delegation seen in Taipei, Taiwan, on November 25, 2021. Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

US-China tensions over Taiwan have worsened in recent weeks.

In late October, President Joe Biden appeared to suggest that the US would defend Taiwan from an attack by China. The White House clarified hours later that the US policy of "strategic ambiguity" had not changed.

Earlier in November, Biden hinted, then appeared to retract, support for Taiwanese independence, prompting Chinese President Xi Jinping to tell Biden during their summit that he was "playing with fire."

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Biden also invited Taiwan to an upcoming democracy summit, scheduled for December, prompting China to say on Wednesday that it was a "mistake."

China opposes "any official interaction between the US and China's Taiwan region," Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Wednesday.

On Monday, China said it would punish any companies that support Taiwan independence or Taiwanese companies on the mainland.

Slotkin tweeted her support for Taiwan on Friday.

"I'm midway through my visit to Taiwan & this much is clear: this place is on the rise. The fortitude & determination of the people, led by their dynamic (frankly, kick-ass) President, is downright inspiring  and I don't inspire easily. Democratic values still & always matter," she wrote, referring to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who has publicly railed against Chinese interference in Taiwan.

Slotkin previously tweeted the delegation would also discuss issues related to the US automobile industry, as Taiwan is the "industry's largest supplier of microchips."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Beijing state-backed media celebrated the appointment of a top Chinese public security official to Interpols executive committee despite widespread international concern over Chinas potential abuse of the global policing organization.

Hu Binchen, a Deputy Director General at Chinas Ministry of Public Security, will join the General Assembly session later this month after Beijing campaigned hard for him to join the executive committee. He will serve alongside Praveen Sinha for the next three years as the Delegates for Asia.

Legislators from 20 countries strongly opposed Hus appointment due to allegations he is directly involved in Operation Fox Hunt, through which Beijing hunts down dissidents in foreign countries and forces them back to China. A letter from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) claimed Hus appointment would provide China with influence over a major international organization and enable these efforts, the South China Morning Post reported.

CHINA SAYS US SHOULD HAVE NO ILLUSIONS WHEN IT COMES TO TAIWAN

"The government of the Peoples Republic of China has repeatedly abused the Interpol red notice to persecute dissidents in exile," they said in the letter, which has 50 signatories. "By electing Hu Binchen to the executive committee, the general assembly would be giving a green light to the [Chinese] government to continue their misuse of Interpol and would place the tens of thousands of Hongkonger, Uygur, Tibetan, Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents living abroad at even graver risk."

The "red notice" is an alert system Interpol uses to track and hunt down international criminals, pending extradition, surrender or similar action. The notices identify the person and provide information related to the alleged crime.

US VULNERABLE TO CHINESE ELECTROMAGNETIC ATTACK, EXPERTS SAY

Chinese state-backed news outlet The Global Times applauded Hus appointment "despite the slander and malicious obstruction" from the legislators and "so-called human rights activists."

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The Times insisted Operation: Fox Hunt is a legitimate "anti-corruption campaign" to track down Chinese citizens suspected of economic crimes who fled overseas.

CHINA, RUSSIA BOLSTER TIES TO COUNTER US AS TENSIONS RISE

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang urged critics to keep Interpol "free from the disruption of politics or other factors." He claimed the appointment is a "concrete" step towards supporting the fight against terrorism and "cross-border crimes."

U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, R-NE, joined the chorus of criticism against Hu in a statement published Tuesday ahead of the vote. Sasse called on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to "address the damaging influence of the Chinese Communist Party on Interpol."

"The election of a PRC security official to Interpols Executive Committee would present a grave threat to the organizations integrity and threaten to turn legitimate inter-governmental law enforcement cooperation into another tool of CCP transnational repression," Sasse wrote.
Two weeks after an Erie police corporal was convicted of physically assaulting his wife, the administration of Mayor Joe Schember said it is close to completing an internal review regarding the corporal's future with the force.

"The city is aware of the verdict and is reviewing the matter internally," City Solicitor Ed Betza told the Erie Times-News. "The city intends to meet with the officer and will work to bring this matter to a prompt and proper resolution."

Verdict: Erie police corporal convicted of assaulting wife, faces loss of job; wife at odds with DA

The corporal, Justin W. Griffith, convicted Nov. 12 and to be sentenced in January, faces loss of his job under federal law.

As the Erie police have confirmed, the law prohibits possession of a firearm for anyone convicted in any court of a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence," as was Griffith. The federal law, known as the Lautenberg Amendment, after the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, of New Jersey, was adopted in 1996.

Such a conviction for domestic violence also disqualifies a police officer for certification in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Municipal Officers' Education and Training Commission.

Justin Griffith, an Erie police corporal, was convicted on Nov. 12 of a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence for striking his wife in the face at their Millcreek Township residence in Feb. 13. Griffith is seen here leaving his preliminary hearing on at the Erie County Courthouse on March 16.

Griffith, 40, on the force since 2008, has been suspended since his arrest in February, with the suspension becoming unpaid after his preliminary hearing in March. With Griffith barred from working as an Erie police officer, the city has not had to take immediate action on his future.

Preliminary hearing: Erie police corporal held for trial in domestic abuse case despite wife's no-show in court

Griffith was found guilty of repeatedly striking his wife in the face and biting her in the face at their residence in Millcreek Township around 1:25 a.m. on Feb. 13, while Griffith was off duty.

Shortly after Griffith was convicted, Erie Police Chief Dan Spizarny reviewed the police's internal review of the case, said Schember's chief of staff, Renee Lamis. A deputy police chief, Mike Nolan, attended Griffith's trial and confirmed to the Erie Times-News that the federal law would bar Griffith from the force if he were convicted of domestic violence.

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Lamis, like Betza, said the administration is reviewing the case, including how to proceed under the labor contract with the Erie police.

"The Erie Police Department will work with the City to ensure that we take the appropriate action and that the action is in compliance with applicable law and the collective bargaining agreement," Lamis said in an email. "We need to follow the appropriate process and will share information in a timely manner as soon as it becomes available."

Griffith was convicted of a third-degree misdemeanor related to domestic violence  simple assault by mutual affray, for the fight with his wife. He was found guilty after a two-day trial in the courtroom of Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender. The defense argued self-defense but presented no witnesses and did not have Griffith take the stand.

Charges filed: Erie police officer charged in domestic dispute, placed on leave, chief says

Griffith's wife, Dawn Griffith, testified for the District Attorney's Office under subpoena and said she did not want her husband to be charged. She testified that her husband struck her because she struck him.

"I didn't want him arrested," Dawn Griffith, 45, testified. "I was just as much in the wrong as he was."

A jury of eight women and four men convicted Griffith after deliberating for about two hours. Brabender convicted Griffith of a summary count of harassment.

As a third-degree misdemeanor, the simple assault charge carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison. Brabender set sentencing for Jan. 24 and allowed Griffith to remain free on an unsecured bond of $10,000.

Griffith's lawyer, John Carlson, said he has not yet determined whether he will appeal the conviction. He said he is "assessing appealable issues."

Focus on domestic violence: DA Jack Daneri's new Domestic Violence Unit gives victims another way to call for help

The domestic incident marks the second time in five years that Griffith has been charged with a crime. He was acquitted in 2017 on a misdemeanor simple assault charge that, as an Erie police patrolman, he kicked a handcuffed and prone suspect during an October 2016 arrest at an apartment in Erie. Griffith was reinstated to the police force following his acquittal.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie police officer convicted: City pledges 'proper resolution' of job
Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Bristol Motor Speedway have reached a deal in principle to completely renovate the city's 117-year-old fairgrounds racetrack and allow top-series NASCAR Cup racing to return to the historic venue, a source familiar with the deal tells Axios.

Why it matters: Cooper and BMS signed a letter of intent earlier this year and have been engaged in talks on the financing and operations details for months.

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Details of the agreement will likely be unveiled in the coming days. The annual NASCAR awards take place in Nashville on Dec. 2.

The city of Nashville hasn't hosted a NASCAR race of any sort since 2000 and the top series hasn't raced here since 1984.

Context: The state legislature supports the project and passed a bill earlier this year to allow for the creation of a user fee on tickets to races and other events at the track.

Rent payments from Bristol and revenue from that fee will help finance the renovation project. A portion of sales tax collections will also be diverted to help pay for the renovation.

The fair board must recommend approval or rejection to the Metro Council. With the agreement in place, the renovation plan would be on track to be approved by the end of the year.

The fairgrounds racetrack has been a hot-button political topic in Nashville for over a decade. In 2011, voters approved a ballot measure effectively preserving the track after then-Mayor Karl Dean's failed attempt to demolish it in favor of redevelopment.

The big picture: A renovated racetrack will combine with the new Nashville SC soccer stadium, the surrounding mixed use development and new fairgrounds buildings to completely remake the 117-acre property.

Early in his tenure, Cooper struck a revised development agreement with the soccer team's ownership group to allow for the racetrack to be connected through a new courtyard to the soccer stadium development, which is on track to finish construction early next year.

A Cooper spokesperson tells Axios "the administration continues to have good discussions about revitalizing the historic speedway at no cost to the city's general fund." Bristol declined to comment through a spokesperson.

Between the lines: Bristol Motor Speedway's parent company, Speedway Motorsports Inc., has cornered the region's racing market. SMI recently reached a deal to acquire Dover Motorsports, which owns the Nashville Superspeedway in Wilson County just outside of city limits.

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That deal gives SMI 15 NASCAR Cup races and the flexibility to add the fairgrounds race to the calendar once the renovation is complete.

Support for auto racing has shown momentum in Nashville. The Superspeedway race in nearby Wilson County sold out earlier this year, and the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix drew 110,000 fans.

Yes, but: The racetrack renovation project has faced skepticism from some neighbors worried about noise and traffic.

Bristol has promised a sound wall and other noise mitigation efforts, as well as fewer races and practice runs than held there in the past.

The company has also vowed to guarantee neighbors a racing schedule so that residents know when the track will be in use.

The bottom line: Though the details aren't finalized, it's all but certain that a redeveloped track will herald the return of NASCAR to Nashville.

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A couple is suing the Colorado State Public Defender's Office for declining to represent them in their Larimer County criminal cases because the office says the couple has too much money.

The Wyoming pair, who are in their 60s, make less than $2,000 combined annually, according to the lawsuit. That should automatically qualify them for court-appointed representation, according to state law.

The public defender's office claimed the couple's assets were enough to disqualify them: They own property in Colorado and Wyoming and two vehicles, with no debt and more than $100,000 in savings, according to court records.

Judge Laurie Dean denied the couple's applications for court-appointed counsel in a May court order after receiving information from the public defender's office that the couple doesn't qualify.

The two each face felony charges that carry possible sentences of 10 to 32 years in prison if convicted. The Coloradoan has not named the couple or their specific charges because it does not plan on following their criminal cases to their conclusions.

The couple faces "imminent, profound, and irreparable harm" if they're forced to go to a trial in these cases without representation, the lawsuit says.

COUNTY NEWS: Uncle Benny's given short extension to fix Larimer County code compliance issues

When a person out of custody applies for free court-appointed representation, their income is reviewed. If their income is below the set income  $21,775 for a two-person household  they automatically qualify. If their income exceeds that, then their entire financial situation is considered, including assets and savings.

The couple should have automatically qualified for court-appointed counsel according to their annual income, according to the lawsuit. Even when the couple's entire financial situation was considered in the state's rubric calculation to determine eligibility, the couple "plainly qualified" for court-appointed representation, according to the lawsuit.

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"I think its impossible to just take an application and run it through a rubric like youre talking about and come out with some predetermined, you know, conclusion," public defender Eric Vanatta said during an April court hearing in the criminal case, according to court records. "And so in this situation, we looked at their assets, we looked at the amount of cash they have on hand, the fact they own two different properties in two different states, the value of those properties, and came to the conclusion that based on those numbers theyre just simply not indigent."

The public defender's office decision to deny them representation shows they were treated differently from the similarly situated criminal defendants who apply for appointment of counsel because they were denied based on their assets," according to the lawsuit.

JAILS: A Larimer County Jail inmate fatally overdosed last year. What's being done to stop drug use?

The state public defender's office does not keep records on how many applicants are denied representation based on their assets, according to court documents.

Attorneys representing the couple and the public defenders office did not respond to requests for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.

During a hearing in the criminal cases Nov. 22, Dean expressed concern about moving forward in their criminal cases while waiting for the civil case to resolve. The criminal cases are currently set for a dual jury trial to begin in mid-December.

"We're all in a difficult position," Dean said.

The next hearing in the civil case is scheduled for Monday. Dean said she hopes that hearing will provide more direction for how they will be able to proceed in the criminal case.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in court. Arrests and charges are merely accusations by law enforcement until, and unless, a suspect is convicted of a crime.

Sady Swanson covers public safety, criminal justice, Larimer County government and more throughout Northern Colorado. You can send your story ideas to her at sswanson@coloradoan.com or on Twitter at @sadyswan. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado public defender declines to take couple's cases, citing assets
Residents of the Caribbean island nation waved flags, held posters with photographs of Castro and laid down flowers at his tomb in the Santa Ifigenia cemetery.

"We are the legacy, we are what Fidel wanted for the revolutionary youth. We will never betray the commitment we have for the revolution of Fidel and his leaders," said state worker Michael Pena.

Among them was Castro's grandson Fidel Antonio Castro Smirnov.

Fidel Castro died on November 25, 2016 at the age of 90.

He ruled for 49 years, outlasting nine U.S. presidents in power and building a communist state on the doorstep of the United States that defied all Washington's efforts to topple him.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish health authorities on Friday recommended vaccinating children aged five to 11 with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

The move followed approval to do so from the European Union's drug regulator and the European Commission, authorities said.

(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Alison Williams)
The first stop for the Dispatch Mobile Newsroom was Northland, where journalists have spent more than a month using the Karl Road Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library as a home base to get to know people and places in the neighborhood. The Mobile Newsroom moves to Driving Park in December.

Like all good things, a month in Northland has flown by quickly.

We kicked off the Dispatch Mobile Newsroom initiative on Oct. 21, to position journalists in underserved areas and allow us to get to know residents, organizations, religious groups, business owners and entire neighborhoods better.

This is part of the Dispatch effort to be more intentional about representing the entire community and the rich diversity of this city in our coverage, and we're making progress.

More: We're focused on telling stories of the Northland neighborhood. Here's what we've learned so far.

Instead of going to our Downtown office to work each day, reporters Micah Walker and Holly Zachariah have been working from the Karl Road library, and they will continue to do that through the end of November. Other journalists  photographers, editors and reporters  have stopped by regularly.

Columbus Dispatch staff members work in the "mobile newsroom" at the Karl Road branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. From left are reporters Holly Zachariah, Sheridan Hendrix and Micah Walker and photographer Doral Chenoweth.

"It's been a privilege being one of the first reporters to be part of the mobile newsroom," said Walker. "It has really opened my eyes to how diverse the Northland neighborhood is, and I'm excited about coming out with more stories in the coming weeks.

The first Columbus Dispatch Mobile Newsroom is located at the Karl Rd. branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Dispatch reporter Holly Zachariah, left, listens as fellow reporter, Micah Walker, right, speaks during the newsroom's introduction to the public on Thursday, October 21, 2021. The two journalists will work out of the library.

"I hope that this mobile newsroom helps rebuild trust we have lost in the past, especially minority communities who may not have felt like they were well-covered," Walker said. "We've told residents that we will continue to cover stories from Northland. We won't be in the library every day, but we have built a network of sources who can keep us informed. We'll still stop by the library and elsewhere in the area."

We learned that at the Northland Performing Arts Center on Tamarack Boulevard, Christmas already was in full swing, and that the former site of a rock music venue with a tragic history in Columbus' Northland neighborhood will soon get a major makeover as affordable housing. And we were introduced to an amazingly array of international shops and restaurants and people such as Judith Cockrell, who is both executive director of Elevate Northland, a community development organization in northeast Columbus, and an unofficial tour guide for the area where she grew up.

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We remain grateful to the Columbus Metropolitan Library for being our partner in this initiative, given our similar missions and philosophies: Were open to all, we provide information to all, and we work to engage and connect people.

In December, reporters Erica Thompson and Mark Ferenchik will take the Mobile Newsroom to Driving Park, working from the Driving Park Library Branch at 1422 E. Livingston Ave.

Reporter Holly Zachariah has focused on the Northland neighborhood during the past month.

Zachariah noted that, because this was new to us and the Northland neighborhood, "we went in with few expectations. We wanted to let it develop organically, and that is what has happened."

She said it was a Columbus neighborhood she knew almost nothing about, and that was both exciting and challenging.

"For me, it has been personally gratifying to meet new people and see new places and to find out what people want from their hometown newspaper," Zachariah said.

She and Walker spent days outside the library branch meeting people in stores, in restaurants and at public meetings.

"One of the funny things about being in the library, and where we are located, is that people come up to us frequently asking for help  like with using the copier  and we try to help, but it's also a blessing, because we can tell people, 'Here's who we are and why we're here.'"

It was a chance to meet people who otherwise might not have stopped by the Mobile Newsroom desk.

While out and about, Zachariah said, one question she and Walker heard, particularly from the Northland Community Council, "is that 30 days isn't very long; what will you do to make sure we aren't forgotten?"

Our team of journalists are leaving with new relationships and a notebook full of contacts.

"We've left our cards and our thumbprints in the neighborhood, and hopefully, six months down the road, people will think of us when they have a story to tell and wonder who to call at The Dispatch," Zachariah said.

"It has been successful, whether we got two stories or 20, because we got to know the community and the community got to know us, and that is a win," she said.

We want to make sure the relationship is a lasting one.

"I've really enjoyed it," Zachariah said. "And I hope the residents have. And more importantly, I hope the rest of our readership has had their eyes opened to people and places they weren't familiar with."

We'll take what we've learned from this first stop of the Mobile Newsroom when reporters Thompson and Ferenchik work from Driving Park next month.

They will post their office hours at the Driving Park library branch, and they also will spend time outside the library visiting businesses, schools, houses of worship and organizations as they get to know people in the neighborhood. In newsroom lingo, they will work the beat, and their beat assignment for the next month is Driving Park.

If youd like to connect with them, stop by the library branch, or email them at ethompson@dispatch.com and mferenchik@dispatch.com. The Mobile Newsroom coordinator is Assistant Metro Editor Ryan Smith, who can be reached at rsmith@dispatch.com.

"The Bag" being retired

The advertising vehicle known as "The Bag" will be delivered in Greater Columbus for the last time on Dec. 5. Each week, The Bag has provided customers with information about bargains being offered by Dispatch advertisers, who are moving their advertising to other Dispatch publications and Dispatch.com.

Alan D. Miller is editor of The Dispatch.

amiller@dispatch.com

@dispatcheditor

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dispatch Mobile Newsroom an effort to diversify coverage
Downtown businesses team up to deliver Thanksgiving meals to military families
A view from opening ceremony of the Avenue of Sphinxes to the public after decades of excavation efforts in Luxor, Egypt, on November 25, 2021. Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Egypt on Thursday revealed an ancient road that was buried in sand for thousands of years.

The "Avenue of the Sphinxes" connects two temples in the city of Luxor.

The lavish unveiling ceremony featured fireworks, dancing, a parade, and music.

Egypt on Thursday revealed an ancient road that was buried in sand for thousands of years.

Dubbed the "Avenue of the Sphinxes," the 3,000-year-old promenade connects the Luxor and Karnak temples and is lined with statues of rams and sphinxes, the Associated Press reported.

The site in southern Egypt has been excavated for the last 50 years, the report said, and stretches for a few miles near the bank of the Nile River.

A lavish unveiling celebration on Thursday evening was equipped with fireworks, dancing, and music. A video from the country's Ministry of Tourism showed a parade with multiple choreographed dances as attendees watched.

Visitors walk past the statues of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Ramses II (1303-1213 BC) at night at the Temple of Luxor on November 25, 2021 in Luxor, Egypt. Photo by Islam Safwat/Getty Images

President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi was in attendence, the AP said.

It's the second time this year that Egyptian authorities have organized a grand celebration to honor its ancient history.

In April, 22 mummies were paraded through the streets of Cairo in a motorcade that featured music, costumes, and lights, CBS News reported at the time.

The festivities are Egypt's latest attempt to revive its tourism sector, which has been hit by a decade of political instability and now the COVID-19 pandemic, the AP said.

Read the original article on Insider
NAIROBI (Reuters) -Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is on the frontline with the army fighting rebellious Tigrayan forces in the northeastern Afar region, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting reported on Friday.

Abiy was wearing military fatigues and speaking to the television station in the Afaan Oromo and Amharic languages, according to the broadcast. Reuters could not independently verify exactly where it was filmed.

"What you see over there is a mountain that was captured by the enemy until yesterday. Now we have been able to fully capture it," Abiy said, wearing a hat and sunglasses.

"The morale of the army is very exciting," he said, promising to capture the town of Chifra, on the border between Tigray and Afar, "today".

"We won't flinch backward till we bury the enemy and ensure Ethiopia's freedom. What we need to see is an Ethiopia that stands by itself, and we will die for it," Abiy said.

Abiy announced late on Monday night that he was going to the frontlines to direct the fight against rebellious forces from the northern region of Tigray and their allies.

The Tigrayan forces have threatened to push into the capital Addis Ababa or to try to cut a corridor linking landlocked Ethiopia with the region's largest port.

U.S. Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman said this week that the Tigrayan forces had been able to make progress south towards the capital but that the military had beaten back several attempts to cut the transport corridor on the eastern front.

The spread of the year-old conflict into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions mean that 9.4 million need food aid as a direct result of ongoing conflict, the U.N.'s World Food Program announced on Friday. More than 80% of those in need are behind the battlelines, it added.

"Corridors into Tigray had been closed due to the recent Tigrayan offences on Afar and Amhara, as well as severe disruptions in clearances from Federal Government. Since mid-July, less than a third of the supplies required ... have entered the region," the organisation said.

(Reporting by Nairobi newsroom; Editing by Alison Williams, Alex Richardson and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
By Francesco Guarascio and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union states have agreed to suspend travel from southern Africa after the detection of a new COVID-19 variant, the presidency of the EU said on Friday.

A committee of health experts from all 27 EU states "agreed on the need to activate the emergency break & impose temporary restriction on all travel into EU from southern Africa", the Slovenian presidency of the EU said on Twitter.

Restrictions will apply to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said on Twitter.

An EU official said that EU governments have also been asked to discourage travel to those countries.

Each of the 27 EU country is free to apply the new measures when it prefers. Some are already applying restrictions.

EU officials said that no decision had yet been made on other countries in other parts of the world where cases were detected, which include Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, an EU country.

The new coronavirus variant, first detected in South Africa, has caused global alarm as researchers seek to find out if it is vaccine-resistant.

Marc Van Ranst, the virologist who detected the new variant in Belgium, told Reuters that it was more likely that the infected woman had contracted the variant in Belgium rather than while travelling outside Europe.

She had been in Egypt earlier in November, but developed symptoms only 11 days after her return to Belgium. She is not vaccinated.

Switzerland imposed on Friday a requirement of 10-day quarantine and a negative test for travellers from Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, in addition to travel bans on southern African countries.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio and Gabriela Baczynska; Eiting by Philip Blenkinsop, Kevin Liffey and Frances Kerry)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Reuters

A new coronavirus variant  B.1.1.529  is rapidly spreading in southern Africa.

It prompted the European Commission to recommend a flight ban from the region.

Belgium announced Europe's first case of the new variant, which the WHO named Omicron, on Friday.

European Union member states have agreed to ban flights from southern African countries, citing the new coronavirus variant rapidly spreading there, Associated Press journalist Zeke Miller reported on Twitter.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had earlier on Friday recommended that the member states take action over concerns of the new variant. The World Health Organization has named it "Omicron" and classified it as a "variant of concern."

"It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively, and united," von der Leyen said, and it was then up to the 27 individual EU member countries whether they followed her guidance.

She said: "The European Commission has today proposed to member states to activate the emergency brake on travel from countries in southern Africa and other countries affected to limit the spread of the new variant.

"All air travel to these countries should be suspended. They should be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules."

Watch her statement here:

Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 26, 2021

Von der Leyen did not specify which countries she wanted to ban flights from.

EU countries are free to set their own flight bans and quarantine rules. Germany and Belgium, which are EU member states, had already imposed their own travel bans from southern African countries.

The variant has been found in Botswana and South Africa, as well as in Hong Kong, where it was imported by a traveler from South Africa. The variant appears to be responsible for an uptick in coronavirus cases in South Africa.

Earlier on Friday Belgium's health minister said the country had found its first case of the new variant in a traveler who tested positive on November 22. It is the first such confirmed case in Europe.

Read the original article on Business Insider
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The Solomon Islands decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Australian police, troops and diplomats are helping local police restore peace and order while trying to keep out of the domestic political dispute.

Here's a look at some of the reasons behind the turmoil:

ETHNIC TENSIONS OPEN OLD WOUNDS

The Solomon Islands are famous as a battleground of World War II, the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal named after the country largest island where the restive capital Honiara is located.

It was then known as the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and became the Solomon Islands before independence in 1978. The South Pacific nation of 700,000 people  mostly Melanesian but also Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese and European  is, like neighboring Australia and New Zealand, a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II the head of state.

A migration of settlers from Malaita, the countrys second biggest island and most populous province, to the economic opportunities on Guadalcanal and Honiara stoked ethnic tensions and eventually unrest.

In the late 1990s, native Guadalcanal islanders, known as Guales, launched a campaign of violence and intimidation to drive the Malaitans off the island. The Malaita Eagle Force militia was formed to protect them in a conflict that led the government to declare a four-month state of emergency in 1999.

Australia and New Zealand rejected the governments request for help. With the police force ethnically divided, law and order on Guadalcanal collapsed.

In 2000, the Malaita Eagle Force kidnapped Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufaalu, a Malaitan, because they did not consider he was doing enough for the Malaitans cause.

Ulufaalu resigned in exchange for his freedom, and the current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare began the first of his four stints as the unstable nations leader.

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WHAT'S CHINA'S ROLE IN THE CURRENT UNREST?

China has provided another cause for the community to divide, with the government supporting Beijing and the Malatian leaders supporting Taiwan.

The self-ruled island of Taiwan split from mainland China after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims it as part of its territory and has persuaded all but 15 countries, most of them small and poor in Africa and Latin America, to switch recognition to the mainland.

But experts say the unrest on the Solomon Islands is driven by the same underlying causes that have undermined the social fabric for decades: inter-island and ethnic tensions, a perceived lack of sharing of resources between Guadalcanal and Malaita, widespread poverty and high youth unemployment.

Geopolitical tensions have been the spark but not the major driver, said Jonathan Pryke, Pacific Islands program director at the Lowy Institute international policy think tank.

Im sure there is some degree of affection for Taiwan in Malaita, but its also another way for Malaitans to express their frustration at the national government, he added.

Pryke said it was too soon to judge whether the Solomons would benefit financially from their 2019 switch in diplomatic relations to Beijing.

While Beijings financial inducements to cut ties with Taiwan have not yet borne fruit, the Solomons had closed its borders throughout the pandemic, which limited Chinese engagement.

Resentment against Chinese business people is longstanding on the Solomons and resulted in much of Honiaras Chinatown being burned in 2006, and again this week.

The Chinese communities are vulnerable in the Solomon Islands because they dont have the traditional support base, Pryke said. "They dont have the tribes the families that would would given them some extra degree of cultural isolation from this sort of unrest.

HOW DID AUSTRALIA BECOME INVOLVED?

Australia and the Solomons signed their first bilateral security treaty in 2017. It provides a legal basis for the rapid deployment of Australian police, troops and associated civilians in the event of a major security challenge.

Australian police were in the air aboard a military transport plane within hours of Sogavare invoking the treaty on Thursday.

Australia had led a force of Pacific Islands police and troops under the Regional Assurance Mission to Solomon Islands, or RAMSI, from 2003 to 2017. It included 2,300 police and troops from 17 nations, invited by the Solomons government. The deployment successfully ended the conflict that killed 200 people.

In the five years of ethic and civil unrest before RAMSI arrived, the Solomons was close to becoming a failed state.

The bilateral treaty acknowledges that underlying causes of the unrest remained and posed development challenges.

The Solomon Islands will need ongoing support to retain the gains made under RAMSI and to help build long-term stability and enduring growth, the Australian government said in 2017.
The FBI Crime Lab is analyzing evidence from the May 3 shooting death of an infant boy from Louisiana killed when police opened fire on a car driven by the babys father.

We needed an independent source to analyze the evidence and then it will be turned over to us, Biloxi Police Chief John Miller said.

The Biloxi Police Department is handling the independent investigation because officers from the Mississippi Highway Patrol, the Harrison County Sheriffs Department and Gulfport Police Department took part in the shooting.

The state crime lab typically analyzes evidence from state investigations,

But, Miller said, he got the FBI Crime Lab involved since MHP and the state crime lab are entities that operate under the umbrella of Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

Among the evidence under review are the shell casings collected at the scene, the police chief said.

LaMello Parker was three months old when he was shot and killed following a police pursuit on Interstate 10 on May 3, 2021.

Three-month-old LaMello Parker died of a single gunshot wound a day after he was shot while he was in a car with his father, double murder suspect, Eric Derrell Smith. Smith died at the scene.

Smith is suspected of killing his girlfriend and the babys mother, Chistin Parker, and her nephew, Brandon Parker, at their home near Baton Rouge before law enforcement offices spotted his car on the interstate in Mississippi.

After officers used spike strips to flatten the tires on Smiths car, he kept driving at a speeds as low as 10 mph. When Smiths car got stuck in the interstate median, officers fired a barrage of bullets at the car.

A video of the shooting from motorists shows that law enforcement officers fired over 20 rounds.

After LaMello died, authorities performed a forensics test on the bullet that killed the baby, but would not say whether the bullet came from an officers gun, citing the ongoing investigation.

Since LaMellos death, Black Lives Matter Mississippi, the Biloxi NAACP and other activist groups accompanied by some of LaMellos relatives have held protests and other gatherings to demand accountability and transparency from law enforcement for what happened to LaMello.
Authorities have made a fifth arrest in connection with a fatal shooting last week in Schriever.

Leon Cammack, 22, of Thibodaux, is charged with second-degree murder, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriffs Office said.

Jeremiah Williams

Cammack is the fifth suspect charged with second-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 4 slaying of 34-year-old Jeremiah Williams. Cammack was taken into custody in Centerville, Miss., and was transported to the Terrebonne Parish jail Thursday, where he is being held on $1 million bail.

Caden Johnson, 18, of Thibodaux, and Jamyre Mitchell, 18, of Lafayette, Christopher Cammack and Kobe Wilson, both 21-year-olds from Thibodaux, were previously arrested for their suspected involvement in the shooting, authorities said.

Authorities found Williams dead in the drivers seat of a car that struck a home shortly after 3 a.m. Aug. 4 on Johnson Ridge Lane. The Sheriffs Office said security video was used to identify at least two vehicles involved in the shooting.

Terrebonne Sheriff Tim Soignet thanked the Houma Police Department, Thibodaux Police Department, Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office, Thibodaux City Marshals Office, Lafayette Parish Sheriffs Office, West Feliciana Parish Sheriffs Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Wilkinson County Sheriffs Office, for their help in the investigation.

The sheriff also thanked the Johnson Ridge community and other residents in Terrebonne and Lafourche for providing important information that led to the arrests.

Without the bonds that the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau has formed with the community and other law enforcement agencies, this investigation would have taken a lot longer to resolve, Soignet said.

If convicted of second-degree murder, the five suspects face mandatory life sentences without parole, probation or early release.

-- Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan.copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: Fifth suspect charged in Schriever slaying
(Bloomberg) -- Jusda, a logistics arm of Foxconn Technology Group, is considering raising funds from private investors ahead of a potential initial public offering as early as next year, according to people familiar with the matter.

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The supply chain management platform is seeking to raise $300 million to $400 million in a so-called pre-IPO round, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. The company, which has a valuation of as much as $4 billion, would use the proceeds for expansion amid a boom in logistics services, the people said.

The company is also in the early stages of evaluating a potential listing in Hong Kong in the second half of next year, the people said.

No final decision has been made as considerations are preliminary, and details such as the size of the fundraising could still change, the people said.

Foxconn spokesman Jimmy Huang said Jusda has no plan for an IPO right now, and declined to comment on the fundraising.

Jusda has more than 2.5 million square meters of warehouse space at 150 locations around the world, with over 1,500 air, ocean and truck routes, according to its website. Besides managing the transportation of goods for Foxconn, which is the largest assembler of Apple Inc.s iPhones, it also serves as a logistics platform for more than 1,000 global brand customers.

The company, which provides services to industries including electronics manufacturing, automotive and consumer goods, raised about 2.4 billion yuan ($376 million) in a series A round in 2019, the website shows.

(Updates with industries serviced by Jusda in last paragraph.)

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CALAIS, France (AP)  The already fractious relationship between France and Britain spiralled further downward into anger and incomprehension Friday, with the two erstwhile European partners at loggerheads about how to stop migrants from embarking on dangerous crossings of the English Channel that killed at least 27 people in a sinking this week.

Even as the British government insisted that the two countries remain close friends and partners, their words, acts and disputes over migration, fishing and how to rebuild a working relationship in the wake of Britains exit from the EU increasingly suggested otherwise.

President Emmanuel Macron scolded Prime Minister Boris Johnson for making public a letter that the British leader sent to the French leader on Thursday. Most notably, Johnson proposed that France take back migrants who illegally cross the Channel from French to British shores. Macron's spokesman quickly and summarily dismissed the idea, and the French president made his displeasure clear that Johnson posted the letter  addressed Dear Emmanuel  on Twitter.

I am surprised by methods when they are not serious," Macron said on a visit to Italy. You dont communicate from a leader to another on these matters via tweets and letters that are made public. We are not whistleblowers.

Come on, come on, Macron added.

The letter and France's response were the latest crossing of swords between two nations with a storied history of break-ups, make-ups and, not infrequently, of revelling in rubbing each up in the wrong way. The economic, political, social and psychological earthquake of Britain's divorce from the EU has made cross-Channel cooperation harder still, and further complicated the long love-hate relationship between Paris and London.

Even in the wake of the deadliest migration accident to date in the Channel, Macron and Johnson appeared increasingly to be talking past each other  or, in Paris' case, barely willing to talk at all. Macrons government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, said Johnson's point-person on immigration, Home Secretary Priti Patel, was no longer welcome at a meeting Sunday of European ministers wholl explore ways to crack down on migrant-smuggling networks.

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Attal described Johnson's letter as fundamentally mediocre and totally uncalled-for in its manner. Suggesting British duplicity, Attal also said it doesnt correspond at all with discussions that Johnson and Macron had Wednesday after the sinking of an inflatable craft laden with migrants off the northern French coast.

We are sick of double-speak, Attal said.

And he dismissed Johnson's proposal that France take back migrants who cross illegally to British shores as clearly not what we need to solve this problem.

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are risking the perilous journey from France, hoping to win asylum or find better opportunities in Britain. More than 23,000 people have already entered the U.K. on largely unseaworthy small boats this year, up from 8,500 in 2020 and just 300 in 2018, according to data compiled by the British Parliament.

In London, Johnson's spokesman Jamie Davies said the prime minister had no regrets about tweeting the letter "written in the spirit of partnership and cooperation.

He expressed hope for a French U-turn on the decision to un-invite Patel to Sundays ministerial meeting on the migration crisis, saying: Friends and neighbors need to work together to address this global challenge collectively, and we have been clear that we need to do more.

A French judicial investigation into Wednesdays sinking has been turned over to Paris-based prosecutors who specialize in complex cases of organized crime. The prosecutors' office said it wouldn't comment on whether investigators are making progress on identifying victims' nationalities or causes of the tragedy.

A French fisherman who said he was first to spot and raise the alarm about bodies in the water on Friday described the scene as a horror movie. Karl Maquinghen said he is haunted by the thought that people might still be alive had he and his shipmates reached them sooner.

"To see so many bodies like that, next to us. Children. I dont know how to explain it. Horrific, Maquinghen said, voice cracking with emotion, in comments broadcast by French coastal radio Delta FM.

The sight of them like that, heads in the water, will stick with us, he said. We tell ourselves: Had we got there five or ten minutes earlier, we could perhaps have saved them.' We can't sleep."

While the sinking has brought long-simmering French-British tensions to a head, it's not their only issue of discord.

Adding to the climate of tension: French fishing crews on Friday briefly blocked French ports, ferry traffic across the English Channel and the freight entrance to the undersea Eurotunnel. The aim of the protest over post-Brexit fishing licenses was to disrupt flows of Britain-bound goods and travelers and signal that greater disturbance could follow amid the Christmas shopping rush.

The British have access to the European market, while we do not have access to British waters. This is not normal, the British government must respect the agreement," Olivier Lepretre, president of the regional fishing committee, said in the port of Calais.

He described the blockades as a warning shot."

Calais  a major jump-off point for migrants aiming to reach Britain  is also where ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and EU officials will meet on Sunday.

Without the British minister.

The ministers will work seriously to resolve a serious matter with people who are serious, Macron said. "Afterwards, we will see with the British how to act effectively, if they decide to be serious.

___

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Also contributing were Pan Pylas and Jill Lawless in London, Oleg Cetinic in Calais and Thomas Adamson in Paris.
By Paul Sandle

LONDON (Reuters) - Google has pledged more restrictions on its use of data from its Chrome browser to address concerns raised by Britain's competition regulator about its plan to ban third-party cookies that advertisers use to track consumers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating Google's plan to cut support for some cookies in Chrome - an initiative called the "Privacy Sandbox" - because it is worried it will impede competition in digital advertising.

Alphabet Inc's Google has said its users want more privacy when they are browsing the web, including not being tracked across sites.

Other players in the $250 billion global digital ad sector, however, have said the loss of cookies in the world's most popular browser will limit their ability to collect information for personalising ads and make them more reliant on Google's user databases.

Google agreed earlier this year to not implement the plan without the CMA's sign-off, and said the changes agreed with the British regulator will apply globally.

Google had addressed some remaining concerns, the CMA said on Friday, including commitments around reducing access to IP addresses and clarifying internal limits on the data that it could use.

CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said: "We have always been clear that Google's efforts to protect users' privacy cannot come at the cost of reduced competition."

He added: "If accepted, the commitments we have obtained from Google become legally binding, promoting competition in digital markets, helping to protect the ability of online publishers to raise money through advertising and safeguarding users' privacy."

Google said in a blog that is was "determined to ensure that the Privacy Sandbox is developed in a way that works for the entire ecosystem".

The CMA said it would consult on the new commitments until on 17 December.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle and Huw Jones; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Barbara Lewis)
Candace and her mother light the Christ Candle on Christmas eve in 2017.

As the calendar dictates this year, the afterglow of Thanksgiving is still burning bright as many turn their attention to religious observances that are both different and akin. This year, the Jewish community begins Hanukkah and the Christian community begins Advent, on the same date, Nov. 28, 2021.

Hanukkah is an eight-day holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem following a Jewish victory over the Assyrians, led by the Maccabees in 165 BCE. The Assyrians had been particularly ruthless in disrespecting the Jewish people and their faith, desecrating the Temple by placing an idol on the altar and smearing the altar with the blood of swine.

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Light amid darkness

After the Jewish victory, a redemption ritual of burning oil in the Temples menorah was planned. But there was only a days worth of purified oil to be found. Once lit, a miracle occurred, as the day's worth of oil lasted eight days, the time needed for the purification of new oil.

For those who witnessed the miracle, it was symbolic of the ways in which the Macabee familys resilience, drive, faith, and determination led to defeating one of the mightiest armies of the time and reclaiming their sacred temple in Jerusalem.

Hanukkah is not a major Jewish holiday. Unlike Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover, there is not a prescribed fast or feast associated with the observance, and it is not recorded in the Torah.

And yet in our country it is as well-known as the major Jewish holidays. And as it proclaims light in darkness and hope in despair, it is a much-needed reminder to us all of resilience in our difficult world.

Advent lasts through Christmas Eve

Advent begins on the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas Day and lasts through Christmas Eve on December 24. While many Christian denominations celebrate Advent as both a time of preparation for the birth of Jesus and the second coming of Christ, Advent is not prescribed in Christian scripture.

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Though observed since the fourth century CE, it is not as significant a holy season as is Christmas, Easter, or Pentecost. But, like Hanukkah, the Advent themes of light in the darkness, hope in despair, and the discipline of hopeful waiting are as important in our current climate as ever.

A Lego menorah was lit to mark the beginning of Hanukkah at an event organized by Chabad of Tallahassee at Lake Ella Park Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. at Lake Ella Park Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018.

A time of hopeful waiting

Both Hanukkah and Advent involve hopeful waiting. It is not one of our strong suits. We are far more accustomed to instant gratification than purposeful waiting.

We can be frustrated by waiting for a traffic light to change, a search engine to produce its findings, a doctors office to call us back for an appointment, or a package to arrive on our doorstep.

The pandemic has helped us realize that we do not control time and it seems the better part of wisdom and valor, that we intentionally practice the art of waiting.

Hanukkah and Advent give us that opportunity. We are encouraged to reflect patiently on the meaning of these respective celebrations in ways that inform our lives now even as we wait on the tiptoes of expectation.

'Light One Candle'

And for both Hanukkah and Advent, that expectant waiting involves action on our part.

For the Jewish community, it involves Tikun Olam, or repair of a broken world. A popular Hanukkah song was written by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary, in 1983. In it he encourages activism to make the world a better place. Titled, Light One Candle, Yarrow tells that he wrote the song as a call for peace and reconciliation.

For the Christian community, the action in waiting for Christs return is to be as Christ-like as possible to others. Presbyterian minister and author, Frederick Buechner, writes, To wait for Christ to come in his fullness is not just a passive thing, a pious, prayerful, churchly thing. On the contrary, to wait for Christ to come in his fullness is above all else to act in Christ's stead as fully as we know how.

Embracing the light

Both Hanukkah and Advent involve light.

Over the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah, Jewish people light a menorah candle each day, praying beautiful prayers of faith, so that at the end of the celebration the brightness is undeniable.

Christians light an Advent wreath candle each of the four Sundays of Advent and, on Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day, light a central Christ candle. Each of the four candles represent themes from scripture like hope, joy, love, and peace, while the Christ Candle represents Jesus coming as the light of the world.

Like many religions and spiritualities, these two faith traditions recognize the power of light overcoming darkness, celebrating hope in the midst of despair.

As Yarrow writes to Jews and non-Jews alike, Dont let the light go out, let it shine through our love and our tears. Light one candle for all we believe in, let anger not tear us apart! Light one candle to bind us together, with peace as the song in our heart.

As we enter these religious holy days in this particular year when we are challenged by so many troubling concerns, I pray we all will promote light, hope, and peace in healing our broken world.

The Rev. Candace McKibben

The Rev. Candace McKibben is an ordained minister and pastor of Tallahassee Fellowship.

Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Light and hope shine with Hanukkah Advent celebrations
Nov. 26The Honolulu Police Department said a 55-year-old man was apparently stabbed repeatedly with a sharp object in Waikiki around 12 :30 a.m. today.

HPD has classified the case as an attempted murder, but was unable to find the male suspect after responding to the scene.

Police did not provide an update on the victim's condition.
An Indiana man was charged Thursday after he stabbed another guest at a Thanksgiving celebration, according to local reports and police records.

FLORIDA MAN CHARGED IN DEATH OF A PENNSYLVANIA WOMAN WHOSE REMAINS WERE FOUND UNDERWATER

Brett Rowans, 34, of Evansville, allegedly knifed the man in the back in front of other horrified guests after the two began arguing, police told 14News.

Rowans' girlfriend tried to intervene, and he allegedly threatened to kill her, according to the outlet. Meanwhile, the host was busy preparing the turkey for the doomed holiday meal.

Rowans had already fled when police arrived a little after 2:45 p.m. He was arrested at his home, where he denied stabbing the man. It wasn't clear what the argument was over.
The Telegraph

Its that time of year again. Yes, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have released the new photograph they will use for their 2021 Christmas cards. Cue inevitable social media excitement and a frenzy among Royal watchers as they study it for clues about the state of the monarchy.
By Agustinus Beo Da Costa

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's counterterrorism squad has arrested 24 people on suspicion of fundraising for Jemaah Islamiah (JI), the Al-Qaeda linked extremist group accused of carrying out some of the country's biggest militant attacks.

The suspects had been collecting funds for JI via two Islamic charitable foundations and their arrests will help build a picture of militant funding in Indonesia, Aswin Siregar of the Densus 88 counterterrorism force told media on Thursday.

JI is accused of orchestrating the 2002 Bali bombing of two nightclubs, which killed more than 200 people, including many Australians, and several other deadly attacks in the capital Jakarta.

Based on financial reports, police said the two foundations used as fronts for JI had raised about $2 million, although the figure could be higher.

Cash equivalent to $700,000 was discovered at the office of one of the foundations, police said.

A senior member of Indonesia's Islamic Council who was arrested https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/indonesia-arrests-senior-cleric-ties-jemaah-islamiah-2021-11-17 earlier this month was among the 24 detained.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa; Writing by Kate Lamb; Editing by Martin Petty)
Rev. Alvin Deer's table filled with food during a Thanksgiving celebration.

Thanksgiving is a holiday that normally means coming together, enjoying company with family and friends, and eating traditional foods, however, the pandemic is still a threat to those normal holiday gatherings.

Intermountain Healthcare is still seeing a rise in not only covid cases but also other respiratory viruses like influenza, RSV, and pneumonia this holiday season. Though the covid vaccine has been widely available in Utah, doctors at Intermountain healthcare are still seeing that numbers are almost a mirror image of where we were at Thanksgiving last year, said Dr. Brandon Webb, Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases physician.

Webb said he was expecting the same hospital capacity rates and infections rates as in 2020.

One thing that is very different from last season is that we are already seeing a tremendous number of other respiratory viruses, Webb said.

A concerning factor is that these other respiratory viruses have symptoms similar to covid, especially for those who have been vaccinated. Coughs, runny nose, and body aches are among the most common symptoms for both covid and other viruses.

Intermountain Healthcare is recommending individuals get tested often, especially if they are feeling any of the symptoms that are found with the common cold or flu. Staying home this holiday season may be the way to go, even if it seems like its not covid.

Utah is still among the top 10 states in the U.S. for highest transmission rate of COVID-19.

I think it's important to know your risk, know your family and plan those gatherings accordingly," Webb said. "For those who have the possibility it's best to meet in well-ventilated areas, it's great to limit the group size when possible, and for those who are at greater risk, there are a lot of options for Black Friday shopping."

Covid Cases in Utah:

Covid cases 589,715

Hospitalizations 25,643

Deaths 3, 470

To learn more about covid visit https://coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts/

Elle Cabrera covers breaking news and topics. Please help us to continue producing this content at thespectrum.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Intermountain Healthcare expecting a "mirror image" of last year
Andy Robertson has been Liverpools most over-worked player over the last three years (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson remains manager Jurgen Klopps first-choice left-back despite the improvement of Kostas Tsimikas coinciding with a perceived dip in the Scotland captains usual all-action form.

Robertson has not started the last two matches due to an injury sustained on international duty but looks set to return for Saturdays visit of Southampton.

In his absence Tsimikas, in his second season at Anfield after a Covid-impacted maiden campaign, has impressed to the point where he is putting pressure on Robertsons previously-undisputed spot as regular starter.

But Klopp has dismissed suggestions the Scot, who has been one of the clubs most over-worked players in the last three years, is not in his best form and insists he retains his total trust.

It is pushing but I dont see it as pushing in that sense, he said on the left-back competition.

Robbo is Robbo and it is just a bit strange people constantly forget how good Robbo is, just because in these moments Kostas is good as well.

Thank God he is good or we would have a problem. Before we had no real solution and Milly [James Milner] had to play there and did really well but now we have a different solution, thats good.

We have Kostas and Owen Beck coming up, a real prospect, so thats good for us but I dont doubt Robbo at all.

Really happy about the development of Kostas, really happy, but Robbo is Robbo, an outstanding player.

I dont know if he had drops in performance here and there but it doesnt change my mind because you cant trust people today and not trust them the next day.

You have to show these kind of things as thats how you get the best long-term out of players. But Im really happy Kostas shows how he showed up, an outstanding player.

Robbo needed half-a year, Kostas needed a year but now we see how good he is.

After struggling with midfield injuries over the last month  Curtis Jones and Naby Keita out for the foreseeable future  Klopp is finding he has more competition in that department also.

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Thiago Alcantara scorer of a brilliant goal in the midweek win over Porto, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have taken their opportunities to show they are close to getting back to their best form.

Jurgen Klopp has described how he will look to manage his midfield selections amid the intensity of our winter fixture schedule   Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 26, 2021

And with Jordan Henderson fit again after injury on England duty Klopp has more options than he has had for a while.

It is much better because two weeks ago we pretty much had two-and-a-half midfielders and now that looks different, he added

We could use the Porto game to give some some minutes, give some rest so for the first time in a while I have to make some decisions, which is actually cool.

Thiago is an incredible player for us, of course, but we found solutions when he wasnt available and we have to find solutions.

Its not about one player out or in, the quality of our midfielders when they are fit means there is an incredible choice to be honest.

Thiago has a very specific skillset, absolutely, and is very helpful when on the pitch when he has rhythm.

(PA Wire)

Thats the challenge we face  to make sure he can gain rhythm but not overdo it.

We have that with all the players, especially with the amount of games coming up.

We have a similar thing to do with Ox a little bit. After a long period he played now a lot of games, others have come back from injury.

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Kyle Rittenhouse says he wants to attend Arizona State University classes on campus following his acquittal on homicide charges.

The teenager was taking online ASU classes that he put on pause to go on trial for killing two men and wounding another during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Mr Rittenhouse, 18, was found not guilty on all charges against him after killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz in August 202.

During the trial Mr Rittenhosue said that he had been studying nursing at ASU.

The university has clarified that he was enrolled as an online non-degree-seeking student and was not taking classes on its Tempe campus.

Kyle Rittenhouse has not gone through the admissions process with Arizona State University and is not enrolled in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, university spokesperson Jay Thorne told The Arizona Republic.

View of Tempe, Arizona. Showing ASU Arizona State University campus with Sun Devil Football Stadium (Getty Images)

The college said that the teenager had signed up to a programme for students to begin taking classes as they prepare to seek admission into a degree program at the university.

Mr Rittenhouse said in a NewsNation interview that he wanted to re-enrol in classes next semester and pursue a career in nursing.

He was asked by host Ashleigh Banfield if he thought being an on-campus student with his high-profile would be possible.

I hope so because I just want to be a normal 18-year-old college student trying to better my future and get into a career in nursing, he said.

During the interview he also said he would reject any offer of becoming a Congressional intern after offers from Republicans such as Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar and Madison Cawthorn.

I dont want to get involved in politics at all. I know nothing about it, and thank everybody for their support. But Im good, thank you, he said.

Read More

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Indian River County is currently in the process of updating the County Commission district boundaries as required by the State Constitution and state statutes.

Specifically, (1) article VIII, section (1)(e) of the Florida Constitution provides that after each decennial census the board of county commissioners shall divide the county into districts of contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable, and (2) section 124.01, Florida Statutes provides that there shall be five county commissioners districts in each county, which shall be numbered one to five, inclusive, and shall be as nearly equal in proportion to population as possible.

During the public hearings as part of this process, some members of the Gifford community requested that the county move to a single member district method of voting, as compared to the current at large method.

Under the at large method, candidates for county commission must live in the district they are running for, but the candidates are voted on county wide. A single member district candidate would only receive votes from the residents in the particular district the candidate is running for. Some members of the Gifford community feel that they would have a better chance of a Black candidate winning election in the single member district method.

Laura Moss, shown campaigning for Vero Beach City Council Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2019, was elected to the Indian River County Commission in August 2020, from a district spanning Vero Beach's mainland and beachside. All county voters get to elect all county commissioners in what is called "at large voting." Some local residents have called for only voters in a single district to elect their representative to the county commission.

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There are several reasons why I believe the at large method is better for the entire county, and also that single member districts may not give the Gifford community the outcome they are hoping for.

First, we cannot create a district of only the Gifford Community. As stated above, districts must be contiguous and nearly equal in population. So the 5,511 residents of Gifford would still be lumped in a larger population of 31,958, which is the average size of a district under the new census data.

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Districts have to be contiguous, so we cannot lump Gifford with Wabasso and Oslo Park, as had been suggested by some members of the community. Gifford residents would only be 17% of the single member district, which does not guarantee a victory by a candidate from Gifford.

If we go to a single member district system, then it becomes an every man for himself type Board of County Commissioners. If it were single member district, I could see a future commissioner say they wouldnt give a hoot if something bad happened in, say, Sebastian or Fellsmere, where the county would have to spend dollars to fix something.

That commissioner might even vote against it because they would want those dollars to come to their district. So everything becomes a fight among the commissioners for limited resources, which I believe leads to more uncivil debates among the commissioners.

Currently, under at large voting, all commissioners serve all residents. About half the calls and walk-ins we get are from someone wishing to speak to their commissioner. But the other half are looking to talk to any commissioner.

Peter O'Bryan

If Im the only commissioner in the office and someone comes in from Sebastian, I dont believe it's good service if I tell them, "Im not going to help you; you have to wait until your commissioner comes in." Representing all the residents, I have and will continue to serve anyone who calls or walks in the door.

Finally, as representing all of the county, all five commissioners can focus more on big picture, visioning types of concepts. Where do we want the county to be in 20 years? How do we bring about jobs and affordable housing for all residents?

Commissioners can focus on other important county wide issues such as water and sewer and the impacts of Brightline, instead of being focused on single-, district-level issues such as how do I get a park in my district?

For these reasons I believe the at large method of voting is best for all residents of Indian River County, including the Gifford community.

Peter O'Bryan, serving his fourth term, represents south Indian River County on its commission. A Republican, O'Bryan said he would not seek another term.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Indian River County Commission in process of updating district boundaries
By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania may close border crossing points with Belarus if migrants continue to be smuggled into its territory on trucks, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said on Friday.

"We have decided to increase checks on vehicles crossing into Lithuania. If we see this trend increasing, we will be very seriously considering closing border crossing points with Belarus," she said during a visit near the border.

Four Iraqi migrants were found hiding in a consignment of peat in a Belarusian-registered truck at the Medininkai crossing on Thursday afternoon. The Lithuanian border guard service said Belarus had refused to take them back.

The European Union has accused Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East and pushing them to cross into the bloc in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over President Alexander Lukashenko's crushing of protests against his disputed re-election last year. Belarus denies this.

Lukashenko told migrants near the border with Poland on Friday that Belarus would help them to return home if they wanted to but would not force them.

Bilotaite said there could be up to 15,000 migrants in Belarus trying to find a way into the European Union, including up to 2,000 at the Lithuanian border.

"Until they are returned home we cannot be calm," Bilotaite said. "Lukashenko is unpredictable, we can expect anything from him, so we must be ready for all outcomes."

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Jan Harvey and Kevin Liffey)
This photo of Nancy Blankenship from her wedding in 1982 ran with a story in The Tennessean in 1994 after her remains were identified 10 years after her disappearance from her home in Lavinia.

Ashley Blankenship Erdmann has begun trying to learn what happened to her aunt, Nancy Blankenship, who disappeared just before Christmas of 1983 before her remains were discovered a decade later.

Local podcaster Brandon Barnett has spent the past few months trying to decide what cold case would be the subject of the third season of his work, Searching for Ghosts.

Their efforts have overlapped as Nancy Blankenships unsolved murder case is up next for the podcast, but Barnett says he needs help.

This case is different because its been a longer amount of time since Nancy went missing, Barnett said. And were running into a lot of dead ends as far as getting people to talk about it, and were hoping that anyone who was involved  law enforcement and investigators, family and friends, whomever  will be willing to sit down and talk with me with my recorder going.

The amount of time isnt the only difference for Nancy Blankenships case compared to the first two cases Barnett examined. This is the first one where remains have been positively been identified, so its a confirmed murder case.

The first two seasons focused on Cayce McDaniel, who disappeared after a back-to-school party from her home in Milan in 1996, and Bethany Markowski, whose father said he last saw her when she walked into Old Hickory Mall in Jackson while he napped in his van in the parking lot in 2001. While McDaniels case has since had a suspect charged with murder in the last two years, neither McDaniel nor Markowski have been identified as missing or dead.

Her disappearance

Nancy Blankenship was the 20-year-old wife of Kenneth Blankenship, and they lived in Lavinia in Carroll County.

According to Sun reports from that time, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 1983, Kenneth left at 1 p.m. to stop at the post office to mail Christmas cards on his way to work at Porter Cable in Jackson. At 3 p.m., neighbors told investigators he saw Nancy outside feeding their dogs while he was on his way to work, which was also at Porter Cable.

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A little after dark that evening, a couple of friends stopped to pick Nancy up to take her to Wednesday night Bible study at her church, Faith Baptist in Humboldt, where her father-in-law, Eugene Blankenship, was pastor. Friends were taking her to church because she had been diagnosed with epilepsy and wasnt allowed to have a drivers license. But she never came to the door. They went on to church thinking maybe someone else had picked her up.

After she wasnt at church, a few members of her family went to the house to check on her. When they walked in, they found the house seemingly undisturbed with her purse and pocketbook sitting in different areas of the living room and kitchen, a pan of brownies burning in the oven and a curling iron still on. Her pocketbook was next to her nearly full bottle of epilepsy medication.

Carroll County Sheriff deputies were called and began investigating, but no leads ever materialized until 10 years later.

Confirmed death

On Dec. 19, 1993, two days short of the 10th anniversary of Nancys disappearance, two fishermen on the Tennessee River near Decatur County discovered human remains that would be identified weeks later as Nancy Blankenship.

According to articles in The Tennessean from January 1994, findings from the medical examiner included a scar on the bones in her throat, indicating her throat mightve been slashed if there wasnt a scar there already. But they also indicated Nancys body  10 years after her death  had been in the water for five years.

So where was her body for the first five years and why did her killer  or someone  decide to wait that long to put her in the river, asked Ashley Erdmann, her niece.

Brandon Barnett is releasing the latest podcast project on the Left of Nashville Podcast Network.

Asking for help

Thirty-eight years after Nancys disappearance and apparent death, Erdmann and Barnett are looking for answers. And theyre asking for help in getting those answers.

Barnett said some of the investigators have talked some, while others havent. Family members who are still alive are mostly unwilling to talk, although Erdmann said some have recently said they will talk to Barnett.

But we need more, so if anybody reading this and has any insight into what happened that afternoon nearly 40 years ago, it would be very helpful, Barnett said. With Cayce and Bethany, we kept running into investigators saying they couldnt comment on an ongoing investigation, and I get that, but I had one person involved in Bethanys case tell me that and then spoke pretty openly with a national television show answering questions I wanted to ask.

And I understand that investigators cant say everything, but surely it doesnt have to be an all-or-nothing scenario. Lets talk and see if this case can get any closer to closure for Nancys remaining family members.

Anyone willing to talk with Barnett can contact him via e-mail at brandon@leftofnashville.com.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Local podcaster asking for help in working on cold case
Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said the company needed more time to implement the vaccine mandate. Santiago Felipe/Getty Images

Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said he wants Biden's vaccine mandate to be delayed, per NYT.

Gennette told The Times that he'd prefer the mandate to kick in around February 2022.

Macy's has offered $500 bonuses to staff who recruit a friend or relative, Gennette said.

Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette says he wants President Joe Biden to push back the vaccine mandate deadline as the retailer tries to hire more workers amid the labor shortage, The New York Times reported.

The White House announced in early November that the rule requiring all employees of companies with more than 100 workers to be fully vaccinated or take weekly tests will take effect on January 4.

Macy's would prefer the government to implement the mandate in the first quarter of 2022, which starts in February for retailers, Gennette said in an interview with The Times.

Gennette told the outlet that he supported Biden's order but "would just love to have it on a timetable that works for us." He added: "We need more time."

The news comes at a time when US businesses, large and small, are suffering from a severe shortage of staff. Employers struggling to find workers are concerned that the vaccine mandate will deter much-needed new hires, The Times reported.

"We have a lot of stores that have a lot of openings," Gennette also told The Times. "Any ruling that we have to mandate those colleagues be vaccinated prior to Christmas is just going to exacerbate our labor shortage going into a really critical period for us."

Macy's has called on its corporate staff to volunteer for shift work in stores over the holidays as the labor shortage bites. It also said it would raise the minimum wage of its US employees  more than 100,000 workers  to $15 an hour by May.

Macy's has only asked its corporate staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or test negative before entering its offices, Gennette told The Times.

Macy's wants to employ 76,000 full- and part-time workers this season, Gennette told The Times. He added that the company started offering referral bonuses worth up to $500 to employees who managed to recruit a friend or family member.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The way we celebrate the holiday season here in Wisconsin is recognizable to a lot of people: lights, gifts, time with loved ones and plenty of good food.

However, like the Green Bay Packers organization, the word "bubbler" or how we make Old Fashioneds, there a few things that Wisconsinites do differently.

Whether you prefer treats, tinsel or toasts, Wisconsin has a number of unique holiday traditions.

A Very Danish Christmas Kringle from O&H Danish Bakery is made with almond filling and Door County cherries.

Kringle

When many people think of things unique to Wisconsin, kringle  a flaky, oval-shaped Danish pastry  frequently comes to mind, to the point where the treat was named Wisconsin's Official State Pastry in 2013 and one from Uncle Mike's Bake Shoppe in De Pere was named the "Coolest Thing Made In Wisconsin" in 2018's Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce contest of the same name.

Though kringles have been part of Wisconsin life for decades, recent years have cemented its reputation as an essential part of holiday brunches. Why is that?

One possibility is "the ability to deliver it directly to family and friends' doorsteps," according to Marie Heyer, Director of Marketing at Racine Kringle. Here's another: "Kringle happens to be the perfect fit for sharing," said Matt Horton, Vice President of Ecommerce and Marketing at O & H Danish Bakery. "It's pretty easy to have a conversation, grab a slice of kringle and then come back and do it all over again a few minutes later."

Regardless of the reason, many of us can't imagine the holidays without it.

More: Kringle maker O&H Danish Bakery adds a new store, keeps the family tradition

Manitowoc's Evergleams on Eighth holiday display showcases the historic aluminum Christmas tree first manufactured in the city in 1959.

Aluminum Christmas trees

These sparkling artificial trees were first mass-produced under the Evergleam brand in 1959 at Aluminum Specialty in Manitowoc. Though the Space Age trees fell out of favor by the end of the '60s  and production ended formally in 1971  they've enjoyed a revival in recent years. You can buy reproductions in big-box stores, and vintage trees regularly sell for hundreds of dollars.

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Downtown Manitowoc pays tribute to this part of the city's history with an annual event called "Evergleams on Eighth." From Thanksgiving to New Year's, nearly 40 styles, sizes and colors of vintage aluminum Christmas trees will be on display this year in storefront windows in Manitowoc.

The largest display will be at the Manitowoc Public Library, 707 Quay St., Manitowoc. To learn more about this holiday event, visit evergleams.org.

More:Manitowoc's aluminum Christmas tree display brings sparkle to season amid COVID-19

Stollen is considered a holiday staple in many Wisconsin households.

Stollen

This yeast bread is an annual holiday tradition in its home country of Germany. While it comes in many varieties, most recipes use the same basic ingredients: candied and dried fruits, nuts, and spices. Additionally, the finished bread is covered with butter and powdered sugar.

German immigrants brought this tradition with them to Wisconsin, and it took hold. Whether your stollen uses candied citrus peel instead of green cherries, or adds marzipan, or loads the bread with nuts, you can find it at holiday brunch tables across the state.

If you're short on time to make your own stollen, you can find it for sale this time of year in specialty bakeries, such as Olde World Pastries Plus in Green Bay, Johnston's Bakery in Sheboygan, Peter Sciortino Bakery in Milwaukee, and New Glarus Bakery in New Glarus. Several grocery store chains, such as Sendik's and Aldi, also have stollen for sale in some locations. You may want to call ahead or order online to ensure that you can pick up yours.

More: Christmas means stollen time in Wisconsin. Find out where to get the German holiday treat.

With how sweet it is, think of the brandy slush like you would an ice cream cocktail but a lot easier to make.

Brandy slush

The origins of brandy slush are unknown, but it's yet more evidence that Wisconsinites love their brandy. This uniquely Wisconsin cocktail is popular around the holidays, partly because it's a simple, crowd-pleasing treat.

According to Daniel Higgins of the Appleton Post-Crescent, here's what the taste of brandy slush is like: "Think sugared brandy with a lemon-orange kiss...In terms of sweetness, texture and calories, think of the brandy slush as you would an ice cream dessert drink."

Whether you use a dash of bitters, skip the tea, or add a couple ounces of triple sec, the basic ingredients for brandy slush are the same across recipes: water, sugar, orange and lemon juice concentrate, lemon-lime soda, and your favorite brandy (skip the brandy for a kid-friendly version). Freezing the concoction inside an old ice-cream bucket is optional, but highly recommended for added nostalgia.

More: Brandy slush is the sangria of Wisconsin and you betcha we'll serve it at winter holidays

We Energies 2021 Cookie Book celebrates military service by highlighting recipes from veterans

We Energies Cookie Book

Over the past 93 years, We Energies has come out with over 50 editions of its Cookie Book and has distributed free copies since the early 2000s. The Cookie Book began as a way to demonstrate and sell newly electrified ovens, but the tradition persisted even after the company moved from selling appliances to providing power.

"For many of our customers...getting the Cookie Book kicks off their holiday season," said We Energies' senior communication specialist Amy Jahns. She also stated that putting together the Cookie Book takes an entire year, and a dedicated group of employees tests every recipe before it's included.

This year's Cookie Book features recipes submitted by veterans and active-duty members of the military. While We Energies has finished distributing the book's physical copies for this year, you can download a free electronic copy of the Cookie Book at we-energies.com/recipes.

More: 'Oh, my goodness cookie:' The 2021 'We Energies Cookie Book' highlights recipes by veterans, current service members

A Tom and Jerry topped with ground nutmeg in a traditional holiday cup.

Tom and Jerry

The Tom and Jerry's name doesn't come from the cartoon  the drink's history goes back to the mid-1800s, when it was likely invented as a promotional drink for a then-popular play. Ever since, Tom and Jerrys have become part of the holidays in many Wisconsin homes.

On the surface, this holiday cocktail seems like just another kind of eggnog, with its heavy emphasis on eggs, spices and alcohol. There are, however, a few important differences. A Tom and Jerry is served hot, and the egg whites are beaten several times throughout the process of making the batter, making the drink's texture light and fluffy.

Otherwise, if you're short on time, pre-mixed Tom and Jerry batter is available this time of year in many grocery stores. Just add hot water, rum, and brandy; for a non-alcoholic drink, you can use warm milk or tea instead.

More: What is a Tom and Jerry, and why does Wisconsin love and make this unique winter cocktail?

Children leave their shoes out for St. Nick, and he is thought to leave small gifts behind, like treats and ornaments.

St. Nick's Day

St. Nick's Day, also called Saint Nicholas Day, is commonly celebrated in Europe and in communities with a strong German background. Even though St. Nick's Day isn't as well-known as Christmas, many Wisconsin residents, especially Milwaukeeans, celebrate the holiday as part of their roots.

Traditionally, on the evening of Dec. 5, children leave out stockings and wooden shoes, and Saint Nicholas is said to visit and leave small gifts behind, such as coins, fruit, candy and small toys.

Why has the tradition persisted? Amy Schwabe of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes, "My own kids see the festivities of St. Nick's as a great way to temper the long wait for Christmas Eve."

Other parents tell their kids that St. Nick's Day is Santa Claus practicing for his Christmas Eve visit, or they instead focus on the historical St. Nicholas as "kind of like the Robin Hood of saints," according to Wauwatosa resident Jess Koerner.

More: St. Nick fills stockings with candy. Or shoes with oranges. Or rides a moose. For Milwaukee families, the traditions vary.

More: In Milwaukee, St. Nick leaves keepsake ornaments, writes letters and even visits schools

Cheese balls

Cheese balls have had moments of retro revival across the country. Part of their renewed appeal might be their simple assembly. Or how cheese balls seem to go perfectly with charcuterie boards. Or possibly just that they're another excuse to eat cheese.

Trends come and go, but cheese balls have been a staple of Wisconsin holiday tables for decades. As our state's collective love affair with cheese is the stuff of legend, this shouldn't be any surprise.

To create a cheese ball for your next party, you can find many recipes online. During this time of year, pre-made cheese balls are also available at many grocery stores across the state.

More: Those cheese spreads on your holiday tray? They likely come from this Wisconsin maker.

More: Recipe: The "Party Magnet" cheese ball.

The cannibal sandwich, made from raw beef and onions on rye bread, at Ray's Butcher Shoppe in Greenfield. The sandwich is a popular menu item at family gatherings, weddings, anniversaries and more. Ray's Butcher Shoppe goes through around 1,000 pounds of ground round during the holidays.

Cannibal sandwiches

Otherwise known as tiger meat or steak tartare, these sandwiches, served at many Wisconsin holiday parties, consist of raw beef with onions and salt and pepper, served on rye bread. Some will even crack a raw egg on top.

No one is entirely sure where this food came from, but it may be another nod to the Germans who settled in Wisconsin nearly two centuries ago. In fact, Germans have a similar recipe to cannibal sandwiches: mettbrochen, which is made from raw minced pork and served with onions on a bread roll.

Regardless of what you call cannibal sandwiches, the Wisconsin Department of Health now has an annual holiday tradition of advising against eating them. According to their website, the dish has been responsible for eight reported outbreaks of food poisoning in Wisconsin since 1986.

However, cannibal sandwich fans on social media poo-pooed the image of pale ground beef that the DHS tweeted out with their warning last year. Even though eating raw meat always poses a risk, people who partake in this tradition usually get high-quality ground beef from a butcher they trust.

If you want to try making cannibal sandwiches with as little risk as possible, Wisconsin Public Radio has advice from Dr. Zorba Paster: "Aim for the leanest cut of beef you can get, let your butcher know youre using the meat for cannibal sandwiches and ask for it to be freshly ground with a clean grinder...Eat the meat the same day you buy it, and preferably before the end of the party."

More: Why did the raw meat cannibal sandwich become so popular in Wisconsin? And why has it stayed that way?

More: Here are 10 holiday dishes that are popular in Wisconsin, from kringle to venison sausage

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin holiday traditions: Cannibal sandwiches and aluminum trees
Nov. 25A Santa Fe man was charged with arson after he was accused of setting a fire last week outside the New Mexico School for the Arts in the the Santa Fe Railyard.

Santa Fe police received a call Nov. 15 from a construction worker who said he had seen a man, later identified as 57-year-old Patrick Linton, light a fire in the landscaping in front of the school on Montezuma Avenue, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

Workers also saw Linton light a fire inside a HVAC unit after ripping out its electrical wiring, the complaint said.

Linton was burned by the fire in the HVAC unit and taken to the Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and questioned by officers.

He told police he did not start the fires and had been "jumped" by one of the construction workers, the complaint said. Investigators noted he suffered a burn on his face, smelled of smoke and his hands were covered in black char.

Linton was charged with arson and criminal damage to property.
Manhattan Project National Historical Park will be hosting a hike with a ranger along the North Boundary Greenway in Oak Ridge on Saturday, Nov. 27, at 10 a.m.

The hike will begin at East Quarry Road Trailhead. Along the hike, rangers will discuss the settlements that pre-dated Oak Ridge. The hike passes multiple pre-Oak Ridge homesites and a limestone quarry. This 2.5-mile hike is on a former gravel road with a mild elevation gain of 150 feet, according to a news release.

Visitors are encouraged to wear appropriate footwear and bring drinking water. East Quarry Road Trailhead is located on the northside of the Oak Ridge Parkway between Wisconsin Avenue and Sweetgum Lane in Oak Ridge. Parking is available on a gravel lot at the trailhead. For more information, visit the National Park Service desk inside the Childrens Museum of Oak Ridge or call (865) 482-1942.

Visitors are encouraged to visit the website for more information on the park at https://www.nps.gov/mapr/oakridge.htm.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Manhattan Project Public Program: Hike with a Ranger Saturday, Nov. 27
Marjorie Taylor-Greene has hit out at Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy and said he does not have the full support to become Speaker of the House after 2022 midterm elections.

Mr McCarthy, who has a chance of becoming Speaker of the House after 2022s midterms if Republicans retake the 435-seat chamber, will require the support of his caucus to do so.

Ms Greene, who was elected to Congress in November 2020 on a pro-Trump platform, told a podcast on Thursday that he doesnt have the full support of House Republicans.

The pair have disagreed on a number of issues since January 2021, including whether or not anti-Trump Republicans should be removed from committee assignments.

Ms Greene told fellow agitator and member of Congress Matt Gaetzs Firebrand podcast that she felt Mr McCarthy had forgotten her and other pro-Trump Republicans.

We know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our conference. He doesnt have the full support to be speaker, she told Mr Gaetz. He doesnt have the votes that are there.

She carried on: Because theres many of us that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable, while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many others just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats.

The reference to Mr Gosar, who was censured and ousted from his committee assignments last week, comes after McCarthy appeared to suggest he would restore assignments taken from Ms Greene in February following an outcry at her social media history.

Mr Gosar was meanwhile condemned by Democrats for sharing an animation in which he killed US President Joe Biden and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Republicans including Ms Greene largely attacked the move to censure Mr Gosar, while Democrats accused Mr McCarthy of failing to penalise members of his own caucus for wrongdoing.

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A booking photo provided by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office shows Julia Crews. (St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office via The New York Times)

Two-and-a-half years after a police officer shot a woman she suspected of shoplifting at a Missouri supermarket, prosecutors said this week that they had dismissed a felony assault charge against the former officer after the two women agreed to meet by videoconference to resolve the case.

During a Zoom call Nov. 5, with a mediator present, Ashley Hall forgave the former officer, Julia Crews, for shooting her in the back outside a Schnucks supermarket in Ladue, Missouri, just west of St. Louis, in April 2019.

As soon as we saw each other, she started crying and asking me to forgive her, Hall said in an interview. I told her I forgave her the day she shot me. I felt so much relief.

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The meeting was organized by the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, Wesley Bell, as part of a restorative justice mediation program. It took place a year after the city of Ladue agreed to a $2 million settlement with Hall that released Crews and Ladues police chief, Ken Andreski Jr., from liability, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Bell announced Monday that the assault charge against Crews had been dismissed.

Restorative justice, an alternative to prosecution, is based on the premise that victims of crimes and those charged with committing them can address and repair harm by voluntarily talking to each other. The process, which is most often applied in nonviolent cases, involves a conversation, facilitated by a mediator, that allows each party to discuss a crime and why it happened and to reach an outcome that resolves the conflict.

The events that would bring Hall and Crews together this month unfolded April 23, 2019, in the parking lot of the Ladue Crossing shopping center. Hall was one of two shoppers whom employees at the Schnucks store accused of pushing a cart of steaks and seafood past a self-checkout area, The Post-Dispatch reported.

Crews drew her weapon as Hall was running away and shot her in the back, authorities said.

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As Hall lay bleeding in the parking lot, Crews apologized to her, according to a federal lawsuit Hall filed last year against Crews and the city of Ladue accusing them of unreasonable and excessive force. Crews later told detectives that she had meant to reach for her Taser, not her gun. A month after the shooting, she resigned from the Police Department, submitting a letter in which she called the episode an innocent mistake.

Hall, 36, was hospitalized for three weeks, initially in critical condition, with a lacerated stomach, a gunshot wound and multiple rib fractures, her attorney, William King Holland, said.

Crews, 39, did not respond to an interview request.

Officer Crews has maintained she did not intend to shoot Ashley Hall, her attorney, Travis Noble, said in a statement. It was an accident. The restorative justice approach taken by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office was the best outcome for all involved.

Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, said the case presented a unique set of facts that made it an ideal opportunity for restorative justice mediation. He emphasized Crews immediate apology after she fired a bullet into Halls back, and Halls disclosure to him that she did not wish to see Crews go to jail.

Soon after the shooting, Bell contacted the restorative justice program in Washington, D.C., which the citys attorney general, Karl Racine, established in 2017. Seema Gajwani, who leads the program, agreed to facilitate the moderation between Hall and Crews.

This is an example accomplishing the ideal, which is healing and justice, Bell said. The trauma that individuals have to deal with during the legal process often does not address that healing, that type of accountability, and its not designed to.

Gajwani said the criminal justice system leaves little room for people to have the agency to resolve things themselves and to have a chance to speak. She said she has often been surprised by how frequently victims opt for restorative justice when it is available, instead of a trial.

Washingtons restorative justice program has conducted more than 150 mediations, according to Racines office, which said an internal analysis of cases involving juvenile offenders indicated that the process reduces recidivism.

Restorative justice programs are proliferating across the country, and not just in major metropolitan areas, said Alissa Marque Heydari, deputy director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

It can give that person a level of closure that the traditional form of prosecution really cant, Heydari said, adding that there was a growing trend of applying restorative justice mediation to a wide range of cases beyond low-level crimes.

Restorative justice cases involving police officers or former officers are rare, according to Gajwani, who said the mediation in the Ladue shooting was the first one she had participated in with an officer.

One exception involved the dismissal of all charges last year against a former police officer in Asheville, North Carolina, who had been convicted of assaulting an unarmed Black man who was suspected of jaywalking.

The dismissal of the assault charge against Crews clears the way for her to return to the police force if she chooses, Noble, her attorney, said, adding that she had yet to indicate her future plans to him.

Hall said that she still struggles years after the shooting. She feels fear when she goes outside and finds herself catastrophizing, or assuming the worst, when she gets in her car.

But she said she was at peace with Crews. Their meeting was very emotional, Hall said, adding that it was the best thing we could have done for both of us.

It felt like she was genuinely sorry, she said. Im still here, and Im thankful for that.

 2021 The New York Times Company
A group of New Mexico lawmakers endorsed a resolution that would codify into the States Constitution the publics right to a healthy environment, citing ongoing concerns for pollution and climate change.

Known as the Green Amendment, the legislation was introduced during the previous 2021 Legislative Session, receiving a do pass vote from the Senate Rules Committee but stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

It would place into the State's Bill of Rights language to declare a healthy environment a right of all New Mexicans.

During a recent meeting of the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee, lawmakers from both the House and Senate voted in favor of the resolution on a 6-1 vote.

More: How the rise of copper reveals clean energy's dark side

The meeting was the committees last before the 2022 Legislative Session expected to begin in January, and the vote indicated the green amendment would be introduced again next year during the 30-day session.

If passed, the resolution would implement a future public vote to adopt the language.

New Mexico Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-16), a non-member of the committee but sponsor of the Senate version of the resolution, said adding the proposed language to the New Mexico Constitution would ensure environmental conservation throughout the state.

More: Groups look to block controversial air shaft project at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

Giving the people of New Mexico an opportunity to vote to amend our constitution so as to protect our precious air, land, water, flora and fauna will be a powerful statement from We, the People of New Mexico about our priority to preserve our beautiful and environmentally fragile state, Sedillo Lopez said.

New Mexico Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-16)

The bill was endorsed and voted for in the committee by chair Sens. Jeff Steinborn (D-36), Nancy Rodriguez (D-24) and Brenda McKenna (D-9). Reps. Lee Alcon (D-6), Joanne Ferrary (D-37) and Debra Sarinana (D-21) also voted to endorse the resolution.

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More: Feds to give New Mexico teeth in enforcing cleanup of PFAS water pollution

The lone no vote came from Committee Vice-chair Sen. Christin Chandler (D-43) who argued that since the rights described in the resolution would add to New Mexicos Bill of Rights, it would be enforced through the courts and New Mexicos Civil Rights Act, potentially opening up the state and local governments to future legal liability and subsequent financial burdens.

I hadnt taken into account that local governments could be sued under the Civil Rights Act, and Im wondering whether or not the local governments have yet to snap to the idea that that is what is possible, Chandler said. I find that pretty concerning. I think we need to have a better understanding as to how that would play into this.

She worried the resolution could be used to influence legislative decisions by non-lawmakers and usurp the House and Senates ability to enact policy.

More: New Mexico, industry clash on cost of proposed air pollution restrictions. Hearings ongoing

What concerns me is a trend were seeing in the Legislature is were not happy with the policy decisions of elected officials, so we look for either use of the courts or independent committees or commission to do our work for us, Chandler said. We need to have a better understanding on how thats going to infringe on the Legislature.

Ferrary, the lead sponsor of the House version, responded that the resolution was intended to allow local communities to go to court, not to see damages to block nearby projects that could threaten the environment.

She said that if by altering the Bill of Rights  potentially leading to lawsuits and damages under the Civil Rights Act  New Mexico could better protect the environment, then it should do so.

More: DCP Midstream to pay New Mexico $900K for air pollution violations, shutdown Eunice facility

If thats what it takes for us to protect the environment and the people of our state, then I say thats what we need to do and put it forth to the voters, Ferrary said.

The resolution saw support among New Mexico environmental groups as legislation many believed could lead to action against pollution and climate change.

Virginia Necochea, executive director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center said climate change was a growing threat to public health and the environment in New Mexico and around the world.

Actions like the green amendment, she said, could prove part of the States strategy to protect its people.

We must all act with a greater sense of urgency to the current climate crisis which poses existential threats to communities all over the globe, especially Indigenous communities and those on the front lines of climate catastrophes who are facing various threats such as rising sea levels, increasing mega-droughts, among others, Necochea said.

Now more than ever do we need actions and policies that prioritize our sacred Mother Earth and protect limited and precious resources.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: New Mexico lawmakers endorse 'environmental rights' bill
British-Jamaican chef, musician and entrepreneur Levi Roots came to prominence when he launched his Reggae Reggae Sauce in 2007 following a memorable appearance on BBC2's Dragon's Den.

Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh invested 50,000 in return for a 40% stake. It became one of the most successful businesses on the programme and sold more than a million bottles in the first year. Twice jailed in his early life, Roots (real name Keith Graham) has now built a Caribbean food and drinks empire worth an estimated 30m.

"It was noisy for most of the day in my first job working as an engineer. But on top of all that cacophony came the sound of beautiful laughter. When you step into a working environment and hear that, it just makes you want to enjoy it and give your all.

The boss would have to create that fun environment for the workers. And, even if I cant remember his name now, I know that we were all a happy bunch of people on that shop floor.

As a young boy back in 1974 there wasnt much choice like we have now. I was aged 16, had just left school and my older, smarter brother was already working for a company called Selby Engineering in Brixton, south London.

I wore blue dungaree overalls, was paid 16 per week and I took my first wage back to my mum. I had never seen so much money.

I started off as a lathe operator where we made book-binding machines. Everyone was like a comic, no-one had a chip on their shoulder and all the jokes were on you if you didn't make the tea.

Levi Roots hands in a petition to 10 Downing Street in 2010 which contains nearly 30,000 names urging the government to make the internet safer for children, on behalf of the NSPCC. Photo: PA

I suppose my first inspirational boss was a guy, 30 years later, called Nick who was in charge of Plumbase in Stockwell. I had just fallen out of love with the music business and luckily I saw this job advertised for a warehouse manager. It was all about the eyes with Nick and being able to trust each other, even if my CV didnt fit the job.

A few years later, it was the key thing which connected Dragons Den investor Jones and myself to build this fantastic business [Reggae Reggae Sauce] together. It was being able to look each other in the eye.

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It was that trust relationship with Nick as a boss which also allowed me to move on to do the sauce, which I had started to make at home. I left the job as I was ready to launch at the Notting Hill Carnival in 2006, where I sold 4,000 bottles over two days.

The Prince of Wales meeting Levi Roots during a dinner in aid of both charities hosted by members of the British Asian Community, at the Dorchester Hotel in London. Photo: PA

I always say that you can either work for a boss or work with a boss. That says a lot about how that connection works when you want to move on and how that boss will treat you. If you have spotted something in one of your workers, give him some length to continue to grow  and that was Nick.

When budding entrepreneurs ask me today what it takes to go to the next level, I always say it is being able to listen, more than you talk.

I was also once told to learn Shakespeare. This came from my greatest mentor of all, who changed me from being Keith Graham the silly boy who couldnt focus and turned me into Levi Roots, who I am now.

This was when I was locked up for five years at Her Majestys Pleasure. Coming to the end of my sentence, I met a drama teacher called Teresa (I am currently speaking to Dame Judi Dench about her playing Teresas role in a film about my life) who came to the prison every month.

In 2006, Levi Roots was spotted at the World Food Market by a BBC researcher and invited to appear on the programme Dragons Den. Photo: Nick Cunard/Avalon/Getty Images)

If you can find a mentor it can change your life completely; not just in business but someone who can find the best of you. Its also important to own your mistakes, which was another part of Teresas teaching.

I had this chip on my shoulder, that I was from Brixton, growing up in the 1970s with the Riots and the bad side of life which had held me down. Teresa let that all go.

Anyone can get success but you have to become the best of you. There is always somebody else, someone you can trust, who spots that first."

Levi Roots is working with BT and Google on the Get Mentored, Get Growing campaign, which is geared up to help UK SMEs grow and thrive post-pandemic in a digital first world

Watch: The risks of buying now and paying later
Robert Max had many distinctions. He was a Jewish World War II veteran and, before his death in August 2020, he was the last known living survivor of Nazi slave labor.

Now, Max's life has been immortalized in a documentary.

The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ honored Max this month and hosted a webinar to talk about "Bob Max: The Long March Home," the documentary made about him and his daring escape.

Max was captured during the Battle of the Bulge and forced into slave labor by Nazi soldiers who made him fix rail lines damaged by the Allied forces. He and his fellow POWs would sabotage the work.

Robert Max served in the Army during World War II. He was captured by Nazi soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge and was subjected to slave labor, later escaping.

They suffered months of abuse, disease and frigid temperatures. "I could see nothing ahead but death," Max said.

But he and two others escaped during a death march by jumping into a hedgerow. They later foundshelter with a family in a village called Reichenbach and hid in their hayloft until the Nazis were driven out of the area by American troops in 1945.

'The coolest guy ever'

On the panel this month was documentary director Greg Parker; Henty Bassman, a Vietman War veteran and friend of Max's; Linda Forgash, a director at the Jewish Federation; and Brett D'Alessandro, veteran and co-founder/CEO of Backpacks for Life.

D'Alessandro, whose nonprofit helps homeless veterans, was the one who thought of creating a documentary about Max after he heard the fellow veteran's story. The pair were connected by another nonprofit that asked D'Alessandro to pick Max up for a speaking event at a school. Max lived in Summit.

"I just remember opening the door and I just saw the big smile, and Mr. Max was just right there, front and center," D'Alessandro said. "This is the coolest guy ever."

They bonded during the drive. D'Alessandro was amazed at the story the older man had to tell. D'Alessandro felt a deep connection with Max, whom he called a "beautiful soul." On some of his bad days, D'Alessandro would phone him just to talk.

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He watched Max speak at the school and on the way home, asked if anyone had made a documentary about him. When Max said no, D'Alessandro decided on the spot that he would make it happen.

"I have to do this, this story needs to be told to all of these kids," D'Alessandro recalls thinking.

He reached out to Parker, whom he had worked with before. Parker met Max and was enthralled by the veteran's storytelling.

ROBERT MAX: NJ veteran, one of the few remaining who escaped Nazi labor camp, tells story of survival

"He started to tell his story and he was staring at me the entire time," Parker said. "I was looking at him and I was like, this needs to be encapsulated."

Robert Max, a Jewish World War II veteran, survived Nazi slave labor after he was captured at the Battle of the Bulge. He escaped with two other American soldiers and wrote a book, "The Long March Home" about his experiences.

The director said it was like "everything disappeared" when Max would speak of what happened to him. "I was just seeing his face as he was telling it to me."

He kept that aesthetic in the film, with Max's face one of the only things seen against a black background. Those images are interspersed with archival footage and sketched animations.

"It was very special and it was extremely deep," Parker said.

Max also chronicled his experiences in an autobiography, "The Long March Home," published in 2017. He was motivated by his wife's encouragement and by hearing Elie Wiesel speak about why he wrote his Holocaust memoir, "Night."

Forgash, of the Jewish Federation, said Max was also inspired to write when his then 9-year-old grandson, Emerson, asked him if he had been in World War II. Emerson was featured in a remembrance of Max at the end of the webinar, along with his other grandson, Xander, and Max's children Wendy and Doug.

There is a permanent exhibit about Max's life at the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark that includes his brother's letter home to their parents telling them that Max was alive. His brother was a company clerk in the Army.

Bassman got to know Max as a member of Temple Sinai, where Max was a former president.

When he first heard Max's story, "I was absolutely enthralled," Bassman said. "And I felt his story crucial because I had known about the Holocaust and what it did to our people since I was a young child, but to learn that the brutality of the Nazis extended not just to gypsies, homosexuals and people who had mental problems, but to anybody who was not them. Anybody who was not a member of their group was doomed."

Max did not have to go to Europe to fight during World War II. When he joined the Army at 19 after reading about what the Nazis were doing, he was a "hotshot" clarinet player and joined the Army band, said Forgash.

Swing band leader Jack Leonard had set aside the orders for Max to be shipped out. But Max told Leonard that he couldn't sit out the war.

Leonard said: "Kid, if you leave now, you're not ever coming back." Had it not been for Max's determination, the band leader's words would have come true.

Max was able to watch the documentary several times before he died, according to his son. Parker said Max was "so pleased with the film" and that it preserved his story while capturing "the imagination of the viewer through the visual and vocal combination."

"I save that," Parker said. "I put it in my heart and I was like, I'm never forgetting that."

The documentary is free to view on Vimeo.

Kaitlyn Kanzler covers Essex County for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kanzler@northjersey.com

Twitter: @KaitlynKanzler8

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 'Bob Max: The Long March Home' film tells story of NJ Jewish WWII vet
Mary Ellen Plewes is a Lincoln High School teacher battling a rare, terminal cancer

Two days before Lincoln High School teacher Mary Ellen Plewes was supposed to start her fall semester, she became known as "the young one" at the doctor's office.

Diagnosed with a terminal bile duct cancer called cholangiocarcinoma, Plewes has a grapefruit-sized tumor that has "obliterated" her arteries and veins  and about six months to a year-and-a-half to live.

I dont want people to think that Ive given up," she said. "Even though I am a realist, Im going to keep living and keep doing as long as I can.

Plewes, who has worked for Leon County Schools for six-and-a-half years, only qualifies for leave without pay, which leaves bills unpaid, her refrigerator empty and her two daughters without support.

But the Lincoln community has rallied around her.

Teachers have donated sick leave, and parents of students have dropped off meals, walked her dog and cleaned her house. Some parents have even given Plewes rides to Jacksonville for her chemotherapy treatments at the Mayo Clinic.

I want them to know how much it means to me. Even though this is a hard time, its made everything so much easier," she said.

Mary Ellen Plewes with her daughters Annabelle, left, and Abigayle Vannoi and their Great Dane Luna

Plewes, who teaches graphic design, said she always knew she wanted to be a teacher.

She's down to earth and personable, said Laci Smith, a former student who is a now a freshman at Florida State University.

"She would talk to us as people, not just students," Smith said.

Smith and her mother, Marci, have been dropping off dinners for the Plewes family since they learned of her diagnosis in August.

For Laci, Plewes' sophomore year class was a relief. Both of her parents were diagnosed with cancer within four weeks. Throughout their surgeries and chemotherapy, Laci looked forward to Plewes' class, a place where she could relax and learning didn't feel like work.

"She was my favorite teacher that year," Smith said.

Always there

The 41-year-old art teacher has tattoos she designed herself on her arms, back and hands that her mother calls her trinkets."

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A wave, a mountain range. Poppies, a cross, an anchor  they're significant.

They represent her children and monumental life moments.

On her yearly road trips, Plewes is known for taking others on life experiences. Her cancer diagnosis, says her friend Kate Pearson, is the same.

"There's nothing she hasn't done," Pearson said.

Plewes is the kind of person who has always been there for her friends and family. When Plewes' sister was deployed, she took in her three kids. When Pearson had her first child, Plewes was always there for support.

Cards from Mary Ellen Plewes' loved ones hang over her bed in her Tallahassee home.

"No matter what time of day it is, what time of night it is, theres no judgement," Pearson said. When she got this sickness, I felt like I had to have an answer for her. But there isnt one."

Making memories

A GoFundMe has been set up for Plewes. Among numerous donations of $25 and $50, there are a few of $5 and $10. These are from her high school students.

"It's very humbling," Plewes said.

Pearson set up the GoFundMe to help Plewes and her two daughters with rent, utilities, food and gas money.

Her 18-year-old daughter, Annabelle Vannoi, used donations for car repairs so she could continue her classes at Tallahassee Community College.

But it's the experiences these funds provide that are most important to Plewes and her daughters.

It means going to the Circle K at 11 p.m. to get slushies, chips and queso at El Jalisco or trips to the Florida State University fountain to fill it up with bubbles.

She's always been a carpe diem kind of person. Spontaneous trips to take the road less traveled have resulted in visits to llama farms in the middle of New England  memories Plewes and her children recount with smiles and laughter while on their large, gray and cushy sectional couch in their living room.

These are things Plewes and her daughters would normally do  but they're trying to do more of it now.

Were going to live each day to the fullest," she said. "When people say that, I know its such a cliche, but really, if they want to ditch everything and go to the beach one day, then were going to ditch everything and go to the beach.

To donate to Plewes' GoFundMe campaign, search gofundme.com/f/support-mary-ellen-in-her-battle-against-cancer.

Contact Ana Goni-Lessan at AGoniLessan@tallahassee.com and follow her on Twitter @goni_lessan.

Want more news coverage? If you're already a subscriber, thank you! If not, please subscribe using the link at the top of the page and help keep the news you care about coming.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lincoln teacher with terminal cancer lives her life to the fullest
Usually, when one insider buys stock, it might not be a monumental event. But when multiple insiders are buying like they did in the case of Design Milk Co Limited (ASX:DMC), that sends out a positive message to the company's shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for Design Milk Co

Design Milk Co Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single purchase by an insider was when Non-Executive Director Arnaud Massenet bought AU$150k worth of shares at a price of AU$0.30 per share. Even though the purchase was made at a significantly lower price than the recent price (AU$0.50), we still think insider buying is a positive. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

Design Milk Co insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insiders at Design Milk Co Have Bought Stock Recently

There was some insider buying at Design Milk Co over the last quarter. Non-Executive Chairman Michael Hill bought AU$21k worth of shares in that time. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But the amount invested in the last three months isn't enough for us too put much weight on it, as a single factor.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 27% of Design Milk Co shares, worth about AU$4.9m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

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So What Do The Design Milk Co Insider Transactions Indicate?

Our data shows a little insider buying, but no selling, in the last three months. The net investment is not enough to encourage us much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think Design Milk Co insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. To assist with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs that you should run your eye over to get a better picture of Design Milk Co.

Of course Design Milk Co may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

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.
A police car. Getty Images

A New Jersey officer has been charged with reckless vehicular homicide, Essex County officials said.

Louis Santiago took a pedestrian's body home after a collision. He then returned it to the scene.

Santiago's passenger and mother also face charges tied to the incident.

An off-duty New Jersey police officer has been charged with reckless vehicular homicide after fatally striking a pedestrian while driving, officials said.

Louis Santiago, 25, of the Newark Police Department, struck Damian Z. Dymka, 29, early in the morning on November 1 on the Garden State Parkway, said a release from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office issued on Wednesday.

The prosecutor's office said that after striking Dymka, Santiago fled the scene, only to return to put the body in his car and drive home, where he discussed the situation with his mother, Annette Santiago. A preliminary investigation found that Santiago failed to "maintain his lane and traveled on the right shoulder" of the parkway, where he hit Dymka.

Albert Guzman was a passenger in the car. And neither Santiago nor Guzman called 911 or administered aid, the prosecutor's office said in its statement.

The release also said that Santiago eventually returned the body to the scene, where it was found in the back seat by New Jersey State Police.

Santiago's father, a lieutenant in the Newark Police Department, was the one who called 911 to report that his son had been involved in an accident.

The release said that in addition to the charge of reckless vehicular homicide, Santiago was charged with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, desecrating human remains, and conspiracy to hinder prosecution, among other charges.

Santiago's mother and Guzman have been charged with conspiracy to desecrate human remains, hindering apprehension, and conspiracy to hinder apprehension and tamper with physical evidence.

Read the original article on Insider
Leah Nellis was just 17 years old when she fell in love with one of the most famous pieces of classical music ever written.

"I'm 65, and I have not done it every single year. But I started when I was a junior or senior in high school ... and I've sung the 'Messiah' many times," she said.

"This year, we're going to breathe in goodness, and we're going to release trust and compassion. Hopefully, we're also going to release some of our pain that we've had this year, too, in the 'Messiah.'"

A member of Canterbury Voices for almost a decade, Nellis again will join Oklahoma City's premier symphony chorus in performing George Frideric Handel's choral masterwork Dec. 5 at the Civic Center Music Hall.

OKC Philharmonic to accompany Canterbury Voices

Although it debuted as an Easter offering on April 13, 1742, Messiah has become a musical rite of the Christmas season.

Oklahomas largest and oldest symphony chorus, Canterbury Voices alternates between presenting the majestic "Messiah" and its "Canterbury Christmas" program of traditional yuletide favorites.

"We seem to have fallen into a routine of doing it every two years, so you vary it by the different movements. Some things remain the same, and some things change. You have different soloists ... so it remains fresh," said Canterbury Voices Artistic Director Randi Von Ellefson.

This year, Canterbury Voices will perform the beloved Baroque-era oratorio accompanied by the Oklahoma City Philharmonic as well as soloists Kelly Holst, lyric coloratura soprano and music professor at Oklahoma City University; Courtney Crouse, mezzo soprano and music professor at OCU; Steven Sanders, tenor and associate music professor at Oklahoma State University; and Mark McCrory, bass and associate music professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Canterbury Voices will join forces with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic for a holiday performance of Handel's "Messiah" Dec. 5 at the Civic Center Music Hall.

In 2017 and 2019, Canterbury scored a holiday hit by teaming with the OKC Philharmonic to perform Eugene Goossens lavish 1950s Romantic arrangement of "Messiah." In light of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, the venerable chorus will present the more traditional, Baroque-era orchestration that uses a smaller orchestra.

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But Canterbury will keep its popular encore for this season's "Messiah."

"I think people have really enjoyed the 'Hallelujah Chorus' sing-along at the end, where they all get to stand and sing together with us," Ellefson said. "This is generally a happy season, a joyful season, which reflects, I think, the attitude of people coming back and singing together and feeling comfortable again."

Canterbury Voices Artistic Director Randi Von Ellefson will conduct the chorus' holiday performance of Handel's "Messiah" Dec. 5 at the Civic Center Music Hall.

Retired schoolteacher reflects on 'Messiah's' majesty

A retired music teacher, Nellis recognizes the power of people of all ages singing together.

A 1974 Altus High School graduate, she was still a teenager when her vocal teacher tapped her to sing "Messiah" in a community concert at the Altus Air Force Base Chapel. Western Oklahoma State College subsequently picked up this yuletide tradition.

"They would prepare anybody in the community that wanted to come and learn the music. Man, I bet we started in September, because it was open to people who'd never sung before," she recalled. "So, us very average community members sang this masterwork year after year after year, and it was just a love fest for us all: to love the music, love the message, love the people that joined with us to do it and then give a gift to our community."

Canterbury Voices rehearses "Jubilate Deo," a choral work by composer Dan Forrest, at Oklahoma City University Monday, September 27, 2021.

Even after she moved to central Oklahoma to teach music in Norman Public Schools, Nellis would sometimes return to Altus to participate in the "Messiah" community concert.

"Then there was the year that my sister, who is also a vocal educator and vocalist ... sang the solos," said Nellis, who was Norman Public Schools' Teacher of the Year in 2002. "I took the soprano solos and she took the alto ... and that was a year to remember."

After she retired from teaching in 2013, Nellis joined Canterbury Voices.

"I've sung every year with them ... and I'm grateful to be able to add my one little voice," Nellis said. "It never gets old. When that baton drops, we are one. And it's a thrill."

Although she enjoys Canterbury's full repertoire, Nellis said "Messiah" still holds a special place in her heart.

"It's such a human story, that a baby comes into our lives and changes everything. And we don't even know how much until later," she said.

"Handel really is a master composer and arranger, and he sets the words so beautifully. ... It's just magic."

Canterbury Voices will present a holiday performance of Handel's "Messiah" Dec. 5 at the Civic Center Music Hall.

Canterbury Voices presents Handel's 'Messiah'

When: 7 p.m. Dec. 5.

Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.

COVID-19 protocols: Masks are required, regardless of vaccination status.

Tickets and information: canterburyokc.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC chorus to sing one of the most famous classical music pieces ever written for Christmas
SOUTH BEND  South Bend police are investigating a pair of shooting incidents on Thanksgiving that left one man dead and two women injured.

Police responded to the first shooting of the day around 2:45 p.m. in the 2700 block of Elwood Avenue, near LaSalle Intermediate Academy, after a ShotSpotter alert.

Upon arrival, South Bend Police Assistant Police Chief Eric Crittendon said, officers found a man dead and a woman injured. South Bend police logs list the deceased man as Saivon Jackson, 21, and the injured woman as 25-year-old Jaivon Berry.

Berry was sent to the hospital, and as of Thursday evening, Crittendon reported she was in surgery and her injuries were considered non-life threatening.

More: 'Hands-on contact' with victims and offenders of violence needed, South Bend pastor says

Caution tape blocked off a portion of Kaley Street, where neighbors could be seen curiously looking out of their home windows. Police appeared to be investigating an outside area in an alley behind several homes on Elwood Avenue.

Crittendon said police are still investigating details as to what led to the shooting, speaking to witnesses in the neighborhood just across from the South Bend middle school.

This seems to be an isolated incident from the information we gathered, and it appears theres no threat to the public, Crittendon said.

Later Thursday evening, police were again dispatched for reports of a shooting and car crash near Hollywood Place and Eastbrook Drive.

Kenny Freshour, who lives a few blocks south on Hollywood Place, said he was getting ready to put on a movie when he heard a loud bang from outside and saw that a vehicle had hit his own car, which was parked in the street.

A woman and five children then got out of the car and began "beating" on the doors of nearby houses, Freshour said, as he saw two men and a woman coming up behind the crashed car.

"She was hollering so I let her in because I didn't want the kids to be outside  they're in T-shirts," Freshour said. He added that once the woman was inside his house, he noticed she had a graze wound in her arm from a bullet, though he did not witness her being shot.

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The woman who was following the car then approached the house, saying she was the children's mother, Freshour said. Patti Batton, who lives in the house with Freshour, said she eventually led the children around the back of the house and to their mother.

Police logs show one man was arrested in the incident and the woman who was shot was taken to the hospital. No formal charges had been filed as of Friday morning.

Batton said they hear gunshots once in a while, but have encountered "nothing like that," living in the area.

The South Bend Police Department's Violent Crimes Unit is investigating both shootings, which are unrelated.

Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Thanksgiving shootings died Hollywood Place Elwood Avenue
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has disciplined an ousted Oklahoma County district judge for a "criminal act" that justices found demonstrates her unfitness to practice law.

The discipline  a public reprimand  is the latest blow to Kendra Coleman's efforts to get her judicial office back.

The discipline involved her failure to file her 2017 state tax return on time.

Kendra Coleman: Ousted Oklahoma County judge accused of campaign violations

In February, she was sentenced on the misdemeanor offense to probation until her personal debt to the Oklahoma Tax Commission was paid off. The case was dismissed and expunged from the public record in April after she made a final payment of $8,150.

Other Oklahoma attorneys also have been given public reprimands for offenses involving taxes, while some were suspended from the practice of law for months.

At least six justices agreed to the discipline for Coleman.

Executions in Oklahoma: State to allow death row inmates a personal spiritual leader in execution chamber

Tami Mukes hugs cousin Kendra Coleman, right, during a prayer rally outside the Oklahoma Judicial Center in 2020.

"While each situation involves unique transgressions and mitigation, we find that public reprimand is the appropriate discipline here in order to alert the public and profession that the Court regards this as serious misconduct and to be in accordance with precedent," Chief Justice Richard Darby wrote in the opinion filed Tuesday.

Justice Doug Combs wrote the reprimand should have been private.

Justice Yvonne Kauger agreed in part and dissented in part with the discipline but did not write separately to explain. Justice James Edmondson disqualified himself from the decision.

'We will never give up that fight.' Julius Jones is off death row, but will he ever be free?

Coleman was ordered to pay $2,157 to cover the cost of the disciplinary proceedings.

In the opinion, the chief justice also wrote that the Supreme Court was troubled by evidence Coleman has yet to pay off a substantial tax debt owed by her and an ex-husband.

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Attorneys representing the Tax Commission said in February the joint tax liabilities exceeded $10,000.

Coleman was elected in 2018. The Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary removed her from office last year on misconduct grounds.

In October, Coleman kicked off efforts to be elected judge again in 2022. On her Facebook page, voters are told: "COME GET YOUR JUDGE BACK!"

Coleman entered a so-called Alford plea to the misdemeanor charge. Under an Alford plea, a defendant accepts a sentence for a crime without admitting to it. She specifically noted in the paperwork that she maintains her innocence.

Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission accused her in a civil case of multiple campaign finance violations dating to 2017.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ousted Oklahoma County judge gets public reprimand for late tax return




Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said Iran is not looking to completely pivot toward Russia and China under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear negotiations in Vienna if they are unsuccessful in discussions with the U.S.

Parsi explained during an interview on the Hill.TV's "Rising," that if negotiations fall through with the U.S., Iran is not looking to be entirely dependent on China and Russia.

"The JCPOA for the Iranians was a way to actually open up a pathway to be able to reengage with the West [at] large, meaning that it would just be on the nuclear issue but there actually would be a strengthening of relations between Iran and the West, particularly the Europeans and, in extension, the United States," he said.

He noted there some Irani officials are against completely pivoting to the two countries.

However, Parsi noted the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal under the Trump administration made Iranians uneasy, suggesting that there may need to be some form of cost if the U.S. withdraws again.

"That is a leverage the U.S. has," he added. "But in order for that to actually be actualized, there needs to there needs to be something on the table that is also attractive to the Irani side."
The group of several thousand, mostly women, marched to the city centre's Taksim Square, blocked off with barriers amid a heavy police presence. The police fired the gas and scuffled with the protesters after urging the crowd to disperse.

The protest, held to mark the international day for the elimination of violence against women, coincided with other small anti-government protests this week over the sharp slide in the value of the lira currency.

The protesters chanted and held up banners, demanding urgent action against gender-based violence in Turkey.

"We are not silent, not afraid, not obeying," chanted the demonstrators, who rushed at the police barriers.

At the start of July, Turkey withdrew from an international treaty to combat violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention and negotiated in Turkey's biggest city in 2011, in a move strongly criticized by Western allies.

One unnamed protester argued the withdrawal "created an opportunity for femicide and murders of transgender people."

Erdogan announced the withdrawal in March, saying Turkey would use local laws to protect women's rights.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Police fired tear gas and birdshot while fighting protesters with batons on Friday in a central Iranian city that has seen days of demonstrations demanding government action over a drought, online videos show.

The social media videos and others from activists show police and protesters clashing in the dry bed of the Zayandehrud River in the city of Isfahan. The videos correspond to reporting by The Associated Press and satellite images of the area, as well as some semiofficial Iranian news agency accounts of the unrest.

Videos from Human Rights Activists in Iran show demonstrators throwing stones at police, while others depict bloodied protesters, including one man who appeared to have wounds in his back from birdshot. They also show similar unrest in nearby streets in Isfahan, which is 340 kilometers (210 miles) south of the capital Tehran.

The Iranian semiofficial Fars news agency said a heavy presence of security forces brought the gathering of some 500 people in Isfahan to an end. A separate report carried by the semiofficial Tasnim agency said unknown perpetrators had damaged a pipeline that transfers water from Isfahan to other provinces Thursday night.

Some people in Isfahan later Friday reported that mobile internet service was disrupted in the city. The group NetBlocks reported an outage in recent days that also affected the southwestern city of Ahvaz amid water protests there.

Iran in the past has shut down both mobile and landline internet to halt protests. That included a nationwide shutdown during 2019 protests over rising government-set gasoline prices that Amnesty International says saw over 300 people killed.

Farmers reportedly ended a long protest in the area on Thursday after authorities promised to compensate them for losses suffered in drought-stricken areas of central Iran.

Drought has been a problem in Iran for some 30 years, but it has worsened over the past decade, according to the U.N.s Food and Agriculture Organization. The Iran Meteorological Organization says that an estimated 97% of the country now faces some level of drought.

The farming area around Isfahan was once well supplied by the Zayandehrud River, but nearby factories have increasingly drawn on it over the years. The river once flowed under historic bridges in Isfahans city center, but is now a barren strip of dirt.

In 2012, farmers clashed with police in a town in Isfahan province, breaking a water pipe that diverted some 50 million cubic meters of water a year to a neighboring province. Similar protests have continued sporadically since then.
BEIRUT (AP)  A small group of protesters broke into a ministry building in Beirut early on Friday and removed a photo of the president from one of its main rooms, as the Lebanese pound hit a new low amid a worsening economic and political stalemate.

The protesters who entered the Ministry of Social Affairs said conditions in crisis-hit Lebanon have become unbearable as a result of the rapid economic collapse and ongoing crash of the pound, which reached 25,100 to the dollar. The previous record was 25,000.

Prices have been skyrocketing in recent weeks as the government lifted subsidies on fuel and some medicines, making them out of reach for many in Lebanon. Some three quarters of the population of 6 million, including a million Syrian refugees, now live in poverty. The minimum monthly wage is now worth about $27.

Protesters have blamed the ministry for sluggishness in issuing ration cards that are supposed to give poor families monthly financial aid.

The protesters broke into the meeting room at the ministry and turned a framed picture of President Michel Aoun upside down before removing it. They replaced it with a banner in Arabic that read revolutionaries of October 17.

The protesters were referring to the start of nationwide protests in October 2019 against the countrys ruling class. They are blamed for decades of corruption and mismanagement that threw the small nation into the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.

Those who usurped public money cannot conduct reforms, shouted one of the protesters before leaving the building following police intervention. We have hit rock bottom. Things cannot get worse."

The crisis has been made worse by the coronavirus and the August 2020 explosion in Beirut's port that killed 216 people, injured more than 6,000 and destroyed parts of the capital.

The Cabinet, formed in September after a 13-month vacuum, has not met in more than six weeks amid deep divisions between rival groups over the judge leading the investigation into the port blast. Comments by a government minister that triggered a diplomatic row with oil-rich Gulf Arab nations have added to the acrimony.

In other parts of the country, protesters placed posters that read the mafia that destroyed the Lebanese pound outside some branches of local banks, the state-run National News Agency said.

For the past two years, local lenders have imposed informal capital controls that prevent many people from accessing their savings.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a concert marking the seventh anniversary of the Crimea annexation on March 18, 2021 in Moscow, Russia. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

The buildup of Russian troops on Ukraine's border has prompted fears of an invasion.

Former US diplomats and officials say there's a significant risk of a Russian incursion, given Putin's history.

"One way or another, he wants Ukraine neutralized," Fiona Hill, a top Russia expert, told Insider.

For the second time this year, there are serious concerns that Russia is on the verge of invading Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Russian troops have amassed along Ukraine's border, raising alarm across the West. Ukraine's president on Friday claimed to have uncovered a coup plot involving Russians. The world is on edge, with leaders in Washington and beyond contemplating what Russian President Vladimir Putin will do next.

"We don't know what President Putin's intentions are, but we do know what's happened in the past," Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently told reporters. "We do know the playbook of trying to cite some illusory provocation from Ukraine or any other country and then using that as an excuse to do what Russia is planning to do all along."

Former US diplomats, ex-officials, and experts say that a Russian military incursion into Ukraine is a strong possibility in the near future, emphasizing that Putin has a significant advantage over the US and NATO at a time when many Western countries are plagued by domestic disarray.

"There is a major risk of Russian military activity in Ukraine in the next few months. All the signs point to a major build up of military capability," Ivo Daalder, the US ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013, told Insider.

Moscow's rhetoric at the moment is "designed to heighten tensions" while "placing blame on the US and NATO for any possible escalation," Daalder said.

Putin is "deadly serious" about taking action on Ukraine, Fiona Hill, who served as the top Russia advisor on the National Security Council under the Trump administration, told Insider. "One way or another, he wants Ukraine neutralized," she added.

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"You've got to take it seriously because Russia has crossed the Rubicon many times before when people said they wouldn't," Hill said, pointing to Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008, Putin's unilateral annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the Kremlin's support for rebels in an ongoing war in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region, among other examples. The Kremlin, for its part, has denied any involvement in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed over 13,000 lives since 2014.

With historic political polarization in the US, a growing divide between the US and European allies, and disunity within a number of European countries, Putin views the West as weak at present and sees an "incredible opportunity" to exploit, Hill said, adding that the Russian president "knows none of us want to fight for Ukraine."

The US has provided over $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014. There's strong bipartisan support in Congress for ramping up that financial assistance, but it's extremely unlikely that the US would send in troops to support Ukraine even if Russia did invade.

'A country that has invaded Ukraine before'

Units of Russian mountain air assault division hold exercise in Crimea in March 2021. Sergei Malgavko/Getty Images

Steven Pifer, the US ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, told Insider that he puts the odds of Russia invading Ukraine on the "low side" because the "potential costs to the Kremlin could be very high: political isolation, more economic and individual sanctions, NATO more rejuvenated and, most importantly, Russian soldiers coming home in body bags, which would not be popular at home."

But Pifer also underscored that Putin has his "own logic," making it hard to rule anything out. The US and Europe need to make it apparent there would be "big costs" if Russia took military action, Pifer said, suggesting that it should be privately communicated to the Kremlin what type of sanctions would be implemented.

"If Russia does invade, NATO will not take direct military action against Russia," Pifer added. "But you will likely see more arms supplies by individual NATO members to Ukraine, and the Alliance as a whole will become even more serious about bolstering its deterrence and defense posture against Russia."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday warned Russia there will be "costs" and "consequences" if force is used against Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. Stoltenberg said Russia's military buildup "is unprovoked and unexplained," warning that it raises tensions and risks miscalculations.

"There is no certainty about the intentions of Russia," the NATO chief said, but added "this is a military buildup by a country that has invaded Ukraine before."

The top US diplomat for European affairs, Karen Donfried, on Friday told reporters that "all options are on the table" in terms of a response to the Russian troop buildup, per Reuters.

Ukraine is 'unfinished business' for Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks over a mockup of Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov while at a military exposition in Sevastopol, Crimea, January 9, 2020. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

The Kremlin has denied any plans to invade Ukraine, while blaming NATO for the contentious dynamic. Last Thursday, Putin said the West was not taking Russia's "red lines" seriously enough.

"We're constantly voicing our concerns about this, talking about red lines, but we understand our partners  how shall I put it mildly  have a very superficial attitude to all our warnings and talk of red lines," Putin said in a speech on foreign policy. Putin claimed that Western strategic bombers had been flying within roughly 12.5 miles of Russia's borders.

This came after the Kremlin in September warned that NATO expanding military infrastructure in Ukraine would cross Putin's "red lines." Russia has repeatedly denounced US and NATO military activities in the Black Sea region.

Though Ukraine is not a full NATO member, it has repeatedly expressed a desire to join while maintaining a robust partnership with the alliance. This has infuriated Putin  a former KGB operative  who views the increase of US and NATO military activities in Ukraine as a major threat to Russian security. Moscow has moved to crush virtually any Western influence in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic and its nextdoor neighbor.

Putin is "engaged in a strategy of disruption," Daalder said, with the goal of sowing "disunity in Europe and the region" to ensure that "he and Russia aren't ignored."

The Russian president places Ukraine "at the top of the hierarchy of issues that he wants to resolve" in terms of his red lines in Europe being recognized and respected, Hill said, underscoring that Putin views Ukraine as "unfinished business." Putin would be open to achieving a diplomatic resolution, Hill said, but could take things further if he feels that Russia isn't being taken seriously.

The only way Putin will lose the "upper hand" he has over the West when it comes to Ukraine is if there is a "collective, forceful, diplomatic response," Hill said.

"The big challenge is for Europe," Hill said, emphasizing that the US can't resolve this on its own.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Manchester Uniteds incoming interim manager Ralf Rangnick (Bongarts/Getty Images)

Manchester United have reached an agreement in principle with Lokomotiv Moscow regarding the interim appointment of Ralf Rangnick.

The deal to bring Rangnick to Old Trafford as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's temporary replacement is not yet complete, with details still being finalised between United and the German's representatives.

Rangnick is nevertheless set to sign a six-month contract after talks between United and his present employers Lokomotiv reached an agreement.

United and Rangnick were both mindful of showing respect towards the Russian Premier League side, who only appointed the 63-year-old as their managing director of sport and communications during the summer.

The former Schalke 04 and RB Leipzig manager will not take charge of Sunday's Premier League meeting with Chelsea due to work permit issues, with caretaker Michael Carrick set to lead the coaching staff at Stamford Bridge.

Rangnick will take charge until the end of the season, while United go through the process of appointing Solskjaer's permanent successor, and will then serve in a two-year consultancy role.

As The Independent reported earlier this month, Rangnick was interested in the temporary manager's job but also wanted a position at Old Trafford beyond the end of the current campaign.

Rangnick is considered to be the 'godfather of gegenpressing' in his native Germany, having influenced the careers of Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and many of European football's leading coaches.

Some have questioned whether United's squad is well-suited to Rangnick's style, particularly after much debate over Cristiano Ronaldo's work out of possession, but Carrick insisted on Friday that the players will be able to adjust.

"Listen, there's a lot of different styles in football," the United caretaker said. "There's a group of players here, whoever comes in they can adapt. There are some really good people and human beings in the squad and I'm sure they'll look forward to what's ahead."

Story continues

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When Kathleen Birrane talks about insurance, the topics can veer from your auto and home policies to the pandemic and climate change.

Birrane is the state's insurance commissioner, leading the Maryland Insurance Administration. The agency's goal "is to provide efficient, effective service to both the consumers of insurance products and the insurance industry," according to its website.

Kathleen Birrane, Maryland insurance commissioner

Birrane made a swing through Western Maryland this week, meeting with insurance providers, business people and others. In a virtual interview, she said it was a productive trip.

For example, she said, owners of small businesses talked about practical problems, like the confusion over cyber insurance policies. They had questions about what those policies cover, what businesses need to cover and how all of that has changed since more commerce moved online during the pandemic.

It's pretty clear that a bank needs insurance protection focused on cybersecurity and its customers' private information, she said. But what about the local clothing store that has started selling items online during the pandemic and is now collecting more information about its customers?

"What is the need of that organization, both in terms of what they should be expected to do to protect themselves from hacking or for other risks, and what kind of insurance products exist for them?" Birrane asked. "And when do they need them? How do you do that cost-balance ratio?"

There are not a lot of answers to those questions at the moment. Birrane said the agency will work with small businesses on a presentation about them.

"Cybersecurity hygiene, if you will," she said.

'Navigate their insurance needs'

Providing such information is one of the agency's main functions, she said. Among other things, the agency produces consumer buying guides to help people compare and shop for coverage.

"I can't tell you what you should buy for your Subaru, but we can tell you how to shop, and we can tell you what to consider, and we can give you tools," she said.

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"Also if you are having a problem, if you can't get your claim paid or you think that you've been ignored or you're not being fairly treated, we have complaint units that resolve those issues every day of the week."

The agency is not funded through taxes. Its money comes from licensing fees and other charges. In fact, Birrane said, the agency gives money to the state's general fund.

In addition to its website and public outreach efforts, the agency has a presence on social media.

"We really are available to help individuals and to businesses to help them navigate their insurance needs," Birrane said.

'It's something that we have to be concerned about'

The COVID-19 pandemic raised more questions about insurance as patients and their health providers relied more on telehealth online visits to avoid in-person contact that might spread the disease.

"Telehealth has the potential to address a bunch of problems and a bunch of barriers," she said.

At the same time, it also raises potential problems, particularly for those who don't have access to the proper computer equipment or broadband internet service.

Some of those problems also touch on insurance, such as whether such visits will get in-network rates under patients' insurance coverages.

"It's something that we have to be careful about, because we don't want to create a paradigm where people are essentially told, 'Well, if you want to access this kind of care at this price, you have to do it via telehealth' if that's not a practical solution for that person," she said.

There also are concerns about children getting mental health services via telehealth. She said it's "often very, very difficult to get a child to appropriately access mental health care through a remote setting."

Two buckets for climate change

Birrane's office also has to keep tabs on climate change, which affects insurance in whats she called "two buckets."

The first bucket is filled with the traditional roles of insurance as what she called "a risk financier and a risk manager."

In short, insurance companies cover losses, such as catastrophic losses from natural disasters.

The companies' capacity to finance those losses is tied to the size and number of losses. And the size and number of those losses have been climbing exponentially, she said.

Maryland has had its own experience in that area, she said, pointing to the 500-year flooding that happened twice in three years in Ellicott City.

"And that's not going to change anytime soon," she said. "Those things are continuing to occur."

At the same time, regions like California are using up a large part of the insurance capacity because of disasters such as wildfires.

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The insurance industry's second climate change bucket is filled with the investments it must make to raise the money needed to pay claims. Regulators keep an eye on those investments.

As the global economy evolves because of climate change, those investment plans might shift.

"What percentage of (their) long-term investments are in sectors and areas that may be hit by this transition to a different economy?" she said.

"Insurance companies, because they are such huge investors, sort of have a unique role, as do other financial service sector entities" in the economy and in the transition, she said.

Mike Lewis covers business, the economy and other issues. Follow Mike on Twitter at MiLewis.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Insurance regulators keep watch on pandemic, climate change
Rep. Jay Obernolte recently presented an Everyday Heroes award to San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Dustin Whitson.

Rep. Jay Obernolte recently presented Everyday Heroes awards to two San Bernardino County Sheriffs deputies from the Victor Valley who survived life-threatening events.

For their heroic actions over the past year, Obernolte recognized sheriffs deputies Tiffany Kautz and Dustin Whitson, along with13 other first responders residing in Californias 8th District.

Obernolte handed out Congressional certificates to the heroes during the Nov. 8 ceremony and was joined by SBC Sheriff Shannon Dicus, SBC Fire Chief Dan Munsey, and California Highway Patrol Inland Division Chief Dan Minor.

Families of the first responders were also invited to the award ceremony held at the Town of Apple Valley's Conference Center.

The first responders serving Californias 8th District are the heroes that keep our families and community safe, said Obernolte in a written statement. I was proud to recognize fifteen of these heroes in particular who have demonstrated exemplary service in the course of their duties during the past year.

Obernotle said the group of brave men and women had responded to hostage situations, taken bullets while guarding streets, supported and protected our youth, rescued family members in medical crises, improved safety on our roads, and provided leadership in their units.

Everyday Heroes - High Desert

Sheriffs Deputy Dustin Whitson

In March, Deputy Whitson responded to a call for service about a suspicious vehicle at Bear Valley RV and Self Storage, near Bear Valley and Mojave Fish Hatchery Road in Hesperia, the Daily Press reported.

Before Whitson arrived, Robert Elvis Sparks, a former Patton State Hospital patient, was asked to leave the storage facility by management, said former Sheriff John McMahon.

Sparks later returned and allegedly tried to reenter the secure portion of the property, which prompted an employee to call 911.

Sparks then left the storage business in a Ford SUV, moving to the nearby Mojave Plaza shopping center situated south of Victor Valley College.

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When Whitson arrived at the plaza, he approached a vehicle in the parking lot near the AutoZone. Sparks then produced a handgun and, without provocation, opened fire, striking Whitson and rendering him unconscious on the ground.

A good Samaritan arrived and helped Whitson. They also called Sheriff's Dispatch, who called for emergency rescue personnel to help the deputy.

McMahon said a split-second decision by a Sheriffs Department helicopter team helped save the life of Whitson.

"Originally, they were told to wait for another helicopter so they could intubate Dustin while they were flying," McMahon said. "They decided to go, and if they hadnt made that decision, he wouldn't have survived."

In addition to the helicopter team's efforts, McMahon said aid rendered by the good Samaritan and deputies on the ground, as well as the work of dispatchers and the staff at Loma Linda, helped keep Whitson alive.

Whitson was flown to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he was treated for life-threatening injuries.

In May, friends, family, and colleagues welcomed Whitson home, so to speak, during an outdoor reception at the Hesperia Sheriff's Station.

Whitson continues to recover after undergoing multiple surgeries to treat his significant injuries.

Obernolte said Whitsons determination and will to survive have proved extraordinary despite his initial grave condition.

Sheriffs Deputy Tiffany Kautz

In June 2020, Sheriffs Deputy Kautz was on her way home from work when she was involved in a traffic collision that caused multiple fatalities and left her with serious injuries.

Before her accident, Kautz had begun her career with the Sheriffs Department in 2016 and had become instrumental in protecting the lives and well-being of children.

In 2018, her rapport with students as a school resource officer helped lead to the arrest and conviction of a man who was sexually abusing his stepchildren.

Rep. Jay Obernolte recently presented an Everyday Heroes award to San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Tiffany Kautz.

Kautz has continued to protect children while assigned to Child and Family Services at the Victorville Sheriffs station. She has investigated allegations of abuse generated from referrals from outside agencies.

After several months of rehab and multiple surgeries, Kautz was finally able to return to work, and the department continues to be grateful for her service, Obernolte said.

Several California Highway Patrol officials received Everyday Heroes awards from Rep. Jay Obernolte.

CHP Officer William Keeshan

William Keeshan joined the Victorville CHP Station in 2020, two years after graduating from the agencys academy.

Keeshan leads his shift in enforcement as well as assisting motorists in peril.

His maturity and common-sense approach to situations have helped prevent injury and fatality-causing collisions in the High Desert, according to Obernolte.

Apple Valley Fire Protection District crew

Obernolte recognized Fire Captain Bobby Clemmer, firefighter/paramedic Chad Baeskins, engineer Dave Martinez and fire student Brock Arredondo.

The four crew members of AVFPD Engine 332 demonstrated exemplary service to the community in responding to a call for a male patient experiencing chest pains.

After the fire paramedics arrived, the man initially appeared stable until his heart rhythm changed to a full-blown heart attack with cardiac arrest.

The paramedic team defibrillated the man out of cardiac arrest and provided critical treatment while transporting him to Providence St. Marys Medical Center in Apple Valley.

Thanks to this crews swift action, the man was able to make it to the hospital and survived, Obernolte said.

CHP Officer Donald Perez

During his 11 years with the CHP, Perez has exemplified himself as a patrol officer, a field training officer, and an officer in charge, consistently going above and beyond the call of duty to help allied agencies and provide leadership amongst his peers, Obernolte said.

As a shift leader for the Barstow area CHP office, his work has helped remove impaired drivers from California highways and earned Perez awards from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

San Bernardino County Probation Corrections Supervisor II Gina Lenay Martinez (posthumously)

After nearly 21 years of service to the SBCPD, Martinez lost her life on Sept. 23 after she was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to her family.

She had a vision for the youth in custody and strove to ensure each youth had a high school diploma, employment, and a place in which they could feel safe and call home.

Rep. Jay Obernolte recently presented an Everyday Heroes award posthumously to San Bernardino County Probation Corrections Supervisor II Gina Lenay Martinez of Victorville, who died in September.

Martinez served on the Victorville-based nonprofit Gods Hand Extended board, where she spent her off-duty time working with the underserved, providing clothing, food, shelter, and other resources to the community.

One of my favorite pictures of Gina was taken at the Old City of Jerusalem, where she put her Gods Hand Extended Business Card in the Wailing or Western Wall, said Gods Hand founder Susan Conway. She was always our prayer warrior, and now she is our angel.

Martinez was remembered on Oct. 19 during a service at High Desert Church in Victorville.

More heroes

Sheriff Deputy Molly Leiker

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Deputy Leiker worked closely with the SBC Juvenile District Attorneys Office to foster positive relationships and support the social-emotional needs of todays youth during the unprecedented transition from in-school to virtual learning.

She has been highly involved with local school districts in building a strong rapport with CA-08 youth, routinely volunteering and participating in school functions and community-oriented policing events like Coffee with a Cop and Shop with a Cop.

Her selfless dedication to duty and her overwhelming level of compassion to educate and serve the citizens of SBC stands out amongst her peers, Obernolte said.

SBC Sheriff Corporal Brian Wovtovich

As corporal for the Trona Sheriffs Station, Wovtovich has used his tenacious attitude to support his deputies and create an open relationship with the local residents. He also takes pride in living and working in the community and is an integral part of the department, Obernolte said.

Before becoming a sheriffs deputy, Wovtovich served four years in the Army.

SBC Fire Captain Spencer Brumbaugh

Brumbaugh is a 14-year-veteran of the SBC Fire who serves as a firefighter paramedic, Urban Search and Rescue team member, and flight medic.

While assessing the medical status of an older woman who had been held against her will by an armed individual, Brumbaugh and other officers decided to carry the hostage down a flight of stairs with the gunman still on the loose.

Spencer was also called to duty after San Bernardino SWAT officers were struck by gunfire resulting in critical injuries in August.

Due to his quick action, short on-scene time, and decision to transport, the injured officer is expected to make a full recovery.

CHP Officer Garret Morris

Morris serves as the CHP Arrowhead area accident review officer and range/weapons and driving instructor.

Garret is credited for going above and beyond when it comes to supporting the youth in the mountain communities, Obernolte said.

Since 2013, he has volunteered with the Rim of the World High School Racing Team, part of the San Bernardino County STEM program that provides students a safe alternative to illegal street racing.

The RIM racing team races nationally with the Pacific Streetcar Association, and Garret has played a large role in student motivation and the program's success.

CHP Officer Casey Farwick

An 8-year veteran of the CHP, Farwick, was involved in an on-duty motorcycle collision on Feb. 6, 2021, where he was ejected from his motorcycle onto the freeway.

Farwick worked diligently towards a full recovery and, as a result of his determination, strong will, and commitment to fulfill his duty to serve, was able to return to full duty ahead of schedule, Obernolte said.

Additionally, Farwick frequently receives positive comments from the public for going above and beyond the call of duty.

CHP Officer Aaron Zousel

Throughout his 15-year career representing the CHP in Needles, Zousel has consistently provided excellent service to the public.

He is humble, professional, knowledgeable, helpful, and dedicated to providing safety and security for the public daily. The community of Needles is grateful for his dedication and many years of service, according to Obernolte.

Final words

Minor said the men and women of the CHPs Inland Division are proud to serve the people of the 8th Congressional District. He also shared how proud he was of the work done by the personnel under his command.

It is extremely gratifying to see their efforts recognized by Congressman Obernolte, said Minor, who added that his department cherished the opportunity to work with Obernolte to make his district a good place to live, work, and visit.

Congressman Obernoltes Everyday Heroes event acknowledges the dedication and achievements of public safety employees, Munsey said. Captain Spencer Brumbaugh is an exemplary individual dedicated to making a difference in the communities he serves.

Jay Obernolte is an amazing example of a public servant. He never waivers in his support for law enforcement and public safety, Dicus said. Thank you, Jay, for honoring the men and women of the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department at your annual Everyday Heroes event.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Instagram @RenegadeReporter and Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Rep. Jay Obernolte recognizes 'Everyday Heroes' from the High Desert
Nov. 26The Rochester Male Chorus returns to its proper place  the stage  several times during December.

The general public can see the city's longest-lived men's choir at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12, at Bethel Lutheran Church, featuring the Twin Cities-based Minnesota Boychoir. They also will also at Pizza Ranch in Stewartville on Nov. 30 to help raise money for the Eagles Cancer Telethon.

The Rochester Male Chorus, part of the Association of Male Choruses of America, has been around for 91 years.

That's a long history, and an even longer list of accolades.

In March 2020, the choir was recognized by the mayor for its contributions to the Rochester community. Unfortunately, the 90th anniversary celebrations had to wait  the pandemic relegated their Christmas 2020 concert to YouTube.

Despite the virtual limitations, the choir's Christmas show included past performances, virtual readings from Post-Bulletin and Rochester Magazine columnist Jen Koski, an appearance by Loud Mouth Brass, and more.

As the pandemic eased slightly, the choir gave three parking lot concerts.

Now, the choir will appear in person, spreading the holiday spirit.

The Rochester Male Chorus was founded in January 1930 by the late Harold Cooke, then the conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and the Rochester Park Band.

Cooke conducted the choir until his death in 1974.

Aside from the Dec. 12 concert, the chorus will appear at Spark Place of Play, the Boys and Girls Club of Rochester, and Shorewood Senior Campus.

More information can be found at www.rochestermalechorus.com or by calling 507-990-1597.

If You Go

What: Rochester Male Chorus

When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12

Where: Bethel Lutheran Church, 810 Third Ave. SE, Rochester

Cost: $15 adults; $10 seniors; $5 youth ages 6-18. Tickets available at all Rochester Hy-Vee stores, www.rochestermalechorus.com, or by calling 507-990-1597.
By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - Russia on Friday chided the United States for threatening a diplomatic escalation with Iran at the U.N. nuclear watchdog next month unless it improves cooperation with the agency, saying it risked harming wider talks on the Iran nuclear deal.

The United States threatened on Thursday to confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency if it does not give way on at least one of several conflicts with the IAEA, especially its refusal to let the IAEA re-install cameras at a workshop after an apparent attack in June.

"I believe that demonstrates that our American counterparts lose patience but I believe all of us need to control our emotions," Russia's ambassador to the IAEA Mikhail Ulyanov told a news conference with his Chinese counterpart.

"I don't welcome this particular statement of the U.S. delegation (at the IAEA). It's not helpful."

Indirect talks between the United States and Iran aimed at reviving the battered 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers are due to resume on Monday after a five-month break that started after the election that brought Iranian hardline President Ebrahim Raisi to power.

The 2015 deal lifted sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities. Then-President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions against Tehran.

Iran responded by breaching many of the restrictions, reducing the time it would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb if it wanted to. Tehran denies that it would ever seek atomic weapons.

"The U.S. did not negotiate with the Iranians for a very long time and forgot that Iranians don't do anything under pressure. If they are under pressure, they resist," Ulyanov said, apparently referring to the fact that U.S. and Iranian envoys are not meeting directly.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy, Editing by William Maclean)
As if COVID-19 wasn't enough of a gut-punch, the disease has finally hit the trees.

A little known side effect of the virus is what it has done to the forests of Tennessee. Vendors responsible for gathering acorns were hit hard with job losses during the pandemic.

"They suddenly didn't have enough workers to collect and sort the seeds," said Gina Sowders, Tennessee's Division of Forestry's Reforestation Unit Leader. "We've been seeing declines in oaks and hickories."

When she says "oaks," she means specifically the majestic white oaks that can grow to be 100-feet tall. They offer shade for anything that resides beneath them. They attract tourists who admire their changing leaves in the fall. They provide food for animals and, during rainy seasons, erosion control.

And now they are in trouble.

"Those are the giant, dominant trees of the forest," Sowders said.

University landscape architect James Moore stands in front of the White Oak trees, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, a group of students in the collection program have sent out acorns from the trees to be planted around Tennessee.

Sowders has been interested in the forest since taking hikes with her father when she was a little girl. She's worried about the white oaks.

The collected yield of white oak acorns is down in 2021 by 2,300 pounds. One pound of acorns can give birth to 50 white oaks.

Adding to the collector shortage, there was so much rain in Tennessee this year that more acorns on the ground rotted. Sometimes, even the well-intentioned people trying to help aren't effective, like the time Sowders put out a tarp to collect acorns and deer and squirrels ate her catch "like a buffet" before she could gather them up.

Several groups are working together, including the White Oak Initiative, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Vanderbilt University, to save the trees.

Shrinking tree canopy: How a new proposal aims to grow Nashville's shrinking tree canopy and help the environment

As the White Oaks die off, if they are not replanted, their space is taken by smaller trees like maple, sassafras and beech or opportunistic, invasive plants like privets or kudzu.

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Once White Oaks give up their territory to intruders, "we lose that site," Sowders said.

Hoping to find more acorns, Sowders turned to Vanderbilt, where James Moore is the landscape architect. His father is the noted Nashville songwriter Hunter Moore, who has written songs performed by Alabama, Kathy Mattea and Ricky Scaggs.

"We have a need for seeds," Moore said.

Moore offered to collect acorns from 50 majestic white oaks on Vanderbilt's campus, most of them just outside the Peabody Library and Esplanade. In all, Vanderbilt has 6,000 trees on its 300-plus-acre campus (including the medical center).

Moore tapped a few alumni for help. They spread tarps on the ground to catch the falling acorns.

The squirrels didn't take too many.

"Our squirrels are pretty well-fed already," Moore said.

This year's effort netted about 50,000 viable acorns, Moore said.

It also sparked what he hopes becomes a movement.

"It's something we're excited to repeat next year," Moore said.

Acorn collection

Moore and Sowders said they plan to launch an acorn collecting movement across Tennessee. They'll ask students and volunteers to tuck away acorns they find.

The most prolific acorn dropping season for the white oaks is between October 15 and November 15. Collected acorns are sent to the state's East Tennessee nursery, where they will be checked and planted. Then they will be sold or provided to agencies across the state in about a year.

Those agencies will plant white oaks in cities, parks and forests in Tennessee.

For information about getting involved in collection, go to the White Oak Initiative's website, or call 615-883-3832

Reach Keith Sharon at 615-406-1594 or ksharon@tennessean.com or on Twitter @KeithSharonTN.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Saving Tennessee white oaks: Shortage of acorns put trees in danger
Austin Police Department

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the victim of Wednesday's shooting.

Police have identified a 28-year-old man who was killed in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Northeast Austin last week.

Police responded to the shooting Wednesday night at the Walmart at 1030 Norwood Park Blvd., near East Anderson Lane, around 10:39 p.m. after a bystander called to say that a man had been shot. The call came just minutes before the store would close for the Thanksgiving holiday.

When police arrived at the store, they found a man, who has been identified as Jose Juan Vasquez, with several gunshot wounds. Police officers tried to medically treat the man until Austin-Travis County EMS medics arrived. The man was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died, police said.

Officer Juan Asencio, an Austin police spokesperson, said that the shooting is under investigation, and that detectives were interviewing witnesses and sifting through video footage from the Walmart security cameras.

'Everyone is getting sick around me': Report reveals pandemic-related fears in Central Texas jails

Police have not yet determined what sparked the shooting. Multiple suspects are believed to be involved and are still at-large, police said.

The shooting did happen in the parking lot of the Walmart and not inside, Asencio said. But right now, we dont have great descriptions. But we know there was multiple suspects.

Wednesdays deadly shooting is Austin polices 84th homicide case of 2021, further adding to record number of killings. Austins previous record for homicides in a single year was 59 in 1984.

More: Travis County DA calls for stronger gun surrender program, trauma center

While the number of deaths have increased, Austin's homicide rate was much higher in the 1980s than what it is today. The rate was 13.2 per 100,000 back then, compared to 8.7, which is the current rate as of Mo.

Austin police records go as far back as 1960 and, since that year, the city had averaged 36 homicides a year.

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Austin's spike in homicides is part of a national trend, which many criminologists attribute to a rising proliferation of guns and instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus has exacerbated economic disparities, such as poverty and unemployment, which experts believe can drive people into crime.

The 84 homicides mark a 75% increase in homicides so far in 2021, compared with all of 2020 when the Police Department logged 48 violent deaths.

Austin police are asking anyone with more information about Wednesday's case to call their homicide tip line at 512-477-3588. Callers may remain anonymous. Information leading to an arrest may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Statesman reporter Heather Osbourne contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Shooting at Northeast Austin Walmart is city's 84th homicide
A mom in Florida helped her son out in a pinch. Actually, more than a pinch.

In video shared to his social media earlier this week, Martin County snake wrangler who goes by the names Trapper Mike and Python Cowboy posted amazing content of his mother assisting him at work.

The quick clip shows how they both were able to get a sizable python out from under a white sedan parked in a Florida homes garage.

The woman, wearing an apron and flip-flops, pulls at the reptiles tail as Henry Mancinis classic song Baby Elephant Walk plays in the background.

My hands are freezing, says the woman.

While mom tugs, Mike Kimmel is busying himself at the back tire, where the roughly 6-footer is entangled.

What happens when you allow hundreds of snake hunters in the Everglades? You get a winner

Finally, the unwanted visitor is out, but then begins to wriggle outside the garage perilously close to the Florida shero.

Oh, Michael! she screams.

Nice job, mom! Youre a freakin natural, Kimmel says, while the person shooting the video nervously laughs.

Not only is she a natural, shes also a social media star.

The TikTok post, with the hashtag #snakesgiving, has already received more than 3.5 million views.

Its unclear how the python got to the house; Trapper Mike did not immediately return the Miami Heralds request for more information. But one thing is for certain: That snake will never be anyones pet.

Pythons are an invasive species  meaning not native to Florida  brought to the United States in the 1980s as exotic pets. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, folks are allowed to remove and humanely kill the pythons on private land without a permit.

Im freaking out! A woman found a snake in her bathroom at new Florida home
By Kirsty Needham and Colin Packham

CANBERRA (Reuters) -A night curfew will be re-imposed in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara after witnesses said Australian police began taking control of hotspots following three days of violent protests in the South Pacific island nation.

The Ministry of Health said in a statement that city clinics were closed and urged "all Honiara residents involved in arson, rioting, looting to please stop immediately" after its ambulances were stoned.

Tear gas was deployed in Chinatown where looting and the burning of buildings had continued on Friday morning, a resident told Reuters.

A night curfew will begin at 7 p.m., the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said in a statement.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who requested help from Australia, on Friday blamed foreign countries for stoking the violent protests, but did not name any.

Many of the protesters come from the most populous province Malaita and feel overlooked by the government in Guadalcanal province and oppose its 2019 decision to end diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish formal links with China.

Malaita premier Daniel Suidani said in a statement this week that Sogavare had "elevated the interest of foreigners above those of Solomon Islanders" and should resign.

"I feel sorry for my people in Malaita because they are fed with false and deliberate lies about the switch," Sogavare told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"These very countries that are now influencing Malaita are the countries that don't want ties with the People's Republic of China."

China and Taiwan have been rivals in the South Pacific for decades with some island nations switching allegiances.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties, which the government in Taipei hotly disputes. Only 15 countries maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The last two to ditch Taipei in favour of Beijing were the Solomon Islands and Kiribati in September 2019.

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Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said in a statement to Reuters: We have nothing to do with the unrest.

China is concerned about the developments in the Solomon Islands, Zhao Lijiang, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular news conference.

"Facts have proven that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Solomon Islands is in line with the fundamental and long-term development of the Solomon Islands," Zhao said. "Any attempt to undermine the normal development of China-Solomon Islands relations would be futile."

'CHAOTIC'

Solomon Island resident Transform Aqorau said more than a hundred people were on Friday looting shops, before Australian Federal Police officers arrived.

"The scenes here are really chaotic. It is like a war zone, Aqorau told Reuters by telephone on Friday morning.

"There is no public transport and it is a struggle with the heat and the smoke. Buildings are still burning."

He said later Australian police were "taking control of Chinatown".

Neighbouring Papua New Guinea also sent 35 police and security officers to Honiara on Friday.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was sending 100 police personnel and was "clearly focused on stability in our region".

Australian police were previously deployed to the Solomon Islands in 2003 under a peace keeping mission authorised by a Pacific Island Forum declaration and stayed for a decade.

Severe internal unrest and armed conflict from 1998 to 2003 involved militant groups from Guadalcanal and the neighbouring island of Malaita, and fighting on the outskirts of Honiara.

(Reporting by Colin Packham in Canberra, Kirsty Needham in Sydney, Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Michael Perry and Timothy Heritage)
Amarillo Globe-News

Travis Tritt will hit the road in 2022 for his solo acoustic tour, which will stop by the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts on May 14.
(Bloomberg) -- When does friendly become friends? For Jes Staley that distinction is far more than academic.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The former Barclays Plc chief executive officer presented his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the firms board as a professional one between banker and client. But the tone and abundance of communication, as well as personal visits, between the pair have led the Financial Conduct Authority to deem that Staley underplayed the relationship, according to people with knowledge of the U.K. regulators probe of those ties.

Its that conclusion, more than any hard evidence of wrongdoing, that turned Staleys best financial year at the helm of the storied British bank into his last, the people said. Staley has said hell contest the findings.

The FCA shared the preliminary results of its probe with Barclays directors at the end of last month, prompting the CEOs abrupt exit. The regulator interpreted more than 1,000 emails between him and Epstein as showing more than professional ties.

That raises awkward questions for the banks board and its chairman Nigel Higgins, whove had access to the same emails since the end of 2019 but didnt see them as proving a closer friendship.

Barclays had stood behind its CEO since the probe came to light in February 2020, but hanging onto someone whod lost the trust of a key regulator and would be publicly battling its watchdog was seen as untenable.

Representatives of the FCA and Barclays declined to comment for this piece. Staleys lawyer declined to comment, citing the ongoing regulatory proceedings. Shes said previously that the executive had no involvement in any of the alleged crimes committed by Mr. Epstein, and that all the emails were innocuous.

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Board Deliberations

At Barclays, Higgins and the board gained access to the emails when JPMorgan Chase & Co. handed them to regulators in 2019, the people said.

While the number -- more than 1,200 over four years, the Financial Times has reported -- and flavor of those emails ultimately worried regulators, the board concluded at the time that they were a reflection of a banker building a client relationship.

The board did ask Staley repeatedly about the nature of his Epstein ties, but the CEO rejected the notion that it was anything other than professional, the people said. He told the board he regretted visiting Epsteins island in 2015, a few months before becoming Barclays boss, and that their working relationship dated to when he ran JPMorgans private bank in New York.

Higgins took legal advice on Staleys position and, along with the board, decided to back the American executive in February 2020.

Some of the board argued that the tone of the emails merely reflected Staleys outgoing personality. In 2017, Staleys emails to a prankster impersonating the then-Barclays chairman John McFarlane were made public, displaying a similar chattiness. Staleys messages included praise for McFarlanes grit and comparing his fearlessness on the guitar to that of Eric Clapton.

Preparations for his possible departure were in motion early on, however. Last year Barclays presented a succession plan to regulators and indicated C.S. Venkatakrishnan was favored to succeed Staley, the people say.

Then on Oct. 29 this year the board received the FCAs preliminary conclusions. The Friday evening findings came after months of silence from the regulator, one of the people said. That weekend the board convened. By Monday, Staley was gone.

Since then several of Barclayss top shareholders have raised concerns about the terms of Staleys departure, which will see him continue to receive his salary of 2.4 million pounds ($3.2 million), a 120,000-pound pension allowance and other benefits through October next year.

This isnt Staleys first skirmish with British regulators. In 2017 he tried to unmask a person who sent an anonymous letter to Barclays board members criticizing the past conduct of a newly hired executive. Staley, who knew the banker from his JPMorgan days, was upset by what he deemed an unfair accusation. His actions triggered investigations of his own behavior. The FCA fined him and Barclays cut his bonus. Lawyers who handle whistleblower cases said he was lucky not to be fired.

Staley has returned to the U.S., people with knowledge of his movements said, as he prepares to fight the FCAs findings. Those are scheduled to go before the regulators internal panel, the Regulatory Decisions Committee.

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2021 Bloomberg L.P.
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Several Sudanese political figures arrested since a coup last month have started a hunger strike in protest at their continued detention, the coalition they were part of said on Friday.

An army takeover on Oct. 25 halted a power sharing deal between the military and civilians from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance, and a number of ministers and top civilian officials were detained.

Some civilian figures have been released since the military struck a deal https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sudans-political-transition-balance-2021-11-22 on Nov. 21 with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, freeing him from house arrest and reinstating him. The deal provided for the release of all political detainees.

Those who have gone on hunger strike include deposed minister of cabinet affairs Khalid Omer Yousif, senior Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) official Sharif Mohamed Osman, and a third prominent political figure Jaafar Hassan, the SCP said in a statement.

"The step of the strike comes because of their continous arbitrary detention since the Oct. 25 coup and the deprivation of their basic human rights," the statement said.

Protests calling for the military to exit politics and be held to account for the deaths of civilian protesters have continued https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/hundreds-sudanese-protest-against-deal-between-pm-hamdok-military-2021-11-25 since the announcement of the deal between military leaders and Hamdok. A call has been issued for more mass rallies on Sunday.

Meanwhile five political figures including former trade minister Madani Abbas Madani and well known activist Mohamed Nagi al-Assam have been released, Madani told Reuters on Friday.

Another four prominent political figures including SCP leader Omer Eldigair and SPLM-N rebel group deputy head and former Hamdok advisor Yasir Arman were released on Monday.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) - China's military carried out "combat readiness" patrols in the direction of the Taiwan Strait on Friday as a U.S. Congressional delegation made a surprise visit to Taipei, offering strong support to the Chinese-claimed, democratically governed island.

The five members of the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night for a previously unannounced two-day trip, the second time in a month U.S. lawmakers have visited.

As with the last visit https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-opposes-us-legislators-visiting-taiwan-by-military-plane-state-media-2021-11-09, China's military announced the patrols in the vicinity of the narrow and sensitive Taiwan Strait that separates the island from its giant neighbour.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said that on Friday it "organised naval and air forces to continue combat readiness police patrols in direction of the Taiwan Strait".

"The relevant actions are necessary to deal with the current situation in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan is part of China's territory, and defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity is our military's sacred mission."

It gave no details.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry, as part of its daily update of Chinese air operations near the island, said that on Friday eight Chinese air force aircraft, including two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, flew into Taiwan's air defence zone, though well away from mainland Taiwan and close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top of the South China Sea.

CONGRESSIONAL VISIT

China routinely denounces visits by U.S. politicians to Taiwan, and its foreign ministry said it had made a formal complaint to Washington about the latest trip by the bipartisan congressional group, saying playing the Taiwan card was "a losing hand".

Meeting Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at her office earlier on Friday, the leader of the U.S. delegation praised the island as a "force for good" in the world.

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"Madame President, I want to commend and praise your leadership. Under your administration, the bonds between us are more positive and productive than they have been for decades," said Mark Takano, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, whose group was previously in Japan and South Korea.

"Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened. Taiwan is a democratic success story, a reliable partner and a force for good in the world," he added.

The United States, like most countries, has no official ties with Taiwan but is the democratically-ruled island's most important international backer and arms supplier.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is part of the delegation, tweeted that China's Washington embassy "demanded we cancel the trip" when news of it broke.

"We didn't," she added, and posted a picture of herself outside the U.S. Air Force jet that carried her to Taipei under the caption "Just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan", a term used by supporters of the island's formal independence.

China has stepped up military and political pressure on Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims. Tsai has vowed to maintain peace with China, but that she will defend Taiwan if attacked.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry and Toby Chopra)
Oxygen

A jury's guilty verdict that Jussie Smollett faked a racist and homophobic attack isn't the end of legal proceedings for the former "Empire" actor or others. Smollett, 39, was convicted Thursday of five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to Chicago police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack near his home in downtown Chicago. He maintains his innocence, and his attorney has said he will appeal the verdict. While the charges carry a possible sentence of three years in prison, l
BELLE GLADE  A two-car crash killed one man and injured four people Thursday afternoon near Palm Beach State College's campus in Belle Glade, according to a crash report from the Palm Beach Sherriff's Office.

Novilus Frinot, 45, "made an abrupt movement" into oncoming northbound traffic on State Road 715 just after 5 p.m., according to the report. His Nissan Altima's front passenger side collided with a Dodge Durango, seriously injuring the SUV's driver and three passengers, according to the report.

More: Single-car crash near Boca Raton kills Broward County man, 18; three other teens injured

More: West Palm Beach-area man, 18, dies after car hits Acreage canal embankment

The crash report does not say how fast either car was going.

A Trauma Hawk helicopter flew Frinot, a Belle Glade resident, to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where he died just after 6:30 p.m. The occupants of the SUV, all from Odessa, Texas, received treatment at Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade for serious injuries.

There are no charges pending in the wreck, PBSO said.

galbert@pbpost.com

@Gerard_Albert3

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Thanksgiving crash kills one, injures four in Belle Glade
Stephen Sondheim, the legendary theatre composer has died aged 91.

Regarded as one of the foremost artists of the 20th Century, Sondheim wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and composed Into the Woods among many others including Sweeny Todd and Company.

Sondheims friend and lawyer F Richard Pappas announced his death, which he described as sudden.

According to Pappas, Sondheim had spent the previous day having a Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Roxbury, Connecticut.

The world of theatre and film, meanwhile, have been paying tribute.

Musical theatre actor Lea Solanga wrote: Rest In Peace, Stephen Sondheim, and thank you for your vast contributions to musical theatre. We shall be singing your songs forever. Oh, my heart hurts

While Josh Gad added: Perhaps not since April 23rd of 1616 has theatre lost such a revolutionary voice. Thank you Mr. Sondheim for your Demon Barber, some Night Music, a Sunday in the Park, Company, fun at a Forum, a trip Into the Woods and telling us a West Side Story. RIP. 

You can see more reactions to the news below.

Rest In Peace, Stephen Sondheim, and thank you for your vast contributions to musical theater. We shall be singing your songs forever. Oh, my heart hurts  Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) November 26, 2021

Perhaps not since April 23rd of 1616 has theater lost such a revolutionary voice. Thank you Mr. Sondheim for your Demon Barber, some Night Music, a Sunday in the Park, Company, fun at a Forum, a trip Into the Woods and telling us a West Side Story. RIP.  https://t.co/jHX7ob9JWv  Josh Gad (@joshgad) November 26, 2021

Master. Legend. Icon. I was so privileged to join in 2 standing ovations last week at the opening of Company on Broadway.



Gratitude for the endless inspiration he provided to generations. He changed the world. #rip #stephensondheim  pic.twitter.com/kmpKfooNYg  Wilson Cruz (@wcruz73) November 26, 2021

Devastating news. Hard to fathom that he was in fact mortal like the rest of us. But bow lucky are we to have lived in the world at the same time as this great man. No one can replace him. RIP. https://t.co/3fBLVn7SO3  Judy Kuhn (@JudyKuhn1) November 26, 2021

My heart is suddenly breaking. One of the most influential humans in our lifetime, whether you knew of him or not  Stephen Sondheim, Titan of the American Musical, Is Dead at 91 https://t.co/WAcdmY6Qae  The Rose (@omgheyrose) November 26, 2021

I guess this is goodbye, old pal



Today we lost undoubtedly the most influential voice of musical theatre. A true giant and a huge loss for the world. Goodnight, Stephen Sondheim. pic.twitter.com/1FZ73ksGm5  Jamie Lambert (@JamieCollabro) November 26, 2021

More to follow...
Victory for Belleview

A black stain has been removed from Belleview, signaling a victory for both humans and dogs.

We were shocked to see a puppy store within city limits. Many other cities had stopped allowing stores to sell puppies since the puppies sold at stores usually come from puppy mills. A store is an ideal place to sell these puppies since the consumer will never get to see how the parents live  bred over and over, living in cages and only used as a way to make money.

The puppy-mill breeder in this case had been fined because these puppies often did not have parvo vaccinations. Bringing home a sick puppy can spread serious diseases and can kill both the puppy and any other pets in the house.

Thank you to all of the animal advocates and animal control personnel for attending city hall meetings and speaking up for the voiceless, innocent animals. Thank you to advocates for protesting, collecting data, sending letters to newspapers and raising awareness about what was happening.

It also was a battle to allow residents inside city limits to call animal control directly. In the past, we had to go through code enforcement or the police department with any animal concerns. One time when I called code enforcement about a chained dog who was thin, I was told to call back when I could see its hip bones! The animal would likely have been dead by then. Code enforcement was understaffed and not trained for these situations.

We are happy to say Belleview has become a more caring place for our canine companions. Consumers who can't find a puppy at a shelter or rescue will now know the importance of locating a breeder who will allow them to meet the parent dogs and see their conditions.

Cindy Polcyn, Belleview

Chinese were allies

Regarding a recent letter claiming commissioner Bryant insulted World War II veterans by riding in a Chinese fighter, maybe the author should learn his history. The Chinese were our allies in WWII. Maybe he confused the Chinese with the Japanese?

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Ron Williams, On Top Of The World

Iron Law of Bureaucracy

We are at the point of complete chaos due to the following rule: We have been overtaken by those who will always and only work for their personal goals rather than what is right.

Scientist Jerry Pournelle suggested several "laws." His first use of the term "Pournelle's law" appears to be for the expression "one user, one CPU." He also has used "Pournelle's law" to apply to the importance of checking cable connections when diagnosing computer problems.

His best-known "law" is "Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy." In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.

Pournelle eventually restated it as: ... in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children versus union representatives who work to protect any teacher, including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

William Francis, Summerfield

Write to us

Send a letter to the editor (up to 250 words) to osbletters@starbanner.com. Letters must include the writer's full name and city of residence. Guest columns of up to 750 words are also accepted on a limited basis. More information on submitting letters and columns can be found at bit.ly/starbanneropinion.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Nov. 26 letters: Readers comment on puppy mills, WWII and more
From left, Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Tina Glory Jordan, CASA of Northeast Oklahoma Executive Director Angela Henderson, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., and Acting Chief of Staff Corey Bunch.

The Cherokee Nation recently donated nearly $47,000 to two area court appointed special advocates organizations.

CASA is a nonprofit organization that trains volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in the court system. The CASA organizations receiving tribal contributions serve Cherokee children in a number of counties within the Cherokee Nation Reservation.

Protecting our precious children is a priority of the Cherokee Nation, and we have long been a supporter ... because of the role they have in helping to provide that protection, said Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. CASA volunteers are leaving such a lasting mark on the lives of our youngest Cherokee citizens and I cannot say enough about the wonderful work they do each day in the Cherokee Nation Reservation area.

CASA of Northeast Oklahoma, which serves Rogers, Mayes, Craig, Ottawa, Delaware and Washington Counties, received more than $26,000.

Cherokee Nation has been so generous to us. Theyre one of our biggest supporters and I think this is just representative of how they feel about their citizens, especially the youngest citizens, the children. They take good care of their people, said Angela Henderson, executive director of CASA of Northeast Oklahoma. With this contribution, we are going to try to expand to serve more children. Were going to train as many volunteers as we can.

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Cherokee Country, which serves Cherokee and Adair Counties, received nearly $21,000 from the Cherokee Nation.

Cherokee Nations annual donations and contributions fund assists advocacy groups such as CASA as well as food pantries, shelters, churches and other organizations.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Tribe donates nearly $47K to special advocate groups
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said on Friday that a ban on flights from southern Africa was a possibility and the United States was rushing to gather data on the new COVID-19 variant.

No decision to halt flights had yet been made, he said.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said White House officials were discussing potential travel restrictions on southern African countries. Those officials were expected to meet with agency officials this afternoon to make a recommendation, the newspaper said, without specifying which agency.

The White House referred to Fauci's earlier comments when asked about the report and declined further comment.

Global authorities have reacted with alarm to the new variant, detected in South Africa, with the European Union and Britain among those tightening border controls as scientists seek to find out if the mutation is vaccine-resistant.

The World Health Organization (WHO), however, has cautioned against hasty measures and South Africa said a British ban on flights seemed rushed.

"There is always the possibility of doing what the UK has done, namely block travel from South Africa and related countries," Fauci said in an interview on CNN.

"That's certainly something you think about and get prepared to do. You're prepared to do everything you need to protect the American public. But you want to make sure there's a basis for doing that," he said.

"Obviously as soon as we find out more information we'll make a decision as quickly as we possibly can."

Fauci said US scientists would speak with South African counterparts on Friday about the new variant, called B.1.1.529, which has raised concern about its transmissibility and whether it might evade immune responses.

He added that there was no indication that the new variant was already in the United States.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien and Akshay Lodaya, Editing by Timothy Heritage, Toby Chopra, Elaine Hardcastle)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday called on nations expected to meet at the World Trade Organization next week to agree to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines in the wake of the identification of a new coronavirus variant in South Africa.

However, the meeting he was referring to was later postponed after the new variant led to travel restrictions that would have prevented many participants from reaching Geneva.

"The news about this new variant should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations," Biden said in a statement.

"This news today reiterates the importance of moving on this (waiving intellectual property protections) quickly."

The Biden administration faces fresh criticism over a failure to get vaccines to poorer countries while supplying free booster shots to Americans, after the new variant named Omicron was identified.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose, writing by Lucia Mutikani and Heather Timmons, editing by Chris Reese)
EXCLUSIVE: Congresswoman Johnson recalls her time in the U.S. House of Representatives as her fellow members of Congress share words of praise and admiration for her years-long service.

A Yellow Rose of Texas is completing her full-time political journey in Washington, D.C.

Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson announced last week that she is ending her nearly 30 years of service in the United States Congress when the 117th Congressional session ends.

The 85-year-old congresswoman, who is not running for re-election, tells theGrio that choosing not to continue her career in Congress was no easy choice.

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

You know, its hard to make that decision when you do something for so many years, Congressman Johnson shared with theGrio. The retirement years are defined as a certain age, [but] it is not nearly as defined in something like this (Congress) as [it is with] a regular job.

The congresswoman, who has never lost an election in her 15 terms in Congress, added, There [were] times when I thought that maybe if I had somebody to reach a point where I had to leave, it would be better than trying to make the decision to do so, she added.

TheGrios D.C./politics bureau has interviewed Congresswoman Johnson several times this year. One standout interview was just days after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection in which she exclusively shared a stunning story about her unexpected run-in with an insurrectionist who was lost in the Capitol building.

While the Capitol insurrection may be a dark moment during Congresswoman Johnsons many years in Congress, there were far more positive memories. Reflecting on her decades of political service, Johnson said, I have been very fortunate that Ive never lost a race and I first started running in 1972. But I also admit that I have worked every day that Ive been in office to try to make things better across the board.

Johnson was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972 in a landslide as the first Black woman to win electoral office from her Dallas district. She also served three terms in the Texas Senate and was the only Black woman serving in the body at that time. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed her as the regional director for the Department of Health Education and Welfare, also serving as the first Black woman to hold the position.

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In 1992, Johnson ran in the Democratic primary for the newly created Texas 30th congressional district. She defeated Republican nominee Lucy Cain 72%-25% in the general election. In 1994, she defeated Cain again, 73%-26%.

Portrait of American politician Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Washington DC, 1990s. (Photo by Anthony Barboza/Getty Images)

Johnsons decision to retire was something that she had been considering for a while. With a bright smile on her face, she told theGrio that it is time to focus on her grandchildren and her adult son who grew up while she was in Congress.

The knit suit wearing, pearl slinging grandmother told theGrio that after her retirement she is most looking forward to family time with her family, especially her very young granddaughters, considering the fact that she had no daughters of her own and is, understandably, looking forward to lavishing on her girls.

Fellow Texas U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee called Congresswoman Johnson a tall Texan when asked by theGrio about her retirement. Jackson Lee said that Johnson fits well into the definition of a pioneering woman who accepted the challenges of being the only one and the challenges of the difficulty of serving in the early years.

Johnson served as the first woman to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Her work in Congress has included a laser focus on transportation, technology, science and research. Among many of Johnsons credits was her role in creating the Tri Caucus that includes the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Asian Pacific Caucus.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Johnson reflected on when she first entered Congress, acknowledging sitting members who embraced and mentored her, including U.S. Reps. Julian Dixon of California, Rep. Bill Clay of Missouri, and Louis Stokes of Ohio.

I came wanting to make a difference back home and so I sought out guidance from the experienced ones here, she said.

There were giants when I came [to Congress], Johnson added, shouting out former members Charlie Rangel of New York, John Conyers of Michigan and Cardiss Collins of Illinois.

Congresswoman Johnson said the unique place of the United States Congress, particularly those within the Congressional Black Caucus, is that members, young and old, are able to learn from each other and contribute positive change for the American people.



Johnson said shes particularly impressed by some of the new guards of Congress like Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, a former school principal who now serves alongside her on the House Committee on Science, Technology and Space. Johnson said she looks forward to seeing Congressman Bowman rise in Congress.

WASHINGTON, DC  NOVEMBER 16: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) speaks at a press conference on H.R. 40 legislation as Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) looks on on Capitol Hill on November 16, 2021 in Washington, DC. During the press conference participants called on the legislation to be passed which would then create a commission to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

I tend to observe members in general, but especially young members, when they get elected and come in, said Johnson. It is not difficult to see who rises. I have tried to encourage and work with them.

Another younger member who Johnson sees promise in is U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Johnson said she encouraged Jeffries to seek a leadership position. Jeffries is currently one of the most powerful members of the Democratic Party as the current chair of the House Democratic Caucus, and whose name has been mentioned as a potential member of Congress to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.



Hes highly capable, Johnson said of Jeffries.

In an exclusive interview with theGrio, Congressman Jeffries returned the love, calling Johnson a trailblazing and historic member of Congress who has done so much for so many during her time in office.

She has personally mentored me with sage advice, guidance and support from the moment I arrived in the House, as she has done for countless others, Jeffries told theGrio. The city of Dallas, state of Texas and the nation is a much better place today because of Chairwoman Johnsons dedicated service.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) talks to reporters following the weekly Democratic Caucus meeting in the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on June 29, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

U.S. Congressman Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, told theGrio, I met Eddie Bernice when she first came to Congress in 1992 and was immediately taken by her sense of compassion and commitment to the people of Dallas. She is and has been an undisputed leader in the United States Congress.

He added, Through the simple eloquence of her example she has forced America to do more and to be more for all of its people. We will miss her voice on the great issues of the day.

In addition to her years-long service to her constituents in Dallas, Texas, Johnson is also a proud member of historically Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc. In a statement to theGrio, the organizations national president, Dr. Glenda Glover, called Congresswoman Johnson the epitome of a servant leader, who has dedicated her life to sponsoring impactful and effective legislation as a staunch advocate for education.

She added, Congresswoman Johnson has been at the forefront supporting HBCUs and STEM education for decades. Known fondly as the Dean with the Congressional Black Caucus, our many conversations about TSU and the countrys other HBCUs showed her commitment to their sustainability. It was a joy working with her and on behalf of the TSU family, we wish her the very best in retirement.

As people are praising Congresswoman Johnsons work and wishing her well in her next chapter, the retiring congresswoman said she is not yet ready to endorse a successor.

Have you subscribed to the Grio podcasts, Dear Culture or Acting Up? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!

The post U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson reflects on retirement after nearly 30 years in Congress appeared first on TheGrio.
Reuters

Serb lawmakers voted on Friday to start work on pulling their autonomous Serb Republic out of Bosnia's armed forces, judiciary and tax system, in a non-binding motion meant to pave the way for secession from Bosnia. The three institutions represent key pillars of joint security, rule of law and the economic system in Bosnia, which was divided into two autonomous regions - the Serb Republic and the Federation dominated by Croats and Bosniaks - after its 1992-1995 war. The vote in the Serb region's parliament amounted to a non-binding agreement that fell short of a final decision to quit the institutions - a move which would have need the support of the region's upper house. Serb opposition groups, who criticised the motions as early campaigning ahead of next year's general election, left the session before the vote took place.
Ukraine has uncovered a group of Russians and Ukrainians plotting an attempted coup for next week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters Friday, the Washington Post reported.

Driving the news: Zelensky didn't accuse the Russian government of involvement in the purposed coup, and Kremlin denied any role, Reuters reported.

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Zelensky told reporters during a lengthy news conference for local and international media that Ukrainian security services have audio recordings of the alleged plotters talking about their plans.

He said they mentioned trying to obtain the support of Ukraine's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, the Post reported.

Zelensky said Akhmetov wasn't involved in the plot, but he believed the billionaire was "being dragged into the war against Ukraine." Zelensky has targeted Ukranian oligarchs amid his effort to establish his government's authority.

The big picture: Zelensky's warning about the alleged coup plot comes amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia.

U.S. and NATO officials have warned Russia is planning for a potential large-scale invasion of Ukraine early next year.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned earlier this month "any escalatory or aggressive actions" by Russia "would be of grave concern."

Zelensky said Friday Ukraine is "in full control of our borders and are fully prepared for any escalation," per Reuters.

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) -The U.N. mission to Libya expressed alarm on Friday about an incident at a court where Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's lawyer said armed men stopped him from lodging an appeal against his client's disqualification from next month's presidential election.

The U.N. Support Mission in Libya said it was alarmed by the reported attack at the appeal court in Sebha on Thursday, strongly condemned any form of electoral-related violence, and reiterated that the electoral process must be protected.

The U.S. Embassy in Libya said it shared the U.N. mission's concerns over violence related to the Dec. 24 election, which is part of a peace process meant to end a decade of turmoil but has stirred fears of renewed conflict.

The elections commission disqualified Saif al-Islam, son of the late Libyan dictator, and 24 others on Wednesday. Rival camps are disputing the election rules and the eligibility of candidates, threatening to derail the vote.

Gaddafi's lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, said in a video that armed men had raided the court in the southern city of Sebha, one of only three registration centres, and stopped him entering to lodge his client's appeal.

The Justice Ministry in Tripoli said an armed group had forced everyone to leave the court building.

No faction claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on its Twitter feed, the U.S. Embassy said, "Attacks against judicial or election facilities or judicial or elections personnel are not only criminal acts, punishable under Libyan law, but also undermine Libyans right to participate in the political process".

Sebha is under the control of a group allied to the eastern-based Libyan National Army force commanded by Khalifa Haftar, another of the main candidates.

Gaddafi's candidacy was rejected on the basis of a 2015 conviction in absentia by a Tripoli court for war crimes committed during the fighting that ousted his father, Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011.

He has spent the last decade in the mountain town of Zintan, where his captors took him after he was seized trying to flee Libya during the uprising.

(Reporting by Libya Reuters newsroomWriting by Tom PerryEditing by Barbara Lewis and Frances Kerry)
Astronauts Story Musgrave (left) and Don Peterson float in the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger

On 7 April in 1983, American astronauts Don Peterson and Story Musgrave bravely stepped out of the space shuttle Challenger, the first time US space explorers had conducted a spacewalk in nearly a decade.

For about four hours, the men floated in the shuttle's exterior cargo bay while tethered to the spacecraft.

What they were wearing, at the time, represented a revolutionary departure from the custom-built, one-off spacesuits of the past.

Officially known as Extravehicular Mobility Units, or EMUs, these were two-piece, semi-rigid suits with 14 layers, designed to protect astronauts during extravehicular activity (EVA).

The suits included everything from communications gear to adult nappies and an in-suit drink bag.

Nasa estimates it would need to spend another $1bn on developing new spacesuits

Since that day in 1983, little has changed in the spacesuit fashion stakes.

The space agency's efforts to develop new improved spacesuits have had limited success. Nasa has already spent $420m (310m) over 14 years without any significant progress, according to a report published this year from Nasa's inspector general.

"A flight-ready suit remains years away from completion," the report notes, adding that Nasa officials expect to spend a further $1bn (740m) on design, testing, qualification and development efforts before two flight-ready suits are available for use.

The delay to spacesuits is likely to hold up Artemis, Nasa's programme to return to the Moon in 2024, the report adds.

A future Artemis mission at the Moon's South Pole - such missions are now likely to be delayed

In September, Nasa's Johnson Space Center called for private sector proposals for the new suits. They would be used for spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS) and during future Artemis missions to the surface of the moon.

"Our undertakings in low-earth orbit, at the Moon and beyond, have evolved and are calling for innovative technology," Nasa deputy administrator Pam Melroy said in a statement.

"The next astronauts on the moon, including the first woman, will be kept safe in revolutionary spacesuits that fit better and enable greater human exploration than ever before."

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Nasa wants industry help to build its new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) and the Orion Crew Survival System.

The xEMU will mainly be for planetary spacewalks on the Moon, Mars and perhaps other bodies like asteroids, though it is planned to be modified for in-flight spacewalks.

Nasa's xEMU and orange Orion spacesuits are designed to take astronauts back to the Moon and beyond

It will have improved joints to give the astronaut more mobility, a new communications system and will have a rear-entry hatch.

The design will also be able to better fit astronauts of all sizes. In the past Nasa had problems finding spacesuits for smaller female astronauts.

The Orion suit is the suit crew will wear inside the spacecraft during launch and the return to Earth.

Proposals for the new suits are due on 1 December, with one or more contracts expected to be awarded by the following spring. Nasa plans a demonstration spacewalk with their newly developed gear as early as 2023.

"Nasa's investment in commercial spacesuits is another way that we are fostering a new lunar economy with private partners," Ms Melroy's statement added. "Similar to our partnerships in low-earth orbit, this endeavour will create jobs and help fuel an active economy at the Moon."

Tesla boss Elon Musk was quick to offer his help, tweeting that his company, SpaceX, "could do it if need be".

SpaceX has already developed flight suits for astronauts on its Crew Dragon spacecraft

More Technology of Business

In an interview with the BBC, former Nasa administrator Sean O'Keefe says that he is not really surprised that the space agency has turned to the private sector for help.

"Every variant of every space suit Nasa has ever used was developed in concert with the private sector," explains Mr O'Keefe, who is now a professor at Syracuse University.

He added that Nasa's control over the performance requirements for the suit has largely been driven by the fact that only government-sponsored and trained astronauts have lived and worked in space and that has now changed.

"Now that the commercial space industry has demonstrated an ability to develop a space access transportation market, these companies will surely come up with new ideas on operational performance characteristics based on their evolving experiences," Mr O'Keefe says.

The current EMU model - which was only slightly upgraded in the 1990s - is specifically designed for spacewalks around the (now decommissioned) space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS).

Astronauts Daniel Burbank (right) and Steven MacLean, move along the side of the International Space Station on 13 September 2006

Among the few who have used a space suit at the ISS is Daniel Burbank, a former astronaut who in September 2006 logged a seven hour spacewalk at the station.

Mr Burbank explains that spacesuits have remained largely unchanged, primarily because of the fact they are now essentially "purpose built" for the ISS, which was launched in 1998.

"The design of the spacesuit is tuned and aligned to the needs of the space station," says Mr Burbank, now a senior technology fellow at North Carolina-headquartered Collins Aerospace.

"There are a lot of critical things that could happen to the outside of the space station that provides its habitable environment," he adds. "If those fail, we need to be able to get spacesuits on very quickly, go outside and make those changes."

As an example, Mr Burbank notes that the way the current EMU's gloves work with tools, the way the boots fit into portable foot restraints and even its size are all built with the ISS and space shuttles in mind.

Daniel Burbank preparing a spacesuit on the International Space Station

In the future, however, new spacesuits will have to work for the US-led Artemis programme, which will return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

For the Apollo moon missions several decades ago, each astronaut was given three tailor-made A7L suits: one for the mission, one for training, and one spare.

Made by ILC Dover, they had multiple layers to protect the wearer from heat, abrasion and micrometeoroids which could puncture the suit.

It was one of these spacesuits that Neil Armstrong was wearing during the Apollo 11 landing in 1969.

Current EMUs, Mr Burbank added, weigh over 150kg (23 stones), which even in the reduced gravity environment of the moon would likely be too heavy and unwieldy for this next generation of astronauts.

"A suit that would support the full range of crew members in a gravity environment on a non-engineered surface, we think has to look very different from the one we have at the Space Station right now," Mr Burbank says.

Spacesuits suitable for the moon will be very different from existing models

Both Mr O'Keefe and Mr Burbank believe that future spacesuit innovations will largely be driven by the private sector and the proliferation of commercial space missions in the future.

"The private sector is constantly developing a multitude of technology applications to stretch performance, efficiency, lower costs and improve quality," Mr O'Keefe says. "It's often a race against other commercial competitors for market share and brand recognition."

For Mr Burbank the experience of floating above the Earth in a spacesuit was one of the most rewarding aspects of his experiences in space - one he hopes that new space explorers will one day be able to share.

Mr Burbank remembers flying over the Himalayas at eight kilometres per second "like Superman".

"You don't want to come in. You want to stay out there as long as you possibly can, looking at the earth and all of its splendour," he says. "We want more people to have that experience."
An arrest has been made in a shooting and vehicle theft incident that occurred in Trinity in late November.

Derek William Stockwell, 42, no address given, has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, according to a Randolph County Sheriff's Office report.

Stockwell is accused of shooting a person and taking his vehicle after allegedly chasing him on Highway 62, according to witnesses and the sheriff's report.

Guilford County Sheriffs Office arrested Stockwell in their jurisdiction on Saturday, Dec. 4. He was transported to the Guilford County Detention Center where the magistrate issued a $75,000 secured bond and set a first appearance for Dec. 15 in Randolph County District Court.

This incident is still under investigation and additional charges may be forthcoming.

During the investigation, it was learned that the victim had been shot through the rear window of the vehicle and that the incident most likely occurred at or near Trindale Foods.

In the first report of the incident in November, the Randolph County Sheriff's office responded to a call from a Dollar General in Trinity about an assault and gunshot wound on Nov. 25 at 9 a.m. The caller reported that the victim came to the store asking for help saying he had been shot and his vehicle stolen by the attacker.

When the deputies arrived at the store, the victim described the stolen vehicle as an older, green Jeep Cherokee, reportedly occupied by at least two suspects. Patrol deputies later found the victims vehicle abandoned on Sabine Street.

Deputies and neighboring agencies searched the area for the suspect vehicle. Randolph County EMS responded and transported the victim to an area hospital.

A motive for the shooting was not provided.

Petruce Jean-Charles is a Government Watchdog Reporter and Jill Doss-Raines is a Trending Topics senior reporter. Contact Petruce at pjeancharles@gannett.com and follow @PetruceKetsia on Twitter. Contact Jill at jill.doss-raines@the-dispatch.com.

This article originally appeared on The Courier-Tribune: Randolph County Sheriff's Office makes arrest in Thanksgiving Day shooting incident in Trinity
Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

We visited Walmart stores in New York and California on Black Friday.

Both were calmer and emptier than a typical Black Friday morning.

Some customers came for specific deals, while other just wandered through the stores.

The sun didn't rise in Los Angeles on Black Friday until 6:30 a.m., but around 55 people were in line to enter Walmart by 6 ahead of the store's 7 a.m. opening. Unlike Black Fridays of years past, the scene was calm.

Fortesa Latifi

Everyone stood quietly, a few feet between each group of people. It was a cool morning, only 50 degrees out, which counts for winter in Los Angeles.

Fortesa Latifi

As customers waited in line, two employees wheeled a cart around adorned with a large poster that featured the "Hot Items" that were on sale for the holiday. Included were: Nintendo Switch, Apple Airpods Pro, Gateway computers, various Apple Watches, an Xbox Series S, and two SmartCast TVs.

Fortesa Latifi

The poster featured the prices of the items as well as the part of the store in which they could be found. The employees wheeling the cart took time to explain the deals. If a customer wanted one of the deals, the employee handed them a card, which guaranteed the item.

Fortesa Latifi

Once inside, the Walmart employees explained, the customer would take the card to the designated store area and retrieve their item. The item would be held for the customer for two hours, at which point the hold would be released and the item would be available for purchase to the general public.

Fortesa Latifi

The majority of items included in the Black Friday deals were electronic. A Nintendo Switch went for $299, Apple Airpods Pro for $159, a Gateway Pent OPP laptop for $179; an Apple Watch S3 38MM for $109; an Xbox Series S Digital Version for $299; a 70-inch CLASS 4K Smart TV for $398.

Fortesa Latifi

As the employees featured the deals, they crossed out items whose stock had already been claimed. The first to be crossed off was an Apple Watch, followed by a laptop and television.

Fortesa Latifi

When the doors opened at 7 a.m., the customers, masked as according to Los Angeles County COVID-19 precautions, trailed into the store calmly. Employees also wore masks and some had on festive holiday headbands and Santa hats.

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Fortesa Latifi

Throughout the store, there were red bows adorning signs naming the price of items. It was apparent we're in the holiday season, but reminders of the pandemic were also everywhere: signs for available vaccines, masked employees and patrons, and sanitizing stations.

Fortesa Latifi

The only place where there was even a line was in the electronics section, where customers were let in in groups of three to browse the televisions, phones, and video games. One employee said that thanks to the ubiquity of online advertising, customers come in knowing what they want.

Fortesa Latifi

One associate who's worked at Walmart since 2011 said that each year, Black Friday has gotten progressively calmer.

Fortesa Latifi

She said it's nothing like the mayhem that used to happen  partly because of the pandemic and partly because of technology. With online shopping, it's just easier to access Black Friday deals online than to wait in line in the predawn hours the day after Thanksgiving and hope you score.

Fortesa Latifi

Another employee said that people only come into the store for Black Friday if they want an item immediately and don't want to wait for shipping.

Fortesa Latifi

It's more chaotic than a normal morning, he said, but nothing like it used to be.

Fortesa Latifi

In 2021, at least in this Walmart in Los Angeles, the scene was more reminiscent of a midnight book launch than a frenzied shopping craze.

Fortesa Latifi

At a Walmart in Rochester, New York, we found a similar scene.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The store was surprisingly empty for a major shopping holiday.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Workers and security staff seemed to almost outnumber shoppers.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

It was easy to walk down some of the less popular aisles and not see anyone else.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Customers that did show up seemed to mostly congregate around electronics, which are some of the most expensive items that Walmart sells.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Some video games were heavily discounted, and people were picking through what was left.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

A display of games for the Nintendo Switch seemed to be especially popular, with few games left.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

A display of discounted Ring Lights was disheveled, with many of the remaining boxes opened.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The other highly trafficked section of the store was some of the toy aisles.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Some shelves of Legos and Matchbox cars were totally wiped out.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Other toys didn't seem particularly popular, though.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Walmart was completely stocked with air fryers, one of the biggest Black Friday items so far according to data from Adobe.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Other kitchen appliances, including Instant Pots and mini waffle makers, were also in stock.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Even in the most crowded areas of the store, there was nothing like the chaos I've read about from other Black Fridays in the past.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Even with about half of the registers closed, lines never got more than a few carts deep.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

My Black Friday Walmart experience was underwhelming. There were no items that seemed to be deals too good to pass up. Hardly anyone even seemed to be in a rush, and most customers were more casually browsing.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Do you have a story to share about a retail or restaurant chain? Email this reporter at mmeisenzahl@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The 2020 Miss USA winner, Asya Branch, will be passing on the crown on Monday. Jessielyn Palumbo/Miss USA

The 2021 Miss USA pageant will be held on November 29 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The pageant will take place in the Paradise Cove Theater at the River Spirit Casino Resort.

You can watch the pageant on the FYI network or livestreamed on Hulu at 8 p.m. ET.

The time has come to crown a new Miss USA.

Asya Branch has been Miss USA since she won the pageant in 2020. When she took the crown, Branch became the first woman from Mississippi to win the competition. Before that, she made history as the first Black woman to win the title of Miss Mississippi USA.

Miss Mississippi Asya Branch was crowned Miss USA 2020. Benjamin Askinas/Miss USA

You can watch the 2021 Miss USA pageant live on the FYI network and Hulu

The 70th annual Miss USA pageant will take place on November 29, 2021, at the Paradise Cove Theater of the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The pageant will be available to watch live on the FYI cable channel or via a Hulu livestream at 8 p.m. ET.

Fifty-one women from around the country will gather to compete for the crown. The competition will be hosted by "Access Hollywood" reporter Zuri Hall and celebrity makeup artist Patrick Ta.

Zuri Hall and Patrick Ta will be hosting the Miss USA 2021 competition. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Michael Bezjian/Getty Images

The Miss USA winner will go on to represent the United States in the 2021 Miss Universe pageant. They will also receive a one-year contract with the Miss Universe organization that will allow them to travel across the country and shed light on charitable causes that are important to them.

This year's competition is set to make history, as it will feature the first transgender contestant. Kataluna Enriquez, 27, was named Miss Nevada 2021 in June.

After being crowned Miss Nevada, Enriquez told Insider she was excited to be a part of history and to continue her journey at the Miss USA pageant.

"The Miss USA and Miss Universe organization has changed its direction to represent all women and redefine beauty, and I'm looking forward to being a part of that movement," she said.

Read the original article on Insider
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization (WTO) became the first major diplomatic casualty of the new coronavirus variant on Friday when it postponed its first ministerial meeting in four years due to the deteriorating health situation.

Ministers from WTO members were due to have gathered next week for a meeting widely seen as a test of the WTO's relevance.

The WTO said that its members had agreed late on Friday to postpone the ministerial conference after the new variant outbreak led to travel restrictions that would have prevented many ministers from reaching Geneva.

No new date has been set for a rescheduled meeting.

The World Health Organisation has classified the B.1.1.529 variant detected in South Africa as a "variant of concern", saying it may spread more quickly than other forms of the virus. Scientists are also seeking to find out if it is vaccine-resistant.

Switzerland, home to the WTO, on Friday banned direct flights from South Africa and the surrounding region, and imposed test and quarantine requirements on travel from other countries, including Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.

The Geneva-based trade body had planned a meeting in person, but the new restrictions meant delegations of large players such as South Africa and the Brussels-based European Commission would have been limited to a largely virtual presence.

Even before the postponement the prospects were not bright.

The WTO has only managed one update of its global rules in its near 27-year history, the red tape-cutting Trade Facilitation Agreement, and its 164 members looked far from agreement in its most active talks - on curbing fishing subsidies and spreading COVID-19 vaccines more widely.

India, South Africa and other developing countries are calling for a waiver of intellectual property (IP) rights for vaccines and other COVID-19 treatments. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Friday he supported a waiver for vaccines.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the postponement did not mean negotiations should stop.

Story continues

"On the contrary, delegations in Geneva should be fully empowered to close as many gaps as possible. This new variant reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with," she said in a statement.

Santiago Wills, the Colombian WTO ambassador who chairs the fishing subsidy talks, said the news was "deflating, to say the least", but pledged to keep working towards an agreement to save global fish stocks.

(Reporting by Emma Farge and Stephanie Ulmer-Nebahay in Geneva; Writing by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Mark Porter and Sandra Maler)
NHK has learned that the Japanese government will subsidize efforts by Japanese-language schools to offer online lessons to students overseas who have difficulty entering the country.

Japan eased anti-coronavirus entry restrictions earlier this month. It is allowing foreign business travelers, students and technical trainees to enter on the condition that their firms or schools supervise their activities. But many students have still not been able to visit Japan due to a cap on the daily number of arrivals from abroad.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs therefore decided to promote online lessons for students who want to attend Japanese-language schools in Japan but cannot enter the country. It hopes this will help keep them interested in studying in Japan.

The agency plans to provide up to 10 million yen, or around 86,700 dollars, each to roughly 400 projects. The money will help fund the training of teachers, the development of teaching materials, and the borrowing of monitors, personal computers and other necessary equipment.

The agency plans to allocate about 35.5 million dollars for the subsidy program and incorporate the amount into a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year that ends in March. It says this will be the first financial assistance of its kind.

The agency says it will analyze the effectiveness of the program.

It says that as of September, some 90,000 people overseas were waiting to enter Japan to study at Japanese-language schools.
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The two companies' new emission reduction targets and net-zero ambitions also affected the outcome of the negotiations.

According to Reuters sources, Reliance will sign deals with multiple companies to produce higher-margin specialty chemicals at the facility.

Saudi Aramco and Indias Reliance Industries have decided to call off a planned joint refining project worth $15 billion on valuation differences.

According to a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources, the talks between the two companies fell through because they could not agree on how much the business, in which Aramco was to acquire a stake, was worth.

The business in question is Reliances oil-to-chemicals division. Now, according to Reuters sources, the Indian conglomerate will sign deals with multiple companies to produce higher-margin specialty chemicals at the facility.

The preliminary agreement for the business was inked in 2019 after a long delay, with Aramco agreeing to take a 20-percent stake in the oil-to-chemicals complex run by Reliance at the Jamnagar refinery, which was at the time valued at $15-16 billion.

For the Saudi state giant, the deal would have guaranteed a long-term client for its crude. For Reliance, it would have guaranteed an equally long-term steady supplier of crude. The agreement included a stipulation for the supply of 500,000 bpd of Saudi crude to the Jamnagar facility40 percent of the refinerys capacityover the long term.

But according to an unnamed source who spoke to Reuters, the valuation of the business has put the negotiators at odds because of the global rush to replace fossil fuels with lower-carbon alternatives. This rush, according to the sources, especially after the COP26 summit, led to a drop in valuations for refining and petrochemical assets in the energy industry. Reliance, however, still insisted that the business was worth $75 billion in totalas much as it was valued at in 2019.

Deal Street Asia separately reported, quoting other unnamed sources, that one reason for the failure of the deal was environmental, social, and governance criteria. The two companies' new emission reduction targets and net-zero ambitions also affected the outcome of the negotiations, the DSA sources also said.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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Asias natural gas demand is set to nearly double by 2050, and the regions production is already declining.

Asias problem with natural gas supplies may not be limited to this winter alone.

Asia has seen a run in natural gas supplies, and prices are simply not easing up.

Asian natural gas buyers have had to pay record prices for LNG cargoes in recent weeks, as the global energy crunch sent spot prices skyrocketing amid scarce supply. But Asias problem with natural gas supplies may not be limited to this winter aloneand even a scenario where the world manages to pull off its climate change goals could see Asia short on nat gas.

Prices have eased somewhat since the all-time highs in October, but demand for natural gas in Asia will continue to rise not only this winter but in all winters and summers going forward, as the region expands the coal-to-gas switch and needs more gas for baseload capacity as it expands power generation from renewable energy sources.

Asias natural gas demand is set to nearly double by 2050, and it will be the region that will drive gas consumption growth globally, even if Europe begins to shun natural gas at some point in the next decade or two because of environmental concerns about emissions in the gas supply chain and the net-zero ambitions of the UK and the European Union.

With constantly growing natural gas demand, Asia could face gas crunches in the years and decades ahead, too. Local gas production is falling with the exception of China in the near term, Wood Mackenzie said in an analysis this week. The Asian region needs incentives and investments in domestic supply if it is to avert the next gas crisis and cater to its energy security, WoodMac notes.

Higher dependence on LNG imports exposes China, India, Southeast Asia, and other major energy-importing countries in the region even more to the volatility of the gas markets.

Asias Gas Demand Is Only Going To Rise

Natural gas demand in Asia is rebounding from last years lows and is expected to rise by 7 percent this year, predominantly led by China, which alone accounts for 73 percent of the net growth in demand, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Gas Market Report Q4 2021.

In 2022, Asias gas demand growth is set to remain strong at 5 percent, led by China, emerging Asia, and India, which would account for 65 percent, 28 percent, and 11 percent of the net demand growth in Asia, respectively, the agency added.

In the medium and long term, gas demand in Asia will continue to rise, even in a scenario in which the world manages to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, WoodMac says.

Related: JPMorgan: $80 Oil Is 'Remarkably Cheap' Per the energy consultancys base-case scenario, gas demand in Asia is set to nearly double by 2050 to around 140 billion cubic feet per day. Even under Wood Mackenzies Accelerated Energy Transition Scenario with a temperature rise limited to 2 degrees Celsius, demand will be almost as strong as in the base-case scenario.

This robust demand will be driven by coal-to-gas switching as well as a need to underpin intermittent renewables generation. Unless domestic gas production can be ramped up, the demand for imported LNG in the region will continue to rise, wrote Angus Rodger, Research Director, Asia Pacific, at Wood Mackenzie.

Asias Natural Gas Production Is Declining

The outlook of Asian production of natural gas is gloomy in WoodMacs base-case scenario.

As much as 25 trillion cubic feet worth of projects are currently struggling to progress to final investment decision (FDI), while exploration activity and capital expenditures in Asias gas resources are declining, the consultancy noted.

Only China is set to see increased gas production, but possibly only in the near term, Wood Mackenzie noted.

Chinas Gas Output Growth Lags Surge In Demand

Per government orders, Chinas natural gas production has been rising this year as state energy giants pump more gas. However, growth in production is slower than the growth in Chinese gas demand.

For example, Chinas natural gas production between January and October rose by 9.4 percent compared to 2020 and by 19.2 percent compared to 2019, Xinhua news agency reported last week, citing the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In October alone, Chinese gas production inched up by 0.5 percent year over year.

Related: Big Oil Is Finally Exercising Restraint, And Biden Is Pissed

However, Chinas natural gas demand this winter is set to rise by 10 percent compared to last winter, a PetroChina official said last month.

China has also bet on developing its vast shale gas resources to boost its domestic natural gas supply. Despite recent shale production surprises to the upside, China still has several major challenges to overcome if it were to replicate, at least partially, the American shale boom. Those challenges include ultra-deep shale gas wells, difficult geology, terrain constraints, and weak well economics of drilling super-deep shale gas wells.

Asias LNG Dependence Set To Grow

Apart from China, other Asian countries with gas reserves are not expected to soon see a rise in their domestic production, which would lead to a surge in LNG imports, according to WoodMacs base-case scenario.

More new discoveries and developments are needed to slow the rising rate of LNG dependency. But if that fails to happen, and gas output falls faster than expected, even more imported LNG will be needed  up to 240 million tonnes per year more by our estimates, the consultancy noted.

Considering the volatility of the LNG markets, Asiathe key growth driver of gas demand in the worldneeds long-term solutions to meet its gas demand and enhance its energy security.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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There was never really a good reason for Saudi Arabia to comply with the wishes of U.S. President Joe Biden to increase oil production to lower prices for oil-consuming nations. Still, the possibility that OPEC+ would raise production in response to pressure from the White House was portrayed as a legitimate possibility in the media.

But OPEC+--largely influenced by its two largest producers, Saudi Arabia and Russiais looking at a longer-term view.

Aside from the long-term view of oil supply and demandwhich Saudi Arabia in particular sees as swinging back into surplus early next yearSaudi Arabia seems to be enjoying the high life on the back of higher oil prices over the last few months. As demand has not balked at these high prices, Saudi Arabia et al have little motivation to heed the calls of the White House to alleviate its own political woes courtesy of high retail gasoline prices.

And now, as of Friday, oil prices are crashingand they are crashing spectacularly. Leading up to OPEC+s next meeting that will decide the fate of its future oil production, plummeting prices is only going to pressure the group to further curtail productioninstead of increasing production as President Biden had hoped.

Prices are not crashing because of President Bidens announced release of 50 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, which hasnt even happened yet. Although we expect the administration will take a victory lap regardless.

Its about another new strain of Covid and several consequential travel limits instituted this week.

It was exactly as Saudi Arabia has warned: Covid 19 adds an unknown element to the market, and we shouldnt be too hasty in production ramp ups or the wheels could fall off the market. They were wise to tread cautiously.

Saudi Arabias Production

Saudi Arabias production has come a long way this year. Marred by the Covid-saturated market and its oil price war with Russia, The Kingdoms production had sagged to 9.182 million barrels per day in 2020. The latest Monthly Oil Market Report data shows that its production has gained significant groundto 9.759 million bpd. This is remarkably close to the 9.794 million bpd produced in 2019.

For Saudi Arabia, who relies heavily on oil money, this translates into prosperity, particularly at higher oil prices.

According to Bloomberg calculations, Saudi Arabia is on track to earn the most money in eight years off the back of pumping oilrivaling the some of the highs seen in the 2011-2014 period of prosperity when oil prices were above $100 per barrel. While these calculations were based on Saudi Arabia producing 10.3 million bpd and Brent averaging $80 next year, its easy to see how the $300 billion revenue mark isnt out of the question.

That is, unless oil prices continue to crash.

It is for this reason that Saudi Arabia isnt keen on raising output just yet, least of all at the behest of President Biden, who has, according to Bloomberg, refused to speak to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after a U.S. intelligence report fingered the Crown Prince as being behind the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Now normally, there is some demand destruction expected at high prices. But we havent really seen this. Even though oil-consuming nations are bemoaning high crude oil prices and moving to release barrels from the SPR, the release will have little effect on OPEC+ demandcertainly not from the United States.

Instead, we have seen a steady increase in demand despite the steady increase in price, strengthening Saudi Arabias position in the market.

The U.S. vs. Other Heavy Oil Consumers

There will certainly be littleif anydemand destruction in OPEC+ crude from the United States.

The United States is situated differently than other major oil consumers such as China, India, Japan, and South Korea. While it is the largest oil-consuming nation in the world, it produces much of its own crude. The United States exports some of this crude and imports some, depending on prices and the grades that refineries are best inclined to process.

There is an unfortunate tendency for those outside the oil market to oversimplify the supply and demand situation in the United States. Some would say the United States is self-sufficient when it comes to energy, others would say we are too reliant on foreign oil and U.S. shale should ramp up production and stop exporting so much crude to other nations.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the United States produces an average of 11.5 million bpd of crude oil every daythis is down from a high of 13.1 million bpd last year. It consumes 18.2 million barrels per day of crude, and exports 2.9 million bpd.

The production, import, and export picture for crude oil (and not oil products) as of August looks like this, according to EIA data:

The top source for U.S. crude oil imports is Canadawhich, although obviously foreign, is not what many are referring to when they lash out at the United States for its reliance on crude from abroad. The United States imported an average of 4.13 million bpd of Canadian crude oil in 2020.

The second largest supplier of crude to the United States is Mexico. From Mexico, although securing the number two spot, the U.S. brought in just 550,000 barrels per day. Between Canada and Mexico, 70% of the United States crude export needs are met.

Then there are the Saudi Arabias and the Russias, do indeed export crude oil to the United States. This is the factoid that is often bandied about in the news media, but without context or figures. Russia, the third-largest exporter of crude to the United States, supplies just 540,000 bpd, while Saudi Arabia supplies 520,000 bpd. These figures arent trivial, but perhaps their importance is unnecessarily magnified to make a point about the U.S. reliance on these foreign sources.

Those figures were from 2020. As of August 2021, the figures are even smaller.

Meanwhile, China must import nearly 11 million barrels per day, and India must import 85% of the crude oil it consumes. And they import a significant amount of OPEC+ crude.

Thats not to say that the United States isnt influenced by OPEC+s decisions. Any movement in the price of Brent also moves the price of the U.S crude grade WTI.

And both are moving today.

OPEC+, led in large part by Saudi Arabia, will meet next week to discuss the plan for production. If they do indeed change their plans as rumors have suggestedwhether it is because of anticipated demand drop off courtesy of the latest covid wave or whether it is in response to Bidens coordinated release of crude from the SPR along with other nationsit will be seen by the market as retaliatory.

But there is little doubt that a 10% dip in the price of Brent will prompt OPEC+ to at least pause the production increases or even cut production. And why not also relish in the opportunity the market has just handed OPEC+ to simultaneously stick it to President Biden.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Renewed Covid fears have managed to do what Biden couldn't, sending oil prices crashing as a new wave of demand destruction looms.

Friday, November 26th, 2021

Oil prices experienced one of their worst trading days in recent memory on Friday, plunging across the board by over 10% on fears that a new COVID-19 variant discovered in Southern Africa might dampen economic growth and trigger another demand slump. Following the spectacular failure of the SPR release, which instead of depressing prices ratcheted them up higher, renewed COVID-19 concerns have now brought about President Bidens objective. OPEC+ might still have a say in this, with the group's December 02 meeting potentially resulting in a reduction in production targets for 2022.

China Remains Non-Committal on SPR Release. Despite repeated talks with the US government, China has pushed back against President Bidens calls to do more and stated it would coordinate its own releases of strategic stocks according to its needs, cooling down the enthusiasm of market bears.

OPEC Panel Finds US SPR Release Superficial. OPECs Economic Commission Board estimates that the SPR releases carried out by the United States and its partners will only inflate the global crude surplus over Q1 2022, potentially paving the way for a slower-than-assumed OPEC+ production rollout coming up.

US Treasury Gives Chevron More Time to Leave Venezuela. The US Treasury Department extended the licenses of Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and drilling firms Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) and Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to wind down operations in Venezuela until June 1, 2022, allowing the US major to continue producing for the time being.

The Day After Thanksgiving Is The Perfect Time To Give. Every dollar that you donate to these food baskets will be multiplied by 10, which means you can make 10 TIMES the difference today. Don't miss this opportunity to feed those in need.

COVID Fears Put Temporary Chill on LNG Prices. Spot LNG prices in Asia have stopped climbing on concerns of the potential impact of the new coronavirus variant, dropping to $36 per mmBtu (still well above any seasonal average though), despite demand heating up in South Korea and Japan.

US Ethanol Woes Hamper Gasoline Blending. Supply chain disruptions, primarily delays in rail transportation coupled with high outright ethanol prices, have broughtethanol inventories in the US East Coast to an almost 7-year low, complicating gasoline blending for which ethanol is the prime component.

Lebanon Relaunches Second Licensing Round. Lebanon re-launched its 2nd offshore licensing round for eight remaining blocs, following several COVID-related postponements, seeking to lure more oil majors, with TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), ENI (NYSE:E), and Novatek (MCX:NVTK).

Petrobras Boosts Capex for Next Investment Cycle. Brazils national oil firm Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) increased its upstream capital expenditures to $68 billion for the 2022-2026 period, seeking to bring overall production to 2.6 million b/d by 2026, up 500,000 b/d from its current output levels.

Argentinas YPF Seeks Lithium Expansion. Argentinas state oil company YPF (NYSE:YPF) launched talks with major Chinese EV battery producer CATL (SHE:300750) in a bid to form a strategic partnership in lithium production, just weeks after the Chinese firm was outbid for Argentina-focused lithium miner Millennial Lithium.

US NatGas Prices Continue Upward Rise. Despite a shorter-than-usual trading week, US natural gas Henry Hub futures rose 5% on the week - to $5.16 per mmBtu - as prospects for colder weather triggered expectations of higher heating demand.

China Interested in Afghanistans Lithium Potential. Several Chinese firms have started on-site inspections of potential lithium projects in Afghanistan, with Jiangxi Copper (SHA:600362) having already taken over the countrys largest copper mine in Mes Aynak in September.

E.U. Seeks to Ban Routine Methane Flaring. In a regulation draft expected to be published 14 December, the European Commission will set up guidelines for methane reporting in Europe, aiming for maximum transparency, concurrently banning routine venting and flaring in member countries.

China Goes for Coal-to-Chemicals Technologies. China Energy Group, the Asian powerhouses largest coal producer, launched production at its 400,000 tons per year coal-to-ethylene glycol plant in Shaanxi, having already started a coal-to-methanol project nearby.

Indonesia Might Cut Off Tin Exports by 2024. Indonesias President Joko Widodo stated the Southeast Asian country might stop unrefined tin exports in 2024, being the second-largest producer globally, as it seeks to persuade international investors to locate their metal refining plants there.

E.U. Carbon Prices Shoot Through the Roof. The European Unions carbon prices reached an all-time high this week, hitting 75 per metric ton CO2 on Thursday, following the German governments announcement that it would seek to introduce a carbon price floor of 60 per metric ton in the upcoming years.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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Under the plan, the United States will release 50 million barrels, the equivalent of about two and a half days of U.S. demand. India, meanwhile, said it would release 5 million barrels, while Britain said it would allow the voluntary release of 1.5 million barrels of oil from privately

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday it will release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Britain, to try to cool prices after OPEC+ producers repeatedly ignored calls for more crude.

Earlier in the week, prices see-sawed, first pressured by worries about the release of oil from government reserves then supported as this move proved to be much smaller than anticipated. Furthermore, investors are awaiting a response from OPEC+ when it meets to discuss its production deal on December 2.

The U.S. benchmark fell along with equities and other commodities on fears the variant could dampen economic growth and fuel demand. Britain and the European states have restricted travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures plunged on Friday as the discovery of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant spooked investors, raising concerns over potential demand destruction and adding to worries that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures plunged on Friday as the discovery of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant spooked investors, raising concerns over potential demand destruction and adding to worries that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

The U.S. benchmark fell along with equities and other commodities on fears the variant could dampen economic growth and fuel demand. Britain and the European states have restricted travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected.

Earlier in the week, prices see-sawed, first pressured by worries about the release of oil from government reserves then supported as this move proved to be much smaller than anticipated. Furthermore, investors are awaiting a response from OPEC+ when it meets to discuss its production deal on December 2.

US and Allies Challenge OPEC+ with Release of Oil Reserves

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday it will release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Britain, to try to cool prices after OPEC+ producers repeatedly ignored calls for more crude.

Under the plan, the United States will release 50 million barrels, the equivalent of about two and a half days of U.S. demand. India, meanwhile, said it would release 5 million barrels, while Britain said it would allow the voluntary release of 1.5 million barrels of oil from privately held reserves.

Traders Await OPEC+ Response to Coordinated Oil Release

OPEC+, which includes Saudi Arabia and other U.S. allies in the Gulf, as well as Russia, has rebuffed requests so far to pump more. It meets again on December 2 to discuss policy but has so far shown no indication it will change tack.

Suhail Al-Mazrouei, energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, one of OPECs biggest producers, said before details of the release of U.S. reserves were announced that he saw no logic in lifting UAE supply for global markets.

An OPEC+ source said releasing reserves would complicate its calculations, as it monitors markets on a monthly basis. However, they and several analysts said the release was not as big as the headline figure suggested. They said Britain and India were releasing modest amounts and the United States had already announced some releases, and so the additional quantity was less than expected.

Weekly Technical Analysis

Weekly January WTI Crude Oil

Trend Indicator Analysis

The main trend is up according to the weekly swing chart. However, momentum shifted to the downside with the confirmation of the closing price reversal top from the week-ending October 29.

A trade through $83.83 will negate the closing price reversal top and signal a resumption of the downtrend. A move through $60.77 will change the main trend to down.

The minor trend is down. The minor trend changed to down this week when sellers took out the minor bottom at $77.23 the week-ending November 19. The move confirmed the shift in momentum to down.

Retracement Level Analysis

The minor range is $60.77 to $83.83. The market is currently testing its 50% level at $72.30.

The short-term range is $55.30 to $83.83. Its 50% level at $69.57, followed by another 50% level at $66.51.

The 50% level at $66.51 is not only potential support, but also the trigger point for an acceleration to the downside with the support cluster at $61.04 to $60.77 the best target and value area. New buyers could show up on a test of this area.

Weekly Technical Forecast

The direction of the January WTI crude oil market the week-ending December 3 will be determined by trader reaction to $72.30.

Bullish Scenario

A sustained move over $72.30 will indicate the presence of buyers. If this move is able to generate enough upside momentum then look for a possible retracement into $78.07. This is a potential trigger point for an acceleration to the upside.

Bearish Scenario

A sustained move under $72.30 will signal the presence of sellers. This could create the downside momentum needed to drive the market to $69.57. Watch for a technical bounce on the first test of this level. If it fails, the market could continue lower to $66.51. Once again buyers could show up.

If $66.51 fails then look out to the downside. This could trigger the start of a steep break down to the $61.04 to $60.77 range. This is a value area so look for stronger buying.

Short-Term Outlook

Fridays price action suggests the news about the new coronavirus variant will dominate the market during the upcoming week. However, we first have to find out how much of the move is real and how much is exaggerated due to thin post-holiday volume.

After the market figures out how much it wants to discount the possibility of another wave of COVID-19 destruction, the focus will shift to OPEC+s response to the release of crude oil from the SPR.

The ball is definitely in OPEC+s court since they have been controlling the supply for over a year. They still have the power to offset some of the releases and we know from previous comments that they have made contingency plans for a possible new wave of COVID-19 cases.

Market sentiment could change quickly next week if OPEC+ decides to cut daily production at its December 2 meeting.
Brazils Petrobras plans to invest $68 billion in expanding its crude oil production, a figure that represents 84 percent of its total planned investments for the period 2022-2026.

Offshore Technology reports that the number is a substantial increase on previously planned investments of $55 billion Petrobras announced for the 2020-2025 period.

Petrobras maintains its consistent strategy of focusing on projects with the potential to generate resources and contribute to the Brazilian society, said chief executive Joaquim Silva e Luna.

We prioritise transforming resources into wealth for the country while following the sustainable path for the energy transition, he added. The company will allocate $1.8 billion from its 2022-2026 budget to decarbonization operations.

In October, Petrobras reported a net profit of $5.34 billion for the third quarter of the year, with revenues of $21.78 billion, benefiting like its peers from the robust increase in international oil prices. It also boasted a reduction in gross debt to $59.6 billion from $79.58 billion in the third quarter of 2020.

The sizeable net income, however, prompted a backlash from Brazils president, who criticized Petrobras for high fuel prices and taking too much in the way of profits.

Petrobras doesnt pursue profit for profit, CEO Silva e Luna, who was appointed to the post by President Bolsonaro, said during an earnings call with analysts, as quoted by Bloomberg. Our goal is to generate value for shareholders and society through taxes, dividends and job growth.

Brazil has recently shaped up as one of the biggest hot spots in oil and gas, thanks to its presalt zone that contains abundant hydrocarbon reserves waiting to be tapped. Interest from investors is also significant, despite the green transition push. Brazil is already the largest oil producer in Latin America, but the country now plans to become one of the worlds five largest global crude producers.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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A total of 23 individuals and companies have been honoured at the fourth edition of the Institute of Directors Ghana (IoD-GH) Corporate Governance Excellence Awards held at the Kempiski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra.



The awards ceremony which was aimed at rewarding idividuals and corporate organisations that have distinguished themselves over the year under review.



The ceremony which was preceded by a week long activity brought together directors and members of the Institute to build their capacity, network and share ideas on how to promote directorship and professionalism in their various spheres of influence.



Awards



Themed "Good corporate governance and ethical leadership: An essential requirement for organizational turnaround," this year's awards ceremony saw the ultimate awards going to Dr John Kofi Mensah who emerged the Innovative Director, and Nhyiraba Yaw Sompa Okyere who was adjudged the Up and Coming Director of the year.



The Special Recognition Awards were given to the Bank of Ghana, the Security and Exchange Commission, the State Interests and Governance Authority and Zoomlion Limited.



The Governor of Bank of Ghana,Dr Ernest Addison together with his two deputies as well as the Chairperson of the Public Service Commission, Dr Janet ampadu Fofie were recognised in the individual category.



For the competitive awards category, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Ghana emerged as the Best Life Insurer for good corporate governance with B5 Plus Limited being adjudged the best under Fabricated Metal Industry category with the Zenith Bank taking the Best in Universal Banking whiles the multimedia Group Limited was awarded a Special Recognition for their good work in the media terrain.



Speaking at the awards, the President of IOD-GH, Mr Rockson Dogbegah called on stakeholders to rally support behind the passage of the Directors Bill into law.



He said the Bill which was currently with the Ministry of Education for consideration, when passed, would ensure ethical standards for good corporate practice which would inure to organisational growth and development.



The week long celebration discussed issues around corporate governance and leadership in promoting the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda while focusing on strategic capacity development sessions that would equip directors with tools to manage turnarounds with the potential to help rebuild post COVID-19 pandemic and explore opportunities for members to examine their governance structures and assess their degree of preparedness to dealing with recovery and corporate turnarounds.



Institute of Directors Ghana



Established on 21st May, 1999 with an eleven-member Council, the Institute of Directors Ghana is a professional organization committed to the professional practice of Corporate Directorship. Our purpose is to champion director professionalism and development through good corporate governance for the benefit of organizations, stakeholders and the prosperity of Ghana.



It committed to recognizing and unlocking members potential through the provision of world-class learning opportunities, knowledge sharing, networking, mentorship and promotion of world-class standards in corporate governance.



After 20 years of operations under the Companys Code, the Institute is now registered as a Professional Body under the Professional Bodies Registration Act 1973 (NRCD 143) with registration number: PB-71 effective August, 31 2020.

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.

Featured Video
The school that would win this years National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) walks away with a grand prize of GH80,000 in addition to an Excellence Award of GH40,000 by Absa Bank.



According to the Managing Director of Primetime Limited, Nana Akua Ankomah-Asare there are lots of prizes to be won by the contending schools.



She told JoyNews that the main prize for the finalist schools; Prempeh College, Keta Senior High Technical School (Keta SHTS), and Presbyterian Secondary School (PRESEC) is sponsored by the Ghana Education Service (GES).



GH80,000 total going to the first place school. GH40,000 to the school, GH20,000 to the students, and GH20,000 to the teachers. Its an annual affair for the school and the team that wins it.



The first runner-up is set to take home GHS30,000 to the school, GHS17,000 to the team of students, and GH17,000 to the teachers. So thats GH64,000 total.



The school that would place third is to receive, GH50,000. GH20,000 to the school, GH15,000 to the students, and GH15,000 to the teachers.



Mrs. Ankomah-Asare also disclosed on the AM Show that partner-sponsor of the contest, Absa Bank Ghana Limited would also be awarding the contestants who made it to the finale.



We have Absa Bank giving us the Excellence Awards, which is sort of like a complement to the main one, which is GH40,000 to the winning team. So it goes to the team. GH20,000 to the teachers, GH20,000 students.



And then GH30,000 to the second place school which is GH15,000 to the teachers, and GH15,000 to students. And then GH20,000 to the third place team, to be shared Gh10,000 to the students, GH10,000 to the teachers.



Meanwhile, contestants for the three schools scheduled to compete in this years National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ) finals have vowed to deliver another action-packed contest on Friday, November 26.



The finale is set to take place at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at 2pm.



Mrs. Ankomah-Asare hinted of a new award for the most influential jama base.



There is an award for that. Goil is sponsoring that. Its a new award. But they want it to be decent. Thats the catch, Jama, yes. But decent.





Source: Joy News









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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.
The chief of Ngleshie Lafa-Barima Nmarko, Nii Ayi Okufobour I, has condemned in no uncertain terms the action of his nephew one Nii Ponponsuo who was seen brandishing a pump-action gun in a viral video on social media.



In the video the guy could be heard running his mouth and mentioning the name Okufoubour, Asafoatsemei and Shipimei who have trained them and was grateful to them.



The name that was mentioned as Okufoubour is the chief of Ngleshie Lafa-Barima Nmarko, which falls under the Ngleshie Alata of James Town, Nii Ayi Okufobour I.



In an interview with this portal after news broke of the incident, a very worried Nii expressed disgust over the matter and wondered why his boy decided to do the unthinkable by engaging in the acts he did if indeed he has his head properly screwed up.



Ni explained that the acquisition of the gun came about when armed robbers attacked his family some years ago, this development had huge phycological impact on members of his family especially his children and thats why he sent his daughters to boarding school since the trauma was too hard for them to bear because guns were pointed at them during the invasion of his house by armed robbers.



This is the reason why he purchased and licensed the gun to use as his personal weapon although the gun had been registered in the name of the stool and also brought his nephew to the house to beef up security for his household, so it came to him as a huge surprise when his boy did the unthinkable.



According to Nii, his nephew was not arrested by the police at any hide out as stated by in the press release issued by the police over the matter, but he personally upon receiving the video from a source via WhatsApp picked (Nii Ponponsuo} up and handed him over to the police immediately his attention was drawn to the incident he described as unfortunate.



Nii condemned the action of the boy in the strongest of terms explaining that in as such much as the incident happened some years ago, the actions of the boy cannot and would not be tolerated, stressing that what is wrong is wrong and should not and must not be tolerated in every way form or shape.



Nii stated that this not the first time he has personally effected the arrest of persons or individuals who have fall foul of the law and gave several instances where he has and caused to be arrested people of that nature.



Nii applauded the police for their swift response and encouraged them to apply the law without fear or favor.



Nii disclosed that the family are up in arms with him over his resolve to ensure that the law takes it course in the matter by his singular act of handing the boy over to the police, but he insisted that the country is governed by laws and regulations and no one is above the law and so he must be dealt with.



In furtherance, he lashed out media general operators of TV3 a local Tv station for going to town when the issue broke out without doing any due diligence on the matter because most of things, they said in their commentary on the matter are untruths.



Nii recalled that this is not the first time the station has peddled untruths about him and urged them to do the needful when issues of this nature surfaces.



Nii had a word for his detractors, according to him some people he has issues with, with respect to land and boundary matters have taken delight in hanging on the unfortunate incident to throw dust at him, he said this too shall pass because he was unaware of the incident and thats why when he got wind of it, he did the needful.



It could be recalled that the Police issued a statement that they have arrested one Nii Ponponsuo who was seen brandishing a pump-action gun in a viral video on social media.



The suspect in the viral video was seen loading cartridges into the pump-action gun and making threatening utterances.



In a Facebook post, the Ghana Police Service announced that the suspect was arrested on November 22, 2021, after the Police Intelligence Directorate conducted a special exercise leading to his arrest.



The Police, after reviewing the video conducted a special exercise that led to the suspects arrest from his hideout. A search conducted led to the retrieval of one 12 bore SB pump-action gun, the Facebook post indicated.

Currently, the suspect is assisting the Police with investigation.



The Service cautioned the general public, especially, individuals who have a penchant for the display of weapons and issuing threats to desist from such unlawful acts.



It added that Anyone arrested will be dealt with according to law.









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The Africa Centre for Retirement Research (ACRR) fears the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) may not be able to fully pay benefits of pensioners after 2037 if the latest actuarial valuation report is anything to go by.



The think tank asserted that the scheme is facing medium- to long-term sustainability danger.



Interacting with journalists on Wednesday, November 24, the Executive Director of ACRR, Abdallah Mashud, observed that if necessary steps are not taken, Ghanas social security scheme will bend to its knees.



Mr Mashud cited how the 2014 actuarial valuation exercise pegged a depletion of SSNITs resources by 2042.



Three years later, that is, the subsequent valuation in 2017, however, predicts that the reserves [will] deplete in 2037, five years earlier, he told journalists.



What this means is that if Parliament, policymakers and stakeholders do not undertake the necessary steps to address the imbalance in the social security finances through parametric and legislative reforms, the Trust funds are unable to pay full scheduled benefits on timely basis in 2037.



Suggestions have been made for the retirement age to be increased from 60 years to 62 years, especially by 2037.



ACRR is, however, of the opinion that, considering the SSNIT pensioners post-retirement mortality pattern, increasing retirement age by two years will result in more members dying in service, instead of in pension, he said.



He called on government to rather pay up its indebtedness to SSNIT.



Government indebtedness to the Trust continues to hurt the schemes compliance rates and schemes long-term sustainability.



Delays in the payment of due contributions by government has been cited in the actuarial valuation reports as hampering the schemes level of investible funds.



He fears the next actuarial valuation report may even pose threatening outcomes to pensioners and Ghanaian workers in general as a result of the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.



The next actuarial valuation report will be based on data for the period January 2018 to December 2020. Firstly, considering the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial markets, the Trust may as well report another fiscal year loss on its investments.



Secondly, the rate of growth of the pensioner population continues to outstrip the corresponding growth rate of contributors. Evidently, the number of workers contributing to support a pensioner dropped further from 9 contributors per pensioner in 2013 to 7 in 2020.



Therefore, based on income-expenditure dynamics among other considerations for the period 2018 to 2020 and its expected impact on reserves, the depletion date for the next valuation may come earlier than 2037.

Source: 3news.com









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The Huawei Seeds for the Future has trained some 50 women as part of efforts to increase women participation in the digital technology space.



There is a long term vision of training about 20,000 females in ICT through a collaboration between the government of Ghana and Huawei.



Deputy Communications and Digitization Minister, Ama Pomaa Boateng, congratulating the ladies said it is time for our women after going through this intensive Digital capacity building program from Huawei to take opportunity to build and establish their businesses.



"Women participation in technology is my priority and that of the ministry. It is my aim to contribute to bridging the gender gap in Ghana and beyond," she added.



She indicated that the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization has a plan and is preparing the girl child to compete globally and determination and planning is key in achieving a brighter future," she said. Madam Boateng said they have also engaged Huawei to offer digital skills training to over 20,000 girls across the country and "we continue to grow that number."



Huawei, a world leading telecom giant looks to make ICT accessible to all especially women and younger entrepreneurs.

Deputy Managing Director of Huawei Technologies Ghana, Kweku Essuman Quansah, said the Company has been an organization that provides equal opportunities for all.



He said it was for this reason that "we decided to dedicate this year's Seeds of the Future Programme to women in STEM."He noted that this year, through the Ministry some female students from various Universities across the country had the opportunity to experience technologies in ICT and dialogue with experts.



"l believe the tour of Huaweis 5G Exhibition Hall as well as courses on Huaweis ICT talent ecosystem has broaden their horizon and their understanding deepen.



"As a leading global ICT solutions provider, Huawei is committed to expanding our presence in Ghana and see will offer Ghanaian customers innovative ICT products, services, and solutions and collaborate within the local industry, " he added.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









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The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party has questioned why the Speaker of Parliament did not assume the role of a road toll collection personnel after directing the Roads and Highways Minister to withdraw a statement announcing the cessation of collection of road tolls.



Mr. Amoako-Attah directed the cessation of the collection of road and bridge tolls nationwide, effective Thursday, November 18, 2021.



Speaking in the Central Region, John Boadu backed the Roads and Highways Minister, arguing that the decision was timely to avert possible chaotic situations at toll collection points in the country.



Although he admitted that the Speaker was right in asking the Minister to reverse his directive, John Boadu insisted that Kwasi Amoako- Attah did nothing wrong.



Technically, the Speaker was right. If Parliament enacts a law, then only Parliament has the authority to repeal that law. But what the Road Minister did was also right, because the announcement of the scrapping of the payment of road tolls would have caused confusion at the toll collection centers. He only suspended the operationalisation of toll collection, not the law. If he had not done that, there would have been chaos at the toll booth. With all due respect, why did the Speaker himself not go to the various toll collection points to take tolls after issuing the directive to the Minister?, he asked.



Meanwhile, the comment by the NPP stalwart has been condemned by the ranking member of Parliaments Roads and Transport Committee.



Joining the debate on the 2022 budget on the floor of Parliament, Kwame Governs Agbodza described John Boadus comments as contemptuous.



He demanded an apology from him to the House and asked that he be hauled before Parliament for disrespecting the Speaker.

He contended that failure to take action against him will serve as a bad precedent and will encourage others to do the same.



Mr. Amoako-Attahs directive came hours after the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta announced in Parliament that motorists who ply tolled roads across the country, will no longer be required to pay tolls immediately after the 2022 budget is approved.



This action by Mr. Amoako Attah was not taken lightly by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin.



The Speaker subsequently directed the Roads and Highways Minister to withdraw his statement announcing the cessation of the road tolls.



Almost a week after the Speakers order, Mr. Amoako-Attah is still in defiance of the directive.



According to Kwame Agbodza who is the MP for Adaklu Constituency, Ghana will lose about $10million by November if the collection of road tolls does not resume.

Source: myjoyonline.com









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A Law lecturer of the University of Ghana, Professor Raymond Akongburo Atuguba, has hinted that he has approached some Members of Parliament (MPs) to sponsor a Private Members Bill titled Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.



He explained that the Bill would focus on criminalizing adultery, as Ghana is over 90 percent Christian and Moslem.



Adultery is contained in the Ten Commandments. Despite Sodom and Gomorrah, God, in His infinite wisdom, did not list LGBTQ in the Ten Commandments. Again, as you know, the Bible decrees the death penalty for adulterers in Leviticus 20:10.



"Since Ghana is over 90 percent Christian and Moslem, and the Quran and Hadith provide that in case of married male committing adultery with a married female, they shall receive one hundred lashes and be stoned to death. I am sure this bill will be roundly supported, Professor Atuguba, who is Dean of the University of Ghana Law School, said this yesterday in Accra when he made a presentation on the topic,'Achievement and Enduring Legacy of the 1992 Constitution'.



It was organized by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS), as part of the Academys 2021 founders week celebration. It was on the theme: the 1992 constitution: fitness for purpose in the 21st century.



Professor Atuguba defined adultery as sexual relations other than with ones lawful wife, or husband, not wives or husbands.



Attempted adultery is easy to determine from this definition. So, a Moslem married to more than one wife commits adultery if he has sexual relations with any of the wives, other than the first wife".



In close fidelity to the Bible and the Quran, the Criminal Procedure Act will be amended to include stoning as a method of execution, reserved for only this crime, he said.



Professor Atuguba said medically, adultery increases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, lowers educational and health outcomes, as many adulterous persons would rather spend money on amorous trips to Dubai and other places, plus expensive shopping, rather than invest in the education and health of their children.



Naturally, we will start implementation with our representatives in Parliament, our honorable MPs, so that they indeed live honorable lives. We will apply resources to a new institution, the Watchdogs against Adultery.



"We will train them to smell, sense, discover, report, take action against adultery and attempted adultery, and be rewarded for anti- adultery activities, he said.





Source: The Ghanaian Times









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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has announced the first of a series of town hall meetings to discuss the 2022 budget statement presented by Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.



According to a press release by the National Communications Bureau of the party, the first edition will be held on Tuesday, November 30 at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.



The release called the budget Awudie budget, to wit a killer budget.



This event is being organised under the auspices of the National Communications Bureau of the Party, National Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi stressed in the release on Friday, November 26, and is intended to inform the general public about the content of the 2022 budget statement, what it means or holds for Ghanaians, and the position of the NDC on same.



The budget, christened Agyenkwa Budget by the Minister of Finance, is set to be voted on in Parliament on Friday, November 26.



There have been disagreements between the Majority and Minority on some of the policies announced in the budget.

While the Majority is calling for an approval of the budget, the Minority is seeking a rejection of some of the policies like the Electronics Transaction Levy or e-levy to be charged on mobile money transactions as well as all digital transactions.



The NDC caucus in Parliament isnt available to be convinced by him to support governments draconian taxes, wrote NDC Member of Parliament Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.



We were sent to Parliament by the Ghanaian people not him.





Source: 3news.com









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A pro-NPP group, Fixing The Country Movement, is calling on Parliament to approve 2022 Budget proposal for the government to succeed.



In a statement signed by its convener, Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah, the group said, "The budget primarily focussed on expanding on Ghana's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as creating a climate-friendly entrepreneurial state to address unemployment and import substitution."



The group further stated that "The government is looking more of stabilisation as about revitalization and transformation of the economy and there's investment in health, education, youth entrepreneurship and the digital economy."



Read the full statement below;



After a careful reading and studying of the 2022 budget statement, the Fixing The Country Movement deems it fit to add our voice to the call by well meaning Ghanaians for the august house of Parliament to approve the budget proposals in the national interest.



The budget primarily focussed on expanding on Ghana's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as creating a climate-friendly entrepreneurial state to address unemployment and import substitution.



A cursory look at the breakdown of the tax components and proposals shows that the Akufo-Addo government is building a resilient economy with a brighter future for the Ghanaian people.



The 2022 budget also heralds a greater fiscal policy where job creation remain sound, whereas the expansionary fiscal policy, among other things, is clearly aimed at boosting jobs.



For instance, the Ghc1billion YouStart INITIATIVE comes on board as a New Youth Entrepreneurship Programme.



The government is looking more of stabilisation as about revitalization and transformation of the economy and there's investment in health, education, youth entrepreneurship and the digital economy.



It was the Former Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie who remarked that, "We pay a price when special interests win out over the collective national interest"



Parliament ought to put this Chris Christie quote into right perspective and allow Ghana's national interest to win above partisan politics.



We call on both the majority and minority groups to do the needful approve the 2022 government economic policy with ease.





Long live Ghana!!



(Signed)

Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah

Political Strategist, Convener- Fixing The Country Movement





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Bagbin has denied allegations of bias levelled against him by a section of Parliamentarians.



A statement from the Public Affairs Directorate of Parliament assured citizens that allegations of bias are unfounded and should not be entertained.



This statement follows the rejection of the 2022 budget on Friday.



All 137 Minority MPs rejected the motion to approve the budget after the Majority staged a walkout.



The Majority had accused the Speaker of being biased after he asked Ministers who were not MPs to leave the chambers but turned a blind eye to the presence of the General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah.



Speaking to this, the statement said approval of budgets are sometimes characterized by disagreements but usually, the House is able to come to some agreement. The events that have characterized the scrutiny of this particular budget is no exception.



The Speaker said hes aware of the National nature of the budget and the need to do what is best for the entire citizenry.



Attached is the full statement

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Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all. I do not exist, am not an entity in this world or the next, did not descend from Adam or Eve or any origin story. My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. Neither body or soul. I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being.

Rumi was raised in the Islamic faith and his father, Baha Valad, occasionally preached at the local mosque and as a Sunni jurist. Rumi eventually came to be identified with Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam and "a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God and shuns materialism," accoring to The New York Times. But Rumi's work has been lauded for expressing peace and tolerance and "his doctrine advocates tolerance, reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love, looking with the same eye on Muslims, Jews, Christians and others alike," according to the UMass Rumi Club website.

But among Rumi's shorter works, Farzad is drawn to one that alludes to the biblical and Quranic story of the creation of man, which she says can be translated as:

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The dew of Love

turned a lump of clay

into Adam

and the whole world

was stirred with fervour and joy

A hundred cupid lances pierced the veins of Spirit,

one drop fell to earth

and they named it Heart!

4. His Message Is of Self-Empowerment and Spiritual Development

From the dust of the earth to a human being,

there are a thousand steps.

I have been with you through these steps,

I have held your hand and walked by your side.

And I will be with you

as you move beyond this human form

and soar to the highest heavens.

"Rumi's message of universal love, tolerance of religion and race, self-empowerment, spiritual development and enlightenment are truly timeless and timely for today's audiences," says author Shahram Shiva, founder of Rumi Network and author of "Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi." "Those few lines talk about the promise of self-realization, enlightenment and ultimately ascension, where you evolve beyond the boundaries of a mere human to much higher aspirations."

5. He Is a Pop Culture Phenomenon to This Day

This being human is a guest house

Every morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

This particular passage from the poem, "The Guest House," gained popularity in an unlikely context: it was featured on a Coldplay album. As Rozina Ali wrote for The New Yorker in 2017, the "erasure of Islam from Rumi's poetry started long before Coldplay got involved." But as the poet and his work have been adopted and adapted in the Western world, the fact remains that passages like this one are steeped in Muslim teachings  an important aspect of Rumi's work that's often ignored in modern Western discussions of his poetry. As Ali points out, "The Guest House" is from Rumi's six-book epic, the Masnavi, which is "riddled with Arabic excerpts from Muslim scripture; the book frequently alludes to Koranic anecdotes that offer moral lessons."

" " People visit the Mevlana Museum, the mausoleum of Rumi, to celebrate his life and study his works. ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images

"It would be nice if people could go beyond the breathless renditions of a handful of Rumi poems which have been the backdrop of fashion and catwalk shows for example, or (although poorly translated and completely removed from the original) are YouTube or Instagram hits," Farzad says. "It would be good if people paused to remember that Rumi was first and foremost a scholar of Islamic philosophy and mysticism, that his poetry was composed during one of the most turbulent periods of the 13th century, and has a depth and breadth that is rarely considered. I worry that sometimes the real scholar is overshadowed by the parody of a whirling and hopping and skipping guru that was created in the late 20th century."

Rumi died on Dec. 17, 1273 in Konya in south-central Turkey. His body was carried through the city by a crowd of local Jews and Christians and he was buried beside his father in a splendid shrine, the Yesil Turbe, or Green Tomb, which is today the Mevlana Museum.

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Now That's Interesting There are dozens of pages of Rumi quotes excerpted on the site Goodreads, but the one with the most "likes" (8,610 to be exact) is this one: "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."
Zelensky warns Ukraine 'entirely prepared' if Russia attacks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed a coup plot had been uncovered involving Russian citizens (AFP/Handout)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russia was sending "very dangerous" signals with troop movements on the border, warning that his military was ready to push back any offensive.

He also claimed Kiev had uncovered a coup plot involving Russian citizens, but did not give full details.

His warning came as Western governments raise worries over Russian troop movements on Ukraine's border, with Washington saying it has "real concerns" over the troop build-up.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned that "if Russia uses force against Ukraine, that will have costs, that will have consequences".

Zelensky, in a wide-ranging press conference in Kiev, said that "very dangerous rhetoric is coming out of Russia".

"It is a signal that there could be escalation," he said.

Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to take on Russia if Moscow decides to move troops across the border.

"There is a threat today that there will be war tomorrow," he said, adding that Kiev's "powerful" army was "entirely prepared", as his forces reported one soldier killed on the frontline with separatists in the east on Friday.

Zelensky called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to deny he was planning an invasion.

- 'Deeply concerned' -

Stoltenberg repeated Western concerns about the build-up and issued his warning of "consequences" should Russia launch a military assault on Ukraine.

The NATO chief said a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Latvia's capital Riga next week would address the massing of Russian military units on the border, which provides "very strong reasons to be deeply concerned".

For Washington "It is not acceptable for Russia to continue to potentially use military action against Ukraine, said US Assistant Secretary for Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried.

"All options are on the table," she said. "What we're doing now is monitoring the region closely, consulting with our allies and partners on how do we deter Russian action."

Story continues

Meanwhile British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, on a visit to London, expressed their "unwavering support for Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to a Downing Street spokesman.

On Sunday, Ukraine's chief of defence intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that Russia had around 92,000 troops massed at the Ukraine border, with an offensive expected in January or February.

Such an attack could involve air and artillery strikes, followed by airborne and amphibious assaults, Budanov told the US media outlet Military Times.

Moscow has dismissed all such accusations and blamed Washington for raising tensions in the region.

The Kremlin has also accused Kiev of "provocations" in its years-long conflict with pro-Russian separatists in two breakaway eastern regions.

- 'Billion-dollar' coup plot -

Zelensky said Kiev had information on "representatives of Russia" trying to involve influential Ukrainian oligarch Rinat Akhmetov in a coup plot.

He said Ukraine had an audio recording as evidence of the plot, with Russians "discussing" Akhmetov's role in the coup "for a billion dollars."

He said it was planned for early December with the aim of "rocking the situation inside our country."

Asked about the claims, the Kremlin said "Russia never does such activities."

Akhmetov dismissed the claim as a "lie".

This week Kiev warned Moscow that it would "pay dearly" for any aggression.

Putin has meanwhile raised concerns over US-led military exercises in the Black Sea -- a sensitive region for Russia, which controls the Crimea peninsula since annexing it from Kiev.

He has also criticised Kiev for using a Turkish-made drone against separatists, saying the move violated peace agreements.

In a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday, Putin said he was concerned that "provocations" by Kiev would inflame tensions in eastern Ukraine.

He also pointed out "the need to end Kiev's policy of discriminating against the Russian-speaking population".

Zelensky warned Friday that Russia had used the reasoning of "defending one people or another" as a pretext for aggression before.

The Ukrainian army was caught off guard by Russia's annexation of Crimea but its soldiers have since accumulated combat experience and received arms and hardware from Western allies, particularly the United States which has committed $2.5 billion in support of Ukraine's forces since 2014.

The conflict in the east has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2014.

ant/pop/tbm/pvh/ach
Scientists are calling for a new start in efforts to safeguard biodiversity. The photo shows a northern flicker (Colaptes auratus L.). Credit: Marten Winter, iDiv

To achieve global goals for biodiversity conservation, national level implementation must be significantly improved. National policy instruments need to precisely define effective actions and the actors responsible for implementation. Accountability needs to be ensured through systematic monitoring of progress. These recommendations are at the core of a 3-step framework proposed by an international team of scientists led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), published in the journal Conservation Letters. The authors stress the need for urgency to avoid repeating failures of past international agreements and to move to effective implementation of agreed policy targets. One mistake in particular should be avoided.

Next spring, government envoys are convening at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Kunming, China, to negotiate new global biodiversity goals for the coming decades within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Looking back, the international community has repeatedly failed to reach most of its biodiversity targets. For instance, according to Eurostat, the populations of common farmland birds in Europe have declined by 17% since 2000. Continuous declines in biodiversity pose a major threat to human health and wellbeing.

A team of 55 scientists has now proposed a framework on how to effectively implement international biodiversity goals at the national and sub-national level. The framework consists of three interlinked steps: Step one is to translate global targets into national targets and action plans, identifying clearly the sectors responsible for implementation; agriculture, infrastructure, trade, finance, and others. According to the authors, these action plans need to be co-designed by a wide range of actors from different sectors. This is to engender a strong, joint ownership of action plans and to overcome responsibility gaps. For instance, farmers' associations should identify actions important for agro-biodiversity and for pollination services, or the financial sector should leverage investment decisions to foster social and environmental change.

Step two calls for implementing actions across sectors. This requires the full range of effective behavioral intervention tools to be employedbeyond simple awareness-raising. Here, a major challenge is the need to redesign existing regulatory frameworks, finance flows and network structures, which currently support actions harmful to biodiversity. This is the case for many subsidies, e.g., in agricultural policy. According to the scientists, effective finance mechanisms are needed to boost ecosystem restoration. Current CBD plans aim at placing 20% of degraded ecosystems under restoration by 2030. "We need to recover from past biodiversity loss and put ambitious restoration into action to bend the curve," says Dr. Andrea Perino, researcher at iDiv and first author of the publication. "Substantial investments by different sectors and comprehensive restoration plans will safeguard ecosystem health and human well-being into the future."

Step three is about assessing the progress made and holding actors accountable. To enable accountability, countries must implement national biodiversity monitoring systems, the authors write. These monitoring systems should be able to trace biodiversity change back to sectors and administrative units, including production and consumption impacts. "There is one mistake we must not repeat; this is not precisely defining concrete target outcomes and responsible actors," says Prof. Henrique Pereira, corresponding author and research group head at iDiv and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. "A new framework that does not ensure accountability is doomed to failure. We need systematic and effective real-time monitoring: It is time to hold actors accountable."

The scientists emphasize that these three steps are interlinked and must be refined with each implementation cycle. They are convinced that adopting this framework will move national and subnational governments forward in safeguarding national and global biodiversity. "We need to act boldly, now, to halt and reverse biodiversity loss," says Prof. Aletta Bonn, senior author and research group head at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental ResearchUFZ, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and iDiv. "Governments need to systematically translate the global biodiversity goals into concrete national action, and ensure responsible accountability across sectors. We urge fast and reliable investments into securing our life-support systemfor the future of our children."

Explore further Researchers propose necessary corrections in global biodiversity policy

More information: Andrea Perino et al, Biodiversity post2020: Closing the gap between global targets and nationallevel implementation, Conservation Letters (2021). Journal information: Conservation Letters Andrea Perino et al, Biodiversity post2020: Closing the gap between global targets and nationallevel implementation,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/conl.12848

Provided by German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The benefits to humans most commonly associated with wild ungulatessuch as deer, hippos, wild boar, or giraffesare hunting (and the food-source it represents for many communities) and their aesthetic value. This is one of the conclusions of a scientific literature review led by researchers from the Ecology Area of the Miguel Hernandez University of Elche (MHU), in which scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) also participated. In the study, the benefits and detriments associated with wild ungulates were studied on a global scale.

Wild hoofed animals or ungulates are becoming increasingly prolific and more widely distributed throughout Europe and North America. They are also recolonizing many areas where they once had a strong presencedecades or even centuries agoand from which they were eradicated. By contrast, in Africa and Asia, ungulate populations are suffering significant decline due to land use for human expansion. According to the study, for these reasons, there is more and more interaction between ungulates and people. Some aspects of this mutual interaction are positive and others negative. To assess this scenario, the researchers analyzed 575 scientific articles to determine which benefits and detriments generated by wild ungulates were discussed in scientific publications between 2000 and 2019.

Among the human-wildlife conflicts mentioned in scientific publications, damage to agriculture, silviculture, and natural vegetation stand out in particular, as well as traffic collisions. According to the researchers, since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of annual publications on wild ungulates and their interaction with people has risen. So has the number of benefits that have been examined in scientific publications (mentioned in 50.3% of the publications included in the literature review), despite the fact that the majority of publications center on the conflicts with humans generated by ungulates (which appear in 93.7% of the cases analyzed).

From this analysis of scientific publications, seven research clusters related to wild ungulates were identified, dealing with: herbivory and natural vegetation; silvicultural damage in Eurasia; agricultural damage in Mediterranean agro-ecosystems; agricultural damage in North America; conflicts in urban areas of North America; natural American Northwest areas; and social research in Africa and Asia.

In Europe and North America

These primary research clusters are centered mainly in Europe and North America, with five of them focusing on these parts of the world (accounting for 70.6% of the publications analyzed). This is despite the fact that only 7% of ungulates inhabit Europe and North America, suggesting that there is a clear geographical bias in the investigation of these species. The one line of research that is being conducted in developing countries (Africa and Asia) includes social aspects in its studies that encourage coexistence with wild ungulates and their conservation. It is also the line of research that most clearly highlights the benefits associated with wild ungulates.

In their conclusions, the Spanish researchers point out that despite the negative aspects traditionally associated with wild ungulates, in recent years the benefits that they can also contribute to socio-ecological systemssuch as tourism or the maintenance of habitatshave become more evident. They observe that the interactions between humans and wild ungulates require significant cooperation between the different social agents involved (managers, conservationists, hunters, or farmers), and will do so to an even greater degree in the future. Here, it is critical to implement management measures that support the coexistence of wildlife and people. In view of the results of the present study, the researchers consider that the scientific perspective should take into account all aspects of wild ungulates (both positive and negative) relative to the functioning of ecosystemswhich, in most cases, have been transformed by humansif this coexistence is to be facilitated.

The multidisciplinary team that conducted this study comprises researchers from the Ecology area of MHU in collaboration with researchers from Spain's Institute for Game and Wildlife Research (IREC-CSIC, UCLM, JCCM), the University of Alicante, the University of Granada, and the Complutense University of Madrid, and international centres including the Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), WWF-US (United States), University of British Columbia (Canada), and Leuphana University Luneburg (Germany).

Explore further Body size, digestive systems shape ungulate foraging

More information: Roberto Pascual-Rico et al, Usually hated, sometimes loved: A review of wild ungulates' contributions to people, Science of The Total Environment (2021). Journal information: Science of the Total Environment Roberto Pascual-Rico et al, Usually hated, sometimes loved: A review of wild ungulates' contributions to people,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149652
The Keio-NUS CUTE Center used a 3D printed Silicone Mould Casting Process to create these shoes for birds suffering from bumblefoot. A bird foots key dimensions and toe angles are used to create a customised 3D printed shoe mould and this optimises the shoe design for comfort, protection and ventilation. The mould is then used to make a silicone-casted shoe. Credit: National University of Singapore

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology now has a new addition to its list of useful applicationsproducing protective shoes for birds. In a first for Asia, Jurong Bird Park's avian veterinary team and the Keio-NUS CUTE Center at the National University of Singapore (NUS) jointly embarked on a two-year effort to create silicone shoes casted from 3D printed molds for the wildlife park's birds of prey. This collaboration has achieved an effective treatment plan for a medical condition known as pododermatitis or "bumblefoot" in birds.

Pododermatitis results in pressures sores, tissue swelling and callouses, and if left untreated, could become disabling and even fatal. The protective silicone shoes were designed to relieve and redistribute pressure on the weight-bearing surface of the patient's feet, as well as aid in the recovery of the degenerative condition of the avian foot. Under certain conditions, some birds tend to spend longer periods perched on their feet. The continual pressure and weight on their feet can cause sores and swelling. In addition, arthritiswhich is common in geriatric birdscan also lead to issues such as pododermatitis. In developing this treatment plan, it also plays a part in enhancing the quality of life of the park's aging birds.

Dr. Xie Shangzhe, Acting Deputy Vice President, Conservation Research and Veterinary, Mandai Wildlife Group, said, "While pododermatitis can be treated with traditional bandages, we wanted a more bespoke and innovative solution to treat the patient. We decided to look into 3D printing because it provided a more precise way of distributing the force the feet have to bear away from the affected area. We had a good partnership with the Keio-NUS CUTE Center previously, and it was only natural for us to approach them again for this collaboration. The possibilities are far reaching when the engineering and veterinary sciences come together to work on real-world solutions."

Credit: National University of Singapore

The Keio-NUS CUTE Center started research and design of the shoe two years ago. After 2 months of intensive creative development, the final shoe design was completed and a custom-made protective shoe was developed for its first patient, Walter the 21-year-old female hooded vulture.

After recovering from her first shoe treatment that lasted 17 weeks in 2019, Walter was released to the Birds of Prey aviary. But love had other plans. She started displaying courtship behavior with another bird and preparing a nesting area. The nesting area was on a hard high rock ledge where she spent an extended amount of time perching, causing her bumblefoot condition to recur. Walter was once again fitted with the shoes and put under observation from August to October this year. Her symptoms improved dramatically during this period and Walter's shoes have since been removed. She will be discharged from her observation ward into a special aviary for retirees of the park's Kings of the Skies Show where another hooded vulture resides. If she's in the mood for love again and nesting behaviors are observed, Walter will be provided with a suitable nesting area to prevent reoccurrences of the condition.

"A big advantage of 3D printing is the flexibility to customize the shoes according to the varying sizes, shapes and conditions of each bird's foot. The team at the Keio-NUS CUTE Center worked closely with Jurong Bird Park to design a shoe that was appropriate in terms of measurement, material and usability according to the bird type and its unique usage behaviors. 3D technology has been a new approach to building and evaluating ideas through prototyping. This collaboration with the Jurong Bird Park has given us the opportunity to experiment with interesting ways to incorporate the Center's existing 3D capabilities and processes like 3D printing, silicone casting, and material explorations such as better elasticity, durability, and more, to achieve truly unique outcomes," said Associate Professor Yen Ching-Chiuan, Co-Director of the Keio-NUS CUTE Center at NUS.

A comparison of Walter the hooded vultures feet before and after her first treatment with the shoes in 2019. The pressure sores in the centre of her feet cleared up after 17 weeks of wearing the shoes. Native to Sub-Sharan Africa, hooded vultures are critically endangered in the wild. Credit: Jurong Bird Park

In August 2021, another geriatric and Kings of the Skies retiree, Miguel the 31-year-old male Southern caracara, was also fitted with his own customized protective shoes. Miguel, who developed pododermatitis as a result of arthritis from his advanced age, saw remarkable improvement after two and a half months of wearing the shoes.

Veterinarian Dr. Ellen Rasidi oversaw the patients' recovery that included cleaning the shoes on a weekly basis and regular monitoring to review the progress of the healing on their feet. Miguel's shoes have been removed and he has also been discharged into the retirement aviary where he will spend his golden years with his fellow retiree birds of prey.

Miguel the Southern caracaras shoes were designed with holes to accommodate space for pododermatitis lesions. Credit: Jurong Bird Park

Earlier in the collaborative design process, the team at Keio-NUS CUTE Center had to design the shoe based on photos and measurements of the birds' feet provided by Jurong Bird Park. This task became more challenging as the team had to incorporate several design considerations. For example, the shoe had to serve its main purpose of relieving and distributing pressure on the weight-bearing foot, and it also had to be comfortable for the bird to remain active while wearing the shoes. In addition, the shoe needed to be easily removed and cleaned. The material used must be non-toxic and durable as the patients may pick at the shoe with their sharp beaks.

An early prototype of the shoe design printed directly from 3D processed dimensions. A 3D printer is able to print with flexible materials to accommodate the movement of bird feet but such materials lack elasticity, and shoes made from such materials are difficult to put on and are less durable. Credit: National University of Singapore

The team went through multiple iterations, experimenting with designs of different shapes, and fabrication methods, while improving shoe durability, material type and comfort, before successfully arriving at a shoe design that was suitable for treating the foot condition, while allowing for the best fit and comfort for the avian patients.

This is not the first time Jurong Bird Park and the Keio-NUS CUTE Center have worked together to use 3D-printing technology for veterinary care. In 2018, the Keio-NUS CUTE Center designed and fitted a 3D-printed prosthetic casque for Jary the great pied hornbill, who had his casque removed due to cancer. Jary has since made a full recovery and no longer needs his prosthesis.
Chinese scientists discover important clues regarding climate diversity in Southeast Asia, through analyses of deep seismic reflection profile of Tibetan Plateau. Credit: Earth Science Frontiers

Home to some of the highest mountains in the world, including the legendary Mount Everest, the vast Himalayan-Tibetan plateau is often referred to as the "Roof of the World." With an average elevation of 4500 meters above the sea level, the plateau towers over the rest of East and South Asia.

The concept behind the orogeny, or the formation of this mountainous region, is well understood. The portion of the Earth's crust under the ocean is swallowed by the deeper layers of the Earth in a process called subduction, pulling two continental plates together and making one of them "fold" over the other, leading to the production of mountains.

The Himalayan-Tibetan plateau is one of the most representative instances of intercontinental collision. Geophysicists have long believed that it is the ideal playground to study and untangle continental convergence, and thus plate tectonics. To that effect, scholars have been conducting seismic tests in the area since the 1950s.

Now, after decades of research, a team of Chinese scholars has published a study in Earth Science Frontiers, describing the structure of the crust under the Himalayan-Tibetan plateau, as well as the deep behaviors underlying the ongoing India-Eurasia collision. "The Himalayan-Tibetan plateau can be considered a sort of Rosetta Stone to unlocking the mysteries of continent-continent collision. The area can be regarded as the natural laboratory to investigate the phenomenon," says Professor Gao Rui of the Sun Yat-sen University, first author of the study.

The study utilizes a method called deep seismic reflection profiling to determine the fine architecture within the Tibetan Plateau. The technique involves sending artificially generated sound waves into the ground, where they meet different objects and structures which bounce back a portion of the sound waves. These sound waves are then detected and recorded on the surface and processed to develop a visual of the underground structure. The enormous size of the Tibetan Plateau, its height, and its inclement weather conditions are all factors that have contributed to the scale and difficulty of this daunting task.

Chinese scholars studied the Tibetan Plateau using deep seismic reflection profiling for over 20 years, overcoming several technical difficulties and bottlenecks to access the lowermost layer of the crust and the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or Moho. The Moho describes the boundary between the crust and the next layer of the earth, the mantle. The research team systematically documented the Tibetan Plateau's ongoing continental deformation and subduction processes in all directions as well as the Plateau's hinterland.

Their discoveries can be summarized in four key points. First, the Indian crust is experiencing northward subduction while its lower layers are varying in their thickness. Second, the subducting front of the Indian crust is in deep contact with the lower crust and the mantle "suture" of the Eurasian plate. Third, a crustal-scale vertical collision occurred between two regions of the Plateau, the Tethyan Himalayas and the Lhasa terrane. Finally, the Eurasian plate is subducting in a southward direction under the Qilian Mountains, resulting in a northward advancement of the Qilian crust.

Of their findings, Prof. Gao says, "What makes the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau so unique? Our study has the answers to that question. It also makes an enormous contribution to our understanding of the construction of continental orogenic range-basin systems."

The results of the study are sure to bring "seismic" change in our understanding of the Earth's crust, enabling us to better explore and exploit our natural resources and promising great strides to the fields of geophysics and tectonics.

More information: Gao Rui et al, Deep seismic reflection evidence on the deep processes of tectonic construction of the Tibetan Plateau, Earth Science Frontiers (2021). Gao Rui et al, Deep seismic reflection evidence on the deep processes of tectonic construction of the Tibetan Plateau,(2021). DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2021.8.10

Provided by Cactus Communications
Since a major portion of food waste happens at plate level, researchers are using digital technology to put sustainability back on the menu. Credit:  Rimma Bondarenko, Shutterstock

Food waste has reached colossal proportions, and the magnitude of the problem requires equally massive resources with the potential to supply sustainable answers. What better than the dynamic digital databases and advanced analytics we literally have access to "at our fingertips."

Around 88 million tons of food are wasted in the EU every yearfrom food on the plate we don't eat, out-of-date products and crop leftovers. This is equivalent to 170 kilos per person.

The need to reduce food waste is becoming increasingly urgent. With world hunger on the rise, wasting food is an ethical issue since it exacerbates food insecurity by depriving the poor of resources they badly need. Through decomposition in landfills, discarded food also contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, food waste contributes to 8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.

There's a way to solve the problem. Since a major portion of food waste happens at plate level, researchers are using digital technology to put sustainability back on the menu.

A problem shared is a problem halved

While urbanization with its high population density is a prime offender in the food waste arena, a city profile can be ideal for one solutionfood sharing. One ambitious action, led by Professor Anna Davies of the Geography, Environment and Society department at Trinity College in Dublin, is opening up access to waste schemes in urban sprawls.

Professor Davies is behind SHARECITY, an award-winning project that has examined city-based food sharing initiatives. Many of these initiatives have food waste reduction at their heart, whether that's through gleaning crop remnants, operating food redistribution hubs or running community kitchens using edible surplus. Examining ICT-mediated urban food sharing (apps, website and social media), it has explored what this high-tech response means for sustainable food transitions.

The research provides answers to questions about the impacts of urban food sharing and the barriers and challenges that sharing faces as well as where and how these initiatives can be made more effective. "As the project focuses on food sharing organizations that use ICT, we could identify a digital trace of their activities from our desks and then use their public profiles to map and categorize activities," she explained.

Since the start of the project in 2016, Professor Davies and her team have expanded their research from their home base in Dublin to cities across Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. What started as an idea to explore the role and impact of technology in city-based food sharing initiatives grew into an extensive open-access and interactive database that maps urban food sharing across six continents.

An online, free to use Impact Assessment toolkit was also developed called SHARE IT for food sharing initiatives to measure and communicate their contributions to sustainability. The project then created future scenarios and culminated with a manifesto for sustainable food sharing.

According to Professor Davies, the project's social and online media strategy was important because food sharing initiatives are often invisible. Having crowdsourced to look for new initiatives, she said, "We really needed to know from the grass roots what was going on. Revolutionizing the food system needs to be tailored to the local context."

Schemes promoted on the online database range from sharing traditional knowledge on leafy vegetables in Kenya to platforms to catalyze new approaches. One example is City Labs in Budapest which brings together policymakers, researchers, educators to work on their visions of the EU's FOOD 2030, which aims to guarantee Europe's future food systems through research and innovation.

"Six years of work has culminated in the European Research Council award-winning project SHARECITY producing not only the SHARECITY100 database mapping more than 4,000 initiatives and being viewed thousands of times by people from 93 countries, but also a bespoke toolkit to identify the sustainability impacts of those initiativesthe SHARE IT platform and a manifesto for sustainable food sharing," said Professor Davies.

Waste streams recover their value

Shifting from the city to the farm, digital-savvy researchers are also planting the seed of technological innovation to increase the value of waste in the agri-food industry. The potential of recovery of material from the waste could be as high as 60%, according to Dr. Tamara Fernandez of CEIT Technology Centre in Spain.

As coordinator of the MODEL2BIO project, Dr. Fernandez is working on a massive simulation of the production chains within the sector.

For instance, liquid lost when milk is separated to produce butter and cheese contains valuable ingredients for recovery. Staying with dairy, only at the supermarket, cheese trimmings can end up on the floor as machines slice cheese.

"The entire value chain will be simulated providing recommendations from a holistic perspective, including technical, economic, environmental and social factors," explained Dr. Fernandez.

Current waste management practices, which include putting in a landfill as the worst option, have to be improved to meet EU targets. The idea behind MODEL2BIO is to overhaul the processing of agricultural products and use the normal waste products, waste streams, in another industry.

"There are agri-food companies that treat and manage their residual streams as waste, without knowing that these may be raw materials for another industry close to their facilities." In addition to this, companies often manage their streams routinely, ignoring the possible value of their by-products.

When linear bends to become circular

After a year of information gathering, the second year will be dedicated to collecting information from other countries for comparison. "It's all about selecting the wastes with the greatest potential," Dr. Fernandez told us, 'to make more profit for the agri-food companies and to reduce impact on the environment." said Dr. Fernandez.

Projections for the MODEL2BIO system's impact are optimistic: agri-food residues destined for landfills decreased by 10% and overall carbon footprint reduced by 20%. Plus, a third of the waste could end up as resources for other bio-industries.

"We want to develop a tool that allows all members of the agri-food value chain to go from a linear economy that throws away its waste to a circular economy where it's recycled," said Dr. Fernandez.

Agri-food waste is a potential substitute for fossil-based resources such as compost and it has important added value if used as feedstock for bio-based industries. However, the mix of molecules and variety from batch to batch make it difficult to evaluate and use.

Again, the job in hand has all the hallmarks of a task ideal for big data processing and model simulation. Analysis of types of microbes in residual agri-food streams reveals their interference in beer fermentation, for example.

"Even when we limited the number of crops to meat, vegetable, dairy and alcoholic beverages, there are so many variables as to make it impossible to make sustainable decisions on using their waste products without the help of digital intervention," Dr. Fernandez concluded.

Explore further Five ways to cut down on food waste, and why it matters

More information: Click here for more details on the SHARE IT platform.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The species Gliricidiasepium is a deciduous tree, cultivated and used for a variety of purposes in tropical regions. In Zambia, it is used for timber, firewood, medicine, charcoal, living fences, and plantation shading. Additionally, both soil health and crop nutrition can be improved by the incorporation of the leguminous tree's leaf biomass.

In 2019, a joint research effort for demonstrating and documenting the effects of Gliricidia in different farming systems in Zambia was established. The emphasis of the project, coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), is to do in-depth analysis on the potential yield gains in maize-legume cropping systems using Gliricidia.

The project is now in its third year, and so far, the results are promising. Among other things, Gliricidia intercropping has proved to significantly reduce the tannin and phytic contents in soybeans, groundnuts, and maize grains. In addition, Gliricidia has increased the nitrogen content in grains, thereby increasing their protein content.

Field trials with crop and soil analyses from 15 sites

In the project, field trials with seven treatments at 15 sites in Zambia have been established. One of the treatments tested has included Gliricidia intercropping with maize, soybean, and groundnuts, with sole crops as control trials. Crop and soil samples from all sites have been collected and analyzed foramong other thingsnutritional properties, mycotoxins and microbial load.

In general, the results show that the treatments with intercropping of Gliricidia provide higher ash, total carbohydrate, starch, amylose, and crude fiber contents than the controls consisting of sole maize. In addition to the increased nitrogen level and reduction of tannin and phytic contents in various crops, improved functional properties have also been observed.

As far as the common mold fungi Aspergillus spp. is concerned, Gliricidia incorporation has had minimal effect on its occurrence and distribution in both soils and crops.

Lower mycotoxin prevalence with Gliricidia treatments

Overall, treatments with Gliricidia have resulted in lower mycotoxin prevalence, while sole maize registered with the highest levels. Gliricidia has also proved beneficial for soil fertility and carbon sequestration, with total organic carbons stocks in soils ranging from 17,625,6 C t/ha.

"So far, results from the project indicate that correlating available Gliricidia agroforestry technology with soil health can indeed improve crop nutrition," says Project Coordinator Dr. Udaya Sekhar Nagothu from NIBIO. "This research should help how Zambian small-scale farmers adopting Conservation Agriculture with agroforestry can contribute to healthier, more nutritious food crops."

This outcome is in line with the Norwegian Government's priority to invest in areas related to food security and nutrition. The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) recently extended its funding of the Gliricidia project period with one year.

Explore further The introduction of perennial plants among rainfed almond trees helps to mitigate climate change

Provided by NIBIO  Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Crowdsourcing is a method of problem solving that taps the intellectual potential and skills of a large number of people simultaneously, commonly by using the tools of social media and the internet. New research published in the International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing has investigated this phenomenon from the perspective of the various influencing factors and incentive strategies used to make crowdsourcing work the most effectively.

Xu Zhang, Zhanglin Peng, Qiang Zhang, Xiaonong Lu, and Hao Song of the School of Management at Hefei University of Technology in China, explain how crowdsourcing has been used in many different settings by companies, organizations, and innovators around the world. For instance, it has been used to guide the development of new products; it has been used in citizen science and data collection; to provide fodder for machine learning applications; for the testing of new software (often referred to alpha and beta testing); and it has even been used in political rallying and in the creative world to nudge performers and producers in a particular artistic direction or to specific places.

The team writes about how crowdsourcing was defined in 2006 by Jeff Howe as "the act of taking a task that is traditionally performed by an employee and outsourcing it to a large and undefined crowd of individuals through an open call."

The team has reviewed the research literature in this field and found that there are numerous factors influencing the behavior of individuals in the "crowd," including enjoyment and fun, monetary reward, peer recognition, skill improvement, self-marketing, a sense of belonging, work autonomy, altruism, and task complexity.

Their work offers related behavioral theories to explain the relationship between those influencing factors and how the crowd behaves when presented with a particular problem to be solved. They highlight the incentive strategies that might be used, from the perspective of both the requester and also the available crowdsourcing platforms. Finally, they discuss the current directions being taken by research and highlight new avenues that might be taken to allow the field to mature.

Explore further Study develops framework to help firms use crowdsourcing more effectively

More information: Xu Zhang et al, User participation behaviour in crowdsourcing initiatives: influencing factors, related theories and incentive strategies, International Journal of Ad Hoc and Ubiquitous Computing (2021). Xu Zhang et al, User participation behaviour in crowdsourcing initiatives: influencing factors, related theories and incentive strategies,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJAHUC.2021.119084
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

An international team of scientists, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has linked increased air pollution to an uptick in cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) worldwide. The same study also concluded an overall lower consumption of tobacco worldwide is statistically linked to less people contracting lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).

Lung adenocarcinoma is a type of cancer for which research strongly suggests that genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors play a part, while lung squamous cell carcinoma is often linked to a history of smoking.

This study, done in collaboration between NTU and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, showed that a 0.1 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3) increment of black carbon, also known as soot, in the Earth's atmosphere, is associated with a 12 percent increase in LADC incidence globally.

Black carbon is a pollutant that is classified as under PM2.5, and the research team found that it has increased globally by 3.6 g/m3yearly from 1990 to 2012.

Meanwhile, a one percent decline of smoking prevalence was associated with a nine percent drop in LSCC incidence globally. The number of smokers worldwide decreased by 0.26 percent a year, cumulatively falling by nearly six percent from 1990 to 2012.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer with an estimated 1.8 million deaths in 2020, according to CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Global statistics have highlighted the trends of lung cancers, but understanding what may be causing them has been unclear, until the NTU-led study, which has associated the incidence of the cancers with tobacco consumption and air pollution.

Professor Joseph Sung, NTU's Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences) and Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), who led the study, said, "In our study, we were able to determine that the global increase of lung adenocarcinoma is likely associated with air pollution. It had always been unclear, in the past decades, why we are seeing more females and more non-smokers developing lung cancer worldwide. Our study points to the importance of environmental factors in the causation of specific types of lung cancer."

Associate Professor Steve Yim, from NTU's Asian School of the Environment, who holds an appointment at LKCMedicine, the first author of the study, said, "Our study provided us with an indication as to the reason behind the rising trend of lung adenocarcinoma, despite the decreasing trend of smoking prevalence. Our findings pinpoint the necessity and urgency to reduce air pollutant emissions, especially black carbon."

The study analyzed data from the World Health Organization from 1990 to 2012 for data on lung cancers, while the dataset for age-standardized smoking prevalence rates from 1980 to 2012 was derived from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, an independent global health research center at the University of Washington. The statistics on pollution were obtained from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Pollutants that were analyzed were black carbon, sulfate, and PM 2.5.

The results of the study were published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Atmospheric Environment in November.

Gender and geography have a role to play

The links between lung cancers and black carbon also vary between different genders across different continents. For instance, the link between the pollutant and the incidence of both LADC and LSCC was stronger in females than in males.

Globally, a 0.1 g/m3annual increment of black carbon was linked to a 14 percent rise in LADC in women, compared to nine percent in men. As for LSCC, the same increase in the pollutant was linked to a 14 percent increase in females, compared to eight percent in the opposite sex.

The study found that the link between air pollutants and LADC varied across continents. In North America, a 0.1 g/m3 increment of black carbon was linked to a ten percent increase in LADC cases, compared to seven percent in Europe.

In the study, global data demonstrates that the drop in LSCC is more significant among males, said the researchers, and that the declining trend coincides with the declining trend of tobacco consumption.

However, despite the overall decreasing trend of tobacco usage, a positive association between smoking and LSCC was demonstrated for females in Asia, North America and Oceania, where a one percent increment in the number of female smokers was associated with a 12 percent increase of the cancer in those geographies.

Impact of population growth and rising air pollution

The scientists explained that despite lower overall percentage of smokers worldwide, there were more smokers worldwide due to massive population growth from 1980 to 2012, resulting in the number of female smokers increasing seven percent.

The rising incidence of LADC is particularly prominent in Asia, where emissions of black carbon and sulfate have been on the rise, according to the scientists.

LADC among males in Asia saw the largest increasing trend, increasing by 24 percent yearly, mainly contributed by the prominent rises in Japan (38 percent yearly) and South Korea (37 percent yearly). For females in Asia, LADC increased by 25 percent year, similarly, with both Japan (43 percent yearly) and South Korea (36 percent yearly) showing a clear increasing trend.

The researchers highlight the prominent trend of air pollution in Asia, in which black carbon (11.9 g/m3/year) and sulfate (35.4 g/m3/year) showed the highest increase worldwide, with South Korea presenting the largest increase for both pollutants.

The combustion of fossil fuel for power generation or transportation has long been known as the source of particulate air pollution in most urban settings. It also worsens climate change by increasing the carbon dioxide emissions, which cause global warming.

Prof Sung added, "Results of this study should give us fair warning that air pollution should be better controlled to protect health and avoid premature deaths from lung cancer or related illnesses, particularly in populations that live near urban areas, which are known to experience high levels of pollutant emissions. Air pollution, together with climate change, is one of the greatest environmental threats to human health. Our findings underscore the urgent need for further research into how pollutants such as black carbon and sulfate lead to the development of lung adenocarcinoma, and for international leaders and experts to look into mitigation strategies for air pollution."

Assoc Prof Yim added, "While national environmental regulatory bodies commonly measure and report on the levels of fine particulate matter, our results pinpoint the importance to measure individual types of particulates, especially, black carbon. The information would be useful for formulating effective emission control policies, supporting policies for sustainable development."

The team plans to carry out further research to investigate the functions of black carbon and sulfate in the development of LADC, which could lead to new studies to combat the surge of the cancer. The team also hopes to explore other pollutants that might be linked to lung cancers.

Explore further Balkan countries and Poland rank highest in lung cancer risk for ages 50 to 69, attributable to air pollution

More information: Steve H.L. Yim et al, Rise and fall of lung cancers in relation to tobacco smoking and air pollution: A global trend analysis from 1990 to 2012, Atmospheric Environment (2021). Journal information: Atmospheric Environment Steve H.L. Yim et al, Rise and fall of lung cancers in relation to tobacco smoking and air pollution: A global trend analysis from 1990 to 2012,(2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118835
A study led by TU Graz is providing evidence for the co-evolution of plants and microorganisms. Credit: Lunghammer, TU Graz

Agriculture is facing enormous challenges worldwide due to global changes caused by human activities. Drought, severe weather events, record temperatures and emerging pathogens threaten the world's food supply. For this reason we need to make our crops more robust without further polluting the environment. Microbiome research and management offer great potential to achieve these goals. A new study by an international research group led by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), published in the scientific journal New Phytologist, opens up new perspectives here.

The importance of the microbiome for living organisms

Microbiome research is only a few decades old, but it has already produced some groundbreaking findings. One is that humans, animals and plants have very specifically adapted microbiomes that have taken over essential functions. Both organism and microbiome have evolved in co-evolution, i.e. in mutual influence. This was confirmed by the present study. Today, we consider all organisms to be "holobionts"jointly functioning units with numerous specialized microorganisms. The latter are always numerically superior; humans, for example, have ten times more microorganisms than their own cells. The microbiome is thus classified as an important target for new health therapies and prophylaxis. This is equally true for cultivated plants, but the potential here has so far been little known or exploited.

Confirmation of the coevolution theory

The interdisciplinary group of researchers compared the microbiome of modern domesticated apple cropsi.e. specifically bred and cultivated varietieswith the microbiome of their wild ancestors as well as with the microbiome of closely related species. With the help of molecular analyses and bioinformatic methods, the group was able to determine for the first time that the microbiome is inherited to the same extent as the genes. Apples that are genetically similar thus also harbor a similar microbiome. And surprisingly, our modern apple varieties still contain some of the microbiome of their wild ancestors.

The study shows that the microbiome is also "bred" and has greatly changed over time. Until now, this has happened unintentionally and many microorganisms have been lost in the process. These lost microorganisms could now help us to make our crops fit for climate change again. This is because the focus of breeding now is no longer on the size and sweetness of the apples, but on their resilience and health. The research group is convinced that the microbiome of the wild ancestors originating from the inner-Asian Tien Shan mountain range contains valuable microorganisms for this purpose.

Useful research results for agriculture

For the first author in the study, Ahmed Abdelfattah from the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, "the results clarify a long scientific debate and lay the groundwork for new ecological strategies in plant breeding."

It would be conceivable, for example, to change the plant microbiome through the targeted introduction of microorganisms in order to increase the resistance of the plants. This is what the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at TU Graz specializes in, and Marie Curie Fellow Ahmed Abdelfattah specifically chose it as a research location due to its expertise in the field of microbiome biotechnology. "My apple microbiome journey started during my visit, as Ph.D. student, to Dr. Michael Wisniewski's lab in 2015", Abdelfattah says. Wisniewski, the last author of the article and on whose the research the original experiment was designed, is a professor at Virginia Tech with a long-established scientific contribution to fruit research.

In Graz again, the vision of Institute head Gabriele Berg and her team is to use this new knowledge for plant health as well as for that of humans and our planet. The apple is thus only a symbol, as it has been many times in human history.

Explore further Of apples and oil pumpkins: News from microbiome research

More information: Ahmed Abdelfattah et al, Evidence for hostmicrobiome coevolution in apple, New Phytologist (2021). Journal information: New Phytologist Ahmed Abdelfattah et al, Evidence for hostmicrobiome coevolution in apple,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/nph.17820
The FASER particle detector that received CERN approval to be installed at the Large Hadron Collider in 2019 has recently been augmented with an instrument to detect neutrinos. The UCI-led FASER team used a smaller detector of the same type in 2018 to make the first observations of the elusive particles generated at a collider. The new instrument will be able to detect thousands of neutrino interactions over the next three years, the researchers say. Credit: CERN

The international Forward Search Experiment team, led by physicists at the University of California, Irvine, has achieved the first-ever detection of neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.

In a paper published today in the journal Physical Review D, the researchers describe how they observed six neutrino interactions during a pilot run of a compact emulsion detector installed at the LHC in 2018.

"Prior to this project, no sign of neutrinos has ever been seen at a particle collider," said co-author Jonathan Feng, UCI Distinguished Professor of physics & astronomy and co-leader of the FASER Collaboration. "This significant breakthrough is a step toward developing a deeper understanding of these elusive particles and the role they play in the universe."

He said the discovery made during the pilot gave his team two crucial pieces of information.

"First, it verified that the position forward of the ATLAS interaction point at the LHC is the right location for detecting collider neutrinos," Feng said. "Second, our efforts demonstrated the effectiveness of using an emulsion detector to observe these kinds of neutrino interactions."

The pilot instrument was made up of lead and tungsten plates alternated with layers of emulsion. During particle collisions at the LHC, some of the neutrinos produced smash into nuclei in the dense metals, creating particles that travel through the emulsion layers and create marks that are visible following processing. These etchings provide clues about the energies of the particles, their flavorstau, muon or electronand whether they're neutrinos or antineutrinos.

According to Feng, the emulsion operates in a fashion similar to photography in the pre-digital camera era. When 35-millimeter film is exposed to light, photons leave tracks that are revealed as patterns when the film is developed. The FASER researchers were likewise able to see neutrino interactions after removing and developing the detector's emulsion layers.

The FASER experiment is situated 480 meters from the ATLAS interaction point at the Large Hadron Collider. According to Jonathan Feng, UCI Distinguished Professor of physics & astronomy and co-leader of the FASER Collaboration, this is a good location for detecting neutrinos that result from particle collisions at the facility. Credit: CERN

"Having verified the effectiveness of the emulsion detector approach for observing the interactions of neutrinos produced at a particle collider, the FASER team is now preparing a new series of experiments with a full instrument that's much larger and significantly more sensitive," Feng said.

Since 2019, he and his colleagues have been getting ready to conduct an experiment with FASER instruments to investigate dark matter at the LHC. They're hoping to detect dark photons, which would give researchers a first glimpse into how dark matter interacts with normal atoms and the other matter in the universe through nongravitational forces.

With the success of their neutrino work over the past few years, the FASER teamconsisting of 76 physicists from 21 institutions in nine countriesis combining a new emulsion detector with the FASER apparatus. While the pilot detector weighed about 64 pounds, the FASERnu instrument will be more than 2,400 pounds, and it will be much more reactive and able to differentiate among neutrino varieties.

"Given the power of our new detector and its prime location at CERN, we expect to be able to record more than 10,000 neutrino interactions in the next run of the LHC, beginning in 2022," said co-author David Casper, FASER project co-leader and associate professor of physics & astronomy at UCI. "We will detect the highest-energy neutrinos that have ever been produced from a human-made source."

What makes FASERnu unique, he said, is that while other experiments have been able to distinguish between one or two kinds of neutrinos, it will be able to observe all three flavors plus their antineutrino counterparts. Casper said that there have only been about 10 observations of tau neutrinos in all of human history but that he expects his team will be able to double or triple that number over the next three years.

"This is an incredibly nice tie-in to the tradition at the physics department here at UCI," Feng said, "because it's continuing on with the legacy of Frederick Reines, a UCI founding faculty member who won the Nobel Prize in physics for being the first to discover neutrinos."

"We've produced a world-class experiment at the world's premier particle physics laboratory in record time and with very untraditional sources," Casper said. "We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Simons Foundation, as well as the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and CERN, which supported us generously."

Savannah Shively and Jason Arakawa, UCI Ph.D. students in physics & astronomy, also contributed to the paper.

Explore further FASER is born: New experiment will study particles that interact with dark matter

More information: Henso Abreu et al, First neutrino interaction candidates at the LHC, Physical Review D (2021). Journal information: Physical Review D Henso Abreu et al, First neutrino interaction candidates at the LHC,(2021). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.104.L091101
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Smallholder farms in tropical regions can double their crop production by 2030 compared to 2015, finds a study to which Jose Mogollon (Institute of Environmental Sciences) contributed. But to achieve this, the farmers must increase the input of phosphorus beyond what is currently foreseen. The study is published in Nature Sustainability.

Doubling crop production by smallholders is one of the sub-targets of the global Sustainable Development Goals, set up by the United Nations in 2015. It requires that crops are provided with sufficient amounts of nutrients, among which nitrogen and phosphorus are the most important. Plant-available nitrogen compounds can be produced from atmospheric nitrogen gas in unlimited quantities, but phosphorus is derived from phosphate-containing rocks, and world stocks are finite.

Reviving depleted soils

In industrialized countries, phosphorus fertilizers have been used for decades profusely, causing eutrophication of freshwater environments. But in many tropical countries with strongly weathered soils, the situation is quite different. Fertilizers have hardly been used, soils are nutrient depleted and unproductive, and crop yield is below its potential. Mogollon notes, "To increase production, farmers in these countries will need to increase phosphorus fertilizer use. And according to realistic socio-economic scenarios, this is likely to happen."

Together with colleagues, including scientists of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) and Utrecht University, he mapped to what extent shortage of phosphorus limits yields in tropical regions where mainly food crops are grown and where smallholders dominate production. Also, they investigated how much phosphorus farmers would have to apply to meet the target of doubling production in 2030.

More phosphorus is needed

When added to depleted soils, phosphorus binds to iron, aluminum, and clay minerals. After being fixated, it is less available for plants. So, phosphorus use will not fully translate to increased crop yields in the short term, but will also go toward saturating the soil.

Mogollon and colleagues calculated that it is achievable to overcome the process of phosphorus fixation and to attain the target of double production for the five regions they studied: Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Central and South Asia, India, and South-East Asia. But this possibility will not be realized if farmers continue current trajectories. They have to increase their use of phosphorus more than they are planning.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the outlier

Only in sub-Saharan Africa the planned use of phosphorus comes close to what is needed to double crop production. Mogollon observes, "In this region, the input of phosphorus and crop yields are low, so it is not very difficult to increase them." The researchers suggest that the target of double production is too little ambitious for this region. It could be higher.

Important to recycle phosphorus

It may be difficult for developing countries to import the phosphorus they need, as supplies are expected to be high in the months ahead. China, one of the main producers of phosphorus, is limiting exports. But not all additional phosphorus needs to come from phosphate-containing rocks, Mogollon says: "It would be helpful to better recycle phosphorus from animal waste, food waste, and also human urine. In a future with sustainable agriculture, this will certainly happen."

Explore further Efficient phosphorus use can prevent cropland expansion

More information: C. Langhans et al, Phosphorus for Sustainable Development Goal target of doubling smallholder productivity, Nature Sustainability (2021). Journal information: Nature Sustainability C. Langhans et al, Phosphorus for Sustainable Development Goal target of doubling smallholder productivity,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00794-4
Timneh parrots in trade in West Africa. Credit: World Parrot Trust

Wildlife trading on social media is a complex issuebut tech firms can take steps to tackle it, according to new research.

Laws on selling live animals vary depending on location and species, while social media firms generally restrict or prohibit sales (with some exceptions for traders such as pet shops).

The new studyby the universities of Exeter, NOVA Lisbon, Cape Town and Oxford, and the World Parrot Trust (WPT)examined social media posts promoting sales of live birds from West Africa.

In 400 posts, the researchers found 83 different species for saleincluding endangered timneh and grey parrots.

With some countries currently drafting legislation (such as the UK's Online Safety Bill) to tackle harmful online content, the researchers say tech companies should use wildlife experts to improve moderation and automated detection.

"The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade poses a major threat to global biodiversity, and trade in some species can spread infectious diseases," said Alisa Davies, who carried out the research at the University of Exeter and is now a wildlife trade specialist for WPT.

"Like other areas of commerce, both legitimate and harmful, the internet has supercharged the sale of wildlife for purposes ranging from luxury artifacts to exotic pets.

"Social media platforms have enabled traders to connect as never before, bypassing middlemen and exchanging information on how to evade law enforcement.

"Although some big platforms have introduced strong community standards prohibiting trade of 'endangered' wildlife and restricting sales of live animals to legitimate businesses, it takes only seconds to find, for example, endangered parrots for sale."

Of the posts examined in the study, less than 20% were clearly marked as adverts using terms such as "for sale."

The restwhich would not be found by a simple algorithm looking for these termsused methods such as avoiding certain key words or placing sale information on the images (rather than in text on the platform).

Dr. Ana Nuno, of the University of Exeter and NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal), said, "To date, platforms have largely relied on users and third-party organizations to flag prohibited material, which is then examined by moderators.

"This is clearly not working. They need to work with wildlife experts to develop automated systems to detect harmful and prohibited content.

"Expert input could include information on how animal sales are worded and posted, country-specific laws on animal trading, and the conservation status of particular species."

Dr. Amy Hinsley, of Oxford's Department of Zoology, added, "There is no one-size-fits-all solution for detecting wildlife trading online.

"Our study, however, establishes a framework for thinking about how different sectors of illicit or harmful activity can be understood and moderated more effectively."

The researchers say algorithms and machine learning are only part of the solution.

"If we're going to fix the internet, manual analysis will be a part of the process too," said Davies.

"At the moment, collaborations between tech firms and subject-matter experts remain in their infancy, but cleverly designed legislation, savvy regulators and investment from tech firms could drive solutions forward at pace."

The study found live birds being sold from countries that are currently dealing with outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza.

The cramped and stressful conditions in which many of the birds are stored create an "ideal" environment for diseases to spread, according to co-author Dr. Rowan Martin, of WPT.

"Infectious diseases of conservation concern have been found among wild parrots seized from bird export facilities in West Africa," he said.

He added that the conservation impact of such sales on the various species identified in the studymany of them parrots or songbirdsis largely unknown.

The University of Exeter has launched a "Green Futures" campaign and website to drive action on the environment and climate emergency.

Explore further Trade in rare plants on social media must be monitored

More information: Alisa Davies et al, Identifying opportunities for expertmediated triangulation in monitoring wildlife trade on social media, Conservation Biology (2021). Alisa Davies et al, Identifying opportunities for expertmediated triangulation in monitoring wildlife trade on social media,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13858 More on the "Green Futures" campaign is available at greenfutures.exeter.ac.uk Journal information: Conservation Biology
The schematic picture of a current generator by using thermoelectric semimetal Ta 2 PdSe 6 . Credit: Akitoshi Nakano

Just as a voltage difference can generate electric current, a temperature difference can generate a current flow in thermoelectric materials governed by its "Peltier conductivity" (P). Now, researchers from Japan demonstrate an unprecedented large P in a single crystal of Ta 2 PdSe 6 that is 200 times larger than the maximum P commercially available, opening doors to new research avenues and revolutionizing modern electronics.

We know that current flows inside a metallic conductor in presence of a voltage difference across its ends. However, this is not the only way to generate current. In fact, a temperature difference could work as well. This phenomenon, called "Seebeck effect," laid the foundation of the field of thermoelectrics, which deals with materials producing electricity under the application of a temperature difference.

Similar to the concept of an electrical conductivity, thermoelectricity is governed by the Peltier conductivity, P, which relates the thermoelectric current to the temperature gradient. However, unlike its electrical counterpart, P is less explored and understood. For instance, is there a theoretical upper limit to how large P can be? Far from being a mere curiosity, the possibility of a large P could be a game changer for modern-day electronics.

A new study published in the Journal of Physics: Energy has raised hopes on this front, reporting the observation of a P of 100 A cm-1 K-1 at a temperature of 10 K in a Ta 2 PdSe 6 crystal, the largest ever reported for a bulk solid. "Ta 2 PdSe 6 is structurally similar to Ta 2 NiSe 5 , a material which we found shows unique structural and transport properties. This led us to focus on the properties of Ta 2 PdSe 6 and we ended up discovering the giant Peltier conductivity," explains Assistant Professor Akitoshi Nakano from Nagoya University, Japan, who led the research team conducting this study.

The team prepared high-quality single crystals of Ta 2 PdSe 6 and characterized its chemical composition using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Next, they measured its electrical conductivity, thermopower, and Hall resistivity and performed calculations based on a two-carrier model considering electrons and holes (the absence of electrons, represented by particles with a positive charge equal to the electronic charge) to explain their findings.

They found that while other thermoelectric materials reached a P of the order of 1 A cm-1 K-1 at best before going down as the temperature decreased further, Ta 2 PdSe 6 showed a rapid growth in P below 100 K, reaching a value higher by two orders of magnitude. This suggested that the large P stemmed from a low residual resistivity.

The modeling calculations revealed that the surprising P value was caused by the high mobility, low concentration, and heavy mass of the holes inside the crystal.

What practical ramifications could this finding entail? "Ta 2 PdSe 6 could be used as a current source for a superconducting solenoid isolated in a cryogenic space. Due to its large P, a cubic sample of 1 cc could supply a current of 100 A to the solenoid for a temperature difference of 1 K. Furthermore, an absence of external current leads would make the system compact and concise, reducing cooling costs," says Dr. Nakano. "This could be then carried over to the design of a compact, low-cost MRI machine, making medical diagnosis more convenient in the future."

Explore further New material breaks world record for turning heat into electricity

More information: Akitoshi Nakano et al, Giant Peltier conductivity in an uncompensated semimetal Ta2PdSe6, Journal of Physics: Energy (2021). Akitoshi Nakano et al, Giant Peltier conductivity in an uncompensated semimetal Ta2PdSe6,(2021). DOI: 10.1088/2515-7655/ac2357
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" " Astronaut Owen Garriott (seen here in the Skylab 3 Extravehicular Activity) and accomplice Robert Crippen fooled Houston into thinking Garriott's wife somehow hijacked comms onboard. NASA

NASA didn't send a female astronaut into space until Sally Ride in 1983. So imagine mission control's surprise when, some 10 years earlier, they heard a woman's voice in a transmission from the Skylab space station.

In 1973, Owen K. Garriott spent just less than 60 full days orbiting Earth on this NASA craft. Meanwhile, the flight's Earth-bound support crew included communications specialist Robert "Bob" Crippen (an astronaut himself) among its ranks. One day, the space station sent Crippen a weird message. "Hello Houston, this is Skylab," someone said. "Are you reading me down there?" The voice sounded distinctly female and couldn't belong to any of the three men aboard the vessel. When Crippen asked who was on the line, the caller identified herself as Helen Garriott  Owen's wife.

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Naturally, Crippen asked what she was doing up there. "Well, we just came up to bring the boys a fresh meal, or a hot cooked meal. They haven't had one for quite a while. We thought they might enjoy that," Helen replied. She then nonchalantly said she'd flown out to the Skylab and made some comments about how California looked from space. By now, a bewildered crowd had gathered around Crippen's speakers. Finally, Helen signed off, saying "Well, I see the boys are floating in my direction. I've got to get off the line. I'm not supposed to be talking to you. See you later, Bob."

It didn't take Houston long to figure out that this entire exchange must've been a practical joke  one Garriott was undoubtedly in on. But how did he pull it off? With careful planning, that's how. Beforehand, Garriott had written down some lines for his wife to read and recorded her doing so. He also made sure to punctuate her comments with pauses in the audio. This gave Crippen  who'd agreed to help out  enough time to offer scripted replies to Helen's statements.

Magicians like to guard their secrets. According to Garriott, NASA didn't figure out how he'd orchestrated this particular gag until he finally explained his methods to them in 1999.
LSU Center for Energy Studies Associate Professor Greg Upton. Credit: LSU

BATON ROUGEAs gas prices continue to rise, the Federal Government announced the Department of Energy will release 50 million barrels of oil held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Customers could see the effects of this at the pump in the next few months. LSU Associate Research Professor in the Center for Energy Studies Greg Upton , an expert on economic, environmental and public policy issues in the energy industry explains how people will soon see the effects of this rare administrative action.

How unusual or historic is it that oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, is being released?

"SPR was created in 1975 due to concerns about the security of oil imports. In recent years, it has been used after major hurricanes that temporarily impacted oil supplies. Most recently, it was used after Hurricane Ida. What makes this release somewhat more interesting is that there is no geopolitical or oil supply shock. Instead, the release is simply hoped to put downward pressure on oil prices, which in theory will reduce the price of gasoline and other energy products."

Why are we seeing a higher demand for oil?

"As highlighted in our recent Gulf Coast Energy Outlook, U.S. and Gulf Coast oil production have yet to reach pre-COVID levels [See Table 1 in the GCEO document here]. Thus, as energy demand globally is coming back, supply has been a bit slower to return, due to the lag time it takes to drill new wells and bring that production to market. In my opinion, this is the primary reason for the recent upward pressure on prices."

Does this ultimately mean we will soon see lower gas prices at the pump?

"Futures markets are predicting that both oil prices and gasoline will go down over the next year or so. So, regardless of whether oil is released from the SPR, oil and gasoline prices are likely to trend downward over the next year."

When we look at the bigger picture, are high gas prices a global problem?

"In net, increased energy prices have been shown to slow economic activity, because energy is an input to production of essentially every good and service that we consume. But, the current price levels are not unusual by historical standards. Globally, oil prices have seen upward pressure over the past several months for reasons described above, so this is not just a U.S. phenomenon."

Contact Abbi Rocha

LSU Media Relations

817-938-6102

abbirocha@lsu.edu

Provided by Louisiana State University
 Sentencing basics for defendants convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery | Main | "A New Generation of Prosecutors Is Leading the Charge to Reimagine Public Safety" 

November 26, 2021

Pervis Payne has death sentences set aside (based on intellectual disability) three decades after SCOTUS affirmed them (with focus on victim impact evidence)

This local article reports on a notable development in a capital case that caught my attention because it involves a defendant who was involved in a major development in Supreme Court capital jurisprudence more than 30 years ago. The press piece is headlined "Pervis Payne death penalty set aside, judge will decide if life sentences are concurrent or consecutive," and here are excerpts:

Rolanda Holman remembers being 13 years old, listening to the judge sentence her brother, Pervis Payne, to death by the electric chair. The judge said, May God have mercy on his soul," Holman recalled. Thirty-four years later, Holman and her family know that Payne won't be dying by the death penalty after Judge Paula Skahan signed an order Tuesday vacating his capital sentence.... Skahan's action came after the Shelby County District Attorney's office announced Thursday that it was dropping its pursuit of the death penalty against Payne after a state expert examined Payne and records "and could not say that Payne's intellectual functioning is outside the range for intellectual disability," according to a news release. Both the U.S. and Tennessee supreme courts have ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute someone with an intellectual disability. In April, Tennessee legislators created a law allowing death row inmates like Payne to appeal their sentences on intellectual disability grounds. Since the court finds that Payne is a person with intellectual disability, his capital sentence must be vacated, Skahan wrote in her order.... Payne will serve two life sentences in prison for the murders of Charisse and Lacie Christopher. However, whether those sentences will be concurrent or consecutive is currently being debated. Steve Jones, assistant district attorney, argued Tuesday that a transcript of the original sentencing 34 years ago shows the judge saying that Payne's sentences ought to be served consecutively. That, [attorney Kelley] Henry said, would make Payne ineligible for parole until he is 85. Henry argued, however, that precedent shows the court has the discretion to rule his sentences should be carried out at the same time, which would make him eligible for parole in about six years. Consecutive sentencing would be an effective life without parole for Mr. Payne and we suggest that would not be justice for him and his family," Henry said. "Elder Carl Payne deserves a chance to hug his son as a free man. And we will continue our fight to exonerate Mr. Payne. A hearing will be held Dec. 13 to determine whether the life sentences should be held consecutively or concurrently. Payne, who is being held in Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, is convicted of the 1987 deaths of Millington woman Charisse Christopher, 28, and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie. Christophers 3-year-old son, Nicholas, survived multiple stab wounds in the brutal attack that took place in Christophers apartment. Payne has maintained his innocence. In his 1988 trial, Payne said that he discovered the gruesome crime scene after hearing calls for help through the open door of the apartment. He said he bent down to try to help, getting blood on his clothes and pulling at the knife still lodged in Christopher's throat. When a white police officer arrived, Payne, who is Black, said he panicked and ran, fearing he would be seen as the prime suspect.

It is quite remarkable that it took newly 20 years for Payne to be moved off death row after the US Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002), that the Eighth Amendment precluded the execution of the intellectually disabled. But it is perhaps even more remarkable that this is the same defendant whose case made it all the way to the Supreme Court more than 30 years ago. In Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991), the Supreme Court reversed prior precedents limiting victim impact evidence and held "that, if the State chooses to permit the admission of victim impact evidence and prosecutorial argument on that subject, the Eighth Amendment erects no per se bar." Is this a fitting time for the aphorism "what goes around comes around," especially if it is a capital case?

November 26, 2021 at 02:12 PM | Permalink

Comments

Looking it up, Payne was born in 1967, so is still relatively young.

Payne was scheduled to be executed last year.

"In April, Tennessee legislators created a law allowing death row inmates like Payne to appeal their sentences on intellectual disability grounds."

It might be remarkable it took so long but repeatedly there are accounts of people decades later removed from death row or even found not guilty (a recent article discussed the murder of Malcolm X and how it was determined the findings of guilt were dubious).

Regularly, procedural roadblocks are in place from people even being able to make various claims. Theoretical ability to get a commutation aside, they are blocked from relief in practice.

I don't know the specifics, but the article notes a law was passed to allow it here. And, here we go.

There is also the general fact the Payne's execution was delayed so long. That is not that uncommon. It is also not that uncommon that Supreme Court cases reject claims but ultimately the person obtains state relief. Maybe, not this long afterwards.

Still, as Justice Breyer has noted, repeatedly, long after being sentenced to die, people regularly obtain relief. He argued this as a reason not to streamline the process too much. Sotomayor has also flagged the general issue.

BTW, Tennessee did execute thirteen people since 2000, the last three by electrocution. Nicholas Sutton was the last one executed (2020) for a crime he committed in 1986. He was executed in the end, but that sort of shows the time lag factor.

Posted by: Joe | Nov 26, 2021 4:51:29 PM

"Regularly, procedural roadblocks are in place from people even being able to make various claims. Theoretical ability to get a commutation aside, they are blocked from relief in practice." Amen! Although sub "serious/weighty/important" for "various."

It shouldn't take an act of legislature for a death row inmate to have an Atkins claim addressed on the merits!!

Posted by: John | Nov 29, 2021 1:16:54 AM

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Japan is about to take a significant step toward developing a digital currency. Per Reuters , a consortium made up of approximately 70 Japanese firms said this week they plan to launch a yen-based cryptocurrency in 2022. Whats notable about the project, tentatively called DCJPY, is that three of the countrys largest banks will back it. At a news conference on Wednesday, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group said theyve been meeting since last year to build a shared settlement infrastructure for digital payments.

Some of the other members of the consortium include the East Japan Railway Company and Kansai Electric Power Company. They plan to start testing the currency in the coming months. The experiment is separate from the work the Bank of Japan is doing to create a digital yen. CBDCs are something China and the US are exploring as well. For Japan, theres an additional incentive to the push. Its a country that famously loves cash. Even as recently as 2018, 80 percent of all retail transactions in the country were completed in notes and coins. Its something the government of Japan has tried to change as a way to make the countrys economy more consumer-friendly and productive.
(iStock)

Malaysia and Singapore said Wednesday they will partially reopen their borders next week to fully vaccinated citizens and some others, after nearly two years of closure due to the pandemic that had stranded many Malaysian workers in the neighboring city-state away from their families.

Leaders from both countries said limited travel will be allowed across the land border from Monday, with plans to gradually relax restrictions. Air travel will reopen on the same day to fully vaccinated passengers, allowing quarantine-free travel between the two countries, with fewer restrictions.

Travellers the Causeway Bridge that connects the island of Singapore with the Malaysian peninsula must be citizens, permanent residents or long-term pass holders, according to separate statements from the leaders of both governments. In the first phase, the number of travelers crossing the land border per day will be limited to 2,880 and required to travel on designated bus services, the statements said.

The Causeway was one of the worlds busiest land borders before the pandemic struck.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the partial border reopening would give priority to workers in either country who have not been able to visit their families since the land crossing was shut in March 2020.

Lee said the reopening of the border will be a big step towards reconnecting our people and economies." A second land link will also subsequently be restored, he added.

Limits on land border crossings will progressively be relaxed to include general travelers and other modes of transportation than the bus services, the statements added.

Travelers, except children aged two and below, must test negative two days before entering Singapore and are required to register online before purchasing bus tickets. Unvaccinated children aged 12 and below must be accompanied by fully vaccinated parents or guardians, the governments said.

With more than 95% of the adult population in both countries fully vaccinated, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this has allowed both countries to reopen their land border in a gradual, safe, systematic, and sustainable manner."

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More than 350,000 people crossed daily the Causeway before it was shut, mostly Malaysians working in Singapore due to a favorable exchange rate. Officials estimated that more than 100,000 Malaysians were stuck in the island-state after the border closed.

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The Consortium jointly, through Aztiq II HoldCo, will acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Markets Holdings Limited, thereby becoming the leading shareholders in Lotus Pharmaceuticals and Adalvo

The Consortiums collective industry experience, geographical reach, and commitment to sustainable development, creates a unique alliance of investors and leaders, with the financial strength to support the companies continued development.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, November 26, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Iceland based healthcare investor, Aztiq ("Aztiq"), founded by Alvogens Chairman and CEO, Robert Wessman and Innobic Asia ("Innobic"), a wholly-owned Life Science arm of PTT Public Company Limited ("PTT", SET ticker: PTT), Thailands largest publicly traded conglomerate, have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited ("AEMH") from Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl ("Alvogen"). Key shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners ("CVC") and Temasek Holdings of Singapore ("Temasek"), as well as Aztiq. The total transaction value is estimated to be approximately US$475 million, and the deal is expected to close during the first quarter 2022.

With this transaction the consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceuticals ("Lotus", TWSE ticker: 1795), and the owner of 100% shares in Alvogen Malta (Out-Licensing) Holding Ltd., shareholder of the fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo.

Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl will remain a leading shareholder in the generics pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company Almatica, as well as being the second largest shareholder in global biosimilar company Alvotech.

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Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue to serve as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen/ Founder of Aztiq, commented: "I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing shareholders for their great support in transformation and at the same time I would like to welcome our new partner as we look forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines with strong expertise collectively by all parties. With the comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN brought by PTT and Innobic, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a compelling competitive advantage, which enables them to become global leaders in the pharma industry."

Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux Holding Sarl commented: After seven years as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Todays announcement is consistent with Alvogens strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value.

Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, Senior Executive Vice President, Innovation and New Ventures, PTT and Chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented: "This partnership will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business, ranging from research, development, and formulation to production and commercialization, with a primary focus on generic drugs covering a wide range of therapeutic areas, in particular, oncology and central nervous system. The strengthened access to high quality medicines, together with the global networks and commercialization capability of Adalvo, and Innobics support to further expand the pharmaceutical businesses in the ASEAN and globally, make this investment fully in line with the goals and strategies for realizing life science business in Thailand and the ASEAN."

Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and together with its shareholders, Lotus has evolved into a next generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global oncology with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and global reach of its portfolio to over 130 markets.

Alvogen has further developed Adalvo in 2018 from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit focusing on global markets. In a short period of time, Adalvo has achieved a remarkable growth with over 500 transactions and a world class portfolio of 60 differentiated medicines and is currently one of the fastest growing B2B pharmaceutical company globally, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets around the world.

In April of 2021, Innobic invested approximately US$50 million into Lotus by acquiring newly-issued shares via a private placement. Both parties, Lotus and Innobic, are committed to further collaboration with the aim of expanding access to high quality medicines. Further participation by Innobic, through its investment in AEMH, demonstrates both a strong belief in the Lotus strategy as well as a commitment to drive opportunities in South East Asian pharmaceutical markets including Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

About Aztiq

Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor led by Alvogens and Alvotechs Founder and Chairman Robert Wessman. Aztiq whose key investment focus is on pharmaceutical assets, is currently a leading and co-leading shareholder and operator of the following pharmaceutical assets:

Lotus Pharmaceuticals  A leading global oncology pharmaceutical company (www.lotuspharm.com)

Adalvo  Global B2B pharmaceutical company, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets worldwide (www.adalvo.com)

Alvotech  A global biosimilar company (www.alvotech.com)

Alvogen US / Almatica  US generics (Gx) and Specialty Pharmaceutical company. (www.alvogenus.com / www.almatica.com)

Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

Robert Wessman, has led over 50 strategic acquisitions and partnerships and established operations in over 60 countries. Wessman, alongside his seasoned team in Aztiq, continues to successfully launch and scale both industry-leading generic pharmaceutical and biosimilar companies all over the world.

About Innobic

Innobic is a Thailand-based Life Science Platform with primary focus on South East Asia, while reaching global opportunities. Innobic is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTT Public Company Ltd, the state-owned enterprise and the largest company by market capitalization on Thailand Stock Exchange. Being a national energy provider as well as multinational conglomerate, recently diversifies into new sectors, including Life Science, Renewables, and Electricity value chain. PTT currently has consolidated group revenues of over US$60 billion and market value US$33 billion.

PTT established Innobic to become a leading Life Science Platform in ASEAN with a primary focus on Pharmaceuticals, Medical Technology and Nutrition businesses. The investment in Lotus as well as close partnership with Aztiq will support that objective. (www.innobicasia.com)

About Lotus

Founded in 1966, Lotus (1795: TT) now is a leading Asian based pharmaceutical company with global reach to provide high-value generic products covering CNS, CVS, women health, and anti-obesity drugs in tablets and hard/softgel capsule with a special focus on oral oncology for global markets.

By boasting a best-in-class R&D and manufacturing platform in Asia, Lotus aims to benefit patients, its employees and stakeholders. Furthermore, Lotus can reach nearly every global market with its high value pipeline through its direct markets, currently encompassing Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, and China, or via alliances with top-tier pharma companies based on its industry-leading infrastructure certified by most of the advanced regulatory authorities around the world, including US FDA, EU EMA, Japan PDMA, China FDA, and Brazil ANVISA.

Lotus has also delivered outstanding financial results since Alvogens majority investment in 2014. It has achieved over 25% CAGR of net sales and over 40% CAGR of EBITDA during the past seven years, and is expected to continue the growth momentum with major launches in global markets in the next 12 months.

About Adalvo

Founded in 2018, Adalvo is a leading global B2B pharmaceutical company serving a global list of top tier partners and patients with its differentiated, high-value portfolio. The Companys 3-pillar portfolio strategy, covering small molecules, value-added products, and peptides & biosimilars, positions Adalvo as a unique platform among its peers. Adalvo has established itself as a reliable global partner with commercial partnerships in more than 100 countries and currently serving over 90 partners globally.

Adalvos brand promise is to be "Always on Target" for its partners and patients.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211126005334/en/

Contacts

Elisabet Hjaltadottir

Elisabet.Hjaltadottir@alvotech.com
A coronavirus vaccine vial. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Belgium recorded its first case of the new coronavirus variant seen spreading in southern Africa, its health minister said Friday.

Frank Vandenbroucke announced that the B1.1.529 variant was found in an unvaccinated traveler who entered Belgium and tested positive on November 22, De Morgen reported.

"Caution is necessary, but don't panic," Vandenbroucke said, Het Laatste Nieuws reported.

Previous cases had been restricted to South Africa, Botswana, and a single case in Hong Kong, which was imported by a traveler.

The origin of the variant is unclear, but it is spreading in South Africa. A chart shared by health officials there shows how, in less than two weeks, B.1.1.529 completely overtook the Delta and Beta variants that were present in one of the country's provinces.

Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) November 25, 2021

The UK restricted flights from Botswana, South Africa, and four other southern African nations on Thursday.

Germany and Belgium imposed flight bans from southern African countries on Friday, while the European Union is considering a bloc-wide ban.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Singapore's Changi International Airport. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  The Ministry of Health (MOH) will be tightening border measures on seven African countries, following recent reports of a potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant circulating among the countries.

The ministry said in a media release on Friday (26 November) that from 11.59pm on Saturday, all long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with travel history to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe within the last 14 days will not be allowed to enter or transit through Singapore.

Meanwhile, South Africa  which is currently under Category II of Singapore's health measures framework, with travellers subjected to a seven-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) at their place of accommodation  will be placed in Category IV with the other six countries from 11.59pm on Saturday.

As such, all returning Singaporeans and permanent residents from these seven African countries will be subjected to a 10-day SHN at dedicated facilities.

These new border restrictions will apply for four weeks before being reviewed, and may be extended if necessary.

Transport Minister S Iswaran said in a media doorstop interview on Friday that the number of passengers entering into Singapore from these countries is very low.

"Only one country has direct air links with Singapore, and that's South Africa. I believe there is one flight a day, and even then, the volumes are very low," he said.

"Most of them are actually transit passengers going on to other destinations, and a very small number - under 10 a day - actually enter Singapore. But I think this is an important precautionary measure and it's part of our larger strategy and approach to the reopening of our borders."

No cases of COVID-19 variant in Singapore

MOH said that Singapore currently has no cases of the B.1.1.529 variant that may be circulating in the seven African countries.

"Scientists around the world are still finding out more about the new variant of virus, such as whether it is more transmissible than the Delta variant, whether it is more likely to lead to severe illnesses, and efficacy of existing vaccines against this new variant," the ministry said.

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"While the variant has been suggested to be more transmissible, there is currently insufficient evidence to determine if this variant is associated with any change in disease severity, antibody response or vaccine efficacy. These aspects are being investigated."

Countries added to Cat II and III

From 11.59pm on 1 December, 10 countries - Argentina, Kuwait, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Romania and Thailand - will be placed in Category II of the health measures framework.

Under this category, travellers with travel history to these countries will be subjected to a seven-day SHN at their declared place of accommodation. They will also have to do either an antigen rapid test (ART) or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before their departure, and an exit PCR test on the seventh day of their SHN.

Based on the worsening COVID-19 situations in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Liechtenstein and Slovakia, these countries will be placed in Category III from 11.59pm on 1 December.

MOH has also added Belize, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay to the list of Category III countries.

Under this category, travellers with travel history to these countries will be subjected to a 10-day SHN at dedicated facilities. Like those from Category II countries, they will also have to do a pre-departure ART or PCR test, as well as an exit PCR test after their SHN.

Travellers are advised to visit the SafeTravel website to check the latest border measures for their country/region which will apply upon entry into Singapore. Any changes to border measures will be updated on the website.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
Watch: Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices: A celebration of arts, culture and technology!

This week sees the launch of the Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices showcase, which features eight leading Black artists transforming their physical artwork into crypto art - the collectable innovation which has sent the value of digital artworks soaring.

The collection will then be available to buy in an exclusive auction held on leading NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) marketplace, SuperRare, when all eight creators will sell a 2D digital version of their original piece.

The artists will mint their works on November 27, allowing collectors to view and learn about the pieces in advance of the auction, which opens on November 29. All proceeds will go directly to the artists.

There will also be a live-streamed event featuring an in-depth artists' panel discussion, to explore the impact of NFTs in the art world, and the goal of increasing visibility for Black artists.

Sekai Machache is a Zimbabwean-Scottish visual artist and curator based in Scotland. Her work is a deep interrogation of the notion of self.

Some NFT artwork is currently selling for millions. Non-Fungible Tokens are "unique digital identifiers recorded on a blockchain that tells the world who owns a particular asset."

Because they make it impossible to copy a digital artwork, they have become hugely valuable in the art world.

Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices. Is a modern celebration of art, culture and technology, with the artists fully supported through their digital journey into the crypto art world.

The initiative began with a commitment from Brixton art gallery Disrupt Space to support emerging Black contemporary visual artists in the NFT world and challenge the continued under-representation of Black British artists.

The eight artists spotlighted in Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices. are:

Pauline Boyenga Bofala: inspired by different forms of art such as photography, sculpture and literature, with the environment central to her work, Pauline uses recycled materials.

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Sharon Adebisi: a self-taught artist. Her work communicates the journey of her emotions, experiences and self-discovery through colourful, semi-abstract portraits.

Lola Betiku: a self-taught Nigerian-British painter based in East London, better known as Labet. Labets work serves as a 'diary' which explores identity and representation.

Damel Carayol: inspired by the richness of The Gambia where he was born, Damel uses oils and acrylic to engage with themes of beauty, religion and community.

Sekai Machache: a Zimbabwean-Scottish visual artist and curator based in Glasgow. Sekai is interested in the relationship between spirituality, imagination and the role of the artist in healing.

Isis Raheem: a Webcomic artist and illustrator experimenting with sequential art and enhanced audience interaction. Her work explores how technology can open up stories to a wider audience.

Gus Brooks-Simpson: Inspired by the ancient world and religion, Gus art celebrates nature and life.

Elicia McKenzie: an expressionist artist working with water-mixable oils to create either a representational or abstract art piece, depending on the subject's response.

The first part of the project paired the artists with Kaleidoscope, an immersive production studio, who helped them to access the NFT marketplace with mentorship and training. Part two saw the artists original physical artwork transformed into crypto art with Yahoo Creative Studios, making it viewable in a 3D AR environment.

Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices. has been a hugely exciting, yet important, project for us at Yahoo as part of our mission to elevate voices from all backgrounds and cultures. says Josh Partridge, Head of EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) at Yahoo.

The project was a great representation of how we can take the unique and inspiring work of these eight talented artists and transform it into the Crypto Art World, allowing them to reach new audiences."

Isis Raheem, one of the eight artists that will feature within the NFT auction, added: I came to the project knowing very little about NFTs and have since minted my first piece and been introduced to some of the most exciting minds.

Isis Raheem, 30, studied computer animation at Teesside University and lives in the East Midlands. She is a webcomic artist and illustrator experimenting with sequential art and enhanced audience interaction.

Ahead of the auction, Yahoo held a live show at its Holborn studios, hosted by TV presenter Ade Adepitan. This showcase consisted of interviews with the artists about their journey and a look at the NFT artwork theyve created since the beginning of the project earlier this year.

Black Art. Black Stories. Black Voices. represents Yahoos ongoing pledge to elevate black voices in the art and technology industries, and opens up a wider discussion on how art and technology can meet, and how Black artists can maximise the potential of this exciting new path as it opens up further.

Watch the live stream discussion: Friday 26th November live on facebook and twitter 7pm (gmt)

FB: https://www.facebook.com/YahooUK

Twitter: @yahoolifeuk

The digital art will be auctioned on SuperRare, MONDAY 29TH NOVEMBER FROM 4PM GMT

Watch: A celebration of Black art, Black stories, Black voices through digitised art
Slate Plus members get more Care and Feeding from Jamilah Lemieux and the other columnists every week.

Dear Care and Feeding,

We made it very clear to our college-age daughter Vicky that we would pay for half her college expenses, and the rest would either need to be funded through student loans or through a scholarship. She got a scholarship to an excellent private university to cover half of her tuition, and is happily attending her dream school. We are, as promised, paying the other half.

Vicky is our oldest child, and my husband and I made the mistake of not having a conversation around expectations before she went off to college. She has thrown herself into campus and community activism (her college is in a large city that has a significant activist community). She is attending classes only sporadicallyshe says she is exhausted by staying up late attending community events and doesnt see the point of her classes because theyre so disjointed from the real world. Vicky declared a humanities major and her first-semester GPA was a 2.5far below her potential.

Were fine with whatever major she wants, so long as she regularly attends classes, does well enough GPA-wise to position herself for a post-college job, and maintains a balance of academics and extracurriculars that doesnt lean too far in either direction. Obviously, she has been unable to do this.

We had a conversation with her yesterday (shes home for Thanksgiving), and it did not go well. We explained our concerns, and she said we are being transactional by giving her money but not the freedom to experiment and find out what she likes; in her eyes, were demanding grades for money. Communication has broken down and now I feel like were back to having a sullen teenager, like we did a few years ago. I can tell shes deeply unhappy and its heartbreaking to see. At the same time, I dont know that I love the idea of us bankrolling thousands of dollars per semester for our daughter to find herself. What can we do to fix this situation? Are we being too harsh?

 College Crisis

Dear C.C.,

You are not being too harsh. College is entirely too expensive for you to pay for someone not to attempt to complete the program of study in which they have enrolled. Stand firm on your expectations that she does her best to earn at least a 2.5theres a huge difference in falling short because your coursework kicked your ass, versus simply not making an attempt to do welland to maintain balance between her schooling and her extracurricular activities. Be clear that you are not penalizing her for her activism; rather, you are preparing her for a life in which she is going to have to take care of herself. Even activists must think about having a roof over their heads and food to eat; you are not going to provide those things indefinitely, it seems, and so she has to figure out a life that combines her passions and her needs. Luckily, she is in a very privileged position to do exactly that, and she should be reminded that college is an opportunity to find oneself and who they want to be in the worldbut you gotta do the college part to have that experience. Otherwise, youre wasting thousands of dollars. Remind her how that money could be useful for her chosen cause, and that it can only be used to support her activism if she is a student activiststudent first. Period.

Jamilah

More Advice From Slate

My daughter is 6 months old. Six weeks from now Im scheduled to go away for three days to attend an important yearly conference on the other side of the country. Until recently, this seemed very doable. But not anymore. The problem is that when Im not around, the baby refuses to eat.
Update: Countries rushed to suspend travel from southern Africa on Friday amid global fears of a new coronavirus variant that could be more dangerous and infectious. The World Health Organization classified the variant first identified in South Africa as a highly transmissible variant of concern and dubbed it Omicron. The United States said it will restrict travel from South Africa and neighboring countries starting on Monday. Lots of other countries, including Canada and Russia, also joined the 27-nation European Union in restricting travelers from southern Africa even as experts warned travel bans may not do much to stop the variant that has already been detected in numerous countries, including Belgium, Israel, and Hong Kong.

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The World Health Organization and some experts cautioned against panic, saying the variant needs to be better understood first. There is still no evidence that Omicron is more contagious or lethal nor that it could skirt the protection of the available vaccines. Substantively NOTHING is known about the new variant, Roberto Burioni, a top Italian virologist, wrote on Twitter. The signs, however, certainly arent positive. This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning, the WHO said. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant.

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The new variant has a very unusual constellation of mutations, according to Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform. All the uncertainty led many to immediately fear the worst, including investors as financial markets plummeted. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst sell off since October 2020 and European stocks suffered their worst day in 17 months.

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Original post at 6:37 a.m.: Several European and Asian countries have decided to act quickly and start banning travel amid fears that a new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa could skirt vaccine protections. Britain was one of the first countries to impose new restrictions, banning flights from South Africa and five neighboring countries and calling on British citizens returning from the region to quarantine. The B.1.1.529 variant was first detected in Gauteng, South Africas most populous province. South Africa quickly pushed back against Britains restrictions, saying the decision to ban flights seems to have been rushed considering the World Health Organization has yet to give any guidance on the new variant. But it comes as the head medical adviser to the U.K. Health and Security Agency, Dr. Susan Hopkins, called the new variant the most worrying weve seen.

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Britain was hardly alone. Israel and Singapore quickly followed suit with their own travel restrictions and European Union countries also appeared eager to tighten their own borders in an effort to try to stem the spread of the new variant. Italy said it would ban entry to anyone who had been in seven countries in southern Africa over the past 14 days South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini. The Netherlands is also planning similar measures and Europe as a whole appears to be next. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe should activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region. The German government appears to be on board with the plan. The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said.

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The new variant is emerging at a time when Europe is already battling a sharp increase in cases and concerns over its potential quick spread led global stocks to plummet. Scientists are still trying to learn about the new variant but theyve already expressed deep concern because of its high number of mutations and its potential to spread quickly. Israel said it has already detected the first case of the new variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. And Hong Kong has reported two cases, both reportedly linked to someone who had traveled from South Africa. Some say these detections show why it may simply be too late for travel curbs.

Theres particular concern over B.1.1.529 due to its dramatically different spike protein that could mean the current vaccines may not be effective to combat the new variant. It is the most significant variant theyve encountered to date, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said. Officials at the World Health Organization are set to meet Friday to analyze the new variant and decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet.
Aztec Tenochtitlan began as a damp town in the middle of a swamp, but it managed to thrive across conquests, epidemics, droughts and floods to become one of the largest cities in the world todayMexico City. When taking students to see the Aztec ruins next to the Zocalo, I used to wonder how places like Tenochtitlan, Beijing, or Rome (the eternal city) managed to thrive for centuries, while other cities failed.

In my archaeological fieldwork, I have encountered far more failed urban sites than cities that survived for centuries. It is now time to examine these early cities to learn how some of them adapted successfully to stresses and shocks, while others did not. Perhaps this knowledge can inform current work on urban adaptations to climate change. Researchers have identified a knowledge gap between what we need to know about planning cities for the future and we do know. The cities of the past can help fill that gap.

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Much of the research, policy work, and governmental action done under the banner of sustainability are better labeled aspirational sustainabilityparticularly because we have little idea how things will play out in the long run. True sustainability means that cities, societies, and institutions will survive, not just another five years, but long into the future. How can we design policies and strategies for adaptation without understanding urban change over longer periods?

The archaeological and historical records are untapped sources of information on urban adaptations over the long run. My colleagues and I have located thousands of early urban settlements that lasted for many centuries, as well as thousands that lasted for much shorter periods. Some of these cities are still thriving today (such as Rome and Mexico City), while others collapsed centuries ago (such as Teotihuacan in Mexico and Angkor in Cambodia). Any city that lasts hundreds of years has overcome resource problems, weathered shocks and stresses, and solved the collective-action problems of people living and working together. In short, long-lived cities must have been well adapted to their social and natural settingsand we need to study them to see if we can determine what factors contributed to long-term urban success in the ancient world, and what challenges led to short-term failures. Archaeologists and historians have the data, but we have not yet done the scientific work to analyze it adequately. Perhaps this material will not contain any suitable lessons at all. But, just maybe, it can contribute something unique to knowledge and practice today.

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Historians and archaeologists have already started to weigh in on climate change adaptations. One popular genre is stories about disasters like the Classic Maya collapse (think Jared Diamonds 2005 book Collapse, or The Next Apocalypse, by Chris Begley, 2021). While ancient catastrophes make good reading, such stories are both too complicated and too limited to draw firm conclusions. They promote a biased view of ancient societies. People wonder what was wrong with Maya cities: Why did they collapse? Yet those same cities flourished for many centuries, far longer than any city in the U.S. has yet endured.

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Groups of historians are starting to move beyond this infatuation with collapse to instead draw connections between past and present with titles such as Lessons From the Past, Policies for the Future: Resilience and Sustainability in Past Crises. These studies typically describe several case studies of short-term processes (for instance, the Black death or Roman conquest) and claim they provide lessons for us today. The cases are anecdotes; they are not formally compared, nor are they analyzed quantitatively. Yet economists have found that when they look at cities over a longer historical perspective, they are remarkably resilient to plagues, wars, and other short-term catastrophes. After an initial setback, cities almost always come back, economically, demographically, and culturally.. But, what happens if we look at changes over a really long interval, one lasting centuries or even millennia, what the great historian Fernand Braudel called the longue duree?

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The principle strengths of archaeology are a record of change over centuries, even millennia, and a large enough sample of sites and regions to create a quantitative and rigorous science of past adaptations to shocks and change. Archaeologists now routinely apply quantitative, scientific methods to topics such as wealth inequality, city size, and trade patterns. It is time to extend these methods to urban adaptations to stresses and shocks, including both climatic changes and other natural and social forces.

I am part of a research group at Arizona State University that has begun to use archaeological data to address urban survival and adaptation over long periods. (Disclosure: ASU is a partner with Slate and New America in Future Tense.) In contrast to aspirational sustainability, we take a rather stark view of ancient urban sustainability: If a city or settlement managed to survive for many centuries, then it was sustainable. I recently returned to the results of an archaeological survey I directed in the Yautepec Valley of Mexico in the 1990s, to see if they might shed any light on climate-change adaptations and sustainability today. I think they do. My students and I walked across the landscape and located some 400 sitesplaces on the landscape where people once lived. Our chronology is rough, with time periods that last one or two centuries. Some sites were occupied for just a single period of time, while others were occupied for many millennia. What was the difference between those that survived and those that did not?

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One finding that relates to urban issues today is the effects of city size on adaptation and sustainability. The median persistence of settlements in the Yautepec Valley was 370 years, a high rate of urban success by any measure. Looking more closely at the data, it is clear that larger settlements typically lasted longer than smaller ones. Several patterns stand out. The earliest urban centers in this area were founded adjacent to the best farmland, in the first century BCE. These large centers thrived for more than a millennium. Their superior locations undoubtedly contributed to their persistence and success. The conquest of the valley by the Teotihuacan empire (around 150 CE), however, showed that major political transformations can be more important than city size in explaining persistence. This event set off a flurry of urbanization as new administrative centers sprung up throughout the valley. These towns probably helped administer the cultivation of cotton for Teotihuacan. When Teotihuacan withdrew three centuries later, these towns were abandoned. Their size (larger than other settlements at the time) was no help when their administrative purpose came to an end. Does the more general role of size as a stimulus to sustainability extend to other early urban systems? If so, this may help scholars and planners work out the optimum size for cities in order to ensure sustainability into the future. Planners already associate higher urban population density with greater sustainability. If larger size is also more sustainable, then perhaps the current trend of shrinking cities in many regions needs immediate policy help. Economists have shown that larger cities generate more growth per capita than smaller cities, and this finding has been replicated for ancient cities. It would not be surprising if these city-size effects also created cities more able to withstand shocks and survive into the future.

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Two obstacles must be overcome before scientists and planners can use insights from ancient history and archaeology. First, my colleagues and I need to reanalyze our data with respect to persistence over time. Just what conditions (city size, infrastructure, institutions) promoted urban persistence in the past? Can such results be translated for urban adaptations today? This is not a trivial task. Just reconfiguring the Yautepec data to look at the persistence of settlements through time required dedicated labor by a postdoc and graduate student. Second, urban adaptation scholars and archaeologists need to come together to establish specific useful connections between the patterns and processes identifiable for ancient cities, and the factors promoting or hindering the adaptations of cities to climate change today. Archaeologists can analyze many attributes of cities and settlement systems beyond their size and persistence; we welcome suggestions on what to do next.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
This article originally appeared on the Record.

ILORIN, NigeriaAround November 2020, Kayode said he was invited to a house partythe kind attended mostly by others involved in the countrys illicit digital economy.

The college sophomore studying towards a hard sciences degree had reservations about attending a party during a global pandemic, but he didnt have much other to do than spend time with other so-called yahoo boysan archaic nickname that recalls when Nigerian cyber fraudsters were synonymous with Yahoo Mail and Nigerian Prince spam.

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The market has now graduated into more complex and targeted schemes, experts told the Record. And Kayode, who wanted to be identified only by this nickname due to security concerns, is one of many young Nigerians who turned to that market as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted their education and left them with few options.

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Since the start of the pandemic, experts say, Nigeria has witnessed an increase not just in the number of people drawn into cyber crime, but also in the complexity of tactics they deploy.

The exposure to cyber fraud will continue to grow because of the economic hardship which will take time to fizzle out, Geoffrey Okolorie, a researcher of cyber fraud and the head of Digital Forensics at Nigerias Economic and Financial Crime Commission or EFCC, which enforces the countrys cybercrime laws, told the Record via email.

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But theres also been a shift in the country towards moral and societal acceptance of scamming as an economic necessity, or at least an opportunity many cant pass up.

Certainly, when Kayode headed to the party last year, it seemed like an opportunity.

Its also a very great place to connect with bigger guys, Kayode recalled.

So he went, a decision he would come to regret.

Around 11 p.m., a fight broke out between two of the bigger guys.

The party became besieged by guys wielding cutlasses and broken bottles, said Kayode. They blocked exits and began harassing everyone.

Kayode said he and three other guys stood up to defend themselves. One of the much older attackers ordered him to sit his ass down, but Kayode refused.

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Then they beat him until he threw up and passed out, he said.

A means of survival

The party was ultimately a wake-up call of sorts for Kayode, but even now his descent into cybercrime can sound rational given the nightmare of trying to stay afloat amid the pandemic in Nigeria.

I needed to do something. I needed to survive, Kayode said. Im not justifying my decision, but theres something in being at home, doing nothing, but paradoxically doing everything in your capacity to stay alive, yet you are kind of dying, that makes you care less about others.

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Nigeria represents one of the largest economies in the world and the largest in Africa. Although oil and agriculture are still the countrys largest industries, its tech ecosystem is one of the worlds fastest growing.

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But according to Trading Economics, the average Nigerian salary is 43,200 naira (about $105) a month, still far behind that of many other countries with strong tech sectors. Meanwhile, the countrys jobless rate is the second highest in the worldquadrupling in the last five years and surging to 33.3 percent from 27.1 percent amid the pandemic, Bloomberg reported in March.

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Young Nigerians have been hit the hardest by the epidemics unemployment crisisdriving many to online crime and forcing cultural re-evaluation of its morality, according to Oludayo Tade.

It creates this orientation that this society does not take care of us, so we have to take care of ourselves, said Tade, who researches and teaches sociology and criminology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

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Kayode seems like an unlikely criminal at first glance.

In high school, he says, he was an A student and served as his schools social prefect, while also representing his school in academic competitions. And he scored well enough on the Nigerian equivalent of the SATs to land a spot at the University of Ilorin, one of the countrys most elite educational institutionswhere I also attend.

But as Kayode was in the middle of first semester exams for his sophomore year in March 2020, the Academic Staff Union of University embarked on a two-week warning strikeciting unmet demands and disagreement with the federal government. Then the pandemic struck Nigeria, and the federal government imposed an indefinite nationwide lockdown. University students were encouraged to leave their dorms and go home until education resumed.

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That wasnt so easy for Kayode.

His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother was given custody. He described the relationship between him and his father as vague, and even worse after he started at university. So he depended mostly on his mother, a businesswomanwho verified elements of his story. But because she lived in a small apartment in another city, theyd both agreed that he stayed in his off-campus housing in Ilorin.

By May 2020, it had become clear that the pandemic wasnt leaving soon. And it came at a priceone being paid mostly by poor and middle-class Nigerians.

While Nigerias poverty indicator remained at roughly 40 percent, inflation in the country climbed to 17 percent. According to a recent World Bank report, the pandemic pushed Nigerian families further below the poverty line and forcing some to go hungry:

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In August 2020, 67% of (surveyed) households reported that their income was lower than a year before, while in July 2020, around 69% of those households that experienced shocks since the outbreak of COVID-19 reported reducing their food consumption (among other negative coping strategies).

Kayodes mother was among those who hit hard times, so she sent him less money. And due to the countrys economic turmoil, what she could send didnt last as long.

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I could purchase even less with the money due to inflation, Kayode said.

Kayode said he first looked for normal jobs. He had learned graphic design and taken courses on online marketing, so he tried to monetize those skills first and even tried to pick up some new ones.

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There were little returns, Kayode said.

According to PwC, digital skills awareness increased globally during the pandemic, but work inequality and inaccessibility remained crucial issues facing the global workforce.

Turning to cybercrime

After Kayodes hunt for a legitimate job failed, he turned to the next potentially profitable use of his digital skills: cybercrime.

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As student housing thinned out due to stopped academic activities, those who stayed behind were mainly students who were independent, had no other choice, or engaged in criminal activities. The shallow social pool pushed those around to spend more time with one another.

This introduced more students into criminal activities, according to Kayode.

I saw that everyone around me was doing it. And that I could actually do it better, he said. Looking back, I realize that I didnt even see it as a major decision. It just seemed like the next sensible thing to do.

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When Kayode first started, he said he engaged mainly in dating-app scamsfraud where the actor pretended to be a love interest to defraud the victim of money or personal details that could be used in applying for benefits or loans.

Typically, in the case of identity fraud used to apply for benefits and loans, most cyber fraudsters engage the victim and gain their trust over time, but another member of the criminal ganga so-called loaderhandles the technical part of applying and convincing the system that the applications are valid. Loaders are also the ones in charge of laundering the funds once released, but cant always be trusted to pay out the scammers who supplied information to carry out the identity fraud.

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After being ripped off by one loader, Kayode shifted to hook-up scamsa type of scam where the actor poses as an escort looking to hook up or sell nude images. The scam is completed when the victims wire funds meant for the supposed escorts service through Paypal, Zelle, or Apple Pay, or send details of activated gift cards. The scam can yield as low as $50 and up to $1,500, but often average at $100 to $250. Its especially popular with Snapchat and dating or hookup sites.

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Its low pay, but also low risk, said Kayode. He also saw it as less morally questionable to target those seeking out sexual pleasure.

In the true sense, youre not committing a major crime. Its sort of like a gray areaand if its a crime, victims are often too ashamed to report it.

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These schemes helped Kayode and many other young students afloat, but boosted cybercrime originating from the country.

Nigerias EFCC declined requests for data about cybercrime during the pandemic. However, data about arrests for internet-enabled crimes shared by the commissions Twitter handle from January 2019 through June 2021 and analyzed by the Record show a significant increase in arrests as the pandemic continued.

In 2019, the EFCC tweeted cyber fraud arrests totalling 117. In 2020, the number dropped to 62with a significant gap between March to July when the pandemic peaked in Nigeria. However, between January 2021 to June 2021, the commission shared information about the arrests of more than 300 individuals on charges related to cyber fraud.

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The agency stopped posting in June 2021 after the Nigerian government banned Twitter access following the removal of a tweet from the president that Twitter said violated its community standards and in response to how the platform was used by activists to organize major protests in Nigeria the previous summer.

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The persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigerias corporate existence, Segun Adeyemi, special assistant to the minister of Information and Culture, said at the time, according to the Nigerian Guardian.

In October 2020, Nigeria had one of its largest series of protests against police brutality. The #EndSARS protest was geared against the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a police sect that was created to respond to issues of armed robbery and kidnapping, but became notorious for abusing and extorting youths on false charges of cyber fraud.

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Weeks into the protests, the president announced the disbandment of the unit, but the movement had already graduated into a bigger call for police reformone that was met with state violence. On Oct. 20, 2020, members of the Nigerian military and police opened fire on protesters at the Lekki toll gate.

The #EndSARS movement was part of a larger trend of political unrest worldwide during the pandemic, many involving alleged state corruption and abuse of power as well as economic hardship. Disruptions have been especially common in countries without the resources to provide their citizens support during the crisissuch as elsewhere in Africa, including Tunisia and South Africa, as well as Colombia in South America.

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But the United States, too, has also been rocked by unrestincluding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, the wave of protests against racist police brutality in response to the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in summer of 2020, and the rise of anti-work sentiment driven by the treatment of frontline workers during the pandemic.

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Nigerian-based scammers have long targeted aid and financial systems in wealthier countriesand the expansion of benefits in the U.S. and elsewhere during the pandemic was met with even more attacks amid this unrest.

Data released by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations in response to Freedom of Information Requests shows Nigerian cyber actors obtained more than $110 million as financial recipients of fraudulent applications of aid such as benefits and loans in 2020, almost three times the roughly $33.9 million figure reported for 2019. (The agency did not respond to requests for further comment.)

Because the United States not only increased governmental aids and benefits, it also eased the process of applications, it made it easier for cyberfrauds to fool the system, said John Wilson, a senior threat researcher at AGARI by HelpSystems.

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According to a report from AGARI that analyzed 2,200 business email compromise attacks between May 2019 and July 2020 where the actors werent using proxies or masking their locations, 50 percent hailed from Nigeriarepresenting more than 80 percent of African threat actors in the sample.

But even those figures dont truly reflect how normalized participation in cybercrime is in Nigeria. The countrys ties to digital fraud go back to the 1990s, when emails from fraudsters claiming to be princes or other wealthy figures who could offer access to vast funds in exchange for a financial advance grew so prevalent the local slang for it419 fraudreferences the section of the Nigerian law that criminalizes such scams.

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And today, the same dark digital economy that attracted Kayode is also connected to high profile national figures who allegedly pulled in high figure paydays. For example, in May, a senior special assistant to the governor of Nigerias Ogun stateAbidemi Rufaiwas arrested in the United States for allegedly defrauding Washington state of more than $350,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits that were collected using stolen identities.

Other prominent Nigerians who have faced legal consequences for cybercrime include Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, an Instagram influencer known as Hushpuppi, and Obinwanne Okekepopularly known as Invictus Obi and included on Forbes 30 under 30 Africa list in 2016.

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In July of this year, Abbas pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Engage in Money Laundering and implicated fellow conspirators, including Abba Kyaria now suspended deputy commissioner of the Nigerian Police Force.

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In June 2020, Okeke pleaded guilty to internet fraud amounting to $11 million losses to his victims and is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in the United States. In a recent interview with journalist David Pright, Okeke described first getting involved in fraud as a means to gain start-up capital after observing a friend and mentor using stolen banking and crypto credentials bought online to drain accounts.

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He also connected the crime to the countrys larger economic situation, describing the country as beautiful, but impoverishedand a hazardous obstacle course that most will never navigate through.

The morning after

Kayode said he has no concrete memory of what happened after the attack until he woke up the next morning. He picked a call from his mom and then it dawned on him that while he was out, party attendees must have panicked and called her.

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She was trying not to cry because she was in a bus on the way here, and I was angry at those who called her. But they also were scared, Kayode recalled.

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Kayodes mother came to Ilorin and took him back to stay with her in a different part of the country.

I blamed myself for what happened, she blamed herself for not being enough, and we did that circle until school resumed, he said.

While many educational institutions around in Nigeria and around the world tried to keep school on track with distance learning, the Academic Staff Union of University strike that began around the same time as the pandemic hit the country extended for nine months. When it was finally resolved, students were still left battling new technological barriers while trying to play catch up for the recent gap in their education.

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Kayode says he has regained trust with his mother, but still blames himself for what happened.

The environment was stimulating, but Im sure there are others who were worse off, but did not do this, he said.

I also spoke with several people who were related to students who became cyber fraudsters during the pandemic. Many had to decide to either distance themselves, or accept them anyway and battle with the moral guilt.

One woman said her elder brother was now engaged in cyber fraud, but she couldnt bring herself to tell their parents about it.

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Hes no longer who he was, she said, but hes still her brother.

The issue also affected my own relationships.

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I began researching this topic late last year after noticing an increase in cyber fraudsters around me, including my friends. When I first started to investigate, I approached two then-close friends who had also become cyber fraudsters over the course of the pandemic. We discussed the economic factors and they both agreed to speak with me whenever I decided to report the story.

By the time I approached them again this September for this story, not only had we grown apart, their perspective on cyber fraud had also shifted from seeing it as mere survival strategy to something nobler.

They no longer wanted to speak with me because as one put it, hed grown beyond who he was when the year started. He now viewed cyber fraud as a sort of rebellion against a global economic system that is inherently unfair.

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I met Kayode online around the same time those people pulled out. I met Kayode in a closed WhatsApp group where people discussed politics and environmental issues. We discussed over several WhatsApp phone calls before meeting physically.

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Kayode knew who I was, but I did not know him, so twice wed talk and hed tell me that he saw me on campus. When we eventually met in an empty lecture room, he was reading Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho.

We discussed names that we both knew, including some who I had earlier sought to interview, as well as very specific knowledge about fraud techniques that made me feel confident in his involvement in cybercrime. While elements of this pieceincluding the account of the partyrely heavily on Kayodes version of events, I also verified them with contemporary messages provided by Kayode and another person familiar with the timeline.

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Although I had already spent about 10 months reporting this story, his story helped me understand the wide web of cyber fraud I personally saw expand across campus. And experts tell me its likely this new generation of Nigerian cybercriminals will not be the last of their kind.

Before the pandemic, a 2019 study by researchers Suleman Lazarus and Okolorie divided Nigerian fraudsters into two categories in terms of knowledge and technological sophistication: the yahoo-analog and the yahoo-digital.

The analog referred to largely uneducated and uninformed cyber fraudsters who are less efficient than their digital counterparts. The yahoo-digital relied more on sophisticated techniques and built larger criminal networks and relied less on spirituality than the analogues.

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Its notable to say that the recent increase has been mainly among the yahoo-digitals, said Okolorie told the Record over email. This will in turn, affect the complexity of future attacks and make them harder to prevent.

Wilson also said theres been an increase in the complexity and tactics deployed by threats from the regions, even before the pandemic.

More of these guys are masking their locations with proxies, but by other indicators, we can tell theyre West African actors, he noted.

This professionalization is reflected in the prosecution of high-profile people for cybercrimes as well as other cultural trends within the country.

Nigerian cyber fraud is also becoming more branded, unlike before when youths were ashamed to be recognised as cyber fraudsters, said Okolorie.

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Now cyber fraud in Nigeria is celebrated as a lifestyle identified through a series of fashion tropes, lingo, and musicnot unlike the rise of gangster rap along with drug-related gangs in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.

This culture is also going more mainstream, including through things like the popularization of songs like Cash App by Bella Shmurda and other music explicitly promoting the yahoo lifestyle.

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Even everyday people became bolder in mini-criminal actssuch as sharing updates and procedures along with the contacts of people who assist in duping a victim or carting away funds from successful deals.

And for Kayode, leaving that life behind has been hard.

I know a lot of guys who joined the game that same period I didand to the best of my knowledgeIm the only one whos no longer doing it, Kayode said.

The ones I still know are now big fishes and obviously, Im not in a better place than them financially. But, also, its hard to see myself as morally superior, he added.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/as-syria-welcomed-back-into-arab-fold-local-analyst-says-itll-help-nation-financially-1091029088.html

As Syria Welcomed Back Into Arab Fold, Local Analyst Says It'll Help Nation Financially

As Syria Welcomed Back Into Arab Fold, Local Analyst Says It'll Help Nation Financially

The damage from the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011 is estimated to be around $1.2 trillion. The crisis has hurt the country's economy and trade, but a... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

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Syria, a country that has been at war since 2011, is likely to be represented at the next Arab League summit, expected to take place in Algeria in March.This follows attempts by Algeria and Egypt to bring Syria back into the Arab fold, and after rapprochement efforts made by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and, more recently, the United Arab Emirates, whose Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the war-torn country at the beginning of this month.Relations between Syria and a number of Arab soured after the eruption of the Arab Spring in 2011, with Damascus cracking down on protesters. Now, it seems a new chapter in these ties is being written.New Geopolitical MapShadi Ahmed, a Damascus-based political analyst, says the recent mending of fences is connected to several factors.The second reason is the new geopolitical map of the region, and the desire to weaken Turkey.Yet, the resumption of ties is aimed at weakening yet another player - Iran.Since 2011, when mass protests against the government of President Bashar Assad erupted, Iran has been on the side of the authorities in Damascus, providing it with financial support, military training, and equipment.Reports have also indicated that Tehran has deployed thousands of militants from the Iran-aligned Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and they have been fighting on the side of Assad.The Gulf states, primarily Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have been staunch opponents of Iran for years, and they have been eyeing the rapid entrenchment of the Islamic Republic in Syria with concern.Now, they see an opportunity to change the path Damascus has been on and tilt the scales in their favour. But Ahmed says the Gulf will not be able to break the bond between Iran and Syria.Damascus, however, also needs the support of the Gulf and other Arab nations. Ten years of war have shattered the nation, with reports suggesting the damage from the hostilities is now in the area of $1.2 trillion.Trade between Syria and a number of Arab states has decreased significantly, while money transfers have been banned.Mending TiesThe UAE has already vowed to invest money in Syria and strengthen its cooperation with Damascus. The Syrian government has also improved ties with Oman, Kuwait, and Jordan, whereas relations with Iraq and Egypt have remained relatively strong dispute hiccups.

Hess What "civil war"? Only terrorists apologists call it civil war. The war on Syria is an international terrorism perpetuated by terrorists recruited, financed and armed by the US, Israel and their Zionist vassals. 9

TruePatriot First on the agenda is the booting the zionists out of Palestine. 6

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/australian-defence-force-navy-ship-head-to-solomon-islands-amid-ongoing-unrest-reports-say-1091034533.html

Australian Defence Force, Navy Ship Head to Solomon Islands Amid Ongoing Unrest, Reports Say

Australian Defence Force, Navy Ship Head to Solomon Islands Amid Ongoing Unrest, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - About 40 Australian Defence Force personnel and a navy ship will join Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers in the Solomon Islands later... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

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Australia has agreed to send troops and federal police to the Solomon Islands amid unrest on Thursday. Prime Minister Morrison said 23 AFP members would be deployed immediately, another 50 AFP officers would support critical infrastructure on the following day, as well as 43 armed defence force personnel.Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare has sent a formal request for help to Canberra based on a bilateral security treaty signed in 2017, Solomon Times reported.The island nation's Governor-General on Friday imposed a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily in the capital city as violent protests and sporadic looting enter their third day. Solomon police forces have begun using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters.Sogavare, speaking to Australian broadcaster ABC, blamed the protests on foreign interference, as the unrest stems from the government's moves to recognise China and sever ties with Taiwan, something that the populous province of Malaita has opposed.The broadcaster shared footage showing protesters attacking the Prime Minister's residence, although local sources said the building was only rented by Sogavare in the past.Sogavare declared a 36-hour lockdown on Wednesday after protests turned violent, with a leaf hut on the premises of the country's parliament building and a traffic police station in Honiara set on fire.

keyboardcosmetics Peacekeeping! WTF: Armies don't do PEACE KEEPING. This is DAMAGE CONTROL and more REPRESSION. 2

John Mason Here we goagain; another manufactured crisis by a 5 Eye member to implicate China. Wake up Australia, stop being a foot stool for the US and grow a spine! 2

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/delhi-demands-meeting-with-facebook-officials-after-whistleblower-shares-fake-news-dossier-1091035711.html

Delhi Demands Meeting With Facebook Officials After Whistleblower Shares Fake News Dossier

Delhi Demands Meeting With Facebook Officials After Whistleblower Shares Fake News Dossier

Two former employees of Facebook - Frances Haugen and Sophie Zhang, who turned whistleblowers in October - revealed that the social-media giant failed to get a... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

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New Delhi on Friday required officials from Facebook India to appear before the Information Technology Parliamentary Committee to comment on allegations levelled by former Facebook employee Sophie Zhang, an Indian daily newspaper reported. The Facebook officials have been asked to appear before the Indian parliamentary committee on 29 November, the report added. Zhang said that she is ready to testify before the Indian Parliament if New Delhi opens an investigation into malpractice at the social media giant.In October, Zhang, a former data scientist at Facebook, revealed that major political parties, including Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party, had used fake accounts during the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election to influence voters.According to Zhang, Facebook was "allowing authoritarian governments to manipulate political discourse".In October, another whistleblower, Frances Haugen, testified before a US Senate panel that provided a case study of 2021 showing harmful content from Hindu nationalist organisation, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and Bajrang Dal (another Hindu group), was not adequately flagged on Facebook and WhatsApp.Haugen also provided the Wall Street Journal with documents that became the basis for the publication's 'Facebook Files' series. The whistleblower also reported "potential criminal violations" by Facebook to the authorities.Zhang's testimony came just weeks after Haugen's as she testified before a US panel and urged the authorities to intervene in the "crisis" created by the company, saying that Facebook cannot tackle harmful content online.Taking note of the report in the Wall Street Journal, the Indian parliamentary committee in September summoned Facebook representatives over allegations suggesting that Facebook had chosen to overlook hate speech made by BJP politicians on its platform.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/fda-deems-merck-pill-effective-against-covid-19-as-experts-plan-to-review-safety---1091055145.html

FDA Deems Merck Pill Effective Against COVID-19 as Experts Plan to Review Safety

FDA Deems Merck Pill Effective Against COVID-19 as Experts Plan to Review Safety

Last month, former Food and Drug administrator Scott Gottlieb said that he believes the COVID-19 "pandemic phase" will come to an end with the approval of... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

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Federal health regulators have revealed that Molnupiravir, an investigational antiviral drug to treat COVID-19, is effective against the contagious disease, but the agency will seek input from experts regarding possible birth defects and other potential pregnancy issues associated with the pill. Scientists with the federal agency have identified several potential safety issues with the drug, including possible toxicity to developing fetuses and birth defects. This data was collected from trials using the pill in animals. The FDA's posting comes days before the agency's Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (AMDAC) is scheduled to meet to discuss Merck and Ridgeback's submission.The FDA will ask advisers during their November 30 meeting if the drug should be prescribed to all persons, or if exceptions should be made. The agency could decide to make the drug carry a warning about risks during pregnancy, but allow doctors to prescribe it in cases where the benefits outweigh the risks. Merck has said that the drug should not be used by children, according to the FDA, which agreed with the company. The pill, billed as a 5-day treatment, targets an enzyme that allows the coronavirus to make copies of itself and introduces errors to the virus' genetic code. The FDA also raised concerns about the fact that Molnupiravir was found to alter the virus' spike protein, which allows it to penetrate host cells and cause infection. This could theoretically result in the formation of new variants of COVID-19. Merck has observed a 30% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths with the antiviral pill, according to data from 1,433 patients. Merck previously touted data from 775 patients in October that showed the drug had an approximately 50% efficacy rate.

Thomas Turk Well they did check the efficacy of the injections on animals, but after ALL the test animals died.. they hurriedly announced, that these injections were not designed for humans in the 1st place. Global Research. A crisis has hit the eastern European country of Slovenia, with a whistleblower nurse telling the public that politicians and other high ranking citizens receive saline instead of the mRNA experimental medication. In a video on Facebook, which has been deleted by YouTube, the woman claiming to be the head nurse of the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, which takes care of receiving and managing the jab bottles for politicians, resigned and gave a press conference on the scandal. 2

Marl Surfer And Merck themselves said the efficacy of their new pill is low. That would also explain why FDA approved Pfizer and Moderna based on incomplete Phase 3 trial. 2

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/french-fishermen-try-to-block-eurotunnel-port-of-calais-amid-licenses-row-with-britain-1091034106.html

French Fishermen Block Eurotunnel, Port of Calais Amid Licenses Row With Britain

French Fishermen Block Eurotunnel, Port of Calais Amid Licenses Row With Britain

The conflict began after London decided to leave the EU, as Paris insists that Britain granted 50% fewer licenses to French vessels than were agreed upon in... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T11:02+0000

2021-11-26T11:02+0000

2021-11-26T13:48+0000

france

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Sputnik is live from Calais, where French fishermen are trying to block both the port and the Eurotunnel linking Britain to the continent amid a standoff over UK licenses to operate in British waters. They also announced plans to block two other ports - Saint-Malo and Ouistreham. The blockade may disrupt trade and passenger flows between Europe and the UK.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!

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French Fishermen Try to Block Eurotunnel, Port of Calais Amid Licenses Row With Britain French Fishermen Try to Block Eurotunnel, Port of Calais Amid Licenses Row With Britain 2021-11-26T11:02+0000 true PT1S

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/how-bidens-summit-for-democracy-causes-a-cold-war-style-two-camp-polarisation-of-the-world-1091051066.html

How Biden's Summit for Democracy Causes a Cold War-Style Two-Camp Polarisation of the World

How Biden's Summit for Democracy Causes a Cold War-Style Two-Camp Polarisation of the World

Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy is likely to polarise the world and particularly deepen the rift between the US on the one side and Russia and China on the... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T19:12+0000

2021-11-26T19:12+0000

2021-11-26T19:12+0000

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President Joe Biden is due to virtually convene his first Summit for Democracy on 9-10 December 2021. The White House has recently revealed that it invited over 100 participants from across the world.77 invitees rank as "free" or fully democratic countries, 31 countries are "partly free", and three are "not free", according to Freedom House, a Washington, DC government funded non-profit established in 1941. The agenda of the summit is to defend the world against authoritarianism, fight corruption, and promote human rights.The Biden administration's choice of participants has prompted certain controversy, according to ABC News. For instance, the US president snubbed China while inviting Taiwan, which is considered by Beijing as the country's unalienable territory. While asking Central and Eastern European countries to participate in the virtual venue, Biden has not invited Hungary. Russia also has not received an invitation from Washington.Why US Needs Its Own Democracy SummitThe idea of the democracy summit seems absurd given that the US already "turned into a plutocracy" and a country where democracy "almost just died in", the academic believes. The system is deeply flawed being influenced by various lobbies and special interests groups, according to him."We've got a system where people work for the government for a while", the professor notes. "They do oversight in certain areas like defense spending when they leave government and go to work for defense contractors and make a fortune, make a lot of money. We unfortunately don't have a functioning democracy, and it's going the wrong direction, not the right direction".Even the thing that the United States prides itself on like freedom of the press is triggering skepticism, according to the professor. Nominally, one can write what one wants in the US, but critics of the American system almost never get on mainstream media, he highlights."So there is freedom of the press, but that doesn't mean you have freedom of access to the media", Kuznick says. "The media is very limited in terms of whose views they consider legitimate".If the upcoming summit is critical of weaknesses in the present system of liberal governance, including that of the US, and discusses ways to reform and deepen democratic practices in general throughout all levels of society, at the global, regional and local levels, it could prove meaningful, according to Hall Gardner, professor of International Politics at the American University of Paris.Biden's List: US President Polarises the WorldBiden's selective approach to the participants list may be driven by a plan "to form a bloc of nations considered democracies to become a coalition" to push ahead with further global reforms, suggests David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University.In this light, the notable absence of Russia in the list might be "a combination of shame and effort to say that if Russia wishes to be part of the 'club' and be respected, it needs to follow 'democratic rules'", he believes.White House's decision not to invite Russia "sends the wrong message" to Moscow and the rest of the world, while poking China over Taiwan appears to be nothing short of an unnecessary provocation, according to Kuznick.The US is continuing to adhere to the Cold War-era approach which divides the world into competing camps, according to the academic. Initially, the political bipolarity was based on juxtaposing capitalism to communism, now it is "democracy versus authoritarianism".The professor presumes that following the Afghanistan debacle, Biden is under a lot of pressure from the Dems and the GOP to act tough to Moscow and Beijing: "The one thing they agree on is their hostility toward Russia and China", he remarks.Biden administration's summit of democracies is further polarising the global system and "making it even more difficult to engage in diplomatic compromise between rival states in the quest for global peace and sustainable development", echoes Gardner.Increasingly Unpopular Biden Needs a 'Win' of Some SortThe timing of the summit deserves attention as it coincides with the American president's steady slide in polls and incapability of passing his signature initiatives in the US Congress, according to the observers."The Biden administration would certainly like a "win" of some sort to counter the negative news of late", says Timothy Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa.However, even if it does succeed, however that is defined, it probably won't make much difference in terms of his approval ratings, according to the political scientist."On one level, this isn't the kind of thing that most voters care about", Hagle notes. "That's especially true at a time when economic issues are what is giving Biden trouble. Another reason is that what Biden might count as a success might be seen by Republicans as a negative".Kuznick also believes that the conference will help Biden gain more domestic popular support. However, it could potentially be a game changer, if the US president demonstrates real leadership and embraces an inclusive approach, according to the professor.

https://sputniknews.com/20211124/us-extends-invitation-to-110-countries-for-democracy-summit-leaves-out-russia-china-1090977774.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211102/world-desperately-needs-whistleblowers-as-big-media-big-tech-curbing-free-speech-ex-un-expert-says-1090422280.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211125/us-summit-for-democracy-breeds-division-draws-ideological-lines-chinese-foreign-minister-says-1091008298.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211020/yalta-20-why-us-military-analysts-urge-biden-to-avoid-standoff-with-russia-china-at-all-costs-1090064167.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211118/down-we-go-bidens-approval-ratings-hit-new-low-as-36-approve-of-his-job-new-poll-reveals-1090838876.html

Steve How hypocritical. We, the USA, are not democratic either. When all candidates running for office are pre chosen by billionaires, is that democracy? 8

Joy boy U$ is a war country. They chose war instead of peace, democracy, socialism, communism, global healthcare, global education, global happiness, infinite Nature's resources, and so on. They just can't win. 6

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/hundreds-of-norwegians-leave-church-after-it-demands-to-stop-oil-exploration-1091031311.html

Hundreds of Norwegians Leave Church After It Demands to Stop Oil Exploration

Hundreds of Norwegians Leave Church After It Demands to Stop Oil Exploration

The Church of Norway's call to put an end to oil and gas exploration has sparked a backlash from politicians and ordinary worshippers alike, who in response... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T06:44+0000

2021-11-26T06:44+0000

2021-11-26T06:44+0000

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Following a call by the Church of Norway to stop further oil and gas exploration activity on the Norwegian shelf, voiced during a national meeting with 116 representatives from eleven dioceses in Trondheim, more than 1,700 Norwegians have left the organisation, the newspaper Vart Land has reported.The backlash from worshippers was accompanied by criticism from politicians.Among others, national-conservative Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug asked the Church of Norway to stop behaving like a political party and ventured that their offensive against the oil industry is a lost cause."As we know, closing down the Norwegian oil industry could lead to increased emissions globally, take away jobs, and make Norway a poorer country. There will not be much left for grants to the church or aid if we remove the oil revenues. They are cutting off the branch they are sitting on", Listhaug told the newspaper Klassekampen.Conservative MP Sveinung Stensland stressed that there are no grounds in the Bible for such a decision and suggested that the chuch is alienating people with such behaviour."When it wants to be a political workshop, to be a political party, the Church of Norway makes itself less interesting for us who are politically engaged. You don't feel at home then", Stensland told Vart Land.The Church of Norway said that it was prepared for a negative reaction, yet clarified that it holds no grudge against those working in the oil and gas industry."It is natural that the decision that was made sparks some reactions of this type. At the same time, it is important for us to be clear that the church doesn't see those who work in the petroleum sector in Norway as a problem. They make a very big effort for value creation for Norwegian society", Olav Fykse Tveit, the Preses of the Church of Norway, explained.Norway is one of the world's leaders in exports of energy resources, covering about 2 percent of global oil demand and 3 percent of natural gas demand. These oil and gas revenues have been the foundation for the so-called Oil Fund, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. Despite the obvious success, in recent years, many left-wing parties have advocated a complete halt to the country's oil exploration for environmental reasons.The Church of Norway is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestantism and by far the largest Christian church in the country, embracing just under 70 percent of the population. Until the mid-19th century, it had a near-total monopoly on religion in Norway as the "state church".Yet, in recent decades, the church has been losing worshippers at an alarming rate, in lockstep with its Scandinavian cousins. This trend has been attributed to society becoming increasingly secular and more multicultural, as well as the church's liberal stance on social issues, including immigration, LGBTQ, and environmental rights shooing away more traditional worshippers.For instance, the Church of Norway supported climate strikes by schoolchildren who demanded more forceful environmental action, and rallied in support of immigration, which many found unbecoming.

https://sputniknews.com/20210427/green-switch-norwegian-government-parties-aim-to-stop-new-oil-exploration-1082736871.html

Thomas Turk So the god-chatters fear sea levels will be up one whole Meter in the next 1000years. 1-2mm/y over previous 20 years said. sat. radar altimetry. . if we keep roasting.. BUT.. it's coolng! The Antarctic interior recorded its coldest April-to-September this year since records began in 1957. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC), the average temperature at the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was minus 60.9C for the six months. It was also the stations second coldest winter (June, July and August) on record, with an average seasonal temperature of minus 62.9C. This was an extraordinary 3.4C below the long-term average (1881-2010) for winter. 0

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/india-summons-senior-pakistan-diplomat-demanding-expeditious-trials-in-mumbai-terror-attacks-case-1091035440.html

India Summons Senior Pakistan Diplomat Demanding Expeditious Trials in Mumbai Terror Attacks Case

India Summons Senior Pakistan Diplomat Demanding Expeditious Trials in Mumbai Terror Attacks Case

The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks on 26 November left 166 victims dead. India shared evidence that said official agencies in Pakistan were involved in plotting... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T14:41+0000

2021-11-26T14:41+0000

2021-11-26T14:41+0000

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Indias Ministry of External Affairs has summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat on Friday and delivered a "note verbale" (diplomatic note), calling on the Pakistan government to abide by its commitment not to allow territories under its control to harbour terrorists who pose a threat to India. India has also asked Pakistan to stop practising double standards and bring the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks to justice as quickly as possible.The move comes on the 13th anniversary of the 26 November Mumbai terrorist attacks in which 166 people from 15 countries were killed. The ministry claimed that the outrage was planned, executed, and launched from Pakistani territory."The former prime minister of Pakistan [Nawaz Sharif] went on record and admitted that the terrorists were sent from Pakistan's soil," the ministry said, referring to Sharif's statement in 2018 where he mentioned that non-state actors crossed the border and killed people in Mumbai.During the 60-hours siege, Indian forces gunned down nine terrorists and captured one who had infiltrated the city from the Arabian Sea.Identified as Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist was subsequently hanged in Mumbai in 2012.Soon after the attack, India shared more than a dozen dossiers with Pakistan. A trial was started in Pakistan's Rawalpindi court, but the progress was halted after a dispute arose over evidence between the two countries in 2015. Pakistan rejected India's dossiers as evidence, claiming they held no legal weight in court. In 2015, Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Court where the Mumbai terror attacks were being tried, ordered the production of 24 Indian witnesses which India refused, citing a threat to their lives.There are a total of seven accused, including mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. The remaining six are Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/israel-reportedly-concerned-us-may-strike-partial-nuclear-deal-with-iran-1091027693.html

Israel Reportedly Concerned US May Strike Partial Nuclear Deal With Iran

Israel Reportedly Concerned US May Strike Partial Nuclear Deal With Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced this week that Tel Aviv will maintain freedom of action if Tehran and the world powers draft a nuclear deal... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T00:45+0000

2021-11-26T00:45+0000

2021-11-26T00:41+0000

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israel

iran

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Senior Israeli officials claim that the US may be setting itself up with a "less-for-less" nuclear deal with Iran that would offer partial sanctions relief to Tehran in exchange for a rollback or a freeze on nuclear work in Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal. While US officials have characterized such a deal as the product of brainstorming, Tel Aviv claimed that a partial deal with Iran would be a gift to the new hard-line government of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Despite the purported brainstorming, no proposals or initiatives have yet been finalized.In May 2018, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - also known as the Iran nuclear deal - and reimposed sanctions that crippled the Iranian economy. Soon after, Tehran also abandoned its commitments under the agreement. Following the election of a Democratic US president, negotiations to revisit the agreement kicked off in April but stalled in June, when Raisi was elected.Both nations have since confirmed that talks regarding sanctions and the nuclear deal are scheduled to resume in Vienna on November 29. Earlier this week, the Israeli prime minister asserted that Iran is at "the most advanced stage of its nuclear program," but was "much more vulnerable than is commonly thought." Bennett warned that Tel Aviv's modern-day advances in cyber technologies could be used to achieve its desired result over Tehran. Iran has accused Israel of conducting a number of attacks against its nuclear program, including the June 2021 drone attack on the Karaj Nuclear Centre for Medicine and Agriculture and the November 2020 assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian nuclear scientist. A recent New York Times report detailed that US officials warned Israeli counterparts that attacks targeting Iran's nuclear program were "ultimately counterproductive," as it allows Tehran to rebuild a more efficient enrichment system. Israeli officials, however, have "no intention of letting up," per the report.

https://sputniknews.com/20211103/iran-to-resume-jcpoa-negotiations-in-vienna-on-nov-29---iranian-deputy-fm-1090456972.html

Willyspit Israel is full if it. Iran ain't signing nothing with the USA, they've proved themselves liars. Iran will drag this out by dangling the carrot of a deal but is just playing for a chance to make the USA look like a supplicant. 12

Ladyshadow Israel won't be happy until they are in control of all the Middle East and the US is stupid enough to support them. 6

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/london-underground-workers-to-begin-24-hour-strike-on-friday-1091029805.html

London Underground Workers to Begin 24-Hour Strike on Friday

London Underground Workers to Begin 24-Hour Strike on Friday

Mass closures of stations and immense queues are feared as union members are protesting amid the restart of the Night Tube. 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T05:17+0000

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London tube workers will go on strike starting from 4:30 a.m. Friday, the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union said. According to Transport for London (TfL), the Victoria, Central, Northern, Jubilee, and Piccadilly lines will be severely disrupted.RMT announced the strike after the underground abolished 200 driver positions, and introduced new schedules for the remaining drivers to cover Night Tube services, which are restarting after being suspended in March 2020. The union called this decision "unacceptable and intolerable", saying it would destroy the work-life balance of members by "bulldozing through additional night and weekend working".TfL said RMT hadn't presented "any workable alternatives", and accused the union of hindering the city's recovery from the pandemic. According to TfL, the changes will result in drivers working about four night shifts a year.The workers also plan to strike on Sunday, 28 November, as well as five more dates: 3, 4, 10, 11, and 17 December.

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/lukashenko-arrives-at-logistics-center-near-polish-border-that-hosts-migrants-1091035250.html

Lukashenko Arrives at Logistics Centre Near Polish Border Hosting Migrants

Lukashenko Arrives at Logistics Centre Near Polish Border Hosting Migrants

BRUZGI CHECKPOINT (Sputnik) - Lukashenko was accompanied by the chairman of the State Border Committee, Gen. Anatoly Lappo, and Grodno Region Governor Vladimir... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T09:03+0000

2021-11-26T09:03+0000

2021-11-26T09:55+0000

belarus

poland

eu

poland-belarus migrant crisis

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Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday arrived at a migrant-hosting logistics centre near the Bruzgi checkpoint along the Belarusian-Polish border, a Sputnik correspondent reported.Speaking upon arrival, Lukashenko said that Minsk is ready to do everything for the said migrants "even if it is bad for Poles".The president also told the migrants that if they want to enter the EU it is their decision and they should go "if they can make it".Lukashenko additionally mentioned that Polish forces had attempted to violently push some 400 people over the border to Belarus over the past 24 hours, according to Belta.On Thursday, the Belarusian Red Cross Society announced that migrants on the border with Poland had received over 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid.Several thousand migrants have gathered on the border between Belarus and Poland over the past few weeks, hoping to get into the European Union. The Polish authorities have strengthened border security and deployed the military to block the illegal crossing attempts, blaming Minsk for the migration crisis.Belarus has firmly denied the accusation and claimed that Poland is forcibly expelling migrants to its territory. Minsk is currently providing the stranded migrants with medical assistance, food, clothing, and shelter.

koursk koursk if poland or lithuania welcomes the luxury migrant tikhanovskaya, other migrants much less fortunate also have the right to enter *** by shooting at the migrants, the polish police are requested not to send their projectiles into the territory Belarusian *** Belarusians are happy to be neither in Nato nor in Euro zones 10

Manix No one points out to the real culprits of this huam tragedy the TALMUDIC JEWISH ANTI-HUMAN SUPREMACIST like Soros, he is the one 100% responsible for this criis Putin knows it, but he can't do anything against his JEWISH Masters unfortunately. 3

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belarus, poland, eu
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/malawi-defends-inviting-mike-tyson-to-be-cannabis-ambassador---report-1091054743.html

Malawi Defends Inviting Mike Tyson to Be Cannabis Ambassador - Report

Malawi Defends Inviting Mike Tyson to Be Cannabis Ambassador - Report

Earlier this week it was reported that the South African nation Malawi had asked Mike Tyson, the former US heavyweight boxing champion, to serve as a brand... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T22:28+0000

2021-11-26T22:28+0000

2021-11-26T22:28+0000

mike tyson

africa

ambassador

malawi

cannabis

legalization

marijuana legalization

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Following the backlash over Tyson's rape conviction in the 1990s and other problems with the law, Malawi's government justified its decision to appoint the boxer the country's official cannabis ambassador, CNN reported on Friday.Malawi's agriculture minister, Lobin Low, wrote Tyson reportedly encouraging him to become the face of the country's cannabis sector in order to attract investors and expand tourism potential. Tyson has been involved in the cannabis market in the US through several projects and owns his own brand of marijuana products, Tyson Ranch.According to reports, the agreement with Tyson was facilitated by the United States Cannabis Association. It is unclear, however, whether Tyson, who made history as the world's youngest heavyweight champion in 1986, has accepted the invitation.The government's invitation has sparked debate within the nation, with Malawi's Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) accusing the government of ignoring Tyson's previous convictions, arguing whether he was suitable for the role.The 55-year-old boxer was sentenced to prison in 1992 after being found guilty of raping Miss Black America finalist Desiree Washington in a hotel room. In 1995, he was released on probation.Acting director of the CPA, Kondwani Munthali, told CNN that hiring a convicted rapist would be "wrong."At the same time, in a statement to the outlet on Friday, the country's Ministry of Agriculture spokesperson Gracian Lungu rejected the criticism, adding that Malawi "believes that Mr. Tyson is a right and reformed person as he was released on parole."Patricia Kaliati, the Minister of Gender, reportedly said that she did not see a problem with the government's choice of ambassador because Tyson is a well-known businessman with extensive experience in the cannabis industry.However, she reportedly assured critics that Tyson is not going to work with her ministry "on issues to do with women and children."Malawi legalized cannabis cultivation and processing for therapeutic purposes last year, but did not decriminalize recreational usage. However, the business is struggling to expand, owing to high license fees and a scarcity of investors and purchasers.Malawi gold, a locally grown cannabis type, is well-known among recreational users all over the world.Smoking marijuana, according to Tyson's earlier statements, helped him improve his overall mental health and turn his life around. One might say that the boxer knows what he is talking about, considering some of the ways he has tried to blow off steam in the past, especially during the golden age of his career.Scientists warn that smoking potent cannabis has been linked to an increased risk of serious mental illness in some people.

https://sputniknews.com/20211120/relax-dont-do-it-mike-tyson-needed-sex-before-bouts-to-avoid-killing-opponents-in-rage---report-1090874205.html

mandrake Yep a good choice contracting the best heavy weight boxer the world has seen and the rape was more than likely fabricated by the boxing association to put a less confrontational boxer on the throne! 1

Hess Tyson will put Malawi on the world map. He will make Malawi a great country just like Tyson great World Champion. 0

2

malawi

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Kirill Kurevlev

mike tyson, africa, ambassador, malawi, cannabis, legalization, marijuana legalization
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/moldova-paid-74mln-debt-to-gazprom-1091047274.html

Moldova Pays $74Mln Debt to Gazprom

Moldova Pays $74Mln Debt to Gazprom

CHISINAU (Sputnik) - Moldova has paid off its $74 million debt to Gazprom, national gas distributor Moldovagaz said. 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T15:06+0000

2021-11-26T15:06+0000

2021-11-26T15:14+0000

moldova

russia

gazprom

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On Thursday, the Moldovan parliament, at the request of the government, urgently agreed to pay the nation's debt to Gazprom for gas received in October and November."JSC Moldovagaz transferred to PJSC Gazprom payment for natural gas consumed in October and the first half of November this year," the company said. The payment was approved during the final reading of the state budget for 2021.Earlier in the week, Gazprom's spokesman Sergey Kupriyanov said that the company had not received payment for gas from Moldova, even though the payment deadline expired on 24 November (Wednesday). The spokesman also added that Gazprom would cut off gas supplies to Moldova in 48 hours if the country did not pay its bill.Moldovan authorities in turn asked for the gas not to be turned off and promised to pay the bill on 26 November.

https://sputniknews.com/20211126/moldovan-govt-approves-transfer-of-funds-to-moldovagaz-to-repay-debt-to-gazprom-1091033681.html

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moldova, russia, gazprom
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/musk-rails-against-state-aid-as-tesla-pulls-application-for-128-bln-in-subsidies-for-berlin-plant-1091056123.html

Musk Rails Against State Aid as Tesla Pulls Application for $1.28 Bln in Subsidies for Berlin Plant

Musk Rails Against State Aid as Tesla Pulls Application for $1.28 Bln in Subsidies for Berlin Plant

Back in January, the European Union approved a plan that would grant several companies, including Tesla Inc. and BMW AG, a total of 2.9 billion ($3.5 billion)... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T23:13+0000

2021-11-26T23:13+0000

2021-11-26T23:13+0000

berlin

elon musk

germany

tesla

business

tech

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Tesla announced on Friday that it has withdrawn its application for state aid associated with the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, Tesla's first European manufacturing location and the electric vehicle and clean energy company's "most advanced, sustainable and efficient facility yet." The company was expected to receive around 1.14 billion ($1.28 billion) in funding from the EU, according to a plan that was in its final stages. A Tesla spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the company withdrew its candidacy for funds allocated for the EU's 'Important Projects of Common European Interest.' Construction plans for the plant have not been impacted by the decision, the spokesperson clarified. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to the news via Twitter on Friday, replying to a netizen who expressed positive feelings about the electric vehicle and clean energy company not being dependant on government subsidies. "For some reason, governments dont want to do that " he added. According to the German government, Tesla is investing approximately 5 billion (5.66 billion) in its Berlin-based plant.

eddie Those subsidies did save Tesla's arse at one point in the US. It was more of a government loan which was paid back with interest. 2

vot tak Another musk advert. Garbage article. The oligarch declined the money due to regulatory requirements attached to it he has no intention of fulfilling. Thumbs down, advert writer. 2

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berlin, elon musk, germany, tesla, business, tech
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/nato-chief-stoltenberg-holds-press-conference-before-alliances-foreign-ministers-meeting-1091045319.html

NATO Chief Stoltenberg Holds Press Conference Before Alliance's Foreign Ministers Meeting

NATO Chief Stoltenberg Holds Press Conference Before Alliance's Foreign Ministers Meeting

The NATO foreign ministers meeting will take place in Latvia on 30 November through 1 December. 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T14:10+0000

2021-11-26T14:10+0000

2021-11-26T14:14+0000

world

jens stoltenberg

nato

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Sputnik is live from Brussels, where Jens Stoltenberg is holding a press conference ahead of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers. At the meeting, the ministers are expected to discuss the challenges facing the alliance as well as changes in the international security environment, as well as NATOs partnership policy.Follow Sputnik's live to find out more.

CountTo5Manual They are preparing for great world war but don't know yet they are all going to be carrying another war instead, against Jesus Christ and all his angels.. 1

1

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Stoltenberg holds press conference ahead of NATO foreign ministers meeting Stoltenberg holds press conference ahead of NATO foreign ministers meeting 2021-11-26T14:10+0000 true PT43M14S

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world, jens stoltenberg, nato, 
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/never-forget-india-recalls-2611-mumbai-terror-attack-pays-tribute-to-soldiers-1091029350.html

'Never Forget': India Recalls 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack, Pays Tribute to Soldiers

'Never Forget': India Recalls 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack, Pays Tribute to Soldiers

On 26 November 2008, 10 heavily armed "Lashkar-e-Taiba" terrorists from Pakistan entered Mumbai via a sea route and unleashed a terror attack. A total of 175... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T12:19+0000

2021-11-26T12:19+0000

2021-11-26T12:19+0000

terrorism

mumbai

attack

terrorist attack

pakistan

terror

anti-terrorism

war on terror

india

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On the 13th anniversary of the gruesome 2008 Mumbai terror attack, a lot of people have taken to social media recalling the incident and paying tribute to the martyred soldiers who sacrificed their lives while saving hundreds of people. Several federal ministers, Bollywood actors, and others joined netizens on Twitter to pay homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack and stressed the need to end terrorism.While Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said that the nation will always be grateful for the bravery of security forces for saving so many lives, Home Minister Amit Shah slammed the cowardly attacks by terrorists. India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar posted a picture of the terror attack on the historic Taj Mahal Palace hotel. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi posted a video showing images of the horrific attack that left 29 foreign nationals dead, followed by reactions from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other political figures from all over the world who united to end terrorism and condemned the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike.Calling them real heroes, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also paid a heartfelt tribute to the martyred soldiers through a video showcasing the pictures of the security officers who lost their lives in the attack.Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also posted an emotional video and said that the nation will never forget the horror of the 60-hour siege in Mumbai. Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan wrote an article for The Indian Express in which he said: "No single act of terror must be given the power to destroy the interconnectedness of our stories, our plural solidarities".Several Bollywood stars, including Akshay Kumar, Vivek Anand Oberoi, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, and others, also paid a heartfelt tribute to the security forces.One of the survivors of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Kamal Veda, recalled the horrific incident. The Mumbai Terror Attack The attack, which shook people across India in 2008, was carried out at different venues in Mumbai by 10 members of the Pakistan-based terror outfit "Lashkar-e-Taiba". On 26 November, the terrorists entered Mumbai via a sea route and attacked several tourist places in different groups at around 9:30 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. GMT).In the 60-hour siege involving several Mumbai police officers, army officers, and black commandos, a total of 175 people were killed, including 9 terrorists, 20 security personnel, and 29 foreigners, while over 300 others were left injured.Out of 10 assailants, one terrorist - Ajmal Kasab - was captured alive on 27 November. He was put on trial and a court sentenced him to death on 6 May 2010. The sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court on 21 February 2011. Later, the Supreme Court of India, where Kasab had filed an appeal, also upheld the death sentence on 29 August 2012. After the president of India also rejected his mercy petition on 5 November 2012, Kasab was finally hanged in Yerawada Jail in Pune, Maharashtra, on 21 November 2012.

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terrorism, mumbai, attack, terrorist attack, pakistan, terror, anti-terrorism, war on terror, india
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/new-german-government-plans-to-simplify-citizenship-for-migrants-1091041667.html

New German Government Plans to Simplify Citizenship for Migrants

New German Government Plans to Simplify Citizenship for Migrants

Germany has long been one of the main destinations for the illegal migrants coming into the EU from the Middle East. The new German coalition government... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T13:08+0000

2021-11-26T13:08+0000

2021-11-26T13:08+0000

europe

germany

immigration

illegal immigration

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107493/18/1074931806_0:108:2268:1384_1920x0_80_0_0_4117fa36bc04fad856692a6089b8bf4d.jpg

The new "traffic light coalition" government in Germany plans to amend the country's immigration policy making it easier for foreigners to gain citizenship.Not only will applicants be allowed to keep their previous citizenship, but they will also have to meet fewer requirements to get German citizenship. For instance, a person would have to live in Germany for only five years instead of eight. A migrant worker will also have to meet lenient requirements for the German language. Furthermore, children of foreigners will also automatically be granted German citizenship if one of the parents has lived legally in the country for at least five years.Traffic Light Coalition Under Fire Over Proposed Immigration ChangesThe proposed changes to the nation's immigration policy have already prompted severe criticism from the former governing CDU/CSU alliance. CDU Vice Chairman Thorsten Frei accused the coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), Green Party, and the Free Democrats (FDP) of "legalising illegal immigration" and creating new "incentives" for migrants to arrive in Germany.FDP leader Christian Lindner, however, rejected the criticism as an attempt by the CDU/CSU to carve out a niche in their new role in the opposition after a staggering defeat in the general election earlier this year. Lindner argued that the "incentives" for migrants that the CDU vice chairman was talking about had in fact been created by the CDU itself.The FDP leader argued that the migrants entering the EU often preferred Germany as their destination over other countries due to the extremely prolonged process of reviewing asylum applications. The process purportedly lasted so long that often by the end a migrant could already legally claim German citizenship regardless of the status of their asylum application.Lindner promised that the new "traffic light coalition" will fix this by making the review process quicker "so that people have clarity and so that they won't receive the right of permanent residence". He noted that the coalition's immigration policy seeks to primarily attract qualified workers and "clever minds" to the country.

https://sputniknews.com/20210930/over-40-of-german-business-leaders-prefer-government-of-traffic-light-coalition-poll-shows-1089541910.html

iamanyam Not simplify the process, just stop the migration flow. Can Germany afford to keep the illegals who are mostly unemployable, like forever? They don't fit in, can't or don't want to work. Islamization may turn Germany to a third-world state. 1

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europe, germany, immigration, illegal immigration
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/people-smugglers-reportedly-advertise-services-openly-on-facebook-amid-uk-migration-crisis-1091036877.html

People Smugglers Reportedly Advertise Services Openly on Facebook Amid UK Migration Crisis

People Smugglers Reportedly Advertise Services Openly on Facebook Amid UK Migration Crisis

In June, British Home Secretary Priti Patel urged a number of social media companies, including Facebook and YouTube, to remove posts "glamourising" dangerous... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T10:18+0000

2021-11-26T10:18+0000

2021-11-26T10:18+0000

france

crisis

uk

eu

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People smugglers, who seek to cash in on migrant Channel crossings, are openly advertising on Facebook, a Sky News investigation has found.Sky News referred to numerous posts where the smugglers list their phone numbers and ask potential migrants to get in touch with them privately for more information, such as costs.One of the posts reportedly argued that customers can legally travel to the UK within three days and that they would do so in the "best, safest, and easiest way".Sky News also quoted an unnamed "prolific" smuggler allegedly living in Iraq's Kurdish region as promoting a route from Dunkirk to the UK at "a reasonable price".The man's purported Facebook profile touts him as a person who puts "trust before profit", with a photo at the top of the profile page showing a passport and a boarding pass. The smuggler posts several adverts a week, pledging to deliver "the lowest price and the shortest time", according to Sky News.The media outlet additionally mentioned the group page "Smuggling to Europe with a Guarantee" on Facebook, which has nearly 800 members and contains images of migrants taken from news sites."We use a combination of AI technology, human review, and reports from our users and trusted partners to detect and remove posts like this", the spokesperson added.Franco-British Differences on Migrant Channel Crossings PersistThe remarks came after at least 27 migrants crossing the Channel from France to England died on Wednesday, when their boat sank off the northern port of Calais.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on his Twitter page that "many people" had died in the incident, and that "the criminal nature of the smugglers who organise these crossings cannot be condemned enough".This followed UK Home Secretary Priti Patel addressing social media networks in a letter in June to call for the removal of posts and videos that, according to her, go viral and therefore "glamourise" the "lethal" crossings of the English Channel by migrants.The remarks were preceded by Patel reportedly arguing in September 2020 that social media platforms, including Facebook, add to endangering migrants' lives as they are giving a helping hand to people smugglers.The Sky News probe comes amid the Channel migrant crisis and subsequent row between France and the UK. On Friday, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin cancelled talks with UK Home Secretary Priti Patel slated for Sunday in protest against publication of a letter by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to French President Emmanuel Macron on the migration crisis. In the letter, BoJo outlined a number of proposals that may see British vessels operating in French waters and joint patrols to prevent boats from leaving France, among other things. London earlier accused Paris of contributing to the UK's "mass migration crisis, while France, in turn, claimed that people are attracted to Britain due to its open-door labour policy for illegal immigrants.Earlier this month, at least 1,185 migrants crossed the Channel into the UK, in what was the highest number ever recorded in a single day. In total this year, there have been over 24,500 Channel crossings, as compared to the 8,417 in the whole of 2020.

https://sputniknews.com/20211123/france-reportedly-rebuffed-uk-bid-to-patrol-its-beaches-for-migrants-over-sovereignty-concerns--1090947209.html

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france, crisis, uk, eu
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/plane-with-swiss-foreign-minister-flying-to-china-redirected-to-moscow-1091041003.html

Plane With Swiss Foreign Minister Flying to China Redirected to Moscow

Plane With Swiss Foreign Minister Flying to China Redirected to Moscow

ZURICH (Sputnik) - The plane with the head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, on board, which was en route to China, was... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T12:17+0000

2021-11-26T12:17+0000

2021-11-26T15:31+0000

russia

china

switzerland

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The minister will not continue trip to Chinad and return to Switzerland."We have considered various options. Unfortunately, at the moment it is impossible to continue the trip to China. Therefore, today Federal Councilor Ignazio Cassis will return from Moscow to Switzerland," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.Meanwhile, a spokeswoman of the Swiss Foreign Ministry told Sputnik that the situation when the plane following the route Novosibirsk-Hangzhou was redirected to Moscow, did not pose a threat to those on board."There was no threat to passengers," the spokeswoman said.The aircraft landed in Moscow, and currently, various options are worked out to continue the trip to China, the spokeswoman added.Cassis was expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday. The sides planned to discuss the development of bilateral relations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as current international events and human rights. In addition, Cassis planned to present the Swiss government's strategy for China.

Nonyank Since China and Russdia are buds, see if you Chinese counterpart coud drop by Moscow or do as you should have done which is via video link, Putin does it all the time! 2

Nonyank Since China and Russia are buds, see if your Chinese counterpart coud drop by Moscow or do as you should have done which is via video link, Putin does it all the time! 2

3

china

switzerland

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russia, china, switzerland
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/russian-embassy-denies-withdrawing-almost-all-employees-from-nkorea-1091046234.html

Russian Embassy Denies Withdrawing Almost All Employees From N.Korea

Russian Embassy Denies Withdrawing Almost All Employees From N.Korea

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian embassy in North Korea told Sputnik on Friday that Western reports alleging that all but a few Russian diplomats have been... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T14:36+0000

2021-11-26T14:36+0000

2021-11-26T14:36+0000

world

russia

diplomatic mission

democratic republic of north korea (dprk)

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Earlier in the day, a Russian Foreign Ministry office chief in Vladivostok, Andrey Brovarets, told Sputnik that a group of 22 Russian diplomats and their families will return home from North Korea by train on Friday. A few days earlier, the NK News outlet reported, citing sources, that after the group's departure only two Russian diplomats will remain in North Korea, Ambassador Alexander Matsegora included, as well as technical staff. "The information in foreign media about the number of remaining diplomats does not correspond to reality, of course," a spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said.A group of Russian diplomats has left North Korea this winter due to expiration of their contracts, but their regular rotational replacement was disrupted by pandemic restrictions. North Korea still denies having any COVID-19 cases but maintains strict controls, including those limiting foreign travel.In April, the Russian embassy said that the severity of North Korean restrictions was hindering their access to health care and essential goods, noting that all but nine foreign ambassadors had left the country. The Russian ambassador was committed to continuing his duties, it said.

russia

democratic republic of north korea (dprk)

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world, russia, diplomatic mission, democratic republic of north korea (dprk)
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/russias-gamaleya-centre-received-no-sample-new-covid-19-strain-with-32-mutations-1091045014.html

Russia's Gamaleya Centre Received No Sample of New COVID-19 Strain With 32 Mutations

Russia's Gamaleya Centre Received No Sample of New COVID-19 Strain With 32 Mutations

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology has not yet received the new strain of coronavirus with 32... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T14:04+0000

2021-11-26T14:04+0000

2021-11-27T12:31+0000

russia

gamaleya research institute of epidemiology and microbiology

coronavirus

covid-19

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So far, there is no reason to talk about the need to update the Sputnik V vaccine due to the new strain, Gintsburg said.The new variant (B.1.1.529) was discovered in South Africa and Botswana. It has an "extremely high" number of mutations in the spike protein and may potentially be resistant to antibodies that can fight the virus.

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russia, gamaleya research institute of epidemiology and microbiology, coronavirus, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/sleepless-nights--constipation-jeffrey-epsteins-final-days-uncovered--1091028692.html

Sleepless Nights & Constipation: Jeffrey Epstein's Final Days Uncovered

Sleepless Nights & Constipation: Jeffrey Epstein's Final Days Uncovered

Jeffrey Epsteins final days were filled with fear, anxiety, and lies. New documents have revealed how the billionaire financier and convicted sex offender... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T04:11+0000

2021-11-26T04:11+0000

2021-11-26T04:07+0000

jeffrey epstein

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Jeffrey Epsteins suicide inside a prison cell on August 10, 2019, created a firestorm of conspiracy. A poll from November of 2021, suggests that 45% of Americans believe Epstein was murdered and that only 16% believe he committed suicide.New documents obtained by the New York Times from the Federal Bureau of Prisons has revealed Epsteins condition and time behind bars. The evidence paints a picture of an incompetently run prison made to look foolish by an extremely intelligent and manipulative man.Epsteins final days saw a miserable man take his own life as the horrific life he had fashioned for himself deteriorated right before his eyes.The BeginningEpsteins stay at the Metropolitan Correctional Center started July 2019. Following his arrival on a private jet from Paris, he was arrested at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.Epstein faced charges that over many years he had recruited and paid dozens of teenage girls to engage in sexual activities with him at his residences in New York and Florida. If convicted, he faced up to 45 years in prison. At 66 years of age, that meant a life sentence.Documents reveal that from day one the detention center was fraught with errors and incompetency. Epstein was initially described at an intake screening as a Black male - he was white, and that he had no prior sex offense convictions when he actually had two from 2008. It seems officials also failed to indicate that he was a high-profile inmate and initially sent him into the general prison population.It took a day for the warden to realize that Epstein was a high-profile inmate and remove him from the general population. On July, 9th Epstein underwent a formal suicide risk evaluation.Epsteins Downward SpiralIn his evaluation, the psychologist reportedly found him pleasant, accommodating, coherent and even humorous.On July 23, Epstein unsuccessfully tried to take his own life. According to a post-mortem psychological reconstruction of the sex offender, it is believed that being denied bail on July 18 caused him to make an attempt on his own life. However, Epstein was only on suicide watch for 31 hours following his first suicide attempt.As Epstein's stay in prison continued his psychological state began to deteriorate. He would complain about water running in his toilet, the orange prison attire, difficulty sleeping, dehydration, numbness in his arm, and constipation.Federal marshals who escorted him to a court hearing believed he had suicidal tendencies. The prison psychologist was seemingly swayed by Epstein each time.Epstein was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, hanged with his bedsheets. The signs that he would try to kill himself had reportedly been there since his arrival.The serial sex abusers final days were assisted by the ineptitude of the prison staff where he awaited trial. According to some observers, the prison psychologist was unable to see through his lies and the guards dereliction of duty gave Epstein the chance to escape the repercussions of his crimes.

chrrev Who would seriously believe he committed suicide... 4

Thomas Turk cctv tailed. Neck broken self hanging with a paper suicide prof sheet. Out of focus shot of corpse being wheeled out. Dinner of US Grain fed TBone steak in Telavic surely won't constopate in telabis won't costipayre him 3

5

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Nevin Brown

Nevin Brown

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Nevin Brown

jeffrey epstein
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/social-media-ablaze-as-danish-museums-accused-of-being-too-white-1091032146.html

Social Media Ablaze as Danish Museums Accused of Being 'Too White'

Social Media Ablaze as Danish Museums Accused of Being 'Too White'

While a group of artists, supported by identity researchers, argued that Danish museums are overwhelmingly white (to the point that even their walls are... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T07:19+0000

2021-11-26T07:19+0000

2021-11-26T07:19+0000

denmark

news

society

europe

culture

scandinavia

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A group of Danish artists has drawn the public's ire by railing against the nation's museums and accusing them of a dramatic lack of diversity and overwhelming "whiteness". Many on social media found that raising such criticisms in a mostly-white country was ridiculous. According to a group of foreign-background artists, who participated in the Danish Radio documentary "Rebellion at the Academy", their criticism involves both exhibited artists and management."We only get one story told. We get a story of white men about white men for white men", artist Ihsan Ihsan, a student of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, told Danish Radio, venturing that some must "relinquish their positions of power".He is backed by a fellow artist, Dina El Kaisy Friemuth, who graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2016."As a brown person, it feels strange to go into these white institutions, where everything is white. And I don't just mean that the people who work there are white. Everything is white. Even their walls", Dina El Kaisy Friemuth told Danish Radio.The Organisation of Danish Museums (ODM), which represents 170 of the country's museums and conservation centres, admitted the lack of diversity."It is a relevant issue that the artists raise, and something we as an industry organisation are aware of. The existing power structures, which can help to promote a limited art expression... we cannot say we are free from it. And even though many places are working with the problem, we are not on target yet", director Nils Jensen said.Nils Jensen explains that ODM encourages its member museums to be aware of diversity through various initiatives."However, responsibility for a specific exhibition and programme planning and specific conditions and workflows lies with the museums themselves", he stated.It is no coincidence that underrepresented artists are currently fighting for representation in the art world, researcher and postdoc fellow Ida Lunde Jrgensen, an expert in national museums and national identity at the Centre for Business History at Copenhagen Business School, argued."The criticism is symptomatic of a much larger movement in society, where, for example, ethnic minorities and women demand to be represented as well", Ida Lunde Jrgensen ventured. "We have a strong, national narrative that we in Denmark are a small, homogeneous society, where everyone is equal, and that narrative is challenged by the fact that there are groups in society who not only feel, but can demonstrate that they are underrepresented in museums, on boards, et cetera", she added.Social media users, however, were more critical of what they saw as "wokeness" and "identity politics"."I missed the bit where the criticism becomes more concrete: which Danish museums are too white?", Berlingske journalist Troels Heeger tweeted."I rather missed an explanation [as to] why 'whiteness' is an intrinsic problem. If so, is it also problematic that Egyptian art museums reflect Egyptian culture and focus primarily on ethnic Egyptian artists?", another person replied."Danish Radio is chasing a confirmation of their own agenda. The vast majority cannot stand this ridiculous woke-on-steroids", another one mused on the channel's Facebook page."This is all so tiresome. Yes, there are white people in Denmark. Should we scold when everything is black in Africa or yellow in China?", another asked rhetorically.According to 2021 figures from Statistics Denmark, 86 percent of Denmark's population of 5.8 million was of Danish descent.

Gone There are some scum behind this trying to make us al very, very angry at each other. Utter bulls*it like this proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. 3

STABOU Youssef Les Danois et les Dalmatiens, sont blanc et noir normalement ? Y'a que les Maitres qui sont blancs chez Hitler ! 0

4

denmark

scandinavia

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2021

Igor Kuznetsov

Igor Kuznetsov

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Igor Kuznetsov

denmark, news, society, europe, culture, scandinavia
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/sucker-punch-mma-fighter-salvato-arrested-for-biting-roommates-testicles--1091041560.html

Sucker Punch: MMA Fighter Salvato Arrested for Biting Roommate's Testicles

Sucker Punch: MMA Fighter Salvato Arrested for Biting Roommate's Testicles

It is never a good idea to throw hands with a pro fighter - but not for the reasons you might expect. Sometimes, the main problem is not their skill, but their... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T14:21+0000

2021-11-26T14:21+0000

2021-11-26T14:21+0000

mma

genitals

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MMA fighter Donavan Salvato was arrested for domestic assault with bodily injury" after he allegedly bit his roommate's genitals, reports suggest. Salvato allegedly started a fight with his roommate, Abel Sosa, over a lease. According to a police report, the fighter punched Sosa in the head and body and then bit his pants, leaving a laceration on his testicles.However, Salvato denied the claims, saying those injuries were caused by a normal fight, as they both were grappling each other over the room; but Sosa stated he was bitten.

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mma, genitals
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/the-system-is-broken-says-pensions-expert-as-canada-reopens-border-for-illegal-crossers-1091036259.html

'The System is Broken', Says Pensions Expert as Canada Reopens Border for Illegal Crossers

'The System is Broken', Says Pensions Expert as Canada Reopens Border for Illegal Crossers

On Sunday Justin Trudeaus government lifted the year-and-a half-long ban on irregular border crossings from the US, allowing hundreds of foreign refugee... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T12:00+0000

2021-11-26T12:00+0000

2021-11-26T12:00+0000

canada

justin trudeau

interviews

migration

refugees

migration policy

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According to Canadian political commentator and the author of the bestselling book Pension Ponzi Bill Tufts, irregular crossings are just a part of a huge wave of immigration facilitated by the Liberal government.Sputnik: During the last few days hundreds of people entered your country at Roxham Road, outside of the legal points of entry  something which was authorised by the Canadian government. What are the possible consequences of this decision?Bill Tufts: It's just a continuation on the plan for a globalist leadership in migration, after the [UN] Migration Compact was launched a couple of years ago, which basically just said Hey, there are no national citizens anymore, and everybody's a global citizen and eligible to travel wherever they want. They're making some sort of a false narrative up that there are going to be huge upheavals from climate change. It's all just part of the crazy hysteria and madness of the globalist agenda that's happening currently. Trudeau, who in one of his first speeches spoke about Canada becoming a post-national estate, has a very aggressive agenda for immigration.I think Canada is probably close to being one of the biggest immigration countries in the world now, on a per capita basis, based on the massive waves that we're starting to see in a wide variety of different categories and classifications and illegal immigrants who are coming across at Roxham Road are just one of those categories. There are some other really big ones, including temporary foreign workers - about 250,000 a year, just before the COVID situation there was 440,000 foreign students, and, of course, just the regular immigration numbers that they've ramped up to record levels of about 410,000 I think, its their current target.Sputnik: The newcomers usually claim refugee status upon entering Canada. They are being housed for free in hotels and YMCA facilities, they receive financial support. Will any of the above put strain on Canadas economy and social system?Bill Tufts: There are some pretty huge numbers. Some analysts have indicated that a family of four would get about $50,000 a year. They get large supplements for rental accommodation. They get large subsidies for housing and food, in some instances free dental care, and, of course, access to our healthcare system, - all despite having never paid any taxes into that system. There are a few reasons for it. One of them is that the globalist operators in Canada love the cheap labour. The Liberals see it as a major vote-getting scheme for them. And in fact, I think we're maybe at a tipping point where the Liberals will be able to stay in power, however, feebly, just on the basis of the three huge immigrant centres in Canada, which one of our top political commentators, Diane Francis, called the immigrant enclaves. So that's part of the implications on it. Of course, Canada's only economic driver, housing, is hugely dependent upon those massive levels of immigration as well.Sputnik: Canada has had its share of problems with COVID and in just a few days, on 30 November the government will make full vaccination a requirement for both cross-border and domestic trips. Many people who walk through Roxham Road dont have IDs, let alone their medical papers. Early on in the pandemic, refugee shelters in Ontario were notorious for the spread of COVID. Are there still any health risks connected with the process of accepting these immigrants and letting them into Canadian cities?Bill Tufts: Well, certainly there was an exemption for it before, early in the COVID crisis, and I would be surprised if they put much pressure on it. Maybe they'll put them up in a hotel for a couple of weeks until they get their vaccinations. There's so much craziness around the whole COVID situation. But why would Canada be funding to put them in a hotel and providing them with their vaccinations just to put them onto with no job prospects and having to pay social assistance for them?And there's no response to these massive levels - tsunami levels - of immigration that are coming into the country, unlike what we were seeing over Europe recently - that situation in Poland, where you saw that a national emergency was called, the army was brought to the front lines of the immigration sites with over 5,000 immigrants.But in Canada, there's going to be just 5,000 illegal immigrants coming into the country every month for the whole year. And just we're going to see huge, massive levels of immigration this year. And the globalists and Trudeau and the United Nations are really anxious to get those numbers moving up again.Sputnik: There doesnt seem to be any opposition to what is happening at the border  neither from politicians, nor from Canadian voters. The legal loophole in the US-Canada Safe Third Country agreement, which resulted in the influx of illegal crossers in the first place, and Trudeaus tweet welcoming the refugees  all of that has happened, or has been around for many years. Why are there still no objections from the majority of Canadians?Bill Tufts: Its really gotten ramped up since Trudeau got in. There's some dialogue in the economic circles that Canada needs massive immigration in order to grow our economy and keep the housing, the economic impact of housing going and around 40% of our students at universities are all foreign students. They're paying upwards of $50,000 a year to be in universities. A lot of our economy is supported by what's happening with immigration - as Trudeau makes a concerted effort to shut down our traditional resource industries here in Canada. He's made it clear particularly after COP26 just a couple of weeks ago, that all of our resource industries are going to be under extreme pressure, political pressure by radical left groups to close down permanently with no consideration about what the long term economic costs of shutting down our major sources of wealth is going to be. It's just madness. It's crazy.

canada

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Denis Bolotsky https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/06/0b/1083128270_0:0:961:960_100x100_80_0_0_8cd81dafcbaac1c176c25141f8af1d2a.jpg

Denis Bolotsky https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/06/0b/1083128270_0:0:961:960_100x100_80_0_0_8cd81dafcbaac1c176c25141f8af1d2a.jpg

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canada, justin trudeau, interviews, migration, refugees, migration policy
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/uk-tory-mp-blames-crimes-committed-by-men-on-too-few-positive-male-role-models-on-tv-1091039836.html

UK Tory MP Blames Crimes Committed by Men on Too Few Positive Male Role Models on TV

UK Tory MP Blames Crimes Committed by Men on Too Few Positive Male Role Models on TV

The statement accompanies data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which shows that a record number of rapes were committed in England and Wales this... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T13:05+0000

2021-11-26T13:05+0000

2021-11-26T13:05+0000

tv show

crime

uk

tv

masculinity

toxic masculinity

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Young men are committing crimes because there is a shortage of positive male role models on TV, Conservative MP Nick Fletcher claimed during a debate on International Mens Day on 19 November 2021. Speaking in Westminster Hall, the member of Parliament for Don Valley - a seat held by Labour since 1922 until he won it in 2019 - said that good male screen characters have been replaced with females and gave as his example popular British science fiction hero Doctor Who, every incarnation of whom was male until actress Jodie Whittaker assumed the role in 2017.At the same time, boys and young men watch male characters in popular shows which "make crime look cool" in shows such as popular British drama series 'Peaky Blinders'.He also drew attention to boys poor performance at school and conversations about "masculinity being linked with toxicity in societal discourse", which the lawmaker alleged prompt individuals to suffer "feelings of worthlessness and isolation".His position was backed by Scott Benton, a fellow Conservative, who represents Blackpool South. Benton said mens issues have for been swept under the carpet for a long time as society has focused on the "false narrative of male privilege". However, other lawmakers took exception to Fletchers remarks. Alistair Carmichael, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, dubbed the remarks "laughable, emphasising that there are "plenty of positive role models for young children regardless of gender".Fletcher later released a statement on social media, saying that his remarks had been misconstrued by the media and colleagues who seemed to suggest that he was linking a rise in crime levels to the fact that Dr Who is now played by a woman.

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2021

Max Gorbachev

Max Gorbachev

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Max Gorbachev

tv show, crime, uk, tv, masculinity, toxic masculinity
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/us-lawmakers-touch-down-in-taiwan-as-china-issues-sovereignty-warning--1091028896.html

US Lawmakers Touch Down in Taiwan as China Issues Sovereignty Warning

US Lawmakers Touch Down in Taiwan as China Issues Sovereignty Warning

Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory, expressed on Thursday that the US should not meddle in China's affairs. Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesperson... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T04:05+0000

2021-11-26T04:05+0000

2021-11-26T04:01+0000

us

china

taiwan

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Five lawmakers from the US House of Representatives touched down in Taiwan on Thursday for discussions on security measures, marking the second time in a month that US lawmakers have visited the island.She noted that the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC attempted to discourage them from venturing to Taiwan. But just as with other stops, were here to learn about the region and reaffirm the US commitment to our hosts, the Taiwanese," she said. "Im looking forward to an informative trip.Supply chain issues will be on the agenda, as Taiwan boasts the auto industry's largest supplier of microchips. Their arrival comes alongside a warning from the Chinese government, which has buffed up its military presence in an effort to assert its sovereignty claims over Taiwan. "Especially on the Taiwan issue, China has no room for compromise, and the US side should not have any illusions about this," the Chinese Ministry of Defense spokesperson said on Thursday. During his remarks, Wu noted that Beijing is willing to maintain exchanges and cooperation with the US regarding Taiwan.

koursk koursk China could use drones to dissuade the cuckoos of the NATO organized crime from landing on its territory 11

Nonyank China, you have more land and territory than you could ever know what to do with...GET REAL! 0

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https://sputniknews.com/20211126/warning-shot-french-fishermen-set-to-block-eurotunnel-ports-amid-london-paris-fishing-row-1091030813.html

'Warning Shot': French Fishermen Set to Block Eurotunnel, Ports Amid London-Paris Fishing Row

'Warning Shot': French Fishermen Set to Block Eurotunnel, Ports Amid London-Paris Fishing Row

Britain and France remain at odds over how to resolve the contentious issue of fishing licenses following the UK's exit from the EU. Paris insists that Britain... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T05:58+0000

2021-11-26T05:58+0000

2021-11-26T05:58+0000

france

ports

fishermen

emmanuel macron

eurotunnel

row

uk

licences

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French fishermen are expected to block freight traffic into the Eurotunnel and ferry traffic at the ports of Saint-Malo, Ouistreham, and Calais in northern France for several hours on Friday, as part of the London-Paris row over fishing licenses in the wake of Brexit.He described the committee's upcoming action on Friday as "our demonstration of the quality and ability of professional fishermen to mobilise in response to the UK's provocative, contemptuous, and humiliating attitude towards them".A Downing Street spokesperson responded by stating that the government was "disappointed" by French fishermen's threats of "protest activity", adding, "we look to the French authorities to ensure that there are no illegal actions and trade is not affected".The spokesman argued that the government had licensed almost "1,700 EU vessels overall" and that Whitehall's "approach to licensing has been reasonable and fully in line with our commitments in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA)".According to the spokesperson, the British government continues to work with the European Commission and French authorities "and will consider any further evidence provided to support remaining license applications".The forthcoming action is expected after French fishermen blocked trucks carrying fish from British waters to processing centres in France in April. In a separate development in May, the entrance to St Helier Harbour was blocked by French fishers over an "unacceptable situation" about landing their catches in France after Brexit. Macron Wants Continuation of Franco-British Talks Over Fishing Licenses French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, emphasised in early November that talks between Paris and London "need to continue", a statement that came after France threatened to slap sanctions on the UK over London's reluctance to issue enough fishing licenses for French fishermen to access British waters under the Brexit trade deal.This was preceded by an escalation of the French-British fishing row in late October, when Paris seized the British trawler "Cornelis Gert Jan", claiming that it was not properly licensed to operate in French territorial waters. The UK condemned the seizure as "disappointing", insisting that the vessel had the necessary license. The "Cornelis Gert Jan" finally received permission to leave the northern French port of Le Havre, where it had been kept for about a week.In late September, the British Ministry of the Environment reported that 1,700 vessels from the EU received licenses to fish in the UK's waters, of which 117 were issued to vessels from the bloc for fishing in a zone of 6-12 nautical miles.At the same time, the ministry granted only 12 licenses to French fishermen, having considered 47 applications. British officials called the decision "reasonable" and well within London's obligations under the Brexit agreement with the EU.Under the terms of the Brexit trade deal, which came into force on 1 January, EU access to UK waters and UK access to EU waters is now managed through a licensing system for fishing vessels.The TCO also stipulates that UK fishing boats should end up with a greater share of fish from British waters, with part of the EU's previous share being transferred during an "adjustment period" until 2026. When Britain was a member of the EU, it was part of the bloc's Common Fisheries Policy, which gave all European fishing fleets equal access to EU waters.

https://sputniknews.com/20211030/uk-france-reportedly-in-last-ditch-talks-on-post-brexit-fishing-licenses-to-avert-chaos-at-ports-1090344382.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211006/france-threatens-to-sever-uks-energy-supply-slams-it-for-aggressive-one-upmanship-in-fishing-row-1089704394.html

brett connor Sounds very fishy to me! 1

vot tak Do it, zio-colonials, the more you turds fight amongst yourselves for oligarch crumbs, the better for humanity - the rest of Mir you disgusting things don't have power over. The places that now count, that make a positive difference. 0

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france, ports, fishermen, emmanuel macron, eurotunnel, row, uk, licences
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/watch-french-fishing-boats-attempting-to-block-eurotunnel-calais-port-amid-row-with-uk-1091043281.html

WATCH French Fishing Boats Attempting to Block Eurotunnel, Calais Port Amid Row With UK

WATCH French Fishing Boats Attempting to Block Eurotunnel, Calais Port Amid Row With UK

Paris and London have been locked in conflict over fishing licenses for months, with France threatening to impose sanctions on the UK if it doesn't get... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T13:45+0000

2021-11-26T13:45+0000

2021-11-26T13:57+0000

france

europe

fishing

uk

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

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French fishermen have started to make good on their threat to close off the Eurotunnel and ferry traffic in the ports of Saint-Malo, Ouistreham, and Calais in northern France if a row with the UK over fishing licences does not get resolved. They have started blocking freight access to the Channel Tunnel.Earlier, Gerard Romiti, chairman of France's national fisheries committee (CNPMEM) warned that the country's fishermen, who had been complaining about losses they allegedly sustained due to the row, would be taking action on Friday, 26 November, calling it a "warning shot".London responded to these threats demanding that French authorities take action and prevent any behaviour that might negatively affect bilateral trade. The row started over France's claims that the UK is not fulfilling its post-Brexit obligations on issuing licenses for foreign fishing boats to operate in British waters. According to Paris, 10 Downing Street did not issue all the licenses it had under the agreement.The UK reviewed 47 applications for licenses from French fishermen this year and satisfied only 12 of them. London insists that the decisions in these applications were "reasonable" and correspond to the country's obligations under the agreements with the EU on fishing in the wake of Brexit.France threatened to slap the UK with various sanctions unless the latter fixes the situation and issues the licenses. French authorities even arrested a British fishing vessel that allegedly operated in French waters without a licence, but released it several days later. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met and agreed to negotiate a bilateral solution, but nothing has been agreed upon as of yet.

Youssef K 19th century vibe :3 1

brett connor pay attention to the color of the boats! Symbolism there folks! Wake up! 1

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French fishermen attempt to block Port of Calais - 1 French fishermen attempt to block Port of Calais - 1 2021-11-26T13:45+0000 true PT0M14S

French fishermen attempt to block Port of Calais - 2 French fishermen attempt to block Port of Calais - 2 2021-11-26T13:45+0000 true PT0M18S

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france, europe, fishing, uk
https://sputniknews.com/20211126/youtube-star-recreates-real-life-squid-game-with-a-huge-cash-prize-1091048556.html

YouTube Star Recreates Real-Life Squid Game With a Huge Cash Prize

YouTube Star Recreates Real-Life Squid Game With a Huge Cash Prize

Jimmy Donaldson, known online as MrBeast, became an Internet sensation at the age of 17 after his video "counting to 100,000" went viral in 2017. Since then he... 26.11.2021, Sputnik International

2021-11-26T16:36+0000

2021-11-26T16:36+0000

2021-11-26T16:36+0000

netflix

society

blogger

youtube

social media

squid game

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YouTube star MrBeast recreated the popular South Korean survival drama Squid Game in real life. The Netflix series is about people in debt being forced to play deadly children's games in a bid to win a huge cash prize.The competition organised by MrBeast featured all challenges from the series, but with one exception  they were dreadfully harmless. Thus, unlike characters in the drama, who died when they failed at competitions, the individuals, who took part in real Squid Game, were completely safe and even received prizes when they lost.According to the blogger, it cost him $3,5 million to recreate the show  $2 million to build scenery from the series and film the competition and another $1.5 million on cash prizes.456 individuals from took part in the show, which has almost 60 million views since it was uploaded on 25 November. The winner got a cash prize of $456,000. MrBeast is known for making expensive challenges, which feature huge cash prizes. Since the blogger rose to fame he has also been making videos, where he donates large amounts of money to individuals. He is also known for his philanthropic work. Together with former NASA engineer Mark Rober, MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, created a fundraising challenge, aimed at planting trees across the United States. Since its launch in 2019 #TeamTrees has raised over $20 million and planted 9 million trees.His new fundraiser project #TeamSeas aims to remove 30 million pounds of marine debris by 1 January 2022.

Manix Globalist anti-Human shit 0

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Freehold Raceway hosted the "Turkey Trot" on Friday (Nov. 26), as part of a fundraiser for Freehold Open Door sponsored by Peter and Mary Grandich.

The Turkey Trot, a Preferred Handicap event, went to favourite Our White Knight for trainer Scott DiDomenico and driver Joe Bongiorno. Leaving from post position five, Bongiorno took his drive off the pace and rated him towards the back of the pack while virtually everyone else challenged for the lead. As they neared the half-mile point, Bongiorno moved off the pylons and moved boldly for the lead on the outside. He took control as they rounded the far turn and drew off for a 3 1/2-length win.

Our White Knight trotted the mile over a fast track with a one-second variant in 1:58. He is owned by Triple D Stables, and has now won four times on the year from 30 starts.

Following the race, the Grandiches made a blanket presentation. Former New Jersey Devil Jim Dowd and ex-New York Ranger Ron Greschner were on hand for the ceremony.

Later in the day, Milady Denver A pulled off a mild 8-1 upset in the Fillies & Mares Preferred Handicap Pace. Eric Abbatiello sent her to the lead from post position four, and she established command by the time they hit the first quarter mark. Although favoured Dbldelitebrigade N charged hard at her in the stretch, the wire came in time for Milady Denver A, who won by a neck in 1:57.3. The winning mare is owned by the Ettore Annunizata Rev Tr and trained by Mike Annunizata.

Jack Pelling won four races on the Friday card. He took the first three on the day, winning race one with Ted Suleski-trained Nine Ways, race two on Betziesbookinit for trainer Travion Jones, and race three on Maydaymaverickhope, trained by John Pyott. He completed the grand slam in race 10, guiding Thatsmytype to victory for owner-trainer Dominik Miga.

Live racing continues at Freehold on Saturday (Nov. 27), with an 11-race card starting at about 12:30 p.m.

(Freehold Raceway)
Congo now has evidence that former president Joseph Kabila stole millions of dollars from public funds using a sophisticated form of banking fraud. An alleged data leak showed Kabila and his cronies used the Congo branch of the BGFI (Banque Gabonaise et Francaise Internationale) to siphon government accounts and transfer the money to individual and organization accounts they controlled. At one time the Congo subsidiary of BGFI was run by Kabilas foster-brother and his sister was a major stockholder in the bank. Money from the state mining company Gecamines was also funneled to Kabilas group through BGFI. The leak provided no overall estimate on the total amount stolen, but the amount is easily in the tens of millions of dollars.

November 24, 2021: In eastern Congo (Ituri province) CODECO (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) rebels carried out several attacks in the last three days yesterday, leaving over 30 civilians dead. An attack on a mining camp yesterday left two Chinese employees dead and eight missing and presumed kidnapped, Chinese working at Chinese mining operations have become favorite targets for kidnapping. CODECO commits a substantial number of the attacks and atrocities in Ituri, as well as across the border in Uganda. The violence in eastern Congo is mainly in Ituri and neighboring North Kivu province. CODECO is predominantly a Lendu tribal organization, as are many of militias in eastern Congo. The federal government declared a state of siege, a form of martial law for these two provinces back in May 2021. It was supposed to be for 30 days but has been extended every month since May, even though a growing number of members in parliament have criticized the effectiveness of the martial law because the police and soldiers appear to be using their enhanced powers to carry out more of their usual corrupt practices. In six months of martial law at least 1,200 have died in these two provinces because of the militia violence.

November 21, 2021: China confirmed five of its citizens were kidnapped in an armed attack on a gold mine in eastern Congo (South Kivu province). One police officer may have been killed in the attack.

November 20, 2021: President Felix Tshisekedi called for a ban on issuing mining permits until Congos mining ministry undergoes an audit. Tshisekedi said the government must combat fraud and theft in the mining industry. He specifically targeted reforming the administration of the mining registry system which certifies and records mining concessions. Tshisekedis demand for a ban on new permits follows his call for a complete review of the multi-billion dollar infrastructure-for-minerals deal Congo struck with China during the Kabila administration.

A Congolese court sentenced two Chinese nationals to ten years and three months in prison for procuring Chinese women to work as prostitutes in Congo. A Congolese official received a ten-year sentence for giving the Chinese conspirators courtesy visas for the Chinese women. The court said the official had no authority to grant the visas. With a prostitution procurement trial rare in Congo, the case had drawn the attention of the local media and comments on social networks.

November 19, 2021: In Uganda police killed five suspects and arrested 21 people associated with a suicide bombings three days earlier that killed three people and wounded 33. The 21 arrested are suspected of being members of the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) Islamist militia. Four of the five killed were identified as terrorists who were killed while attempting to flee back to bases in Congo.

In Malawi police fired teargas at demonstrators protesting the high cost of living and alleged corruption in government. The situation was chaotic. Counter-demonstrators were also clashing with the demonstrators. Malawis Anti-Corruption Bureau recently issued a report that claims graft continues to plague Malawis government. President Lazarus Chakwera won a presidential election in 2020 after the 2019 election was annulled because of vote manipulation.

Chatham House (London) awarded its 2020 Chatham House Prize to Malawi's constitutional court judges. Covid19 problems delayed the award. The award recognized judges' courageous defense of Malawis democracy. In February 2020 the judges issued a ruling annulling the corrupt May 2019 presidential election.

November 18, 2021: The United States revoked the 2015 sanctions against Burundi. The sanctions were directed against senior Burundian military and security officials. The U.S. claimed that Burundi made positive reforms in the last year.

November 17, 2021: In eastern Congo at least 144 people have been killed by militia and Islamic terrorist violence since November 1.

November 16, 2021: ISCAP (Islamic State Central African Province) claimed responsibility for suicide bomber attacks in Ugandas capital, Kampala. Three suicide bombers on motorbikes killed at least four people and injured over 30 others. ADF pledged allegiance to ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in 2019 and later described itself as ISCAP.

In northwestern CAR (Central African Republic) rebels belonging to the 3R (Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation) faction killed 11 civilians and wounded eight during a firefight. The 3R faction is predominantly manned by members of the Moslem Fulani tribe.

November 15, 2021: In eastern Congo (Ituri province) the FPIC (Fighters of the Patriotic and Integrationist Force in Congo) militia attacked a village and killed at least 17 people. Witnesses claimed some of the victims were burned alive. FPIC claims to represent the interests of the Bira tribe.

November 12, 2021: The UN extended the mandate of the peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic to November 15, 2022. Currently some 14,000 soldiers and uniformed police serve with this force.

November 10, 2021: In northeast Congo (Haut-Uele province) government officials, including members of parliament, have asked the Barrick Gold Corporation to evict amateur miners who have been occupying their closed open-pit and underground gold mine operation that covers 709 square kilometers. Over a century old, Kibali gold mine complex became less profitable to operate over the years and since the 1990s Barrick abandoned the operation because of the violence, which continues. People have been illegally occupying the area as well as seeking to find the remaining gold with simple tools. Enough gold is found to keep the squatters there and Barrick refuses to pay for a large enough security force to keep squatters out. The Kabali complex is one of the largest gold mining operations in Africa.

Across the Congo River in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), the government hosted a conference on piracy maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. In 2020 1there were 95 attacks against ships in the Gulf of Guinea. The gulf runs along the west African coast from Senegal to Angola and includes major fishing grounds and areas with extensive oil and gas deposits. The conference was held to coordinate joint actions against pirates and theft of fishing resources. The attacks are carried out mostly by Nigerian pirates who seek to kidnap foreign officers on large ships and hold them for substantial ransoms. Off the Congo coast the threat is mainly from sea-going robbers who take valuables from any fishing boat or larger ship they can take by surprise. In most of the Gulf the robbery attacks are carried out by fishermen who find robbery more lucrative than fishing.

November 8, 2021: In eastern Congo (Kivu province) M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels attacked villages that forced at least 11,000 people to flee across the border to Uganda. The army sent in troops to restore order and kill or capture any M23 rebels still in the area.

In the capital (Kinshasa) police seized $3.5 million worth of ivory, rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales. The Congolese action was coordinated with American police operations. On November 3 the U.S. Justice Department arrested two Congolese citizens in Seattle, Washington. The two men were charged with shipping illegal ivory and white rhinoceros horn to the U.S. They were also charged with money laundering and providing information that made the later Kinshasa seizure possible.

November 5, 2021: The UN condemned the November 2 attack on Egyptian peacekeepers in the CAR and was seeking to prosecute the attackers as war criminals.

November 3, 2021: In eastern Congo (South Kivu province) armed men launched an attack on a military outpost, killing 11 people. The attackers were later identified as from the CPCA-A64 militia (Coalition of Congolese Patriots for the Application of Article 64). The army killed six of the attackers and captured 36 in defeating the attacks and pursuing the attackers. Three soldiers died and several more were wounded.

November 2, 2021: In CAR (the capital Bangui) members of the presidential guard fired on Egyptian policemen serving with peacekeepers and wounded ten of them. The UN described the incident as a deliberate and unspeakable attack. The Egyptian policemen were unarmed and in a bus with UN initials and other markings.

October 30, 2021: The UN has revived a voluntary repatriation program to return CAR refugees living in Congo to their homes. Since 2019 about 5,000 refugees have left Congo and returned to the Central African Republic.

October 29, 2021: Zambia's government confirmed it is working with the International Monetary Fund to restructure its massive debts. Zambias latest annual budget is $9.8 billion. However, its external debts are around $15 billion.

October 26, 2021: In eastern Uganda Moslem extremists murdered a Christian minister in a remote area and it took a week for the details to reach the national news. The minister had refused to close his church. The Islamists claimed his church was too close to a mosque. Only about twelve percent of the 44 million people in the country are Moslem and most live in eastern and central Uganda. In the more remote area local Moslems accuse the Christian majority of seeking to eliminate Islam in the area. Christians are rarely looking for a fight but conservative Moslems consider it something of an obligation. Thats one reason Christianity is more popular in Uganda.
Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for November 26: Garena Free Fire, turned so popular during the pandemic amongst gamers that it became the most downloaded royale battle mobile game in October 2021. Free Fire isn't limited to the daily individual tasks but Garena introduces several events to engage and boost the enthusiasm of the players. Recently, Garena introduced the Booyah Day events, which allows users to get amazing items and cosmetics. Garena often releases new redeem codes on several events for the players, to give them a chance to win pets, skin characters, weapons, diamonds and many more. However, there are daily redeem codes too, which Garena offers to let gamers unlock daily free prizes such as diamond hack, royale vouchers, pets and many other rewards. These daily redeem codes will be valid only for a day. If the maximum number of redemption is reached, then you might wont be able to redeem them. Here, get the latest redeem codes for today and process to redeem them.

Garena Free Fire Redeem Codes for November 26:

F1QA ZXUD YFVH

FCXS UWYT EGRT

FBYN MHKJ NI8B

F7CY S1GH EJRK

FBNJ WI38 47YR

FR4T GHVN I1D2

FK4I 5T8G 7V6Y

FTXG ZBSN WE45

F6OY HBI8 7VCY

FDTS GEBN R45M

FKYH OB98 VCXS

FAYT QGWB FRNT

FM6Y KOGI 9V87

How to redeem codes to win exciting prizes:

Once you get your daily Garena Free Fire redeem codes, you need to claim them. First, you need to visit the official website of Garena rewards at https://reward.ff.garena.com/en. Gamers, ensure that you log in either with your Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple Id, HUAWEI ID or VK. It is important that your social media account must be registered with your game application, otherwise you wont be able to claim rewards.

Following that, copy the 12 characters long redeem codes and paste into the text box and confirm the 'Continue' button. After the confirmation, a dialogue box will appear for double-checking, click on 'OK'. Your process is done!

However, gamers need to note that the processing of the reward via Garena Free Fire redeem codes can take some time, that means you have to wait at least 24 hours for the rewards to appear in your in-game mail.
Ride-hailing giant Didi has been asked to draw up a plan to delist from the United States over data concerns.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said Friday it would start the process of delisting its shares from the New York stock exchange and prepare a Hong Kong listing, shortly after US regulators adopted a rule that would allow them to remove foreign firms.

Didi's move comes in the wake of a sweeping Chinese regulatory crackdown in the past year that has clipped the wings of major internet firms wielding huge influence on consumers' livesincluding Alibaba and Tencentand just months after its mammoth New York debut.

"After careful consideration, (Didi) will start the process of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange from today, and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong," the company said in a statement on social media.

The ride-hailing firm's IPO in June was quickly overshadowed by an investigation by China's internet watchdog on the grounds of cybersecurityjust days after the listing and sending the shares plunging.

Didiwhich reportedly ploughed ahead with the US listing against instructions from Beijinghas been hit especially hard by a state clampdown on tech companies.

It has dominated the local ride-hailing market since it won a costly turf war against US titan Uber in 2016, and its app claims to have more than 15 million drivers and nearly 500 million users.

But a month after the US listing its service was ordered off Chinese app stores.

Government agencies also launched inspections at its offices over "national security" fears, reportedly worried about sensitive data being leaked overseas.

Didi was "advised by Chinese regulators to get listed in Hong Kong rather than New York due to data security issues", said Angela Zhang, associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong.

"However, Didi didn't listen and went ahead anyway, so the regulators taught the firm a hard lesson."

She said that, from now on, "all Chinese tech firms will take data security issues seriously".

Cybersecurity versus trade

Several US-listed Chinese tech firms such as Alibaba have held initial public offerings in Hong Kong over the past two years as the United States has stepped up scrutiny of Chinese companies.

Listing in Hong Kong is seen as a hedge against the risk of being removed from US exchanges and a way of accessing an investor base closer to their home markets.

As well as domestic pressure, Chinese companies will face fresh scrutiny on Wall Street exchanges.

On Thursday, US market regulators announced the adoption of a rule allowing them to delist foreign companies if they fail to provide information to auditors.

The move is aimed primarily at Chinese firms, and requires them to disclose whether they are "owned or controlled" by a government.

The delisting decision marks a costly blow to Didi, which had raised $4.4 billion in its New York IPO.

Didi's shares closed 0.13 percent down to $7.80 in its last trading session, compared with an IPO price of $14.

The firm is currently valued at around $38 billion, well below the $77 billion when it listed.

Kendra Schaefer, head of tech policy research at consultancy Trivium, said that the position of Chinese companies listed abroad is "increasingly uncertain".

"I think that what this indicates is that for the time being, the voices in the Chinese government that are focused on cybersecurity are much louder than the voices that are focused on cross-border trade and economics," she said.

 2021 AFP
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(TBTCO) - Khong kich thich kinh te thi khong co hy vong kinh te som phuc hoi, nhung kich thich the nao e sau bao dich khong la bao gia? ay la bai toan can nao ma Quoc hoi, Chinh phu ang ban cach giai va ap so phai co vao may tuan toi khi Quoc hoi trieu tap Ky hop bat thuong.
GOVERNMENT is continuing negotiations for the sale of the refinery in Pointe-a Pierre, Energy Minister Stuart Young said in Parliament yesterday.

Young said he and Finance Minister Colm Imbert were monitoring the sale of the refinery and there were about four international prospects who were still very interested.
WHEN the new coronavirus variant Omicron was first detected in Botswana, it was as if Dr Nicole Ramlachans worst nightmare had come true.

For the past eight months the geneticist and associate professor at UTT had been warning that if there wasnt an uptick in vaccination rates, the chances of the virus mutating would be higher. Her fears were confirmed on November 26 when the World Health Organisation officially declared Omicron a variant of concern.
Watson Duke has been given three months to relinquish his position as president of the Public Services Association (PSA).

This is according to Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, who also said yesterday, for the first time in the history of the THA, the position Duke holds as Deputy Chief Secretary will be a titular one.
Everyone is born free and equal in dignity and rights. However, racism, discrimination and intolerance are still very present in all societies.

We in T&T must stand up for our rights, and the rights of others.

Equality, injustice and freedom empower us all, and prevent violence and sustain peace.
Da Nang Centralized IT Park Development, a subsidiary of Trung Nam Group, signed an investment deal worth US$100 million with Singapores Infracrowd Capital this week to develop the first-ever tier-3 plus standard data center in the central Vietnamese city.

The data center is expected to facilitate the growing demand for information technology (IT) in Southeast Asian countries, particularly in Vietnam, according to Nguyen Anh Huy, director of Da Nang Centralized IT Park Development JSC.

The project is designed to align with the citys strategic goal of transforming into the nations key IT hub in order to attract foreign investors in the near future.

Upon completion, the data center will provide server, cloud computing, and IT services that meet international and security standards.

Nguyen Quang Thanh, director of the Da Nang Department of Information and Communications, announced during the signing ceremony on Tuesday that the centers manufacturing activities will include integrated circuit (IC) design, software and digital content production.

Thanh also noted that the data center will allow the region to develop in the fields of artificial dintelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) due to their need for massive amounts of storage, processing, and computing infrastructure.

Da Nang's IT Park, of which the data center is a component, has invested in five large-scale factories to manufacture and assemble high-tech electronic equipment.

The park is slated to be put into operation in the first quarter of 2022.

As part of the run-up to the centers opening, Trung Nam Electronic Manufacturing Services has signed a strategic cooperation contract with Xelex JSC to produce 100,000 tablets for the 'Signals and Computers for Children' program, a nationwide initiative launched by the Ministry of Information and Communications to provide students with devices for online learning.

Trung Nam Group said that factories in the IT Park will boast a combined 20 production lines for automatic gluing machines that will create jobs for 1,000 to 2,000 Vietnamese employees.

In order to satisfy future orders, the factories have begun recruiting and training new workers.

Development of the IT Park project has been split into two phases.

The first phase covers an area of 131ha and boasts $47 million in total investment while the second stage spans 210ha and is expected to cost $74 million, said Da Nang Today newspaper.

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The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has suggested increasing flight frequency between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang from next month, before flight operations return to the pre-pandemic level early next year.

In a proposal sent to the Ministry of Transport on Thursday, the CAAV said the increase would meet higher travel demand during the year-end peak season.

The aviation watchdog recommened that the number of daily flights between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang be elevated to 16 from the current six between December 1 and 14.

Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air would each operate five flights a day on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi - Da Nang and Da Nang - Ho Chi Minh City routes.

Vietravel Airlines, Pacific Airlines, Bamboo Airways and would operate one, two, and three flights, respectively, on these routes on a daily basis.

In the second half of December, the number of daily flights between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang would rise further to 20 per day.

The CAAV also wants to raise the frequency on other routes to nine flights a day from the current maximum of four, and to normal levels from early next year.

The Vietnamese government has allowed airlines to resume flying on all domestic routes since October 21 at reduced frequencies.

Four Vietnamese airlines operated 44 domestic routes to all 22 airports in Vietnam with a total of 2,207 return flights, carrying 446,805 passengers, with an average seat occupancy rate of 54.4 percent between then and November 18, according to the CAAV.

However, the lack of new guidelines applicable after November 30 has left the carriers passive in arranging the flight schedule for the remainder of this year and especially the Lunar New Year holiday travel season in 2022.

In addition, the frequency having been limited to almost one flight per day has frustrated passengers who wish to travel and return in one same day.

Currently, passengers need to satisfy one of three conditions, either a negative test result within 72 hours prior to departure, a certificate showing they are fully vaccinated with the second shot taken between 14 days and 12 months, or a certificate proving their recovery from COVID-19 no more than six months earlier.

However, high-risk areas like Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho require passengers to furnish a negative coronavirus test before boarding, even if they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the respiratory disease.

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HANOI -- Vietnam's benchmark stock market index hit a fresh record high on Thursday, topping the 1,500 point mark for the first time and defying a slump across most other Asian equity markets.

The small frontier market has risen 36% this year and analysts heralded the new high, driven by banking and real estate shares, as an "unprecedented moment".

"In June, given the COVID-19 situation, the rosiest scenario we could think of is a year-on-year gain of 30% for the VN Index in 2021, targeting 1,500 level by year end," said an analyst at VNDirect Securities.

Vietnam, consistently one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, had been badly hit by the coronavirus, which disrupted its supply chains and hit workers in key industries.

Vietnam's GDP contracted 6.17% in the third quarter of 2021, the sharpest quarterly decline on record, although the government expects GDP to expand 6.0% to 6.5% next year.

The rush to the stock market was driven partly by investors looking to park their cash as other investment opportunities have been stifled by the crippling economic impacts of COVID-19, said some analysts.

"Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy's capability to absorb investment funds has declined significantly, and therefore investors have chosen to put their money in the stock markets," an analyst with PetroVietnam Securities Inc. said.

"Investors will wait until at least the pandemic to be under control to withdraw funds from the stock markets for their other investment options."

Vietnam's main index has a market capitalisation of nearly $247 billion, about half of the value of its counterparts in Indonesia and Thailand, the region's biggest economies.

Around 1.1 million new stock trading accounts were registered in Vietnam during the past ten months of this year, higher than the whole year figure of 2020, official data showed.

The government said new trading system would be launched to replace the current overloaded one in the second quarter next year to keep up with the large influx of investors.

($1 = 22,670 dong)
LONDON -- Britain said on Friday that a newly identified coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa was considered by scientists to be the most significant one yet found and so it needed to ascertain whether or not it made vaccines ineffective.

Defending a ban on flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that the lesson of COVID was that early action was essential.

The UK Health Security Agency said that the variant - called B.1.1.529 - has a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on.

"As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they've encountered to date in their research," Shapps told Sky News.

Officials have advised the government on the need to act swiftly and pre-emptively in case the concerns over the impact of the variant are borne out, even though it could take weeks to generate all the information needed about its characteristics.

The variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, but the UK Health Security Agency said that no cases of the variant had been detected in Britain.
Portugal, which has one of the world's highest rates of vaccination against COVID-19, announced it would reimpose restrictions to stop a surge in cases, ordering all passengers flying into the country to show a negative test certificate on arrival.

"It doesn't matter how successful the vaccination was, we must be aware we are entering a phase of greater risk," Prime Minister Antonio Costa told a news conference on Thursday.

"We have seen significant growth (in cases) in the EU and Portugal is not an island," he added.

Portugal reported 3,773 new cases on Wednesday, the highest daily figure in four months, before dropping to 3,150 on Thursday. Deaths, however, remain far below levels seen in January, when the country faced its toughest battle against COVID-19.

Around 87% of Portugal's population of just over 10 million is fully inoculated against the coronavirus and the country's speedy vaccination rollout has been widely praised. That has allowed it to lift most of its pandemic restrictions.

But, as another wave of the pandemic sweeps across Europe, the government reintroduced some old rules and announced new ones to limit the spread in the run-up to the holiday season. The measures come into force next Wednesday, Dec. 1.

'Save lives'

Speaking about the new travel rule, Costa said airlines would be fined 20,000 euros ($22,416) per passenger if they transport anyone who does not carry proof of a COVID-19 test, including those who are fully vaccinated.

Passengers can take a PCR or a rapid antigen test, 72 hours or 48 hours respectively before departure.

Costa also announced that those fully vaccinated must also present proof of a negative coronavirus test to enter nightclubs, bars, large events and care homes, and that the EU digital certificate would be required to stay in hotels, go to the gym, or dine indoors in restaurants.

Those sitting outdoors will not need to show the digital certificate.

Remote work, which is now recommended where possible, will be mandatory during the first week of January and students will return to school a week later than usual to control the spread of the virus after the holiday festivities.

Costa said Portugal must continue to bet on vaccination to control the pandemic. Health authorities hope to give COVID-19 booster shots to a quarter of the country's population by the end of January.

"Vaccination has allowed us to save lives," the premier said.
State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, his spouse, and their entourage left Vietnam on Thursday night for an official visit to Switzerland and Russia from November 25 to December 2 as part of an initiative to promote multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the two countries.

The Vietnamese delegation led by State President Phuc will first visit Switzerland from November 25 to 29 and then Russia from November 29 to December 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

This is his first official visit to Europe as state president.

The trip to Switzerland is scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two sides regularly exchange delegations and high-level contacts.

Most recently, State President Phuc met Swiss President Guy Parmelin in September this year when they attended the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

In August, Swiss Vice President and Minister of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis visited Vietnam.

Switzerland is one of Vietnams leading economic partners in Europe, while Vietnam is the former's fourth-largest trading partner among ASEAN countries, according to the European-American Market Department under Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Switzerland is currently the sixth-largest European investor in Vietnam, with 167 projects with a total registered capital of around US$2 billion.

The two sides are promoting the early conclusion of the free trade agreement negotiations between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, with a view to opening up new cooperation opportunities.

Switzerland is one of the few Western European countries that have maintained development aid to and economic cooperation with Vietnam during the past three decades, with funding amounting to $600 million.

Switzerland will continue assist Vietnam in building a better business and investment environment, while providing $75 million in non-refundable aid for the Southeast Asian nation in the next four years, the Vietnam News Agency cited Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Ivo Sieber as saying.

In 1971, Switzerland was among the first Western countries to establish diplomatic ties with Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the upcoming visit to Russia will mark the 20-year anniversary of the signing of the joint statement on the Vietnam - Russia strategic partnership.

Last year, the two countries celebrated 70 years of diplomatic relations.

The two countries have maintained political trust through bilateral official visits, high-level contacts at international conferences, and regular communication via phone calls and online conferences amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the foreign ministry reported.

Despite the pandemics impacts, the two countries saw their two-way trade reach $4.85 billion in 2020, up nine percent from 2019, and $2.6 billion in the first half of 2021, a 12.5 percent year-on-year expansion.

The two countries have maintained close cooperation in COVID-19 prevention and control, and supply and transfer of COVID-19 vaccine production technology.

Russia has provided its Sputnik V vaccine to Vietnam contractually and bilateral cooperation is underway for the manufacturing of the vaccine in Vietnam.

Vietnam and the Soviet Union, now Russia, established their diplomatic ties on January 30, 1950.

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Editor's note : Stephen Nagy is a senior associate professor at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. He wrote this piece exclusively for Tuoi Tre News.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Japan [from November 22 to 25] is significant for both the Vietnamese and Japanese sides. From the Vietnamese standpoint, the visit marks the continuation of the deepening strategic partnership between Japan and Vietnam.

The bond between the two countries adheres to Vietnams 'four no's' policy, including no military alliance, no affiliation with one country to counteract another, no foreign military bases in Vietnamese territory to act against other countries, and no force or threatening to use force in international relations. As outlined in the 2019 Defense White Paper, Vietnam remains wedded to good relations with all its neighbors, regardless of any tensions.

The Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership includes human capacity building, the provision of coast guard vessels, interoperability training, maritime domain awareness enhancement, and visits by Japanese naval ships to Vietnamese ports. It also includes exchange programs that allow for mid-level Vietnamese public servants to study at Japanese universities as part of the Japanese Development Scholarship program meant to boost Vietnams public administration capabilities and people-to-people ties.

Clearly, Tokyo sees Vietnam as a critical partner in the [East Vietnam Sea] as both countries deal with emerging challenges from China's assertive behavior in the maritime region, despite its claims having been rejected by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016.

Furthermore, Tokyo sees Hanoi as a crucial part of its Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Vision. Vietnam represents a long-standing constructive partner on issues related to development, working with ASEAN, and dealing with challenges in Southeast Asia. It also shares concerns about territorial disputes in the [East Vietnam Sea].

For Tokyo, critical countries like Vietnam and Indonesia represent key partners in Japan's FOIP Vision as Japan strives to create a rules-based, inclusive order built on principles of inclusive development, trade, and a commitment to using international institutions as the final arbitrators in the settlement of disputes.

Importantly, achieving these objectives does not come at the expense of ASEAN centrality or relations among Southeast Asian countries. Rather, Tokyo sees Hanoi and ASEAN centrality as a core part of its FOIP Vision. While Japan looks at Vietnam as a longstanding and stalwart partner to deal with the challenges associated with China's rise in the region, Vietnam looks to Japan as an extra-regional partner that brings critical resources to Vietnam, such as coast guard vessels, maritime domain awareness activities, support for international law and a rules-based order within the [East Vietnam Sea], and support for the territorial claims of its partners within the region.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) shakes hands with Japan's Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi in Tokyo during his official visit from November 22 to 25, 2021. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal

This role will only increase in necessity as traditional and non-traditional security challenges in the [East Vietnam Sea] intensify, such as territorial disputes, illegal fishing, anti-piracy, and transnational diseases such as COVID-19.

With the resources provided by Japan through official development assistance (ODA) and through foreign direct investment (FDI), Japan has become an important partner in helping accelerate Vietnams development and domestic capabilities.

It has also helped increase intra-ASEAN unity and integration such that Vietnam and ASEAN are able to function with more strategic autonomy vis-a-vis the challenges in the [East Vietnam Sea] and, more broadly, in the Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has been the first foreign visitor to Japan since Fumio Kishida was elected Prime Minister on October 31. It signals that Japan prioritizes Southeast Asian countries, in particular Vietnam, in its FOIP Vision, and that Japan wants to strengthen that relationship and its bilateral and regionwide bonds so it can continue to invest in and build transparent, rules-based institutions which the Indo-Pacific can use to deal with emerging challenges.

We should expect more concrete commitments from the Japanese in terms of ODA, the provision of FDI capital and the inclusion of Vietnam in Japans multilateral partnerships meant to develop resilient supply chains throughout Southeast Asia and South Asia as the region selectively diversifies away from a China-centered production network.

Vietnam-Japan relations will continue to strengthen under Prime Minister Kishida as the foreign policy establishment and political parties in Japan continue to see Vietnam and other important friends in the region as long-standing partners that can help Tokyo deal with future challenges.
Another person died after getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in Vietnam on Thursday, just one day after her two colleagues had been confirmed dead following similar injections.

The victim, a 30-year-old woman, was among a group of workers at Kim Viet Shoe Company vaccinated with Chinas Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday in Nong Cong District, north-central Thanh Hoa Province.

All workers had their health screened and were advised about potential side effects in advance of the vaccinations.

Nine of the workers have had their health monitored at Thanh Hoa General Hospital and sixty others have been staying at Nong Cong District General Hospital over post-vaccination reactions.

Five of them suffered severe complications and were diagnosed with anaphylactic shock.

Two workers were pronounced dead on Wednesday morning while the third death was confirmed by the provincial Department of Health on Thursday.

The cause of their complications following the vaccinations is being investigated, according to the health department.

Nong Cong District authorities said they have stopped using the Vero Cell vaccine batch following the incident.

The district will also provide each of the bereaved families with VND50 million (US$2,205) in support, while Kim Viet Shoe Company will give each family VND100 million ($4,410) and consider providing for the deceaseds children until they are 18.

The Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine, produced by China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (Sinopharm), was approved for emergency use in Vietnam in early June.

Thanh Hoa has recorded some 2,000 COVID-19 cases since the fourth coronavirus wave flared up in Vietnam in late April, including more than 1,000 recoveries and 12 deaths, according to the provincial health departments statistics.

More than 2.4 million vaccine shots have been given in the province, which has a population of 3.6 million, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

Health workers in Nong Cong District had administered over 10,000 out of the 29,900 doses of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine planned for its current inoculation round before the three deaths.

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The German government has donated 75 ventilators and other medical equipment to Vietnam as its aid for the Southeast Asian country to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

German Ambassador to Vietnam Guido Hildner presented the ventilators, along with 15 monitors and 20,000 pulse oximeters, to the Hanoi Medical University Hospital on Wednesday, according to a press release issued by the Embassy of Germany in the Vietnamese capital on the same day.

These donations, which were delivered to Noi Bai International Airport on November 13, are valued at about 825,000 (US$927,000) in total.

This aid was made in response to Vietnams Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asking German Chancellor Angela Merkel in August to offer COVID-19 vaccines and medical equipment to Vietnam, the embassy said in the press release.

It is a reaffirmation of the deepened cooperation between Germany and Vietnam on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the two countries strategic partnership establishment.

Speaking at the handover ceremony, Ambassador Hildner said he was very pleased about the delivery of such medical equipment for Vietnam to deal with the pandemic.

The equipment is essential to support the intensive medical treatment for critical COVID-19 patients and contribute to their recovery, the ambassador said, adding that Germany stands with Vietnam in overcoming the pandemic.

We can only overcome the pandemic together," Ambassador Hildner was quoted as saying.

"Germany will continue to support Vietnam to the best of its ability in the fight against the pandemic.

Two months ago, Germany gifted Vietnam two batches of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine totaling 3.45 million doses to assist in the countrys vaccination campaign that has been deployed since March.

In summer this year, a number of German states gave Vietnam a total of one million antigen rapid test kits as well as face masks, protective clothing, and freezers for vaccine storage.

In early 2020, the Vietnamese government supplied Germany with more than 100,000 face masks.

The Southeast Asian country has documented 1,168,228 coronavirus cases, including 942,888 recoveries and 24,407 deaths, since the pandemic hit it in early 2020, the Vietnamese Ministry of Health reported.

The nation has recently seen its COVID-19 death toll remarkably drop, to 164 on Thursday from 335 three months earlier, despite its daily infections gradually increasing from mid-October.

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The Ministry of Health documented 13,109 additional COVID-19 infections in Vietnam on Friday, along with 12,368 recoveries and 137 mortalities.

The latest cases, including 15 imported and 13,094 domestic transmissions, were logged in 60 provinces and cities, the ministry said, noting that 7,288 patients contracted the pathogen in the community.

Ho Chi Minh City reported 1,809 of the local cases, Can Tho City 897, Binh Duong Province 707, Tay Ninh Province 655, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 653, Binh Thuan Province 496, Hanoi 253, Khanh Hoa Province 216, Ha Giang Province 143, Thua Thien-Hue Province 113, Lam Dong Province 112, Quang Nam Province 95, Da Nang 92, Quang Nam Province 25, and Hai Phong City four.

Vietnam had found 12,429 locally-acquired infections on Thursday.

The country has detected 1,176,148 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27. A total of 952,439 of them have recovered from COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City has been struck the hardest with 464,180 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 279,487, Dong Nai Province with 85,064, Long An Province with 37,756, Tien Giang Province with 24,362, Tay Ninh Province with 22,814, An Giang Province with 21,952, Dong Thap Province with 19,618, Binh Thuan Province with 14,487, Can Tho City with 13,912, Khanh Hoa Province with 12,225, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 12,341, Hanoi with 9,097, and Da Nang with 5,750.

Vietnam confirmed only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry announced 12,368 recovered patients on Friday, lifting the total to 955,256.

The toll has surged to 24,544 mortalities after the ministry documented 137 deaths on the same day, including 60 in Ho Chi Minh City, 13 in An Giang Province, 13 in Tien Giang Province, nine in Tay Ninh Province, and the remaining in 15 other provinces and cities.

Vietnam has reported 1,181,337 patients since the COVID-19 pandemic first struck it early last year.

Health workers have given over 116 million vaccine doses, including 2,409,817 jabs on Thursday, since inoculation was rolled out nationwide on March 8.

Almost 69 million of the countrys 98 million people have got at least one dose while upwards of 47.3 million are now fully vaccinated.

Health authorities target to fully inoculate 80 percent of the adults and 100 percent of those aged 12 to under 18 by the end of this year, according to a draft government plan for COVID-19 response in 2021-23.

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More than 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Japanese government arrived in Hanoi on Thursday night.

The batch of 1.54 million vaccine shots reached the capital along with the arrival of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who had just finished his official visit to Japan from November 22 to 25.

The vaccine donation was announced by Japanese PM Fumio Kishida during his talks with PM Chinh in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang, on behalf of the delegation that accompanied PM Chinh to Japan, handed over the jabs to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long during a ceremony at Noi Bai International Airport the same night.

He also handed over to Deputy Minister of Finance Vo Thanh Hung a US$1 million aid from Japans Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) for the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam.

Japan has so far donated about 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, along with many medical supplies and equipment.

During the meeting with PM Chinh on Wednesday, Japans Shionogi & Company expressed the desire to invest in a research and production facility for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs in Vietnam.

This would be the firms first such facility in Southeast Asia.

Health workers in Vietnam had administered more than 114.5 million vaccine doses since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8.

Nearly 68.5 million of the countrys 98 million people have got at least one dose while more than 46 million are now fully inoculated.

The country has documented 1,168,228 COVID-19 cases, with 942,888 recoveries and 24,407 deaths.

Health authorities target to fully inoculate 80 percent of the adults and 100 percent of children aged 12 to under 18 by the end of this year, according to a draft government plan for COVID-19 response in 2021-23.

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Two people in northern Vietnam have been sentenced to a combined two years in prison for illegally raising a sun bear cub.

The Peoples Court in Nam Nhun District, Lai Chau Province conducted the trial of Thao A Tua, 42, and Lo Thi My, 56, on Wednesday.

Tua and My were given one year in jail each for unlwfully keeping a sun bear cub in captivity.

The indictment showed that police officers inspected the defendants house in Hua Bum Commune on July 14 and discovered the wild animal.

The sun bear, weighing about five kilograms, was being kept in a cage.

The animal was later brought to the rescue and conservation center at Hoang Lien National Park, located along the border between Lai Chau and Cao Lai Provinces.

The sun bear, scientifically known as Helarctos malayanus, is the worlds smallest bear species, measuring up to 160 centimeters tall and weighing around 65 kilograms.

It is listed as a rare and endangered species that needs protection in Vietnam.

Raising a sun bear violates the countrys regulations on protection of endangered, precious, and rare animals, and is punishable by one to five years in jail.

Authorities have recently recorded many cases related to trading and transporting live bear cubs along the country's northern border with China.

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Drugmakers Pfizer Inc and MSD, known as Merck & Co Inc in North America, have agreed to give licenses to firms in Vietnam to produce COVID-19 treatment pills, Vietnam's ministry of health said on Friday.

The companies have sent letters of approval to the Drug Administration of Vietnam, the ministry said in a statement, for the production of Molnupiravir and Paxlovid pills.

Pfizer last week said it would allow generic manufacturers to supply its experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill to 95 low- and middle-income countries through a voluntary licensing agreement with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).

Pfizer and MSD did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.

The ministry said five local pharmaceutical companies have shown their interest in acquiring the license for producing Molnupiravir.

Vietnam has so far recorded 1.1 million COVID-19 infections and 24,000 deaths. Over 47% of its population of 98 million have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

The ministry said Vietnam has so far used 250,000 Molnupiravir doses, with 72%-93% of recipients recovering after five days.
Authorities in Vietnam have suspended the use of a batch of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinas Sinopharm following the fourth death reported post-vaccination.

The Thanh Hoa Province Department of Health proposed that the provincial Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control halt the administration of Vero Cell vaccine jabs from batch B2021103398 while awaiting more information on the deaths from the Ministry of Health.

The provinces health department also asked that the provincial Center for Disease Control send samples of the doses in question to the National Institute for Control of Vaccines and Biologicals for testing.

The suspension followed the deaths of four recipients of the shots from the batch.

The latest victim was a female from a group of workers at Kim Viet Shoe Company that had been vaccinated with Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday in Thanh Hoas Nong Cong District.

She was treated for anaphylactic shock following the injection at Thanh Hoa General Hospital by medical experts from Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi.

She was pronounced dead on Friday despite being put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), or outside-the-body life support.

Three other workers were announced dead on Wednesday and Thursday.

All of the four deceased were diagnosed with anaphylactic shock.

All of the factory workers who had participated in Tuesdays vaccinations had their health screened and were advised about potential side effects in advance.

Ten of the workers suffered severe reactions within 30 minutes of their vaccinations.

An official visits the family of a deceased worker who died after receiving a dose of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, November 2021. Photo: Ha Dong / Tuoi Tre

Besides the four deaths, six other workers had their health monitored at Thanh Hoa General Hospital.

Experts from Bach Mai Hospital affirmed that the organization of Tuesdays vaccination drive at Kim Viet Shoe Company had been carried out in accordance with regulations.

The Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine, produced by China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (Sinopharm), was approved for emergency use in Vietnam in early June.

Thanh Hoa has recorded some 2,100 COVID-19 cases since the fourth coronavirus wave flared up in Vietnam in late April, including around 1,100 recoveries and 12 deaths, according to the provincial health departments statistics.

More than 2.4 million vaccine shots have been given in the province, which has a population of 3.6 million, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.

Health workers in Nong Cong District had administered over 10,000 out of the 29,900 doses of Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine planned for its current inoculation round before the four fatalities.

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Vietnams first sapper unit for United Nations peacekeeping operations is undergoing a training course in Hanoi to prepare for their mission in Abyei, a disputed oil-rich border territory claimed by both South Sudan and Sudan.

The Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations kicked off the training for the 203-strong sapper unit on Thursday.

Sapper unit No. 1, Vietnams first sapper company for UN peacekeeping operations, made its debut during a ceremony in Hanoi on November 15.

The unit was established in 2014 and charged with a suitable peacekeeping mission at the request of the UN.

The training, which lasts until December 6, is expected to analyze and improve the units capability in operation, specialist knowledge, and management before it is deployed for a mission of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

Major General Hoang Kim Phung, director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, gestures when speaking with foreign military attaches in Vietnam at a sapper unit training session, November 25, 2021. Photo: Tran Thinh / Tuoi Tre

All defense units must enter comprehensive practical training courses to ensure their competence and readiness before they join UN peacekeeping missions, said Major General Hoang Kim Phung, director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

This is the first training course for the sapper unit to be run exclusively by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, as foreign experts who joined previous years iterations were not able to arrive due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Vietnams sapper unit No. 1 undergoes practical training in preparation for United Nations peacekeeping missions, November 25, 2021. Photo: Tran Thinh / Tuoi Tre

The coursework and scenarios used in the training are based on the UNs guidelines on functions and responsibilities of small-scale sapper units, with inputs of pundits from the Ministry of National Defense and field experiences of officials from the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Sappers are to be put through training in using equipment, driving sapper motorbikes, repairing plumbing and electrical systems, and building makeshift roads, landing sites, defense structures, sewage systems, housing, among others.

The course also provides sappers with peacekeeping knowledge, including protecting civilians, women and children, preventing sexual abuse, handling illegal checkpoints, negotiating, and implementing first-aid.

During the launching ceremony, Major General Phung encouraged sappers to focus on the training, improving themselves on all aspects to prepare for the upcoming appraisal from the UN.

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Friday Flashback on my Mind.

Rare footage of 60s sensation The Easybeats was recently discovered in a performance at UKs Top of the Pops.

The surviving footage, broadcast on BBC TV on this day 55 years ago (1966), was discovered by acclaimed New South Wales artist Lucy Culliton, in her late fathers belongings. Hiding at the back of a shelf was a little white box marked Easybeats print  Friday On My Mind.

The NFSA has digitally scanned the 16mm film print for long-term preservation in its collection, and is also pleased to be returning a digital file master to the BBC archives.

NFSA Senior Curatorial Officer Simon Smith told TV Tonight, the vision was one of the missing holy grails of Australian rock music history.

Its a really exciting find  Australias most successful rock group of the 1960s, performing their most popular song on the most watched music show on British television  and one that had not been seen for over half a century, he said.

This is such a fantastic find and one that could easily have never occurred but for the NFSAs existing connection with the Culliton family. Its thanks to them and their interest in our audiovisual heritage that this film found its way to us.

Getting on TOTP was the television pinnacle for music artists in Britain. The viewing audience of Top Of The Pops was larger than the entire population of Australia at the time! he said.

These sorts of discoveries give us hope of finding other significant missing moments from the history of television. Now if we can just locate the 1975 Graham Kennedy Show Crow Call episode or Hoges on New Faces!
Three more artists have been announced for Eurovision: Australia Decides in February 2022.

Former The Voice artists Sheldon Riley and girl group G-Nat!on, plus pop performer Andrew Lambrou will perform original songs in their chance to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy.

They join three previously announced artists Paulini, Jaguar Jonze, and returning act Isaiah Firebrace (who will be singing a duet with a yet to be revealed performer).

Sheldon Riley said, It has always been the highlight, waking up at 5am every year to watch from Australia. Growing up on the Gold Coast, watching Conchita for the first time was proof to me that the world will choose different if given the chance to see it. I am different but I have found my place on mainstream television where I never fit the mould, on radio that has never played music like mine, festivals youd never think Id fit the bill for because I always dare to dream in my fashion and my music always bringing that little bit of Eurovision magic with me every time. Im so proud of the artist I am today, wearing my crystal mask in so many parts of the world. It would be an honour to represent Australia and bring my sparkle to Europe! After all these years of dreaming and creating the artist I am today. Its all coming to life in epic fashion, Live on stage!

Emma from G-Nat!on said, We are beyond honoured to be the first ever girl-group to perform at Eurovision: Australia Decides! It is so exciting to be a part of the creativity, inspiration, and diversity that Eurovision brings every year, and we cannot wait to bring our song to life on the national stage. Full of strong harmonies and edgy choreography, our song is a dance-pop explosion set to provide the ultimate live show experience. We hope our performance inspires other young people to be strong, powerful, and confident in themselves  see you on the Gold Coast!

Andrew Lambrou said, Im so thrilled to be a part of Eurovision: Australia Decides 2022! Ive grown up watching Eurovision with my family, admiring all that goes into it and seeing artists show their craft to the world, and to be a part of this show is like a dream come true. Im so excited to show Australia my artistry, and to potentially represent my country in this amazing song contest is the most encouraging thought for me.

More artists are yet to be revealed.

Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey return to host Eurovision: Australia Decides on the Gold Coast on Saturday 26 February, produced for SBS by Blink TV.
(Photo: koto_feja via Getty Images)

A new Covid variant first identified in Botswana may be the worst variant we have seen so far, and six African countries have now been added to the UKs red list for travel.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the variant may be more transmissible than the Delta strain and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective.

Scientists are concerned as this variant, named B.1.1529, has a high number of mutations which could potentially make it tricker for the immune system to attack.

From 12pm on Friday, flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended until 4am on Sunday. From Sunday, those arriving arriving in the UK will have to quarantine for 10 days in hotels.

Though the new variant may be more transmissible it can be detected with a normal PCR test.

The variant is being closely monitored with research ongoing, but heres what we know about it so far.

Where has the variant been detected?

B.1.1529 was first found in Botswana on November 11. Three days after that, cases were found in South Africa and another case was identified in Hong Kong, in a 36-year old man who flew from South Africa. So far there arent any cases identified in the UK.

In total, 59 confirmed cases have been identified as of Friday November 26.

How serious is this?

B.1.1.529 was added to the World Health Organisations list of variants under monitoring on Wednesday November 24. This label is given to variants with genetic changes that are suspected to affect virus characteristics, with some indication that it may pose a future risk.

However, officials do not yet have enough evidence to call it a variant of concern. This title is given to variants when there is evidence of an increase in transmissibility, more severe disease, reduction in neutralisation by antibodies (either generated during previous infection or vaccination), reduced effectiveness of treatments or vaccines, or diagnostic detection failures.

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How is the variant different?

The variant has more than 30 mutations  around twice as many as the Delta variant  which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

Ravi Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology told The Guardian work in his lab found that two of the 32 mutations on B.1.1.529 increased infectivity and reduced antibody recognition  this means the mutations may make it harder for immune cells to respond. However, researchers are still analysing the infectiousness of this strain overall.

It does certainly look a significant concern based on the mutations present, he said. However, a key property of the virus that is unknown is its infectiousness, as that is what appears to have primarily driven the Delta variant. Immune escape is only part of the picture of what may happen.

Proffesor Francois Balloux, the director of the UCL Genetics Institute, agreed that it is difficult to predict how transmissible the variant may be at this stage. However, she shed some light on the possible origins of the mutation.

Given the large number of mutations it has accumulated apparently in a single burst, it likely evolved during a chronic infection of an immunocompromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient, she said in a statement.

Should we be worried?

Professor Gupta tweeted to say: This one is worrying and Ive not said that since Delta. Please get vaccinated and boosted and mask up in public as the mutations in this virus likely result in high level escape from neutralising antibodies.

Greg Dore, an infectious disease physician at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney, Australia added: B.1.1.529 variant has mutations associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness. But, if its a less fit virus and has reduced transmission potential then not huge problem. Time to monitor, not time to panic.

What is being done to control the variant?

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker Nu  with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

According to PA, UK officials were said to be very worried after they examined details on the variant on the international database  and have taken significant steps just three days after the details were uploaded.

The variant is a dramatic change from anything seen previously by UK scientists. It has mutations which have been observed in other variants, but also ones that scientists have not yet seen.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost UK and has been updated.

Related...
PA Media: Video

Jurgen Klopp is absolutely sure that Steven Gerrard will one day be Liverpool manager and does not believe it will be dependent on the former Reds captain being a proven winner in the Premier League. Aston Villa boss Gerrard returns to his boyhood club and spiritual home of Anfield on Saturday for what is sure to be an emotional occasion for both him and the Liverpool supporters.
ROME (Reuters) - A Franco-Italian treaty signed on Friday represents a major step forward in ties between the two nations and will usher in a period of much closer cooperation in an array of fields, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.

Speaking alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Draghi said the two countries would launch "new forms of cooperation" in energy and technology and in research and innovation.

He added that at least once every quarter, an Italian minister will attend a French cabinet meeting, and vice versa.

"The Treaty of Enhanced Cooperation we signed this morning marks a historic moment in relations between our two countries. France and Italy are further consolidating their diplomatic, commercial, political and cultural ties," Draghi said.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer, editing by Giulia Segreti)
Travel, leisure and hospitality stocks were some of the biggest fallers on Friday, as well as oil producers, as a new COVID-19 variant sparked concern across the globe. Photo: Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Travel, leisure and hospitality stocks were some of the biggest fallers on Friday, as well as oil producers, as a new COVID-19 variant sparked concern across the globe.

The B.1.1529 strain, which has been reported as a new, more transmissible, variant of coronavirus, is said to contain up to 30 identified mutations. It was first identified in South Africa, and has since also been detected in Hong Kong.

The news sent British Airways owner IAG (IAG.L) plummeting as much as 20% on the day to its lowest level since November 2020, it has recovered slightly and is now trading 10% lower.

Easyjet (EZJ.L) has also lost a tenth of its value, while Ryanair (RYA.L) and Wizz Air (WIZZ.L) are both down 7%, and jet engineer Rolls Royce (RR.L) shed 10%. On the bloc, Lufthansa (LHA.DE) slipped more than 10%, and Air France (AF.PA) lost 7.6%.

IAG fell to its lowest level since November last year, before paring back some losses. Chart: Yahoo Finance

Brent Crude futures (BZ=F) also plummeted 4.8% to below $80 (60) a barrel on the back of the news, while another key benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slumped 4% to below $75 a barrel.

This sent shares in oil giants such as Shell (RDSB.L) and BP (BP.L) more than 6% lower in London.

Jeffrey Halley, a senior analyst at brokerage OANDA, said: All we know so far is the B.1.1.529 is heavily mutated but markets are taking no chances, equities are falling, haven currencies such as the US dollar, Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc are rallying, commodity currencies such as the Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar are being sold, US 10-year bond yields have moved sharply lower, and oil has slumped.

Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) called an emergency meeting to discuss what the new strain means for vaccine efficacy as well as other treatments.

UK health secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant "may be more transmissible" than the Delta strain and added that "the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective".

Meanwhile, a scientist on the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has warned that the public needs to be ready for new restrictions in the wake of the discovery.

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Read more: Global stock markets crash as new COVID variant spooks investors

The UK government has already implemented flight bans from six African countries over concerns on infection rates, with South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe all placed on Englands travel red list.

No cases of the new variant have been detected in the UK, however, hundreds of people who have recently returned from South Africa and neighbouring countries are expected to be tracked down and offered tests.

The EU set to follow suit with a similar flight ban. Taking to Twitter on Friday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission (EC), said it will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern.

Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, said: Experts are determining whether the new variant is more transmissible or more deadly than previous ones.

The fact that a new strain has been discovered and, critically, that at this stage we know little about it has caused jitters in the financial markets, which loathe uncertainty. The headlines have caused a knee-jerk reaction.

He added: This wobble is likely to be temporary with markets remaining bullish for the time being.

Watch: Should I book a holiday in 2021?
There is some irony in the fact that about the only person the French are not allowing into their country right now is Priti Patel. In an unusually blunt diplomatic snub, her day trip to Calais on Sunday has been cancelled  and so have the scheduled face-to-face talks with the French authorities about the loss of life in the English Channel.

One hopes theyll still pick up the phone for her but you never know. Given the enormity of what has happened, it seems a bit impetuous  childish, even  banning Patel from her own meeting but it does go to show how dreadful Anglo-French relations have become and how weak the UK is.

Apparently the French didnt like the tone of Boris Johnsons letter to the president of the republic, nor that he shoved it out on Twitter. That is not how such things should be done Monsieur Johnson, they were telling him, and they have a point.

Its maybe not the first time Johnsons had a bit of trouble with a French letter but the tone was all wrong. Johnson  of all people  was offering his sage advice on how they should be running their backward little country.

They dont really need that and they dont really want to enact his helpful suggestion that they let the British patrol their borders for them, seeing as they cant be bothered.

After all, the job of any countrys border force is to stop people getting in, not so much to prevent them from lawfully leaving. As Macron says, these people do not wish to live in France and he cannot make them.

Rather tellingly, the French explained that the British ideas are unacceptable because they violated the sovereignty of France. Whoever is at fault in this, it seems plain that nothing will be done as a result of the tragedy this week and the people who will suffer from this spat are the refugees still attempting a Channel crossing in flimsy boats and worsening weather; more will die.

You have to admit that Brexit has not helped. Like so many divorces where the participants believe that its all going to be quite amicable, leaving the EU was always going to be acrimonious  and so it has proved.

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Within the EUs structures, the British and the French had to talk to one another and the other EU partners involved in the migrant crisis  such as Italy, Malta and Greece and now Poland and Lithuania.

We did have the Dublin Regulation system for pan-EU migrant returns, which may not have been perfect but was at least some sort of agreement. Now, there is none.

Where once Britain could exert influence and some power over EU migration policy and what was happening upstream in the Mediterranean and policy towards Turkey, the British now have next to no say.

The old concept of shared sovereignty meant that the British would no longer have complete control over their own borders but in return would have a say on the border regime across the whole continent, which was of some use. At the moment, the British have no say over anyone elses border policies and little practical control of their own.

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The migrant crisis is bigger than Britain and indeed bigger than Britain and France. It is precisely the kind of thing that demands action at a supranational scale. This was what was going to be happening over the weekend, when Patel was going to swap ideas and contacts with counterparts from a half dozen other European countries  just like the old days in an EU Council of Ministers meeting.

Sovereignty was to be pooled. If the UK was still an EU member state, the French would not have been able to disinvite the British home secretary  shed have freedom of movement for a start.

Johnsons pompous attempt at a billet-doux to President Macron was the immediate cause of French irritation but it is Brexit that has clearly poisoned relations.

Read More

Editorial: The risk of drowning is not enough to deter people from coming to Britain

I find the governments attitude to the Channel crisis so disturbing | Jess Phillips

Using playground politics over the tragedy in the Channel is senseless | Andrew Grice

Letters: Talk of legal migration is a fig leaf to hide our shame

Is the government doing all it can to end misery in the Channel? | Minnie Rahman

Opinion: We are seeing the tragic cost of political posturing over the Channel
While the United States is adapting to the challenges of a multipolar world and a global geopolitical recalibration, the Peoples Republic of China is employing its geo-economic tools to identify power vacuums in the international landscape and to fill the void of American leadership.

Foreign Policy Research Institute's web-site (FPRI) notes that the combination of former President Donald Trumps inward-looking foreign policy and President Joseph Bidens emphasis on the Indo-Pacific has created a power gap in the South Caucasus, which has given room to the Russian Federation and Turkey to chart their own courses in the political, economic, and military spheres and has provided space for China to move into the region. Beijings increased presence in the South Caucasus has implications for the growing strategic competition between China and the United States.

The recent escalation of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh and the armistice brokered by Moscow revealed the Wests waning influence in the South Caucasus. The visible absence of the United States in the peace process led to the fact that the parties began to form alternative political processes without the participation of the West.

In recent years, Chinas economic presence has increased immensely in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. According to the World Bank, since 2005, Chinese trade volume with Baku, Yerevan, and Tbilisi has increased significantly. While securing bilateral deals and engaging in country-specific projects, Beijing has employed various public and private financial institutions - Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China Development Bank, Exim Bank, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) - to invest in projects of strategic significance. While China poses no direct military threat to the South Caucasus, it challenges Western economic, technology, infrastructure, and political interests.

Chinas Ties to Regional Powerbrokers

The Kremlin has cemented its status as the primary security provider in the South Caucasus in the aftermath of the conflict flare-up over Nagorno-Karabakh. Russias status opened up the potential for like-minded regimes to move in and collaborate on projects of regional significance. Russia - along with Turkey and Iran - aims to gradually dislodge the United States and the European Union from the South Caucasus and to increase its regional influence. These conditions create favorable conditions for greater Chinese investments, so Moscow, in coordination with Ankara and Tehran, is seeking common ground with Beijing through infrastructure projects. Russia occupies a significant place in Chinas efforts to create overland alternatives to the maritime route to Europe. Central Asia has become a significant area and the model of collaboration between Beijing and Moscow, with China focusing on commerce, trade, and infrastructure investments and Russia acting as the primary security guarantor. Both sides see great value in this cooperation as the most effective way to present a joint front against the United States and its democratic agenda. The division of responsibilities between Beijing and Moscow in Central Asia creates a model that could be replicated on a larger scale in the South Caucasus. Beijings economic cooperation with Tehran and Ankara, coupled with its long-standing strategic partnership with Moscow, gives it strategic leverage.

These developments have occurred amid Chinas conclusion of a strategic partnership deal with Iran. While the agreement looks largely economic, promising to invest $400 billion over 25 years in airports, roads, railways, free trade zones, and telecommunications and information technology, the partnership creates opportunities for cooperation in military assistance, arms transfers, military training, joint exercises, and intelligence-sharing. Given Irans historical interest and influence in the Caucasus, the pact will allow Beijing to gain greater economic and strategic influence not only in the Middle East, but also in the South Caucasus region. In the same vein, Ankaras yearning for deepening cooperation with Beijing, in light of its increasing estrangement from the West, contributes to Chinese expansion into the region. As China invests in Turkeys ports, bridges, airports, highways, and railways, as well as in petrochemicals, energy, and mining, it is poised to integrate Turkeys Middle Corridor (MC) railroad network linking China to Europe through Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Trends in Regional Trade, Investment, and Cultural Dynamics

Spearheading efforts to increase strategic connectivity and trade turnover, Beijing has provided sizable funds for transit infrastructure, digital infrastructure, and other projects in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. In parallel, China has been active in using its soft power tools to advance its interests. Since the early 2000s, China has funded, built, and promoted humanitarian, cultural, and educational centers.

Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, Beijing has provided substantial investment for transit, digital, natural resource, and non-oil sector projects. As China develops its overland trade route, it has invested in upgrading the port of Baku and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad. In parallel, Beijing signed an economic package worth $821 million with Baku to extend its reach to the non-oil sectors. The deal includes the development of chemical industrial parks, agricultural industrial parks, and greenhouse complexes. Moreover, with Chinese assistance, within the framework of Azerbaijans Digital Hub Initiative, an Asia-European telecommunication corridor will be established to complement the Digital Silk Road connecting Mumbai to Frankfurt via Azerbaijan.

The increase in Chinese investment comes amid the context of increasing trade with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is currently the largest trading partner of China out of the South Caucasus countries. While Azerbaijans total exports to China have decreased in 2020 (in line with an overall drop in exports), it still represents 3.1% ($432 million) of the countrys exports. Trade between Azerbaijan and China has varied greatly from year to year, but it has been trending upward. Exports to China reached a high of 3.8% ($752 million) in 2019 and has increased substantially since 2012 when exports to China were 0.8% ($183 million). Likewise, imports have followed a similar pattern, up from 6.6% ($631 million) in 2012 to 13.1% ($1.41 billion) in 2020.

Beijing has also cultivated collaboration with Baku in the military and defense fields. The two countries signed an agreement on mutual military aid and the purchase of Chinese arms, which lays the groundwork for deeper military cooperation.

With Sino-Azerbaijani relations surging, the Chinese Ministry of Education, in collaboration with local universities, established Confucius Institutes committed to offering student exchange programs, Chinese language courses, and cultural projects. Moreover, the Confucius Institute embedded in the Academy of Public Administration regularly conducts research on Azerbaijans participation in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has also been active in expanding its digital footprint in Azerbaijan. In 2016, Huawei launched the seeds for the future program to train a new generation of Azeris in electronic engineering and IT studies in China. The following year, Huawei announced plans to establish a smart city and public wifi in Azerbaijan while reiterating its intentions about developing a 5G network. As China continues investing in geo-economic projects in Azerbaijan, its focus on digital infrastructure development, particularly the implementation of 5G technology, will grow considerably.

Armenia

Although the Sino-Armenian relationship continues to improve, Beijings engagement with Yerevandue to Armenias hostile relations with Azerbaijan and Turkeyhas been relatively modest. In recent years, China has become Armenias second-largest trading partner. In addition to providing millions in economic assistance, China has donated transportation and logistical units to the countrys transportation and public health sectors.

Beijing also has expanded military cooperation with Yerevan. In the 1990s, China trained Armenian officers and supplied multi-launch rocket systems to Yerevan. Beijing not only provided sophisticated Chinese rockets to Yerevan in 2011, but also signed a military agreement intending to provide Armenia with 5 million in military aid each year. However, the post-war reality and the shift in the balance of power in the region have created new avenues and opportunities for both sides as well as for other regional powers to coordinate and to work on more projects. The North-South Corridor, a highway linking Iran to Georgian seaports on the Black Sea via Armenia; a railroad connecting Iran to Russia through Armenia and Georgia; and a transit link between Azerbaijan and Turkey via Armenia represent clear points of convergence for Beijing, Yerevan, Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran. Consequently, these undertakings can boost the integration of these transit routes into the BRI and deepen Chinese engagement and will increase Chinas influence and role in the South Caucasus.

Trade with China has also greatly increased over the past decade. In 2020, China was the third largest trading partner by exports with 11.5% ($289 million) of Armenias exports and the second largest trading partner by imports with 14.5% ($663 million) of Armenias imports. These numbers are a major increase from 2010 when China only made up 3.1% ($30 million of Armenias exports and 10.6% ($402 million) of Armenias imports.

Beijings also implements technological, cultural, and other elements of soft power throughout Armenia. In 2008, China opened Confucius Institutes, followed by an art school in Yerevan, where students study Mandarin Chinese. Huawei signed an agreement with Yerevan to develop a smart city project while collaborating with VIVA-MTS, a Russian-owned telecommunications company, to jointly develop digital infrastructure. While Chinas economic presence at this point in Armenia is relatively low, its engagement in digital infrastructure development processes is expected to grow substantially.

Georgia

Considering Georgias increasing capacity as a transit country, China has provided substantial resources for the countrys strategic and infrastructure projects. Since the early 2000s, Beijing has invested considerably in Georgias hydropower plants, ground transportation networks, railroads, seaports, and free industrial zones. Chinese companies have also tapped into the hotel, shopping, and housing markets. Moreover, in May 2017, Beijing signed a free trade agreement with Tbilisi, making it the first and only country in the region to have such a deal. The agreement covers 17 components, including trade in goods, services, intellectual property rights, as well as e-commerce, market competition, and the environment. By having the free trade regime at its disposal, Beijing not only created practical tools for influencing Tbilisi, but also laid the groundwork for deeper engagement.

In 2020, China became Georgias largest trading partner by exports, making up 14.2% ($477 million) of Georgias exports. This expansion comes in contrast to past years as China nearly doubled its share from 2017 with 7.4% ($201 million) of Georgias exports. While China is only Georgias third largest trading partner by imports, the number is still a noteworthy 8.8% ($709 million).

In the same vein, China opened a Confucius Institute in Georgia to enhance the countrys Chinese teaching and learning capability. The Chinese government claims that Mandarin is being offered in more than 26 higher education institutions in Georgia. Beijing provides scholarships to Georgian students to study in China and brings more than 20 language teachers every year to promote and popularize Chinese culture and language in Georgia. China also signed an agreement with the Georgian Ministry of Education offering Chinese language lessons to students at secondary schools.

Huawei has also considered developing a technology park in Georgia with the long-term intention of deploying 5G infrastructure. However, the United States and Georgia recently signed a memorandum of understanding on 5G security, which challenges Huaweis expansion. It also demonstrated that Washington is growing concerned about Huaweis expansion into the regions technology sector and its commitment to play a more active role in assisting Georgia to develop and ultimately use 5G technology.

***

While Beijings investments in physical infrastructure provide China a foothold in the South Caucasus, its deployment of digital infrastructure could be a game changer as it will cement Chinse influence into regional structures to the extent that it will be almost impossible to stop or remove. Given the South Caucasus sensitive position in geopolitics, the deployment of 5G is increasingly intertwined with national security issues, strategic alignments, and ideological allegiances.The spread of digital infrastructure will become the key area of fierce competition between the United States and China. As the rivalry intensifies, the triad of the South Caucasus will be forced to pick and choose which source of modern technology to use. Despite Huaweis efforts to make quick inroads and gain a significant advantage, the full-scale implementation of 5G in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia will be a more challenging and lengthy process as it will be shaped by external influences and the regional balance of power.

Chinas potential alignment with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia on the one hand and Russia, Turkey, and Iran on other could help it build systems that underpin communications, finances, and government functions. The ongoing strategic approximation and growing dependence on Chinese digital and physical infrastructures create pathways for China and regional powerbrokers to influence or gain control over data, communications, energy, trade, and transportation networks of local actors.By relying on Chinese infrastructure, they are making themselves vulnerable and increasingly susceptible to debt traps, coercion, subversion, disruption, control, and attack. That is why accepting infrastructure investments from autocratic states carry risks and far-reaching consequences for Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan.

Chinas growing geo-economic footprint in the region and the changing strategic attitudes will change the patterns of regional development and challenge the Western democratic model in Europes East. While Chinese engagement looks largely economic, it could turn political quickly. The loss of the South Caucasus could prove detrimental for the United States and its European allies as strategic competition between Beijing and Washington expands to regions like the South Caucasus.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed this week that Iran tried transferring explosives in 2018 from Syria to terror elements in the West Bank using an unmanned aerial vehicle. As Al Monitor notes, Iran is increasingly using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in its war with Middle East rivals. The threat is prompting grave concern among senior Israeli defense officials, which they have recently taken to airing in public quite often.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz devoted his speech to the drone menace at a Reichman University security conference November 23, revealing that Iran tried to deliver explosives in February 2018 from Syria to West Bank terrorists using a drone. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also referred to the issue in his September address to the UN General Assembly. Just this year, Iran made operational a new deadly terror unit, a startup: swarms of killer UAVs armed with lethal weapons that can attack any place any time, he said. Bennett added that Iran had already carried out drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, US targets in Iraq and civilian ships, and plans to blanket the skies of the Middle East with this lethal force.

Iranian drones made their debut international performance in September 2019 when they were launched along with cruise missiles at Saudi oil fields some 1,000 kilometers away. The strike caused heavy damage to an Aramco facility and disrupted Saudi oil exports for many months. Since then, Iran has increased its deployment of these crafts, making headlines yet again when they launched UAVs at the Israeli-operated Mercer Street oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman this past July, killing two crew members.

Two additional drone strikes in recent weeks have been attributed to Iran. The first was an attack in October on Al-Tanf US military outpost in eastern Syria, which did not cause casualties after a friendly country (Israel, according to foreign news reports) conveyed advance warning to the United States, enabling it to vacate the facility. A second attack occurred Nov. 7 with an explosives-carrying drone crashing into the home of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. He escaped unharmed, but six of his guards were injured. Just this past weekend, Houthi rebels said they launched 14 UAVs from Yemen at Saudi Aramco refineries and King Abdullah International Airport in Jeddah.

Reportedly, Iran manufactures UAVs with a range of thousands of kilometers and hands them out to its proxies in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, among other places. Iran is responsible for drones operated in Lebanon and even in Gaza, with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami declaring a few months ago that his countrys UAVs have a range of 7,000 kilometers.

In tactical terms, drones are simple to use, not particularly expensive, easily moved from place to place and, due to their small size and low radar footprint, very hard to detect. Iran generally does not mount these attacks itself or from its own territory, allowing it to blur its involvement and act without risking significant military retaliation.

Israel is very troubled by these developments, assessing that Iran will continue deploying UAVs against Israeli targets, and not just as attack weapons. Gantz hinted at this when he said this week that Iran was developing additional hitherto unrevealed UAV capabilities making this threat more diverse and comprehensive.

While Gantz mentioned the drone that had infiltrated Israeli air space in February 2018 carrying explosives for terrorists in Judea and Samaria, he did not mention the more recent drone infiltration into Israeli air space over the Valley of the Springs near the border with Jordan on May 18 during Israels Keeper of the Walls war with Gaza. Authorities reported intercepting the drone but did not say from where it had been launched. In an unusual disclosure, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi both mentioned the attempted attack in speeches following the war with Gaza.

The troubling issue arose recently in talks between top Israeli officials and their US counterparts. Both countries have greatly enhanced their intelligence and radar cooperation in such a way that allows Israel to receive advance warnings of a drone launch by Iran or its proxies.

Israel has been accelerating its readiness against the threat in recent months. As of now, the Israeli response to the UAVs consists of three main layers. The first are Israel air force fighter jets capable of intercepting UAVs even at a great distance from Israel. The second is intercepting the drones in mid-flight by using soft measures  in other words, electronic warfare. The third and newest defense is the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which has been upgraded in recent years in order to enhance its ability to intercept UAVs.

Either way, there is no doubt that Israels response to the drone threat is imperfect, certainly in the face of swarms of drones against which Bennett warned, meaning a great number of drones launched simultaneously at Israel. Defense agencies in Israel and beyond are expected to be busy trying to address this threat in the foreseeable future.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is confident that the risks of a revolution in his country have not yet been removed. The opposition is preparing a new destabilization plan.

"They have already worked out a plan, I sent it to the presidential administration to be worked out and disseminated there, so that you all can see what they want. Well, this is a complete joke, said Lukashenko.- This is a plan from the figutives. When I was reading this plan, I, as a man with a life experience, I had a thought: Can it be true that the West will be so foolish to give money for this again? Nevertheless, you'll see this plan".

According to Lukashenko, the opposition in Lithuania plans to bring its supporters to the streets of Belarusian cities.

Ph.D., scientific director of the ANO socio-economic and political consulting Center for Ethnic and International Studies, editor-in-chief of the "Archon" magazine Anton Bredikhin believes that if this opposition plan is in the hands of the president, then most likely it is "fictitious". At the same time, Lukashenko's opponents are indeed continuing to work on removing him from the presidency.

I am sure there is a lot of work being done. It did not stop, but had begun even before last year's protests. Work abroad included not only big information campaigns, the fight against Lukashenko in the international information field, but also receiving grants from a number of American and other Western foundations. Both Tikhanovskaya and other members of the opposition have a powerful base in Lithuania and Poland, as well as great support from the United States and European countries," the expert said in an interview with "Vestnik Kavkaza".

The Belarusian opposition has quite a few plans to destabilize the government. Lukashenko is too self-confident and believes that he has the only plan that can help him stay in power. I am more than sure that this is not a real opposition plan. Destabilization of the situation in the country is quite possible both in winter and in spring. Let's remember Euromaidan, it took place in cold weather. Therefore, there is no need to think that someone will wait for a warm period in order to bring people to the streets," Bredikhin emphasized.

Lukashenko is still delaying integration with Russia. He hasn't signed "road maps". This delay is risky for his power, the political scientist is sure. The longer he hesitates to integrate, the more chances he will lose his presidency and be forced to leave for Russia or, for example, China. There is a risk for Lukashenko to end his political life. He won't be able to overcome the next destabilization and attempt to "reboot" Belarusian society without Russia's help. His law enforcement agencies will not be able to resist the protest of the collective Belarusian opposition," Bredikhin added.

Let us remind you that the situation in Belarus began to worsen after the presidential elections on August 9, 2020. The current President Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide victory there. The opposition accused the CEC of falsification and brought thousands of supporters to the streets. Runner-up candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya did not accept the results, left the country and set up the Opposition Coordinating Council. In February 2021, protests began to subside. Lukashenko announced his readiness to adopt a new Constitution and redistribute power in the state, reducing presidential powers.
Azerbaijan handed over two persons of Armenian origin to the Armenian side, according to the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing persons.

"Guided by the principles of humanism, Azerbaijan handed over two persons of Armenian origin to the Armenian side on November 26, 2021," the statement reads.

"One of them is Aramyan Arin Zhiraevich, born in 1993, who was detained wounded during military operations on the state border, which began as a result of the provocation of Armenia on November 16, 2021. During this time, Aramyan received the necessary medical assistance and treatment," the message says

"The other one is Musaelyan Mihran Ernest, born in 2000, was detained after entering the territory in the direction of the Aghdam district, where Azerbaijani servicemen are serving. As a result of the preliminary investigation, it was established that Musaelyan is a civilian lost in the indicated area," the Commission said.
An Aeroflot flight headed from the Russian city of St. Petersburg to Uzbekistans Namangan made a landing in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, because of a baby born onboard, a regional emergency source said.

"The aircraft captain reported a woman in labor onboard the flight and a decision was made that the plane would head to Nizhny Novgorod. A baby was born with flight attendants assisting the delivery. The landing went well," the source said.

The baby is in satisfactory condition, a spokesperson for the regional government said.

A spokesperson for Nizhny Novgorods Chkalov International Airport, in turn, told the news agency that after the aircraft captain had requested to land, airport officials called an ambulance. "As soon as the plane landed, the mother and the newborn were taken to a city hospital," the spokesperson said, adding that the flight had proceeded on to its destination.
Oil prices recorded their steepest daily fall since July on Friday as a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Brent crude fell $4.07, or 4.9%, to $78.15 a barrel by 0830 GMT, Reuters reported.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $4.83, or 6.1%, at $73.56 a barrel, after hitting a two-month low during the session. There was no settlement for WTI on Thursday because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Investors were also watching China's response to the U.S. release of millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with other large consuming nations, part of its bid to cool prices. read more

Such a release is likely to swell supplies in coming months, an OPEC source said, based on findings of a panel of experts that advises ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. read more

The Economic Commission Board expects a surplus of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in December, rising to 2.3 million bpd in January and 3.7 million bpd in February if consumer nations went ahead with the release, the OPEC source said.

The forecasts cloud the outlook for a Dec. 2 meeting of OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, when the group will discuss whether to adjust its plan to increase output by 400,000 bpd in January and beyond.
British physician Michael Mosley recommended a trick for lowering both blood pressure and blood sugar levels, including singing.

"I enjoy belting out songs while I am driving or in the shower  and fortunately, research shows that singing is a good way to reduce the stress hormone, cortisol. Which in turn should reduce your blood pressure and blood sugar levels," Express cited him as saying.

The doctor explained that cortisol boosts your blood sugar levels by converting protein into glucose. With singing you might be able to see instant results, the doctor explained.
German health authorities warned that the wave of Covid-19 cases sweeping over the country threatens to swamp the health-care system if residents dont act quickly to reduce their contacts.



We need to stop this wave now, Health Minister Jens Spahn said in a press conference on Friday. Otherwise we will experience the thing we always wanted to prevent: the health system becoming overwhelmed.

Germany is facing a one-two pandemic punch: many of its hospitals are staggering under a rising wave of Covid cases, even as it joins the European Union in moving quickly to limit travel from southern Africa over concerns about a new variant that has arisen there, Bloomberg reported.



Daily cases in Germany have repeatedly hit records this month. Deaths have risen too, but remain well below the levels seen last winter. Hospitals in the hardest-hit areas are already transferring patients elsewhere, and doctors say it will be increasingly necessary to make tough decisions about which patients should get priority.



Spahn called for a meeting of regional leaders in coming days, which would be necessary in order to move toward a lockdown. Meanwhile, starting on Friday night, only German citizens will be allowed to fly back from South Africa. A 14-day quarantine will be mandatory even for fully vaccinated travelers.
Czech President Milos Zeman was taken back to hospital on Thursday after testing positive for the coronavirus, his office said, just hours after his release following more than six weeks of treatment for an unrelated condition.

Zeman, 77, was released to home care on Thursday morning but an ambulance took him back to the Central Military Hospital (UVN) in the evening after testing positive at the presidential retreat at Lany, west of Prague.

The hospitalisation means Zeman will not for the time being appoint centre-right opposition leader Petr Fiala as prime minister, which had been planned for Friday.

"The president's programme will be suspended pending the treatment of COVID-19," his office said in a statement.

Zeman has been vaccinated against the coronavirus three times and local media quoted unnamed sources as saying he showed no symptoms, Reuters reported.

News website www.seznamzpravy.cz quoted UVN director Miroslav Zavoral, who is Zeman's main physician, as saying he had the president, who had been receiving visits during his previous hospitalisation, take a test for COVID-19 after a "risky" contact with an employee at Lany.

He was taken to the hospital to receive treatment with monoclonal antibodies, he said.

The president was previously admitted to hospital on Oct. 10 with complications to a chronic illness that his office never specified but which doctors said was a liver condition.
European Union nations were moving to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday, seeking to counter the spread of a new COVID-19 variant as the 27-nation bloc battles a massive spike in cases.

The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, said German Health Minister Jens Spahn.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that she proposes, in close coordination with the member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region.

Scientists say the new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province.

Germany said von der Leyens proposal could be enacted as soon as Friday night. Spahn said airlines coming back from South Africa will only be able to transport German citizens home, and travelers will need to go into quarantine for 14 days whether they are vaccinated or not.

Italys health ministry also announced measures to ban entry into Italy of anyone who has been in seven southern African nations  South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini  in the past 14 days due to the new variant.

The Netherlands is planning similar measures. These nations are considered high risk areas. It means a quarantine and double testing for travelers from these countries, said Dutch Health Minister Hugo De Jonge.

In Israel, the health ministry said it has detected the countrys first case of the new coronavirus variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. The traveler and two other suspected cases have been placed in isolation. It said all three are vaccinated but that it is currently looking into their exact vaccination status.

A fourth spike of the coronavirus is hitting the 27-nation EU especially badly, with governments scrambling to tighten restrictions in an attempt to contain spread. The flight ban proposal came in the wake of similar action from Britain on Thursday.

The U.K. announced that it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon on Friday, and that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were concerns the new variant may be more transmissible than the dominant delta strain, and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it, The AP reported.

The coronavirus evolves as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying mutations, often just die out. Scientists monitor for possible changes that could be more transmissible or deadly, but sorting out whether new variants will have a public health impact can take time.

Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers from South Africa, he said.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Sochi for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the Azerbaijani presidential press service.

"President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in the city of Sochi, Russian Federation for a working visit at the invitation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin," the statement reads.

The meeting has been organized at Putin's initiative and it is dedicated to the anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement on a ceasefire and cessation of all hostilities in Karabakh on November 9, 2020.

It is planned that the parties will consider the progress of the implementation of the trilateral statements and outline further steps to strengthen stability and establish a peaceful life in the region. In addition, particular attention will be paid to the restoration and development of trade, economic, and transport communications.
On Thursday, November 25, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sent a letter of condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the accident at the Listvyazhnaya mine in Kuzbass.

"I am deeply saddened by the news of human casualties as a result of the emergency at the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in the Kemerovo region. On behalf of the people of Azerbaijan and on my own behalf, I express my sincere condolences to you, the families and friends of the victims," the letter of the Azerbaijani leader says.

He also wished a speedy recovery to all the victims.

Let us remind you that on the morning of November 25 at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo region, there was smoke, which forced it to suspend its work. At the time of the smoke, there were 285 people in the mine, most of them were evacuated. As a result of the emergency, 14 people died, 38 were taken to hospitals. More than 30 people remain underground.
Russia will send additional data on the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the end of 2021, WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge told the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

Kluge recalled that last Friday, a delegation from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Foreign Ministry met with the WHO Director General, who was responsible for the vaccine registration.

The sides agreed that some more data on the Sputnik V jab needed to be sent before the end of the year, after that the WHO in Geneva and the RDIF should decide on a schedule for follow-up inspections.
The Pakistani authorities hope for the reduction of customs and banking barriers between removal of Pakistan and Russia to give impetus to the development of economic ties, Pakistans Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan said.

"The Pakistani and Russian sides are currently negotiating two areas that can give impetus to the development of economic ties between the countries, i.e. customs duties and banking cooperation. If we make efforts in these areas, then we will see the result. Our countries are discussing how to remove customs and banking barriers to increase investment in Pakistan," he said.

Ayub Khan recalled that in the Soviet times, the Karachi steel mill was a large joint project of the two countries. Currently, the countries are working on the construction of the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline with a length of more than 1,000 kilometers. The launch of the project, according to the minister, "will give confidence" to other Russian companies that they can invest in Pakistan, "in any area of interest," for example, metallurgy, energy, automotive industry.

"There are other areas in which Russia could invest. These are metallurgy and energy. The Pakistani economy has a pretty serious size, but people do not know its real size. Officially, Pakistan's GDP is $ 300 billion, but there is also an undocumented sector, which is also equal to $ 300 billion. In total, the Pakistani economy is estimated at $ 600 billion," the minister noted.

He added that the training of young people from Pakistan in Russian universities - for example, engineering and sciences, genetics and others - is also one of the opportunities for cooperation between the countries.
Polish law enforcement managed to stabilize the situation in the guarded detention center for illegal immigrants, where the detainees started a riot earlier, the local police said in its Twitter.

According to the police, all rioters were apprehended in an operation that involved over 500 policemen.

Earlier on Thursday, the Polish border guard reported a riot in a detention camp for illegal immigrants in Wedrzyn in western Poland. About 100 aggressive migrants went out of the building and started chanting "Freedom!" and other slogans about their wish to enter Germany.

The Wedrzyn center has been established in September, when the number of migrants arriving in Poland through Belarus spiked. It currently holds about 600 foreign men, most of them - citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Photo by the press service of the Azerbaijani president

A trilateral meeting has got underway among President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi.

Earlier it was reported that the leaders intend to outline further steps to strengthen stability and establish a peaceful life in Karabakh.

Moreover, Vladimir Putin had a separate meeting with Ilham Aliyev before the start of trilateral talks.

During the trilateral meeting Vladimir Putin stressed that the conditions are being created for a future normal life in the region.

Ilham Aliyev,. in his turn, said that Azerbaijan has shown maximum constructiveness in eliminating the consequences of the Karabakh war and in unblocking communications over the course of this year.
A bilateral meeting has got underway between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Sochi, the Kremlin press service reported.

During the talks, the Russian leader thanked his Azerbaijani counterpart for his attention to the development of the Russian language in the republic.

The volume of trade between Azerbaijan and Russia increased by 11% over the nine months of this year despite all COVID-19 pandemic issues and respective restrictions in the economy, Putin noted.

He said that the strategic partnership between Russia and Azerbaijan is developing quite successfully and the growth in bilateral trade is proof of this. "Next year, we will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations. And, naturally, it is an event we should celebrate," Putin said.

According to the Russian leader, the strategic partnership between the two countries "is developing quite successfully." "Suffice it to say that despite the pandemic and pandemic-related economic restrictions <> our trade grew by 11% in the first nine months of this year. It is a good figure," Putin stressed, noting that around 900 Russian companies are operating in Azerbaijan and Russia is one of Azerbaijans leading trade and economic partners.

Vladimir Putin has noted the positive role of Russian peacekeepers in the settlement of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. "Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement <...> I think that our peacekeepers play a positive role, the Russian-Turkish center [to monitor the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire] operates effectively," Putin said on Friday, opening a bilateral meeting with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev in Sochi.

Putin expressed regret that problems still sometimes emerge in Nagorno-Karabakh, occasionally there are victims. "Unfortunately, there are problems, incidents. Unfortunately, there are victims," the Russian leader said noting this conversation on the settlement of the situation in the region should be continued in a trilateral format. "Armenia's Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] will join us shortly, and we will continue this discussion," he said.

According to Putin, it is necessary to discuss what has already been done, and what still needs to be fulfilled by everyone, "to prevent anything like this from happening again, [so that] conditions are created for alleviating and developing the situation in the region that would allow people to live in peace and countries - to develop."

The Russian leader pointed out that the trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the settlement of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh will be pivotal on Friday. "I have just spoken with my colleagues from the [Russian] government which you know well, and which deals with issues related to economic problems, with unblocking transport corridors [in the region]. I spoke with the defense minister, with the FSB chief, who is subordinate to the [Russian] Border Service, which makes a significant contribution to the settlement," Putin reported adding that there are many questions that have accumulated on this issue.

"I must note that this year, since the beginning of the activities of the Russian peacekeeping forces on November 10 last year, there have been no serious incidents in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers," Ilham Aliyev said.
The Russian military has begun to monitor the U.S. missile destroyer The USS Arleigh Burke in the Black Sea, the National Defense Command Center told the media on Thursday.

"The Black Sea Fleets forces have begun to monitor the guided missile destroyer The USS Arleigh Burke, which entered the Black Sea on November 25, 2021," the news release reads.

The United States 6th Fleet said the USS Arleigh Burke had entered the Black Sea on Thursday on a routine patrol and would be cooperating with NATOs allies and partners in the region.

The Russian Defense Ministry says U.S. naval ships are becoming a destabilizing factor in the region, one of their tasks being the assertion of military presence in Ukraine.
The total number of fatalities as a result of the Listvyazhnaya coalmine emergency in Russias Kuzbass has reached 52 people, including six mine rescuers, a source in the emergency services said.

"According to the preliminary data, there were no survivors in the coalmine. As many as 52 people were killed, including mine rescuers," TASS cited the source as saying.

Furthermore, the director of the coalmine, as well as his first deputy, were detained in the context of a criminal proceeding on the death of 11 workers. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, they will be charged in the near future and the investigation will petition for their arrest.

Deputy Prosecutor General Dmitry Demeshin noted that the Listvyazhnaya coalmine was likely to be caused by a methane explosion emergency. As the Emergencies Ministry stated, at the time of the incident, some 287 miners were under ground. Earlier, it was reported that 11 miners were killed and 35 more remain in coalmine. When searching for them, a group of rescuers also disappeared, three of them were found dead, while the fate of three others was unknown.
Turkey's National Security Council held a meeting in the capital Ankara on Thursday chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The council statement touched on recent developments in the South Caucasus region, the scene of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Azerbaijan liberated a group of lands from Armenian occupation just over a year ago.

"It is important for Armenia to consider the hand of peace extended to it as an opportunity, to cooperate, and to fully comply with the cease-fire" that ended the conflict last November, the council said.

The council noted that unilateral actions should be avoided in Libya to ensure the December 24 elections there take place in a lawful and peaceful atmosphere, Anadolu Agency reported.
A decline in the number of coronavirus cases in Russia over the past three weeks gives grounds to believe that the country has passed the peak of the current wave, Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in an interview with Nailya Asker-zade on Rossiya-1 TV channels Vesti program on Thursday.

Among the countries of the eastern part of Europe that may have passed the peak, he listed Belarus, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania.

Russia has been seeing a decline in the coronavirus figures over the past three weeks, Hans Kluge said, noting that success today does not promise success in the future.
Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky held separate telephone calls Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Council head Charles Michel to discuss the situation on the border with Russia.

Merkel and Zelensky agreed on the cooperation of the international community, according to a statement from the Presidency of Ukraine.

The parties stressed the importance of the continuation of efforts of the Normandy format, it added.

In his call with Zelensky, Michel reported on a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Michel said that establishing contact between parties with the participation of the EU could help alleviate the crisis, according to a statement by Ukraine.
Many retailers say that consumers ate indifferent to sale promotion programs for Black Friday 2021, the biggest sale campaign of the year.

For some, there are 100 messages asking about products and prices, but only 5-6 customers closing a sale. Shoppers are curious about clothes and other products quoted at very reasonable prices, but dont intend to buy the products.

Manh Thinh, the owner of V.W clothes shop in HCM City, said he has for the first time in the last six years offered a discount rate of 70 percent. He is selling some products at a loss in order to attract customers. The principle of not returning and not changing sale products also no longer exists: customers can reject products if they feel unsatisfied.

Black Friday is a much-awaited event this year as people have entered the new normal period. This is a great opportunity for retailers to boost sales.

But for Thinh, Black Friday 2021 is really a black day as there have been only a few orders. He hoped that the demand for clothes would increase in the post-lockdown period, especially with the year-end sale season. He has prepared many products and online ads. However, the market is still quiet.

In previous years, Black Friday lasted three days at the end of a week. My workers were busy all day selling products. The offline sale amount at trade fairs was around VND200 million, while online was VND300 million, he recalled.

But everything is frozen now. Customers hesitate to spend money. Revenue is just 40 percent of the previous years, Thinh said.

Nguyen Dang Hien, CEO of Tan Quang Minh - Bidrico, also noted that there are clear changes in the spending culture. Customers are becoming choosier and more economical.

Tran Viet Anh, CEO of Nam Thai Son Import-Export, said people experienced a 3-month long lockdown, so they dont have money to shop. Mekong Deltas customers, usually generous, now also are tightening their belt.

According to the HCM City Statistics Department, the retail turnover of goods in October was VND30.007 trillion, a 40.5 percent decrease compared with the same period last year. The food and foodstuff revenue fell by 18 percent, and household use tools by 44 percent.

Shop owners in dilemma

According to Thinh, the demand is low not only because of customers limited financial capability, but also because the number of Covid cases is rising in many localities. Goods transport has had difficulties, causing orders to be pending and customers to cancel orders. A trade fair to stimulate demand could not be organized because of the pandemic.

Thinh said the only solution is running more online ads to boost sales instead of spending money to lease retail premises.

I still hope that I can make money this year-end sale season, so that I can maintain my shop, he said, adding that he cannot let his achievements of many years go down the drain.

Hien of Tan Quang Minh - Bidrico said retailers have had to scramble for every customer and grab every small opportunity. If businesses cannot find solutions to attract customers to their products, they will fall into serious difficulties.

The drink manufacturer has launched a promotion, offering a 25 percent price discount, which is unprecedented in the companys history, on the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers Day on November 20.

According to Huba (HCM City Union of Business Associations) Deputy Chair Luu Huu Nghia, Black Friday is near (November 26) and enterprises are running a lot of attractive sale promotion programs, but the market is not bustling as was expected. Retailers are witnessing indifference from customers.

Nghia said businesses want the State to apply solutions to stimulate demand. Reducing the VAT, for example, would help reduce production costs.

He said there should be a significant demand stimulus package and the package should be announced soon so that businesses can draw up their production plans and people can arrange their shopping plans.

Once businesses recover, workers will receive higher pay from employers and will feel more secure to shop.

HCM City is running the "Concentrated Promotion 2021" programme from November 15 to December 15. Nearly 600 businesses have registered to participate in the program with price discounts of 30-70 percent.

The city is also planning a conference this year that will help connect goods demand and supply in cities and provinces, and a trade fair gathering prestigious brands.

Tran Chung

Black Friday 2021 launched in HCM City The shopping festival Black Friday was kicked off on November 19 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Parents and teachers were surprised at the math questions raised at ASMO (Asian Science and Mathematics Olympiad) 2021 which required second graders to conduct operations with decimals, fractions and fixed numbers.

Vietnamese students register for many international competitions

The question required knowledge beyond what Vietnamese second graders receive at school. I believe that many students will circle answers at random. They also dont understand the nature of the calculation, a PhD in mathematics said.

The mathematician, in an interview with VietNamNet, pointed out that there is a movement of Vietnamese students registering to attend international mathematics competitions. While some parents want their children to attend the competitions just for fun, or to rub shoulders with other students, many other parents want their children to win prizes at any cost because the prizes are the pride of the families.

Many Vietnamese are greedy for fame. They believe they will lose face if the children of their friends win prizes at competitions, and their children dont, he explained.

They want their children to win prizes so that they can show off the achievements on social media, he added.

Meanwhile, registering children for international competitions i part of the plans drawn up by parents. If their children receive prizes at competitions, they will be given privileges at entrance exams to schools for the gifted. The achievements also embellish the students profile when they apply for scholarships to study abroad later.

Not only parents but schools and education departments also encourage their students to attend such competitions.

Headmasters of the schools may not have a true understanding about the competitions. They believe the competitions are good as they are international, he said. The prizes won by their students can help polish the image of the schools and they are cited by school leaders in their year-end reports to the education departments.

Meanwhile, an analyst pointed out that school leaders want as many students to attend the competition as possible because of the commission they can receive from competition organizers.

Most of the import competitions are backed by private institutions, he said. Organizers come to every school, introduce their plans and promise to give commissions if schools can bring more attendees to the competitions.

The students encouraged to attend the competitions are mostly from well-off families that can afford the fee of tens or hundreds of millions of dong, he said.

Schools come forward and send the students abroad to attend the competitions. But in fact students go abroad with their parents money, he explained.

Organizers of the competitions all say that the competitions help promote students learning, and they offer many prizes.

Since the questions at the competitions dont match the curricula in Vietnam, parents have to send their children to private tutoring classes. Competition organizers not only can make money from the competition, but also from the expensive classes to prepare students.

A math lecturer at a pedagogical school said in principle he advocates competitions but warns parents about low-quality competitions.

Attending too many competitions, including low-quality ones, wont help children have a passion for mathematics, and they may even become disoriented, he said.

Every competition has its own target. When preparing for the competitions, students have to follow specific ways of learning. As a result, students will have to receive knowledge in an unmethodical way, which is dangerous for them, he explained.

The parents who dont send children to such classes may feel anxious when their children cannot solve the questions. And children may feel discouraged if they cannot get prizes.

I believe that taking part in too many competitions may spoil the mindset of a child rather than better it, the lecturer said, adding that parents should only register their children for the prestigious competitions.

Thoi Vu

Students busily prepare for up to 30 international math competitions Even students in second and third grades have obtained many medals from international mathematics competitions.
With more than 3.5 billion people living in urban areas and 70% of humanity expected to live in cities by 2050, building smart and sustainable cities is a top priority for social development globally.

Cities across the globe are challenged to become more sustainable in response to population growth. Against this backdrop, the Smart and Sustainable Cities Forum brought together leading experts to discuss how to strengthen the symbiotic relationship between smart cities and sustainability.

According to research by UNDP, Vietnam is implementing smart city projects in 41 out of 63 provinces.

Held on November 24, the forum was organized by RMIT University in collaboration with the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) and the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Consulting and Support Center (DXCenter).

With more than 3.5 billion people living in urban areas and 70% of humanity expected to live in cities by 2050, building smart and sustainable cities is a top priority for social development globally.

According to Professor Peter Coloe, President of RMIT University Vietnam, in the process of learning about the intersection between smart and sustainable development, it is necessary to understand that this is a major issue that affects all countries. He believes that in the field of urban development new technologies and tools can improve the lives of people living and working in urban areas.

Through smart governance, smart transport and smart logistics, for example, urban planners, policymakers and leaders can manage equitable and sustainable development in cities much better, Professor Peter Coloe said.

Do Thanh Huyen, Public Policy Analyst at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Vietnam, said that Vietnam has made significant progress such as implementing a smart city project in 41 out of 63 provinces and cities and contributing to the realization of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

The Smart and Sustainable Cities Forum brings together nearly 40 leading researchers, practitioners and innovators from both the public and private sectors.

Big cities in Vietnam need to make efforts to develop not only on the smart side but also on the sustainable side to meet the increasing demand due to economic development and pressure from population growth.

The challenge for cities in Vietnam is how to apply appropriate technological and non-technological solutions to meet the economic, social and environmental needs of city residents with diversity in composition, including the immigrant community, disabled community, poor community, in the present and in the future, Huyen added.

Nguyen Hoa Cuong, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, emphasized the importance of promoting cooperation among stakeholders in the development of smart and sustainable cities.

Cuong said that a major policy challenge in Vietnam is to facilitate efficient exploitation of infrastructure, while ensuring environmental sustainability and improving innovation capacity of cities.

Policymakers need to collaborate early with experts in urban development, digital solution delivery, innovation, research, and all other stakeholders; at the same time, continuously consult with them during the process to build and improve cities, said Cuong.

Van Anh
Every year, Vietnam will honor the Top 50 security experts who have contributed to detecting security holes of national digital platforms.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung called for the cooperation of all parties to ensure a safe and healthy cyberspace for Vietnam.

On November 25, the international conference and exhibition on the occasion of the Vietnam Information Security Day 2021 themed "Information Security in Digital Transformation - Challenges and Solutions" was organized by the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) in collaboration with the Department of Information Security, the Ministry of Information and Communications. This is the 14th time the event has been held in Vietnam and the first time in online form.

VNISA Chairman Nguyen Thanh Hung said that Vietnam is one of the developing countries that has developed and issued a National Digital Transformation Program (to 2025, with orientation to 2030). For successful digital transformation, information security needs to be paid special attention and considered an important and inseparable factor in the digital transformation process.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that to be safe, agencies must be aware of insecurity. The higher their sense of insecurity, the safer they will be. To be safe, digital technology must be used more, because it is through the use of digital technology that the problem is revealed and thereby the system is perfected.

The Minister also said to be safe, it is necessary to accept risks, promote international cooperation, make national digital transformation safe, have Make in Vietnam security products and digital platforms under development, but the collected personal data must be treated as in-use platforms.

According to Hung, all software and national digital platforms must be evaluated for safety. Safety must be present in every step, from development to evaluation and use. All these stages must comply with information security standards.

The Department of Information Security of the Ministry of Information and Communications must issue these standards and organize the evaluation. The Ministry of Information and Communications has added one more step, Bug Bounty - calling on experts to continue to detect security holes after the software has been put into use. Every year, Vietnam will honor the Top 50 security experts who have contributed to detecting security holes of national digital platforms.

Security expert Mikko Hypponen said that operators and service providers have an important position to provide security services to people.

Regarding Make in Vietnam information security products, the Minister pointed out that protecting Vietnam is best with Vietnamese tools and the Vietnamese way. Whether Vietnamese people feel safe in digital transformation depends on Vietnamese digital platforms with high security and the protection of Vietnamese information security enterprises.

The Vietnamese government believes in Vietnamese information security businesses and will give them big tasks. At its first session, the newly established National Committee on Digital Transformation will officially assign some tasks to information security businesses, he said.

Representatives of VNISA said that IT businesses are well aware of their responsibilities to the country, and to the digital transformation process, and are committed to being ready to accept significant tasks in information security if they are trusted by the Government.

In 2022, VNISA will coordinate with ministries and relevant agencies to deploy activities to honor and promote Make in Vietnam security products and services and the development of high-quality human resources in information security and information security services, and will train young digital citizens in digital safety skills.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed Decision No. 1964/QD-TTg approving the list of members of the National Committee on Digital Transformation. The PM is Chairman of the Committee which was established under Decision No. 1619/QD-TTg dated September 24, 2021. He will be assisted by two Vice Chairmen, namely Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. Members of the Committee are: Minister of Public Security To Lam, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son, Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam Nguyen Thi Hong, and Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung. The Committee is responsible for studying, proposing, and assisting the Government and the Prime Minister in directing and coordinating with ministries, agencies, and localities in the implementation of guidelines, strategies, mechanisms, and policies to create a legal environment to promote the process of national digital transformation, closely linked with administrative reform; It is also in charge of building and developing e-government, digital government, digital economy, digital society and smart city; as well as facilitating the implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Viet Nam.

Van Anh
Currently, the Vietnam Innovation Network has five components in Germany, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Europe, and Taiwan (China), with over 1,000 members.

A Vietnam Innovation Network in Chinese Taipei (VIN Taiwan) has been set up in Taiwan (China), thereby marking a new stage in the development of the Vietnamese intellectual community in the territory, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MoPI).

Participants in Hanoi attend the VIN Taiwan launch ceremony.

This network is set to directly contribute to the various innovation activities taking place both in the homeland and abroad, the Ministry said.



Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong stated that the Vietnamese innovation system is gradually being developed, noting that such activities need the active participation of Vietnamese experts and intellectuals from around the world.

The network primarily aims to mobilise and promote intelligence, capacity, and offer more chances for young people to contribute to the development of the homeland, he said.



Moving forward, VIN Taiwan will focus on promoting connections with Taiwanese enterprises and technology groups, participating in consulting activities, supporting technology transfer, and assisting Vietnamese enterprises in accessing advanced technology and participating in the value chain of Taiwanese enterprises.



Furthermore, the network will also make proposals and offer an evaluation on technology, techniques, and infrastructure for the project to plan a technical facility and business incubation in Hoa Binh Province, which has a Taiwanese consultation partner.



It will also connect digital transformation experts with a range of activities which focus on supporting businesses in digital transformation for the 2021 to 2025 period, alongside introducing technology groups to participate in annual international innovation exhibitions.



Currently, the Vietnam Innovation Network has five components in Germany, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Europe, and Taiwan (China), with over 1,000 members.

Source: VOV
In other words they had distributed the power, or in a historical principle they had divided it to govern. The power is perceived that now exists in factions, or fractions, formulates some concepts of being able, that they are producing of some speeches. Some speeches, that become complex the after-modern relations still more. > We catch the example of Brazil, the beginning of the years of 1980, and its groups politicians who defended the Direct ones Already.



They had for certain at that moment many groups of being able, that they fought the military government, searching an objective common, making with that if it constructed, a common speech (that it was the opening politics and the end of the regimen) between some powers involved politicians whom they yearned for the fall of the regimen. A time, having, the military yielded the pressure of the power of these groups, that if can say was under the flags of a CUT, for example, and restored the democratic system, has a spalling of being able, and the construction of some speeches of being able. Now each one goes to search its interests, and that they are its, where many times the speech of before, turned opposition now, what it interests is the power. The democratic speech, that the manifest politics if as decurrent of the differentials in the capacities of each one to intervene with the other people's actions; one is about differentials that are gifts in all the relations that happen in the social net. Already one sees that we are here in relating the relations to them of being able . For even more details, read what Robert Smith says on the issue. (Fertile valley-Grandson, 2005, pg, 142). The speech to conquer the power, in its majority is one, a time the conquered power the speech goes to be that more convenient possible one.
The video of Ahmaud Arberys shotgun death was a shocking piece of evidence that suddenly brought the Black mans killing into the national consciousness.

But the murder convictions of the three white men who chased him may have been secured as much by their own words to investigators the day of the shooting.

Greg McMichael, who was in the bed of a pickup truck when his son killed Arbery, told police the Black man was trapped like a rat and he told Arbery: Stop, or Ill blow your fing head off!

Statements like that allowed prosecutors to give context to the short video that didnt show the entire shooting and had little of the five minutes that the men chased Arbery.

Its those statements that screwed the defense more than the video. If they had never talked to police and they said we saw him taking something from the property and running  theres an OK shot the jury might have acquitted them, said appellate attorney Andrew Fleischman, who followed the trial from Atlanta.

WHAT THEY SAID:

The shooter, Travis McMichael, his dad, Greg McMichael and neighbor William Roddie Bryan all spoke extensively and candidly with Glynn County investigators just hours after Arbery was killed in their Brunswick, Georgia, neighborhood in February 2020.

They told police they werent sure exactly what Arbery had done wrong, which would later be a big blow to their defense that they were making a citizens arrest.

The citizens arrest law, largely repealed by lawmakers after Arberys death, required a person to see or have immediate knowledge of a crime being committed or have reasonable suspicion that someone is fleeing a felony in order to justify a citizens arrest.

I dont think the guy has actually stolen anything out of there, or if he did it was early in the process. But he keeps going back over and over again to this damn house, Greg McMichael said, according to a transcript of the interview that Glynn County police Sgt. Roderic Nohilly read in court.

Bryan was on his front porch when he saw Arbery run past with the McMichaels truck close behind. He told police he didnt recognize any of them, or know what prompted the chase, but still joined in after calling out: Yall got him?

In an interview with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Bryan said he wanted to take a photo of Arbery to show police, but couldnt point to any crimes Arbery had committed.

I figured he had done something wrong, Bryan said. I didnt know for sure.

The statements allowed prosecutor Linda Dunikoski to methodically pick apart the defenses arguments.

Nobody was talking about a citizens arrest. And I dont mean using the magic words citizens arrest. I mean no ones saying, We saw the guy commit a burglary and we were going to hold on to him so we could turn him over to police because he committed this crime,' Atlanta defense attorney Page Pate said.

DEFENSE CASE

That left the attorneys for the men to struggle to explain away their statements.

The evidence suggests that Roddie Bryan legitimately struggles to find the right words, Bryans lawyer, Kevin Gough, told jurors in his closing argument Monday.

Travis McMichael, testifying in his own defense, said he was in shock when he first spoke to police, calling the shooting the most traumatic event of his life.

Greg McMichaels lawyer suggested maybe he never shouted at Arbery: Stop, or Ill blow your fing head off like he told police because the remark wasnt recorded on the cellphone video of the shooting or the 911 call Greg McMichael made to police. Both of those recordings covered only a small part of the five-minute chase that ended in Arberys death.

You only have a handful of defenses to deal with what is basically a confession, Pate said.

FAMILIAR FACES

Greg McMichael was a former investigator in the Glynn County district attorneys office and may have felt like he could navigate trouble among his acquaintances and friends.

It worked for a while. The men werent charged for more than two months  only after the video of the shooting surfaced and the case was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. State agents charged the men two days later.

This is just a case of a client who talked himself out of trouble and those statements later turned out to put him back into it, Fleischman said.

Phone records show Greg McMichael called his former boss, District Attorney Jackie Johnson, just after the shooting. Johnson handed off the case to an out-of-town prosecutor, who cited the citizens arrest law in recommending no charges. A third prosecutor was reviewing the case when the video surfaced and handed it off to the state.

Johnson was indicted on a felony charge of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of obstructing police for her role in the investigation. Authorities have released little information on Johnsons actions other than to say she never disclosed that she asked the second prosecutor to advise police in the immediate aftermath of Arberys killing.

___

Jeffrey Collins contributed to this report.
PHOENIX  Maricopa County officials have created new rules for billboards that will let them double in size and height and for existing static billboards to be converted to ever-changing electronic displays.

The Arizona Republic reports that scientists and residents have complained the new rules will brighten the Phoenix metro areas dark skies.

Digital billboards are allowed in many cities in the Phoenix area, but werent previously allowed in the county.

Its difficult to know exactly how this will change the landscape of billboards across Maricopa County.

The rules apply only to unincorporated county land, and much of the land along freeways and highways is within city limits, such as the land alongside State Route 51, which is in Phoenix. The digital billboards could come to county islands along with the area just outside cities and towns, such as in Anthem.

The initial request for changes came three years ago from a billboard company, Becker Boards, and the company has been working since to try to appease opposition groups by adding stricter rules on where and when the digital billboards are allowed.

The rules approved on Nov. 17 will only allow the billboards along existing freeways within 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) of a city or town, for example, and will not allow them within scenic corridors, such as along the Carefree Highway or certain mountain preserves. The billboards must be dimmed at sunset and turned off completely by 11 p.m. through sunrise. They also must have technology meant to keep light from traveling upward.

A consortium of astronomers in the state, the Phoenix-area chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association, and many residents still said they opposed the changes. Cities jumped on to oppose the proposal late, too.

Scientists from the Arizona Astronomers Consortium wrote to the county in September warning of the detrimental impacts more digital billboards would have on scientific research and investment in the state.

Rolf Jansen, a member of the consortium and professor at Arizona State University, told The Republic the horizontal glow from the billboards would affect observatories hundreds of miles away.

Luke Edens of the Phoenix-area chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association told officials that their decision will affect the entire region, even if the billboards are allowed only near cities, because of whats known as sky glow, or a general increase to the brightness of the sky.

Bill Lally, the attorney representing Becker Boards, told county officials that the rules will force billboard companies to tilt lights downward and have protective technology that lessens light pollution. The new rules will require even static billboards, some of which have lights pointing upward, to change to only have lights pointing downward.

Before the changes, the county allowed billboards up to 300 square feet (28 square meters) and 30 feet (9 meters) tall. The rule change allows for billboards up to 672 square feet and 70 feet tall.
ARIZONA CITY, Ariz.  An Arizona City man who is prohibited from carrying guns was arrested for allegedly bringing a firearm into a sheriffs substation.

Authorities allege the 38-year-old man entered the sheriffs substation in Arizona City to respond to a harassment complaint that had been filed against him. Staff noticed he was carrying a handgun in his front pocket near his waste, which he gave to a deputy upon request.

The deputy later discovered the man was not allowed to carry guns, and the man allegedly admitted to having several prior felony convictions that prohibit firearm possession unless he gets his civil rights restored, the Arizona City Independent reported.
TUCSON, Ariz.  Tucsons tallest building is getting a boutique hotel.

A developer says Marriott has signed on to make the first nine floors of One South Church building part of its Tribute brand, a collection of unique hotels that dont match the chains cookie-cutter look.

Scottsdale-based Opwest Partners is redeveloping the 35-year-old property. Managing Director Tyler Kent says the firm is still negotiating with several potential restaurant owners for a ground-floor restaurant with patio seating. Floors above the hotel will remain offices.

The Arizona Daily Star reports that Tucsons Rio Nuevo downtown redevelopment agency in 2019 agreed insulate the site from property taxes for eight years and share sales tax revenue up to $1 million with developers.

Downtown Tucson has seen a flurry of lodging activity in recent years, with several new hotels opening. The iconic Congress Hotel was closed for part of the summer while it undergoes a $750,000 renovation.
PARIS  France is launching a new process for women to formally report domestic violence and sexual and other abuse, circumventing police stations where many victims feel uncomfortable filing such complaints.

The measure comes after tens of thousands of women in France shared testimonies online about police victim-blaming them or mishandling complaints as they reported sexual abuse. The government has also come under pressure in recent years to better protect women from deadly domestic violence.

Junior Interior Minister Marlene Schiappa said alternative locations for filing police complaints can include a friends home or some other place where abused women feel safe.

There are women who tell us that they dont dare to come to a police station because they are afraid of not being welcomed, because its hard to talk about things that are taboo (with) an unknown person in uniform in a foreign environment, she said in an interview with The Associated Press. Thats why we are lifting one after the other, the obstacles they are facing.

An annual survey led by national statistics institute INSEE found that only 10% of victims of sexual abuse in France file a formal complaint.

And police this week reported a 10% increase in reports of domestic violence last year. It is estimated that more than 200,000 women each year are physically or sexually abused by their partner or ex-partner, according to INSEE.

The latest government initiative will try sending police officers where women have found shelter so that they can file formal complaints. This will allow victims to stay in an environment where you feel safe, at a friends house, at your lawyers house, at the hospital, at your doctors house, Schiappa said.

This comes in addition to other efforts made in recent years, including training more police officers, creating a list of questions asked to assess danger, and the possibility to alert police by text message or an internet platform, she added.

The junior minister is in charge of supervising relations between police and female victims of violence. On Tuesday, she visited a renovated police station in Paris 13th arrondissement, now including an office providing privacy for those filing complaints, and a room dedicated to children, with toys and books.

The visit was part of other events this week aimed at marking Thursdays International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

European lawmakers called Thursday for binding rules across the 27-nation EU to better protect women, noting that one in three women in the bloc experiences sexual or other physical violence in her lifetime, and that half of women murdered in the EU are killed by someone close to them.

In France, the new process of filing complaints is being rolled out in select regions around the country for now with the aim to make it nationwide.

The measure comes after a viral campaign on French social media denounced the shocking response of some police officers as they reported sexual abuse. The hashtag #DoublePeine (#DoubleSentencing) rapidly counted at least 30,000 accounts of alleged mistreatment by police, according to activists.

I want to value and support the action of the police forces  and to remind everyone once again that in the vast majority of cases, complaints are handled with a lot of empathy, a lot of support, Schiappa said. But for the minority of cases in which it goes badly, it is obviously inadmissible.

The Interior Ministry in recent months sent instructions to police about the legal obligation to accept all complaints, following accounts by women saying they had been discouraged by officers from reporting abuse  sometimes with the argument of insufficient evidence.

Refusing to receive a complaint is illegal, Schiappa said. We want the complaints to be forwarded to the public prosecutors office so that the justice system can take it over.

Axelle Garnier de Saint Sauveur, a psychologist working with Paris police to help take care of victims and train officers, said there are a series of obstacles to women reporting abuse.

When their partner has a hold on them, it blocks everything. It prevents (them) from going towards protection, file a complaint, she said. You also have the fact that traumatic situations completely hinder the victims ability to think.

Another reason is that there is surely a part of fear, of ignorance about what to do when you are abused. How are you going to be treated when filing a complaint.

That is scary (for the victim) to think: Im not going to be heard, Im not going to be welcome. And then there is the obstacle to overcome: enter a police station.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched through Paris and other cities to demand more government action on the issue. We recalled that violence is everywhere. That it is not unavoidable, womens right group NousToutes tweeted.

Activists want the government to dedicate 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) each year to fight violence against women, instead of the 360 million ($406 million) spent now  in part to create more shelters.
GRIDLEY, Calif. - California Highway Patrol says one person went to the hospital after a vehicle and motorcycle collided on Highway 99 Thursday evening.

It happened just off of Perry Ave. near Biggs around 7 p.m.

CHP says the motorcyclist was a 25-year-old man from Live Oak. He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to CHP.

The vehicle was traveling west on Perry Ave. when the motorcyclist was traveling south on Highway 99 before crashing into each other.

The roads were closed for about 30 minutes.
REDDING, Calif. - While most people are eating good food and spending time with friends and family, local first responders are on standby.

At Redding Fire Station One, Thanksgiving is like any other day. Action News Now spoke to some firefighters who say protecting their community comes first.

Garett Claycamp has been working for Redding Fire Department for 15 years, and he says hes on call and ready to go at any moment.

We are just waiting in case someone needs help. Weve run a few medical aids today, luckily, no fire, but if something should arise, we will be ready to go, Claycamp said.

Meanwhile, Josh Shermans been a Redding Firefighter for two years; he says Thanksgiving is a time to help those in need.

Working around Thanksgiving is not that big deal. There are three shifts, so throughout your career, you probably work about a third of them. So, its a part of what you signed up for, and we are happy to be here and serve the city, Sherman said.

Claycamp says he may be away from his loved ones today, but this department is his second family.

The fire department is my second family; most of us are away from our families, which is sad, but they also visit the station, it just comes with the job, and most families understand, and they visit us at the station, its a good thing, and it helps out, Claycamp said.

Claycamp tells Action News Now his station already got a few calls today and urges people to pay attention while cooking and watch out for others on this thanksgiving day.
(CNN) -- More than 70,000 homes and businesses in Southern California lost power on Thanksgiving as the region battles dangerously dry conditions and high winds, with gusts topping 70 mph in some areas.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for parts of multiple counties, including San Diego, Los Angeles and Ventura -- collectively affecting more than 17 million people through Friday afternoon.

Red flag warnings are issued when an area experiences conditions ideal for sparking and expanding fires, which may occur when winds are strong, humidity is low and temperatures are warm, the NWS explained.

In the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacoima, wind gusts as high as 74 mph swept through on Thursday, the agency said. And in nearby Sylmar, a few brush fires sprang up, but firefighter crews swiftly contained them.

CalFire said it has increased the number of fire engines and other resources ahead of the elevated fire weather, which could remain in the region through Saturday, according to CNN meteorologist Rob Shackelford.

As of late Friday morning, there were still about 50,000 customers without power, according to PowerOutage.US. Southern California Edison said it cut power to more than 60,000 of its customers Thursday because high winds tend to increase the risk of power lines falling and sparking wildfires. Most of the cutoffs were in Riverside County, which is east of Los Angeles.

"I'd rather have excess wind and less power than burned out of my house at home," Carl Pride, a Fontana resident told CNN affiliate KABC. "A minor inconvenience is nothing compared to losing my house," he said while trying to grab his hat as the strong wind blew it away.

In North Hollywood, the strong winds toppled a tree through the roof of a home, KABC reported.

Downed trees in some neighborhoods in Orange County also caused damage, the affiliate reported.

The state's wildfire season has been devastating so far this year with 8,367 blazes having scorched more than 3 million acres, according to CalFire. The fires have been exacerbated by climate change creating hotter and drier conditions.

"The critical fire weather area encompasses more than 3 million people from Thursday overnight into Friday morning, and this number drops to more than one million for mainly Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Friday," CNN meteorologist Rob Shackelford said. The elevated threat could remain in the region through Sunday, he said.

Red flag warnings are issued when an area experiences conditions ideal for sparking and expanding fires, which may occur when winds are strong, humidity is low and temperatures are warm, the NWS explained.

"If fire ignition occurs, conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread, long range spotting, and extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property," the NWS said.

The-CNN-Wire

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Indias favourite home-grown brands bring a refreshing new brew to the Bira 91 Limited Release Taproom in Bangalore.

Bira 91, the worlds fastest-growing premium beer company in collaboration with non-alcoholic drinks brand Svami, has rolled out an exciting new beer on the block- a Cucumber flavoured Kolsch. Brewed to perfection in-house at Bira 91s Limited Release Taproom in Bangalore, it is a unique rendition of beer that takes the flavour innovation game in the industry to a whole new level.

The Bira 91 x Svami Cucumber Kolsch is brewed with pure German Pilsner malt, a fresh cucumber flavour and the delicate caress of the finest German noble hops, with an IBU of 18 and an ABV of 6%. It is a crafted blend of bitter-sweet notes and cool cucumbers creating a crisp, balanced, and revitalizing beer.

Staying true to Bira 91s recent Make Play with Flavors campaign encourages consumers to be more experimental, creative and playful while exploring new flavours in everything, including the beers that they drink. This collaboration with Svami is yet another exciting testament to delivering on that promise.

The Bira 91 Taproom in Bangalore debuts a new limited-release flavour every week and currently has 10 beers running on tap. The Bira 91 x Svami Cucumber Kolsch is the newest addition to this diverse mix. Replete with tasting and mixology sessions as well as live performances by artists including Cinema of Excess and Zoe Siddharth, the brew was launched in a never-seen-before 2-day event here.

Commenting on the partnership Nayanabhiram Deekonda, VP Restaurants, Bira 91 said, At Bira 91, our aim is to be at the forefront on all things innovation- beer or otherwise. We are beyond thrilled to partner with Svami, another homegrown brand to create a refreshing cucumber flavoured kolsch, a unique take on reimagining beer as we know it. This kolsch brings to your palate a blend of Bira 91s playfulness and Svami's eclectic tonics. As we speak to a generation to whom beer means flavour, partnering with Svami, a like-minded brand that also believes in constantly pushing the flavour envelope, has made this creative collaboration a truly special one.

Commenting on the launch Aneesh Bhasin, Co-Founder, Svami said, We are very excited to partner with Bira 91, a fellow Indian brand spearheading its category. Further to their recent 'Make Play with Flavors' campaign, we knew we had to play with the most unique flavour from our portfolio and chose cucumber from our cucumber tonic water. The result of this collaboration is an avant-garde brew that stays true to our brands ethos. With this association, we were able to seamlessly blend the best of both worlds- beer and tonic and we were also able to curate an experience with a make your own tonic session and bar takeover by Jatin, our brand ambassador.''
Global media network PHD, part of Omnicom Media Group, has named Chris Stephenson Worldwide Chief Marketing Officer. He succeeds Avril Canavan, who, after 11 years in the role, left the network last month to consult.

Stephenson, who is currently PHD APACs Regional Head of Strategy and Planning based in Singapore, will move to London and start the role in January 2022. He will report directly to Philippa Brown, Worldwide CEO and beresponsible for the strategic direction of the networks external and internal marketing, aligned to business development goals.

His remit will include amplifying PHDs Make the Leap positioning across its network of 107 offices in 74 countries  a call to action and reference to how the agency prioritises creativity to drive disproportionate growth for their clients, backed by its proprietary planning platform Omni Studio.

Philippa Brown, PHD Worldwide CEO, said, Chris is a talented marketer who understands the PHD brandproposition, product and platforms better than anyone. As well as having solid client experience and a deep understanding of our proprietary systems like Omni and Omni Studio, he has co-authored and championed PHDs thought leadership over the years, presenting it on industry platforms across APAC. He is known as a truly creative thinker and, as Worldwide Chief Marketing Officer, will be instrumental in showcasing how PHDs strategic, creative thinking can help brands make the leap ahead of their competitors.

Stephenson's career with PHD spans nearly two decades and has seen him work in London, Sydney and Singapore.He joined PHD UK in 2003 before moving to Australia to launch PHD Sydney in 2009. He was promoted to Head of Strategy and Planning for APAC out of Singapore in 2015 and has become a regular and respected commentatoron the communications industry, presenting on stages at Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, MediaTech Asia and Mumbrella360.

He has delivered best-in-class strategic media planning for a range of clients across Europe and APAC, includingDiageo, Singapore Airlines, Unilever, ANZ Bank, Googlew, Coca-Cola, Adidas, Ferrero, HSBC, eBay, LG, and The Guardian.

As an industry thought-leader, Stephenson has co-written multiple books on the future of the media industry, including PHDs latest publication, Shift | A Marketing Rethink, which explains how marketers can stay ahead of change and stop just responding to it.

Commenting on his appointment, Stephenson said: I cant wait to get started in this new role at such an exciting time for PHD, and at such a pivotal moment for our industry. For the last two decades Ive been fortunate to work with brands to engage their audiences in positive, constructive, and innovative ways. Now, powered by our Make the Leap philosophy, I couldnt be more excited to be working with our network around the world to do that for PHD.

Mark Holden, Worldwide Chief Strategy Officer, added: Ive worked with Chris for a long time, and hes a great addition to the Worldwide leadership team, not only because of his credentials as a creative and visionary leader, butbecause of his infectious energy. He will no doubt build on the great foundations already laid and help our marketsaround the world take their agency marketing to the next level.
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Bern, 26.11.2021 - On Friday, 26 November, President Guy Parmelin and Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met at Lohn Manor where they commended the close ties that have developed between Switzerland and Vietnam since diplomatic relations were established 50 years ago. Both sides stressed their intention to further deepen relations in the coming years.

While contacts in the past focused on Swiss development aid, cooperation is now thriving in a wide range of fields. The two countries have been engaged in regular political dialogue since 2011. A central topic of the official visit was the free trade agreement that Vietnam is negotiating with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). President Parmelin and President Phuc underlined their support for a speedy conclusion of negotiations and emphasised the opportunities for closer economic exchange.

Vietnam is Switzerland's third most important trading partner from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Singapore and Thailand. The bilateral trade volume amounted to CHF 3.2 billion last year. Swiss companies invested around CHF 1 billion in Vietnam by the end of 2019 and created around 20,000 jobs. Vietnam is also a priority country for economic cooperation and development of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). For the period from 2021 to 2024, CHF 70 million has been earmarked to help Vietnam make its economy more sustainable and inclusive.

A further topic on the agenda was cooperation in science and research. Mr Parmelin stressed the importance of human rights and especially freedom of expression to ensure prosperity, creativity and innovation. The two sides also exchanged views on the development of the pandemic, cooperation at the international level and other multilateral issues.

A business summit with representatives from both countries was scheduled to take place in Bern in the afternoon, also attended by President Parmelin and President Phuc.

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Today marks the end of our $5,000 Matching Gift program. We're so close, I can taste it - or maybe that's the pumpkin pie I had for breakfast. Anyway - I have 15 copies of Robert Kennedy Jr's book The Real Anthony Fauci to give away. It will be my gift to the first 15 donations (of any amount) today. If you use mail - just sent me an email to AutismAges@gmail.com to let me know you're sending your donation. Otherwise, you can use our secure Merchant Services through Bank of America here: Also, please email me your address to send your book.



Sprinkle this book around like tinsel, like Hanukah gelt, like confetti on New Year's Eve.



Thank you.



Kim
Democracy is a precious thing. When the Persians invaded Greece, a handful of Greek city-states banded together to defeat the imperialist pretensions of the Great Kings. Aeschylus says that the Greek soldiers and sailors rowed to war shouting eleutheria (freedom) in the decisive battle of Salamis. Ever since, there have been tremendous moments of heroic sacrifice in the name of liberty and democracy. To our national shame, the propaganda effort of the last year about saving American democracy is not one of them.

Following the September 11 Attacks, it was common to hear liberals and Democrats bemoan the erasure of civil liberties by the federal government as the War on Terror ratcheted up. The CIA, FBI, and other apparatuses of the security-surveillance state were assailed for their abuses of Constitutional civil liberties. Now, however, these same peoplesans a feware mostly quiet. In fact, theyre not merely quiet anymore, many openly endorse letting loose the hounds of the security state on fellow Americans whom they deem their enemies.

Overwhelming majorities of Democrats now favor the government censoring political views deemed false even at the expense of freedom of speech and writing. Liberal women, in particular, are leading the charge for greater and greater authoritarian censorship. Its bad enough that a majority of Democrats previously supported tech companies to restrict and censor views, its far worse that they are now advocating the full force and power of the state to do so.

Democracy, as expressed in our Republic, thrives through a multiplicity of views, opinions, and ways of life. Conservatives know this, which is why conservatives have historically defended decentralization and civil society, and have been suspicious toward ever-increasing power of the state. The enforcement of a uniform way of life, opinions, and news outlets is antithetical to democracy.

Of course, the new totalitarians running the United States, and the new totalitarians who want the United States to be similar to China, will mask their intention for tyrannical uniformity under all the guises we are familiar with. They claim to be saving democracy. They claim to support multiculturalism. They claim to defend diverse opinions. Except they dont. The only democracy they care about is their propagandistic democracy; by forcing the majority of Americans to comply with their views they claim the democratic spirit lives on.

Doublespeak is the new cornerstone of American totalitarianism. These petty tyrants know that Americans are a deeply democratic, independent, and fiercely free-thinking people. We cherish our republic and the democratic advancements made over two and a half centuries. American patriotism is deeply interwoven into the democratic experiment. One only needs to read Alexis de Tocqueville to see that.

Yet the language of saving and expanding democracy comes at the expense of the people. We have seen democracy in action over the past year. Protests against draconian government lockdowns. Protests against school board indoctrination and abuse coverups. Protests against the continual erasure of our civil liberties and destruction of civil society.

Rather than be inspired by the spirit of democracy that still enflames the hearts and souls of many Americans, the totalitarians with their media lackeys denigrate any manifestation of constitutional democratic action as terrorism and ugliness. They assert that the democratic ethos that has moved so many Americans in recent months is a dark spirit that threatens democracy rather than rejuvenating it. Oh, the irony! But thats part of the plan.

Our new authoritarian tyrants do not want to save democracy. They want it to be extinguished. Democracy is a messy and imperfect thing. Democracy manifests itself in so many different manners and ways it breeds a uniqueness of laws and customs that horrifies the homogenous dreams of totalitarians. Real democracy, in their eyes, is something inefficient, something complicated, something subject to ever-shifting and changing winds of the human heart and soul. It must be crushed.

In place of real democracy, American totalitarians in the Democrat party and the technocratic elite in the Republican party want a managed society headed by bureaucrats and a bureaucracy whose universal vision of societal governance and order is disseminated to the local apparatuses of the government writ small: school boards, universities, businesses, etc. Hence the strong-arm tactics to get local municipalities, businesses, and schools across the country to comply with new federal and state government dictates. Any holdouts will be penalized into conformity. So much for democracy.

The next time you hear someone on the media, or even your neighbor or teacher, saying that their advocacy of censorship, restriction, and other enforced measures are about restoring and saving democracy, know that theyre lying through their teeth. Theyre not interested in saving democracy. Theyre interested in controlling democracy.

In the contest for the twenty-first century, democracy is very much threatened. But it isnt threatened by those whom the media and brain-dead indoctrinated intellectuals running the government say it is. Democracy is being threatened by the self-proclaimed heroes and saviors of democracy. To hide this reality, they dress themselves up in the sacred language of our democratic spirit and traditions.

Let us look around the world at this reality. We know the totalitarian conformity being pushed from China and other regimes around the world. But in the West, harsh lockdowns erasing civil life, denigration of the right to protest and assembly, and restrictions on religious freedom and services have turned much of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and many American states into images of China and North Korea. All in the name, mind you, of democracy and public health and safety. But does any right-thinking individual believe that once the never-ending fears of insurrection and coronavirus end that we will return to the world of freedoms we had before?

Saving freedom and democracy doesnt start with our politicians, petty tyrannical bureaucrats, or media mouthpieces. It starts with you and your family. America is unique in the world and remains, despite its harsh critics, the last best hope for freedom and humanity. The new totalitarians look with fawning admiration to the failed experiments of the Soviet Union, China, and European Union as their inspiration. We look to our heroic forebears who crossed stormy seas, fought a revolution for liberty, and trekked across a hostile and inhospitable continent to build communities, start and raise families, and live the life they saw best for them rather than be told how to live their lives from faceless and nameless bureaucrats.

Paul Krause is a writer, editor, and teacher. He is the author of The Odyssey of Love: A Christian Guide to the Great Books, The Politics of Plato, and contributed to The College Lecture Today and the forthcoming book Diseases, Disasters, and Political Theory. He is the incoming editor of VoegelinView.

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Walnut Creek is a quiet exurban town outside of San Francisco. It uncharacteristically made national news over the last few days, and not for anything good. It was the scene of a large-scale smash and grab in the wake of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.

Over a dozen vehicles pulled up to the Broadway Plaza shopping mall. Some eighty vandals, some wielding crowbars, ran inside Nordstrom and stole merchandise. Five Nordstrom employees were physically assaulted.

The action was said to be over in less than a minute. With their bounty in hand, estimated at $200,000, the thieves drove off in different directions. Only three were apprehended. Of those, one was illegally carrying a firearm.

The media has omitted the race of the perpetrators, a policy that ironically makes race even more salient. Video footage shows the perpetrators were black. Eyewitness accounts confirm that. And the same tactic and demographic makeup were seen at the Louis Vuitton smash and grab earlier in San Francisco.

The neighborhood blogs are filled with discussions. Liberals predictably claim this is because of the divide between the haves and have nots. Others have opined that it is part of the no justice, no peace result of the Rittenhouse verdict. And, of course, there was the inevitable search for root causes, which are always looked for and never really found, at least not empirically.

The cause few want to talk about is what happened at the same mall during the George Floyd riots, in June of 2020. Then our police and civic leaders decided to have the police stand in place. Macys was ransacked by hordes of young people who sometimes fought among themselves because some were perceived to have acquired better loot than others.

In the wake of the George Floyd case, our civic leaders, in their infinite wisdom, decided the optics of arresting young black people would not be good. It would be better to let them sate their appetite for theft. On the way out of the mall area, one vandal shot a firearm into a crowd of shoppers, hitting a young black woman in the arm. The police that were the object of the rioters derision were quickly giving her first aid and securing transport to the regional medical center.

So, it is not surprising that our mall was once again targeted. After all, during the first smash and grab at Macys, the thieves were not stopped. The police stood there like a bunch of robots whose batteries had gone dead. I doubt the rank and file desired this. This was a decision that most likely came from our cowardly civic leaders, who were more worried about optics than public safety.

New York policing has taught us the virtues of the concept of broken windows. Dont fix the small things in a neighborhood and soon you have big things with which to deal. Start with the broken windows because societal neglect and crime are intertwined. Show that minor infractions are not going to be tolerated. In New York, dealing with broken windows has put a big damper on crime.

Our civic leaders chose the opposite perspective. Let them run wild. Let them steal. Let them flee without obstruction, and they will simply go away. Of course, the civic leaders didnt think that they had now provided an open invitation for thieves to return for another round.

We will shortly hear from academic pundits about black rage, a theory that is used to justify all sorts of anti-social and criminal behavior. Stealing Louis Vuitton luxury goods will be justified because of the legacy of slavery and discrimination. Only harebrained academics take such nonsense seriously.

An organized criminal enterprise is not the consequence of episodic rage, but of a purposeful undertaking. And before we get too hung up on the race of the perpetrators, we should consider that a lot of different kinds of people will be buying these luxury goods on social media, knowing they are stolen.

On the streets of San Francisco, a city where shoplifting under $950 is a misdemeanor, street vendors hawk stolen goods in original wrapping, sometimes just yards from the stores from which they were stolen. Walgreens is closing twenty-two stores in San Francisco, and communities are whining about a prescription desert, but not taking social action to prevent the ongoing plague of theft.

We have a criminal underclass in our society, one that festers and then finds excuses to explode. While my white suburban neighbors have had their societal equilibrium disturbed as a result of the violence and chaos at Nordstrom, inner-city minorities deal with these problems every day, and our criminal justice system ignores them.

We are becoming acclimated to violence. Gangs shooting at each other on Interstate 880 and killing a two-year-old is just another day in Oakland. On Route 4, near Oakley, there was gunfire from a housing development at passing vehicles headed west. Our public hospitals are overrun with shooting victims, usually as part of ongoing gang wars.

There is no leadership. But there is hypocrisy. The so-called congressional Squad calls for defunding the police but hires private security for its own protection. An open border brings in desperate people without relevant economic skills. How will they survive? The media find both justification and sanctification for the riots it deems politically appropriate: witness Minneapolis, Portland, and Seattle. In so doing, the media provide legitimacy to thuggery.

The separation between the haves and the have nots is really a separation between the elites and the ordinary, hard-working citizens. The elites have joined with the underclass, but in the end, those who rule with an absence of the heart, as Alexis de Tocqueville noted, are to be vanquished in a single historical night. It will not come soon enough.

Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a distinguished fellow with the Haym Salomon Center.

Image: Picryl

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In a critical assessment of the Rittenhouse trial, Conrad Black denies that the outcome of the case vindicated the American justice system

Because of the confluence of a competent and determined judge, courageous and diligent jurors, ludicrously incompetent and dishonest prosecutors, and enough intelligent media attention to counter the 15 months of biased reporting that could easily poison the jury pool, justice was clearly done, to peals of horror of the Americophobic riffraff that infects most of Americas media. It would be a tragedy if this exemplary outcome were to whitewash what is in large measure an evil justice system.

Black is mainly concerned here with the plea-bargaining system that state prosecutors use to condemn defendants even before a trial has taken place. But this is not the part of Blacks criticism that riveted my attention. The American justice system has become evil for a reason that Black only mentions in passing, namely the role of the media in inciting mob violence by racializing criminal cases.

We saw this play out in the Rittenhouse case; we are now witnessing something similar taking place during the trial of three white men in Brunswick, Georgia, who shot a young black, Ahmaud Arbery. During the thirteen days that the trial was in session, blacks, many of them carrying guns, demonstrated in front of the courthouse. The mainstream media, which raged against Kyle Rittenhouse for carrying a rifle in violence-wracked Kenosha, took no offense that the antiwhite Left paraded around with firearms. Those bearing these arms enjoyed the status of victims, which was applied to the rioters and looters in Kenosha as well as to gun-toting BLM members in Georgia. Apparently bearing arms, even illegal ones, is not a bad thing, if the bearer is a nonwhite racialist or a crazed white leftist, even one with a long criminal record.

The media also didnt protest too loudly when demonstrators appeared to intimidate the judge and jurors during the Rittenhouse trial. By then they had made a prodigious effort to present the defendant as a white nationalist, who went to Kenosha by crossing state lines with an illegal gun to kill blacks. Too bad for the facts! Rittenhouse lived part of the time in Kenosha with his father, and was carrying a rifle to which he had a legal right; moreover, he shot whites, not blacks, in self-defense. Although Rittenhouse was fully exonerated in court, Black is correct that he was lucky to be let off. Justice was done because the judge and jury withstood threats and physical intimidation and ignored the peals of horror of the Americophobic riffraff that infects most of the media. The outcome could have been different, and Kyle might have spent the remainder of his life in prison, to appease the mob incited by the mainstream media.

Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor who specializes in retrial cases, insisted that even if Rittenhouse was found guilty, there would be more than enough evidence to demand a retrial and possibly a mistrial. According to Dershowitz, Rittenhouse was engaging in justified self-defense when he shot and killed two assailants. He had every reason to assume these dangerous rioters intended to inflict grave harm, whether or not they were armed with guns. Although Dershowitz described the facts of the case correctly, including the unconstitutional statements made by the prosecutor, he overlooked one relevant circumstance: Rittenhouse should never have been brought to trial.

This fate befell him because of unsubstantiated media charges, seconded by President Biden, that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist murderer. If he was found guilty even in the face of video evidence that proved his innocence, why would we think that a superior court would reverse that initial decision? Perhaps the judges involved would be afraid of risking media incitement directed against their own persons. We might notice that President Biden and Vice-President Harris went after Rittenhouse, even after his acquittal. We may also assume that neither the government nor the media is through blackening his reputation.

The reason the judicial system has become so evil so fast is that the media abets violence against those they decide to destroy. And they will engage in this kind of mischief until a government, at the risk of media retaliation, reins them in. Although an attempt to keep the media from playing their incendiary games is not likely to happen any time soon, I dont see how we can repair our justice system until such action is taken. John Zmiraks widely cited suggestion that Rittenhouse might consider moving to Brazil, where the conservative leader Jair Bolsonaro would protect him, may have been said in jest. But Im not sure that, given the continuing media agitation, Rittenhouse is out of the woods. He may therefore want to consider Johns advice with the seriousness it deserves.

Image: Derek Johnson

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On October 19, 2021, the New York City Council voted unanimously to remove a seven-foot statue of Thomas Jefferson from their chambers in City Hall. The statue, which is a replica of the bronze sculpture that stands in the U.S. Capitol, has been in the council chambers since 1915 and in other locations within New York's City Hall for over 100 years. It was originally a gift given to City Hall in 1833 by a former New York naval officer, Uriah Phillips Levy, who was one of the first Jewish officers to serve in the U.S. military. Levy funded this statue for the purposes of commemorating Jefferson's support of religious freedom in the U.S. military.

The vote to remove the statue was driven by Black, Latino, and Asian representatives on the council motivated by their desire to rid the chamber of a statue that represented a man with a history as a slaveholder, who expressed opinions about the superiority of Whites over Blacks and had a long-term relationship with Sally Hemings, who was one of his slaves.

The man the NYC Council attempted to cancel was an American Founding Father, elected the third president of the U.S., served as our first secretary of state under George Washington, and was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. It is ironic that these radical left-leaning NYC council members decided to act against the author of one of the most important political documents defining the meaning of freedom in the history of the world.

The principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence which was authored primarily by Thomas Jefferson are as relevant today as back in 1776 and they continue to define the spirit and foundations of freedom which most Americans and many others around the world still abide by. It can be said the American way of life is based on the principles of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and its companion document - the U.S. Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence presented the proposition that all men are created equal and defined the rights of men as derived from God. Jefferson wrote these unalienable rights of men included life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with a government's ability to rule as being reliant on the consent of the people. Jefferson wrote when these conditions cease to be true and governments become destructive, the people have the right and obligation to change it or abolish it.

The Declaration of Independence was a call to action for the citizens of the thirteen colonies in 1776 to sever their political ties to Great Britain. This underlying justification for this action according to Thomas Jefferson was the increasing imposition of autocratic rule by the British government, resulting in the violation of the rights of colonial citizens.

Currently, recently released public political opinion polls from many sources demonstrate the historical and rapid decline in popularity of the Biden administration. These numbers clearly reflect a rejection by most Americans of the extreme move to the left by the current administration and today's Democrat party. It also indicates the widespread perception of a rise in tyranny in our country and a significant loss of political and economic freedom and control of Americans over their daily lives.

Today's Biden administration meets Jefferson's standards outlined in the Declaration of Independence by the administration's imposition of autocratic rule, becoming increasingly dangerous and losing the consent of the people. We are at the point at which it is imperative for the average American to stand up by using the power at his disposal to counter the rapid decline of our country's fortunes. The people called to act are popularly known as the deplorables, who constitute the working and middle classes of this country.

Martin Luther King, Jr., as a proponent of nonviolent resistance, stated that it was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. The deplorables should use similar methods to those used by a leader who succeeded against a powerful enemy without the need to resort to violence. For Martin Luther King, Jr. nonviolent resistance took on many forms as the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement geared to change the legal and economic status of black Americans in this country.

He was engaged in an extended fight against racism, discrimination, and poverty from 1955 to his death by assassination in 1968. He succeeded in changing America forever in profound ways through his use of various tactics and campaigns utilizing nonviolent resistance. His belief that this country could live up to the promise of one of America's founding documents authored by Thomas Jefferson stating that all men were created equal encouraged him on his extended path forward. Along the way, his campaign of nonviolent resistance attracted large numbers of participants from all walks of life, and this made the movement that much more powerful and effective. His success offers the proper example of how the deplorables should take action.

Our Constitution was conceived on the foundation of federalism, which created a political system where power is shared between the national and state governments. This permits state and local officials and various grassroots private organizations to take action to counter the tyrannical acts of the Biden administration.

While there is an extensive agenda of issues to address, the COVID-19 vaccine mandates with their power to subjugate our citizens is the most important target to focus on. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis signed four bills limiting COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Florida. Governors and state attorneys general can greatly assist in this fight by introducing legislation and litigation to overturn the Biden COVID-19 vaccine mandates in their localities.

On a grassroots level, the deplorables are increasing their efforts through numerous coalitions, movements, and alliances to do their part of countering the other side, using many of the same methods learned from the civil rights movement. The deplorables possess important advantages in this fight due to the sheer numbers of people they represent and the various critical positions they hold in what are considered many of our most essential institutions. Without the deplorable workers such as police, fire, health care professionals, transportation workers, and so on, this country would cease to function in short order. That is a great deal of potential power to leverage on the side of fighting to maintain the American way of life.

It has been decided by the NYC City Council that the Jefferson statue will be moved to the N.Y. Historical Society, a prominent private museum located in Manhattan. The statue in its new location will be a reminder to all future visitors of the words written about freedom and the unalienable rights of man derived from God that appear in the Declaration of Independence. They have inspired people who cherish and are willing to fight on behalf of freedom through the ages, including MLK Jr., and now our nation's rapidly emerging front-line freedom fighters: the deplorables.

Written by K.S. Guardiola who blogs at "Set the Record  Right!" at rightquestions.blog and can be reached at deplorableurbanite@rightquestions.blog.

Image via Pixabay.

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Even if you're only barely paying attention, it's obvious that all the hype about the COVID vaccines has been wasted CO2, contributing 100% more to climate change than to the health and well-being of recipients. The simple fact is that these experimental vaccines, whether Pfizer's, Janssen's, or Moderna's, do not work.

If one, any, or all do work, why are Austria, Australia, Germany, and Ireland, with the majority of their populations already vaccinated incarcerating unvaccinated people or reinstituting draconian lockdowns?

If they are effective, why are breakthrough cases surging at an alarming rate? Why is the state of Vermont, the most vaccinated state in the United States, seeing breakthrough infections on a mass scale?

Why does "fully vaccinated" no longer mean "fully vaccinated"? When were boosters for effective vaccines ever needed within a period of just a few weeks? Yes, many vaccines need to be re-upped every five to seven years, but that's years, not weeks. Flu vaccines shift year-to-year based upon what type of flu is projected to emerge, but even that is one-and-done until the next flu season.

With more than sixty percent of the U.S. population vaccinated, why is this year's death toll higher than last year's?

If these vaccines are so effective, why are we still masking up and social distancing?

These are questions that have not been widely asked, and nowhere have they been answered despite many hours of internet searches and looking through multitudes of websites.

With those questions at the forefront, we get to the primary question:

Now that businesses and agencies have held a virtual gun to their employees' heads with the threat of "get vaxxed or get fired," what are they going to do about the boosters?

By submitting to tyranny, private companies picked their side, raising an important question for many of us: how will they gracefully back off from that stance now that they've committed?

Odds are, they'll double down, pull back the hammer on that virtual gun and say "booster or else" leaving those of us who resentfully, reluctantly submitted the first time in a quandary.

The government, or in reality the agencies that are actually running this political theater, are already pushing third rounds. Where does that end? Why not fourth, fifth, and sixth injections? After all, rounds one and two failed. It's probable, based on past experience, round three will, too.

In the face of this, what will businesses do?

More importantly, what will workers do?

Yes, many workers will act like sheep. Some will go gladly. Others will shrug our shoulders in resignation as we roll up our sleeves. We'll get in line and we'll get that third, fourth, 500th jab because we "have" to.

What about the rest of us, though? And what impact could those who aren't sheep have on businesses if they band together, link arms, and say "NO!"?

This economy is already shaky. What would happen if the engine, all those tens of millions of line workers who keep it chugging along, just stopped? What if we accepted the layoff or the termination and those companies already struggling mightily to fill jobs couldn't find qualified replacements?

How long would it be before businesses were forced to make the choice: accept the autonomy of their workers and rescind the jab-or-job threat, or close their doors? How long do you think it would be before they would stand up to do the right thing for themselves, their bottom line, investors, Wall Street, and their employees, and fight back against this tyranny?

Some Google employees are saying no. Back in September, a group of alleged Procter & Gamble employees released a video saying no. First responders have said no in droves. Why?

If health care workers, policemen, firemen, and EMTs have seen the effects of COVID firsthand, upfront and personal, why are they rejecting the vaccines so vehemently? Why are they filing lawsuits or quitting? Could it be because many of them witnessed someone getting the vaccine and having a serious or deadly adverse reaction? Could it be that they experienced that enough times that they began to question the safety of these vaccines?

What about the rest of us?

How many of us will be sheep, and how many of us will quit  either to retire or to find a company and/or a job that doesn't demand a jab? There are no jab job boards out there, by the way. Not a lot of jobs at this point, but it's a new and growing niche market, and one to which it might be worth paying a bit of attention if you also resist the idea of having something experimental irrevocably pumped into your body.

Image via Pickpik.

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The NIH's Chief Pharisee, the monumentally hypocritical Francis Collins, recently announced his resignation from the agency, less than a month after he was called out as a liar by truth-tellers, like Professor Richard Ebright of Rutgers University, concerning the NIH's potential role in the origins of COVID-19.

On Sept. 6, 2021, Ebright, summarizing a series of evidence-filled tweets, asserted:

[D]ocuments make it clear that assertions by the NIH Director, Francis Collins, and the NIAID Director, Anthony Fauci, that the NIH did not support gain-of-function research or potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at WIV [Wuhan Institute of Virology] are untruthful.

On Oct. 5, Collins announced his retirement as head of the NIH, effective at the end of 2021.

The proximity of Collins's resignation to the revelations of Ebright and others is obvious.

Nevertheless, Collins gave the following explanation for his retirement:

I fundamentally believe, however, that no single person should serve in the position too long, and that it's time to bring in a new scientist to lead the NIH into the future.

So glad you finally saw the light, Francis. But if the twelve years you served is long enough, what about your buddy and key underling, Tony Fauci?

Fauci has been the almost unfathomably powerful head of the key NIH sub-department NIAID since 1984. Nineteen eighty-four!

Setting aside the Orwellian undertones that particular year evokes, note that 1984 was 37 years ago. In 1984, 2 million Commodore 64 computers were sold, the Soviet Union and the whole Eastern Bloc were intact, and HIV had just been identified.

Hey, Francis, if more than twelve years would be too long for you, then why will Tony still be running NIAID for 37 years and counting  even after you leave?

It gets worse. Fauci has spent almost his entire adult life at NIAID. He started working there in 1968. Nineteen sixty-eight!

Nineteen sixty-eight, for those keeping count, was 52 years ago. Nineteen sixty-eight was the year before Woodstock, the year before the moon landing, and the year of the Tet Offensive.

Over that half-century-plus, Fauci transformed himself from a researcher into a grant-funding potentate. According to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s new book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Fauci exerts direct or indirect control over more than half of all global biomedical research funding. RFK Jr. calls Fauci the J. Edgar Hoover of public health.

On Oct. 20, 2021, Professor Ebright added, in what will someday be recognized as a tweet for the ages:

The NIH  specifically, Collins, Fauci, and [Lawrence A.] Tabak  lied to Congress, lied to the press, and lied to the public. Knowingly. Willfully. Brazenly.

As the pressure has mounted on Fauci to be held accountable, multiple members of the medical-industrial complex, including Collins himself, have called for critics of Fauci to be "brought to justice."

Francis Collins: If anyone on earth has been on the job too long, that person is Anthony Fauci.

And Francis: If you are anything other than the inveterate liar that Professor Ebright and others have so convincingly argued that you are, then you must do more than get out. You must take Tony Fauci with you when you go.

Image: Twitter screen shot.

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To get a whiff of how leftists view the current crime wave engulfing America's blue cities, take a look at the Twitter remarks put out by Hollywood actor and comedian Seth Rogen to another Hollywood character who complained about his car being broken into in Los Angeles.

According to Fox News:

Comedic actor Seth Rogen sparked a Twitter frenzy after he shrugged off Los Angeles criminals breaking into cars, suggesting it's simply part of normal life in a big city. The viral uproar began when the "Knocked Up" star reacted to a tweet from YouTube personality Casey Neistat, who wrote on Wednesday, "so our cars got robbed this morning because Los Angeles is a crime riddled 3rd world s---hole of a city" and expressed gratitude toward the LA Police Department for arresting the criminal and retrieving all the stolen belongings. "Dude I've lived here for over 20 years. You're nuts haha," Rogen reacted. "It's lovely here. Don't leave anything valuable in it. It's called living in a big city." "i can still be mad tho right?" Neistat asked, adding, "feel so violated." "You can be mad but I guess I don't personally view my car as an extension of myself and I've never really felt violated any of the 15 or so times my car was broken in to," Rogen responded. "Once a guy accidentally left a cool knife in my car so if it keeps happening you might get a little treat."

What kind of a disgusting response is that? According to Fox, he got ratioed on Twitter and then just kept digging, saying he'd converse with his critics in private "and tell them to go f--- themselves privately. It's a lot more fun."

The main thing it shows is that leftists like Rogen, who are doing quite well for themselves, don't see crime as any sort of crisis. Why Rogen horned in on the other fellow's complaint to spew his indifference to violent crime (and yes, all crime of this sort is violent) is skeevy in itself.

But Rogen's indifference to it also points to another problem  the indifference of the well heeled left to violent crime, particularly given their insulation from it. Rogen is worth tens of millions of dollars based on his Hollywood career and can dispatch an assistant to go buy him another car if necessary.

But crime is hell on normal people, and its natural progression leads to worse things. In a Los Angelesarea mall, during one of the big smash-and-grabs that plagued the area this week, the organized looters took to assaulting the guards. Car break-ins are hell for the little guy, given the costs they incur, and left unchecked, they lead to far worse crimes, based on the broken windows theory of law enforcement. Rogen signaled in this useless tweet that he apparently has no contact or empathy with these little people and the havoc this kind of crime can wreak, especially if it happens day after day, which is an odd thing in a supposed funnyman who relies on laughs from the people as his bread and butter. They say comedy is dead these days in Hollywood, and, well...here we are.

How anyone could sympathize with this privileged princeling of the Hollywood elite is rather beyond human understanding. Very likely, it's based on Rogen's open left-wingery. What's really behind this wave of crime (and I've lived in Los Angeles for 14 years; I experienced only one costly car break-in; it was never like this) is Soros-financed district attorneys who harbor the same Rogen attitude about violent crime and refuse to prosecute criminals. They call it "ending mass incarceration." They call it "criminal justice reform." Los Angeles has a particularly heinous such creature, and he's effectively expressing the same indifference to crime.

It's Rogen's inhuman ideology on display here, and the entire left elite shares it. That's whom he runs with.

Since I didn't know who Rogen is, I looked him up on Wikipedia and learned some telling stuff about him:

What a nasty person. It certainly explains how left-wingery rules his miserable life. Crime  what's crime? The important thing is left-wing district attorneys to a leftist. Too bad the criminals don't discriminate in favor of those like Rogen, who don't mind car break-ins, and leave alone the normal people who do.

Image: Collison Conf via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

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After I wrote my Kamala Harris shopping-spree piece here, deriding Harris's rude refusal to speak French to the locals at a fancy cookware shop in Paris, AT editor Thomas Lifson pointed out something important:

Kamala Harris actually ought to be able to speak French.

Here's how she did:

Turns out she was educated during her four high school years in Montreal, Canada, where her mother worked as a cancer researcher during the late 1970s, early 1980s. Montreal is Canada's top French-speaking city. In 1977, approximately just when she arrived, a law was passed in Quebec requiring the use of the French language. Apparently, there were a lot of Kamalas around who weren't doing it. Despite that law, she still doesn't seem to have picked up any French.

Here's Wikipedia:

Here's a press account from the Toronto Star of her own claims to speaking French dating from her campaign:

Asked via email how her Westmount years influenced her, Harris expressed no particular fondness for Montreal, Quebec or Canada. While my sister Maya and I made great friends and even learned some French, we were happy to return home to California, she said through a spokesperson.

Which like everything else she says about herself, seems to be an exaggeration. "Some" French, for her, is apparently three words.

As best we can tell from this video above of her shopping in a French cookware store, speaking a lot of English loudly, she then speaks to a French shop clerk in the background an observed total of three French words, one of which is "oui." The rest of her conversation with him is in English and the clerk struggles to understand it. She couldn't help him out?

If she was educated for four years in Montreal and at a pair of nice high schools, at least one of which was French-speaking, how is it she didn't know enough French to get through that simple transaction that anyone working with a tourist-oriented app such as DuoLingo would be able to get through? She could have hidden the ignorance with translators, but no, she bulled on through in English, which is kind of obnoxious, given that she was in a foreign country and polite people always try to converse with the locals in the local language. French is far from the hardest one to learn, too.

Yet she didn't learn it. Now, to be fair, it's true that if one doesn't practice one's language, it's likely one will get very rusty if not forget a lot of it. But a four-year immersion is going to be forgotten a lot less quickly than a learned course or a short trip to a foreign country. She should have been able to get by on a basic tourist-French transaction.

What we have here is someone with an opportunity of a lifetime to learn another language in the best immersion-style who didn't bother to even try to learn it while she could. Now she goes to Paris and can't speak a thing. Worse still her French was basically a Pepe Le Pew French accent in English since she never mastered the actual French language, which is especially obnoxious.

No wonder the French reportedly ignored her visit for the most part. She should have been able to speak basic French on that trip, and that was too much for her. It comports with her lousy academic record and her climb to the top through winning the favors of powerful men.

This person was representing the United States of America abroad? Color us who've tried to learn foreign languages just a little disgusted. And color all Americans pretty embarrassed.

Image: Screen shot from Vandernold Productions/C-SPAN video, via YouTube

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When Xi Jinping changed the rules of China's Communist Party to allow him to serve as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for life, instead of being limited to two five-year terms, it was easy to conclude that he had all the power and that he could operate unopposed, with no need to bother with the opinions of others. Dictators often appear to be able to operate with no constraints on their exercise of power.

But power in China derives from control of the Chinese Communist Party. And the CCP is a complex organization. Its mission requires it to be complex because it controls nearly all significant elements of China's society, a nation of 1.4 billion people spread out over a large territory. There are varying interests and attitudes among the people who occupy the power structure of the CCP, inevitably.

Factionalism is a permanent feature of large organizations in China, with often semi-covert alliances plotting to enhance their group's power or to influence decisions in their favor  even (or especially) when calls for unity make them publicly appear to agree with and support whoever is in charge of the party.

That's why anomalies about the recent plenary session of the Communist Party  an annual affair in which the leadership gets together to discuss policy  may be signs of trouble ahead for Xi's ability to hold onto power. An article in The Epoch Times discusses the plenary session at length. What follows is largely based on that account.

The first anomaly is that it took five days after the end of the session on November 16 before a summary was released, indicating that there was some controversy over what should be released to the public. Clues of controversy and even conflict can be found beneath the superficial unity of the summary.

One scholar of the CCP had this to offer:

"From the content summary confirming CCP former leader Deng Xiaoping's achievements, I feel Xi made compromises with his political opponents in which he agreed to change the current CCP's power structure," Tang said. "He agreed to give some powers to the opponents." Deng was Mao's successor. He limited the Chinese leader's term of office from lifetime to two terms, which totals 10 years.

Xi's power-grab has alienated some members of the party elite.

Xi has no shortage of enemies. "The officials, who are loyal to [former CCP leaders] Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, are in strong opposition and are trying their bests (sic) to prevent Xi's next possible term."

Even the Chinese media, usually anxious to curry favor, are letting the Chinese public know there is conflict among the rulers:

Chinese state-run media described this year's plenary as a "hot debate." Feng said that "'Debate' is the tricky word that Chinese state-run media use to report the officials are having bad arguments." He said it means the factions could not come to an agreement on issues facing the CCP. In the plenary's summary, the CCP announced that it is facing "a more and more complicated and difficult environment out of China, and extremely heavy and hard tasks to control the COVID-19 pandemic and develop the economy and society inside China." On Nov. 8, the first day of the plenary, the CCP's mouthpiece People's Daily published a front page editorial, citing corrupt officials as one of the CCP's challenges. The article quoted Xi as saying, "There's no 'iron-cap prince' when it comes to anti-corruption." Iron-cap prince is a Chinese term to describe officials who have so much power that they are never held accountable for their actions.

This is a threat by Xi to use charges of corruption against his political enemies, potentially jailing or even executing them. Everyone in any position of power in China is subject to charges of corruption because corruption is built into the system. A lot of people have gotten very wealthy in China, including most members of the party elite. Xi has been indicating that he wants to "adjust excessive incomes" of the super-rich, probably in response to chronic unrest among the less prosperous members of Chinese society, and also probably because he seems to remain at heart a communist. The three-month disappearance of Jack Ma, the entrepreneur of the Alibaba Group and China's highest-profile mega-billionaire, stands as a warning to others in the wealthy elite that state power trumps their economic power.

At least for now.

We mustn't forget that party officials have also become wealthy, and many if not most send their children overseas for education and in hopes of obtaining a residence permit in a desirable country like Canada, the U.S., or Australia. China's dreadfully polluted and crowded cities are not a place one would want to live if there were options elsewhere. How many such officials are enthusiastic about Xi's crackdown on wealth? Or on his escalation of tensions with the very countries to which they have sent or would like to send their children for a better life?

The Epoch Times summarizes some of the troubles China is facing as a result of Xi's actions:

The Chinese regime is facing a wide range of difficulties. It has several interests such as: the U.S.China trade dispute; the South China Sea's sovereignty disputes with over a dozen countries; unifying the de facto independent country Taiwan; changing the free Hong Kong to a communist city; suppressing Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols, and Chinese dissidents; controlling Chinese people's beliefs; maintaining its power in China's turbulent society; surviving from the recession economy; and clamping down on Chinese people's freedom. "The Chinese regime is more and more isolated in the international community," Yen Chien-Fa, deputy executive officer of Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, told the Chinese Epoch Times on Nov. 11. "Not only the United States, the whole world is against it."

There is no way for an outsider to know whether Xi will be able to hold onto power, or whether opponents are gathering force and waiting to oust him once they have secured a coalition sufficient to do so. It's happened before in China. Following the death of Chairman Mao, Hua Guofeng assumed unprecedented leadership of three offices simultaneously  party chairman, premier, and head of the Central Military Commission  as he purged (and imprisoned) the Gang of Four, extreme leftists that had gained influence over Mao in his last years. But Hua was eased out of power by Deng Xiaoping, who went on to liberalize China and set the foundations for its rise to industrial and commercial prominence, creating vast wealth. Deng, in turn, lost much of his power following the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Xi has it within his power to create more crises for China. In fact, he is already doing so. But it is far from clear how that will work out for him.

Photo credit: Officia do Palacio do Planalto, Brazil, CC BY 2.0 license.

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People who are aware of what is going on around them in this country will admit that we are living in unprecedented times. America has morphed into an authoritarian and increasingly dangerous country: the "cancel culture," a heavily biased media establishment that allows only one point of view, federal and local governments dictating what we can and cannot do, all done in the name of "protecting" us. Add to this the fact that there has been a sharp increase in the organized destruction of our cities while murder rates in these cities are soaring. I could go on, but you get the picture.

As one who visits many news sites that have a primarily Christian readership, I see one prevalent thought among Christians regarding how to deal with what is going on. Basically, it's just pray and occupy till Jesus returns, or Christ is returning soon, and he'll straighten it all out.

I find this passivity inappropriate and foolish. With that said, I would quickly say that as Christians, we should pray and anticipate his return, but we should not be as sheep being led to their demise. We can see evidence of why we shouldn't from Our Lord and Savior Himself.

Do you recall what He did to the moneychangers when He chased them out of the temple  how He verbally condemned the religious and government leaders of His day? Jesus called out people for their actions, speech, and behavior.

Here is one thing he directed his disciples to do and what all the sissified preachers and theologians try to explain away: "Then He said to them, But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."

Note that He instructed them to get a sword. The reason for this was that many of the disciples were going into dangerous territory and might have to protect themselves. Now, I'm not saying we need to arm ourselves, but I see an indication from Our Lord that we shouldn't sit back and accept whatever injustices come our way.

Passivity to these injustices under the guise of doing Jesus's will is, to my mind, done out of either ignorance or cowardice.

There is much we can and should do as believers to stand against what is going on in America, whether it's protesting, writing your elected officials, contributing to the leaders and organizations that are on the frontline of trying to save this country, or whatever else you can think of.

I urge people to wake up. This wannabe totalitarian government has taken away your right of assembly to worship once. Don't think that it won't do it again if we just sit back and wait until His return.

Image: Public Domain.

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In 1941, war hysteria gripped New Zealand and its neighboring country of Australia. The Japanese army was advancing rapidly across South East Asia invading Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur. After the crushing collapse of British Malaya and the fall of Singapore, the Japanese began making air attacks on northern Australia, beginning with the devastating bombing of the city of Darwin. The Australian Prime Minister John Curtin predicted an invasion of Australia was coming.

Bob Semples Tank

Unfortunately, neither Australia nor New Zealand was combat ready. Australian troops were fighting in the Middle East, and some 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured and became prisoners of war during the battle of Singapore. John Curtin pleaded Britain and the United States to send in armored vehicles and tanks. But with Britain fighting for its own survival, there was no likelihood of production being spared for Australia and New Zealand. Rather than wait for supplies to arrive from America, both countries began to seek solutions from within their respective borders.

Robert Semple, the Minister of Public Works of New Zealand, announced that they would be making their own tanks.

If this country is going to be invaded, we need to have equipment as good as that of the other fellow, if not better we could not buy tanks from outside, but had to act on our own resources. Luckily we had big tractors here, and they were a godsend. They have proved one of the greatest boons the country has ever known, permitting us to build highways, aerodromes, camps, and fortifications in record time in the Dominion. They have proved invaluable for other urgent purposes outside New Zealand.

The tractor Semple was praising about was the medium track-type Caterpillar D8. Though it came in many configurations, it was usually sold as a bulldozer equipped with a detachable large blade and a rear ripper attachment. The Public Works Department had 81 of these and another 19 were available ready to be put into service.

Robert Semple on a caterpillar tractor, between 1935-1940

The PWD proposed they take this fleet and build armored bodies for them. Work began on a prototype at the Temuka PWD Depot in June 1940. The suspension of the D8 was modified and the track assembly was lengthened. Minor modification was made to the drivers controls, and the original gear box was replaced with an improved 2:1 ratio box.

Because armor plates could not be sourced, corrugated manganese plate was used to build a superstructure over the tractor. Lack of heavy-caliber cannons meant that the tank had to do with BREN machine guns instead. Six of them were set along each primary hull facingone at each side, a pair facing forward, one to the rear and one fitted to a fixed turret at the top. Power came from the tractors 6-cylinder diesel outputting around 127 horsepower which limited speeds to 8 miles per hour and operational range to 100 miles.

The tank was crewed by eight. There was so little space inside that one gunner had to lie on a mattress on top of the engine to fire his Bren gun.

By March 1941, a second tank was finished, and both took part in a parade in Christchurch. One was then sent to Wellington and then on to Auckland to promote the war effort. It was paraded there in May 1941. These public outings were intended to bolster flagging domestic spirit. Instead, it promoted media ridicule. A popular myth has it that the tank was made using corrugated roofing. In reality, the armored structure consisted of 8mm thick armor plate, fully welded, on top of which was an addition of 12.7mm thick manganese rich corrugated steel plate. This arrangement was found to be sufficient to stop enemy anti-tank rifle bullets up to 20 mm caliber. The corrugated shape was thought to help deflect bullets.

Initial trials showed the tank to be top-heavy, causing it to roll badly during off-road movement making firing on the move very difficult. In addition, the vibrations generated by the noisy six-cylinder diesel engine rattled the crew and often caused the tanks guns to jam. Besides, a faulty transmission system forced the driver to come to a full stop before shifting gears. Another glaring flaw was the lack of a hatch on the turret. In actual combat, the absence of this hatch would have seriously hindered swift escape from the vehicle in the event of a fire due to enemy bombing.

Bob Semples Tank is frequently derided as the worst ever tank. But despite the shortcomings, Major General Puttick, the Chief of New Zealand General Staff, remarked that it was a very useful weapon for certain styles of fighting. Robert Semple himself was extremely proud of his invention.

That tank was an honest-to-God effort to do something with the material at our disposal when raider were at our back doorinstead of sitting down and moaning we felt we ought to do something to manufacture weapons that would help to defend our country and our people.

When a reporter once mocked Robert Semple, the New Zealander retorted: I had the vision to try and create something while a lot of others were just sniveling.

At some point, these two tanks were officially handed over to the Army. General Puttick recommended that the vehicles be put for beach defense. Fortunately for New Zealand and Australia, Japans defeat in the Pacific front meant that the threat of invasion was over. The tractors were stripped off their armors and returned back to civilian duties.

References:

# Andrew Hills, The Semple Tractor Tank, Tank Encyclopedia
Posted on: November 26, 2021 3:24 PM

Primates of the Anglican Communion have written to the Special Session of the World Health Assembly.

The Primates of the Anglican Communion have called on the Special Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), meeting from 29 November to 1 December, to be bold and courageous in its plans for an international agreement and treaty on global health emergency preparedness and response. In a letter to the WHA they call for the need to address and improve both equity in the distribution of vaccines and education to counter vaccine hesitancy around the globe.

The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is attended by delegations from all WHO Member States and focuses on a specific health agenda prepared by the Executive Board. This special session will consider the benefits of developing a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic preparedness.

The Primates Meeting took place virtually on 22 and 23 November, and brought together the Primates, Presiding Bishops and Moderators of the Churches of the Anglican Communion. In their communique, the Primates said: We are united in calling for greater vaccine equity, based on a spirit not of charity but of recognising the common good in resolving the current disparity. We call for generosity from those who have  towards those who have not - and for a greater acknowledgment of the effect of the pandemic on health and education.

The Primates Meeting is one of Anglicanisms four Instruments of Communion and helps bind together the independent but inter-dependent provinces. The last face to face meeting took place in Jordan in January 2020, with an online meeting last held in November 2020.

The communique also noted the Primates conversations on the Climate Emergency and COP26; the launch of the Anglican Communion Science Commission; and the Lambeth Conference scheduled for 2022. The Primates spent time together in fellowship and prayer and took time to lament the death of Archbishop Fereimi Cama of Polynesia, as well as welcoming new Primates and celebrating the inauguration of the new Provinces of Alexandria and Angola and Mozambique.

The next Primates Meeting will take place in Rome in March 2022.
(by Rodolfo Calo)

CAIRO - After the transfer of the mummies of pharaohs in Cairo last April, Egypt last night unveiled another ceremony displaying its archaeological heritage: a display of lights, sounds and monumental beauty enhanced by television to celebrate the famous "Avenue of Sphinxes" with the participation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.



Nearly 3,000-years-old and measuring over 2,700 meters in length, the restored avenue connects the iconic Egyptian temples of Karnak and Luxor and is notorious because it is lined on the sides by some 1,200 traditional sphinxes and ram-headed statues.



The march along the seven-meter-wide avenue included participants dressed as priests carrying golden boats, accompanied by dancers carrying luminous poles. The soundtrack was classical vocal music to the beat, among other things, of some 160 percussionists and military bands, as announced by Egyptian media. The televised event, which started at 7:30 pm local time, was enriched by images from temples taken by drones, the warm lighting and torches, presenters in evening gowns, documentaries on tourism and dances on boats on the Nile. The protagonist of the introduction was Sisi, who visited the temple of Luxor with the guide of the minister of antiquities, Khaled al-Anani.



The parade, which started shortly before 9 pm local time, was inspired by an annual rite of ancient Egypt celebrated in Thebes, today's Luxor, in the southern part of the country on the Nile, especially during the New Kingdom and over the subsequent periods. The celebration included a ritual procession of the boat used to transport statues of divinities.



In April, the capital hosted the spectacular removal of 22 mummies of kings and queens of ancient Egypt, including the iconic Ramesses II, from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC). Former general al-Sisi welcomed the parade of sarcophagi in a show broadcast live on television, with spectacular lighting, martial music and gun salutes.



The signal for live broadcasting was granted to networks of the US, UK, Germany, Russia, France and South Africa, media outlets stressed. Several Egyptian televisions showed images that - especially thanks to beautiful lighting - highlighted the beauty of two rich temples of huge sculpted columns, hieratic statues and mural paintings.



The event, presented as a tassel to re-launch Luxor, appeared as a new attempt to showcase Egypt's historic heritage to attract tourists. The tourism sector, an important source of foreign income for Egypt, represents about 15 percent of Egypt's GDP, according to a common estimate. The sector of the past 10 years was affected by several crises caused by two revolutions, terror attacks and the COVID pandemic (last year revenues dropped by 70% to 4 billion dollars). The event was also broadcast on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL36V1FFhhU
ROME - Italian Premier Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday signed a landmark treaty on enhanced bilateral cooperation dubbed the Quirinal Treaty from the name of the presidential palace where it was sealed in the presence of President Sergio Mattarella.



The treaty, which aims to put Franco-Italian cooperation on the same footing as Franco-German cooperation, is geared towards boosting a "united and sovereign" Europe, the preamble to the treaty's 12 articles said.



Draghi spoke of "an historic moment" in relations between Italy and France, saying that a revision of the EU budget rules was "inevitable".



He also said that Italy and France would now seek to drive and accelerate European Union integration, according to sources at the meeting.



He said that at least once every quarter an Italian minister will take part in a French government cabinet meeting, and vice versa.



An Italo-French civilian service was set up, along with a transborder cooperation committee, according to the provisions of the treaty.



The treaty said that Italy and France "recognize the need for a policy for managing migratory flows that is shared by the EU".



Macron said that the treaty "enshrines the profound friendship that connects us".



He said "we will create a common geopolitical vision".



After the treaty was signed, Draghi, Macron and Mattarella gave each other a long and strong handshake of congratulations.



"Italy and France are closer together to work for a stronger Europe," the leaders said.



Among other things, Draghi also signed an Italo-French cooperation accord in the space sector.



The Italian premier also recalled Valeria Solesin, the young researcher who was the Italian victim of the Bataclan massacre, when Islamist attackers killed 130 people at various Paris sites, including 90 at the Bataclan theatre.



In other remarks, Draghi said Rome and Paris would work together to bolster European Union's defence capability and to boost investments in the defence industry.



A German government spokesman said Berlin was not jealous of other friendships in Europe and there was "no concern" in Germany about the possibility of the Franco-German axis losing heft in the future.
Tunisia: Premier Najla Bouden meets Algerian president Occasion to 'intensify dialogue' between neighboring countries

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, NOVEMBER 26 - Tunisian Premier Najla Bouden is undertaking an official visit to Algeria, where she was received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the presidential palace in Algiers, the Tunisian executive said. It added that the meeting took place at the presence of the minister for foreign affairs, migration and Tunisians abroad, Othman Jerandi, and his Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra.



According to the same source, Bouden also met with Algerian Prime Minister Ayman Benabderrahmane, who had previously welcomed her at the international airport of Algiers.



The statement also said the visit for "fraternity and work" to Algeria "reflects the common desire of leaders from both countries to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic and sustainable partnership, to satisfy the aspirations of both populations". The visit is "the occasion to intensify dialogue, to discuss modes to strengthen cooperation between the two countries and prepare the upcoming bilateral meetings, including the gathering of the High joint commission Tunisia-Algeria scheduled shortly". (ANSAmed).




Hidden from view behind an isolated woodland near Dover lies the haunting reminder of the lengths people crossing the Channel go to for a chance to reach the UK.

Stacked on top of one another and buried behind lorry cabs and white vans are inflatable, flimsy boats used to carry the many people trying to reach UK soil after leaving Calais.

People living in camps in Calais previously told the PA news agency that they would rather take the risk on the Channels treacherous waters than stay where they are.

Boats are stored at a facility near Dover in Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA)

On Wednesday, 27 people making their way from France to England lost their lives.

Women and children were among those on board the boat which capsized after leaving Calais. Just two survived.

A picture of the boat that carried them looked similar to those found outside a high-security government compound next to woodland less than half an hours drive from where the people crossing the Channel take their first steps on UK soil.

The boats, still inflated, lie on top of one another. They have been taken from where they were left by people hoping for a better life in England to the warehouse where they are a reminder of the perilous journey from Calais to Dover.

The Home Office said in July the boats are stored to use as evidence in people-smuggler prosecutions.

Those wanting to make their way to the UK are willing to pay thousands of pounds to people smugglers who can buy the vessels for a very small fraction of their takings.

Boats at a storage facility near Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Last month in Hull, Nzar Mohamad, 34, was jailed for his part in a people-smuggling plot, in which he arranged to bring 21 people to the UK. He had bought a dinghy for 6,500.

Mohamad had arrived in the UK in a lorry in 2019 and had himself paid 2,000 to a people smuggler for the journey.

Some of those living in Calais camps described what life would be like compared with what they had left behind in Iraq, Iran and Belarus.

Ali, 23, from Iraq, told PA: We dont have a life. We want to live like you in the UK. You only have one life. People are trying and they die or have a chance to get past (the Channel.)

He said the news of Wednesdays deaths had not put him off getting into the small boats, adding: They had no chance to pass but maybe we do.

Another man, who did not want to be named, said he was due to board a boat on Wednesday, and he had even gone to a boat to meet smugglers, but his attempt was stopped by police.

He said: There were two boats and one had already gone.

The man was among those who said the news of Wednesdays drowning had scared them, but added that they would still be attempting to make their way across the Channel.
Police have released a facial reconstruction of a woman whose body was found on a beach 15 years ago, in a bid to solve her unexplained death.

The remains were found at Port Logan in Dumfries and Galloway on Wednesday November 22 2006.

Police Scotland said extensive inquiries across the UK, including checking missing persons reports, have failed to discover who she is or what happened to her.

Forensic analysis indicates she was aged between 30 and 50, thin and between 4ft 11in and 5ft 4in tall.

She was wearing black Bay Trading trousers in size 10, a white BHS bra in size 34C and tan tights.

Officers and Glasgow Caledonian Universitys Cold Case Unit sought specialist help to create a facial reconstruction.

Inspector Iain Milligan, of Police Scotlands National Missing Person Unit, said: The work done by Professor Caroline Wilkinson and the Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University has provided us with a representation of the womans face based on details from the remains that were found.

I also appreciate the help that the Cold Case Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University has provided us with in our investigation over the past several months.

Facial reconstruction of the Port Logan woman (Police Scotland/PA)

I hope that people will take a look and see if they recognise this woman. We want to be able to reunite her with her family and also find out what happened to her.

If the face, or any of the details that are mentioned, helps anyone identify her then please get in touch with Police Scotland by calling 101, quoting missing person reference number 06-026047.

The Cold Case Unit consists of criminology students led by Professor Lesley McMillan and Dr Maureen Taylor.

Dr Taylor said: The Cold Case Unit offers a unique opportunity for students to develop real-world investigative skills. These skills have been put to the test to help investigate the Port Logan woman, 15 years on from when she was found.

We hope the new facial reconstruction jogs someones memory and adds more pieces of the puzzle as to who she might be.

We are very grateful for the fruitful and collaborative relationship we have established with Police Scotland with the mutual aim of furthering these cases.
A meeting between Home Secretary Priti Patel and her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin has been dramatically cancelled following Boris Johnsons latest intervention in the migrant crisis.

A public letter sent by the Prime Minister to President Emmanuel Macron was described as unacceptable by the French Interior Ministry which said Ms Patel was no longer invited to the meeting with other European ministers on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from the Home Office.

My letter to President Macron. pic.twitter.com/vXH0jpxzPo  Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 25, 2021

In his letter, Mr Johnson said the two countries needed to go further and faster together to deal with the crisis, following the sinking of a migrant boat on Wednesday with the loss of 27 lives.

He set out proposals for British border officials to begin patrols on the beaches of northern France as early as next week  something Paris has long resisted.

Ms Patel had been due to visit Calais on Sunday for talks with Mr Darmanin and counterparts from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Migrants in Grand Synthe near Dunkirk, France (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mr Johnson had said he was ready to upgrade this meeting to a full summit of the countries concerned.

French media reported that the Interior Ministry statement said: We consider the British Prime Ministers public letter unacceptable and contrary to our discussions between counterparts.

Therefore, Priti Patel is no longer invited on Sunday to the inter-ministerial meeting whose format will be: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and European Commission.

The French move marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries which have already been strained by the migrant crisis in the Channel.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Mr Johnson had made the proposals in good faith and urged the French to reconsider their decision.

I dont think there is anything inflammatory to ask for close co-operation with our nearest neighbours, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The proposal was made in good faith. I can assure our French friends of that and I hope that they will reconsider meeting up to discuss it.

Following the deaths on Wednesday, Mr Johnson irritated Paris by saying the incident showed efforts to stop migrants leaving havent been enough and there had been difficulties in getting the French to take action.

(PA Graphics)

In his letter the Prime Minister set out a series of further proposals including joint patrols of French beaches and a bilateral returns agreement.

He said the agreement would be in Frances interest by breaking the business model of criminal gangs running the people-smuggling trade from Normandy.

Under Mr Johnsons proposals:

 Joint patrols would prevent more boats from leaving French beaches.

 Advanced technology such as sensors and radar would be deployed to track migrants and people-trafficking gangs.

 There would be joint or reciprocal maritime patrols in each others territorial waters and airborne surveillance by manned flights and drones.

 The work of the Joint Intelligence Cell would be improved with better real-time intelligence sharing to deliver more arrests and prosecutions on both sides of the Channel.

 There would be immediate work on a bilateral returns agreement with France, to allow migrants to be sent back across the Channel, alongside talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement.

A group thought to be migrants adrift in a dinghy in the Channel (Gareth Fuller/PA)

The Prime Minister said he wanted to see urgent progress on joint patrols by UK Border Force and French officers, or the joint deployment of private security contractors.

We are ready to begin such patrols from the start of next week and to scale up thereafter.

Writing on Twitter, he added: If those who reach this country were swiftly returned, the incentive for people to put their lives in the hands of traffickers would be significantly reduced.

This would be the single biggest step we could take together to reduce the draw to Northern France and break the business model of criminal gangs.

I am confident that by taking these steps and building on our existing cooperation we can address illegal migration and prevent more families from experiencing the devastating loss we saw yesterday.
GB News presenter Kirsty Gallacher has stepped down from her role at the channel because of a tumour in her ear.

The broadcaster, 45, who co-hosts Great British Breakfast, said her early-morning starts were exacerbating her symptoms.

She wrote on social media: During the summer I discovered I have a tumour in the inner canal of my right ear.

Thankfully its benign and not hugely detrimental to my normal life.

However the tumour has caused severe tinnitus which makes it very difficult to sleep.

Sadly my 3am starts at GB news, compounded by sleep deprivation, are exacerbating my symptoms.

Ive taken the difficult decision to step back from my role on the Great British Breakfast while I focus on my health.

Ms Gallacher said GB News had been incredibly supportive and she looked forward to returning to her role as soon as possible.

As I adjust to managing my condition, I will carry on my less disruptive work commitments and continue maintaining a healthy lifestyle and training so I can get back to my normal routine quickly, she said.
A charity has launched a festival of kindness to spread festive cheer in five UK cities.

Social Bite aims to provide 300,000 gifts, meals and essential items to people experiencing homelessness this Christmas in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Christmas trees nearly 30 foot tall, with donation points, have been installed in these cities, to emphasise that in a world where you can be anything, be kind.

The V&A lit up with a message from the Festival of Kindness (Social Bite/PA)

The homelessness charity is asking people to buy one extra gift, drop it under the tree and contribute to a movement of kindness.

The festival of kindness locations include: St Andrew Square, Edinburgh; Vinicombe Street, Glasgow; outside M&S at the Bon Accord centre, Aberdeen; City Square, Dundee and Charing Cross Station, London.

Social Bite co-founder and executive director Josh Littlejohn said: This Christmas, many of us will be able to reunite with family and friends to celebrate after so many restrictions.

But for homeless people and families, the pandemic has made their situation particularly desperate.

Thousands of people all over the UK will spend Christmas on the streets  cold, hungry and lonely, without a family to go to.

Thousands of children will find themselves in temporary emergency accommodation or without food on the table over the festive period.

The festival of kindness aims to spread festive cheer in five UK cities (Social Bite/PA)

Thats why we are building on the success of last years campaign to expand our reach even further, going from two to five locations and taking festival of kindness to London for the very first time.

Our festival of kindness campaign aims to spread some festive cheer. In a world, where you can be anything, were urging people to be kind and buy or donate a little extra to help those who need it most  even the smallest of gifts will make a huge difference.

Monetary donations can also be made online via the Social Bite website which will then go towards the provision of food, gifts and essential items.

Donations will also help fund accommodation and support for those sleeping rough in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and London.
A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sharing extremist material.

The man was arrested at an address in east London on Friday, the Metropolitan Polices Counter Terrorism Command said.

He has been taken to a police station where he remains in custody.

In a statement, Commander Richard Smith, of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, urged the public to be the Mets extra eyes and ears.

Every day, teams within the Met and across Counter Terrorism Policing nationally, carry out proactive investigations to identify and target those we suspect of being involved in terrorism, he said.

We require the public to be our extra eyes and ears and I would encourage anyone who has information that could assist counter terrorism police to call us in confidence and share information. Your call wont ruin lives, but could well save them.

Officers continue to search the address in east London.
Travel industry leaders have reacted with fury to the decision to put six southern African countries on the red list.

The Government was accused of a knee-jerk reaction to fears over a new variant of coronavirus.

South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia were put on the UKs red list at noon on Friday.

Passengers arriving from those countries after 4am on Sunday will be required to spend 10 days in a quarantine hotel at a cost of 2,285.

Those arriving before then will need to self-isolate at home for 10 days and take additional coronavirus tests.

Direct flights from the six countries are banned until the hotel quarantine scheme resumes, leading to cancellations by airlines including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

The measures were announced by Health Secretary Sajid Javid on social media shortly before 9pm on Thursday.

Travel consultancy The PC Agency estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 British citizens are in South Africa on temporary visits.

The firms chief executive Paul Charles accused ministers of making another knee-jerk decision.

He told the PA news agency: While Government has to act swiftly on any serious threats, it should be steering away from imposing blanket country measures such as flight bans.

It would be better to assess travellers based on their individual risk, and ask fully jabbed consumers to test regularly at home rather than force them to pay over 2,000 per person to stay in grim hotel quarantine.

Variants will come and go for years yet so the Government has to find new, less economically damaging measures to deal with each situation.

Yet again, we are now in a position where Government is knocking consumer confidence with such draconian measures.

Travel data firm Cirium said 289 UK flights were scheduled to and from South Africa in December, with capacity for 79,000 passengers.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, the UKs largest independent travel agent group, said: Yet again, an entire industry is informed of drastic changes to travel restrictions by a late-night tweet from Government, leaving travel agents scrambling to repatriate their customers in these southern African countries and cancel and rebook those who had planned to travel over the festive period.

Its important to remember that many of these people who are overseas in these destinations would be visiting friends and family for the first time in over two years  and now they have to make the heart-breaking decision to return home early.

Not only that, but there is only a very small window for passengers to try and make it home in time to avoid the inhumane hotel quarantine and a hefty bill to go with it.

Why cant this be replaced with home self-isolation and appropriate testing instead?

Ms Bue-Said said the wider knock-on effect for consumer confidence is deeply concerning for the travel industry.

She added: We simply cannot operate our businesses with this level of uncertainty hanging over us for the foreseeable future.

A spokeswoman for travel trade organisation Abta said the announcement was devastating for travel companies that specialise in travel to southern Africa.

She went on: These businesses have had very little opportunity to generate income for almost two years and now face a further period of being unable to trade  just as the regions peak season begins.

The Government must consider stepping in to provide targeted support where precautionary measures such as these close UK travel businesses, as they have done previously for other sectors of the economy.

It is also vital the decision is kept under careful review and that restrictions are lifted promptly if it becomes clear there is not a risk to the UK vaccination programme.
Struggles faced by people with Downs Syndrome to access the care and services they need must end, the Government has said, as MPs backed a world-leading proposed law.

The Down Syndrome Bill cleared its first parliamentary hurdle as it received an unopposed second reading following support from across the House of Commons.

It will require the Government to publish guidance on the specific needs of people with Downs syndrome and how they should be met.

Authorities providing health, care, education and housing services must then act to deliver on these requirements.

With legal protections in place, it is hoped the Bill will make it easier for people with Downs syndrome and their families to secure the services they need and to challenge authorities not acting on their duties.

Health minister Gillian Keegan, who has a nephew with the condition, told the Commons: People with Downs syndrome should have the opportunity to enjoy all aspects of our society and to have access to the services and support that will enable them throughout their lifetime.

I wholeheartedly support the Down Syndrome Bill.

She added: I know that today people with Downs syndrome are struggling to access the services they need and Ive seen this with my own family.

It is not right, it must change and we will change it.

Conservative former cabinet minister Dr Liam Fox, who brought forward the Bill, warned it would be a stain on our country to see people with Downs syndrome whose parents have died being placed in inappropriate institutions.

Traveling into London to celebrate the Parliamentary affirmation of the #downsyndromebill. Fionn has already been interviewed on BBC TV One and BBC Radio 5 Live, and was mentioned by name by @LiamFox on the floor of the House of Commons. Exciting day. pic.twitter.com/lA7Zu7HzWo  fionnathan (@fionnathan) November 26, 2021

With life expectancy increasing for people with the condition, Dr Fox raised the need to guarantee the independence and dignity of people in future  and to remove the worry and anxiety from their parents.

He told MPs: This is not a Bill about a condition, it is not about dealing with Downs syndrome, it is about people who deserve the same ability to demand the best health, education and care as the rest of our society.

It is not on our part an act of charity, it is an act of empowerment and the recognition that all members of our society must have a right to respect, independence and dignity. That is why I brought this Bill forward.

An estimated 47,000 people in the UK have Downs syndrome.

Ms Keegan said the Bill applies to England but she confirmed further discussions are expected with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

DUP MP Ian Paisley (North Antrim) welcomed the world-leading legislation, adding: Were saying yes, people with Downs syndrome are different but they are equal and this makes them equal under the law, equally subject to all the rights and liberties that our laws provide for every other citizen.

Labour also supported the proposals, which will undergo further scrutiny at committee stage at a later date.
Three men have been jailed for a total of 40 years after being convicted of using a removal firm as a front for an international drug smuggling conspiracy.

Mark Youell, 64, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was recorded telling Alfred Rumbold, 65, from Orpington, Kent, and 73-year-old removal driver Brian Wright Were gonna hit the jackpot, while plotting to import 55kg of class A drugs with a street value of 4.5 million inside fish tanks.

In a series of recordings made by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Youell also told the men that they were going to make f****** mega dough with the scheme.

The men are seen meeting at a cafe (National Crime Agency/PA)

According to the NCA, Wright, from Folkestone, Kent, did a dummy run by driving to the Netherlands before carrying out the real plan the following week.

But Wright was arrested after being found sleeping inside his lorry just outside Utrecht. Youell and Rumbold were arrested at their home addresses.

A total of 20.5 kilos of heroin, 32 kilos of cocaine and three kilos of MDMA, which combined would have had a UK street value of about 4.5 million, were sealed in fish tanks and found by Dutch police following a joint investigation with the NCA.

Mobile phones seized by police found messages, which the NCA has attributed to Rumbold, in which he spoke with other criminals about the potential of moving the drugs across Europe using Wrights firm.

At trial, both Youell and Rumbold denied drug importation charges, claiming they had only been seeking to smuggle alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco and cannabis.

The removal lorry which was raided as part of the sting operation (National Crime Agency/PA)

Meanwhile Wright, who was extradited to the UK from the Netherlands, denied any knowledge of the drugs, claiming he was just transporting furniture.

All three were found guilty of conspiring to import class A drugs on November 19 following a trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

On Friday, a judge sentenced Youell and Rumbold to 14 years each in prison, while Wright was given a 12 year sentence, the NCA said.

NCA regional head of investigations Peter Stevens said: The sentences handed out today demonstrates just how seriously UK courts take drug trafficking offences and I welcome them.

The class A drugs seized in this investigation would all have ended up in the hands of UK criminal gangs involved in violence and exploitation, and provided a big payday for Youell, Rumbold and Wright.

By their own admission they thought they had hit the jackpot.

But they werent counting on the tenacity and expertise of the NCA officers who, supported by our Dutch partners, watched their every move  even during the height of the UKs Covid lockdown.

I hope others involved in this type of activity take notice  we are determined to do all we can to disrupt and dismantle the organised criminal networks involved in international drugs supply.
BRUSSELS (AP)  The discovery of a new coronavirus variant sent a chill through much of the world Friday as nations raced to halt air travel, markets fell sharply and scientists held emergency meetings to weigh the exact risks, which were largely unknown.

A World Health Organization panel named the variant omicron and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the delta variant, the world's most prevalent. The panel said early evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection.

In response, the United States joined the European Union and several other countries in instituting travel restrictions on visitors from southern Africa.

The White House said the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday. It did not give details except to say the restrictions will not apply to returning U.S. citizens or permanent residents, who will continue to be required to test negative before their travel.

Medical experts, including the WHO, warned against any overreaction before the variant that originated in southern Africa was better understood. But a jittery world feared the worst nearly two years after COVID-19 emerged and triggered a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people around the globe.

We must move quickly and at the earliest possible moment, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

There was no immediate indication whether the variant causes more severe disease. As with other variants, some infected people display no symptoms, South African experts said. The WHO panel drew from the Greek alphabet in naming the variant omicron, as it has done with earlier, major variants of the virus.

Even though some of the genetic changes appear worrisome, it was unclear if the new variant would pose a significant public health threat. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially concerned scientists but did not spread very far.

The 27-nation European Union imposed a temporary ban on air travel from southern Africa, and stocks tumbled in Asia, Europe and the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 index was down 2.3%, on pace for its worst day since February. The price of oil plunged nearly 12%.

The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. The member nations of the EU have experienced a massive spike in cases recently.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights will have to be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules.

She insisted on extreme caution, warning that mutations could lead to the emergence and spread of even more concerning variants of the virus that could spread worldwide within a few months."

Belgium became the first European Union country to announce a case of the variant.

Its a suspicious variant," Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said. We dont know if its a very dangerous variant.

It has yet to be detected in the United States, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert. Abroad, the variant seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate, he told CNN. And although it may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccines than other variants, "we dont know that for sure right now.

Showing how complicated the spread of a variant can be, the Belgian case involved a traveler who returned to Belgium from Egypt on Nov. 11 but did not became sick with mild symptoms until Monday, according to professor Marc Van Ranst, who works for the scientific group overseeing the Belgian government's COVID-19 response.

Israel, one of the world's most vaccinated countries, announced Friday that it also detected its first case of the new variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. The traveler and two other suspected cases were placed in isolation. Israel said all three were vaccinated, but officials were looking into the travelers' exact vaccination status.

After a 10-hour overnight trip, passengers aboard KLM Flight 598 from Capetown, South Africa, to Amsterdam were held on the edge of the runway Friday morning at Schiphol airport for four hours pending special testing. Passengers aboard a flight from Johannesburg were also being isolated and tested.

Its ridiculous. If we didnt catch the dreaded bugger before, we're catching it now, said passenger Francesca de Medici, a Rome-based art consultant who was on the flight.

Some experts said the variant's emergence illustrated how rich countries hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic.

Fewer than 6% of people in Africa have been fully immunized against COVID-19, and millions of health workers and vulnerable populations have yet to receive a single dose. Those conditions can speed up spread of the virus, offering more opportunities for it to evolve into a dangerous variant.

This is one of the consequences of the inequity in vaccine rollouts and why the grabbing of surplus vaccines by richer countries will inevitably rebound on us all at some point, said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Britains University of Southampton. He urged Group of 20 leaders "to go beyond vague promises and actually deliver on their commitments to share doses.

The new variant added to investor anxiety that months of progress containing COVID-19 could be reversed.

Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known, said Jeffrey Halley of foreign exchange broker Oanda.

In a sign of how concerned Wall Street has become, the markets so-called fear gauge known as the VIX jumped 48% to a reading of 26.91. Thats the highest reading for the volatility index since January, before vaccines were widely distributed.

Speaking before the EU announcement, Dr. Michael Ryan, head of emergencies at the WHO, warned against "knee-jerk responses."

Weve seen in the past, the minute theres any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel," Ryan said. Its really important that we remain open and stay focused.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agreed and strongly discouraged any travel bans on countries that reported the new variant. It said past experience shows that such travel bans have not yielded a meaningful outcome.

Yet the U.S. announced restrictions on visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, hours after governments took similar steps.

The U.K. banned flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries at noon on Friday and announced that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

The Japanese government announced that Japanese nationals traveling from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho will have to quarantine at government-dedicated accommodations for 10 days and take COVID-19 tests on the third, sixth and tenth days. Japan has not yet opened up to foreign nationals.

Fauci said U.S. public health officials were talking Friday with South African colleagues. "We want to find out scientist to scientist exactly what is going on.

The WHOs technical working group says coronavirus infections jumped 11% in the past week in Europe, the only region in the world where COVID-19 continues to rise.

The WHOs Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, warned that without urgent measures, the continent could see an additional 700,000 deaths by the spring.
LONDON (Reuters) - European and Asian countries tightened travel restrictions on Friday after a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant was detected in South Africa, with the EU, Britain and India among those announcing stricter border controls.

Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked British travellers returning from there to quarantine, while European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region.

The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said, raising fears about how current vaccines, successful against the more familiar delta variant, will fare.

"As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they've encountered to date," British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps Shapps told Sky News.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is to hold a meeting in Geneva at 1100 GMT. Experts will discuss the risks it presents and if it should be designated as a variant of interest or variant of concern, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.

Nearly 100 sequences of the variant have been reported, and early analysis shows it has "a large number of mutations" requiring further study, Lindmeier said.

One epidemiologuist said it may be too late to tighten travel curbs.

"I think we have to recognise that most likely this virus is already in other places. And so if we shut the door now, its going to be probably too late," said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.

Scientists are still learning about the variant, first identified at the start of this week, but the news pummelled financial markets, with stocks in Asia on Friday suffering their sharpest drop in three months and oil plunging more than 3%.

FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers assist patients being treated at a makeshift hospital run by charity organisation The Gift of the Givers, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Johannesburg

"Fear has gripped the financial markets with the travel industry flying into another violent storm," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst with Hargreaves Lansdown.

The variant, called B.1.1.529, has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

India issued an advisory to all states to test and screen international travellers from South Africa and other "at risk" countries after easing some of its travel restrictions earlier this month. Singapore's health ministry said it would also restrict arrivals from South Africa and countries nearby as a precaution.

Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited a group of southern African states, including South Africa, in the last 14 days.

Berlin will also declare South Africa a virus variant area after the detection of the new variant there, a health ministry source said.

CHRISTMAS CONCERNS

European countries had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth wave of the coronavirus, led by the delta variant, with many reporting record daily rises in cases.

The new wave comes as Europe and the United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a perfect breeding ground for infection.

Germany reported a record of more than 76,000 COVID-19 infections in a day as its air force got ready for the first time in the pandemic to fly severely ill patients to other parts of the country to unburden struggling hospitals.

The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million.

Japan also tightened border controls for visitors from South Africa and five other African countries, the Jiji news service reported. Its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Taiwan said travellers from "high-risk" southern African countries will have to go into quarantine.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the country was well prepared for the new variant, days after saying it would reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international travellers from April 30.
PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron told Britain on Friday it needed to "get serious" or remain locked out of discussions over how to curb the flow of migrants escaping war and poverty across the Channel.

Macron was responding to a letter by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which the British leader set steps that he said would deter migrants from making the perilous journey across the sea separating the two countries.

Johnson, who has previously said France was at fault, insisted in the letter that France agree on joint patrols on its shores and consent to taking back the migrants that make it to Britain.

Infuriated by the letter, and not the least by the fact that Johnson published it on Twitter, the French government cancelled an invitation to UK Home Minister Priti Patel to attend a meeting on Sunday in Calais.

The meeting with officials from Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and the European Commission would still go ahead, Macron said.

"The (EU) ministers will work seriously to settle serious issues with serious people," Macron told a news conference in Rome. "We will then see how to move forward efficiently with the British, if they decide to get serious," Macron added.

The growing spat between Britain and France - and between their two leaders - is taking place just days after 27 migrants died trying to cross the narrow seaway from France to Britain, the worst tragedy on record in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets France's President Emmanuel Macron during arrivals at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 1, 2021. (Alastair Grant/Pool via Reuters)

France has accused Britain of managing its immigration system poorly and Macron said Johnson's Tweet was not a "serious" way of handling matters.

"I'm surprised when things are not done seriously, we don't communicate between leaders via tweets or published letters, we are not whistle-blowers", he said.

Macron's comments and the cancellation of the meeting with Patel underlined the poor post-Brexit relations between the two countries and the difficulties they may face working together to curb the flow of migrants.

"We're fed up with (London's) double-talk," government spokesman Gabriel Attal said. "(French Interior Minister Gerald) Darmanin told his counterpart she was not longer welcome."

London said it hoped Paris would reconsider.

"No nation can tackle this alone and so I hope that the French will reconsider," transport minister Grant Shapps told BBC News.

Seventeen men, seven women and three teenagers died on when their dinghy deflated in the Channel, one of many such risky journeys attempted in small, overloaded boats by people fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.

The deaths deepened animosity between Britain and France, already at odds over post-Brexit trade rules and fishing rights.

When Britain left the EU, it was no longer able to use the bloc's system for returning migrants to the first member state they entered.
WASHINGTON  Many Republicans are spending the holidays planning for the congressional and gubernatorial elections of 2022  especially Donald Trump and other Republicans who are thinking of running for president in 2024.

The midterm elections are still more than 11 months away, but the Republican presidential race of early 2024 is well underway, a unique behind-the-scenes contest involving more than a dozen potential candidates and being conducted in the giant shadow of a volatile ex-president named Trump.

While still protesting his loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump plans to campaign for allies and against enemies in 2022. He is also giving out broad hints he may seek the presidency again in 2024  and the longer he waits to announce, the more others will think about jumping in.

At least 10 other Republicans are making the kinds of moves presidential aspirants make: high-profile speeches, book tours, political organizations, media interviews and visits to early delegate selection states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

But there is also one thing they are avoiding: Nearly all of the prospective candidates have declined to say whether they will challenge Trump directly should he decide to run.

Like most political professionals, they are waiting to see what happens.

"I don't know that he's going to run," former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told CNN. "I don't know whether I'm going to run."

The list of possible non-Trump candidates includes former aides and advisers (such as Mike Pence, Christie, Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley); a sprinkling of GOP governors (Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem and Chris Sununu, among others), and some Republican senators (including Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz).

More: In a hypothetical 2024 match, Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by double digits in Iowa Poll

Related: Gloomy landscape for Democrats in midterms as Biden's approval drops to 38% in USA TODAY/Suffolk poll

All would be underdogs to Trump, who leads early Republican polling ahead of 2024.

"You get a lot of people who want Trump to run again," said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist who is conducting a series of focus groups of GOP voters. "If Trump runs, he freezes the field for most of these candidates, and they don't run."

And how many candidates will there be if Trump doesn't run?

"So many," Longwell said. "A wide open field."

Former VP Mike Pence

Former Vice President Mike Pence has been perhaps the most active non-Trump candidate  despite his historic falling out with Trump.

Pence refused Trump's demands that he toss out Biden electoral votes in certain states as Congress certified the 2020 election, the event that triggered the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Despite continuing criticism from Trump and allies, Pence has set up an issue advocacy organization  Advancing American Freedom  and given speeches in places like Iowa and South Carolina.

Pence has a busy holiday season. Next week, he delivers a speech on his opposition to abortion, one day before the U.S. Supreme Court holds a hearing on the subject. On Dec. 8, he has two events scheduled: a speech criticizing Biden's economic plans and another speech at a state Republican Party fundraiser in ... New Hampshire.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 24, 2020, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

When an audience member in Iowa asked Pence who persuaded him to "buck" Trump over the vote certification, Pence responded that it was "James Madison ... father of the Constitution."

Former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie

Christie, the former New Jersey governor as well as occasional Trump adviser, is promoting his presidential ambitions through a tried-and-true tactic: the book tour.

In interviews for his book  "Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden"  Christie has criticized Trump for his false claims about "voter fraud" in 2020.

Christie, who was the first 2016 presidential candidate to endorse Trump after dropping out, has given mixed signals about whether he run against the ex-president. "Let's see who he is and what he says and how he conducts himself," Christie told CNN.

He also said: "In 2021, the idea of making predictions for 2024 is folly."

More: Mike Pence looks at the 2024 presidential race but sees Donald Trump everywhere

Related: Chris Christie writes Mike Pence was stunned on election night  and other not-so-flattering things in his new book

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo served as Trump's secretary of state. The former congressman from Kansas has set up a political action committee  "Champion American Values"  to help conservative candidates in 2022 and beyond.

Next year's elections are his focus, Pompeo told radio station KCCI during a September visit to Iowa, and then "we'll turn our attention to the next election after that."

Like other quasi-candidates, however, Pompeo has been meeting with donors and talking like a candidate.

As far back as March, when Fox News host Sean Hannity asked if he would run for president if Trump didn't, Pompeo said: "I'm always up for a good fight ... I care deeply about the American conservative movement for an awfully long time now. I aim to keep at it."

Surrounded by lawmakers, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the end of a legislative session, Friday, April 30, 2021, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is probably the most prominent of the Republican governors who are pondering presidential bids. The former congressman has been particularly vocal about the COVID pandemic, working against the Biden administration's requirements for masks and vaccinations. He has also echoed Trump's calls for "election integrity."

DeSantis has also downplayed 2024 speculation for a very important reason: He's up for re-election in 2022 in a state that remains closely divided. DeSantis won the 2018 governor's race by less than 1 percentage point.

The publicity surrounding DeSantis' performance as governor has made him perhaps the most high-profile non-Trump candidate. The Florida governor scores well in presidential polls, though he and his aides have discouraged talk about 2024 because of his re-election battle in 2022.

"Im not considering anything beyond doing my job," DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity recently.

DeSantis' rise in the polls has triggered blowback from Trump and his allies. In an October interview with Yahoo Finance, Trump predicted that most GOP candidates would drop out if he runs, including DeSantis.

If I faced him, I'd beat him like I would beat everyone else, Trump said.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Donald Trump's actions after losing the election

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, has given mixed signals about Trump and her own prospective candidacy.

In April, Haley told the Associated Press that "I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it, In October, she told The Wall Street Journal she would consult with Trump when the time comes: I would talk to him and see what his plans are. I would tell him about my plans. We would work on it together.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem represents a small state but has demonstrated big ambitions.

Noem spoke at a pair of Conservative Political Action Conference meetings this year and has taken swipes at DeSantis and other potential rivals over their commitments to keep states open during the COVID pandemic.

The governor also faces re-election next year and has been subjected to criticism within the state. That includes allegations  denied by Noem  that she inappropriately helped her daughter obtain a real estate appraisal license.

N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu

The latest governor to enter the 2024 speculation pool is Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Sununu surprised Republicans across the country this month by announcing he would not run for the U.S. Senate and adding that he hasn't "ruled out going to Washington" in the future in a "management" position.

While forgoing a Senate race, Sununu has also criticized congressional Republicans for infighting  "I just think they have their priorities screwed up," he told CNN's "State of the Union  and suggested governors like himself should be the new party leaders.

As for the 2024 presidential race, Sununu did not deny interest. "People have asked me about that," he told CNN, but first he must win election to another gubernatorial term in 2022. "We will see what the future brings," Sununu said.

More: If Donald Trump faces criminal charges, analysts doubt it will hurt him with his base in 2024

Related: Budding rivalry pits Greg Abbott against Ron DeSantis in race to the right

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Some Republicans have hopes for other GOP governors, includingGreg Abbottof Texas, who has pushed conservative legislation on abortion and voting rights.

Abbott first faces re-election next year, including a Republican primary with at least two vocal conservative challengers. The governor does enjoy the endorsement of Trump himself.

Regarding the 2024 race, Abbott echoes Trump and many other Republican aspirants in saying he'll have to wait and see, a message he has been delivering for more than a year.

You know, one thing that you know about me, I take one step at a time, Abbott told talk show host Mark Davis on KSKY-AM in Dallas a year ago. The first step is to win re-election and after that, Mark, well see what happens.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan

If Hogan takes the plunge, he would be a rare Republican candidate: A Trump critic. Hogan has often criticized Trump for his attacks on fellow Republicans, a group that includes the Maryland governor himself.

Hogan is also the rare Republican who says he wouldn't mind challenging Trump directly should both decide to make bids.

If I decide that I want to run for president, it certainly wouldnt stop me that hes in the race, thats for sure, Hogan told Politico.

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas

Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas has been busy giving speeches, endorsing candidates and recruiting people for what looks like a presidential campaign operation, be it for 2024 or beyond.

During a September visit to Iowa, where he campaigned for local candidates, Cotton told Fox News he didn't want to speculate on "far off" elections, but is focused on GOP efforts to win back Congress.

"Those races and further off from that will work themselves out when we get there," Cotton said.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the last Republican candidate to drop out in 2016 before Trump claimed the nomination, has also said he is waiting to see how things play out.

A lot depends on Trump, he said.

During an appearance on CBS' Face The Nation, Cruz said "I have no idea what's going to happen in 2024," and added that Trump "is going to have to make a choice, first of all, whether he's going to run or not. I think if he chose to run, he would be very, very formidable."

The Texas conservative added that, "I can tell you that when I ran in 2016, we came incredibly close. I came in second. There's a long history of runner-ups becoming the next nominee."

Other potential GOP hopefuls: Rubio, Hawley, Tim Scott

Republicans are also talking up potential candidacies of other senators, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, a 2016 candidate who recently made a trip to Iowa; Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who backed Trump's election protest right before the Jan. 6 insurrection; and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the party's highest-ranking Black lawmaker.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks during the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications' 18th First Amendment Awards at the NH Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Manchester, N.H.

At least one House Republican is also in the speculative mix: Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

One of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot, Cheney is being challenged in a Republican primary by a Trump-backed candidate. As she campaigns for her job, Cheney is giving national speeches on the need for the GOP to move past Trump.

More: Liz Cheney's anti-Trump crusade will end her career or make her a White House contender

Will He or Won't He?

Not all of these candidates will wind up running, of course, and probably no more than half will ever take the plunge. Many of the non-Trump candidates are more likely seeking the vice presidential slot.

All of these quasi-candidates will be affected by Trump, who remains the party's most popular politician.

Also its most contentious.

A recent nationwide Marquette Law School poll found that 60% of Republicans want Trump to run for president again  and 40% of GOP members do not want him to run again.

The difference is stark among all potential voters  only 28% of respondents want to see Trump make another run for president, while 71% do not want to see him make another campaign.

While Trump is probably the favorite for the Republican nomination right now, analysts said a lot can change before primary votes are cast in early 2024.

Donald Trump's lawyers are fighting the release of documents related to the riot Jan. 6 at the Capitol.

For one thing, Trump is under investigation by prosecutors in New York for various financial dealings and in Georgia over efforts to pressure state officials into changing election results.

Some of the Republicans who don't want Trump to run again note that he lost the popular vote in two straight elections. Trump also lost the Electoral College to Biden in 2020, but many Republicans down the ballot out-polled him.

"My guess is that there are a bunch of people who want to vote Republican but simply won't if Trump is the nominee," Republican strategist Scott Jennings said.

That said, it looks right now that any non-Trump challenger would have a hard time defeating the ex-president.

"At the present I don't think any would stand much of a chance," Jennings said. "But there's a long way to go between now and then."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 presidential election: The Republicans who could challenge Trump
This is a flight one mom will never forget.

Liliana Castaneda Avilia gave birth to a baby girl after going into labor during a flight to Atlanta on Nov. 14.

Avilia, who said she was not due until Dec. 23, was heading back from visiting family in Mexico when she began having contractions, prompting a nurse onboard to help.

Analia Acevedo Castaneda was flying high after being born ... and then needed some time to sleep off the excitement. (Atlanta Airport)

He was like, Yeah, the baby girl is coming. Its on its way. And he was like, Dont try to push, because if you push more the baby will come out, so I held those contractions for like three hours and 30 minutes on the way here, Avilia told CNN.

Firefighters were summoned to the gate at the airport and rushed onto the plane as soon as they were able to do so.

Analia's birth is sure to be one her mom talks about for years to come. (Atlanta Airport)

The airplane was coming in exceedingly fast, faster than normal, so we knew it was an emergency, we knew people were nervous, firefighter Juanetta Nash said.

We knew what we were doing, we wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible, just putting ourself in her shoes, we knew that she was already very uncomfortable.

Avilia said the firefighters helped her deliver the baby, named Analia Acevedo Castaneda.

Atlanta firefighters raced to the scene to help Avilia give birth. (Atlanta Airport)

They were like, OK, are you ready to push? Im like, Yeah, Im ready to push. So I just pushed once and the baby girl came out crying.

Once she did deliver, one of the flight attendants got on the microphone and she was able to say, Hey we have a baby girl, and everybody started clapping, Nash said.

Related:
Marysville, CA (95901)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun during the morning will give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High 53F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low near 45F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. President of Russia Vladimir Putin assesses the fact that there are no large-scale military operations in the region as one of the greatest achievement, Putin said in a trilateral meeting with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

During this period really much has been done. Unfortunately, not all issues are resolved yet. I know also about the border incidents, the tragic incidents when people are killed and injured from both sides. We all should pay special attention to all these. In fact, that is the reason we have gathered today to avoid similar incidents in the future. But in general, quite much has been done in a year. First of all, large-scale hostilities are no longer taking place, which is already good. During this period, with our support, joint work has been carried out to return the refugees, 53 thousand refugees have already returned to their places of permanent residence. A good monitoring group has been set up, the peacekeeping unit is working, and as far as I understand, both sides assess that it is working with honor, ensuring safe living conditions for the people. The Russian-Turkish monitoring center is also working. But the most important thing is that conditions are being created for a future peaceful life. This is the important thing, ARMENPRESS reports Putin as saying.

The Russian President reminded that there is a trilateral working group co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, which deals with the unblocking of economic and transport communications in the region.

My colleagues reported to me on the process of the work. It is difficult, but, nevertheless, this work is moving forward; there are grounds to presume that in the near future we will be able not only to approve the work of the relevant group for unblocking transport communications, but also to make the necessary decisions. I think that this is the goal of all our efforts, that is, to create conditions for the revival of the region, for that people there can feel safe, be able to engage in the economy, to develop their economy. And all this, of course, should have the most favorable impact on the living standards of citizens, Putin said.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

Some commentators and Twitterers insist that they be called 'humans, not migrants'

In rich summer the foliage

Hides the wood I glimpse and dwell on

Outside my skylight.

But as autumn rots the leaves

I know that once again the bare branches

Will pronounce in a perfect catapult

Of two upheld fingers

Distinct and bare as winter comes

Telling me to er leave the stage and have sex.

From Bum Bum Boley by Bachchoo

As I write, 30 more men, women and children have drowned in the English Channel trying to cross it from France in an unsafe rubber dingy. It was 28 deaths two days ago.

The headlines and several ministers refer, with literal justification, to these channel-crossers as migrants. Some commentators and Twitterers insist that they be called humans, not migrants.

Why they attempt this crossing, risking their lives and paying excruciating sums to people-traffickers is, gentle reader, not difficult to fathom. We live in a broken world.

Here is wintry London, with the yellow leaves of the autumnal plane trees littering the streets, where there may be a shortage of Heavy Goods Vehicle drivers and so a shortage of petrol at the pumps. There may be certain imports of fruit and vegetables unavailable on the supermarket shelves. And in the countryside on the pig farms which normally send the animals to orderly slaughter to be turned into pork, bacon and sausages, there are not enough vets to certify their suitability for such slaughter and not enough butchers to do the deed. Pig farmers call it an unprecedented crisis and blame Brexit for preventing such vets and butchers coming over from the Continent to work in Britain. And so with the harvesting of vegetables and fruit crops  not enough foreign hands to pluck. More seriously, Brexit has caused a shortage of health service staff  from doctors, to nurses, auxiliaries and ambulance drivers

I could go on with this list, which is seen by the nation as a crisis. But are any of these discomforts, which may be life-threatening for some and merely expensive for the many, comparable to what is happening in Afghanistan, Syria, Ethiopia, Iraq and perhaps twenty other conflict-torn countries and areas of the world?

Those are the places from which these refugees, migrants, channel-crossers, these humans, are fleeing.

Or most of them. There are others, young men by their thousands, who despair of their lives in countries such as Iraq or the Congo and want to get to Europe and build a better life there. These are regarded and even classified as economic migrants, and are looked down upon.

How times have changed! In the same week that the BBC reported at length on deaths in the Channel, on the assigned task of the British Coast Guard and the Royal Navy to rescue those boats or send them back to France, there were photographs of a shipload of smiling Caribbean men in suits on and around the gang plank of a ship that arrived in a British harbour.

This famous ship was called the Empire Windrush. The smiling men were migrants imported from the West Indies in the 1950s by the then Conservative government to fill in for the labour shortages that post-war Britain was experiencing. They would fill the vacant jobs, driving underground trains, working in the National Health Service as nurses and on the night shifts in factories.

The photographs of the smiling, welcome migrants were on TV because in 2018, fifty years after the Windrush brought them to Britain, the UK Home Office accused their children and grandchildren of being illegal immigrants because they hadnt, through negligence or because they never felt the need, registered for British passports. Some of them were as a consequence detained and 83 were deported. It was scandalous and

Amber Rudd, the Conservative minister who was in charge, pleaded that the detentions and deportations resulted from the Home Office records of their arrival having been destroyed. She then resigned.

And now, in November 2021, the media says that a committee of Members of Parliament has published a report which claims that under the incomparable leadership of Priti Clueless Patel, only one in twenty of the victims of the 2018 Windrush injustice and debacle in which people were detained, lost their jobs, lost their homes, etc, have been financially compensated. So, five per cent efficiency on Clueless watch. The media also reported that Home Office civil servants have, with the protection of anonymity, told the newspapers that Clueless is a moron with idiotic and outlandish ideas.

Clueless was, perhaps erroneously, reported as having mooted the idea that there ought to be wave machines in the Channel so that the migrant boats would, through fear of certain overturning, be deterred from attempting the crossing. There was also a report that she wanted to send all the migrants to the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic, where Napoleon Bonaparte was imprisoned and died. It is clear that under her leadership, the accommodation and processing of migrants, or humans, is a mess  principally because she wants to follow the nasty Tory policy of appearing to be tough on Johnny Foreigner settling in the UK.

Meanwhile, the election-rigging President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has encouraged thousands of migrants to be imported by plane to Minsk and then transported to the border of Belarus with Poland to try and cross over into the European Union. Again, humans as political weaponry. For shame!
Prime minister also said that the constitutional spirit is hurt when political parties lose their democratic character

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind walk towards central hall of the parliament for a joint session to observe the country's Constitutional Day, in New Delhi, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. (AP/Manish Swarup)

New Delhi: Dynastic parties are a matter of concern to people committed to the Constitution and are against the spirit of democracy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday at a Constitution Day event in Parliament.

Modi also paid tributes to security personnel who lost their lives during the November 26, 2008, terror attacks in Mumbai.

"Dynastic parties are matter of concern to people committed to the Constitution Look at dynastic political parties from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, this is against the democratic spirit," Modi said.

"If a party is run for generations by a family and the entire party system is with a family then that is the biggest problem for a healthy democracy," he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

He also said that the constitutional spirit is hurt when political parties lose their democratic character.

The event, which was organised as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate 75 years of India's independence, was boycotted by opposition parties.

Modi, however, said the function was not organised by the government, but by an institution.
In a late night coup on Wednesday, Mr Sangma along with 11 other Congress MLAs, including ex-Assembly speaker Charles Pyngrope, joined TMC

The speculation on Mr Sangma joining Trinamool Congress was rife since last month when he met TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata. (DC File Image)

Guwahati: A day after joining the Trinamul Congress with 11 legislators in Delhi, former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma said on Thursday that he took a conscious decision to quit the Congress because it failed to make its presence felt as the main Opposition party of the country.

Talking to reporters in Shillong, Mr Sangma said, Today is a very momentous occasion for Meghalaya. With utmost sense of humility but complete sense of responsibility and commitment towards fulfilling our responsibility, we have taken a decision to merge with the Trinamul Congress.

He asserted, A complete sense of commitment towards serving the people of the frontier state has brought us to take this decision. In the 2018 Assembly elections, we were confident of forming the government but we could not. Again, post-poll there were activities to poach our members.

In a late night coup on Wednesday, Mr Sangma along with 11 other Congress MLAs, including ex-Assembly speaker Charles Pyngrope, joined the Trinamool Congress in Meghalaya, dealing a major blow to the Congress party. Of the 12 MLAs, eight are from Garo Hills while four are from Khasi Jaintia Hills.

Mr Sangma was not happy over the way Congress chief decided to appoint Shillong Lok Sabha MP Vincent H Pala as the state Congress chief in September.

The Congress in Meghalaya on Thursday described 12 of its 17 MLAs, including the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, joining the Trinamool Congress as a "big jolt", but asserted that the party will stage a comeback in 2023 when the next Assembly election is due in the state.

Mr Vincent H Pala said, "There is nothing wrong with the party but something is certainly wrong with those who deserted it and joined the TMC."

Denying reports that Mr Sangma was unhappy at his taking over as the state party chief, Mr Pala said it is not a sudden move by the former CM.

"Mukul had clearly stated that it (desertion) didn't happen suddenly. It started two years back. We knew this will happen. We are prepared for this," he told reporters.

The speculation on Mr Sangma joining Trinamool Congress was rife since last month when he met TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata.

With the latest political development, the Trinamool Congress has become the main Opposition party in the Meghalaya House despite not winning any seat in 2018 elections to the 60-member Assembly.

It is significant that all the defecting MLAs of Meghalaya also submitted a letter to Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh around 10 pm on Wednesday, informing him of their change of status. Those who signed the letter of merger include Mr Sangmas wife Dikkanchi D. Shira, his daughter Miani D. Shira and his younger brother and former minister Zenith Sangma.

The other signatories are former Assembly Speaker Charles Pyngrope, former minister Shitlang Pale, former State Congress Working President Marthon D Sangma, besides George B. Lyngdoh, Himalaya Shangpliang, Jimmy D. Sangma, Winnerson D. Sangma and Lazarus M. Sangma also signed the letter.

All eyes are now on Meghalaya Assembly Speaker as he is expected to take a call on the defection of 12 Congress MLAs to the Trinamool Congress unit in the state and also the appointment of former chief minister Mukul Sangma as the Leader of Opposition.

I have received a letter of merger signed by 12 Congress legislators late Wednesday night. I have not accepted it so far. I am yet to examine it and I will follow the procedures as enshrined in the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, the Speaker told reporters.
Acting as a tourist, Guanguan travelled to various locations to check on detention camps existence. He found 18 different locations in operation and one abandoned. Ethnic Han Chinese have confirmed the existence of forced labour. The EU renews its sanctions against Chinas repression of its Turkic speaking population.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  A 30-year-old Chinese vlogger has filmed a number of detention centres in Xinjiang, ostensibly holding hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims.

Pretending to be a tourist, Guanguan reportedly travelled to the province in 2020 to verify the existence of the concentration camps as claimed by western media.

According to the United Nations, various humanitarian groups, and independent researchers, China placed more than a million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Kyrgyz in camps, described by local authorities as vocational training facilities, starting in 2017.

In his video, which has been on YouTube since 1 October, Guanguan says he wants to fill in the gaps caused by the lack of information about Xinjiang. Owing to Chinese restrictions, foreign journalists cannot easily report or conduct interviews in the autonomous region

The vlogger went to the locations named by researchers, identified as re-education camps, detention centres or prisons.

In addition, he used the GPS coordinates of 260 detention sites identified by Buzzfeed, and used satellite images and information found on the web as part of his research.

In the provincial capital of Urumqi and other places in Xinjiang, the "citizen journalist" filmed some highly protected sites, with walls extending for hundreds of metres, plus watchtowers and barbed wire.

Guanguan also looked at the issue of forced labour, which he had also heard about from ethnic Han, Chinas majority ethnic group, living in Xinjiang.

Since he risked prison time for divulging state secrets, Guanguan fled to the United States.

According to Nathan Ruser, a researcher with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), the Chinese vlogger filmed 18 different concentration camps in operation and one abandoned facility.

The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union have imposed sanctions on China over its repression against the Uyghurs.

On Wednesday, the permanent ambassadors to the EU gave the green light to renew punitive measures against four senior officials and a government body in Xinjiang.

The decision will be formally adopted next month, but for now it excludes the ratification of an investment treaty signed in December 2020 by the European Union and China.

The Chinese government responded to EU sanctions with its own countermeasures against European officials and entities.
by Shafique Khokhar

The event, organised by the Centre for Social Justice, brought together representatives of Pakistans civil society and various religious communities. For Church of Pakistan Bishop Azad Marshall, it is important to go beyond the conference itself and look at root causes.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  A National Conference on the Future of Interfaith Relations was held on Tuesday in Lahore under the auspices of the Centre for Social Justice, an advocacy association that brings together experts from various sectors to promote the rights of marginalised groups in Pakistan,

Representatives of civil society groups, activists, lawyers, journalists, political officials and leaders of religious minorities took part in the event.

Bishop Azad Marshall, moderator of the Church of Pakistan, stressed the need to learn from the successes achieved by the University of Al-Azhar in Egypt and the Centre for Friendship in the United Arab Emirates, following the signing of the controversial Abraham Accords between Israel and some Gulf states.

Bishop Marshall also highlighted the importance for political leaders to go beyond the conference itself and look at the root causes shaping the complex relationships between communities.

Pakistan has always been home to multiple cultural, ethnic and religious communities," said professor and economist Qais Aslam. Its constitution recognises the right to equal opportunities for everyone, he added.

This means respecting the diversity of culture, ethnicity, gender and religious beliefs in order to build a more progressive and economically viable Pakistan where our children can live in harmony and peace.

For lawyer Saroop Ijaz, our constitutional framework provides a template for peaceful and harmonious co-existence  unfortunately not all of our laws adhere to that framework. That has to change. The implementation of existing laws needs to be improved.

For sociologist Rzivi Jafree, there is a complex linear relationship between the low socio-economic status of religious minorities in Pakistan and high levels of religious intolerance. Addressing and improving tolerance through interfaith harmony is the first step forward to improving the status of religious minorities in the country.

Finally, Fr James Channan, a well-known peace activist, spoke about the importance of interfaith dialogue.

In his view, Encounters among people of different religions are a must to overcome the tensions and divisions that cause violence, hatred and discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and religion in our society.

To this end, an interfaith approach an help create a tolerant and peaceful civil society, he explained. Meanwhile, Our government has already taken some steps towards this, but needs to do much more to make our country very peaceful and harmonious.
Behind the proclamations of dialogue and development, the shadow of an opaque financial policy revealed by the "Pandora papers". A free zone for laundering dirty money and doing business even used by companies linked to the Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei. Economic interests outmatch regional, political and confessional issues.

Dubai (AsiaNews) - The beating heart and strategic center of regional and international commerce, capable of excelling despite fierce competition, the dialoguing face of Islam and the scene in these months of Expo2020, postponed for a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dubai, and more generally the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are perhaps the jewel in the crown of the new wealth projected towards the future that now pervades many nations of the Middle East, especially the Gulf States. They are focusing on finance, technological innovation and the third sector to overcome their decades-long dependence on oil and hydrocarbons.

However, the grand statements are counterbalanced by a certain opacity in terms of financial transparency. The veil has been lifted on the affairs which revolve around the Emirates and the royal families in power by the recently published inquiry "Pandora papers", the fruit of lengthy research and analysis of documents by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The investigation also reveals the other side of the Emirates: a very rich fiscal and corporate paradise which conceals within itself many free zones where it is possible to do business and manage assets in complete anonymity, as well as launder "dirty" money, without paying taxes and benefiting from the protection of the top management.

Thousands of prominent personalities take advantage of this shield, from sport to economy; however, among the names that emerge is also that of the Iranian supreme guide, the great Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - with a company traceable to him - in theory he, a Shiite, the first rival of the great Sunni monarchies of the Gulf.

The UAE host a flourishing trade based on financial secrecy, marked by offshore companies that mask the identities of their real owners. And they exploit a regulatory system that is famous for its motto, "Ask no questions, tell no lies" for money tied up in smuggling gold, weapons and criminal proceeds. The more than 11.9 million files in the Pandora Papers include about 190 thousand confidential writings of SFM Corporate Services, an Emirati company described as "the world's number one offshore company training provider." SFM is one of thousands of companies that help clients incorporate companies, including hard-to-trace ones, and boasts a global network of lawyers, accountants and traders who enrich the trade.

Icij's investigative journalists have identified nearly 3,000 names in the Emirates, British Virgin Islands and other offshore financial centers that have been incorporated with the help or thanks to SFM's services. Among the beneficiaries are gold magnates, internet tycoons, dark web entrepreneurs and at least twenty people accused of financial crimes or misdemeanors.

For years, the company operated on the sixteenth floor of the H Hotel at number one Sheikh Zayed Road, a building owned by Sheik Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, former national security advisor and brother of Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and candidate for the presidency of the Emirates.

The files show that the prime minister of the Emirates is connected - through two companies in the British Virgin Islands - to the founder of Dark Matter, a cybersecurity company accused of spying on human rights activists and government officials in multiple countries.

Finally, the interest for business becomes even stronger than regional, political and confessional contrasts: from the files emerged from the archives of SFM, confirmed by some employees in an anonymous way, links with Iranian clients and other nations affected by US sanctions emerge.

The company had two companies owned by a German citizen of Iranian origin named Abdolhadi Tabibi, former director of GIC International, a subsidiary of Ghadir Investment, part of a multi-billion dollar foundation under the direct control of Khamenei. A game of Chinese boxes that, in spite of facade rivalries, economically binds the great Shiite ayatollah with the most important Sunni monarchy of the Gulf.
by Giorgio Licini*

Rioters continue to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sogavare, also for being pro-Beijing. Casualties have been reported in the capital's Chinatown. Both public and private buildings, shops, and police stations have been set on fire. The prime minister refuses to give in to rioters.

Port Moresby (AsiaNews)  From the high ground where Honiaras Cathedral of the Holy Cross is located, Father Mark Misiwasi has seen for the past three days smoke rise from the Chinese quarter of the capital of the Solomon Islands.

Unrest began on Wednesday when protesters from different provinces, especially Malaita, held a protest at the National Parliament demanding the immediate resignation of the prime minister and the government.

The Solomons are not new to ethnic and political unrest. In 2017 the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) pulled out after re-establishing order and reducing tensions between Malaita natives and other Solomon Islanders; especially in Honiara, where they live together.

When Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare returned to power in 2019, dissatisfaction was rekindled. Mr Sogavare has been a polarising figure, incapable of ensuring national harmony.

People on Malaita, home to a third of the countrys population, have criticised him above all for cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of China.

Malaita and its governor, Daniel Suidani, have close relations with Taipei, while Sogavare is more interested in business in the capital.

Other provinces are also demanding a change in government, especially Guadalcanal where Honiara is located.

Although governors are urging Islanders to calm down, along with the opposition, they do not trust the government.

Australian police have been on the streets of Honiara since this morning. Tomorrow a contingent from Papua New Guinea is set to be deployed. Almost a hundred officers from the two countries will back Solomon authorities for a few weeks.

Young people in the western part of the capital, near the airport, joined the police trying to impose calm and reason with people, Fr Misiwasi said.

In the east however, the situation is tragic, with the threat of a new march on the central bank.

In the morning, the prime minister's residence was partly set on fire; In the previous two days, rioters attacked private homes, large and small shops, school buildings, a branch of the South Pacific Bank, and several police stations.

There are unconfirmed reports of three deaths, a Chinese person and two locals, who died in a fire that engulfed a building in Honiara's Chinatown.

"There is no way to reason with people, said Fr Misiwasi, deputy secretary of the countrys Catholic Bishops' Conference, which includes three dioceses.

It is incredible how not only young people, but also seniors, women, children get caught up in group hysteria, causing destruction and looting.

In all likelihood, not only ethnic and political factors have played a role, but so has despair resulting from youth unemployment and poverty in urban areas.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Solomon authorities closed the country to the rest of the world for the past year and a half. The strategy has been proven successful but at an inevitable cost for the economy.

What is more, many have long accused Sogavare, a four-time prime minister, of favouring foreigners over locals in 20 years of political career.

The Anglican Archbishop of Melanesia, Rev Leonard Dawea, head of the largest Christian denomination in the Solomon Islands, immediately appealed to islanders to end the violence and looting.

"Until protesters stop burning buildings, it is even dangerous to issue an appeal. There is a risk of being misunderstood and suffer heavy consequences without achieving anything," Fr Misiwasi explained.

There are no reports of unrest outside the capital, this according to Mgr Peter Houhou, the Catholic bishop of Auki on Malaita.

The Archbishop of Honiara, Italian-American Chris Cardone OFP, and the Bishop of Gizo,[*] Mgr Luciano Capelli SDB, from Italy, were moved to the King Solomon Hotel yesterday from the Pacific Hotel, which is Chinese-owned and managed.

The two were supposed to complete their mandatory quarantine period today after returning from their respective countries of origin with the first post-COVID-19 flight from Australia, a couple of weeks ago.

It is not clear how much local religious leaders, who have traditionally worked together, can help promote reconciliation in the country. In the short term, the problem remains strictly political.

In an earnest statement released yesterday, Sogavare said that he would bend only to the will of Parliament, not protesters; however, in the current situation, the latter are not only demonstrating, but are also burning and destroying causing serious harm to individuals, businesses and the government itself.

*Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands

[*] In the northwestern part of the country.
Cardinal Yeom donated relics from the first Korean martyr to the Diocese of Koupela. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the saints birth. The relics will be kept at a parish church, renovated thanks to the offerings collected by Korean Catholics.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  Relics of the first Korean priest, the martyr St. Andrew Kim, whose birth 200 years ago is celebrated this year, will be kept in Africa, at St Joseph parish, Archdiocese of Koupela, Burkina Faso.

This is meant to stress the missionary bond between Korean Catholics and the St Joseph community whose church was recently renovated thanks to offerings collected in the parish of Yeouido, Archdiocese of Seoul.

Card Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, the retiring archbishop of the South Korean capital, handed over the relics to Mgr Julien Kabore, charge d'affaires at the apostolic nunciature in the Philippines, who hails from the Archdiocese of Koupela.

Cardinal Yeom will soon retire from his episcopal post, replaced by Mgr Chung Soon-taick.

I am very pleased to be given the opportunity to build fraternal solidarity between the Catholic Church in Korea and Burkina Faso through St Andrew Kim, Card yeom said. I believe that it will allow us to be more deeply united in the love of God.

For his part, Mgr Kabore said: It is such a great honour to enshrine the remains of St Andrew Kim at a cathedral in Burkina Faso. This is a sign of unity and the communion of saints.

For the Burkinabe-born Vatican diplomat, the story of the Korean martyrs impressed immensely during his previous posting at the apostolic nunciature in Seoul, so much so that he asked Card Yeom for such a gift from the Catholic community of his country.
To understand how badly the brand is doing nowadays, you need to open a new browser tab and check the U.S. configurator. Only the 500X is listed there, a small crossover twinned with the Jeep Renegade. Unveiled in 2014 at the Paris Motor Show, the subcompact utility vehicle prepares for 2022 with minimal changes from the outgoing model. As the headline implies, the biggest novelty comes in the guise of a pompously-named special edition.What makes the Yacht Club Capri special, though? Based on the Sport grade, this version stands out with the help of Venezia blue paintwork, 18-inch wheels featuring a unique design, a blue soft top, ivory leather seats with blue piping, woodgrain dashboard inserts, a satin-finished shifter, and satin-finished exterior trim. Seriously, thats all there is to this crossover.Named after the island of Capri, the special edition is rocking the same 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine as every other 500X. There are four grades to choose from in total: Pop, Trekking, Sport, and Trekking Plus.Dubbed GSE for Global Small Engine, the powerplant cranks out 177 horsepower and 210 pound-feet (285 Nm) of torque. All trims feature a nine-speed automatic, the infamous 9HP thats widely known for noisy operation, rough shifting, and one too many recalls to list here. Designed by ZF Friedrichshafen and produced in the United States, this gearbox is also used by the Honda Passport, Jaguar E-Pace, and the Nissan Pathfinder. Fiat hasnt announced how much the 2022 model costs, not even the MSRP of the Yacht Club Capri special edition. For the sake of future reference, the 2021 model starts at $25,945 for the Pop and $31,185 for the Trekking Plus, excluding the $1,495 destination charge. Speaking of which, did you know the Jeep Wagoneer and more luxurious Jeep Grand Wagoneer currently flaunt the highest destination charge in the United States of America at $2,000?
Over twenty years after the original, Top Gun has a new movie coming out in the series. Starring Tom Cruise, it's for sure there will be a lot of quality action scenes.But not everyone is just as thrilled as Cruise to jump at any action scene. His co-star for Top Gun: Maverick, Jennifer Connely , just revealed that she actually feared flying. The actress talked about the second installment of the beloved franchise, which was supposed to hit theaters in 2019, but had been postponed several times. She described her character, Penny Benjamin, as optimistic, but obviosuly, not very brave.Initially, her character wasnt supposed to have any flying scenes in the movie. There is though a scene where Penny and Maverick travel by air in a North American P-51 Mustang. And she found out on the spot that she'd be up in the air with Tom Cruise. Although she wasnt part of the original movie, Connelly gets to play Mavericks love interest instead of Kelly McGillis, who isnt a part of the sequel.Connelly revealed during an interview with 'Amazing Magazine' via The Daily Mail that she had worked her way out of her flying phobia right before filming the movie. Taking into account just how much actors have to travel for work, whether for filming or premieres, the actress shared she had to get to the bottom of it.Her reward was getting to enjoy flying next to one of the most adventurous Hollywood actors, who seems to be fearless. And she didn't even know that was in store for her.Just recently, Cruise worked on his flying skills on a Boeing B75N1 Stearman biplane while getting ready to start filming for Mission: Impossible 8.Although initially slated for release in July 2019, Top Gun: Maverick will hit theaters on May 22, 2022.
SUV

Lets set the record straight. We easily understand that most creations stemming from the hands of the luxury car specialists from Brand, Germany, arent everyones cup of tea. On the other hand, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. So, what appears as outrageous to someone is music to ones ears and eye candy for others.Otherwise, people wouldnt spend high six-figure money on dressing up the latest luxury ride in Mansory garb for nothing. And when we say high, we usually refer to something north of $500k in the case of full commissions stemming from the vaults of Los Angeles, California-based Platinum Motorsport Group.We have seen plenty of Mansory rides from them and whatnot (including Kim Kardashians fleet), but every time another creation comes out of the hands of these leading designers & creators of high-end automotive culture and lifestyle, we usually dont end up with mixed feelings. Well, its a different matter on this occasion.Although some of their projects do feel outrageous, they usually strike a fine balance between beauty and beast. This time around, though, they only nailed it 91%. Why this exact figure? Because this 2022 Rolls-Royce Cullinan touches almost to the letter the well-known murdered-out look. About everything is black, from the exterior paintjob right down to the interior treatment. That way, all the well-known Mansory exaggerations are well tamed.This ultra-luxuryeven rides closer to the ground than Rolls-Royce intended, which is only fitting for the dark atmosphere. But there is that 9% catch. For me, the silver badges (1%), four humongous wheels (4%), and especially the plain ugly exhaust tips (final 4%) robbed this Mansory Cullinan of achieving a potentially perfect customization score.
kWh

EV

NIOs CEO, William Li, said the best description for these new cells was this one we mentioned shortly after promising the 150battery pack at NIO Day. Although it looks massive, the battery pack will not be larger than those already used by the company in its swapping system. If it were, it would not fit cars other than the ET7, which does not make sense for NIOs strategy.According to what Li said at the time, this semi-SSB would comprise in-situ solidified solid-liquid electrolyte, inorganic pre-lithiated carbon-silicon anode, and nano-scale ultra-high nickel cathode. The NIO CEO also said that it would have an energy density of 360 Wh/kg. Well probably have more details about this solid-liquid electrolyte when NIO starts using the new cell by Q4 2022.Solid State Lion is the company that would supply these semi-SSBs to NIO. The Chinesemaker is directly involved with the battery startup. As CNEVPost points out, Zeng Shuxiang is a director of Solid State Lion. He also happens to be the CEO of XPT, NIO's electric drive division.Thanks to NIOs trust in its tech, Huawei and Xiaomi have also invested in Solid State Lion, aka WeLion. The technology could be useful both to their mobile phones and to their new ventures with electric cars.What made things a little less clear was a recent announcement from Gotion (Guoxua) High-Tech that it would supply semi-SSBs to a luxury manufacturer. They would be used in a new car able to run more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) on a single full charge. The description fits the NIO ET7 perfectly.Either Gotion or Solid State Lion will supply these cells to NIO, or they have reached an agreement for Gotion to produce the cells conceived by Solid State Lion. As a startup, it may lack the manufacturing capacity necessary to supply a carmaker. Whoever will deliver this to NIO  and if it really does  that should be the best cell for EVs until authentic solid-state batteries arrive somewhere between 2024 and 2025.
The AIR4 is described by its makers as a reinterpretation of the 4L that can fly and it was born out of the realization that down here the traffic is growing, while the world above us is still unhampered, offering endless opportunities.It is made entirely of carbon fiber and, in terms of design, it follows the same lines and shapes as the car that inspired it, but it is adapted for the sky, accommodating concepts as thrust and lift.Engineered and assembled entirely in France, the flying car has four two-blade propellers instead of wheels, with the access of the driver into the cabin of the AIR4 being made by lifting the front-hinged shell. The propellers can generate 95 kg (209 lb) of vertical thrust each, which means a total of 380 kg (837 lb).As for performance figures, the flying car reaches a horizontal top speed of 26m/s (85 ft per second), with a maximum inclination of 70 degrees. Altitude-wise, the AIR4 can fly at up to 700 m (2,296 ft), with a take-off speed of 14m/s (46 ft per second). But for safety reasons, that speed is restricted to 4m/s (13 ft per second). The flying car is powered by 22,000mAh lithium-polymer batteries.Next on the agenda after the digital presentation of the AIR4 flying car is for the vehicle to go on public display for the whole world to admire. Visitors will be able to see it showcased starting next Monday, in the center of Paris, at the Atelier Renault on the Champs Elysees. The AIR4 will stay there until the end of this year. Then, in 2022, it will travel to Miami and New York.
According to the state-backed Beijing Daily newspaper, Tesla is looking to expand its production in its Shanghai factory from December to April next year. Reuters reported that the Chinese daily backed the information on documents filed by Tesla with the Shanghai government.Tesla seems optimistic with its Shanghai-based factory. Recently Elon Musk stated that the factory was producing more cars than its factory in Fremont, California. He added that the factory produced the best quality units at a low cost and low drama.Tesla hit a new sales high in October in China outpacing its local competitors in the Asian market. The electric vehicle giant shipped about 56,000 vehicles from its Shanghai plant that according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), were for the domestic market.CPCA in September also reported that Tesla exported a little over 3,800 Chinese-made units, a dramatic decline from the 31,379 out of 44,264 units it exported in August to the European market. Bloomberg reported that the drop in exports is a pattern of the U.S electric car company prioritizing overseas exports in the first half of the quarter.According to CNBC, Musk, through a virtual conference in September, had promised to continue expanding R&D investment in China.Tesla is also making expansions in other locations including, Berlin, Germany, and Austin, Texas. The electric vehicle company is planning to spend at least $1.06 billion on the Texas Gigafactory. It hopes to complete it by the end of the year, CNBC reported.The Tesla move in China comes at a time the Chinese government has made plans to allow foreign companies to set up their facilities in the country.
Back in 2008, the Brazilian government awarded Airbus a contract for 50 H225M helicopters, which would be operated by three different armed forces. Until now, 39 of them have been delivered, after being assembled locally by Helibras, the Brazilian subsidiary of Airbus Helicopters. The latest one to be delivered is certainly special because it boasts what the manufacturer describes as the most complex configuration that has ever been produced for this multirole helicopter.This impressive naval combat configuration includes a tactical radar, a Naval Tactical Data Management System (N-TDMS), a countermeasure system (the EWS IDAS-3), plus MBDA Exocet AM39 B2M2 missiles. With all of these capabilities , the combat aircraft is set to become an important asset for the Brazilian Navy, which will deploy the H225M in anti-surface warfare missions and maritime surveillance operations from the naval base in Sao Pedro d'Aldeia.Apart from this naval combat configuration, the H225M is also built for all-weather capability, including icy conditions, and it features a night vision goggle compatibility. This versatile helicopter can operate anywhere, anytime, from both land or sea. Its already remarkable 700-nautical mile (805 miles/1,296 km) range can be extended through air-to-air or hover in-flight refueling. In addition to the powerful Makila 2A1 engines, the aircraft is equipped with a five-blade rotor that stands out due to an extremely low level of vibration.This multirole helicopter was designed for a wide variety of situations, including military operations such as special operations, tactical transport, and medical evacuation, as well as public service missions, ranging from search and rescue, and firefighting, to coast guard and exclusive economic zone protection.
One of the current goals in the maritime industry is to accelerate the transition toward clean energy alternatives. According to Kongsberg Maritime, a power system specialist, theres a growing demand for advanced wind propulsion in shipping.The company has recently launched a partnership with Norsepower, the developer of the modern Rotor Sail solution, in order to offer ship owners and shipyards an effective and simple technology. Norsepowers Rotor Sail is described as a push-button wind propulsion solution, because its so easy to implement. The package consists of the sails (which come in various heights, depending on the type of vessel), a fully-automatic control system that adjusts the forward thrust of the sails, a control panel for the captain, and a low-voltage electrical power supply.The main principle of the Rotor Sail is that, when the wind is strong enough, the system automatically detects that and kicks the sails into gear, allowing the engines to be throttled back.The system is automatic, using a variable electric drive system to rotate the Rotor Sail, and doesnt require additional efforts from the crew. This way, the ship can maintain constant speed, while also saving fuel and cutting emissions. Rotor Sail claims to be ten times more efficient than conventional sails, because it uses a smaller sail area to produce more lift.This modern technology is based on the Flettner rotor, invented by Finnish engineer Sigurd Savonius, and then demonstrated by Anton Flettner, in an Atlantic crossing, back in 1926. Norsepower claims to have upgraded the original engineering system, so thats its even more effective and easy to operate.Earlier this month, Norsepower also won the prestigious Energy Globe Award for reducing shipping emissions. The Rotor Sail can lead to fuel savings of up to 20%, and it can be easily integrated on most types of cargo ships.
The U.S. administration has invited a total of 110 participants to the Summit for Democracy, a virtual event on December 9 and 10, which aims to help stop democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.

Only Armenia and Georgia have been invited from the South Caucasus region. The list of participants from among former Soviet nations also includes the three Baltic states  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Ukraine and Moldova. Russia has not been invited to the event.

Official Yerevan has confirmed that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will take part in the event held upon the initiative of the White House.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova have expressed Moscows negative attitude towards the U.S.-initiated event. Neither, however, mentioned Armenia specifically in this context.

The United States prefers to create new dividing lines, dividing nations at its discretion into good and bad, Peskov said.

Zakharova, too, said that the Summit for Democracy has a confrontational nature.

Political analyst Armen Baghdasarian sees a hidden reproach to Armenia, Russias key political and military ally in the region, behind the statements made in Moscow. He believes that Yerevan will have to balance its approach, reckoning with possible damage and benefits from the participation in the upcoming summit.

Armenia is in a situation when one way or another it has to coordinate its position with Moscow. It doesnt necessarily mean obeying Moscows orders. It only means to calculate whether or not the threats coming from Russia will be real in case of its participation in the U.S.-initiated summit and whether or not there will be support from the United States in case of its participation, and which is more important for Armenia. Frankly, I dont think that Armenias current political leaders are capable of making such calculations, the analyst said.

Meanwhile, a pro-government lawmaker in Yerevan said that Armenia did not take Russias reaction to the U.S.-initiated democracy summit as a hint that it should refuse to participate in it.

Anush Beghloyan, who sits on the Armenian parliaments foreign relations committee, said that Peskovs statement was about Russias relations with the West rather than Armenias participation in the event.

Asked whether Armenia has anyhow been told about Russias possible negative attitude, Beghloyan said: I dont have such information. I think it cannot be the case, since the Russian side also never conditions its relations with other countries with relations with its strategic partner.

During a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Armenia last week Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigorian condemned Azerbaijans actions along its border with Armenia as a blow against Armenian democracy. His remarks came amid deadly border clashes on November 16 in which at least seven Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed.

Yerevan and Baku accused each other of provoking the deadliest fighting since last years 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh that was also stopped through Russias mediation.

During his online press conference on Tuesday Pashinian emphasized that Azerbaijan is assailing Armenias independence, sovereignty, statehood and democracy. The Armenian leader said he will raise this issue too at the Summit of Democracy in December.

Azerbaijan and Turkey have not been invited to participate in the event.
The relevant lawsuit was submitted by a group of opposition lawmakers who find that the measure taken by Armenian authorities runs counter to the countrys constitution.

Against the background of a low COVID-19 vaccination rate in the country and a spiking number of coronavirus cases and fatalities resulting from the potentially deadly disease, Armenias Ministry of Health introduced some administrative measures last month in an attempt to speed up the inoculation campaign.

Since October 1 virtually all public- and private-sector employees refusing vaccination have been obliged to take coronavirus tests twice a month at their own expense.

During the opening of the hearings at the Constitutional Court on Thursday member of the opposition parliamentary Hayastan faction Aram Vardevanian said that the order of the health minister potentially affected 450,000 employees across Armenia, arguing that legal relations between employees and their employers should be regulated by labor laws rather than by a government officials order.

I think that issues like that must be solved at a different level, which is called legislation rather than an order, Vardevanian, who is a professional lawyer, said.

Anna Mkrtumian, a Ministry of Health representative at the trial, objected to that statement, saying that considering the pandemic and the importance of public health, the Ministry of Health has the right to issue corresponding orders.

Mkrtumian argued that the order complies with all the norms of Armenias constitution and does not violate human rights.

The Constitutional Court adjourned the examination of the oppositions claim as the hearing resumed on Friday.

Judge Arevik Petrosian submitted a motion to the court, proposing that information be requested from the government regarding the number of cases of noncompliance by workers with the ministers order since its execution began as well as the number of workers fired over that noncompliance.

The defendants representative said that the ministry does not possess such data as it is not a direct supervising body. She asked for at least five working days to provide that information.

The Court satisfied the request, adjourning the hearing until December 16.

The Armenian government says only about 14 percent of the countrys population of 3 million has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to date.

Experts estimate that 70 to 85 percent of the population has to be fully inoculated to reach the herd immunity threshold.

More than 7,400 people have died in Armenia from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in March last year.
In a statement Armenias Ministry of Defense said today that Azerbaijan handed over to the Armenian side two captives identified as 28-year-old Aren Aramian and 21-year-old Mihran Musayelian.

Earlier, the handover was reported by Azerbaijans State Commission on Captives and Missing Persons. It said that Aramian is a serviceman who was taken prisoner during November 16 clashes along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, while Musayelian is a civilian who had strayed into territory controlled by Azerbaijani soldiers.

The Azerbaijani agency said Aramian had received treatment in Baku. It did not elaborate.

On November 23, ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh reported that a resident of the village of Ashan in the regions Martuni district had lost his way and strayed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory.

Neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia have officially tied the handover of captives to the talks between their leaders in Russia.

During an online press conference on Tuesday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said that as many as 32 Armenian soldiers may have been taken prisoner by Azerbaijan as a result of the recent border fighting in which at least seven Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed.

Over a hundred Armenian POWs and other detainees have been repatriated from Azerbaijan since the end of hostilities in and around Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020.

Scores, however, continue to be held by Azerbaijan despite a ceasefire provision calling for the return of all captives and hostages.

Baku acknowledges that it continues to hold up to 40 Armenians that it says are being prosecuted for different alleged crimes against Azerbaijan.
Recent developments in the Black Sea and Caucasus region were discussed at a meeting of the Turkish National Security Council chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.

The statement published after the meeting, which lasted for about three hours, in particular, reads: The need for a speedy settlement of disputes in a peaceful way based on respect for international law and the territorial integrity of countries was emphasized. Besides, the need for Armenia to maintain the ceasefire and take advantage of the peace offer was emphasized.

In the past Turkey at different levels has already offered peace Armenia and also spoke about positive signals coming from Yerevan.

The Turkish National Security Council made its statement on the eve of crucial Armenian-Azerbaijani summit talks hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi.

In the days preceding todays meeting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reiterated Yerevans readiness to engage in a dialogue with Ankara to normalize historically strained relations between the two neighboring countries. He, however, warned Turkey against tying such a rapprochement to the creation of an extraterritorial corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its western Nakhichevan exclave via Armenia.

Unblocking regional economic and transport links is part of the Russian-brokered tripartite agreement that ended an Azerbaijani-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh in November 2020.

Armenia says it objects to providing extraterritorial corridors, but is ready to open transit roads for Azerbaijan, maintaining sovereignty over them.

Earlier this week an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman told RFE/RLs Armenian Service that Yerevan had asked Moscow to act as a go-between in Armenian-Turkish normalization that he said should proceed without preconditions.

During a news briefing in Moscow on Thursday Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed such a request from Armenia and said that Moscow was ready to facilitate efforts to repair relations between Yerevan and Ankara.
Two men have been arrested for allegedly holding migrants hostage and forcing them to package illegal narcotics, according to an arrest affidavit.

Authorities identified the suspects as Valentin Sarmientos-Santiago and Saul Armando Garcia-Montalvo. Each was charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport migrants for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain.

At about 5:30 a.m. Nov. 14, the Zapata County Sheriffs Office informed agents assigned to the Zapata Station that a man had called saying he was in the country illegally and that he was being held hostage in Zapata.

Deputies and agents responded to the area and observed a man running from a white trailer located in the 1000 block of Juarez Avenue. He stated he was the caller. Deputies then found four additional people inside the white trailer.

Deputies then went next door to a yellow trailer where a woman gave authorities consent to search the trailer. The search yielded an additional six people inside and three others outside. In total, authorities located 15 people between both residences.

Border Patrol determined that 12 people were migrants. Nine migrants were identified as the ones being held hostage, according to court documents. The suspects were identified as Sarmientos-Santiago and Garcia-Montalvo.

At about 9:15 p.m. Nov. 14, Homeland Security Investigation special agents received information regarding a possible human smuggling attempt that involved an alleged sexual assault.

A woman stated that the stash house operator told her she would have to pay them an extra $3,500 not previously agreed with the human smuggling organization. She and another migrant identified as Sarmientos-Santiago as one of the individuals who held them at the location and forced them to package illegal narcotics.

She further identified Sarmientos-Santiago as the person who allegedly sexually assaulted her at the yellow trailer. Sarmientos-Santiago, a Mexican citizen, invoked his right to an attorney and declined to provide a statement.

Garcia-Montalvo, a Mexican citizen, stated he was responsible for the migrants and coordination of their movement. Garcia stated that people in Mexico forced him to harbor the migrants and threatened to kill him.

Garcia further related observing Sarmientos lying in bed with two females with the lights off, states the affidavit.
When Beaumont At-Large Council member Albert AJ Turner put together Tuesday's vision workshop, one of the many topics he wanted to focus on was improving the citys stagnant economy.

The meeting also focused on building trust with residents, the citys image and beautification efforts, youth engagement, infrastructure, celebratory events, electronic payment systems for residents city bills, riverfront development, the Battleship Texas and putting defibrillators in municipal buildings.

Related: Beaumont City Council crafting vision for city

One of his chief concerns was the way Beaumont is falling behind other area cities creating programs to foster financial prosperity.

The city currently offers neighborhood environment zone programs, such as fee waivers, expedited permitting, removal of city liens and a number of other benefits to developers. Still, Turner is concerned that cities smaller than Beaumont are starting to leave this bigger city behind.

I just wanted to bring it to the council's attention that when it comes to looking at what we offer compared to what other cities offer, they're really starting to outdo us as far as economic development because we're only offering abatements, Turner said. They have events, mentors, et cetera  EDCs and other types of funding projects that actually offer more than abatements for particular businesses they wanted in the area.

Related: Whats new: Walk Ons openening nears, Tejas Liquor, Tender Shack debut

An Economic Development Corporation would raise money from a portion of city sales tax.

The city of Beaumont gets 1.5% of the 8.25% sales tax. State law allows EDCs to take a half of that 1% and dedicate it to economic development.

City manager Kyle Hayes estimates anywhere from $13 million to $15 million annually would be generated specifically for economic development in the city if an EDC was set up, and Turner added that the city could allocate a lower rate if they wanted and still bring in about $2 million dollars annually. But there are a couple of obstacles.

The first thing that Beaumont would need is for the citizens to vote favorably for the city to get an EDC. The last time the idea was put to residents was in the 80s, according to Hayes, and voters shot it down.

In the 80s, every city around us approved it except Beaumont, Turner said.

Related: Nederland EDC moves on purchase of Bank of America Building

That's a long time ago, Ward II Council member Mike Getz said. Sentiment may have changed. So maybe that is something we need to look at.

Secondly, if the money was diverted to the EDC instead of put into the general fund, other funds would have to be uncovered to pay for city operations. Alternatively, the city could cut services, which Hayes thinks is unlikely to happen.

You have to increase the property tax rate to bring in that same revenue because that's funding police, fire, EMS, parks, libraries, Hayes said. The voters said no, we don't want that in Beaumont. Thats the history. Could you go back to the voters? The council could have put that on the ballot at any time.

If the measure passed, an oversight board might need to be created to manage EDC funds. The council is planning a workshop to invite residents to learn more about the types of EDCs  the first step to deciding if this is the route the city wants to go in to improve commercial opportunity and employment in Beaumont.

Either way, Turner wants to find a solution so Beaumont wont have to see businesses like Bucees and Walk-Ons choose other cities to settle in.

With us being the hub of Southeast Texas, I feel like we should have everything and the other small city should get them after us, he said.  I don't want anyone from Beaumont to ever feel like I gotta go there because we don't have it here.

rachel.kersey@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/ontheREKord
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's resistance to introducing new lockdowns and restrictions amid skyrocketing COVID-19 infections and deaths is drawing criticism from the country's medical professionals and is bucking a growing European embrace of limits on the unvaccinated.

The populist right-wing government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appears unwilling to enact measures that would anger voters and deal another blow to an economy struggling with high inflation. In Western Europe, where the vaccination rates are markedly higher than Polands 53%, restrictions have recently led to protests and rioting.

We certainly know at the moment that restrictions are not an effective means of limiting the growth of the pandemic, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said on Thursday, when 497 new deaths were recorded in Poland.

It is an idea sharply disputed by many doctors in Poland, who have been calling for the government to act.

In recent weeks, the rise in infections has prompted authorities to re-activate temporary hospitals that were shut months ago. Thousands of schoolkids have recently been quarantined or begun remote learning amid outbreaks.

On Friday, there were 421 more deaths reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,784 since Monday  a level last seen in the spring when the central European region was a global virus hot spot.

Meanwhile, 26,735 new infections were reported on Friday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to nearly 3.5 million infections and over 82,000 deaths in the nation of 38 million people.

Across Europe, governments are ordering new restrictions in hopes of putting the breaks on surging infections. Austria has gone the furthest with a nationwide lockdown that began on Monday and will be followed by restrictions on the unvaccinated.

By contrast, the Polish government has only urged citizens to get vaccinated and has made mask-wearing in public compulsory.

The deputy health minister, Waldemar Kraska, said last week that more restrictions are pointless because Poles are predisposed to rejecting them. "We have a gene of opposition in us," he said.

Niedzielski, the health minister, has said the government would consider additional restrictions in mid December if infection numbers don't decline by then. He said that would be a black scenario, and it all depends on the efficiency of hospitals.

Poland faces the rising infections as a worrying new variant of the coronavirus has emerged in South Africa, while the start of immunizing kids aged 5-11  which should help raise immunity in the population  is still weeks away.

Michal Dworczyk, the governments vaccination chief, said the government doesn't plan to make vaccinations mandatory and that more educational campaigns wouldn't help much given that everyone knows about vaccinations" already.

Dworczyk said at this stage, a sharp increase in the number of vaccinations can only be influenced by fear.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Becoming cloudy with occasional rain during the afternoon. High 57F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of rain early. Low 34F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
As the days become shorter and it gets darker earlier, I find the Fall and Winter seasons more difficult to be productive, and it takes more energy to do routine tasks. Sound familiar? With the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, coupled with a challenging time for those that may be grieving the loss of loved ones, seasonal depression can set in, and it is a real battle that many face.

While many of us have occasional mood swings or decrease in energy, others have prolonged periods of depression. According to the Cleveland Clinic, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is depression that gets triggered by a change in seasons, usually when Fall starts. It affects daily functioning.

Seasonal depression is not something to be dismissed or over-spiritualized, but it is to be properly acknowledged and seen. For various reasons, seasonal depression can create major internal struggles, including feelings of isolation, rejection, and abandonment. If you experience seasonal depression, here are some practical tips to help and encourage you:

1. Seek Community

While seasonal depression is a real experience, it can be isolating and lonely. An important way to help you press forward through this season is to seek community. While your circumstances may not immediately change, seeking the encouragement, support, or listening ear of community is essential to not feeling alone. A trusted friend, small group, or online affinity group are all examples of communities where you can share similar struggles, be uplifted and motivated to move forward daily. God created us to be in relationship with one another to navigate and overcome lifes challenges, joys, and various life seasons together.

Seasonal depression is not only a psychological and mental battle, but a spiritual one. While the enemy would love to keep us wallowing and steal our joy, God wants us to overcome through Christ Jesus. Seeking community will not ensure that seasonal depression will instantaneously dissipate, but it is an extremely valuable resource to help support you as you navigate challenging times.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10).

God created us to be in community and form strong, Godly relationships for encouragement and support.

2. Seek Gods Word

When you experience seasonal depression, I invite you to seek Gods Word and draw closer to Him. The benefits of seeking Gods Word during difficult seasons are many: you will have a renewed sense of peace, purpose, and encouragement. During isolating seasons, it is easy to want to retreat and distance ourselves from everyone and everything  including God. Instead of shrinking back and retreating away, I encourage you to meditate on two or three scriptures that you will lean on to help you overcome.

When you feel weak, meditate on Philippians 4:13: I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

Feeling lonely? James 4:8 states, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Feeling overwhelmed? 1 Peter 5:7 states, Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

There is no emotion, circumstance, or situation that you have or will experience that Gods Word does not address.

Gods Word is the best prescription to help heal our bodies, renew our minds, and restore our broken spirits. When you feel like quitting, Gods Word will invigorate and refresh you to keep moving forward.





Photo credit: Getty Images/Mkovalevskaya

3. See a Professional Counselor

Going to see a counselor to help talk you through different challenges you are experiencing with seasonal depression can be helpful. Often times, a counselor is trained to listen objectively, identify recurring behavior patterns, and offer practical strategies for you to implement. There are also faith-based counselors available if you prefer.

Seeing a counselor is not something to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, but is an active decision you are making to utilize the community and resources that God has placed around you. God provides us not only His Word, but trained professionals to support and help us along the way.

If you are looking for a faith-based counselor in your area, visit The American Association of Christian Counselors for a directory.

4. Go Outside

Going outside for a walk and to get some sunshine definitely helps to lift our spirits and help combat seasonal depression. Breathing in fresh air helps to boost and strengthen our countenance, and reminds us of the beauty of Gods creation. Despite our current feelings or mood, seeing and experiencing Gods creation provides us hope and reassurance that God is with us. When we are able to get a change of scenery, our perspective shifts and our minds are renewed.

If you are not able to go outside, I invite you to spend time in a different part of your house to create variety in your routine. If you are grieving the loss of a loved one and going to certain places outside triggers difficult emotions, I encourage you to celebrate the sacred memories that those familiar places are to you. Going outside helps to open up our airways, clear our minds, and make room for continued renewal and refreshing. God doesnt want us to stay in isolation, but become connected with others and the beauty of Gods creation.

Whether you are currently dealing with seasonal depression or have done so in the past, there is good news! God is present with you and you are not alone. There are numerous opportunities, and resources to support you in moving forward and finding community. God has empowered and equipped you to acknowledge where you are, and utilize the variety of ways around you to move forward with Gods grace. Today, I invite you to continue to seek community, seek Gods Word, consult a professional counselor, and go outside more and be revitalized by Gods creation.

No matter how you may feel, God provides hope, restoration, wisdom, and healing for your body, mind, and spirit. Be encouraged today and strengthened for tomorrow. God still has an amazing purpose and plan for your life.

Photo credit: Getty Images/FotoDuets

Kirstyn Mayden is a Christian blogger who writes devotionals that empower and equip believers in their everyday lives. She is a wife, Mom, and loves Jesus. She has a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA. For the last 20 years, Kirstyn has served in several ministry capacities. She has a passion to serve with women empowering them to grow and live out their God-given purpose. Currently, she serves alongside her husband in ministry in West Virginia. She is the author of Merciful Moments: A Devotional Journal for Moving Forward with Grace Each Day. Connect with Kirstyns blog here.
POCATELLO  The last previously unknown body removed from Downard Funeral Home as part of an ongoing criminal investigation has been identified, according to the Pocatello Police Department.

Pocatello police Capt. Bill Collins says the department has positively identified a body previously described as Subject #11, a woman approximately age 60 to 70 who was removed from the funeral home in September as part of the criminal investigation into the business owned by mortician Lance Peck and his wife.

Collins said that after the womans body was removed from the funeral home on North Garfield Avenue, police had an idea of who she was but could not make a positive identification due to the bodys state of decomposition. The Police Department was able to locate possible relatives of the woman and they agreed to voluntarily submit a DNA sample for comparison purposes, Collins said.

Pocatello police sent the womans body and the DNA sample from a possible relative to the Idaho State Police forensic lab in Meridian several weeks ago, Collins said. With help from the lab and coroners in Ada and Bannock counties, authorities were able to confirm a hereditary match between the provided DNA sample and the womans body, Collins said.

The womans family has been notified and police are keeping them updated about the ongoing criminal investigation, Collins added. Due to the sensitive nature of the case, police are not naming the woman.

Pocatello police still have about 30 to 40 sets of unidentified cremated remains from Downard, said Collins, adding that its very unlikely that all of those remains will be positively identified.

In a news release distributed on Sept. 16, Pocatello police said officers had been receiving questions regarding the identification of cremated remains through DNA testing. In that release, police said the cremation process is very destructive to DNA and while ISP laboratories are equipped with highly modern technology and equipment, it is unlikely testing would produce identification.

Police remain optimistic, however, that a complete analysis of the troves of paper and digital documents seized from Downard Funeral Home following the execution of a search warrant there on Sept. 3 will shed more light on the unidentified cremated remains, Collins said. Police still have about 10 boxes of paperwork and several computers confiscated from Downard that have not yet been analyzed, Collins added.

Peck voluntarily surrendered his licenses to operate the businesses to the Idaho Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses the day police executed the search warrant in September. The funeral home has been closed ever since.

Following the execution of the search warrant, authorities removed 12 bodies in various states of decomposition and approximately 50 fetuses contained in jars from the funeral home. All 12 bodies have now been identified and police have confirmed the fetuses were part of a biological science collection donated from the University of Utah to Idaho State University and then to Downard Funeral Home for destruction.

The investigation into the funeral home involved the Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licensing, which oversees the Idaho Board of Morticians, receiving several complaints about the business. The complaints ranged from foul smells emanating from Downard Funeral Home and decomposing bodies being left out in the open there to reports from the families of deceased individuals that the bodies of their loved ones were supposed to be donated to ISU for scientific research purposes but were never provided by Downard to the university.

The criminal investigation into Downard Funeral Home remains ongoing, though no one has been charged with any crimes, police said.
MECOSTA COUNTY  Nineteen people in Mecosta County have died of COVID-19 related complications so far in the latest wave of cases, health officials say.

The District Health Department No. 10 confirmed that an 87-year-old unvaccinated male and a 56-year-old vaccinated female with underlying medical conditions died last week. Both deaths were reported to the local health department over the weekend. Another two deaths were reported Wednesday, Nov. 24.

In addition, the state discovered seven more COVID-19 related deaths during its vital records review.

As a part of this process, records that identify COVID-19 infection as a contributing factor to death are compared against all laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System (MDSS), according to the michigan.gov/coronavirus website. If a death certificate is matched to a confirmed COVID-19 case and that record in the MDSS does not indicate the individual died, the MDSS record is updated to indicate the death and the appropriate local health department is notified.

Once notified by the state, the DHD No. 10 picks up the investigation.

At the local level, these cases that are re-opened are reviewed by our investigation team after working through the new and active case investigations, which is when we would observe that a death certificate has been attached, Jordan Powell, an epidemiologist at DHD No. 10, told the Pioneer.

DHD No. 10 reported the deaths identified through the states vital records review Wednesday, Nov. 17. Demographics are as follows:

A 64-year-old unvaccinated male died Nov. 16;

A 68-year-old unvaccinated male died Oct. 27;

A 47-year-old unvaccinated female died Oct. 23;

A 43-year-old unvaccinated female died Oct. 12;

A 77-year-old unvaccinated male died Oct. 26;

An 80-year-old vaccinated male died Oct. 24; and

An 82-year-old vaccinated female died Nov. 11.

Previously, DHD No. 10 reported deaths on Sept. 14 (1), Oct. 6 (2), Oct. 16-18 (3) and Oct. 6-8 (2). There were no deaths reported in July or August.

NEW CASES CONTINUE TO RISE

The number of new cases continues to climb. Last week (Nov. 14-20), Mecosta County had 242 new cases, up from 229 new cases Nov. 7-13 and 137 cases Oct. 31-Nov. 6.

DHD No. 10 reported 21 new cases Tuesday, Nov. 23, and 49 cases Wednesday, Nov. 24, bringing the cumulative total to 5,258 cases and 55 deaths since the pandemic began 20 months ago. As of Monday, Nov. 22, 4,314 individuals have recovered, and 821 cases remain active. Known exposures have been attributed to community and household contacts, along with daycare, school, college and care facilities.

Ferris State broke for Thanksgiving break with 29 active cases reported Tuesday after averaging 26.6 active cases per day last week.

As of Monday, Nov. 22, Michigan has had a total of 1,276,264 confirmed cases and 23,595 related deaths since March 2020. All 83 counties have high levels of community transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker.

Community transmission level is based on the case rate and the positivity rate for that particular county. The case rate is determined by the number of new cases per 100,000 people in a seven-day period, in this case, Nov. 16-22. Positivity rate is the percentage of positive Nucleic Acid Amplification tests in a seven-day period, in this case, Nov. 14-20.

Here are the seven-day rolling averages for local counties, as of Wednesday, Nov. 24:

Mecosta County: 282 cases (648.98 case rate), 21 hospital admissions and a positivity rate of 24.32%.

Osceola County: 119 cases (507.25 case rate), two hospital admissions and a positivity rate of 24.71%.

Lake County: 64 cases (539.95 case rate) and a positivity rate of 20.56%

Newaygo County: 334 cases (681.91case rate), 24 hospital admissions and a positivity rate of 28.74%.

Isabella County: 293 cases (419.34 case rate), 12 hospital admissions and a positivity rate of 11.71%.

Wexford County: 216 cases (642.26 case rate), 16 hospital admissions and a positivity rate of 21.14%.

VACCINE BOOSTERS AVAILABLE FOR ADULTS

Following approval Friday from the CDC, DHD No. 10 now offers booster shots for all fully vaccinated adults.

According to a news release from DHD No. 10, individuals ages 18 and older who have received a full series of a COVID-19 vaccine, defined as two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are eligible to receive a booster shot of their choosing.

Waiting periods are six months for the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, and two months for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Those with moderately to severely comprised systems previously have been recommended to wait at least 28 days for the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

Interested individuals should bring their COVID-19 vaccine card or immunization record, available at michigan.gov/MiImmsportal for a fee. The COVID-19 vaccine is free, though insurance cards are accepted.

Statewide, more than 5.7 million Michiganders ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which is 60.7% using 2019 U.S. Census estimates. Mecosta and Osceola counties lag behind with 44.82% and 44.07%, respectively, while Lake County has 59.88% coverage, according to Michigans COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard.

Health officials continue to promote the vaccine as the best defense against COVID-19.

From January to Nov. 5, unvaccinated Michiganders accounted for 88% of COVID cases, 88.2% of hospitalizations, and 87.7% of deaths, DHD No. 10 stated in its news release. Many Michiganders are still in need of the extra protection provided by booster doses, including residents of long-term care facilities where outbreaks can spread quickly, and extra protection is strongly recommended.

To schedule an initial, secondary or booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine through DHD No. 10, residents of Mecosta and Lake County may visit dhd10.org/schedule or call 888-217-3904 for assistance. Vaccines also are available at many pharmacies.

In addition, DHD No. 10 has free park-and-test COVID-19 testing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through mid-December at 14485 Northland Drive, in Big Rapids. No ID or insurance is required.

For more information on the COVID-19 vaccine or booster, visit dhd10.org/covid-19-vaccine or talk with your personal physician.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images

BIG RAPIDS  Eye health is an important part of maintaining overall health, especially while growing up, and Ferris State Universitys College of Optometry is offering families this important check-up service for free.

On Tuesday, Nov. 30, The Universitys Michigan College of Optometry will be providing comprehensive eye exams for around 50 children from Fremont and Hesperia Public Schools here at the Ferris State University Eye Center in Big Rapids. Optometry students and faculty will be providing the exams.
Services are available in eight regional languages from 8 AM to 8 PM

vHealth by Aetna will provide 24/7 teleconsultations through vHealth India mobile app or by visiting the website. Members can book vHealth doctor consultations in 8 regional languages between 8 am and 8 pm, every day except Sunday and national holidays.

vHealth Members can choose to avail teleconsultation with general physicians in eight regional languages - Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Oriya, Marathi and Telugu as well as Hindi and English. Teleconsultations in Hindi and English are available round-the-clock every day.

vHealth doctors provide medical advice and treatment for illnesses, management of chronic diseases, second opinion guidance on alternative treatment options and interpretation of diagnostic reports. Consultations can be booked through the vHealth India mobile app, website or Customer Care. vHealth encourages members to opt for video consultation with our doctors for better and holistic treatment and diagnosis.
is a unique blend of news, information, analysis and opinion delivered from our newsrooms in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. There are many ways to describe exactly what we do (and for the price of a cup of coffee were capable of talking your ears off about it), but the best way to understand the end result is to experience it. Every part ofis free-to-air and no payment is required, although free registration is required for a small subset of functions and pages.is run by an independently owned, private company with no affiliation to any other media group (or political party or religious organisation.) Followon Twitter at @dailymaverick Go to: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/
The Pentagon is denying religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for those in the U.S. military who swore to defend the very freedoms they are being denied, attorneys for the dissenters argue.

This continues as Americans celebrate the 400-year anniversary of Thanksgiving, a feast day first celebrated by Puritan separatists, American Indians and settlers in 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

When the Pilgrims left England and Holland in 1620, no religious freedom existed. King James I of England had decreed that it was illegal for anyone to worship, even outside, other than in the Church of England. Those who didn't comply, were arrested, jailed or killed.

English separatists, or Pilgrims, as they came to be known, sought a better life in Virginia, where they hoped to be able to worship freely. But their ship steered off course after a number of setbacks, and they ended up in Massachusetts. They were unprepared for a bitter winter, with many dying on board before they ever reached the shore.

En route to the New World, they signed the Mayflower Compact, named after the ship on which they sailed, which established an entirely new concept of self-governance  laws made for the people by the people.

The social compact they established is believed to have helped form the tenets of the U.S. Constitution, many state constitutions, and the First Amendment, which protects religious freedom.

Now 400 years later, religious freedom hangs in the balance for those in the U.S. military who swore an oath to defend the Constitution, which protects the freedoms they are being denied, argues Liberty Counsel, a religious freedom legal aid organization.
By Vladimir Kozin  Member, Russian Academy of Military Sciences, Moscow, November 22, 2021

On November 15, 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defense carried out the successful destruction of the discontinued and decommissioned national spacecraft named Tselina-D, which was put into orbit back in 1982. The head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, confirmed that the Russian Aerospace Forces had indeed successfully destroyed this satellite with pinpoint accuracy.

The fragments formed after knocking down this spacecraft do not pose any threat to either orbital stations or other satellites, or generally speaking to the space activities of any state. This is well known to all space powers that have fairly effective national technical means of verification and control of outer space, including the USA.

After the destruction of the named satellite, its fragments moved along trajectories outside the orbits of other operating space vehicles, have been under constant observation and monitoring from the Russian side and are included in the main catalogue of the space activities.

Prediction of any possible dangerous situations calculated after each orbital movement over the Earth has been made in connection with the accompanied debris and newly discovered fragments after the destruction of the Tselina-D satellite with operating spacecraft and the International Space Station or ISS Mir. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the ISS orbit is 40-60 km below the fragments of the destroyed Tselina-D satellite and there is no threat to this station. According to the results of the calculation of any possible threats, there are no approaches to it in the near future.

Earlier, Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, said that Russias test of an anti-satellite system used in this case jeopardized the safety of space research.

Moscow corrected his untenable judgment. This event was carried out in strict accordance with international law, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, and was not directed against anyone, the Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesperson said. Russian Foreign Ministry also repeated that the fragments formed as a result of the test do not pose a threat and do not interfere with the functioning of orbital stations, spacecraft, as well as the entire space activities in general.

Washington has clearly forgotten that Russia is not the first country to hold such actions. The United States, China, and India have the capabilities to destroy spacecraft in space, having previously successfully tested their own anti-satellite assets versus their own satellites.

Precedents of destruction

They were announced by the named states at the relevant time.

In January 2007, the PRC conducted a test of a ground-based anti-missile system, during which the old Chinese meteorological satellite Fengyun was destroyed. This test led to the formation of a large amount of space debris. It should be noted that on November 10 of this year, the ISS orbit was corrected in order to avoid the wreckage of this Chinese satellite.

In February 2008, with the interceptor missile of the United States sea-based missile defense system Standard-3, the American side destroyed its USA-193 reconnaissance satellite that had lost control at an altitude of about 247 km. The launch of the interceptor missile was carried out from the Hawaiian Islands area from the U.S. Navy cruiser Lake Erie, equipped with the Aegis combat information and control system.

In March 2019, India also successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon. The defeat of the Microsat satellite was carried out by the upgraded Pdv interceptor.

Earlier, the USSR has called, and now Russia has been calling for space powers for decades to legally consolidate at the international level a ban on the militarization of outer space by preventing an arms race in it and refusing to deploy any strike weapons in it.

In 1977-1978, the Soviet Union held official negotiations with the United States on anti-satellite systems. But as soon as the American delegation heard about Moscows desire to identify potential types of hostile activities in space that should be banned, including similar systems in question, it initiatively interrupted them after the fourth round of talks and decided not to participate in such a negotiation process anymore.

A fundamentally important clarification: since that time, Washington has not held and does not intend to hold such negotiations with any state in the world.

Moreover, the updated draft of an international treaty on the prevention of the deployment of weapons in outer space proposed by Moscow and Beijing is regularly blocked by Washington at the UN and at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Back in 2004, Russia unilaterally committed itself not to be the first to deploy weapons in space, and in 2005, a similar commitment was made by the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states involving a number of nations of the former USSR.

In total, since the beginning of the space age, which began with the launch of the first artificial satellite called Sputnik by the Soviet Union in October 1957, Moscow has jointly or independently put forward about 20 different initiatives in the international arena to prevent an arms race in outer space.

Alas, all of them were successfully blocked by the United States and its NATO partners. Anthony Blinken seems to have forgotten about it.

Washington also ignores the recognition of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies, located in the American capital, whose report in April 2018 recognized that the United States remains a leader in the use of space for military purposes.

Against this background, Russia is implementing a purposeful and adequate policy to strengthen the countrys defense capability, including in the space sphere, taking into account, among other things, many additional circumstances.

X-37B with specific tasks

What are they? Russia takes into account that the United States is taking concrete practical steps to steadily increase its combat strike space potential.

Work is actively underway to create a space-based missile defense network, develop and operate systems with ground-based, sea-based and air-based interceptor missiles, electronic warfare, directed energy weapons, including testing an unmanned reusable space shuttle X-37B, which has a spacious cargo compartment on board. It is claimed that such a platform is capable of carrying a payload of up to 900 kg.

It is currently carrying out its sixth long-duration orbital flight. His space brother, who made his fifth flight in space in 2017-2019, continuously flew in spacet for 780 days.

Officially, the United States claims that this unmanned spacecraft performs the tasks of running-in technologies of reusable space platforms. At the same time, initially, when the X-37B was first launched in 2010, it was indicated that its main function would be the delivery of certain cargo into orbit. Only it was not explained: what kind of cargo? However, all these messages are just a legend to cover up military tasks that this device has been performed in space.

On the basis of the existing military-strategic space doctrines, specific tasks are prescribed for the U.S. intelligence community and the Pentagon.

Among them are made as conducting operations in space, from space and through it to contain conflicts, and in case of failure of deterrence  to defeat any aggressor, as well as ensuring the protection and preservation of vital interests of the United States together with allies and partners. It is obvious that in order to carry out such operations, the Pentagon will need special reusable platforms in space, which indicates a promising process of its further militarization by the Pentagon without any restrictions.

According to some military experts, the plausible purpose of this device is to test technologies for a future space interception, which allows inspecting alien space objects and, if necessary, disabling them with anti-satellite systems with various functions, including with hit-to-kill kinetic characteristics.

This is confirmed by the statement of the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, Barbara Barrett, who in May 2020 told reporters that during the current sixth X-37B space mission, a number of experiments will be conducted to test the possibility of converting solar energy into radio frequency microwave radiation, which later can be transmitted to Earth in the form of electricity. It is very questionable explanation.

So, what has this device actually been doing and continues to do in space for so many years? Obviously, since this space platform was created by the Boeing Corporation with direct participation in its financing and development by the American Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, and it is operated by the U.S. Air Force, the tasks of the X-37B are by no means related to the peaceful exploration of outer space.

Some experts believe that such devices can be used to deliver missile defense and anti-satellite systems. Yes, it is not excluded.

It is noteworthy that the operation of this American spacecraft for a long time has caused concern not only on the part of Russia and China, but also on the part of some U.S. allies in NATO regarding its possible role as a space weapon and a platform for delivering space strike weapons, including nuclear warheads to be housed in X-37B cargo compartment.

A special experiment

The X-37B can perform up to ten secret tasks.

One of them fulfilled recently should be mentioned in particular.

It is noteworthy that in the twenties of October 2021, the separation of a small spacecraft at high speed from the fuselage of this shuttle, which does not have the ability to conduct radar surveillance, was recorded from the X-37B that is currently moving in space, which indicates that the Pentagon is testing a new type of space-based weapon. It is obvious that this kind of activity of the United States is not compatible with the stated goals of the peaceful use of outer space.

The separation of the named space object was preceded by the maneuvering of the X-37 the day before.

From October 21 to 22, the separated space vehicle was located at a distance of less than 200 meters from the X-37B, which subsequently performed a maneuver to move away from the separated new spacecraft.

Based on the results of processing objective information, it was found that the spacecraft was stabilized, and no elements were found on its body characterizing the presence of antennas that could provide the possibility of conducting radar surveillance. At the same time, the facts of the approach of the separated new spacecraft with other space objects or the performance of orbital maneuvers have not been revealed.

Thus, according to the Russian side, the United States conducted an experiment to separate a small spacecraft with high speed from the X-37B, which indicates the testing of a new type of space-based weapon.

Such actions of the American side are assessed in Moscow as a threat to strategic stability and are incompatible with the stated goals of the peaceful use of outer space. Moreover, Washington intends to use outer space as an area for the potential deployment of space-to-space weapons against various objects in orbit, as well as in the form of space-to-surface weapons in the form of space-based strike weapons that can be used to attack from space various ground-based, air-air-based and sea-based targets located on the planet.

Current U.S. space policy

Since 1957, all American presidents, without exception, have been actively engaged in the militarization and weaponization of outer space. In recent years, the most notable breakthrough in this direction has been made by the ex-Republican President Donald Trump.

On March 23, 2018, he approved the updated National Space Strategy. On June 18 of the same year, he gave a specific instruction to the Pentagon to create a Space Force as a full-fledged sixth brunch of the countrys Armed Forces, while emphasizing the undesirability to have Russia and China as leading nations in space. On December 9, 2020, the White House additionally announced a new National Space Policy. On December 20, 2019, the beginning of the creation of the U.S. Space Force was announced.

In these military-strategic doctrines, three fundamental views of the American military-political leadership on the use of outer space for military purposes have been publicly announced.

First, it was proclaimed that the United States intended to single-handedly dominate in space.

Secondly, it was stated that they should maintain peace from a position of strength in outer space.

Thirdly, it was stated that space in Washingtons views is becoming a potential arena for military operations.

These military-strategic doctrines, according to Washington are as reactions to the growing threat in space stemming from Russia and China.

The Pentagon will develop four priority areas of space activities to achieve the stated goals while countering the identified threats, potentials and challenges: (1) ensuring integrated military dominance in space; (2) the integration of military space power into national, joint and combined combat operations; (3) the formation of a strategic environment in the interests of the United States, as well as (4) the development of cooperation in outer space with allies, partners, the military-industrial complex and other ministries and departments of the United States.

The space strategy and policy of the current American administration led by President Joseph Biden is not much different from the space line followed by President Donald Trump.

After Joseph Biden took office as president in January this year, the United States continued to develop several types of space strike weapons, including in accordance with twelve programs for the use of outer space for military purposes, when six of them provide for the creation of various types of such systems, and on the basis of six others that will control for the orbital space grouping on the ground.

The Pentagons intelligence and information assets in space continue to be updated in full, as well as the financing of military space programs. For the fiscal year 2021, allocations for these purposes are set at $15.5 billion.

Some pro-Western Russian experts are in favor of developing some compromise proposals with the U.S. side on military space issues on the grounds that the United States is not ready to negotiate on military space issues. Such ideas pose a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation, if accepted.

And heres why.

Various actions carried out so far by Washington on the militarization and weaponization of outer space indicate that the current American military and political leadership does not consider space to be the universal heritage of mankind, for the regulation of activities in which, obviously, agreed international legal norms and rules of responsible behavior are to be adopted.

The United States has long seen a diametrically opposite perspective  the transformation of outer space into a zone of active hostilities.

In fact, the United States has already created an enlarged Space Force with ambitious offensive tasks.

At the same time, such force relies on the active-offensive doctrine of deterring any potential adversaries in outer space, borrowed from the American strategy of nuclear deterrence, which provides for the first preventive and preemptive nuclear strike.

If in 2012 Washington announced the creation of the Chicago triad  a combined combat mechanism in the form of a mix of nuclear missiles, anti-missile components and conventional strike weapons, then it is quite obvious that the United States is purposefully creating a multi-component quattro strike assets, when another essential military tool is added to the Chicago triad  that is space strike weapons.

It is obvious that during official consultations with the United States on the issues of strengthening strategic stability, it is impossible to ignore all factors and described circumstances that are related to outer space. It is necessary to avoid a selective, that is, a separate approach to solving the multifaceted problem of arms control  while downsizing one type of weapons, but giving a boost to the development of other types of arms, that, at the initiative of the American side, is still in a deadlocked position.
For Brandon shoppers worried about where their Christmas gifts will come from this year with supply-chain issues leading to empty store shelves, the solution may be closer than expected.

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TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN Meeghan Gavin manages the Ten Thousand Villages store on Rosser Avenue in Brandon.

For Brandon shoppers worried about where their Christmas gifts will come from this year with supply-chain issues leading to empty store shelves, the solution may be closer than expected.

Downtown Brandon has some interesting choices for out-of-the-box gift ideas that come from both far-off places and closer to home.

SUBMITTED Carved wooden bowls like this are some of Monica Joshi's favourite items for sale at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.

Though most of the Ten Thousand Villages stores in Canada were shut down in May 2020, the Brandon location was independently owned and continues as one of four in Canada and one of two in Manitoba that are still up and running.

Many of the fair-trade products the store sells come from other countries and other continents, but store manager Meeghan Gavin said the Brandon location ordered much of its Christmas items earlier in the year and are on shelves instead of stuck on a boat or in a port somewhere.

Unfortunately, one of the stores most popular collections of items, its fair-trade coffee beans, are in low supply as they usually arrive via British Columbia, and that province is still recovering from devastating flooding.

However, shoppers intent on getting a caffeine fix for their loved ones can always purchase a gift card that can be used when the beans are back in stock.

Thankfully, Christmas decorations and themed items are available and come from 15 different countries, including India, Nepal, the West Bank, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kenya and Uganda.

Many of them are made from recycled and unconventional materials like magazines, balsa wood and snowmen made from gourds.

"All the artisans are paid a fair wage for the work they do," Gavin said. "They also get whats called a fair-trade premium ... the different co-operatives and artisan groups decide what they want to use that for. They might choose health care, they might choose education, they might choose to put in a road or a cellphone tower  whatever the community feels that it needs."

SUBMITTED Some of the ceramics for sale at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba's gift shop are made by former students of classes at the gallery who have gone into business.

A good way to support local artists is to check out whats available at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.

This weekend is the gallerys annual Gala of Gifts sale, but items produced by Manitoba artists can also be purchased outside of the sale at the gift shop.

Monica Joshi, the gallerys gift shop and gallery services co-ordinator, told the Sun on Thursday that for the first time ever, this years gala will sell mystery boxes that include an enigmatic variety of handmade goods and art pieces curated for different kinds of people that will only have their contents revealed when the box is opened.

A mystery box costs $50 for a single person and $100 for a family of four, but the contents inside are valued at $100 to $200. Eight single boxes are available as well as two family boxes.

According to Joshi, the gallery decided earlier this year to emphasize local goods for sale at the gift shop after relying heavily on Winnipeg-based artists for a long time.

"It felt like we were almost ignoring artists from Brandon and the surrounding area," she said. "In Winnipeg, its a bigger city, so they have more of an ability to get into their own city and capture the artists landscape there, whereas we found that in southwestern Manitoba, its really only us and the Brandon University art gallery thats around, so its extremely important to us to promote these artists, the local ones."

That includes beaded jewelry by artists from Dauphin, Minnedosa and Brandon; prints from artists in Brandon and Winnipeg; and even some ceramic pieces made by former students who attended art gallery classes who have gone into business.

Much of the gift shops stock can be viewed online and some items can be shipped or purchased online for in-store pickup.

Carved wooden bowls by local artist Keith Barrett are Joshis personal favourite.

Though both these places currently have items in stock, supply may start to dwindle as Dec. 25 approaches.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
The COVID-19 pediatric vaccine has arrived in Brandon, and the dash for doses has begun.

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TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN Pharmacist Arlene Nabong administers a Pfizer pediatric COVID-19 vaccine to Joel Gatza, 6, at the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy on Victoria Avenue East on Thursday. Gatza and his sister Natalie, 9, both got their first dose of the vaccine.

The COVID-19 pediatric vaccine has arrived in Brandon, and the dash for doses has begun.

The Pfizer vaccine for children five to 11 years old became available this week at pharmacies and doctors offices in the city. The Keystone Centre supersite will offer the vaccine starting today.

At the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy on Victoria Avenue East, the two very first children to be immunized at the facility waited eagerly.

Brother and sister Joel Gatza, 6, and Natalie, 9, rolled up their sleeves to receive their first doses.

Their next stop? Dinner at McDonalds  a treat they were promised ahead of time.

Natalie said simply there was nothing to the whole process and the pain was no worse than her little brother pinching her.

Joel gave a big smile and a thumbs-up to show how happy he was to get his first dose.

Their grandmother, Valerie Shurb, brought them in to get their dose. She said she is relieved they finally got their first dose, marking the beginning of the end to a lot of her familys worries.

"All of my kids are in the medical field, so we had to keep our circle very tight to protect them."

She added she wanted them to get their shot at a pharmacy rather than at a large clinic site because she was concerned about her grandkids being surrounded by a lot of children who may not react as happily as they did.

However, she did say she is very pleased to see so many families booking appointments to get their children immunized. Most of the people she knew were going to the supersite at the Keystone Centre for their childrens COVID-19 vaccine.

The siblings dont have school today, so in the event they feel a little ill from the vaccine, Shurb said it was going to be a pyjama day for her grandkids anyways.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the provinces vaccine implementation task force, were joined by pediatrician Dr. Jared Bullard and six children for a media event showcasing the vaccine and the #ProtectMB Kids campaign earlier this week.

The campaign involves a video aimed at children explaining the process and what parents and children can do to make the experience a comfortable one, such as bringing a favourite toy or book, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, having parents tell stories and maybe having an ice pack to place on the injection site in case it is sore.

Each child gets a sticker or colourful bandage after their shot.

Gordon hailed the arrival of the vaccine as a cause for celebration now that young children can be protected against the virus, too. She encouraged all parents who are thinking about getting the vaccine to take the time to research and involve their children in the decision-making process, but stressed the vaccine was safe and the best weapon in protecting their children from infection.

Reimer reiterated young children are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 symptoms, but are still at much greater risk of illness and detrimental harm than any side-effects the vaccine may bring.

It has been a long wait for the vaccine, but it was due to rigorous testing and research, Reimer explained. The Pfizer pediatric vaccine was thoroughly tested and approved by Health Canada. All available evidence shows it is highly effective in preventing infections and reducing the severity of COVID-19.

"Cases are rising among this age group because they have not been eligible for a vaccine until now," Reimer said. "I encourage all parents and guardians of younger children to visit our website, talk with your health-care provider and to use the helpful tips we are making available so that immunization will be a positive experience for your child and a decision the kids can take pride in."

 kmckinley@brandonsun.com
The Brandon Police Service is looking for 42-year-old Dale Stewart.

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The Brandon Police Service is looking for 42-year-old Dale Stewart.

Police say Stewart was last seen on Tuesday leaving his residence in Brandon.

SUBMITTED Dale Stewart

Stewart is five-foot-10, weighs 185 pounds and has dark shaved brown hair and brown eyes.

He was last seen wearing a black hoodie and track pants under a camouflage winter jacket. Police say he may be driving a grey 2011 Mercedes C350 with Manitoba licence plate KNF134.

Police are concerned for Stewarts well-being and are asking anyone with information about his whereabouts to contact Brandon Police Service at 204-729-2345.

 The Brandon Sun
SP wants the London court to rule that the letter has no legal effect. A decision on that is not due for a while yet, but if he succeeds, assets in his name could pass to his daughters Vinoo and Shanu on his death. Meanwhile, a court in the Swiss canton of Lucerne said the case between SP and his brothers is on hold, pending a decision on who will represent his interests. Although the Swiss bank is a tiny part of the familys overall assets, the case raises broader ownership questions. The three brothers frame it as a power grab by SPs daughters, who they said are using their fathers weakened state to go against his long-held wishes. The mansion belonging to the Hinduja brothers on Carlton House Terrace in London, just down the road from Buckingham Palace. Credit:Bloomberg SP had one mantra that nobody owns anything, everybody owns everything, Radhamohun Gujadhur, an adviser to the brothers, said in an interview. Anyone doing differently is speaking under their own illusions or to further a selfish private agenda. The group structure has withstood the challenges of Shanu and Vinoo Hinduja who disagree with their own fathers vision of the group. Shanu didnt want to comment on the dispute while Vinoo declined requests for comment. Ashok said he couldnt comment on the record. Charles Stewart-Smith, a spokesman for the brothers, declined interview requests, referring to an earlier statement by them saying the efforts go against our founders and familys values.

Another London lawsuit from 2018 shows how the feud could touch other family assets. That fight was over $US1 billion in assets held at the Swiss bank by a company tied to Ashok Leyland, one of the groups most high-profile listed companies and the worlds third-largest manufacturer of buses. Loading Opaque holding structures  through trusts and offshore entities  make it difficult to determine ownership of the conglomerates companies. For instance, the brothers shares in IndusInd Bank in Mumbai, among the largest privately-owned banks in India, are held in an entity registered in Mauritius. Even the brothers domiciles complicate matters. SP and Gopichand live in London, Prakash resides in Monaco, and Ashok in Mumbai. The groups organisation that worked for the brothers may not for third and fourth generation Hindujas now taking the reins. These old structures in the new world that theyre in are going to come apart, said Nigel Nicholson, a professor at London Business School and author of Family Wars. The notion that one can maintain unity with woolly notions of common ownership without clear governance structures is tricky.

For instance, SPs 31-year-old grandson Karam, appointed the Swiss banks CEO last year, has a different take on the ownership of his firm. SP is the founder and has always been the sole shareholder and continues to be of this institution, he said. In the absence of an overarching agreement, members of our family have individual shareholdings. Ashok Hinduja wants the group to stick to its age-old motto that everything belongs to everyone and nothing belongs to anyone. Credit:Peter Morris The brothers adviser disagrees. The Hinduja group doesnt have any individual ownership and this includes the bank, said Gujadhur.

Karam has renamed the bank SP Hinduja Banque Privee, although on the Hinduja Group website it is still called Hinduja Bank Switzerland. Housed in a modest building at the foot of Genevas old town, the bank headquarters has a simple blue door and a small brass plaque engraved with its new name. In the interview there, Karam said he can appreciate that the timing of the banks re-branding may seem provocative given the ongoing legal battle. But the board endorses the move and it reflects the legal status quo, he said. The bank is small by Swiss private banking standards, with about 2.43 billion Swiss francs ($3.6 billion) in client assets. Nevertheless it has become a lightning rod for the dispute, with Karam hinting that the fight has tinges of misogyny since the SP branch is dominated by women. Its shocking; I simply cannot understand the animosity that exists toward the SP branch of the family, the Columbia University graduate said. It makes you wonder how even such wealthy and somewhat Westernised and powerful individuals, what their views truly are, maybe, toward women. I dont know. Its all I can think of. Karams mother, Shanu, who is the Swiss banks chairwoman, said her ascension at the firm is instructive, showing her fathers opposition to the sidelining of women.

Traditional Indian family businesses often keep daughters out of key roles, but for the brothers adviser, Karams accusations of misogyny are flat-out wrong. Vinoo and Shanu are on the boards of several of the groups companies, and if there was any truth to those misogyny claims I dont think they would have been named to those boards, he said. The sisters were removed last year from all their directorships of Group companies aside from the Swiss bank, a spokesman for them said. What really sparked the feud remains a mystery to those not in the inner circles of the family, but some warn about its implications for the group. The moment you start thinking of division, that this part you look after, that part I look after, it belongs to you, it belongs to me, it belongs to my other brother, then you cannot continue for too long, Hinduja Group General Counsel Abhijit Mukhopadhyay said in a law firm podcast last year. Loading The Hindujas arent new to controversy. In the 1980s, they were investigated on allegations they took bribes to help Swedish gun-maker Bofors secure an Indian contract. The case was later thrown out of court. In the early 2000s, they were entangled in the UKs cash-for-passports scandal, having donated money for the Millenium Dome when SP was applying for British citizenship. More recently, Prakash has been investigated for suspected tax evasion by Geneva prosecutors, an allegation he denies.
An investor, keen to get into the office market, purchased the Burwood Road property through Fitzroys agents David Bourke, Chris James and Shawn Luo. The 1855 sq m four-level building is on an 1185 sq m parcel of land, with frontages to both Burwood Road and Lynch Street and 68 car parks. Its leased to BIG4 Holiday Parks, the Australian headquarters of fuel systems engineers Leighton OBrien, Fuse Recruitment and HID Accountants. The average lease term is 4.1 years. Mr Bourke said the deal was closed within 36 hours of the campaigns end, with the property selling on a passing net yield of 3.4 per cent. Hawthorn has emerged as a one-to-watch among Melbournes commercial markets. Its situated in an inner-suburban sweet spot which attracts tenants from central locations and further out suburbs. The campaign showed that reputation extends to local and offshore interests, Mr Bourke said.

The Minogue family sold their Church Street offices to South Australian retailer John Charlton, founder of Spendless Shoes on a yield believed to be in the mid-4 per cent range. They paid $12.5 million for the 2368 sq m building in 2007. It is on a 1592 sq m parcel of land and has parking for 70 cars. Ms Minogue returned to Melbourne this year after 30-odd years in the UK and did the hard lockdown weeks with the rest of us. Derrimut deal A private investor has out-foxed a clutch of institutions by outlying $20.85 million on a Derrimut distribution centre and setting a record 3.3 per cent yield.

The value of industrial investments has surged in the past 18 months, reflecting the growing importance of storage and distribution in the new era of internet retail. Colliers agents Jack Kelliher, Nick Saunders and Hugh Gilbert handled the deal, which was completed before a campaign even started. Drew Williams of Rutherfords Property advised the purchaser. The vendor, Next Generation Property, paid $8.45 million for the property in 2007. The 9265 sq m distribution centre at 20 Calarco Drive is on a 21,290 sq m site and leased by Cryer Malt, the biggest distributor of craft brewing ingredients in Australia and New Zealand. That suggests a lot of home-brewing this summer.

Off market The prospective but controversial development of the Preston Market is starting to create some weather in the slowly gentrifying northern suburb. 391 High Street, Preston. Credit: Mark Lo Guidices Crawfords Group has just made an interesting off-market purchase, buying the fire-damaged Westpac bank building at 391 High Street. The bank is in front of the Cramer Hotel and a furniture store which caught fire in March.

Mid-way through the renovation of the corner property, Mr Lo Guidice made an offer on the 414 sq m building. Its understood he has a tenant lined up for the two-storey building for which he paid $2.8 million. Johnston Street Back in Fitzroy, a block of land on the corner of Napier and Johnston streets is on the market for the first time in more than 50 years. The 1484 sq m site at 317-327 Napier Street has a large car park out the front of the McCoppins bottle shop and a Captain Snooze mattress showroom.

The tenants return around $304,650 a year in rent and there are further five-year terms on leases set to expire in 2024 and 2022 respectively. JLL agents Josh Rutman, Tim Carr, MingXuan Li and CVA Property Consultants Ian Angelico are handling expressions of interest which close on December 8. The 1484 sq m site at 317-327 Napier Street has a large car park out the front. Credit: Its expected to fetch more than $13.5 million if the past 12 months worth of sales are anything to go by. Any new development could be as high as 10 levels, according to the newly revised Johnston Street Built Form Framework, which gives the site added value.

New developers in the core Fitzroy zone include Piccolo, which paid $14.275 million for an Australia Post site at 371-385 Gore Street, Beulah International, which bought 430-434 Gore Street for $12.5 million, and Sydney-based Danny Avidans Dare Group, which paid $4.6 million for 235 Napier Street. Low cost The City of Melbournes and state governments shopfront activation program is helping get retail deals over the line, with low-cost or free space given over to artists, budding entrepreneurs and artisan makers. Its a reminder of the post-recession 1990s when CBD rents were cheap and new shops opened and closed every week  a frequency of turnover that had shoppers treading the laneways just to see what was new. Fitzroys agents James Lockwood and Rick Berry have negotiated leases at Nos.186 and 148 Little Collins Street on four-month terms.
Qantas frequent flyers will be awarded loyalty points and green tier status if they offset emissions from their flights, cars and homes as part of the airlines efforts to improve its sustainability credentials.

Amid growing scrutiny of the global aviation industrys environmental impact, Qantas said on Friday it would be the worlds first airline to reward customers who minimise their carbon footprint in the air and on the ground.

Qantas says it will be the first airline to reward customers for offsetting carbon emissions from their homes and cars.

We do know that points influence behaviour, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said. Now we think that the green tier will incentivise many of our frequent flyers to be more sustainable, and thats a great thing.

About 11 per cent of Qantas customers currently pay a small amount ($1 on a Sydney-Melbourne flight) to offset the emissions from their travel, which goes towards revegetation projects, renewable energy projects and other carbon abatement schemes.
The ASX200 marked the Black Friday sales with its third consecutive week of declines, dropping as much as 2 per cent after a fresh COVID variant of concern sent a shudder through global financial markets and local travel stocks.

The ASX 200 closed 1.7 per cent lower, down 128 points to 7,279.30, with all sectors in the red and only 14 stocks finishing the day higher.

Energy was the worst hit, down 4.6 per cent, with falling oil prices also playing a part as governments release emergency oil reserves to cool the market.

Flight Centre and other travel stocks bore the brunt of COVID concerns again on Friday. Credit:Darrian Traynor

Woodside Petroleum dropped 5 per cent to $21.60, while Santos finished 4.8 per cent lower.

But the major trigger for the market rout was fresh pandemic worries as the UK banned some flights in response to a new variant of concern in South Africa and Australia warned it may follow.

Travel stocks took an immediate hit with Flight Centre closing more than 7 per cent lower at $17.14, Qantas dropped 5.5 per cent to $5, while Webjet and Corporate Travel also dropped more than 5 per cent.

Its a scary headline about the virus variant, so it may have caused a knee-jerk reaction, said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at IG Markets told Bloomberg.

He added that the Thanksgiving holiday meant there was a wall of buyers missing and the thin markets made for more pronounced moves.

But the futures market was suggesting Wall St would also take a hit with US Dow Jones futures suggesting a 450 point, or 1.3 per cent, drop when it opens tonight.

The miners also fell despite iron ore stretching its rally to a fifth straight session on Thursday.

Major miners BHP dropped 1.5 per cent, Rio Tinto was down 2.2 per cent while Fortescue dropped 3.8 per cent.

AMP was the worst hit among financial stocks, dropping more than 4 per cent to a low of $1 after flagging a $234 million additional impairment charge for its fiscal 2021.

ANZ Group shares barely budged despite ASIC announcing it will sue the bank over home loan referrals.

Appen shares took the biggest hit, crashing 19 per cent to $9.45 after Macquarie raised the prospect of a downgrade based on Appens major tech customers becoming less reliant on its services.

Wealth Withins chief analyst Dale Gillham pointed out that the share market has barely moved in weeks ahead of the rout - up just 9 points over the previous 26 trading days to this Thursday.

I would not be surprised to see the All Ordinaries Index fall away up to 5 per cent over the next few weeks before rising up into February, he said.
NOTE: This story has been updated with a response from the Israel Film Fund regarding the allegation that filmmakers must agree to certain clauses in order to receive funding.

Theres a proud history of protest in the gay rights movement, but this years Melbourne Queer Film Festival has found itself in the unusual and unwelcome position of being the target of a protest.

The festival has been accused of helping to perpetrate institutional violence against Palestinians by including an Israeli feature, The Swimmer, in its program. It has also been accused of not doing enough to represent the diversity of LGBTQI+ experiences in its broader programming, ignoring films and filmmakers from large parts of the world.

Omer Perelman Striks in The Swimmer.

The campaign was led by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions protesters  who seek to use cultural boycotts as a way of pressuring Israel to change its policies towards Palestinians  and it played out across social media, with promises to cancel tickets and boycott screenings. It played out in the real world too, where dozens of placard-waving protesters gathered at the Jam Factory last weekend, and were eventually met by police. It played out within the program, with the makers of 10 shorts and one feature withdrawing their films in support of the BDS campaign (protesters plan to hold two counter-screening events showcasing these films early next month).
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size One of theatres great perils is the Shakespeare Laugh. When actors trot out the Bards gags without actually getting the joke, theyll compensate with hearty fake guffaws. Forced laughter is sadder than silence. Weve all been living a Shakespeare Laugh for a while, though, havent we? Donning a mantle of good cheer to hide the feeling that, actually, we have no idea what any of this means. Does anyone? Shakespeares As You Like It is a play that gets this irony  on the surface its a bright comic romp, but beneath its veneer lie reminders of sadness and silence. It was first performed against the backdrop of a plague that killed close to a quarter of London; when MTC announced its new production in late 2019, nobody knew the plague was about to score another season as well. From left, Shivantha Wijesinha, Christie Whelan Browne and James Mackay in As You Like It. Credit:Jeff Busby Last years As You Like It was postponed to November 2021, and as cast and crew set about preparing the show there was a palpable sense of both urgency and absurdity, as though the very making of a mainstage production in the face of Melbournes mounting case numbers was some kind of joke whose humour nobody got. One long, extended Shakespeare Laugh, because how do you laugh in the face of a pandemic? Making theatre after months on hold, says director Simon Phillips, is not like getting back on a bike. Theres a zone that you get into when youre directing and the difficulty with this was that for the first three weeks of rehearsal that zone was un-enterable.

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Week one: All the screens a stage When Phillips directs Shakespeare he begins with a table read, in which actors go through the play together and make sure they understand the text. In theory, doing this via streaming video wouldnt pose a problem. The company was waiting to hear if theyd be granted a government exemption to rehearse in person. In the meantime, theyd read the script on Zoom. As the end of the week neared, however, the stage was hardly set for a rip-roaring comedy. Richard Piper during rehearsals: We were under the assumption wed probably only be able to have 50 people in the audience, which in a theatre of 550 would have been bizarre. Credit:Charlie Kinross As You Like It was set to be actor Richard Pipers 40th show with the MTC. It wasnt looking like his most auspicious. We were under the assumption wed probably only be able to have 50 people in the audience, which in a theatre of 550 would have been bizarre, Piper says. Phillips agrees. If there are not enough people in the theatre that feel comfortable to laugh, youve really got a problem. Its nothing to do with whats happening on stage. Its a feeling of unease that spreads through the audience.

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Week two: Do not swear by the Zoom, for it drops out constantly Rehearsal via video had reached the limits of usefulness; there was still no sign that in-person rehearsals would ever happen. The cast found themselves in a situation more Beckett than Bard  theres something philosophically challenging about the image of actors rehearsing a play that will never be seen by an audience. What is the sound of no hands clapping? Phillips needed bodies on the floor for rehearsals to progress. Denied that, his team attempted to work through the shows many songs, but discovered that you cant keep tempo in the face of Wi-Fi dropouts and frozen internet connections. The reprieve came on a Friday afternoon. The following Tuesday, the actors would be allowed to meet. With caveats. Week three: Love all, trust a few, maintain social distance That for me was almost worse than the Zoom, says Phillips. His actors were masked. I have all these bodies in space and I cant see any of whats happening to them because half their face is covered. On top of that, they were doing something they hadnt done in months. The motor that makes you work as an actor has suddenly gone into a kind of stagnation, says Piper. Being back on stage I got as much of a fright as everybody else.

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Theres something called stage stamina, says actor Shivantha Wijesinha, who plays Duke Frederick. Its like anything; if you dont go to the gym for six months you atrophy ... [If] you dont do this sort of work for two years, your muscles and your brain start going somewhere else. [If] you dont do this sort of work for two years, your muscles and your brain start going somewhere else, says actor Shivantha Wijesinha, pictured during rehearsals. Credit:Charlie Kinross James Mackay, who plays Orlando, says: It was overwhelming to suddenly be in a room with 20 people, after this extremely weird and disorienting period where you had to stay away from everyone else for so long. I dont think anyone knew what to do with themselves. Week four: The masks came off, and rehearsals began in earnest Christie Whelan Browne has been performing with both Phillips and the MTC for more than a decade; its the closest she has to a workplace, but it also feels like coming home. Her experience of lockdown was different to her castmates: it was a period of enforced downtime that she says helped her efforts at conceiving via IVF. James Mackay and Christie Whelan Browne in As You Like It. Credit:Jeff Busby Playing Rosalind, one of Shakespeares most demanding roles, has been an adjustment after years off the stage. My body has birthed a baby so it doesnt feel the same, it doesnt have the same strengths. Rosalind is Shakespeares female character with the most lines out of all of his plays, so theres been a few times where my brain has been really struggling with memory, which is something that before having a baby was a real strength of mine.

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Week five: The course of true theatre never did run smooth Phillips directs with the energy of an orchestra conductor, attending to a dozen things at once, and he casts actors who can keep up with the cracking pace. With just days till the final stretch of tech rehearsals before opening night, theres an even greater urgency to his directions. Hurry up. Be quiet. Learn your f---ing lines. Spoken by anyone else, these curt commands might put an actors nose out of joint. But his actors are unanimous in their appreciation of his leadership, and know whats at stake. Phillips isnt the sort of director to brood silently, marinating in his own thoughts. If he does pause for more than a few moments, hes back at full speed soon after: Action. Immediately. Week six: Such stuff as dreams are made on During the first full run of the play, Whelan Browne falls and twists her ankle, while a second cast member injures his back. Another back injury will beset a third actor the following day. Phillips enters the period traditionally reserved for lighting, sound and other technical matters, and the actors are still in the process of finding the play. Things have, he says, felt rushed. Christie Whelan Browne, centre, with fellow cast members Chris Ryan and Georgia Flood. Credit:Jeff Busby

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Victorias forest wars are set to spill into the aisles of the nations supermarkets just four weeks before Christmas with Australias largest producer of wooden pallets used by Coles, Woolworths and Aldi preparing to cease production within days.

The grocery industry is warning against panic buying but says an already desperate supply chain situation will be made worse if the Pentarch plant in Dandenong South stops making pallets. The Food and Grocery Council has advised consumers to start their Christmas shopping early.

The union has warned of shortages of some essential items as seen during the onset of COVID in 2020. Credit:Fairfax Media

Pentarch, which produces 70,000 pallets a month, is blaming court injunctions won by environmentalists that have put a stop to native logging in areas of East Gippsland, as well as the devastating bushfires of 2019 and 2020 for the shortage of timber that has already caused production at Dandenong South to be cut.

But Environment East Gippsland, one of the main groups taking cases to court against state logging company VicForests, dismissed as rubbish the claim that injunctions were responsible for timber shortages.
The royal commission tasked with examining the high suicide rate among Defence members and veterans will look for contributing factors in Australias military culture and bureaucracy.

Before the first formal hearings in Brisbane next week, the commission on Friday outlined its intended approach to the inquiry as well as some early insights from research and consultation.

Commission chair Nick Kaldas, the former NSW Police deputy commissioner, acknowledged those men and women who made sacrifices for their country only to also experience a higher rate of suicide than other Australians.

Chair of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Nick Kaldas, addresses a ceremonial hearing in Brisbane. Credit:Sean Parnell

Mr Kaldas said the inquiry would examine and expose all risk factors for suicide in an effort to prevent and reduce future deaths. He described it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only identify the problems but formulate lasting solutions.
A real estate agent who won a payout of almost $125,000 in 2014 after he twice lied under oath about a drink driving incident has been jailed for more than five years.

Bernard Andrew Nash, 63, was found guilty of perjury in May by a NSW District Court jury, after media reports on his sizeable payout caught the attention of an employee of Shelly Beach Golf Club who knew exactly how much hed drunk on the afternoon of October 13, 2011.

CCTV was doctored to show Nash drinking three beers instead of seven.

Highway patrol officer Michael Hicks had followed Nash home from the club shortly after 6.30pm, and attempted to pull him over for a breath test. But Nash didnt stop his car until he arrived home, and then hurried onto his property where he refused to be breathalysed and got into a scuffle with the officer.

Senior constable Hicks issued him with a court attendance notice for drink driving and returned to the club, where he asked employee Sharyn Kennedy to provide him with CCTV.
Investigators have tracked down at least one of the people of interest in the outback disappearance of Jeremiah Rivers.

Police confirmed a woman was charged with offences relating a Ford Focus stolen from Landsborough on October 17 and which was recovered about two weeks later at Coomera, on the Gold Coast.

Jeremiah Rivers supposedly walked away from the camp he shared with six fellow travellers and disappeared. Credit:Facebook/Belinda Rivers

It is believed to be the same car caught on service station security cameras in the towns of Miles and then Thargomindah when its occupants sped off without paying for fuel on October 18 and 19.

Investigators deemed it suspicious that a car stolen from the Sunshine Coast hinterland would turn up in the general vicinity, and time, of the 27-year-olds disappearance in the states remote south-west.
A teenager has been arrested and charged with the alleged murder of Queensland woman Rene Latimore.

Police arrested a 17-year-old man on Friday morning over the alleged homicide of Ms Latimore, 31, whose body was found on a property in Koumala, south of Mackay, on August 29.

Rene Latimores body was found at a property in Koumala, near Mackay. Credit:Nine News

Ms Latimore went missing on August 18 and detectives issued several appeals for information, including trying to identify a vehicle that was travelling on Turnors Paddock Road in Koumala almost three weeks before her body was found.

Detective Acting Inspector Jack Savage said the Mackay teenager was arrested without issue and had his matter heard in court on Friday morning, where there was an objection to bail.
An Age analysis of upper house voting since the last election shows Meddick votes with the government 83 per cent of the time, followed by Patten at 74 per cent and Ratnam at 62 per cent, slightly less than the Transport Matters Party at 63 per cent. No crossbenchers have secured anywhere near the amount of legislative wins, inquiries or funding as the group of three, in particular Patten and Meddick. Some MPs say they have been bought by the government, but if politics is about outcomes then the three could argue they are the most effective legislators who dont sit around the cabinet table. As the government shifts its focus to other crossbenchers to get its pandemic bill across the line, a deeper question arises: Why is crucial legislation being shaped by a swag of little-known independents elected on tiny primary votes, many of whom owe their places to a voting system which is open to manipulation and that only Victoria still uses? Getting outcomes or rolling over?

Much of Labors social policy agenda has been pursued in concert with Patten. In the Andrews governments first term, she was central in the opening of a drug-injecting room in Richmond and pioneering the countrys first euthanasia law, which Andrews had initially opposed when he came into government. She meets the Premier about twice a year to discuss her agenda, has won sex industry decriminalisation and led the inquiry into spent convictions which prompted legislative change. More recently, she secured government support to establish a loneliness minister and led the campaign to raise the age limit of foster care to 21. MP Stuart Grimley (left), of Derryn Hinchs Justice Party, campaigning earlier this year for veterans to get trauma dogs with the late Ron Fenton and his trauma dog, Yogi. Credit:Eddie Jim Derryn Hinch called me a compliant MP. I look at my record and say, is this what a compliant MP looks like? Getting extremely controversial issues into legislation?, she says. We nudge the government in the right direction and Ive been able to achieve the policies we went into Parliament to do, which frankly many thought were impossible. Patten says shes achieved results because of her willingness to pick up the phone to the government: It wasnt because of the government coming to me.

If the Reason Party leaders trophy cabinet of policy wins requires an extension, many of her crossbench colleagues are on long losing streaks. Stuart Grimley, who represents Derryn Hinchs Justice Party, has for three years been unsuccessfully lobbying the government to provide defence force veterans with dogs at a potential cost of less than $200,000. Sustainable Australias Clifford Hayes cant recall many wins, and Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party MP Jeff Bourman says a tiny percentage of his wishes are granted. Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick. Credit:Eddie Jim I got some money for a study into deer numbers  [but] I refuse to do quid pro quos with them; my vote is not for sale, he says. Meddick happily admits he rarely votes against the government. He says he would pursue his philosophy of collaborative politics no matter which party held government. Im a leftie, Im a progressive and they are a progressive government. Generally speaking, I agree with most of what they bring, he says. His list of animal welfare policy achievements is lengthy. Meddick has successfully advocated for at least 20 funding allocations worth tens of millions of dollars and won five changes to regulation, including banning glue traps. In 2019, he was appointed to the board of VicHealth.

Being able to pick up the phone and speak to government ministers is really important, he says. Im on a taskforce for safe spaces for LGBTIA youth in Geelong. That sprang out of a conversation with the Health Minister after a period where we had a spate of youth suicides. He said youre now running a taskforce, go and find out [how to ameliorate the issue]. We ran that out of my office. Loading People misunderstand the crossbench. They think Im meant to be an alternative opposition. Im there to get things done for my constituents. One of Meddicks crossbench colleagues, who sought anonymity to speak frankly, said they would need more than my two hands to count the number of times [Meddick] has got a pet project funded after a controversial bill. His opponents in Parliament point to a $500,000 funding announcement for Wildlife Victorias call centre as an example of a quid pro quo. Meddick appeared with a government minister at the announcement  a luxury rarely afforded to non-government MPs  which occurred around the same time he provided the government with a key vote on its contentious fire services reforms.

Meddick rejects allegations of trade-offs, claiming they are levelled by ineffective crossbenchers. I dont do horse-trading, he says. The opposition referred Meddick to the anti-corruption commission because his daughter got a two-week paid position at the firefighters union in the same year the bill passed, but Meddick said his child had won the position on merit. It is not uncommon, a government source confirmed, for ministers or advisers to have parallel conversations about unrelated policies when negotiating with crossbenchers on contentious legislation. The issues on which Meddick and Patten oppose the government tend to be those on which the pair sit to the left of Labor, for example offshore gas policy or criminal justice reform. The negotiations over the pandemic legislation, which will be debated in Parliament next week after Adem Somyurek derailed its progress, are a case study in the crossbenchers relationship with the government. The government took the unorthodox step of negotiating only with the group of three after Patten asked for pandemic-specific laws to replace the less transparent emergency laws the last time a state of emergency was extended. Ratnam explains that the group secured many improvements in the new bill, including protection of QR data, reduced fines, the publishing of public health advice and better oversight. While these were clear improvements, the crossbenchers subsequent set of amendments  which followed an outcry from legal groups  were an indication that they may have given the government too much leeway. Only when the proposed bill saw public scrutiny were some of its flaws highlighted.

Whispers and distortions The closeness between the three crossbenchers and the government can be explained at least partly by shared ideologies. Daniel Andrews is on the left of the ALP and he feels most comfortable speaking to the far-left three in the crossbench, independent MP Catherine Cumming says. Crossbench MP Catherine Cumming at the freedom rally last week. Credit:Jason South Cumming is one of three upper house independents, along with the two Liberal Democrat MPs, who have regularly attended anti-vaccine mandate protests and cast doubt on the efficacy of COVID-19 inoculations. One might wonder how the upper house of Australias most progressive state has more Liberal Democrats (who polled 2.5 per cent of the statewide primary vote) than Greens, who only have one Legislative Council member despite polling 9.5 per cent of the vote.

The answer? Group voting tickets. Victoria is the last state in Australia using a voting system that allows parties to choose where preferences flow when someone votes above the line on a ballot paper. The method enabled Glenn Druery, the well-known preference whisperer, to bring disparate micro-parties into blocs to share preferences and leapfrog parties that had actually gained many more votes. About eight of the 11 MPs elected as independents owe their seat in Parliament to Druery. It distorts the will of voters: Greens leader Samantha Ratnam wants group voting tickets scrapped. Credit:Jason South The Transport Matters Partys Rod Barton and Liberal Democrat David Limbrick were elected with a primary vote of less than 1 per cent; Sustainable Australias Clifford Hayes was only marginally more popular. The Greens are the biggest losers: they polled nearly 10 per cent of the statewide vote but dropped from five seats to one, which equates to 2.5 per cent of seats in the upper house. It distorts the will of voters, says Ratnam, who wants the system changed and says it leads to voters unwittingly giving their first preference to a party on one end of the political spectrum and having their preferences shared with parties at the other end. Its good to have a diversity of voices but you could argue our crossbench is not representative and not diverse because the majority are centre-right individuals and parties. Former Coalition premier Jeff Kennett agrees and wants a review of group voting. Theres an extraordinary number of people who dont represent anyone, he says. Im not opposed to the election of independents at all; its a good thing. But the way in which the operation is running now means people who arent supported by the public are sitting in Parliament because of the voting system.

Analysis by University of Melbourne psephologist Adrian Beaumont indicates the Victorian upper house would be a different place if it used the same voting system as the Senate. The government would have 19 seats (up from 17), the Coalition 14 (up from 11), the Greens four (up from one). The number of independents would fall by four and the majority of the crossbench would be Greens. Beaumont says getting rid of group voting would lead to a more democratic upper house that reflects the will of voters. The Greens, in particular, were ripped off  [and] a plausible reason for why the state government hasnt attempted to abolish group voting is that they dislike the Greens and would prefer in general to negotiate with various crossbenchers, he says. An Andrews government spokesman said the government has no plans to abolish group voting. Meddick argues Beaumonts research highlights the current systems advantages. He acknowledges MPs being elected on tiny vote shares is perverse but says a large crossbench with members spanning different interest groups gives these communities a voice and forces the government to compromise. The calculations would have left it open to the government to form an informal coalition government with the Greens in the upper house and lock out everyone else, he says.
Victorias travel permit system and the regional border bubble have been scrapped as the state recorded 1362 new coronavirus cases and seven deaths on Friday.

There are 308 people in hospital with COVID-19 in Victoria, including 46 in intensive care with an active case of the virus and 53 still that have been cleared of the virus. Of those in hospital, 26 people were on a ventilator.

Victorias travel permit system has been scrapped. Credit:John Russell

Victoria now has 10,887 active cases.

The domestic permit system for entry into Victoria ended at 6pm on Thursday night, with unvaccinated Australians now able to enter the state.
I am proud that no one at UWA was made redundant, she said. We used the negotiated collective jobs framework approach, buying time until the end of 2021 so that a better plan could be considered, consulted and mapped for the future. But she did not welcome the culture wars that broke out between universities and their leaders when they couldnt agree on a national framework to save jobs with the National Tertiary Education Union. When you take a VC job, the most important thing to do above all else is to leave things better than you find them. Emeritus Professor Jane den Hollander We ended up catastrophizing; universities deciding their sovereignty was being challenged, as if. And that certainly wasnt by the NTEU, she said.

She criticised the federal governments Groundhog Day of budgetary cuts and regulatory changes. The reductionist view of our elected leaders is demoralising and at risk is our place in the world as funding is cut and an increasingly narrow of what a university education is takes a grip, Professor den Hollander said. Universities can contribute much more to our nation than simply ensuring graduates get jobs within six months of their graduation. She said the great moral challenges of climate change and the Indigenous voice to Parliament had not gone away, which remained significant for the nation and the higher education sector. The surge of support for Black Lives Matter, the increased homeless numbers, the deaths in aged care and the trending violence against women are red signals; signals that were not getting it right and that there are divisions that will bring us down if we do not stand up.

That is the job of universities; to reflect the society, to educate, to speak and write the truth and also to provide some of the solutions. Loading As a specialist in digital technologies, Professor den Hollander created profound changes to Deakins tuition and research more than a decade ago by founding it in a digital origin and creating better access for distance education, which helped it roar up the rankings. She said delivering such change was very rough in the beginning and you cannot shy away from the discussion and the battles, labelling it the hardest job in the university sector. When you take a VC job  in fact, any leadership role  the most important thing to do above all else is to leave things better than you find them  that is the measure of our success, and it is our individual legacy.

She pointed to the importance of having a strong culture that backs strategy: UWA staff did that and my part in that I will cherish. And in an almost call to arms, she told academics that the university sector was now in harms way. Years of successive cuts and malignant disinterest are paying out, she said. Inclusion and a right to education are now in question, as is our capacity to contribute ideas and to speak the truth. Our social licence is being questioned and this will need our full attention.

Its no federal election but votes matter Murdoch Universitys senate election, which closes on December 10, will be telling about what motivates those invested in higher education to vote. Loading The alumni seat held by Abby Agrawal is being hotly contested by 10 others, including a retired fisheries science professor who opposed the dissolution of face-to-face lectures at Murdoch, and a corporate watchdog lawyer and the former guild president, who only recently left the university. Law graduate and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigator, Alex Bellotti, has called for the end of bad press about the university and to hold the senior leadership to account.

Murdochs current approach to management and pedagogy is a disservice to everyone involved, causing Murdoch to achieve the unenviable rank as the states worst-performing public university for research, teaching and impact in the influential Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Mr Bellotti said. We as alumni must take a stand and declare enough is enough, before Murdochs reputation (and by extension our degrees reputation) is further eroded by the discontinuance of leading areas of research and teaching, cost cuts masquerading as contemporary pedagogy or unproductive legal campaigns against whistleblowers. Former CSIRO marine biologist and Murdoch Professor Emeritus, Neil Loneragan, agreed that since 2012 major and harmful restructures have impacted the reputation and the morale of staff. In nominating for an alumni position on senate, I bring both senior inside experience and an outside perspective on which priorities are likely to ensure the greatest value and quality of Murdoch University for WAs public good and the alumni community, he said in his election profile. If elected, I would uphold the values of fairness, respect, equity and transparency in planning and decision-making to ensure the reputation of the university and the value of the Murdoch degree.

But among the most sweeping changes is the universitys academic council, where academic representation is being increased from 19 seats to 25 out of 50, with an additional two seats for heads of school added and two more seats for students, while ex-officio seats are being rolled back from 21 to 17, in a reversal of the national trend. Loading It sends the balance of power over academia back into the hands of its grass-roots representatives, which was conceded after a Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency review found Murdoch was at risk of failing to comply over its academic council adequately identifying, mitigating and maintaining oversight of material risks that impact teaching and learning quality at Murdoch. Based on research, recommended practice and benchmarking, the composition of Murdoch Universitys academic council has been adjusted where elected members now make up the clear majority, a university spokesperson said. The university has also added the direct election of academic members to many subordinate committees, thus broadening participation in academic governance across the university.

Dr Michael Tomlinson, who was a governance and compliance consultant at TEQSA until January 2020, said academic councils or boards used to be central to the decision-making structures of universities, where academic policies and strategies were debated and decisions made to accredit courses. But their position has been gradually eroded and more decisions have been made by management over the years, he said. This was a trend in all universities both here and overseas. Dr Tomlinson said the changes at Murdoch should allow more collective oversight of managerial proposals. This is more difficult to achieve if the academic council is dominated by ex-officio appointees from management, who will naturally tend to support a management agenda, he said.
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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size 2021 dawned with the realisation that the new year might not be that much different from the last. Just as days, weeks and months seemed to merge during this planetary pandemic, so, too, did laps around the sun. Rarely, if ever, had the world been so desperate to toss a calendar year into the bin of history. 2020, after all, had become a byword for all that was bad. But the advent of 2021 brought with it unsettling questions. Were we doomed to re-live the immediate past, and remain trapped in the ailing present? In March, the desperate scenes in those overcrowded hospitals in India were as jolting as the Dantean images from northern Italy at the start of the pandemic. They reminded us that the virus comes in waves. That the threat is ever-changing. That mutations can be more infectious and deadly. The Delta variant presented COVID-19 in its most virulent form yet, a poison cloud that cast an all-pervading shadow. Thankfully there was a silver lining: the rollout of effective vaccines. So maybe 2020 cognitively came to an end not at the stroke of midnight on December 31 but rather at the moment countries and states reached their vaccination targets. If not quite with fireworks, Freedom Days were celebrated with New Years-like joy. Perhaps it was fitting that many people, myself included, experienced hangover-like symptoms after receiving their coronavirus shots. Mass vaccinations, if not marking an end point of the pandemic, at least showed there was an escape route. And the quicker people got jabbed, the faster their cities opened up. I was in New York, the one-time epicentre of the pandemic, when rules for the double-vaccinated were relaxed. We could see people smile again. We were unmuffled and unmuted. Maskless faces, hitherto a symbol of defiance, became a sign of compliance. When I overheard one New Yorker tell another New Yorker to go f... yourself, it was a sure sign that the worst of the pandemic was in the past. In the race to get vaccinated, Australia, of course, lagged behind, and took until the end of the year to catch up. A global super performer of 2020 became something of an international whipping boy in 2021. Critics, especially on the American right, assailed the bunker mentality of Fortress Australia, the penal overtones of punitive lockdowns and the magical thinking of Covid Zero. But the sluggishness of the Australian vaccine rollout represented the gravest act of national self-harm. Lives and livelihoods were needlessly lost. Monotonous months of lockdown could have been avoided. Seeing shopping centres festooned with Christmas decorations when we emerged from confinement was a reminder of seasons squandered.

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Loading A way out from the pandemic is not the same thing, of course, as a pathway back to normalcy. Just consider the changes that have overtaken the world of work. If the first year of COVID was marked by mass layoffs, the second witnessed the Great Resignation, a global phenomenon which saw millions quit their jobs. Some employees realised, at a time of labour shortages, that they could switch to higher-paid jobs. But this exodus seemed as much epiphanic as economic, as employees re-evaluated their career choices and recalibrated the work-life balance. The Great Resignation, then, was also a giant reimagining. Workers who stayed with their employers were often reluctant to return to their workplaces. A friend who runs an advertising agency in New York told me they had to produce an ad to persuade their staff to come back  and this was a hipster hangout in a fashionable part of Manhattan with pool tables, fussball and a free bar that opened at lunchtime every day. Evidently, many of us prefer days without rush hours, and commutes that last the time it takes to carry a laptop to the quietest room in the house. But the micro- was different to the macro-economic, where the disruption of global supply chains made us feel the loss of the interconnected world. Something as mundane as a shortage of truck drivers at the worlds busiest ports had mammoth knock-on effects: shortages of food, construction materials, computer chips, Christmas toys, and yes, toilet paper. Then there was the supply-chain snafu to end all supply-chain snafus. The Ever Given, which was wedged in the Suez Canal for six days in March. Credit:Getty Images For six days in March, the Ever Given container ship blocked the Suez Canal, producing the years most metaphoric memes. Those in 2020 who sounded the death knell of globalisation were reminded in 2021 of our interdependence. The worlds pre-eminent power not only continued to be buffeted by the viral storm but faced a mortal attack on democracy. Just six days into the new year, as lawmakers convened to certify the results of the 2020 election, Donald Trump incited a moshpit of Make America Great Again diehards to storm the US Capitol.

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January 6 instantly drew comparisons with September 11. This time, however, it was Americans attacking Americans. US flags were used as cudgels. The colours of the Confederacy were paraded through the halls of

government. Shockingly but unsurprisingly, a sitting US president tried to engineer a coup, turning followers of his personal movement into a paramilitary mob. Pro-Trump supporters storming the US Capitol on January 6. Credit:Getty Images Two weeks later, I watched as President Joe Biden stood on an inaugural platform that had been used as a staging post for this American insurrection and announced that democracy has prevailed. But it was a close-run thing. As he uttered those words, we peered out over an American capital that

looked more like a military encampment. America is back became the mantra of the Biden administration. But Donald Trump refused to go away. Far from being a moment of Trumpian repudiation, January 6 ended up further radicalising the American conservative movement. When the disgraced ex-president made a comeback speech in Florida the following month, at a political convention that felt more like a cult conclave, he was venerated with a gold-coloured statue. Tommy Zegan (right) wheels his statue of former President Donald Trump to a van during the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. Credit:Getty Images Further proof of Americas decline came in Afghanistan, where the botched withdrawal of US forces contributed to the lightning return of the Taliban. The surrender of Kabul evoked memories of the fall of Saigon. If anything, however, what unfolded in the Afghan capital was more upsetting. The 2021 version of that iconic black-and-white photograph of the helicopter preparing to take off from the roof of the American embassy was the video of a giant US military transport plane hurtling down a runway with Afghans clinging to its undercarriage. The withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan evoked memories of the fall of Saigon.

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At this very moment, Australia made a fateful strategic choice, siding unambiguously with the country that for 70 years had safeguarded its security at the risk of further antagonising the emergent superpower that had more recently underwritten its prosperity. The AUKUS deal, in which Washington agreed to share its nuclear submarine technology with Canberra, underscored the growing centrality of Australia, a country that has sometimes defined itself by its remoteness and global inconsequentiality. But it also showed how this country has always sought comfort in the Anglosphere, even if that has meant relinquishing some of its sovereignty to the US and UK (as well as inflaming the French). Unquestionably, Chinas recent aggressiveness has made it harder for Australia to conduct a more autonomous foreign policy. However, PM Scott Morrison  that fella Down Under, as President Biden memorably called him when announcing the deal  had gambled his countrys future on an ally that could be led in three years time by a resurgent Donald Trump. Some might be tempted to view 2021 as the year Australias holiday from history came to an end: a watershed moment when the country belatedly fronted up to problems it had put off, such as settling on its strategic posture, or wilfully downplayed, such as the climate emergency. With the blessing of the Murdoch tabloids, the Morrison government set a target of net zero emissions by 2050. Loading Under pressure from multiple quarters, including from the future Australian head of state, the Prime Minister attended the UNs COP26 summit in Glasgow (a monarchy headed by a 95-year-old and a media empire commanded by a 90-year-old continue to exert so much sway). But when it comes to the environment, coal remains king. For all his talk of a new climate plan, the one-time marketing man continues to be defined by the moment he brandished that lump of fossil fuel in Parliament. Even in these COVID-centric times, global warming remained the most consequential story of the year. We saw raging wildfires in California and Greece; extreme floods in Germany and China; winter white-outs in Texas, and a deadly heat dome in the Pacific Northwest. Despite daily reminders of what the UN called a code red for humanity, however, Glasgow failed to sufficiently counter this catastrophic threat.

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In their startling TV interview, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle rocked British royaltys foundations. Credit:AP In a period of social distancing which heightened our addiction to social media, Facebook had an annus horribilis. During a phase of mass bereavement, a bleakly fatalistic dystopian drama, Squid Game, became a global sensation. Through lockdowns which separated us from loved ones, we yearned for the return of Succession, a series about the break-up of a toxic family. Pop culture seemed to defy the present. But perhaps that was precisely what made it so popular. So many of us wanted to brandish a middle finger at the here and now. Loading As online streaming services became more dominant, Oprah Winfreys interview with Meghan and Harry demonstrated the old-fashioned convening power of television  royal appointment viewing. A month later, the Windsors commanded our attention again, when we tuned in to watch the funeral of Prince Phillip. One of the saddest aspects of the pandemic has been the minimalism of mourning rituals. Even the Queen had to sit in lonely isolation. The years most shocking death came when Alec Baldwin accidentally killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Perhaps it was the setting  a Wild West movie set. Perhaps it was the lethal weapon  a prop gun. Or maybe it was COVID that made the slaying resonate so powerfully, since it served as an allegory for senseless death.

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Defence Minister Peter Dutton has suggested China would not stop taking territory if it invaded Taiwan, warning acquiescence to or appeasement of aggression by Beijing could ultimately lead to the creation of a new regional order.

Hitting back at criticism he had erred in speaking forcefully about the prospect of a war over Taiwan, Mr Dutton said it was important to think through the next step if China occupied the island and noted every major city in Australia was within range of Chinas missiles.

Peter Dutton drew parallels to then-British prime minister Neville Chamberlains appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

If Taiwan is taken, surely the Senkakus are next, he told the National Press Club in Canberra on Friday, referring to a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Taiwan has been the subject of intense domestic debate in recent months. Former prime minister Paul Keating claimed earlier this month Taiwan was not a vital interest for Australia and China was too big and too central to be ostracised, prompting Mr Dutton to say it was inconceivable Australia wouldnt join the United States if there was a clash over the island.
Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly on Saturday said the new variant of concern was the 13th identified so far in the pandemic and there was no evidence that it led to more severe illness. We do know that it is it does contain a large number of mutations. It is quite different to previous variants that weve been watching, but at this point other than understanding that it is transmissible between humans and is transmitting, particularly in South Africa, but also in those surrounding countries, he said. People line up to get on an overseas flight at the International Airport in Johannesburg. Credit:AP We did not at this point have any clear indication that it is more severe, or any definite indication of issues in relation to the vaccine. So I think theyre crucial points to the reason why were taking this precautionary approach, which is proportionate to that risk. Europe, Britain and a host of other countries closed their borders to non-residents arriving from the southern Africa countries due to the emergence of the variant.

There are no direct flights between South Africa and Australia at present, but a series of other precautionary measures are likely to be announced later on Saturday. The NSW government does not plan to make any changes to the post-lockdown reopening road map, despite concerns about a new and highly transmissible variant of COVID-19. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters on Saturday that the Omicron variant appeared highly contagious It hasnt evaded diagnostic tests, there is no evidence it is evading treatment and no evidence it is more deadly. Epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws Thats concerning for anyone in public health across the world. At this stage, on the early evidence, it is possibly even more transmissible [than Delta], he said.

It could be something which is going to cause us a degree of concern going forward. We dont know if ... any of the vaccines will work with the Omicron variant. A Victorian Health Department statement said the government was working with our Commonwealth and state colleagues to better understand the potential implications of this new variant and which mitigation strategies are required to keep Australians protected. UNSW epidemiologist Mary-Louise McLaws said there was evidence that the new Omicron strain had been found in people in Israel, Botswana, Hong Kong, Malawi and Belgium. Although the numbers are low, if this strain has been allocated as a variant of concern, then one of the determinations apart from lab-based, with 32 changes to the spike protein, must have come from a determination that there is more transmissibility, she said. It hasnt evaded diagnostic tests, there is no evidence it is evading treatment and no evidence it is more deadly, so I would suggest it [the classification as a variant of concern] would be based on infectivity. This is very concerning because Delta was already 60 per cent more infectious that Alpha.

Its not just in South Africa any more. They [the federal government] need to learn the lessons from Delta. Our quarantine system has failed on numerous occasions, the systems failure of one person has been a lesson in how infectious Delta has been, those lessons need to be well taken, if they dont the group of people in Australia that havent been fully vaccinated will suffer. We saw one person who the system failed to ensure was vaccinated, to ensure was tested regularly, has now resulted in over 172,000 cases in Australia. We have about 69 per cent vaccine coverage of the total population. For 12 plus its about 84 per cent, thats great but its not enough to protect us from the introduction of a highly infectious variant. Nancy Baxter, an epidemiologist and head of Melbourne Universitys School of Population and Global Health, said that Australia needed to close its borders to travellers from southern African nations.

Although this is currently classified as a variant of concern because we are not sure about the risk, there is mounting evidence in South Africa of rapid transmission, and because of the many mutations in the spike protein there is theoretical risk that the Omicron variant will be able to evade immunity (from both vaccination and infection) more than previous variants, she said. That is a potentially extremely dangerous combination. Until we know more we need to adopt the precautionary principle and do what we can to keep this new variant out. The WHOs Technical Advisory Group overnight said Omicron had a large number of mutations that made it concerning, and that preliminary evidence suggested an increased risk of reinfection compared to the other variants of concern, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa, the group said in a statement.

This variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage. The WHO has asked countries to step up their surveillance and genomic sequencing and report all cases and clusters. The White House also imposed a travel ban and extended it to include Malawi. There have been no cases of Omicron detected in Britain, but one found in Belgium. Belgiums Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told a news conference that the case had been found four days ago in an unvaccinated woman with flu-like symptoms who had travelled from Egypt via Turkey. None of her household contacts had developed symptoms but were being tested.

It is a suspicious variant. We do not know if it is a very dangerous variant, Vandenbroucke said. Loading The first case of the infection, previously called B.1.1.529, was detected in South Africa on November 9. Britain moved ahead of the WHOs declaration, announcing on Thursday night (local time) that it was closing its borders to South Africa and five other countries on Friday, causing chaos at airports. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were early indications that suggest it may be more transmissible and vaccines less effective.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The Coalition is a broad church, and as Parliament dealt with the problems of religious freedom, Prime Minister Scott Morrisons congregation felt free to speak their minds. Its lucky for him he said he doesnt want mere drones and warm bodies in his pews because his faith might have been tested. Traditionally, the final sitting weeks of the year can be dangerous times for political leaders. People are tired, tempers are frayed and theres an impetus to clear the legislative decks ahead of the long summer parliamentary break so the new year can start afresh. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has endured a messy week in Parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Even by those low expectations from watchers of politics, the past week has been a messy one for Morrison. It started with headlines highlighting threats from senators unhappy with state vaccine mandates that they would withhold their support until someone did something (possibly unconstitutional) to stop the premiers. The issue had dragged on Morrison during his mini-campaign fortnight ahead of the sittings, with persistent protests in Melbourne and larger marches around the country at the weekend.

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Labor was already prepared to accuse him of having an each-way bet after hed condemned protesters calling for violence against Victorian leader Daniel Andrews but went on to say he understood peoples frustrations with ongoing coronavirus restrictions. The government agreed to give time in the Senate for debate on a bill from Pauline Hanson intended to end vaccine mandates after she threatened to withhold One Nations two crucial crossbench votes on all legislation. Hanson had told a rally in central Queensland town Yeppoon the week before Parliaments return the issue was so important that she was personally going down [to Canberra] this time to push it. Instead, she attended Parliament via videoconference all week. Without the physical presence of Hanson or her offsider Malcolm Roberts, their votes on their own bill werent recorded. You need to rock up to vote, Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie called out to Hanson, who complained that her number wasnt formally counted among the supporters. But those of former resources minister Matt Canavan, South Australian Liberal Alex Antic, Queensland maverick Gerard Rennick, Liberal backbencher Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and Northern Territory senator Sam McMahon  whose bill on territory rights was bumped off the program to make way for Hansons  were recorded as they broke ranks.

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The bill was defeated overwhelmingly. Hanson still wasnt happy. She had her bill put back on the agenda for further debate later on. Asked for the partys position on voter ID laws  which the government hopes to push through next week  a One Nation spokesman told this masthead the party was still opposing all government legislation. Rennick and Antic have also formally asked to be paired against Coalition colleagues for procedural votes and indicated publicly they cant be relied on until the mandate issue is dealt with. Loading Morrison on Friday declared he was content to let my party breathe when there were issues colleagues were passionate about. In the Liberal Party, we encourage our members to be themselves. I dont lead a team of drones and warm bodies that I just move around in the Parliament, he said. I want people in my team who speak their mind. Im not afraid of that.  Theres been a lot of breathing.

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At the regular Tuesday meeting of Coalition MPs, Morrison made pointed remarks about the choices you make over the next two weeks and the need for discipline and unity to win elections. If you surrender that, you surrender government, he told them  although not all who needed to hear that message were in the room. The meeting was dominated by divisions over the long-promised religious discrimination bill. The changes have been four years in the making and seek to fix a problem many advocates are hard-pressed to explain. Morrison told Parliament it addressed an important weakness in discrimination laws, which cover sex and sexuality, race, disability and age, but not faith. Hes made a virtue of keeping an election promise by delivering the legislation. That has inevitably raised questions about whats happened to the promises to provide greater protections for gay students and teachers as religious schools (which may be dealt with in 2023 on the current timeframe) and to establish a Commonwealth integrity agency. Inside the Coalition meeting, Melissa McIntosh, Matt OSullivan, Ben Small, Lucy Wicks and Canavan spoke up in favour of the changes on religious discrimination.

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Northern Queensland MP Warren Entsch said he did not see the need for the bill and questioned provisions including the defence for statements of faith. Others who expressed concerns were Bridget Archer, Angie Bell, Andrew Bragg, Fiona Martin, Dave Sharma and Trent Zimmerman. During Wednesdays question time, out of those who had spoken out against the religious discrimination bill, only Bell was included on the list to quiz a minister. Its the kind of slight not obvious to most but remembered by the partys ranks. In the lower house, the government got its way overall but lost a series of skirmishes. Loading The old spectre of Morrisons family holiday to Hawaii two years ago when bushfires were burning along the east coast returned amid Labors efforts to brand the Prime Minister a liar. Why had his office denied to journalists he was in the island paradise, asked Labors MP for Gilmore Fiona Phillips. Morrisons reply boiled down to, it didnt matter what the media were told because he had personally informed Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese: He was fully aware of where I was travelling with my family.

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For aid workers in the Solomon Islands, the riots that have burnt down buildings and threatened to overthrow the government this week could not have come at a worse time.

Many of the protesters come from the most populous province Malaita, where people feel overlooked and claim resources are disproportionately directed to the capital. Many of them also opposed the Solomon Islands 2019 decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China, which is partly behind the unrest.

With shops burnt down and services shut, some people on the ground fear that the unrest will only worsen the inequality for communities far from the capital where basic goods are already hard to access and expensive.

People walk through the looted streets of Chinatown in Honiara on Friday. Credit:AP

More than 100 Australian soldiers and police officers are now on the ground in the capital, Honiara, after devastating unrest was triggered by disputes over the countrys leadership and the diplomatic switch.
Queenslands Labor Party has lost its second stalwart in as many weeks, after former treasurer Keith De Lacy died on Friday aged 81.

Mr De Lacy served as treasurer in the Goss Labor government for just over six years between 1989 and 1996, after sitting opposite the Bjelke-Petersen government as the member for Cairns during the final years of Nationals rule in Queensland.

Then-treasurer Keith De Lacy pictured in 1994. Credit:Brian Condron

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose father Henry served with Mr De Lacy in the Goss government, offered her condolences to Mr De Lacys family.

Keith was part of Wayne Goss government, which will long be remembered for its reforms, she said.
Rome: The leaders of Italy and France will sign a treaty on Friday to strengthen bilateral ties at a time when European diplomacy is being tested by the departure of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The Quirinale Treaty is aimed at enhancing cooperation between Paris and Rome in areas including defence, migration, the economy, culture and trade.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in Rome on Thursday. Credit:AP

The signing ceremony comes shortly after a new coalition pact was agreed in Germany, ending 16 years of rule by Merkel, who was the undisputed leader of Europe and forged especially close ties with successive French leaders.

The new German government is expected to be more inward looking, especially at the start of its mandate, and both Paris and Rome are keen to deepen relations in a period clouded by economic uncertainty, the pandemic, a more assertive Russia, a rising China and a more disengaged United States.
When the Sogavare government recognised Beijing in 2019, it angered many in Malaita and elsewhere.

The divisions, long-standing and rooted in economic disparities, were compounded by a dispute over China policy.

Tensions between Solomon Islands two centres of power, Malaita, its most populous province, and its national government, led by fourth-time Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, had been worsening for years.

Some were fearful that Solomon Islands weak institutions would be unable to handle China. Others were loyal to Taiwan, which had ingratiated itself with Solomon Islanders through a highly visible development program.

But while public discontent at the China decision was genuine, it soon became a proxy issue, onto which the long-standing enmities between Malaita and the national government were grafted, and through which some politicians within the Solomon Islands sensed opportunity.

Prime Minister of Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare. Credit:UN/AP

Malaita is among the most impoverished islands in the South Pacific. Most of its 200,000 residents have no formal income. Ninety-seven per cent have no mains electricity. Roads are usually crumbling, muddy dirt tracks. Housing is low quality, as is healthcare. The province is in desperate need of development assistance.

But much of the aid and foreign investment in the Solomon Islands has concentrated on Honiara, exacerbating a sense of abandonment in Malaita.
Whether buying computer chips directly from manufacturers, reconfiguring cars, or producing them with parts missing, are having to get creative to cope with the global shortage of semiconductors.



The shortage, due to supply problems and a surge in demand for consumer electricals during the pandemic, has hit the auto industry hard, with millions of vehicles worldwide not being produced because important parts are missing.



With the problem lasting longer than initially expected, manufacturers including Daimler and Volkswagen have had to rethink production strategies.



Car manufacturers usually buy parts from major suppliers such as Bosch and Continental, which in turn buy from suppliers further down the chain.

In some cases that has led to a lack of transparency, said Ondrej Burkacky, a senior partner at McKinsey.



"There was the fallacy of thinking that you had a choice between two suppliers, but the truth is that they both had the chips made in the same foundry," he said.



That is now changing, according to Daimler Purchasing Manager Markus SchAfer.



The German maker of Mercedes-Benz cars has set up a direct line of communication with all chip suppliers, including wafer producers in Taiwan, he said at the IAA auto show in September.



Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess speaks of "strategic partnerships" his company has entered into with manufacturers in Asia.



Chip suppliers need to be treated differently given their strategic importance to the industry, said Stefan Bratzel from the Center for Automotive Management.



"You have seen the problems that arise when you treat the chip companies like other suppliers and stop the calls," he said.



McKinsey's Burkacky said should consider direct investments in production, or longer contracts with terms of more than 18 months.



"Not much of that has been implemented yet," he added.



'MORE resilient'



In the meantime, vehicle developers are doing their part to help manufacturers manage the supply crunch.



Annette Danielski, chief financial officer of Volkswagen's trucking unit Traton, said the company was trying to clear some space on the motherboards of control systems.



"If we change the software, we can use fewer semiconductors and achieve the same functionality," she said. "That sometimes takes a long lead time because the regulatory authorities intervene, but there are areas where you can change something quickly."



Daimler relies on new designs for control units. Rather than using one specific chip, these are designed to work with an alternative that can be used in the event of delivery problems, the company's head of purchasing SchAfer said.



Tesla is considered the model for this.



The company reprogrammed software within three months so that other less scarce chips could be used, enabling the U.S.

electric carmaker to weather the crisis better than many others.



General Motors has said it will work with chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, STM and Infineon to develop microcontrollers that combine several functions previously controlled by individual chips.



"We are trying to create an ecosystem that is more resilient, more expandable and always available," a company spokesperson said.



Priortising



Some are stockpiling - or what BMW calls "hole shoring."



The whole car is built except for a missing part, and can then be completed relatively easily when it shows up.



Other are also using this strategy. Sometimes vehicles are delivered without certain functions controlled by chips.

Semiconductors are also conserved for high-quality vehicles, like electric cars, while customers face even longer wait times for low-priced combustion engines.



That strategy is slowly reaching its limits. Volkswagen recently had to temporarily stop the production of electric cars in its Zwickau plant in Germany.



How well these coping strategies work is not yet clear.



"The bill will be presented in mid or late 2022, when you can see who came out of the crisis well and who did not make it so well," said McKinsey's Burkacky.
K Ananth Krishnan, EVP & CTO, TCS, shares some memorable interactions with the legendary F C Kohli, the man who was the primary mover behind the setting up of Research and Innovation.

The First Meeting

The early 1988 batch of trainees in Bombay was perhaps the first one for many years to miss the customary meeting with our Director-in-Charge, Mr F C Kohli. I had to wait for a few months before I had a one-to-one meeting with him in the 3rd floor conference room in our Cathedral Road office. I remember just a few things from that meeting: he had my HR file open and asked me about IIT Delhi, what I was doing in the System Software Group, and why I had not joined the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Those five minutes, with my heart going at about 140 beats to the minute, felt very long! (And yes, I became an IEEE member soon after.)

I met him many times over the next few years. He fondly called me my technology man in Chennai!

Receiving Great Advice

I happened to be in visiting clients and was told that Mr Kohli (now our deputy chairman) was in our Grosvenor Place office reviewing all UK projects. Since my client meeting was done, I peeped in, and was immediately called in. An hour later, he must have noticed the what am I doing here look on my face and asked, Have you seen  I said no, not really. He asked me to take the open top tour bus, trace the whole route without getting down, and to come back and tell him what I saw. Was that great advice or what!

Physics and Dinner

I joined the dinner hosted for him later that evening and reported back. He was very relaxed and un-DyC -like and was cracking jokes with all of us and Mrs. Kohli. He then asked the waiter to change his drink; it had become too warm. I wisecracked, Sir, Newtons law of cooling is against the waiter. The restaurant is pretty crowded, so the colder the drink he brings you, the faster it will warm up! Now that got him interested. Do you know that my first two degrees were in Physics? I dont remember any such law, he said. I was a cocky seven-year TCSer and shot back, Sir, my first two degrees are in Physics too I can show you the law! Dead silence at the table. Mrs Kohli broke it by saying, The boy looks confident. Maybe he is right! Then he guffawed and patted me on the back with Send me the book anyway! A career threatening moment for me, but he was very teachable in his humility. (I did send him the book.)

Lighter Moments

Old-timers in would remember the all-time great prank pulled by R Ramanan on an unsuspecting colleague. Ramanan is an excellent mimic and came into his own in this call when he became Mr Kohli and turned his victim to quivering jelly! Many of us tried to get to these heights but did not even come close. In a Hats Off event in the early 2000s, Ravi and I got polite handclaps and a memento for our joint act with me essaying Mr. Kohli and Ravi playing himself on the firing line.

I used to run into him many times when working out of the Air India building on Mr. Ramadorais staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is a courteous host and would personally pour the tea for you when you visit his office. He is amazingly updated on technology and is very passionate about certain things such as Indian language computing, hardware and electronics, using technology for social good, helping the smaller academic institutions. And of course, his humor: You are losing your hair very fast!

When Ajoy and I met him in his office to take his permission to name the upcoming center for AI at after him, we could see he was visibly moved. We had our cup of tea of course, and a promise: I will come for the inauguration. He did, and the photo taken at the occasion is for the ages! The author is the EVP and CTO at TCS. Vews expressed are his own.


The central government has formed a five-member committee, headed by former Ratan P Watal, to ensure timely completion of various projects being executed under the Central Vista redevelopment plan.

In an office memorandum issued on Thursday, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said the 'Central Vista Oversight Committee' will ensure multi-agency and stakeholder coordination for seamless integration of different project works.

According to the document, Deputy CAG P K Tiwari, former director of L&T Shailendar Roy, IIT Delhi professor Mausam and ministry's joint secretary have been included in the committee.

The redevelopment of the Central Vista, the nation's power corridor, envisages a new parliament building, a common central secretariat, revamping of the 3-km-long Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate, new office and residence of the prime minister, and a new vice-president enclave.

The ministry said that the five-member committee will meet regularly and undertake site inspections for an independent review. It will submit its reports and recommendations to the HUA ministry on a regular basis.

The terms of reference of committee stated that the panel will ensure continuous monitoring of the pace of execution of various projects of Central Vista with respect to targeted milestones to ensure their timely completion.

Apart from this, it will also ensure that project is executed according to the approved scope of work and prescribed standards and specifications.

Earlier this month, infrastructure firm Kamladityya Construction Pvt Ltd was awarded the contract for constructing the vice-president enclave



In October, Larsen & Toubro Limited had won the tender work for the construction and maintenance of the first three buildings of the Common Central Secretariat under the Central Vista redevelopment project.

Tata Projects Limited is constructing a new parliament building while Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Limited is executing the redevelopment work of the Central Vista Avenue from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate.

(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.)
State-owned CESL on Friday signed a Letter of Association with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay



(IIT-B) to implement electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the country.

Convergence Energy Services Ltd (CESL) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.

Under this association, both parties will collaborate to work on technological advancements in the electric vehicle charging domain by development of flagship products, standardization of technical specifications, solutions for meeting EV charging capabilities, and customized solutions for Indian EV charging ecosystem.

The letter of association (LoA) was signed by Mahua Acharya, MD and CEO, CESL and Professor AM Pradeep, Associate Dean of Research & Development, IIT-B.

"Developing a viable landscape with strong EV infrastructure is the key to cultivate consumer confidence in and CESL is proud to be progressively spearheading initiatives to promote e-mobility in India. Our partnership with IIT-B will significantly enhance the technological advancement for the EV charging infrastructure, Acharya said.

Professor Swaroop Ganguly, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT-B said the partnership will foster and stimulate in line with India's global and domestic commitments to reduce carbon emissions, particularly from the transport sector.

CESL is focused on delivering clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

(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.)
such as Blackrock, Blackstone, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and others have held preliminary discussions with stakeholders regarding the anchor book of the state-owned insurance behemoth  Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), a report by Economic Times said, quoting unnamed government officials.

The report also says that a few other global will be holding meetings this week or early next week regarding the anchor book of LIC. The book managers of LIC are reaching out to as many as 100 global investors, including global fund managers, pension fund managers, and private equity funds, the report said.

So far this year, IPOs in the Indian market have seen investments worth thousands of crores from FPI anchor The top five FPI anchors include Government of Singapore (Rs 1,570 crore), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (Rs 1,197 crore), BlackRock Global Funds-World Technology Fund (Rs 868 crore), Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) PTE. - ODI (Rs 648 crore), and Nomura India Investment Fund Mother Fund (Rs 599 crore), data provided by Prime database showed.

The top five MF anchors include Aditya Birla Sun Life MF (Rs 1,619 crore), HDFC MF (Rs 1,317 crore), SBI MF (Rs 1,201 crore), Axis MF (Rs 1,196 crore) and Mirae Asset MF (Rs 1,178 crore).

LICs IPO is being touted as the biggest ever IPO to hit the Indian markets. Various reports have said that the government is looking to dilute a 10 per cent stake in the insurance behemoth.

Business Standard reached out to book managers of LIC and LIC officials for comments, but emails sent to them did not elicit a response.

The government has time and again stated that it is looking to bring the LIC IPO in the current fiscal year (FY22). Finance Secretary, TV Somanathan, talking to a TV channel said that there is a good chance of LIC divestment going through this year.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, had last week said that the IPO of LIC would hit the markets by Q4FY22.

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Cititgroup, Nomura, Bank of America, SBI Caps, Axis Capital, ICICI Securities, JM Financial, and Kotak Mahindra Capital have been hired by the government to manage the LIC share sale.
Realty firm Ltd on Friday said it has bought a 16-acre land parcel in Bengaluru to develop primarily residential properties, as part of its strategy to expand business in major cities.

The company did not disclose the deal value as well as the name of the seller.

In a regulatory filing, Godrej Properties, which is one of the country's leading developers, informed that it has purchased a land measuring approximately 16 acres at a strategically located and fastest developing micro-market of Sarjapur to develop a mid-income project.

The project is estimated to have a developable potential of about 1.5 million square feet saleable area, comprising primarily residential apartments of various configurations.

Sarjapur is one of the most preferred residential locations in Bengaluru and also has excellent connectivity to the IT/ITES belt at Bellandur on Outer Ring Road and several key hubs of the city.

Mohit Malhotra, MD & CEO, Godrej Properties, said, "infrastructure development in Bengaluru has increased demand for housing, especially from the mid and upper-mid income group."



Sarjapur is an important micro market for the company, he added.

"This will further expand our presence in Bengaluru and complement our strategy of deepening our presence in key micro markets across India's leading cities," Malhotra said.

Godrej Properties' sales bookings rose 18 per cent to Rs 3,072 crore during the April-September 2021 period, driven by higher demand for 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.

Mumbai-based is part of the business conglomerate Godrej Group. It has a strong presence in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Bengaluru and Pune markets.
TechEagle, a Gurugram-based deeptech building logistic services, said it has partnered with the Government of Meghalaya and Smart Village Movement (SVM) to carry out Indias first hybrid e-VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) delivery of lifesaving medicines. The collaboration is aimed at transforming the healthcare supply chain for hard-to-reach population.

A doctor at Nongstoin district hospital gave the medicine box to TechEagle team to load inside the Upon successful loading of the medicine into the drone bay, TechEagles e-VTOL Drone AquilaX2 took off from Nongstoin District Hospital vertically like a helicopter and converted automatically into fixed-wing (like passenger aircraft) mode upon reaching the mission height. The drone cruised a complete aerial distance of 25 km at 90 kmph speed to reach Maweit PHC (primary healthcare centre). As soon as it reached the landing point at Maweit PHC, it converted itself back to rotary-wing mode to land vertically like a helicopter. TechEagle team unloaded the package and handed over the medicine box to a doctor at Maweit PHC.

Aerial routes are the best possible way to access hard-to-reach places in hilly terrains of the Northeast, said Vikram Singh Meena, founder and CEO of TechEagle. Today, we are proud of the fact that TechEagles made in India Hybrid e-VTOL is solving grassroot problems faced by citizens living in the remote areas.

TechEagle said it e-VTOL Aquila X2 delivered the lifesaving drugs successfully to a 25km distance in less than 25 minutes. Drones have the potential to improve the lives of 18,50,000 citizens of Meghalaya.

We have reduced delivery time from 4 hours to 25 minutes, said Meena. e-VTOL drone technology is going to leave a huge impact to enable better healthcare in the remotest parts of the world.

The company said it technology ensures consistent, safe and reliable distribution of life-saving drugs (medicines, vaccines, blood and other medical essentials) in several parts of the state with the reverse logistics of samples for quick diagnosis.

Here the technology has been used for a very good cause. We look forward to using the technology in the long run, said Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma. Today we have used it for healthcare and in future, we hopefully will be able to use this in agriculture and other allied sectors.

Tulenam Laloo, Project Lead, - Healthcare at Smart Village Movement, Berkely Haas, said, the use of drone-based deliveries in healthcare is a promising means to augment supply chain management and support last-mile access.

Meghalaya and other North-Eastern states would immensely benefit from its application, considering the unique terrain, said Tulenam Laloo. The use case to be studied through TechEagles trial at West Khasi Hills District shall be something that we shall look forward to.
Online stockbroking platform has entered the unicorn club by raising $25 million at a of over $3 billion, according to several media reports quoting unnamed sources.

Business Standard has reached out to the company for a confirmation.

The round is said to be led by existing investor Tiger Global and is still ongoing. It would also make valued more than rivals Zerodha and Groww, said the reports.

Upstox, backed by Ratan Tata and Tiger Global, earlier said in July that more than 70 per cent of its over 2 million new customers are first-time investors and under-36 -- something even traditional brokerages also back given the massive over 20 million new investors coming in the market during the pandemic year.

According to the data from the National Securities Depository, and Central Depository Services, a record 14.2 million new demat accounts were opened in FY21, a near three-fold rise from the previous year's 4.9 million.

The massive market rally after the meltdown in the first half of 2020 has seen a massive influx of investors into the equity markets during the past year and a half.
Holding of Ltd have raised USD 800 million (about Rs 6,000 crore) by pledging shares in the company, according to a stock exchange filing.

Promoter group firms pledged 242.26 crore or 65.18 per cent shareholding in Ltd in three facility agreements to raise the money, a Ltd's filing showed.

In the first financing deal, Twin Star Holdings Ltd entered into an agreement with Standard Chartered Bank, London to avail of an aggregate amount of USD 400 million.

In the second, Vedanta Netherlands Investments BV secured USD 150 million from Standard Chartered Bank, London.

Vedanta Resources in the third facility raised USD 250 million from Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong.

"The borrowers and guarantors in the aforesaid Facility Agreements are part of the promoter and promoter group," Vedanta said in the filing.

As part of the pledge, the promoter group entities are not permitted to create any encumbrance over any assets held by them unless certain conditions are fulfilled.

Also, Vedanta Resources Limited and its subsidiaries are required to retain control over Vedanta Ltd or own more than 50% of the issued equity share capital.

Madison Pacific Trust, in a separate statement, said Vedanta Netherlands Investment BV and Twinstar Holdings have acquired 1.71 per cent and 2.80 per cent of the equity share capital of Vedanta.

Earlier this week, they were looking to purchase up to 17 crore equity shares of Vedanta Ltd at an indicative price of Rs 350 per share, valued at Rs 5,950 crore.

(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.)
Vedantu, a pioneer in Live online learning, has announced (employee stock ownership plan) liquidity program worth $3 million for all eligible employees. The founders will not participate in the buyback, but the top leadership and eligible active employees who have completed the vesting period will be able to liquidate their vested ESOP shares.

"We have seen enormous growth over the last few years, and we take immense pride in the impact we are creating in the lives of our students, said Vamsi Krishna, CEO and co-founder, Vedantu. As Vedantu grows, we want our employees to grow with us as well as they are equal contributors towards this growth. By growing the technology, engineering and product teams across all functions, provide employees with high ownership, while providing more opportunities for financial growth.

In September this year, Vedantu announced a $100 million Series E round, led by Singapore-based impact investing fund ABC World Asia. The round also saw strong participation from existing investors  Coatue, Tiger Global, GGV Capital and Westbridge With this round of funding, Vedantus valuation is at $1 billion, and it underlines its status as the largest K-12 Live online tutoring company in India.

We want to enable long-term wealth creation for our employees and recognise their contribution and commitment, said Krishna. This is the first ESOP programme to facilitate value creation for Vedans and we will continue to take more such initiatives in the future.

Vedantu offers tutoring courses for students aged 3 to 18 years old, as well as preparation for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, NEET, Commerce, CBSE, ICSE, and state exams like the Maharashtra board. Through its newest offering and fastest-growing vertical, SuperKids, it offers extracurricular classes like English Speaking, Reading, and Coding.

Vedantu is the leader in the field of K-12 Live tutoring. More than 35 million users access Vedantu every month through its app and website for free. There are 65 million views on its Youtube channel, the most of any educational company in India in the K-12 segment. Vedantu is also accessible via dedicated channels on Airtel TV and TATA Sky. Vedantu catered to over 200,000 paying students last year, a 400 per cent growth over the previous year. This growth was accompanied by a 4.5x increase in revenue over the previous year, making it the fastest-growing online education company and the second-largest K-12 company in terms of revenue and students.
Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, announced on Friday that Vipin Sondhi has decided to step down from the post of managing director and chief executive officer of the company with effect from December 31, citing 'personal reasons'.

Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman of the Chennai-based auto major has stepped in as the executive chairman of the company with immediate effect to assist in business continuity and to ensure a seamless transition. According to a statement by the company, Sondhi had expressed his intention to devote more time to take care of certain personal and family commitments in the post COVID pandemic situation, that require his extended presence in New Delhi. Sondhi took charge of the company on December 12, 2019 and was appointed for a term of five years till December 11, 2024.

The company said that the board extended its support to Sondhi's decision 'respecting his personal reasons'. Sondhi will support and facilitate a smooth management transition. The Board will meet shortly to decide on the further course of action for identifying the next CEO and MD.

I consider it an honour to have led this great organization.

My decision is purely a personal one as I need to take care of my personal and family responsibilities, which have become a top priority," Sondhi said. He added that working with the Hinduja family and the leadership team at has been an enriching experience.

"We have been able to meet all the challenges head-on despite the global pandemic and continue on our growth path has been very satisfying. I would like to thank the Board for its continuous support and my committed team across for their tireless work and co-operation to ensure that we move closer to our Vision to emerge as one of the top 10 CV makers in the world," he added.

Prior to joining Ashok Leyland, Sondhi was heading JCB lndia Ltd, where he spent over 13 years and was a member of JCB's global executive team. I would like to place on record Vipins significant contribution in navigating the disruption caused by the Covid19 pandemic and seeding firm actions to pursue our Vision. We wish Vipin the very best in all his future endeavours, Hinduja said.

He added We see a revival in domestic and international markets. I am confident that our new products and soon to be introduced alternate propulsion variants will trigger growth in volume and market share shortly. Before Sondhi, Vinod Dasari was leading the company for 14 years first as a chief operating officer (COO) and then as the CEO, before stepping down in November 2018.
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The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by against the Uttar Pradesh police order that had restricted voting rights on shares of direct-to-home broadcaster India. The bank, which holds 24.19 per cent stake in India, moved the on Friday and the matter will be mentioned on Monday.

shares were frozen by the UP police following a complaint by Essel group founder Subhash Chandra last year against the previous management led by Rana Kapoor over a merger deal brokered by the bank between Videocon D2H and Dish TV. The HC said there are alternate remedies available to the bank for de-freezing its shares and should apply these remedies first.

The annual general meeting of Dish TV is scheduled on November 30 and if does not get any relief from the on Monday, it will be easier for the current management of Dish TV to get all resolutions passed, said a legal source. wants to remove the directors of Dish TV and appoint its own nominees on the board and had asked the company to call an EGM.

According to Dish TV statement to the stock exchanges this month, it had received a notice issued by the Crime Branch, Gautam Budh Nagar, in respect of an investigation being conducted by them. The company has been informed that the Crime Branch has issued a notice under Section 102 of the Cr. P.C, 1973, to YES Bank, restricting YBL from dealing in and/or exercising any rights over equity shares of the company held by YBL till completion of the investigation or till further orders, it said. YES Bank did not answer emails or text messages, seeking comments.
On the occasion of day, 14 have decided to boycott the function after the Congress reached out to like-minded parties alleging that the government was not following the The President and Prime Minister are scheduled to address the function in the central hall on Friday.

Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said, "Post Independence many all over the world predicted that Indian democracy will not survive & yet here we are because of the which binds us "we the people of India"; no one should ever be allowed to dilute, weaken or fail our Constitution."

Not only the Congress but the NCP too decided to boycott the function. Majeed Memon of the NCP said, "BJP leaders want to celebrate Constitution Day in Central Hall with all solemnity and respect to the Constitution of India. It is a mockery to do so when they don't follow it on the ground."

The Congress had reached out to the on this. Parties, including Trinamool, Left, Samajwadi party, RJD, Shiv Sena, IUML, DMK, the NCP and others followed suit.

The opposition alleged that the Centre was not adhering to the Constitution, but has been making a mockery by bypassing not evolving consensus on issues.

President Ram Nath Kovind will be the Chief guest on the Constitution Day on Friday at the Central Hall of House. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the gathering and Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will also address.

--IANS

miz/dpb

(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.)
Leaders from across the country on Friday paid homage to the victims and security personnel who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah termed the Mumbai a "cowardly" act while paying tribute to those who had lost their lives.

"Heartfelt tributes to those who lost their lives in the Mumbai and salute the courage of all the security personnel who bravely faced the terrorists in the cowardly attacks. The whole nation will be proud of your bravery. A grateful nation will always be indebted to your sacrifice," Shah said in a tweet.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal paid tribute to jawans, policemen and citizens who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

"I humbly pay homage to all the jawans, policemen and citizens who laid down their lives in 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks to protest the country. Considering the nation as paramount, this country will always be indebted to all the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives in this attack," he said in a tweet.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that he will "never forget" the

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh remembered all those who lost their lives in the attacks.

"On the 13th anniversary of the November 26th terror attack on Mumbai, we remember the innocent lives we lost. My tributes to everyone who lost their lives in those attacks. Our security forces displayed exemplary courage during the 26/11 attacks. I salute their bravery and sacrifice," Singh said in a tweet.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid homage to the fallen soldiers and said, "They protect the country by staying away from the family in difficult weather at the border. Save the lives of the innocent by risking his life in terrorist attacks. They don't care about their life; they only care for their country. It is the pride of the family, of the village, of the country - such as the soldiers of my country."

"Salute to the heroes of 26/11 #MumbaiTerrorAttack. Jai Hind!" tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President, Sukhbir Singh Badal said, "Heartfelt tributes to the courageous martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack. We mourn with families who lost their dear ones. The nation will always remain indebted to the brave police and security forces who fearlessly fought against the terrorists to save the countrymen."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a tweet, "I pay homage to the immortal martyrdom of our brave soldiers who laid down their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai attack and served the nation. This country will always be indebted to its brave martyrs,"

Former union minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal also paid homage to the bravehearts who made supreme sacrifice to protect the nation.

"26/11 #MumbaiTerrorAttack - the horrific incident which we will never forget. Our solidarity with families who lost their loved ones in that gruesome attack. Salute to the bravehearts who made supreme sacrifice to protect the nation. The entire country will remain indebted to them," said Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists came to Mumbai via sea route from Pakistan and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the city on November 26, 2011.

After sailing to the city under the cover of darkness, the terrorists targeted major landmarks of Mumbai with the first attack taking place at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.

Ajmal Amir Kasab and Ismail Khan carried out the attack at this station, killing as many as 58 people and injuring over 100.

Kasab and Khan later entered to attack Cama Hospital, but the same was thwarted with the alertness of the hospital staff. They, however, killed 6 police officials, including the city's Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare in an ambush after leaving the hospital.

The second site of the attack was the Nariman House business and residential complex where a Rabbi, his wife, and six others, including five Israeli citizens, were killed by the terrorists who first held them hostage.

The two-year-old child of the Rabbi couple, Moshe, survived the attack. Then 'Baby Moshe' became the face of the innocent victims of ruthless terrorism.

The third site to come under attack on 26/11 was the Leopold Cafe followed by Taj Mahal Hotel and Tower. Four terrorists carried out the attack at the cafe before entering the iconic Taj hotel, where they killed as many as 31 people after laying a three-day siege at the hotel.

The other site to come under attack during the 26/11 was Oberoi-Trident hotel where another group of two terrorists entered at almost the same time, as the other four had entered the Taj. At Oberoi-Trident hotel the siege officially ended on the evening of November 28 with as many as 30 being killed in the horrific attack.

The attack and seizure finally culminated on the morning of November 29, 2008, after the National Security Guards (NSG) secured the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

By the time commandos of the National Security Guards (NSG) gunned down the last terrorists who had been holed up in south Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, over 160 people were killed and hundreds were left injured.

After the attack, it was established that the 10 terrorists had sailed to Mumbai from Pakistan's port city, Karachi. Their voyage to Mumbai involved hijacking a fishing dingy and killing four of the five men crew, leaving one occupant to ferry them to the Mumbai coast.

In these gruesome attacks, 9 terrorists were killed and the lone survivor, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was caught and was sentenced to death at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), whose mastermind was Hafiz Saeed, was believed to have plotted the 26/11 attacks.

(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 poorest fifth of India's rural population spent 12 times the poverty line of Rs 972 a month on hospitalisation, out of their pocket in 2019, on average, show data from the recently released National Health Profile. The poorest in urban areas spent, on average, nine times the urban poverty line of Rs 1,407 a month, data show

The National Health Profile is an annual dataset released by the health ministry's Central Bureau of Health Intelligence. In six charts, we look at its highlights:

India had over 480,000 cases of malaria and in 2019

Pneumonia had the highest death rate of any communicable disease, with nearly 6 men for every 1,000 cases, and 5 women for every 1,000 cases, dying with the disease in 2019.

Malaria and were the most common vector-borne diseases--illnesses transmitted by vectors, such as mosquitos. Over 330,000 cases of malaria and over 150,000 cases of were reported in 2019, making up 83% of all vector-borne diseases.

The most deaths from vector-borne diseases were because of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), a term used to refer to a number of diseases, which include an acute onset of fever and a change in mental status, including confusion, disorientation, delirium and coma.

Japanese encephalitis, of which 220 died in 2019 is, after the eradication of polio, the leading cause of childhood viral neurological infection and disability in Asia, we reported in August 2016.

is the most common non-communicable disease in India

The disease pattern in India is changing; non- (NCDs) today make up for a greater share of deaths than do communicable diseases, data show.

As a result India's health system faces a dual challenge--it has to grapple with diseases such as diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis and neonatal disorders, while at the same time caring for those with non-communicable conditions, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes, we had reported in November 2017.

In 2019, over 68 million Indians were screened for NCDs under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke. Of these, 4.3 million were diagnosed with hypertension, followed by 3.3 million with diabetes and 1.3 million with both and diabetes.

In 2019, India had 187 chickenpox outbreaks, 181 of dengue

India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme was launched in 2004 to detect and respond to outbreaks of epidemics, and captures data on 30 diseases prone to outbreaks. In 2019, the country had 1,677 disease outbreaks--most of food poisoning (345), followed by acute diarrheal diseases (341), chickenpox (187), dengue (181) and chikungunya (72).

Health spending out of pocket

Despite the Ayushman Bharat programme, under which 'poor deprived families' receive an annual family health insurance cover of up to Rs 5 lakh for the treatment of diseases that cannot be cured at a primary center, those in the poorest fifth of the population spent Rs 11,994 out of their pockets on hospitalisation, on average. In urban areas, those in the poorest fifth of the population spent Rs 13,578, on average.

Nearly 40% of the rural population and over 26% of the urban population lives below the poverty line in India, based on 2011-12 data.

To fund hospital expenses, people mostly dip into their savings, while some borrow and some take funds from friends and family.
said on Friday it was examining the impact of a new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly in South Africa on its and its antibody cocktail, adding it was hopeful its combination drug would retain efficacy.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday designated a new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529, detected in South Africa with a large number of mutations, as being "of concern".

has distributed 2 billion doses of its worldwide, although rollout of the shot was paused in South Africa in February after it was shown to offer minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the Beta variant, which was dominant in the country at the time.

"As with any new emerging variants, we are looking into B.1.1.529 to understand more about it and the impact on the vaccine," said in a statement, adding it was conducting research in Botswana and Eswatini to collect data.

"That will enable us to collect real world data of Vaxzevria against this new virus variant."

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm emphasised that the has been shown to be effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

AstraZeneca said that it had developed a vaccine platform to respond quickly to new variants with Oxford University, where the vaccine was created. It has previously said it is working on a variant vaccine to better target the Beta variant.

The company has also developed an antibody cocktail which can be used both to prevent and to treat Covid-19.

Although some scientists have expressed concern that the spike protein mutations might hinder the effectiveness of monoclonal antibody drugs, the combination drug made by AstraZeneca might retain its efficacy, the company said.

"We are also testing our long-acting antibody combination AZD7442 against this new variant and are hopeful AZD7442 will retain efficacy since it comprises two potent antibodies with different and complementary activities against the virus," it said.

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Right to access of justice within reasonable cost and time is a fundamental right and a period of 30 years taken in disposal of a case till the apex court cannot be reasonable, Attorney General said on Friday while advocating four courts of appeals in four parts of the country to relieve of its huge workload.

He opined that the apex court's current role should be overhauled and it should be made a purely Constitutional court hearing only cases involving issues of Constitutional interpretation.

The Attorney General, while speaking at the Constitution Day function organized by the Supreme Court, said four "courts of appeal" should be constituted to hear appeals from High Courts, tribunals, and other matters which are currently heard by the Supreme Court, adding that it would cut down the pendency of cases to a great extent.

I would envisage at least about four regions - the north, the south, the West, and the East, each having a court of appeal with 15 judges. Pendency would be reduced so that you will be able to get the cases disposed of within a period of three or four years," he said.

Pendency in will reduce then. For Supreme Court, it will not need these 34 judges. 15 judges sitting in three constitution benches of five judges each will be enough. Judges will be able to hear patiently and write excellent judgments," the AG opined.

Shedding light on the high pendency and time taken in disposal of cases, the top most law officer said it needed a bold person to file a case in the lower court as he or she may not enjoy the fruits of the litigation after 30 years and suggested that the judiciary and the executive should come together to address the issue rather brushing it under the carpet.

He spoke about the sufferings litigants go through when their cases are adjourned by six months.

We find that in the list, there are criminal cases pending from 2008, civil cases pending from 2009. This should mean that when finally justice is done, a total period of 30 years has elapsed, Venugopal said at a function attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It should be remembered that so far as the right to access to justice is concerned, it is a fundamental right, and being a fundamental right, it means that they should have access to justice at a reasonable cost and within a reasonable period of time. 30 years is not a reasonable period of time, he said.

The top law officer compared this to the western apex courts where he claimed that the cases are disposed of within two years.

Venugopal added, "One cannot allow today's situation to continue because we are not really doing justice. We are ignoring a fundamental right, perhaps violating the fundamental right by allowing the structure of courts to remain.

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh, who was also part of the event, was of the view that the appointment of most meritorious people to the higher judiciary is the constitutional mandate as the judiciary plays an interface between the Constitution of India and the citizens.

I am of the opinion that a suitable legislation in the form of a Bill to regulate the Collegium system can be brought within the said limitation which will facilitate the appointment of judges to the High Courts as well as to the Supreme Court, he said.

Singh stated that the Bill should provide a Permanent Secretariat both at the High Court and Supreme Court level, to assist them in the matter of appointment of judges, adding that the members of the Collegiums both at the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts, being senior judges of their respective Court do not have enough spare time for this onerous responsibility.

The Collegium will determine the eligibility for appointment to the higher judiciary and the Secretariat would constantly update the list of persons who qualify as per the said eligibility, he added.

To bring in more transparency, the legislation can also provide for taking comments of two eminent Senior Advocates of the particular Court before considering any name for the appointment, the SCBA President said.

Earlier today, while speaking at another function to Celebrate the Consitution Day, he had expressed concern over the rise in the number of MPs and MLAs charged with serious criminal cases which he claimed is 43 percent now as compared to 23 in 2004.

'One very important change which is required is that lawbreakers should not be lawmakers, he said emphasizing that the statistics, unfortunately, prove otherwise.

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: Content and marketing consultant to automotive and motorsport industry AutoGuru India on Friday said it has joined hands with Automotive Council (ASDC) to encourage women automobile drivers take up a career in motorsport under its Formula Woman platform.

AutoGuru India, along with Formula Woman UK, are bringing a unique platform which gives a golden opportunity to women drivers to be in the driving seat for the McLaren racing team in 2022.

"We are very happy to have the ASDC on as a partner for Formula Woman India. Formula Woman is a platform that is looking out for drivers with the best driving skills and a personality to match it", AutoGuru India CEO and Co-Founder Ativ Shah said.

"We at AutoGuru are aligned in our vision, objectives with Automotive Council, which includes skill and education development in the auto industry, promoting safe driving and encouraging more women to pursue their careers in auto, motorsport industry".

A two day event on November 23 and 24 was held at Erda's Speedway in Vadodara to give women drivers an opportunity to make a career in motorsport.

Automotive Skill Development Council CEO, Arindam Lahiri said, "we are extremely happy to be the skilling partner of AutoGuru India for Formula Woman UK. At ASDC we have always been at the forefront of advancing digital inclusion and equity across India through our various training programmes". "Our partnership with AutoGuru India reflects our commitment toward strengthening the skilling ecosystem.

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The Supreme Court was Friday informed that Chief Ministers of and met on November 9 and agreed to constitute a committee to look into the controversy related to territorial jurisdiction dispute over 21 villages.

The government, which has filed a plea in the apex court seeking contempt action against some senior officials of for notifying panchayat polls in three disputed area' villages, told the top court that some positive development has happened in the matter.

The two chief ministers met on November 9, 2021 and they have agreed to constitute a committee to look into this matter, senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Odisha, told a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar.

The counsel appearing for the Andhra officials said while meeting has happened in a very cordial atmosphere, the looming specter of contempt can be avoided.

He said the court can close the contempt and leave it open for the petitioners to approach the court again.

The contempt action has to be taken forward, what is the difficulty. If settlement does not happen, the contempt has to proceed. There is clear direction of maintaining status quo. If that is breached, that is the grievance. We have to deal with it if you are not able to resolve, the bench observed.

The counsel appearing for the Andhra officials said they have already said there has been no violation.

Urging the bench that the matter be deferred for some time, Singh said pendency of this matter would help resolve the controversy.

The state authorities are interacting at the highest level to find out amicable solution. We defer hearing of this matter till first week of January 2022, the bench said in its order.

More than five decades since the first status quo order on the territorial jurisdiction dispute with over 21 villages, has moved the top court seeking contempt action against some officials of the southern state for notifying panchayat polls in three villages.

The Naveen Patnaik government has said the notification amounts to invading Odisha's territory.

The dispute over territorial jurisdiction over 21 villages popularly called as Kotia Group of villages first reached the top court in 1968 when Odisha on the basis of three notifications -- issued on December 1, 1920, October 8, 1923 and October 15, 1927 -- claimed that Andhra Pradesh had trespassed into its well-defined territory.

During the pendency of the suit filed by Odisha, the top court had on December 2, 1968 directed both the states to maintain status quo till the disposal of the suit and said, there shall be no further ingress or egress on the territories in dispute, on the part of either party.

The suit filed by Odisha under Article 131 (the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction over any dispute arising between the states or between the Centre and state) of the Constitution was finally dismissed on technical grounds by the top court on March 30, 2006, and with the consent of both the states it directed that status quo be maintained till the dispute is resolved.

The petitioner state of Odisha is invoking the contempt jurisdiction of this court against the alleged contemnor for having wilfully and deliberately violated the order dated December 2, 1968 and the judgement dated March 30, 2006 passed by this court in original suit filed by State of Orissa and State of Andhra Pradesh, the plea said.

The Odisha government further claimed that administratively and otherwise, it has been in control of these villages but of late clandestinely the contemnors have entered into the impugned act of contempt by which the order of this court has been violated.

The Andhra Pradesh government had told the apex court that there was no breach of its direction and it has been duly administrating its own territories and did not infringe upon the neighbouring Odisha's area.

Seeking dismissal of the contempt plea filed by Odisha, the Andhra government has said in its affidavit that Odisha is seeking to achieve indirectly what it failed to achieve directly as the apex court in its 2006 judgement dismissed the suit filed by Odisha on the ground that it was not maintainable under Article 131 of the Constitution.

"Without prejudice to the above, it is most respectfully submitted that assuming that there was any undertaking given to the court by the parties, it is settled law that an action for contempt can only be taken in respect of a breach of undertaking if the court has passed an order on the basis of such an undertaking. There was no such undertaking in the present matter," the state government has said in its affidavit.

"It is most submitted that the State of Andhra Pradesh has not taken any step in violation of any agreement/ direction. The State of Andhra Pradesh has been duly administrating its own territories and has not infringed upon the territory of the petitioner," it said.

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Political leaders, Bollywood personalities and citizens on Friday paid heartfelt tributes to the people who lost their lives in the 26/11 terror attacks, which shook the country's financial capital 13 years ago, with banners carrying pictures of the martyrs dotting various locations in south Mumbai to remember their supreme sacrifice.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the country in paying tributes to the martyrs of the and President Ram Nath Kovind said the nation will always be grateful to the security personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil paid their respects at the memorial at the police headquarters in south Mumbai.

People paid tributes to the martyrs at Cama and Albless Hospital, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and near the Gateway of India, some of the places in south Mumbai that were targeted by the terrorists on November 26, 2008. Homage was also paid at Girgaum Chowpatty, where policeman Tukaram Ombale was shot dead by the terrorists during the attacks that lasted for three days.

Banners and hoardings of martyrs were put up at various locations in south Mumbai, where floral tributes were paid by citizens. As a mark gratitude, people were even seen offering flowers to the on-duty security personnel at the Gateway of India.

Police were deployed at various key locations in the city as a precautionary measure.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who is recuperating in a Mumbai hospital after spine surgery, also remembered the 26/11 martyrs.

In a tweet, Thackeray said the terror attack was a clear example of the "cowardly mindset" of terrorists.

Addressing a Constitution Day event in Parliament, prime minister Modi said, "Today, 26/11 is such a sad day for us, when the enemies of the country came inside the country and carried out the terrorist attack in Mumbai. The brave soldiers of the country sacrificed their lives while fighting the terrorists. I bow to their sacrifices.

Union home minister Amit Shah saluted the daring of the security personnel who fought the terrorists and made the supreme sacrifice.

"The entire country is proud of your bravery and will always remember your sacrifice," Shah tweeted.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a two-minute video of the pictures of all the martyrs who gave the supreme sacrifice during the attacks.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.

The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbai's Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte, Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar and Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Tukaram Omble were among those killed in the attack.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and the Nariman House Jewish community centre, now renamed Nariman Light House, were some of the places targeted by terrorists.

Nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces, including the NSG, the country's elite commando force. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.

Mega star Amitabh Bachchan in an Op-ed for the Indian Express recalled "the dark night that stretched over three long days", and said the terror strike has had a long afterlife and gotten entangled with the "tumultuous history that still weighs down the subcontinent".

He said every year as he marks the day, he discovers that the power of survival is linked to the power of humanity, of "our collective commitment that we shall not let the terrorists define who we become".

Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, who along with Maharashtra Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey paid floral tributes at the memorial, tweeted, "Thirteen years have passed yet their courage in face of extreme adversities still inspires us. Remembering Mumbai's saviours on the anniversary of 26/11."



"We will forever carry their unyielding spirits in our hearts. Their sacrifice will always be remembered," tweeted Mumbai Police.

(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.)
and Chinese authorities said a meeting on Thursday moved them closer to partially reopening the border between them, as the two governments dig their heels in as among the last in the world pursuing a zero-Covid-19 strategy.



The global financial hub has followed Beijing's lead to implement some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world, hoping that would convince China, its main source of economic growth, to allow some cross-border movement.



Delegations from the two governments met in the tech hub of Shenzhen on Thursday.



"Good progress was made in the meeting on exploring the resumption of quarantine-free travel between the mainland and in a gradual and orderly manner," the former British colony's government said in a statement.



China's and Macao Affairs Office said in a separate statement the epidemic situation in Hong Kong was "stable and controllable."



Cross-border travel is expected to resume next month, subject to a limited quota, South Morning Post reported, citing two unnamed sources from the mainland.



Near term, Hong Kong has to launch its own version of China's "Health Code" mobile tracing app and prepare boundary control points for the opening, the semiautonomous city's government said.



Despite barely any local cases this year and an environment virtually free of Covid-19, Hong Kong has imposed mandatory hotel quarantine of up to 21 days for arrivals from most countries at the travellers' cost.



International business lobby groups have warned Hong Kong could lose talent and investment, as well as competitive ground to rival finance hubs such as Singapore, unless it relaxes its travel restrictions.



The president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong resigned, saying she could not appeal to authorities to ease Covid-19 restrictions at the same time as having to undergo quarantine herself.



JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the city's Covid-19 policy was making it tougher to retain staff.



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has announced that it will lift a travel ban on expats from six countries including India and that was introduced to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The directives will allow direct entry of fully vaccinated expatriates without the need to spend 14 days in transit outside their countries before entering the Kingdom, Arab News reported.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior issued the directive saying that changes will commence at 1 am on December 1.

The English-language newspaper said that expats arriving from these countries must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their vaccination status outside the Kingdom.

Earlier in February, the direct entry ban was imposed due to a global spike in COVID-19 cases.

The ban covered Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Japan.

The travel ban also applied to travellers who transited through any of the 20 countries in the 14 days before a planned visit to the country.

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India on Friday reported a net addition of 193 in active cases to take its count to 110,133. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 0.55 per cent (one in 182). The country is twenty-fourth among the most affected countries by active cases. On Thursday, it added 10,549 cases to take its total caseload to 34,555,431 from 34,544,882  an increase of 0.1%. And, with 488 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 467,468, or 1.35 per cent of total confirmed infections.

With 8,388,824 more Covid-19 vaccine doses being administered on Tuesday, Indias total count of vaccine shots so far reached 1,202,703,659. The count of recovered cases across India, meanwhile, reached 33,977,830  or 98.33 per cent of total caseload  with 9,868 new cured cases being reported on Friday.

Now the twenty-fourth-most-affected country by active cases, third by deaths, second by total cases and recoveries, India has added 65,808 cases in the past 7 days.

India now accounts for 0.55% of all active cases globally (one in every 182 active cases), and 8.99% of all deaths (one in every 11 deaths).

India has so far administered 1,202,703,659 vaccine doses. That is 3480.5 per cent of its total caseload, and 85.97 per cent of its population.

Among Indian states, the top 5 in terms of number of vaccine shots administered are Uttar Pradesh (160026597), Maharashtra (114754688), West Bengal (94171224), Madhya Pradesh (86674129), and Gujarat (82558755).

Among states with more than 10 million population, the top 5 in number of vaccine shots per one million population are Gujarat (1292558), Kerala (1256623), Jammu and Kashmir (1256534), Delhi (1244958), and Uttarakhand (1151923).

Backwards from here, the last 1 million cases for India have come in 63 days.

The count of active cases across India on Friday saw a net addition of 193, compared to the net reduction of 1,541 on Thursday. States and UTs hat have seen the biggest daily net increase in active cases are Kerala (509), Odisha (98), Karnataka (80), Jammu and Kashmir (22), and Andhra Pradesh (19).

With 9,868 new daily recoveries, Indias recovery rate stands at 98.33%, while fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.35%.

The Indian states and UTs with the worst case fatality rates at present are Punjab (2.75%), Nagaland (2.17%), and Uttarakhand (2.15%). The rate in as many as 12 is higher than the national average.

Indias new daily closed cases stand at 10,385 488 deaths and 9,868 recoveries. The share of deaths in total closed cases stands at 4.69%.

Indias 5-day moving average of daily rate of addition to total cases stands at 0.1%.

Indias doubling time for total cases stands at 2270.2 days, and for deaths at 663.6 days.

Overall, five states with the biggest 24-hour jump in total cases are Kerala (5987), Maharashtra (848), West Bengal (758), Tamil Nadu (739), and Mizoram (444).

India on Thursday conducted 1,181,246 to take the total count of tests conducted so far in the country to 637,106,009. The test positivity rate recorded was 0.9%.

Five states with the highest test positivity rate (TPR)  percentage of tested people turning out to be positive for Covid-19 infection (by cumulative data for tests and cases  are Dadra & Nagar Haveli-Daman & Diu (14.75%), Kerala (12.99%), Sikkim (11.79%), Goa (11.64%), and Maharashtra (10.19%).

Five states with the highest TPR by daily numbers for tests and cases added  are Mizoram (11.92%), Kerala (9.05%), Sikkim (6.29%), Nagaland (3.15%), and West Bengal (2.05%).

Among states and UTs with more than 10 million population, five that have carried out the highest number of tests (per million population) are Delhi (1638798), J&K (1275550), Kerala (1104092), Karnataka (783947), and Telangana (721901).

The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (6633105), Kerala (5119941), Karnataka (2994561), Tamil Nadu (2723245), and Andhra Pradesh (2072014).

Maharashtra, the most affected state overall, has reported 848 new cases to take its tally to 6633105.

Kerala, the second-most-affected state by total tally, has added 5987 cases to take its tally to 5119941.

Karnataka, the third-most-affected state, has reported 306 cases to take its tally to 2994561.

Tamil Nadu has added 739 cases to take its tally to 2723245.

Andhra Pradesh has seen its tally going up by 183 to 2072014.

Uttar Pradesh has added 4 cases to take its tally to 1710360.

Delhi has added 30 cases to take its tally to 1440784.
Delhis air was toxic Friday morning as it brought back a ban on constructions and demolitions after the Supreme Court upbraided the state and central governments for the pollution.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was 380 --'very poor'-- at 8 am, according to the state-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). Readings below 50 are considered safe, while anything above 300 is considered hazardous or 'severe'.

"We have decided to ban construction and demolition activities again from Thursday. The reimposition of the ban will cause inconvenience to workers. So, we will provide them financial assistance," said environment minister Gopal Rai on Thursday.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a reimposition of the ban on construction in and cities nearby until further orders.



This is the national capital. Look at the signal we are sending to the world. The response has to be based on a statistical model for Delhi You dont have to wait till air quality becomes severe," the court told governments.

was this morning the most polluted city on the planet with an AQI of 380, said iQair, a website that tracks worldwide. The only other Indian city on the websites list of 10 was Kolkata being the fifth polluted city worldwide with an AQI of 174.

The national capital's air quality became worse after Diwali on November 4 as people violated a ban on bursting firecrackers while the pollution compounded due to an increase in stubble burning by farmers in areas adjoining the national capital.

costs Indian businesses $95 billion or roughly 3 per cent of its GDP every year, according to U.K.-based non-profit Clean Air Fund and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Bloomberg has reported.
The Delhi government will send senior citizens of the city on free pilgrimage to Sahib in Pakistan on January 5 next year, an official statement said on Friday.

Sahib and Velankanni Church in Tamil Nadu have been added to the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna' after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's orders, it said.

The first batch of pilgrims to Sahib will leave on January 5, 2022 in a deluxe bus from Delhi, and the first train for Velankanni Church will leave on January 7 next year, it said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot reviewed preparations for the pilgrimages under the scheme in a high-level meeting on Friday.

"The Delhi government has decided to add two more routes in addition to the existing 13 yatra routes -- Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi and Delhi-Kartarpur Sahib-Delhi -- under its Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra scheme, the statement said.

The devotees will travel in AC-III tier trains on the Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi route whereas for the Kartarpur Sahib, they will be given seats in air conditioned buses, it said.

The statement said 15,000 applicants, who had applied for the yatra under the scheme in 2019, but could not avail the facility due to COVID-19 pandemic would receive SMSs, informing them about the option of amending their applications for choosing Delhi-Ayodhya-Delhi route.

The Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana, under which senior citizens of Delhi can go on pilgrimages at the government's expense, could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic outbreak.

A total of 1,100 residents per assembly constituency can avail this facility in a year subject to the cap of total 77,000 residents per year.

Since its formal launch, 35,080 beneficiaries have travelled under the scheme, the statement added.

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The government has called a meeting of the Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) to discuss steps that need to be taken in view of threat of a new COVID-19 variant from African countries, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

The Centre had on Thursday asked all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where a new COVID-19 variant of serious public health implications has been reported.

"In view of the threat from new COVID-19 variant from African countries, we have requested experts to make a presentation to the DDMA on Monday and suggest what steps we should take. We will take all steps necessary to protect you and your family," he tweeted.

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AAP's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Friday lodged a complaint with the police that he has received a threat to his life from an unknown person calling him from a particular number.

On Singh's complaint, an FIR has been registered at the Gomti Nagar police station in Lucknow, Police Commissioner D K Thakur told PTI.

"I got death threats again. Maybe some people want to kill me. No problem but I want to tell those cowardly goons that I will not stop raising my voice against crime and corruption, the senior leader said in a tweet.

Police should take note of this number from which the call was made and which was diverted to my associate Ajit," Singh added.

Singh also shared the number with the police from which he received the threat.

Police Commissioner Thakur said the police have begun a probe into Singh's complaint.

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Amid warnings over a new variant, a number of countries, including the UK, Israel, Italy and Singapore have moved to restrict travel from South Africa and other countries in the region.

In the past, governments have taken days, weeks or months to issue travel restrictions in response to new variants, The New York Times reported on Friday.

This time, restrictions came within hours after the South African authorities identified a concerning new variant with mutations -- and hours before health officials from the country were scheduled to discuss the variant with the World Health Organisation (WHO), it added.

The UK and Israel announced bans on flights from South Africa and several neighbouring countries on Thursday, citing the threat of the new variant.

The UK's flight ban applies to six countries -- South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- and begins on Friday.

"More data is needed but we are taking precautions now," UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Twitter.

The governments of Italy, Malta and Singapore announced on Friday that they would impose similar restrictions, the report said.

"Our scientists are at work to study the new B.1.1.529 variant," Italy's Health Minister, Roberto Speranza, said in a statement, using the variant's scientific name.

European Union's executive arm President Ursula von der Leyen also said in a Twitter post on Friday that it would propose restricting air travel to European countries from southern Africa because of concerns about the variant.

In the past two days, scientists detected the variant after observing an increase in infections in South Africa's economic hub surrounding Johannesburg. So far only a few dozen cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel, and Botswana.

In a statement posted on Friday on a government website, South Africa said it would urge the UK to reconsider its travel restrictions.

"The UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed, as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps," the statement reads.

In December last year, South Africa was the first nation to report the appearance of the Beta variant, which has now spread to nearly 70 countries.

--IANS

vc/vd

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A government school in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district has been closed for 10 days after 13 students there tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Friday.

The infected students have been home quarantined, they said, adding that the school was closed on Thursday.

According to Mukerian Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Navneet Bal, all infected students were 15 to 16 years old.

The Health Department has taken samples of all students and teachers for testing, she said. Testing in area villages has also been intensified.

The entire school campus had been sanitised and people of the area have been asked to strictly follow Covid norms, including wearing of masks.

Civil Surgeon Dr Parminder Kaur said those who came in contact with the students are being traced.

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The Friday said it was high time to take initiative for having a time frame for hearing of cases as very limited time space" is available and same points are being sought to be argued by lawyers in one matter.

The apex court said that when Justice M N Venkatachaliah was the Chief Justice of India (in 1993-1994), it was suggested that there would be a time frame for hearing of matters.

We need to now think about it. Seriously think about it. That thinking has been going on since long but we have not implemented it. Dr Singhvi (senior advocate A M Singhvi) may recall that during Chief Justice Venkatachaliah, it was suggested that we will have time frame for hearing, a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar said.

The top court observed this while hearing the Centre's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court order which had set aside an order of the principal bench of the CAT to transfer an application by former West Bengal chief secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, challenging the proceedings initiated against him by the Centre, from Kolkata to New Delhi.

The bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the Centre in the matter, that initiative be taken in this regard.

Please take initiative. This is time, high time now, the bench said, adding, There is very limited time space available and many counsels want to argue the same point in one matter. This is what is happening. That is the experience now.

Mehta said, Your lordships can take initiative. We can only support.

At the outset, Mehta requested the bench if the matter can be taken up for hearing on November 29 as they will have to attend the function of Constitution Day being organized by the Bar Association during the day and it the matter might take a little longer.

Singhvi, who was appearing for Bandopadhyay, told the bench that the respondent has filed his written submissions in the matter.

The bench told Singhvi that it would like to hear him after Mehta has argued.

Certainly. My written submissions are never a substitute. In fact, it will be very dangerous if your lordships are to start considering written submissions as substitute for oral arguments, Singhvi said.

Actually, we should start doing that, the bench said.

The apex court told Mehta that this issue can be today's theme if he is going to address the function.

I am not going to address, I am going to remain present there, Mehta said in a lighter vein, adding, It is a bar association function we are bound to be there.

The bench posted the Centre's plea challenging the October 29 order of the high court for hearing on November 29.

On November 15, the Centre had told the apex court that the high court had passed a disturbing order while setting aside the order of the principal bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

The solicitor general had told the bench that the high court order was disturbing, both on the question of territorial jurisdiction as well as some observations made in the order.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by the Centre against the high court order, which had also directed the Kolkata bench of CAT to expedite the hearing of Bandopadhyay's application and dispose of it at the earliest.

Bandopadhyay had moved the Kolkata bench of CAT, challenging the proceedings initiated against him by the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievance and Pensions in a matter relating to attending a meeting on May 28 at the Kalaikunda Air Force station that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the effects of cyclone Yaas.

Mehta had told the apex court on November 15 that Bandopadhyay had challenged the initiation of departmental action against him by the Centre before the Calcutta bench of CAT.

Referring to the high court order, the law officer had said some very disturbing remarks have been made against the principal bench of CAT.

We can say that the disturbing remarks will be expunged, the bench had observed.

Bandopadhyay, who was not released by the state government, chose to retire on May 31, his original date of superannuation prior to having been given an extension of three months from that date.

Proceedings were initiated against Bandopadhyay by the Union government and an inquiry authority was appointed in this regard, which fixed a preliminary hearing on October 18 in New Delhi.

He then moved the Kolkata bench of CAT, challenging the proceedings against him.

The Union government had filed a transfer petition before the principal bench of CAT, which on October 22 allowed the transfer of Bandopadhyay's application to itself in New Delhi.

This order was challenged by Bandopadhyay before the Calcutta High Court.

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Russia, India and China (RIC) need to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without any hindrance and politicisation, External Affairs Minister said on Friday.

In a virtual address at a foreign ministerial meeting of the trilateral, he said it is necessary for the RIC countries to coordinate their respective approaches on the threats of terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov were present at the meeting.

As a contiguous neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India is concerned about the recent developments in that country, especially the suffering of the Afghan people, Jaishankar said.

Chairing the meeting, he said India supports an inclusive and representative government in as also other provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2593.

"In line with our commitment to the well-being of Afghan people, we have offered supply of 50,000 MT of wheat to to address the drought situation," he said.

"The RIC countries need to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without hindrance and without politicisation," he added.

In his remarks, Jaishankar reaffirmed India's continued commitment to foster closer dialogue and cooperation among the three largest nations in the Eurasian region under the RIC mechanism.

Under the RIC framework, the foreign ministers of the three countries meet periodically to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of their interest.

India took over chairmanship of the RIC after the last meeting of the trilateral in Moscow in September last year.

"I believe that our cooperation in areas like trade, investment, healthcare, education, science & technology and politics etc could significantly contribute to global growth, peace and stability," Jaishankar said.

"This would be in line with our common ethos of recognising the 'World as a Family'. Our approach to global development should be human-centric and not leave anyone behind," he added.

The external affairs minister said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the interdependence of an inter-connected world and the need of the hour is to have a 'One Earth One Health' approach.

"That means a timely, transparent, effective and non-discriminatory international response to global health challenges including pandemics, with equitable and affordable access to medicines and critical health supplies," he said.

Since joining the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in January this year, India has been actively contributing to finding mutually acceptable solutions to international and regional issues, the minister said.

"We believe that a multi-polar and re-balanced world based on sovereign equality of nations and respect for international law and contemporary realities requires reformed multilateralism," he added.

The meeting took place in the midst of the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh. Jaishankar and Wang had a bilateral dialogue in September in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

In the talks, the two foreign ministers agreed that the military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue discussions to resolve the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh.

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India pursues an independent foreign policy and its are guided by its security interests, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday, amid apprehensions over the possibility of US sanctions on New Delhi over the procurement of S-400 missile systems from Russia.

The response by MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi came at a media briefing when asked to comment on India's position on the matter and whether it figured in a meeting of foreign ministers of India, Russia and China.

"India and the US have a comprehensive global strategic partnership and India has a special and privileged strategic partnership with Russia. We also pursue an independent foreign policy. This applies to our defence acquisition and supplies which are guided by our security interests," Bagchi said.

At a virtual meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed that the imposition of unilateral sanctions beyond those adopted by the UN Security Council was "inconsistent" with the principles of international law, according to a joint communique.

It, however, did not mention any specific case.

The foreign ministers of the three countries held the meeting under the Russia-India-China (RIC) framework.

"The ministers agreed that the imposition of unilateral sanctions beyond those adopted by the UNSC as well as 'long-arm jurisdiction' were inconsistent with the principles of international law, have reduced the effectiveness and legitimacy of the UNSC sanction regime," the communique said.

It said such sanctions had a negative impact on "third States and international economic and trade relations".

The ministers also called for further consolidation and strengthening of the working methods of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee to ensure their "effectiveness, responsiveness and transparency".

Alexander Mikheyev, the head of Russia's state-run military firm Rosoboronexport, said last week that Moscow has started delivery of the components of the S-400 air defence missile systems to India.

In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

The Biden administration has not yet clarified whether it will impose sanctions on India under the provisions of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for procuring the S-400 missile systems.

The CAATSA, which was brought in 2017, provides for punitive actions against any country engaged in transactions with Russian defence and intelligence sectors.

The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.

Following the US sanctions on Turkey over the procurement of S-400 missile systems, there were apprehensions that Washington may impose similar punitive measures on India.

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India cannot forget the wounds of the Mumbai terror attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the 13th anniversary of the carnage even as a senior diplomat of the Pakistani High Commission was summoned and told that Islamabad must ensure expeditious trial in the case. The MEA said a note verbale was handed over to the Pakistani diplomat, reiterating New Delhi's demand for an expeditious trial in the Mumbai attacks.

In a short video released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the 26/11 attacks, Modi also said that today's India is combating terrorism with a new policy and new ways. "I pay homage to all those who died in the Mumbai attack. Many brave police personnel were also martyred in the strike. I also pay homage to them," Modi said in a video posted by the MEA on Twitter. "India cannot forget the wounds of the Mumbai attack. Today's India is combating terrorism with a new policy and new ways," he said.

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Scheduled to and from India will be resumed from December 15, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Friday.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled have been suspended in India since March 23 last year. However, special passenger have been operating since July last year under air bubble arrangements with around 28 countries.

The Civil Aviation Ministry wrote a letter to aviation regulator DGCA asking it to take "further necessary action" for the resumption of scheduled

"The matter of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to and from India may be resumed from December 15, 2021.

"Resumption of commercial international passenger services would imply reversion to bilaterally agreed capacity entitlements and termination of air bubble arrangements," the Civil Aviation Ministry said.



If a country wants to operate scheduled passenger flights to another nation, a bilateral air services agreement has to be negotiated to decide how many airlines, ports of entries and total flights (or seats) weekly can be allowed between the two.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a formal notification about the resumption of scheduled international passenger flights after the receipt of the Aviation Ministry's letter.

The countries that the Health Ministry has identified as not "at-risk" of COVID-19 will get "full capacity entitlements according to the bilateral air service agreements", the Aviation Ministry noted.

In a circular on Friday, the Health Ministry has put countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel under the 'at-risk' category.

The Aviation Ministry said if a country has been identified to be "at-risk" of COVID-19 and has an air bubble agreement with India, then "75 per cent of pre-COVID scheduled international flight operations of Indian or foreign carrier whichever is higher or a minimum of seven frequencies per week subject to availability of entitlements under bilateral agreements will be permitted".

For a country that has been identified to be "at-risk" of COVID-19 and does not have an air-bubble agreement with India, then only "50 per cent of bilateral capacity entitlements or 50 per cent of pre-COVID operations of Indian or foreign carrier, whichever is higher", will be permitted.

Under an air bubble agreement between the two nations, airlines of both countries can operate special flights between their territories with certain restrictions.

The Aviation Ministry said on Friday: "The seats under air bubble arrangement which have already been sold by airlines, which are more than the capacity entitlements under bilateral air service agreements available with the airlines, will be allowed to be operated till December 14, 2021." "Such airlines will restrict their operations to capacity entitlements enter bilateral air service agreements available with airlines with effect from December 15, 2021," it added.

All scheduled international flights will have to strictly adhere to the Union health ministry's protocols for international travel issued on November 11 this year, it mentioned.

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On the occasion of Constitution Day, Prime Minister on Friday said that the is behind binding a diverse country.

Addressing an event on the occasion of Constitution Day in the Central Hall of the Parliament, the Prime Minister said, "Our Constitution binds our diverse country. It was drafted after many hindrances and united the princely states in the country."

He further paid tribute to freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi for India's Independence from the British.

"Constitution Day is the day to salute this House, where many of India's leaders brainstormed to give us the Constitution of India. We also pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and all those who fought during India's independence struggle," PM added.

President Ram Nath Kovind led the celebrations of Constitution Day at the Central Hall of Parliament House.

The nation celebrates Constitution Day on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. The observation of Constitution Day started in 2015, based on the vision of the Prime Minister to give due recognition to the significance of this historic date.

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel is "on the threshold of an emergency situation on Friday after authorities detected the country's first case of a new variant in a traveller who returned from Malawi.

The Health Ministry said the traveller and two other suspected cases, all of whom had been vaccinated, were placed in isolation.

A new variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province.

At a Cabinet meeting convened Friday to discuss the new variant, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant. He said authorities were still gathering information on whether it evades vaccines or is deadlier.

We are currently at the threshold of an emergency situation, he said. "I ask everyone to be prepared and to fully join in the work around the clock.

Late Thursday, Israel declared South Africa and six other African nations to be red countries from which foreign nationals are barred from travelling to Israel. Israelis are prohibited from visiting those countries and those returning from them must undergo a period of isolation.

Israel launched one of the world's first and most successful vaccination campaigns late last year, and nearly half the population has received a booster shot. Israel recently expanded the campaign to include children as young as 5.

But the country only recently managed to contain a wave of infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

Israel has reported at least 8,182 deaths since the start of the pandemic. It currently has more than 7,000 active cases, including 120 who are seriously ill, according to the Health Ministry.

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: The government has taken up various measures towards making the global centre for information technology and the IT sector would play a major role in making the state's economy reach USD 1 trillion by 2030, chief minister M K Stalin said on Friday.

Stalin assured that the government along with the Industries Department would remove the hurdles that hamper the state's economy and growth.

Information technology would play a role in the government's vision of taking the state's economy to USD 1 trillion by 2030, he said after inaugurating the 20th edition of Connect 2021 organised by CII and Electronic Corporations of (ELCOT) here.

Soon after the DMK stormed back to the power in May, the government rolled out an ambitious plan of taking the state's economy to reach USD 1 trillion by 2030.

Stating that it was an information technology 'era', Stalin said a situation has come today there was nothing without the use of computer science and information technology.

"IT plays a vital role in the progress of a state and also in bringing big ticket investments. It is my desire that this conclave leads to creation of new job opportunities and taking the state in the growth path," he said.

Stalin on the occasion also released the 'Data Centre Policy' of the Information Technology Department during the meet.

Tamil Nadu was holding a special place on the establishment of data centres among other states, he said, adding the government has released the Data Centre policy to boost investments in the data centres sectors.

Appealing to software entrepreneurs gathered at the venue to adopt future technologies in their companies, he assured the government's support to them.

"This government desires that in every sector like agriculture, production, services, there has to be a role of the IT," he said.

Stalin said to provide internet in all the panchayats in the state, the government was executing the Centre's BharathNet scheme to 12,525 village panchayats and expressed hope that through this digital services, internet education, tele-medicine facilities would be available in the villages.

The chief minister said the government has taken up various measures like expansion of Chennai Metro Rail and Chennai airport as part of the improving the state's overall infrastructure. New investments should be created in the IT sector and existing technologies be upgraded. Through this, new jobs would be created towards ensuring there was an overall growth in the state, he said.

Tamil Nadu was leading from the front in the IT sector which include hardware and software production, mobile phone production, manufacturing of computer and electronic parts, he said.

The state held a vital role in software exports, he said and added that of the country's total electronic production Tamil Nadu's share was 16 per cent.

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has witnessed holistic development for the first time under the BJP-led government headed by N Biren Singh, the saffron party's president JP Nadda claimed on Friday.

He asserted that the NDA government is ensuring the last mile delivery of various government schemes in while the previous ones believed in blockades.

"For the first time, is witnessing holistic development under the NDA government.... The people of the state are receiving benefits from various central and state government schemes," Nadda said at a public meeting here.

In the last five years, criminalisation of politics has been stopped by the government, he claimed.

"Roads that used to see flow of blood have been transformed into double-lane roads. Broken bridges have been replaced by all-weather bridges. Rail lines are being laid to connect the hills with the valley," the leader said.

He expressed hope that the people of Manipur will once again place their trust in the inclusive administration of the NDA in the state assembly election due next year.

"We started working in Manipur in 1980, and today we have our first CM from the BJP," he said.

The came to power for the first time in the North-eastern state in 2017.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given mazboot sarkar (strong government) while there was Majboor Sarkaar (helpless government) during the UPA regime," Nadda said.

The president said under the PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana in Manipur, 11,110 pump sets have been installed, about 100 water harvesting ponds have been created, he said.

Nadda thanked the health workers saying they ensured that Covid-19 vaccines reached faraway and topographically difficult terrain in the state.

"Under the Stand-Up India scheme, 5,477 entrepreneurs have been sanctioned Rs 114 crore, and 60,000 people are being employed in Manipur," he said.

He slammed the Congress leaders for allegedly boycotting the Constitution Day programme, and claimed that it reflects they never respected anyone but the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Nadda underlined the contributions of Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad and Sadar Ballabhbhai Patel to the Constitution.

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The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has terminated the services of 500 more daily wage employees who didn't report to duty, state transport minister Anil Parab said here on Friday.

The strike of MSRTC employees who are seeking merger of the cash-strapped corporation with the state government continued on the 30th day, paralyzing the state-run bus service.

After a meeting with the action committee of MSRTC labour unions, Parab told reporters that stern action will be taken against the employees if they do not resume duty.

"Today we have taken the decision to terminate the services of 500 daily wage workers for whom it's necessary to report to duty everyday," the minister said.

The MSRTC has thus so far suspended 3,215 permanent employees and terminated the services of 1,226 daily wage workers, officials said.

Several employees have expressed willingness to join duty after the government announced a salary hike earlier this week, the minister said.

"Some employees have sought time till tomorrow as they are willing to join duty," Parab said, adding that within a couple of days the situation will improve considerably.

The MSRTC can give one more day to the employees for rejoining duty, but the deadline cannot be deferred repeatedly, he said.

There would be no more deliberations while the strike is on, the minister said, adding that the agitation is harmful for the corporation, employees as well as passengers.

If employees are firm on continuing the strike, the government will have to review the decision to give salary hike, Parab warned.

He assured the union leaders during the meeting that there will be discussion on anomalies in salary hike once the strike is over, the minister said.

"There won't be injustice on any employee or no junior employee will get higher salary than seniors," he assured.

The demands of implementation of 7th pay commission and signing of agreement for 10 years instead of four years were raised, he said.

"I am ready to discuss all these issues. But it will not be possible to continue to bear the financial burden and keep the bus services closed," the minister said.

Meanwhile, an MSRTC spokesperson said operations resumed partially at 37 of 250 bus depots including Mumbai Central, Thane, Parel, Kalyan, Sangli, Vasai, Rajapur and Pen.

The MSRTC managed to operate 591 buses, including 428 ordinary ones, on various routes till 5 pm. Of these, the highest 276 were operated from Sangli depot.

As many as 11,549 out of 92,266 employees, around 12.5 per cent of the total, joined duty on Friday, including 594 drivers and 433 conductors.

In Latur division, an industrial court has directed the employees to resume duty immediately, whereas in Kolhapur a section of employees has decided to end the strike to avoid inconvenience to passengers, officials claimed.

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Scientists in identified on Thursday a concerning new variant of the coronavirus, whose mutations mark a big jump in evolution that is driving a spike in new cases. Hours later, Britain banned flights from six southern African nations, citing the variant.

In the past two days, scientists detected the B1.1.529 variant after observing an increase in infections in South Africas economic hub surrounding Johannesburg. So far, 22 positive cases have been identified in the country, according to South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases. One case has been detected in Hong Kong from someone who had traveled from No cases have been detected yet in Britain.

Since the onset of the pandemic, a number of variants have emerged. One underlying concern about new variants is whether they will stymie progress against the pandemic or whether they will limit the effectiveness of vaccines. South African scientists will meet with the World Health Organization technical team on Friday, where authorities will assign a letter of the Greek alphabet to this variant.





ALSO READ: Israel bans entry from 7 African countries as new Covid variant emerges

By Thursday evening, Britain had banned flights from South Africa, Botwsana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe starting at noon local time on Friday. The six nations will be added to the countrys red list, which would require British travelers coming from those nations to quarantine on arrival.

More data is needed but were taking precautions now, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said in a tweet.

In December of 2020, was the first nation to report the appearance of the Beta variant, which has now spread to nearly 70 countries. Scientists have been concerned that some clinical trials have shown that vaccines offer less protection against the Beta variant. Since then, the more virulent, and aggressive Delta variant has spread all over the world and is believed to be fueling the latest surge in cases.

Britain had only just weeks ago announced that it would stop requiring any travelers to quarantine in government-designated hotels, removing the last seven countries from its red list for risk. Instead, now, governments across Europe are moving quickly to shore up the progress made against the pandemic that is being threatened by the latest wave of new cases.

The variant has also been identified in Botswana. The countrys health ministry confirmed in a statement that four cases of the new variant were detected in people who were all fully vaccinated. All four were tested before their planned travel.

With over 1,200 new infections, South Africas daily infection rate is much lower than in Germany, where new cases are driving a wave. However, the density of mutations on this new variant raises fears that it could be highly contagious, leading scientists to sound the alarm early.

This variant did surprise us, it has a big jump in evolution, many more mutations than we expected, especially after a very severe third wave of Delta, said Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform.

The B1.1.529 variant has a very unusual constellation of mutations, with more than 30 mutations in the spike protein alone, Mr. de Oliveira said. On the ACE2 receptor  the protein that helps to create an entry point for the to infect human cells  the new variant has 10 mutations. In comparison, the Beta variant has three, the Delta variant has two, said Mr. de Oliveira.

Displaying mutations that might resist neutralization, scientists are also still unclear how effective existing vaccines will be against the new variant. The variant shares similarities with the Lambda and Beta variants, which are associated with an innate evasion of immunity, said Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform.

All these things are what give us some concern that this variant might have not just enhanced transmissibility, so spread more efficiently, but might also be able to get around parts of the immune system and the protection we have in our immune system, Mr. Lessells said.

The new variant has largely been detected among young people, the cohort that also has the lowest vaccination rate in South Africa. Just over a quarter of those ages between 18 and 34 in South Africa are vaccinated, said Dr. Joe Phaahla, the countrys minister of health.



ALSO READ: 15 more nations recognise India's Covid vaccination certificate: Centre

While cases of the new variant are mainly concentrated in the countrys economic hub, particularly in the capital Pretoria, it is only a matter of time before the virus spreads across the country as schools close and families prepare to travel for the holiday season, Mr. Phaahla said.

Alexandra E. Petri contributed reporting.
is pushing a huge quantity of drugs into Jammu and Kashmir for funding terror here in a planned manner and getting our youths falling prey to the menace, Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh said on Friday.

The J&K director general of police made the remark while presiding over a specialised training programme for J&K Police officers held in collaboration with the Narcotics Control Bureau here.

Referring to the seizure of 52 kg of heroin on Thursday at Jajar Kotli and huge quantities of various drugs earlier in Poonch, Baramulla, Kupwara and other border areas, the DGP said " is pushing huge quantities of drugs for terror funding in a planned manner and getting our youths involved in the menace to satisfy its evil intentions."



Underlining the need for improving the conviction rate in NDPS cases, the DGP said the cases of drug smuggling and trading must be probed professionally, leaving no room for doubts to ensure conviction in such cases.

DGP Singh also stressed identifying the inter-state drug nexus.

Speaking on the occasion, Singh expressed his gratitude to NCB chief S N Pradhan for providing a faculty team for training J&K police officers.

He said this training programme was aimed at enhancing and upgrading the investigating skills of J&K police investigating officers in NDPS cases and added that given the magnitude of the problem this training course is of great importance.

He hoped that the programme would prove helpful for the officers in investigating the NDPS cases.

(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.)
Dismissed police official Sachin Waze on Friday told an inquiry commission here that IPS officer Param Bir Singh had advised him not to indulge in the "illegal activity of collecting money" for anyone. Singh, who surfaced in public after six months on Thursday, is himself likely to appear before the Justice K U Chandiwal commission on Monday. The one-member commission is conducting inquiry into Singh's allegations that Anil Deshmukh, then Maharashtra home minister, had asked police officers including Waze to collect Rs 100 crore from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. On Friday, Waze was cross-examined by Deshmukh's lawyer Anita Castellino. Citing Waze's affidavit before the commission, the lawyer asked had Singh, then commissioner, ever advised him not to fall prey to any pressure and indulge in the illegal activity of collecting money for anyone. Waze replied that the IPS official had advised him so. Asked whether he followed the advice, Waze said, "I had already succumbed." He described himself as an "upright officer" who was forced to go against law under certain unfortunate circumstances.

Meanwhile, Singh's lawyer on Friday told the commission that the IPS officer won't be able to appear during the day as he was visiting Thane in connection with a case against him. The day before, the commission had warned that if Singh did not remain present, he would face the execution of the bailable warrant issued against him. Singh was ready to appear on Saturday or any other day, the lawyer said.

The commission said it doesn't sit on Saturday and Singh can appear on Monday (November 29), to which the lawyer agreed. Singh was transferred from the post of commissioner in March in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare episode, following which he leveled allegations against Deshmukh in a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The IPS officer appeared before the Mumbai crime branch on Thursday to record his statement. Meanwhile, a man, claiming to be a social worker, on Friday approached the Justice Chandiwal commission with an intervention application, seeking inquiry against Singh for his "misdeeds" during his tenure as Thane police commissioner. Singh implicated many builders, businessmen and common citizens in false cases, the plea alleged. The commission took the application on record. Incidentally, Singh appeared before Thane police on Friday in connection with an extortion case filed against him and some other police officials on the complaint of a local builder. The IPS officer is facing at least five extortion cases in Maharashtra. The Supreme Court has granted him temporary protection from arrest.

(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.)
Prime Minister has been invited to the 'Summit for Democracy' convened by US President Joe Biden next month and he is likely to participate in the virtual meet, sources said on Friday.

On December 9 and 10, President Biden will host the first of two Summits for Democracy, which will bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action, according to the US Department of State.

Sources said India has been invited to the 'Summit for Democracy' and Prime Minister Modi is likely to participate in the virtual meet.

For the United States, the summit will offer an opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with a diverse range of actors whose support and commitment is critical for global democratic renewal, the US Department of State said.

(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.)
Russian President will visit India on December 6 to hold annual summit with Prime Minister during which they will review the status of bilateral ties and discuss regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

The MEA also announced that the first '2+2' foreign and defence ministerial dialogue between India and will be held in here on December 6 as well.

The Modi-Putin summit is expected to produce specific outcomes in further expanding ties in areas of defence, trade and energy, officials said.

It is learnt that the two sides are going to firm up a number of agreements in the areas of defence, trade and investment, and science and technology at the summit.

"President of the Russian Federation will pay an official visit to New Delhi on December 6 for the 21st India- annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

It will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after their talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia in November 2019.

There have been six telephonic conversations between the two leaders since November 2019, to date apart from virtual meetings for multilateral summits.

The last India- annual summit was held in September 2019 during the visit of Modi to Vladivostok. The annual summit could not take place last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

"The summit will also afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest," he said



He said the visit will provide further impetus to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.

On the '2+2' dialogue, Bagchi said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will be visiting India from December 5 to 6.

"The 2+2 Dialogue is being held pursuant to the agreement reached between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin during their telephonic conversation on 28 April. The agenda for the dialogue will cover political and defence issues of mutual interest," he said.

Lavrov and Shoigu will hold the talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"The establishment of a new mechanism of 2+2 dialogue is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

So far India has the '2+2' ministerial format of dialogue with the US, Japan and Australia.

A framework for military-technical cooperation is set to be renewed for the next decade at the summit besides announcing a joint commission on technology and science.

India and Russia have also reached the final phase of negotiation for a logistics support agreement and it is likely to be signed either during the two-plus-two talks or at the summit.

The pact will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

Russia has been a time-tested partner for India and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.

(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.)
(SII) on Friday said it has resumed exports to the international vaccine sharing programme COVAX. The Pune-based firm has also produced a total of over 1.25 billion doses of Covishield, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine this year.

The first batches of Covishield left the SII manufacturing facility in Pune earlier today, for distribution to low- and middle-income countries via the COVAX mechanism, the company said.

SIIs supply of doses via COVAX is expected to increase substantially into the first quarter of 2022.

"The resumption of exports is linked to SII surpassing its original target to produce 1bn doses of Covishield by the end of this year. SII has reached this milestone ahead of time via rapid expansion of production capacity at its site in Pune," the vaccine maker said.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of said:I want to thank our workforce for their superhuman efforts in achieving this major milestone, with one billion doses of Covishield now produced by SII. We started to invest at-risk in Covid-19 vaccine production back in March 2020 and Serum Institute colleagues have worked tirelessly ever since to get these life-saving doses to people."

He added: "It's a huge moment to begin exports again, for us, our partners at COVAX and the low- and middle-income countries we support. The world has largely depended on the low-cost, high-quality pharmaceuticals and vaccines that India has traditionally exported, so we are delighted to support the global vaccination effort once more."

Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance which leads the COVAX Facility said: The resumption of supplies from is an important development for COVAX as it enters its busiest period yet for shipping vaccines to participating economies. While COVAXs portfolio is now much more diversified than it was earlier this year when we received our first SII deliveries, Covishield remains an important product which has the potential to help us protect hundreds of millions of people in the months ahead."

Unicef welcomed the announcement that India is about to resume Covid-19 vaccine export to COVAX

Throughout the pandemic, SII has also been able to maintain its supply of non-Covid-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, including vaccines for polio, measles and pneumococcal disease, the company said.
Social activist was on Friday discharged from a private hospital in Pune, where he was admitted after he complained of chest pain, the hospital authorities said.

The 84-year-old anti-corruption crusader was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic on Thursday for chest pain, following which an angiography and other tests were conducted, they said.

"Hazare was discharged from the hospital today, as he is fine now. During the angiogram, a minor blockage was detected. There was no need for angioplasty or any surgery. Following treatment at the hospital, he was allowed to be discharged," said Dr Parvez Grant, chief cardiologist and managing trustee, Ruby Hall Clinic.

According to Hazare's office, the social activist has been advised to take complete rest.

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India asked its states and cities to step up testing of international travellers after a new strain of Covid-19 was found was found to be driving up infections in South Africa. More on that story in our top headlines.



Centre may continue to hold at least 26% stake in public sector banks

The Centre may continue to hold at least 26 per cent stake in public sector banks (PSBs), which are being considered for privatisation, sources said. Currently, the government is looking at privatising two banks and the government has to hold 51 per cent in at all times, according to the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970. Read more

Centre warns of new Covid-19 variant, issues fresh advisory to states

The Centre on Thursday asked all states and Union Territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where a new Covid-19 variant has been reported. Multiple cases of a Covid-19 variant B.1.1529 have been reported in Botswana (3 cases), South Africa (6) and Honk Kong (1 case), the government said in the letter. Read more

firms mull moving offshore amid ban buzz in India

The buzz around the ban on cryptocurrencies in India has created an uncertain environment for crypto exchanges. Ecosystem players working in spaces like non-fungible tokens and blockchain too are in a tizzy. Many founders are planning to move their businesses to either the UAE or Singapore. Read more

Telecom companies likely to ring in 5G services on Independence Day

The government is engaged in talks with telecom firms for a launch of commercial 5G services in some cities by Independence Day and has assured them that spectrum auction will take place in April-May, providing them with a three to four-month window for the rollout. Read more

Future Retail guilty of financial irregularities, says Amazon

US e-commerce giant Amazon has written to the independent directors of Future Retail Limited (FRL), including Gagan Singh, Ravindra Dhariwal and Jacob Mathew, and its audit committee, providing data and alleging that there have been significant financial irregularities to the prejudice of public shareholders, banks, creditors, and third-party suppliers. Read more
RBI keeps on hold suggestion to give bank licence to big businesses

The (RBI) has not yet accepted a recommendation to allow industrial houses to float banks in the country and has kept the non-promoter shareholding capped at 10 per cent for individuals or non-financial institutions.

The internal working group, constituted on June 12 last year under the chairmanship of Prasanna Kumar Mohanty, director, central board of RBI, had suggested in its November 20 report that large corporate, or industrial houses should be allowed in banking after necessary amendments to the Banking Regulations Act. Read more

Bihar, Jharkhand, UP emerge as poorest states in India: Niti Aayog

Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh have emerged as the poorest states in India, according to Niti Aayog's Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

As per the index, 51.91 per cent population of is poor, followed by 42.16 per cent in Jharkhand, 37.79 per cent in Uttar Pradesh. While Madhya Pradesh (36.65 per cent) has been placed fourth in the index, Meghalaya (32.67 per cent) is at the fifth spot. Read more

Black Friday: Sensex sinks 1,400 points. What's spooking the today?

It was truly a Black Friday for the Indian that saw an across-the-board sell-off. The S&P BSE Sensex shaved-off over 1,400 points in intra-day deals. Its counterpart on the Stock Exchange, the Nifty50 index, lost over 400 points. Read more

Tomato prices to remain elevated for two more months: Crisil Research

Wayward and excess rains have resulted in the ongoing spike in vegetable prices, and the cost of tomatoes will continue to be at elevated levels for two more months, Crisil Research said on Friday.

The situation in Karnataka, one of the major tomato growing regions, is so "grim" that the vegetable is being sent from Maharashtra's Nashik, it said, pointing to on-ground interactions. Read more
Russian President will visit India on December 6 to hold annual summit with Prime Minister during which they will review the status of bilateral ties and discuss regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday. The MEA also announced that the first '2+2' foreign and defence ministerial dialogue between India and Russia will be held in here on December 6 as well. The Modi-Putin summit is expected to produce specific outcomes in further expanding ties in areas of defence, trade and energy, officials said.

Russian President will visit India on Dec 6, 2021. During the negotiations with PM Narendra Modi, it is planned to discuss further development of relations of the special and privileged strategic partnership between the two countries: Russian Embassy pic.twitter.com/0hO2FcY12L  ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2021

It is learnt that the two sides are going to firm up a number of agreements in the areas of defence, trade and investment, and science and technology at the summit.

"President of the Russian Federation will pay an official visit to New Delhi on December 6 for the 21st India-Russia annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

It will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after their talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia in November 2019.

There have been six telephonic conversations between the two leaders since November 2019, to date apart from virtual meetings for multilateral summits.

The last India-Russia annual summit was held in September 2019 during the visit of Modi to Vladivostok. The annual summit could not take place last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

"The summit will also afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest," he said

He said the visit will provide further impetus to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.

On the '2+2' dialogue, Bagchi said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will be visiting India from December 5 to 6.

"The 2+2 Dialogue is being held pursuant to the agreement reached between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin during their telephonic conversation on 28 April. The agenda for the dialogue will cover political and defence issues of mutual interest," he said.

Lavrov and Shoigu will hold the talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"The establishment of a new mechanism of 2+2 dialogue is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

So far India has the '2+2' ministerial format of dialogue with the US, Japan and Australia.

A framework for military-technical cooperation is set to be renewed for the next decade at the summit besides announcing a joint commission on technology and science.

India and Russia have also reached the final phase of negotiation for a logistics support agreement and it is likely to be signed either during the two-plus-two talks or at the summit.

The pact will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

Russia has been a time-tested partner for India and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.

(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 government is in favour of the continuation of price sealing either on raw jute or hessian sacks as the authorities cannot allow persistent price rise of the foodgrain packaging material, an official said on Friday.

A high-level meeting was held this evening at the state secretariat 'Nabanna' in the presence of chief secretary, labour minister and law minister, he said.

Jute commissioner, state enforcement department officials and representatives of Indian Jute Mills Association were also present at the meeting.

The state government has decided to carry out operations to stop hoarding of raw jute as it believes hoarders are dictating the price in markets, the official said.

"The government has mandated us to come out with a suggestion on how to keep jute bag price at check. During the meeting, the state administration said the price cap has to continue either on raw jute or on finished bags as the government cannot allow continuous price rise of bags which it procured for packaging of foodgrains," IJMA chairman Raghavendra Gupta told PTI.

The millers' body will hold an emergency meeting and inform the government about the price-check suggestion by Saturday evening, he said.

IJMA was seeking removal of the raw jute price sealing as it has "led to a shortage of the raw material" for the industry, impacting the production and supply of hessian sacks.

A Jute mill owner said the state government had pushed the onus on the millers.

The Jute Commissioner's office had imposed a price ceiling of Rs 6,500 per quintal on raw jute trade in order to ensure supply of raw material to the mills at a fair price. It had also fixed jute stock limit for different categories of stakeholders.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the potentially rapidly spreading COVID strain found in and Botswana, the Financial Times reported, citing sources.

Earlier, the Daily Mail reported that scientists from the UK had warned of the appearance of a strain, which contains 32 mutations, in Botswana. Many of the mutations indicate its high transmissibility and resistance to vaccines, the strain has more changes in the spike protein than all other COVID-19 variants. The South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases later also confirmed that the new strain had been found in South Africa, with 22 cases to date.

(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.)
Basing itself on the National Health Family Survey (NHFS) for 2015-16, the has said in that year one in every four people in India was multidimensionally poor.

The headcount ratio answers the question how many are poor? Indias national MPI (multidimensional poverty index) identifies 25.01 per cent of the population as multidimensionally poor, the report said.

Chairman Rajiv Kumar said Indias national MPI measure used the globally accepted and robust methodology developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said the index was aimed at leveraging the monitoring mechanism and methodology of the globally recognised MPI to rigorously benchmark national and sub-national performance and drive programmatic actions and reforms.

Incidentally, the MPI for 2021, launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), showed that 27.9 per cent of India's population were multidimensionally poor. The country ranked 62nd out of 109 nations on the index. This index was based on 10 indicators such as lack of improved drinking water, adequate nutrition or at least six years of schooling.

It is difficult to compare the headline numbers of the multidimensionally poor over a period since this is the first ever report on the MPI. This is also the first report on poverty after the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014 and the abandoned the erstwhile poverty line method.

The NITI Aayog will come up with another MPI report once the NHFS gives its full report five-six months later for 2019-20, a senior NITI Aayog official said.

Recently the NHFS came up with only the fact sheet for 2019-20.





Earlier, the erstwhile Planning Commission used to measure the number of the poor on the basis of the poverty line. According to one such report, 21.9 per cent of the population were poor in India in 2011-12 against 29.8 per cent in 2009-10. That report was based on the Suresh Tendulkar methodology. By that, those who spent more than Rs 33 a day in urban areas and Rs 27 in rural areas were not treated as poor. This had triggered a controversy.

Ultimately, the C Rangarajan-led panel came up with another report that said the number of the poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5 per cent.

The report took a person spending less than Rs 47 a day in cities and one spending less than Rs 32 a day in villages as poor. This poverty line approach was abandoned by the NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission on January 1, 2015.

The MPI is based on three dimensions -- health, education, and standard of living -- with each having a weighting of one-third in the index. These dimensions are further based on 12 segments -- nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.

As such, there were deprived people by each of these criteria even as some of them may not have been multidimensionally poor in 2015-16. The highest number of the deprived are in cooking fuel and sanitation at 58.5 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively. This means more than half the population were poor on these two counts.

Next came housing, which had 45.6 per cent of the population as deprived during 2015-16, followed by nutrition (37.6 per cent), maternal health (22.6 per cent), drinking water (14.6), assets (14), years of schooling (13.9), electricity (12.2), bank account (9.7), school attendance (6.4) and child and adolescent mortality (2.7).
Almost 27 per cent of workers in the unorganised sector have registered on the e-Shram portal, which completed three months of launch on Thursday. The portal was launched on August 27 to enable the government to frame policies for informal workers by having a centralised database for them.

As many as 92.16 million workers have joined the portal as of 5 pm on Thursday. According to SBI Research, there are 344 million unorganised workers in the country. West Bengal topped the list of workers on the portal at 22.9 per cent, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 18.9 per cent, Odisha (13.2 per ...
By Rajendra Jadhav and Nakul Iyer

(Reuters) - Physical gold demand picked up in major Asian hubs this week helped by a retreat in prices, with dealers in India prepared for a likely spurt in buying as the wedding season gathers pace.

With a correction in prices during the first half of the week, "jewellers have been making purchases at lower levels as they are witnessing healthy retail demand for weddings," said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.

Local gold futures fell to 47,253 rupees earlier this week, the lowest in a fortnight.

Dealers offered discounts of up to $1 an ounce over official domestic prices - inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies - versus last week's $2 discounts.

Gold has traditionally been an integral part of weddings in India, the world's second biggest bullion consumer after China.

Lower prices drove a slight pick up in China and Japan as well.

Chinese customers were charged premiums of $4-$5 an ounce over benchmark spot prices, versus last week's $1-$4.

The country's monthly net gold imports via Hong Kong jumped 56% in October to the highest since June 2018.

Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals, said Chinese demand should remain healthy as Christmas approaches, adding a dip in global rates below $1,800 an ounce prompted a pick in purchases.

Benchmark spot prices hit a multi-week low of $1,777.80 on Nov. 24, although concerns over a new coronavirus variant drove a rebound on Friday. [GOL/]

"Demand has recovered a bit in Hong Kong as well, we can see more interest in jewellery," Fung added.

Premiums of $1 per ounce were charged in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the Singapore has been very sluggish this week tracking a soft assets markets and the sharp selloff in equities, said David Mitchell, managing director at Indigo Precious Metals.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Nakul Iyer, Arundhati Sarkar and Asha Sistla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Kirsten Donovan)

(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 has set aside a particular clause in a circular issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), which had taken away an exemption from goods and services tax (GST) granted to fish meal that is used as a raw material for making animal feed.

CBIC had issued the circular in December 2018 to clarify that fish meal and other raw material used for making animal feed cannot be exempted from It limited the exemption to only final fish meal or animal feed and not to the fish meal used as raw material.

This circular had clarified an earlier circular, issued a few days ahead of the roll out of from July 1, 2017. The earlier circular had said fish meal, along with other animal feed, would draw zero It did not differentiate between their use as a raw material or a finished product.

Armed with the new circular, tax authorities inspected the factories of Jenefa India, which is a manufacturer of fish meal, and demanded five per cent tax. Subsequent to this, officials of the directorate general of GST intelligence issued summons to the company.





Aggrieved, the company moved to the Madurai bench of the

The company argued that it manufactures fish meal which can be used as a finished product for feeding fish and also as one of the raw materials for making further finished products for animal feed.

The company said whatever be the usage of fish meal, it is covered under the exempted category.

The court said that the circular issued in December, 2018 is unsustainable to the extent that it took away GST exemption from fish meal and other raw materials for making animal feed.

Sandeep Sehgal, director tax and regulatory at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm, said the high court has reiterated the already established principle that the circular issued by the Board cannot override the substantive relief allowed by Parliament.

The court has rightly held that fish meal is exempt from GST since it will retain the character of a finished product even though a certain industry may be using it as a raw material for certain other product, he said.

An arbitrary distinction provided by the circular of the Board cannot make it taxable, Sehgal said.
By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India said on Friday that oil producing countries cannot hold consumers to ransom, underlining the nation's growing frustration with OPEC+ for not raising production to cool prices.

India, the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports about 85% of its oil needs and has been hit hard by rising oil prices. Oil prices eased on Friday, however, on concerns about a new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa. [O/R]

"The producing countries cannot hold the consuming countries to ransom for a variety of reasons. We will make transition and we will do our production and in the short-term we will also deal with it may be by re-orienting our own priorities," India's oil minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, said at an industry awards event.

The nation has repeatedly urged OPEC+, which consists of countries belonging to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, to raise output to calm prices.

Ahead of the OPEC+ meeting next week to set output policy, Puri blamed the key producers for keeping supplies lower than demand.

Oil prices are determined by Saudi Arabia, UAE and Russia as part of OPEC+, Puri said in a separate event hosted by Republic TV.

"They have kept the supply curve below demand. They are saying that it's temporary for one to two months, after that there will be more supply available than demand," Puri said in Hindi at the Indian Economic Summit hosted by Republic TV.

He said India will continue to be a major driver of global energy demand for the next 20 to 30 years despite planned steps to move closer to green energy.

"We have told the producing countries if you don't exercise caution you will be in a situation where your desire to maximise profit in the short run will undermine the global economic recovery," he said. "If global economic recovery gets undermined, then to whom do you sell the oil?"

India, along with other major oil consumers China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, on Tuesday announced plans to release oil from strategic reserves in an attempt to cool prices.

"Release of strategic oil, whether that is symbolic or real, I don't know, but it is a very bold move," Puri said.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

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The bars are shut in Vienna, and the Christmas market is empty in Munich, as several European nations tighten up or even lock down to combat a spike in infections.

Meanwhile in London, couples sip mulled wine at a seasonal market near the River Thames, full-capacity audiences fill the seats at the nearby National Theatre, and friends huddle over pints in pubs throughout the city.

Not for the first time in the pandemic, Britain is out of step with many of its neighbours. But this time, it's happy to be different.

The U.K. has endured three nationwide lockdowns and recorded nearly 145,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest toll in after Russia. Now, it is watching as hospitals struggle with surging cases in countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, bringing lockdowns and restrictions. But while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that a blizzard from the east could still ruin Britain's Christmas, many scientists say the wind is now blowing the other way.

We are not behind in this wave. They are behind us, said Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia.

The surge that is now hitting mainland Europe, driven by the highly transmissible delta strain of the virus, walloped Britain in the summer, just as the government removed all remaining legal restrictions on the economy and daily life.

Because Britain got delta in the summer, when respiratory viruses are transmitted less readily, it wasn't so explosive as we would expect it to be in the winter, and as we're now seeing in in some European countries, Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Edinburgh, said.

I think the U.K. got its delta wave at a fortuitous time, whereas Austria, for example, it's the exact opposite, he said. Austria, where average daily deaths have almost doubled in the past two weeks, has gone into lockdown, and authorities there plan to mandate vaccinations beginning February 1.

The World Health Organization said this week that is the only region of the world where cases are rising, and the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring unless urgent measures are taken soon.

But Britain stands somewhat apart.

Many scientists predicted the country would see a spike in cases after July 19 dubbed Freedom Day by the media when almost all restrictions were lifted. It didn't happen.

Infection rates that were then among the highest in Europe, drifted up and down but never soared again as feared, though they remain stubbornly high. Britain is recording more than 40,000 new cases a day, a level last seen during the past winter's surge. But a relatively high vaccination rate particularly among the elderly means hospitalizations and deaths are far lower than in previous waves. Still, 130 people a day died in the past week after testing positive for COVID-19.

Britain's hospitals have not been overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, though they are extremely busy as the health system struggles to clear a huge backlog built up during the pandemic. Johnson's Conservative government has so far not had to trigger its Plan B, which would reintroduce mask mandates and work-from-home orders to ease pressure on the health system.

But if life in Britain these days can feel unusually normal even festive, as many embrace the holiday season with renewed enthusiasm it is a new, more constrained normal.

Visitors from countries where restrictions are still in place are sometimes taken aback by Britain's voluntary, variable approach to mask use and social distancing. But Ivo Vlaev, a behavioural scientist at the University of Warwick who has studied data from across Europe, says people in the U.K. have largely stuck to protective measures including limiting their contacts with even when they were no longer required by law. Movement data suggests Britons still travel and mix less than before the pandemic.

It seems to be the case that in U.K. people are more compliant in general across all health-protective behaviors than in some other European nations, Vaev said.

Partly, he says, the reason is fear we actually are quite afraid to go out and do the usual stuff after Britain's harsh pandemic experience.

While some European countries are turning to compulsion to get more people vaccinated, the U.K. is sticking with persuasion. Britain does not widely require proof of vaccination attend events or workplaces, and the government has ruled out mandating vaccines for everyone, though health and social care workers have been ordered to get shots.

Britain hasn't seen as much resistance to the vaccine as many other countries, and about 88% of people aged 12 and up have had at least one dose. But only about 68% of the whole population is fully vaccinated, a lower figure than in some other European nations, partly because the U.K. was slower than many of its neighbors to offer shots to children aged 12 to 15, and has not yet approved vaccines for younger kids.

The government's focus is on giving booster doses to those most vulnerable to serious illness, offering a third shot to everyone 40 and up six months after their second.

Get your booster as soon as you can, the prime minister said this week. Because it is by vaccinating our country that we have been able to get your staff back to their place of work, to open our theaters, our restaurants and get back for longer now than any comparator country, to something like normal life.

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Chinese regulators have pressed top executives of ride hailing giant Global to devise a plan to delist from the New York Stock Exchange due to concerns about data security, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Chinas powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has asked the management to take the company off the US bourse due to worries about leakage of sensitive data, said one of the people. It also wants the ride-hailing giant to promise it would solve the delisting issue within a certain period of time, said the person.

The cyberspace regulator said, according to the person, the prerequisite for the relaunch of Didi's ride-hailing and other apps in China is that the company has to agree to delist from New York.

Proposals under consideration include a straight-up privatisation or a second listing in Hong Kong followed by a delisting from the United States, said the person.

In July, the CAC ordered app stores to remove 25 mobile apps operated by  just days after the company listed in New York. It also told to stop registering new users, citing national security and the public interest.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Didi is preparing to relaunch its apps in the country by the end of the year in anticipation that Beijing's cybersecurity investigation into the company would be wrapped up by then, citing sources directly involved in the relaunch.

Neither Didi nor the CAC responded to Reuters requests for comments.

Shares in Didi investors SoftBank Group Corp and Tencent Holdings fell more than 5 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively following the report. SoftBank Vision Fund owns 21.5 per cent of Didi, followed by Uber Technologies with 12.8 per cent and Tencent's 6.8 per cent, according to a filing in June by Didi.

Meituan posts widest loss since 2018



Meituan reported its biggest loss in three years, weighed down by a bruising antitrust probe, an investment spurt and mounting competition from Alibaba Group Holding.

The Chinese food-delivery behemoth said on Friday revenue for the September quarter climbed to 48.8 billion yuan ($7.6 billion), in line with analysts estimates. Net loss widened to almost 10 billion yuan, versus the 7 billion yuan projected, after the company incurred a 3.44 billion yuan fine for violating antitrust rules.
A global alliance of lawmakers on has expressed deep concern over the election of senior Chinese government official Hu Binchen to the Executive Committee at the General Assembly meeting.

"Mr Binchen HU of and Mr Praveen Sinha of India have been elected to the posts of Delegate for Asia (3-yr term)," said in a tweet.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on (IPAC) said in a statement that the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has repeatedly abused the Red Notice to persecute dissidents in exile.

The elections were held in Turkey during the ongoing 89th General Assembly of the Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).

"Hu's election gives the PRC government a green light to continue using Interpol as a vehicle for its repressive policies globally and places thousands of Hong Konger, Uyghur, Tibetan, Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents living abroad at even graver risk," IPAC said.

"The PRC cannot be allowed to continue its long arm policing abroad. In light of these abuses, we reiterate our call for all governments to revoke extradition treaties with the PRC and Hong Kong. Activists, dissidents and exiles living abroad must be protected from harassment and intimidation from the PRC authorities," the statement added.

Earlier, parliamentarians and activists from around the world had launched a global campaign to oppose the candidacy of Hu Binchen, a Deputy Director General at China's Ministry of Public Security, to the Interpol Executive Committee.

As many as 50 legislators, from 20 countries, who are part of the IPAC penned a joint letter to their governments raising alarm at China's moves to gain influence over the global policing body.

The letter had references to recent attempts by the Chinese government to use the Interpol Red Notice system to target Uyghur activists living in exile and argues that Hu Binchen's election would give Beijing a 'green light' to continue using Interpol as "a vehicle for the PRC government's repressive policies."

Separately, a letter from 40 activists to the Interpol Member States warning that Hu Binchen's election would have "grave consequences for the safety and wellbeing of Chinese, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese and Chinese human rights activists living outside China as well as Tibetan and Uyghur diasporas.

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Chinese regulators have asked Global Inc.s top executives to devise a plan to delist from U.S. bourses, people familiar with the matter said, an unprecedented request thats likely to revive fears about Beijings intentions for its giant tech industry.



The countrys tech watchdog wants management to take the company off the New York Stock Exchange because of concerns about leakage of sensitive data, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the agency responsible for data security in the country, has directed to work out precise details, subject to government approval, they said.

Proposals under consideration include a straight-up privatization or a share float in Hong Kong followed by a delisting from the U.S., the people added. If the privatization proceeds, the proposal will likely be at least the $14 IPO price since a lower offer so soon after the June initial public offering could prompt lawsuits or shareholder resistance, the people said. If there is a secondary listing in Hong Kong, the IPO price would probably be a discount to the share price in the U.S., $8.11 as of Wednesdays close.

Shares in SoftBank Group Corp., Didis biggest minority shareholder, slid more than 5% in Tokyo.

Deliberations continue and its possible regulators will backtrack on their request, the people said. Either option would deal a severe blow to a ride-hailing giant that pulled off the largest U.S. IPO by a Chinese firm since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s in 2014. Representatives for and the CAC didnt respond to requests for comment.

Didi sparked the ire of Beijing when it proceeded with its New York stock offering this summer, despite regulatory requests that it ensure the security of its data before the IPO. Chinese regulators quickly launched multiple investigations into the company and have considered a range of unprecedented penalties, Bloomberg News reported in July.

Its possible that the delisting would be part of a package of punishments for Didi. Beijings municipal government has proposed an investment in the company that would give state-run firms effective control, Bloomberg News reported in September. Such an investment could help Didi finance the repurchase of its U.S.-traded shares.

Didi is currently controlled by the management team of co-founder Cheng Wei and President Jean Liu, which received aggregate voting power of 58% after the companys U.S. initial public offering. SoftBank and Uber Technologies Inc. are Didis biggest minority shareholders.

Even if Didi shifts its listing to Hong Kong, it will have to address the data security concerns that have drawn regulatory scrutiny. The company may have to give up control of its data to a third-party -- again undercutting its price tag.





Regulators have weighed a delisting for Didi since the summer, after the worlds largest ride-hailing company infuriated officials by ploughing ahead with its U.S. IPO, Bloomberg News has reported. A withdrawal from U.S. bourses could stoke fears of an exodus of Chinese firms as Washington and Beijing quarrel about access to listed firms books. On Thursday, a senior Chinese regulatory official said such delistings would be a setback for relations with the U.S., while offering broad support for Hong Kong as an alternative venue.

Didi -- once feted for defeating Uber in -- has now become a test case for a broader Chinese government effort to curb the power of internet titans. Xi Jinpings administration, keen to promote his vision of sharing the wealth or common prosperity, has targeted an internet sector thats accumulated vast wealth by operating on the periphery of the law, minted an unprecedented number of billionaires and enriched local and foreign investors in the process.

A state-directed privatization would be unprecedented for a private firm of Didis stature, affirming that the Chinese government remains bent on curtailing the power of the countrys internet firms and unlocking the data and wealth hoarded during a decade of heady expansion. It would send a chilling signal to American investors, long accustomed to investing freely in Chinas largest corporations from Alibaba to Baidu Inc. and JD.com Inc.

Beijings moves against Didi have been particularly harsh, even after a crackdown that has penalized giants like Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd. The Cyberspace Administration of saw Didis IPO decision as a challenge to the central governments authority, which led to the CAC, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of State Security and several other agencies initiating on-site inspections at Didis offices in July.

Its since been ensnared by probes into data security and the way it treats its millions of drivers. Many of the options Beijing is weighing involve re-asserting state control over a company thats traditionally operated in a legal gray zone, Bloomberg News has reported.


Welcoming the European Union's (EU) proposals to curb the misuse of political advertising to undermine elections, has said that it is critical that the upcoming law clarifies which actors and what types of content are subject to the obligations regarding political advertising, giving clear examples of what would or would not be in scope.

The EU proposals, laid out late on Thursday, would also ban political targeting and AI/ML techniques used to reach more and more people.

Political parties, organisations and companies would face fines if they failed to comply.

Matt Brittin, President, Europe, Middle East and Africa said in a blog post that this is a complex field, requiring a balance between minimising misinformation while protecting legitimate political expression.

"Without clear definitions, different companies will adopt inconsistent and conflicting policies, making for confusion for advertisers and undermining transparency for citizens," he argued.

"The current text could also inadvertently impact a wider range of ads than intended, for example, sweeping in ads from NGOs on issues of public concern or from private citizens speaking out about social questions," Brittin added.

was one of the original signatories of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation.

According to European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova, people must know why they are seeing an ad, who paid for it, how much, and what micro-targeting criteria were used.

"New technologies should be tools for emancipation, not for manipulation," she said in a statement.

The tech giant said that advertiser "self-declaration" -- whereby political advertisers verify their identities and declare when they are running political ads -- would have advertisers due their share to contribute to transparency, making the law work better in practice.

"Continuing discussions with stakeholders will help regulation react to changing contexts or emerging trends that might affect definitions, regulatory provisions or enforcement," Google said.

--IANS

na/ksk/

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French President Emmanuel Macron told on Friday it needed to "get serious" or remain locked out of discussions over how to curb the flow of escaping war and poverty across the Channel.

Macron was responding to a letter by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which the British leader set steps that he said would deter from making the perilous journey across the sea separating the two countries.

Johnson, who has previously said was at fault, insisted in the letter that agree on joint patrols on its shores and consent to taking back the that make it to Infuriated by the letter, and not the least by the fact that Johnson published it on Twitter, the French government cancelled an invitation to UK Home Minister Priti Patel to attend a meeting on Sunday in Calais.

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In a significant move, India, and on Friday called for ensuring that the territory of is not used to attack any country, pitched for the formation of a "truly inclusive" government and pressed for immediate and unhindered humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country.

The foreign ministers of the three countries, at a virtual meeting held under the Russia-India- (RIC) framework, also reaffirmed their support for the basic principle of an "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

The ministers stressed the necessity of "urgent elimination" of UN Security Council proscribed terrorist groups such as al Qaeda, ISIL and for lasting peace in and the region, the joint communique said.

The meeting was chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and was attended by his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The communique issued after the talks said the ministers called for the formation of a truly inclusive government that represents all the major ethnic and political groups of the country and emphasised on the central role of the UN in that country.

"They stressed the necessity of urgent elimination of UN Security Council proscribed terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, ISIL and for lasting peace in and the region," it said.

The ministers acknowledged the widespread and sincere demand of the Afghan people for lasting peace.

"They reaffirmed the importance of ensuring that the territory of Afghanistan should not be used to threaten or attack any other country and that no Afghan group or individual should support terrorists operating on the territory of any other country," it added.

Expressing concerns regarding dramatic change of the situation in Afghanistan, the ministers advocated a peaceful, secure, united, sovereign, stable and prosperous inclusive Afghanistan that exists in harmony with its neighbours.

"They called on the Taliban to take actions in accordance with the results of all the recently held and regional formats of interaction on Afghanistan, including the UN Resolutions on Afghanistan," the communique said.

"Expressing concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the Ministers called for immediate and unhindered humanitarian assistance to be provided to Afghanistan. The Ministers also emphasised the central role of UN in Afghanistan," it said.

The communique said the foreign ministers of and reiterated the importance they attached to the status of India in affairs and supported its aspiration to play a greater role in the United Nations.

The foreign ministers of and China congratulated India for its successful Presidency of the UNSC in August.

The three countries also decided to step up efforts in jointly countering terrorism, illicit drug trafficking and trans-border organised crime under the framework of SCO-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure.

Jaishankar, Wang and Lavrov also condemned terrorism in all its manifestations and said that it must be comprehensively countered to achieve a world free of terrorism.

They called on the community to strengthen UN-led global counter-terrorism cooperation by fully implementing the relevant UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

In this context, they called for the early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

"The ministers stressed that those committing, orchestrating, inciting or supporting, financing terrorist acts must be held accountable and brought to justice in accordance with existing international commitments on countering terrorism," the communique said.

It said terrorists must be brought to justice under relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the FATF standards, international treaties, including on the basis of the principle "extradite or prosecute".

The RIC foreign ministers also expressed strong commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity and unity of Myanmar.

"They expressed support to the efforts of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aimed at implementation of its five-point consensus in cooperation with Myanmar. They called on all sides to refrain from violence," the communique said.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will visit India to hold the inaugural '2+2' ministerial dialogue between the two countries on December 6, the Russian embassy has said.

Lavrov and Shoigu will hold the talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is also likely to visit India around December 6 to hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"On December 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov together with Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will hold talks in New Delhi with their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh," a spokesperson of the embassy said.

He said it is expected that the ministers will have in-depth discussions of the key regional and issues including the situation in the Asia-Pacific region and developments in Afghanistan and Syria.

refers to the Indo-Pacific as Asia-Pacific.

The spokesperson said the two sides are also expected to exchange views on interaction within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral.

"In future, consultations in this format are intended to be organised on a regular basis, alternately in and India," the spokesperson said.

India has the '2+2' ministerial format of dialogue with very few countries including the US, Japan and Australia.

The Modi-Putin summit is expected to produce specific outcomes in further expanding ties in areas of defence, trade and energy.

It is learnt that the two sides are going to firm up a number of agreements in the areas of defence, trade and investment, and science and technology at the summit.

A framework for military-technical cooperation is set to be renewed for the next decade at the summit besides announcing a joint commission on technology and science.

India and have also reached the final phase of negotiation for a logistics support agreement and it is likely to be signed either during the two-plus-two talks or at the summit.

The pact will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

The summit was postponed last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both the countries have a mechanism under which India's prime minister and the Russian president hold a summit meeting annually to review the entire gamut of ties.

So far 20 Annual Summit meetings have taken place alternatively in India and Russia.

Russia has been a time-tested partner for India and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.

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The Israeli Health Ministry says it has detected the country's first case of a new variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi.

The Health Ministry said in a statement Friday that the traveler and two other suspected cases have been placed in isolation.

A new variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province.

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One of Asia's largest airlines, Cathay Pacific, is facing a revolt from pilots who say Hong Kong's tough quarantine rules under its zero-Covid policies are endangering their mental health, leading to rising stress and resignations.

Airways Ltd last week fired three pilots who breached company rules by leaving their hotel rooms during a layover in Frankfurt and later tested positive for Covid-19.

The government responded by forcing more than 270 people, including school children linked to their families, into tiny quarters at a state quarantine camp.



Some pilots declared themselves unfit to fly for their first rostered duties upon release.

The extreme example of pandemic-related precautions under China's zero-Covid policy highlights the difficult working conditions facing Cathay pilots, all fully vaccinated, even as other Asian countries slowly reopen.

Cathay rivals including Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd have begun unwinding strict layover policies but the government is tightening rules further in line with the mainland, hoping to convince Beijing to allow cross-border travel.

"I don't think I can keep this up," one Cathay pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. "Just the stress of potential quarantine of my family and friends is taking a toll."

Several other current and recently departed Cathay pilots told Reuters morale was low and resignations were rising a year after many had their pay permanently cut by as much as 58%.

Extreme stress is a significant issue in an industry where any sign of psychological problems can make it difficult to get another job.

"What's the risk if I say to them I'm a bit stressed?" asked a pilot who has spent more than 200 nights locked in hotel rooms away from since the pandemic began. "Does that affect my medical? And then you leave here and they ask have you ever been stood down for psychological reasons?"

The pilots also expressed frustration with the ambiguity of some government-imposed pandemic-related rules. Pilots, for example, are required to avoid "unnecessary social contact" for three weeks after returning to Hong Kong, but they are not given time off to compensate.

Cathay acknowledged to Reuters in a statement that pilot resignations have risen beyond normal levels since the end of October.

"Regrettably, the incident in Frankfurt has affected current sentiment," the airline said.

TOUGH ROSTERS

classifies many destinations including the United States and Britain as "high-risk," meaning Cathay pilots flying passengers inbound from those places are subject to two weeks of hotel quarantine.

To staff those flights, Cathay started running "closed-loop" rosters on a voluntary basis in February involving five consecutive weeks locked in hotel rooms with no access to fresh air or a gym and then two weeks off at home.

"I did it to earn some money, since the 50% pay cut (last year) made life much more difficult," said a recently departed pilot who did two closed loops. "There are people currently in their 5th or 6th closed loop."

Cathay said on Thursday some inbound flights during the peak demand season of December would be cancelled, indicating a lack of volunteers.

The airline said it recognised the strain on its pilots and had bi-weekly dial-in sessions to share concerns and programmes like a peer-based pilot assistance network as well as offering extended leaves of absence.

LEAVING HONG KONG

As conditions improve elsewhere in the world, other airlines including Emirates and U.S. cargo carrier Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc are head-hunting Cathay pilots, said those who spoke with Reuters.

Emirates, which has launched a recruitment drive for 600 pilots, declined to comment. Atlas did not respond to a request for comment.

The pilots Reuters spoke to said they expected more resignations next year when transitional housing and schooling benefits expired.

Cathay said it would employ "several hundred" new pilots and restart its cadet programme in the coming year.

Hong Kong's strict rules led Corp to close its pilot base in the city last week, underscoring the dimming allure of the territory as a major logistics hub.

"I really, truly feel for people that are at Cathay," a pilot who recently left Hong Kong said. "I am genuinely concerned about their mental health and how they are."

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More countries were tightening their travel restrictions after a new variant was identified in southern Africa earlier this week.

This even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned governments against hastily imposing travel restrictions linked to the new B.1.1.529 variant, saying they should take a risk-based and scientific approach. On the other hand, the UNs tourism body said countries need to decide swiftly on applying travel restrictions and make such rules uniform.

The UK's health authorities have confirmed that the new and most significant variant of Covid-19 is officially under investigation in the country. The country  where no case of the new mutation has been detected, so far  applied travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia starting Friday.

Echoing the UKs view, the European Unions president, Ursula von der Leyen, called on for a suspension of air travel connection to places where the new variant has been detected. Belgium has detected the first case of the new variant in Europe.

By Friday night, Italy imposed an entry ban on people who have visited any one of eight southern African states in the last 14 days. The 27-nation EU is already battling rising daily Covid cases.

But Anthony Fauci, US President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, said more scientific data was needed about the new variant before his country could determine whether to halt flights from southern African countries.

The latest variant is the most heavily mutated version discovered, so far. First identified in South Africa at the start of this week, the strain has already spread to neighbouring countries, including Botswana, where it has been reportedly detected in fully vaccinated people.

Israel, too, has identified its first case of the new variant (two more people are under investigation) and barred travel from most African countries.

As the variant triggered an alert across the world, the WHO convened a closed-door meeting of experts in to assess the variant B.1.1.529 and designate it as either a variant of interest or a variant of concern, spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against.
By Laura Sanicola and Jessica Resnick-Ault

(Reuters) - Oil prices plunged $10 a barrel on Friday, their largest one-day drop since April 2020, as a new variant of the coronavirus spooked investors and added to concerns that a supply surplus could swell in the first quarter.

Oil fell with global equities markets on fears the variant, could dampen economic growth and fuel demand.

The World Health Organization has designated the new variant, which it named Omicron, as "of concern," according to the South African health minister.

The United States, Canada, Britain, Guatemala and European countries are among those to restrict travel from southern Africa, where the variant was detected.

Brent crude settled down $9.50, or 11.6%, to $72.72 a barrel, a weekly decline of more than 8%.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down $10.24 on Friday, or 13.1%, at $68.15 a barrel, declining more than 10.4% on the week in high volume trading after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

"The market is factoring in a worst case scenario situation in which this variant causes massive demand destruction," said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho.

Both contracts fell to a fifth week of losses and their steepest falls in absolute terms since April 2020, when WTI turned negative for the first time amid a coronavirus-induced supply glut.

News of the variant caused ructions in a market previously caught between producer and consumer nations.

"The biggest fear is that it will be resistant to vaccines and be a massive setback for countries that have reaped the benefits from their rollouts," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

OPEC+ is also monitoring developments around the variant, sources said on Friday, with some expressing concern that it may worsen the oil market outlook less than a week before a meeting to set policy.

Scientists have so far only detected the Omicron variant in relatively small numbers, mainly in South Africa but also in Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel, but they are concerned by its high number of mutations which could make it vaccine-resistant and more transmissible.

Drug makers Pfizer and BioNTech said if necessary they would be able to redesign their shot within 6 weeks and ship initial batches within 100 days.

South Africa's foreign ministry said it would speak to Britain to try to get it to reconsider its travel ban.

"Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries," Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement.

Oil prices rose early in the week as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) suggested it could taper production in response to a strategic release from large consuming countries that are members of the Energy Agency.

Such a release was likely to swell supplies in coming months, an OPEC source said, based on findings of a panel of experts that advises OPEC ministers.

The forecasts cloud the outlook for a Dec. 2 meeting when the group will discuss whether to adjust its plan to increase output by 400,000 barrels per day in January and beyond.

"OPEC's initial assessment of the co-ordinated (stockpile) release and the sudden appearance of a new variant of the coronavirus raises serious concerns about economic growth and the oil balance in coming months," PVM analyst Tamas Varga said.

(Reporting by Laura Sanicola and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York, Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Kirsten Donovan, Elaine Hardcastle)

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Five US lawmakers are in on Friday in a surprise one-day visit, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy.

The lawmakers from the US House of Representatives arrived in on Thursday night and will meet with senior leaders on the island. No further details were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between and China have risen to their highest level in decades.

Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.

Just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan, tweeted Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina on Thursday night, using the island's unofficial name.

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif. and Mace are all part of the visiting delegation.

The trip comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican lawmakers visited the island.

That congressional delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among

It's the third visit by US lawmakers this year. In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.

The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday, "What the US did proves that the so-called democracy is just a pretext and tool for it to pursue geopolitical goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, serve its own interest and maintain its hegemony in the world.

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Health Care Ltd, one of the largest homegrown beauty and wellness companies in India, has received capital regulator Sebi's go ahead to float the initial public offering, market sources said on Friday.

The company may launch the initial public offering (IPO) by December-end, they added.

The IPO comprises fresh issuance of equity shares worth Rs 300 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 89.22 lakh equity shares by promoter and existing shareholders, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).

The OFS comprises sale of up to 18.83 lakh equity shares by promoter Mukesh Luthra, up to 18.97 lakh equity shares by OIH Mauritius Ltd and 52.42 lakh equity shares by Leon International.

Currently, Vandana Luthra and Mukesh Luthra hold 44.35 per cent and 24.37 per cent stake in the company, respectively. Also, Leon International owns 13.65 per cent stake and OIH Mauritius has 5.04 per cent holding in the firm.

Funds raised through the fresh issuance of shares will be used for setting up Wellness Clinics in India as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, and Institutes in India.

In addition, the proceeds would be utilized for refurbishment of certain existing VLCC Wellness Clinics in India and the GCC region. Further, the funds will also be used in brand development, investment in digital and information technology infrastructure and debt payments.

VLCC Health Care, which had filed its preliminary IPO papers with Sebi in August, obtained the regulator's go ahead on Thursday to launch the public issue, the market sources said.

The company may consider a pre-IPO placement aggregating up to Rs 100 crore. If such placement is completed, the fresh issue size will be reduced.

VLCC Health Care operates VLCC branded wellness and beauty clinics and VLCC branded institutes for skill development in beauty and nutrition. It also manufactures and sells VLCC branded personal care products.

Founded by Vandana Luthra, VLCC was amongst the first multi-outlet corporate operations in the wellness and beauty industry, which was at that time mostly composed of individually operated, small scale businesses.

As of March 2021, the company has served customers across 310 locations in 143 cities and across 12 countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, GCC region and East Africa.

The company has created an ecosystem of comprehensive services and products, including wellness programmes, weight management solutions, personal care products, nutraceutical products and skill development training.

ICICI Securities, DAM Capital Advisors, IIFL Securities are the merchant bankers to advise the company on the public issue. The equity shares of the company will be listed on BSE and NSE.

VLCC had previously filed draft papers for an IPO in 2015 and had received clearance from the regulator to launch the public issue too. However, it had withdrawn its IPO plans.

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Thirteen years have passed but the dreadful incident of the 26/11 Mumbai attack has left a scar in the minds and hearts of survivors and their families.

The ghastly attacks, which began on November 26, 2008, lasted for four days, leading to the death of 166 people and injuring over 300.

Shyam Sundar Chaudhary, who live in slums in Mumbai's Vile Parle, was driving his taxi as any other day. He and his family's life turned after a bullet fired by terrorists hit him on that fateful day. He survived but only to get paralysed and bedridden.

Speaking to ANI, Shyam Sundar Chaudhary's wife Bebi Choudhary said, "Thirteen years have been passed. My husband was going for duty. Just he crossed the highway, a car rushed breaking the signal. They fired at my husband. the bullets hit his head and shoulder. Following the incident, my husband started losing his memory and he got completely bedridden. He cannot move, speak and even eat. He only can see and hear. For the last 13 years, he is on bed."

She said that only Rs 1.5 lakh was provided by the government. She then started working as a security guard to run the family.

"I had to run from pillar to post for a job but nobody provided anything. Then I started doing jobs at private companies as a security guard. Thanks to Tata Trust who took the responsibility of the study of my children," she stated.

Bebi said that in 2020 she had to leave the security guard job as her mother-in-law passed away.

"If I go to the job then who will take care of my husband since he cannot move. I have to feed him, give him medicines. It is being difficult to arrange my husband's medicine, diapers. I have sent my children to my mother's place. It has now become more difficult to run the house. No one comes for help. I went to Nagar Sevak, MLA to get me a job," she added.

Shyam Sundar Chaudhary's son is studying hotel management with the help of Tata Trust while their daughter is studying at XIIth.

Bebi is hopeful that the cloud of hardships will clear once their children get settled.

Jillo Yadav, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel had his duty at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST). Yadav fired at Ajmal Kasab when along with his fellow terrorist were firing at people at the CST.

Remembering the day, Jillo Yadav said, "It was my night duty. Around 9.30 pm, firing took place in the mainline section in the CST. People started running and someone told me that two terrorists are firing at people. By that time, the terrorists reached the local line section. I saw they are reloading their guns. I took the service rifle of police personnel there and fired at them."

"However, the bullet did not hit them. Then they started firing at me and I took cover behind the wall. The service rifle that I had struck. They ran after me and continued firing. Somehow I managed to take cover between pillars and walls. I found a chair and threw it on one of the terrorists. They then moved towards outside the station. I was lucky that I survived. Even today when I recall that incident, I am filled with shock," he told ANI.

Yadav emphasised that there is a need to upgrade the arms provided to security personnel.

10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists came to Mumbai via sea route from Pakistan and carried out a series of coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the city on November 26, 2011.

After sailing to the city under the cover of darkness, the terrorists targeted major landmarks of Mumbai with the first attack taking place at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station.

Ajmal Amir Kasab and Ismail Khan carried out the attack at this station, killing as many as 58 people and injuring over 100.

Kasab and Khan later entered to attack Cama Hospital, but the same was thwarted with the alertness of the hospital staff. They, however, killed 6 police officials, including city's Anti-Terrorism Squad Hemant Karkare in an ambush after leaving the hospital.

The second site of the attack was Nariman House business and residential complex where a Rabbi, his wife, and six others, including five Israeli citizens, were killed by the terrorists who first held them hostage.

The two-year-old child of the Rabbi couple, Moshe, survived in the attack. Then 'Baby Moshe' became the face of the innocent victims of ruthless terrorism.

The third site to come under attack on 26/11 was the Leopold Cafe followed by Taj Mahal Hotel and Tower. Four terrorists carried out the attack at the famous cafe before entering the iconic Taj hotel, where they killed as many as 31 people after laying a three-day siege at the hotel.

The other site to come under attack during the 26/11 was Oberoi-Trident hotel where another group of two terrorists entered at almost the same time, as the other four had entered Taj. At Oberoi-Trident hotel the siege officially ended on the evening of November 28 with as many as 30 being killed in the horrific attack.

The attack and seize finally culminated on the morning of November 29, 2008, after the Security Guards (NSG) secured the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

By the time commandos of the Security Guards (NSG) gunned down the last terrorists who had been holed up in south Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace hotel, over 160 people were killed and hundreds were left injured.

After the attack, it was established that the 10 terrorists had sailed to Mumbai from Pakistan's port city, Karachi. Their voyage to Mumbai involved hijacking a fishing dingy and killing four of the five men crew, leaving one occupant to ferry them to the Mumbai coast.

In these gruesome attacks, 9 terrorists were killed and the lone survivor, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was caught and was sentenced to death at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), whose mastermind was Hafiz Saeed, was believed to have plotted the 26/11 attacks.

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Earlier in February, the direct entry ban was imposed due to a global spike in Covid-19 cases

has announced that it will lift a travel ban on expats from six countries including India and Pakistan that was introduced to contain the spread of the (Covid-19) pandemic.

The directives will allow direct entry of fully vaccinated expatriates without the need to spend 14 days in transit outside their countries before entering the Kingdom, Arab News reported.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior issued the directive saying that changes will commence at 1 am on December 1.

The English-language newspaper said that expats arriving from these countries must spend five days in quarantine regardless of their vaccination status outside the Kingdom.

Earlier in February, the direct entry ban was imposed due to a global spike in Covid-19 cases.

The ban covered Lebanon, UAE, Egypt, Turkey, the US, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Japan.

The travel ban also applied to travellers who transited through any of the 20 countries in the 14 days before a planned visit to the country.

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Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that the is the most important part of economy and society, and is crucial to define its norms of governance, adding that it is imperative to bridge the digital divide with a focus on marginalized living in the remotest part of the country.

Speaking on the inaugural event, Vaishnaw, IT Minister said," is the most important part of economy and society and it is crucial to define its norms of governance. We have to bridge the digital divide with a focus on marginalized living in the remotest part of the country. It is also important to decide the ownership of the content shared online. Young minds are easily tempted to believe in what is shared online especially on social media and there is a need to decide responsibilities"

Vaishnaw inaugurated 'India Governance Forum 2021' (IIGF 2021), a 3-day online event on internet governance.

"It is also crucial to see the social impact of online disruption. Today, e-commerce has disrupted small businesses and that has a social impact. We have to work to bring smaller individuals to the mainstream. requires maximum attention. Entire systems can be taken for ransom or can be held hostage. Can we develop a robust system for I hope this forum will bring solid answers to these questions," he added.

The event which is centred around the theme "Empowering India through Power of the Internet", is bringing stakeholders of internet governance together to discuss the roadmap for digitization and reaffirm India as an essential participant globally.

The event is jointly being organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and is being held between November 25-27, said a press release by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The digital drive in India is in full swing to bring 100% of the population on the internet network and the event is focusing on the digitization roadmap, opportunities, possibilities, and challenges in India, said the press release.

Through an open and inclusive process, IIGF is bringing together all stakeholders in the global internet governance ecosystem including government, industry, civil society, academia - as equal participants of the larger internet governance discourse, as per the statement.

It is also going to highlight the role and importance of digitization in the international policy development on internet governance, added the press release.

"We would soon have a billion Indians--women, children, elderly and others connected online and availing government services, subsidies, etc. The future of IIGF is to shepherd and work with government bodies to ensure that future jurisprudence on the internet is developed by bringing users on board as the most important stakeholders. The future of global internet should be led by India's internet ecosystem and innovation capabilities," said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY).

The India Internet Government Forum is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF). The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multistakeholder platform bringing representatives together from various groups to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet. IIGF previously held a curtain-raiser event with an interesting insight into the roadmap for Digitisation in India in October 2021. The event was a precursor to the institution of India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) formed in conformance to IGF - Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda of the UN-based Internet Governance forum: (IGF).

The inaugural event witnessed robust discussions and engaging talks during various workshops and sessions titled 'Cybernorms: For ensuring an open, interoperable and trusted internet', 'Roadmap for trillion-dollar digital economy', 'Multilingual Internet- Connecting all Indians', 'Start-ups and fostering innovations' and 'Socio-economic impacts of the digital economy'.

The online event is also going to host three plenary sessions on themes: 'India & Internet- India's Digital Journey & her Global Role' chaired by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY), 'Connecting all Indians' chaired by Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary (MeitY), and 'Securing internet for safe future' chaired by Sanjay Bahl, DG, CERT-In.

Eminent dignitaries such as Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State (MeitY), Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary (MeitY), Nirmita Narasimhan, Anil Kumar Jain, CEO, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), Chair IIGF, TV Ramachandran, President, India Forum and others also graced the inaugural event with their presence.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a special meeting to discuss the new Covid variant

Hong Kong has detected a newly identified (Covid-19) variant --- B.1.1.529 --- causing a spike in new Covid-19 infections in South Africa, according to local media reports.

This news, with a large number of spike protein mutations, has led the UK to impose a travel ban from some African countries. It has also been declared a Variant under Investigation (VuI) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

"These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility. More investigation is required," UK Health Security Agency said in a statement.

The (WHO) has called for a special meeting to discuss the new Covid variant.

"We don't know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves," Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's the technical lead on Covid-19, said in a briefing.

Reportedly, the new variant was found earlier in two men quarantined at the Regal Airport Hotel in Chek Lap Kok. The Hong Kong health authorities confirmed that the new variant was brought in by one of the men who had flown in from South Africa.

The first patient then allegedly passed on the virus to another man who was staying in a neighbouring room at the hotel, The Straits Times reported citing Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK.

The probe into the two cases showed that they had highly similar genetic sequences, adding that the viruses they carried belong to the B.1.1.529 variant, according to Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP).

Media reports say that scientific information on the public health significance of this lineage is lacking at the moment. Therefore, it is classified by the WHO as 'variants under monitoring'.

The first patient was found to have worn a reusable mask with an air valve, and further investigation found that the mask had contributed to the spread of the virus to the second man, RTHK reported.

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Rijiju underlined the values of the Indian Freedom Movement as enshrined in the Constitution, especially the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy

Union Law Minister launched an online course on the Constitution of India and said it will be an important milestone in spreading the aspirations and ideals of the Constitution thus empowering the citizens of the country by making them aware of the principles enshrined in the Constitution.

Laying down the importance of the Online Course on Constitution, he said, "This will be an important milestone in spreading the aspirations and ideals of the Constitution and empowers the citizens of this country by making them aware of the principles enshrined in the Constitution."

"I've also told CJI that it's not necessary that judgement/justice should be delivered from the courtroom; it can be delivered at doorsteps, fields too. We have to come out of our comfort zones," Law Minister said at the launch of an online course on the

The event was also organised as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, which celebrates 75 years of of the country.

The course has been launched by the Department of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Law & Justice in collaboration with the National Academy of Legal Studies & Research (NALSAR), University of Law.

The occasion was graced by Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs and Secretaries of the Legislative Department, Department of Justice and Prof. (Dr) Faizan Mustafa, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR University of Law.

The launch of the online course of was opened with the welcome address of the Law Secretary, Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India. He pointed out that the importance of the day lies in the fact that in the preceding two centuries while the governance acts were imposed by the imperial power, the Constitution of India has been framed by the people of India themselves through representatives assembled in a sovereign Constituent Assembly.

He expressed the hope that the course will make the people realize that the Constitution is a functional manual that aids and empowers each citizen of the country than merely being a document of governance. He further underlined the objective of these initiatives as to enhance the awareness of the constitutional values to understand the fundamental rights and duties by the citizens and at the same time also reinforce our obligations towards the democratic values,as per a press release from the Ministry of Law and Justice.

He further appealed to the students to nurture the views of Mahatma Gandhi when he said "Be the change that you wish to see in the world" and further urged them to prove themselves to the growing legal challenges by rendering pro-bono public services as professed by the leaders of this country.

Addressing the eminent gathering, Kiren Rijiju, the Minister of Law & Justice, underlined the values of the Indian Freedom Movement as enshrined in the Constitution, especially the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy, which have been the key drivers for social, economic and political justice for all. He mentioned that while being the lengthiest Constitution of the World, the remains dynamic and relevant as ever, as having a unique blend of rigidity and flexibility.

He highlighted the giveaway of the Constitution in terms of an independent Judicial system, guaranteed rights and values of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for the masses. He emphasized that as citizens of the world's largest democracy, it is incumbent upon people to know the ethos and content of the Constitution so as to meaningfully lay a claim over, and actualize, the guaranteed rights in practice.

He quoted Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar, saying "Constitution is not a mere lawyer's document. It is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age" and expressed his anguish when he hears some people say that they do not believe in the law and in the constitution, which he termed as a sad state of affairs and said that if people understand their duties truly, the rights will never be affected.

He stressed that the Constitution as a transformative document is required to be imbibed by the citizens and hence, the online course is indeed a step towards enlightening all citizens with a spirit of Constitutional morality and visions of our founding fathers. He further accentuated that the online course, with the teachings of the Constitution, shall play a definite role in helping citizens to become future defenders of the liberties given by this great Document.

He lauded the efforts of the Department of Legal Affairs in collaboration with NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad in launching this important course, to spread and amplify the message of the Constitution, as we celebrate 75 years of

The 5th edition of the book on Constitution in diglot form, in both Hindi and English, was also released in the event.

The launch of the online course of Indian Constitution was made in the enthusiastic presence of students, faculty and top functionaries of the leading Law universities of India as also senior officers of the Ministry of Law & Justice.

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Kirloskar Ferrous Industries (KFIL) said that it will acquire a majority stake in Indian Seamless Metal Tubes (ISMT) by subscribing to its equity shares through a preferential allotment and gain sole control over ISMT.

KFIL will subscribe to shares for an aggregate consideration of Rs 476.63 crore at a per share price of Rs 30.95 by the way of preferential allotment. These shares will represent 51.25% of the resultant share capital of ISMT.

Further, in accordance with the provisions of the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011, the company has also commenced an open offer for acquiring up to 25.05% of the resultant voting capital of ISMT.

The board of directors of KFIL have approved to seek approval of the members of the company for increase in the permitted borrowing limits. The board has also approved raising of funds not exceeding Rs 750 crore by way of issuance of rated, listed, secured / unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible redeemable debentures on a private placement basis in one or more tranches.

ISMT is the largest integrated specialized seamless tube manufacturer in India. It is one of the most diversified manufacturers of specialized seamless tubes in the world, producing tubes in the range of 6 to 273 mm diameter. The company has alloy Steel plant in India that produces a wide range of alloy steels from 20 to 225 mm diameter. Their specialized teams provide end to end solutions to industry-specific customers.

R.V. Gumaste, managing director, KFIL, said We are excited to announce this acquisition, which is subject to necessary approvals, as we enter into the seamless pipes market. This acquisition is further widening our portfolio and diversifying the current product portfolio.

We are looking forward to leveraging our existing customer base and adding the customers that ISMT brings along. We believe this acquisition brings us an opportunity to integrate iron ore to seamless tubes at a consolidated level. Ongoing projects along with this acquisition will help us bring cost efficiencies in the value chain.

In a separate filing, Kirloskar Ferrous said that operations of sinter plant situated at Chitradurga District (Karnataka) have commenced for commercial production from 24 November 2021.

Kirloskar Ferrous Industries is a leading pig iron manufacturer in India and producer of grey iron castings.

Net profit of KFIL rose 82.93% to Rs 119.91 crore on 97.10% rise in net sales to Rs 958.38 crore in Q2 September 2021 over Q2 September 2020.

The scrip fell 1.09% to currently trade at Rs 232 on the BSE.

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Future Consumer announced that FCL Tradevest, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company has completed acquisition of balance stake aggregating to 0.07% of the equity share capital of Integrated Food Park (IFPL), from an existing shareholder of IFPL.

With this acquisition, IFPL has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of FCL Tradevest and continues to be step-down subsidiary of the Company.

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Hong Kong stock market finished session steep lower on Friday, 26 November 2021, as investors risk sentiments pressured by mounting concerns about a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa of which two cases were reported in the city this week..

At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.67%, or 659.64 points, to 24,080.52. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index sank 2.65%, or 233.65 points, to 8,576.07.

For the week, Hang Seng Index declined 3.9%.

Sellers were mobilised after the World Health Organization highlighted concerns with respect to the South African strain of the Covid 19 virus with a large number of mutations.

Hong Kong confirmed two cases of the new strain that was first spotted in South Africa, where health officials said the variant was of serious concern. The new variant has prompted some countries including the UK to suspend flights from South Africa and some of its neighbouring nations. Elsewhere, Shanghai, China's biggest commercial city, reported three new Covid-19 infections on Thursday.

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The findings of the fifth edition of the National Family Health Survey point to new demographic challenges that urgently need focused policy responses in a shortening window of opportunity, the top edit argues. Read it here

In other views:

Jaimini Bhagwati says the government needs to understand that Indias foreign policy options are circumscribed by its relatively inadequate economic size and technological capabilities. Read it here

Harsh V Pant and Kriti M.

Shah write that the Taliban has been an group for decades, but in an ironic twist they must now demonstrate their counter- capabilities as IS-K violence rages across the country. Read it here

The second edit explains why a combination of high valuations, smart money pulling back, and the end of base effects should induce a degree of caution in domestic individual investors in the stock markets. Read it here
Union minister Narayan Rane on Friday claimed that the BJP will form government in Maharashtra in March.

Rane's statement came on a day when state BJP leaders and Chandrakant Patil as well as NCP chief and his party colleague Praful Patel were in the capital, sparking speculation. Incidentally, the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will complete two years on Saturday. Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, sources said. Speaking to reporters in Jaipur, Rane said, "BJP will form government in Maharashtra in March." Asked to elaborate, he said toppling and forming governments is done in secrecy and it can not be discussed in public. ''State (BJP) president Chandrakant Patil has spoken about this and I hope it comes true,'' Rane said. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole told reporters in Nagpur that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government will complete its full term. "BJP keeps making big predictions and they don't come true....Nobody believes BJP,'' he said. Sources in the BJP and NCP played down the significance of the visits of their respective leaders to the capital at the same time.

Fadnavis and Patil were in Delhi to discuss "organizational matters" with the central leadership, said a BJP leader. Pawar traveled to Delhi to attend a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on defense and his schedule had been planned a week ago, an NCP source said.

The MVA government was formed in November 2019, after Assembly elections, as the Shiv Sena walked out of its decades-old alliance with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief minister's post.

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Union minister on Friday claimed that the will form government in in March.

Rane's statement came on a day when state leaders Devendra Fadnavis and Chandrakant Patil as well as NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his party colleague Praful Patel were in the capital, sparking speculation.

But leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) pooh-poohed Rane's statement, asserting that there was no threat to the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government which will complete two years on Saturday.

Fadnavis met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, sources said.

Speaking to reporters in Jaipur, Rane said, " will form government in in March."



Asked to elaborate, he said toppling and forming governments is done in secrecy and it can not be discussed in public.

"State (BJP) president Chandrakant Patil has spoken about this and I hope it comes true," Rane said.

Congress president Nana Patole told reporters in Nagpur that the government will complete its full term.

"BJP keeps making big predictions and they don't come true....Nobody believes BJP," he said.

NCP spokesperson and state minister Nawab Malik said leaders like Fadnavis were tired of predicting the fall of the MVA government, so the BJP has deployed "new players" like Rane for the same.

''Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has already made it clear that the MVA will not just complete its five-year term but last for 25 years,'' said Malik.

Sources in the BJP and NCP played down the significance of the visits of their respective leaders to the capital at the same time.

Fadnavis and Patil were in Delhi to discuss "organizational matters" with the central leadership, said a BJP leader.

Pawar traveled to Delhi to attend a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on defense and his schedule had been planned a week ago, an NCP source said.

The BJP should stop giving such deadlines, said Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut.

"It is making itself a laughing stock," the Rajya Sabha member said.

State NCP chief Jayant Patil said on a sarcastic note that they were "grateful" to Rane for giving the government time till March.

The MVA government was formed in November 2019, after Assembly elections, as the Shiv Sena walked out of its decades-old alliance with the BJP over the issue of sharing the chief minister's post.

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Kanshi Ram's younger sister and nephew have accused Mayawati of having usurped the party for her family members.

The family of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) founder, late Kanshi Ram, have said that they will support anyone who can defeat in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Kanshi Ram's younger sister and nephew have accused of having usurped the party for her family members.

The two are in Lucknow to attend a programme organised on the occasion of Constitution Day on Friday by former MLA Savitribai Phule.

" is anti-Constitution and has finished the party which ji had set up. She has turned the party into a family enterprise and can do nothing for the poor," said Swarn Kaur, Kanshi Ram's sister.

Swarn Kaur, who heads the Foundation, said that the family has no affiliation with any political party.

Her nephew Lakhbir Singh said that they visited the Memorial in Lucknow on Thursday and were upset to see Mayawati's statue along with that of the founder.

"She has hijacked the party and made it a private limited firm. In UP elections, we will support anyone who can defeat We will also campaign against in Punjab, where it is contesting elections in alliance with Akali Dal," he said.

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The ruling BJP in the state is not responding to their promises and is confident of its own agenda

Even as the opposition parties like the and the Aam Aadmi Party rollout sops after sops for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling in the state is not responding to their promises and is confident of its own agenda.

The and the Aam Aadmi Party are making tall promises even before releasing their manifestoes officially.

The leads the list by promising 40 per cent reservation in tickets to women, smartphones and electric scooty to girl students, three free gas cylinders every year to women, free bus travel for women, Rs 1000 pension for widows, Rs 10,000 for anganwadi and ASHA workers, and 75 schools named after women warriors.

The Aam Aadmi Party, on the other hand, is trying to make inroads into the middle class vote base by promising free electricity up to 300 units and massive upgradation of educational and health facilities on their Delhi model.

The government has conveniently turned a blind eye to the promises made by two parties.

A senior minister said, "Why should we bother about what these parties are promising because neither of them are even in the race to form the next government. They are far, far away from the majority figure and so they can promise the moon. People know that their promises have no value because they are non-players in the political arena."

The is confident that the work done by the Modi and Yogi governments, along with a liberal topping of Hindutva, will take it comfortably beyond the majority mark.

"Look at the work done by our governments and compare it to what these parties have done and anyone can see the difference. The Purvanchal Expressway in the east and the Jewar airport in the west, are best examples. Some parties are contesting elections only for the fun of it. If Priyanka is so serious about women's issues, why does she not ensure the same facilities in the Congress-ruled states?" asked Uttar Pradesh Minister Satish Mahana.

A senior functionary said that the party was gearing up to reach out to voters on the basis of its achievement.

"We are not building castles in the air. We will give proof of the work done by our governments. The promises for the future will be included in the manifesto but we are not wasting our time by responding to what the Congress, and other parties claim," he said.

Interestingly, Chief Minister has constantly refused to respond to the demands raised by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Whether it was the demand for removal of district magistrate after the Hathras incident or a CBI inquiry into the custodial death of a Dalit or withdrawal of cases against anti-CAA protesters -- the BJP government has refused to accept any demand of the Congress.

In the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, the arrest of accused Ashish Misra, was ensured only after the Supreme Court took a stern view of the incident in which four farmers were mowed down by an SUV belonging to the Union minister's son.

"The media is playing up the Priyanka factor but we know her standing. What magic did she weave in the Lok Sabha elections where her own brother lost in Amethi? All the Congress propaganda is only for media consumption," said a party leader.

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IPS officer Param Bir Singh will appear before the one-member commission probing corruption allegations against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday, his lawyer said. The Justice K U Chandiwal commission was formed in March this year to probe the allegations levelled by Singh, a former Mumbai police chief, against Deshmukh, an NCP leader.

On Thursday, the commission had warned that if Singh did not remain present, he would face the execution of the bailable warrant issued against him.

On Friday, Singh's lawyer told the commission that the senior IPS officer won't be able to appear during the day as he was visiting Thane in connection with a case against him.

Singh was ready to appear on Saturday or any other day, he said. The commission said it doesn't sit on Saturday and asked Singh to appear on Monday (November 29).

The commission had fined Singh on many occasions earlier for failing to appear. A bailable warrant had also been issued against him. Singh, transferred from the post of Mumbai police commissioner in March in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare episode, alleged that Deshmukh, then home minister, had asked police officers to collect Rs 100 crore a month from bars and restaurants in Mumbai. Declared absconding by a Mumbai court in an extortion case, Singh surfaced in public on Thursday after six months, and appeared before the Mumbai crime branch to record his statement. Meanwhile, a man, claiming to be a social worker, on Friday approached the Justice Chandiwal commission with an intervention application, seeking inquiry against Singh for his "misdeeds" during his tenure as Thane police commissioner. Singh implicated many builders, businessmen and common citizens in false cases, the plea alleged.

The commission took the application on record.

Incidentally, Singh appeared before Thane police on Friday in connection with an extortion case filed against him and some other police officials on the complaint of a local builder. The IPS officer is facing at least five extortion cases in Maharashtra.

The Supreme Court has granted him temporary protection from arrest.

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National Geographic magazine's famed green-eyed Afghan Girl has arrived in as part of the West's evacuation of Afghans following the takeover of the country, the Italian government said Thursday.

National Geographic's famed green-eyed "Afghan Girl" Sharbat Gulla poses for a photo during a meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, at the Presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Nov. 9, 2016. Sharbat has arrived in (AP Photo)

The office of Premier Mario Draghi said organised the evacuation of Sharbat Gulla after she asked to be helped to leave the country. The Italian government will now help to get her integrated into life in Italy, the statement said.

Gulla gained fame in 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, after war photographer Steve McCurry's photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic. McCurry found her again in 2002.

In 2014, she surfaced in Pakistan but went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake Pakistani identity card and ordered her deported. She was flown to Kabul where the president hosted a reception for her at the presidential palace and handed her keys to a new apartment.

Italy was one of several Western countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans out of the country following the departure of US forces and the takeover in August.

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The has received sanction to prosecute retired Allahabad High Court Judge Justice S N Shukla in a corruption case for allegedly favouring a private medical college in his orders, officials said.

The had applied for a go ahead from the high court to prosecute the retired judge on April 16 this year, in accordance with the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

With the high court now giving its nod, the can proceed with a chargesheet against the retired judge.

Besides Justice Shukla of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the agency had also named retired Chhattisgarh High Court judge I M Quddusi, Bhagwan Prasad Yadav and Palash Yadav of the Prasad Education Trust, the trust itself and private persons Bhavna Pandey and Sudhir Giri in the FIR, they said.

The accused were booked under Section 120B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In order to to get a favourable order, illegal gratification was allegedly paid to one of the accused named in the FIR by the trust, the officials said.

After filing the FIR, the CBI had conducted searches at multiple locations in Lucknow, Meerut and Delhi, they said.

It is alleged that the Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences was debarred by the Centre from admitting students due to substandard facilities and non-fulfilment of the required criteria in May 2017, along with 46 other medical colleges that were also debarred on similar grounds, the officials said.

The decision to debar was challenged by the trust before the Supreme Court through a writ petition, they added.

Subsequently, a conspiracy was hatched by those named in the FIR and the petition withdrawn with the court''s permission.

Another writ petition was filed before the Lucknow bench of the high court on August 24, 2017, the officials said.

It was further alleged in the FIR that the petition was heard on August 25, 2017 by a division bench of the court comprising Justice Shukla and a favourable order was passed the same day, they added.

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Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday asserted that India will reach net zero emissions by 2070 and asked the industry to take serious note on sustainability.

Realising the effect of on sustainable businesses, corporates and industrial houses in India are taking a serious note of the environmental, social and governance aspect to become more resilient, he said in a virtual session with ICC.

"As a nation, we would reach net zero emissions removing as much as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as we produce by 2070.

As we all know, the effects of are no longer a prediction of the future. We are already feeling its effects through draughts, untimely cyclones, prolonged heat waves and changing weather patterns," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP-26 announced that India will achieve net zero by 2070.

The role of the industry to combat climate challenge was of paramount importance, he said.

Yadav said, India trusts its industry to rise to the occasion and present example to the world in playing a responsible, capable and efficient partner in a war we are fighting to save this planet, the only one that we have.

The threat of is not for future but we are in the middle of it, the minister said.

Changing rain patterns, massive forest fire, increasing number of floods and cyclones and other things happening all around should not be ignored, Yadav said.

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Investors' wealth tumbled Rs 4.48 trillion during day trade on Friday with the BSE benchmark plummeting 1,488 points tracking weak global trends.

The 30-share benchmark index tumbled 1,488.01 points during the day to 57,307.08.

The market capitalization of BSE-listed tanked Rs 4,48,223.31 crore to Rs 2,61,18,730.57 crore during the day.

"Equity have plunged almost 2 per cent amid the emergence of a new, highly mutated (COVID-19) variant. The EU announced a temporary ban of flights from South Africa and few EU countries are already under full lockdown scenario.

"Thus, there is fear of this new variant spreading to other countries which might again derail the global economy," said Hemang Jani, Head of Equity Strategy & Senior Group VP, Broking & Distribution,

Tata Steel, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and Maruti were the biggest laggards, tanking up to 4.2 per cent.

The BSE midcap and smallcap indices were trading up to 2 per cent lower.

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Maharashtra Chief Minister on Friday paid tributes to the martyrs and citizens, who lost their lives in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks 13 years ago.

In a tweet, Thackeray said the terror attack was a clear example of the "cowardly mindset" of terrorists.

"I express gratitude towards the security personnel, who attained martyrdom, and citizens who lost their lives in the attack," he said.

On November 26, 2008, ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.

In another tweet, the chief Minister recalled the contributions of Dr B R Ambedkar and other founding fathers of the on the occasion of the National Day.

" Day at a time when the country is observing 75th anniversary of independence is very significant," he said, adding that the Constitution puts citizens, their interests and rights at the centrestage.

Constitution Day is celebrated to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.

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He shared a two-minute video of the pictures of all the martyrs who gave the supreme sacrifice in the attacks | Photo: ANI

leader on Friday remembered the martyrs of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and paid them rich tributes.

He shared a two-minute video of the pictures of all the martyrs who gave the supreme sacrifice in the attacks that shook the country's financial capital Mumbai on this day in 2008.

"Protects the country by staying at the border away from the family in difficult weather, saves innocents by risking his own life during a terrorist attack. He cares about the world without bothering about his own life, our Jawan is the pride of the family, the village and the nation.

"Salute to the heroes of 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks. Jai Hind," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi while sharing the video.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.

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South Korean tech giant is reportedly planning to end production of the Galaxy Note 20 and has no plans for a 2022 Galaxy Note.

will also apparently end production on its Galaxy Note 20 series entirely by the end of 2021. Until now, production on the Galaxy Note 20 has continued as the device has still been selling, reports 9To5Google.

As per report, is bringing the Note experience to the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which would be the spiritual successor to the Note20 Ultra.

The display of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the top model of the rumoured upcoming flagship phone series will be the brightest one Samsung has ever made.

The current Galaxy S21 Ultra peaks at 1500 nits of peak brightness and one can expect the S22 Ultra to go beyond this mark.

The upcoming series will enter mass production next month.

The in the lineup will be available for purchase from January 2022 and all the models in the series are expected to come powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 898 chipset.

In terms of specifications, the upcoming series may feature a new 10MP telephoto sensor with 3x optical zoom capabilities as opposed to a high-resolution sensor with poor optical zoom.

Samsung is planning to take a different approach on the Galaxy S22/S22+ models that will arrive early next year. The Galaxy S22 series will pack a 10MP telephoto lens that supports 3x optical zoom rather than the hybrid zoom of the Galaxy S20/S21 era.

--IANS

wh/ksk/

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Alkem Laboratories Ltd

Headquartered in Mumbai India Alkem Laboratories Limited is a leading Indian pharmaceutical company with global operations. The company is engaged in the development manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products. The company produces branded generics generic drugs active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and nutraceuticals which it markets in India and international markets. Wi...> More
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 26 (ANI/NewsVoir): SVKM's NMIMS' School of Business Management (SBM), recognized as one of India's top management schools, invites applications for its MBA in Pharmaceutical Management, started in 2003 is one of the earliest pharma focused programs in the country.

This program is well recognized and well received by the industry, and is arguably the number one MBA Pharma Program in the country.

This two-year, full-time MBA program is a domain-specific master's degree that concentrates on preparing the students to enter the pharmaceutical industry. After graduation, students join the industry in various sectors such as; Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Market Research, Consultancy, IT Healthcare Verticals, Diagnostics, Medical Communication, Nutraceuticals, and other allied healthcare sectors.

Job prospects include Sales, Marketing, Business Analysis, Project Management, Client Servicing and Business Development, International Marketing, Operations positions.

The objective of MBA Pharmaceuticals Management program is to develop students, over a period of two years, engaging in multi-disciplinary general management courses through rigorous fieldwork and academics for managerial positions in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Students spend eight weeks of summer Internship with Pharmaceutical, Medical Communication or Medical Devices Companies.

Program Highlights

Over 18 field projects in the first year for experiential learning

Full-day fieldwork every trimester

Total fieldwork exceeds 180 hours and an additional 100 hours of data analysis

The faculty consists of full-time teachers and many from the industry who are well-known functional heads and already established as authorities in their specialized zones. The course concentrates on both theoretical as well as the practical aspect of each subject.

Additionally, Institute-Industry connect exposes the students to CEOs and HR Heads visiting the campus frequently to address our students to broaden their perspectives on the industry.

Dr. Prashant Mishra, Dean NMIMS SBM said, "MBA in Pharma Management is a much sought after program. Pharma, health care and new age start-ups need a large pool of trained workforce. The program curriculum ensures students get hands-on experience in real-world scenarios. Students are job-ready when they graduate."

Speaking on the program, Dr. Harikumar Iyer, Chairperson and Associate Professor, said, "Lectures, Case-discussions, live experiential outbound learnings, Workshops, Role-plays, Video-based discussions and fieldwork are extensively incorporated in this program to impart knowledge and skills. We have had a 100% placement record in the last 17 years for summer internships as well as final placements."

Eligibility: Bachelor's Degree/Master's Degree in Pharmacy, Life Sciences, MBBS, BDS, BHMS, BAMS, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Bioengineering from a recognized University with a minimum of 50% marks in the aggregate. Candidates with B.Tech. or B.E. in Bio-Tech. or Bio-Medical are also eligible to apply.

Admission Procedure

Step 1: Register for NMAT by GMAC (Last date was 15th Nov 2021)

Step 2: Register and apply for NMIMS MBA at (https://nmat.nmims.edu/?utm_source=NewsvoirPR & utm_medium=link & utm_campaign=Pharmamba)

Note - Important changes introduced by NMIMS for MBA Admissions 2022

NMIMS accepts score of the first NMAT examination attempted by the candidate

Apply for NMIMS before your scheduled NMATbyGMAC examination

Accreditation: SBM has the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation, which is known as the longest-standing and most prestigious professional accreditation in business education. It has NAAC accreditation with Grade A+ (3.59 CGPA), Mumbai Campus and is recognized as Category-I University by MHRD/UGC Grant of Graded Autonomy Regulation, 2018.

SBM of SVKM's NMIMS, Deemed-to-be University, is one of India's leading business schools with a legacy of renowned and experienced faculty and an excellent placement program. NMIMS, which began as a business school 40 years ago, is known for its trailblazing curriculum. The school has consistently ranked among the top 10 B-Schools in the country since 1981 in various such published surveys.

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) owns and administers the NMAT by GMAC exam. 38 leading institutions in India accept the NMAT by GMAC for securing admissions to their flagship MBA and other management programs in India. Besides India, the NMAT by GMAC exam today is delivered across 12 countries namely, South Africa, Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia. GMAC has two types of testing modes for the exam.

One is an online proctored exam that can be taken from home and the second is the centre-based online exam. Candidates can take the test either at a test centre that follows all the social distancing protocols or take the online proctored exam from the comfort of their homes.

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 26 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced that IDC has named Infor a Leader in the (https://www.infor.com/en-au/resources/assessing-enterprise-resource-planning) IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Manufacturing Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning 2021 Vendor Assessment report.

Infor is recognized for its industry-specific SaaS and cloud-enabled ERP solutions, including STEELSTRONG VALVES who has selected Infor LN SaaS to grow their business.

The IDC MarketScape evaluated vendors based on a comprehensive and rigorous framework that reviews key strategy criteria such as cross-application and functional integration capabilities, regional presence, pricing and deployment models, and customer service management. Vendors were also judged on the breadth of industries they serve, range of services, functionality, innovation capabilities, and customer satisfaction[1].

"This IDC MarketScape for Asia/Pacific Manufacturing Cloud ERP answers the question of what vendor capabilities exist in region to support manufacturing organizations as they embark on their Industry 4.0 journey," says Stephanie Krishnan, Associate Vice President IDC Asia/Pacific.

"According to our data, ERP investment has been consistently at the top of technology choices for Asia/Pacific manufacturers to meet performance and innovation priorities as well as being essential for supporting sustainability outcomes. Asia/Pacific manufacturers require integration, automation, and connectivity to support these priorities. As such, ERP systems that are cloud-based and embed AI, IoT, and analytics are seeing increased traction. Particularly with recent pressures, manufacturers are seeking those vendors that can support them as they pursue these priorities in their digital transformation journey."

"More than a year of evolving disruptions and changing customer expectations are accelerating companies' appetites to embrace new business partners, new ways of engaging customers, and new operating procedures. Infor's multi-tenant cloud ERP solutions (CloudSuites) empower businesses to thrive amidst constant changes, advancing Industry 4.0 initiatives, helping to centralize decision-making, improve business performance and enhance operational resiliency," said ChemaAramburu, executive vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, Infor.

"Infor being recognized as a Leader underscores our position in the market. We understand the nuances of the industry that our customers operate in, and we are proud to provide purpose-built, out-of-the-box industry-specific solutions that will help them address their unique challenges and unlock new, higher-value revenue streams for their business."

Infor CloudSuite solutions are industry-specific and are delivered as cloud services on Amazon Web Services' (AWS') secured and scalable infrastructure. Infor CloudSuites utilize Infor's leading technology platform, Infor OS, to power next-generation user experiences, integration and workflows - which can help increase productivity and collaboration.

Learn more about Infor industry ERP solutions:(https://www.infor.com/solutions/erp/industry-erp)

[1] IDC, "MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Manufacturing Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning 2021 Vendor Assessment," DOC # AP46741021, July 2021.

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Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 26 (ANI/NewsVoir): (https://www.oakridge.in/bengaluru) Oakridge International School Bangalore celebrated World Children's Day with a thoughtful message reinstating the importance of children's rights through a week long activity galore and a special assembly to showcase the celebration of a student's life.

World Children's Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20th November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improve children's welfare.

Since 1990, World Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children's rights.

Oakridge International School advocates, promotes and celebrates children's rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children. As an initiative to spread the vaccination drive awareness, the PYP students had a craft workshop held by the senior students where they made badges for their parents mentioning "I am vaccinated" and other origami crafts. The Senior kids were addressed by Dr. Ekta Ahuja (Head of Program Management - Discovery Services, Bangalore) on the topic - "What vaccines are and how do they work".

There was a special assembly that brought together all the young talents, on one stage. With music, dance and group choir song, there was a smile of pride on the face of every student. The theme of courage, bravery, humility and ambitious outlook was majestically depicted with the launch of the first every school mascot 'Oakleo' to represent the Oakridge vision.

To grace this occasion, Brian Cooklin - the Managing Director of Nord Anglia India, was present to inspire every student. He spoke about the need to impart global education that is more about students getting a wide number of opportunities to learn and showcase their potential at Oakridge. He wished every child a great future that involves progressive learning and holistic development in all areas.

Pallavi Mishra (Principal, Oakridge International School, Bangalore) shared the virtues of rights and responsibilities of every student that reflected in students' everyday life. She cheered all the Student Council members for their commendable contribution in uplifting the ethos of children's rights. Every Oakridger she believes create a legacy of success through their commitment towards holistic learning.

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New Delhi [India], November 26 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Travel is back in a big way and consumers are excited to make up for lost holidays over the past two years.

With a steady rise in vaccination coverage across geographies, combined with the easing of restrictions across regions, travellers have embraced the spirit of travel wholeheartedly, especially during holidays and festive long weekends in India, the US, the UK and Europe.

As per OYO's booking analysis, consumers across the world are increasingly opting for short-haul destinations and making last-minute bookings over planned trips. Across Europe, summer travel saw the highest bounce back in demand.

Whereas, Americans travelled the most during the Labor Day long weekend of September 4 - 6, 2021. Closer to home, in India, the long weekends of Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra ranked as the topmost holidays for travellers in 2021.

For Indians, festive long weekends are nothing less than sweet escapes

India is a land of diversities. This means many elaborate festivals and holidays. In India, some of the most popular holidays for travellers took place in the second half of this year, starting with Janmashtami in August, followed by Ganesh Chaturthi and Dussehra which saw a spike in bookings. This optimism around travel can be attributed to higher vaccination coverage and the opening up of several states for tourism in comparison to early 2021.

Indian travellers preferred spending their holidays across the country's beautiful tourist destinations such as Jaipur, Goa, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Udaipur during the festive season. Interestingly, short-haul destinations continue to be the go-to option for travellers across the country over long weekends. Some of the top short-haul destinations are Lonavala, Pondicherry, Shimla, Mysore. All of these destinations sit close to mainstream cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi and Bangalore, indicating that city folks are looking for respite closer to home.

The long weekend of Dussehra saw a hike in demand, with an increase in trips to nearby destinations for a quick break. In India, last-minute bookings continue to be on the rise. Not surprisingly, Indians travel to destinations known for their festive cheer. During a festival, the preference for destinations well-known to celebrate the festival with great vigor witnessed a spike in bookings.

For instance, during Ganesh Chaturthi, locals preferred going on short-haul trips to locations like Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Lonavala, and Mumbai. The most recent long weekend of Guru Nanak Jayanti saw the majority of bookings for Varanasi, Jaipur, Goa, Puri and Alibag.

*Data insights in this table are based on OYO's internal booking analysis

Europe's in holiday mode all year round in 2021

In 2021, Ascension Day, Halloween, Pentecost, Easter emerged as Europe's favorite holidays to travel. What's more interesting? Denmark tops charts as Europe's most popular travel destination for a majority of public holidays. Europeans book an average stay of approx. 5 nights to celebrate the holiday and experience local offerings. In 2021, Halloween saw an overall uptick of 71% in comparison to 2019.

Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and France are the top 5 destinations for the holidays of Ascension Day, Halloween and Pentecost. However, a majority of these were last minute bookings considering the evolving local restrictions across European countries. For the upcoming holiday season, there's a peak in bookings for homestays with spa, sauna, pool, alternative accommodation options in resorts and holiday parks.

USA

Labor Day, New Year's, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving are America's most travelled holidays. Coastal hotspots such as Seattle and Miami have been wildly popular during public holidays, followed by California's Nevada City, Houston and Dallas.

UK

In the UK, May & August bank holidays are usually considered as the peak holiday season. Summer and Spring school holidays respectively have topped the UK's most travelled holiday's list. London, Bath, Blackpool, Scotland and Great Yarmouth were the most travelled destinations during these holidays. In the UK, the average stay period during holidays was approx. 2 nights.

Long weekend trips and school holiday travel are the most popular travel trends among the British. London, Bath, Blackpool, Scotland and Great Yarmouth remain the top 5 destinations for travellers throughout all holidays.

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Vadodara (Gujarat) [India], November 26 (ANI/NewsVoir): Leading brand in herbal cosmetics & personal care - Vasu Healthcare has unveiled an affordable luxury with ROSE and GOLD (R & G) - premium skin brightening range to harness beauty with quality.

Company has launched Face Serum, Face wash, and Face Cream and plans to expand the range with more products in the coming time. R & G range contains proven & acclaimed actives for skin brightening, which are free from animal derivatives. Company is launching the range in India as well as International markets. R & G range will be available on Amazon, Flipkart and its own store (https://www.vasustore.com).

Speaking on the launch, Hardik Ukani, Vasu Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., said, "We are very excited to launch R & G - an affordable, luxury skin brightening range. The name is a testament to what the product actually stands for - while the rose symbolises beauty, gold is the epitome of purity. We have a vision to establish VASU as a science-based, problem-solving, head-to-heel brand, harnessed from nature's wealth and we are working with a mission to bring the best and innovative health and Wellness products for our customers from across the World."

Regular exposure to pollution and stress makes skin look dull & darker, resulting in hyper-pigmentation, uneven skin tone and signs of early aging.

What could be a better way to pamper and re-charge your skin than with the New R & G range from Vasu Healthcare? R & G Range's nourishing formula is powered by a rich and assorted combination of Botanicals, Essential Vitamins, Antioxidants and Moisturizers, which work in unison to help fight these skin problems, reduce hyper-pigmentation, age spots and dullness. Its regular application helps restore skin to its optimum health & vitality, gradually.

With 40 plus years of rich heritage and brand legacy, Vasu Healthcare is among the leading companies in the Ayurvedic Therapeutic formulations, Herbal Cosmetic & Personal Care, Herbal & Nutritional Supplements.

Brand Vasu has earned trust and recognition globally with its quality and innovative range of products and exporting to 50 plus countries including EUROPE, ASEAN, CIS, MENA, and Latin America region etc. Company's flagship brand - (https://www.trichup.com) TRICHUP is omnipresent Worldwide and offers a range of Hair Care Solutions including oil, shampoo, Serum, Hair Conditioner, Hair Mask and Cream etc.

Inspired by Nature, Vasu Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. has set up an objective to offer a range of innovative products enthused by Ayurveda's rich heritage and backed by strong R & D, modern science and technology. Products of Vasu Healthcare are free from toxins and harmful chemicals as well as are Paraben-free, Formaldehyde-free, Non-irritant and safe to use.

Vasu Healthcare epitomizes the ultimate in authentic Indian traditional medicine, a beauty legacy built on product purity, sustainability, universality, pioneering research, development and manufacturing.

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Q1: Welcome to the Morning Show. Recently you have announced around Rs 370-crore in your subsidiaries. Can you help us understand -- many of these subsidiaries do not even have revenues -- what is the plan now with these investments? Ans: * The subsidiaries are vehicles to invest in different startups * The purpose of the fund is to continue investing in startups Q2: You have started with a Rs 750-crore fund and made many investments in the last few years.

How has been the growth this far? How is the success rate? Ans: * Rs 750-crore fund was created two years ago * With Zomato for 11 years and still holding * With Policybazaar for 13 years and still holding * It takes 3-4 years to determine if an is working Q3: Which are the startup areas you are looking at? Ans: * Broad domains: Consumer internet, B2B, SaaS, mobile, emerging technologies like machine learning, AI, analytics, etc * Look at 1,000 startups in a quarter before investing in two or three of them Q4: What is the change that you see in todays startups compared to a decade or more back? Ans: * Many more startups * New technologies * Ambitious founders * More investors coming in * More capital being deployed Q5: Private equity funds usually look for an exit route within 5, 6 or 7 years. You are different by way of sticking around for a longer period Ans: * Continued to invest over the years * need capital * It takes a decade to build a company * Private equities put undue pressure on a company with their 6-7-year horizon. * 6-7-year horizon may also mean early exit by the private equity * In India, private equities should engage with a long-term approach Q6: If you look at the interest for IPOs among startups, and the series of big-valuation companies that announced going for IPOs, the valuation of those companies (for example Byjus at $18.5 billion, with the expectation of Paytm), a lot of people ask if these companies are overvalued. Ans: * Each company is different and valued accordingly * Investors made money in a lot of IPOs * Some companies debut softly, like Paytm * Valuation comes back if a company is fundamentally strong and growing Q7: People are used to looking for profitability, on which there is no clarity for many companies. If you look at some recent IPOs, they have not given a clear picture of when they will become profitable. Is that an area of concern for investors? Ans: * SEBI rule for loss-making companies going public  75% of the IPO should be allotted to institutional investors * Institutional investors do the research thoroughly * Institutional investors dont go in without diligence and study * IPOs have done well because institutional investors must be seen potential in them * Companies often prioritise growth over profit
A countrys population, along with how fast it grows and its composition, has a significant impact on its economic growth. Indias population is among the youngest in the world. So, the country is said to be on the cusp of enjoying a demographic dividend if it plays its cards right. At the same time, another term -- population explosion -- is also brought up in this context. Indias large population has for long been seen as a hindrance, constraining growth and development. So, how will the decline in population affect the in the long run? Lets find out. According to the latest National Family Health Survey, also known as NFHS, released by the Union health ministry, India total fertility rate has declined from 2.2 in 2015-16 to 2.0 now. So, Indias population is set to eventually fall.

The replacement level -- which is a woman giving birth to 2.1 kids in her lifetime -- is a benchmark. It means that the population will remain stable as total births will be balanced by the total number of deaths in any country. If it is below 2.1, it means that the population is heading for a decline. According to the survey, there are only five states with a TFR above 2. These are: Bihar with a TFR of 3, Meghalaya at 2.9, Uttar Pradesh at 2.4, Jharkhand at 2.3, and Manipur at 2.2. Among larger states, Jammu & Kashmir has the lowest fertility rate, at 1.4. We also spoke to Professor K Srinath Reddy, President of the Public Health Foundation of India, to understand the impact of a stable population growth on the Professor Reddy says a significant importance must be given to nutrition as the NFHS survey revealed that 67% of children under five and 59% of girls in the age group of 15 to 19 were anaemic. Experts agree that Indias demographic dividend will last for another two decades, and possibly for a third. But we should aim to cash in on it sooner rather than later. And in that context, time is fast running out for India.
The suspension of feeder services in the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong area for the Lunar New Year typically lasts six weeks but is expected to stretch at least two months this time

Dec 11, 2021 06:01 PM
The Kaicene CX70 is the newest sub-compact 7-seater SUV in the market, and it pretty much does what its set out to do: offer a top-of-the-l...
Disney will significantly increase its content spend next year as it turbocharges its streaming operation.

The company will spend around $33 billion on producing and licensing content in Fiscal Year 2022, it revealed in its annual report, which it has filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (read the report here). Thats a jump from approximately $25 billion in the last fiscal year, which ended on October 2, 2021.

Dont expect animation to see too much of that money, of course. A lot of it will go toward sports rights: the company is committed to spending $10.3 billion on that alone. Also, the General Entertainment segment, which mostly covers episodic programs and news, plans to commission or produce some 140 series, only ten of which will be animated. Heres the breakdown by category:
Photo: nursingtimes.net

A report by the BC Nurses Unions is exposing the overwhelming toll the COVID-19 pandemic is having on nurses.

The latest research highlights the harsh reality from the frontlines and on future impacts on nurse staffing levels across BC.

Findings from a recent survey conducted during the height of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are offering a sobering look at how difficult working conditions have become for nurses.

The report, The Future of Nursing: Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Nursing Shortage in British Columbia, compiles responses from BCNU members on a series of questions related to staffing and workload, access to PPE and their experience of workplace violence amid the pandemic.

The findings show many nurses report they have now reached the point where emotional and physical toll of the pandemic has become too much to manage.

Thirty-five per cent of nurses surveyed said the experience of the pandemic has led them to consider leaving nursing altogether. Fifty-one per cent of those working in the ER and ICU said the same which is especially worrisome given the lack of specialty-trained nurses in the system right now. This is heartbreaking, said Danette Thomsen, BCNU interim vice president.

These nurses have been dedicated to their patients since before the pandemic, but the fragility of the health-care system and the lack of investments in their profession is bringing them to the point where they dont know how much longer they can continue.

A staggering 85 per cent of nurses reported their mental health had worsened since the pandemic, and 65 per cent said their physical health had declined.

When it came to workloads, 76 per cent said theyd seen an increase compared to before the pandemic; 68 per cent reported that staffing was inadequate over the last three months.

Thomsen said its critical the government pays attention to these latest findings to mitigate the devastating impacts on BCs healthcare system, especially as the province continues to manage the fourth wave.

We are seeing these statistics play out in our health-care settings as staffing levels reach lows that are forcing some nurses, including those who have only just started their careers, to question how much longer they can commit to this fight, said Thomsen.

Without immediate investments and swift action by the government, we are truly concerned that access to quality, safe health care will continue to deteriorate at the cost of patient care and our nurses.
Photo: Google Street View

New Westminster Police are appealing to the public for any CCTV or dash cam footage that may help in an investigation of suspected child luring.

The incident occurred Nov. 21 at approximately 5:30 p.m. in the area near Sapperton Park and involved two boys walking home from the park.

Allegedly, as the boys passed a parked, brown minivan, a man exited the passenger seat of the van. This man asked the boys if theyd like to see a puppy that was inside his van. The boys ran away to tell a trusted adult what happened. The suspect is described as a Caucasian male, between 45 and 55 years of age, with a medium build and a short beard.

Were asking anyone who lives or drives through the area to please check to see if they have footage of the Sapperton Park area on Nov. 21 between 5 and 6:30 pm, specifically of Sherbrooke Street and Fader Street, said Sgt. Sanajay Kumar.

Investigators have been approaching local businesses in the area for footage and we are inviting the public to contribute any possible evidence they may have.

Anyone with possible video footage is asked to download it and call Const. Dynes at the New Westminster Police Department referencing file number 21-18600.
Photo: Contributed Princeton, B.C., residents float and wade through floodwaters, Nov. 15, 2021.

As a parade of storms continues to batter B.C., the provinces public safety minister is warning residents to do whatever they can to ward off flooding and survive dangerous drives.

Between 60 and 100 millimetres of rain is expected to fall on Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, including the flood-stricken communities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, said Environment Canada in a rainfall warning Thursday.

There are three big pulses of storms arriving with increasing intensity  the one were seeing now, another over the weekend and the biggest hitting around Tuesday, said Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth Thursday.

The time to prepare is now.

How should British Columbians prepare for potential flooding?

Farnworth urged all residents to pay close attention to Environment Canada weather alerts, to carry an emergency kit in the car and avoid unnecessary travel. If one lives in a flood-prone area, be ready to evacuate.

Emergency Management BC (EMBC) has its own guide on how to prepare for a flood.

One of the first steps you can take is to storm-proof your home. By cleaning out your gutters and drains, they are less likely to back up into your property and into your home if the rain doesnt let up.

Flooding is the most costly climate-related disaster in Canada, according to Joanna Eyquem, a managing director at the University of Waterloos Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation. A flooded house can sustain an average of $43,000 in damages.

Thats just what's been counted. Eyquem says its estimated that actual losses are three to four times what's claimed through insurance.

Theres a lot of concerns about the costs of adaptation, she says. But theres also the cost of not adapting.

Consider this: for each dollar spent on adaptation, experts say you'll get a $3 to $7 reduction in damage down the line. The further into the future you go, the worse climate impacts get and the more you save.

In March, the Intact Centre released its own comprehensive short and long guide on how to protect your home from a flood. Clean out your backwater valve, check your sump pump and remove debris from the nearest storm drain, ditch or culvert, recommends the guide. After all, they can all be done at no extra cost.

For under $250, consider installing window well covers, extending your downspouts away from the houses foundation and storing your valuables in watertight containers.

If you're more serious and have more money to spend, the guide recommends installing a backup sump pump and battery.

There are simple things we can all do, says Eyquem. Im not saying its a panacea. If you have water up to your first floor, its coming in your door, it wont save you.

But, she adds, it might save you a lot of money in a minor flood event.

Some other home improvement recommendations from EMBC include:

anchoring any oil or fuel tank to the floor;

raising appliance and electrical panels onto wood or cement blocks;

installing a tiled floor with waterproof grout;

or for the serious, installing self-closing flood barriers for your home.

While Eyquem stresses that all governments need to be held accountable for their duties to protect residents, they are not the only ones with responsibilities in a disaster.

Theres a role for everybody, she says. Its a whole society approach.
Photo: The Canadian Press Debris is seen along a flooded road in Abbotsford on Thursday.

Rainstorms of increasing intensity are forecast to hit British Columbia over the coming days, prompting warnings for people to be prepared to evacuate floodwaters if necessary.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says the biggest rainstorm is expected to arrive on Tuesday, and people living in areas prone to flooding should be on alert.

He urges people to have food, water, blankets, and flashlights ready in case of rising waters in their communities.

Floods and mudslides last week damaged and closed some major provincial highways, forced the evacuation of the City of Merritt and caused historic flood damage in the Abbotsford-Chilliwack area of the Fraser Valley, devastating homes, farms and livestock.

Six people have been confirmed killed or missing in the floods and slides.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to be in B.C. today to visit areas affected by the flooding and meet with provincial, municipal, and First Nation leaders.

Trudeau's schedule says he will be in the Abbotsford area and will also meet with members of the military, first responders and volunteers.

He is to be in Victoria later in the day to meet with Premier John Horgan.

Farnworth says officials will be closely watching the coming storms for increasing flood and slide threats.

Environment Canada says Howe Sound, as well as northern sections of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, were expected to receive up to 80 millimetres of rain by Friday morning. Southern sections of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley were forecast to receive up to 50 millimetres.

But despite the weather warnings, the government says progress is being made in re-establishing vital highway links and interrupted supply chains.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Thursday that a major section of the Trans-Canada Highway between Abbotsford and Chilliwack has reopened and work on the damaged Coquihalla Highway is underway. The major route that connects the Lower Mainland with the B.C. Interior could reopen in late January, but to commercial traffic only, he added.

Fleming said about 20 sites along the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt have been badly damaged and five bridges have either collapsed or sustained serious structural problems.

The Trans-Canada Highway through the Fraser Canyon remains closed as does Highway 8 between Spences Bridge and Merritt, but Highway 3 from Hope to the Interior is open as is Highway 7 between Agassiz and Hope.

The federal government and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announced they are working together to address supply chain disruptions, with Ottawa contributing up to $4.1 million to ease bottlenecks at Vancouver ports.

Farnworth said the coming rains have emergency officials making preparations in the Sumas area of the Fraser Valley where major flooding has already occurred.

"The focus right now is on the flood-impacted areas where the ground is saturated and dikes have been under pressure," he said.

"The entire region is getting the attention and the focus to make sure that not only are crews there but the equipment, the sandbags, of which I think about two million are in place to be able to deal with the weather events we are seeing."
Re.: Canada may retaliate (Castanet, Nov. 25)

I'm writing to advise that a possible target for this retaliation would be the multiple trains per day hauling coal from Wyoming to the Roberts Bank supersport.

The exporters in the U.S. were turned down by every West Coast U.S. port capable of handling these huge numbers of coal/unit trains but Canada said sure, no problem".

There is no alternative export port for this coal destined for shipping to Asian buyers, so I'm thinking that shutting down these trains, or adding a similar tariff to the price of these coal shipments which should offset the tariffs placed on our softwood lumber.

I have to wonder why we're allowing the transport of Wyoming coal through B.C. when we have plenty of Canadian coal we could send (to Asian buyers).

In the end, it gets burned creating CO2 and that's bad for the environment but how about sending Canadian coal and keeping the profits here since, one way or other, coal is being burned?

Alan Sanderson
Photo: The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has called for the government to immediately strengthen border screening in the face of a highly mutated new variant of COVID-19.

The World Health Organization will meet Friday to discuss variant B.1.1.529, which originated in South Africa.

Several nations around the world have already moved to stop air travel from southern Africa.

O'Toole has called on the Canadian government to issue travel advisories, banning non-essential travel to and from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.

The Conservatives also want to see mandatory screening at all international airports from affected counties, regardless of vaccination status and mandatory quarantine for all travellers from those countries.

The party was critical when the government delayed closing Canada's borders at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, and O'Toole said the government should not delay now.

"With reports of the spread of a new COVID-19 variant, we have a small window of opportunity to act, and we must move now," O'Toole said in a statement Friday morning.

Alberta and Ontario's premiers have also called for all travellers originating from those countries to be banned from Canada until more is known about the variant.

There are no direct flights from South Africa to Canada.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra are expected to hold a news conference with Canada's chief public health officer Friday afternoon to discuss the new variant.

"We are currently in discussions in monitoring whats happening and discussions about what measures we can implement," Alghabra told reporters Friday.

Canada currently requires a negative molecular COVID-19 test to enter the country, even for fully vaccinated travellers. As of Tuesday, all travellers will need to have two doses of a WHO-approved vaccine to travel to or within Canada.

Not much is known about the new variant, according to the WHO's COVID-19 technical lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.

"Researchers are getting together to understand where these mutations are, and what that potentially may mean for our diagnostics or therapeutics in our vaccines," she said at a briefing Thursday.

The WHO's team will discern whether the variant should be considered a threat, and therefore a variant of concern.

In question period Friday, Conservative MPs asked government ministers repeatedly about the plan to protect Canadians from a potentially dangerous new variant.

"Well not hesitate to take action to protect Canadians," said Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett.
Photo: Glacier Media

A man protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project was arrested Friday morning for setting up a protest tent in a Burnaby tree.

The group Protect the Planet  Stop TMX says a militarized team of about 20 officers set up in the morning and then used a bucket lift to reach the protester, Dr. Tim Takaro, who had been camped out for about four days in a tree along Gaglardi Way, just north of Lougheed Highway.

Takaro spent months in a different set of Burnaby trees during the past year along the Brunette River to protest the cutting of more than 1,300 trees to clear a path for the pipeline.

A man was safely removed from a tree-sit this morning in an area that violates an Injunction Order preventing Trans Mountain work and access from being impeded or obstructed, said Burnaby RCMP, in a statement.

Officers who specialize in high-angle rescue were brought in to help remove the demonstrator from the tree to ensure safety  The demonstrator was given a court date and released on scene.

This is the ninth arrest in Burnaby since Jan. 1 for contempt of court related to an injunction barring protesters from the area, police say.

The group says that Trans Mountain workers blocked access to Takaro during the past few days as support volunteers were trying to bring him food and water.
Kuwait Portland Cement orders new ship unloader from Bruks Siwertell

26 November 2021

Bruks Siwertell has won a new order from Kuwait Portland Cement Co for an ST 490-M ship unloader. It is expected to join another cement handling Siwertell ship unloader in Shuaiba Port, Kuwait City.

Kuwait Portland Cement has benefited from 20 years of experience using our Siwertell screw-type technology, says Peter Goransson, sales manager, Bruks Siwertell. It knows what our unloaders deliver; time and again the technology has proven its capabilities, demonstrating reliability, efficiency and environmental protection in terms of emissions and noise.

The new unloader features a side-tilt motion, which offers an enhanced reach into the corners of the cargo hold as well as under the hatch coamings, according to a press release. As a result, less material is left for the clean-up phase, which reduces vessel turnaround times, raising the utilisation rate of the jetty and therefore profitability, added Mr Goransson.

The unloader has been designed as a fully assembled, heavy-lift mode delivery, but will be transported in break bulk. This enables it to be relocated, fully-assembled, to a new location should Kuwait Portland Cement wish to do so in the future.

Delivery to the port is planned for mid-2023, with the rail-mounted unit expected to handle various cement types and deliver a continuous material handling capacity of 800tph, discharging vessels up 50,000dwt.

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BUA Cement signs contract for third power plant from Wartsila

26 November 2021

Nigerias BUA has signed an agreement with Wartsila for the delivery of a 70MW dual-fuel power plant for its Obu Line 3 project in Edo state.



The gas power plant will be the third facility to be commissioned from Wartsila, as BUA seeks to increase total production capacity across all locations to 17Mta by 2023.



Currently, we have phased out the use of coal across our factories and are now shifting to gas-powered plants. As we ramp up our capacity, there is need to complement it with efficient power supply and Wartsilas technology has been found to be durable and uniquely aligned with our vision for more efficient power generation at all our production locations, said Abdul Samad Rabiu, chairman of BUA.

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Jeffrey Karl Morgan of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by family on Sunday, November 14, 2021.

Born in Chattanooga on December 16, 1959, Jeff is the son of the late John Karl Morgan and Jane Rankin Morgan.

After graduating Baylor School in 1978, Jeff attended the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he earned his bachelor's in Business Administration. A few weeks after graduation, Jeff launched Morgan Construction Company and began his career as a general contractor. He built his business on hard work and relentless pursuit of excellence while surrounding himself with loyal and dedicated people.

Jeff served on the Baylor School board of trustees and was a member of the executive committee. He received the Baylor School Distinguished Service Award from his beloved alma mater. He was inducted into the UTC Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2018.

He was an avid duck hunter and shared this passion with his wife, children, and friends for many years. He was also a loyal supporter of the conservation efforts of Ducks Unlimited.

Jeff was raised in the church with his family at First Centenary United Methodist Church and later was a member and Deacon at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church. More recently, he had been worshipping at Wayside Presbyterian Church.

Through the challenges of the past two years, Jeffs faith in Jesus Christ increasingly became his strength for each day. His strength came from his devotion to and love for the Word of God. He cherished with joy the encouragement he received from the ministry of his family and friends in sharing Scripture and prayers day after day. Through it all Jeff wanted only to honor the Lord in his life.

Jeff was married to his loving wife, Melissa, for 33 years. One of his proudest accomplishments was his marriage and raising his three children to walk with the Lord and faithfully trust in Him.

He is survived by his wife Melissa, his three children, Bri (Jeff) Boehm, Lincoln, NE, John (Kara) Morgan, Omaha, NE and Mary Austin Morgan, College Station, TX; his granddaughter Alice Boehm. He is also survived by his brother, John R. Jay (Sarah) Morgan, Chattanooga, TN; sister, Jan Morgan (Frank) Harrison, Charlotte, NC; uncle, Richard L. (Myrna) Rankin, Selmer, TN as well as many nieces and nephews and his two adoring black labs, Lucy and Nelli.

A graveside service for immediate family will be held this weekend.

A memorial service will be on Saturday, Dec. 4, at noon in the Baylor School Chapel with Dr. William Dudley officiating. A celebration of Jeffs life will follow in Guerry Dining Hall on campus.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration of memorial gifts to the Wayside Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Fund:

Wayside Presbyterian Church

2502 Fairmount Pike

Signal Mountain, TN 37377

(waysidechurch.org)

or to a chosen ministry witnessing and caring for those in need.

Arrangements are by the East Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, 404 South Moore Road, East Ridge, Tn.

Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaEastChapel.com.
While working an extra job at The Blue Light, 43 Station St., officers observed a group of younger black females jump over the fence area into the patio at The Blue Light. This has been observed to be a consistent issue here. The staff was immediately made aware of it. This was the first time this was observed on this date. It was later observed by officers to happen two more times. Again police informed security to handle the situation.

* * *

A man on E. 11th Street told police an acquaintance stole a pack of cigarettes from his backpack. Police spoke to the woman he accused, who said she did not take his cigarettes. The man said he was confident that she took them, due to her asking for cigarettes the night before at their homeless camp. The man said he took the woman's jacket in an attempt to trade it back for his cigarettes. Police told him to give her jacket back, and he did so without incident. The woman was observed to have small lacerations on her hands, which she said were caused by trying to retrieve her jacket back from the man. She said she did not wish to pursue the matter and said she would move along. Both of them were asked by police to stay away from each other.

* * *

A shoplifting was reported at the Circle K, 3743 Cummings Hwy. The manager told police that a white female with red hair entered the store and went directly to the cooler with the alcoholic beverages. She said the woman grabbed two 24 oz. cans of Truly and walked out of the store. The woman passed all points of sale without paying for the hard seltzer. The manager valued the beverages at $3 each, totaling $6. The manager saw the woman get into a green Ford van and gave the TN tag number to police. There was no return on the vehicle registration. The manager was able to get a photo of the woman, which was given to police.



* * *

A man called police from a residence on Cypress Street Court. He said his girlfriend took his keys. He said she went into her residence and would not open the door. He just needed to get into his vehicle so he could put his clothes in it. Police assisted him with getting into his truck. He said he was going to stay with his brother for the rest of the night.

* * *

A white 2015 Kia Optima bearing GA tag was reported stolen from Georgia. However, due to the system being down, police there were not able to enter the vehicle into the NCIC system as stolen. The Optima was recovered unlocked and unoccupied in the parking lot at Battery Heights Apartments on Campbell Street. The vehicle was towed by Ford's Garage to 2712 Benton Ave.

* * *



A woman told police that her tires on the passenger side were slashed. Police observed the front and rear passenger side tires slashed. She said the tires were slashed at a residence on Ocoee Street, but she drove the vehicle to Curtis Street. Police did not see any footage of the incident, but she told police if she got a message from the suspect, she wanted to prosecute.

* * *

A man called police from Patten Towers, 1 E. 11th St., saying another man was being disorderly in the lobby. When police arrived, the man was not being disorderly; however, he was taken back to his room by a woman to avoid any further problems.

* * *

Police spoke with an American Queen Voyages employee, who said at approximately 5 p.m. he docked the American Queen ship, and, while doing so, part of the ship's gangplank hit a light pole on the dock, breaking the glass portion. The damage was unintentional. The light pole is on property owned by the city of Chattanooga. No one was injured, and a report was made to document the damage.

* * *

A woman on Riverside Drive called police because she was locked outside of her vehicle and required assistance. The vehicle was not registered in the woman's name. The vehicle was

registered to her grandmother. Police were able to make contact with and verify the identity of the

vehicle owner, at which point police were able to assist the woman into the vehicle.

* * *

An employee at Walmart Neighborhood Market, 3901 Hixson Pike, told police that he came out to his car (Chevy Impala TN tag) and noticed someone stole a car starter that was underneath the passenger car seat. He said that nothing else was taken. Police observed a broken window between the back driver's side window and the rear window, which was used to make entry into the car. Police spoke with another employee, who also noticed that someone had been in her car (Chevy Impala TN tag) after she noticed her emergency car tool kit, pink phone charger, Oakley sunglasses, and $3 in change were taken. Both of these employees are midnight shift workers at Walmart and another employee, who pulled up in the parking lot at 5:20 a.m., said that it did not happen after that. Police gave each of the employees complaint cards. Video was not available at the time the report was made.

* * *

A woman at the Hamilton Inn, 2717 Rossville Blvd., told police that sometime after 7 p.m. the evening before, someone stole the drive out tag off of her 1999 Mercedes.

* * *



A man at Springhill Suites, 495 Riverfront Pkwy., told police that sometime after 11 p.m. the evening before, someone stole two suitcases of clothing and other items from the luggage carrier on the back of their 2021 Cadillac Escalade. He said he would have to prepare a list of everything

that was stolen and email it to police. He said he will have to email that list tomorrow. Police received a copy of the hotel incident report.

* * *

A man told police that his bike was stolen from his girlfriend's residence on McBrien Road. He said his bike had been on her front porch for a number of days and he does not know when the bike was taken. He said another bike was left on the porch and was stolen sometime between 5 and 6:30 a.m. that day. He said he did not have a serial number for the bike, but he provided police a picture of the bike.

* * *

A woman on Ocoee Street told police that at some point in the night her vehicle was stolen from her residence. It is a gray Pontiac G6 with 4 doors, a handicap license plate and damage to the area near the passenger's side headlight. There is no suspect information. The vehicle was entered into NCIC.

* * *

An anonymous caller reported a vehicle had been left abandoned for two weeks in front of their residence on Holly Oak Lane. A check of the vehicle came back not stolen, belonging to a man on Igou Gap Road. Airport Wrecker Service responded and towed the vehicle.

* * *

A man told police he was inside Insane Paintball, 1200 Wisdom St., when his paintball face mask, and GoPro camera that was attached to it, was stolen. He said he placed the mask on a shelf while he was looking around the business. He said this happened between 1:50-2:10 p.m. that day. There is no suspect information.

* * *

A man told police that while he was in the Community Kitchen, 727 E 11th St., getting his mail, he had left his new bike outside. He said upon returning outside, he saw his bike had been stolen. He said he had just gotten the bike from security at the library. He said he was going to pay him back with the check he just received in the mail. There is no suspect information.

* * *

Police were dispatched to the Post Office, 30 N. Market St., on the report of a person who was unconscious. Police found a white male lying on the sidewalk. The man did not appear to be in distress or need medical attention. He was able to walk from the scene.

* * *

A private property collision was reported at the Circle K, 3743 Cummings Hwy. Police found a Kia and a Ford both had damage, the Kia in the front and the Ford in the rear. Both vehicle owners completed private property traffic crash exchanges with police.

* * *

A man on Oriole Drive told police that sometime in the night someone rummaged through their vehicles again. He did not believe anything was taken. There is no suspect information.

* * *

A woman on Midland Pike told police that she wanted her son gone from her home due to him being disrespectful to her and always causing a scene. Police spoke with the son and told him he was trespassed from his mother's home and he would be arrested if he came back. The son refused to talk with police, gathered his belongings and left the scene. The mother was told to call police if he returned. The son was run for warrants, with a negative return.
Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny made his acting debut in Narcos: Mexico Season 3. As a continuation of the Netflix series Narcos, the spinoff follows the development of the Mexican drug trade. While the series cemented his acting debut, the musician has some projects in the works. Heres everything you need to know about Bad Bunnys upcoming acting roles.

Who does Bad Bunny play in Narcos: Mexico Season 3?

RELATED: How the Narcos: Mexico Season 3 Ending Sets Up a Possible El Chapo Spinoff Series

When Netflix unveiled a first look at the cast for Narcos: Mexico Season 3, fans were surprised to see Latin superstar Bad Bunny on the list. In the final season, Bad Bunny portrayed Arturo Kitty Paez, a member of Ramon Arellano Felixs gang called the Narco Juniors  a group of middle and upper-class Tijuana teenagers who want a taste of the cartel fame, money, and overall lifestyle.

Bad Bunny has several acting projects in the works

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, also known as Bad Bunny in Narcos: Mexico Season 3 | Juan Rosas/Netflix

RELATED: Narcos: Mexico Star Luisa Rubino Said the Fires and Guns Shooting Excited Her the Most

Although Bad Bunny played a minor role in Narcos: Mexico, he certainly made a lasting impression. Many viewers found themselves thoroughly impressed by his acting skills, especially since this marked Bad Bunnys television debut. Now, fans will be happy to hear the Latin artist has several acting projects in the works.

According to NME, Bad Bunny joined the cast of American Sole. The drama-comedy film centers around a group of entrepreneurs that build a sneaker app. In addition, he will star alongside Pete Davidson and OShea Jackson Jr. In December 2020, media outlets reported that he joined the cast of Bullet Train. While there is limited information about the action film, Bad Bunny will be acting alongside Hollywood veterans Brad Pitt, Michael Shannon, and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Will there be a Narcos: Mexico Season 4?

Unfortunately, there will not be a Narcos: Mexico Season 4. The third season of Narcos: Mexico will conclude the Netflix series. According to Newsweek, the streaming service renewed the show for a third season. However, Narcos: Mexico Season 3 will be the last installment. The platform didnt give a reason behind the decision. But, its worth noting its predecessor, Narcos, ended after three seasons. So, its a possibility the creators chose to end Narcos: Mexico with the same number of seasons.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Narcos: Mexico showrunner Carlo Bernard said the final installment would delve into the origin story of the modern drug war. I saw this season as an origin story of the modern world that we live in, he said.

Bernard continued, For me, it felt like bringing the show up to that spot where we now recognize, for better or for worse, made sense as a place to stop it. The show has been able to lift the curtains and show you how this thing began, how it evolved. Not to say that other stories wouldnt be compelling going forward. But to me, stopping at the moment where we had delivered the world that we now live in today made sense, thematically and narratively.

All three seasons of Narcos: Mexico is streaming now on Netflix.
The sixth and final season of Better Call Saul will conclude the story of Saul Goodman, the criminal attorney we first got to know in Breaking Bad. But it also has to explain what happens to those in his orbit. One theory is that Ed Galbraith will make more characters disappear. But after actor Robert Forsters death, some are wondering if hes involved at all.

Robert Forster | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Robert Forster played Ed the Disappearer

Forsters character was first introduced in Breaking Bad, notably helping Saul get out of New Mexico and create a new identity as police were closing in on Walter White. Saul relocates to Nebraska and begins a prosaic life as Gene Takovic, a Cinnabon manager. But complications emerge when hes made by a creepy cabbie.

Gene initially calls Ed and tries to be flee again, but he has a change of heart and decides to handle the problem himself. According to Newsweek, this is the last scene Forster shot before dying of brain cancer in October 2019. His death came on the day Netflix released El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which explored Jesse Pinkmans life following Walts death in Breaking Bad.

While its unclear if Ed will come up again on Better Call Saul, many viewers believe that Kim Wexler or Nacho Varga might need his services next season. It surely wouldve been great to have Forster back for such a scene, but the show could also mention him without having him appear.

RELATED: Better Call Saul: 5 Characters Whose Fates Are Up in the Air Going Into Season 6

The cast of Better Call Saul Season 6

Returning to the show are Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman), Rhea Seehorn (Kim Wexler), Jonathan Banks (Michael Ehrmantraut), Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring), Michael Mando (Nacho Varga), Tony Dalton (Lalo Salamanca), and Patrick Fabian (Howard Hamlin), among others.

Its unclear if there are any new actors aboard. But with Better Call Saul approaching the Breaking Bad timeline, the expectation is that actors such as Bryan Cranston (Walter White) and Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman) will also appear on the show.

Paul spoke about the possibility of Walt and Jesse cameos during a past Instagram Live with Cranston. Both said they were open to it  they were just waiting to be asked.

We always get asked about Better Call Saul and whether Jesse or Walt are gonna show up on that show. I dont know how many times weve gotta tell Vince that were ready to do it. I just dont think he loves us anymore, Cranston mused, via Screen Rant.

RELATED: Better Call Saul Star Bob Odenkirk Addresses Rumor About Bryan Cranston Role in Season 6

The sixth season of Better Call Saul is currently in the works

Either way, the final season of Better Call Saul should be a good one. Viewers will not only get to see the final stages of Sauls transformation, but also his fate as Gene.

I think by the time you finish watching Better Call Saul, youre going to see Breaking Bad in a very different light, showrunner Peter Gould teased to The Hollywood Reporter.

I think were going to learn things about the characters in Breaking Bad that we didnt know. Were going to learn things about the events of Breaking Bad that we didnt know. And were going to learn things about the fates of a lot of these characters that may surprise people or certainly throw them into a different light, he continued. I think we started this 2007, so thats 13 years of work thats distilled, that all has to fit together. Hopefully like a perfect jigsaw puzzle.
Actors Don Knotts and Andy Griffith are one of the most iconic duos in television history. For five seasons beginning in 1960, Knotts played Deputy Barney Fife to Griffiths Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. The impacts of the show and their on-screen partnership have endured for decades after the last new episode aired in 1968.

And something else that has endured are rumors of a rivalrous feud between the two acting friends. Though they were longtime companions, differences of opinions supposedly drove them apart around the time Knotts left The Andy Griffith Show. But Knotts daughter, Karen Knotts, has spoken about her dads biggest fan and she very plainly answered whether the two were rivals or not.

Don Knotts and Andy Griffith | CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

Andy Griffith and Don Knotts contract dispute

As tends to happen, rumors of trouble between Griffith and Knotts manifested when Knotts exited the show. Some reports suggested he moved on in his career because he wanted more money  an easy guess  but supposedly it caused a rift between him and Griffith.

This stemmed from the fact that Griffith owned half the rights to the show and therefore profited handsomely. Meanwhile, Knotts was salaried and supposedly denied a raise. Whether the decision was financial or not, Karen Knotts told Fox her dad just moved on to new opportunities, plain and simple.

Knotts said, Eventually, my dad got an offer to do something different, so he moved on after his five-year contract ended. And she claimed there was no bitterness from Griffith towards Knotts. She explained, Andy was very gracious about it.

While she didnt say they never had a disagreement, she did say they werent competitive adversaries. According to her, they were more like best friends  from start to finish.

Some people still think they were rivals. They werent rivals at all. There was no rivalry, she said. Andy was my dads biggest fan. He was a mentor to him his whole life and they loved each other dearly.

Andy Griffith and the Don Knotts statue that wasnt

Theres another tale that contributes to the idea of a problem between Griffith and Knotts, and this happened after Knotts 2006.

There was a small campaign to have a statue of Barney Fife erected next to an already standing statue of Griffith as Andy Taylor holding hands with a young Ron Howard as Opie. As the story goes, Griffith heard about the proposed statue of Knotts and personally nipped it in the bud.

The statue of Griffith and Howard was raised in 2004 in Griffiths hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Following Knotts death, two fans of The Andy Griffith Show from Mt. Airy suggested the display receive an update. They were apparently willing to commission the statue and gift it to the town.

According to Andy and Don author Daniel de Vise, Knotts widows sisters husband, Griffith called Knotts widow sounding hysterical about the statue. The idea was rejected for Mt. Airy, but eventually a memorial went up in Knotts hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia.

A statue of Morgantown native Don Knotts  aka Deputy Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show. pic.twitter.com/kMxFBTNVpo  Mike Glenn (@mrglenn) May 30, 2021

Don Knotts on Matlock

As Knotts daughter pointed out, Griffith invited her dad to join him on television again when Griffith starred as a lovably cantankerous defense attorney in Matlock. Knotts appeared as Benjamin Matlocks neighbor who was introduced after being implicated in a murder.

According to Karen Knotts, this was one more way Griffith showed up for her dad. She shared, [Matlock] was a time when my dad was starting to believe he wasnt going to do television anymore.

My dad was diagnosed with macular degeneration, which was affecting his sight, she said. So he just thought that was it for him. He was turning down plenty of offers.

In the end, she felt like his old friend didnt let him down. She explained, But Andy was there for him. He supported him. He was a constant presence in my dads life. They just loved each other.

In fact, Griffith and Knotts were so close, Griffith convinced Knotts to let him visit while he was dying. According to Andy and Don, Knotts was insecure about his oxygen mask and didnt want Griffith to see him in it. So, Griffith shared his own insecurity  his motorized scooter.

Ill have my scooter, and youll have your oxygen, he laughed with his old friend. Were going to get through this.

That chat with Griffith supposedly provided Knotts with immense relief before he died on Feb. 24, 2006 at 81. Griffith died on July 3, 2012 at 86.

RELATED: Matlock: A Producer on the Show Had Unease With Andy Griffiths Bringing Too Much Mayberry Into the Drama
As the Netflix crime series Money Heist (La Casa de Papel) comes to an end, many fans are curious to see how the story will end. In the previous installment, former police inspector Alicia Sierra (Najwa Nimri) played a significant role in thwarting the Professors (Alvaro Morte) plans. But, fans speculate Alicia has more tricks up her sleeve for Money Heist Part 5 Vol. 2.

What happened to Alicia in Money Heist Part 5 Vol. 1?

Bienvenidos al espectaculo de Alicia Sierra.

Welcome to the show of Alicia Sierra. pic.twitter.com/gETm3JXRfX  La Casa de Papel (@lacasadepapel) September 4, 2021

RELATED: Money Heist: 4 Burning Questions That Need Answers in the Final Season

Former police inspector Alicia Sierra captured the Professor and the rest of his accomplices to clear her name. To recap, Tamayo (Fernando Cayo) held a press conference and called Sierra a co-conspirator in the money heist. Since then, she planned to apprehend the mastermind and give him to the government. However, her pregnancy thwarted her plans. Sierras water broke, and she asked the Professor to deliver the baby. Ultimately, she freed the Professor. Ever since their last encounter, the Professors whereabouts have been unknown.

Fans theorize Alicia Sierra will kill a prominent character in the last installment

Najwa Nimri | Tamara Arranz/Netflix

RELATED: Money Heist: Could The Professor Die in Vol. 2?

Although Alicia Sierra shared a sentimental moment with the Professor and Lisbon after her baby was born, the former police officer might have an ulterior motive. Alicia walked into the bathroom and slid a pair of pliers up her sleeve. Fans began to theorize the reason behind her actions.

In a Reddit thread, one fan speculated Alicia might try to kill the Professor with the pliers. She may attack the Professor or will use them to defend herself against someone. In agreeance, another fan referenced the Professors face in the Money Heist Vol. 2 teaser.

In the first clip, the Professor comes out of hiding and travels to the Bank of Spain. While surrounded by law enforcement, he enters the building. When the Professor faces the crowd, fans may notice he has a cut on his cheek. The fan speculated that Alica might have cut the Professor with the pliers.

While this fan theory is quite compelling, the likelihood of it happening might be slim. To clarify, Alicia released the Professor instead of turning him into the government. So, Alicia killing the mastermind after releasing him seems odd. At the moment, the storyline for the last season remains under wraps. So, fans will have to wait and see what will happen in the final installment.

What should fans expect from Money Heist Part 5 Vol. 2?

Money Heist fans are curious to see how the final installment will conclude the series. While the storyline has remained under wraps, Money Heist creator Alex Pina teased the final installment will focus more on the emotional aspect of the characters.

According to Digital Spy, Pina said in a statement, We decided to work in an extremely aggressive genre, putting The Gang on the ropes. In volume 2, we focus more on the emotional situation of the characters. It is a journey across their sentimental map that connects us directly to their departure.

Per Netflix, the official synopsis for Money Heist: Part 5 Vol. 2 reads, The gang has been shut in the Bank of Spain for over 100 hours. They have managed to rescue Lisbon, but their darkest moment is upon them after losing one of their own. The Professor has been captured by Sierra and, for the first time, doesnt have an escape plan. Just when it seems like nothing else could go wrong, an enemy comes on the scene that is much more powerful than any theyve faced: the army. The end of the greatest heist in history is approaching, and what began as a robbery will turn into a war.

Money Heist: Part 5 Vol. 2 premieres on Netflix on Dec. 3, 2021.
As a follow-up series to Netflixs Narcos, Narcos: Mexico follows the development of the Mexican drug trade. In the shows predecessor, actor Jose Maria Yazpik played Mexican drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes. Although fans couldnt imagine anyone else playing Amado, Yazpik once revealed he auditioned for a different character in Narcos. Heres how the Mexican actor landed the role of the prominent drug lord.

Jose Maria Yazpik | Juan Rosas/Netflix

Narcos: Mexico star Jose Maria Yazpik initially auditioned for another character in the series

RELATED: Narcos: Mexico Season 3: Is the Show Based on a True Story?

In an exclusive interview with Collider, Narcos: Mexico showrunner Carlo Bernard and actor Jose Maria Yazpik talked about the third and final season of the series. When asked about what interested him in the role of Amado, the Narcos actor revealed he initially auditioned for a different character. In fact, Yazpik said he had no idea who he would play after the audition process.

I had no idea, he explained. I actually auditioned for a different character, and my brother said, You got the part, but not the one you auditioned for. And I said, Ahh great. Im going to be cop number three. [And] they said no, youre going to be Amado Carrillo Fuentes. And I said, Oh my god, OK.

Ultimately, Yazpiks brother told him that hed play Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the notorious Mexican drug lord. In addition, the characters story would most likely continue in Narcos: Mexico. My brother said, If theyre introducing Amado Carrillo in Narcos: Columbia, they have to talk about Mexico if they keep doing the show, he continued. So, my brother saw [the vision], and I didnt. But Im very thankful for everything thats happened to [the series].

Who is Amado Carrillo Fuentes?

RELATED: How the Narcos: Mexico Season 3 Ending Sets Up a Possible El Chapo Spinoff Series

Amado Carrillo Fuentes was a Mexican drug lord that sezied control over the Juarez Cartel after killing his superior Rafael Aguilar Guajardo. Fuentes earned the nickname El Senor de Los Cielos (The Lord of the Skies) because of the large jets he used to transport drugs. Also, he was known for laundering money from Columbia to pay for his fleets.

In Narcos: Mexico Season 3, the final episode explores Fuentes unexpected death. Fuentes died in a Mexican hospital in July 1997. After undergoing extensive surgery to change his appearance, Fuentes died on the operating table. Before the surgery, the drug lord was being investigated by the Mexican and U.S authorities.

Why is Narcos: Mexico ending after three seasons?

The third installment of Narcos: Mexico will mark the end of the series. According to Newsweek, Netflix renewed the show for a third season in October 2020. However, the streaming service announced Narcos: Mexico Season 3 will be the last. The platform didnt give a reason behind the decision. But, its worth noting its predecessor, Narcos, ended after three seasons. So, its a possibility the creators chose to end Narcos: Mexico with the same number of seasons.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Narcos: Mexico showrunner Carlo Bernard said the final installment would delve into the origin story of the modern drug war. I saw this season as an origin story of the modern world that we live in, he explained.

Bernard continued, For me, it felt like bringing the show up to that spot where we now recognize, for better or for worse, made sense as a place to stop it. The show has been able to lift the curtains and show you how this thing began, how it evolved. Not to say that other stories wouldnt be compelling going forward. But to me, stopping at the moment where we had delivered the world that we now live in today made sense, thematically and narratively.

Narcos: Mexico Season 3 is streaming now on Netflix
Squid Game has taken over news sites again but not because of the Korean dramas initial claim to fame. An individual has been reportedly given the death sentence for smuggling and distributing banned copies of Squid Game in North Korea. A USB copy of the K-drama was sold to a high school student and watched by some of his peers. Under a new North Korean law, smuggling banned media from outside countries had dire and life-threatening consequences.

Red jumpsuit guards from Squid Game | via Netflix

A high school student secretly obtained a USB copy of Squid Game

According to sources who spoke with Radio Free Asia, a North Korean smuggler managed to sneak in a copy of Hwang Dong-hyuks acclaimed K-drama from China. A law enforcement source in North Hamgyong province reported to RFA a high school student purchased a USB. The North Korean student watched Squid Game with his best friend and shared the information with other students.

The Surveillance Bureau Group 109 received a tipoff and arrested the high school student and six others. The Surveillance Bureau Group 109 is a strike force that specializes in obtaining illegal media and watchers. The smuggler is reportedly sentenced to death by a firing squad. For purchasing and watching the USB drive, the high school student was given a life sentence.

The remaining six students received five years of hard labor. Rumors are circulating that among the seven arrested students, one with rich parents was able to avoid punishment because they bribed the authorities with U.S. $3,000, according to a source who spoke with RFA.

Why is Squid Game banned in North Korea?

A North Korean student is facing death penalties for smuggling and watching popular Netflix series Squid Game pic.twitter.com/kakrVdjn5I  Naija (@Naija_PR) November 24, 2021

RELATED: Squid Game: Calling Card Had a Major Clue to Round 6 All Along

The drastic punishment on the smuggler and the high schoolers is due to a new North Korean law. North Korea passed a law on the Elimination of Reactionary Thought and Culture last year. RFA reports content like Squid Game or the watching, possession or distribution of media from capitalist countries like South Korea and the US is prohibited in North Korea.

If caught under the new law, the maximum punishment is death. Many residents and sources told RFA that the students and smugglers punishments are only the beginning. A lengthy investigation would reveal the chain of distribution as each new person under investigation would be forced to tell where they got their copy from and who else they shared it with, said RFA.

The new North Korean law is not the only reason officials are cracking down on the distribution of foreign media. According to sources, the K-drama reportedly depicts real-life circumstances in the country.

Squid Games dystopian world parallels reality in North Korea

RELATED: Squid Game: What Do South Koreans Think of the Global Success of the K-Drama?

Sources that reported to RFA stated the content and storyline of Squid Game posed an even bigger dilemma than just the new law. The source explained Squid Games storyline parallels North Koreas society. The players pitted against one another in childhood games for a cash prize resonates with North Koreans in risky occupations and insecure positions.

Director Hwang developed Squid Game after 10 years and faced his own financial struggles. The K-drams message shined a light on the class gap between the rich and poor and a broken capitalist society. According to The New York Post, a source told RFA the K-dramas content is similar to the lives of Pyongyang officials who fight in the foreign currency market as if it is a fight for life and death.

The source also explains its brutality, and violent scenes also draw in Pyongyangs youth. North Koreas new law is only one side of the story as Squid Games premise, and its message is what the law was trying to prevent.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Nicholas Braun stars as Cousin Greg on the HBO hit Succession.

In real life he is quite different than the awkward character he plays on TV.

In fact, Braun is known around New York City as quite the ladies man.

Nicholas Braun | Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb

Succession star Nicholas Braun plays Cousin Greg on the HBO drama  the great-nephew of media titan Logan Roy (Brian Cox). Many fans would describe Greg the egg as painfully awkward, innocent and naive, and a bit of a dummy.

At a lanky six-foot-seven, both Braun and his character really stand out in a crowd. And its often for unexpected reasons. As it turns out, Braun has a pretty surprising reputation in New York Citywith the ladies.

The Succession star opened a bar with Jennifer Anistons ex-husband

Rays is a bar on Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and its recently become a popular hangout spot for some of social medias favorite A-listers. Stars like Gigi Hadid, Kiernan Shipka, Channing Tatum, Zoe Kravitz, Shawn Mendes, B.J. Novak, and A$AP Rocky are often spotted at the watering hole. But, those celebs arent the main draw for a weekend crowd.

According to The New York Post, the young, single women at the bar are there to see the bars co-owner, Braun. The Succession star bought the bar with Jennifer Anistons ex-husband, Justin Theroux.

I know he comes here a lot. Im hoping to eventually see him, one woman admitted to the outlet. The reason I first went to Rays was, honestly, Nicholas Braun-motivated.

Nicholas Braun has a surprising reputation with the ladies

Even though hes often a supporting character in Hollywood, Braun is the leading man of New York City nightlife. Celebrity-sighting Instagram account DeuxMoi follows the actor all over the Big Apple, with contributors sharing sneaky pics taken with their phones when they spot him.

He asked me for sugar and I could barely respond, is the kind of comment youll find on those posts.

DeuxMoi contributors have spotted Braun at restaurants all over New York City  Fanellis, The Odeon, The Smile, and Cafe Mogador. As a rule, he has a beautiful woman by his side. When he was spotted partying at the bar Kinston Hall, the contributor said Braun was on a date with two brunettes who were making out with one another.

Thirsty women regularly track down the Succession star

Photos of Braun are all over DeuxMoi. There are images of him taking a walk in Washington Square Park and at a meatball eating contest in Little Italy. But, the New York Post says the most likely place that thirsty women try to track down Braun is at Rays.

RELATED: Succession: Making Strangers Uncomfortable Helped Nicholas Braun Prepare for His Role as Greg

Hes not a certified hottie or anything  hes not a person who would normally be attractive to the general public, Lauren Silverman, a neighbor of Brauns who admits to being in lust with Braun, told the Post. Hes relatable. If you met him on the street, he would probably be nice  Hes not totally untouchable.

Nicholas Braun reportedly hooks up with women who slide into his DMs

Many women who have hooked up with Braun are quite chatty about their experience with the actor. From women who matched with him on the dating app Raya to those who have slid into his DMs, they all say hes just a regular guy.

One woman  who chose to stay anonymous because shes still in a semi-sexual relationship with Braun  said the actor responded to her just hours after she sent him a direct message on Instagram. After a brief conversation, they planned their first date.

It was actually really wholesome  it was during the day, and we just grabbed lunch, she said. Hes very sweet and somewhat introverted. I realized hes not that different from his characters  they usually tend to be a little awkward, disorganized. He greeted me enthusiastically, and gave me a really big hug when we met.

The Succession star is a player

One New Yorker who went to Rays just to see Braun said her mission was ultimately successful even though she didnt even talk to the Succession star.

Theres this booth inside, to the left of the bar, where, like, friends of the bar sit. I looked over, and he was sitting there. Oh my God. Ive finally seen Nicholas Braun, she said.

RELATED: How Tall is Nicholas Braun From Succession?

Another woman  who was involved with Braun after meeting him via Instagram  said the actors ability to keep up with all of the women hes seeing is quite impressive.

He was asking me about my time at home [visiting family]. I know this man is a player, so its impressive that he can keep up with all these girls and their stories, the woman explained.

New episodes of Succession air Sunday nights on HBO.
In 1999, a man attacked George Harrison and his wife Olivia in their home, Friar Park. The man attacked George with a kitchen knife and stabbed him 40 times until Olivia could knock him out with a lamp and a fireplace poker. George was recovering from throat cancer, but he had to get part of his lung removed due to the attack. When the news of the home invasion broke, Tom Petty was fearful that his friend was gravely injured.

George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty | KMazur/WireImage

Tom Petty told George Harrison he wouldnt have handled George dying in the attack very well

Unfortunately, many believe that the attack took years off Georges life. He was just getting over his first bout of cancer, but it returned later on. Fortunately, when the time came, George left his body the way he wanted and with dignity in 2001.

Petty was glad for this because he wouldnt have been able to handle George dying the night of the attack. He told Rolling Stone in 2002 that Georges spirituality helped him through the last few years of his life.

I would think it helped him immensely, Petty said. He is just a really brave guy, and he died with a great deal of dignity. Its so much easier for me than if he had died that night in the attack. I dont think I could have dealt with that. I told him so.

When I put on my TV the morning he was stabbed, it looked like he had died, there were so many biographical things coming up on the TV. After that, I told him, I already kind of went through your death. And I said, Just do me a favor and dont die that way, because I just cant handle it. He said he promised me he wasnt going out that way.

RELATED: Tom Petty Said George Harrison Loved The Beatles Deep Down

Petty commended Olivias efforts to save George during the attack

When Petty first heard about the attack, he sent George a fax that said, Arent you glad you married a Mexican girl?

Olivia really kicked ass, Petty said. She is a beautiful person. His song, Dhani, is a beautiful kid, man. Ive seen his recently. He is doing very well. Very strong and inspired. Olivia had the hardest job in the world, because she loved George more than all of us, and she really took care of him and cleared the path in front of him, behind him, and inherited that crazy life, you know.

Who knows what would have happened if Olivia hadnt mustered up the strength to battle it out with the assailant. She truly saved her husband that night. George could have been even more seriously injured, and so would she.

RELATED: Tom Petty Said George Harrison Was Painfully Honest: He Said Everything That Crossed His Mind

Both George and Olivia thought they were going to be murdered that night in 1999

In his court statement, explaining that horrible night in 1999 (per the Guardian), George said, I felt exhausted and could feel the strength draining from me. I vividly remember a deliberate thrust to my chest. I could hear my lung exhaling and had blood in my mouth. George believed hed been fatally stabbed.

Olivia also thought theyd be murdered that night. In her statement, Olivia said, There was blood on the walls and on the carpet. There was a moment when I realised we were going to be murdered  I realised that this man was succeeding.

Like Petty, we dont know what fans would have done if George and Olivia died that night. However, George seemed to have some kind of guardian angel with him that night.
Ree Drummond is making her acting debut in a discovery+ movie called Candy Coated Christmas. The Pioneer Woman star portrays a baker who is not too far stretched from reality. Fans have been getting into the holiday spirit and have started watching Drummond on screen and have many thoughts.

Ree Drummond | Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

What is Candy Coated Christmas about?

Drummond is one of the beloved stars on Food Network and it was a no-brainer casting her in a Christmas-themed movie. Kathleen Finch, Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer, at Discovery Inc. said in a press release that nearly 60 million viewers watched Food Network between Halloween and New Years Day. This is the major reason that Discovery is now getting into the holiday movie business.

Candy Coated Christmas also stars Molly McCook, Aaron OConnell, Jae Suh Park, John McCook, Lee Garlington, Landry Townsend, among others.

Drummond plays Bee, owner of Bees Bakery, who befriends Molly when she arrives at Peppermint Hollow, the Peppermint Capital of the world.

The movie is now streaming on the discovery+ service.

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman: Ree Drummond Invited Two Fans to Thanksgiving at Book Singing and Fan Reactions Are Hilarious

What are fans saying about Ree Drummonds acting?

Drummonds work as an actor is now out in the open for everyone to see. After the debut of Candy Coated Christmas, many fans have taken to Drummonds Instagram profile to leave their thoughts on her acting. The reviews are positive with most of them supporting the celebrity chef in this new endeavor.

It was adorable and you did an awesome job Ree! a fan replied.

Watched it! You were a natural! The real star of the show! a follower added.

Watched it this morning on discovery plus. Loved it, an Instagram user said.

This is great. Just when you thought you have hit it big you HIT IT REAL BIG!!!! So proud of you!!! another fan mentioned.

Just watched Ree!!! Loved it, of course, Im a Sucker for a good family wins, love story!! You did great!! Please send brownie bites!!! another follower commented.

Just saw the movie. It was so cute! You were great! another Instagram user said.

Ree Drummond | Nathan Congleton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

RELATED: The Pioneer Woman Fans Have The Weirdest Names For Ree Drummonds Egg-in-the-Basket Recipe

Ree Drummond was nervous about acting

The Pioneer Woman star is used to being in front of a camera, but shes used to playing herself. On Candy Coated Christmas, Drummond plays a fictional character and has to follow a script. It was back in August when the Food Network star opened up about making her acting debut in a film.

Look at those tightly locked knees  I was certain I was gonna wind up fainting like those bridesmaids/groomsmen we used to see fall over on Americas Funniest Home Videos, Drummond said in an Instagram post where she shared photos from the movie set.

Drummond continued, I was nervous filming this movie because I am not an actor, and being on a movie set in Utah was a whole different experience than filming a cooking show in my own kitchen. Fortunately, once a woman hits her fifties, the possibility of embarrassing herself really doesnt keep her from doing anything in life.

And thats the reason why fans love The Pioneer Woman because she always takes risks and is not afraid of poking fun of herself either.
Researchers from the Institute of Laser Physics at Universitat Hamburg have developed a new technique for quantum gas microscopy that now allows imaging of three-dimensional quantum systems. In the journal Nature, they report on the new method, which can be used to explore entirely new regimes.

In quantum simulation, researchers study a controlled quantum system in the laboratory to understand the physics of another, less controlled system. For example, one uses ultracold atoms trapped in standing waves of laser light to mimic the physics of electrons in solid-state materials and gain new insights into their quantum phases. In addition to the controlled preparation of the system, imaging is also crucial. For example, quantum gas microscopes allow the detection of all particles in the quantum system and thus give access to arbitrary correlation functions to characterize the state. This technology is based on the optical resolution of the lattice sites at intervals of typically half a micrometer and was therefore previously limited by depth of field to two-dimensional systems.

In the new method developed by the Hamburg researchers led by Dr. Christof Weitenberg and Prof. Klaus Sengstock, both of whom also conduct research in the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter", this is now overcome, and the resolution of three-dimensional systems is also possible. For this purpose, the scientists use so-called matter wave optics, i.e., a magnification of the density distribution of the ultracold atoms themselves by a factor of up to 90. The optical imaging of the atoms after this magnification is then simply possible without limitation of diffraction or depth of field. Matter-wave optics is based on a lens in the form of a harmonic trap, which is turned on for a quarter period, and a subsequent free expansion of the atoms. Both processes lead to a transformation between real space and momentum space and, in combination, to the magnifying image.

The researchers use the new technique to study Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold rubidium atoms in an optical lattice. In this way, they can make a particularly precise measurement of the phase transition into the Bose-Einstein condensate. Next, the researchers want to further develop the new microscopy technique. This should make it possible to detect all atoms individually in a regime of just a few atoms per lattice site. In addition, by modifying the matter-wave optics, it will be possible to measure not only the density but also the coherence properties of the system in a spatially resolved manner. Luca Asteria, who developed the technique with his colleagues, explains, "With this microscopy technique, we can explore completely new regimes that were not accessible before."
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have used a suite of correlative, multimodal microscopy methods to visualise, for the first time, why perovskite materials are seemingly so tolerant of defects in their structure.

The most commonly used material for producing solar panels is crystalline silicon, but to achieve efficient energy conversion requires an energy-intensive and time-consuming production process to create the highly ordered wafer structure required.

In the last decade, perovskite materials have emerged as promising alternatives.

The lead salts used to make them are much more abundant and cheaper to produce than crystalline silicon, and they can be prepared in a liquid ink that is simply printed to produce a film of the material. They also show great potential for other optoelectronic applications, such as energy efficient light emitting diodes (LEDs) and X-ray detectors.

The impressive performance of perovskites is surprising. The typical model for an excellent semiconductor is a very ordered structure, but the array of different chemical elements combined in perovskites creates a much messier landscape.

This heterogeneity causes defects in the material that lead to nanoscale traps, which reduce the photovoltaic performance of the devices. But despite the presence of these defects, perovskite materials still show efficiency levels comparable to their silicon alternatives.

In fact, earlier research by the group has shown the disordered structure can actually increase the performance of perovskite optoelectronics, and their latest work seeks to explain why.

Combining a series of new microscopy techniques, the group present a complete picture of the nanoscale chemical, structural and optoelectronic landscape of these materials, that reveals the complex interactions between these competing factors and ultimately, shows which comes out on top.

What we see is that we have two forms of disorder happening in parallel, explains PhD student Kyle Frohna, the electronic disorder associated with the defects that reduce performance, and then the spatial chemical disorder that seems to improve it.

And what weve found is that the chemical disorder  the good disorder in this case  mitigates the bad disorder from the defects by funnelling the charge carriers away from these traps that they might otherwise get caught in.

In collaboration with Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, the Diamond Light Source synchrotron facility in Didcot and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, the researchers used several different microscopic techniques to look at the same regions in the perovskite film. They could then compare the results from all these methods to present the full picture of whats happening at a nanoscale level in these promising new materials.

The idea is we do something called multimodal microscopy, which is a very fancy way of saying that we look at the same area of the sample with multiple different microscopes and basically try to correlate properties that we pull out of one with the properties we pull out of another one, says Frohna. These experiments are time consuming and resource intensive, but the rewards you get in terms of the information you can pull out are excellent.

The findings will allow the group and others in the field to further refine how perovskite solar cells are made in order to maximise efficiency.

For a long time, people have thrown the term defect tolerance around, but this is the first time that anyone has properly visualised it to get a handle on what it actually means to be defect tolerant in these materials.

Knowing that these two competing disorders are playing off each other, we can think about how we effectively modulate one to mitigate the effects of the other in the most beneficial way.

In terms of the novelty of the experimental approach, we have followed a correlative multimodal microscopy strategy, but not only that, each standalone technique is cutting edge by itself, says Miguel Anaya, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

We have visualised and given reasons why we can call these materials defect tolerant. This methodology enables new routes to optimise them at the nanoscale to, ultimately, perform better for a targeted application. Now, we can look at other types of perovskites that are not only good for solar cells but also for LEDs or detectors and understand their working principles.

Even more importantly, the set of acquisition tools that we have developed in this work can be extended to study any other optoelectronic material, something that may be of great interest to the broader materials science community.

Through these visualisations, we now much better understand the nanoscale landscape in these fascinating semiconductors  the good, the bad and the ugly, says Sam Stranks, University Assistant Professor in Energy at Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology.

These results explain how the empirical optimisation of these materials by the field has driven these mixed composition perovskites to such high performances. But it has also revealed blueprints for design of new semiconductors that may have similar attributes  where disorder can be exploited to tailor performance.
To minimize the risk and spread of COVID-19 during the holiday season, Cherokee Nation Public Health is recommending CN citizens follow health and safety guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hillsong leader Brian Houston's court case deferred until 2022

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The criminal court case surrounding Hillsong Church Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston has been postponed until 2022 as the global evangelical church network leader faces allegations that he helped cover up his fathers sexual abuse of a minor.

Australian news service Eternity News reported that the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney deferred the pastors next hearing until Jan. 27.

Houston, who founded Hillsong in the Sydney suburbs in 1983, is charged with concealing a serious indictable offense of another person.

At issue is the allegation that the 67-year-old had known about, yet failed to report to authorities, the sexual abuse of a young man by his father, the late Frank Houston, during the 1970s.

Believing that Frank Houston committed that offence and knowing that he had information that might be of material assistance in securing the prosecution of Frank Houston for that offence, court documents allege Brian Houston failed to bring that information to the attention of NSW Police.

During a preliminary court hearing last month, Houstons lawyers said he would plead not guilty to the allegations.

Frank Houston, who died in 2004, was the head of the Assemblies of God in New Zealand until 1971. Brian Houston was the head of the Australian branch of the Assemblies of God from 1997 to 2009.

Frank Houston was alleged to have abused up to nine young boys in New Zealand and Australia.

In 2015, a royal commission launched to investigate institutional responses to child sexual abuse had found that Brian Houston failed to inform the police of allegations of abuse committed by his father in 1970 when they were revealed to him by the victim in 1999.

The committee stated that Houston, who served as president of the Assemblies of God in Austrailia at the time, had a clear conflict of interest.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the commission was told that Houston responded to the allegations by suspending his father from the ministry, and senior church members decided at a meeting that the allegation would be kept confidential and Frank Houston would be allowed to quietly retire without public scrutiny.

In a previous statement to The Christian Post through Hillsong, Brian Houston expressed shock at the charges.

These charges have come as a shock to me given how transparent Ive always been about this matter, Houston said. I vehemently profess my innocence and will defend these charges, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.

Hillsong also provided a statement to CP explaining that it is disappointed that Pastor Brian has been charged, and asked that he be afforded the presumption of innocence and due process as is his right.

He has advised us that he will defend this and looks forward to clearing his name. Given that this matter is now before the court, neither Pastor Brian or Hillsong Church will be making further statements, Hillsong added.

In September, Houston stepped away from his positions on Hillsong leadership boards. He was retained his title as Hillsong global senior pastor.



The allegations surrounding Houston come amid a slew of scandals surrounding Hillsong in recent years.

Last November, Carl Lentz was fired from his role as lead pastor at Hillsongs New York City and East Coast branch over leadership issues and cheating on his wife.

Other Hillsong resignations that followed Lentz included Darnell Barrett, creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey, and Reed and Jess Bogard from Hillsong Dallas, which has since closed.

In May, Houston told NBC that this season has been difficult for Hillsong because of a lot of disappointment in some of the things that have emerged.

Some, obviously, are false, he said, adding: Other things are real.

I have reflected many, many times, and Im acknowledging that mistakes have been made and that there are things where we need to get far better, much better, he said. Im not shrinking back from that.
Family of beloved Minnesota pastor killed in DUI accident forgives drunk driver in courtroom

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The family and grieving congregation of a Minnesota pastor who died after a drunk driver rear-ended his car extended forgiveness to the man responsible for the clergymans death, stunning an entire courtroom.

In November 2020, 58-year-old David Nelson was going nearly 70 mph in a 30-mph zone with a blood alcohol content of .267 when his pickup rear-ended 69-year-old Verlyn Strenges Jeep on Highway 92, The Legal Advocate reported.

Strenge, the longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Clearbrook, was killed in the crash, and his wife was seriously injured.

At Nelsons court hearing on Nov. 14, where he was sentenced to almost three years in prison for vehicular homicide, Strenges family and congregation shared words of forgiveness  the topic of the pastors final sermon before he died, WDAY reported.

Verlyns widow, daughter and son walked up to Nelson to hug him after hearing. They told him they forgave him and would be praying for him and his family. They stressed that he needs to forgive himself.

We have been forgiven so much; how could we not forgive you, church member Rick Moore said.

We forgive you, Mr. Nelson, Strenges daughter, Jayme Nelson, said. As hard as it was at first, we want you to know that we have been praying for you for the past year because we know your life has been impacted by the biggest mistake of your life.

Judge Eric Schieferdecker said the act of forgiveness was something he had never seen before. County Attorney Katy Lorsbach was brought to tears by the reaction.

According to troopers, the 2020 accident occurred after Nelson consumed mixed drinks while hunting. A local fire chief was following Nelsons pickup after calling 911 to say his vehicle was running cars off the highway.

By the time he reached Bagley, he was unstoppable. And in the final moments, before he struck the vehicle, his foot was jammed onto the accelerator. The black box in the vehicle showed from the time he entered the intersection to the time his truck was disabled, he never took his foot off the gas, said prosecutor Lorsbach was quoted as saying.

At the court hearing, Nelson apologized for his actions: I very much appreciate the forgiveness aspect of what they brought up. I decided today I was not going to ask for it, he said.

Strenge, who pastored First Baptist Church for 25 years, was described as a devoted student to the teachings of the Bible.

He read through the Bible at least 6 times every single year and committed many verses to memory, his obituary reads. His love of Christ helped lift up countless communities and people in need. Verlyn made numerous trips to Ukraine to help with youth day camps at a fellow sister church. His strong faith and love of travel led him and his wife to Jordan and Israel in 2020. This trip was a treasured highlight in Verlyns life.

"Verlyn gave endless love and energy to the communities and people he served. He presided over countless weddings, baptisms, life events and funerals. He was there for families in crisis and times of struggle, and in times of celebration and triumph.

Following his death, dozens of people posted tributes to the pastor, sharing how hed impacted their lives.

"Verlyn was a hero to us and to so many. Thank you to the Strenge family for sharing this great man of God with us and all those whose lives he touched. We have precious memories, wrote one supporter.

I find courage looking at his life of love and Gospel witness. I hear him saying scripture in my head and I remember the lengthy hours he put daily into reading Gods Word. He is a hero of the faith to me and many, wrote another.
400 years of Thanksgiving in America

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We gather together to ask the Lords blessings  So opens a great hymn of thanksgiving that is often sung at Thanksgiving, the 400th anniversary of which is this year. The Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

We have had 400 years of Thanksgiving in America, and thanks to Presidents Washington (who declared the first national day of Thanksgiving) and Lincoln (who made it a yearly event), we even celebrate it as an annual holiday. But some on the left think we need to change Thanksgiving to a time of mourning.

Fox News writes: Several American universities are participating in an event asking whether Americans should reconsider the Thanksgiving holiday. The alumni associations of the University of Maryland, Florida Gulf Coast University, Washington State University, University of Central Arkansas, Hiram College in Ohio and California State University, Long Beach are participating.

The anti-Thanksgiving event organizers note: Starting in 1970, many Americans, led by Indigenous protesters, believed that Thanksgiving should be rededicated as a National Day of Mourning to reflect the centuries-long displacement and persecution of Native Americans ... Should Americans reconsider Thanksgiving when wrestling with our countrys complicated past?

The Wall Street Journalhad an editorial, Censoring the Pilgrims: No doubt it was only a matter of time. The progressives have come for our annual Thanksgiving editorials. They wont succeed, but we thought wed share the tale with readers for an insight into the politicization of everything, even Thanksgiving,"

I find it fascinating that historical revisionists would target the Pilgrims to lay blame for terrible things that happened to the Indians in later generations.

Horrible things did happen to the Native Americans long after the Pilgrims settled Plymouth. But thats like blaming all car accidents on Henry Ford, who made cars accessible to the masses.

For Providence Forum  founded by Dr. Peter Lillback, and for which I serve as the executive director  I made a film, The Pilgrims, just in time for the 400th anniversary of Plymouth and of the first Thanksgiving. The film includes comments from Dennis Prager, Alveda King and others, including Rev. Billy Falling, a Native American pastor and author.

In the film, we point out that in later eras, European settlers, as well as Americans, mistreated Native Americans in grave miscarriages of justice. But in doing so, they were not at all following the Christian example of the Pilgrims.

The Rev. Falling says, The Pilgrims did have good relations with the Indians. The Pilgrims were kind to the Indians, they showed them love, they showed them compassion, they showed them the godly way to live.

Through the help of Squanto, an English-speaking Indian who befriended the Pilgrims and who taught them how to survive in New England, the Pilgrims made a treaty of peace with the Indians which lasted for more than half a century.

When they had the first Thanksgiving after the fall harvest, they invited the Indians, celebrating together for three days.

The Pilgrim leaders made sure that no land was sold until the Indian chief, Massasoit, approved of it first.

Falling also told me, As a Native-American, I thank God for the Europeans that brought us the Gospel and brought us Western civilization. We owe everything to those who brought us civilization and brought us out of the cannibalism, the slavery and out of all of the sins of the flesh that were practiced in the day, just like the heathen of the world.

Falling added, Its hard today to find a sweat where you can go as a Native American and go inside and smoke out your sins, but its easy to find Native Americans in any congregation in the United States, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ because of the Europeans. And I thank God for that.

Our film also notes, The Pilgrims had an exemplary relationship with the Indians for decades. When an Indian had been murdered by three Englishmen, and those Englishmen were put on trial, the Indians expected merely a charade, a show-trial. In short, they expected a miscarriage of justice. But instead when these Europeans were put on trial for killing an Indian, they were found guilty and hanged.

Leo Martin, the founder of the Jenney Center (a museum) in Plymouth, says in the documentary: Now, the Indians could trust the Pilgrims. [The Pilgrims] were people of character and integrity, who stood by their word.

The key to the Pilgrims success in surviving and thriving was looking to God for all things and thanking Him for them. God has given us so much. How fitting it is to give Him thanks.

The hymn We Gather Together has a later line that observes, So from the beginning, the fight we were winning, Thou, Lord, wast at our side, all glory be Thine. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanking the Dutch for liberty and Thanksgiving

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This Thanksgiving lets thank the Dutch, who gave refuge to the Pilgrims before they came to America, and who transmitted their own spirit of liberty to America.

Thanking the Dutch comes to mind in response to Patrick Deneen of Notre Dame University, author of Why Liberalism Failed, who tweeted Sunday:

"I am currently in Amsterdam for the first time, a city clearly built on ideals of beauty and transcendence. Walking around city center, I wondered: is its descent into drugs, prostitution and hedonism because or in spite of the Protestant Reformation? Discuss."

Its no surprise that Deneen would link contemporary Dutch decadence with Protestantism. His book derides the liberalism of Americas Founding Fathers as poisoned fruit from the start, built on false philosophical premises and doomed to inevitable corruption. The book never cites Protestantism or the Reformation per se. But he dates liberalism back 500 years and credits philosopher John Locke, who touted government by consent, as a founder. Deneen is a favorite for many integralists, who advocate a pre-liberal/post-liberal state in which the Roman Catholic Church is supreme in society including in civil law. They deny their project is theocratic but critics see it as such.

For many of todays critics of liberal democracy, with its stress on rights and individual liberty, Protestantism is the ultimate target in their demonology. Surely its no coincidence that Locke himself in the 1680s was a political refugee in Holland, where he wrote his Letter Concerning Toleration, a seminal argument for religious freedom. He did not return home until The Glorious Revolution, when the Dutch Prince of Orange was invited to replace the increasingly autocratic James II as King William III of England.

Of course, the Pilgrims had fled to Holland 80 years before Locke, also to escape persecution. William Bradford recalled that his fellow Pilgrims, because of their nonconformity with Englands state church, were hunted & persecuted on every side, so as their former afflictions were but as flea-bitings in comparison of these which now came upon them. For some were taken & clapt up in prison, others had their houses besett & watcht night and day The Dutch Republic privileged Calvinism but offered relative religious freedom and attracted religious dissidents from throughout Europe.

The Pilgrims spent a decade living among the Dutch in safety, but they wished to remain English and also feared the Dutch might face reconquest by Spain, their former master. So the Pilgrims returned to England temporarily to plot their departure for America. Without the refuge the Dutch offered, the small congregation of Pilgrims in England during persecution might have been dispersed and eradicated, forgotten to history. Where would America be without the Pilgrims, from whom millions of Americans descend, and whose example of courage and freedom is central to the American narrative? The Mayflower Compact, drafted before they stepped on Plymouth Rock, pledged government by consent and is one of Americas key charters of liberty.

Another key charter of liberty is the Bill of Rights added to the U.S. Constitution as part of its 1789 ratification, guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion among other key protections. Its origins trace to Englands Bill of Rights of 1689, ratified by King William III after Parliament invited the Dutch prince to become their king. It guaranteed that the monarchy couldnt interfere with the laws legislated by the nations elected representatives in parliament, ending the threat of royal supremacy.

A Dutch prince, more so than an English one, could agree to his subordination to law and parliament because his native republic already precluded royalism. That same year William also ratified The Act of Toleration, protecting religious dissenters from the state church, similar to the Dutch precedent.

The Dutch Republic, focused on industry and trade, had vigorous public political and religious debates fueled by Europes largest and most outspoken publishing industry. Its relative freedom afforded protection to the Pilgrims, to Locke, and provided England with a new king who, unlike the deposed native English king, would yield to law and parliament. The Pilgrims, Locke, and King William III were all key actors in advancing religious freedom and other key liberties, deemed classically liberal, that have centrally shaped America, with assistance from the Dutch.

Deneen disdains current Dutch decadence as the legacy of Protestantism. But the Dutch, modern or historic, have no monopoly on vice. He cites prostitution, infamously legal and open in Amsterdam. Historically Catholic Spain legalized prostitution in 1995. Both traditionally Protestant and Catholic Europe have suffered ongoing collapse of religious practice and loyalties. Whatever their vices, the Dutch still enjoy very low crimes rates relative to the rest of Europe. It is still an orderly and prosperous society, perhaps thanks at least partly to its Calvinist heritage, though urgently needing spiritual renewal, like most of Europe and the West.

The Dutch dont deserve disdain and instead, especially this Thanksgiving week, merit Americas gratitude. When you eat turkey and stuffing with family and friends in our free and prosperous society, able to think and worship as you please without fear of theocrats or secret police, recall and thank the Dutch. Remember the Pilgrims in England before escaping to Holland were hunted & persecuted on every side,taken & clapt up in prison, [or] had their houses besett & watcht night and day

The Dutch were central to a wider tide of liberty flowing across centuries, choppily like the Mayflower on the stormy Atlantic, and always threatened, yet we pray always surging forward.

Originally published on Juicy Ecumenism.
$2.5M pro-life ad campaign launched ahead of Supreme Court abortion arguments

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A pro-life grassroots organization has launched a $2.5 million advertising campaign urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade as the justices are slated to hear oral arguments in a major abortion case next week.

Last week, the Susan B. Anthony List released three ads as part of its Modernize our Law campaign ahead of the case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. One ad focuses on a young woman who was adopted, while another features a doctor who regrets performing abortions. The third ad features a doctor who cares for pregnant mothers and children.

The ads will air on local news and cable stations in the Washington, D.C. media market, including CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, Newsmax, CNBC and CNN. Additionally, the ads will air in nine battleground states through a targeted digital campaign.

Susan B. Anthony List has committed $10 million overall to its ad campaign ahead of the Dobbs hearing, which could present an opportunity to the conservative-leaning high court to revisit earlier rulings that have set a precedent for legalizing abortion access nationwide for decades.

On Dec. 1, the justices will hear oral arguments in a challenge to a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of gestation. A ruling in favor of the state of Mississippi, which is seeking to uphold the ban, would chip away at the precedent set in Roe v. Wade, which ruled that women have the right to obtain an abortion until an unborn baby becomes viable.

In the Susan B. Anthony List ads, the adopted child and medical professionals make the case that the scientific and technological advancements in the nearly 50 years since Roe was decided justify a reversal of the landmark Supreme Court decision.

The first ad tells the story of Annie Fitzgerald, who was adopted by a couple in Peoria, Illinois. After praising her adoptive parents for giving her a really good life, she lamented that I could have been an abortion.

I am so grateful that my birth mom chose adoption. Im grateful she chose life, Fitzgerald said. Everyone has a purpose and a plan in their life and they deserve a chance to get to fulfill that.

Fitzgerald called the idea that abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy extreme.

Nobody wants to see a baby that is fully developed be killed in an abortion, she argued.

I think its time that the Supreme Court places limits on abortion, she continued. Follow the science. Its the 21st century. We have sonograms. We have 3D ultrasounds. Its a human life, and like everyone else, it deserves a chance to live.

As the ad concludes, a picture of the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. appears on screen accompanied by the words Empower women. Protect life. Fitzgerald remarked that [i]ts definitely time for the Supreme Court to follow the science and modernize the laws.

The second ad features Dr. John Bruchalski, an obstetrician and gynecologist who expressed regret for performing abortions early in his career.

As I gained wisdom and as I gained insight, I realized that there were really two patients: the mom as well as the child developing inside, Bruchalski said. We now have done studies where we know that by the time of a 15-week-old baby, theres thousands of pain receptors throughout the childs body.

A child at 15 weeks can actually hear and respond to the voice of its mom, he asserted. I find it amazing that when it comes to the care of human life at its most vulnerable stages, we are relying on science and medicine that is over 50 years old. Science has made incredible progress in obstetrics and gynecology.

Bruchalski declared at the end of the ad that it is time for law to catch up to the science and the Supreme Court to limit late-term abortions.

The third ad features another medical doctor, Dr. Casey Delcoco, elaborating on the science of fetal development.

By six weeks, we can detect a heartbeat with ultrasound technology. By 15 weeks, they can feel pain, Delcoco, who has delivered over 800 babies, said. With incubator and proper care, babies can survive after being born at 21, 22 weeks.

Since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, weve made many advancements in modern medicine, Delcoco continued. The scientific data that Roe v. Wade was based upon is antiquated. I think that the law should reflect the science.

Delcoco described Mississippis 15-week abortion ban as absolutely necessary and characterized state laws allowing abortion up until the moment of birth as horrific.

In a statement, SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser argued that Science continually affirms the humanity of unborn children.

By 15 weeks, children in the womb have fully formed noses and lips, eyelids and eyebrows; they can suck their thumb, and even feel pain, Dannenfelser said.

Critics contend that the U.S. allows for abortions later in pregnancy than most other countries.

The U.S. is one of seven nations  including China and North Korea  that allow late-term abortion on demand more than halfway through pregnancy, well after unborn babies feel pain, Dannenfelser said.

Americans overwhelmingly reject such extreme policies, yet their elected officials are shackled to Supreme Court precedents that in effect allow unlimited abortion up until birth  these are needlessly divisive and decades out of step with medicine and technology.

The Supreme Court announced that it would hear Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization in May. A decision is expected before the end of the Supreme Courts current term, most likely in June.
Man vows to stand guard every day at Baltimore church after grandmother is murdered inside

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A 53-year-old Baltimore man who says he's dissatisfied with the mayors crime plan has vowed to stand guard outside the Southern Baptist Church where Evelyn Player, a 69-year-old church worker, was murdered last Tuesday, to ensure it doesnt happen again.

I cant, I wont, Im not going to sit back and let this happen to anybody else in this church, Kimkur Lee, who called Player his church mother, told Fox 45 in Baltimore.

Im going to do this every day. Thats helping me. Thats therapy for me cause it hurt when this happened to Ms. Player. It hurt, he said, noting that the murdered church worker is definitely a candidate for sainthood.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael S. Harrison said at a press conference on Nov. 16 that Player, who was both a member and employee at Southern Baptist Church where her family worshiped for four generations, entered the church at around 6 a.m. She unlocked the doors, as usual, to allow contractors renovating the church to enter. At around 6:50 a.m., she was discovered dead in the churchs bathroom in her work area.

Southern Baptist Churchs pastor, Bishop Donte Hickman, told 11 News that days before her killing, Player had been intensely praying at the church and said she was perhaps at the church early last Tuesday for similar devotion.

"Typically, Evelyn would not come as early. We have other male sextons that come to the church, she just beat everybody here, he said. She had been praying all week, praying and crying, and she may have come to the church early to have some time to pray by herself."

He further told the AFRO that Players murder has shocked the church and the wider community.

We were very distraught, shocked and we especially didnt believe it would happen in the house of God. But we just thank and praise God that even through this, Gods will and greater purpose will be accomplished, he said.

Last Tuesday, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called Players death inside the independent multi-campus church an unspeakable, cowardly murder. He described her as a dedicated member and staff member of Southern Baptist Church, called her killer cowardice scum, and vowed to make solving her murder priority No. 1 for the Baltimore Police Department.

A day later, the murder of a 5-year-old girl in Baltimore marked the citys 300th murder, according to FOX 45. That crime was followed by another murder of a child on Thursday, with the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old girl outside a recreation center.

Lee is now standing guard at the church because he doesnt think Scotts crime plan is working.

Last Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan offered a $100,000 reward to help solve Players murder and said he directed Maryland State Police and all state law enforcement agencies to immediately assist the Baltimore Police Department with its investigation of Players murder as well as providing enhanced visibility patrols in an all-hands-on-deck effort.

At a prayer vigil held just outside the church on Thursday, hundreds of community members turned out to show their support.

To see the outpour of support from the community means so much, it means so much to us. Im just so full of emotions. This helps to know that there are people who loved on her and she didnt die in vain, Players daughter, Alethea Finch, said according to CBS Baltimore.

Baltimore Police are currently investigating a person of interest in the case, but no arrests have yet been made in connection with Players death.
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Dear Chuck,

My company is encouraging us to participate in Giving Tuesday. How can I give more if Im on a limited budget?

Cheerful Giver

Dear Cheerful Giver,

It is nice to answer a question about giving, especially today, when so many have begun the shopping and spending frenzy that has come to be referred to as Black Friday  the day retailers traditionally become profitable.

Cyber Monday comes next, which is the day online retailers typically offer deals and discounts to launch the holiday season. In 2012, a grassroots movement to promote more generous giving was launched, called Giving Tuesday, that seeks to counterbalance the heavy emphasis on spending during the holidays.

Biblical giving

While I appreciate the efforts made to promote generosity on Giving Tuesday, Gods Word has instructed us to be prepared to be generous on all occasions and to do so cheerfully.

Larry Burkett, the founder of Crown, sincerely believed that giving was how God allows us to share in His work. I grew up knowing that God loves a cheerful giver from 2 Corinthians 9:7, but I did not experience the joy until I developed the habit. Once I acknowledged the Lordship of Christ and followed Him out of love and gratitude, I discovered that my desire to give has increased. Paul told Timothy that giving is an act of storing up treasure for the future that awaits us (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

While it can be a good witness to participate in your companys efforts on Giving Tuesday, it is important to know where the giving will be directed. For Christians, not all generosity is equal. We should commit our acts of generosity to those efforts, causes and missions which are consistent with Gods Word.

Giving on a budget

Giving is a matter of the heart. It does not require a lot of money. Simply ask God for opportunities and be attentive. In fact, the size of the gift is not as important as the motive and the size of the sacrifice. Our Lord commended the widow for giving her two mites. She trusted God with all that she had (Luke 21:1-4). The Macedonians gave out of their extreme poverty for the joy of advancing the spread of the Gospel.

Also, generosity can come in many forms. When a friends husband died after years of being bedridden, several neighborhood women gathered to help her clean and clear out her home. It was a sacrificial gift that blessed the widow and all who worked. They saw an opportunity, had the availability, and chose to act. They seized the moment. You can, too. Consider these ideas:

Tutor

Babysit

Write a note

Make and give a playlist

Help someone get a job

Volunteer your time

Enjoy giving anonymously

Give during charity matching programs

Start small with automatic withdrawals

Designate a non-profit on Amazon Smile

Share social posts for causes you believe in

Always be prepared to share the Gospel

Giving is worship

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Read Davids prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10-13. Read about the woman who anointed Jesus at Bethany in Matthew 26:6-13.

Author Randy Alcorn says, Gaze upon Christ long enough, and youll become more of a giver. Give long enough, and youll become more like Christ. I love that perspective. We are to give what we can without worrying about how much others give. Sometimes, He trusts us with more to test our hearts. It has been said that God often provides an increase in our income so we can increase our standard of giving, not our standard of living.

Giving is transformational

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Over the years, I have heard many inspiring testimonies from cheerful givers. I think about the unexpected check, the money found in a drawer, a bonus or a raise that helped a giver in his/her time of need. How about appliances or vehicles that keep running without need of repairs or replacement? God can do anything, but we miss the blessing if we fail to acknowledge His hand in it all! Givers often see Him do more than we can dream or imagine, even on a limited budget!

Giving is a test

Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need (Malachi 3:10).

Grow as the Lords giver

Regardless of your decision to participate with your company on Giving Tuesday, I hope you are inspired to be a year-round giver. Crown has many great resources to help you experience true freedom that enables you to grow as a cheerful giver. Also, the National Christian Foundation is a community of givers that annually recommends grants at twice the rate of other major donor-advised fund providers. Their library of books, podcasts, videos, articles and studies are inspiring and motivating.
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My Faith Votes recently sat down with Brad Dacus to discuss his views on the troubles we currently face in America.

Brad is the Founder and President of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a legal defense organization providing representation in matters involving the exercise of religion and other civil liberties. Mr. Dacus received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas, School of Law, and has served to protect religious freedoms and parental rights for over 25 years.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can watch the full conversation at My Faith Votes here.

These days, religious freedom is in jeopardy. What is PJI facing in this realm?

Over the past year, we have seen the greatest assault on religious freedom in my lifetime. It was unthinkable to conceive of a time when churches all across the nation were being told they couldnt open their doors for service. Yet, this was the reality.

Immediately, we stepped in and provided Zoom counsel to pastors, church executives and private schools across the nation on how they could open their doors much faster. We made a lot of progress despite the mandates of some of the blue-state governors who wanted to keep them closed for much longer, and unfairly so.

In a very strategic case filed against California Governor Gavin Newsom, we filed a complaint in federal court arguing that churches must be treated equally to the other venues that were allowed to be open. The federal court ended up ruling against our clients and us. Unsurprisingly, so too did the 9th Circuit court when we appealed the initial ruling. Our last option was to file an emergency injunction appeal to the United States Supreme Court. It's not easy to get this kind of injunction granted. Just getting the Supreme Court to hear your case is like a Hail Mary pass to a stadium across town. But, by the grace of God, that's what happened. We filed this appeal and the Supreme Court granted our emergency injunction in just three days, sending ripples across the nation to other governors like Gavin Newsom.

Along with legal advice, you also offer resources for people who wish to challenge laws independently, like the federal COVID vaccine mandates. What is your hope in providing these resources?

We live in a world different from anything I ever imagined. No one could have dreamed that in the United States of America, our vaccination status would potentially limit what were able to buy and sell or where we can travel. It's a radical liberty issue, and we want to educate people on what they can do where they are and empower them to stand up to this.

This movement has awoken many Americans, churches, and pastors to the growing threats of assault on our freedom and liberty. Being involved is no longer just a hobby or a personal interest. It's a matter of survival and preserving our ability to follow the calling of God in the United States of America.

Even with this re-awakening of Christians, we still have people of faith saying they wont participate in elections. What is your response to those people?

If people are wanting to save America and to have a spiritual revival, voting is not at the top of the list of priorities, because, at the end of the day, Jesus Christ is a savior. Only changing the hearts of people throughout America is what's going to change this nation. It's a spiritual warzone.

But, as to why people should vote, I have a few reasons. First, Romans Chapter 13 commands  not suggests, but commands  us to be good citizens. It's indisputable that good citizenship involves voting and voting responsibly.

Second, and even more important than voting, is living out our testimony. If the church is filled with the love of Jesus, people are going to care about people outside their church walls. They're going to care about the preborn and the sick. And voting is an obvious manifestation of having a genuine love of Christ and being concerned for others. It's an inherent part of our testimony in the free world. That testimony is crucial for the light and love of Christ to shine through us.

If you have a Christian biblical worldview, the massive amount of abortions in the country is itself a compelling reason for all of us to register to vote.
2 kidnapped missionaries freed in Haiti, Christian Aid Ministries says

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Two of the 17 members of a missionary group  comprising mostly Americans and five children  who were kidnapped in Haiti more than a month ago have been released, says the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries, which sent them on the mission trip.

The two who've been freed are in good spirits, and being cared for, the ministry said in a statement Sunday while withholding their names, current location or the reasons for their release.

We praise God for this! Only limited information can be provided, CAM continued, requesting that those who might have more specific information about the release to safeguard that information.

Read the full statement below:

We have learned that two of the hostages in Haiti were released. We praise God for this! Only limited information can be provided, but we are able to report that the two hostages who were released are safe, in good spirits, and being cared for. We cannot provide or confirm the names of those released, the reasons for their release, where they are from, or their current location. We ask that those who have more specific information about the release and the individuals involved would safeguard that information. We encourage you to continue to pray for the full resolution of this situation. While we rejoice at this release, our hearts are with the fifteen people who are still being held. Continue to lift up the remaining hostages before the Lord. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).

The group of missionaries, including six men, six women and five children, were kidnapped on Oct. 16 by the 400 Mawozo gang, which is demanding a $17 million ransom for their release.

Since the kidnapping of the missionaries, Wilson Joseph, leader of the gang, has threatened to put a bullet in their heads if his $17 million ransom demand for their release isnt met.

We encourage you to continue to pray for the full resolution of this situation, CAM added.

The kidnapped Christians range in age from an 8-month-old baby to a 48 year old.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan previously said President Joe Biden continues to be briefed daily about the kidnapping of the missionaries and noted that he was particularly concerned about the five children in the group.

I personally give an update on this issue every single day to the president, who is taking a deep interest in making sure we get every single one of those people home safely, Sullivan said.

Joseph, who is believed to be the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang, was the subject of a wanted-poster campaign launched by police last year. Joseph faces charges, including murder, kidnapping, auto theft and hijacking trucks.

Wilsons nickname is Lanmo Sanjou, which means death doesnt know which day its coming.

The gang was also blamed for kidnapping five priests and two nuns earlier this year. They're also responsible for 80% of abductions in the country between June and September, Gedeon Jean, director of the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince, told The Washington Post earlier.

The impoverished Caribbean nation is struggling in the social and political aftermath of the assassination of President Jouvenal Moise in July. And Haiti has yet to recover from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people in August.

At least 628 kidnappings have been reported in Haiti since January, data released last month by the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights shows. Twenty-nine of those kidnapped have been foreigners.

The Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights reported that kidnappings have increased 300% between July and September, with over 221 kidnappings during that time.

The U.N.s Integrated Office in Haiti stated in a February report that there were 234 kidnappings in the previous 12 months, an increase of 200% from the previous year.

Authorities in Haiti reported 1,380 killings in 2020.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department urged Americans to depart Haiti now.

The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to make plans to depart Haiti now via commercial means. U.S. citizens should carefully consider the risks of traveling to or remaining in Haiti in light of the current security situation and infrastructure challenges, a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti said.
Spanish sunshine in a bottle: a collectors guide to sherry

Where does sherry come from? How is it made? And whats the difference between a Fino, a Manzanilla, a Palo Cortado and an Oloroso? Specialist Charlotte Sere explains all

On the gentle slopes of Andalusia in southwest Spain, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Sierra de Cadiz mountains, lies the home of sherry: the winemaking region of Jerez. Named after its largest city, Jerez de la Frontera, it has been a centre of wine production since the Phoenicians occupied this part of Spain more than 2,500 years ago. Sherry is a fortified wine made by taking a neutral base wine and ageing and blending it to create an incredibly wide range of flavours and aromas. Given the variety of styles produced, anyone who likes wine is sure to find a sherry to suit them. The grapes The grapes for sherry must come from a 7,000-hectare area called the Zona de Produccion. It is divided into two parts: Jerez Superior, which contains the better vineyards and accounts for 90 per cent of the plantings, and Jerez Zona.

Sherry is made from grapes grown in the 7,000-hectare Zona de Produccion. Photo: Irina Naoumova/Alamy

The three principal grape varieties are Palomino, Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez. Palomino, which makes up almost 99 per cent of sherry production by volume, is a mid- to late-ripening variety well suited to dry, sunny weather, which can produce large yields. Its neutral flavour makes it perfect for the production of sherry. Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez are used in sweet sherry. The vineyards The vineyards of Jerez are divided into areas known as pagos, each of which has its own particular aspect, location and soil to give its wine a unique character. Though it is uncommon, sherry producers can choose to make wine from a single vineyard, and legislation is being discussed to allow producers to name a pago on their labels.

Most Jerez vines are planted in soil made up of limestone, silica and clay. Photo: F.J. Jimenez/Getty Images

Around 90 per cent of vines in Jerez are planted in a type of soil called albariza, made up of varying proportions of limestone, silica and clay. It is well adapted to the hot Spanish climate, as the clay retains and gradually releases water from winter rainfall and forms a crust when dry, which reduces evaporation. The soil is also chalky in colour, so it reflects light back into the vine canopy, helping the grapes to ripen. The styles Sherry is made in four distinct styles: dry, naturally sweet, sweetened and age-indicated. The types of dry sherry are Fino, Manzanilla, Manzanilla Pasada, Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Oloroso.

A crucial aspect of dry sherry production is the flor, a layer of yeast that forms on top of the wine while it ages in barrels, and which can only grow naturally in the specific climate of southern Spain. The flor has several effects: it protects the wine from oxidation, keeping it light in colour and ensuring a fresh flavour; it consumes alcohol and releases organic compounds called acetaldehydes, which give aromas of bruised apple, hay and camomile, and sometimes a slightly bitter taste; and it consumes glycerol, giving the sherry a lighter body and contributing to its dry character. Fino and Manzanilla must be kept under flor for their entire ageing. They are usually pale lemon in colour and light- to medium-bodied, with low acidity.

Manzanilla is the same as Fino, but with the distinction that it must be matured in the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. Manzanilla Pasada is subjected to an additional short period of oxidative ageing (exposure to oxygen in the atmosphere), usually by letting the flor die: when all the nutrients have been consumed, the barrels are not refreshed with new wine.

Amontillado must undergo both biological and oxidative ageing. The wine starts off in the same way as Fino and is then re-fortified to 17 per cent ABV to kill the flor, and aged with exposure to oxygen. Palo Cortado is made in the same way as an Amontillado but aged for longer.

Oloroso has no flor and only undergoes oxidative ageing, giving it dominant aromas of toffee and walnut. Naturally sweet sherry is aged oxidatively and will typically be full-bodied and syrupy, with low acidity. Sweetened sherries are dry sherries that have either RCGM (rectified concentrated grape must) or naturally sweet sherry added to them.

Age-indicated sherries are categorised as VOS (Very Old Sherry), VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry), 12 Year Old and 15 Year Old. VOS must be made up of wines with an average age of 20 years or more, which increases to 30 years or more for VORS. The method The first stage in deciding which style of sherry to produce is the grape-pressing process. The lightest pressings are generally used for wines that will be aged under a layer of flor and not exposed to oxygen, producing the most delicate styles. The juice extracted later, under greater pressure, contains more compounds that would interfere with the growth of the flor, so it is used for wines that are aged oxidatively, which are generally richer and rounder in style. Dry sherries undergo two classifications to determine their ultimate style. First, each batch of wine is tasted after fermentation and sent for analysis to determine whether it should be aged biologically (protected from oxygen) or oxidatively.

Next, the base wines are fortified with a 95 per cent neutral grape spirit, which doesnt add any aroma or flavour, to either 15-15.5 per cent ABV (the optimum alcohol level for the growth of the flor) or 17 per cent ABV (for sherries that will be aged oxidatively). Once fortified, the wines move to a stage called sobretablas, where they are either kept in tanks or moved to wooden barrels. After several months, the wines marked out for biological ageing are tasted and analysed. Those with a full layer of flor yeast, and which have remained fresh, are potential Fino or Manzanilla; slightly less delicate wines are used to produce Amontillado; and those that are even more full-bodied and intensely flavoured go to make Palo Cortado.

Oak sherry barrels at Bodegas Gonzalez Byass in Jerez de la Frontera. Photo: Martin Thomas Photography/Alamy

The wines then enter their respective solera systems. A solera system is a stacked formation of barrels. A proportion of young wine is added to the top layer of barrels, and then, depending on the style the producer is making, every so often a little wine will be taken out of each top barrel, blended, and divided up to be added to the barrels in the next layer down, and so on until the last layer is reached. This ensures that the final wines are uniform. It also creates a high level of complexity, with the blending of younger and older wines, and wines from every barrel. Young wines also refresh the nutrient levels needed to keep a thick layer of flor alive.

Antonio de la Riva, Amontillado 1819. 12 bottles per lot. Sold for 3,920 on 11 December 2020 at Christies in London

As Oloroso is aged with exposure to oxygen, its colour gradually darkens over time. Its alcohol content also increases slightly as water is lost faster than ethanol, and this evaporation causes the glycerol level to rise, giving the sherry a fuller, rounder body. Aroma and flavour compounds increase in concentration.

Naturally sweet sherry is made from Pedro Ximenez or Moscatel grapes that have been laid out in the sun for a few weeks after harvest to allow the water to evaporate and the sugar to concentrate. Fermentation naturally stops at around 4-6 per cent ABV due to the high sugar content, and the wine is fortified to 15-16 per cent ABV. Serve chilled Sherries are released from the winery ready to drink and are best served chilled, although it is not necessary to chill an Amontillado, Palo Cortado or Oloroso quite as much as a Fino or Manzanilla.

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Lately, my boyfriend has been making the unsubstantiated claim that I hate Thanksgiving.

This is completely untrue. Any holiday that involves having a big home-cooked meal is great in my book, especially when mashed potatoes are involved. He's only making this assertion because I keep buying holiday decor at Target and begging him to help me put the Christmas tree up.

But really, I just find Thanksgiving to be the precursor to great things that come after.

Every year, my mom's side of the family turns the turkey carcass and picked over meat into turkey gumbo, a dish almost better than the entirety of the Thanksgiving dinner.

I don't like turkey, especially not the white meat. It's usually dry and bland and I am fully on Team Ham or Team Prime Rib when it comes to holiday meats. But no turkey means no gumbo, so the bird must stay.

It wasn't until I left for college that I began to truly appreciate the unwavering appearance of the turkey gumbo. I didn't get to enjoy it every year, since my sister and I split holidays between my mom and my dad. But once you live off of student activity center Chick-fil-A sandwiches and Trader Joe's potstickers, any home-cooked meal as comforting as gumbo is an event.

Now, it's another marker of the Christmas season's arrival.

The great thing about gumbo is, it basically involves throwing a bunch of stuff in a pot and leaving it alone after you've got your roux and stock down.

I wouldn't dare assume Houston readers don't already know how to make gumbo, but here's how my family does it.

Recipe

I called my grandparents to ask how they go about their annual turkey gumbo. Their mostly nonexistent recipe boiled down to putting whatever's left over of the turkey, carcass and all, in the pot and simmering "the sh*t out of it" low and slow until you have a good, flavorful stock.

Once all the meat has fallen off the carcass, fish out the bones and start adding in your roux. My dad, who makes a great version of turkey gumbo but less often, makes his own roux. He, however, went to culinary school, and making a roux can be a tricky business. If you burn even a little bit of it, it's ruined. My grandparents buy roux in a jar, and the finished product tastes great.

Add cold roux to hot stock (or vice versa) and whisk it in until there are no lumps. Next, add your chosen spice mix. You can get a Creole seasoning mix like Tony Chacheres at the grocery store.

After that, sweat the Holy Trinity  one part celery, one part green bell pepper and two parts onion  in a separate pan and add to the gumbo. My grandfather also likes to add tomatoes. You can add sausage if you want, which we do sometimes. Add okra at the beginning if you want it to basically disappear, at the end if you like chunks of okra, or not at all.

That's it! Ladle the gumbo into bowls over rice, and top with chopped green onion if desired. Enjoy preferably on a cold porch in your Christmas pajamas. Follow with leftover pumpkin pie.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken criticism for embarking on a family Thanksgiving vacation to Mexico while his administration continues to justify a seemingly indefinite emergency declaration for COVID-19 that gives Newsom and county health officers sweeping powers to enact public policy.

Newsom's team told SFGATE last week that there is no firm criteria for when the state of emergency might be lifted, a line that has drawn fire from conservatives in the state. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who challenged Newsom in the September recall election, wrote in a blog post, "The rule of law is officially a thing of the past."

When it was announced that Newsom and his family would be vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Kiley tweeted, "With California in the throes of a 'State of Emergency,' Governor Newsom is vacationing in Mexico for the next week."

Eager to join in on the pile-on was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who quote-tweeted Kiley and wrote, "Cancun is much nicer than Cabo," a reference to his now-infamous vacation during a deadly snowstorm in his own state earlier this year.

Some did not find the senator's attempt at self-deprecating humor funny.

"Remember when 700+ people died in the winter freeze that our senator abandoned us during and Texas had the biggest carbon monoxide poisoning in recent history," one user wrote. "Me too, bc i was freezing in my home with the rest of the state."

"You abandoned your constituents and 700 of them died," wrote Sawyer Hackett, an adviser to former presidential candidate Julian Castro. "Youre not in on the joke."

Bay Area Rep. Eric Swalwell, a very online member of Congress who enjoys sniping at his Republican colleagues, harkened back to the 2016 GOP presidential primaries when he wrote to Cruz, "And defending your wife is nicer than defending her aggressor. Goodnight, Ted."

Republican Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another very online member of Congress, also felt compelled to weigh in, tweeting, "This is @tedcruz trying to mainstream his grand screw up by joking about it. Ted you arent funny, and to quote @JonahHill in Superbad, 'People dont forget!'"

Why Kinzinger chose a relatively obscure quote from "Superbad" (a movie that is overrated, actually) and why Cruz felt the urge to enter the discourse in the first place are questions we may never get answers to.
With a pair of major policy victories in hand, Gov. J.B. Pritzker traveled to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, at the beginning of the month and shared a vision for his home state: Illinois intends to become the best place in North America to drive and manufacture an electric vehicle.

Its a message hes repeated on countless occasions in recent public appearances, and one that he brought to international business leaders in a trip to London prior to the U.N. conference. And its one that, if realized, the governor believes can yield victories for his administration on a pair of his campaign cornerstones  economic growth and carbon reduction.

This is about economic development as much as it is about saving our planet, Pritzker said during a panel discussion at the U.N. conference with governors from Washington, Oregon and Hawaii.

Numerically, that vision amounts to putting 1 million EVs on state roads by 2030, a goal written into the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, or CEJA, a wide-ranging decarbonization bill that Pritzker signed into law in September.

But how can Illinois increase the number of EVs on state roads to 1 million from just the 34,363 licensed in the state as of the end of October?

For the Pritzker administration, CEJA and an EV manufacturing tax credit package known as the REV Act make up the backbone of a push to lure private investment while breaking down well-documented consumer barriers to EV adoption as the industry stands on the cusp of an explosion.

We have sent a very clear market signal not just in the United States, but now across the world, that this is going to be the place if you want to make, manufacture or drive an electric vehicle, to do it, Deputy Gov. Christian Mitchell, who accompanied Pritzker on his European trip, said in a phone call.

With the new laws passed, the focus turns to implementation and distributing more than $200 million in state and federal funding for the rollout of charging infrastructure.

Mitchell and other advocates behind CEJA recently spoke to Capitol News Illinois about the next step for meeting EV rollout goals, the strengths of the two laws that aim to get Illinois there, and other actions the administration has taken.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

The key to Illinois approach to penetrating the EV market, Mitchell said, is that it addresses the supply and demand sides of the industry.

It's incredibly important if we are going to be successful as a state and environmentalists are to be successful across the country, that we couch this issue in jobs, jobs, jobs, Mitchell said.

On the supply side, CEJA includes credits of up to 80% for the installation of charging infrastructure. Money for that will come from a $70 million allotment from the states 2019 Rebuild Illinois infrastructure plan. Another $149 million sent to Illinois from a recently-passed federal infrastructure plan will also aid in the buildout.

On the demand side, CEJA includes a $4,000 rebate for those who buy electric vehicles in the state. The governors office said theres about $5.1 million in the fund that will supply those rebates beginning in July 2022, and as of now it has only a rough estimate that thousands of Illinoisans will be able to receive the rebate.

For companies like EVgo, one of the largest public charging networks in the U.S., policies like CEJA serve as a market catalyst, said Sara Rafalson, vice president of market development and public policy at the company.

The most important thing that came out of the legislation at the state level, is that Illinois is really poised for success, because we have in place now both the complementary policies to support vehicle sales as well as sustained long-term investments in charging infrastructure, she said. For a business like ours, when we see higher vehicle sales, that sends a strong signal to the market that we need to build more chargers.

The REV Act, which passed with near-unanimous bipartisan support in the fall session, creates payroll tax credits ranging from 25% to 100% of income tax withheld for new or retained EV manufacturing jobs, depending on factors such as company location and number of employees hired. It also creates a 10% credit for training expenses and credits for construction wages and building materials.

That measure also provides the incentives to manufacturers of electric vehicle parts, such as batteries.

At a bill signing event for the REV Act, Jim Chen, vice president of public policy of Rivian Automotive, which has an EV manufacturing plant in the Bloomington-Normal area, said the bill will be a major support for the company that already employs more than 3,000 Illinoisans in its 3.5 million square feet of manufacturing space.

Today's bill signing represents the next step in promoting Illinois as the Silicon Valley of EVs, as we work together to attract new investment from suppliers and other supporting players in this industry, he said.

The REV Act is also an effort to lure new manufacturers here while encouraging existing companies, such as the Stellantis manufacturing company in the Rockford area, to retool their existing plants.

The fact that the governor was able to go to Glasgow, not just with a climate bill in hand that provides a $4,000 incentive to consumers to buy an electric vehicle, but also an incentive package to get more of those sites here to manufacture EVs as well as all the downstream materials that are necessary, is a way of creating a new, modern, reinvigorated manufacturing sector in the state of Illinois, Mitchell said.

Consumer concerns

The rebate is aimed at addressing one of two major barriers to EV adoption  cost.

A study from the national automobile service association AAA, recently cited in a Belleville News-Democrat report on the EV market, found that in 2019, an EV costs about $590 more annually than a gas-powered car over a five-year period due to higher initial prices on EVs.

Jessica Beverly, a renewable energy advocate with the Sierra Club of Illinois who helped push for CEJAs passage, said while EVs are more expensive, they also cost less to maintain, and purchasers may be eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit that could be increased to $12,500 if President Joe Bidens domestic spending agenda passes Congress.

The AAA study corroborated the maintenance cost claim, finding that at 75,000 miles of driving, an EV cost about $330 less to maintain and about $700 less to fuel annually than a gas-powered car.

But that study also found that 58% of respondents cited the availability of charging infrastructure as their main concern, while just 51% cited price.

Beverly noted the market itself is, to a large extent, addressing those concerns. The current median range for a single EV charge is 250 miles, with high-end models of major brands like Tesla offering ranges up to about 400 miles. The average was just 90 miles six years ago.

You cant really travel more than 50 miles in Illinois without coming across a gas station, she said. But it's not the same for an electric charger. And, yes, while range is improving significantly as new vehicles are developed, it's still our habit that you need to know where you can fill up.

But the charging process is inherently different than filling up at a gas station, largely because the vast majority of EV drivers do their charging at home. That means most people will be able to handle their daily driving without needing public charging, except when theyre going on longer road trips.

When needed, public charging stations can sometimes be found for free at grocery stores or parking garages as an enticement to customers. But the vast majority of public charging is offered by private charging networks like EVgo, or ChargePoint, which have varying pricing and subscription models that generally amount to about 22-29 cents per minute for a charge.

As of now, there are two types of chargers on the market, a Level 2 charger that takes about 6-8 hours to fully charge, and DC fast chargers, which take about 30 minutes.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are 919 electric charging station locations in Illinois with 2,306 charging ports, 1,815 of which are Level 2 and 478 of which are fast charge.

As the state aims to put another 970,000 EVs on its roads in the next nine years, the need for public charging is going to increase significantly, particularly in rural areas where it is currently sparse and in densely-populated areas with a lot of multi-family housing where at-home charging isnt available.

Andrew Barbeau, an advocate with the Clean Jobs Coalition which helped push CEJA through the General Assembly, said thats why lawmakers included a beneficial electrification process in the bill aimed at determining where charging is needed most to accelerate EV adoption.

Its also why the state created the position of electric vehicles coordinator through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, a position that Mitchell said the administration is working to fill.

So what the legislature wanted to focus on with this legislation was not just looking at where the market is today, but it wanted to fill in the kind of gaps in the market, Barbeau said in a phone call. It wanted to ensure that people who live in apartments or condos, or they live in dense areas where parking is mostly on the streets, would have access to the electric vehicle market too.

Barbeau pointed to a Department of Energy study which showed if 88% of people charge at home, one public Level 2 charger would be needed for about 25 EVs. But if that number drops to 82% charging at home, there would need to be one Level 2 charger for 13 vehicles.

So thats a big difference based on some behavior, he said. And then you have to think about emergency situations as well. So that's where these DC fast charge stations come in.

At the 88% charge-at-home mark, one DC fast charge station would be needed for 588 vehicles, but at 82%, that falls to just 227 vehicles supported.

The main vehicle

The Illinois Commerce Commission will oversee that beneficial electrification process aimed at determining where new charging infrastructure is needed most in order to accelerate EV adoption.

But there are a number of factors the ICC will consider as well: Will rapidly adding EVs to the grid overwhelm it? Are there times of day when EV charging can be synergized with the rates at which solar or wind energy output is higher? How can the state quicken electrification of its public transit sector? How can EVs be made more accessible in low-income areas?

The idea is that we are using these dollars in the best way to move Illinois toward electric transportation and in an equitable way, Beverly, of the Sierra Club, said of the process.

A workshop process to determine how to best move forward kicked off on Nov. 3, with more than 170 participants, according to ICC spokesperson Britney Bouie. There will be eight more meetings as part of the process that runs through February, all of which will be open to the public, with information available at the ICC website.

The ICC must prepare a report at the end of March outlining what steps the state should take to most efficiently accelerate EV adoption.

After that workshop process, the states largest two public utilities  Commonwealth Edison in northern Illinois and Ameren in the southern two-thirds of the state  are required to submit beneficial electrification plans to the ICC by July 2022 for policies they can enact beginning in 2023.

Those plans would have to be approved by the ICC, and they would be funded by a net 1% charge on the distribution portion of a ratepayer bill for a customer of either of the two utilities, Barbeau said.

Thats expected to annually yield about $35 million in the ComEd territory and $6 million in Ameren territory, although it could scale up over time as more EVs hit the states roads. The utilities must then spend that funding in accordance with their state-approved electrification plans.

The utilities would have to update their plans in July 2024, then every three years thereafter, according to the bill.

So in the next decade, that's going to be the main vehicle for the ongoing EV support and policy, rather than having to go back to do a new bill every few years, Barbeau said.

While the process is open-ended to some extent, there are a number of loose parameters in place, such as a goal that 40% of infrastructure investment is to be targeted to low-income communities or environmental justice communities that are historically subject to greater pollution. Another 5% is to go toward electrifying medium- to heavy-duty vehicles such as school buses in those communities.

Complementary policies

The administration has taken other actions in an effort to accelerate EV adoption as well, including by entering into a memorandum of understanding with governors of four other Midwestern states  Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Advocates called that a good first step toward addressing some of the range anxiety challenges that arise with interstate travel and are otherwise more difficult to address in state policymaking, such as propagating charging corridors and ensuring standardization of charging plugs.

As well, in April, the administration released a new plan for the spending of funds through a federal settlement with the car manufacturer Volkswagen for its violations of the Clean Air Act.

That plan included $9 million in grant opportunities for electrification of school buses in Chicago and the Metro East, $33.6 million in other funds for electrifying school buses, and $13.3 million for light-duty electric charging infrastructure.

Mitchell said publicizing the various policies the state has enacted, as well as continuing its aggressive courtship of business leaders reached during the overseas trip, will be essential to breaking down some of the barriers to EV adoption.

So I think it's both about letting people know about what we've done, what incentives are in place when you make individual purchases, but also what does the investment look like, so that people can have confidence that they can use this vehicle in the everyday course because that's what's going to help drive adoption, he said.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Nineteen people died and 32 more were injured after a bus apparently carrying pilgrims to a religious site in central Mexico crashed on Friday.

State officials said the bus apparently lost its brakes and slammed into a building in the State of Mexico.

Six of the victims suffered injuries so severe they were flown to hospital in Toluca, the state capital.

Ricardo de la Cruz, the assistant state interior secretary, said the accident occurred in the township of Joquicingo, southwest of Mexico City.

The bus was heading from the western state of Michoacan to Chalma, a town that has been visited by Roman Catholic pilgrims for centuries.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the injured passengers. Many Mexicans go on religious pilgrimages as Dec. 12, the day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, approaches.

Because they often walk or bike on narrow roads or travel in aging buses, accidents are not uncommon.

Mexico State borders Mexico City on three sides, and includes both remote rural villages and crowded suburbs of the capital.

Chalma was a site sacred in pre-Hispanic times before the 1521 conquest. After the Spanish came, believers say, a cross miraculously appeared in a cave that had been dedicated to an Aztec god, making Chalma a Christian pilgrimage site.
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)  It wasnt until Julia Cohen Ribeiro moved to Argentina that she discovered she was Black.

Her hair was curly, but her skin was light. She had never identified as anything other than Brazilian in her country of birth. Then 11, she was shocked when people on the street and in school in Buenos Aires insisted that she was Black.

I was never told I was Black growing up, said Ribeiro, now a 25-year-old film student at the University of Buenos Aires. The daughter of a white mother and Black father, she has since embraced that identity and joined a burgeoning Afro-Argentine movement that seeks to eliminate the persistent myth that there are no Black people in the country and to combat discrimination against them.

The 2010 census recorded about 150,000 people of African descent in Argentina, a nation of 45 million, but activists estimate the true figure is closer to 2 million following a surge of immigration  and because many Argentines have forgotten or ignore African ancestry.

Its a very contested figure, said Nicolas Fernandez Bravo, an anthropology professor at the University of Buenos Aires who is part of an Afro-Latin American studies group and a government policy adviser. The state doesnt have the slightest idea of the number because measuring race is difficult and the state is not taking it seriously.

President Alberto Fernandez tripped over the issue in June when, speaking with the prime minister of Spain, he quoted an old local saying that offended many at home and abroad: Mexicans emerged from Indigenous people, Brazilians emerged from the jungle but we Argentines arrived on boats. On boats from Europe.

The backlash prompted Fernandez to issue a sort-of apology on Twitter:

Our diversity is a source of pride, he wrote. I did not mean to offend anybody but in any case anybody does feel offended or made to feel invisible, I apologize, of course.

Argentine diversity once was obvious. In the early 1800s, as the slave trade  if not yet slavery itself  was being abolished, about a third of the population consisted of African slaves or their freed descendants. Even the tango  a dance tightly identified with the nation  has strong African influences.

But the country's leaders made concerted, long-lasting efforts to Europeanize Argentina, welcoming millions white immigrants while downplaying and swamping the country's Indigenous and African heritage.

Some say that many Afro-Argentines died in mid-19th century wars where they were used as foot soldiers, the first casualties of battle, though other historians dispute that was the primary cause of the nation's changing racial makeup.

Ribeiro is finishing a documentary about Maria Remedios del Valle, a Black woman who fought against the British invasion of the Spanish colony and later in the wars for independence in the early 1800s.

Afterwards, she was destitute until her military comrades rallied to her defense, calling her The Mother of Argentina."

Hopefully, this will change the thinking in Argentina, make it more diverse, culturally richer and help fight racism," said Ribeiro, who also leads a tour focused on Afro-Argentine history.

This years November celebration of African culture in Argentina is dedicated to the memory of Maria Magdalena Lamadrid  La Pocha  an Afro-Argentine activist who died in September. In 2002, the fifth-generation Afro-Argentine was kept from leaving the country by a customs officer who insisted there are no Black Argentines and asserted her passport was fake.

The country's makeup has been changing again of late with a surge of newcomers from Africa and other nations.

Angeles Martinelli, a white Argentine, married a Senegalese immigrant and soon faced racism head-on. She recalled people asking her, Whats a beautiful woman doing with a monkey?

Martinelli, who works as a housekeeper, later divorced her husband who returned to Senegal, but not before they had a daughter, Ammi. People would try to touch her because local lore has it that Black babies bring luck. It just made Ammi cry.

Ammi is now 12 and very shy, something her mother attributes in part to taunting from a classmate who often said, We dont want to play with you because youre Black.

In the northern province of Santiago del Estero, Emanuel Ntaka grew up as the son of an Argentine mother and South African father, hearing stories of rampant racism and violence in his father's homeland. Today Ntaka is a musician as well as director of sociocultural programs for the national Ministry of Culture.

Thats where it was born in me, the need to face injustice from what happened in South Africa, Ntaka said. But he said he became more vocal after he was beaten up by skinheads in Argentina. It wasnt so much the beating that affected him as the admonition to: Go back to your country.

He couldnt get it out of his head. But this is my country, he told himself. I am Argentine.

Ntaka helped organize this months events to celebrate Afro culture and is optimistic about the future, if also realistic. He said his 10-year-old daughter, too, had faced racist taunts at school.

Bravo said many upper-class Argentines remain ignorant about the problem of race. Its changing," he said, "but not long ago you would hear people saying we are not racist because we do not have Black people. Well, whats the difference between the Ku Klux Klan and you?

Elesha Mavrommatis, a Black communications and development consultant from Decatur, Georgia, has been living in Buenos Aires for six years. She said she doesnt feel the same level of discrimination she has heard from other Black women, in large part because in Argentina, Mavrommatis is seen as American before she is Black.

Its a good thing for Argentina and Argentines to be looking at their history and seeing all of the diversity that makes up that history, Mavrommatis said.

Bravo, who helped create the Afro-Latin American studies group in 2010, said he sees improvement.

We went from zero to one in the past decade. Its better to be at one. ... Whats the goal? Maybe its 1,000, I dont know, Bravo added. The particularity of Argentina is that we are ignorant of our ways of being racist.

Ribeiro hopes to debut her documentary on Maria Remedios del Valle in December. The government is sponsoring the work as part of historical repair to the Black community.

The film also sheds is also shedding light on the life of a Black woman and shedding light on all Black women, and paying homage to them, Ribeiro said. Making this documentary is believing a Black woman can be president of Argentina one day because we have and have always had this capacity and this story is the testimony.
CBP

TORONTO (AP)  Canada announced Friday it is banning the entry of foreign nationals who have traveled through southern Africa in the last 14 days after discovery of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus that has stoked world fears and triggered widespread travel bans.

Government ministers also said testing will be mandatory for all Canadians who have travelled to southern Africa in the last 14 days. They will be tested on arrival and must quarantine until they get a negative test result
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A convicted murderer was arrested as he tried to enter the country illegally near the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

The arrest of Juventino Orta-Garcia, a 50-year-old citizen of Mexico, occurred on Nov. 17. A records check on Orta-Garcia revealed he had been arrested in May 1988 for homicide/murder by the Laredo Police Department. Orta-Garcia was then convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in May 1988.
LUDINGTON  The Ludington area is gearing up for the holiday season.

The Aglow on the Avenue Parade will kick off the season at 6 p.m. on Nov. 27. It will travel east along Ludington Avenue between Gaylord Avenue and Harrison Street. More information on the parade, a project of the Ludington and Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce, is available by calling 231-845-0324.

Nov. 27 is also Small Business Saturday and the Ludington Area Center for the Arts annual Art of Giving Holiday Market opens that weekend and runs through Dec. 17.

The market is open during regular LACA business hours  Tuesdays, Thurdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be extended shopping hours on Dec. 5 and Dec. 8.

Throughout the holiday shopping season LACA plans to educate the community about the advantages of purchasing locally made art and that buying and giving art demonstrates real meaningful support for the arts.

Jen Tooman, communications and marketing manager for the Ludington Downtown Development Authority, said that the holidays are a great time for downtowns like Ludington.

Small Business Saturday has become one of our biggest shopping days of the year, Tooman said. Its great to see people coming out to support the local businesses for their holiday purchases.

COVID is still somewhat of a factor so well see fewer indoor events where people have to be close together. But we expect the outdoor events to be as popular as ever.

The chamber of commerce is also sponsoring Deck the Halls: A Mason County Decorating Contest. Residents are invited to participate by submitting an entry form available at ludington.org/deckthehalls. The entry deadline is Nov. 28.

The entries will be ready for viewing from Dec. 1-Dec. 27. For those wishing to view them, the chamber of commerce will publish a map.

The West Shore Community College Holiday Rock Spectacular will offer two shows  one at 6:30 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m.  on Dec. 10 at Radiant Church, located at 409 S. Washington Ave. in Ludington.

The colleges Performing Arts Series is offering this high energy evening of holiday rock, funk and blues. Featured performers include guitarist Lou Musa from the Verve Pipe, Craig Avery and Kevin Depree from the popular Grand Rapids-based band Brenna, and special appearances from Groove 101, Edgar Struble and other area favorites.

The Ludington DDA will hold its Downtown Ludington Cookie Walk from 1-4 p.m. on Dec. 11.

During this time shoppers are invited to visit downtown Ludington merchants and enjoy a taste of the holidays.

The activities surrounding the Pure Ludington New Years Eve Ball Drop begin in downtown Ludington at 9 p.m. on Dec. 31 and conclude at 12:15 a.m.

There will be live music, beer and wine, fireworks and the ball drop at midnight. More information is available at pureludington.com/nye.

Tooman is also excited about Ludingtons gift certificate program going digital this year, and said that there could be funding during the holiday season so that persons who buy one gift certificate will get another of equal value.

With the change to digital, you can purchase gift certificates online and get them immediately in your email, she said. That should be super convenient for the holidays, especially for the procrastinators. The gift certificates, good at over 40 downtown businesses, have always been a great Christmas gift option and its even easier this year with the digital program.

Gift certificates can be purchased at downtownludington.org, and information on various events is also available at that website. Information on other Mason County events is available from the Ludington and Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce at 800-542-4600 or pureludington.com.
DESERT SHORES, Calif. (AP)  A fire destroyed six mobile homes in the rustic community of Desert Shores on the west side of the Salton Sea on Friday, authorities said.

In addition, the Imperial County Fire Department said in a Facebook post that it was fighting a fire south of the Salton Sea in the Fig Lagoon area of the New River near Storms Crossing, a small mobile home community surrounded by agricultural fields.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  A suburban St. Louis lawmaker plans to try again on legislation to regulate a plant grown in Southeast Asia that is sold across Missouri.

Republican state Rep. Phil Christofanelli of St. Peters told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he will reintroduce the Kratom Consumer Protection Act in the upcoming legislative session after the plan died in the Senate earlier this year.
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP)  A group of cancer doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina took confidential information to a competitor in an effort to establish a new treatment facility, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

MUSC filed the lawsuit in state court on Monday against six of its departing doctors and HCA Healthcare, which owns North Charleston-based Trident Medical Center.

Charleston-based MUSC wants a judge to halt what it termed the wholesale departure of physicians, nurses, technicians, staff and fellows from the hospital's head and neck oncology division to Trident's new facility in an effort to impede MUSC's ability to compete, news outlets reported.

The doctors sought information including case logs, patient lists and other data that belongs to MUSC in the months leading up to and after they announced their resignations, the medical research university alleged in a complaint.

It would take Trident eight to 10 years to independently develop the misappropriated confidential and proprietary information" that MUSC has, the latter claimed in court documents.

Trident has denied MUSC's claims.

Physicians frequently move their practice locations and affiliations, the health system said in a written statement to The Post and Courier. We are well-positioned to care for head and neck patients and are excited these physicians have chosen to be part of the Trident team. This last-minute lawsuit appears to be an effort to keep patients away from their doctors.

MUSC says it is in the public interest for a judge to stop the plan because the hospital is a public university hospital and research institution, whereas Trident is private and for-profit.

MUSC is seeking a hearing on the preliminary injunction before Dec. 1, the day the six defendant physicians will stop working at the hospital.
HONOLULU (AP)  A food distributor in Hawaii has filed a federal lawsuit against a dairy company because milk from the mainland is allegedly being sold under a name that advertises local ties.

The lawsuit filed by Hawaii Foodservice Alliance claims Meadow Gold Dairies is selling milk from California alongside advertising that says Hawaii's Dairy and Made with Aloha," the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday.

The lawsuit says the company has no cows in Hawaii and their Lani Moo mascot is misleading.

A sustainable Hawaii relies on locally produced and manufactured food. We believe that local farmers, ranchers, and local food production need to be protected from mainland products masquerading as local," said Hawaii Foodservice Alliance CEO Chad Buck in a statement.

Meadow Gold has long sold milk produced in Hawaii. The company was sold in April 2020 to Bahman Sadeghi, a Big Island dairy farmer, who allegedly began using milk from outside the state.

We have never claimed that all our milk is local, but we do consider ourselves Hawaiis Dairy because we are committed to Hawaii and its community and will continue to be while we work toward building a more sustainable operation, Meadow Gold said in a statement.

In a similar but unrelated case, a federal judge recently tossed out a lawsuit against California-based Kings Hawaiian, which produces sweet rolls.

Hawaii Public Radio reports Kings Hawaiian was sued because their label features the words Established 1950 and Hilo, Hawaii in reference to the company's founding.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton said the packaging clearly states the rolls are made in California and a geographic reference like Hilo would not deceive a consumer into believing the product was made there.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Authorities searched Friday for an inmate who escaped from a south Louisiana prison.

The state Department of Public Safety and Corrections said a manhunt is underway for 23-year-old Shwilliam Cheevis, who is serving 15 years for sentences out of Caddo Parish, including aggravated second-degree battery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Cheevis is 5 feet 7 inches (1.5 meter, 17,7 centimeters) tall and weighs 138 pounds (62.5 kilograms). Agencies assisting in the search for him include DCI's staff and chase team, the Louisiana State Penitentiary Chase Team, East and West Feliciana Parish sheriff's offices and the U.S. Marshal's office.

Anyone with information about Cheevis' whereabouts is asked to contact DCI at 225-634-6000.
STANLEY, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina man is jailed without bond after his neighbor was found shot to death, police said.

Gaston County Police said in a news release that its officers responded at around 1:30 p.m. Thursday to a report of a shooting. When officers reached the scene, they found Kathy Smith, 56, had suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Oregonians will soon have more options for camping  especially those looking for a quick trip  as the state parks department works to finalize details on a capital improvement plan.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported on Thursday staff in the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department staff recently outlined some of the plans at a Parks and Recreation Commission meeting.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Two vehicles allegedly driven by intoxicated motorists collided early Friday in Indianapolis, killing an 8-year-old boy and seriously injuring three other children, police said.

Two adults were in a minivan with the four children when it struck a sedan at an intersection about 2:15 a.m. after one of the vehicles drove through a red light, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Affordable housing, a full-time harbormaster, and an ice rink are just some of the things that cities and towns in Rhode Island have proposed paying for with federal coronavirus relief funding.

But at least 19 towns have yet to spend a single dollar, The Providence Journal reported Friday after asking officials in all 39 municipalities in the state how theyve used the money so far, and what projects are under consideration.

The communities are on track to receive a total of nearly $537 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, the newspaper reported, citing data provided by the office of General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. The first installment has already been distributed.

Providence, the capital and largest city, is getting the biggest chunk, more than $166 million. New Shoreham, the only town on Block Island, is getting the smallest slice, about $307,000.

Pawtucket has set aside $400,000 of its ARPA funds to purchase a vacant medical office building, which the city intends to convert into affordable housing. South Kingstown is paying $180,000 for a full-time harbormaster for two years. Woonsocket has proposed spending $250,000 for a year-round skating rink with synthetic ice.

Nearly every town that has started spending the money or is making plans to do so said their top priorities include infrastructure projects such as replacing outdated sewer and water connections or repaving roads.

Bristol has already decided to spend 99% of the money on infrastructure projects, most aimed at addressing flooding.

Many of the 19 towns that have not spent or allocated any money told the newspaper that they were waiting to get more public input before making any decisions.

Cities and towns have until the end of 2024 to decide how to spend the money, and all expenditures have to take place by the end of 2026.
MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. (AP)  Howard Breidenbach thought it was all a big conspiracy.

The government using a so-called coronavirus to control the people. Feeding drama. Making up numbers.

It was all a lie, he thought.

Until he forgot his own name.

The 47-year-old independent trucker from Myrtle Creek thumbed his nose at COVID-19. On July 14, something was wrong.

We thought for sure it was pneumonia, Breidenbachs wife of 29 years, Tonja, said Monday. I didnt feel very good either. When he got sick, I started feeling sick, too.

Howards condition took a drastic turn. After spending a few days at CHI Mercy Medical Center, he was transferred to the intensive care unit, but there was only so much hospital staff could do for him. He needed specialized help, and he needed it fast.

One doctor called every hospital in the Pacific Northwest trying to find an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine  better known as ECMO  to help serve as an artificial lung for the 47-year-old, whose condition was continuing to deteriorate.

That was very traumatic, very upsetting, Tonja said of the phone call she received in late July. He might actually die.

No such machines were available in Oregon, but the doctor at Mercy was able to locate one in Seattle at the University of Washington Medical Centers Montlake facility. Howard, in a medically induced coma, was transported to Roseburg Regional Airport and flown to Seattle.

I had no idea, Howard said of the transfer. I went to sleep in Roseburg and woke up in Seattle.

For nearly 100 days, Howard was receiving a medical treatment that temporarily draws blood from the body, provides artificial oxygenation of the blood and returns it to the cardiovascular system.

On average, the survival rate of patients on such a treatment is estimated at 30%.

Quite simply, it was Howards last chance.

Meanwhile, his wife was in quarantine in Myrtle Creek until Aug. 16, at which time she could travel to Seattle to try and see her husband.

It was horrible to see him like that, Tonja said. His chest wasnt moving, he had a tube down his throat. They said it was very important to talk to him and he was trying to communicate back, but it was awful.

They could wake him up, but it was more of a surface awakening to make sure he still had brain activity, she said.

In a coma, you can hear voices but you cant make out voices, Howard said. All I could hear was babbling. I honestly couldnt remember my name. I knew who I was, but I couldnt remember my name.

Howard and Tonja Breidenbach had big plans. They were in the process of launching their own trucking company with the goal of retiring within the next five to seven years. They had already bought the truck to get their dream off the ground and were eyeing more equipment. Now, the couple who had met in Heppner in 1990 was praying for the simple gift of another day together.

I spent a lot of time on my knees praying, Tonja said. You sure find out whats important.

Hooty B LLC, the Breidenbachs trucking company, is on permanent hold. The truck has been sold, as well as the couples home, a sale which was finalized by a thumbs-up from Howard via video call.

Howard Breidenbach is now recuperating at his Myrtle Creek home with help from his wife Tonja Breidenbach.

During his 102 days in the hospital, Howard missed his 29th wedding anniversary. He was discharged from the hospital on Oct. 27 and had his 48th birthday on Nov. 11.

He credits pulmonary specialist Dr. Luana Petre Nedita for helping save his life.

I owe her everything, and I want her to know it, Howard said.

Following Howards ordeal, he and Tonja both agreed to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

My idea was that we all get the shot and all die of cancer 10 years later, Howard said. I was wrong, and now Ive got myself to blame and am reaping my rewards.

Im 48 years old and have to have somebody take care of me. Every mental image you hold of yourself is lost.

I kept having this dream we were at the coast, and it was so real. The picture we took, it wasnt there. I just kept waking up in the same nightmare, he said.

Today, both Howard and Tonja are encouraging those who are on the fence to vaccinate or not vaccinate to get the shot.

I thought it was a scam until I got (COVID-19), Howard said. Its serious, and its real.

COVID is no joke.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian authorities on Friday released the names of 51 people presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion in a coal mine in Siberia, believed to be the deadliest since 2010.

The list with names of 46 miners and five rescuers was published online by the government of the Kemerovo region in southwestern Siberia, where the mine is located. Authorities had initially reported 52 possible fatalities, but search teams on Friday found a survivor in what officials described as a miracle.

A total of 285 miners were in the Listvyazhnaya mine at the time of explosion on Thursday morning that quickly filled the mine with toxic smoke. A total 239 people were rescued shortly after the blast, and more than 60 sought medical assistance for an assortment of injuries.

Officials on Thursday confirmed 14 fatalities  11 miners and three rescuers who perished while searching for others trapped in a remote section of the mine. Rescuers were forced to halt several hours into their search because of a buildup of methane and carbon monoxide gas.

Rescuer Alexander Zakovryashin was pulled out of the rubble Friday morning still conscious. He was hospitalized with moderate carbon monoxide poisoning, according to emergency officials.

I can consider it a miracle, acting Emergency Minister Alexander Chupriyan said.

Kemerovo Governor Sergei Tsivilyov admitted on Friday morning that finding other survivors was highly unlikely.

It was the deadliest mine accident in Russia since 2010, when two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at the Raspadskaya mine in the same Kemerovo region.

In 2016, 36 miners were killed in a series of methane explosions in a coal mine in Russias far north. In the wake of the incident, authorities analyzed the safety of the countrys 58 coal mines and declared 20 of them potentially unsafe. Media reports say the Listvyazhnaya mine wasn't among them, however in 2004 a methane explosion in the mine killed 13 people.

Russia's top independent news site, Meduza, reported that this year authorities suspended the work of certain sections of the mine nine times and fined the mine more than 4 million rubles (roughly $53,000) for safety violations.

Law enforcement officials also said Friday that miners had complained about the high level of methane in the mine.

Regional officials have declared three days of mourning while Russias Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into potential safety violations. The director of the mine and two senior managers were detained.

A separate criminal probe was launched Friday into allegations that state officials who inspected the mine earlier this month were negligent.
RICH HILL, Mo. (AP)  Authorities in western Missouri's Bates County say the shooting of a man after a break-in at his home appears to be a targeted incident.

The shooting happened Thursday in Rich Hill, about 75 miles (121 kilometers) south of Kansas City. The sheriff's department says on Facebook that two men entered the home and an altercation ensued. One of the men pulled a gun and shot the homeowner, who was airlifted to a hospital.
The South Plains College Plainview Center has a new director on campus.

Victoria Huffhines, who originally served as the advisor at the Plainview campus since 2018, became the new director.

Huffhines is known to be optimistic, understanding, and very compassionate about things in life. Her favorite things to do in her free time are painting, reading, or binge-watching Netflix. She is married to Jeremy Huffhines, and they have two kids, Emma, and Colt. She said that she enjoys spending quality time with her family most of all.

Huffhines grew up in Thorton, Colorado, but came to Plainview, Texas to get her bachelors degree in Art Education at Wayland Baptist University. She later earned a masters degree there in Instructional Technology.

Before coming to SPC, Huffhines was a training coordinator for Waylands external campus advisors. She was responsible for training personnel in the evaluation of transcripts and degree audits.

In 2018, she left Wayland Baptist to take on the position of the new advisor for SPC at the Plainview Center campus. She heard about this position from a friend who knew it would be perfect for Victoria. Huffhines has always wanted to help students with their college education. After serving as an advisor for four years, she was interested in a new role as the new director in May 2021.

Huffhines said she enjoys being the director at the Plainview Campus. Her job duties include interacting with events on campus, trying to provide what the Levelland campus promotes. For example, when SPC had their Tex Hex event in Levelland for Halloween, Victoria tries to bring certain events like that to the Plainview campus so students can interact with the college.

Another way she helps students is by offering the courses they have to offer at SPC, whether it is at the Plainview campus or in Levelland. She makes sure the students are on the right educated path and helps to meet their needs.

Huffhines said what she loves most about her job is, Working with the team at SPC, and I love building relationships with the community organizations. She said that she misses being the advisor because she was able to interact with the students more. Being the new director involves creating events for the campus and making sure classes are organized and ready to go. Huffhines said that she now affects more people because shes trying to make sure students are included with whats going on at SPC in Levelland and connecting to the Plainview campus. Shes more in charge of making decisions than she was as an advisor, so theres more pressure applied.

Huffhines mentioned the potential of helping young students, even as young as eighth grade, reach their goals through education. She tries to promote what SPC has to offer for higher education at Plainview, Hale Center, Lockney, and Floydada ISDs.

I provide information on scholarships and grants to help pay for college, said Huffhines It lets them know that South Plains College is there beside them.

Huffhines said that she loves what she does and hopes to continue with SPC for the next 10 years or more. She does not plan on going anywhere else.

Being the new director has its obstacles, but Huffhines said her new job has taught her more responsibility, leadership, and management. Victoria has impacted so many students in a positive way, by being very interactive and caring about a students education.
What are conservation dogs?

Simply put, conservation dogs are canines specially trained in sniffing out evidence of specific wildlife species that scientists are seeking to learn more about for one reason or another. Most commonly these dogs are used to help biologists understand where and how threatened or endangered wildlife species are hanging on  or if they are still around at all.

At the forefront of this burgeoning field is Rogue Detection Teams, a Washington state-based non-profit that sends their specially trained dogs around North America and beyond to help scientific researchers, government agencies and non-profit groups gather field evidence in order to further their conservation work.

Its no wonder that conservationists have started using detection dogs, a standard practice in the military and law enforcement since the 1940s when U.S. troops first employed canines to detect German land mines in North Africa. By pairing human handlers well-versed in ecology and biology (the bounders) with detection dogs trained on a specific scent, conservationists can monitor the density, distribution and overall health of certain species of concern.

To wit, Rogues dogs have worked all over the world helping conservation groups bolster their cases with hard data collected in the field. The majority of the Rogues work so far has been in the American West, but teams are scattered as far afield as Brazil, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East in search of everything from sea turtles to grasshoppers to pygmy rabbits, big cats, red foxes and bumblebees.

What makes for a perfect conservation dog? The best detection dogs wouldnt necessarily make a great pet, as they tend to be obsessed with reward accumulation.

Our dogs are typically considered unadoptable due to their high energy and obsessive desire to play fetch, says Rogues Jennifer Hartman. This obsessive energy is quite perfect for us because we pair this with detecting an odor and reward our dogs with their ball for locating the odor. Rogues dogs can cover up to 15 miles a day in survey work, and still have energy left over for more playtime after the search.

And it doesnt take a specific breed or size dog  its all about the dogs so-called "high ball drive."

We have quite a few Labrador mixes as well as heeler mixes because these seem to be high drive dogs that end up in shelters, but we also have a chihuahua mix and what might be a papillon mix in our program, reports Hartman. We love all dogs though, and dont discriminate as long as they like to play fetch!

Rogue runs 19 dogs out of its headquarters. The organization, founded in 2019 by a group of conservation-oriented dog handlers who had been doing this sort of work on their own for more than a decade, also runs programs to train others dogs (and their owners) in these canine detection practices.

Through its training work, Rogue hopes to develop the next generation of bounders to carry on the innovative work of the conservation dogs in helping other species hang on in this warming-compromised world.
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Saskatchewan announces new immigration program Hard-to-Fill Skills Pilot Program created to support Saskatchewan's labour market demands in key sectors. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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Saskatchewan announced a new immigration pilot on November 25.

The Hard-To-Fill Skills Pilot will allow Saskatchewan employers to recruit international talent for certain in-demand occupations. The eligible jobs under this pilot will include entry-level positions that may require on-the-job training. The sectors with the highest labour demands in Saskatchewan include health, manufacturing, agriculture, ag-tech, construction, hospitality, and retail.

The demand for labour in our province is strong, and its only going to increase with the significant economic projects recently announced in Saskatchewan, Immigration and Career Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a media release. This new Hard-To-Fill Skills Pilotdeveloped in Saskatchewan for Saskatchewanis progress on our autonomy discussions with the federal government and is going to help provide employers with greater access to international options to recruit workers. This is in addition to record investments into training and up-skilling our provincial workforce, as we enter a period of strong growth coming out of the global pandemic.

Discover if Youre Eligible for Canadian Immigration

Workers nominated through this Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) stream will be supported by their employers and community. The pilot is scheduled to launch in December 2021.

This is very positive news for businesses in the hospitality industry in Saskatchewan, Hospitality Saskatchewan President and CEO Jim Bence said in the release. This pilot project is designed to attract talent and a great program for all sectors currently experiencing labour recruitment challenges in the province. While we always work hard to exhaust every opportunity to hire locally, we have to be creative to ensure we have the right labour supply to help our business and communities grow and thrive in Saskatchewan, something this very unique program will be especially helpful with post-COVID.

Some of the eligibility criteria for candidates include:

Have a full-time, permanent offer of employment and SINP job approval letter for an eligible occupation from a registered Saskatchewan employer;

Meet a minimum Canadian official language proficiency level; and

Meet the minimum educational and work experience requirements, which includes having at least one year of work experience in the same occupation as the job offer or six-months work experience in that job in Saskatchewan.

Currently, the release does not say which occupations are eligible, the minimum education requirement, nor the exact language proficiency level required.

For employers to be eligible, they have to demonstrate they have made extensive efforts to hire domestically before they can use the pilot for recruitment. They also need to demonstrate the need and benefit for their business, and fulfill requirements related to providing settlement support for the workers. No further specifics have been released.

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 CIC News All Rights Reserved. Visit CanadaVisa.com to discover your Canadian immigration options.
Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701)

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Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Thunder possible. High 62F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  China is implementing a "salami slicing" strategy by undermining its commitment to exercise self-restraint despite the Philippines asserting its sovereign rights in the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, a security analyst said Friday.

Rommel Banlaoi, President of the Philipine Association for Chinese Studies told CNN Philippines' The Source that he shares the Philippine government's position that there was no commitment to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal contrary to the Chinese government's claim.

READ: PH denies 'commitment' to remove grounded ship from Ayungin Shoal as claimed by China

"As far as I know there was no commitment to remove our structure in Ayungin shoal. Our intention of putting the ship in Ayungin Shoal was exactly to establish our foothold and assert our sovereign rights in the area," Banlaoi said.

He added: "If there was such thing as removing it, it was not an official commitment."

"China is implementing what we call a salami slicing strategy, that is, doing a small action that if not prevented will become a big problem in the future," he noted. "What was demonstrated in the Ayungin Shoal is even though it was a small action, we are not allowing it, so we condemn it."

Banlaoi referred to the Chinese Coast Guard blocking and firing water cannon on two Philippine vessels en route to resupply Filipino soldiers aboard the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal last week  a move which President Rodrigo Duterte said the Philippines abhors when he spoke to Southeast Asian leaders in a regional summit.

RELATED: Duterte denounces China's illegal acts in Ayungin Shoal

According to Banlaoi, China and the Philippines must continue to pursue ways to cooperate and promote peace in the area to avoid conflict.

He also shared the sentiment of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that "we can do whatever we want" in the area, but noted that the real situation shows "limitations to movement" because of China's growing presence that could hamper the Philippines' activities.

In a conference on Thursday, University of the Philippines law professor Jay Batongbacal warned against China's "cabbage strategy" of gradually inserting layers of Chinese vessels in Philippine outposts to limit activities in these areas.

Meanwhile, former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario said in a statement also on Thursday that BRP Sierra Madre is a public vessel that is protected by Article IV of the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.

"If China attacks BRP Sierra Madre and our armed forces in Ayungin Shoal, such action would trigger the mutual defense commitments under the treaty where the US and the Philippines will act 'to meet [such] common danger' instigated by China," he said.

Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, is located 104 nautical miles west of Palawan and is well within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. It is part of the Kalayaan Island Group.

China has been claiming the area with its historic nine-dash line, which the Arbitral Tribunal has ruled as invalid.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The first of four cases against Bongbong Marcos' presidential bid faces a delay after the Commission on Election's Second Division said it will first resolve two issues tied to the case before making a decision.

Lawyers of the Marcos camp and the group of human rights defenders represented by Atty. Theodore Te faced off in a brief virtual pre-conference Friday afternoon to agree on details of the case, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said.

However, representatives of Comelec's Electoral Contests Adjudication Department informed the parties that Commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho, Jr. want to first tackle pending motions covering the petition to cancel Marcos' certificate of candidacy.

First is the motion to intervene filed by a civic group through lawyer Howard Calleja to join as petitioners of the case, as well as the request of Marcos' lawyer Estelito Mendoza for face-to-face hearings.

"'Yung effect ng pending incidents is to push back the time when we will tell them to submit their memoranda," Jimenez told reporters.

"Mukhang matatagalan nang kaunti kasi kailangan pa 'yan disisyunan [It looks like that will be decided a little later because those need to be resolved first]," he added.

The commissioners did not yet order both parties to file their respective memoranda, or their final response to the case. Had it pushed through, the deadline for submission would have been Dec. 1, Jimenez said, which gives the division any time after that deadline to hand down a decision.

RELATED: Resolution on plea to void Marcos' candidacy likely out by December  Comelec

Jimenez added there will be oral arguments on the case "if the division feels there is a need for that," pointing out that physical hearings are hosted by Comelec before as its divisions see fit.

The four pending cases against Marcos' 2022 run are based on his conviction for failure to file his annual income tax returns from 1982 to 1985. Petitioners said violating the Tax Code meant he's banned from holding any government post for life.

There's also a pending request to declare Marcos as a nuisance candidate, another petition to cancel his COC, and a disqualification case. The first two are pending before the Second Division as well.

The division may rule to kick Marcos out of the presidential race or keep him in the running for 2022. The ruling may be appealed before the Comelec en banc by either party and eventually, the Supreme Court. Jimenez did not rule out the possibility of the division coming up with a ruling before the Dec. 15 deadline for the final list of 2022 candidates.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The Philippine government is keeping a close watch on the new coronavirus variant causing serious worry in other countries, saying it is waiting for the official guidance of the World Health Organization.

When asked if the Philippines will impose travel restrictions on countries with confirmed cases of the B.1.1.529 variant, such as South African nations and Hong Kong, acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said the government is actively monitoring developments.

"We are monitoring, intently monitoring itong situation na ito. Patuloy pa din ang ginagawang genomic surveillance on the ground at patuloy din po ang pakikipagugnayan natin sa WHO, especially awaiting their advisories kung ito bang variant is considered variant of interest or variant of concern," he said in a media briefing.

[Translation: We are intently monitoring the situation. Genomic surveillance is ongoing and we are in communication with the WHO. We are awaiting their advisories, especially if it will be classified as variant of interest or variant of concern.]

Health reform advocate Tony Leachon urged the government to act swiftly by imposing travel restrictions on travelers from South Africa and Botswana and ensure closer monitoring of foreigners and returning overseas Filipino workers from Hong Kong.

Cases of the B.1.1.529 variant have been reported in South Africa, Botswana, and recently, in Hong Kong after a traveler arrived from South Africa.

The three areas are currently on the Philippines' Green List, which means fully vaccinated travelers from there can enter the Philippines without undergoing facility-based quarantine.

"We must review Green list countries and impose travel restrictions and strict quarantine with plan to do travel ban. Based on our past surges, failure to impose travel bans with agility led to escalation of new cases and severe prolonged lockdowns," Leachon said in a tweet on Friday.

The United Kingdom is imposing a precautionary temporary travel restriction on South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization COVID-19 response technical lead, said the B.1.1.529 variant "has a large number of mutations," which can have an impact on how the virus behaves. But the WHO also said B.1.1.529 is not yet a variant of interest or variant of concern.

South African officials expressed concern that the mutation could result in immune evasion and enhanced transmissibility of the virus, but added it is too early to tell what kind of impact the mutations will have on vaccine efficacy.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The United Kingdom said it will implement new travel restrictions beginning Friday after South Africa detected the presence of a new coronavirus variant, which could beat vaccines.

Direct flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will be temporarily banned. Additional quarantine and testing requirements will be imposed on UK and Irish residents arriving from these countries.

The UK Health Security Agency said the B.1.1.529 variant has potentially biologically significant mutations, which may change the behavior of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments, and transmissibility. But it said more investigation is required.

World Health Organization COVID-19 response technical lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove said the B.1.1.529 variant "has a large number of mutations."

"The concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves. Right now, researchers are getting together to where these mutations are and what that potentially mean for our diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines," she said on Friday.

But the WHO also said B.1.1.529 is not yet a variant of interest or variant of concern.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases on Thursday reported 22 cases of the new variant.

The B.1.1.529 variant was also detected in a traveler in Hong Kong who recently went to South Africa.

CNN Philippines' Lara Tan and Carolyn Bonquin contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  Embattled Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani was compelled by senators on Friday to reveal the identity of the person who funded the chartered flight to Malaysia that he and his sister were supposed to take on Nov. 14.

Dargani named the individual as a certain Gary Wong by writing his name on a piece of paper, which was read by Senate Blue Ribbon Committee director general Atty. Rodolfo Quimbo.

The Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. executive first said Wong offered a chartered flight out of Davao City, but later backtracked and claimed he borrowed money from his "friend."

Dargani said he was not aware of the exact amount that Wong will pay for their chartered flight, claiming that the price tag will be revealed upon final billing.

"I asked him to shoulder my expenses," said Dargani, who revealed that Wong is a Singapore-based entrepreneur.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Wednesday the flight that was supposed to take siblings Mohit and Twinkle Dargani out of the country costs nearly 2 million.

RELATED: Almost 2 million paid for Pharmally execs' private plane in escape try Hontiveros

Dargani was at first reluctant to name Wong and invoked his right against self-incrimination. He added that his lawyer was not physically present at the hearing and that he wanted to protect Wong's privacy.

The senators warned Dargani that he may be cited with obstruction of justice and held criminally liable under Article 50 of the Revised Penal Code for not divulging the name.

Dargani's lawyer Don Kapunan, who was present at the virtual hearing, then talked to his client privately. With the senators agreement, the Pharmally executive was allowed to just write Wong's name on a piece of paper.

Dargani also denied that Wong was involved in any business interests of Pharmally, which became controversial for its alleged anomalous COVID-19 supplies procurement deals with the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service.

The Pharmally executive again insisted they are not trying to escape the senators' probe, but claims he wants to protect his sister and mother from their health problems.

The Dargani siblings were already onboard the chartered plane at Davao City's international airport on Nov. 14 when they were apprehended by Senate security personnel and detained at the Senate premises.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  Teachers facilitating face-to-face sessions still have the responsibility to check on their students who are studying at home, an education official stressed.

Gusto nating bigyan diin na hindi natin bibitawan 'yung remote learning, Department of Education Asec. Malcolm Garma told CNN Philippines Newsroom Ngayon.

[Translation: We want to stress that we are not discontinuing remote learning.]

Yung mga bata hindi naman buong araw na nasa paaralan kaya kasama pa din sa kanilang tungkulin bilang guro nitong mga klase na ito ay tingnan 'yung mga home-based learning pa rin, he added.

[Translation: The students are not in the classrooms all day, which is why it is still part of the teachers duty to oversee those under home-based learning.]

In-person classes, which have been suspended for over a year, reopened on a limited scale this month as restrictions eased due to fewer infections.

Since Nov. 15, about 100 public schools and 18 private institutions have begun their pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in the middle of the pandemic. The public schools include more or less 600 participating students from levels kinder, Grade 1, Grade 2 and senior high school, as well as 1,000 teachers and non-teaching staff.

There have been no detected cases among the students so far although some experienced a few symptoms such as coughs and colds, Garma reported. However, these were ruled out as normal." Garma added that the students felt the symptoms while at home and didnt proceed to class afterwards.

The official also reported that based on the assessment of the first set of pilot classes, the younger students, as expected, could not completely follow health protocols initially.

Siguro sa umpisa di talagang mapigilan ang movement dahil bahagi ito sa proseso ng kanilang pag-aaral, he said.

[Translation: Maybe at first, they couldnt prevent their movement since its part of the learning process.]

DepEds hope is for all students to return to school.

Hindi natin alam magiging sitwasyon natin by next year, said Garma. Pag dating sa disenyo ng progama, 'yan na 'yung pinaghahanda natin na lahat ng paaralan sa buong Pilipinas ay makabalik na ho sa paaralan.

[Translation: We dont know the situation next year. We'll be designing the program to prepare for all school classes in the Philippines to return.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has requested Google to include bike lanes in the country in the dashboard of real-time navigation app Google Maps.

In a statement on Thursday, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said including bike lanes in Google Maps would help cyclists in their daily commute.

This will be a very good innovation for Google Maps, considering that many Filipinos now are riding bikes as their main mode of transportation which brings significant health and environmental benefits, especially amid the pandemic, Tugade said.

We have asked Google to consider this suggestion as top priority, considering the increasing number of Filipino cyclists. We are confident that we can win their support on this, he added.

The DOTr has completed its 500-kilometer bike lane network in metropolitan cities across the country. This includes 313.12 km in Metro Manila, 129.47 km in Metro Cebu, and 54.74 km in Metro Davao.

The bike lanes have pavement markings, physical separators, solar-powered road studs, thermoplastic paints, signages, and bike racks. The project was funded through the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  President Rodrigo Duterte called for stronger economic ties for recovery and climate action during the virtual 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.

During the second plenary session, Duterte highlighted the importance of multilateral actions to boost recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the effects climate change.

He reiterated the willingness of the Philippines to resume negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union that is seen to help lift millions of Filipinos out of poverty. He also renewed support for an open and fair trading system under the World Trade Organization.

The President also emphasized the need to safely reopen borders and for a framework for vaccine certificate recognition that is non-discriminatory and follows World Health Organization standards.

On climate change, Duterte appealed for climate justice, stressing that "those who benefitted from our planet the most must do more."

In his speech during the retreat session, he repeated the stand of the Philippines that maritime disputes must be settled peacefully in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Specifically in the South China Sea, Duterte said it must "remain a sea of peace, stability and prosperity, where the vital interests of stakeholders inside and outside the region are recognized and respected."

"We acknowledge China's reaffirmation of commitment to an early conclusion of negotiations on a substantive and effective Code of Conduct on the South China Sea," he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) - Former Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. official Krizle Grace Mago confirmed the management ordered her to change the expiry dates of the face shields being sold to the government.

"It was the Pharmally management who gave me the instruction regarding the repacking," Mago said Friday during the latest Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the allegedly anomalous procurement of COVID-19 medical supplies.

Mago, however, did not disclose who in particular gave the order.

In her previous testimony on Sept. 24, Mago tagged Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani as the one who ordered her to tamper with the face shields.

RELATED: Pharmally official admits firm changed expiration dates for face shields

"On my whole duration of work in Pharmally, usually instructions come from Sir Mohit. Yun nag-prompt sakin (This prompted me) to mention his name, but that was inaccurate. I didn't intend to lie, there was pressure involved," Mago said.

Mago later recanted her confession, saying she felt "pressured" into making such statements.

"I did feel pressure for the whole investigation. At the same time, I was trying not to be evasive and answer questions because there is also a threat of being cited for contempt if I become evasive in the questions of the Senate," Mago explained.

Senators grilled Mago on her response after they played a video of the Sept. 24 hearing, where she confidently said Pharmally had "swindled" the government.

"You saw the video. I don't think you can point to any portion there where senators tried to bamboozle you into answering," Senate Minority Leader Frank Drilon said.

Mago also claimed it was her own decision to seek refuge at the House of Representatives. She said she left the House's protective custody last Nov. 15 as she has planned to go back to the province.

However, Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Richard Gordon did not buy Mago's remarks.

"Concerned ako sayo eh (I am concerned about you). To be very frank, I'm looking at you as a lost soul, a lost generation. And I mean it," Gordon said.

Gordon's committee is currently looking into the government's handling of COVID-19 response funds, which also covers the purchase of "overpriced" face masks and face shields.

The next hearing will be on Dec. 3.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  COVID-19 cases in the Philippines have been declining, but that is no reason to be complacent, an infectious diseases expert said Friday.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, a member of the Department of Health-Technical Advisory Group (DOH-TAG), said the country should not follow Europe in relaxing restrictions.

He was responding to a question on whether the Philippines can afford a less restrictive alert level as the Christmas holidays draw nearer.

"Sa Europe, tumataas dahil masyado silang nagluwag, dahil mababa 'yung cases at mataas na 'yung vaccination," Salvana said.

[Translation: In Europe, cases are rising because they've been lax since their infections decreased and their vaccination rate went up.]

"So, I think, ang importante sa atin, tuloy-tuloy pa rin 'yung ginagawa natin na dahan-dahan lang tayo nagbubukas, at (the important thing is we continue what we're doingslowly reopeningand) we watch for any spikes and continue our genomic surveillance," he added.

Salvana noted the alert level system, after all, is based on community transmission.

So as long as transmission is low, the prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration (PDITR) strategy continues, and health care capacity remains manageable, a gradual opening is not going to be a problem, he said.

This comes as the government bared the possibility of Metro Manila deescalating to Alert Level 1 by next month. The capital is currently on Alert Level 2 and is classified as low-risk for COVID-19.

Europe, on the other hand, is facing a resurgence in cases after some countries eased rules on mask wearing.

Salvana stressed the "virus is still there," and that the public should continue to follow minimum public health standards and get vaccinated.

"Akala natin 'pag may bakuna na tayo, eh, end of the pandemic. Mukhang hindi ganu'n 'yung nangyayari. Nagiging endemic 'yung virus," he said. "Ngunit alam naman natin 'yung gumagana na interventions, katulad ng patuloy na paggamit ng mask."

[Translation: We thought we'll reach the end of the pandemic once we get the vaccine. It seems that's not the case. The virus is becoming endemic. But we know what interventions work, including the wearing of face mask.]

The expert also issued the warning amid the potential threat of yet another variant that health authorities in the United Kingdom said may be more transmissible and for which current vaccines may be less effective.

The B.1. 1.529 variant has so far been detected in South Africa and Botswana, and in a traveler to Hong Kong from South Africa.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) A lawmaker has filed a resolution urging the government to ramp up maritime efforts and condemning Chinas hostile acts in Philippine waters.

Senate Resolution No. 954  filed by Senator Ping Lacson on Friday  called on the national government to fortify, amplify, and enhance positions in the West Philippine Sea amid China's continued presence in the area.

This can be done through defense and security agreements with other countries, and by consistently invoking territorial rights through diplomatic dialogues, Lacson said.

In pursuit of sending a stronger message of assertion that Pag-asa Island is ours, a comprehensive development plan must be crafted laying out concrete projects, programs, and activities aimed at improving the quality of life and efficient delivery of public services therein, the presidential aspirant further noted in his resolution.

On Nov. 16, three Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked and fired water cannon on two Philippine boats transporting food supplies to Filipino soldiers onboard BRP Sierra Madre.

Earlier this week, Beijing demanded that the Philippines follow its commitment to remove its grounded ship from Ayungin Shoal. Government officials have denied there was a commitment.

RELATED: Chinese authorities radio challenge Pag-asa Island-bound flight
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  A different formulation of COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech will be given to children aged 5-11, the country's Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said current stock of Pfizer vaccines will not be given to younger minors anytime soon, since the manufacturer has yet to apply for an expanded emergency use authorization for the 5-11 age group.

But how will the preparation be different from the Pfizer vaccines currently administered to adults and children aged 12-17 years old?

"I think it's a lower dose first of all, kasi maliit na bata na yung (because of the smaller children aged) 5-11," Domingo said. "Yung (the) preparation, it means the way it is bottled, how many doses per vial and whether its in liquid or powder form. Yun lang naman yung mga pagkakaiba."

"It is the same vaccine, its the same mRNA, but it might come in a different form or in a different dosage for smaller children," he said.

Domingo expressed confidence that Pfizer will file its expanded EUA for the younger age group within December.

"Kasi very particular ang EUA (Because EUAs are very particular). Every time we give an EUA to a product, its exactly the form that it was used in the clinical trials," he noted.

"It's possible na kung ano ang ginagamit sa adults ngayon, hindi yan ang gagamitin (what's being used on adults now will not be used) for children," Domingo added.

The government is currently administering Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for minors aged 12-17. The two brands, including Sinovac and AstraZeneca are also being administered as booster shots and third doses for health workers, senior citizens, and immunocompromised people depending on the brand of their first and second doses.

As of Nov. 25, the government has administered 79 million COVID-19 shots, 137,801 of which are booster doses. More than 44 million have received their first shot while over 34 million have completed their doses.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  A former top diplomat urged the Duterte administration to look into holding joint patrols with the United States after China demanded the removal of grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea.

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the government focused mainly on bilateral diplomacy with China that it neglected other options to deal with the Asian megapower's incursions in the Philippine territory.

"The matter of Ayungin shoal as a proper subject of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States should perhaps be considered, including the necessity of joint patrol," he said in a statement.

The decades-old Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and United States guarantees that they will both provide military aid to each other in case their metropolitan areas or their territories in the Pacific are attacked by a foreign force.

China on Wednesday demanded that the Philippines remove BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era warship which has been grounded on Ayungin Shoal since 1999, saying it should honor its commitment.

Philippine officials denied the existence of such agreement. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines is free to do anything it wishes in Ayungin, adding that China is actually the one trespassing since the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) already ruled in favor of the Philippines.

Malacanang on Friday supported Lorenzana's statement.

"We will fully exercise our sovereign rights over our territory," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said.

Earlier this month, three Chinese maritime militia blocked and fired water cannon at Philippine vessels on its way to deliver supplies to troops on board BRP Sierra Madre. Several nations, including the United States, expressed support for the Philippines and condemned China's actions.

CNN Philippines correspondent Tristan Nodalo contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee approved a motion on Friday seeking the transfer of embattled Pharmally executives Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong to the Pasay City Jail for failing to turn over documents requested by the body.

The motion also called for Twinkle Dargani to remain under Senate custody due to her mental health issues.

"I know you know, I'm not gonna be fooled by you. This time, I will not be forgiving. I will not be compassionate," said Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon. "If you want to play hard ball, we play hard ball. We're not defenseless."

Senators grilled the two Pharmally male officials on the location of "mysterious" boxes, which allegedly contain crucial documents including the cost of medical goods sold to the national government for its COVID-19 pandemic response.

Dargani responded that he wanted to talk with Ong first to find out where the boxes are. Ong agreed, but insisted they should talk with the company's accountant and tax lawyer.

Gordon commented that Dargani and Ong appear to be giving the senators the runaround.

"They cannot be allowed to use the excuse that their movement is restricted. Ginagawang dahilan para hindi maretrive ang dokumento (They are using it as a reason to not retrieve the documents)," said Sen. Kiko Pangilinan.

Aira Moscoso and Jeff Mariano, two of Pharmally's accountants, both maintained they do not know the present location of the boxes in question.

Twinkle Dargani also insisted she did not know the location of the boxes as she claims she was only a "temporary substitute" to the embattled firm's president.

"I wasn't part of the operations nor the financial nor the transactions. I was told to sign some documents, my only participation in the company," said Dargani, whose response was not bought by Gordon since she remains to be a director of the company.

Gordon even threatened to send Dargani to the Correctional Institute for Women and the National Center for Mental Health, but settled for a Senate custody due to her mental health considerations.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee previously ordered Ong to be brought to the Pasay City Jail for allegedly lying in one of their hearings.

The Dargani siblings attempted to escape the country last Nov. 14 but were caught by Senate security personnel at the Davao City International Airport. They have since been detained at the Senate.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  With numerous medical frontliners still complaining they have yet to receive benefits related to the COVID-19 pandemic, some senators on Friday suggested inviting concerned government officials to clarify the issue.

"When we resume sessions, perhaps we can invite the Secretary of Health and the Secretary of Budget before we act or vote on the General Appropriations measure on Dec. 1...Baka maaaring magpaliwanag sila ano na talaga status nitong sitwasyon ng ating mga health workers [Maybe they can explain what really is the status of the situation of our health workers]," Sen. Kiko Pangilinan said during the Blue Ribbon Committee's 15th hearing on the government's use of COVID-19 response funds.

During the hearing, health worker representatives said several colleagues have not received their allowances at all, or got less than what they were promised.

"Kailangan nating siguruhin sa DOH bago aprubahan ang 2022 budget na ire-release talaga at nire-release na talaga nila 'yung mga benefits sa ating health workers," Sen. Risa Hontiveros said as she agreed with Pangilinan's proposal.

[Translation: We need to ensure with the DOH before approving the 2022 budget that they will be and are actually releasing the benefits to our health workers.]

RELATED: Senators want higher risk allowances for COVID-19 health workers

Several health workers had staged protests in the previous months - decrying the delays in the release of their benefits amid the coronavirus crisis.

"In no uncertain terms, DOH, the budget must deliver what the nurses and the healthcare workers are due. Because if this happens again, I will not be surprised if they cannot help themselves especially if they are getting sick," committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said.

Senate President Tito Sotto earlier said they are eyeing the approval of the proposed 5.024 trillion budget for 2022  the biggest in Philippine history  and its ratification by .
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26)  The Civil Service Commission is set to release a uniform policy for the RT-PCR testing of partially vaccinated government employees required to work on-site.

"Merong fina-finalize ngayon ang CSC na policy (The CSC is currently finalizing the policy) [....] We have conducted several commission meetings about it, together with our legal and our policy office. Hintayin na lang po natin (Let's just wait for it)," CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada disclosed Friday.

Lizada said they will also coordinate with the Health Department for the guidelines, which may be released "anytime soon."

Inter-Agency Task Force Spokesperson Karlo Nograles earlier said the government was leaving it up to employers in the public and private sectors to decide how frequent their on-site staff will undergo COVID-19 testing.

He added, however, that the minimum should be once every two weeks. The RT-PCR tests must be shouldered by the workers.

READ: Testing policy for partially vaccinated on-site workers up to employers
Apple says its lawsuit against NSO Group this week is an attempt to hold the surveillance firm "accountable for ... the surveillance and targeting of Apple users." And it spared no ire in accusing the Israeli spyware company of its selling surveillance software to authoritarian governments  regardless of whether those governments use it to target dissidents, journalists, and activists.

NSO Group was already facing legal problems after messenger platform provider WhatsApp filed suit in 2019 for similar reasons. Earlier this month, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the spyware companys claim that it should be protected under sovereign immunity laws. In the high-profile case, WhatsApp alleged NSOs spyware was used to hack 1,400 users of the messaging app.

The two lawsuits open the company to discovery requirements as the cases move forward. Until now, NSO Group has been able to cloak its business practices in secrecy.

In September, Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog organization, released a report outlining what it found to be zero-day zero-click exploits by NSO Groups Pegasus spyware against various electronic devices and digital documents.

I think its highly unlikely they had no ability to control and no idea about the misuses of their software  especially over the past year or two because Citizen Lab and other organizations have been documenting the misuse of the software," said Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights group based in San Francisco. "I mean, after [Jamal] Khashoggi was killed, how do you not wonder?

Various media outlets have alleged that NSO Groups hacking malware was used to monitor people close to Saudi Arabian journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi both before and after his death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

The NSO Group emphatically denied that its government clients used the spyware to target the journalist or his family.

The EFF published a paper, Know Your Customer, arguing the burden should be on the technology company to document its customers human rights records before selling them software that could be used to spy on citizens.

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize if youre selling to the government of Saudi Arabia, its quite likely this software will be used against dissidents, Cohn said.

Apple has made four claims for relief against NSO Group, specifically:

Violations of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

Violations of California Business and Professions Code  17200

Breach Of Contract (specifically around iCloud Terms of use)

Unjust Enrichment (as an alternative to the third count)

In Apples filing, it described the NSO Group as notorious hackers  amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse. They design, develop, sell, deliver, deploy, operate, and maintain offensive and destructive malware and spyware products and services that have been used to target, attack, and harm Apple users, Apple products, and Apple.

Apple protrayed the NSO Group as dealing in spyware for its own commercial gain, allowing customers to abuse its offerings to target individuals, including government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and even U.S. citizens.

Apple revealed NSO Groups FORCEDENTRY exploit had also been used to break into an Apple customers device to install the latest version of Pegasus.

Apple claimed that the NSO Groups software did not breach data contained on Apple servers, but it did abuse the company's services and servers to perpetrate attacks on users users and the data stored on their devices. (The Israeli firm sells software that can aid governments and security personnel in the hacking of iPhones.)

The EFF raised questions about whether the legal action now under way could set a precedent enabling the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to be used against legitimate actors such as Citizens Lab or other entities that investigate tech companies for improprieties.

"It's a vague law that gets misused by prosecutors and private companies a lot," Cohn said. "...Were going to be watching this case very closely to make sure the impact of this case stays grounded in these bad actors and doesnt spill over to the very researchers like Citizen Lab who brought this information public. Sadly, the law is not well defined in a way to make us comfortable that that will automatically happen."

Jack Gold, president and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, said if successful, Apples lawsuit has the potential to render the NSO's main product "worthless," since it depends on granting clients "full access" to targeted smartphones. But Gold also questioned how effective a win would be in the end because the NSO Group is headquartered in Israel, not the US, and Apple would have to file separate lawsuits in each country in which they operate.

Apple might win in the US courts and bar NSO here, but that is only in the US, Gold said. The EU and other countries would have to somehow sign on to any lawsuit. Its not clear to me if Apple intends to pursue NSO in every country in the world where it operates, which it would have to do to completely prevent NSO working on any Apple devices.

Its also not clear to Gold how Apple as a company has been harmed. It has caused damage to a few Apple users, but it might be hard for Apple to prove any damage to its reputation, he said. So, in essence, it is suing on behalf of its users, and I dont know if that will fly.

The jurisdictional reach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is broad, according to Cohn. The US government uses it regularly to bring international cases against entities not based within its borders.

So Im not too worried about jurisdiction. There are some risks in an overbroad interpretation of the CFAA and some of the other claims Apple is doing, but I think if its done correctly, it could be extremely affective, Cohn said.

In some ways, Apples case may rely on the financial impact spyware can have on its bottom line, according to Cohn.

"These companies have to spend a lot of resources to try to block out these bad actors," she said. "I appreciate these companies are ultimately standing up for the human rights of these users. But what comes clear out of the complaint is [Apple has] got a financial interest, as well, in stopping this arms race situation and protecting their own bottom line and the amount of money they have to spend to try to deal with these malicious programs, Cohn said.

The EFF is an unlikely cheerleader of Apple; it has been highly critical of the company for its own device surveillance efforts.

Over the past few months, the digital rights group has been protesting Apples new scanning system for Child Sexual Abuse Material on users devices. In September, EFF flew a protest banner over Apples Cupertino, Calif. headquarters calling on the company to stop scanning users iPhones.

Theyre still doing stuff we dont like, but now theyre finally doing something we do like, Cohn said. So, its a much better way to start the holiday to praise them rather than complain about them.
Government to create own cryptocurrency, ban rivals in India

The government hopes to create an official digital currency for India, and ban trading in other cryptocurrencies, in a bill it will present in the next parliamentary session.

The purpose of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 is To create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India, according to a bulletin on the Lok Sabha website. The Bill also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India; however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses, it continued.

The government will introduce the bill along with 26 other bills listed for debate during the Winter session of Parliament.

In January the called for a ban on bitcoin and other private virtual currencies, and at the same time building the framework for an official digital currency. RBI is working on preparations regarding its technology and use.

Cryptocurrencies legal status has proven controversial in India in recent years. In 2018, the central bank banned Indian banks from providing financial services to cryptocurrency exchanges, putting the brakes on Indias cryptocurrency economy.

The Blockchain and Crypto Assets Council (BACC) of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), is among those opposed to a ban. This week, it warned that a ban could lead to more unlawful usage of cryptocurrencies, tax evasion, and harm to retain investors. It said that smarter regulation could help monitor Indian buyers and sellers of cryptocurrency, limiting illegal usage and leading to better taxation, and suggested encouraging the development of Indian cryptocurrency exchanges as a way to achieve these goals.

Airtel increases mobile tariffs to fund 5G

Airtel is increasing its prepaid mobile tariffs from November 26, 2021. The company said this will provide a reasonable return on capital that allows for a financially healthy business model. Even more important, this will give Airtel the elbow room to roll out 5G in India, it said.

Shortly after Airtels announcement, Vodafone Idea raised its prepaid prices too. It said it the increase will enable it to improve its network and play its part in realising the governments vison for Digital India, although it didnt directly link the rise to its 5G roll-out.

Indias 5G roll-out is coming closer. A week before the price rises, union minister for railways, communications and electronics, and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the governments auction of the necessary 5G spectrum is likely to take place by April or May 2022.

In the past, Airtel had expressed its displeasure at the high prices set for the 5G spectrum and was even sceptical about its participation in the auction. In March 2021, the Indian government auctioned off new radio spectrum allocations for existing technologies and Airtel acquired 355.45MHz spectrum for 187 billion.

Indias Personal Data Protection Bill takes a small step forward

The Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 has adopted its draft report, two years after the Cabinet approved the bill to protect citizens personal information in December 2019.

The bill was drafted after a Supreme Court ruling that declared privacy a fundamental right in August 2017.

It sets out how private companies and the government should use citizens data and proposes creation of a data protection authority with the power to fine companies up to 4% of their annual turnover if they misuse citizens data.

Some aspects of the bill were still proving controversial as the committees report was finalised, including exemptions for government use of data, measures relating to social media companies, and rules for facial recognition.

JPC members had expected the bill to be submitted for debate during the first weeks of the winter parliamentary session, media reports have said, but the bill did not appear on the Lok Sabhas list of legislative business for the session published this week.

IT employment to rise

The IT service sector will recruit 450,000 new workers in the six months to April 2022, according to research by Unearthinsight. However, it forecast that the net gain in jobs will be much lower, at around 175,000, because of high attrition rates in the industry. It estimated the attrition rate at 17-19% over the last twelve months, with some firms recently experiencing much higher rates: 33% at Cognizant in Q2, and 20-21% at Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Infosys, it said.
80%

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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-11-26, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.
We are not doing bad, but we are not touching the heights either. Unlike us, other countries such as the US are focussing on ensuring that their future citizens have a higher EQ (Emotional Quotient) with the help of initiatives such as the Yale Centre of Emotional Intelligence. Here we offer our experiences from a course of social movements being offered at some IIMs for the last few years.

Social movements course

The course attempts to develop an understanding among students that movements are not always disruptive and some of them have played important roles in addressing the issues of injustice in society. Dissent is an important ingredient of democracy otherwise democracy may degenerate into authoritarian rule.

Moreover, as future corporate managers, the students should evince holistic understanding of any unpleasant situation where the corporation is adversely affecting the lives or livelihoods of local community and be in a position to sensitively resolve the issue not just in the interest of the corporation but also of the common people. The students learn about the struggles of traditional communities, adivasis to save their natural resources from exploitation by the corporates, hand in gloves with the government.

Throughout freedom struggle people would follow Gandhiji's calls almost blindly because he could connect with them better than anyone

They learn about the rights of marginalised communities like women, Dalits, LGBTQIA+ so that they can be treated equally. They learn that any case of sexual harassment should not be pushed under the carpet for the fear of brining bad name to the institution but must be dealt with squarely. They learn about the similarities between black rights in United States and Dalit rights in India and how Martin Luther King was described as an untouchable in South India during his visit.

They learn about movements for political democracies, some of which have been successful like in Nepal and South Africa and some which are still far away from their goal like Palestine and Tibet. They learn about how Muslim women came out to defend their right of citizenship during the anti-CAA, NRC movements as well as about the state of American farmers and how they have been deceived by laws similar to ones being forced upon farmers in India.

Finally, they learn how great traditions of Kabir, Meera, Sai Baba, Guru Nanak, Swami Vivekanand and Mahatma Gandhi have held India together and their ideologies have worked as a bullwork against any attempt to divide the society on communal-caste lines.

An important feature of this course is that there are no examinations in it. Students have to make a presentation in the class on any movements of their choice. They can even choose ones not covered formally by the course. They interact with an activist to understand the movement and report their learnings in a reflective journal.

The most important assignment of the course is to understand the lives of marginalized in India by connecting with one family at a personal level belonging to socio-economic weaker category than theirs and try to do something in their lives which would bring a qualitative change in psychological, material status of the family. Suddenly students start viewing their domestic help or staff in their hostels not merely as paid employees but as human beings.

A number of students not only helped the children of such staff acquire good quality mobile phones but also taught them how to use the sophisticated devices so that they could study during times of lockdown. The students testimonies provide us confidence in saying that it has helped them to see the world around them in different light.

They might not give sensational social media or mass media content, but they understand their responsibilities towards the society better than prior to taking this course. We are happy to see that the corporate leaders of tomorrow are on a path to become sensitive towards society they are going to live in.

We cannot deny the fact that there is a huge role of internet to spread the knowledge about sustainable initiatives, movements across communities etc. but we strongly believe that to search this information, an individual must have a push from inside and a stronger emotional intelligence accompanied with empathy could be the driving factor behind the same.

It is not going to be easy. The students, schools or activists might not be interested in this idea at all. There could be several operational challenges as well in getting the activists given that they are always running from place to another. But the one thing that Covid has given us is more efficient remote connectivity. So why not leverage that.

Despite all the foreseeable and unforeseeable challenges, even a single success story from one corner of the country would make it a better place than what it used to be.

---

*Shrey Ostwal is PGP student at Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru; Magsaysay award winning activist and scholar, Sandeep Pandey has taught social movements at IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Indore

The pivotal point of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhis journey to become Mahatma Gandhi began when his political guru  Gopal Krishna Gokhale  advised young Mohandas to travel around India. This rigorous journey was essential for Mohandas to understand his country and countrypersons better if he were to fight the inhumane and unempathetic British regime which had been looting India of its glory for about two centuries then.When Gandhi visited the nook and corners of the country, he realized that the Bharat that he imagined was much different from what he saw. There were multitudes of smaller and marginalized factions in the society who were struggling to make ends meet even after spending days of labour on farmlands under the British boots.Even though Gandhiji could have swallowed libraries to understand the culture and diversity in India but an experiential learning (the selling lingo used by many renowned universities across the world today) in form of Bharat Bhraman gave him a heart wrenching first-hand exposure to pains of his fellow countrypersons. Therefore, throughout the freedom struggle people would follow his calls almost blindly because he could connect with them better than anyone.We completely understand that we might not see the next Mahatma anytime soon, although we need one desperately in such tough and uncertain times. However, if we are to restore the glory of our culturally rich and diverse country, the education system of India must become the torch bearer. We have established NITs, IITs, AIIMS, IIMs and many other institutes that have global standing.However, there is a huge chasm between the highly educated and the illiterate, half-literate and badly literate (sub-standard education, resorting to unfair means) masses. The villagers of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the farmers protesting for almost a year now near the capitals borders, the women demanding right to enter temple in Kerala and the ones protesting against the CAA-NRC, the people from the north-east, the transgender community, the Dalits and minorities in rural and urban India are large chunks who are content living on the crumbs of modern education driven development process.The biggest question staring at us right now is how could education bridge this enormous gap? While there are many capable experts of the field and equally competent bureaucrats scratching their heads, nobody has a clear answer.One suggestion to bridge the gap between the elite India and the common person is to develop empathy and what better place to start than from school. And, as per the study on empathy among individuals across more than 60 countries conducted by William J Chopik, Ed OBrien and Sara H Konrath, India ranks at 35th position.
LONDON (AP)  The bars are shut in Vienna, and the Christmas market is empty in Munich, as several European nations tighten up or even lock down to combat a spike in coronavirus infections.

Meanwhile in London, couples sip mulled wine at a seasonal market near the River Thames, full-capacity audiences fill the seats at the nearby National Theatre, and friends huddle over pints in pubs throughout the city.

Not for the first time in the pandemic, Britain is out of step with many of its neighbors. But this time, its happy to be different.

The U.K. has endured three nationwide lockdowns and recorded nearly 145,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest toll in Europe after Russia. Now, it is watching as hospitals struggle with surging cases in countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, bringing lockdowns and restrictions. But while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that a blizzard from the east could still ruin Britains Christmas, many scientists say the wind is now blowing the other way.

We are not behind Europe in this wave. They are behind us, said Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia.

The surge that is now hitting mainland Europe, driven by the highly transmissible delta strain of the virus, walloped Britain in the summer, just as the government removed all remaining legal restrictions on the economy and daily life.

Because Britain got delta in the summer, when respiratory viruses are transmitted less readily, it wasnt so explosive as we would expect it to be in the winter, and as were now seeing in in some European countries, Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease modelling at the University of Edinburgh, said.

I think the U.K. got its delta wave at a fortuitous time, whereas Austria, for example, its the exact opposite, he said. Austria, where average daily deaths have almost doubled in the past two weeks, has gone into lockdown, and authorities there plan to mandate vaccinations beginning Feb. 1.

The World Health Organization said this week that Europe is the only region of the world where coronavirus cases are rising, and the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring unless urgent measures are taken soon.

But Britain stands somewhat apart.

Many scientists predicted the country would see a spike in cases after July 19  dubbed Freedom Day by the media  when almost all restrictions were lifted. It didnt happen.

Infection rates that were then among the highest in Europe, drifted up and down but never soared again as feared, though they remain stubbornly high. Britain is recording more than 40,000 new cases a day, a level last seen during the past winters surge. But a relatively high vaccination rate  particularly among the elderly  means hospitalizations and deaths are far lower than in previous waves. Still, 130 people a day died in the past week after testing positive for COVID-19.

Britains hospitals have not been overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, though they are extremely busy as the health system struggles to clear a huge backlog built up during the pandemic. Johnsons Conservative government has so far not had to trigger its Plan B, which would reintroduce mask mandates and work-from-home orders to ease pressure on the health system.

That could yet change. The pandemic's capacity for nasty surprises was highlighted Friday when Britain banned flights from South Africa and several other countries over a new variant described by scientists as a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread.

For now, life in Britain can feel unusually normal  even festive, as many embrace the holiday season with renewed enthusiasm. But it is a new, more constrained normal.

Visitors from countries where restrictions are still in place are sometimes taken aback by Britain's voluntary, variable approach to mask use and social distancing. But Ivo Vlaev, a behavioral scientist at the University of Warwick who has studied data from across Europe, says people in the U.K. have largely stuck to protective measures  including limiting their contacts with others  even when they were no longer required by law. Movement data suggests Britons still travel and mix less than before the pandemic.

It seems to be the case that in U.K. people are more compliant in general across all health-protective behaviors than in some other European nations, Vaev said.

Partly, he says, the reason is fear  we actually are quite afraid to go out and do the usual stuff after Britain's harsh pandemic experience.

While some European countries are turning to compulsion to get more people vaccinated, the U.K. is sticking with persuasion. Britain does not widely require proof of vaccination attend events or workplaces, and the government has ruled out mandating vaccines for everyone, though health and social care workers have been ordered to get shots.

Britain hasn't seen as much resistance to the vaccine as many other countries, and about 88% of people aged 12 and up have had at least one dose. But only about 68% of the whole population is fully vaccinated, a lower figure than in some other European nations, partly because the U.K. was slower than many of its neighbors to offer shots to children aged 12 to 15, and has not yet approved vaccines for younger kids.

The governments focus is on giving booster doses to those most vulnerable to serious illness, offering a third shot to everyone 40 and up six months after their second.

Get your booster as soon as you can, the prime minister said this week. Because it is by vaccinating our country that we have been able to get your staff back to their place of work, to open our theaters, our restaurants and get back for longer now than any comparator country, to something like normal life.

Some public health specialists and opposition politicians say the government is relying too much on vaccination to keep the virus at bay. They want the return of mandatory masks, social distancing and other measures.

But some epidemiologists are cautiously optimistic that enough is being done to keep a lid on the virus over the winter. Perhaps ironically, Hunter says Britains heavy coronavirus toll puts it in a stronger position than those countries where the virus is now surging.

Theyve got populations that are not as well immunized, whether that is from vaccine or infection, as we have, he said. We still have a lot more immunity from natural infection than most European countries, and were rolling out the booster. That is why we will have less of a troublesome winter than most.

___

Follow APs coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The evacuation of American citizens and others from Afghanistan didnt end with the departure of the last U.S. troops on Aug. 30, but it did slow to a trickle. The U.S. airlifted 124,000 people from Kabul, the capital, over about six weeks as the American-backed Afghan military and government fell to the Taliban.

Since then, several thousand people have managed to get out, mostly on flights arranged by the State Department or private groups and individuals. That includes some high-profile efforts, such as the Nov. 18 flight chartered by reality TV star Kim Kardashian West for members of Afghanistans womens youth development soccer team and their families.

Most of the departures, however, have been carried out quietly for remaining American citizens, U.S. residents or people with the special immigrant visa for those who worked as military interpreters or otherwise aided the 20-year, Washington-led war effort. But people involved in these efforts are calling on the United States and other nations to do more to help people escape Taliban rule.

A look at the current situation:

WHO GOT OUT DURING THE INITIAL PHASE AND WHERE DID THEY GO?

As the Afghan government and military fell to the Taliban in August, the U.S. hastily sought to evacuate as many people as possible through the main airport in Kabul. It was a chaotic scene because the collapse happened more quickly than the U.S. government anticipated. The evacuation, mostly on military cargo jets, prioritized American citizens, U.S. permanent residents, special visa holders or those whose work would likely make them eligible, along with their families. The flights also carried people who were considered particularly vulnerable to Taliban retribution or their harsh rule, including journalists and human rights advocates.

The 124,000 people evacuated in the initial phases included about 6,000 American citizens. Some Afghans from these flights have been temporarily moved to at least eight countries that agreed to take people who may ultimately reach the U.S. as refugees or will be resettled elsewhere. The U.S. has so far admitted 73,000 Afghans from this initial phase. They will eventually move to communities around the United States with assistance from private organizations. About 40,000 are still being housed at seven military bases in the U.S. as they complete immigration and medical processing and await resettlement.

___

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE?

In September, the Taliban started to allow some charter flights to leave the country with American citizens, U.S. residents and visa holders, as well as people from other countries and Afghans with proper travel documents. Private organizations with names such as Allied Airlift 21 and Task Force Argo have reported getting charter flights out with hundreds of people. The State Department has chartered flights and says it has evacuated 435 American citizens and 325 people with permanent U.S. resident status  green card holders  since Aug. 30.

People involved in these efforts estimate the total number evacuated at perhaps about 8,000. It's limited for many reasons, including the fact that people are in hiding or have destroyed or lost personal documents when the Taliban took. Applying for an immigrant visa to the U.S. at this point is difficult because the the American Embassy has closed; Qatar recently agreed to handle some consular services for the U.S.

___

ARE THERE STILL AMERICAN CITIZENS IN AFGHANISTAN?

Yes.

Biden administration officials said this month they believe several hundred remain in Afghanistan. The State Department continues to offer passage out to any citizens or people with permanent resident status. As the U.S. military evacuation ended, Secretary of State Antony Blinken put the number of Americans left behind at under 200, likely closer to 100." The number flown out by the State Department since then is more than four times that amount.

Blinken has since said the department is in contact with American citizens who have indicated they want to leave. But private organizations such as Task Force Argo and others say they have heard from dozens of people in Afghanistan who have yet to be contacted by the U.S. government. It's a hazy picture for good reason. Americans in Afghanistan were not required to register with the embassy and some people with U.S. citizenship or green cards may be hiding from the Taliban. Blinken also has said some people do not want to leave because they do not want to leave behind family members.

___

WHAT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LEAVE?

Human rights groups and organizations working to help Afghans say there are at least tens of thousands of people in Afghanistan who could face reprisals and need to escape. That includes people who worked for the U.S.-backed government or military but also members of ethnic minorities or people who are LGBTQ. Some have fled on their own to other countries and may be able to apply to get to the U.S. elsewhere as refugees.

AfghanEvac is a coalition of more than 100 organizations working to help people get out of Afghanistan country; many of those groups were started by military veterans. Representatives from AfghanEvac recently met with Blinken as part of a campaign to persuade the U.S. to step up the evacuation effort.

Groups are also enlisting help from Congress, hoping to expand the categories of people who would qualify for the special immigrant visa, perhaps to include those who served in elite Afghan military units. Some are also seeking more financial support from the U.S. government. We need some help, we really do, Scott Mann, founder of Task Force Pineapple, which aims to connect people in Afghanistan with flights out of the country. This is a problem of scale and it is outpacing us quickly.
BRIDGEPORT - City officials have decided to continue fighting to keep a police officer, fired for allegedly using excessive force, off the Police Department.

On Friday, the city filed an appeal with the state Appellate Court of a lower courts ruling upholding an arbitrators order for the city to rehire Officer Michael Stanitis with back pay.

The lawyer hired by the city to bring the appeal did not return calls and emails for comment.

While this is the third time in a decade an arbitrator has ordered the city to rehire a police officer fired for misconduct it is the first time the city has appealed the decision to an appeals court.

We are disappointed that the city wants to continue to appeal, especially since the union has prevailed twice in this case, said Police Union President Brad Seely. It is time for the city to stop wasting taxpayer money fighting this decision and allow Officer Stantis to rightfully return to work.

In October 2020, the citys Police Commission voted 5 to 2 to fire Officer Stanitis for using excessive force while responding to a loud party complaint at a Colorado Avenue home on Oct. 21, 2017.

The city subsequently agreed to pay $342,000 to a partygoer, Carmelo Mendez, who claimed he was beaten in the face and head by Stanitis with a flashlight as Mendez was held by other officers on the ground.

Officer Stanitis is seen on video taking what appears to be an object from his duty belt, then keeling near the head of (a partygoer) and strike him several times with what appeared to be downward strikes, the report said. Officer Stanitis was observed on video utilizing this behavior on two occasions during the arrest of (the partygoer), according to a report of the citys Office of Internal Affairs.

The citys police union appealed Stanitis firing and the grievance was moved to arbitration before American Arbitration Association arbitrator Michael Ricci.

On March 17, 2021, Ricci ruled the evidence presented before the Police Commission had been neither clear nor convincing that Stanitis had used excessive force on Mendez. He ordered Stanitis returned to duty with back pay.

The lack of clarity in the video hinders the citys ability to convince the arbitrator that their narrative is probable, the arbitrator stated in his report. In other words, the video does not clearly prove that the grievant (Stanitis) struck Mr. Mendez or used excessive force and thus, it does not sufficiently serve as a basis for discipline.

Mendez, who suffered large welts on his head and needed medical attention, also identified Stanitis as his attacker before the Police Commission. However, Ricci stated that both Mendez and Stanitis had described the situation at the scene as chaos.

The arbitrator has no reason to doubt Mr. Mendezs veracity however, there is evidence to question his perception of the definitive facts due to the chaos. Ricci stated.

The city appealed Riccis ruling.

Last week Superior Court Judge Irene Jacobs dismissed the citys appeal.

This court concludes that the arbitrator heard all relevant evidence, that he did not refuse to hear material evidence, and that he did not commit any form of misconduct, the judge ruled. The court finds that the award and the arbitrators findings, although adverse to the plaintiff, do not amount to evidence of bias.
CALAIS, France (AP)  The already fractious relationship between France and Britain spiralled further downward into anger and incomprehension Friday, with the two erstwhile European partners at loggerheads about how to stop migrants from embarking on dangerous crossings of the English Channel that killed at least 27 people in a sinking this week.

Even as the British government insisted that the two countries remain close friends and partners, their words, acts and disputes over migration, fishing and how to rebuild a working relationship in the wake of Britains exit from the EU increasingly suggested otherwise.

President Emmanuel Macron scolded Prime Minister Boris Johnson for making public a letter that the British leader sent to the French leader on Thursday. Most notably, Johnson proposed that France take back migrants who illegally cross the Channel from French to British shores. Macron's spokesman quickly and summarily dismissed the idea, and the French president made his displeasure clear that Johnson posted the letter  addressed Dear Emmanuel  on Twitter.

I am surprised by methods when they are not serious," Macron said on a visit to Italy. You dont communicate from a leader to another on these matters via tweets and letters that are made public. We are not whistleblowers.

Come on, come on, Macron added.

The letter and France's response were the latest crossing of swords between two nations with a storied history of break-ups, make-ups and, not infrequently, of revelling in rubbing each up in the wrong way. The economic, political, social and psychological earthquake of Britain's divorce from the EU has made cross-Channel cooperation harder still, and further complicated the long love-hate relationship between Paris and London.

Even in the wake of the deadliest migration accident to date in the Channel, Macron and Johnson appeared increasingly to be talking past each other  or, in Paris' case, barely willing to talk at all. Macrons government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, said Johnson's point-person on immigration, Home Secretary Priti Patel, was no longer welcome at a meeting Sunday of European ministers wholl explore ways to crack down on migrant-smuggling networks.

Attal described Johnson's letter as fundamentally mediocre and totally uncalled-for in its manner. Suggesting British duplicity, Attal also said it doesnt correspond at all with discussions that Johnson and Macron had Wednesday after the sinking of an inflatable craft laden with migrants off the northern French coast.

We are sick of double-speak, Attal said.

And he dismissed Johnson's proposal that France take back migrants who cross illegally to British shores as clearly not what we need to solve this problem.

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are risking the perilous journey from France, hoping to win asylum or find better opportunities in Britain. More than 23,000 people have already entered the U.K. on largely unseaworthy small boats this year, up from 8,500 in 2020 and just 300 in 2018, according to data compiled by the British Parliament.

In London, Johnson's spokesman Jamie Davies said the prime minister had no regrets about tweeting the letter "written in the spirit of partnership and cooperation.

He expressed hope for a French U-turn on the decision to un-invite Patel to Sundays ministerial meeting on the migration crisis, saying: Friends and neighbors need to work together to address this global challenge collectively, and we have been clear that we need to do more.

A French judicial investigation into Wednesdays sinking has been turned over to Paris-based prosecutors who specialize in complex cases of organized crime. The prosecutors' office said it wouldn't comment on whether investigators are making progress on identifying victims' nationalities or causes of the tragedy.

A French fisherman who said he was first to spot and raise the alarm about bodies in the water on Friday described the scene as a horror movie. Karl Maquinghen said he is haunted by the thought that people might still be alive had he and his shipmates reached them sooner.

"To see so many bodies like that, next to us. Children. I dont know how to explain it. Horrific, Maquinghen said, voice cracking with emotion, in comments broadcast by French coastal radio Delta FM.

The sight of them like that, heads in the water, will stick with us, he said. We tell ourselves: Had we got there five or ten minutes earlier, we could perhaps have saved them.' We can't sleep."

While the sinking has brought long-simmering French-British tensions to a head, it's not their only issue of discord.

Adding to the climate of tension: French fishing crews on Friday briefly blocked French ports, ferry traffic across the English Channel and the freight entrance to the undersea Eurotunnel. The aim of the protest over post-Brexit fishing licenses was to disrupt flows of Britain-bound goods and travelers and signal that greater disturbance could follow amid the Christmas shopping rush.

The British have access to the European market, while we do not have access to British waters. This is not normal, the British government must respect the agreement," Olivier Lepretre, president of the regional fishing committee, said in the port of Calais.

He described the blockades as a warning shot."

Calais  a major jump-off point for migrants aiming to reach Britain  is also where ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and EU officials will meet on Sunday.

Without the British minister.

The ministers will work seriously to resolve a serious matter with people who are serious, Macron said. "Afterwards, we will see with the British how to act effectively, if they decide to be serious.

___

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Also contributing were Pan Pylas and Jill Lawless in London, Oleg Cetinic in Calais and Thomas Adamson in Paris.
WESTPORT  Gov. Ned Lamont took a walk through Westports downtown earlier this week making stops at what he calls three of the coolest stores in the world.

Accompanied by Westporter and social media influencer, Eva Amurri, the two highlighted several places for their positive impact and spirit that they bring to town as part of a new video to encourage residents to go out and support local small businesses.

Lamont, who partnered with Amurri and the Department of Economic and Community Development to spread the word, said the states small businesses are a big part of what makes Connecticut towns and cities great. The message comes day before Small Business Saturday this weekend which celebrates and supports small businesses.

I continue to be impressed with what our small businesses owners are doing to operate in a continuously changing and complex world, serve their community, and make a good living, Lamont said. Adding character and spirit in addition to creating jobs and keeping our local economy strong.

Amurri, who is also a blogger, actress, and entrepreneur, launched her blog HappilyEvaAfter.com in 2015. In August, she launched Do Your Thing CT!  a campaign that spotlighted local businesses and shares their stories of perseverance through COVID-19.

Connecticut-based influencers use the hashtag #DoYourThingCT to highlight different places within their communities on social media.

Amurri, who often writes about her love for Connecticut and how much she enjoys walking to Westports downtown with her children sought to continue the campaigns success by partnering with Lamont and DECD.

She launched a video this week where she and Lamont explore some of Amurris favorite Westport businesses including the Kerri Rosenthal boutique, the Indigo Wellness Group for some relaxation through acupuncture and The Toy Post to check out games and books.

The nearly three-minute video follows Amurri and Lamont at every stop where they speak with each business owner about their business and their life as a business owner. During the visits, the two also discussed off camera, the business owners strategies for staying operational during the pandemic as well as their experiences from when the town began to open back up.

I love supporting the local economy and driving my followers to check out little gems in every corner of the state, Amurri said.

Local business owners have been working so hard to pull through the pandemic, but its time for them to thrive instead of just survive, she added. Things are much better now than last year and Im encouraged to see people out and about again.

Amurri said that businesses need resident support now more than ever.

Lamont encouraged people to support local small businesses, like these Westport stores, because they are the pillars within the communities across the state.

According to the DECD, Connecticut has 80,000 diverse, small businesses that are a key part of the states thriving economy.

If youre concerned about delivery delays, want personalized customer service and looking for truly unique gifts then our local businesses are a better shopping option for the holidays, said Maribel La Luz, DECDs director of external affairs.

La Luz said the bonus is when residents support local businesses, were supporting our neighborhoods and our friends.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP)  The city of Las Cruces is considering whether to change a street name that contains a word thats used as a slur toward Indigenous women.

Las Cruces Sun-News reports that City Councilor Johana Bencomo recently proposed to change the name of Squaw Mountain Drive.

Last week, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland formally declared squaw a derogatory term and said she was taking steps to remove it from federal government use and to replace other derogatory place names.

Bencomo raised the issue of the street name during a council discussion on earlier this month, though she said she first learned of the derogatory name when the council was looking at a zoning issue in the area this past winter.

Since the city initiated the proposed change, the proposal requires agreement from 75 percent of percent of residents that live on or live adjacent to street.

If fewer than 75 percent agree, officials say the city must wait a year before it suggests a name change again. If enough residents agree, the name change would still be subject to city council approval.

I know that people will see (the name change) as trivial, Bencomo said. I know people will say theres more important things to be done. But again, there is something simple about doing the right thing.

Bencomo said she hopes a new name could be created with input from residents on the street and from the local Indigenous community.
GENEVA (AP)  The World Trade Organization is postponing its conference of government ministers set to open Tuesday after Switzerland initiated new travel restrictions following the emergence of a worrying new coronavirus variant, officials said.

The MC12 conference at WTO headquarters in Geneva was set to take up key issues like a long-awaited agreement on subsidies for fisheries, seen as a major way to prevent overfishing in the world's seas, and an effort to waive patent and other intellectual property protections linked to COVID-19 vaccines.

Ambassadors from the WTO's 164 member states agreed Friday to delay the four-day conference after new Swiss travel restrictions meant all participants wouldn't be able to attend in person, and a virtual meeting was not deemed to be an option, the a Geneva-based trade official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

British ambassador Simon Manley tweeted a photo of WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on a dais during the meeting of ambassadors, and wrote that it depicted her announcing the postponement over the health situation and the inability of all delegations to attend.

The European Union's international trade office's Twitter page said the conference is postponed for now - a difficult but wise decision by @wto given the epidemiological situation."

The Swiss health department said that all direct flights from southern Africa were banned, and as of Friday evening, all people arriving from that region as well as Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel  other places where the variant was detected  must present a negative COVID-19 test and go into quarantine for 10 days.

This has not been an easy recommendation to make  But as Director-General, my priority is the health and safety of all MC12 participants  ministers, delegates and civil society. It is better to err on the side of caution, Okonjo-Iweala said in a WTO statement.

This marks the second time the pandemic has forced a postponement of the 12th Ministerial Conference. The meeting was originally due to take place in June 2020 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.(backslash)

Across town on Friday, the World Health Organization classified the worrying new variant that was first detected in South Africa as a highly transmissible variant of concern, and named it the omicron variant  as part of the Greek-letter identification system used by the U.N. health agency.

South Africa's delegation at the WTO has led the push for an easing of protections for patents and other intellectual property behind tools aimed to fight pandemic including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, in hopes of making them more available to the developing world. Many European countries including Switzerland, the EU and Britain have resisted the idea, saying it could stifle innovation.

Concerns about the new omicron variant sent stock markets swooning on Friday amid concerns about wider economic fallout including travel restrictions.
CAMDEN, S.C. (AP)  South Carolina sees the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution as a chance to remind people that the state played a huge part in winning the nations independence, even if it did try later to tear the United States apart in the Civil War.

The state has opened a new Revolutionary War center, and released an app for mobile devices that explores some 200 sites of battles and other key events, including remote swamps where patriots and loyalists skirmished in the War of Independence.

Organizers promise this anniversary won't all involve hero worship of the Founding Fathers, and won't turn a blind eye to the slavery that steered South Carolina's history for 400 years.

The 250th commission is dedicated to telling the story of the American Revolution as it exists  the beauty and the warts and the terror of it all," said Charles Baxley, chairman of the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission. "And they are dedicated to the idea  which is a radical and new idea  of telling it from all points of view.

Or, as South Carolina's preeminent historian Walter Edgar said: "It's important to tell everyone's story. Its not just the people in the fancy knee britches and the powdered wigs.

Congress commissioned the America250 Foundation five years ago to throw the biggest, most inclusive commemoration in our nations history on July 4, 2026, 250 years after the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

Inclusiveness is already evident in Massachusetts, which honored the anniversary of 1770's Boston Massacre with Reflecting Attucks, an exhibit examining the life and legacy of Crispus Attucks. The son of a slave and a Native American was the first to die when occupying British soldiers fired on angry colonists.

Anniversary organizers in South Carolina, which is often remembered more for leading the Confederacy into secession, say the state can be proud of its role in turning a stalemated war into victory against the British, but it's a story that can't fully be told without including its treatment of enslaved people.

Many slaves fought for the British, who promised them freedom. Others stayed with their owners, who rewarded some by releasing them from bondage. Slaves were often used as spies and messengers, and South Carolina militias fighting for independence from Britain allowed up to one-third of their units to be slaves, but only in support roles like engineers or sailors and not as front-line armed troops, according to Edgars book, South Carolina: A History.

For most Black people, the founders soaring proclamation in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal did little to change their reality of oppressive servitude in the new United States. A quarter-century later, more than 100,000 people remained enslaved in South Carolina, even after 25,000 slaves were freed by the British. Some 5,000 more just disappeared. There were about 142,000 white men, women and children in the state in 1790.

The plight of slaves is acknowledged at the Revolutionary War Visitor Center, along with Native Americans on both sides of the conflict. Other displays show major players like the Swamp Fox Francis Marion, who thwarted plans by British Gen. Banastre Tarleton to decisively end the war. Marion's men exhausted Bloody Tarleton's troops, leading them on fruitless swampland chases, before French allies arrived and together they drove the British to surrender.

Its a case of trying to touch lightly on everything and then send people if they are really interested in the Revolutionary War to other sites that are going to go into more detail," said the center's director, Rickie Good.

There are thousands of stories to tell, and Good said the center's goal is to open the door to as many of them as possible, by combining battlefield heroics with stories of common men and women who had to decide whether to join the revolution.

A lot of people dont want their heroes besmirched, I guess," she said. We call them heroes. They didnt call themselves that. They were people. And they were good and they were bad and they did the best they could in impossible situations and in many ways I think they were just like we are."

Ironically, the center is in Camden, not far from where British Gen. Charles Cornwallis' forces routed the patriots in 1780 in the Battle of Camden, one of their worst defeats.

But South Carolinians then rallied, forming loose militias that ended the British goal of winning the war by winning the South. They pushed the loyalists north, into the trap that led to Cornwallis surrendering his entire army to Gen. George Washington.

The reason he surrendered in Virginia is he got the stuffing beat out of him in the Carolinas, the historian Edgar said.

Along with blood and battles, the state's anniversary commission wants to commemorate the liberty and equality ushered into the world by the Founding Fathers, even though many of them were plantation owners and it would take nearly two more centuries for these ideals to fully spread across the nation.

There is a bright light in all of this," Baxley said. The enlightened language of the founding documents and ideas that made the United States possible  it really was not guns, bullets and knives, it was those powerful ideas  are the same ideas that resonate today in peoples minds and rhetoric as they press the case for equality and justice."

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.
We've all heard of Parkinson's Law, the brilliant observation that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion'.

We're familiar, too, with Murphy's Law  more vulgarly known as Sod's Law  which states that if anything can go wrong, it surely will.

In the most frequently cited example, a slice of buttered toast accidentally dropped on the floor will always land buttered side down.

But enough of other people's laws. My purpose this week is to formulate a law of my own, which I reckon contains as much truth as most that have gone before.

Put simply, it is this: there is no need to listen to the political views of actors and actresses. This is because they all seem to think exactly alike  and once you've heard one of them, you've heard them all.

To be more specific, they share identical woke, Left-of-centre views on every subject under the sun.

According to my law, it makes no difference which star of stage or screen has been invited to express a political opinion on, say, Question Time or Have I Got News For You.

The political views of actors are all exactly alike. Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured in 2015) became the latest to add his contribution to wokery, when he condemned 'toxic masculinity'

Before he or she has uttered a word, you will know you're in for a wholly predictable recital from the gospel according to Hollywood groupthink.

Donald Trump? The devil incarnate. Boris Johnson? Not much better. Brexit? Backed only by thick racists and xenophobes. Public spending? Not high enough.

Mass immigration? The more the merrier. The BBC licence fee? A sacred national institution, opposed only by Right-wing thugs. Transgender rights? Wonderful in every way.

Man-made global warming? A calamity that governments are not doing enough to avert (and never mind that, as often as not, the performers who express this view have just jetted in from LA on a worldwide tour to promote their latest film).

Only this week, Benedict Cumberbatch became the latest to add his contribution to luvviedom's warm stew of wokery, when he condemned 'toxic masculinity' and the 'patriarchy' and demanded 'equality across the board' between men and women.

In an interview to publicise his new film, The Power Of The Dog, he told Sky News that it was a 'childish defensive position' to protest that 'not all men are bad'. Every male should 'shut up and listen', because we need to 'fix the men'.

To be honest, I can't pretend I understand exactly what he meant by this gibberish (can it be wrong to point out that not all men are bad?).

But it's clear that in painting women as victims of male oppression, he was conforming to the approved opinion of the great mass of his profession.

OK, I admit there are one or two rare exceptions to my law, but then it's also true that, just occasionally, the toast lands buttered side up.

I'll freely acknowledge that, once in a blue moon, a rogue actor pops up to say something mildly Right-wing or unwoke.

Once in a blue moon, a rogue actor pops up to say something mildly Right-wing. I'm thinking of Laurence Fox (pictured in 2019) who made one or two controversial remarks about race

I'm thinking particularly of Laurence Fox, who dared to depart from the Hollywood hymnbook last year, when he made one or two controversial remarks about race.

If I remember rightly, he suggested that the Duchess of Sussex was not a victim of racism, while telling a member of the audience who had dismissed him as a 'white privileged male' that this expression was itself racist.

But then look what happened to him when he stepped out of line. He was instantly disowned by the great mass of his fellow actors, suffering the same fate as the great J. K. Rowling, who has been 'cancelled' by the stars she made rich. Her offence?

She dared to utter the obvious truth  obvious to most of us, at any rate  that people who menstruate are traditionally known as women.

But for every Laurence Fox you could name among actors, I could point to at least a dozen Emma Thompsons, Brian Coxes, Meghan Markles, Ricky Tomlinsons, Stephen Frys, Hugh Grants, Emma Watsons, Steve Coogans, Kate Winslets or Sir Ian McKellens.

You won't catch the likes of them straying far from the off-the-shelf views peddled day after day by The Guardian.

Now, it's no part of my intention this week to go into the rights and wrongs of the issues on which actors and actresses like to opine. I'll save my thoughts on these for another day.

Nor do I challenge their right to speak publicly on any subject they fancy. Actors should be every bit as free as journalists to say what they think about anything and everything, within the bounds of the law.

The great difference is that for every Tom Utley or Richard Littlejohn who backed Brexit, you will have no trouble naming other columnists  Matthew Parris, say, or Polly Toynbee  who think it was a terrible idea.

The fact is that not all journalists think alike. What I find so very extraordinary is that so many actors and actresses do.

What is it, I wonder, about their chosen profession that makes the great mass of them prefer EU membership to Brexit, Blair to Thatcher, Obama to Trump, high spending to low spending and liberalism to social conservatism?

Self-interest may play a part in it. They may be drawn to high government spending by the thought of juicy state subsidies for the arts.

Another strong factor may be their fear of suffering the fate of Laurence Fox, whose film offers dried up when he dared to express Right-of-centre views.

I sometimes suspect that one or two veteran theatrical dames  no names, no pack-drill  may secretly harbour opinions closer to my own than those they express in public. If so, they keep very quiet about them, perhaps wisely.

But I'll give the great majority of actors and actresses the benefit of the doubt, and say that they seem to hold the views they express more from conviction than self-interest or fear.

When Fox stepped out of line he was disowned by his fellow actors, suffering the same fate as J. K. Rowling (pictured in 2018), who has been 'cancelled' by the stars she made rich

To take one example, close to my own heart, do you happen to remember the speech made by Michelle Williams, just before the first lockdown, when she accepted the Golden Globe for best actress in a TV mini-series, which she'd won for her part in a show called Fosse/Verdon?

In it, she declared that she couldn't have won the award if she hadn't exercised what she called 'a woman's right to choose', that familiar euphemism for having an abortion.

Now, I know that many readers will passionately disagree with me when I say that I found this shocking, since I personally believe that abortion on demand is wrong.

To me, and to many who share my view, she seemed to be saying that a Golden Globe for best actress in a mini-series was more precious than the unborn life she'd had removed from her womb.

But what struck me forcibly was the ear-splitting cheer that went up from the audience of famous actors.

As the camera panned round the room, the whole lot of them were on their feet, clapping their hands raw. Some of the actresses among them actually shed tears of joy.

In that throng of Hollywood royalty, I saw not a single actor who wasn't applauding Williams's endorsement of abortion on demand. Whatever your views on this hugely controversial issue, don't you find that mighty odd?

After all, the abortion debate divides people irrespective of their political views, trade or profession.

You'll find Socialists, Conservatives, businessmen, scientists and lawyers who oppose it, and others of the same political persuasion  and in the same line of work  who support it.

Why is it that people who make their living from acting, alone among the professions, seem so unanimous in backing a woman's right to choose over an unborn baby's right to life?

Why do they appear similarly united in almost every other view they express, on subjects as varied as global warming and militant feminism?

Mr Cumberbatch may say that it's men who need fixing. I reckon that actors in thrall to Hollywood groupthink need it more. Until then, I urge you to obey Utley's Law  and don't bother to listen.
A mother who was unable to carry more children following her breast cancer treatment has opened up about her and her husband's agonizing fight to adopt their biological twins after welcoming them via surrogate nearly a year ago.

Tammy and Jordan Myers of Grand Rapids, Michigan, are being forced to go through the grueling process of legally adopting their nine-month-old twins Eames and Ellison because of the state's outdated surrogacy laws.

'We're hoping to have everything finalized by their first birthday. We've always wanted nothing more than to bring our babies home and love them,' Tammy, 40, told People of their uphill battle.

Tammy and Jordan Myers of Grand Rapids, Michigan, are being forced to legally adopt their biological twins Eames and Ellison because of the state's laws

The couple is hoping to have the nine-month-old twins' adoption finalized before their first birthday

'[The court] has put us through hell. There are unfit parents who may not want, neglect, or abuse their children, but they skate by because they carried them.'

The parents also have a nine-year-old daughter, Corryn, who was born naturally. They were trying for a second child nearly seven years ago when Tammy found a lump and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

'The diagnosis was earth shattering. Everything moved so quickly because of how aggressive breast cancer is in young women,' she recalled. 'The oncologist sat me down and told me how serious it was. I asked, "How long do I have?" and then "Can I have more children?" [The doctor] teared up and looked at me and said "No, not the traditional way."'

Tammy froze her eggs knowing she and her husband would have to use a gestational carrier if they wanted more biological children. They considered adoption but found it would be 'the most cost-effective' to have their own children.

The couple found their gestational carrier, Lauren, who was a friend of a friend, after detailing their situation in a Facebook post. The mother of two children of her own agreed to carry their babies without any compensation as a gift to the couple.

Tammy and Jordan were trying for a second child nearly seven years ago when she found a lump and was diagnosed with breast cancer

Tammy, who also has a nine-year-old daughter Corryn, froze her eggs knowing she and Jordan would have to use a gestational carrier if they wanted more biological children

The couple later found their gestational carrier, Lauren, who agreed to carry their babies without any compensation as a gift to them

Michigan's Surrogate Parenting Act of 1998 makes compensated surrogacy illegal in the state. It also states that any agreements between gestational carriers and parents won't be recognized in court.

The law was passed in reaction to the Baby M custody case in which a traditional surrogate who was biologically linked to the baby changed her mind about giving the child to the intended parents after giving birth.

Tammy and Jordan used a fertility clinic in Grand Rapids, where her eggs with fertilized with Jordan's sperm before the embryos were implanted into Lauren.

Their lawyer drew up the paperwork, and while they were aware surrogacy was difficult to navigate in Michigan, she admitted they didn't really know what they were getting themselves into.

'[Our attorney] did say, worst-case scenario, we'd be forced to adopt, but she didn't believe that would be the case,' Tammy told People. 'First we tried for a pre-birth order. Over 75 couples in Michigan who are in our exact same situation [received] pre-birth orders, which basically gives them legal rights to the baby before they're even born. We started that process  but the babies were born eight weeks early.'

Without the completion of the pre-birth order, they had to try to get emergency legal rights to the twins, but their request was denied. They were also unable to obtain Jordan's paternal rights, which would have still required Tammy to adopt their children as a stepparent because she didn't carry the babies herself.

Tammy and Jordan used a fertility clinic in Grand Rapids, where her eggs with fertilized with Jordan's sperm before the embryos were implanted into Lauren (pictured)

Tammy and Jordan were in the process of applying for a pre-birth order that would have given them legal rights to the twins when the babies arrived early

Without the completion of the pre-birth order, they had to try to get emergency legal rights to the twins, but their request was denied

Tammy noted that 'the Baby M case is nothing like surrogacy today or the gestational carrier process, which is where the carrier has no genetic link to the baby,' saying she would have happily carried her own babies if she could.

The couple eventually realized they would have to adopt their babies because of Michigan's antiquated surrogacy laws that have not been changed to reflect the fertility and surrogacy advancements over the past three decades.

'We knew there would be paperwork involved, but we had no idea it would be a legal battle for the rights of our babies,' she said. 'I'm almost thankful we didn't know. I'm not sure we would have gone this route.

'But nothing could take away the blessing we have in our lives,' she added. 'We've opened the door to the injustice happening because of this outdated law.'

Tammy and Jordan are now the twins' legal guardians, and while they have been home with them the entire time, they still need background checks and home visits to qualify to adopt their children.

The couple is now in the process of legally adopting their biological twins with their gestational carrier's support

Tammy and Jordan are currently the twins' legal guardians, but they have to deal with background checks and home visits as part of the adoption process

Despite their struggles, Tammy considers it a 'blessing' that their story has gone public, and she hopes their legal battle will result in Michigan's outdated laws being changed

'The whole point of family law is to keep families together. We are a family,' Jordan stressed. 'They are our biological children. There's no denying that. Yet they're trying to tear us apart.'

Their gestational carrier, Lauren, has been supportive, and they've become so close with her and her husband Jonathan that they named them the twins' godparents.

Despite their struggles, Tammy considers it a 'blessing' that their story has gone public, and she hopes their legal battle will result in the laws being changed.

'Once I closed the cancer door and was able to move on with my life, I still felt like there was more I was meant to do,' she said. 'Then this [fight for our children] started happening, and I told Jordan, "This is meant to be, too. We were meant to make this better."

'Unfortunately, we're the example, but I hope our story going public means we will be the last family who faces this hardship in Michigan.'
Prince Albert of Monaco has ensured his children feel supported and protected at royal engagements in the absence of their mother Princess Charlene, a body language expert has claimed.

Albert, 63, has made two public appearances with six-year-old twins Jacques and Gabriella since Charlene, 43, was admitted to a treatment facility, and paid particular attention to them at both.

'It wouldnt be unusual for a father to step up to the plate with his children while a mother is unwell or absent like this but for a royal male of Alberts generation this tactile and very focused behaviour might not have been a given,' body language expert Judi James told FEMAIL.

Charlene sought treatment for 'emotional and physical exhaustion' within days of her return to Monaco, following a 10-month hiatus in her home country of South Africa. She was initially grounded due to a 'sinus infection' she contracted during a solo charity trip to the country and later required surgical treatment, delaying the return.

Today Page Six reported Charlene 'almost died' after having surgery to address swallowing issues stemming from a severe throat infection and has lost half her body weight.

Protective: Prince Albert of Monaco has ensured his children feel supported and protected at royal engagements in the absence of their mother Princess Charlene, a body language expert has claimed. Pictured, placing a hand on Gabriella's back during an engagement this week

By their side: Albert joined his six-year-old twins at a tree-planting event in Monaco this week and stood behind them in a show of support, body language expert Judi James noted

In media interviews, Albert explained he had stepped up to play a bigger role in his children's lives as the family copes with Charlene's ongoing health issues.

Jacques and Gabriella are homeschooled at the palace after being taken out of the classroom due to Covid.

'For me, it's pretty simple  my priority is my family,' he said in an interview this month. 'Of course, without neglecting state affairs... I hope everyone understands that. When I can be with my kids, I do it without hesitation.

'This is an extremely important time in their life  the way they grow up helps them see the world.

'And if one of the parents is away for medical reasons, the other parent has to be there. I have heard too many friends and acquaintances telling me that they wish they had been there for their children, at a certain age, taken up by their work or their professional life. I don't want to have these regrets.'

This commitment to his children was reflected in his body language at Wednesday's tree-planting engagement.

Undivided attention: His behaviour was similarly attentive at the Monaco National Day celebrations last Friday. When Gabriella spoke to him, he ensured he only had eyes for her

Watchful eye: Albert paid close attention to his children at the National Day celebrations. Jacques and Gabriella held up heartbreaking notes to their mother Princess Charlene

Leaning down to speak to them: Judi explained small signals like this show a deep connection

Albert joined Jacques, Gabriella and other children to plant a tree to mark the centenary of Soroptimist International, a women's organisation promoting peace and working to improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

The father-of-two stood behind his children as they waited to plant a tree, at one point leaning down to speak to Gabriella and place a reassuring hand on her back.

His behaviour was similarly attentive at the Monaco National Day celebrations last Friday.

Albert was supported by his sisters Caroline and Stephanie - who have rallied around the children in recent months - as he observed the festivities from a balcony.

The twins held up heartbreaking signs saying 'We miss you Mommy' and 'We love you Mommy' as they stood in front of their father.

Tactile displays: Gabriella reached out to touch her father ahead of the National Day celebrations. Judi said such affection is not a given for a male royal of Albert's generation

Playful moment: The bond between the father and his children was also evident on the day Charlene returned from South Africa. The royal couple invited photographers to capture her arrival at the palace. The children hung onto Albert like he was a 'human swing' to play with

Changing feelings? This is a shift from the body language demonstrated earlier this year when Albert and the children flew to South Africa to visit Charlene, when they 'clustered' around their mother (above). In Monaco last week they 'clustered' around their father

How Charlene and Albert made solo outings in South Africa and Monaco during ten months apart January 27 - Charlene is pictured with Albert for the Sainte Devote Ceremony in Monaco. March 18 - Charlene is pictured at the memorial for the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, South Africa April 2 - Charlene posts an Instagram picture of herself, Albert and their twins Jacques and Gabriella for Easter. It is unknown where the image was taken. May 8 - Albert, Jacques and Gabriella attend a Grand Prix event in Monaco without Charlene May 10 - Albert attends Monaco Gala Awards in Monaco without Charlene May 18 - Charlene shares her first picture from her conservation trip in South Africa June 1 - Prince Albert II, Jacques and Gabriella attend event at Oceanic Museum in Monaco June 5- Charlene puts on a united front as she shares a photo with her family to mark her niece's fifth birthday with her brother's family and Albert and the twins in South Africa June 7 - Albert and the twins attend the World Rugby Sevens without Charlene June 18 - Prince Albert appears alone Monte Carlo TV Festival June 24 - Charlene's foundation releases a statement saying the royal is unable to travel and is undergoing procedures for an ear, nose and throat infection July 2 - Charlene and Albert mark their 10th anniversary separately. 'This year will be the first time that I'm not with my husband on our anniversary in July, which is difficult, and it saddens me,' Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene said in a statement. July 3 - Albert appears with glamorous niece Charlotte Casiraghi at the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping event, which is part of the Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco, July 27 - Prince Albert attends Olympics alone in Tokyo August 13 - Charlene undergoes a four-hour operation. The reason is not announced August 25 - Charlene shares photos of Prince Albert, Gabriella and Jacques visiting her in South Africa August 31 - Speculation mounts in the media about couple's relationship

September 1 - Charlene is admitted under an alias to the Netcare Alberlito Hospital after suddenly 'collapsing' September 2 - She is discharged, with a statement from the Palais Princier reading: 'Her Highness is closely monitored by Her medical team who said that Her condition was not worrying' September 23 - Prince Albert attends the 2021 Monte Carlo Gala for Planetary Health September 29 - Prince Albert is joined on the red carpet by actress Sharon Stone for a first look at the eagerly anticipated James Bond release September 30 - Charlene releases a stylish video promoting her anti-poaching campaign from her South African bolthole October 3 - Princess Charlene shares a photograph of herself smiling in front of a bible in her first snap since being discharged from hospital following her health scare October 5 - Prince Albert attends Sportel Awards Ceremony in Monte Carlo with nephew Louis Ducruet October 6 - Albert tells RMC radio Charlene is 'ready to come home' October 8 - Princess undergoes surgery in South Africa November 8 - Charlene arrives back in Monaco. Prince Albert said within hours it became clear she was 'unwell' November 13 - Prince Albert attends Expo 2020 in Dubai without Princess Charlene Following his return from the trip, Prince Albert holds an intervention with Charlene's brothers and a sister-in-law in which Charlene 'confirmed' she would seek 'real medically framed treatment' outside of Monaco November 16 - Royal household confirms Princess Charlene will not attend National Day celebrations on November 19 - Prince Albert attends a Monaco Red Cross event without Princess Charlene November 17 - Prince Albert reveals Princess Charlene has left Monaco and is recovering in a secret location November 19 - Prince Albert reveals Charlene is in a treatment facility 'elsewhere in Europe' after a family intervention Advertisement

At different points he leaned down to speak to his children, engaged with their questions, and encouraged their playful, tactile behaviour.

Judi explained: 'Even at formal events he appears to be putting his children first, keeping watchful as he stands behind them but then bending to their level to communicate and to give them more active feelings of caring and protection as well as signalling the sense of undivided attention that children crave.'

The bond between the father and his children was also evident on the day Charlene returned from South Africa. The royal couple invited photographers to capture her arrival at the palace.

'He is also clearly a playful dad,' Judi said, analysing one of the homecoming photos.

'The children seem to lean towards him to play and when he has both childrens hands they do appear to be using him as a human swing.'

'That pose with both parents is telling in terms of balanced emotional comfort and support.

'While Charlene walks with her dog the children seem more the comfortable walking with their father.'

This is a shift from the body language demonstrated earlier this year when Albert and the children flew to South Africa to visit Charlene.

Judi added: 'When they visited in South Africa they were photographed clustering with their mother which could have caused concern but here they look equally happy clustering with their dad.'

At the weekend, Prince Albert revealed his wife has been admitted to a 'treatment facility' where she will remain for 'at least several' weeks.

The royal explained his wife, who has appeared increasingly frail, acknowledged she needed help after he staged a family intervention with her brothers and sister-in-law.

Albert did not reveal details of her illness but ruled out cancer and Covid.

He hinted at mental health struggles, saying she 'was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life' and is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'.

Speaking to People magazine, Albert said the family reunion in Monaco two weeks ago initially went 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.'

He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.'

The Prince said the final decision making process about treatment involved an intervention-style meeting with family members, explaining: 'I sat her down with her brothers and a sister-in-law. She had already made her decision, and we only wanted her to confirm it in front of us. She wanted this.

'She already knew the best thing to do was to go and have a rest and have a real medically framed treatment. And not in Monaco. For privacy reasons, it would have to be someplace outside of Monaco.'

Meanwhile he revealed Gabriella and Jacques would 'visit' Charlene once they had the 'medical go-ahead', saying the six-year-old twins 'knew she was tired' and 'not quite herself.'

French magazines such as Voici claimed that Charlene has gone to Switzerland, where there are numerous specialist private medical clinics.

Albert explained: 'I'm probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature.'

Albert continued: 'She hadn't slept well in a number of days and she wasn't eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.'

In another interview in Monaco-Matin, translated from French, he said. 'There is tiredness, not just physical, which can only be treated with a period of rest and monitoring.

'She is not in the Principality but we will be able to visit her very soon. I cannot tell you more out of discretion.'

Claims she will stay in Swtizerland were backed up by a source who knows the couple well, who said: The South of France is too close, but Switzerland has superb private medical facilities, and Charlene will be well looked after there.'

Asked if the children had been 'more protected' during their mother's absence, Albert added: 'They should be protected in general, but of course they suffered from the absence of their mother. But they had enough distractions and a family circle that made sure they were not lacking in affection.'

Charlene's time away followed fresh allegations last December that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa, were already in a relationship.
A trio of best mates have sold more than 10,000 products in five days after launching two new hemp-infused products to their successful skincare range.

Oliver Watts, 26, Fedele D'Amico, 25, and Alex Roslaniec, 26, from Melbourne, started their company Hey Bud just 20 months ago and have fast made a name for themselves in the skincare industry.

The two new additions - the $32.99 Hemp Gel Cleanser and the $44.99 Hyaluronic Acid Hemp Serum - had a waiting list of 27,000 customers and within five days of the launch the initial 10,000 units sold out.

Alex Roslaniec, 26, Fedele D'Amico, 25, and Ollie Watts, 26, are the founders of Hey Bud Skincare

Many have shared before and after photos of their skin after using the new cleanser and serum alongside the Hey Bud mask

The two new products (centre and right) have been in the works for the past 12 months

The cleanser is formulated with hemp seed oil to regulate oil balance on the skin while the lightweight serum contains hyaluronic acid, cucumber and Betaine for a plumped and moisturised skin tone.

Five star reviews and before and after photos have flooded in from customers who are thrilled with their results, with many noting a significant reduction in redness, acne and excess oil.

'They did it again! So thrilled Hey Bud has come up with more hemp products. Their cleanser and serum are to die for,' one woman wrote.

'I have been with delighted with the results since using your products, especially the serum! I have suffered with problem skin since my teenage years and continue to suffer in my mid fifties. These products are beautiful to use and smell divine.'

Hey Bud rose to fame with its $49.99 hemp facial mask which claims to fade pigmentation, dark spots and scarring

Five star reviews and before and after photos have flooded in from customers who are thrilled with their results, with many noting a significant reduction in redness, acne and excess oil

Why is hemp seed oil beneficial for the skin? Hemp seed oil contains a powerful omega-6 fatty acid called Gamma-Linolenic acid. Because it is an essential fatty acid, it means that your body doesn't produce it and needs to derive it from external sources. While promoting new cell generation and skin growth, Gamma-Linolenic acid also has anti-inflammatory properties. This soothing effect on the skin helps prevent irritation, which can lead to a decrease in acne and psoriasis, all while restoring the skin's moisture barrier. Advertisement

Since launching in 2019 Hey Bud has become Australia's number one hemp skincare brand and have had more than 100,000 customers.

The brand's more than doubled its revenue every year and is on track to hit $10million in sales by 2022.

Hey Bud rose to fame with its $49.99 hemp facial mask which claims to fade pigmentation, dark spots and scarring; the men came up with the idea of selling cannabis skincare after Fedele's mother, a beauty therapist, ordered hemp seed oil products from the United States in 2018.

'She found that hemp seed oil perfectly moisturised her face and decreased redness around her most sensitive spots. At this point in time, it was very difficult to source any Australian based hemp products,' Alex told FEMAIL previously.

The brand's more than doubled its revenue every year and is on track to hit $10million in sales by 2022

Hemp seed oil contains a powerful omega-6 fatty acid called Gamma-Linolenic acid

The Hemp Clay Mask ($49.99)

'After doing extensive research and understanding the benefits of hemp for the skin, we set out with the idea to bring high quality hemp skincare to Australia.

'We partnered up with one of Australia's most experienced chemists to source our first sample. From there, the brand exploded with many customers loving our natural, vegan mask.'

Hey Bud saw a 1,160 per cent sales increase in the six month period between March 2020 and August 2020 when the nation was in a coronavirus lockdown, selling out twice.

'We noticed a huge influx of new customers during the pandemic with the rise of the self-care movement and we were delighted to support our customers during a hard time, making their wine and Netflix night feel that little bit better with a face mask,' Ollie said.

They attribute their success to the fact it does what it says it will - tightens pores and leaves skin oil-free.
Chantel Mila demonstrated the wrapping technique in her latest TikTok video

An organised mum has shared a genius way to wrap a Christmas gift when you don't have enough wrapping paper.

Melbourne mum-of-two Chantel Mila, who has gained a following of more than half a million people on TikTok, demonstrated the wrapping technique in her latest video.

Rather than wrapping the Apple MacBook Pro laptop horizontal or vertically, she tilted it and wrapped it diagonally.

The corners of the paper met in the centre of the present and Chantel was able to wrap the gift perfectly.

Scroll down for video

Rather than wrapping the Apple MacBook Pro laptop horizontal or vertically (left), she tilted it and wrapped it diagonally (right)

'Hack: save paper when gift wrapping,' she captioned the video, which has already been viewed more than 35,000 times in 13 hours.

The unique wrapping style will not only save you money buying more paper, but the end result looks elegant and professional.

On TikTok user said the video was 'so satisfying' to watch, while another dubbed the idea as 'very clever'.

Since no gift is complete without a bow, Chantel also revealed how to tie a Tiffany-style bows for festive gifts.

The key to the perfect ribbon is to cut it five times the length of the gift and wrap it on top of itself twice before tying the bow.

In another short TikTok video she demonstrated the process starting by playing the elegant gold ribbon over the wrapped gift and tied it around horizontally.

The corners of the paper met in the centre and Chantel was able to wrap the gift perfectly

Since no gift is complete without a bow, Chantel also revealed how to tie a Tiffany-style bows for festive gifts (pictured)

In the centre she then folded one ribbon strand upwards creating a right angle and continued to wrap the ribbon vertically.

Next, the long strand was tucked under the cross intersection in the middle and secured with a gentle pull.

She then tied the bow and trimmed the ends of the ribbon, creating a stunning luxurious presentation.

The simple DIY is the perfect alternative to buying expensive decorative bows often costing up to $8 each.
A young pastry chef has revealed his recipe for mouthwatering garlic bread knots.

Bakery owner, Morgan Hipworth, shared his his latest recipe for 'garlic knots' - garlic infused cheesy bites the whole family will love.

'You ain't had garlic bread till you've had my garlic knots,' the 20-year-old chef said.

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Morgan Hipworth, who opened his bakery at 14, revealed in a TikTok his latest recipe for 'garlic knots' a garlic infused cheesy goodness the whole family will love

Morgan begins by making tangzhong paste, a traditional Japanese water roux, by combining 35g bread flour, 60ml water and 85ml milk in a pan on medium. He stirs for four to five minutes then takes the pan off the heat.

He makes the knots in an electric mixing bowl with a dough hook by adding milk, yeast, bread flour, salt, caster sugar, eggs, an egg yolk, garlic, herbs, butter and the tangzhong paste.

He mixes the ingredients on low for 10 minutes then adds butter and mixes again for 2 minutes. In another bowl the same size as the one attached he sprays canola oil inside.

Whilst baking he melts the butter and places it into a bowl with garlic. Then separately combines salt, herbs, garlic powder and parmesan. He removes the knots from the oven and brushes them in melted butter and sprinkles over the salt mixture

He transfers the dough into the bowl and covers it with a tea towel, allowing it to rest for an hour and lines a baking tray with baking paper.

To a clean surface he sprinkles plain flour and divides the dough into 12 equal portions by rolling them into sausage shapes and tieing them into knots.

He places the dough onto baking paper with room in between each knot and puts them into a warm spot for an hour, then preheats the oven to 190C.

Morgan Hipworth's ingredient list for 'Garlic Knots' Tangzhong:

35g bread flour

60ml water

85ml milk

Garlic Knots:

180ml milk

28g fresh yeast

480g bread flour

2 tsp salt

55g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

60g butter

4 crushed garlic cloves

2tsp each of finely chopped rosemary, thyme and parsley Egg wash:

1 egg

50ml milk

Topping:

100g butter

4 crushed garlic cloves

1tsp sea salt

2tsp each of finely chopped rosemary, thyme and parsley

20g grated parmesan

1tsp garlic powder Advertisement

In a bowl Morgan whisks together an egg with milk and once the dough proves brushes the egg wash onto the knots and bakes in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes.

Whilst baking he combines melted butter to a bowl with garlic then mixes in salt, herbs, garlic powder and parmesan. He removes the knots from the oven, brushes them in melted butter and sprinkles on herbed salt.

The young pastry chef sent foodies into another frenzy recently with his sponge cake recipe that's cooked entirely in the microwave.

It looks professional, but Melbourne baker Morgan Hipworth makes this three-tier sponge cake in the microwave

Morgan creates the mouth-watering 'microwave cake' from three tiers of vanilla sponge topped with cookie dough frosting and a chocolate ganache.

He begins by mixing 500g of all-purpose flour with half a teaspoon of baking soda, 350g of caster sugar, 90g of brown sugar and a pinch of salt, then makes a well in the centre and adds 240g of melted butter, two eggs, 500ml of buttermilk and vanilla extract.

He whisks the mixture until it is smooth and all the ingredients are fully combined. Morgan divides the batter equally between three 15cm silicone cake tins, before cooking them one at a time in a microwave set to full power for three minutes.

Morgan (right) makes the 'microwave cake' from three tiers of vanilla sponge topped with cookie dough frosting and a chocolate ganache

Morgan then pours 250ml of cream into a bowl and microwaves it on a high heat for two minutes before adding in 185g of chocolate and whisking until the two have combined.

He then removes the cake from the fridge and pours the ganache over the top, allowing it to drip down the sides for decoration. Morgan finishes the cake by adding four to five cookies, crushed and broken into different sized chunks.

He likens the dessert to an advanced version of the classic mug cake. No stranger to public praise, 20-year-old Morgan has been over achieving for most of his life.

Morgan Hipworth (pictured) has been described as a 'one-in-a-million star' by Instagram CE0, Kevin Systrom

One year before opening his bakery in 2016, the then 14-year-old was busy supplying his signature doughnuts to 15 Melbourne cafes on weekends.

His flavour creations included a Gaytime Crunch inspired by the popular ice cream, Coco Pops, Lotus Biscoff and Red Velvet, all of which he stocks at Bistro Morgan today.

The hard-working youngster was once hailed as a 'one-in-a-million star' by Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, who said 'it's because of entrepreneurs like Morgan' that the photo-sharing platform has become so successful.
Masterchef Australia star Reynold Poernomo has teamed up with Ferrero Rocher to create two irresistible limited edition Christmas desserts.

The 27-year old dessert whizz has crafted a Ferrero Rocher 'Bell' with a spiced raisin caramel filling inside a layer of luxurious dark chocolate mousse and topped with chocolate feathers and a Ferrero Rocher.

He also made a Ferrero Rocher 'Bauble' which is a delicate choux pastry ball filled with heavenly dark chocolate whipped ganache and finished with the much-loved hazelnut treat.

Masterchef Asutralia dessert king, Reynold Poernomo, has created two decadent Ferrero Rocher inspired Christmas desserts

The 'Bell' will be available in store and for click and collect for a limited time at Reynold's KOI Dessert Bar in Chippendale and KOI Dessert Kitchen in Ryde from December 1.

It will also feature at KOI's pop-up dessert bars at the Darling Harbour Christmas Festival and Bastille Festival in Circular Quay.

While Reynold is known for his elaborate and complicated desserts, he made the Ferrero bauble treat with home cooks in mind.

Both recipes will be available at the Ferrero Rocher website so anyone can add the heavenly treats to their Christmas table this year.

The Ferrero Rocher 'Bell' has a spiced raisin caramel filling inside a layer of luxurious dark chocolate mousse and topped with chocolate feathers and a Ferrero Rocher

The Ferrero Rocher 'Bauble' is a delicate choux pastry ball filled with heavenly dark chocolate whipped ganache and finished with the much-loved hazelnut treat

Additionally the Chippendale and Ryde KOI locations will offer two Ferrero Rocher-inspired variations of Reynold's best-selling Celebration Cakes for preorder throughout December from the KOI website.

Back in October the Masterchef dessert king opened a third location of his renowned dessert restaurant chain.

KOI Pastry Bar at Darling Square launched in Sydney on Friday October 30, and offers foodies intricate sweet and savoury treats - including caramelised almond with poached pear tarts and wagyu beef pies with red wine jus.

Diners can expect to find indulgent desserts, gourmet pastries and exquisite cakes.

The Chippendale and Ryde KOI locations will offer two Ferrero Rocher-inspired variations of Reynold's best-selling Celebration Cakes for preorder throughout December from the KOI website

MasterChef Australia star Reynold Poernomo is set to open a new pastry bar at Darling Square in Sydney on Friday (pictured with his brothers Ronald and Arnold)

The dessert king will offer foodies intricate sweet and savoury treats at his new KOI Pastry Bar

The menu will change every week, depending on what customers like - and the items will stay around longer if there's a huge demand.

The kitchen will also offer 'Pastry Drops', which are special flash creations available for one day only.

Other menu items include chicken with onion and mushroom pies, potato prosciutto with bechamel and Gruyere pies, freshly baked cookies, and the store's signature pastries like croissants, pain au chocolat and canele.
Jessop made his TV debut in Holby City and became the first actor with Down's syndrome to play a leading role in a primetime TV drama when he was cast in the BAFTA-nominated Coming Down The Mountain opposite Nicholas Hoult.

He has also appeared in Casualty and Doctors, landed roles in critically-acclaimed short films, and is the first professional actor with Down's syndrome to play Hamlet, in a performance that Sir Mark Rylance hailed as 'phenomenal'.

Tommy's acting career has been supported by parents Jane and Edmund and his brother William, a documentary filmmaker who once said: 'Tommy can't really tie his own shoelaces, but he can stand on stage and break your heart.'

Line Of Duty marked the return of character Terry Boyle, a man with Down's syndrome who is ruthlessly exploited by an organised crime group. But it is the actor who plays Boyle who has everyone talking, with Twitter users praising the performance by Tommy Jessop (pictured)

Jane, a former marketing executive, discovered their youngest son had Down's syndrome on the day he was born.

'My first reaction to finding out Tommy had Down's syndrome, which was on the very first day, was "why has God sent him to us?",' Jane recalled in William's 2013 short film about his brother, Tommy's Story.

'But I was also very worried for his older brother, that this would affect his life. I always thought people would look at me differently as well. But of course, none of these things turned out to be true.'

William, who has made two films about his brother and produced sperm donor documentary 25 Siblings And Me, explained how growing up they were 'just like any other brothers'.

Tommy first appeared on screens as a supporting character in a 2007 episode of Holby City

In 2012, Blue Apple Theatre's production of Hamlet toured 12 theatres and garnered celebrity attention. Sir Mark Rylance praised Tommy's 'to be' speech as 'phenomenal'. Pictured, Tommy, second from right, with the cast including his then girlfriend Katy

'We played football together, or on the climbing frame, or cricket,' he recalled in a 2014 interview.

'I know my Mum was worried at first about how having someone like Tommy for a brother would affect me, but actually I don't remember it ever being an issue.

'I now realise that Tommy is an incredibly strong, bonding force in our family. We're all still very close, and I love spending time at home.'

Tommy's flair for acting was evident from a young age.

'Tommy wanted to perform from when he was very little,' Jane told the Daily Express.

Tommy's big break came in 2007 when he was cast in the BBC1 TV adaptation of Coming Down The Mountain, a radio play by Mark Haddon which focuses on the relationship between a boy with Down's syndrome and his resentful brother. Pictured, Tommy with the cast

The feature-length film, co-starring Skins and X-Men star Hoult as Tommy's brother, was nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy award. Pictured, Jessop and Hoult in the film

'He loved making people smile and laughed a lot himself. His junior school did wonderful plays and Tommy always had a role. Then as a young teenager he took part in a mixed-ability drama group.'

Once he aged out of youth theatre, Jane, who is chairman of her local branch of learning disability charity Mencap, found there was nothing suitable for her son locally and decided to start her own theatre group in 2005.

Blue Apple Theatre, based in Winchester, Hampshire, casts adults in their 20s and 30s with learning disabilities in shows, giving them acting opportunities they wouldn't have elsewhere.

Tommy's big break came in 2007 when he was cast in the BBC1 TV adaptation of Coming Down The Mountain, a radio play by Mark Haddon which focuses on the relationship between a boy with Down's syndrome and his resentful brother.

Tommy Jessop with his documentary filmmaker brother William Jessop at the International Emmy Awards in November 2015

The feature-length film, co-starring Skins and X-Men star Hoult as Tommy's brother, was nominated for a BAFTA and an Emmy award.

'Tommy took me to the Baftas,' Jane said. 'Seeing Tommy relaxed, smiling and professional on the red carpet in front of the flashing cameras, was amazing. I had no idea from his early days what a great life he would have.

'Tommy used to be pretty shy but now he is far less so and has a good circle of friends. I wanted him to have a chance on stage and now he is a very powerful performer.'

The film served as a launchpad for Tommy, who has since appeared in short films Fighter, Innocence and Little S**t. He has also landed guest lead roles in BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Plays including an episode of Stone with Hugo Speer.

He played the lead in The Climb opposite Warwick Davies, and had a cameo role in The Archers.

In 2012, Blue Apple Theatre's production of Hamlet toured 12 theatres and garnered celebrity attention. Sir Mark Rylance praised Tommy's 'to be' speech as 'phenomenal'.

William made a documentary, Growing Up Down's, about the rehearsals for the play, while also capturing Tommy and his co-stars reflecting on love and life with Down's syndrome.

Tommy has also appeared in short films Fighter (pictured), Innocence and Little S**t

He starred in the production alongside his then girlfriend Katy, although the pair split up during filming.

'Tommy and Katy started going out during the filming and Katy was his first-ever girlfriend,' William said in an interview about the film.

'The scene in the documentary where they are breaking up is so powerful. Because I know Tommy so well, I don't see him as someone with Down's. I just see him as Tommy, but it was moving for me to see how mature he was.'

Line Of Duty is undoubtedly Tommy's most high profile gig to date.

He first appeared as Terry Boyle in one episode of series 5, but was a much bigger presence on screen in the most recent series. The character first appeared in the first series, in 2012, but was played by a different actor, Elliott Rosen.
Products featured in this Mail Best article are independently selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, DailyMail.com may earn an affiliate commission.

There are tons of great deals on fashion to be found on Amazon, but for clothes to hang properly it's important to find the right underwear.

Now there's no need to compromise on comfort, shape or price as the popular Bali Revolution shaping wirefree bra can be yours for as little as $16.99 in the sale. The bra dropped to just $12.74 in some colors and sizes over the Black Friday sales, and many of the discounts are still live.

With a sleek, seamless fit, reviewers say it feels as comfortable as going bra-free but it offers gentle support in all the right places thanks to a special thicker knit in key zones of the design.

Now reduced to $12.74, the Bali Revolution wire-free bra could be one of the most comfortable things you purchase on Black Friday

With more than 13,000 positive ratings on Amazon, shoppers love how the Bali Revolution shaping wirefree bra feels like they're wearing a second skin rather than a bra, and how it manages to lift the bust without any discomfort.

'The best thing about this bra is that it lifts without a wire,' praised one shopper who gave it a full five stars in their review. 'You still get a nice cleavage. No sagging and no back pain.'

Another said it had changed her life, writing: 'It's seriously the must comfortable bra I've ever worn! It's like wearing nothing at all, but at the same time I feel very supported - almost like being hugged. After a couple days of wear I came to Amazon and ordered two more.'

If you did want to follow in the footsteps of several Amazon shoppers who have more than one Bali Revolution shaping wirefree bra, you can choose between classic nude, black or white or show off your personality with brighter colors link pink and red.

The Bali Revolution bra offers support to all size busts due to a targeted knit and wide straps

The Bali Revolution wire free bra is available in several cute colors if you fancy a change from black or nude

Available in sizes X-Small to 3X-Large, the the Bali Revolution shaping wirefree bra has wide straps so you never have to worry about things twisting or rubbing against the skin.

Under t-shirts, vests and dresses, its is practically invisible thanks to the streamline design, and your clothes will hang better when there's no bra outline damaging the look.

Great for working from home, it feels soft enough to sleep in but you'll be ready for any last-minute conference calls or knocks at the door.

And if you overheat easily, you'll be relieved to hear that the fabric of the Bali Revolution shaping wirefree bra is designed to wick away sweat and keep you dry so you say goodbye to embarrassing sweat patches forever.
The Queen has been taking 'comfort' from her work despite being health setbacks amid the 'most difficult time of her reign', a royal expert has claimed.

Concerns over the monarch's health have grown recently after she cancelled a number of engagements, which included missing the Remembrance Sunday ceremony for the first time in 22 years due to a back injury.

Speaking to OK! Vanity Fair's royal editor Katie Nicholl said the monarch is still 'enjoying' her job and it 'keeps her young'.

She continued: 'Behind the scenes, in private, its probably been the hardest time of her reign...In [Philip's] absence, her family is incredibly important. They are everything.'

The Queen, 95, has been taking 'comfort' from her work during the 'most difficult time of her reign', a royal expert has claimed

It comes after The Queen told her family she is feeling much better and looking forward to hosting the rest of the royals at Sandringham this Christmas, according to reports.

Sources close to the Queen have insisted she is on the mend and planning to travel to her Norfolk estate on or around Friday, December 17, according to the Mirror.

It will be an emotional few days, however, as it will be the first Christmas since the death of her husband, Prince Philip.

While a traditional train ride from London to Kings Lynn is not off the table, it's expected she will instead make take a helicopter from Windsor - a journey which takes around 50 minutes.

Katie Nicholl explained how the royal is missing Prince Philip, whom the royal editor called the monarch's 'everything'

Her guests this festive season are said to include Charles and Camilla as well as William, Kate and their three children.

Other royals including Prince Edward, Princess Anne, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, along with their respective partners and children, have also received invites.

A source told the paper: 'The Queen has told everyone she is feeling far better of late and is very much looking forward to welcoming them for Christmas.

'Like many other families, this will be the first time Her Majesty can gather with her extended family after being kept apart for so long due to the coronavirus pandemic.'

Meanwhile the royal editor explained how in Philip's absence, the royal family are 'incredibly important' to the Queen

In late October, Her Majesty drastically cancelled a trip to Northern Ireland and spent the night at London's King Edward VII's Hospital to undergo 'preliminary' tests, before being advised to rest after a particularly busy few weeks.

The monarch also did not make an in-person appearance at Cop26 in Glasgow but instead sent a video message, and later missed the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on November 13.

Buckingham Palace said she made the decision not to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in London 'with great regret' and was 'disappointed' to miss the event.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson then claimed she was 'very well' when he saw her in Windsor a few days after.

The comments come days after the Queen celebrated the double christening of her two great-grandsons with Princess Eugenie, Zara Tindall and their families in Windsor

And last weekend, the Queen celebrated the double christening of her two great-grandsons with Princess Eugenie, Zara Tindall and their families in Windsor.

She had told courtiers she was set on being present this weekend as her granddaughters Princess Eugenie, 31, and Zara Tindall, 40, christen their first-born sons and was pictured at the ceremony in Windsor.

Commentator Penny Junor told the Sun attending the baptism of her great grandsons would have been very important.

She said: 'I've never heard of two royal babies being christened together like this. The Queen is very spiritual, a christening is a very important occasion for the head of the Church of England and being there will be of great importance to her.

'She's very fond of Zara and Mike, and Eugenie too.'
Tatler has unveiled Princess Charlene as its latest cover star as the royal's mysterious illness continues to make headlines around the world.

The cover of the British society bible's January edition is dominated by a photo of the princess from 2019 and declares her life has 'more drama than a soap opera'.

The Tatler feature, published next Thursday, will trace how Charlene went from South African Olympian to the Princess of Monaco.

Media frenzy: Tatler has unveiled Princess Charlene as its latest cover star as the royal's mysterious illness continues to make headlines around the world

Mysterious illness: News outlets and magazines around the world are gripped by the story of Charlene, who was admitted to a treatment facility within days of her return to Monaco following a 10-month absence in South Africa. Pictured, her family reunion in Monaco

Concern: Page Six published a report from anonymous sources who claimed Charlene had 'almost died' following surgery from a sinus infection, which was what caused her to be grounded in South Africa. Pictured, Charlene looking visibly frail in a photo from October

'While the world continues to speculate over her health and marriage, Tatler looks back at how Charlene came to be the princess of the most glamorous realm in Europe - one known for its great wealth, its stylish women and its Hollywood connection via Grace Kelly, the late mother-in-law she never met,' a preview article teases.

'How did Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer from a different continent, come to meet her Prince Charming? And what do her friends and her family say about the current situation?'

News outlets and magazines around the world are gripped by the story of Charlene, 43, who was admitted to a treatment facility within days of her return to Monaco following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa.

Her husband Prince Albert, 63, spoke out to say she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical' but has not been more specific as to her condition. It is thought she will remain in treatment for 'several weeks'.

This week Page Six published a report from anonymous sources who claimed Charlene had 'almost died' following surgery from a sinus infection, which was what caused her to be grounded in South Africa.

Speaking to the publication, a source described as the royal's friend said: 'It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue.

Family life: Meanwhile Prince Albert has continued to make public appearances with their six-year-old twins, Jacques and Gabriella. The trio attended a tree planting event in Monaco on Wednesday and the Monaco National Day celebrations last Friday, pictured

Sibling support: This week Prince Jacques placed a protective arm around his twin sister as the youngsters a South African tree on the terraces of the Casino to mark the centenary of the Soroptimist International Organisation and in honor of Princess Charlene of Monaco

'We don't know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.'

The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in 'severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery'.

The friend added: 'She has not been able to eat solid food in over six months because of all the surgeries she has since gone through. She has only been able to take in liquids through a straw, so she lost nearly half her body weight.'

Meanwhile Prince Albert has continued to make public appearances with their six-year-old twins, Jacques and Gabriella. The trio attended a tree planting event in Monaco on Wednesday and the Monaco National Day celebrations last Friday.

In media interviews, Albert explained he had stepped up to play a bigger role in his children's lives as the family copes with Charlene's ongoing health issues.

Jacques and Gabriella are homeschooled at the palace after being taken out of the classroom due to Covid.

'For me, it's pretty simple  my priority is my family,' he said in an interview this month. 'Of course, without neglecting state affairs... I hope everyone understands that. When I can be with my kids, I do it without hesitation.

'This is an extremely important time in their life  the way they grow up helps them see the world.

'And if one of the parents is away for medical reasons, the other parent has to be there. I have heard too many friends and acquaintances telling me that they wish they had been there for their children, at a certain age, taken up by their work or their professional life. I don't want to have these regrets.'

The January issue of Tatler is available on newsstands and via digital download on Thursday 2nd December.
A surgeon has been praised for performing a 'mesmerising' high-risk operation to remove a lung tumour from a 30-year-old woman who was misdiagnosed with Covid.

Appearing on BBC2 documentary series Surgeons: At the Edge of Life last night, Dannee, 30, from Cambridge explained that she began struggling to breathe and developed a persistent cough last year.

Six months after her symptoms developed, with doctors initially believing she had Covid, she was diagnosed with a tumour on her right bronchus and underwent surgery at Royal Papworth hospital.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Aman Coonar performed the difficult five-hour surgery, successfully removing the section of bronchus containing the tumour and re-attaching the lung to the airway.

Viewers praised the doctor for performing the 'mesmerising' surgery which, if unsuccessful, could have meant Dannee suffered fatal bleeding or lost her lung.

Mr Coonar, who has carried out more than 5,000 operations in his surgery career, had to perform extensive surgery to remove cancer and the damaged section of the lung. He is pictured making the first incision under Dannee's armpit before attempting to isolate the tumour filled airway away from the structures around it

Appearing on BBC2 documentary series Surgeons: At the Edge of Life last night cardiothoracic surgeon Aman Coonar performed a high-risk operation to remove a lung tumour from a 30-year-old woman

Mr Coonar's patient began developing symptoms in March 2020 and was eventually hospitalised with pleurisy and a double chest infection.

'It was like a car crash to be honest,' said Dannee's long-term partner Delia.

'One minute it's one way and the next your whole lives are turned upside down. To have someone so resilient struggle to breathe in front of you is, it's not easy to see.'

After being misdiagnosed with Covid, Dannee was sent for an X-ray and the next day was told she had cancer and an infection which had damaged to top part of her lung.

Viewers praised the doctor for performing the 'mesmerising' surgery which, if unsuccessful, could have meant Dannee suffered fatal torrential bleeding or lost her lung

Mr Coonar, who has carried out more than 5,000 operations in his surgery career, had to perform extensive surgery to remove the cancer and the damaged section of the lung.

The tumour was lodged in her right bronchus, which delivers air into the lung, and had blocked off her right upper lobe, causing infection.

The surgeon had to perform a sleeve resection, meaning he had to remove the tumour and the damaged upper lobe before carefully re-attaching the lung to the airway.

If he was unsuccessful in re-attaching the lung to the airway then he would have had to perform a pneumonectomy, removing Dannee's entire lung.

Dannee began developing symptoms in March 2020 and was eventually hospitalised with pleurisy and a double chest infection

During the surgery, Dannee experienced some bleeding around the origin of the pulmonary artery, where a rupture could prove fatal

The surgeon was able to successfully re-attach the lung to the wind pipe, saying: 'When the lung suddenly moves and becomes pink and you can see the air going back into it is a lovely moment'

'If this isn't treated it can make her very, very sick and it can kill her', said Mr Coonar.

'The worst thing that could happen in this operation is we could have torrential bleeding and Dannee could die, the second worse thing that could happen is i'm not able to attach the remaining lung back to her wind pipe and she will lose the lung. The stakes are very high.

'A case like this will always be challenging. We've got to be ready for bleeding, we've got to be able to react we've got to be completely ready for the unexpected'.

LUNG CANCER: HOW COMMON IS IT AND IS IT FATAL? Lung cancer is one of the most common and serious types of cancer. Around 47,000 people are diagnosed with the condition every year in the UK. There are usually no signs or symptoms in the early stages of lung cancer, but many people with the condition eventually develop symptoms including: - a persistent cough - coughing up blood - persistent breathlessness - unexplained tiredness and weight loss - an ache or pain when breathing or coughing You should see a GP if you have these symptoms. Types of lung cancer There are two main forms of primary lung cancer. These are classified by the type of cells in which the cancer starts growing. They are: - Non-small-cell lung cancer. The most common form, accounting for more than 87 per cent of cases. - It can be one of three types: squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma or large-cell carcinoma. - Small-cell lung cancer  a less common form that usually spreads faster than non-small-cell lung cancer. - The type of lung cancer you have determines which treatments are recommended. Who's affected Lung cancer mainly affects older people. It's rare in people younger than 40. More than four out of 10 people diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK are aged 75 and older. Although people who have never smoked can develop lung cancer, smoking is the most common cause (accounting for about 72 per cent of cases). This is because smoking involves regularly inhaling a number of different toxic substances. Treating lung cancer Treatment depends on the type of mutation the cancer has, how far it's spread and how good your general health is. If the condition is diagnosed early and the cancerous cells are confined to a small area, surgery to remove the affected area of lung may be recommended. If surgery is unsuitable due to your general health, radiotherapy to destroy the cancerous cells may be recommended instead. If the cancer has spread too far for surgery or radiotherapy to be effective, chemotherapy is usually used. There are also a number of medicines known as targeted therapies. They target a specific change in or around the cancer cells that is helping them to grow. Targeted therapies cannot cure lung cancer but they can slow its spread. Source: NHS Advertisement

Mr Coonar made the first incision under Dannee's armpit before attempting to isolate the tumour filled airway away from the structures around it.

He used an endoscope camera to look inside the chest cavity and discovered scar tissue caused by repeated infection which had stuck the bronchus to the blood vessels and tissue around it.

'When it gets to the nitty gritty of separating out the important bits things can be very stuck', he said. 'It's very easy to go into the wrong bit all for something to rupture'.

During the surgery, Dannee experienced some bleeding around the origin of the pulmonary artery, where a rupture could prove fatal.

'We could have terrible bleeding, catastrophic bleeding from the pulmonary artery, wise words from older surgeons were pause, regroup and go back to doing what you know you can do', he said.

'I've done thousands of operations now and I have say this is one of the most challenging i've had to do, everything is so stuck together things could easily go wrong'.

'I try not to think about failure, i'm having to keep myself steady'.

After successfully locating and stopping the bleed, Mr Coonar had to cut away the tumour filled bronchus without causing any more bleeding.

Meanwhile, Dannee's partner was waiting at home while her girlfriend underwent surgery due to Covid restrictions.

'I don't like to think about saying goodbye, she said. 'I want to be there every moment.

'Dannee and I have had that conversation, in the event of worst case scenario. It wasn't easy to have to bring that up, honestly i'm petrified'.

After removing the tumour and upper lobe of lung, the tissue sample was sent to pathology to for testing to see if the surgeon had successfully removed the area where the tumour was.

'There's no sense of relief', he said. 'Because the next really important part of the operation begins and I have to move forward decisively and swiftly. I have to put these things back together again and it has to be done smartly'.

For Dannee's lung to work, the surgeon had to sew the two sections of her airway together.

However as he pulled the two ends of the airway together, her pulmonary artery tore and started to bleed again.

'The pulmonary artery is just too much in the way and it's very likely if I do what I planned I'll end up damaging the pulmonary artery or kinking the airway so air doesn't go in and out of it properly which would just be a disaster', said Mr Coonar.

'No surgeon likes to be in that moment. I'm really quite cross with myself. I cannot see where to put the next stitch, I have no choice, I have to take control of this.'

However the surgeon was able to successfully re-attach the lung to the wind pipe, saying: 'When the lung suddenly moves and becomes pink and you can see the air going back into it is a lovely moment'.

Four days after the operation, Dannee was allowed home and while in hospital for her final post-operation check up reflected on her surgery, saying she has a 'second chance at life'.

'Someone said to me "What are you doing now you've been given a second chance", she said.

'That almost was like wow I didn't see it as a second chance, so I think i'll live everyday as it comes now to the fullest'.

Mr Coonar added: 'Now she's going to have a normal life, she's lost no working lung the infection is gone and the healing looks great, all the tumour is out i'm really pleased'.

Viewers were awe-struck by the surgery, with one writing: 'Aman Coonar you are an absolute genius. Wow.'

'I cry every time I watch #surgeonsattheedgeoflife. In absolute awe of these incredible humans', said another.

A third commented: 'Genuinely can't get over how talented, skilled & calm these people are during the scariest of operations.'

Surgeons: At the Edge of Life is available on BBCiPlayer
Jenna Bush Hager paid tribute to her twin sister Barbara Bush on their milestone 40th birthday while proudly sharing pictures of her newborn niece Cora on her first Thanksgiving.

The Today host, whose birthday fell on the holiday this year, took to Instagram on Thursday to post snapshots of herself and Barbara dressed up and posing with balloons.

Jenna also included heartwarming pictures of her children  Mila, eight, Poppy, six, and Hal, two  bonding with their new cousin, Barbara's baby girl Cora.

'Happiest birthday to my dearest, partner-in-all, the girl with the giant heart, kindest soul,' she captioned the images. 'The best gift of my life is being your sister. And this year, the most precious is having our babes fall in love.

Major milestone: Jenna Bush Hager and her twin sister Barbara Bush celebrated their 40th birthday on Thanksgiving

Aww! The Today host took to Instagram on Thursday to share family photos, including a sweet snapshot of her two-year-old son Hal giving Barbara's newborn daughter Cora a kiss

'I dont know what I did in a past life but having you as a sister is pure magic,' she added. '@barbara.p.bush youre a dream.'

Barbara and her husband Craig Coyne welcomed their first child on September 27 in Portland, Maine, near her family's compound in Kennebunkport.

She was supposed to give birth in New York, but her daughter surprised them by arriving six weeks ahead of her due date.

The twins' parents, George W. and Laura Bush, announced Cora's arrival shortly after she was born, and Jenna later shared the first photos of the baby girl.

Jenna's latest snapshots of Cora show her being doted on by her cousins. In one sweet photo, her eldest child Mila is leaning over the couch to look at the baby girl in her bassinet.

Full of love: Jenna paid tribute to Barbara in the cation, writing: 'Having you as a sister is pure magic'

Too cute: One sweet picture shows Jenna's daughter Mila, eight, leaning over the couch to look at her new baby cousin

Making memories: Mila also got to hold Cora while her sister Poppy, six, cuddled close to them

Another shows Mila holding Cora while Poppy cuddles close at them, while Hal was photographed giving the infant a kiss on the head while she was being fed.

Jenna shared more pictures on her Instagram Stories, including an image of Barbara feeding Cora the next morning.

The sisters' parents weren't with them this Thanksgiving, but they spent the holiday with Jenna's husband Henry Hager's family.

In celebration of their birthday, Jenna shared some advice she'd give her younger self in an essay published by Today.

'I cant believe Im turning 40 because I feel forever ... 26,' she wrote. 'My birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, which feels appropriate. My mom was in the hospital delivering my sister and me over Thanksgiving.

Magical: 'The best gift of my life is being your sister. And this year, the most precious is having our babes fall in love,' Jenna wrote

Special: Jenna, her husband Henry, and their three children celebrated Thanksgiving with Barbara, Barbara's husband Craig Coyne, and their newborn daughter Cora

New mom: Jenna shared more pictures on her Instagram Stories, including an image of Barbara feeding Cora the next morning

'She had hospital turkey and soggy stuffing, but she was fulfilling her greatest dream, her wildest wish: having two healthy babies,' she continued. 'She said holding one of us in each of her arms filled her with awe and gratitude. And that's how I feel at 40  unbelievably grateful.

'I want to spend the next decade with my own babes in each of my arms, silently counting (or loudly shouting!) my blessings.'

The first piece of advice she gave her younger self was not to stick her tongue out, which might seem strange if you didn't know her history. She famously got caught sticking her tongue out at reporters during her father's 2004 presidential campaign.

Jenna went on to tell her younger self that 'everything is going to work out,' 'low rise jeans are not a good look on anybody,' and 'fun is underrated.'

She also wanted herself to know that all of her 'dreams are going to come true.'

Major milestone: Jenna celebrated her 40th birthday one day early on the Today show Wednesday

Aww! Jenna's parents, George W. and Laura Bush, paid tribute to her and her twin sister Barbara in a sweet video message that had her reaching for the tissues

'Youre going to be surrounded by people who love you. Youre going to have the babies youve always dreamed of. That cute boy you have a crush on ... well, you're going to marry him,' she said.

'By your 40th birthday, you will have known him almost half your life. To feel loved by someone who really knows you  someone who has known you since you wore the low-rise jeans and stuck your tongue out  will be the start of a dream.

'Your life won't be exactly what you dreamed of  you will lose people you love,' she added. 'You will hold grief in the place where you once held unaltered love. And although you never dreamed you would have this job, it's a perfect fit.'

Jenna gushed that getting to co-host the fourth hour of the Today show with Hoda Kotb  'a woman with the biggest heart'  'is a dream.'

Brought to tears: 'It's so sweet,' Jenna said after watching her parents' video message. 'All they said was happy birthday, but it's so sweet'

So thoughtful: Jenna also shared an emotional moment with Hoda Kotb, who presented her with a four-slot picture frame featuring photos of her throughout her Today show career

What a birthday: Later on in the show, Jenna was serenaded by country music star Mickey Guyton, who sang 'Happy Birthday' while wheeling out a three-tier cake

'You are living your dream,' she concluded. 'So, turning 40 just feels like another beautiful year, and it's not one that you'll take for granted.'

Jenna also celebrated her birthday one day early on the Today show Wednesday. Her parents honored her and Barbara in a heartwarming video message that played live on air.

'Hey Jenna, 40 years ago today your dad and I were thrilled to welcome two baby girls into the world,' her mom said. 'You and Barbara have made us happy every day since. Happy birthday to you. We are so, so proud of you. Love you.'

Former President Bush followed up with a jocular message, reminding his daughter that 40 isn't that old.

'Yeah, Jenn, 40 years seemed like an old age, but it turns out it's not,' he joked. 'You're going great. Laura and I love you. We are very proud of you, and we wish you and your sweet sissy, Barbara, a happy birthday.'

Amazing: Earlier in the week, U2 frontman Bono surprised Jenna with a performance by the Susan E. Wagner High School band in Central Park in honor of her birthday

Cheers to that: Footage of the incredible moment was shared during her interview with the activist that aired on Wednesday

Thrilled: After the segment aired, Jenna thanked Bono and his team for the incredible surprise, saying: 'I couldn't believe it'

Jenna was crying and dabbing her eyes with tissues after watching her parents' video message, saying: It's so sweet. All they said was happy birthday, but it's so sweet.'

She also shared an emotional moment with Hoda, who looked back on her time on the show with a video montage, including her first day on the job.

Hoda then presented Jenna with a four-slot picture frame featuring photos of her throughout her Today show career.

The former first daughter received messages from her celebrity friends throughout the show, including Reese Witherspoon, Reba McEntire, and Garth Brooks. She was also serenaded by country music star Mickey Guyton.

Earlier in the week, U2 frontman Bono surprised her with a performance by the Susan E. Wagner High School band in Central Park in honor of her birthday.

'Footage of the incredible moment was shared during her interview with the activist that aired on Wednesday.

'I could not believe it,' Jenna said of the surprise.
Healthcare staff fear yet another Covid surge is just around the corner - even before the worrying Nu variant of the virus is taken into account.

In 2020, the holiday season preceded the worst COVID-19 surge the U.S. has faced since the pandemic began.

Last year, the increase in daily virus cases began to accelerate in early December before peaking at more than 250,000 every day in early January.

Now, Covid cases are rising once again in the U.S., with a seven-day rolling average of 95,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

This had led some experts to fear another winter surge is just around the corner, especially with the recent emergence of the South African Nu variant.

Dr Richard Zane, the chief innovation officer at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, told DailyMail.com that because of the different circumstances of this year's wave when compared to last, hospitals may struggle to deal with the surge even more this time around.

Some Colorado hospitals have already reached a breaking point, according to UC Health's Dr Richard Zane, and if things get worse the upcoming holiday surge could overwhelm the state's healthcare system

One Chicago-base epidemiologist believes his state may have already put the worst of the pandemic behind them. Due to the high vaccination rate, combined with the amount of people with natural immunity, and access to medical resources, he believes Chicago should be ok going forward. He still urges residents of the city to protect themselves by getting vaccinated, though

Zane told DailyMail.com that, unlike last year, the Covid ward at his hospital is having to share resources with other wings of the hospital in 2021.

While cases in the Denver area, where UC Health operates more than a dozen facilities, are not likely to reach the same heights this year as last year, dealing with those cases may be tougher for hospitals.

In 2020, treating Covid patients was an all-hands-on-deck approach.

A majority of non-Covid medical treatments were canceled or rescheduled, and a vast majority of the staff, beds and equipment was dedicated to fighting the virus.

With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, many have felt comfortable returning to the hospital for other treatments, and other parts of hospitals have begun to open again - siphoning-off available resources.

Colorado is already experiencing an uptick of cases in mid-to-late November.

'The surge is already harder for Colorado hospitals than it was last year,' Zane said.

Cases in the state have reached 3,000 per day on average, well above the 1,700 per day recorded at the peak of summer 2021 surge fueled by the Delta variant.

Around Thanksgiving time last year, the state was at the peak of its winter Covid surge, recording over 5,500 new cases per day.

I can't emphasize this enough: Hospitals in Colorado have never been this crowded or this busy in the history of the pandemic,' he said.

While Colorado as a whole has a high vaccination rate, with more than 70 percent of residents having received at least one vaccine dose, Zane says some specific communities around the state still have extremely low rates.

Counties on the eastern half of the state, and especially those that border Kansas and Nebraska, have low vaccination rates in particular.

Because UC Health hospitals take overflow patients from elsewhere, Zane says he is seeing many unvaccinated people from specific communities across the state with low vaccination rates show up at his hospital.

'There is a solid correlation between vaccination and the overwhelming of hospitals,' he said.

'There is no ambiguity. A majority of patients in the hospital are unvaccinated.'

He urges people to get vaccinated if they have not already, and to get their booster shots if they are eligible.

'The one thing that can prevent a post holiday surge is people getting boosters and time is running out,' Zane said.

If unvaccinated people get their shots, transmission of the virus will be reduced, and Zane believes the situation in the state can be controlled.

He fears the worst, though, and that if people don't get their shot in the coming weeks, the Colorado health care system will be overwhelmed.

'[It will be] different than anything anyone has experienced,' he said, gravely looking into the future.

Hospital systems nationwide are preparing for potential surges, and many others are also feeling the early affects of the holiday season.

Especially with the prospect of the emerging South African Nu variant, which some scientists believe could be the most infectious strain of the virus yet.

Cases of the variant have already been detected in a few African countries.

It has not yet been detected in the U.S., but health officials like Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, say they are monitoring the situation.

'It would be hard to imagine a situation where the fact that a lot of people have been getting together for several days at a time would not lead to a surge in cases,' Dr Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control at the University of Wisconsin Health system (UW Health), told DailyMail.com.

'Every other large holiday gathering has has led to this.'

Cases in Wisconsin are trending upwards, with the state eclipsing 3,500 new cases per day on average earlier this week.

Around this time last year, Wisconsin was reaching its peak of Covid cases, recording around 5,800 new cases every day.

Only around 65 percent of Wisconsin residents have received at least one vaccine shot, slightly behind the national pace of 70 percent.

Safdar, who is based in Madison, says that there are some pockets of the state that have lower vaccine rates than all the rest, leaving them especially vulnerable to case surges.

While cases are climbing, Safdar believes this year will not be as bad as last year for her system, due to the prevalence of the vaccines.

'I think the thing that could blunt [a hospital surge] would be the vaccination status in areas,' she said.

'Even if people get breakthrough infections, they aren't of [the same] severity or complexity most of the time and [won't] require medical attention.'

Still, there are a few concerns facing the hospital ahead of what could be another surge of Covid patients.

Staffing issues are near universal at hospitals nationwide - even before the pandemic - and Sadfar points out that they are not issues that can be solved in the short term.

The hospital also takes transfer patients from elsewhere, as it has the ability to administer monoclonal antibody treatments and life support systems like extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) that many less resourced hospitals in the state do not.

This means that a surge outside of Madison could still quickly become a problem for the hospital.

Not everyone is as fearful of the future, though.

Chicago, like New York and other densely populated cities around the world, experienced its worst COVID-19 surge in Spring of 2020, rather than winter later in the year.

While case rates were higher in early November last year, instead of late December like the rest of the country, Chicago hospitals were more prepared to deal with the fall surge last year.

Dr Michael Lin, an epidemiologist at Rush University hospital system in Chicago, believes that the worst of the pandemic may be behind us, and that this winter will have a more muted Covid situation.

'I think that we are seeing the benefits of vaccination in our area,' Lin told DailyMail.com.

'I think our city has a relatively high vaccination rate. And I think that coupled with the [previously] infected, my city has made our hospitalization rates even during the Delta wave fairly manageable.

'....I think we've probably gotten through the worst of it now.'

Cook County, which includes Chicago, is currently averaging around 1,300 new Covid cases every day.

Lin still thinks it is too early for people to let their guards down, though, and urges people to take preventative steps like getting vaccinated and receiving their boosters when eligible.

'I can just say that a lot the efforts [health officials are undergoing] are really more on the prevention side,' he said.

'So really focusing on getting the word out about vaccines for people who are unvaccinated, providing opportunities for our patients and people who want to get the vaccine.

'...boosters, I think are [also] a part of the strategy to reduce the winter infections.

'So I do encourage the public to follow the advice about getting boosters, we do think that it'll make a difference in preventing illness this winter.'
Manufacturers of Americas most used vaccines are saying that they can quickly respond to challenges presented by the South African Nu variant.

The recently emerged variant is believed to be the most infectious yet, and some fear it could evade protection provided but the current crop of COVID-19 vaccines.

Pfizer, its vaccine partner BioNTech and Moderna, who are responsible for producing the two most common vaccines in the U.S., have all said they can quickly update the vaccines to provide protection against the emerging variant, if necessary.

While the variant is yet to have been detected in the United States, it has appeared in multiple countries in Africa and Europe, keeping American officials on high alert.

CNBC's Meg Tirell (pictured) reports that Pfizer and Moderna both are taking action to potentially update their COVID-19 vaccines if need be in wake of the newly discovered South African virus strain

The new strain has over 30 mutations, it what has been described as a 'constellation' by some

'Moderna and BioNTech and Pfizer tell us that they are already looking at this very closely and have told us they can update the vaccines very quickly if they need to' CNBC's Meg Tirell said on TechCheck Friday.

Moderna can begin clinical trials for vaccines effective against a potentially resistant variant within 60 days, Tirell reports.

She also reports that Pfizer can adapt its mRNA vaccine within six weeks if necessary, and would have a product to ship out within 100 days if need.

'Within two weeks BioNTech says it expects lab data to tell us whether this is really an escaped variant, one that can really evade the protections of the vaccines,' she said.

More than 108 million Americans have been fully vaccinated by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 71.5 million by the Moderna shot according to data published Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Johnson & Johnson, makers of the third vaccine available in the U.S., also say it is testing its vaccine's effectiveness against this new variant.

The J&J vaccine has immunized nearly 16 million Americans, according to the CDC data.

The variant emerges on the heels of the Delta variant finally receding in any parts of the world after causing massive case surges throughout spring and summer.

BioNTech said it will have more information on the new strain, and whether vaccines are effective against it, in the coming weeks. Pfizer and Moderna both report that they can get out updated vaccines in the coming months if needed. Pictured: vials of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines

Because of the new nature of the variant, not much is known about it yet.

What experts have learned so far has them concerned, though.

'What's particularly concerning about this variant is that it has more than 30 mutations on the spike protein, some of which are known and have been associated with increased transmissibility and the potential to evade the protections from vaccines or prior infection,' Tirell said.

'They call it an unusual constellation of mutations.

'Still, some of these variants, their mutations aren't known yet, and so their effect really isn't understood.

'So whether that confers to more severe disease or less severe disease, and that's just not known at this point.'

The variant is believed to have potentially been formed in Botswana, and quickly caused a surge of cases in neighboring South Africa.

Some travelers heading from Africa to Hong Kong were also discovered to have been infected with the variant.

Cases have quickly risen in South Africas Gauteng province, which includes Johannesburg, among young people in particular.

At least 77 cases of Covid in the province being ravaged with the virus have been found to be of the new variant.

This is the second Covid variant to first strike in South Africa, as early last year the Beta variant was first found in the nation as well.

Many of the infected were found to be fully vaccinated, and the large number of mutations that virus undergoes to reach this variant have experts worried the vaccines may not be able to combat it as well.

A burning question is does it reduce vaccine effectiveness, because it has so many changes, says Aris Katzourakis, a virologist at Oxford University told Nature.
ROYAL BOOKS OF THE YEAR

PHILIP: THE FINAL PORTRAIT

by Gyles Brandreth (Coronet 25, 528 pp)

Gyles Brandreth is careful to not quite say that Prince Philip was his friend; as former prime minister Jim Callaghan reminded him, What senior royals offer you is friendliness, not friendship.

But Brandreth knew and admired the prince for 40 years and, in this gloriously witty and incisive book, you can see how well they got on.

The curmudgeonly prince always refused to be drawn on anything emotional and was hard to impress. Brandreth, one morning in the 1980s, told Philip hed just had breakfast with Blake Carrington from Dynasty. I havent the first idea what youre talking about, said Philip. I had breakfast with the Queen.

Ysenda Maxtone Graham rounded up a selection of this year's best royal books - including Philip: The Final Portrait by Gyles Brandreth. Pictured: The Queen And Prince Philip

Of his difficult childhood, Philip remarked, I just had to get on with it. One does.

Beneath the surface, though, Brandreth sensed great depth. He was a more sensitive man than he wanted us to think of him.

He could be prickly and perverse, stubborn and wilful. He could also be visionary. His spiritual life was important to him. He was his mothers son.

A QUEEN FOR ALL SEASONS: A CELEBRATION OF OUR ONE AND ONLY QUEEN ELIZABETH II ON HER PLATINUM JUBILEE

by Joanna Lumley (Hodder 20, 320 pp)

You couldnt ask for more cheerful company than Joanna Lumley to lead you through an anthology of the Queens subjects recalling their encounters with the monarch since the start of her reign.

Lumley declares herself a lifelong fan, ever since receiving a double-decker wooden pencil case with a stencil of Her Majesty on the lid, at her boarding school in Kuala Lumpur on Coronation Day in 1953.

Its the Queens ability to put people at ease that shines through  although, as Terry Wogan described the Royal Effect: You say the first thing that comes into your head, and you carry the memory of your foolishness with you to the grave.

Everyone nonetheless describes the sense of enchantment of being in her presence, even if not sure what to do with their used cocktail stick at the time.

Lumley includes the moving recollection of war doctor David Nott, who was reduced to wordlessness and almost tears when the Queen asked him what it had been like in Aleppo in Syria. The monarch opened a tin of dog biscuits and they fed the corgis together. And she said, There. Thats so much better than talking, isnt it?

SCANDALS OF THE ROYAL PALACES: AN INTIMATE MEMOIR OF ROYALS BEHAVING BADLY

by Tom Quinn (Biteback 20, 304 pp)

Author Tom Quinn calls the urge felt by royals to escape their gilded cages  most often in dead of night to meet a secret lover  The Houdini Complex.

The publics expectation that their monarch is living an exemplary home life seems to have a pressure-cooker effect.

This, plus the royal sense of power and entitlement, led to scandals all the way from Edward II, who, in his love-tortured reign, may well have had a homosexual affair with nobleman Piers Gaveston, his favourite. So did James I with a selection of young men, one of whom (George Villiers) he called my sweet child and wife.

This gutsy book takes us on a romp through misdeeds in palaces. We find Queen Anne in bed with the Duchess of Marlborough, Queen Victorias wicked uncles up to all kinds of hedonistic mischief and Victoria herself addicted to laudanum and in love with her ghillie John Brown (Quinn believes she married him in secret). And there is one of Princess Dianas lovers, an unnamed politician, allegedly being spotted by staff in his boxer shorts in a draughty corridor at Kensington Palace  hed locked himself out by mistake.

Andrew Morton looks at the life of the Duchess of Sussex in an updated version of his 2018 biography, Meghan: A Hollywood Princess. Pictured: Prince Harry and Meghan

MEGHAN: A HOLLYWOOD PRINCESS

by Andrew Morton (Michael OMara 20, 304 pp)

Within a few months, she went from Duchess Dazzling to Duchess Difficult, writes Andrew Morton of Meghan Markle, in this updated version of his 2018 biography of the duchess, which takes us up to the post-Oprah era.

In other words, all too soon after the royal couples official honeymoon, their honeymoon with the media was over. Meghan progressed, in its eyes, from Duchess Difficult to Duchess Dictatorial.

Certain phrases in the book have a new resonance, since the Oprah Winfrey interview. When Morton visited the Catholic retreat house in LA Meghan attended in her teens, the woman who ran it told him, The atmosphere is: I am willing to share my truth with you, and that makes you willing to share your truth with me. Was that how the concept of my truth came into Meghans philosophy?

Morton is kind but not too kind. Much as she talks of inclusivity and compassion, he writes, her father and the rest of her family remain outside her emotional orbit, cast into outer darkness.

TRAITOR KING: THE SCANDALOUS EXILE OF THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF WINDSOR

by Andrew Lownie (Blink 25, 352 pp)

Andrew Lownie writes about when the Duke of Windsor sailed to France to start his happily ever after life with Wallis in Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile Of The Duke And Duchess of Windsor. Pictured: The Windsors with Hitler

Were not short of books on the Abdication Crisis, but Andrew Lownies compelling volume opens in December 1936 when the Crisis ended and the Duke of Windsor sailed to France to start his happily ever after life with Wallis  which was nothing of the sort. Self-pity and bitterness at their exile ate into their souls.

Lownie produces evidence that the Duke in 1940 was in league with the Nazis to an extent that amounts to treason. On his way to the Bahamas to become Governor, he sent his pro-Nazi banker friend what Lownie calls the killer telegram, asking to be alerted as soon as action was advisable.

Was he plotting to return to take up the throne in a new German-ruled Britain?

Lownie paints an unflattering portrait of this entitled couple, and is damning about how they treated their servants. The Duchess coldly discarded their loyal Bahamian butler when he requested a change of working hours following his wifes death.

THE SECRET ROYALS: SPYING AND THE CROWN FROM VICTORIA TO DIANA

by Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac (Atlantic 25, 736 pp)

Richard J. Aldrich and Rory Cormac write about spying, including when Princess Diana (pictured) would lift floorboards in The Secret Royals: Spying And The Crown From V ict oria To Diana

This gripping book sets out when the world of royals has interacted with that of espionage. Sometimes the royals are being spied on; sometimes theyre doing the spying. The modern intelligence system evolved through efforts to stop Queen Victoria from being assassinated, after eight attempts.

After the 1982 Michael Fagan break-in, Buckingham Palaces protection unit had to raise its game. Protection officers began attending SAS training courses at its Killing House in Hereford.

Royals went for training, too. Princess Diana entered so completely into the spirit of one mocked-up hostage rescue that she drove one of three Range Rovers. She forgot to shut the car window, so when the flash-bang pellets went off, one landed in her hair, setting it alight.

On her visit to the SAS house, the Queen was absolutely unperturbed in a mocked-up rescue of her. An explosion rang through the room, an assault team burst in, and the Queens stiff upper lip never quivered.

The book includes the MI5 agent who hid in Green Park to access a telephone junction box and intercept Edward VIIIs calls, and Princess Diana lifting floorboards in Kensington Palace, convinced she was being bugged.

To buy any book on these pages for 10% discount visit www. mailshop.co.uk/Christmas or call 020 3176 2937
Fuel poverty: Older people tend to feel the cold more as it is harder for them to regulate and maintain body temperatures, says Age UK

Older people who can't afford soaring energy bills need urgent help this winter, the Government has been warned.

A one-off 50 should be handed to households already eligible for extra payouts during cold snaps, and a council hardship fund should be doubled to 1billion, it was told.

'In most years it would be hyperbole to suggest there was a risk of older people freezing to death in their own homes, but the risk cannot be completely discounted this year,' says Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK.

Nearly one million poor older households currently struggle to pay heating bills, and rising costs mean a further 150,000 are in danger of experiencing fuel poverty this winter, according to the charity.

It is urging elderly people - or relatives acting on their behalf - to call its free national advice line on 0800 678 1602 before turning the heating off or down.

Its staff will help people check they are receiving all the financial support available - especially pension credit, which triggers a 25 cold weather payment when average temperatures plunge to zero degrees celsius or below for at least seven days.

A Government spokesperson said: 'We remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society and our 500million Household Support Fund was introduced this year to help people with essential costs through the winter.

'Supporting energy consumers is also a key priority, which is why our Energy Price Cap will remain in place, while we continue to help vulnerable and low-income households through initiatives such as the Warm Home Discount Scheme, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.'

Age UK says 25,700 people got in touch to say they were worried about their energy bills between mid October and mid November, and some 6,500 campaigners have written to their MPs to raise concerns.

It believes escalating energy bills, as wholesale gas prices soar and smaller firms collapse, mean many poor households where one member is aged 60 or over will ration their heating this winter - and many are already feeling 'absolute dread' at the prospect.

Are you elderly and anxious about energy bills? You can call Age UK for free to check you are receiving everything you are entitled to on 0800 678 1602. Are you claiming pension credit? Find out more about applying here, or call Age UK which will help you apply for help that includes cold weather payments. Have you contacted your supplier? Age UK says energy providers have a duty to offer support if people are struggling with bills or debt, and you can ask about an affordable repayment plan. Has your supplier gone bust? Find out what to do here. Read a This is Money guide to dealing with soaring energy bills here.

'Part of the problem is that many older people are living in hard to heat, older homes and, as a result, often need use a lot of energy just to stay warm,' says the charity.

'The cold can be dangerous for older people, especially those with pre-existing health conditions. Older people tend to feel the cold more than younger people, as it is harder for them to regulate and maintain body temperatures.

'Low temperatures can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in an older person, exacerbate lung conditions and worsen arthritis. Living in a cold home can also undermine an older person's mental health, contributing to anxiety, depression and loneliness.'

In its new The Cost of Cold campaign, Age UK is pressing the Government to take the following urgent action.

- Provide a one-off 50 to all those eligible for cold weather payments and speed up existing payments so they arrive no later than seven days after a period of freezing weather.

Usually it takes 14 working days, and the charity says: 'This delay, and the uncertainty it brings, means that many people will not heat their homes sufficiently during the cold snap.'

- Double the household support fund, which is distributed by local authorities, to 1billion. This would allow councils to help a greater number of vulnerable households which are unable to access means-tested support.

- Enshrine the energy price cap in law in the shorter term, and reintroduce 'energy social tariffs' for people in the deepest poverty - those who Age UK says 'pay the highest energy bills, are on the lowest incomes, and live in the coldest and least energy efficient homes'.

That includes people with medical conditions and disabilities that require them to use more heating and energy.

What elderly people say about energy bills Peter, aged 75, told Age UK: 'It's a simple choice, heat or eat. I already confine myself to one room and stay in bed as long as possible. If I cut down any further there won't be any point in living.' Geraldine, aged 77, says: 'I have arthritis which is worse when it is cold. I will have to keep my heating low now. Already I wear gloves on my hands and a heat pack inside my leggings to help my back.' Sheila, aged 81, says: 'We will have to have the heating off, as the bills are scary.'

- Get more people signed up to pension credit, which is a passport to much extra help but is underclaimed by the elderly. See the box above.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, says: 'There's no doubt that media reports about rising energy bills are filling pensioners on low fixed incomes with absolute dread.

'It is clear that as things stand, some fully expect to have to choose between cutting down on food or turning down their heating, once the cold weather sets in.

'At Age UK our greatest concern is that some older people will not even try to keep their homes adequately warm this winter, for fear of incurring big bills they cannot afford to pay.

'Many older people are brilliant at making a small budget go a long way, but that's unlikely to be enough to protect them from the impact of rising household bills and soaring energy costs this time round.

'We must ensure that turmoil in the wholesale energy market does not translate into tragedy for any older person this winter.

'In most years it would be hyperbole to suggest there was a risk of older people freezing to death in their own homes, but the risk cannot be completely discounted this year. That's why we need Government action to ensure every older person comes through safe and well.'
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Renault has teased what its new electric 4 supermini could look like by creating a drone version using the classic model's bodywork.

Bosses at the French car company confirmed earlier this year that the iconic Renault 4 nameplate will be reborn as a compact electric crossover by the middle of the decade as part of its transition away from conventional petrol and diesel engines.

However, the 'AIR4' concept unveiled on Friday isn't the vehicle you might have been expecting - especially because it doesn't have wheels.

The one-off creation is an electric drone in the shape of the classic Renault 4 body that can fly at speeds of up to 58mph and at a height of 700 metres. And the creators have flown it in real-world tests.

Renault4 for the skies: The French brand has marked the 60th anniversary of one of its best-selling cars of all time with a drone version. And it is likely a teaser for the new electric Renault4 crossover that's due before 2025

The drone has been put through flight trials, though video footage merely shows it hovering above the ground rather than racing through the skies

The French car maker has teamed up with wacky vehicle-design hub TheArsenale to create a futuristic 'showcar' to mark the 60th anniversary of the Renault 4, which was originally produced between 1961 and 1994 and sold more than 8 million examples in over 100 countries in those 33 years.

But while Renault says it is a show car, it flies rather than drives.

It does away with the wheels and replaces them with four two-blade propellers, one at each corner of the vehicle, like an oversized drone you can sit inside.

And what you sit in is a retro take on the Renault 4's classis body shape, which sits in the middle of the drone's frame.

In order to get in, the driver has to lift the shell up, which is hinged at the front, and close the body over themselves.

Inside is a single lightweight seat, though the rest of the interior is extremely sparse.

Footage of the airborne drone also gives a clearer view of the retro Renault 4L shape used for the bodywork to mark the 60th anniversary of the volume-selling French classic

TheArsenale - the future mobility designer behind the inception of the drone and has designed everything from stealth boats to military-grade ATVs and personal submarines - says its engineers tested terabytes of data to improve and fine-tune the design

The drone features a Renault4 body on top of a carbon fibre chassis. The driver has to lift the lightweight Renault4 shell in order to get seated inside

The lightweight shell, also constructed using carbon fibre, is hinged at the front and lifts high enough for a pilot to duck underneath to get into the cabin

AIR4 reach 700 metres and tilts to 45 degrees during flight as it moves forwards. The outright top speed is 26 metres per second - 58mph - and it has a take-off speed of 14m/s (31mph)

The entire vehicle is constructed from carbon fibre to ensure it is lightweight enough - with a pilot onboard - to be able to take to the air.

Powering the AIR4 drone is 22,000 amp-hour lithium polymere batteries that generate a total power of around 90,000mAh.

It can go as high as 700 metres and tilts to 45 degrees during flight as it moves forwards.

The outright top speed is 26 metres per second - 58mph - and it has a take-off speed of 14m/s (31mph).

Renault describes the concept as a 'symbol of independence and freedom, born out of the realisation that traffic is compounding, lives are grinding to a halt, and the world above us is unhampered'.

Powering the AIR4 drone is 22,000 amp-hour lithium polymer batteries that generate a total power of around 90,000mAh. Inside is this single lightweight seat, though the rest of the interior is extremely sparse

Like the Renault5 concept already shown earlier this year, the AIR4 hints the reborn 4 will have a retro take on the original's design, retaining the postvan-like body shape and incorporating the revised Renault logo and an oval headlights flanked by LED running lights

AIR4 does away with wheels and replaces them with four two-blade propellers (pictured), one at each corner of the vehicle

Renault describes the concept as a 'symbol of independence and freedom, born out of the realisation that traffic is compounding, lives are grinding to a halt, and the world above us is unhampered'

TheArsenale - which has its European headquarters in Paris and has designed everything from stealth boats to military-grade ATVs and personal submarines - says its engineers tested terabytes of data to improve and fine-tune the design.

And the future mobility company has even carried out real-world trials ahead of its public reveal.

Commenting on the vehicle's unveiling on Friday, Arnaud Belloni, global marketing director at Renault, said: 'After a year-long of celebration we wanted to create something unconventional to close up the 60th anniversary of 4L.

'This collaboration with TheArsenale was a natural fit. The flying showcar AIR4 is something unseen yet and a wink to how this icon could look like in another 60 years.'

The Renault 4 - which was originally produced between 1961 and 1994 (pictured) - will be reborn as a compact crossover before 2025, the French firm announced earlier this year

Some 80 million Renault 4s were sold during its 33-year production run, making it one of the brand's best-selling models of all time

Before 2025, Renault has promised it will relaunch the 4 nameplate to use on an electric crossover that will be built on the same chassis as the Renault5 EV that's due to go on sale in 2024 to replace the Zoe

While the AIR4 is only a concept, it does provide an early glimpse of the reborn Renault 4 that will see the return of the legendary nameplate when it is reborn as an electric car before 2025.

Renault confirmed in June that it will revive the 4 and 5 as part of its shift to electric cars in the next half decade, with boss Luca de Meo confirming they will be among 10 new EVs launched before 2025.

Both will be produced on Renault's electric-dedicated CMF-BEV platform and use the latest battery technology - though further details about the 4 in particular remain thin on the ground for now.

Like the Renault 5 concept already shown earlier this year, the AIR4 hints the reborn 4 - which is said to be called the '4ever' - will have a retro take on the original's design, retaining the postvan-like body shape and incorporating the revised Renault logo and an oval headlights that are flanked by LED running lights.

The electric 4 crossover will hit the market after the reborn Renault 5, which is due to be launched in 2024 with a price tag that's around 33 per cent less than the existing small electric Renault, the Zoe.

The most basic version of a Zoe costs from 27,500 in the UK - which means the 5 could launch with a target price in the region of just 18,500, inclusive of the Government's existing 2,500 Plug-in Vehicle Grant.

An electric Renault 4 - likely called the '4ever' - will be built on the brand's electric-dedicated CMF-BEV platform and use the latest battery technology - though further details about the 4 in particular remain thin on the ground for now

Renault confirmed in June that it will revive the 4 and 5 as part of its shift to electric cars in the next half decade , with boss Luca de Meo confirming they will be among 10 new EVs launched before 2025

Instead of lithium-ion batteries, as used in most electric vehicles today, both the 4 and 5 will could run on Nickel, Manganese and Cobalt (NCM)-based batteries, which Renault says will reduce the cost per kWh to around $80 (58) by 2030.

In terms of driving range, this should improve performance by 20 per cent. Though it estimates the 5 will be able to drive for 249 miles (400km) on a fully charged battery, which is on par with the current Zoe in showrooms today.

Speaking about the Renault 5's return by 2024, Mr de Meo, who spearheaded the recent revival of the retro Fiat 500 in his former role at the Italian marque, said: 'I know from experience that reinventing a cult products lights a fire under the whole brand.

'This is a cult vehicle at a price many can afford. And this is only the beginning for the whole Renault brand.'

A motoring icon reborn: Renault confirmed the Renault 5 will be reborn as a sub-20,000 electric city car by 2024. It will retain the looks of the 5 Prototype revealed earlier this year, which is styled to look like the 5 Turbo hot hatch of the 1980s

The 5's return: Side-by-side, you can see some of the shared design cues of the 5 Prototype with the iconic 1972 original
Two peers will help medical cannabis company Equinox cash in when it lists on the London Stock Exchange this year.

Equinox is one of only a few businesses licensed by the Home Office to grow cannabis in the UK.

Yesterday the company announced plans to tap Londons junior AIM exchange for the cash to help build a 20-acre site to start making cannabis  which it hopes to sell to the NHS.

Director: Lord Great Chamberlain David Cholmondeley, a descendant of Britains first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, with wife Rose Hanbury

Equinox is targeting a significant share of the medical cannabis market in the UK, which it said could be worth 7.5billion by 2028.

The businesss founder is also known for cannabis lifestyle brand Mr Nice which is stocked in Selfridges selling cannabis-themed clothing and CBD oil.

Among its backers are Lord Cholmondeley, the Lord Great Chamberlain and a descendant of Britains first Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. Eton alumnus Cholmondeley, 61, represents the Queen in Parliament and sits on Equinoxs board as a non-executive.

He married ex-model Rose Hanbury who is 24 years his junior, at Chelsea Town Hall in 2009 and they have three children, according to Tatler.

Another backer is the Tory peer Baroness Manzoor, 63, former chairman of Bradford health authority, who is an independent non-executive director at the firm.

Co-founder and chief executive Xan Morgan said the UK medical market will be one of the biggest in Europe and it can become a British champion.

He said: We have one of the first commercially scaled medical cannabis cultivation and production licences issued by the UK Home Office. It was one of three companies to announce IPO intentions yesterday as London was hit by float fever.

Others lining up IPOs were battery tech company Gelion and e-learning and regulatory technology firm Skillcast.

Skillcast has raised 3.5million, valuing it at 33.1million. The firm serves blue-chip companies including Schroders, Fresnillo, and British Land.

Gelion will raise 16million selling shares at 145p, meaning it is worth 154.37million. It will be listed on the exchange from Tuesday while Skillcast will float on Wednesday.

Plant-based meal replacement maker Huel has also reportedly hired Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan as advisers to look at options including a sale, but a flotation is its preferred choice.

Founder Julian Hearn is in line for a fortune worth hundreds of millions of pounds as the drinks maker gears up for a London listing that could value it at up to 1bn.
This month, in Manchester Crown Court, Judge Anthony Cross QC sounded baffled  and deeply disgusted.

How, he wanted to know, had a criminal drugs gang managed to get its hands on a 25,000 coronavirus recovery loan, backed by taxpayers and intended to help struggling small businesses?

It is a very good question. The judge will no doubt find the answer  which he has demanded in writing by the end of the month  to be deeply depressing.

Loans architect:: Chancellor Rishi Sunak (pictured), the architect of the Covid loan schemes, was fully aware of the risk of fraud

The panoply of Covid loans and support schemes have protected the economy, but they have also served as gigantic honey pots for swarms of fraudsters and chancers.

The Manchester loan fiddle emerged during the trial of five men, who had already admitted being part of a conspiracy to supply cocaine, over a plot to kidnap and rob an elderly businessman.

They were using a firm called South Manchester Plastics as a front company for their criminal activities.

One gang member applied for a 25,000 bounce back loan through the bogus enterprise. The villains were duly handed the cash, despite the fact that even a cursory check would have revealed the company had no legitimate trade and had never filed a tax return.

How utterly sickening that money intended for genuine businesses, desperate to survive the Covid lockdowns, was siphoned off so easily by a bunch of criminals.

This case is shocking, but it is far from isolated.

The granting of coronavirus loans, though well-intentioned, was so lax as to be an open invitation to fraud and other misuse.

Billions of pounds were handed to companies with minimal checking.

For once, the banks cannot entirely be blamed for this, because they were acting at the behest of the Government which had set out a deliberate policy of abandoning any attempt at stringent scrutiny.

Instead, the priority was for firms to receive their cash in double quick time.

Banks were giving a green light to loans for existing customers within a day or two, relying on self-certification and no credit checks.

The ultra-loose regime offered a golden opportunity for fraudsters, whether small-time opportunists or sophisticated organised crime.

It also left the system vulnerable to applications from firms who knew they were unlikely ever to be able to pay the money back  and from those who had no actual need to borrow but found the offer of low cost loans too tempting to resist.

Bounce Back Loans, the most common form of help, were made available in April last year for up to 50,000.

Judge Anthony Cross QC presided over a case in which a Manchester drugs gang swindled a 25,000 Covid recovery loan

In total, nearly 48billion of borrowing was approved under the scheme, which is now closed to new applications.

No less than 26billion of that will be lost to fraudsters and borrowers who cannot repay, according to public accounts watchdog, the National Audit Office.

Everyone, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the architect of the Covid loan schemes, was fully aware of the risk of fraud.

But this was accepted as a price worth paying in order to avert the greater evil of mass redundancies and wholesale business failures.

No one, however, can have envisaged the size of the losses that are now emerging, or that many who cynically defrauded coronavirus support schemes are likely to get off with little in the way of reprisal.

The five men in the Manchester case were found guilty, along with a sixth who pleaded guilty to drugs charges, and sentenced to a total of more than 130 years in prison.

But fraudsters know that in many cases, they are likely to suffer little more than a slap on the wrist.

Take Muneef Ihsan, 26, a young man from Rotherham, who set up three bogus companies and used them to fraudulently obtain 150,000 in Bounce Back Loans.

His 21-year-old friend, Mahir Towid Ul Haque, also took out a 50,000 Bounce Back Loan, using some of it to buy himself a Rolex watch.

So far, the only punishments meted out to the pair, whose behaviour came to light after an investigation by the Insolvency Service, are lengthy bans from acting as a director.

It is understood that no money has yet been recovered from them and that no criminal proceedings are so far underway.

The vast Covid lending lifeboat, launched by the Chancellor last year, has saved millions of genuine businesses from going to the wall and spared the economy from incalculable harm.

Even so, it is no excuse for sheer incompetence and laxity that allowed fraud to explode on such an epic scale.

Perhaps the most depressing example of this is Greensill, the collapsed finance firm that employed former Prime Minister David Cameron as an adviser. When coronavirus struck, doubts about Greensill were already being widely aired in the City and beyond.

Regardless of this, when Greensill applied to be a lender, the British Business Bank, a government body that was administering the schemes, gave its approval.

Greensill went on to provide eight taxpayer-guaranteed loans adding up to 400million to companies linked to GFG Alliance, a group of companies run by steel baron Sanjeev Gupta, who is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee last week found the due diligence done on Greensill was woefully inadequate and said 335million of taxpayer cash is at increased risk as a consequence.

As Meg Hillier, the committee chairman put it, the British Business Bank only had to read the papers to be aware of serious questions about Greensills lending model and ethical standards.

Bounce Back Loans, the most common form of help, were made available in April last year for up to 50,000

The Government has hired a firm called Quantexa, advised by former MI5 chief Lord Evans, to uncover corona loan fraud.

But as well as the fraudulent loans bonanza, taxpayers are also set to lose around 3.5billion on three other schemes: furlough, the self-employed safety net and Eat Out to Help Out.

In a bombshell revelation at the weekend, Jim Harra, chief executive of HMRC, admitted tax authorities will only recoup less than half of the 5.8billion paid out in error or fraud under these initiatives.

This is despite the establishment of a special task force with nearly 1,300 staff this year, at a cost of 100million.

Furlough played a valuable role in propping up the economy and is one reason the employment figures are so robust now.

But again, it spawned an explosion of fraud.

Hundreds of off-the-shelf companies appear to have been set up simply to exploit the scheme, with suggestions they have claimed millions of pounds from government coffers.

A decision to go easy on people who owe money has led to an explosion in debt to HMRC, which has risen to 42billion from 16billion pre-pandemic.

It is not clear how much of this is owed by those who wont pay and are taking advantage of forbearance on the part of the tax authorities, as opposed to people who genuinely cannot afford their bill due to the pandemic.

For some, the pandemic prompted feelings of solidarity and community spirit. For others, it presented an opportunity to gratify their greed at the expense of their fellow citizens.

And it is all the more shameful that con artists are stealing from the public purse at a time when the country is groaning under more than $2 trillion of debt and Rishi Sunak needs every penny he can find.
Software company Checkit is planning a major equity raise to help expand in North America and boost trade with firms in the deskless worker sector.

The 'intelligent operations' business hopes to raise around 21million from offering shares to investors at 46p each, a modest discount to the group's closing share price on Thursday.

Up to 10million will go towards sales and marketing, including 2million to 3million on marketing in the United States, with most of the remaining 11million being spent developing products, such as smart buildings technology.

Technology provider: Software company Checkit is planning a major equity raise to help expand in North America and boost trade with firms in the deskless worker sector

In the short term, Checkit aims to double its annual recurring revenue (ARR) on the way to eventually earning 100million per year, partly by transitioning to being a wholly software-as-a-service business.

It revealed that it has already more than quintupled its sales pipeline since the start of the year to 13.2million, thanks to strong demand from its existing clients.

Based in Cambridge, Checkit offers technology focused on boosting productivity and monitoring the progress of employees and assets in industries with high levels of 'deskless' jobs.

Current customers, which the business said number more than 500, include big companies such as French food services group Sodexo, Center Parcs and petroleum giant BP, and organisations like the National Health Service.

The software provider thinks the potential for expansion is significant as the majority of firms still use paper and other manual processes in their work, and this can result in what it calls 'dark operations.'

Checkit defines the term to be when a 'large proportion of operations are hidden from view, making it difficult for managers to measure productivity and identify risks and opportunities within their business'.

Raison d'etre: Checkit offers technology focused on boosting the productivity and monitoring the progress of employees and assets in 'deskless' sectors like healthcare and hospitality

Around 2.7 billion people are employed in the deskless workforce worldwide, according to business management consultancy Quinyx, which is about four-fifths of the entire global labour force.

Digitising this industry would, Checkit suggests, lead to lower costs, greater efficiency and enable companies to better track and enhance the performance of their employees and assets.

The firm estimates that around 570billion could be potentially spent on technology by the deskless work sector to strengthen its operations, and it could potentially grab a 5 per cent share, or 27billion, of that market.

It said its 'platform is designed to make pen and paper obsolete by providing deskless workers with the technology they need. By optimising and automating business' operational performance levels, it can help customers evolve and expand through improved efficiency.'

Bosses at Checkit also believe it is well-placed to benefit from a 'large, fragmented market' as its competitors offer a more limited product offering.

They want to expand the group's reach into four other sectors - logistics, manufacturing, education and construction - to add to its presence in hospitality, retail and healthcare.

'By evolving both the product and the go-to-market functions, there are significant expansion opportunities across these adjacent industries,' the firm remarked.

'In this context, the company has identified a number of areas in which it believes it can continue to accelerate growth in order to capture market share as well as enhance its products to maintain market position and further grow its customer base.'

Checkit's share price closed trading 2.1 per cent lower at 47p on Friday.
Katherine Knight has gone down in the annals of Australian criminal history as the nation's worst female killer and the first and only woman to be locked up for life in prison.

Her infamy comes from decapitating her partner after stabbing him to death and skinning his corpse, then cooking his head in a pot with vegetables.

Having hung her partner' skin on a meat hook, Knight served up parts of his body with baked potatoes and gravy on plates set at the dinner table for each of his three children.

It has been speculated Knight, a onetime boner at a slaughterhouse, tried but failed to eat a cooked section of her boyfriend's left buttock that was later found on the back lawn.

Katherine Knight murdered her partner John Price before cutting off his head and skinning his body. She then cooked his head in a pot and served up his body parts on plates set for his three children. Knight was the first Australian woman to be sentenced to life without parole

It was at this house at Aberdeen in the NSW Hunter Valley that Katherine Knight carried out her final act of violence against men on February 29, 2000 when she stabbed her partner John Price 37 times. After flaying his body Knight hung Price's skin on a meat hook

Knight's appalling crimes have been revisited in a new book by forensic medical scientist Dr William J. Allender called The Expert Witness: A Second Dose.

The book covers 30 cases involving drugs and poisons that Dr Allender has encountered or helped solve in his long career as a toxicologist.

Daily Mail Australia has obtained an exclusive extract of The Expert Witness in which Dr Allender recounts his involvement in Knight's prosecution.

Dr Allender was called upon to conduct tests on Knight's blood after she was arrested in February 2000 in a stupefied estate, having murdered her partner John Price.

He found Knight had taken a large quantity of the anti-depressant Fluvoxamine and a smaller amount of the anti-histamine Promethazine. Both drugs can cause dizziness and drowsiness.

Dr Allender declared neither drug was in the toxic range and a judge later relied on his evidence to rule Knight had not attempted to commit suicide.

Paramedics suspected Katherine Knight had tried to kill herself after murdering her partner but forensic toxicologist Dr William J. Allender discovered she had just taken too much of an anti-depressant and an anti-histamine that made her dizzy and drowsy

Knight was deemed sane and pleaded guilty to Price's murder. In November 2001 Justice Barry O'Keefe of the NSW Supreme Court sentenced her to life.

'The prisoner, Katherine Mary Knight, does not qualify for mercy,' Justice O'Keefe said. 'She engaged in cruel, vicious behaviour to Mr Price.

'She showed him no mercy. She has not expressed any contrition or remorse. If released, she poses a serious threat to the security of society.

'I'm satisfied beyond any doubt that such a murder was premeditated. I'm further satisfied in the same way that not only did she plan the murder, but she also enjoyed the horrific acts which followed in its wake as part of a ritual of death and defilement.'

Knight and Price had lived at Aberdeen, a small township on a hillside in the New South Wales Hunter Valley between Muswellbrook and Scone, about 270km north of Sydney.

Like many in the town, including some of her lovers, Knight had worked in the local abattoir.

Knight and Price had lived at Aberdeen, a small township on a hillside in the New South Wales Hunter Valley between Muswellbrook and Scone, about 270km north of Sydney. The town's largest employer was the local abattoir

One of those abattoir workers was David Kellett who Knight married when she was just 18 and tried to strangle after he could not satisfy her insatiable lusts on their wedding night.

Two years later the couple had a daughter but Kellett was unable to handle his wife's mood swings and ran off to Queensland with another Aberdeen woman.

A devastated Knight left her new-born daughter in the middle of a railway track to be killed but a pensioner who lived nearby rescued the baby when he heard her cries.

Knight was subsequently admitted to St Elmo's Hospital at Tamworth, diagnosed with post-natal depression and discharged.

Next, she slashed the face of a woman who had suggested her daughter was ill, then grabbed a boy she threatened to knife.

After a stint in a psychiatric hospital a reunion with Kellett followed and the couple moved to Woodridge in Queensland where they had another daughter.

The relationship lasted four more years before Kellett took off for Alice Springs and Knight moved in with her parents at Aberdeen, then a rented house at Muswellbrook.

Knight, 66, is serving her sentence at Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre in Sydney's western suburbs where she is known by some other inmates as 'Nanna'. She will never be released from jail. The maximum-security prison is pictured

Another relationship with local man David Saunders beckoned and he moved in with Knight and her two daughters.

Knight's jealous rages soon emerged and she slit the throat of Saunders' dingo pup before bashing him unconscious with a frying pan.

The couple had a daughter and bought a house which Knight decorated with the skins and skulls of livestock, steer horns, deer antlers and stuffed animals.

After Knight hit Saunders over the head with an iron and stabbed him with scissors she took out an apprehended violence order and he left for good, perhaps saving his life.

Knight moved on with another former abattoir worker before her final, fatal partnership with the much-loved John Price, known around town as 'Pricey'.

Price would be the last victim of a vengeful and violent disposition that first became evident in Knight's childhood.

Katherine Knight was involved in a series of relationships in which she was the perpetrator of appalling domestic violence. She viciously assaulted one partner with a frying pan, stabbed him with scissors and slit the throat of his pet dingo pup

The following is an edited extract from The Expert Witness: A Second Dose, Examinations of Crimes, Drugs and Poisons by a Forensic Toxicologist, Dr William J. Allender, New Holland Publishers RRP $32.99:

Katherine was generally a pleasant girl, and her red hair and freckles earned her the nickname of 'the speckled hen'. Very much a loner, with only a couple of friends, she spent a lot of time playing with her dolls. However, she loved animals, or at least, pretty much any creature that was injured. Sadly, she wasn't allowed to have any pets because her father kept greyhounds and was afraid they would be eaten by the dogs, but undeterred, she still picked up injured strays, small birds and so on, took them home and nursed them back to health.

Unfortunately, that good nature started to dissipate as she got older, when she also started to experience extraordinary rages over relatively minor upsets. She began to savour the smells of the meat industry and developed a yearning to work at the abattoir like her father. When she left Muswellbrook High School at the age of fifteen, supposedly almost illiterate, she landed a job as a cutter in a clothing factory. It wasn't exactly what she was looking for, and after a year, she left and got a position at the abattoir, cutting up offal. She loved it, and her enthusiasm was eventually rewarded when she was promoted to boning and presented with her own set of butcher knives, which she proudly hung over her bed so that they, 'would always be handy if I needed them.' She was said to have been as raunchy and heartless as any male worker, and appeared to be quite proud of it.

Knight married abattoir worker David Kellett when she was 18 and tried to strangle him on their wedding night when he fell asleep after three rounds of sex. Kellett was unable to handle his wife's mood swings and ran off to Queensland. The couple is pictured on their wedding day

In 1990, Katherine met up with John 'Chillo' Chillingworth, a forty-three-year-old former abattoir co-worker, at the local hotel. At the time, he was unaware of her violent moods, but his friends warned him that she was bad news. Their relationship, while stormy, produced a son, Eric, who was born in 1991. But Katherine started having an affair with another Aberdeen local, John 'Pricey' Price, and the relationship with John Chillingworth ended after three years. Although he didn't know it at the time, he was very fortunate to be free of Katherine and was able to get on with his own life. However, the same could not be said of John Price.

The Expert Witness: A Second Dose is by Forensic Toxicologist, Dr William J. Allender

When he became entangled with Katherine, he was already the father of three children. Recently amicably separated from his wife, Colleen, he was feeling lonely and so quickly fell for Katherine's charms. It was 1993. They were both thirty-eight and Pricey was totally smitten by her. He was a very popular man, very likeable and very generous. It was said that 'he would give you his last two bob.'

A top bloke.

He worked at the Howick mines in Aberdeen, making a good living, and had a comfortable brick home in St Andrews Street, which had been left to him by his former wife. In 1995, Katherine moved in with him. The house was quite luxurious compared to her 'dead animal museum' cottage, and at first, she treated him very well, as was her usual way, doing all the things that a loving wife does, and they also supposedly had quite a vigorous sex life. Happy days. But it didn't last. The honeymoon period ended and the drinking and insane violence began.

John Price was recently separated from his wife when he fell for Katherine Knight's supposed charms. 'Pricey' was a very popular man, likeable and generous. 'A top bloke'

Katherine was still consumed with her irrational and venomous need for revenge, and on 29th February, 2000, she took a knife and stabbed Pricey in the upper left chest, prompting him to take out an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against her to keep her away from him and his children. But so determined was she to up the ante, she just ignored it.

That same afternoon, Pricey said to his co-workers, somewhat prophetically, that if he didn't come into work the following day, it would because Katherine had done him in. Concerned about the situation, his fellow co-workers said that he shouldn't go home, but Pricey felt that if he didn't, she would kill his children.

In the meantime, and unknown to him, Katherine had sent the children away for a sleepover at a friend's place, so when Pricey arrived home, there was no one there. After an evening watching television, he took a shower and went to bed. Katherine sneaked into his house and woke him just after 11.00pm. She must have used all her feminine wiles because they had sex, after which he fell asleep.

A night of terror was about to begin.

John Price was recently separated and the father of three children when Knight moved into his house (above). The honeymoon period soon ended and was replaced by insane violence

Katherine had brought her butcher's knife with her, and it was within easy reach. The first blow was struck without warning, followed by several others to his naked chest. She was now doing what she had threatened many times before - she was murdering him. In stark terror and agony, Pricey woke up and leapt out of bed, running down the hallway with Katherine in relentless pursuit, all the time stabbing continuously at her mortally wounded victim. Blood from his numerous wounds stained the bedding, carpet and walls as he made a desperate attempt to escape. But the blade kept plunging into him. The pain must have been unbearable and with his lungs now so badly damaged, he couldn't shout to raise the alarm. Amazingly, he clung to life, staggering to the front door and leaving a bloody hand print on the door frame. But he couldn't make it through and he was dragged back into the house where he collapsed. The stabbings continued and he slid down the wall of the entrance foyer, where he died.

John 'Pricey' Price pictured around the time when he met Katherine Knight. The couple moved in together in 1995 but her violent episodes caused him to leave her in February 2000 which prompted her depraved revenge

At 6.00am the following morning, a neighbour noticed that Pricey's white Ford Mondeo sedan was still in the driveway. That's so unlike Pricey, he thought. Normally, he'd have been away to work and he was known as being very punctual, so when he didn't arrive at Bowditch and Partners, his employer sent a fellow worker around to his house to see if he was okay. The neighbour and worker noticed Pricey's work boots were still lined up at the front door, as was his custom. Thinking that he may have overslept, they tried waking him by knocking on his bedroom window. It was then that they spotted blood stains on the front door and contacted the police. Sergeant Furlonger and Senior Constables Maude and Matthews arrived at the St Andrews Street property twenty-five minutes later, at 8.10am, in their separate vehicles. They tried the front and back doors, finding each to be locked, and used a crowbar to gain entry via the laundry door.

The police officers had decades of experience between them, but nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to witness.

Knight fatally stabbed John Price an estimated 37 times, chasing him down a hall and dragging him back inside the house when he tried to escape. After he died in the hallway Knight skinned and decapitated his body

Led by Sergeant Furlonger, they entered the premises with their weapons drawn. There was blood everywhere and a large pool of blood near the entrance foyer. Then what was thought to be a blanket hanging in a doorway arch leading into the lounge turned out to be, on closer inspection, John Price's exterior layer of skin hanging from a meat hook.

'Oh my God, she's skinned him!' one of the officers gasped.

It was a human pelt, expertly removed in one piece.

Moving further into the house, they found the victim's decapitated remains on the lounge room floor, near a small foyer leading to the front door. The body was raw and bloodless. Given the injuries and blood loss, that was hardly surprising. The left arm of John Price's body was draped over an empty 1.25 litre soft drink bottle and his legs were crossed.

As police officers moved through Price's house they caught the smell of cooked meat in the kitchen (pictured). Knight had cut off Price's head and put it in a pot with vegetables

A butchers' knife was found close by. (Two more knives were later found in the kitchen.)

As the police officers moved through the house, they caught the smell of something that had been cooking coming from the kitchen.

Further extreme horrors were to be revealed.

There was a large boiler pot, still warm, on the stove. On opening the lid, they saw John Price's skinned head, along with a quantity of vegetables. After Katherine had decapitated him, she'd cooked parts of his body, serving up the meat with a variety of vegetables, including baked potatoes and gravy, in three settings at the dinner table. She'd also prepared notes alongside the plates, each one having the name of one of his children written on it. Many of the surfaces were heavily bloodstained. A third piece of cooked meat (later identified to be from John Price's left buttock) was found in the backyard.

Retired detective sergeant Bob Wells (pictured) said that in all his years of policing he had never seen anything like the crime scene he found at 84 St Andrews Street, Aberdeen

The police officers then checked the bathroom and found it was empty, save for a black nightie tossed carelessly over the side of the bath. It was heavily bloodstained with what appeared to be flecks of meat adhering to the cloth.

Then they heard a loud snoring sound coming from the main bedroom and looked through the door. The light switch was bloodstained and the sleeping body of Katherine Knight was lying fully clothed on the double bed. With some difficulty, she was aroused and handcuffed.

The Expert Witness: A Second Dose, Examinations of Crimes, Drugs and Poisons by a Forensic Toxicologist, Dr William J. Allender, New Holland Publishers RRP $32.99 available from all good book retailers or online www.newhollandpublishers.com.

Katherine Knight is circled with her hand on the shoulder of former Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, at Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre about 2008
A police officer in one of Britain's largest police forces made offensive, racist and homophobic comments about Pakistanis while on duty, a tribunal has ruled.

The disciplinary hearing ruled Thames Valley Police officer PC Perry Greenhalf, who was based in Newbury and resigned on Tuesday, committed gross misconduct.

He told a colleague, 'Pakistan is a dirty, smelly country' and made homophobic comments about a child.

The panel met at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, and ruled his misconduct was serious enough to justify dismissal.

But there was no need, because he has quit the police anyway.

Greenhalf, who did not attend the hearing, denied gross misconduct but admitted using some of the language.

He was reported by colleagues after he allegedly made the comments in their company while on duty.

He said 'Pakistan is a dirty, smelly country' when he attended a residential address over an alleged breach of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in October 2020.

The disciplinary panel took place at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, pictured, and ruled PC Perry Greenhalf's misconduct was serious enough to justify dismissal (file photo)

The disciplinary panel ruled he did say the comments and they were 'offensive and racist in that they displayed a prejudice towards a particular group'.

But they found it was not proven that he commented 'the house will smell of curry anyway'.

They ruled he did make a homophobic remark about another colleague's sexuality when discussing a party they were planning.

And last summer colleagues said he also made remarks about a vulnerable sexually exploited child, including a 'disgusting' remark made in a town centre in earshot of the public.

These homophobic remarks were found proven and described as 'extremely offensive'.

Thames Valley is one of the biggest forces in Britain, covering Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

Panel chair Chiew Yin Jones said 'On the basis of our findings we were satisfied that the former officer by making these offensive, racist and homophobic comments clearly breached the relevant standards of professional behaviour.

'His conduct would undoubtedly have had adverse impact on public confidence.'

Barrister George Thomas, prosecuting, told the tribunal the officer had made offensive remarks before entering an Asian family's home, stating that

Pakistan was a 'smelly and dirty' place and that the family's home would be, likewise.

His colleague, PC Michael Rice, told the hearing 'I reminded Perry about wearing a mask because we want to be setting an example and following the rules.

'Perry did not particularly buy into the Covid thing and did not care about the restrictions.

'He said 'the house will smell of curry anyway...Pakistan is a dirty, smelly country.'

'The fact that he was making a comment like that so early on in our working relationship caused me some concern.'

PC Greenhalf told a colleague, 'Pakistan is a dirty, smelly country' and made homophobic comments about a child (file photo)

Mr Thomas said 'That comment relates to the unpleasant persecution of the Pakistani community in the 1970s and 1980s and this language enables that historical persecution of that community to continue within some sections of the British community.

'This was not misconduct but gross misconduct.

'It is a fundamental value in modern policing that you reflect the community that you serve.

'That is an essential element of the service that a police officer provides to the community.'

The tribunal heard that PC Greenhalf used homophobic slurs to describe a teenage boy, identified only as P, who was well known to police in the area.

Mr Thomas revealed that P had been the victim of child sexual exploitation and had often gone missing.

But when discussing the teenager PC Greenhalf made 'bigoted, sexualised comments' to his colleague, PC Laura Greaves.

She told the hearing 'There was absolutely no need for that. I have met P a number of times because he has been a missing person and he has mental health issues.

'PC Greenhalf came across like he never really wanted to be a police officer and he came across like he could say and do whatever he liked and he did not care.'

Mr Thomas said 'The homophobic language in relation to P is particularly serious. P was a minor who had been identified as being at risk of child sexual exploitation.

'The homophobic language used raises very serious concerns about whether Greenhalf could be trusted to take his policing duties in relation to P seriously.

'It would seriously undermine the public trust and confidence in Thames Valley Police's commitment to protecting homosexual teenagers from sexual exploitation.'

Another witness, PC Adey-Butt, told the hearing 'I'm proud to wear this uniform and it makes me angry that someone else who gets to wear this uniform could say a thing like that' (file photo)

The tribunal heard that this was not the only homophobic slur Greenhalf had made while on patrol in public.

Another witness, PC Adey-Butt, told the hearing 'I'm proud to wear this uniform and it makes me angry that someone else who gets to wear this uniform could say a thing like that.'

The hearing was told that Greenhalf also aimed homophobic slurs at his own colleagues.

Mr Thomas concluded 'It is our position that all the allegations are proven and, taken together, amount to gross misconduct.'

The tribunal convicted Greenhalf of all the allegations of homophobic comments he made.

However, they cleared him of making a racist comment about a Pakistani family's house smelling of curry.

The panel found, however, that he had called the country 'smelly and dirty' and he was convicted of gross misconduct.
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Around 500,000 frontline NHS staff  the equivalent of six in 10 failed to get their Covid booster in the first six weeks it was available, official data shows.

The shocking figure comes amid calls from NHS England leaders, including chief executive Amanda Pritchard, that the public must get their third jab to save the health service this winter.

But just 330,000 out of 825,000 frontline health staff across England had the crucial third dose by October 31, according to NHS data, despite being first in line for boosters when they were first rolled out on September 16.

Only 45 per cent of the country's doctors were boosted by the end of last month and just 38 per cent of nurses were triple-jabbed  many of whom work with patients who are extremely vulnerable to Covid. The proportion for all NHS staff is now nearly three quarters, NHS England said.

Separate but more up-to-date data has also shown how only about 29 per cent of care home staff received a booster jab as of November 21.

NHS staff were among the first people in the UK to be offered Covid vaccines from the end of 2020 onwards, meaning they were among the first eligible for a booster when the third doses were approved in December.

Health and care workers were prioritised for Covid vaccines to not only offer them protection from the virus but to reduce the chance they could spread to patients, particularly those with health conditions which could make them vulnerable to infection.

A 'no jab, no job' policy was introduced in care homes earlier this month, meaning any staff member who was not double-vaccinated had to be sacked. Some 60,000 workers were thought to have been forced out of the door.

And the same mandate will be introduced on April 1 in the health service, but whether or not the Government applies the rules to booster vaccines remains to be seen.

Data shows that protection against infection from two jabs wane quite significantly at six months  to about 40 per cent for AstraZeneca and 50-60 per cent with Pfizer or Moderna. A booster tops it up to around 90 per cent.

Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist from the University of Reading, told MailOnline that the numbers were 'very low' and that staff were 'putting people at risk'.

An NHS spokesperson told MailOnline that three-quarters of frontline staff were now boosted, but failed to provide official figures.

They said: 'This data is almost a month old now and as of yesterday three quarters of staff have now had their booster.'

They told MailOnline not all staff would have been eligible at the end of last month, and many would have had their booster dose booked in even if they hadn't had one at the time.

New Government data has shown that by six weeks into the Covid booster campaign only about 40 per cent of frontline NHS staff, who are directly involved with patient care, have had their third jab

All staff groups involved in direct patient care reported a Covid booster uptake below 50 per cent. Doctors were the ones most likely to get a third vaccine dose, followed by qualified clinical staff, a group that includes midwives and paramedics, nurses, and finally support staff such as healthcare assistants coming in last

Dr Clarke said: 'It's putting people at risk. I find it odd that people would have had both jabs and be reluctant to get a booster, although it could be down to the fact that they haven't been offered one yet.

'It is always worth reminding people that while the vaccine isn't necessarily all that great at stopping you passing Covid to someone else, it does stop you getting it in the first place.

'There has been a lot of Covid taken from the community into hospitals during the pandemic and by not getting boosted, staff could pick it up quite easily.'

On Ms Pritchard and other NHS leaders telling Brits they need to get boosters to save the NHS, Dr Clarke added: 'It is a bit rich. She should be pushing to get the NHS's own booster level up but at the same time time the public has its bit to play.'

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) staff vaccination report, which contains data supplied by 157 out of the 215 NHS trusts in England, is a detailed breakdown of vaccination of health care workers in England.

Doctors were the most likely group to have their booster, with 45.6 per cent getting the third jab, followed by professionally qualified clinical staff  a group that includes midwives and paramedics  at 39.4 per cent.

They were followed by nurses (37.4 per cent) and finally support staff, such as healthcare assistants (31.7 per cent).

In some of the largest trusts in the country, such as Manchester University Foundation Trust and Leeds Teaching Hospitals, which between them employ nearly 40,000 frontline health workers, less than one in five have had a Covid booster.

Less than 30% of care home staff have had their vaccine booster dose, official figures show Less than three in ten care home workers have taken up the offer of a Covid vaccine booster dose, official figures show. Data from NHS England show just 132,000 out of nearly 460,000 care home staff (28.8 per cent) had a third jab by November 21  despite the Department of Health urging all eligible Britons to come forward for a booster before December 11. Some 93.5 per cent of staff have had their second dose and most will have been eligible since the early days of the booster rollout because they were offered their first doses in December last year. Care homes in London had the lowest uptake in the country with just 20 per cent of staff booking in their booster shot. More than 27,000 care workers in the capital have not had a third dose. In comparison, staff in the North East and Yorkshire as well as the South East had the highest uptakes in the country  but were both still just a third. Less than 70 per cent of care home residents have had a booster, the same data showed, leaving many vulnerable to the virus with immunity waning from their second jabs. DHSC yesterday launched a public drive to improve third dose uptake among the public, telling eligible adults to book theirs in before mid-December to ensure they are well protected by Christmas day. Advertisement

Others, such as Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation, which employs 16,862 staff are doing better, with just over half of eligible frontline staff having got their jab.

The data is submitted to UKHSA by NHS Trusts voluntarily and only 73 per cent provided information, meaning the full picture of how the staff vaccination is going is unknown.

Overall NHS England data is less specific but suggests around 75 per cent had their booster by November 24, but unlike the UKHSA data this does not detail staff role or how individual trusts are performing.

It is unclear why so many frontline staff have not got their Covid boosters, with vaccine hesitancy unlikely to blame considering the vast majority have already had their first two Covid vaccines.

The Covid booster campaign kicked off in mid-September but was marred by a slow start, with eligible people reporting that they were struggling to book an appointment or were being told their nearest available vaccine centre was miles from where they lived.

While most NHS staff would have been vaccinated through work some could have also been caught in the chaos of the initial booster rollout.

The low booster figures will fuel concerns that some NHS staff may choose to jump ship over No10's 'no jab no job' policy, set to come in next Spring.

Official Government projections have warned the 'no jab, no job' rule would only spur on 20,000 workers to get vaccinated, forcing 70,000 out the door when it gets enforced in April.

Unions have warned the controversial policy threatens to do more harm than good by exacerbating crippling staff shortages across England's health service, which already has a crippling level of vacancies.

But the Health Secretary has stuck by the move, claiming it is the 'duty' of NHS workers to get the jab in order to protect patients, and insisted that he does 'not want to see anyone have to walk away from their job'.

This came despite warnings from the care sector indicating a compulsory vaccination policy brought in this month was already causing havoc in terms of staffing levels.

National data for England has also revealed that more than two-thirds of care home staff and almost a third of residents in England have not received Covid booster, latest figures have suggested.

Only 28.8 per cent of staff and 69.7 per cent of residents had received a booster jab as of November 21, according to figures from NHS England.

This means 71.2 per cent of staff (326,281 staff) and 30.3 per cent of residents (95,716 residents) have not been recorded as having received their booster as of Sunday.

The figures are based on responses from 96.5 per cent of older age care homes and 93.1 per cent of younger age care homes.

There will be some staff whose vaccination status is unknown while there may also be a time lag in some vaccinations being reported, NHS England said.

The Government's target was to have offered boosters to all care homes by early November.

On November 5, it said boosters had been either already delivered or booked in at every older adult care home in England where safe to do so.

Covid booster jabs are available six months after a second dose for all adults aged 40 and over, along with other key groups including frontline health and social care workers, while third doses are available eight weeks after a second dose to people aged 12 and over with severely weakened immune systems.

Currently 16 million boosters have been administered, suggesting 7million (30 per cent) of eligible Britons have still to come forward.
Police are staying tight-lipped about their investigation into missing campers who were allegedly murdered by a Jetstar pilot because they want to keep a second crime scene from being 'contaminated'.

Greg Lynn, 55, appeared in court on Friday after being charged with the alleged murder of lovers Richard Hill and Carol Clay following a 20-month investigation.

Forensic officers have ramped up their search for the remains of Mr Hill and Ms Clay after a crime scene was established in Victoria's Great Alpine region on Thursday.

Police are keeping the exact crime scene location a secret, citing significant community and media interest.

Missing Persons Network chief executive Valentine Smith says police have a valid reason why they're keeping the location under wraps.

Police have ramped up the search for the remains of missing campers and Carol Clay (left) and Richard Hill (right)

'They don't want it contaminated, they don't want anything interfered with,' he told the Today show on Friday.

'They certainly wouldn't want to be subconsciously or consciously distracted by other people sort of trying to get a look at what is going on there. They need to protect it.'

He added tracking down the missing silver and blue-coloured trailer with off road wheels which was attached to a blue four-wheel-drive last seen at the campsite the couple vanished from, will be vital.

'I see that the police are really pushing that,' Mr Smith said.

'Without speculating on that as well, obviously of some evidentiary importance to them and may become another crime scene of some sort, depending on what they are looking for.'



Police are preparing for the dangerous task of entering the rugged Victorian wilderness yet again in the hope of finally locating the missing bodies of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay.

Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill said police had been provided 'specific' information as to where to find the burial site within the Great Alpine region.

Missing Persons Network chief executive Valentine Smith (pictured) says police are tight-lipped about the new crime scene location so it isn't interfered with

Detectives (pictured at Sale Police Station on Thursday) are keeping the details of the new crime scene location a secret, citing significant community and media interest

But even with detailed information on a burial site, police have said it will take days to prepare for the dig in what is some of the most rugged terrain on the planet.

Last night, Assistant Commissioner Hill stole the spotlight from Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper, who has tirelessly led the investigation for near on two years.

'This morning detectives identified a crime scene within the Great Alpine area and forensic specialists will commence searching at that location over the coming days,' Assistant Commissioner Hill told reporters.

'We have located a specific area and we will establish a search parameter.

'Police are hopeful we will be able to locate the deceased in order to find closure for the families.'

While the search is taking place in remote bushland, forensic specialists will also be scouring Lynn's two-storey home in Melbourne's west.

Ground-penetrating radar which can uncover anomalies deep within the earth or even concrete structures will be brought to assist the evidence gathering operation.

Lynn was arrested on Monday by specialist police at a remote campsite in Arbuckle Junction, 280km northeast of Melbourne.

Asst Comm Hill confirmed no one else was being sought for the murders and called for anyone with information on a trailer to come forward.

He said the silver and blue-coloured trailer with off road wheels, which was attached to a blue four-wheel-drive, was sold on Gumtree between March and July 2020.

Police would also like to speak to anyone who was in the Wonnangatta area around that time, including 'campers, 4x4 day trippers, hunters, fishermen or trail bike riders', regardless of whether they saw or heard anything.

Mr Lynn's Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive has also been seized.

Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn (pictured) will appear in court on Friday charged with murder

Asst Comm Hill said the arrest came after police adopted 'unique investigative techniques' with support from specialist services.

'It is one of the most significant investigations we've undertaken in recent years,' he said.

'There's been hundreds of people spoken to, hundreds of vehicles that have been eliminated, in excess of 1000 information reports are on the system.'

Mr Hill and Ms Clay were last heard from on March 20, 2020 while camping in the Victorian Alps.

Mr Hill left his Drouin home on March 19 and picked up Ms Clay from her home in Pakenham in his white Toyota LandCruiser.

On March 20, Mr Hill - an experienced outdoorsman - made a call via high-frequency radio saying he was at Wonnangatta Valley.

Ms Clay, a former Victorian Country Women's Association president, told friends she was heading away and expected to return home on March 28 or 29.

Investigators were told the couple were camping together at Wonnangatta River near the Wonnangatta camping ground.

Campers found Mr Hill's car destroyed by fire at their campsite near Dry River Creek Track on March 21.

Richard Hill and Carol Clay have been missing since March 2020 (pictured is their burnt out campsite)
A woman who once worked for Priceline has revealed the success and failures behind launching her multimillion-dollar vitamin empire.

Clinical nutritionist Jessica Sepel, 32, and her husband, CEO Dean Steingold debuted on the Financial Review Young Rich List with an estimated worth of $426million.

Ranking in at number 24, the couple owes most of their success to Ms Sepel's wellness blog and app, which paved the way for their vitamin empire JS Health.

Clinical nutritionist Jessica Sepel, 32, (pictured) debuted at no. 24 on the Financial Review Young Rich List with husband Dean Steingold

From working at Priceline after school, Ms Sepel's business is now the second most popular vitamin brand stocked in Australian pharmacies, despite only launching two-years-ago.

The company's roaring success sees JS Health sell a bottle of vitamins every ten seconds, with plans to expand overseas in the UK, US and Asia.

But it hasn't always been plain sailing for the entrepreneur, with several failed business ventures, including a healthy cereal brand, leaving the couple to lose out on tens of thousands of dollars.

Ms Sepel and her co-founder husband Mr Steingold (pictured) have detailed their lengthy journey to success

At one point, her husband Dean Steingold was forced to give her the blunt reality that it was time to let go of Ms Sepel's dream as the pair could no longer afford the risk.

However, Mr Steingold told the Australian Financial Review sometimes you need to lose it all when launching into a business.

'Youve got to lose every dollar. Then youre ready to realise how hard it is to create anything,' he said.

Refusing to give up, in 2018, Ms Sepel struck the big time with one of her ideas - developing a vitamin with an anti-stress and anti-anxiety formulation.

'I had patients with depression and anxiety, lacking energy, with poor sleep, and I would prescribe them high-dose fish oil, B vitamins, zinc and magnesium and suddenly, they would feel better,' Ms Sepel told The Australian Financial Review Magazine.

'I don't care if it's placebo or not  I saw results. I just knew I could make them better.'

JS Health is now the second most stocked vitamin brand (pictured) in Australian pharmacies

Ms Sepel says she was discouraged by some to continue on with her dream to break into the vitamin industry and that they were 'up against giants'.

'I dont like the word haters, but theres so many naysayers and doubters.'

But with little money left and vitamin bottles costing approximately $20,000 for 2,000 bottles, the couple put everything into the business, and it proved to be a gamble that paid off.

Ms Sepel refused to give up her dream of launching a Vitamin range despite a series of devastating business blows

Jessica Sepel's tips for success 1. Back yourself 2. Be cautious of people who overpromise 3. Accept that life and business will be tough 4. Watch what you post on social media 5. Move on quickly from backlash 6. Harness your strengths and work as a team Advertisement

The nutritionist now has over 25 individual research-backed vitamin formulas, that target everything from 'Hair + Energy' to 'Skin + Digestion' and 'Detox + Debloat'.

Every vitamin is TGA-approved and filled with proven ingredients that treat various ailments, like iodine and zinc for hair and energy levels and turmeric for stress.

The couple's glowing success will see them launch a skincare range backed by a trademarked vitamin complex next month.

A haircare range is also reportedly in the works.
A member of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) is being investigated for allegedly dropping his pants and wiping his buttocks with a compliance letter he received for not abiding by the city's vaccine mandate.

The LAFD member was being accused of the act by Stentorians of Los Angeles City, a group that represents black firefighters.

A department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the firefighter 'responded inappropriately' to receiving the letter.

The alleged incident took place on November 18, according to a spokesperson for the LAFD.

'The department is aware of the seriousness of the allegations and took immediate action upon learning of this incident,' said Cheryl Getuiza, who would not provide any further details.

A Los Angeles Fire Department member is in hot water for allegedly wiping his buttocks in public with a non-compliance letter for the city's vaccination mandate

A department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that the firefighter 'responded inappropriately' to receiving the letter

The alleged incident took place on November 18, according to a spokesperson for the LAFD

The LAFD member in question is on paid administrative leave for the time being.

The Stentorians claim an LAFD captain and chief officer saw the incident, which took place at Fire Station 69 in Pacific Palisades.

'The LA City Stentorians are sickened and disgusted by this horrific display of unprofessionalism,' the Stentorians' statement said. 'To date, we have not heard from anyone from the LAFD administration condemning this act of blatant disrespect and harassment.'

The Stentorians demanded Mayor Eric Garcetti, the city council and the fire commission 'take swift and immediate action to deter any city employee from feeling entitled and not encouraged but empowered to behave in such an embarrassing and threatening manner.'

They added that the act was a 'terminable' offense.

LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas has faced calls for removal from select members

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's spokesperson said they expect the fire department leadership to handle the matter

'No matter how our members react, all city employees must abide by the city ordinance - either file for an exemption, get vaccinated, or face termination,' Getuiza said.

A spokesman for Garcetti said Wednesday that the 'mayor's expectation is that fire department leadership will handle this matter definitively, and make it clear that these appalling actions will not deter enforcement of rules that we've put in place to save lives.'

The president of the fire commission expressed disgust.

'I am beyond appalled at such an act by an LAFD firefighter,' said Jimmie Woods-Gray. She added that 'strong corrective action is necessary.'

City employees who have yet to get vaccinated or seek exemptions are supposed to sign notices instructing them to provide proof of vaccination by December 18.

Workers who refuse will be put on unpaid leave.

A group called Firefighters 4 Freedom is suing the city over the vaccine rules, while some employee groups want LAFD Chief Ralph Terrazas removed amid accusations the department isn't addressing harassment and bullying, particularly of female firefighters.

A recent survey found that an overwhelming number of LAFD members do not trust in their leaders, while many in the department are frustrated with perceived inconsistencies in how top brass discipline sworn members.

Vaccine mandates have been a controversial subject across the country.

Even as vaccinations continue across the country, vaccine mandates remain a controversial issue

As booster shots have been approved by government agencies, vaccinations have gone back up

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) suspended implementation of its order requiring Covid-19 vaccines for private companies after a federal court blocked the measure.

OSHA announced Wednesday that it was ceasing all enforcement of the measure of the emergency order, which ordered companies with 100 or more employees to require vaccines or weekly Covid-19 testing, or face a maximum of $136,532 in fines, $13,653 per violation.

'While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation,' the OSHA website said.

The rule is set to encompass 84 million workers, and employers could face fines for 'willful violations.'

The announcement came after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld a stay on a ruling ordering OSHA to 'take no steps to implement or enforce' the emergency order 'until further court order.'

The mandate was set to take effect Jan. 4, 2022.

Biden ordered companies with 100 or more employees to require vaccines or weekly Covid-19 testing, or face a maximum of $136,532 in fines, $13,653 per violation
Michigan has requested federal military medical assistance to deal with the worst COVID-19 surge in the country, as Minnesota is asking its National Guard to support the struggling medical staff in its hard-hit care homes.

Both states are seeing rapidly-rising COVID cases and hospitalizations, as the cold weather forces people indoors.

Michigan is the current epicenter of the fourth wave, with cases up 88 per cent in the last two weeks, according to The New York Times's COVID tracking.

Hospitalizations in Michigan have risen 48 per cent in the last 14 days, and deaths 64 per cent.

Of 3,114 ICU beds in the state, 85 per cent - or 2,651 - are occupied, according to the state health department.

Nearly 58 per cent of residents over five are fully vaccinated - below the national rate of nearly 63 per cent - and the Democrat governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, has been begging her state's residents to take the virus seriously and get vaccinated.

An ambulance crew weaves a gurney through the halls of the emergency department at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan. The governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has requested federal assistance to deal with the COVID surge - the worst in the country

Minnesota's cases are up 26 per cent in the last 14 days, and hospitalizations up 30 per cent.

Deaths in the state are up 15 per cent in the last two weeks, with the area surrounding Minneapolis hardest hit.

The situation is likely to worsen after Thanksgiving, with people traveling and spending time indoors in large groups.

The TSA expected to screen about 20 million air passengers during the Thanksgiving travel period - the most since 2019 when nearly 26 million Americans were on the move at that time.

Airports and commercial airlines across the United States registered one of their busiest days since before the pandemic on Wednesday as millions of Americans traveled to visit loved ones for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving-eve usually tends to be the busiest day for travel.

This year, however, working from home allowed many people to travel early and avoid the last day rush.

AAA also predicted 53.4 million people will travel for Thanksgiving this year - an increase of 13 per cent, or 6.4 million more travelers, from last year.

Of those, it says, 48.3 million will drive and 4.2 million will fly.

Passengers step off an Amtrak train on the day before Thanksgiving at Union Station in Washington, DC on Wednesday

Vehicles stack up in traffic on their way towards Washington, DC, via I-395 North in Arlington, Virginia, on Wednesday

Travelers wait for trains at the Moynihan Station in New York City on Wednesday

As of 8pm Eastern time on Wednesday, the skies were filled with passenger planes taking travelers to destinations nationwide

Travelers take an escalator to the train platform at the Union Station ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday

Another one million will travel via other means, including rail.

Many feel emboldened by the fact that nearly 200 million Americans are now fully vaccinated.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says unvaccinated people should not travel, although it is unclear whether that recommendation is having any effect.

'This Thanksgiving, travel will look a lot different than last year,' said Paula Twidale, the senior vice president of AAA Travel.

'Now that the borders are open and new health and safety guidelines are in place, travel is once again high on the list for Americans who are ready to reunite with their loved ones for the holidays.'

But travelers are going to face sky-high fuel prices, and increased car rental and flight prices. Demand is hitting a peak from the slowdown during the coronavirus pandemic amid a global supply chain crisis and fuel spikes.

Between Friday and Tuesday, the TSA already had screened more than 10 million passengers at airports, according to TSA figures; 2.2 million were screened Tuesday - more than double the amount who passed through the gates at the same time in 2020, as the pandemic raged.

From Friday through Tuesday, the number of people flying in the US was more than double the same days last year and less than 9 percent lower than the same days in 2019.

Motorists in Northern Virginia are stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic as they drive northbound on I-395 toward Washington, DC on Wednesday

The Washington Monument is seen in the background as motorists brave a traffic jam in Arlington, Virginia

For their part, airlines were hoping to avoid a repeat of the massive flight cancellations  more than 2,300 apiece  that dogged Southwest and American Airlines at different times last month.

The breakdowns started with bad weather in one part of the country and spun out of control. In the past, airlines had enough pilots, flight attendants and other workers to recover from many disruptions within a day or two.

They are finding it harder to bounce back now, however, because they are stretched thin after pushing thousands of employees to quit when travel collapsed last year.

American, Southwest, Delta and United have all been hiring lately, which gives the airlines and industry observers hope that flights will stay on track this week.

'The airlines are prepared for the holidays,' said Helane Becker, an airlines analyst for financial-services firm Cowen.

'They cut back the number of flights, the industry has enough pilots, they are putting more flight attendants through their (training) academies, and they are paying flight attendants a premium  what I'm going to call hazardous-duty pay  to encourage people not to blow off work.'

The airlines have little margin for error right now.

American expected to fill more than 90 per cent of its seats with paying customers on Tuesday. That's a throwback to holiday travel before the pandemic.

A person holds a small child under their coat at Penn Station in New York City on Wednesday

Travelers wait for trains at the Moynihan Station in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City on Wednesday

Travelers head to the trains at New York City's Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday

A traveler sits on the floor and waits for a train at the Moynihan Train Hall at New York's Penn Station on Wednesday

Travelers board a Long Island Rail Road train at New York's Penn Station on Wednesday - the day before Thanksgiving

'There is not a lot of room to put people on another flight if something goes wrong,' said Dennis Tajer, a pilot for the airline and a spokesman for the American pilots' union.

By late afternoon Wednesday on the East Coast, airlines in the US had canceled fewer than 100 flights, an unusually low number, according to FlightAware.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported very few airports affected by significant delays.

Several travelers interviewed at DFW said their flights were full but people behaved well.

The Justice Department said Wednesday it will prioritize prosecution of passengers who violate federal law on flights  the latest in a series of crackdowns against violence on planes.

In the worst incidents - some captured on video and posted to social media - flight attendants have been injured.

Yet the number of COVID is still expected to spike after the holiday.

Pauline Criel, 58, and her cousins had talked about reuniting for Thanksgiving at her home near Detroit, she told AP, after many painful months of seclusion.

But she said the data from Michigan caused her to cancel the plan, and Criel's big family feast was put on hold.

She said she was planning on roasting a turkey and whipping together a pistachio fluff salad - an annual tradition - but only for her, her husband and two grown boys.

'I'm going to wear my stretchy pants and eat too much - and no one's going to care,' she said.

'I know that it might be overkill that we're not sharing Thanksgiving here with my cousins, but better be safe than sorry, right?'

In her state, health officials on Wednesday announced that 44 federal medical experts were being sent to help beleaguered hospitals treat COVID-19 patients.

It also will open beds at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Detroit for transfers.

The two teams of 22 physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists will arrive next week and care for patients for 30 days at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, the state health department said.

More than 4,100 people were hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases as of Wednesday.

The 3,900 hospitalized adults with confirmed infections was 87 per cent more than a month ago and about 94 per cent of the state's record high, which was set in April.

'Right now, our doctors and nurses are reporting the vast majority of their patients are unvaccinated or have not yet received a booster dose,' the governor said in a statement.

'We can all do our part to help reduce the strain on our hospital systems by getting vaccinated, making an appointment to get a booster dose and continuing to take precautions to keep ourselves and loved ones safe.'

Brian Peters, CEO of the statewide hospital group, said the situation is 'dire' and the Department of Defense's support is 'desperately needed.'

'Many hospitals throughout the state are operating at capacity, delaying nonemergency medical procedures and placing their emergency departments on diversion,' he said.

'Receiving these teams of federal caregivers can only help those hospitals.'

Michigan, where more than 25,000 people have died with confirmed or probable COVID-19 cases, again had the country's highest seven-day infection rate Wednesday.

It reported 17,000 new cases over two days and 280 additional deaths.

The seven-day daily average, 8,165 as of Tuesday, was near its highest point of the 20-month pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In Minnesota, meanwhile, the governor, Tim Walz, has ordered 400 members of the National Guard to assist nursing staff at long-term care facilities, and ease the difficulties causes by severe staffing shortages.

Members of the Minnesota National Guard (pictured) are being deployed to help in nursing homes, amid a chronic shortage of staff

Minnesota hospitals faced staffing shortages during the COVID-19 surge late last year because of workers getting sick themselves or needing to care for infected family members.

The shortfalls now are the result of nurses and other health workers leaving the profession altogether - some in protest at vaccine mandates, and others in search of a less intense, better-paid profession.

'The situation is different now,' said Jan Malcolm, the state health commissioner. 'Staffing shortages are much more structural, much more permanent.'

Walz has also proposed using $50 million in unspent federal coronavirus relief funding to help these facilities hire and retain staff, but the suggestion will need approval from a legislative commission that is reviewing the request.

The 400 Guard members will start training as certified nursing assistants and as temporary nursing aides over the next week, the governor's office said.

Selected facilities will receive Guard teams for up to three weeks at a time.

'Our long-term care facilities are facing an all-hands-on-deck moment, and that's why we are taking unprecedented action to support skilled nursing workers, residents and patients,' Walz said in a statement.

The reinforcements from the Guard follow the governor's announcement last week that the Department of Defense will send medical teams to two major Minnesota hospitals to relieve doctors and nurses who are swamped by the growing wave of COVID-19 patients. The teams are expected to begin treating patients at Hennepin County Medical Center and St. Cloud Hospital this week.

Minnesota, like Michigan, is currently one of the country's worst hotspots for new COVID-19 infections.

Hospital beds are filling up with unvaccinated people, and staffers are being worn down by the surge.

The staffing shortages at skilled nursing facilities are making it hard for many hospitals to find places for patients who no longer need acute care but aren't ready to go home.

'We are facing unprecedented, record-level workforce shortages in long-term care communities across our state,' Patti Cullen, president and CEO of the industry group Care Providers of Minnesota, said in Walz's statement.

'The actions the Governor is taking today will provide emergency staffing assistance to the exhausted professional caregivers who have been on the frontlines for over 20 months, and we are so appreciative for this much-needed good news.'

Gayle Kvenvold, president and CEO of LeadingAge Minnesota, another industry group, said the state currently has 23,000 open long-term caregiver positions, and that providers can't fix the shortage by themselves.

'We are grateful for these emergency actions and the collaborative efforts they represent,' he said.

'They provide critical support for weary caregivers and the seniors they serve and provide a bridge to more permanent solutions to address staffing shortages.'
An Anglican teacher claims she was fired from her Christian school because she is gay, and more like her will lose their jobs under new laws.

The school on Sydney's northern beaches allegedly dismissed English teacher Stephanie Lentz due to her sexuality 10 months ago.

Hours after Prime Minister Scott Morrison introduced a religious discrimination bill to parliament, Ms Lentz hit out on ABC's Q+A program.

English teacher Stephanie Lentz (pictured centre) says she was fired from her Christian school for being gay

'I really enjoyed the colleagues and the relationships with students, but in January this year the school fired me. And they fired me because I'm gay,' she said.

'They fired me because they disagreed with me that you can be Christian and also live true to the biological realities of your sexuality or gender.'

The law Mr Morrison introduced seeks to exempt Australians who make 'statements of belief' from existing discrimination laws, but only if those statements do not 'threaten, intimidate, harass or vilify a person or group'.

The prime minister quoted Ephesians Chapter 4 from the Bible on the floor of Federal Parliament on Thursday to justify the bill.

'Religion and faith is also about humility and vulnerability. It is about love. It is about compassion. It is about speaking the truth in love, as the scriptures say,' he said.

North Sydney Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, who is gay, said he was concerned about loopholes.

'The detail that I'm keen to have clarified is whether by allowing schools to put in place policies that can guide their employment,' he said.

'Whether there are any loopholes that could see effectively backdoor ways of setting rules in relation to hiring and firing teachers based on their sexuality or other personal attributes.'

Anglican Pastor Michael Jensen (pictured) replied 'It's complicated' when asked how situations such as Ms Lentz's could be resolved without jobs being lost under proposed new legislation

Q+A host Stan Grant asked Ms Lentz if she was fired 'because you were gay or because you could no longer teach the ethos or the doctrine of that school? Had you offered to do just that?'

'I had offered to promote the school's ethos on sexuality,' she replied.

'Obviously, notwithstanding things that I believed would be harmful to the students, but I did offer to back the school's position on a lot of things.'

She claims the school - whose exact location she did not reveal - wasn't willing to discuss the matter and 'terminated my employment because of my sexuality and my belief that it's OK to be gay because God is cool with it'.

Her allegations sparked a heated debate on Q+A.

Anglican pastor Michael Jensen - a guest on the show - was asked how freedom of sexuality and religion could coexist and how situations such as Ms Lentz's could be resolved without jobs being lost under the proposed new legislation.

'It's complicated,' he replied. 'What we've got to do in an open society is got to make room for different types of view, different types of expression.'

Liberal MP for North Sydney Trent Zimmerman wants details of a proposed new law 'clarified'

Under the proposed legislation, religious schools and organisations would be allowed to give preference to and prioritise the employment of people from the same faith.

The institutions would need to have a clear policy explaining how their religious views would be enforced.

Mr Jensen defended the right for religious institutions to employ who they want to.

What does the religious discrimination bill do? * It prohibits discrimination on the basis of someone's religious beliefs across a wide range of areas including employment, education, the provision of goods, and access to facilities and services. * It overwrites state legislation, including proposed Victorian laws to limit when schools and organisations can preference hiring people according to faith. * Religious schools must make these kinds of policies available publicly. * The bill includes a 'statement of belief' clause to protect people who communicate genuinely held religious views. * Malicious statements or those considered by a reasonable person to threaten, intimidate, harass or vilify people or groups of people are not covered * The bill does not affect the operation of other federal anti-discrimination legislation or allow discrimination on the basis of currently protected attributes. * Accompanying amendments establish a standalone religious discrimination commissioner under the Australian Human Rights Commission. CASE STUDIES: * It is not discriminatory for a religious primary school to require all of its staff and students to practice its faith, should this be necessary 'to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of people of that religion'. * A Catholic holiday camp, for example, can prohibit non-Christian groups from hiring its accommodation or facilities if this is a publicly stated policy in good faith and in line with the religion's doctrines, tenets, beliefs and teachings. But should the camp accept an application from a Protestant group, it would be unlawful to restrict that group's access to parts of that facility. Source: AAP Advertisement

'The current legislation that's before Parliament deals with belief,' he said.

'It deals specifically with an issue of whether you sign up to a belief statement or not, rather than saying anything about someone's identity or their behaviour,' he said.

He said the existence of 'difficult cases' should not prevent 'religious groups and religious institutions to be able to employ who they want to employ reasonably and with clarity about their doctrinal statements and positions'.

Ms Lentz said some Christians no longer believed she 'belonged' with them there because of her sexuality.

Pastor Jensen said that is 'an issue for the Christian community to talk about and for you to contribute to that particular theological debate'.

NSW MP Jason Falinski - in whose electorate of Mackellar is where the school that allegedly fired Ms Lentz is located - said no one should have to go through being sacked for their sexuality.

'The role of any government is to ensure that (freedoms) are protected because if our nation is to mean anything, people need to be free to express themselves within that context,' he said.

Another guest on the show, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who is gay, said Ms Lentz's situation was 'terrible' and she should move to teach in Canberra.

'You are really welcome in our city. We will value you for who you are and the wonderful professional skills you could bring to our education system,' he said.

A controversial element of the proposed legislation, the so-called 'Folau clause', was cut from the bill that was tabled in parliament.

In 2019, Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia for anti-gay social media posts, the last of which said homosexuals, drunks, adulterers, thieves, liars, fornicators, atheists and idolaters were all bound for Hell.

Folau and RA came to a settlement and he has not played rugby union in Australia since.

Q+A guest Melinda Cilento, chief executive of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, was asked how businesses would deal with religious views aired in the workplace environment if the bill passed the Senate.

'You're already seeing businesses and business groups reflecting they're not sure how this plays out and how they're going to deal with this and what the implications for them are as they deal with the laws and the regulations of this,' she said.
The ex-district attorney in the Ahmaud Arbery case was booked into a Georgia county jail on Wednesday, the same day his three attackers were convicted of murder.

Jackie Johnson, 49, a former Brunswick Judicial Circuit district attorney, was booked into the Glynn County Jail after she turned herself in, authorities reported.

She is accused of discouraging the police from making arrests in connection with Arbery's death.

She was released the same day, reportedly on her 'own recognizance,' and did not have to pay the posted $10,000 bail, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

She was indicted by a grand jury last week and faces felony charges for violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor for obstructing police work.

Johnson denied any wrongdoing and said she withdrew her office from the case because one of Arbery's attackers, Greg McMichael, had been an employee.

McMichael and two others were convicted of murdering Arbery, 25, on Wednesday.

Ex-District Attorney Jackie Johnson, 49, was booked into the Glynn County jail in Georgia after reportedly turning herself in on Wednesday. She is said to have been released the same day and did not have to pay a cash bond. She has denied all wrongdoing and said she withdrew her office from the case because Greg McMichael - who was one of three convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery - was an employee

Arbery, 25, was jogging through a Georgia neighborhood when Greg and Travis McMichael and William 'Roddie' Bryan attacked and killed him

Greg and Travis McMichael and William 'Roddie' Bryan were convicted of murdering the 25-year-old man while he was jogging through a neighborhood in February 2020.

On the day of Arbery's killing, Gregory and Travis grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue 25-year-old Ahmaud after seeing him running in the coastal suburb of Satilla Shores. They claimed to believe he was responsible for break-ins in their neighborhood.

Neighbor Bryan, 52, joined the pursuit in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery.

Gunman Travis McMichael, 35, was found guilty on the charge of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

Travis (left) and Gregory (right) McMichael and William 'Roddie' Bryan (middle) were found guilty on Wednesday

They were found guilty of murdering Arbery after they attacked and murdered the 25-year-old in February 2020 after saying they thought he was breaking into homes in the neighborhood

His father, Gregory McMichael, 65, was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

Neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan, 52, was found guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal attempt to commit a felony.

Jackie Johnson was indicted on September 2 on misconduct charges alleging she used her position to shield the men who chased and killed Arbery from being charged with crimes immediately after the shootings.

She allegedly instructed two Glynn County police officers not to arrest Travis McMichael, who shot and killed Arbery, on February 23, 2020, the indictment papers said.

Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones (pictured) said on Wednesday night that she is 'thankful' for justice after all three defendants were found guilty of murdering her son

His mother remained thankful this holiday season, stating: 'This is the second Thanksgiving without Ahmaud. But at the same time, the first with justice for Ahmaud. So I take tomorrow as a very thankful day, and I give all praises to God.'

She is being prosecuted by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's office.

The Arbery family has commended Carr's office and said he kept close contact with them throughout the grand jury proceedings.

'Ahmaud Arbery's life matters,' the family attorney Ben Crump said at a virtual press conference. 'That's what I read when I read that indictment. It expressly stated she showed favor and affection for the killers.'

Arbery's mother Wanda Cooper-Jones said on Wednesday night that she is 'thankful' for justice after all three defendants were found guilty of murdering her son.

Cooper-Jones, sobbed aloud as the first verdict was read, putting her head to her chest as she wept, while civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton gripped her hand.

On Wednesday night, Cooper-Jones said she was relieved at the verdict.

'This is the second Thanksgiving without Ahmaud,' she told CNN. 'But at the same time, the first with justice for Ahmaud. So I take tomorrow as a very thankful day, and I give all praises to God.'
Boris Johnson last night told Emmanuel Macron that he risks another Channel tragedy unless he stops blocking UK help to patrol French beaches.

In a dramatic intervention, Mr Johnson wrote directly to the French president to formally offer hundreds of British personnel to stop desperate migrants from taking to the water.

Downing Street said if Mr Macron backed down, there could be British boots on Frances northern shore as early as Monday in a radical bid to prevent a repeat of Wednesdays tragedy.

France has so far fiercely resisted any move to allow British law enforcement officers to operate on its soil, claiming it would violate French sovereignty.

Yesterday, Mr Macrons government continued to push back against the move, warning Mr Johnson not to exploit the crisis for political ends.

But Government sources insisted that after 27 migrants drowned in the dreadful disaster, the French president had to relent.

The Prime Minister, 57, announced that he has called on the French President, 43, to take back migrants who cross the 'dangerous' Channel after 27 migrants died while making the crossing

France has so far fiercely resisted any move to allow British law enforcement officers to operate on its soil, claiming it would violate French sovereignty. President Macron (pictured November 22) may relent however following the deaths of 27 migrants when a dinghy deflated during a Channel crossing on Wednesday

A group of more than 40 migrants get on an inflatable dinghy, as they leave the coast of northern France to cross the English Channel, near Wimereux, France, November 24, 2021

Hundreds gathered outside the Home Office in Westminster, London to protest the Government's immigration policy and demand an end to deaths in the Channel following the tragedy

People gather around a banner with names of migrants died since 1999 while trying to cross t La Manche canal, at Parc de Richelieu in Calais, France, 25 November 2021.

People protest to pay tribute to the 27 migrants dead in La Manche canal, holding a flag with phrase says 'Refugees Welcome' at Parc de Richelieu in Calais, France, 25 November 2021

In his letter, the Prime Minister also offered to pay for private security personnel to conduct the joint patrols if Border Force staff are deemed unacceptable. And he proposed joint maritime patrols, which could see Border Force cutters operating in French waters.

He also proposed greater intelligence sharing and the use of more advanced technology, including ground sensors and radar to detect migrants before they leave France.

In addition, he urged Paris to negotiate a returns agreement that would allow the UK to send migrants back to France, breaking the traffickers business model.

Home Office officials travelled to France last night ahead of talks with the French interior ministry today. Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday said Mr Macron had the power to end this now.

Her comments came as more horrific details emerged about Wednesdays tragedy. The death toll was originally reported as 31 by French authorities, but later revised to 27.

One migrant feared to be among the dead had phoned a friend to say: Its not good, the engine isnt powerful enough  I dont know if were going to make it. Mohammad Aziz, 31, has not been heard of since his frantic call.

Some of the migrants feared drowned on Wednesday when a dinghy sank in the Channel (pictured) are believed to have travelled to France via the controversial new Belarus route. The dead were confirmed as two boys and a girl; seven women, including an expectant mother; and 17 men.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said there is 'no quick fix' to tackle migrants crossing the Channel in small boats as France demanded fresh assistance

Mr Johnson published an urgent five-point plan to prevent another tragedy, which included measures such as starting joint patrols with France to stop boats leaving French beaches. Pictured: Protest outside Home Office on Thursday

In a string of developments:

Some of the migrants feared drowned are believed to have travelled to France via the controversial new Belarus route;

The dead were confirmed as two boys and a girl; seven women, including an expectant mother; and 17 men;

A body was found on a beach at Sangatte, west of Calais, yesterday, prompting fears it could be a 28th victim;

A transcript of the mayday call  made by a French coastguard during the rescue operation  revealed it had implored all ships in the area to help;

More than 250 migrants were thought to have reached Britain on the day of the tragedy, and at least 50 yesterday, bringing the total since the start of the year to 26,000;

Five men arrested in France after the deaths were said by prosecutors to have no provable link to the tragedy, despite the countrys interior minister earlier claiming they were directly involved;

Asylum claims in Britain have hit their highest level for nearly 20 years;

Tory MPs said migrants should be sent straight back to France

French police carry on a stretcher an unidentified body discovered off the Sangatte beach, the day after 27 migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Sangatte, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021

Migrants in Calais told MailOnline they are more determined than ever to reach the UK as French police again failed to stop 50 migrants crossing the Channel to Britain today. Pictured: Protestor holds 'no one is illegal' placard outside Home Office

A person lights a candle as people pay tribute to the 27 migrants who died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, at the Richelieu Park in Dunkerque, France, November 25, 2021

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron spoke on Wednesday night, with the Elysee later briefing that the French president had asked the PM to refrain from exploiting a tragic situation for political ends.

Government sources said last night there were positive noises from Paris about the possibility of a new deal to combat the crisis.

After this dreadful disaster, the political movement now seems to be in a positive direction, one said. From the noises we are hearing, there seems to be movement on the French side. In the first sign of a climbdown, Mr Macron yesterday said he would be seeking extra help from the UK.

Miss Patel urged Mr Macron to take up the PMs offers. We need to deploy every single tool that we have to save lives and to prevent the loss of life, and that is effectively what this is now about, she said.
It comes as a report suggested Labour needs a larger vote swing to win election

He urged Sir Keir Starmer to push the party's hard-Left factions 'to the margins'

Tony Blair has urged Labour to 'emphatically reject' wokeism and push the party's hard-Left factions 'to the margins' if it is to win power again.

The former prime minister urged Sir Keir Starmer to continue to bring Labour back to the middle ground.

He warned that a 'lurch to the far Left... will never be electorally successful' following the Labour's 2019 election drubbing under Jeremy Corbyn  its worst performance since 1935.

His call comes in a foreword to a report which suggests Labour will need a larger vote swing to win the next election than was seen during Mr Blair's landslide victory in 1997.

Mr Blair said the electoral picture for Labour had been made worse in recent years by the fact that working-class loyalty to the party had ebbed away.

Canvassing from Deltapoll  which questioned more than 2,500 former Labour voters and more than 3,000 who remained loyal  discovered that more than 11 million who had previously voted Labour did not do so in 2019, with 5.5 million turning to the Conservatives.

Former prime minister Tony Blair (pictured) urged Sir Keir Starmer to 'emphatically reject' wokeism and continue to bring Labour back to the middle ground

Mr Blair argued the party has a 'culture problem with many working-class voters' and a 'credibility problem' with those in the centre of the political spectrum.

Setting out a four-point plan for how Labour can return to government, Mr Blair  who was in Downing Street for a decade  said leader Sir Keir should 'continue to push the far-Left back to the margins' of the party.

He also argued that so-called 'woke' views should be rejected.

'We should openly embrace liberal, tolerant but commonsensical positions on the 'culture' issues, and emphatically reject the 'wokeism' of a small, though vocal, minority,' said Mr Blair.

He said any future policy agenda should be centred on 'an understanding of how the world is changing', suggesting that the 'technology revolution should be at the heart of it'.

Mr Blair also pressed for the 'best and brightest from the younger generation' to be encouraged to stand as Labour candidates.

In what is likely to be read as a vote of confidence in the current leadership, Mr Blair, 68, predicted that Labour 'could do it again' and return to power for the first time since 2010.

'Its leadership today is capable of governing and confidence is returning. The corner is turned,' he added.

The comments came in a report, commissioned by the Tony Blair Institute, setting out the findings of Deltapoll's research.

Peter Kellner, in the executive summary of From Red Walls to Red Bridges: Rebuilding Labour's Voter Coalition, said the 'size and urgency of the task' in front of Labour 'are hard to overstate'.

His call comes in a foreword to a report which suggests Sir Keir (pictured) will need a larger vote swing to win the next election than was seen during Mr Blair's landslide victory in 1997

The former YouGov president said: 'To secure a majority at the next general election, Labour needs to gain more than 120 seats.

'This will require a 12 per cent lead in the popular vote  and a swing to Labour greater than in 1997. The party has barely started to climb the mountain it must conquer.'

While recent polls show the Tory lead over Labour narrowing or having been overturned, Mr Kellner suggests they are not yet in a strong enough position to overcome Boris Johnson's working majority of around 80.

'No successful opposition has been anything like as far from the winning post in the mid-term period as the Labour Party is today,' said Mr Kellner.

The research found that Labour had failed to adapt to the loss of its historic, core voter base  manual workers in heavy industry, belonging to a trade union and living in a council home

Education has become a dividing line in terms of support for the party, with Labour doing best among students and graduates aged under 30, and worst among non-graduates aged over 50, the report said.

Mr Kellner suggested Labour needed a two-part strategy both to win back the 'Red Wall' seats it lost in its traditional heartlands  and to retain them.

'The first is a national drive to regain the support of older voters without university degrees,' said the former journalist.

'This would yield the greatest dividends in places with the highest concentration of such voters, such as Red Wall towns.

'Second, a future Labour government needs to ensure these same towns attract the graduates and young families that have increasingly congregated in metropolitan cities.'
A car thief got more than he bargained for when he was caught red-handed trying to steal a vehicle.

David Rutherford was asleep in his Gold Coast home when he was woken to the sound of someone rummaging through his car.

He rushed outside as soon as he heard the engine start and managed to drag the culprit out of the vehicle.

The thief, 15, probably got the fright of his life as Mr Rutherford had forgotten to put on clothes.

David Rutherford, who sleeps naked, was in such a rush to catch the culprit he forgot to put on clothes

'I heard someone start and car and reverse. He hit the gutter here and then stalled it,' Mr Rutherford told 7News.

'I went to go in front of the car - I didnt have any time to put clothes on because I sleep naked - and then he started it and went to go forward but stalled it.

'I got him out of the car.'

David Rutherford said he didnt have any time to put clothes during the ordeal

CCTV footage captured the shocking moment.

In the footage, Mr Rutherford can be seen dragging the boy from the car and hauling him over to the fence.

He could be seen giving the boy a stern talking to all while in the nude.

He then let the boy go as he 'wanted to get some sleep'.
A building with three Taiwanese flags flying out the front has escaped unscathed as anti-Chinese riots see the Solomon Islands descend into chaos.

Protesters have left a trail of destruction over the last two days as they lash out against Chinese influence in the South Pacific nation, but the building with the flags prominently displayed dodged the violence that has seen shops targeted in the Chinatown of the capital, Honiara.

Meanwhile, Australian police forces have arrived in the Solomon Islands to provide security in the region following days of rioting in the capital Honiara.

A building prominently displaying three Taiwanese flags (pictured) was left untouched while other shops and businesses were torched in the Solomon Islands as protests rage over the nation's decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China

Rioters set fire to the Kukum Traffic Police station on Thursday as violence on the streets forced Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to lock down Honiara and impose a curfew

A crowd gathers at Naha Police Station as they defy the lockdown in the capital. The island nation has erupted in anti-Chinese riots so severe Australia has decided to send in troops and police officers

Australia has deployed 23 Australian Federal Police officers, including tactical response teams to the Pacific island nation to help with stability.

An additional 50 AFP officers and 43 Australian Defence Force members will fly out to the country on Friday.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said Australian forces had been armed with lethal and non-lethal weapons.

'Our role is to assist the Solomon Islands police force to restore law and public order as soon as we possibly can,' Ms Andrews told ABC TV on Friday.

'This is a policing matter, not a military matter, so we are working very closely with the police force there.'

Ms Andrews said Australia's deployment was in response to a request for help from the Solomon Islands government under a bilateral security treaty.

Australian Federal Police Special Operations officers head to Honiara as the vanguard of Australia's snap peacekeeping deployment

Twenty three AFP officers flew out on Friday (pictured), with 50 more to follow along with 43 Australian Defence Force members

'We are not there to intervene in any way in domestic matters,' Ms Andrews said.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it was likely the Australian deployment in the region would last for weeks.

While there was not an exact figure, she estimated there were 200 Australian citizens in the country.

'We will engage with them as we need to in terms of those who might wish to leave,' Senator Payne told ABC Radio.

'Importantly, the travel advice is very, very clear about avoiding demonstrations and protests.'

A fireman walks past a torched hardware store in Honiara. Rioters have targeted shops and businesses in the Chinatown part of the city

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare imposed a lockdown in Honiara for 36 hours along with a curfew in a bid to quell the unrest.

The lockdown ended on Friday morning.

Mr Sogavare has blamed foreign powers for encouraging the unrest in the country.

The widespread protests have largely started due to the island nation's decision in 2019 to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.

While MPs in the Solomon Islands have expressed concern Australian intervention could prop up support for Mr Sogavare, Senator Payne said Australia would not intervene in domestic politics.

'These are matters for them to resolve, we would of course encourage engagement and dialogue but it is not for us to pass any comment,' she said.

'There is a broad recognition that it is important to support the stability where we are able to do so.'

Pacific Minister Zed Seselja said the situation was challenging but that the government understood all Australians in the country were safe.

'(Australian forces) are going into a volatile situation but we've got the utmost confidence that they have the highest level of professionalism as they're dealing with this,' he told ABC Radio.

'It is about restoring order, it is not about picking sides in any political processes.'
Letters will be mailed out to every Australian household urging residents to get their Covid-19 booster shot as soon as they are eligible, the prime minister has confirmed.

Scott Morrison said the booster program was essential if Australia was to avoid a new wave of virus infections.

'We're writing out to all Australians and also encouraging them to now go and get their booster shots,' Mr Morrison told ABC Radio Adelaide on Friday.

11.3 million homes will receive a letter before Christmas urging residents to get their Covid-19 booster shot as soon as they are eligible (stock image)

'What you're seeing over in Europe at the moment with a further wave, (booster shots) are very important. We keep rolling on.'

Booster shots are available for anyone who received their second Covid-19 vaccine six months ago or more.

While Pfizer is the only vaccine manufacturer that has had their booster dose approved, it can be administered to anyone regardless of what brand they received for their first or second dose.

The letters urging people to take up the booster program will be sent to 11.3 million homes, and are expected to arrive before Christmas.

Scott Morrison (pictured) said the booster program was essential if Australia was to avoid a new wave of virus infections

The head of Australia's vaccine rollout, Lieutenant-General John Frewen, said 370,000 people have already received their third dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

However, more than 500,000 people have become eligible for the top-up shot.

'The primary two doses are the most important thing, and we'll keep working on getting everybody across the line on those,' Lieutenant-General Frewen told ABC TV.

'But for everybody else, we strongly encourage you, if you're six months from your second dose, to get out and grab a booster.'

The booster push comes amid a new Covid-19 variant being detected in South Africa, which has alarmed health officials.

The new variant, dubbed the Nu strain, has double the number of mutations as the Delta strain which led to lockdowns in multiple jurisdictions in Australia

The latest Australian vaccination figures show 86 per cent of the national population over 16 are vaccinated, and 91.9 per cent have got their first dose.

Booster shots are available for anyone who received their second Covid-19 vaccine six months ago or more, with 370,000 people having already received their third dose (Pictured: A young woman receives Pfizer vaccine in Melbourne)

Most of the people who are now eligible for their booster shot were among the first to get the Covid-19 vaccine when the rollout started, including healthcare workers as well as aged care and disability care residents and staff.

While supply problems plagued the start of the vaccine rollout, Lieutenant-General Frewen said it was not an issue for the third doses.

'There is absolutely no constrain on supply now and people will be able to use all sorts of pathways,' he said.

On Friday, there were 1,362 new Covid-19 cases in Victoria with seven deaths reported.

Meanwhile, in NSW there were 261 infections with no fatalities.

There was just one new case in the Northern Territory reported on Thursday, after the Top End experienced a recent spike in infections, while the ACT had eight cases.
If your dream home has a toilet in the shower and a tiny 'sleeping nook' next to the kitchen, you're in luck - a 17sqm 'apartment' with those features has hit the market.

The bad news is buying it will not leave much change from half a million dollars - $469,000. But the good news is that may actually be a good buy in Sydney.

Carved out of a renovated old building in inner-city Potts Point, the bed is tucked into a cozy 1.4 x 1.9m section charmingly described as a 'sleeping nook'.

If your dream home has a toilet in the shower and a tiny 'sleeping nook' next to the kitchen, you're in luck - a 17sqm 'apartment' with those features has hit the market

The toilet (pictured) is located inside the shower (pictured) in what has been called 'Australia's smallest one bedroom apartment'

To get to the nook, you just step into it, and onto the bed, from the open plan kitchen/living room that measures just 3.2 x 3.7m.

The real estates agent Belle Property's ad describes it memorably as a 'separate bed nook with hanging space'.

Even more interesting than the sleeping nook is the bathroom, which has a toilet inside the shower, like a budget Hong Kong hotel room.

Silvia Vitale of Belle Property has previously seen a studio apartment with a toilet in a shower, also in Potts Point.

'Someone told me they do that in boats as well. It's space saving. It could be a part of the tiny homes movement,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'It really doesn't matter if the toilet gets wet. It probably cleans the toilet at the same time.'

But if you plan to live there, just remember to leave your toilet paper outside the glass door when you're using the space for its shower function.

The bedroom is just a step away, literally, from the kitchen and living room. It also has 'hanging space'

The rooftop terrace is shared with the other occupants of the building in Potts Point, Sydney

There is a lift in the 1935 Art Deco building known as Sandringham, but it only goes to the third floor.

The apartment is located on the top floor - the fourth - which also features a rooftop terrace shared with the other residents of the building.

The owner bought it three years ago and completely renovated what was then an almost dilapidated property, turning what was a studio into a one-bedroom (sort of) apartment.

'There is [now] a window in the bedroom,' Ms Vitale said.

'No matter how small the bedroom is, because it's a separate room and because there's a window in there, it can be classified as a one-bedroom

'And that's why I'm saying it's the smallest one-bedder in Australia, because I haven't heard of any other one that is at this size.'

The apartment is on the market for $469,000 and is rented out for $450 per week, which Ms Vitale said was a bigger return than many small properties in Potts Point.

The apartment is on the top floor of the Sandringham, a 1935 art deco building in Sydney's Potts Point

If $469,000 seems like a huge amount of money to pay for 17sqm, it might be useful to think of the real estate agents' slogan - 'location, location, location.'

Potts Point is one of the most desired suburbs in the inner-city, and this apartment is just metres to the train station, a supermarket, some of Sydney's most glamorous shops, and a very wide choice of casual to fine dining.

Across Sydney, the median apartment price in the year to the end of September was up 9.5 per cent to $802,475.

At that rate, getting a little slice of Potts Point might just seem like good value, regardless of where the toilet is located.
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Scientists are growing increasingly alarmed at a new COVID-19 variant originating in Southern Africa, which on Thursday and Friday forced countries including the U.K., Israel, Italy and Germany to effectively stop travel from the region, but passengers are continuing to arrive in the U.S.

Flight restrictions from South Africa to the US were lifted two weeks ago, along with restrictions on around 30 other countries. As of 5:00 a.m. on Friday, the CDC listed South Africa as 'Level 1: Low Level of COVID-19'.

The variant, B.1.1.529, is believed to have emerged in Botswana - from where there are no direct flights to the U.S. - and is also being found in neighboring South Africa.

Hong Kong reported a case after a passenger who had recently traveled from South Africa was found to be infected with the variant, and then infected another person while in the same hotel, quarantining.

Israel has also identified a case 'in a person who returned from Malawi,' with 'two more cases of people returning from abroad' placed in quarantine, the country's health ministry said Friday.

The variant - which could be named 'Nu' by the World Health Organization in the coming days - has caused an 'exponential' rise in infections in South Africa.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said initial data from the variant was worrying and border restrictions should be imposed.

'Looks like vaccine evasion could be real with this variant,' he tweeted, pointing out that the two patients in Hong Kong who had the variant were both doubled-jabbed with the Pfizer vaccine.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in South Africa. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

One of the two had recently been in Southern Africa. That person then passed it on to a second person, quarantining in the same hotel.

'It's very airborne,' Feigl-Ding said. 'The hotel guests were in different room across the hallway from each other. Environmental samples found the virus in 25 of 87 swabs across both rooms.'

He added: 'I think border and travel restrictions make sense. Especially since Hong Kong only caught the case because of a mandatory hotel quarantine. Which countries in the west still have that??? Almost none.'

Botswana has four confirmed cases, South Africa 77 - with the real figure likely in the hundreds - and Hong Kong has two, meaning 83 cases of the variant are confirmed so far.

But South African scientists tried to backpedal today saying it was 'likely' that vaccines still offered 'high levels of protection' against hospitalisations and deaths from the variant.

Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands joined Britain, Israel and Singapore in suspending travel from South Africa today and, in a sign of growing alarm, the European Union is also proposing prohibiting travel from the country and its neighbours.

As of 5:00 a.m. EST, the CDC website's travel advice page for South Africa had the country listed as 'Level 1: Low Level of COVID-19', with flights to the US permitted from the African country since November 8.

The levels range from Level unknown, Level 1: Low, Level 2: Moderate, Level 3: High and Level 4: Very High.

The CDC page asks anyone travelling to and from South Africa to be fully vaccinated, or for those who are not to be tested for Covid. It also recommends travellers follow measures in-place in South Africa, including wearing a mask and social distancing.

South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge. Local scientists say it has likely spread to all the country's nine provinces, but there is yet to be a surge in hospitalisations in epicentre Johannesburg.

Travellers from South Africa have been allowed entry into the US since November 8, when restrictions barring entry to people from more than 30 countries - implemented at the start of the pandemic - were partially lifted.

The new rules, which came 19 months after the travel ban was implemented, require international visitors to show both proof of vaccination and a negative Covid test.

'There's a lot we don't understand about this variant,' said Richard Lessells, an infectious disease physician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, at a press briefing organized by South Africa's health department on Thursday.

'The mutation profile gives us concern, but now we need to do the work to understand the significance of this variant and what it means for the response to the pandemic.'

U.S. stock futures dropped in overnight trading on Thursday as concerns about the variant spread.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 400 points, while those for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were both in negative territory.

On Thursday Britain's health secretary, Sajid Javid sounded the alarm over what one senior scientific advisor in the UK termed the 'worst-ever' super-mutant COVID variant.

He said it could make vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective, and as a result he said they had banned flights from South Africa and five other regional countries.

Experts explained earlier how the B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  that suggest it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it.

In response, Javid announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

South Africa blasted Britain's travel ban as rushed.

Foreign minister Naledi Pandor said: 'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

A spokesman for the Government said: 'Imposing bans on travellers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome.'

Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations, with Singapore, Germany, Italy the Czech Republic and the Netherlands also banning flights from South Africa.

A statement from European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU aims to halt air travel from the region due to concerns over the possible dangers posed by the variant.

Germany's new travel restrictions, starting Friday night, will affect South Africa and 'probably neighbouring nations', Spahn said, with only German nationals allowed entry.

They must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival even if vaccinated. In Britain they must quarantine for 11 days in Government hotels for about 2,800.

'The last thing we need now is an introduced new variant that causes even more problems,' Spahn said, with Germany in the grip of a ferocious fourth wave of the pandemic.

In Rome, the government on Friday announced it was banning entry to those who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia or Eswatini in the past fortnight.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said scientists were studying the new B.1.1.529 variant, 'and in the meantime, we will follow the path of maximum caution'.

Asian countries are also preparing to tighten curbs.

Pictured: A healthcare worker collects a swab from Bronwen Cook for a PCR test against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) before traveling to London, at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 26, 2021

A baby cries as her mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa on October 21

What impact might B.1.1.529 have on vaccines? Scientists have raised concern that the super Botswana Covid variant may be better able to dodge vaccine-induced immunity than all previous strains  including Delta. UK Health Security Agency scientists say it is the 'worst ever'. It combines mutations previously seen on the Beta variant, which sparked concern last year as it was thought to be more vaccine resistant, and those on the more transmissible Alpha strain that was behind the second wave. Scientists warn it is 'plausible' that the mutant variant is spreading quickly because it is better able to infect people who have immunity either from vaccines or previous infection. In South Africa where it is spreading most people already have immunity from previous infection. Some 40 per cent have also received two doses of the Covid jab. But despite the concern lab tests are yet to confirm that the variant is better able to dodge vaccine-triggered immunity than other mutant strains. Very little is known about its virulence and whether someone who catches the mutant strain is more likely to end up in hospital or dying from the disease. Advertisement

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

There are currently 13 direct flights a week from South Africa to the United States - Johannesburg and Cape Town are the only cities in the region from where it is possible to fly direct to the U.S.

The 13 flights could hold around 3,900 people, if full.

United Airlines currently fly direct from Johannesburg to New York City seven days a week, with the 16-hour flight leaving at 10pm and arriving at 7am in Newark.

United also fly direct to New York City from Cape Town three times a week, on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

United flies Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which can hold 290 people.

Delta fly direct from Johannesburg to Atlanta on Saturday, Monday, and Thursday.

They use Airbus A350-900, which can seat between 300 and 350 people.

Flight 'bans' have been implemented before - although they are rarely an outright ban on a commercial flight from a country. Instead, they are stringent restrictions on who can fly, meaning that the airlines themselves cancel the routes because there are so few people who meet the requirements.

Donald Trump placed restrictions on travel from China to the U.S. in February 2020, and then the border between the U.S. and Canada was closed, and the U.S. and Mexico.

This month Joe Biden ended 18 months of restrictions placed on arrivals from the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, which had largely stopped travel between the countries.

Some epidemiologists have argued that putting a travel ban in place for South Africa is counterproductive, because it punishes a country that has been transparent with its data.

'Given how transmissible that the nu variant apparently is, I do not think that halting travel will ultimately be effective in preventing the variant from arriving,' said Jay Bhattacharya, a professor of health policy at Stanford, whose recent research focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 as well as an evaluation of policy responses to the epidemic.

He told DailyMail.com: 'COVID is a global pandemic. No country can isolate itself forever, and halting travel imposes harm on the kind of international cooperation we will need to end the pandemic.

'A better idea would be for the international community to provide sufficient vaccine supplies to the affected places.'

Others, such as Feigl-Ding, insist travel restrictions are necessary.

South African scientists, meanwhile, add that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

'I've said before - I'm not always as concerned about these variants of concern, but this one, B.1.1.529, does concern me,' said Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center, in an interview with Fox News.

'It's got 32 mutations in the spike protein, which is how the virus spreads.

'And in the province around Johannesburg, there's about 2,500 new cases over the past day, and they think  not proven yet  that this is the predominant variant.'

Siegel said that there were numerous reasons for concern.

'It looks like it's highly contagious,' he said.

'And that is what concerns me, because the other variants that have emerged haven't had a chance against Delta because Delta is so contagious.

'The other issue is, will the vaccine protect against this variant? Will the treatments protect against this variant? We're keeping a really close eye on this one.'

The UK and Israel on Thursday effectively stopped travel from Southern Africa, and some believe the US may follow suit

The British expert whose modeling helped instigate the first coronavirus lockdown said that the decision to impose travel restrictions was 'prudent'.

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: 'The B.1.1.529 variant has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein gene, the protein which is the target of most vaccines.

'There is therefore a concern that this variant may have a greater potential to escape prior immunity than previous variants.

'It is also concerning that this variant appears to be driving a rapid increase in case numbers in South Africa. The Government's move to restrict travel with South Africa is therefore prudent.

'However, we do not yet have reliable estimates of the extent to which B.1.1.529 might be either more transmissible or more resistant to vaccines, so it is too early to be able to provide an evidence-based assessment of the risk it poses.'

The above slide shows the proportion of tests that picked up a SGTF mutation, a hallmark of the B.1.1.529. It suggests that the Covid variant may be spreading rapidly in the country. The slide was presented at a briefing today run by the South African Government

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday at 11:00 GMT to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker 'Nu' - with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

The variant is already in three countries, suggesting it is more widespread than the official tally.

Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong  both of whom had links to South Africa  three have been picked up in Botswana and the remainder are in South Africa.

But a lack of surveillance on continental Africa may be underestimating the true numbers there, scientists warned.

Professor Tulio de Oliveira, a director of COVID surveillance in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, told a press conference on Thursday that it has been spotted in nearly every corner of South Africa.

He admitted he was still 'uncertain' about the impact of the variant on the country's epidemic, with other scientists saying that it might be so evolved that it becomes unstable.

But Professor Oliveria explained the new variant is 'clearly very different' from previous strains, including the fact that it has five times more mutations on a specific part of the spike protein than Delta  meaning it might be better at infecting vaccinated people than the world-dominant strain.

He said that officials 'do expect, unfortunately, to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks.'

Joe Phaahlam, South Africa's Health Minister, warned at the same press conference: 'Here is a mutation variant of serious concern.'

He added: 'We were hopeful that we might have a longer break in between waves - possibly that it would hold off to late December or even next year January.'

Current jabs train the immune system to recognize an older version of the spike, and lots of changes to this protein make it harder for the vaccinated people to fight it off.
More international students could soon be studying at Australian universities without ever stepping foot in the country, as the sector looks set to rebound from the effects of Covid-19.

The federal government's new 10-year strategy for the international education sector will look to boost the number of opportunities for overseas students to be able to learn online while being in their own country.

The strategy will also look to diversify the countries that international students come from to study at Australian universities.

The federal government's new 10-year strategy will boost opportunities for overseas students to be able to learn online while being in their own country (stock image)

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said the strategy would help to make the sector more sustainable.

"We want to see our international student market flourish again, but we have to ensure that the Australian student experience is also prioritised," Mr Tudge said.

"This means that our public universities need to have a higher priority on diversity in their classrooms."

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge (pictured) said the strategy would help to make the international student market more sustainable

Under the strategy, as many as 10 million international students could be taking part in Australian university courses from their home country.

Mr Tudge said he wanted to grow the number of opportunities to learn offshore, with the figure currently sitting at 20 per cent of students.

"There is an enormous opportunity to grow our international student market through high-quality, offshore courses, similar to what the United Kingdom has done," he said.

As many as 10 million international students could be taking part in Australian university courses from their home country (stock image)

With some universities having as many as 80 per cent of international students being from one country, the strategy will aim to diversify enrolments.

Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said Australian universities would be promoted in new countries.

"International education is our biggest services export earner and Australia is known globally for providing world-class education," Mr Tehan said.

"The Morrison Government will promote Australia's education sector to new and existing markets to increase its global reputation as a provider of top quality education."

Tourism Minister Dan Tehan (pictured) said Australian universities would be promoted in new countries in an attempt to diversify Australian university enrollments

The strategy release comes ahead of international students being able to return to Australia without the need for a travel exemption from November 1.

The government said the decision to allow visa holders to return would pave the way for students to attend classes in semester one next year.

The most recent government statistics showed as many as 150,000 student visa holders may be affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions.

International student numbers have fallen dramatically at universities following the start of the pandemic.
Australia is on the verge of an immigration explosion with government leaders from both major parties enthusiastically endorsing a bigger intake.

Before the pandemic, Australia had a net annual immigration pace of more than 200,000 people and a population growth rate of 1.5 per cent that was almost double the developed world average.

From Wednesday next week, fully-vaccinated foreigners with a working or student visa will be allowed into Australia again for the first time since March 2020.

Up to 160,000 students and 50,000 skilled workers are expected to return to Australia in the next few months and now a Labor government leader based in Canberra wants an even bigger immigration intake.

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Australia is on the verge of an immigration explosion with government leaders from both major parties enthusiastically endorsing a bigger intake (pictured is a barista in Sydney)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's announcement of a 200,000 intake - in December and January alone - would almost surpass the level for an entire financial year before the Covid pandemic.

Now the Australian Capital Territory's Labor Chief Minister Andrew Barr wants Australia to take even more migrants and refugees than it did in 2019.

'I would argue for an increased migration program, with an increased in skilled migration and an increase in the refugee and humanitarian intake over the coming years,' he told the ABC's Q&A program on Thursday night.

'I think we can do that and we can have an unemployment rate nationally below four per cent.

'We have the economic conditions and opportunity to achieve that now.'

The Reserve Bank of Australia isn't expecting unemployment, now at 5.2 per cent, to fall to four per cent until 2023 but even then, it is forecasting wages growth remaining under the three per cent level for two more years.

Before the pandemic, Australia had a net annual immigration rate of 239,700 in 2018-19.

This fell to 154,100 in 2019-20, with the period covering the first three months of the pandemic.

Now the Australian Capital Territory's Labor Chief Minister Andrew Barr wants Australia to take even more migrants than before the pandemic

Since mid-2013, Australian wages have grown below the three-decade average of 3 per cent and in the year to September, they grew by 2.2 per cent, equaling the level of March 2020 after dropping late last year.

Pay growth is below the decade-average of 2.4 per cent.

House prices keep surging in Australia SYDNEY: Up 30.4 per cent to $1,333,767 MELBOURNE: Up 19.5 per cent to $972,659 BRISBBANE: Up 24.8 per cent to $731,392 ADELAIDE: Up 22.5 per cent to $591,558 PERTH: Up 16.7 per cent to $550,044 HOBART: Up 27.2 per cent $726,955 DARWIN: Up 17.1 per cent to $567,056 CANBERRA: Up 29 per cent to $985,040 Source: CoreLogic data in median house price increases in the year to October 2021 Advertisement

In the year to October, Australian house and apartment price surged by 21.6 per cent - the fastest annual pace since 1989, CoreLogic data showed.

The mid-point Australian property price of $686,339 is now so expensive an Australian on an average, full-time salary of $90,329 would be in mortgage stress paying off a $550,000 loan with a 20 per cent deposit.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority considers a debt-to-income ratio of six or more to be risky because a borrower would struggle to pay their bills.

In Sydney, median house prices have surged by 30.4 per cent in a year to an even more unaffordable $1.334million, a level beyond the reach of most income earners on six figures unless they were buying as part of a working couple.

Canberra's mid-point house price has soared by 29 per cent to $985,040, making it more expensive than Melbourne's $972,659.

Despite that, Mr Barr said he wanted more migrants in the national capital.

'We'll be striving to attract migrants to our city, we'll continue as the focus on leadership on areas that matter in this nation,' he said.

'Through the national capital, Australians should be very proud of the country of the welcoming country that we are.'

Millionaire businessman Dick Smith, a campaigner against high immigration, said house prices surged, in the absence of immigration, as investors and owner-occupiers alike anticipated population growth to climb again and underpin real estate values.

'One of the reasons that house prices remained high is that everyone is convinced that the government - whichever government's in - is going to increase immigration because they're completely addicted to it,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

In Sydney, median house prices have surged by 30.4 per cent in a year to an even more unaffordable $1.334million, a level beyond the reach of most income earners on six figures unless they were buying as part of a working couple (pictured is an auction at Strathfield in Sydney's inner west)

'Many of the wealthy, I'd say most, have no interest in whether a young couple can afford a house or not.'

Australia's population growth 1881: 2.3 million 1918: 5 million 1959: 10 million 1981: 15 million 1991: 17.4 million 2004: 20 million 2013: 23 million 2016: 24 million 2018: 25 million 2020: 25.7million 2061*: 38.8million * Treasury Intergenerational Report, 2021 forecast Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Advertisement

The past 40 years have seen Australia's population grow at an average, annual pace of 1.4 per cent - among the highest in the developed world.

Australia's population surpassed the 20 million mark in 2003, hit the 23 million mark in April 2013 and reached 24 million in February 2016.

The 25 million milestone was reached in August 2018, 24 years earlier than Treasury anticipated in its inaugural Intergenerational report of 2002.

But the pandemic interrupted that trajectory.

Between June and September last year, Australia's population fell by 4,200 people or 0.02 per cent, as more people left than arrived and births failed to make up the shortfall.

This was the first population decline since 1916.

Covid bans on immigration are expected to reduce population growth to 0.1 per cent in 2020-21, the lowest in more than a century.

Net annual migration in the 2020-21 financial year was forecast by Treasury to fall by 71,600, marking the first negative number since 1946, when departures were subtracted from arrivals.

From December 1, vaccinated citizens of Japan and South Korea will also be allowed in without quarantining, as well as people on humanitarian visas.

A Resolve Strategic poll for 9Fairfax newspapers published this week found 58 per cent of respondents want Australia, upon reopening, to accept fewer migrants than before the pandemic.
Boris Johnsons cherished dream of a bridge or tunnel from Scotland to Northern Ireland looks set to be shelved.

A review due out today concludes it would be too costly and too technically difficult.

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy was asked by the Prime Minister to launch a feasibility study and it is understood he has ruled out such a plan for the foreseeable future.

Sources say this was due to the technical challenge and huge expense  estimated at 24 billion.

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy was asked by the Prime Minister to launch a feasibility study and it is understood he has ruled out such a plan for the foreseeable future

The bridge or tunnel idea was examined as part of a wider study called the Union Connectivity Review, looking at how transport links between the four UK nations can be boosted.

It is understood that the report will leave the door open to a fixed link connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland in future.

It will also recommend boosting capacity on the West Coast Main Line rail link from London to Glasgow, and upgrading the A75, the road to Scotlands west coast and the Northern Ireland ferry ports.

Road and rail improvements between England and Wales will also be urged.

Last night the PM said he intended to accept a recommendation to create UKNET, a new body with representatives from the four nations which will identify and map out how cross-border connections can be boosted.

Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership commented: With the Boris Bridge to Northern Ireland back in the cereal box it came in, it is time to focus on infrastructure projects which have a strong economic case, such as a new line across the Pennines all the way from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford.
Michelle Barlow, 51, began suffering headaches and nausea about a week after receiving her first dose of the jab in March

A 'fit and healthy' mother-of-two died from a blood clot 'likely' to have been caused by the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, an inquest has heard.

Michelle Barlow, 51, began suffering headaches and nausea about a week after receiving her first dose of the jab in March.

She was eventually admitted to hospital and then tragically died later that month.

Senior coroner Timothy Brennand heard that Mrs Barlow, who worked as a civil servant for the Department of Work and Pensions for 34 years, had suffered blood clots likely to have been caused by the vaccine.

An inquest at Bolton Coroners Court heard the condition was a 'very rare' side-effect to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Michelle, a mother-of two from Orrell in Wigan, received her first dose of the vaccine on March 7.

Michelle's husband, Ian, told the hearing that in the days that followed, she began to experience 'flu-like symptoms', and later developed headaches, diarrhoea and nausea.

By March 19, Mrs Barlow's symptoms had become 'overwhelming' so she sought help at Wigan Infirmary.

Doctors carried out tests, which showed she had a 'very low' blood platelet count. She was discharged and told to return for a check-up the following week.

However, Mrs Barlow's condition failed to improve and she was readmitted to hospital the next day.

Doctors suspected she had a gastroenteritis infection, the inquest heard.

Mr Barlow said the family was unable to be with her at the hospital due to Covid restrictions and on March 22 he got a phone call from a nurse telling him to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

'I knew something wasn't right,' he said. 'When I got that phone call, I expected to go and see my wife and she would survive.'

She was eventually admitted to hospital at Wigan Infirmary (pictured), where she later died

When he arrived, Mr Barlow said his wife told him doctors 'could not do anything for her'.

'The doctors came in and explained,' said Mr Barlow. 'I just said to them 'you have to save her'.'

Mrs Barlow died with her family by her bedside the following day.

Pathologist Dr Naveen Sharma gave her cause of death as 'multi-organ failure as a consequence of pulmonary embolism'.

He said there was likely a 'causative link' between the blood clot in Mrs Barlow's lungs and the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Dr Sharma said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had this month produced guidance suggesting a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the 'very rare' side effect of blood clots.

He said 425 cases of major blood clots had been identified in people who had taken the AstraZeneca vaccine and said this represented 'rare but very clearly recognised potential complications'.

Of the 425 cases, 215 in women and 206 in men, 154 cases related to blood clots in the head and 271 in other parts of the body.

Furthermore, the ages ranged from 18 to 93, with 101 cases in the 50 to 59 age range, 19 of which were among the 73 fatal cases in total.

He said currently 24.8 million people had been given the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 24.1 million people had been double-jabbed with the same medicine.

Paying tribute to his wife, Mr Barlow said: 'She was a wonderful, wife, mother and grandmother.

'She was nothing short of perfect. Michelle was and is to me the most loving, caring, patient and selfless person anyone could ever meet.

'She was fit and healthy. There was nothing wrong with her.'

Michelle, a mother-of two from Orrell in Wigan, received her first dose of the vaccine on March 7 and was dead within days

Dr Peter Kreppel, a GP at Mesnes View Surgery in Wigan, said Mrs Barlow was put forward for her first dose of the vaccine early due to an error in her records, which stated she was a carer for her husband.

Mr Barlow told the inquest that when his wife contacted the practice to inform them it was a mistake, she was told: 'Just have the vaccine.'

Had Mrs Barlow not been in that category, she would not have been invited to have the vaccine at that stage, Dr Kreppel said.

However, he said he would still have recommended her taking the vaccine as the risk of thrombosis was 100 times greater without the vaccine than when having taken it.

Dr Mian Ahmed, a consultant physician at Wigan Infirmary, told the hearing it was not until a CT scan on Mrs Barlow's lungs revealed a blood clot that doctors began to suspect a possible reaction to the vaccine, rather than gastroenteritis.

He said the condition - vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) - was not recognised at the time of her death.

Dr Ahmed said if the same situation arose now, he would prescribe haemoglobin, blood thinners and CT scans sooner for the patient.

He agreed this may have given her a 'better chance' but it was a 'difficult call'.

Marius Paraoan, a surgeon at the hospital, said that after the viewing the CT scan, he concluded that Mrs Barlow's condition was 'unsurvivable'.

As well as her husband, Mrs Barlow's sons, Matthew and Mark, were also present at the hearing alongside other relatives.

Senior coroner Timothy Brennand said he will give his conclusions at the inquest on Friday morning.
Ministers have been accused of taking a 'light-touch approach' to tracking the performance of a 2billion scheme to create jobs for young adults.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has 'limited assurance' that the Kickstart programme is having a positive impact, a report by the public spending watchdog said.

The scheme, launched last year, pays employers 1,500 for every 16-24-year-old on Universal Credit taken on.

It is the most expensive employment support offered by the department.

But the National Audit Office found the DWP conducts 'relatively little monitoring' of whether the jobs created are not replacing pre-existing roles and include the right level of training.

Ministers have been accused of taking a 'light-touch approach' to tracking the performance of a 2billion scheme to create jobs for young adults (stock image)

Meg Hillier, Commons public accounts committee chairman, said given the scheme's funds, 'DWP has taken a worryingly light-touch approach to setting targets or tracking performance'.

Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office, said: 'At the start of the pandemic, DWP acted quickly to set up Kickstart to help young people into work when youth unemployment was predicted to rise significantly.

'However, DWP has limited assurance that Kickstart is having the positive impact intended.

'It does not know whether the jobs created are of high quality or whether they would have existed without the scheme.

'It could also do more to ensure the scheme is targeted at those who need it the most.'

The scheme, launched last year, pays employers 1,500 for every 16-24-year-old on Universal Credit taken on and is delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (pictured, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey)

In its report, the NAO added that the labour market reopened in ways that were not originally expected due to following lockdowns.

It added that there are concerns that jobs might have been created through the scheme which would have developed anyway.

'As the programme did begin to scale up, the economy was reopening, which increased the risk of Government subsidising jobs that would have been created anyway,' the watchdog added.

A Government spokesman said: 'We acted quickly and decisively to establish Kickstart at the start of the pandemic when it was feared unemployment levels would more than double - as this report acknowledges.

'The scheme has already delivered over 100,000 new life-changing jobs for young jobseekers on Universal Credit who were at risk of long-term unemployment and will continue to deliver opportunities for young people.'
Sadiq Khan has said Labour's planned wealth tax would hit those who are 'equity rich but cash poor' and cause a 'flight' of rich people out of the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer warned back in September he would launch a tax raid on homes and shares if his party were in Government, warning it was time 'those with the broadest shoulders should pay'.

Homeowners don't pay the tax on sales their main homes but it is applied to any other property they own such as holiday homes and rental properties, when they are sold.

However, London mayor Mr Khan has distanced himself from such proposals, warning of potential knock-on effects.

Sadiq Khan has said Labour's planned wealth tax would hit those who are 'equity rich but cash poor' and cause a 'flight' of rich people out of the UK

The London Mayor has also warned the Prime Minister that any 'levelling up' plans must not simultaneously damage the South East.

He told the Chopper's Politics podcast: 'We have always got to be careful about the unintended consequences of hypothetical tax increases.

'I'm quite cognisant of the fact that it's not me that creates the wealth and prosperity in our city, it is the small businesses, those who are innovators, those who are chief executives of big companies.

'I'm not competing against Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow, I am competing against Paris, Singapore, New York, Hong Kong. What I don't want is flight out of London to those global competitors.'

Mr Khan went on to say he had warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was also his predecessor as mayor, that any 'levelling up' plans must not simultaneously damage the South East.

The premier last week faced accusations that he has 'betrayed' the North by axing flagship plans to improve rail.

Conservatives MPs and local leaders joined a brutal backlash as the PM tried to defend his 'ambitious and unparalleled' overhaul of inter-city links.

Mr Johnson was accused of giving his crucial Red Wall voters 'scraps off the table' after the HS2 route to Leeds was ditched in favour of a Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway line.

The HS3 line linking Manchester and Leeds - known as Northern Powerhouse Rail - is also being shelved.
Plant-based sausages, meatballs and other alternatives to meat are often excessively high in salt, according to research.

Vegan and vegetarian products are seen as having a health halo, but their salt levels breached government guidelines, a study found.

More than 75 per cent of the products analysed failed to meet the Governments salt reduction targets.

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London compared 207 plant-based meat products with 226 meat products.

M&S Food Plant Kitchen No Chicken Kievs had one of the highest salt levels in the study at 1.78g per 100g, with a total salt portion of 2.49g

Researchers from Queen Mary University analysed just how much salt was in vegetarian processed food

They found plant-based meat to have fewer calories, total and saturated fat and more fibre than meat equivalents, the research backed by Action on Salt said.

But their salt content was significantly higher than meat in five out of six product categories.

Only two of the plant-based products would be considered low in salt (less than 0.3g of salt per 100g), compared with 45 meat products.

The plant-based alternatives included Linda McCartney vegetarian meatballs, M&S plant-based chicken kievs, Quorn Best of British sausages, as well as products by Waitrose, Birds Eye, Co-op, Richmond and the Vegetarian Butcher.

Linda McCartney's vegetarian meatballs were found to have 1.7g of salt per 100g - way beyond the healthy limit of 0.3g of salt per 100g

Study co-author Professor Graham MacGregor told the journal Nutrients: Reducing salt is the most cost-effective measure to lower blood pressure, reduce health inequalities and prevent people from dying unnecessarily.

The Government put the food industry in charge of public health at the publics expense.

'The time has now come to take back control and force the industry to act more responsibly.
The Australian summer is headed for a complete wash out as a La Nina weather event increases the chances of flooding and cyclones in the east, central and southern parts of the country.

After a number of months on La Nina alert, the Bureau of Meteorology officially declared the event on Wednesday, predicting higher than usual rainfall across summer and possibly into early Autumn.

Eastern parts of Queensland, NSW and possibly eastern Victoria will be most likely to experience increased rainfall during this period.

Many parts of NSW and Queensland have been smashed by large rainfall totals in the past few days just as the La Nina was declared, with around 60mm falling in the NSW towns of Dubbo, Gunnedah, Coonamble and Byron Bay.

Nearly 100mm was recorded at Bundaberg in Queensland, with totals of 80mm at Gladstone, 70mm at Cooktown, and 50mm at Hervey Bay and Nambour.

East Gippsland in Victoria also recorded more than 50mm overnight.

The Bureau of Meteorology said that while the La Nina event it declared this week was weaker than some previous ones, it could still cause serious flooding after Australia experienced its wettest spring since 2011

Parts of Australia have been inundated by widespread flooding as torrential rain batters NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia

Eastern parts of Queensland, NSW and possibly eastern Victoria will be most likely to experience increased rainfall during the La Nina, that could persist until Autumn 2022

The Australian summer is headed for a wash out as a La Nina weather event increases the chances of flooding and cyclones in the east, central and southern parts of the country, though heatwaves are still possible

After a number of months on La Nina alert, the Bureau of Meteorology officially declared the event this week, predicting higher than usual rainfall across Australia's summer

Andrew Watkins, head of operational climate services at the Bureau of Meteorology, said that while this La Nina was weaker than some previous ones, it could still cause serious flooding after Australia experienced its wettest spring since 2011.

'Last year we saw a weak-to-moderate La Nina event, we're backing it up with a weaker La Nina event, far weaker than what we saw in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012,' Mr Watkins said.

'It's not uncommon to have back-to-back La Nina events.

'The most comparable event is 2007-2009 when we saw heavy rains in November and December but then it backed off into the later summer months.'

'It does increase the risk of floods but it reduces the risk of bushfires.

'Our issue at the moment is we already have quite wet soils, quite wet rivers and quite high catchments, so any further rainfall raises the risk of widespread flooding.'

A house in Cassilis in the Upper Hunter region of NSW is threatened by rising floodwaters

Despite the extra rainfall, the Bureau's summer outlook forecasts warmer-than-average maximum and minimum temperatures across Australia, except for parts of the country's south-east

Australia's wet weather is also caused by other climate drivers. One of the reasons for our wetter-than-average spring is a negative Indian Ocean dipole - or what Watkins describes as 'La Nina in the Indian Ocean' - where there are warmer waters off Western Australia and cooler waters near Africa.

Our weather patterns have also been dragged further south by the Southern Annular Mode, strong winds over Antarctica that have helped caused higher-than-usual rainfall in NSW and Victoria.

This pattern is expected to persist throughout December.

There is also a 65 per cent chance of a higher-then-average number of tropical cyclones in northern Australia. The country generally sees an average 11 cyclones over the summer season.

Despite the extra rainfall, the Bureau's summer outlook forecasts warmer-than-average maximum and minimum temperatures across Australia, except for parts of the country's south-east.

NSW has copped the worst of the current low pressure system passing across the eastern part of Australia.

A severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds and heavy rain has been issued for the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Maitland, Cessnock, Greater Newcastle, Gosford and Wyong areas.

The Sydney suburb of Canterbury copped a 30.2mm soaking in just one hour on Thursday night, as backyards transformed into lakes.

Sydney Airport was inundated with 24.2mm in less than a hour while Richmond in the city's north-west received 26.6mm in three hours, Weatherzone reported.

Sydney's Warragamba Dam received 96mm of rain in the space of 24 hours.

WaterNSW, the body responsible for managing Sydney's largest dam, said the dam was currently at 96.6 per cent capacity and could spill on Friday evening.

Residents in suburbs such as Richmond and Windsor along the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system have been urged to keep on eye on floor alerts in case the rivers break their banks.

NSW has copped the worst of the current low pressure system passing across the eastern part of Australia

Water rises on Racecourse Rd at Cassilis in the Upper Hunter region of NSW

Floodwaters rise in Gunnedah in north-western NSW as the low-pressure system passed over

A model published on the Bureau or Meteorology site showing La Nina beginning to weaken by April 2022

Areas of the Upper Hunter are on flood alert, with some residents at Cassilis and Murrurundi in the region already inundated by flood waters.

The New England Highway between Scone and Aberdeen has also been cut by water.

'There are quite dangerous conditions with fast-moving water moving across the road,' a BOM spokesperson said of conditions in and around Scone.

Canberra recorded 147.8mm over this month, it's wettest November on record.

Disaster assistance will be available to 13 additional local government areas, including Blayney, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Cabonne, Cobar, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Narrabri, Port Macquarie Hastings, Upper Hunter, Warrumbungle and Weddin following severe storms and flooding.

These areas have been added to the LGAs already declared eligible for disaster assistance, comprising Tenterfield, Forbes, Bathurst, Blue Mountains, Cowra, Lachlan and Moree.

Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said the severe weather event caused significant widespread damage across NSW.

'Severe weather from early November has continued to impact a number of communities across NSW, including further flooding and storm damage across the State,' she said.

'Significant rainfall and flooding in a number of areas has resulted in damage to major roads and residential properties.'

As part of the Bureau's summer outlook, Mr Watkins said Victoria should also expect higher rainfall but also high humidity over summer, while Tasmania is forecast to be wetter in the east but actually drier in the west of the state.

He said heatwaves were still possible despite the influence of La Nina, and would be longer but not as extreme as some of those experienced in recent Australian summers.
Vision has emerged of the disturbing contents of a home where an alleged paedophile was arrested, accused of luring teens for sex on an online chat site.

The NSW Central Coast man, 23, is accused of using the app Omegle - designed to start conversations with strangers - to entrap teenagers.

Footage released by the Federal Police on Friday shows investigators handcuffing the man, escorting him through his Umina Beach home and into a police paddy wagon.

His garage was packed full of furniture and other possessions, including a washing basket filled with children's toys and a pram.

A Central Coast man (pictured during his arrest) is accused of luring under-16s for sex. he faces up to

The man was arrested after an AFP investigation into alleged reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Police claim the man was using Omegle to advertise his search for underage children for sexual activity.

Investigators allegedly linked the IP addresses and mobile phone number associated with the advertisement to the 23-year-old man.

They then received additional information from their NSW Police counterparts about the same man allegedly engaging with teenagers to procure them for sexual activity.

The man was charged with using a carriage service to procure a child under-16 for sexual activity.

Footage from the arrest by AFP investigators shows the garage filled with possessions, including a clothes basket of children's toys (left) and a pram (bottom right corner)

He faces up to ten years behind bars if he's found guilty.

The AFP vows to continue working closely with its state and territory police counterparts on alleged reports of child exploitation.

'Our partnerships mean we can share information at any point in time, during search warrants and even after an individual has been charged, and stop child predators before they can cause further harm to our children,' AFP Acting Sergeant Adam Barcham said.

The Central Coast man is expected to appear in Gosford Local Court later on Friday

The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation is committed to stopping child exploitation and abuse and is at the centre of a collaborative national approach to combatting organised child abuse.

The AFP-led entre brings together specialist expertise and skills in a central hub, supporting investigations into child sexual abuse and developing prevention strategies focused on creating a safer online environment.

Anyone with information about those involved in child abuse and exploitation are urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Wales is planning to adopt the world's earliest net zero emissions target following a deal struck in its parliament.

The principality aims to cut greenhouse gas pollution to zero by 2035  ten years earlier than Scotland's goal and 15 years ahead of the UK-wide 2050 target.

A deal cut between Labour and Plaid Cymru in the Senedd launched a paper which states the Welsh government will 'commission independent advice to examine potential pathways to net zero by 2035'.

The Welsh government will seek advice from the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

Caterina Brandmayr, of the Green Alliance told environment journal the ENDS Report: 'Setting targets is critical.

'But long-term targets should not come at the expense of early action to cut emissions now.'

A deal cut between Labour and Plaid Cymru in the Senedd launched a paper which states the Welsh government will 'commission independent advice to examine potential pathways to net zero by 2035' (Pictured: Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, of the Labour Party)

Wales also stands apart from the rest of the UK in that it has endorsed stopping licensed oil and gas production.

Whitehall officials are considering moving the net zero deadline forward to 2045.

Wales has also joined an international group called the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance founded by Denmark and Costa Ria.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she is considering joining the group, which has ten national and regional governments on board including France, Greenland, Ireland and California although the UK government has ruled it out.
Peter Dutton appeared to suggest he would be willing to send Australian troops to fight and die over Taiwan.

After a hawkish speech about the threat posed by China, the Defence Minister was asked whether ADF parents can expect their children will be 'going to Taiwan to fight and perhaps die'.

The minister did not directly answer the question but said it would be 'disastrous' for Australia if it did not support the US in a potential conflict with China.

Last month Taiwan reported 148 Chinese air force planes had flown over its air defence zone (pictured) over a four day period beginning on the same day China marked a key patriotic holiday, National Day

'I would say to those parents that we stand up for the values that their forebears have stood up for and that we, as a country, have always stood up for,' he told the National Press Club.

'And we'll do it with a capacity, capability and might that's respected around the world and that makes us a valuable partner with those great friends.

'And if we're a weak and unreliable and untrustworthy friend, then we won't expect the support of those countries and, in particular the United States, into the future,' he added.

'And I think that would be disastrous for not just this generation but for generations of mums and dads and members of the ADF and we should be very honest about that.'

China's growing military might 355 ships and submarines Coast Guard of 130 1,000-tonne ships 2,000 ground-launch ballistic missiles with a range of up to 5,500km Expected to reach between 700 and 1,000 nuclear warheads Source: Peter Dutton's speech Advertisement

Earlier this month Mr Dutton warned it would 'inconceivable' for Australia not to join its most important ally, the US, in a war over Taiwan.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to take it by force if necessary while Taiwan says it is an independent country and will defend its freedoms and democracy.

The US has followed a position of 'strategic ambiguity' meaning it does not make clear whether it would support Taiwan but at the same time sells arms to the island.

Mr Dutton made his comment after former Prime Minister Paul Keating said Australia should stay out of any war.

'Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,' he told the National Press Club earlier this month.

'We have no alliance with Taipei, none. Australia should not be drawn in my view into a military engagement over Taiwan, US-sponsored or otherwise.'

Mr Dutton's National Press Club question, about sending Australian troops to die defending Taiwan, came from The Australian Financial Review's Andrew Tillett, who last year interviewed China's former ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye.

In this interview, Mr Cheng flagged discouraging Chinese people from visiting Australia or sending their children there to study as punishment for Australia calling for an inquiry into the origins of Covid.

A short time later, China imposed trade sanctions on Australian barley, wine, seafood and timber, among a long list.

Also in his hawkish speech, Mr Dutton warned Chinese missiles can reach every Australian city.

The Defence Minister said China has the largest navy in the world, made up of 355 ships and submarines and also warned of its growing nuclear capability.

'Over the next decade, China's nuclear warhead stockpiles, estimated to be in the 200s last year, is projected to reach between 700 and 1,000 warheads,' he told the National Press Club.

'Every major city in Australia, including Hobart, is within range of China's missiles.'

Mr Dutton said the West was facing a similar situation to the 1930s when Britain tried and failed to appease Hitler's Germany.

He warned that China would only expand its power further if it reclaimed Taiwan.

'If Taiwan is taken, the Senkakus are next,' he said referring to the islands northeast of Taiwan.

'Please don't rely on your imagination. The Chinese Communist Party could not be any clearer. Not always with their words, but certainly with their actions.

'The point I make is the regional order on which our prosperity and security is founded would change almost overnight.'

Peter Dutton (pictured today) has warned Chinese missiles can reach every Australian city in a hawkish speech about Beijing's growing military power

China has inflamed tensions in the South China Sea in recent years by expanding its claimed territory, to the objection of its neighbours in the Asia-Pacific

Mr Dutton said it was important to hold China at bay otherwise it would gain greater influence in the Indo-Pacific.

'In the absence of a counter-pressure, the Chinese government becomes the sole security and economic partner for Indo-Pacific nations,' he said.

'Now, that is a perilous military and economic situation for our country, but for so many more.

'And does the Chinese government wish to occupy other countries? Not in my judgement.

'But they do see us as tributary states and the adherence to international rule of law is what our country has fault for and against since federation.'

Mr Dutton said his goal is peace but this is only achieved from a 'position of strength'.

'I don't want to see the decline of the China government. I want to see them continue to grow economically.

'I don't want to see them revert back to where we were in years past, and I understand the history, and I understand their desire, but for us, if we want peace and stability in our region, we need the United States to be strong,' he said.

His remarks came after it was revealed a Chinese spy ship lurked off the Australian coast for three weeks and passing several major military bases in August and September.

The Dongdiao-class spy ship entered the 200km exclusive economic zone off the coast of Darwin in August.

The ships are equipped with sophisticated antennas and radar technology that allows them to monitor defences. China has used them to spy on Taiwan.

The vessel ventured south and traveled along the east coast before passing 'one of Australia's prime military training areas' in Shoalwater Bay, Queensland.

It then passed several training areas used by the Royal Australian Airforce before travelling off the coast to Sydney.

The ship then travelled across the Tasman and to New Zealand in September.

Defence sources claim they were surprised by the arrival of the vessel, Daily Telegraph reported.

China has frequently sent surveillance ships to Australia and monitored the Talisman Sabre military exercises with the United States in 2017, 2019 and July 2021.

Three Chinese warships also sailed into Sydney Harbour unannounced on the eve of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 2019.

A Defence source described the most recent visit as unusual as there were no military exercises taking place.

A Chinese spy ship was spotted lurking off the Australian coast for three weeks and passing several major military bases (pictured, surveillance ship used by China to monitor the military exercises between Australia and the United States)

The route taken by the Chinese spy ship (above)

Foreign vessels are allowed to travel in the exclusive economic zone but they must not come within 12 nautical miles of the coast.

The Dongdiao-class spy ship was shadowed by Australian naval boat HMAS Supply.

A Defence spokesperson said they vessel had been closely monitored.

'Australia monitors all vessels operating in our maritime (area),' the spokesperson said.

'Australia supports and respects the rights of all states to exercise lawful freedom of navigation  in international waters, just as we expect them to respect our right to do so.'

The sighting of the ship comes as tensions continue to rise between Australia and China.

China's acting ambassador to Australia Wang Xining called Australia the 'naughty guy' in an interview with Guardian Australia about the AUKUS pact with the United States and United Kingdom.

Air Mobility Division Wing Commander Scott Hyland (left) speaking with Australian Federal Police Special Operations Detective Acting Superintendent Will Collins (right) prior to their departure from Canberra to the Solomon Islands to help quell unrest on Thursday

President Xi Jinping (pictured) has led the Chinese Communist Party since 2013

He accused Australia of being a 'sabre wielder' and warned it against 'doing anything that's destructive to our relationship'.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton labelled the comments as 'so silly it's funny'.

Mr Dutton said the acting ambassador was reading off a Communist Party script.

'We don't see (this) from any other ambassador here in Australia. It's quite remarkable,' the minister told the Nine Network on Friday.

'This provocative sort of comical statements - really, it's so silly it's funny.

'Most Australians see through the non-productive nature of the comments and they should be dismissed in that vein.'
The federal health minister insists Australia is well prepared should a new COVID-19 variant, which has experts alarmed, arrive in Australia.

South African scientists have detected a new variant in the country, dubbed the Nu strain, which has double the number of mutations of the Delta variant.

Overseas health officials have warned the Nu variant is likely to evade the immune response from vaccinations.

Health Minister Greg Hunt has held meetings on the variant with chief medical officer Paul Kelly and health department secretary Brendan Murphy.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in South Africa. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

No changes will be made to flights between Australia and South Africa following the variant's discovery.

Mr Hunt said the variant's emergence would not mean an immediate change to the national reopening plan, but the response would be swift should advice change.

'We've always been flexible, and if the medical advice is that we need to change, we won't hesitate,' Mr Hunt told reporters in Sydney.

Mr Hunt said Australia's high vaccination levels had put Australia in a much better position to handle new variants than when Delta emerged earlier this year.

Currently, more than 86 per cent of the national population over 16 is fully vaccinated and 92.1 per cent have had a first dose.

'The advice remains that the broad-spectrum nature of the vaccines is likely to cover emerging variants, and that's been the case with Delta and that's been the case with other variants that have emerged,' Mr Hunt said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said while there were many COVID-19 variants that had been detected, the situation was being watched closely.

'We monitor all of these variants, we note the responses that are made by other countries and we consider those in real time," Mr Morrison told reporters in Adelaide.

It comes as letters will be mailed to every Australian household before Christmas urging people to get their COVID-19 booster shot.

More than 370,000 people have received their booster shot since they were approved by the medical regulator, but more than 500,000 have been eligible.

However, Mr Hunt said the booster program was ahead of schedule and exceeding expectations.

'Australians do trust the vaccination program. Yes, there's been the noise of a fringe, but they're losing the battle,' he said.

'The vaccinators are winning the battle, and I am very hopeful that this early high level of booster acceptance will continue right through the program.'

On Friday, there were 1362 new COVID-19 cases in Victoria, with seven deaths reported.

Meanwhile, in NSW there were 261 infections, with no fatalities.

One new case was reported in the Northern Territory on Thursday, after the Top End experienced a recent spike in infections, while the ACT had eight cases.
The rain bomb passing over Sydney has filled the city's largest dam almost to capacity, potentially causing it to spill as early as this evening, as a man died in floodwaters in central Queensland.

Residents living downstream in suburbs such as Richmond and Windsor are being urged to remain vigilant in case water spilling from Warragamba Dam causes the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system to break its banks.

Warragamba, which supplies the majority of Sydney's water, is currently at 99.6 per cent capacity.

There could be 'downstream impacts' from release of excess water, said WaterNSW, the body responsible for the dam.

In Queensland rising floodwaters claimed the life of a man at Hibernia, near Clermont, on Friday morning.

It's believed the man was trapped in a ute as it was submerged by floodwaters off the Gregory Highway around 7am on Friday.

'The male driver and sole occupant of the vehicle has been located deceased,' police confirmed in a statement.

'Recovery of the vehicle may take some time due to the location and current weather conditions.'

The Clermont area received 169mm since 9am yesterday and over 270mm in the past 48 hours.

Warragamba, which supplies the majority of Sydney's water, is currently at 99.6 per cent capacity

Modelling by WaterNSW suggested a peak rate of as much as 100 gigalitres of water a day could spill from Warragamba Dam by Saturday morning.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean system flooded during the heavy rain event in March earlier this year. The predicted rate of spill would be significantly less than the march event, WaterNSW said.

Severe flood warnings have been issued along the east coast of Australia as a once-in-100 year storm sweeps across the country.

Torrential rain has lashed most of Australia and added to several days of wet weather in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the continued downpour has led to one of the wettest Novembers on record with widespread flooding across the country.

Regional NSW has been hit hard with Scone, Inverell and Gunnedah inundated by raging floodwaters.

Conditions are not expected to ease until the weekend with the NSW coast to cop the worst of the storms.

A driver navigates along a flooded road in Sydney as heavy rain batters the east coast of Australia

Severe flood warnings have been issued along the east coast of Australia as a once-in-100 year storm sweeps across the country (pictured, Inverell in northern NSW)

Torrential rain has lashed most of Australia and added to several days of wet weather in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia (pictured, Scone in Upper Hunter Shire in NSW)

The wild weather has already led to widespread flooding with drivers warned to keep off the roads and stay home

Flood waters slowly rise at a home in Cassilis, central NSW, leaving residents stranded

'Unfortunately, this wet weather will continue for the rest of today and into the weekend,' BoM senior meteorologist Jonathan How said.

'We'll see plenty of showers, storms, through eastern Victoria, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane and the Gold Coast as well.'

Heavy rain battered Sydney on Friday as a low pressure system moved in from the southern and western regions of the state.

The wild weather has already led to widespread flooding with drivers warned to keep off the roads and stay home.

'Flooded roads and reduced visibility in heavy rain will make driving conditions dangerous during Friday in all suburbs,' a Bureau of Meteorology alert stated.

A severe thunderstorm warning for damaging winds and heavy rain has been issued for the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Maitland, Cessnock, Greater Newcastle, Gosford and Wyong areas.

Up to 45mm of rain is forecast for Sydney, along with hazardous surf conditions.

The Sydney suburb of Canterbury copped a 30.2mm soaking in just one hour on Thursday night, as backyards transformed into lakes.

Sydney Airport was inundated with 24.2mm in less than a hour while Richmond in the city's north-west received 26.6mm in three hours, Weatherzone reported.

Sydney's Warragamba Dam received 96mm of rain in the space of 24 hours.

Weather experts have predicted the majority of Australia will be engulfed by wet conditions leading into Sunday

Drivers along a flooded road in Sydney as heavy rain continues to fall in the NSW capital

Raging floodwaters inundated Scone in Upper Hunter Shire, NSW, as rain lashed the state on Friday

Raging floodwaters flowing in Gungal in the Upper Hunter Shire in NSW on Friday

Heavy rain lashed Sydney on Friday as a low pressure system moved in from the southern and western regions of the state

Sydney's downpour on Thursday caused disrupted play during a Sheffield Shield game at the SCG.

The State Emergency Service has urged everyone to keep clear of fallen power lines, creeks and storm drains and to not drive through floodwaters.

Australia is on track for its wettest spring in a decade and some regions in NSW have already received more than three times their normal rainfall for November.

'Spring has been wetter than normal and, as a result, soil moisture is high, water storages are full, and we've seen flooding in some areas,' BoM head of operational climate services Dr Andrew Watkins said.

'Any additional rain on our already wet landscape will increase the flood risk for eastern Australia this summer.'

On Thursday, some areas in the the state's south copped a drenching, with a portable rain station south of Griffith measuring 60mm in an hour.

Snowball, south-east of Canberra, recorded 28mm in an hour and Braidwood recorded 15mm in 30 minutes.

Parts of Australia have been inundated by widespread flooding as torrential rain batters NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia

Up to 45mm of rain is forecast for Sydney, along with hazardous surf conditions

Gunnedah recorded more than 20mm in 90 minutes and a similar amount fell at Gunnedah over a two hour period.

Grafton recorded 20mm in three hours, Cabramurra saw 26mm fall over four hours

Areas including Coombah, Hay, Wilcannia, Broken Hill, Ivanhoe, Menindee and Balranald were in the path of a 'complex low pressure system' that moved across the lower part of the state on Thursday.

Disaster assistance will be available to 13 additional NSW local government areas, including Blayney, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Cabonne, Cobar, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Narrabri, Port Macquarie, Hastings, Upper Hunter, Warrumbungle and Weddin following severe storms and flooding.

These areas have been added to the LGAs already declared eligible for disaster assistance, comprising Tenterfield, Forbes, Bathurst, Blue Mountains, Cowra, Lachlan and Moree.

Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator Bridget McKenzie, said the severe weather event had caused significant damage across NSW.

'Severe weather from early November has continued to impact a number of communities across NSW, including further flooding and storm damage across the State,' she said.

'Significant rainfall and flooding in a number of areas has resulted in damage to major roads and residential properties.'

Brisbane too will see its heaviest rain on Friday, with up to 50mm predicted and a storm likely.

All Forbes residents have now been given the all clear to return home after the Lachlan River fell below minor flood levels.

During the height of floods in Forbes earlier this month, close to 2000 residents were ordered to evacuate and the river peaked at 10.54 metres, above major flood levels but below the peak during previous flooding in 2016.

NSW Farmers Association has called for a statewide natural disaster declaration so relief funds can be accessed as farmers watch paddocks go underwater and their crops destroyed after so many years of drought conditions.

Weather bureau head of operational climate services Andrew Watkins says the summer outlook for NSW is wet, with temperatures cooler than usual on the coast and warmer than usual in the state's west.

Daily minimum temperatures are expected to be higher than normal as increased cloud traps hot air, leading to warmer nights.
A pair of young Australian men have been mocked after speaking out about the shock of paying bills when they moved out of their family home.

A snippet of the Post-School podcast was uploaded to TikTok on Thursday by Uncle Nathan, who describes himself as a 'Gen Z blogger'.

The video features Nathan and another young man named Tom, engaged in a discussion about the hidden costs involved in moving away from their parents.

'I think the biggest shock is it's not just rent that you have to pay each week, but it's your groceries and all the bills. It's everything that comes with living on your own,' podcast host Nathan said.

'You break a glass, you've got to buy a new glass, mum's not buying that glass.'

A snippet of the Post-School podcast was mocked by social media users for sounding priviliged after it was uploaded to TikTok on Thursday (pictured)

His friend agrees on the struggle, revealing he's forced to divide his pay between bills, saving and partying, unlike when he was living at home where his parents paid all the bills.

'Now it's a like little bit [of pay] will go to partying and then the rest will all go on boring crap.'

While the pair bonded over their struggle, the podcast struck a nerve with TikTok users who mocked the pair for sounding privileged.

A man name Tom complained he had to split his money towards partying and 'boring crap' since moving out of his family home (pictured)

'100% of my money goes towards rent, food and bills. Partying and saving is a privilege,' wrote one person.

'Damn...the privilege really jumped out,' commented another.

'If you're doing a budget and putting money towards partying then you probably shouldn't live on your own. You aren't read for it,' added a third.

However one user sided with the pair adding: 'The biggest shock is actually how expensive cheese is'.

Their comments come as a Bankwest survey found Australian parents with children still living at home expect them to move out by 23 years old, while children who still lived with their parents have no intentions to leave until they are 27 years old.

The answer also differed between mums and dads. Dads want children gone by 22 years old, while mums provide an extra year of grace for them until 23 years old.

'The housing market is currently incredibly competitive, and data from has shown how equally challenging it is for people in the rental market, leaving many young Australians homebound,' explained Peter Bouhlas, general manager of homebuying at Bankwest.

'That inevitably means a longer spell in the family home as aspiring homeowners save for greater deposits, face lengthy construction delays, or encounter increased competition in entering the market.
Actor Seth Rogen is being slammed for his 'privileged' comment after shrugging off Los Angeles YouTuber Casey Neistat, who tweeted about having his car getting burgularized, referring to the crime as 'part of 'living in a big city.'

Neistat, 40, who used to be a prominent YouTuber in New York before moving to the West Coast, took to Twitter on Wednesday to tell his followers that 'our cars got robbed,' and blamed the city for being a 'crime riddled 3rd world s**thole of a city.'

This caught the attention of Rogan, 39, who responded to the tweet saying: 'Dude I've lived here for over 20 years. You're nuts haha. It's lovely here. Don't leave anything valuable in it. It's called living in a big city.'

Neistat later reported that his seven-year-old daughter's birthday party decorations were stolen from his car and that the looter left 'bloody hand prints' on his vehicle. It is unclear what caused the looter to bleed.

Rogen called Neistat 'nuts' before telling him 'it's lovely' in live in LA, despite rising crime rates and a series of recent luxury store lootings across the area.

The YouTube personality called LA a 'crime riddled 3rd world s**thole of a city,' which did not sit well with Rogen, who has lived in the city for more than 20 years

Actor Seth Rogen, 39, caught slack on Twitter after dismissing YouTuber Casey Neistat, who got his car robbed

The pair had a lengthy exchange on Twitter

The YouTuber - who estimated to be worth $16million, according to Wealthy Gorilla - jokingly asked the Neighbors actor if he 'can still be mad tho' before saying he felt 'so violated.'

Rogen replied: 'You can be mad but I guess I don't personally view my car as an extension of myself and I've never really felt violated any of the 15 or so times my car was broken in to. Once a guy accidentally left a cool knife in my car so if it keeps happening you might get a little treat.'

The funny guy - who is worth an estimated $80million, according to celebritynetworth.com - caught slack, not only from the influencer himself, but also from fans alike for his 'privileged' comment.

Neistat called out the actor, saying he 'didn't get any treats.'

Twitter user Cathy Young called wrote: 'You know, people talk about how this or that statement embodies 'privilege,' and 95% of the time it's total bulls***, but this... yeah.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'HAHAHAHA I wish I could live such a carefree existence,' in response to Rogen not viewing his car as an 'extension of myself.'

Other's encouraged 'cancelling' the actor while other pointed out his immense wealth.

Rogen (pictured at the Vulture Festival earlier this month) also admitted he had his car broken into at least 15 times since living in the city and told Neistat to not 'leave anything valuable in it'

Rogen also said he enjoyed private messages haters

Daily Caller reporter Dylan Housman called out Rogen's wealth: 'Multi-millionaire celebrity explains to you why having your car broken into isn't a big deal and you should just get over it.'

Writer Katherine Brodsky also called out Rogen's insensitive comment, writing: 'It may not be a huge deal to someone with tremendous wealth, but it certainly is for someone who's struggling.'

Others called it a 'bad take' as crime, especially aggravated assault and burglary, are on the rise across major cities.

'Bad take,' one wrote. '"It's called living in a big city" shouldn't be used to dismiss the rise in crime.'

It seems not all those were against Rogen's 'privileged' comment.

User Kristen McPike remarked how she had her car 'stolen in Hollywood' and 'sometimes you just gotta roll with it.'

'Had my car stolen in Hollywood. They found it in Inglewood a couple days later,' she wrote. 'Someone took it for a joy ride to a Rams game. LA is just one big 'ol adventure all of the time. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.'

The star didn't let hatred get to him too much, as he wrote on Wednesday: 'A lot of people come at me and talk s**T on Twitter hoping Ill engage with them publicly and give them attention, but instead I DM them and tell them to go f**k themselves privately. Its a lot more fun.'

However, Neistat didn't let it slide that Rogen revealed he had been burglarized 15 or more times, asking: 'Serious question; how did you get your car broken into 15 times?'

Rogen replied: 'I lived in West Hollywood for 20 years and parked on the street.'

Rogen received a lot of hate over his 'privileged' comment, with many calling out his immense wealth. The actor is worth an estimated $80million

More than 10,000 burglaries have occurred in Los Angeles since the start of 2021 and motor vehicle theft is up almost 10 per cent. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the increase in robberies is due to the availability of handguns.

'The number of handguns that are in the streets today  you'd have to go back probably at least a decade or more to find this level,' Moore said.

Homicide, rape, and aggravated assault are also up in Los Angeles.

Other cities like New York and Chicago are also experiencing rises in violent crimes.

On Wednesday, a looting gang targeted an LA Nordstrom ahead of Thanksgiving, making off with eight luxury handbags and assaulting a cop - the latest in a string of smash-and-grab raids to plague California.

Five people, one wearing an orange wig, entered the open store in Canoga Park shortly before 7pm on Wednesday and sprayed a security guard with 'some kind of chemical' in front of terrified shoppers, police said.

The thieves sped off and managed to escape with thousands of dollars worth of handbags despite multiple police cruisers, as well as fire trucks and ambulances, responding to the raid.

It is the eighth smash-and-grab robbery in California in the last week where thieves have made off with tens of thousands of dollars in luxury goods, amid soft misdemeanor theft laws in the Democrat-run state.

In July, LA cut $150million from the LAPD's budget following the death of George Floyd. The city funneled the money into social services, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In August, the LAPD reported it had 300 positions open and had around 500 fewer officers are duty than the year prior, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The police department is still looking to fill 94 positions, Moore said.

However, as of Wednesday, the LAPD will receive a $213million increase to their budget next year, which would likely raise staffing levels, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Afterpay has had a bad week despite the hype around Black Friday sales and a surge in retail activity after lockdowns ended.

The buy now, pay later app - which turned founder Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen into young billionaires - is losing the support of investors as the big banks launch their own copycat tech alternatives to credit cards.

Its share price this week has plunged by 5.1 per cent, a level more than triple the 1.6 per cent drop in the ASX200 index during the past five trading days.

While the $109 share price of Friday afternoon was well above the $8.80 low of March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, it is substantially below the $158 peak reached in February 2021.

Afterpay has had a bad week despite the hype around Black Friday sales and a surge in retail activity after lockdowns ended. The buy now, pay later app - which turned founder Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen into young billionaires - is losing the support of investors as the big banks launch their own copycat tech alternatives to credit cards

The app allows consumers to pay off their goods in four, equal installments without incurring interest charges, and is popular with young consumers who don't trust credit cards.

Like Bitcoin, it has had a meteoric rise marked by periods of volatility and sharp falls.

Afterpay's share price fell to $84.50 in May and after several months of zig-zagging, on August 3 it surged from $96.66 to $127.85 in one day - after Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's Square group announced it would buy the business.

The takeover of the $39billion company is the biggest in Australian corporate history.

Nonetheless, Afterpay's success could be a bad thing with the likes of PayPal to the Commonwealth Bank launching their own buy now, pay later apps.

Despite the hype, Afterpay has never made an annual profit since it on the Australian Securities Exchange in May 2016.

In the year to June 30, it incurred an after-tax loss of $159.4million, a level six times the $22.9million loss of the previous 2019-20 financial year.

Its share price this week has plunged by 3.7 per cent, a level more than triple the 1 per cent drop in the ASX200 index during the past five trading days (pictured are shoppers on George Street in Sydney in early November)

This occurred even though Sydney didn't go into lockdown until June 26, with Melbourne following in August.

The end of lockdowns in October have failed to boost Afterpay's share price fortunes on Black Friday.

National retail turnover rose 4.9 per cent in October 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Friday.

Sydney led the way with New South Wales having a 13.3 per cent rebound to be just 0.2 per cent below the pre-Delta era of May, even though restrictions were still in place for the first 11 days of October.

The end of lockdowns in October have failed to boost Afterpay's share price fortunes on Black Friday. National retail turnover rose 4.9 per cent in October 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Friday. Sydney led the way with New South Wales having a 13.3 per cent rebound to be just 0.2 per cent below the pre-Delta era of May, even though restrictions were still in place for the first 11 days of October (pictured is Sydney's Pitt Street Mall on October 16)

The national rebound marked the biggest monthly increase since Melbourne's first big lockdown ended in November 2020.

This followed September's 1.3 per cent increase, when Sydney and Melbourne were still in lockdown, and falls of 1.7 per cent in August and a drop of 2.7 per cent in July.

Westpac senior economist Matthew Hassan said November was likely to produce an even stronger result, based on Westpac's own credit card spending data.

'While these show a clear reopening resurgence, the weekly data had suggested the big gains in retail would be in November rather than October,' he said.
Nichole Schmidt, the mother of murdered hiker Gabby Petito, tweeted Thursday marking the first Thanksgiving without her daughter, just days after Petito's boyfriend Brian Laundrie's death was ruled a suicide.

Petito, 22, was was discovered slain in September on the edge of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, with an autopsy later concluding she died by strangulation and that it was a homicide.

Schmidt tweeted Thursday that she was thinking of her beloved daughter in the spirit of the holiday.

'Gabby will forever remind me to be grateful for every moment, every breath, and every memory,' she wrote. 'I will cherish what Ive had, and have in the present, always. Live with love, laughter and gratitude.'

Gabby's father, Joe Petito, also took to Twitter to offer his thoughts on the holiday.

'Thanksgiving, a day for being thankful, thoughtful, and giving,' he wrote. 'Hug your family and friends. Be thankful for the time you get to spend with them all. We miss you #Gabbypetito. You should be with us but now all we have are the pictures.'

Laundrie, 23, a person of interest in Petito's death, was reported to have died from a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, his lawyer Steve Bertolino said on Tuesday. His remains were discovered in the Florida reserve near his parents' house on October 20.

Nichole Schmidt, the mother of murdered hiker Gabby Petito, tweeted on Thanksgiving about her memories of her daughter

Joe Petito, Gabby's father, tweeted his own remembrance on Thanksgiving

Schmidt (pictured right) tweeted that she was thinking of her beloved daughter in the spirit of the holiday

Schmidt holds up a photo of her daughter, Gabby Petito at an interview in Bohemia, New York with the press

The 23-year-old went missing in September after returning alone from a trip with Petito, whose body was found in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

An initial autopsy was inconclusive but the Laundrie family lawyer, Steve Bertolino, said on Tuesday he had been told by the forensic anthropologist who took over that Laundrie died by a single gunshot wound to the head.

'Chris and Roberta Laundrie have been informed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was suicide.

'Chris and Roberta are still mourning the loss of their son and are hopeful that these findings bring closure to both families,' the lawyer said.

Petito, pictured with daughter Gabby, said 'you should be with us but now all we have are the pictures'

Laundrie with his fiancee, Gabby Petito, whose body was found in Wyoming on September 19

Petito seen here with Brian Laundrie, her boyfriend and the main suspect in her disappearance, whose own death was ruled a suicide after remains were discovered October 20

When Laundrie returned home to his parents' house in Florida on September 1, Petito was not with him.

He had no contact with her family, who were becoming increasingly worried that she hadn't been seen or heard from.

On September 11, Gabby's family reported her missing and two days later, Brian vanished from his parents' home.

He told them he was going camping in the park.

On September 19, Gabby's strangled body was found in Wyoming. Police say she had been dead for three or four weeks.

Police started searching the park for Brian in the hopes of finding him alive to question him over Gabby's death.

Laundrie's remains were found in a Florida swamp on October 20 two months after he is believed to have killed Gabby

Chris and Roberta Laundrie are shown arriving home in October after their son's remains were found. They were widely criticized for not turning their son into police after Gabby was reported missing

The young couple had been on a cross-country van trip but it turned sour and in August, just a few weeks before she died, they were ordered apart for the night by police.

Witnesses had seen them arguing in their van and were worried.

The police however ruled that Petito was the aggressor.

Chris and Roberta Laundrie, Brian's parents, have been widely condemned for not talking with Petito's family or turning their son in to police when he returned home from his trip, especially after she was reported missing.

He left their home on September 13, two days after her family on Long Island, New York, reported her disappearance.

Petito's family criticized the Laundries for not helping them.
A statue of a banana with a skull carved into it has sparked outrage after it was revealed it cost a whopping $22,000.

The artwork, named Fallen Fruit, has been erected on Rose Street in Fitzroy, Melbourne.

The sculpture was commissioned by the City of Yarra and paid for out of the $100,000 taxpayer-funded grant from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC).

The half-peeled banana with a human skull carved into the top stands 1.8 metre tall.

The half-peeled banana with a human skull carved into the top stands 1.8 metre tall

Artist Adam Stone created the piece which is supposed to reference 'the 1970s phenomenon of oversized, kitsch roadside objects'.

'Fallen Fruit seeks to both engage with and subvert this tradition. The work does this by employing the symbol of the banana, anthropomorphised through the inclusion of a human skull, a memento mori to meditate on our Western tendencies towards unsustainable desires and excess' the the City of Yarra website said.

'Using absurdity and humour as an entry point, this oversized pop object reveals the 'infallibility' of the super-human figure as social myth.'

The sculpture has sparked mixed reaction from residents. Some say they love it, while others are just confused.

Radio host Neil Mitchell questioned why part of the TAC grant was used to pay for it.

Head of Road Safety at the TAC, Samantha Cockfield, told 3AW they were not aware the money would be spent on a banana.

A council spokeswoman said the sculpture 'activates' the area. She said it encourages increased pedestrian activity and had been 'well received by residents and visitors'

'We're certainly happy with the entire project, happy that we've been able to give more space to pedestrians in that particular location,' she said.

'Were we aware there was going to be a piece of banana art as part of the project? We weren't.'

A council spokeswoman said the sculpture 'activates' the area.

She said it encourages increased pedestrian activity and had been 'well received by residents and visitors'.
The 'disturbingly bizarre' behaviour of a man who lived with the body of his partner for weeks before abandoning it in a skip bin and lying to her family has been detailed in a Queensland court.

Jason Cooper, 46, pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse and fraud relating to the death of his partner Shae Francis, who was 35 when she died in October 2018. Her body has never been found.

The pair were in the grip of alcohol dependence and living together in a Hervey Bay apartment before Ms Francis died, the Brisbane District Court was told on Friday.

He will serve no further time in prison after 896 days were declared as time served, having been taken into custody in June 2019.

Ms Francis' shattered mother said there was 'no justice' with Cooper being released.

The body of Shae Francis (pictured) has never been found following her death in October 2018. She was apparently placed in a skip bin by Jason Cooper

'I am just in shock. I am numb,' Cheryl-Lee Francis told reporters outside court.

'I want to get my daughter home, to respect her and give her the dignity that she deserves.'

Cooper denies any involvement in the death of Ms Francis, telling police he woke one morning to find her dead and her body remained in their apartment for 'about three weeks' before he disposed of it.

He wrapped the body in a sleeping bag and intended to bury it at the beach 'which is what she wished for', but panicked when he saw a police car and dumped it in a skip bin, the court was told.

He told police he returned to the skip a few hours later, but the body was gone.

Neighbours reported a bad smell coming from Cooper's room in late October, and police later visited his apartment but found no evidence of a crime.

He was later evicted, and the room was cleaned and painted.

Jason Cooper (pictured after his 2019 arrest) will serve no further time in prison after spending the last two-and-a-half years in custody

Cheryl-Lee Franci - pictured holding a photo of her daughter Shae Maree Francis - is seen outside Brisbane District Court on Friday. She is devastated at the verdict

Cooper repeatedly told family members Ms Francis was still alive but no longer living in Hervey Bay. Her disappearance sparked a number of search efforts after she was reported missing in March 2019.

He had been using her bank card and racked up more than $9000 worth of transactions before he was tracked down by police in Victoria in 2019.

After Cooper eventually told police his version of events, a search of a Queensland landfill site was attempted in March 2020, but failed to find the body.

Cooper was originally charged with manslaughter, but the prosecution only proceeded with the two charges he pleaded guilty to.

Jason Cooper denies any involvement in the death of his partner Ms Francis (pictured), despite living with the corpse in their Hervey Bay apartment for three weeks before disposing the body

'It must be made clear that you're not being sentenced on the basis that you are responsible for the death of the deceased,' Judge William Everson said on Friday.

Ms Francis had a documented history of alcohol dependence that resulted in seizures and was hospitalised not long before her death, the court was told.

Cooper's alcohol dependence had progressed to the point of drinking four litres of wine a day, and he has been receiving anti-psychotic treatment while in jail.

He was convicted and sentenced to 896 days for interference with a corpse and received a 12-month sentence for fraud, served concurrently.
A prominent Australian influencer has been called out on social media for an act of kindness to a homeless man - with some of his followers accusing him of having an ulterior motive.

Gold Coast resident Samuel Weidenhofer, 18, who has three million followers on TikTok, recently uploaded a heartwarming clip where he helped out a stranger.

After approaching the man and asking 'what can I do today to put a smile on your face', the down on his luck man replied 'some food and clothing would help me out.'

The clip, which has had almost 600,000 views, continues with Mr Weidenhofer racing off to a nearby Kmart and Coles, before returning a few minutes later.

He is then seen handing over food including chips, biscuits and muesli bars as well as some t-shirts to the grateful man.

Social media sensation Sam Weidenhofer (pictured left) with the man he helped in a recent TikTok video

Mr Weidenhofer, 18, recently moved from Adelaide to the Gold Coast to pursue a fulltime career as an influencer

The video, which was posted on Thursday, ends with the pair hugging.

Despite Mr Weidenhofer's seemingly good deed, some were left wondering if his generosity was for the right reasons.

One follower slammed the move, saying: '(You are) profiting off these videos.'

Another said 'get the camera out of his face... God sees what you do, no need to film people.'

A third person accused Mr Weidenhofer of 'chasing social media followers' rather than helping the homeless man through the goodness of his heart.

Following the TikTok backlash, Mr Weidenhofer said his intentions were pure and that he 'genuinely wanted to help the guy out'. He called on others to 'stop hating'.

His feel-good TikTok clip where he helped out a homeless man with food and clothing has seen Sam Weidenhofer almost 600,000 views

The down on his luck man (pictured) was appreciative for the gesture, hugging TikTok star Samuel Weidenhofer for his generosity

Mr Weidenhofer - who also confirmed to Daily Mail Australia he earns up to $15,000 a month from online brand deals - finds the negativity aimed towards some of his videos baffling.

'I want to be different and help people whenever I can,' he said. 'I've learnt to ignore the haters...just be nice, it is my life motto.

'Sure I make some money from brand deals, but I really love helping others, I want to inspire people.'

Mr Weidenhofer, who recently moved to the Glitter Strip from Adelaide to work as an influencer fulltime, boasts 148,000 Instagram followers.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene insists House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy does not have the full support of House Republicans to become Speaker.

Republicans are favored to take the congressional majority next year as polling and recent redistricting favor them taking the lead from Democrats.

'We know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our conference. He doesn't have the full support to be speaker,' Greene said on Rep. Matt Gaetz's Firebrand podcast.

'He doesn't have the votes that are there, because there's many of us that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable, while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many others just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats,' she said on the episode that aired Thursday morning.

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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene insists House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy does not have the 'full support' or 'the votes' of House Republicans to become Speaker

She expressed her opinions on Rep. Matt Gaetz's Firebrand podcast released Thursday

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been criticized by conservatives and Democrats

Both Greene and Gosar have been stripped of their committee assignments for threatening Democrats.

Gosar was censured this month for posting a manipulated anime cartoon showing him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Greene was removed from her assignments after posting messages that included anti-Semitic and Islamophobic comments, as well as sharing QAnon conspiracy theories.

McCarthy has been under pressure to take action against members who have used violent rhetoric, amid a growing number of threats against lawmakers in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

But he shrugged off the matter, at a press conference, saying they could expect to get back their committee position if Republicans retake the House in the 2022 midterms.

However, when Gaetz asked Greene if she respected the sitting Republican leadership she was quick to voice her opposition.

'I can't respect leadership that doesn't hold people accountable, yet allows people like me, Paul Gosar, to be constantly trampled on and abused, and then will throw us under the bus at the first given chance. I'm really sick of it,' she said.

Greene's spokesperson Nick Dyer explained in a statement to Newsweek: 'Democrats have consistently targeted Congresswoman Greene since she was sworn in on January 3rd. Rep. Jimmy Gomez and over 70 other Democrats have a bill to expel her. Not to mention, the Democrats destroying Congressional norms and voting to remove (Greene) from committees.'

House Minority Leader on Thursday said Greene (left) and Gosar (right) would be restored to committee seats if the GOP retook the House in midterm elections next year

Gomez introduced a resolution to expel Greene from her seat citing her previous social media posts calling for violence against Democrats and promoting extremist conspiracy theories. Seventy-three House Democrats have since signed onto the effort.

'Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House members of Congress, and former President Barak Obama,' Gomez said in a statement at the beginning of this year.

'Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government,' Gomez continued.

'And it is with their safety in mind as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body.'

But even if Greene is expelled from her position, Republicans have the largest lead in 40 years when it comes to voters' preferences going into the 2022 midterms, with a new poll showing more than half of U.S. voters would prefer a Republican candidate.

An ABC News/ Washington Post poll released this month shows that 51 per cent of 882 registered voters surveyed would support a GOP candidate in their district in the midterm elections if they were held today while only 41 per cent say they would support a Democrat.

Republicans hold their biggest lead in 40 years over Democratic congressional candidates when it comes to registered voters preferences

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., acknowledged Democrats did not do as well as they had hoped in the most recent election

Registered voters were asked in the phone survey: 'If the election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held today, would you vote for (the Democratic candidate) or (the Republican candidate) in your congressional district?'

Four per cent said they wouldn't vote for either a Republican or Democrat, another 4 per cent said they don't have an opinion and the remaining 1 per cent fall in the 'other' category.

This poll shows the GOP is in the biggest lead over their Democratic counterparts in four decades  since the pollsters started asking the question in November 1981.

Republicans leading Democrats in this category has only happened nine times ever in the 110 polls taken with the question.

It is also only the second time where the advantage has been significant  outside the margin of error. In January 2002, the GOP had a seven point lead over Democrats.

Otherwise, Democrats have consistently out-ranked Republicans in the nation-wide voter preference survey.

This month Republicans added 13 House Democrats to their target list for next year's midterms after a come-from-behind win in the Virginia governor's race and a too-close to call contest in New Jersey.

They hope Glenn Youngkin's victory over Terry McAuliffe in a state that President Biden won by 10 percentage points a year ago shows they are on course to retake the House in 2022 and oust Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.
A group of four young men are wanted for robbing $20,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store, all caught on security cameras in broad daylight - the latest in a series of lootings across California.

The incident took place at Santa Rosa Plaza, about an hour from San Francisco, on Wednesday morning.

Four young men, believed by police to be between the ages of 14 and 18, entered and grabbed the merch before fleeing in what authorities called a 'brazen daytime burglary' in broad daylight.

A detective from the Santa Rosa Police Department said they werent notified about the theft until 10 minutes after it occurred due to an Apple in-house protocol.

The latest string of robberies in the Golden State started last Friday in San Francisco and are ratcheting up as the holiday shopping season is getting into full swing.

Police have released photos of at least two of the suspects wanted for robbing $20,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store in Santa Rosa, California

The robbery was called 'brazen' as it happened on a Wednesday morning in broad daylight

In the last week, thieves have made off with tens of thousands of dollars in luxury goods, amid soft misdemeanor theft laws in the Democrat-run state.

Around 20 robbers smashed their way into a Nordstrom at The Grove retail complex in LA on Monday night, making off with $5,000 worth of merchandise; and a CVS pharmacy in the city was struck just an hour later, where looters stole $8,000 from a cash register.

Law enforcement say that mercenary thieves are being recruited for up to $1,000 to steal the expensive goods which are then shipped across state lines and sold on the internet. The sophisticated method makes it harder for cops to track the criminals.

The thieves sped off and managed to escape despite multiple police cruisers, as well as fire trucks and ambulances, responding to the raid (pictured: cop cars outside the Nordstrom in Canoga Park on Wednesday night)

A police car outside the Nordstrom on Wednesday night after thieves made off with around eight luxury handbags

Monday's brazen thefts in Los Angeles come after three consecutive days of organized shoplifting in the Bay Area

San Francisco has seen a dramatic increase in crime rates across the board, particularly in larceny thefts

California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed on Monday to get tough with organized gangs of thieves who have ransacked and looted luxury retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area

Police in Palo Alto announced Wednesday that two women had been arrested in connection with a Sunday night attempt to steal items from the RealReal clothing boutique downtown.

California's Proposition 47 - lighter sentences for thieves Proposition 47 was passed by California voters on November 5, 2014. It made some 'non-violent' property crimes, where the value of the stolen goods does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some 'simple' drug possession offenses into misdemeanors, and allows past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under California law, though, if two or more person's conspire to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' they can face no more than one year in county prison, a fine of $10,000 or a combination of the two. Advertisement

Police said 30 to 40 people arrived in some 20 cars and tried to break down the glass front door but it held. A security guard reported the effort and the crowd fled as police arrived.

The women were stopped in a car where police said they found at least $15,000 in clothes from a second RealReal location that was burglarized in Larkspur earlier that night.

Meanwhile, five people pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges involving thefts in San Francisco.

Nine people have been charged in connection with Friday night attacks on stores including Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdale's in the downtown area and in Union Square, a posh shopping district popular with tourists that was teeming with holiday shoppers.

Ben Dugan, president of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, said: 'We're not talking about someone who needs money or needs food. These are people who go out and do this is for high profit, and for the thrill.'

Other major US cities have also seen a spike in store break-ins, including Chicago and its suburbs, where more than a dozen suspects attacked a Louis Vuitton store last week and stole more than $120,000 worth of high-end clothing and other merchandise.

Aside from the organized crime rings, the growing problem has been attributed to police officers' apparent reluctance to pursue retail criminals in the current political climate, prosecutors' failure to prioritize larceny and theft, and the decriminalization of low-level offenses in some jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, two progressive criminal justice experts suggested the news media and law enforcement officials should stop using the term 'looting' to describe the brazen store robberies, arguing that the term is racist.

Lorenzo Boyd, a professor of criminal justice & community policing at the University of New Haven, and Martin Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute of Journalism Education, urged news outlets to refer to the crimes as 'organized smash-and-grabs.'

Boyd and Martin's remarks immediately opened the floodgates of mockery on Twitter, with critics on the right mercilessly pillorying the 'woke' experts.

Conservative activist and former convicted felon Dinesh D'Souza tweeted: 'Experts refuse to call a spade a spade, unless, of course, it's a spade wielded by a white male.'

Ex-Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker compared it to the language used in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin: 'It's looting. Just like there were riots in Kenosha, not just protests.'

Best Buy CEO Corie Berry said this week that the situation has become so dire that her company is stepping up security measures to protect its staff and shoppers.

'This is traumatizing for our associates and is unacceptable,' Barry said on a call with analysts on Tuesday. 'We are doing everything we can to try to create [an] as safe as possible environment.'

A day earlier, California Gov Gavin Newsom vowed to crack down on gangs of retail thieves, despite a controversial 2014 law - Proposition 47 - that barred prosecutors from charging suspected shoplifters accused of stealing less than $950 worth of merchandise with felonies.

A group of about 40 to 50 teenage shoplifters made off with an unknown amount of jewelry and other items in Hayward, California, on Sunday. Experts and officials say national crime networks are behind many of the 'smash-and-grab ' operations

A suspect was seen running away with an armful of merchandise after stealing from a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco's Union Square on Friday night

Los Angeles police say at least 20 people used sledgehammers to break the glass at a Nordstrom on Monday night and ransack its shelves before fleein

'For the low-level criminal, the benefit far outweighs the risk, since the threshold for a misdemeanor offense is $950, meaning that a person can steal up to that amount and only be charged with a misdemeanor,' Lynda Buel, president of Ohio-based security consulting firm SRMC, told CNN.

'People see the ability to commit these 'smash-and-grab incidents' knowing that there is little consequence, especially if the thefts are kept below the threshold of a felony offense,' Buel added. 'It's easy, it's fast, and the payback is good.'

Over the weekend, the San Francisco Bay Area saw a string of audacious 'smash-and-grab' robberies, including an incident involving a gaggle of hammer-wielding masked bandits who ransacked jewelry, sunglasses and clothing stores at the Southland Mall in the San Jose suburb of Hayward.

Dramatic footage released on Monday showed a group of about 40 to 50 robbers smashing glass display cases at Sam's Jewelers at the mall at around 5.30pm on Sunday. Staffers are seen screaming in terror as the heist unfolded.

Around the same time on Sunday evening, packs of thieves ransacked a sunglasses store and a Lululemon store in San Jose, stealing nearly $50,000 in merchandise, San Jose police Sgt. Christian Camarillo said Monday.

The group that targeted the Lululemon store included two women and two men, including one who had a 'visible gun in his waistband,' he added.

On Saturday, police said as many as 80 suspects, some wearing ski masks and carrying crowbars, targeted a Nordstrom in the San Francisco suburb of Walnut Creek, assaulting employees and stealing merchandise before fleeing in waiting cars, police and witnesses said.

Two employees were assaulted and one was hit with pepper spray during what police called a 'clearly a planned event.' Walnut Creek police said they arrested two suspects and recovered a gun.

A day prior, roving bands of thieves brandishing hammers and crowbars hit a string of high-end retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdales, as well as a Walgreens pharmacy and several marijuana dispensaries, in the vicinity of Union Square in San Francisco, a high-end area popular with tourist that was crowded with holiday shoppers.

Videos of the chaotic scene posted on social media by witnesses showed police officers dragging one suspect from a waiting car and people running with merchandise in their arms or dragging suitcases.

The 'smash-and-grab' operations are usually organized by local people who recruit their crews and send them to steal specific merchandise requested by criminal organizations throughout the country, Dugan said.

'Crew bosses organize them, they'll give him the crowbars, and in some cases even rent them cars, or provide them with escape routes or a list of products to actually go out and steal. It looks very chaotic but it's actually very well organized,' Dugan said.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in September that large-scale store thefts orchestrated by organized crime rings are costing retailers across the US an estimated $45billion in annual losses.

Raoul has formed the Organized Retail Crime Task Force comprised of public and private entities to tackle the problem head on.

'These brazen, violent crimes are committed by sophisticated criminal organizations that are involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and other serious crimes,' Raoul said.

'Even during the looting we saw last year, we came to understand that some of these criminal acts were not merely opportunistic, but organized in advance,' he said.

'The Organized Retail Crime Task Force will allow investigators and prosecutors in my office to better collaborate with our law enforcement partners and ensure cooperation between law enforcement, as well as retailers and online marketplaces, to protect communities, consumers and combat the rise in retail crime.'

Police were able to pursue one of the getaway cars, which had fled onto the 110 Freeway

The robbery (not pictured) occurred at 7pm on the eve of Thanksgiving and left a security guard injured.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said his office met with retailers over the weekend who asked for more police patrols.

'You will see substantially more starting today, in and around areas that are highly trafficked and coming into the holiday season Black Friday in shopping malls,' he told reporters Monday at an event in San Francisco.

He said the California Highway Patrol immediately stepped up patrols along nearby highway corridors following the thefts this weekend and asked local officials how they could help.

In July, Newsom signed a law that allows prosecutors to charge those who work with others to steal merchandise. He said this year's state budget included millions of dollars for local officials to address retail theft and his January budget proposal will include an "exponential increase of support to help cities and counties.'

'My business has been broken into three times this year,' he said. 'I have no empathy, no sympathy for these folks, and they must be held to account.' Newsom owns two wine shops in San Francisco.

Most of the 'smash-and-grabs' had been happening in stores near highways in suburbs where police response can be slower. But last year, the packs of robbers took advantage of BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and ransacked stores in several cities, including San Francisco, Dugan said.

'It was meant to look like looting, but it really wasn't. Its a criminal entity employing other people to steal for them so they can profit by selling it online,' he said.

Retailers lose about $65billion each year to organized theft, the bulk stolen by professional thieves.

OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS: Surveillance footage from inside a Louis Vuitton store showed masked shoplifters, top right, pour into the store and grab handfuls of merchandise as customers ran away last week

The National Retail Federation said a recent survey found stores are seeing an increase in organized thefts and perpetrators being more aggressive.

On Tuesday, Best Buy's shares fell 16 per cent after the nation's largest consumer electronics retail chain posted a drop in profit for the fiscal quarter, citing organized theft - especially in San Francisco.

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry warned that businesses are in danger in the San Francisco area due to rampant looting

'We are definitely seeing more and more particularly organized retail crime and incidents of shrink in our locations,' Barry, the company's CEO, told analysts. 'This is a real issue that hurts and scares real people.'

Barry warned that employees could start quitting their jobs, rather than face the threat of hammer- and crowbar-wielding thieves terrorizing stores in California with relative impunity due to lax shoplifting laws.

Best Buy's top executive said the company is hiring security guards and keeping more products under lock and key.

Experts said state laws raising the threshold for what constitutes a felony and the ease of reselling stolen goods online are contributing to the increase in brash robberies.

Following Friday's thefts, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said officers arrested six men and two women, all young adults, and seized two guns and two vehicles. They are mostly residents of the Bay Area and some are known to San Francisco police, Scott said, adding that he expects more suspects will be arrested in the coming days.

Car access to the streets in Union Square will soon be limited and the area will be flooded with police officers, Scott said.

'We will do what we need to do to put an end to this madness,' Scott said at a news conference Saturday.
Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert sparked fury on Thursday when video emerged of her telling a 'backpack' joke to a crowd of supporters - recounting a supposed encounter that Ilhan Omar quickly confirmed as a lie.

Boebert, a 34-year-old gun rights activist and fervent Trump supporter, was speaking during what the website Patriot Takes said was a Thanksgiving gathering.

Commanding the stage like a stand-up comedienne, she told the crowd: 'Actually I have an Ilhan story for you.'

She began to describe an encounter with Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman who - along with Rashida Tlaib - were the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

Lauren Boebert, the Colorado congresswoman, was at an event where she told a story about Ilhan Omar, representative for Minnesota

With the Stars and Stripes hanging behind her, Boebert tells her 'joke'

Over the Thanksgiving break, Lauren Boebert said she was recently in a Capitol elevator with Ilhan Omar when a fretful Capitol police officer ran up.



Lauren Boebert said: Well, she doesnt have a backpack. We should be fine.



Boebert then called Ilhan Omar, jihad squad. pic.twitter.com/Y7f0nFbnud  PatriotTakes  (@patriottakes) November 25, 2021

'So the other night was not my first 'jihad squad' moment,' said Boebert.

'I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I were leaving the Capitol, we're going back to my office, we get in the elevator, and I see a Capitol Police officer running, hurriedly, to the elevator.

'I see threat all over his face, and he's reaching. The door's shutting, and I can't open it.

'I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar.

'And I say well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine.'

The crowd reacted with a mixture of shocked gasps and muffled laughter.

Boebert added: 'The jihad squad decided to show up for work today.'

Ilhan Omar, pictured on September 21, is - along with Rashida Tlaib - one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress

Ilhan Omar is pictured with Pramila Jayapal, another member of 'The Squad'

The clip rapidly went viral, and was seen 2.2 million times on Twitter, with many calling for Boebert to be reprimanded by her party and stripped of her committee assignments.

But Omar, 39, swiftly said that the incident Boebert described never happened.

'Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up,' said Omar.

'Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout. Anti-Muslim bigotry isn't funny & shouldn't be normalized.

'Congress can't be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.'

Boebert (left) is seen on October 21 sitting next to fellow members of Congress Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene

On social media, many were disgusted with Boebert's remarks, pointing out that you would be fired from many jobs for making similar comments.

'Censure Boebert and remove her from all committees  then we vote her out!' said one woman.

'The Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States  REALLY!?!'

Another said: 'What the Hell. Strip her of committees, too. In for a penny in for a pound.

'This cannot be acceptable behavior. In any other employee situation, the person would be fired immediately for violation of personnel policies.'

Another added: 'Doesn't Congress have an HR department? I mean if you said that to a coworker at McDs you'd get fired. WTF?'

'If I literally did the EXACT thing in a Colorado public school I would be suspended and then fired,' said another.

'Why does Congress not have ANY repercussions for this sort of behavior?'

One woman said that her remarks were indicative of how low standards in public life had sunk.

'This is such a grossly unpatriotic, dangerous comment coming from a member of Congress,' she said.

'It's beyond deplorable, beyond censure. Watching LB say these things with an unenthusiastic smattering of applause really hits just how low standards in the US gov't have become since '16.'
Daniel Andrews' Labor government has lost a fifth MP in just three days with the Premier announcing a former minister won't be contesting the next election.

The Victorian premier announced John Eren was retiring from politics on Friday afternoon.

Mr Andrews said he was 'grateful' for the friendship he shared with Mr Eren, who was the longtime member for Lara, north-east of Geelong.

'I wish John and his family the very best for the future. I'm grateful for his friendship and support, just as I'm grateful for his contribution to the Parliament, the Government and his local community,' Mr Andrews said.

The Victorian Labor Party has been thrown into disarray after five parliamentarians threw in the towel this week (pictured, Premier Daniel Andrews alongside local ministers)

The Victorian premier announced John Eren (pictured) was retiring from politics on Friday afternoon, saying he was 'grateful' for the friendship he shared with Mr Eren, who was the longtime member for Lara, north-east of Geelong

'I know we'll keep seeing him live his values for years to come.'

Mr Eren had worked in parliament for close to 20 years and was a former cabinet minister.

The MP said that having been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease as well as the pressure of the pandemic, now was the right time to resign from politics.

'It has been two years since I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. This diagnosis along with challenges brought about by the Covid pandemic has made me place a greater focus on my health and well-being and that of my family and friends, to value the ability to spend quality time with them,' Mr Eren said.

'After thinking about my future as time moves on and following discussions with my family, it was with sadness that I today informed the Premier of my decision to not contest the 2022 State Election.

'When we come to the end of this term of Parliament in about twelve months I feel that will be the time for me to step away and spend my time pursuing other things.'

Mr Eren had moved to Australia with his family from Turkey at the age of six before growing up in housing commission in North Melbourne.

Mr Andrews credited the Lara MP for his efforts in securing funding for women's sport, boosting the tourism industry and advocating for Geelong.

Mr Eren's departure is the latest in a spate of retirements in the lead up to the state election next year.

On Thursday, Mr Andrews announced Planning Minister Richard Wynne would also not be contesting the next election.

That came after former Attorney-General and Altona MP Jill Hennessy, Yan Yean MP Danielle Green and Ringwood MP Dustin Halse announcing they too wouldn't be seeking re-election.

Mr Andrews on Thursday announced the fourth MP, Planning Minister Richard Wynne (pictured), would not be contesting the next election on Thursday

Others may also be looking to step down, with Broadmeadows MP Frank Maguire and Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan rumoured to be considering their futures, the Herald Sun reports.

Mr Donnellan quit the cabinet in October after an anti-corruption hearing heard claims he paid for party membership fees on behalf of others as part of a branch-stacking operation.

The place of former ministers Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott, who both featured in anti-corruption hearings into taxpayer-funded staff, also remains up in the air.

Labor MPs have been asked to reveal their plans to run by the end of the week, with the national executive to decide on candidates in both houses by December 3.

The exodus has raised fears Labor could lose their comfortable majority - despite a recent Newspoll predicting Mr Andrews remains on track to win a third term.

A Roy Morgan survey published on Thursday has Labor leading the Liberal-National Coalition 59.5 to 40.5 on a two-party preferred basis, while last week's Newspoll has them leading 58 to 42.

Broadmeadows MP Frank Maguire (left) and Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan (right) are also rumoured to be considering their futures in the Labor Party

Both surveys are an increase on the 57.3 to 42.7 result at the 2018 election, which saw the coalition lose 11 lower house seats including blue-ribbon Hawthorn.

Senior Monash University politics lecturer Zareh Ghazarian said the recent Queensland, Tasmania and WA elections proved the pandemic favours incumbent governments.

'It would probably be infuriating for the opposition. They aren't able to make any meaningful inroads at the moment,' he told AAP.

Dr Ghazarian said while Mr Andrews is a 'polarising figure', thanks in part to his 120 consecutive second wave press conferences, there is still time to reset before the poll.

Ms Hennessy, the proud member for Altona in Melbourne's southwest, was the first to bow out of the next election, which is scheduled for November 26, 2022.

The former Attorney-General and minister for Health, Ambulance Services and Workplace Safety announced the news on her Facebook page.

In December 2020, Ms Hennessy announced she would be stepping away from her role as chief lawmaker to spend more time with her teenage daughters.

'No matter how precious your family is, politics can blind you their needs if you're not careful. And life is short,' she wrote on Wednesday.

Jill Hennessy, the proud member for Altona in Melbourne's southwest, (pictured) was the first to bow out of the next election scheduled for November 26

'After some reflection, I came to the view that making the commitment to serve another four-year term was incompatible with the other important priorities in my life, especially if I wanted to give them all the best of me.'

Ms Hennessy said she would always be an 'ardent cheerleader' for the cherished communities, leaders and organisations in Melbourne's west.

She thanked Mr Andrews for giving her the opportunity to be part of a team who delivered 'life-changing investments and reforms'.

Yan Yean MP Danielle Green (pictured) also advised she would not be seeking re-election

In turn, the premier said the MP had pioneered 'some of the biggest reforms' in Victoria including the nation's first voluntary assisted dying scheme.

Mr Andrews said as Health Minister in their first term of government, Ms Hennessy had been 'championing immunisation and taking on anti-vaxxers' long before the Covid pandemic.

'I want to thank Jill for the work she's done, her years of service to the parliament and the Labor Party, and her dedication to our great movement,' the premier said in a statement.

'On a personal note, I want to thank her for her years of friendship and unwavering support - and wish her, Bernie and their daughters all the best for the future.'

MP for Yan Yean Danielle Green, also advised she would not be seeking re-election, after representing the locality in Melbourne's northeast for nearly two decades.

'It has been an honour and privilege to represent the people of Yan Yean and to have served in the Parliament of Victoria, since 2002,' Ms Green wrote to Facebook.

The MP said she looked forward to a work-life balance that would allow her to care for her husband - who has been battling skin cancer - as well as her two sons.

The third MP to announce their resignation from politics was first-term Ringwood MP Dustin Halse (pictured)

Mr Andrews said Ms Green had fought 'tooth and nail' for the people of Yan Yean on issues such as local roads, access to TAFE or vital health and ambulance services.

The third MP to announce their resignation from politics on Wednesday was first-term Ringwood MP Dustin Halse.

Mr Halse described the decision to step down from his role as 'one of the most difficult decisions' of his life and said the last three years had been a privilege.

'The global pandemic has forced us all to think about our priorities,' he said.

'And for me, that is looking after my young son, better supporting my wife and extended family, and taking my physical and mental health more seriously.'

The premier commended his efforts in removing two dangerous and congested level crossings as well as his passionate and committed advocacy for his community.
Rene Latimore (pictured) was reported missing from the Koumala area, south of Mackay in central Queensland, by her family on August 18

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the murder of mother Rene Latimore, whose body was found on a rural property in August.

Ms Latimore - a 31-year-old mother of a teenage son - was reported missing from the Koumala area, south of Mackay in central Queensland, by her family on August 18.

The accused appeared in a Mackay court on Friday and remains in custody.

Queensland Police say they can't reveal whether the 17-year-old was known to Ms Latimore.

Her body was found buried 11 days later on a cattle property at Ilbilbie.

Queensland Police launched a homicide investigation code named Operation Amunet, making several appeals for public assistance.

Pictured is a four-wheel driver police allege is linked to her death. A 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with the mother's murder

Detective Acting Inspector Jack Savage said on Friday the 17-year-old was arrested without incident.

But he said their 'complex' investigation was ongoing and did not rule out more arrests.

'We have to consider all the other pieces of information that come in,' he told reporters.

Queensland police earlier released photos of a four-wheel drive linked to the killing of mother Rene Latimore in the state's north

'If that takes us to another avenue of investigation we will go down this path.

'We never keep a closed mind or put the blinkers on.

'The investigation is ongoing.'
The 72-year-old father of a former police minister has failed to convince a court he was sleepwalking when he killed a scientist in a hit and run accident.

Kenneth Grant, a former police officer and father of former NSW police minister Troy Grant, was found guilty of causing the death of Tony Greenfield at Bolwarra on November 30, 2019.

He also led police on a wild pursuit while driving on two flat tyres after the accident and when he was finally stopped returned a breath test reading of twice the legal limit.

'My son is Troy Grant, the police minister and I am p***ed,' the court heard he told officers after being pulled over.

Ken Grant (pictured) is on trial for allegedly hitting and killing scientist Tony Greenfield while sleepwalking late 2019

Mr Greenfield (pictured) was allegedly hit and killed in car accident where driver was sleepwalking, a court has heard

Newcastle District Court judge John Hatzistergos rejected Mr Grant's claim he was sleepwalking and was not driving voluntarily at the time of the fatal accident.

His defence team pointed to Mr Grant's history of sleepwalking, which affected 'very complex motor skills' and that he could have been in a 'somnambulistic state' when he hit the scientist.

Judge Hatzistergos referred to an expert witness who said it would have been 'extremely unusual' for Mr Grant to be sleepwalking at his age.

'There is just no evidence of sleep apart from this observation of "nodding off",' Crown prosecutor Lee Carr said in court.

Mr Grant had pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, failing to stop and assist after impact causing death.

Mr Greenfield was at the same Christmas party as Mr Grant on the night of his death but died after being hit by Mr Grant's car while walking home around 11.25pm.

Scientist Tony Greenfield (pictured) was hit and killed by Mr Grant in a car accident late 2019

The court heard witnesses at the party said Mr Grant was 'hammered' and 'extremely intoxicated'.

A police breath test revealed Mr Grant had a blood alcohol reading of 0.108.

In interviews with police he claimed to have no knowledge of the accident.
Millions face travel chaos from today as major lines run a reduced service or come to a complete standstill.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union began a series of 24-hour walkouts today over changes to staff rotas to restart the Night Tube after talks between Transport for London (TfL) and union bosses broke down.

Congestion on London's roads are up 20 percent on average as commuters take to their cars amid the Tube closures. Last Friday at 8am congestion was at 57 percent, but at the same time today it was at 62 percent.

The union said their members are being asked to work both night shifts and day shifts after dedicated night staff were axed.

The Victoria, Central, Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines were brought to a standstill at 4.30am today, causing further disruption for the Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

The Victoria, Central, Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines were brought to a standstill at 4.30am today, causing further disruption for the Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines

TfL says these lines are likely to be severely disrupted from 7pm each weekend in a major blow for December revellers.

A TfL source told the London Evening Standard yesterday that 'not a huge amount has developed' since the industrial action was announced, but that TfL 'remains open to talks' with RMT.

TfL warned of disruption to services and advised people to check before travelling.

The Night Tube has been suspended because of the pandemic and is due to restart on Friday.

There will also be action on the Central and Victoria lines from 8.30pm to 4.30am on each of the intervening Saturdays and Sundays from now to December 18

Passengers at Stratford Underground Station today after some Tube drivers walked out in a dispute over rosters

What Tube lines will be affected and why are drivers going on strike? What's happening? RMT began a 24-hour walkout on the five tube lines from 4.30am on Friday, November 26. What Tube lines will be affected? TfL said the Tube lines will are due to be affected are: 4:30am 26 November - 4:29am 27 November (Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly & Victoria)

8:30pm 27 November - 4:29am 28 November (Central & Victoria)

8:30pm 3 December - 4:29am 4 December (Central & Victoria)

8:30pm 4 December - 4:29am 5 December (Central & Victoria)

8:30pm 10 December - 4:29am 11 December (Central & Victoria)

8:30pm 11 December - 4:29am 12 December (Central & Victoria)

8:30pm 17 December - 4:29am 18 December (Central & Victoria)

4:30am 18 December - 4:29am 19 December (Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly & Victoria) Why are Tube drivers striking? TfL announced that London's Night Tube service is set to resume from November 27 on the Victoria and Central lines. The east-west Central Line and north-south Victoria Lines were set to operate overnight on Fridays and Saturdays each week. The RMT says the rota changes have resulted in 'unacceptable and intolerable demands' on its members and their work-life balance. Advertisement

Underground drivers are protesting over staff rotas to restart the Night Tube, which is due to resume services late on Saturday night and into Sunday morning on the Victoria and Central lines.

TfL insists all other Tube unions agreed in May to the change in the rotas, which came after 200 Night Tube staff were integrated into TfL's 'day Tube' workforce, and called the strike action 'unnecessary'.

But RMT general secretary Mick Lynch accused Tube bosses of 'refusing point blank to consider the serious grievances at the heart of the dispute', but added that the union also 'remains open for talks'.

The union says the changes have resulted in 'unacceptable and intolerable demands' on its members.

Similar strikes were planned during the summer over the same issue, which were called off after 'last-ditch' talks with TfL.

Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL are 'confident' of being able to restart the night services but said they may be able to run fewer Tube trains than hoped.

TfL could yet face more disruption over Christmas as the ASLEF union threatens its members could strike over changes to TfL's pension schemes.

TfL is required to conduct a review of its pension schemes as a condition of the funding deal agreed with the Government.

ASLEF's Tube organiser Finn Brennan said there will be 'hard-hitting and sustained industrial action across London Underground' if changes are forced through, though no dates have been confirmed.

Sir Brendan Barber, a former TUC general secretary and current head of ACAS, has been appointed to lead a 'truly independent' review of TfL's pensions.

TfL commissioner Andy Byford said there is 'no predetermined outcome' of the review and has said 'we'll report back in due course'.

In a statement, Mr Lynch said: 'This strike is about the ripping apart of popular and family friendly agreements that helped make the original Night Tube such a success.

'Instead the company want to cut costs and lump all drivers into a pool where they can be kicked from pillar to post at the behest of the management.

'We have made every effort in ACAS and direct talks since the off to resolve this dispute but it is clear that LU bosses are driven solely by the bottom line and have no interest whatsoever in the well being of their staff or the service to passengers.

'This strike action, and it's serious consequences in the run up to Christmas, was avoidable if the Tube management hadn't axed dedicated Night Tube staff and perfectly workable arrangements in order to cut staffing numbers and costs.

'We warned months ago that slashing two hundred Night Tube Train Driver positions would create a staffing nightmare and LU need to start facing up to that reality and soon.

Waterloo station during a tube strike as services are disrupted on Friday

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, meeting members of the Battersea Power Station Community Choir, at newly opened Battersea Power Station London Underground station, south London

'The union remains available for further talks even at this late stage.'

Nick Dent, Director of London Underground Customer Operations, said: 'The RMT's planned strike action is needless and it will threaten London's recovery from the pandemic, despite no job losses and more flexibility and job certainty for drivers.

'While every other union has agreed to these changes and our staff have been enjoying the benefits of the changes since August, we're willing to work with the RMT and review the changes after Night Tube services have returned.

'This review can only be successful if the RMT agrees to meet us for talks and withdraws its proposed action so we can all see how these changes will work in practice.

'If the RMT refuses to engage with us and carries out its unnecessary action, which is timed to cause maximum disruption for our customers looking to enjoy London during the festive season, Londoners are advised to check before they travel on days of planned strike action.'
Britain's energy crisis has deepened today as another 70,000 households see their energy suppliers go out of business.

Entice Energy, which had 5,400 households on its books, and Orbit Energy, which supplies 65,000 customers, are both closing their doors.

Regulator Ofgem said that it would ensure all the customers find a new home at a different energy supplier.

They can continue to use energy as normal and will be contacted by their new supplier in time. Their bills might change following the switch.

The companies join a club of two dozen to go out of business in less than three months, as companies were squeezed into failure by a spike in global gas prices. Another small supplier collapsed in August.

Regulator Ofgem said that it would ensure all the customers find a new home at a different energy supplier (file image)

In total around four million customers have been hit by the failures.

The biggest failure to date has been Bulb, once an energy success story which fell into administration on Wednesday.

While customers of the other 23 failed energy companies will be moved to a new supplier by Ofgem, Bulb simply had too many customers for this to be possible.

Instead it will continue to trade until it can be sold, or its customers slowly moved elsewhere.

Entice Energy, which had 5,400 households on its books, and Orbit Energy, which supplies 65,000 customers, are both closing their doors (file image)

The companies join a club of two dozen to go out of business in less than three months, as companies were squeezed into failure by a spike in global gas prices. Another small supplier collapsed in August (file image)

The Government has set aside 1.7 billion to support the company's operations in the meanwhile, a burden which could find its way onto household energy bills.

After the failures of Orbit and Entice, Ofgem's director of retail, Neil Lawrence, said: 'Ofgem's number one priority is to protect customers. We know this is a worrying time for many people and news of a supplier going out of business can be unsettling.

'I want to reassure affected customers that they do not need to worry; under our safety net we'll make sure your energy supplies continue.'

Customers should take a meter reading now for when their new supplier gets in touch.

Gillian Cooper, head of energy policy at Citizens Advice, said: 'The increases in global gas prices we've seen this year have been significant, but should not have led to the collapse of 25 firms.

'As suppliers continue to fall like dominoes, it's clear the market is not functioning as it should and there are serious questions for Ofgem to answer about how this has been allowed to happen.'
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How rare is a Met Office red weather warning - and what does it mean? The Met Office today issued a red weather warning for wind in Scotland. The last time a red wind warning was activated in the UK was for South West England in March 2018. Today's alert is the 11th red warning issued by the Met Office since its three-tier system came into use in 2011. It also includes yellow warnings for 'be aware' and amber for 'be prepared'. The Met Office definition of a red alert is to 'take action now to keep yourself and others safe from the impact of the weather. Widespread damage, travel and power disruption and risk to life is likely'. The 11 red warnings issued by the Met Office since the system began seven years ago are as follows: December 8, 2011: Wind in central and southern Scotland

January 3, 2012: Wind in central Scotland

July 7, 2012: Rain in Devon and Cornwall

January 18, 2013: Snow in South Wales

February 12, 2014: Wind in Wales and northern England

December 5, 2015: Rain in Cumbria and the Borders (Storm Desmond)

December 26, 2016: Rain in Lancashire and Yorkshire

January 29, 2016: Wind in Orkney and Shetland

February 28, 2018: Snow in central Scotland

March 1, 2018: Wind and snow in South West England

November 26, 2021: Wind in Northeast England and Scotland (Storm Arwen) Advertisement

A man in Northern Ireland was killed after a falling tree landed on his car as Storm Arwen brought high winds, rain and snow to the UK.

The man is thought to have been driving with his wife and two children - who avoided injury - when the fatal accident happened on Dublin Road, Antrim.

Motorists in areas which fall under the Met Office's red weather warning have been told they 'should not travel under any circumstances' by a senior police officer.

The Met Office has issued a rare highest 'danger to life' warning for wind from 3pm today to 2am tomorrow, with gales forecast to be as high as 90mph and waves as high as 32ft.

Superintendent Simon Bradshaw, from Police Scotland's Road Policing Unit, said motorists in the area 'should not travel under any circumstances' and added those in amber and yellow warning zones should 'not journey out unless for essential purposes and if you are doing so, to be mindful of the challenging conditions you will face'.

The red warning stretches along the east coast from Middlesbrough to beyond Aberdeen and is the first maximum alert to be issued since Storm Dennis in February 2020.

Grahame Madge, a Met Office spokesman, said the forecaster didn't 'issue red warnings lightly' and warned people to stay away from the affected area.

'People need to recognise, really, that we don't issue red warnings lightly so, therefore, when we do, we feel that there is a much higher threat of risk,' he said.

'We urge people, obviously, to take action as a result of that and that action in this case is probably don't go to the coast.

The warning, which is the highest the Met Office issues, means the impact is likely to be severe with the potential for damage to buildings and homes, with roofs blown off and power lines brought down.

The alert also warns people in the zone of the potential of 'roads, bridges, and railway lines closed, with delays and cancellations to bus, train, ferry services and flights', and Rod Dennis, of RAC Breakdown, warned of the chance of major disruption and urged motorists to 'avoid driving if at all possible'.

'Red warnings from the Met Office are relatively rare and are the strongest possible signal to drivers not to set out in the first place unless absolutely necessary,' he said.

Most of the UK is blanketed by weather warnings as the storm approaches, with those set to be in force on Saturday.

Mr Dennis said: 'Drivers in those parts of the UK covered by amber weather warnings should also consider postponing their planned trips until the storm passes.

'As well as making driving much more challenging, strong winds cause an increased risk of trees and power lines falling. Add snow into the equation and the risks increase significantly.'

ScotRail has already warned of train cancellations because of the storm, and said on many routes it is limiting train speeds.

Temperatures are set to fall with the storm, too, and the Met Office has warned the north east of England, north west of England, Yorkshire, West Midlands and the East Midlands will experience cold weather from Friday to Monday.

Storm Arwen has claimed her first victim after a driver died when a falling tree landed on his car while he was driving with his wife and two children in Antrim, Northern Ireland, on Friday evening

Police direct traffic at the scene of a fatal accident in which a man in Northern Ireland was killed after a falling tree landed on his car as Storm Arwen hit the UK

Emergency services continue to assess the scene in Northern Ireland after a man was killed by a falling tree

Emergency services continue to assess the scene in Northern Ireland after a man was killed by a falling tree

Emergency services continue to assess the scene in Northern Ireland after a man was killed by a falling tree

Red, amber and yellow wind and snow warnings have been released for Scotland, western England and Northern Ireland on Friday, before extending to almost the entire of the UK on Saturday

The red warning, which covers areas including Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, will be in place from 3pm today until 2am tomorrow morning

Heavy snow and high winds affecting parts of Scotland today as the Met Office issues a rare red weather warning

SALTBURN-BY-THE-SEA: A heavy snow shower passes over Saltburn-By-The-Sea as Storm Arwen sweeps across parts of the country on Friday evening

The Met Office issued the highest level of warning as wind speeds between 80 and 90mph hit north east Scotland and north east England bringing snow. Pictured: Snow shower in Saltburn-By-The-Sea

Red alerts - warning of a 'danger to life' - have been issued across Scotland (pictured today)

A car is seen driving through the snow in Ballater in Aberdeenshire today as Britons brace for Storm Arwen

Most of the UK is blanketed by weather warnings as the storm approaches, with those set to be in force on Saturday. Pictured: Snowy scenes in the Tomintoul area of Moray, Scotland, on Friday

The first snowfall of winter 2021 this Northumberland this afternoon as Storm Arwen hits the UK

Snowfall hit the Tomintoul area of Moray, Scotland, on Friday and forced the A939 to close amid the wild conditions

Heavy snow and high winds can be seen as a snow plough clears the A93 at Glenshee, Scotland

 Rare Red weather warning issued #StormArwen will bring a spell of very strong winds to parts of northeast Scotland and northeast England



Friday 1500 - Saturday 0200

Latest info  https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs



Stay #WeatherAware #Redwarning pic.twitter.com/BhX3J6bT85  Met Office (@metoffice) November 26, 2021

Yellow weather warning issued 



Outbreaks of rain may turn to snow at times across southern and central England during Saturday morning



Saturday 0000 - 1000

Latest info  https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs



Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/iA7KhKntJ1  Met Office (@metoffice) November 26, 2021

Yellow weather warning issued 



Spells of hill snow may bring some travel disruption across southern Scotland and northern England



Friday 1700 - Saturday 1000

Latest info  https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs



Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/pKwyN2QuXT  Met Office (@metoffice) November 26, 2021

Here's a look at the latest #satellite loop of the UK



It's been a #sunny Thursday for many of us but the mass of cloud near Iceland shows change is on the way



Tonight #StormArwen will move southwards towards the UK bringing a very windy and cold spell  pic.twitter.com/2pxhoVbS8X  Met Office (@metoffice) November 25, 2021

As #StormArwen approaches the UK it will pull some much colder air along with it



This combined with a strong northerly wind means that it won't feel much above freezing for many of us over the coming days  pic.twitter.com/y6OlmZiAqk  Met Office (@metoffice) November 25, 2021

Migrants planning to cross the Channel in small boats this weekend face 'terrifying' conditions Migrants planning to cross the Channel in small boats this weekend face 'terrifying' conditions that no commercial fishermen would risk, according to local specialists. The dinghies used by the people traffickers would be tossed around by 5m swells with freezing temperatures and cold sea spray putting the men, women and children at risk of hypothermia. It comes after an 'overloaded' boat capsized in rough seas amid rain and cold weather and was found by fishermen, with three coastguard vessels and a helicopter rushed to the scene. Craig Collins, of Channel Angling in Dover, Kent, told the PA news agency: 'It's brutal out there, at the moment we're getting north-westerlies which will just smash the boats. 'They are coming straight into them, it would be difficult to even get off the beaches and they'll be facing 16-foot swells, it's horrendous out there. 'It would be really hard out there. I wouldn't want to be out there and no commercial fisherman would go out in that. It's tragic they are trying to do it. 'It's not just the cold, it's the spray from the water, they will be hypothermic in 20 minutes out there.' Another fisherman, Manny, said: 'It's terrifying, you would think you are going to die. I used to be a commercial fisherman in a 32ft boat and we wouldn't go out in the conditions that they do and these people haven't got anything, they're just in small dinghies.' Advertisement

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold weather alert and Will Land, head of civil contingencies at the forecaster, said: 'The UK will see temperatures drop to below average in the coming days, as cold air is drawn in from the north.

'This is coupled with the strong winds associated with Storm Arwen, which means it will feel especially cold in the wind.

'Areas in the north will see temperatures below freezing overnight, with daytime maximum temperatures only getting into the low single figures.

'It's important to note that strong wind speeds, in excess of 65mph in exposed locations, will exacerbate the cold temperatures we'll be seeing over the weekend.

Ben Sheridan, AA patrol of the year, says: 'Storm Arwen will bring a nasty mix of snow, particularly in the North East and Scotland, and wind which will make visibility poor, especially at night.

'If you must travel in the worst affected areas, adjust your driving to account for the conditions and leave plenty of space behind other vehicles.

'Allow extra time, as there may be delays and make sure you pack winter essentials in the car such as warm, waterproof layers, a shovel, a torch, fully charged mobile phone and a flask of hot drink.

'Watch out for debris on the road and pay attention when passing high-sided vehicles when you encounter strong winds.'

The RNLI tweeted: 'With #StormArwen named as our first winter storm, we can expect some strong winds and rough weather overnight and into the weekend. We urge people to stay safe near the coast as the severe weather could make our seas and coastlines particularly dangerous.'

The charity said 150 people 'accidentally lose their lives around UK and Irish waters each year, and over half of these people didn't plan on ever entering the water'.

'If you see someone in danger in the water, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.'

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged people to check on elderly relatives or neighbours as the country braces for Storm Arwen to sweep in.

The Met Office has previously issued an amber weather warning - also meaning lives are in danger - for northeast Scotland and England as well as the west of Wales and Cornwall tomorrow.

And yellow wind weather warnings are in place for almost the whole of the UK.

A yellow warning for snow also extends from Surrey across to Oxford and as north as Nottingham. Forecasters warn 'outbreaks of rain may turn to snow at times across southern and central England during Saturday morning'.

The amber warning will run from 3pm on Friday to 9am on Saturday, with the strongest winds expected in coastal locations.

Experts have expressed fears that migrants attempting to cross the Channel face 'terrifying' conditions that no commercial fishermen would risk - after 27 people lost their lives earlier this week, and a further 50 attempted the treacherous crossing again yesterday.

Mr Dixon added: 'There may also be some snow in the lower ground region of northern England, though this is likely to be short-lived and fall in the form of sleet or wintry rain.

'It comes on the back of a fall in temperature, with parts of rural Scotland and England to drop below freezing during the night.'

The UKHSA has issued a cold weather alert, and Agostinho Sousa, a consultant in Public Health Medicine at UKHSA, said: 'Cold weather can have a serious impact on health, particularly for older people and those with heart and lung problems, as it increases the risks of heart attacks, strokes and chest infections.

'It's really important to keep checking on older neighbours or relatives, especially those living alone or those who have serious illness.

'Make a call, or a socially distanced doorstep visit if they live close by, to remind them to heat their home to at least 18C (64.4F) and to keep up to date with the forecast. It's also helpful to check they have enough food and drinks and any medicines they need.'

Stormy seas and huge waves crashed against the pier wall and lighthouse in Tynemouth, North Tyneside, on Friday as Storm Arwen arrived in the North East

Police have advised people not to travel as Storm Arwen poses a danger to life. Pictured: A car is covered in snow as the snow showers reach Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire

A car is covered in snow as a heavy snow shower passes over Saltburn-by-the-Sea in North Yorkshire as Storm Arwen sweeps across parts of the country

The Met Office has issued a red warning and police have advised people not to travel amid the fierce weather conditions. Pictured: Motorists driver through a heavy snow shower in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire

A woman is seen walking her dog near Belsay village in Northumberland as Storm Arwen hits the UK

Cars are seen braving the blizzards in Northumberland today as the UK braces for Storm Arwen

Temperatures are set to fall with the storm, too, and the Met Office has warned the north east of England will experience cold weather from Friday to Monday. Pictured: Waves crash against the pier wall in Tynemouth, North Tyneside, on Friday

The RNLI tweeted: 'With #StormArwen named as our first winter storm, we can expect some strong winds and rough weather overnight and into the weekend. We urge people to stay safe near the coast as the severe weather could make our seas and coastlines particularly dangerous'

The Met Office said temperatures would plummet to below average over the weekend. Pictured: Heavy snow shower leaves cars covered in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire

Motorists drive through a heavy snow shower as it passes over Saltburn By The Sea as Storm Arwen sweeps across parts of the country

The Met Office said temperatures would plummet to below average over the weekend

A woman walks her dogs as a heavy snow shower passes over Saltburn By The Sea as Storm Arwen sweeps across parts of the country

Average temperatures for this time of year - and how they've changed over the years 1970: 7.0C 1980: 5.9C 1990: 6.6C 2000: 6.7C 2010: 4.9C 2020: 8.1C Source: Sheffield Weather Advertisement

The Met Office said temperatures would plummet to below average over the weekend.

Will Lang, head of civil contingencies at the Met Office, said: 'The UK will see temperatures drop to below average in the coming days, as cold air is drawn in from the north. This is coupled with the strong winds associated with Storm Arwen, which means it will feel especially cold in the wind.

'Areas in the north will see temperatures below freezing overnight, with daytime maximum temperatures only getting into the low single figures.

'It's important to note that strong wind speeds, in excess of 65mph in exposed locations, will exacerbate the cold temperatures we'll be seeing over the weekend.'

Within the amber area and near the coasts large waves could see material thrown on to coastal roads, sea fronts and buildings, the Met Office has warned.

The RAC has advised drivers to prepare for strong gusts by slowing down and being 'very careful' when passing high-sided vehicles or cyclists.

Spokesman Simon Williams said: 'In extreme windy conditions, bridges may also be closed and trees may fall so it's important to allow extra time for journeys.

'With forecasters predicting strong winds together with colder conditions, drivers should take this opportunity to prepare their vehicles for winter by checking oil and coolant levels, ensuring they have enough good quality screen wash that protects down to well below minus 10C, as well as having properly inflated tyres with good tread.'

Met Office Principal Meteorologist Dan Suri said: 'Storm Arwen is associated with a deep low pressure system that will impact the northeast in particular from Friday, but will also bring wider impacts to the UK with high winds, rain and some snow probable over the high ground.

'Storm Arwen's impacts are mainly associated with high winds as the storm sinks southwards and will widely bring gusts of up to 65mph in coastal areas, although slightly stronger in the northeast, with in excess of 75mph possible in exposed locations.'

A Met Office spokesman told MailOnline: 'We could see blizzard conditions on the highlands. Snow will start from today and showers could fall as snow today through to Thursday. On Friday there will be a lot of rain in northeast Scotland and over the highlands that could fall as snow.

The Met Office has issued an amber weather warning - meaning lives are in danger - for northeast Scotland and England as well as yellow weather warnings for Friday and Saturday. Forecasters warn snow is possible, 'almost anywhere away from the far-south'. Pictured, waves at Roker Lighthouse in Sunderland today

The Met Office names storms on the back of their potential impact, with Storm Arwen declared as the result of the amber wind warning

Temperatures could plummet to as low as -4C in the Scottish Highlands overnight on Saturday into Sunday

Temperatures in the UK at this time of year usually average a daily high of 10C and a low of 4C, but are set to plummet, with lows up -4C in Scotland on Saturday night. Pictured, Met Office weather maps

The Met Office has warned the extreme wind could close bridges and roads as well as see tiles blown off buildings over the weekend. Pictured, a map of the wind direction

'As the temperature drops off through Friday night there's a chance we could see snow falling over higher ground in Wales, the Pennines and a dash across East Anglia.'

He added: 'Showers could fall as snow over higher ground in Scotland. It'll be windy in north and western Scotland. That cold front sticks through the day and brings cold to rest of UK with widespread frost behind the cold front.'

Meanwhile, Labrokes is predicting next month will be the coldest December on record with 2/1 bets.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: 'A White Christmas will come at a freezing cold cost if the latest odds are anything to go by, with next month looking increasingly likely to break records on the weather front for all the wrong reasons.'

The strong winds are set to affect the majority of the UK, with only a small part of south-east England avoiding a yellow weather warning.

He added: 'The cold front is just lingering over the south at this point. There will be showers in northern Scotland and a chance of snow across high ground but it probably will not be settling.

'It is mostly dry elsewhere. In the evening the rain moves into the northwest. There could be some snow on the edge of that in the cold air but it'll quickly turn to rain as it moves to Scotland and warmer air comes across.'

He said there will be a change on Friday, and weather warnings were put out at 9.51am Tuesday for 'strong winds'. 'A low pressure area brings strong winds and heavy rains to northern parts of the UK and spreads to a wider area of the UK through Saturday.'

'Along with the wind we've got heavier rain in north England and south Scotland. Later on Friday that could start to fall as snow over the highlands, which is not unusual for the end of November.

'Later in the evening wet and windy weather spreads south. There might be the odd snow flurry in the south but it's unlikely to settle. It's wet and increasingly windy across large parts of the UK. Peak gust speed is 80mph and it is windy after a mild November. There are still leaves on trees so it could cause disruption'.

A Met office forecaster said Friday would be 'cold and unsettled with showers and occasional longer spells of rain' as well as 'often windy, with potential for severe gales in the west on Friday and Saturday.'

The BBC's monthly forecast for November says 'a surge of colder Icelandic air will spill across the UK over the final 10 days of November' and this could linger into the beginning of December.

'A secondary push of colder Icelandic air' is expected late next week, which will further drop temperatures' the forecast states, adding that 'sharp frosts may occur during some evenings late in the week'.

As temperatures drop, 'a few spells of rain showers and even some patchy snow showers' may hit the UK, mainly in Scotland, with winds also experiencing an uptick as the week progresses.

November has seen warmer than normal temperatures so far, particularly in parts of eastern Scotland, which are expected to continue until the end of the weekend.

The calm conditions have been cited as one of the reasons why so many migrants are successfully crossing the English Channel from northern France.

Ruairidh Roberts, UK Country Manager at Waze, said: 'As parts of the UK brace themselves for the effects of the arctic plunge and Storm Arwen, we urge motorists making essential journeys to be extra diligent.'

'At Waze, we are expecting delays around the country as the turbulent weather causes chaos on British roads. As a result, we've sent out push notifications to our app users, encouraging them to report hazards caused by the bad weather, helping to keep fellow drivers safe and aware of what may be ahead of them on journeys this weekend.'

'To report weather-related issues in Waze, users should tap the report button > hazard > weather, and select the option relevant to the event. Drivers can also use voice commands by saying 'Ok Waze' and following the options to report weather disruption.'
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Furious Tories today warned Emmanuel Macron's 'petulance' could cost lives in the Channel after the French president lashed out at Boris Johnson uninvited Priti Patel from a crisis summit.

Mr Macron delivered a furious rant after the PM sent him an open letter demanding action on the migrant flows, branding Mr Johnson 'not serious' during a press conference on a visit to Italy.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the president said the premier's 'mediocre' proposals 'don't correspond at all' with discussions the leaders had on Wednesday. 'We are sick of double-speak,' they swiped - adding that 'you wonder whether Boris Johnson doesn't regret leaving Europe'.

The bitter score-settling came as Storm Arwen rolls in towards the Channel - with MPs pleading for migrants not to risk more devastating tragedies by attempting to cross.

Despite the furore No10 flatly insisted the PM had no regrets about sending the letter, saying it had been written 'in the spirit of partnership and cooperation'. 'The public rightly want to know what we are looking at in terms of solving this problem,' a spokesman said.

One government source told MailOnline regarding the French reaction to the PM's letter: 'It just goes to show what we've been dealing with for the past two years.'

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told counterpart Priti Patel this morning that she is no longer welcome at the crisis meeting on Sunday, after UK condemnation of lax patrolling at French beaches where migrants are launching boats in a desperate bid to reach Britain.

The Elysee Palace had already warned Mr Johnson not to 'exploit' the disaster that saw dozens of migrants drown off the French coast earlier this week for political gain, but the premier penned a letter overnight with a five-point plan for cooperation.

Mr Macron could not contain his anger when asked about the developments. 'I'm surprised when things are not done seriously,' he seethed. 'We don't communicate between leaders via tweets or published letters, we are not whistle-blowers.'

A spokesman for Mr Darmanin, who yesterday accused Britain of 'bad immigration management' and enticing migrants with benefits and slack labour rules, said: 'We consider Boris Johnson's public letter unacceptable and in opposition with discussions between counterparts.

'As a consequence, Priti Patel is not invited anymore to the meeting on Sunday.'

Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is running for the French presidency in looming elections, also waded into the spat accusing Mr Johnson of being 'in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects'.

The summit with other European interior ministers will go ahead without the Home Secretary, whose aides had already travelled to Paris by Eurostar last night.

The decision sparked fury from British MPs. Tory backbencher Jacob Young tweeted: 'Ridiculous behaviour from the French government seeming to forget that two days ago 27 people died crossing the Channel. Stop the boats - as simple as that.'

Fellow Conservative Nicola Richards said: 'It's truly childish behaviour being shown by France, becoming more and more evident they don't want to stop these boats leaving France. 27 people died a matter of days ago, but they would rather to be petty than help find a solution.'

Emmanuel Macron went into meltdown at Boris Johnson today branding the PM 'not serious' for sending a public letter with demands for ending migrant tragedies in the Channel

A group of more than 40 migrants get on an inflatable dinghy, as they leave the coast of northern France to cross the English Channel, near Wimereux, France, November 24, 2021

A crumpled-looking Mr Johnson was hosting Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki (right) for talks in Downing Street today

Hundreds gathered outside the Home Office in Westminster, London to protest the Government's immigration policy and demand an end to deaths in the Channel following the tragedy

People gather around a banner with names of migrants died since 1999 while trying to cross t La Manche canal, at Parc de Richelieu in Calais, France, 25 November 2021.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said there is 'no quick fix' to tackle migrants crossing the Channel in small boats as France demanded fresh assistance

The PM's five-point plan that has infuriated the French 1. Border Force officials to help patrol French beaches and nearby roads. UK could fund private security if French reject this over concerns about sovereignty 2. Allow the UK to return migrants who cross the Channel directly to France and 'break the business model of criminal gangs' 3. Border Force cutters to help patrol French coastal waters. French Navy could enter UK waters on joint missions 4. UK could fund the deployment of ground sensors and radar in northern France to help detect suspicious activity on remote beaches. PM also offered to 'deepen' intelligence-sharing on the operations of smuggling gangs 5. PM also offered to share intelligence from British surveillance flights over the Channel to help French forces intercept smuggling operations more quickly Advertisement

In a dramatic intervention, the PM wrote directly to the French president to formally offer hundreds of British personnel to stop desperate migrants from taking to the water.

This letter led to Paris pulling the plug on talks amid poor post-Brexit relations between the two countries and the difficulties they may face working together to curb the flow of migrants after 27 people drowned trying to reach British shores on Wednesday.

Seventeen men, seven women - one of whom was pregnant - and three teenagers died on when their dinghy deflated in the Channel, one of many such risky journeys attempted in small, flimsy and overloaded boats laid on by people traffickers charging 3,000 for a one way ticket to Kent.

The deaths deepened animosity between Britain and France, already at odds over post-Brexit trade rules and fishing rights. Mr Johnson said France was at fault and Mr Darmanin accused Britain of 'bad immigration management'.

In his letter, the Prime Minister also offered to pay for private security personnel to conduct the joint patrols if Border Force staff are deemed unacceptable. And he proposed joint maritime patrols, which could see Border Force cutters operating in French waters.

He also proposed greater intelligence sharing and the use of more advanced technology, including ground sensors and radar to detect migrants before they leave France.

In addition, he urged Paris to negotiate a 'returns agreement' that would allow the UK to send migrants back to France, breaking the traffickers' business model.

Asked if Mr Johson regretted the open letter to Mr Macron, a spokesman for the PM said: 'No.'

They stressed that the tone of the missive had been about 'deepening cooperation'.

'This is about deepening our existing co-operation and the work that is already being done between our two countries,' the spokesman said.

'We want to work closely with international partners, obviously including France, on what is a shared issue so that we can find shared solutions.

'We have seen the tragedy that happened earlier this week. As the PM said we need to do more and he has outlined areas in his letter where he believes we can do more to work together.'

Pushed on whether the French were 'putting lives at risk' with the fit of pique, the spokesman said: 'We hope they reconsider.'

Home Office staff are still in France after travelling ahead of the meetings, according to No10.

'I believe our officials are over there are we speak,' the spokesman said.

Pressed on what Mr Johnson will do to repair relations with Mr Macron, the spokesman refused to say if there are plans for a call. 'I think the PM has spoken before about the positive relationship he has with the French president.'

The spokesman also dismissed the jibe that Mr Johnson regretted leaving the EU.

Mr Barnier said today: This is obviously an additional provocation from Boris Johnson, who is in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects with the European Union...

'I find this is frankly absolutely inadmissible. What you don't need is confrontation, it's to sit down at the table and find solutions.'

Home Office officials travelled to France last night ahead of talks with the French interior ministry today.

Mr Patel yesterday said Mr Macron had the power to 'end this now'. But Sunday's talks with Europe's interior ministers will go ahead without the UK.

Downing Street said if Mr Macron backed down over British troops or police on French soil, there could be British boots on France's northern shore as early as Monday in a radical bid to prevent a repeat of Wednesday's tragedy.

France has so far fiercely resisted any move to allow British law enforcement officers to operate on its soil, claiming it would violate French sovereignty.

Yesterday, Mr Macron's government continued to push back against the move, warning Mr Johnson not to 'exploit' the crisis for political ends.

But Government sources insisted that after 27 migrants drowned in the 'dreadful disaster', the French president had to relent.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Boris Johnson's proposals to President Emmanuel Macron to tackle the migrant crisis had been made in 'good faith'.

'I think it is really important that we work hand-in-glove with the French. I don't think there is anything inflammatory to ask for close co-operation with our nearest neighbours,' he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

'The proposal was made in good faith. I can assure our French friends of that and I hope that they will reconsider meeting up to discuss it.'

Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham who sits on the Commons Home Affairs Committee, accused France of petulance.

He said on Twitter: 'The French have got to get real and recognise there are consequences from turning a blind eye rather than stopping the migrant boats at source and those consequences are tragedies like the one two days ago.

'Partnership working is the only way to find a solution not petulance.'

Dover MP Natalie Elphicke told MailOnline that France had to see sense with the weather getting more 'treacherous'.

'Conditions on the English Channel look set to become even more treacherous in the coming days. It's urgent that France works with the UK and EU allies to stop more lives being lost,' she said.

'No-one should be making this kind of journey across a stormy sea. The French authorities should appeal for people to heed the weather forecast and stay where they are.'

More horrific details have been emerging about Wednesday's tragedy. The death toll was originally reported as 31 by French authorities, but later revised to 27.

One migrant feared to be among the dead had phoned a friend to say: 'It's not good, the engine isn't powerful enough  I don't know if we're going to make it.' Mohammad Aziz, 31, has not been heard of since his frantic call.

Mr Johnson and Mr Macron spoke on Wednesday night, with the Elysee later briefing that the French president had asked the PM 'to refrain from exploiting a tragic situation for political ends'.

Government sources said last night there were 'positive noises' from Paris about the possibility of a new deal to combat the crisis.

'After this dreadful disaster, the political movement now seems to be in a positive direction,' one said. 'From the noises we are hearing, there seems to be movement on the French side.' In the first sign of a climbdown, Mr Macron yesterday said he would be seeking 'extra help' from the UK.

Ms Patel urged Mr Macron to take up the PM's offers. 'We need to deploy every single tool that we have to save lives and to prevent the loss of life, and that is effectively what this is now about,' she said.

Some of the migrants feared drowned on Wednesday when a dinghy sank in the Channel (pictured) are believed to have travelled to France via the controversial new Belarus route. The dead were confirmed as two boys and a girl; seven women, including an expectant mother; and 17 men.

Mr Johnson published an urgent five-point plan to prevent another tragedy, which included measures such as starting joint patrols with France to stop boats leaving French beaches. Pictured: Protest outside Home Office on Thursday

In a string of developments:

French police carry on a stretcher an unidentified body discovered off the Sangatte beach, the day after 27 migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they attempted to cross the English Channel, in Sangatte, near Calais, France, November 25, 2021

Migrants in Calais told MailOnline they are more determined than ever to reach the UK as French police again failed to stop 50 migrants crossing the Channel to Britain today. Pictured: Protestor holds 'no one is illegal' placard outside Home Office
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Boris Johnson's fantasy of a bridge connecting Scotland and Northern Ireland was shattered today after an official review found that the pipeline dream would cost hundreds of billions of pounds.

The Prime Minister had enthusiastically promoted the so-called 'Boris Bridge' between Great Britain and the province, which he insisted could help strengthen the Union after the divisions caused by the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums of recent years.

However, the proposal was derided as the 'stupidest bridge in history', while Conservative MPs joked that the trains would be 'pulled by unicorns'. Critics had also pointed out that building it could require clearing out a huge undersea munitions dump.

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy, who had been asked by Mr Johnson to carry out a feasibility study, today warned that the full route across the Irish Sea could cost as much as 335billion for a bridge crossing and 209billion for a tunnel.

These figures are many times higher than those originally mooted, with Treasury officials estimating a price tag of tens  not hundreds  of billions. Sir Peter's 335billion price tag is also twice the annual budget of the NHS, and more than three times the 100billion cost of the controversial HS2 rail-link estimated by an independent review.

In a damning assessment of the project, Sir Peter said building a bridge or tunnel is 'technically feasible' but said it is 'unlikely that new transport links would be commissioned, constructed and opened for at least 25 to 30 years' and 'would not be without significant challenges'.

He also warned that the final price tag 'would be impossible to justify, given the Government's already very significant commitment to long-term transport infrastructure improvement for levelling up'.

'The benefits could not possibly outweigh the costs to the public purse,' Sir Peter added.

In a sign that Downing Street is already distancing itself from the proposal, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced in a round of interviews this morning: 'The tunnel or fixed link isn't going to happen.'

Social media users mocked the 'Boris Bridge', calling it the Prime Minister's 'latest blunder' and claiming the plan was obviously flawed.

The proposed Irish Sea crossing is the latest big transport project Mr Johnson has promoted which has never seen the light of day.

While Mayor of London, he supported plans for a Thames Estuary airport dubbed 'Boris Island' by the press, a costly Garden Bridge across the Thames, and underground roads in London modelled on those in Boston after a visit to the American city. One by one, these projects have either been scrapped for being too expensive, or have yet to materialise.

Today's report comes at the end of a difficult week politically for the Prime Minister, who has been forced to defend his leadership and political future after a series of controversies including allegations of sleaze, the HS2 U-turn and his weird 'Peppa Pig' speech at the CBI Conference.

The proposed bridge or tunnel would have potentially run between Portpatrick in Scotland and Larne in County Antrim

Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy (right) was asked by the Prime Minister to launch a feasibility study and it is understood he has ruled out such a plan for the foreseeable future

The review concluded that said the the full route could be as much as 335billion for a bridge crossing and 209billion for a tunnel crossing - many times higher than the figures that had previously been mooted

Boris's transport 'vanity projects': From the Thames Airport ('Boris Island') to the 53m Garden Bridge The Prime Minister's dreams of building a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland now lies in ruins after Peter Hendy's devastating report ruled the project's enormous price tag would be 'impossible to justify'. It is just the latest infrastructure scheme promoted by Boris Johnson which has failed to materialise. Thames Estuary Airport ('Boris Island') As Mayor of London, Mr Johnson supported the construction of a six-runway airport to be built on an artificial island in the River Thames estuary as a replacement for Heathrow Airport. Dubbed 'Boris Island', the scheme was initially proposed by Thames Estuary Research and Development, an agency formed by the Tory leader. The project was ultimately rejected by the airport commission in January 2014 in favour of continued upgrades to Heathrow. London Garden Bridge Mr Johnson lent his support for the Garden Bridge project conceived by actor Joanna Lumley while London Mayor. The bridge would have straddled the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges, and carried just pedestrians. The project also included a commercial building, to be constructed on former green space at the southern end of the bridge. In July 2016, preparatory work for the bridge was halted and the Garden Bridge Trust put contractors on standby to allow for a financial review. The following year, the trustees of the prospective owner of the bridge, the Garden Bridge Trust, stated that costs would 'substantially exceed' an earlier revised total of 185million. A report by Margaret Hodge then concluded, on the basis of the Garden Bridge Trust's own evidence, that the cost would be over 200million. The failed project cost 53million, including 43million of taxpayers' money. Underground roads in London Perhaps the most bizarre infrastructure project proposed by Mr Johnson was the construction of underground roads in London in a bid to reduce pollution. Inspired by a visit to Boston, where the Central Artery-Tunnel Project, known as the Big Dig, helped reduce traffic, Mr Johnson worked with TfL to consider different locations in London before nominating spots in Richmond, Hammersmith and Tolworth, as well as two in north and east London. He said in 2016: 'Rebuilding some of our complex and aging road network underneath our city would not only provide additional capacity for traffic, but it would also unlock surface space and reduce the impact of noise and pollution.' He added that the first tunnel  the so-called Northern Cross City Corridor  could be opened in 20 years and be funded by toll charges. Advertisement

In his official review, Sir Peter wrote: 'Future transport technological advances, particularly autonomous vehicles, could allow for different tunnel and bridge designs, which could enable the construction of a fixed transport link and approaches at a lower cost.

'For now, though, the benefits could not possibly outweigh the costs to the public purse.

'It is therefore my recommendation to Government that further work on the fixed link should not progress beyond this feasibility study.'

In a crumb of comfort for the Prime Minister, Sir Peter added: 'Despite my recommendation, I am clear that this was an excellent question to ask.

'For many decades, politicians and engineers have debated this proposal, but have done so without the evidence to show whether it was possible and, if so, what it would take to do it.'

The bridge or tunnel idea was examined as part of a wider study called the Union Connectivity Review, looking at how transport links between the four UK nations can be boosted.

Sir Peter said he had concluded that 'cutting-edge, twenty-first century civil engineering technology' made a bridge or a tunnel between Britain and Northern Ireland technically possible.

But he pointed out that at 41km it would be 'longest span bridge built to date', and the 84km tunnel would also be the longest ever constructed.

'A tunnel would be the longest undersea tunnel ever built given the limited gradients on which trains can operate, the route it would need to take and the depths it would need to reach,' Sir Peter wrote.

'In addition, based on today's technology and safety considerations, a tunnel crossing could only be constructed for railway use.

'The need for a railway on either a bridge or tunnel would also require significant construction to connect it to the railway network at either end, introducing some complexity since the Irish railway gauge is different from that of Great Britain.'

When the crossing emerged as a prospect again in February the Tory chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee, Simon Hoare lampooned the idea.

Echoing comments that the Channel Tunnel took 30 years to get built, and the issue of weapons that were sunk in the Irish Sea after the war, he tweeted: 'The trains could be pulled by an inexhaustible herd of Unicorns overseen by stern, officious dodos.

'A PushmePullYou could be the senior guard and Puff the Magic Dragon the inspector.

'Let's concentrate on making the Protocol work and put the hallucinogenics down.'

He added: 'Also another ''minor hurdle'' is the NI railway gauge is an ''all Ireland'' gauge which is different to that used in GB. I'm not Brunel but I think this might be a bit of a problem.'

Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed the idea, urging the Chancellor to send the funding to the devolved administrations to help deal with domestic issues.

In March last year, Ms Sturgeon said: 'If you've got 20billion available to build a bridge, I'm pretty sure me and I'm sure equally the First Minister of Northern Ireland would be able to find things to spend that on right now that actually would be really useful to accelerate the progress to net-zero.'

Last night the Prime Minister said he intended to accept a recommendation to create UKNET, a new body with representatives from the four nations which will identify and map out how cross-border connections can be boosted.

Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership commented: 'With the Boris Bridge to Northern Ireland back in the cereal box it came in, it is time to focus on infrastructure projects which have a strong economic case, such as a new line across the Pennines all the way from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford.'

It is just the latest infrastructure scheme promoted by Mr Johnson which has failed to materialise.

As Mayor of London, he supported the construction of a six-runway airport to be built on an artificial island in the River Thames estuary as a replacement for Heathrow Airport.

Dubbed 'Boris Island', the scheme was initially proposed by Thames Estuary Research and Development, an agency formed by the Tory leader.

The project was ultimately rejected by the airport commission in January 2014 in favour of continued upgrades to Heathrow.

Mr Johnson also lent his support for the Garden Bridge project conceived by actor Joanna Lumley while London Mayor.

The bridge would have straddled the Thames between Waterloo and Blackfriars bridges, and carried just pedestrians. The project also included a commercial building, to be constructed on former green space at the southern end of the bridge.

The Treasury had major concerns that the project, which came with an estimated 20billion price tag, would prove to be a white elephant. An official review has since put the final cost much higher than that

The initial idea of a bridge was ditched because of concerns that strong winds in the Irish Sea would require frequent closures. The feasibility of a tunnel was also looked at

In July 2016, preparatory work for the bridge was halted and the Garden Bridge Trust put contractors on standby to allow for a financial review.

The following year, the trustees of the prospective owner of the bridge, the Garden Bridge Trust, stated that costs would 'substantially exceed' an earlier revised total of 185million.

A report by Margaret Hodge then concluded, on the basis of the Garden Bridge Trust's own evidence, that the cost would be over 200million. The failed project cost 53million, including 43million of taxpayers' money.

Perhaps the most bizarre infrastructure project proposed by Mr Johnson was the construction of underground roads in London in a bid to reduce pollution.

Inspired by a visit to Boston, where the Central Artery-Tunnel Project, known as the Big Dig, helped reduce traffic, Mr Johnson worked with TfL to consider different locations in London before nominating spots in Richmond, Hammersmith and Tolworth, as well as two in north and east London.

He said in 2016: 'Rebuilding some of our complex and aging road network underneath our city would not only provide additional capacity for traffic, but it would also unlock surface space and reduce the impact of noise and pollution.'

He added that the first tunnel  the so-called Northern Cross City Corridor  could be opened in 20 years and be funded by toll charges.

The Government has come under fire for its handling of allegations of sleaze following the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal, and its sudden HS2 U-turn which so-called 'Red Wall Tories' have warned has alienated communities in the North which voted for the Conservatives at the last general election.

The Prime Minister also had to brush off concerns about his health after he delivered a weird speech to business leaders at the CBI Conference, in which he talked about Peppa Pig, compared himself to Moses and lost his place in his notes.
A major exodus of migrants is underway from Belarus to Iraq as Poland claims victory in the battle for control of Europe's borders.

Hundreds who aimed to seek refugee status in the EU by breaking through the Polish border are now seeking daily flights back to the Middle East.

Video and pictures from Minsk airport shows the returnees - including children - awaiting repatriation flights.

'It shows that with decisive action it is possible to stop the malicious and illegal exploitation of migrants,' said a Polish source.

Hundreds of migrants are leaving Belarus and flying back to Iraq after failing to break through Poland's border and enter Europe

Men and boys, largely Iraqi Kurds, are pictured in Minsk airport as they wait to catch a flight back to their home country after failing to get into Europe

Poland claims its 'decisive action' on the border has prevented dictator Alexander Lukashenko from using vulnerable people as a weapon

Two men check into a flight from Minsk to Iraq after being lured to Belarus with false promises of passage into Europe

One Iraqi Airways flight left last night at 10:15pm local time, while another departed today at 2:45am.

Both were flying to Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, from where many of the migrants on the Belarus-Poland border had come.

More than 1,000 have said they want to go home, according to the airline. Belarus had previously said it was trying to deport the migrants, but they didn't want to go.

The retreat back to Erbil and Baghdad is a major embarrassment for Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko who had sanctioned the flow of thousands of migrants to his country in what EU leaders said amounted to 'hybrid warfare' on the bloc.

The migrants had been promised a better life in the EU and Britain, and Lukashenko's KGB secret police and border guards choreographed multiple unsuccessful bids to illegally break through the border.

Lukashenko's aim had been to punish European countries for sanctions imposed on him for rigging a presidential election, and using a warplane to force down a Ryanair tourist plane in order to detain a political enemy.

The West say he colluded with people trafficking gangs in a blatant bid to cause migrant chaos across Europe.

Scene at the border weeks ago: Polish soldiers and police watch migrants at the Poland/Belarus border near Kuznica, Poland,on November 12, 2021

A young family checks into an early-morning flight from Belarus to Iraq in what Poland says is victory for its tough stance on the border

Iraqi men wait to board a flight back to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, after failing to cross the Belarus border into Poland

Migrants wait for an Iraqi Airways flight at Minsk National Airport overnight

Migrants check in for an Iraqi Airways flight at Minsk National Airport after the airline organised repatriation flights

An Iraqi boy is seen in his mother's lap at Minsk airport, returning to his home country after failing to cross the Polish border and enter the EU

Some returnees - back in Iraq - have complained of beatings by Lukashenko's security operatives.

Now the autocrat is demanding that the EU pay for return flights.

In rambling comments, he said: 'Let the Europeans pay. They are scoundrels. We have allocated money, millions and thousands

'What is the cost of this flight? And there is no-one to pay. Let the European Union pay for it '

Many of those returning are destitute - having spent all their savings to buy air tickets to Minsk after being promised by middlemen and Lukashenko's officials that the EU would welcome them.

On Thursday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said it had evacuated 617 migrants stranded in Belarus, including women, children and the elderly.

'The ministry's efforts are continuing to evacuate the migrants voluntarily, and 617 Iraqis are now returned, in coordination with Iraqi Airways, from the Belarusian capital Minsk,' said spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf.

Earlier Baghdad premier Mustafa al-Kadhimi said he was taking all 'necessary joint measures to preserve the security and safety of Iraqi citizens and work to avoid any Iraqis becoming a victim of human trafficking networks.'

A migrant woman at a temporary shelter close to the Polish border takes a selfie with Alexander Lukashenko as he visits the area today

Lukashenko delivers a speech at a temporary shelter for migrants set up a few miles from the border with Poland

Migrants arrive at Erbil airport, in Iraq, after flying back home from Belarus

Migrants board buses back to their home towns in Iraq after returning from Belarus

He stressed: 'The Iraqi government is working to bring back all stranded Iraqis voluntarily.'

Migrants inn Belarus were also from Syria and Yemen.

Among returnees, some were threatened with violence, reported The International New York Times.

'The Belarusians beat us with sticks, but the Lithuanians attacked us with sticks and tasers,' said Dhiab Zaydan, according to the newspaper.

'A Belarusian police officer pointed a pistol at my head', said Nazar Shamsaldin, 34, a labourer, who said he was ordered to retry seeking entry to EU country Lithuania from Belarus.

'If you don't go back, we will kill you,' he was told by Lukashenko's forces.

Returnee Azad and his wife told Al Jazeera they had been treated like animals at the Belarus frontier with Poland.

'For now, we'll try not to think about our future too much because as soon as we start thinking, it'll become clear that we don't have one here in Kurdistan,' he told Al Jazeera in Duhok.

Thousands of migrants remain in Belarus but numbers are starting to dwindle after what the EU said was an attempt to wage 'hybrid warfare' using vulnerable people as a weapon

Most migrants are now living in temporary camps away from the Polish border after failing to cross over into the EU

'But we both know we are probably stuck here for the rest of our lives.'

Poland is maintaining its guard at the border and has warned that a 'dangerous evolution of the situation' could 'continue for months'.

But Warsaw said on Thursday it currently does not see an immediate military threat and will not invoke Article 4 of NATO under which alliance members 'consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened'.

While the flow of migrants has halted, Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki has expressed the fear that Lukashenko will next seek to encourage Afghan refugees to try the same route.

'This probably would be one of the next moves on the chessboard' with Russia backing Belarus, he claimed.
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All European Union states have banned travel from southern Africa amid panic over a case of the Covid super-variant Omicron in Belgium.

A committee of health experts from all 27 EU states 'agreed on the need to activate the emergency break and impose temporary restriction on all travel into EU from southern Africa', the Slovenian presidency of the EU said.

Restrictions will apply to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said.

An official said that EU governments have also been asked to discourage travel to those countries.

It comes after Belgium today became the first European country to confirm a case of the super mutant Botswana Covid variant as it spreads to three continents in just a fortnight.

Belgium's health ministry said a case was spotted in an unvaccinated young woman who got tested after suffering symptoms. She had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already widespread in Africa.

The 27 EU members are free to apply the new measures when they prefer. Some are already applying restrictions.

EU officials said that no decision had yet been made on other countries in other parts of the world where cases were detected, which include Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, an EU country.

President Biden will also restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday.

The decision was made on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the COVID-19 Response Team, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Presidents Chief Medical Advisor.

The new coronavirus variant, first detected in South Africa, has caused global alarm as researchers seek to find out if it is vaccine-resistant.

Marc Van Ranst, the virologist who detected the new variant in Belgium, told Reuters that it was more likely that the infected woman had contracted the variant in Belgium rather than while travelling outside Europe.

She had been in Egypt earlier in November, but developed symptoms only 11 days after her return to Belgium. She is not vaccinated.

Switzerland imposed on Friday a requirement of 10-day quarantine and a negative test for travellers from Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, in addition to travel bans on southern African countries.

Cases of the variant have only been confirmed in these countries, but experts say it is likely already widespread in Africa. Infections have been linked to travellers returning from Egypt and Malawi, but both are yet to report a case

Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to activate the 'emergency brake' on travel from southern Africa on the back of the announcement, warning that the strain could be world-dominant in months.

The EU Commission president said: 'All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant. It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united.'

Israel has also detected a case, meaning the variant has spread to three continents in a fortnight. The patient was a vaccinated individual who had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

Most infections announced so far have been in South Africa. The variant, scientifically named B.1.1.529, is considered the 'worst ever' because it is likely ultra infectious and better at dodging vaccines than anything before it.

Britain, Germany, Italy and a host of other nations have rushed out travel restrictions for six countries in Southern Africa in a desperate bid to delay its arrival on their shores.

A passenger flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was denied entry by local authorities today as it hovered in their airspace. The Netherlands suspended arrivals from the region at midday.

It is in stark contrast to the lax approach in Britain, where passengers on the last flights out of South Africa say they have faced 'no additional checks' and were allowed to mix with hundreds of others in the airport.

Most cases of the variant have been spotted in South Africa, but infections have also been reported in Botswana and Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization is currently holding an emergency meeting to discuss the variant, which could be named 'Nu' within hours in line with its Greek alphabet naming system for Covid variants.

Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid has raised the prospect of travel being suspended from more countries, saying the variant is a clear sign the pandemic is 'far from over'. He called on everyone to get their booster jabs.

South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge with local scientists saying it is likely already in all the country's nine provinces. There is yet to be a surge in hospitalisations at the epicentre Johannesburg.

A flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was barred entry into the country today. Passengers are pictured above waiting in their seats

Pictured above is the cockpit shown on screens on the flight (right), and seats on the plane. The Netherlands suspended entry to flights coming from South Africa at noon today

The unvaccinated woman who returned to Belgium from Egypt had arrived on November 11, the country's top virologist Marc van Ranst said, and tested positive on November 22. There was no evidence she had passed the virus to others in her household.

Countries are restricting travel from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. No measures have been announced for arrivals from Malawi.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Britain was taking a 'safety-first approach' and acting quickly to slow down its entry into the country. German ministers said the 'last thing we need' is another variant.

Fears of another Christmas lockdown to curb B.1.1.529's transmission have been raised. British vaccines adviser Professor Adam Finn said people needed to 'be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions'.

The variant could already be in the UK, experts say, although the current signs are encouraging. They warn it will likely eventually reach British shores because it is so transmissible.

Fears of another UK Christmas lockdown raised over variant Britons were put on alert for a Christmas lockdown today as ministers and experts warned travel bans can only delay a new feared 'super-mutant' strain coming to the UK. Scientists insisted people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' amid growing alarm at the emergence of a 'worst-ever' Covid variant that could make vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective. The government acted last night to ban arrivals from South Africa and five other countries. No cases have yet been detected in the UK, but top experts said that if the strain spreads faster and can avoid current jabs it 'will get here'. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that the aim of the travel restrictions is to 'slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country'. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said more needs to be learned about the scale of the threat  already believed to have caused a jump in infections in South Africa. Professor Finn told ITV's Good Morning Britain he could not predict if the development would affect Christmas. 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions,' he said. Advertisement

The super mutant which has 30 mutations  the most ever and twice as many as delta  which scientists fear could make the mutant strain ultra infectious and better able to dodge vaccine-induced immunity than Delta.

South Africa has spotted 77 cases so far but its scientists warn it may have already spread to most of Southern Africa.

Infections have mostly been detected in young people and in a glimmer of hope hospitalisations are yet to rise  but admissions are a lagging indicator.

The second case in Hong Kong is in a traveller who returned from Canada. But officials say they may have caught the variant while in quarantine when the doors between hotel rooms were open.

Belgium's top virologist Marc van Ranst revealed officials in the country were racing to confirm whether two cases spotted in the country were the new variant. He said: 'The sober fact is that this variant is probably already present in Europe to a very limited extent.'

UK Government scientists warned it was the most worrying variant ever seen and could make vaccines 40 per cent less effective even in a best case scenario. They did not rule out it being completley unrecognisable to current jabs.

But South African scientists tried to backpedal today saying it was 'likely' that vaccines still offered 'high levels of protection' against hospitalisations and deaths from the variant.

Mr Shapps told Sky News the UK was acting immediately to 'give us a bit of time' for scientists to work out whether this variant is of 'significant concern'.

He added: 'We have done that before with things like the mink variant from Denmark and we were then able to relax it reasonably quickly.'

Germany and Italy on Friday joined Britain in banning most travel from South Africa today as governments scramble to prevent the spread of a new Covid variant with a large number of mutations.

In a sign of the growing alarm, the European Union on separately proposed prohibiting travel from southern Africa.

The EU's executive 'will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529', EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen tweeted.

Germany's new travel restrictions, starting Friday night, will affect South Africa and 'probably neighbouring nations', Spahn said, with only German nationals allowed entry.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in South Africa. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

They must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival even if vaccinated. In Britain they must quarantine for 11 days in Government hotels for about 2,800.

'The last thing we need now is an introduced new variant that causes even more problems,' Spahn said, with Germany in the grip of a ferocious fourth wave of the pandemic.

In Rome, the government on Friday announced it was banning entry to those who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia or Eswatini in the past fortnight.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said scientists were studying the new B.1.1.529 variant, 'and in the meantime, we will follow the path of maximum caution'.

Asian countries are also preparing to tighten curbs.

Two Welsh rugby clubs in South Africa for a tournament are scrambling to leave as soon as possible, and British and Irish golfers have withdrawn from the Johannesburg Open.

South Africa blasted Britain's travel ban as rushed.

Foreign minister Naledi Pandor said: 'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

A spokesman for the Government said: 'Imposing bans on travellers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome.'

A WHO working group on virus evolution is due to meet on Friday to discuss whether to officially give it that label, a designation only given to four variants so far.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said in a video posted on Twitter that it could take a few weeks to understand the impact of the variant's mutations.

PCR tests check for three specific proteins to spot an infection with the virus, but when someone is infected with B.1.1.529 only two of these are detected. The above graph shows the number of tests that have not spotted the third gene SGTF is surging in most provinces, suggesting the variant may already be widespread

The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests B.1.1.529 is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government

The above shows the test positivity rate  the proportion of tests that picked up the virus  across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by B.1.1.529

UK Health Security Agency scientists  who took over from Public Health England  said it had the 'worst ever' combination of mutations.

Dr Susan Hopkins, its chief medical adviser, warned the variant had a 'highly complex' set of mutations including changes that had not been seen before.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'If we look at those mutations, there's mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evade the immune response both from vaccines and from natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility.'

On the situation in South Africa, she said: 'What we're seeing in South Africa is that they were at a very, very low point with very low amount of cases being detected a day.

'In a shorter period than two weeks, they have more than doubled their epidemiology picture, they are saying that the transmission rates, the R value that they have in Gauteng  around where this was first found  is now 2, which is really quite high.

'We haven't seen levels of transmission like that since right back at the beginning of the pandemic... So that would cause a major problem if you had that high transmission with this type of virus in a population where it may evade the immune responses that are already there.'

South African experts said on one part of its spike protein  which the virus uses to invade cells  it had ten mutations. For comparison, the Beta variant has three and Delta has two in the same location.

Israel is the first country to follow the UK and suspend all travel from the six Southern African nations. There are no plans yet to suspend travel from Malawi.

UKHSA scientists have labelled it a 'variant under investigation'. The World Health Organization will today hold an emergency meeting on the mutant strain.

Although concerns have been raised over the variant, nothing is known about its virulence and whether those who catch it are more likely to become seriously ill and die. Scientists are working to reveal this information in the coming days.

What impact might it have on vaccines?

Scientists have raised concern that the super Botswana Covid variant may be better able to dodge vaccine-induced immunity than all previous strains  including Delta.

UK Health Security Agency scientists say it is the 'worst ever'. It combines mutations previously seen on the Beta variant, which sparked concern last year as it was thought to be more vaccine resistant, and those on the more transmissible Alpha strain that was behind the second wave.

Dr Susan Hopkins from the UKHSA said the variant had 'highly complex' mutations including ones that hadn't been seen before.

Scientists warn it is 'plausible' that the mutant variant is spreading quickly because it is better able to infect people who have immunity either from vaccines or previous infection.

In South Africa where it is spreading most people already have immunity from previous infection. Some 40 per cent have also received two doses of the Covid jab.

But despite the concern lab tests are yet to confirm that the variant is better able to dodge vaccine-triggered immunity than other mutant strains.

Very little is known about its virulence and whether someone who catches the mutant strain is more likely to end up in hospital or dying from the disease.

Could it trigger another lockdown?

There are no suggestions that it could trigger another lockdown in the UK at this stage.

Officials have imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and Botswana  where it has been detected  and their neighbours Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. Flights are suspended from these countries to England until Sunday, as hundreds of hotel rooms are prepared for mandatory quarantine.

UK experts say the move is 'prudent' and that it is likely to delay the arrival of the mutant strain in the country by weeks or months. No cases have been spotted on British shores so far.

Will my Christmas plans be cancelled?

Scientists have warned the mutant strain could affect people's Christmas plans if it is imported into their countries.

Asked whether it could cause disruption over the festive period, UK vaccines adviser Professor Adam Finn said: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

He added: 'There are a number of things going on now to understand this, to look for it, to trace it, to hopefully stamp it out if it is already here.'

Where has the variant been detected?

B.1.1.529 has been spotted on three continents just a fortnight after it first emerged.

It was first spotted in Botswana on November 11 which now has four cases. Some 77 infections have also been declared in South Africa.

Hong Kong has identified two cases, one in a traveller who had recently returned from South Africa and another in the same quarantine facility. And Israel has spotted a case in a traveller who had recently returned from Malawi.

In Europe, Belgium has detected one case of the variant in a traveller who returned from Egypt. Officials warn it is only a matter of time before it reaches the UK and other countries.

No infections have been detected in Egypt or Malawi, but the cases in travellers coming from these countries suggest the mutant strain is already widespread in Africa.

The World Health Organization says there are around 100 cases so far.

How did the mutant strain emerge?

Scientists suggest the variant may have emerged during a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, such as someone suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In patients with weakened immune systems infections can drag on for months because the body is unable to fight off the virus.

This give it time to acquire mutations that allow it to get around the body's defences and become more infectious. Scientists previously said the Kent 'Alpha' variant may have evolved in this way.

Which countries have imposed travel bans?

Britain, Italy and Germany have suspended travel from six African nations to slow the spread of the variant into their countries.

And in a growing sign of alarm, the European Union has recommended an 'emergency brake' on all travellers from the region entering the continent.

Travel restrictions have been imposed on arrivals from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Britain was taking a 'safety-first approach' to delay the spread of the variant to its shores. And German ministers said the 'last thing we need' is another variant.

But South Africa has blasted the move as rushed and said there is no evidence that travel restrictions has previously stopped a variant spreading between countries.

What mutations does the variant have?

Scientists have sounded the alarm over the variant because of its 'concerning constellation' of mutations that likely make it ultra transmissible and better able to dodge vaccine-induced immunity.

It carries a number of mutations from the Beta variant, which sparked concern last year after it was found that this mutant strain was more vaccine resistant, and the more infectious Alpha and Delta variants, which were behind the second and third waves of the pandemic.

But UK scientists warn it also has a number of mutations that have not been seen before.

Have countries where it has been detected imposed further restrictions?

South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa will hold a meeting on Sunday to asses the risk posed by the newly detected variant to the country.

No further restrictions have been imposed within the country yet, but officials are urging people to consider wearing face masks, washing hands frequently, social distance, and avoid gatherings.

A Government spokesman said: 'The virus has not been eradicated and vaccination protects us from serious illness, hospitalisation or death.'

What is the variant called?

The strain is known scientifically as B.1.1.529, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the Nu variant.
Comedian Dave Chappelle was heckled this week while addressing pupils at his old school, with some audience members complaining about his controversial Netflix special.

Chappelle has been under fire this year over jokes about transgender people in his comedy special The Closer - but the comedian has always denied being anti-trans.

During The Closer, he made one comment stating that 'gender is a fact', leading to the trans community blasting the comedy special.

The controversial show caused Netflix staff to protest and mass outrage on social media against some of his jokes.

Comedian Dave Chappelle (pictured) was heckled this week while addressing pupils at his old school, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC, with some audience members complaining about his controversial Netflix special The Closer

And now, it appears that pupils at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC - which he graduated from in 1991 - have also voiced their outrage at the show.

Stopping by his old school on Tuesday, Politico Playbook reports that during an address to some 580 students, one member of the audience questioned the comedian about his jokes.

The pupil reportedly said to Chappelle: 'I'm 16 and I think you're childish, you handled it like a child.'

The same student also reportedly described Chappelle as a 'bigot'.

And responding to that pupil, Chappelle said that 'with all due respect', he didn't believe that the pupil could make any of the daily decisions he himself has to make.

Stopping by his old school (pictured) on Tuesday, he delivered an address to some 580 students, and one member of the audience questioned the comedian about his jokes, describing him as 'childish' and a 'bigot'

Chappelle also reportedly told one student 'N***** are killed every day', after the audience member yelled out that 'your comedy kills'.

The school had originally delayed his appearance from November 23 to April 22 over fears that students may stage a walk-out protest, before going back on this plan.

Chappelle's spokeswoman Carla Sims told Politico that 'They are complaining that he talked and said the n-word. If anything, Dave is putting the school on the map.'

And a school official confirmed that the comments directed at Chappelle during his appearance had in fact been encouraged by the comedian, who asked those who had taken issue with his comedy to question him.

During his visit at the school, Chappelle also gave three students tickets to his 'Untitled' documentary and provided 600 meals for pupils and staff for Thanksgiving.

MailOnline has approached Dave Chappelle's representatives for additional comment.

It comes after Chappelle was recently nominated for a Grammy Award despite facing backlash for his comments on transgender people in his Netflix special, The Closer.

The Grammy nominations come just one month after Chappelle faced calls to be canceled over jokes made in the stand-up special which was almost entirely centered around members of the LGBTQ community.

Critics are questioning cancel culture after Marilyn Manson, Dave Chappelle (pictured) and Louis C.K. were nominated for Grammy Awards despite having previously been 'cancelled'

The comedian courted controversy with his jokes in which he asserts 'gender is a fact,' and criticizes what he says is the thin skin of the trans community.

The jokes were based upon earlier observations made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's who in 2019 stated that transgender women were not actually women and were a threat to her identity.

His Grammy nomination is for the Netflix special, 8:46, in the best spoken word album category.

In the wake of the backlash, LGBTQ activists slammed Chappelle for his jokes about the trans community and transgender employees at Netflix staged a walkout to protest the streaming service for airing the special.

Several social media users applauded the nominations, mocking cancel culture - or rather the lack thereof

Chappelle's upcoming documentary was also pulled by distributors and invites to film festivals were rescinded.

Last month, responding to backlash over The Closer, Chappelle posted a one-minute video posted to Instagram, saying: 'To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anyone's demands, and if you want to meet with me, I am more than willing to, but I have some conditions...'

'First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.

'Am I cancelled or not? Then let's go!' Chappelle yelled at the end of the video.
A miner has miraculously been pulled alive from a 'death trap' Russian mine a day after an underground explosion that left 51 people dead.

Footage showed Alexander Zakovryashin, 51, covered in black soot and lying in the back of an ambulance as he spoke to paramedics, telling them: 'I'm perfect.'

The married father of one was called a 'hero' by a medic, but he replied: 'I was just fighting for my life. Everyone would do this.'

A total of 45 miners and six rescuers were killed after a gas leak caused a devastating explosion 820ft underground in the Siberian pit on Thursday, in one of the worst disasters to strike the country's coal mining heartland since Soviet times.

Some 63 people were injured, with 50 of them hospitalised, and four in intensive care.

Distraught widows told local media that their husbands were ordered to work despite significant methane leaks and that everyone knew the mine was dangerous.

Police arrested two state safety inspectors on Friday who investigators say gave the mine the all-clear in November without ever checking the facility.

Footage showed Alexander Zakovryashin, 51, covered in black soot and speaking to paramedics telling them: 'I'm perfect.' The married father of one was called a 'hero' by the medic, but he replied: 'I was just fighting for my life. Everyone would do this.'

Alexander Zakovryashin, 51 , the miracle survivor, at a wedding in 2016

Distraught relatives are seen at the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in the town of Belovo in the Kuznetsk Coal Basin in Kemerovo Region, southwestern Siberia on Friday morning

A woman sobs near the entrance to the Listvyazhnaya coal mine, near the town of Belovo in the Kemerovo region, on Friday

Shattered relatives of the miners outside the entrance to the facility this morning

Kemerovo Region Governor Sergei Tsivilev (R) and Russia's Acting Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan are seen by the Listvyazhnaya Mine in the Kuznetsk Coal Basin, Kemerovo Region, southwestern Siberia, where an accident has occurred

The victims relatives are seen at the Listvyazhnaya coal mine in the town of Belovo

Three other people, including the director of the Listvyazhnaya mine and his deputy, were arrested late on Thursday.

A video shows award-winning mine director Sergey Makhrakov, 47, being detained.

His deputy, 59, and the mine's manager, 36, were being held by police.

Some of the dead were torn to pieces in the appalling blast at the Listvyazhnaya pit in Russia's Kemerovo region, say local accounts.

By earlier today it had only been possible to bring out six bodies.

One victim of the tragedy was miner Oleg Kovalev, 25, who had planned to wed his girlfriend Alena Kiatkina, 22, next spring.

'The grief and despair is unbearable,' said a local woman.

Victims: Sergey Fonderantsev, 27, with his girlfriend (left) and Maxim Golovnin, 27, with his wife (right)

Oleg Kovalyov, 25, with his girlfriend Alena, he died in the blast

Vyacheslav Yevseev, 39, with his wife and children. He was killed in the blast

Boris Piyalkin, 55, who died in the blast, with an unidentified woman

Victims: Evgeniy Samchinsky, 42, (left) and Sergey Rolin, 47

Chemistry teacher Inna Piyalkina, whose husband miner Boris Piyalkin, 55, was killed in the explosion, echoed others in saying that the mine had suffered gas leaks ahead of the explosion.

Survivors and widows have claimed they were expected to work despite methane levels setting off sensors.

'My husband is now gone,' she said.

'Everyone knew about (problems with safety at the mine).

'Methane has been over the roof for a long time.

'My husband had a sensor, he was wearing it on his chest

'It was beeping, and my husband wet it with water to stop the beeping - and they carried on working.'

She told the Russian media: 'Every day my husband came home and saying methane was reaching 6 per cent.'

Andrey Chuvashov, 40, who died in the explosion

Evgeniy Zhalnin, 32, was among the dead

Valery Dynin, 36, who died in the explosion

Anatoly Parfenov, 42, who was among the dead

She called for bosses at the major mine to be 'punished'.

An inspection of the mine had been carried out shortly before the blast, it was revealed.

Now those responsible for the inspection have been detained.

An unnamed miner said that those at the epicentre of the 'huge' explosion 'turned into mince meat'.

Some had limbs torn off, he said.

They were 'wiped off the earth', he was quoted as saying.

A report said that miners had warned of increased methane gas readings at the mine, but were nevertheless ordered to work or lose pay.
The family of a 'bubbly' 12-year-old girl stabbed to death moments after Liverpool's Christmas lights were switched on tonight spoke of their devastation.

As four schoolboys as young as 13 were quizzed today on suspicion of Ava White's murder, traumatised friends and relatives were still in deep shock at what had happened.

Merseyside Police said she suffered 'catastrophic injuries' in the attack following an argument in the city at 8.39pm on Thursday, shortly after the lights switch on took place.

Earlier today, flowers were being laid on Church Street in tribute to the Notre Dame Catholic College pupil, as forensics officers and police searched the scene.

A balloon was left by 17-year-old Lacey, who did not want to give her surname, who said her younger sister had been close friends with Ava.

She said: 'She was just a bubbly character, so loving and caring.

'She came out with her friends to enjoy herself and I think it's just wrong that this has happened.'

Four boys, one aged 13, two aged 14 and one 15-year-old, remain in custody after they were arrested on suspicion of murder.

As four schoolboys as young as 13 were quizzed today on suspicion of Ava White's (pictured) murder, traumatised friends were still in deep shock at what had happened

Ava White suffered 'catastrophic injuries' in an assault last night in Liverpool city centre

Rebecca Flynn, headteacher of Ava's former school, Trinity RC Primary, said: 'Our prayers and thoughts are with Ava's family and her friends. We are left with lasting memories of a bright and respectful little girl.'

Assistant Chief Constable Ngaire Waine said the incident was 'sad for the city' but 'even sadder' for Ava's family.

She said: 'We will put everything we can to ensure we get justice for her but then I'm sure we will be looking at whether there were things we could have done, or our partners could have done, that might have made a difference, because we never want another 12-year-old, here or anywhere else, to be murdered when they are out and about having fun with their friends.'

Detective Superintendent Sue Coombs, who is leading the investigation, said Ava had been involved in a 'verbal argument' which escalated into an 'assault on her with a knife', but a weapon had not yet been recovered.

She said: 'We are able to say there has been a verbal argument and there has been an assault, and the offenders ran off up School Lane, across Hanover Street and into Fleet Street.'

The four teenagers were arrested during the course of the evening and early hours of Friday, she said.

Ava was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital after paramedics arrived, but died a short time later.

Mary Katilius, 65, from Limerick, in Ireland, said she had been in Liverpool city centre with her 18-year-old granddaughter when the attack happened.

She said: 'We heard screams and someone said to call an ambulance. My granddaughter said she saw some young guys running off. 'We rushed over straight away but there was already a man helping her.'

Ms Coombs said officers would be trawling through hundreds of hours of CCTV and urged members of the public who were in the city centre to check their phones for photos and footage which might help the investigation.

Flowers near the scene in Liverpool city centre today where 12-year-old Ava White died

Police conduct a search near scene in Liverpool city centre after 12-year-old Ava White died

Alan Walsh, a prominent knife crime campaigner, youth worker and boxing gym owner, said he began fielding calls shortly after midnight from young people who were at the scene.

He said: 'They were just walking past, some of them were just 13, and they are just traumatised. I have taken about 12 calls since last night.

'I am just numb. I feel terrible for her family, but also it's the underlying trauma going on behind it as well. You just can't comprehend it.

'The ripple effect of this will be felt for a lifetime. I took my first text message at 12.09am this morning asking for help.

'Please any young person who has witnessed this horrific incident and needs support please get in touch, we will get you councillors and psychologist help,' he told the Liverpool Echo.

When police arrived at the scene, they found Ava, who was with friends, collapsed on the ground and receiving first aid from a member of the public.

Paramedics attended and she was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital where she died a short time later.

Assistant Chief Constable Jon Roy said: 'Our thoughts and condolences go out to Ava's family, who are being supported by specialist family liaison officers.

'Their world has been torn apart and no parent should ever have to face that knock on the door from police officers to say that their child has died.

'We believe that Ava and her friends had been involved in a verbal argument which culminated in Ava being assaulted causing catastrophic injuries.

'And we understand that the offenders were then seen to run up School Lane across Hanover Street and on to Fleet Street.

Police have today appealed for witnesses to come forward to help them try and solve the case

Painstaking searches were being carried out this morning by officers collecting evidence

Four boys - one aged 13, two aged 14 and one 15-year-old - have been arrested over murder

'We have arrested four males aged, one aged 13 years, two aged 14 years and one aged 15 from Toxteth, on suspicion of murder and they are currently being interviewed at police stations on Merseyside.

'Liverpool City Centre was very busy at the time of the incident as the lights on the Christmas tree on Church Street had been officially switched on a short while earlier and we would appeal to anyone who was on Church Street who saw the incident, or may even have captured it on their mobile phone, to come forward.'

A Home Office post-mortem is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death.

Mr Roy added: 'An extensive cordon remains in place at the scene, which includes Williamson Square, Tarleton Street, Church Street, Church Alley, School Lane crossing over Hanover Street on to Fleet Street, whilst forensic experts continue their examinations.

'We will endeavour to release the scene as soon as is practically possible, but we would ask members of the public for their understanding and patience whilst our investigations are being carried out so that we can bring justice for Ava and her family.'

Merseyside Police said there would be additional officers in the city over the coming days and in the run up to Christmas to provide reassurance.

Police appealed to anyone who witnessed the incident or may have filmed it to contact them either on Twitter at @MerPolCC, via Merseyside Police Contact Centre on Facebook or by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 with reference 0899 of November 25.
The militant French fishermen have also vowed to disrupt Channel Tunnel with protests at key transport hub

French fishermen have accused authorities in London and Jersey of withholding licences to fish in UK waters

Fishermen earlier blockaded UK ship the Normandy Trader outside Saint-Malo in protest over fishing licences

Ferry firms have suspended sailings from Ports of Calais due to industrial action by militant French fishermen

Fishermen were seen blocking the French entrance to the Channel Tunnel earlier today as part of a protest

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Militant French fishermen blocked lorries from entering the Channel Tunnel today, just hours after shutting down the Port of Calais and reigniting the UK-France fishing row by blockading a British cargo vessel off the coast of Brittany.

Using dozens of cars and vans and a large billowing smoke canister, the fishermen blocked access into the tunnel between Folkestone and Calais from the French side.

Other pictures from the protest, the third by French fisherman today, and which lasted around two hours, showed fishermen burning pallets in front of stranded lorries.

The protest came just hours after shipping movements in the Port of Calais were halted by six French fishing vessels weaving erratically in and around the port, forcing ferry and freight firms to suspended operations.

A picture shows an Irish Ferries vessel docked in the port at the protest, but the firm have not reported any delays or cancellations to their services.

P&O meanwhile suspended all of its shipping movements in and out of the port until 1.30pm local time, while freight firm DFDS warned of 75 minute delays.

However French police and military vessels were quickly deployed to clear out the fishing vessels from the port, with the protest wrapping up within an hour.

Earlier, French fishing boats had encircled British cargo vessel, the Normandy Trader, outside Saint-Malo, starting a new escalation in the UK-France fishing row.

The fishermen say the blockade is a protest at what they claim are moves by authorities in London and Jersey to withhold licences to fish in British waters under a post-Brexit deal.

This morning's Saint-Malo protest - which has since ended with the release of the Normandy Trader - and the shut down of Calais risks reigniting a dispute between Downing Street and the Elysee over a mutual licensing system for fishing vessels.

It also comes amid another row between the UK and France over cross-Channel migration, with France today calling off talks with Downing Street - due to be held after 27 asylum seekers died in the Channel earlier this week - after Emmanuel Macron took offence to Boris Johnson's public letter detailing a five-point plan to prevent another tragedy.

Meanwhile, today's blockades were described as 'a warning shot' by Olivier Lepretre, president of the regional fishing committee, who urged the British government to 'respect' the terms of the Brexit agreement.

'The British have access to the European market, while we do not have access to British waters. This is not normal, the British government must respect the agreement,' he said.

Militant French fishermen blocked lorries from entering the Channel Tunnel today, just hours after shutting down the Port of Calais and reigniting the UK-France fishing row by blockading a British cargo vessel off the coast of Brittany

Other pictures from the protest, the third by French fisherman today, and which lasted around two hours, showed fishermen burning pallets in front of stranded lorries

Cars and truck are stopped as French fishermen block the entrance of the Euro Tunnel, in Coquelles, northern France

Militant French fishermen have shut down the Port of Calais today after reigniting the UK-France fishing row by blockading a British cargo vessel off the coast of Brittany

A French fisherman on a trawler holds a flare during an action to block the port of Calais during a day of protests to mark their anger over the issue of post-Brexit fishing licenses

Fishing rights dogged Brexit talks for years, not because of its economic importance but because of its political significance for both Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

At least six French vessels (marked in orange) can be seen erratically weaving around within the port today, forcing ferry and freight firms to suspend all sailings

A ship tracker shows one of the French fishing vessels weaving around the port of Calais this morning, which has forced shipping movements to be suspended

P&O says it has suspended all of its shipping movements in and out of the port until 1.30pm local time, while DFDS has warned of 75 minute delays

In a prelude to more dramatic action expected later today, French fishing boats this morning encircled a British boat outside Saint-Malo

French fishermen waving red flares have today reignited the UK-France fishing row by blockading a British boat outside a Brittany port

The fishermen say the blockade is a protest at what they claim are moves by authorities in London and Jersey to withhold licences to fish in British waters under a post-Brexit deal

French fishermen block the 'Normandy Trader' boat at the entrance of the port of Saint-Malo as they started a day of protests to mark their anger over the issue of post-Brexit fishing licenses

Paris says London and the Channel Island of Jersey, a British crown dependency, are not honouring the agreement and dozens of licenses to operate inside their coastal waters are owed to French fishermen. But Downing Street insists it is respecting the post-Brexit arrangements

This morning's Saint-Malo protest and the larger action further east along France's coast risks reigniting a dispute between Downing Street and the Elysee over a mutual licensing system for fishing vessels

The UK and France have agreed to set up a licensing system for granting fishing vessels access to each other's waters in the wake of Brexit.

France CANCELS meeting with Priti Patel in wake of deaths of 27 migrants because of 'unacceptable' letter from Boris Johnson France today called off talks with Britain over the deaths of 27 asylum seekers in a dinghy as Paris threw its toys out of the pram after Boris Johnson wrote to Emmanuel Macron with a five-point plan to prevent another tragedy in the Channel. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has cancelled a Sunday meeting with his UK counterpart Priti Patel following criticism by Mr Johnson on its handling of the crisis and the lax patrolling of beaches after gendarmes were seen doing nothing as migrants launched their boats. The move - branded 'le grand snub' - has led to damning criticism in the UK with Macron and his ministers accused of 'forgetting 27 people died two days ago'. A spokesman for Mr Darmanin, who yesterday accused Britain of 'bad immigration management' and enticing migrants with benefits and slack labour rules, said: We consider Boris Johnsons public letter unacceptable and in opposition with discussions between counterparts. As a consequence, Priti Patel is not invited anymore to the meeting on Sunday. The summit with other European interior ministers will go ahead without the Home Secretary, whose aides had already travelled to Paris by Eurostar last night. The decision sparked fury from British MPs. Tory backbencher Jacob Young tweeted: 'Ridiculous behaviour from the French government seeming to forget that two days ago 27 people died crossing the Channel. Stop the boats - as simple as that'. This letter led to Paris pulling the plug on talks amid poor post-Brexit relations between the two countries and the difficulties they may face working together to curb the flow of migrants after 27 people drowned trying to reach British shores on Wednesday. Seventeen men, seven women - one of whom was pregnant - and three teenagers died on when their dinghy deflated in the Channel, one of many such risky journeys attempted in small, flimsy and overloaded boats laid on by people traffickers charging 3,000 for a one way ticket to Kent. The deaths deepened animosity between Britain and France, already at odds over post-Brexit trade rules and fishing rights. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said France was at fault and Mr Darmanin accused Britain of 'bad immigration management'. Advertisement

Paris says London and the Channel Island of Jersey, a British crown dependency, are not honouring the agreement and dozens of licenses to operate inside their coastal waters are owed to French fishermen.

But Downing Street insists it is respecting the post-Brexit arrangements.

Last month, in a major escalation of the row, French officials seized a British scallop dredger off its northern coast for allegedly operating without a legitimate permit.

They later released the vessel amid uproar from British fishermen and authorities. Both countries have also this year sent patrol vessels to waters off Jersey.

President Emmanuel Macron has accused Britain of pushing his country's patience and said the government would not yield in the dispute.

Fishing rights dogged Brexit talks for years, not because of its economic importance but because of its political significance for both Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Today French fishermen are expected to block ferries and UK-bound goods heading to the Channel Tunnel today in a further escalation in the row over post-Brexit fishing licenses.

Describing the action as a 'warning shot', French national fisheries committee chairman Gerard Romiti said ferry traffic would be blocked at Saint-Malo, Ouistreham and Calais ports as well as freight traffic into the Channel Tunnel.

The blockage will last for several hours, he said. In response, Britain's government said Thursday it was 'disappointed' by the threat.

'We don't want handouts, we just want our licenses back. The UK must abide by the post-Brexit deal. Too many fishermen are still in the dark,' said Romiti.

'We have been waiting with bated breath for 11 months. The patience of professionals has limits. We hope this warning shot will be heard,' he said, refusing to rule out further actions in the future.

Responding to the threat, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman told reporters: 'We are disappointed by threats of protest activity.

'It will be a matter for the French to ensure that there are no illegal actions and that trade is not affected,' he said. 'We continue to monitor the situation closely.'

The threat comes after the the European Union set a December 10 deadline for the UK to resolve the worsening post-Brexit row with France over fishing licences.

The EU's fishing chief, Virginijus Sinkevicius, made the demand during a meeting with Environment Secretary George Eustice on Wednesday.

France had threatened to ban British boats from unloading their catches at French ports and to subject all British imports to inspections.

President Emmanuel Macron then said France would hold off imposing the measures to give dialogue a chance, but French officials have insisted that all options remain on the table.

Meanwhile, Macron was left humiliated after Belgium snubbed his overtures to back Paris in the dispute with Britain.

France had threatened to ban British boats from unloading their catches at French ports and to subject all British imports to inspections

President Emmanuel Macron has accused Britain of pushing his country's patience and said the government would not yield in the dispute

The move is a protest at what French fishermen say are moves by authorities in London and Jersey to withhold licences to fish in British waters under a post-Brexit deal

French fishermen to block ferries and UK-bound goods heading to the Channel Tunnel French fishermen will block ferries and UK-bound goods heading to the Channel Tunnel today n a further escalation in the row over post-Brexit fishing licenses. Describing the action as a 'warning shot', French national fisheries committee chairman Gerard Romiti said ferry traffic would be blocked at Saint-Malo, Ouistreham and Calais ports as well as freight traffic into the Channel Tunnel. The blockage will last for several hours, he said. In response, Britain's government said Thursday it was 'disappointed' by the threat. Advertisement

Mr Macron dispatched ministers to Brussels this week as part of his efforts to build support for his stance and for punishing the UK over the row.

But France's Prime Minister Jean Castex and Europe minister Clement Beaune were rebuffed by their Belgian counterparts.

The issue has contributed to growing post-Brexit strains between London and Paris, whose relationship will now also be tested by their response to Wednesday's migrant disaster in the Channel that cost 27 lives.

Tensions over the fisheries dispute even spiralled into a brief naval standoff in May, when dozens of French trawlers massed in front of Jersey's Saint Helier harbour.

The ongoing row centres around the issuing of fishing licences to EU trawlers to work in British waters.

The terms of the Brexit deal dictate that boats must be able to demonstrate, using GPS data, that they worked in the waters before the UK's split from Brussels.

France has accused the UK of failing to grant licences to all eligible vessels but Britain has said some boats have been unable to prove their claims with data and as such have had their applications rejected.

Talks on the issue remain ongoing between the UK, France and the European Commission but French fishermen are 'exasperated' by the 'endless months of waiting' and have threatened to take disruptive action.

UK ministers have demanded assurances from Paris that trade will not be affected after French fishing chiefs signalled they could block Calais and other ports to stop exports to the UK.

The European Union has set a December 10 deadline for the UK to resolve the worsening post-Brexit row with France over fishing licences. French trawlers are pictured in the port of Granville, Normandy on November 4

The EU's fishing chief, Virginijus Sinkevicius, made the demand during a meeting with Environment Secretary George Eustice yesterday

France has been putting pressure on the European Commission to be 'more active' in helping to resolve the standoff and to secure more licences from the UK.

French Fisheries Minister Annick Girardin had asked the Commission to set a deadline and Mr Sinkevicius, the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Commissioner, yesterday obliged.

However, French efforts to bolster support for its position suffered a set back after Belgium snubbed its plea for backing.

Senior sources said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and foreign minister Sophie Wilmes dismissed Paris's call to trigger sanctions against the UK.

They said the French were left under no illusions that the row over access to waters near Britain and the Channel Islands was a 'bilateral matter' for the negotiating table.

French President Emmanuel Macron was left humiliated after Belgium snubbed his overtures to back Paris in the dispute with Britain

'There is little appetite for a trade war over this,' the source said. 'This is not our fight. We still want to resolve the outstanding issues through dialogue with the UK.'

The snub by Belgium is the latest embarrassment for Mr Macron ahead of April's presidential election.

One senior EU diplomat said: 'It is quite clear that France is trying to use this dispute for domestic political purposes.'

Another EU source, who works closely on Brexit issues, said most governments want to avoid being dragged into the spat.
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What do we know about the Omicron variant? Scientists have said they are concerned about the B.1.1.529 variant, named by the World Health Organisation as Omicron, as it has around 30 different mutations - double the amount present in the Delta variant. The mutations contain features seen in all of the other variants but also traits that have not been seen before. UK scientists first became aware of the new strain on November 23 after samples were uploaded on to a coronavirus variant tracking website from South Africa, Hong Kong and then Botswana. On Friday, it was confirmed that cases had been identified in Israel and Belgium but currently there are no known cases in the UK. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Good Morning Britain on Friday that sequencing is being carried out around the UK to determine if any cases have already been imported. Work is also under way to see whether the new variant may be causing new infection in people who have already had coronavirus or a vaccine, or whether waning immunity may be playing a role. Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, has said the new variant will 'almost certainly' make vaccines less effective, though they would still offer protection. Pfizer/BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine against Covid-19, is already studying the new variant's ability to evade vaccines. Advertisement

South African medics moved to calm a wave of panic over a new ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant Covid strain today as its arrival in Europe sparked fears of a new Christmas shutdown.

Belgium revealed a case of the Botswana variant - named 'Omicron' by the World Health Organization tonight - prompting EU chiefs to call for an 'emergency brake' on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Israel.

The Belgian health ministry said a case of the new B.1.1.529 strain was confirmed in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already being seeded across the continent and is widespread in Africa.

It came as the WHO today designated it a 'variant of concern', its highest category. Experts said there is early evidence to suggest Omicron has an 'increased risk of reinfection' and its rapid spread in South Africa suggests it has a 'growth advantage'.

In Britain, arrivals from six countries were added to the quarantine red list from noon - but fears were raised over a lack of checks on arrivals beforehand. Boris Johnson spoke to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa tonight to discuss the situation.

However, Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions.

'It's a hasty decision,' she told the BBC. 'I would understand if it was two weeks later and we knew much more about this viral infection that is going around, this mutation.

'But for now, it is a storm in a tea cup, we have only become aware of this viral mutation ... in the last week.

'So far what we have seen are very mild cases, so I'm not sure why we are all up in arms.'

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen had earlier called for an EU-wide travel ban to southern Africa warning that the Omicron strain could be world-dominant in months.

Passengers flying to the Netherlands from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain which scientists have described as the 'worst variant ever'. They were eventually let off the runway after being forced to take a test and leave their details with contact tracers.

By contrast, British arrivals from the variant's epicentre Johannesburg were left to mingle with hundreds of others as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at noon. Passengers flying into Heathrow revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history.

But there was a fresh push to encourage Brits to get jabbed from vaccines minister Maggie Throup in order to help avoid restrictions at Christmas.

She told BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? programme that the WHO recognising it as a variant of concern 'makes it even more serious'.

'At the moment we don't know if it will evade the vaccines that we've all been having and if it will be more infectious than the current variant,' she added.

'When it comes to Christmas my message is that the best way we can have that Christmas this year that we didn't have last year ... is to get vaccinated.'

She urged hesitant people to get their first vaccine and others who are eligible to come forward for their boosters.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases breached 50,000 today for the first time in a month and deaths crept up by 2 per cent in a week - but hospital admissions were down 12 per cent.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday, following the detection of the new variant.

Those countries are Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi, the White House said on Friday.

'The policy was implemented out of an abundance of caution,' a senior administration official said, after news of the variant caused the Dow futures to fall by 2.25 percent, and both the NASDAQ and S&P Futures Indices to fall by more than 1 percent.

The price of Brent Crude, the market of the global price of oil, fell by six percent.

In other Covid news today:

The World Health Organization held an emergency meeting to discuss the variant, which could be named 'Nu' within hours;

The UK today added South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe to the red list;

The European Commission recommended member states suspend all flights from southern African countries, with Germany and Italy already implementing the bans;

The South African Medical Association said all cases of the Botswana variant had been in young people and were mild, describing the global response as a 'storm in a teacup';

The UK's Covid cases breached 50,000 for first time in a month, rising 13 per cent in a week and deaths creep up, but hospital admissions fall for 10th day in a row

One in 65 people had Covid in England last week as cases, new infections up four per cent on the previous seven days, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics

Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions

A flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was barred entry into the country today. Passengers are pictured above waiting in their seats

Pictured above is the cockpit shown on screens on the flight (right), and seats on the plane. The Netherlands suspended entry to flights coming from South Africa at noon today

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

The above slide shows the proportion of tests that picked up a SGTF mutation, a hallmark of the B.1.1.529. It suggests that the Covid variant may be spreading rapidly in the country. The slide was presented at a briefing today run by the South African Government

The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests B.1.1.529 is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government

The above shows the test positivity rate  the proportion of tests that picked up the virus  across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by B.1.1.529

Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list

What do we know about the Omicron variant? Scientists have said they are concerned about the B.1.1.529 variant, named by the World Health Organisation as Omicron, as it has around 30 different mutations - double the amount present in the Delta variant. The mutations contain features seen in all of the other variants but also traits that have not been seen before. UK scientists first became aware of the new strain on November 23 after samples were uploaded on to a coronavirus variant tracking website from South Africa, Hong Kong and then Botswana. On Friday, it was confirmed that cases had been identified in Israel and Belgium but currently there are no known cases in the UK. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Good Morning Britain on Friday that sequencing is being carried out around the UK to determine if any cases have already been imported. Work is also under way to see whether the new variant may be causing new infection in people who have already had coronavirus or a vaccine, or whether waning immunity may be playing a role. Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, has said the new variant will 'almost certainly' make vaccines less effective, though they would still offer protection. Pfizer/BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine against Covid-19, is already studying the new variant's ability to evade vaccines. Advertisement

Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

In a glimmer of hope, the South African Medical Association said that all cases of the Botswana variant had been in young people and caused only mild illness. It described the global response as a 'storm in a teacup'.

But Sajid Javid warned the pandemic was 'far from over' after No10's experts admitted the new super strain could already be in the UK and make vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

In a sombre statement to MPs in the House of Commons this morning, the Health Secretary said the new B.1.1.529 strain posed a 'substantial risk to public health' and described its ultra-transmissibility and vaccine-dodging abilities as of 'huge international concern'.

Vaccines adviser Professor Adam Finn earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was 'possible' the strain had already entered Britain. She said people 'are arriving every day' to the UK from countries where the strain had been spotted.

Some 10,000 people are thought to have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two weeks where the most cases of the mutant strain have been found. Mr Javid insisted no cases of the strain have been confirmed in the UK but warned the Government is working quickly but with a 'high degree of uncertainty' and boosters could not be more important now.

Top experts said that if the strain spreads faster and can avoid current jabs it 'will get here'. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that the aim of the travel restrictions is to 'slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country'.

The World Health Organization is currently holding an emergency meeting to discuss the variant, which could be named 'Nu' within hours in line with its Greek alphabet naming system for Covid variants.

Passengers on last flights back from South Africa say they faced no extra restrictions Passengers arriving into the UK on one of the last flights from South Africa have revealed they were not offered tests and left to mix with hundreds of others despite mounting concern over the new variant. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday. They have all been placed on the red list. But passengers arriving from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force. Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers. 'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.' Advertisement

The B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  suggesting it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it. It has caused an 'exponential' rise in infections in South Africa.

In response, Mr Javid announced last night that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations after a first case was detected in the country today. The European Commission has recommended an 'emergency brake' on travel from countries in Southern Africa.

Speaking in the House of Commons this morning, Mr Javid said it 'is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries'.

He said: 'We are concerned that this new variant may pose substantial risk to public health.

'The variant has an unusual large number of mutations. It's the only variant with this designation, making it higher priority than Beta.

'It shares many of the features of the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.

'Early indications show this variant may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and current vaccines may be less effective against it.

'It may also impact the effectiveness of one of our major treatments, Ronapreve.'

The Health Secretary added the Government is continuing to assess its travel restrictions with countries with strong links to South Africa and urged the public to book their booster doses as soon as possible.

He said: 'We are continuing to make assessments, including about those countries with strong travel links to South Africa and we're working with our international partners  including South Africa and the European Union  to ensure an aligned response.

'But this variant is a reminder for all of us that this pandemic is far from over.

'We must continue to act with caution, and do all we can to keep this virus at bay including, once you are eligible, getting your booster shot.

'We've already given over 16 million booster shots.

'The booster jab was already important before we knew about this variant  but now, it could not be more important.'

Earlier, Dr Susan Hopkins told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'The first look at it shows it has a variety of different mutations, it's got 30 different mutations that seem relevant, that's double what we had in Delta.

FTSE slides amid renewed Covid fears The dramatic Covid developments sparked jitters on stock markets today. More than 65billion was wiped off the value of FTSE 100 companies after the index opened. The 250 point tumble put it on track for the steepest one-day drop in a year. Shares in major airlines were hit hard, with IAG, the owner of British Airways, falling more than 21 per cent in early trading. EasyJet dropped 16 per cent. Tourism-sensitive stocks such as plane engine maker Rolls Royce, easyJet and International Consolidated Airlines all saw double digit losses in Europe. Malaysian rubber glove maker Supermax, which soared 1500% during the first wave of the pandemic, leapt 15 per cent. Germany's DAX was down 2.8 per cent. US equity markets have been shut for Thanksgiving. Advertisement

'And if you look at those mutations as mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evades the immune response, both from vaccines and natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility, it's a highly complex mutation, there's new ones we haven't seen before, so we don't know how they're going to interact in common.

'So all of this makes it a pretty complex, challenging variant and I think we will need to learn a lot more about it before we can say for definite it's definitely the most complex variant before.'

She added: 'It is the most worrying we've seen.'

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'If it spreads more quickly then yes it will get here, the travel ban will delay its arrival but if it spreads more quickly the lesson has surely been from all the variants we've seen before that it will get here eventually.

'We shouldn't despair, vaccines will be effective, so if you haven't had your vaccine go and get it, be that the booster, the first dose, the second dose.

'Secondly there are new medicines coming along these will not be affected almost certainly by this mutation.

'We have got much better at controlling the disease in other ways in hospital so it is bad news but it is not doomsday.'

Professor Finn said: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said the Government is taking a 'safety-first approach' to the new variant.

'It is important to make sure that you do act immediately and in doing so you get to slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country,' he told Sky News.

'That gives us a bit of time for the scientists to work on sequencing the genome, which involves growing cultures  it takes several weeks to do  so we can find out how significant a concern this particular variant is.

'It is a safety-first approach. We have done that before with things like the mink variant from Denmark and we were then able to relax it reasonably quickly.'

The chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said the new variant is the most 'complex' and 'worrying' seen.

Announcing the travel ban last night, Mr Javid said: 'The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

A baby cries as her mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

'Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time. But we've always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

From discovery to global panic in 48 hours: How the Covid super-mutant variant sparked frantic cabinet meeting and worldwide travel ban A nationwide lockdown looked likely for the first time in months today after the world reeled at the prospect of a mutant virus that was unheard of just days ago and threatens to put Britain back to square one of the pandemic. Researchers in Hong Kong were the first to raise the alarm about the new strain on Monday after discovering the strain in two passengers who had recently returned from South Africa. It was also picked up in Botswana, where it was sequenced three times, and South Africa  who had only seen one case at the time. Scientists from all three countries uploaded it to an international database of variants used by experts from across the world, including the UK. Dr Tom Peacock, a British virologist at Imperial College London who works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), voiced concern about the strain's 32 'horrific' mutations  twice as many as Delta  on Tuesday. MailOnline broke the news about the variant on Wednesday, when No10's official spokesperson shrugged it off as 'not seen as something that is an issue', despite fears that it would be more vaccine evasive than Delta. Experts told MailOnline the strain's large amount of mutations meant it could become unstable  meaning it would be unlikely to become widespread  although others warned if it started taking over the dominant Delta variant in South Africa it could have knock-on effects for the rest of the world. Behind the scenes, MailOnline understands there were 'extensive talks' between British Government scientists and those in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday. Cases began to grow exponentially in the Guateng Province in South Africa on Thursday, with a particular spike in Johannesburg, where they shot up 93 per cent in a single day. The South African Government held a press conference on Thursday, saying that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'. British ministers were called to an emergency meeting of the Covid Operations Cabinet Committee on Thursday, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Steven Barclay, to discuss shutting Britain's borders to travellers from Africa. They were told vaccines would be at least 40 per cent less effective against the variant  because of a mutation it shares with the original South African Beta variant  at the meeting. Health Secretary Sajid Javid attended the meeting but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing minister, were not part of discussions. It was set up due to concerns raised by England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and UKHSA boss Dr Jenny Harries. A Government source said: 'Whitty and the experts said we needed to act. They wanted to get it out as soon as possible.' Insiders stressed they were acting out of an 'abundance of caution'. The issue only came on the radar at No10 on Wednesday. 'We have moved more quickly than with previous decisions,' one source said. Later, senior UK Government scientists briefed the media at a hastily organised press conference last night at 7.45pm. Advertisement

'So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list.

'Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

'If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.'

The minister added: 'Our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. I'm concerned, of course, that's one of the reasons we have taken this action today.'

Asked what the situation would mean for the UK over the coming weeks, with Christmas approaching, Mr Javid said: 'We've got plans in place, as people know, for the spread of this infection here in the UK and we have contingency plans - the so-called Plan B.

'But today's announcement, this is about a new variant from South Africa - it's been detected in South Africa and Botswana - and this is about being cautious and taking action and trying to protect, as best we can, our borders.'

Earlier this morning, White House COVID tsar Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that the US will had no immediate plans to restrict travel from South Africa, but President Biden announced that a travel ban would be introduced from Monday.

Fauci said: 'It seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate. We're finding more about it,' before adding that there is 'no indication' the mutation is in the US, but that it is possible.

'When you look at a mutation it can give you a hint or prediction that it might evade the immune response you need to get that sequence of the virus, put it in the lab and test the antibodies.

'Right now, we're getting the material together to get a situation where you can directly test it. Right now it's a red flag that it might be an issue but you don't know.'

South African scientists, meanwhile, add that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

He said that more work was needed to understand how concerning the variant is, adding: 'From what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant.

'That would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.'

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement today that the UK's decision to ban flights 'seems to have been rushed'.

She said: 'Whilst South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps.

'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

The variant has not yet been given the title 'variant of concern' in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

The expert whose modelling helped instigate the first coronavirus lockdown said that the decision to impose travel restrictions was 'prudent'.

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: 'The B.1.1.529 variant has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein gene, the protein which is the target of most vaccines.

'There is therefore a concern that this variant may have a greater potential to escape prior immunity than previous variants.

'It is also concerning that this variant appears to be driving a rapid increase in case numbers in South Africa. The Government's move to restrict travel with South Africa is therefore prudent.

'However, we do not yet have reliable estimates of the extent to which B.1.1.529 might be either more transmissible or more resistant to vaccines, so it is too early to be able to provide an evidence-based assessment of the risk it poses.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker 'Nu' - with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

The original Red List was reduced to zero nations at the end of last month when the remaining seven countries on it were removed.

No10 had left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

The UKHSA said it had been in extensive talks with scientists in South Africa about the new variant but the situation is 'rapidly evolving'.

Although only 100 cases of the new variant have so far been identified, it is already in three countries, suggesting it is more widespread than the official tally.

Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong  both of whom had links to South Africa three have been picked up in Botswana and the remainder are in South Africa.

But a lack of surveillance on continental Africa may be underestimating the true numbers there, scientists warned.

UK experts say it will be another two to eight weeks until they can study the variant in enough detail to work out how infectious or vaccine-resistant it is.

Nationally, infections in South Africa have surged tenfold from 100 per day to 1,100, after the variant was first detected in neighbouring Botswana on November 11.

UK Government scientists believe it can infect previously-infected patients with ease, because South Africa has very high levels of natural immunity.

Only 41 percent of adults have received at least a single dose of vaccine, while 35 percent are fully vaccinated.

In a hastily organised press conference today, the South African Government revealed the variant had been officially spotted in three provinces but warned it was probably already in all nine.

Experts in the UK earlier called for travel restrictions to be reimposed to prevent the strain being seeded here and avoid risking a repeat of this spring when the Delta variant was imported in huge numbers from India.

Zero-Covid scientist Professor Christina Pagel urged ministers to 'get ahead of this right now' by immediately' reimposing the red travel list '  which was only scrapped a few weeks ago.

And Chris Snowdon, an economist who is normally in favour of fewer restrictions, also called for an immediate travel ban.

The Government has left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

MailOnline first sounded the alarm about the variant yesterday after British scientists warned that it had more than 30 mutations and is the most evolved version of Covid yet. They said it likely emerged in a long-term infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

The fact that South Africa has the largest number of people living HIV out of any country in the world has complicated its fight against Covid, as immuno-compromised people can harbour the virus for longer, scientists say.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases began to flatline yesterday, official data showed after weeks of falling deaths and hospitalisations. This was the first time the percentage jump was below one since November 10.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said the variant could become dominant in South Africa 'very quickly'.

Asked whether it could soon make up the majority of cases in South Africa, he told MailOnline: 'The numbers [of cases] are very small and there is a lot of uncertainty... but I would say it might become dominant very quickly.'

He said it was 'plausible' that the variant was more infectious because it was 'better at infecting' people that had immunity from vaccines or previous infections.

But he said very little is known about how likely someone who catches the variant would be to become seriously ill and die from the virus. Experts say viruses normally become less virulent over time.

Professor Tulio de Oliveira, a director of Covid surveillance in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, said that the variant had spread rapidly in South Africa.

'In less than two weeks it now dominates all infections following a devastating Delta wave in South Africa.

'We estimate that 90 per cent of cases in Gauteng (at least 1,000 a day) [are this variant].'

Botswana Covid variant may have emerged in an HIV patient, has twice as many mutations as Delta and could make jabs at least 40% less effective against infection  what we know so far

By EMILY CRAIG HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A new super mutant Covid variant that has sparked fears of another lockdown in the UK may have emerged in a HIV patient in Africa, is the most-evolved version yet and could make jabs much weaker.

Scientists believe that its extensive mutations mean it must have originated in a severely immunocompromised patient, possibly an undiagnosed person with AIDS.

It has more than 30 mutations, giving it all the transmissibility of the currently-dominant Delta strain and the same ability to escape vaccines as the old South African variant Beta.

Experts fear the new variant  called B.1.1.529  may make the vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective, because it is so different from the original strain the vaccines were made to target.

Britons have been put on alert that there could be a Christmas lockdown, with one of No10's vaccine advisers warning 'we all need to be ready' for restrictions to be reimposed.

Here is everything we know about the variant so far:

What is so concerning about the variant?

Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries.

The variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain. One scientist said these changes made the variant the worst seen so far.

Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario, because the new version of the virus is better at dodging the protection the jabs provide.

This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus.

But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off.

It also includes mutations that allow it to spread more easily.

Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks.

Will it affect Christmas in the UK?

Experts said it will be weeks until they know how worrying the new variant is, so it is not yet clear what extra steps might need to be taken.

The only action measures introduced by the Government so far has been to add six countries to the red list.

But Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

Where has the variant been detected so far?

The variant has so far been spotted in five countries: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.

Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in South Africa where Johannesburg is based.

The first case was uploaded to an international variant database by Hong Kong and was spotted in someone who travelled to the country from South Africa.

No cases have been seen in the UK. But experts say it is possible that the variant has already arrived in the country. They say that even with travel restrictions it will still 'get here eventually'.

What is the UK doing about the variant?

The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26.

The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned.

Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test.

Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight.

What mutations does the variant have?

The Botswana variant carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines.

But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant, which are also linked to antibody escape.

The variant also has mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant.

And the mutation N501Y that makes viruses more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others.

Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear.

Will I be protected if I have a booster?

Scientists have warned the new strain could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one.

The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said.

When will we know more about the variant?

Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away.

The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks.

But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths.

What is the variant called?

The strain is known scientifically as B.1.1.529, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the 'Nu' variant.
The investigation into new allegations of assault and misconduct at Deepcut barracks has failed to make an arrest after almost three years.

Surrey Police were forced to open the new investigation when fresh evidence lead to demands from the families of four recruits shot dead at the barracks.

Police announced the probe after the second inquest into the death of a young recruit heard shocking new allegations and former soldiers who served at Deepcut continue to come forward.

Four young soldiers died from gunshot wounds at Deepcut between 1995 and 2002.

During the second round of inquests into their deaths, former soldiers gave first hand accounts of horrendous abuse at the Princess Royal Barracks.

The new investigation was confirmed by Surrey Police in February 2019 following a review after the second inquest into the death of Sean Benton.

Surrey Police launched a criminal investigation following the deaths of four army recruits at Deepcut barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid allegations of bullying

Inquests into the deaths of the four recruits cited the problem of bullying at Deepcut barracks, pictured

Private James Collinson, 17, from Perth, top left, Private Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, North Wales, top right, Private Sean Benton, from Hastings, East Sussex, bottom left, and Private Geoff Gray, from Seaham, Durham, bottom right, all died at the barracks

His inquest concluded in 2018 and the force announced they had launched a new investigation at the start of the second inquest for Geoff Gray in 2019.

So far, Surrey police have not been able to confirm anybody has been arrested, cautioned or charged since the new investigation launched.

A spokesman for Surrey Police could only say the investigation is still ongoing.

The second round of inquests into three of the deaths were held at the coroner's court in Woking from 2016 to 2019.

During the second Sean Benton inquest, several former soldiers gave evidence about the abuse they suffered at Deepcut.

Sgt Andrew Gavaghan was named by many as being involved in incidents at the camp.

Another NCO, Sgt Major Martin Holder was also named by former soldiers.

A group known as the Respirator Gang were also sighted as being involved in late night beatings.

His Honour Judge Peter Rook QC decided Pte Benton had taken his own life.

The 20-year-old shot himself five times in the chest, the coroner concluded.

Pte Geoff Gray's father Geoff Snr said: 'The police investigation should have been wrapped up by now whatever the outcome.

'It would appear that Surrey Police have buried Deepcut for ever.'

Des James, whose daughter Cheryl died from gunshot wounds at Deepcut in 1995, said he is still frustrated by the lack of accountability at Surrey Police and the MoD.

'I think the MoD and Surrey Police got a free pass.

'Four kids died in a camp we now know was out of control and just because no evidence turned up at the inquest doesn't mean there wasn't any.

'No one was very keen to look for it, of course, given the delay they created.

'All in all, it was never properly bottomed and those kids deserved more.

'Until it is, if ever, the abuse cases continue to appear,' Mr James said.

In February 2019, a Surrey Police statement said: 'Following the conclusion of the inquest into Private Sean Benton's death last year, Surrey Police reviewed the findings documented by the Coroner and the Benton family's request for a new criminal investigation into allegations including assault and misconduct in public office at the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut.

'This review was completed and a criminal investigation is underway into a number of allegations.

'As this remains a live investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.'

Former soldiers continue to come forward with new allegations.

One former serviceman who asked not to be named claimed a gun was pointed at him during his time in training at Pirbright.

The former solider said the muzzle of the gun was pressed into his face.

Surrey Police confirmed this week, the investigation is still ongoing.
Millions of Australians are on alert for severe thunderstorms and flash flooding on Friday night as torrential rains continue to cause havoc across the east coast.

One man died in rising floodwaters at Hibernia, near Rockhampton in central Queensland on Friday morning.

Thousands of residents living in low-lying areas along the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system in North Richmond, north-west of Sydney are meanwhile on a knife-edge with the city's Warragamba Dam due to break its banks overnight.

Dozens of severe thunderstorm and flood warnings were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for northern and southeast Queensland and NSW on Friday evening.

The BoM warned damaging slow-moving thunderstorms were detected west of Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast.

Weather warnings have been issued for severe thunderstorms and flash flooding on Australia's east coast as torrential rains continue to create havoc. Pictured is flooding in the Molong area in NSW's central-west

The central west NSW town of Molong was underwater and facing a 'volatile' situation on Friday was fast-rising floodwaters

The storms were concentrated near Laidley, Gatton, Crows Nest, Border Ranges National Park, Moogerah and Hampton.

The weather service's warning was directed at hundreds of thousands of people in Ipswich, the Scenic Rim, Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley council areas.

The alert warned of 'heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding.'

Forest Hill, between Toowoomba and Brisbane, recorded 79mm of rain in just three hours on Friday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the continued downpour has led to one of the wettest Novembers on record with widespread flooding across the eastern states.

The NSW State Emergency Services said it responded to more than 3,000 calls on Friday, following flooding near Orange and Newcastle.

Orange had its highest monthly rainfall since records began in 1870 with a total of 243.2mm recorded by Tuesday.

On Friday evening multiple flood warnings were also issued across regional NSW, which had already been been hit hard with raging floodwaters at Scone, Inverell and Gunnedah.

Weather charts on Friday evening showed Australia's eastern states bathed in blue indicating rain and flooding, with thunderstorms also forecast

A band of thunderstorms just west of the Gold Coast and Brisbane were threatening severe thunderstorms on Friday evening

Flooding at Gungal in the Upper Hunter Valley was captured in dramatic footage

The new warnings on Friday evening included the Macquarie River at Bathurst; the Belubula River at Canowindra; the Peel River at Tamworth; the Namoi river system at Gunnedah, Narrabri and Wee Waa; the Castlereagh River at Gilgandra and the Queanbeyan river near Canberra.

The BoM reported dozens of east coast towns and cities copping over 100 milimetres of rain in just two days.

Canberra has already had its wettest ever November with 148mm and Bundaberg was hammered with 192mm.

Conditions are not expected to ease until the weekend with coastal NSW to cop the worst of the storms.

Warragamba, which supplies the majority of Sydney's water, is currently at 99.6 per cent capacity and set to burst on Friday evening

Pictured: Maroon Dam in Queensland's south-east. The BoM on Friday warned damaging slow-moving thunderstorms were detected west of Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast

The rain bomb drenching Sydney filled the city's largest dam to capacity, reaching 100 per cent full by 7pm.

Warragamba Dam, which supplies the majority of Sydney's water, was predicted to spill over by midnight Friday.

Residents living downstream in suburbs such as Richmond and Windsor are being urged to remain vigilant in case water spilling from the dam causes the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system to break its banks.

There could be 'downstream impacts' from release of excess water, said WaterNSW, the body responsible for the dam.

The spill could peak at 100 gigalitres on Saturday.

Alerts were also posted early on Friday evening for 'severe thunderstorms' and 'heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding' for the NSW northern tablelands.

The tiny town of Wiangaree, about an hour south west of Tweed Heads could be near the epicentre of the dangerous storms, the weather office said.

The NSW weather office issued updates of a 'volatile' situation unfolding due to flooding at Molong, in the NSW central west.

The rains that pummelled the NSW central west and Hunter regions are headed north-east to Queensland

NSW Bureau of Meteorology reported fast-rising flood waters with reports of rescues underway at Molong.

Queensland's far north was also warned of severe thunderstorms and heavy rain inland from the north tropical coast.

Locations which may be affected include Boonah, Rathdowney, Crows Nest, Esk, Gatton, Laidley and Lowood in the south, and Chillagoe and Mount Garnet in the north.

'Unfortunately, this wet weather will continue for the rest of Friday and into the weekend,' BoM senior meteorologist Jonathan How said.

'We'll see plenty of showers, storms, through eastern Victoria, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane and the Gold Coast as well.'

heavy rain was continuing to fall across NSW and moving into Queensland on Friday evening

Heavy rain battered Sydney on Friday as a low pressure system moved in from the southern and western regions of the state.

The wild weather has already led to widespread flooding with drivers warned to keep off the roads and stay home.

'Flooded roads and reduced visibility in heavy rain will make driving conditions dangerous during Friday in all suburbs,' a Bureau of Meteorology alert stated.
Demands for rules barring MPs from taking babies into the Commons to be eased are being opposed by female politicians with children, the Speaker has revealed.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he has been 'heavily lobbied' not to change the regulations amid a row over a ban handed to Labour backbencher Stella Creasy this week.

He requested a review amid an outcry over the Walthamstow MP being told she can no longer have her three-month-old son Pip with her, despite it being allowed in the past.

The case has polarised opinion with some MPs saying the rules should be eased for mothers with very young children, and Downing Street indicating it was sympathetic to her case.

But other have accused her of 'grandstanding', while a Meanwhile, a YouGov poll found the majority of Britons believe MPs should not be allowed to take babies into the chamber.

Sir Lindsay admitted to MPs earlier this week there were 'differing views on the matter'. And last night he told the BBC's Newscast podcast: 'I have been heavily lobbied not to change the rules, by other mothers... I have texts on my phone saying do not give in.'

Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he has been 'heavily lobbied' not to change the regulations amid a row over a ban handed to Labour backbencher Stella Creasy this week.

The Walthamstow MP was told she can no longer have her three-month-old son Pip with her, despite it being allowed in the past (pictured)

What are the rules for MPs who are new mums and dads? All MPs have to follow the Rules of Behaviour and Courtesies in the House of Commons, which was most recently updated in September. Under the section on children it states: 'You may take babies or toddlers with you into the division lobby, and  if necessary to get to the division lobby  take them through the Chamber. 'For safety reasons, you are asked to carry your child and not to bring pushchairs through the lobby. 'You should not take your seat in the Chamber when accompanied by your child, nor stand at either end of the Chamber, between divisions.' However, Ms Creasy and other new mothers in Parliament have previously carried their newborn children - who are often still breastfeeding - into the Commons for debates, with authorities taking a sympathetic stance until now. The situation is further complicated because of the rules covering maternity leave. MPs can take time off on full pay as they are regarded as self-employed. But they have argued that this means they are unable to take part in votes and debates when they should be representing constituents. Earlier this year the Government changed legislation to ensure Cabinet ministers received six months maternity leave, to allow the Attorney General, Suella Braverman, to keep her post after having a baby. But backbench MPs have not been afforded access to the same arrangement. In 2019, the Labour MP for Walthamstow took part in a pilot programme which meant when she was pregnant with her first child, she was replaced by a locum who covered the role while she was on leave. The post came with 50,000 pro rata salary and covered a period of seven months absence. They were able to meet ministers and handle casework, but could not vote or speak in the Commons. But this summer Ms Creasy was told by Parliamentary authorities that she could not appoint a locum MP to cover her second child. Instead she was was offered 35,000 to hire a new junior staff member or promote an existing member of her team. Ms Creasy said Ipsa have never justified the discontinuation of this pilot project. Advertisement

Ms Creasy, 44, was censured by Commons authorities after bringing Pip into a debate on Black Friday regulations on Wednesday.

She pointed out she has previously been allowed to speak in debates with him in a sling, with authorities taking a relaxed view. While she can take maternity time off with full pay she argues the current Commons rules do not allow her constituents to be fully represented while she is off, and has continued to work.

Sir Lindsay has asked the cross-party Procedure Committee to examine the rules and whether changes were needed but has said he and his deputies could use their discretion in applying the existing measures.

He told MPs on Wednesday it is 'extremely important' that parents can fully participate in parliamentary work.

Ms Creasy, a mother of two, welcomed the review after she was emailed by authorities about rules prohibiting bringing children to debates after bringing son Pip into a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday.

Sir Lindsay said he was unaware that the warning was going to be issued to Ms Creasy but accepted it 'correctly reflects the current rules'.

'However, rules have to be seen in context and they change with the times,' he told MPs.

Walthamstow MP Ms Creasy said she hopes the move 'means some of these rules will be reviewed to make parenting and politics possible to mix'.

Pip, who is breastfeeding, has regularly attended the Commons, as did Ms Creasy's older daughter.

Later on Wednesday, at just before 10.45pm, Ms Creasy was seen sitting at a table with pip during the final stages of the Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Awards in London, the main presentation stage of which finished around 11pm. And yesterday morning she was on Lorraine with Pip sleeping in a cot beside her.

Asked on Twitter she could not just leave Pip at the parliamentary nursery - which is ranked Good by Ofsted and caters for children from birth to aged five, she replied: 'There is not a free creche, I pay for it and it's great and I use it for my older child, but this one is just 13 weeks old and needs to feed so not practical. Without maternity cover to make sure Walthamstow gets heard, baby needs to come with me for now.'

The little-used Commons nursery was set up in 2010 at a cost of 750,000 to make politics more family friendly and initially counted David Cameron's daughter Florence amongst its pupils.

But an FOI four years later showed it had lost a further 383,500, taking total costs to more than 1million. Use of the facility among MPs has been low, with only around 10 politicians currently believed to be using it.

The nursery charges 1,278 per child per month for five days a week care for those aged under two, and 1,170 for older children.

It opens at 8am Monday to Friday, but is only open late on a Monday, when it closes at 10:30pm. It closes at 7.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and 6.30pm on Thursday. On Fridays it closes at 6pm.

A YouGov poll found the majority of Britons disagree with Ms Creasy, with 49% believing MPs should not be allowed to bring babies into the chamber versus 35% who who say they should

This means it was not open last night when Ms Creasy attended the Spectator event in her capacity as an MP.

Ms Creasy's partner is Dan Fox, a former director of Labour Friends of Israel.

Ms Creasy has previously taken part in debates in the Commons chamber while carrying one of her two children, and following the 2019 election was sworn in while carrying daughter Hettie.

Ms Creasy was criticised by Red Wall Tory MP Scott Benton, who questioned why she needed to bring her son to work.

'Parents who get paid a fraction of what you do pay for childcare and juggle responsibilities so they can go to work,' the Blackpool South MP said.

'What makes you so special?'

Ms Creasy later hit back, saying: 'We don't have employment rights so don't have maternity cover to be able to do juggling, hence needing to take baby with me.

'But great to hear your support for ensuring mothers can be part of politics. Guess being anti choice for women is just in your DNA.'

And the issue divided users on Mumsnet, with some suggesting they would not take a baby into their own business meetings, while others said Ms Creasy was 'highlighting an important point'.
Australian peacekeepers have restored order to the Solomon Islands after furious anti-China riots saw buildings set ablaze and shops looted.

Protesters have left a trail of destruction over the last three days, venting fury at the government's decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has blamed foreign powers for encouraging the unrest in the country that is a strategic battleground in the hotly-contested Pacific region.

Sydney dispatched police to the islands to provide security but promised it would not 'intervene in any way in domestic matters.'

It comes as Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton launched a broadside against China for stoking conflict in the Pacific, citing Beijing's aggression towards Taiwan and attacks on democracy in Hong Kong.

Adding to the tensions, it emerged this week that a Chinese spy ship lurked off the Australian coast for three weeks, passing major military bases.

Parts of the Chinatown district on fire in Honiara on Solomon Islands on Thursday as rioters torched buildings in the capital in a second day of anti-government protests

Australian Federal Police officers patrolling with local police in Honiara on Friday

Smoke rises from a burnt out buildings in Honiara's Chinatown on Friday

'We're all familiar with the frequent claims of the Chinese government that it is committed to peace, cooperation and development,' Dutton said in a speech in Canberra.

'And yet we bear witness to a significant disconnect between the words and the actions. We've watched very closely as the Chinese government has engaged in increasingly alarming activities.'

The Chinese embassy said Dutton had distorted China's foreign policy, misled the Australian people and was 'fanning conflict and division between peoples and nations'.

'It is inconceivable that China-Australia relationship will take on a good momentum... if the Australian government bases its national strategy on such visionless analysis and outdated mentality,' it said in a statement.

A night-time curfew has been imposed in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara after tear gas was fired in Chinatown in the capital, Honiara, to stop the looting.

Many of the protesters come from the most populous province Malaita and feel overlooked by the government in Guadalcanal province and oppose its 2019 decision to end diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establish formal links with China.

Malaita premier Daniel Suidani said in a statement this week that Prime Minister Sogavare had 'elevated the interest of foreigners above those of Solomon Islanders' and should resign.

'I feel sorry for my people in Malaita because they are fed with false and deliberate lies about the switch,' Sogavare told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

'These very countries that are now influencing Malaita are the countries that don't want ties with the People's Republic of China.'

China and Taiwan have been rivals in the South Pacific for decades with some island nations switching allegiances.

China views Taiwan as a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties, which the government in Taipei hotly disputes.

Only 15 countries maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The last two to ditch Taipei in favour of Beijing were the Solomon Islands and Kiribati in September 2019.

A Chinese spy ship was spotted lurking off the Australian coast for three weeks and passing several major military bases (pictured, surveillance ship used by China to monitor the military exercises between Australia and the United States)

The route taken by the Chinese spy ship (above)

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said in a statement to Reuters: 'We have nothing to do with the unrest'.

China is concerned about the developments in the Solomon Islands, Zhao Lijiang, a spokesman at the Chinese foreign ministry, told a regular news conference.

'Facts have proven that the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Solomon Islands is in line with the fundamental and long-term development of the Solomon Islands,' Zhao said. 'Any attempt to undermine the normal development of China-Solomon Islands relations would be futile.'

Solomon Island resident Transform Aqorau said more than a hundred people were on Friday looting shops, before Australian Federal Police officers arrived.

'The scenes here are really chaotic. It is like a war zone,' Aqorau told Reuters by telephone on Friday morning.

A crowd gathers at Naha Police Station as they defy the lockdown in the capital. The island nation has erupted in anti-Chinese riots so severe Australia has decided to send in troops and police officers

A building prominently displaying three Taiwanese flags (pictured) was left untouched while other shops and businesses were torched in the Solomon Islands as protests rage over the nation's decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China

Australian Federal Police Special Operations officers head to Honiara as the vanguard of Australia's snap peacekeeping deployment

A fireman walks past a torched hardware store in Honiara. Rioters have targeted shops and businesses in the Chinatown part of the city

'There is no public transport and it is a struggle with the heat and the smoke. Buildings are still burning.'

He said later Australian police were 'taking control of Chinatown'.

Neighbouring Papua New Guinea also sent 35 police and security officers to Honiara on Friday.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was sending 100 police personnel and was 'clearly focused on stability in our region'.

Australian police were previously deployed to the Solomon Islands in 2003 under a peace keeping mission authorised by a Pacific Island Forum declaration and stayed for a decade.

Severe internal unrest and armed conflict from 1998 to 2003 involved militant groups from Guadalcanal and the neighbouring island of Malaita, and fighting on the outskirts of Honiara.
The married far-Right firebrand hoping to become President of France is expecting a love child with a personal assistant who is 35 years his junior.

Eric Zemmour, 63, took legal action to try and prevent Closer from publishing details of his secret affair with Sarah Knafo, 28.

But the privacy application was thrown out of court and on Friday the magazine ran with the headline: 'Eric Zemmour is going to be a daddy in 2022'.

This is when Zemmour, who has criminal convictions for spreading racial hatred, hopes to go head-to-head with Emmanuel Macron for the presidency.

Zemmour, a magazine journalist turned television pundit, has already been convicted twice on similar charges, but is still riding high in opinion polls.

They suggest that he will go head-to-head with Mr Macron if  as he has indicated  he stands for the French presidency in April 2022.

The polls suggest that he would get through the first round of the presidential elections in April, and then get beaten by Mr Macron in the second.

He has already provoked controversy in France by frequently raging against Muslims, black people and anybody else from an immigrant background.

Eric Zemmour, 63, took legal action to try and prevent Closer from publishing details of his secret affair with Sarah Knafo, 28. But the privacy application was thrown out of court and on Friday the magazine ran with the headline: 'Eric Zemmour is going to be a daddy in 2022'

French far-right media pundit Eric Zemmour (L) and his advisor Sarah Knafo pose during a photo session in Paris on April 22, 2021

Zemmour with his wife Mylene Chichportich and lawyer during his trial for incitement to racial hatred in Paris in June, 2015

Zemmour with his wife of 35 years Mylene Chichportich outside a court in Paris in 2011

Zemmour has also been accused of virulent anti-Semitism after denying  against all the historical evidence  that the French collaborated with the Nazis during the wartime Holocaust.

And he said on Monday that fears about the new coronavirus had been overblown and that France's vaccine passport should be scrapped.

"We need to put this epidemic back in the right proportion. We have played a lot on people's fears. We have gone too far, and we've been going too far since the beginning," Zemmour told France Info radio.

And his popularity in opinion polls appears to be dragging other presidential hopefuls to the right.

Michel Barnier, the former European Union Brexit negotiator and now a challenger for the French presidency, today said France had lost control of immigration and that a sense of impunity prevailed.

Barnier, who is locked in a five-way race for the centre-right Les Republicains party's nomination, lamented France's 'big decline' and said President Emmanuel Macron's leadership style was too arrogant and single-minded to heal divides.

'Immigration is out of control,' Barnier, 70, told Reuters before addressing party members in Paris late on Monday. "Our security is no longer guaranteed. There is a sense of impunity and insecurity throughout the country."

Barnier proposes a moratorium on immigration to fix Europe and France's broken rules on migration, wants soldiers to patrol some communities where police are seen to have lost control and advocates a referendum on restoring military service.

An erstwhile moderate of the centre-right, Barnier dismissed the suggestion he was being drawn onto far-right turf to win back conservative voters from Zemmour and Marine Le Pen.

Pictured: Eric Zemmour's relationship with Sarah Knafo was featured on the cover of Paris Match

The far-right politician has been described as a more extreme Gallic version of Donald Trump. He caused controversy this week after he pointed a gun at journalists at a defence industry show in Paris

"I'm looking at the problem my country faces," he said.

The race for the centre-right ticket is led by Xavier Bertrand, who heads the northern Hauts-de-France region, and Valerie Pecresse, leader of the Ile de France region around Paris, but Barnier has emerged as a credible challenger.

Both Mr Zemmour and his lover Ms Knafo had complained about 'an invasion of privacy' before Closer published the revelation - but Paris judges ruled otherwise.

The pair are extremely high profile, and over the summer were pictured in an intimate clinch as they swam in the sea together.

In a previous issue in October, Closer featured a photo of Mr Zemmour with a picture of his wife, lawyer Mylene Chichportich, whom he married in 1982.

The couple have three grown-up children together, leading to journalists claiming there was public interest in knowing about his relationship with Ms Knafo.

In turn, lawyers for Mr Zemmour quoted European Human Rights legislation to try and get the Closer edition, and its online coverage, banned.

They claimed that claims about the pregnancy 'do not contribute in any way to any debate of general interest.

Earlier this month, Zemmour went on trial in Paris for calling child migrants 'thieves, rapists and murderers'.

A verdict in the case for 'complicity in provoking racial hatred and racial insult' is expected in the new year.
Britain's most senior civil servant has admitted he agrees with a damning assessment of Whitehall's failings made by the Government's former vaccines tsar.

Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said mandarins do not have the 'skills and experience' needed to address the country's biggest challenges.

Many civil service officials lack the 'technical and specialist knowledge' to effectively implement the government's post-pandemic improvement plans, he wrote today.

In a letter to The Times, he said he agreed with Dame Kate Bingham, the mastermind of the Covid vaccine programme, who this warned earlier this week that civil service 'groupthink' is holding Britain back.

He said he wanted to see a complete overhaul of training for officials which would be geared towards supporting 'greater innovation and creativity'.

Mr Case wrote: 'Dame Kate Bingham is correct in her assessment of the lack of skills and experience in science, industry and manufacturing across government.

'Her criticism is also one that the civil service has recognised itself. Improving our technical and specialist knowledge is at the heart of implementing our post-pandemic reform plans.'

Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, said mandarins do not have the 'skills and experience' needed to address the country's biggest challenges.

Dame Kate Bingham, the mastermind of the Covid vaccine programme, warned earlier this week that civil service civil service 'groupthink' is holding Britain back

Civil servants should also get more experience outside of the Whitehall bubble, Mr Case argued, saying that Government should have 'more Dame Kates'.

The former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre also mounted a withering attack on the civil service 'blob' last week.

He described his experience of applying for the role as an 'infelicitous dalliance with the Blob', claimed that only Left-wingers are given top public sector jobs and said it was senior civil servants 'not elected politicians, who really run this country'.

Dame Kate, a venture capitalist appointed head of the vaccines taskforce last year, lashed out at the lack of quality of Boris Johnson's Cabinet and the Civil Service in a major speech earlier this week.

The entrepreneur warned the lack of scientific knowledge among mandarins and ministers had left the country 'woefully unprepared' for the virus and risked causing problems if the country is faced with a new killer disease.

Speaking at Oxford University she said there was 'a huge lack of relevant skills and experience' in the PM's relatively youthful Cabinet, citing its lack of experience in Stem (science technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.

She also lashed out at senior former ministers who, like David Cameron and Gordon Brown, have left Parliament instead of remaining on the backbenches to offer their experience.

Giving the university's annual Romanes lecture, she criticised civil servants for relying too much on 'hired guns' - contractors brought in to offer expertise - instead of building the skills internally.

'The problem was that the departments lacked knowledge of the commercial biosciences landscape and lack the science and technical understanding needed to be operationally effective,' she said.

'Less than 10 per cent of fast track civil servants have background in stem, lower than US France and Germany.

'Nor is the situation better among the most senior officials. I have only been able to identify three permanent secretaries - the senior civil servants who run the government departments - with Stem degrees. This is a group dominated by historians and economists, few of whom it seems have ever worked outside Whitehall.'

Attacking the 'culture of the Civil Service' she said: 'While I was in post I saw an almost obsessive desire among officials to avoid any suggestion of personal error or scope for criticism. And a concern amounting to paranoia about media handling and the possible public reaction.

'This created groupthink and an massive aversion to risk which in turn held back innovation and the pace of execution.'
His neighbours always found Richard Dexter something of an enigma. Suave and well dressed, he boasted that he was a helicopter pilot and claimed to earn so much that he only had to work one or two days a year.

So it came as a surprise when he apparently had to move out of his house in Waterlooville, Hampshire, having failed to pay the rent.

I believe he had money issues, a former neighbour revealed. He was good looking but we never thought for one moment that he was someone you could rely on.

It is a lesson that Dubai-based business executive Amrita Sebastian would later learn to her cost in a case that saw Dexter convicted this week of conning her out of almost 150,000.

Richard Dexter faces jail for conning a millionairess he met on dating app Tinder into handing him 141,000

The pair met on the dating website Tinder in 2015 and while it is common to connect with prospective partners online these days, perhaps if Miss Sebastian had met Dexter locally she would have come to the same conclusion as his neighbours. She might also have realised he was less than desirable as a romantic prospect as he had an on-off partner with whom he had a daughter.

As it was, when Dexter, 38, told her he was on the verge of a big windfall, having acquired the patents to valuable biopharmaceutical technology, she believed him.

He claimed that big corporations including the US medical firm 3M were interested in signing a multi-million pound deal with him. On the back of his lies, Miss Sebastian handed over a series of payments believing they were investments.

But Dexter pocketed the cash for himself and came up with increasingly bizarre excuses for why he couldnt pay her back.

Realising she had been conned, Miss Sebastian called police.

When officers raided Dexters home they found a document that claimed he had more than 4million invested with the financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown. But this was a total fabrication and the account actually belonged to a friend of his whose balance was in reality 37p.

Arrested by police, father-of-two Dexter pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud. He denied forging patent documents and perverting the course of justice in a bid to wheedle his way out of justice.

But on Thursday a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court found him guilty of both counts. Released on bail ahead of sentencing, he was warned that he could expect to be sent to prison.

During the trial Robert Bryan, prosecuting, said that when Miss Sebastian met Dexter he claimed to be a successful businessman selling biopharma software.

When it came to talking himself up, Dexter was an expert. When we asked what he did for a living, he said he flew helicopters, another neighbour said. It was strange because three weeks later he was carted off in an ambulance with what looked like an asthma attack  Id be surprised if a helicopter pilot had asthma attacks.

The neighbour said he had bragged about importing a Porsche Boxster and a VW campervan, adding: It was always that they were going to be imported  but we never saw them. He drove a Golf that was about six years old.

One middle-aged married woman said: He would big himself up to make it sound like he lived above his means but you could see that he didnt. He was never trying to elicit anything from us, it was just bravado.

Far away in Dubai, Miss Sebastian knew nothing of the reality of his lifestyle and his patter clearly worked when he persuaded her he needed capital to start production of a piece of scientific equipment.

She initially invested 40,000, then 68,000 two months later, having been assured he could cover any losses she might make.

Mr Bryan said: At the centre of his fraud were patents and a patent catalogue he claimed to be buying. Having said he had acquired these patents, he said that well-known companies such as Pall Corp and 3M were interested in the patents and licence deals which would bring in significant sums. She invested.

When Dexter told her he needed more to cover bills including lawyers fees, she advanced him extra funds. She then continued paying him to protect the initial investments with the hope of a large windfall ahead.

Mr Bryan said: Towards the end of 2016, he promised he would repay her full investment in January 2017. On that basis, she lent him the final 5,500 as he was in dire financial straits heading towards Christmas. He promised he would pay 100,000 as interest.

Dexter previously pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud but had denied forging patent documents and perverting the course of justice in a bid to 'wheedle out' of his alleged fraud

But Miss Sebastian received nothing, with Dexter claiming that the bank had closed his account and taken control of his home, the court heard.

In April 2018, police went to Dexters house where they found the doctored document from Hargreaves Lansdown.

Why doctor an investment report belonging to another to show you have 4million? Mr Bryan asked the jury. Mr Dexter does not have, nor has he had, an account with Hargreaves Lansdown, let alone one containing over 4million.

Then in December 2018, a number of computer memory sticks were handed in to police by his former partner Maisie Evans, with whom he was in an on-off relationship for eight years.

Miss Evans, who works in marketing and has a daughter with Dexter, told the court he had previously asked her to hide the memory sticks containing falsified licensing agreements purporting to relate to a patent.

She left him and moved to Bristol when he was arrested in December 2018, taking the box in which she had put the memory sticks.

She was later contacted by Dexters friend and business partner about the sticks but instead of giving them to him, she handed them to Hampshire Constabulary. Detectives contacted the Intellectual Property Office but it was unable to locate anything to suggest the patent referred to in the agreements was genuine.

Dexter was convicted by a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court (stock image)

Miss Evans also told the court that Dexter used to gaslight her, repeatedly starting arguments and ordering her to pack her bags, then suddenly changing his mind.

He often told me things that were not true, she said. He lied to me about many, many things throughout our relationship.

The court was told she had also previously reported Dexter to police for punching her in the mouth. Inquiries were launched but no further action was taken due to a lack of evidence. In his defence, Dexter said he was a successful Bitcoin investor and accused Miss Evans of creating the documents to frame him after a difficult custody battle.He also claimed to have three finalised agreements that would prove he bought a patent but that they could not be produced for the court.

He said one was with a solicitor who had died last year and could not be retrieved, one was on a laptop that was stolen in 2019, and a third was in a storage facility in the US.

Im not a fraudster, he told the jury, adding: I didnt enter the guilty pleas willingly. I found a solicitor who sadly passed away. I was left unrepresented and his firm had nobody to take my case on and they lost my files.

He claimed the lawyers he then instructed did not have a full picture of the case and pressured him to plead guilty.

The jury heard that Dexter, who will be sentenced on December 23, was of good character, other than a 2014 drink-driving conviction.

What they did not hear was how he had tried to appeal against that conviction, claiming a police officer had contaminated the breathalyser. Dexter also tried to argue that his use of an electronic cigarette and chewing gum affected a roadside test.

But the appeal was dismissed after the court heard the officer had to make a number of attempts to get a reading and believed Dexter was trying to cheat the test.

A breath of dishonesty  and a taste of worse things to come.
The Botswana Covid variant, described by experts as the worst strain ever, has all the worrying mutations from previous versions of the virus, plus many more that could make it the most infectious and vaccine-resistant one so far.

The super strain has acquired the mutations of Delta, which made that variant so transmissible that it became world-dominant in months.

And the new variant also includes the vaccine-resistant alterations seen on Beta  another strain of concern that emerged in South Africa and was thought to be best at escaping the immune system until now.

It also contains a drop-out mutation that helped the Alpha variant take off in the UK last winter. In total, the new super strain has 32 mutations on its spike protein, more than any variant before it and twice as many as Delta.

It contains two unique alterations on a specific part of the spike which help viruses open the door to human cells.

All warning signs suggest it will become world-dominant in months but scientists have cautioned they have not confirmed any of the effects of the mutations in a laboratory.

South Africas population has very high levels of natural immunity and seems to be spreading with ease, which UK experts think may allow it to easily infect former Covid patients.

But there is no rise in hospitalisations in the region, which raises hopes it could be a milder Covid iteration.

Here is everything we know about the variant so far:

The Botswana variant has around 50 mutations and more than 30 of them are on the spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus. But the mutations may make the spike protein look so different that the body's immune system struggles to recognise it and fight it off. And three of the spike mutations (H665Y, N679K, P681H) help it enter the body's cells more easily. Meanwhile, it is missing a membrane protein (NSP6) which was seen in earlier iterations of the virus, which experts think could make it more infectious. And it has two mutations (R203K and G204R) that have been present in all variants of concern so far and have been linked with infectiousness

What is so concerning about the variant?

Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries.

The variant  which the World Health Organization has named Omicron  has 32 mutations on the spike protein  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain.

Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario.

This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein.

The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike from older versions of the virus.

But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off.

It also includes mutations found on the Delta variant that allow it to spread more easily.

Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks.

What mutations does the variant have?

The Botswana variant has more than 50 mutations and more than 30 of them are on the spike protein.

It carries mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant.

These two mutations, along with H655Y, may also make it easier for the virus to sneak into the body's cells.

And the mutation N501Y may make the strain more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others.

Two other mutations (R203K and G204R) could make the virus more infectious, while a mutation that is missing from this variant (NSP6) could increase its transmissibility.

It also carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines.

But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant  which was linked with a surge of cases in the state in March  that has been linked to antibody escape.

Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear.

Will it affect Christmas in the UK?

Experts said it will be weeks until they know how worrying the new variant is, so it is not yet clear what extra steps might need to be taken in the run up to Christmas.

The only restrictions brought in by the Government so far has been to add six countries to the red list.

But Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

And when asked what the situation would mean for the UK around the festive period, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Plan B measures  including mandatory face masks and work from home guidance  would be brought in if needed to control infection rates.

Is it a variant of concern?

The World Health Organization has classified the virus as a variant of concern, the label given to the highest-risk strains.

This means WHO experts have concluded its mutations allow it to spread faster, cause more severe illness or hamper the protection from vaccines.

Where has the variant been detected so far?

The variant has so far been spotted in five nations: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium.

Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in north east South Africa where Johannesburg is based.

The first case was uploaded to international variant database GISAID by Hong Kong and was spotted in someone who travelled to the country from South Africa.

No cases have been seen in the UK. But scientists do not sequence every positive Covid sample in the UK and not everyone who catches the virus will take a test.

This means there could be people infected with the variant in Britain.

What is the UK doing about the variant?

The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26.

The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned.

Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test.

Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight.

And the UK Health Security Agency classified B.1.1.529 as a Variant Under Investigation, which means it has worrying mutations.

Experts will now conduct a risk assessment and may increase its ranking to Variant of Concern if it is confirmed to be more infectious, cause more severe illness or make vaccines and medicines less effective.

Where did B.1.1.529 first emerge?

The first case was uploaded to international variant database GISAID by Hong Kong on November 23. The person carrying the new variant was travelling to the country from South Africa.

The UK was the first country to identify that the virus could be a threat and alerted other nations.

Since then, 77 cases have been confirmed in South Africa, two in Hong Kong and three in Botswana.

Health chiefs in Israel today announced it had one confirmed and two suspected B.1.1.529 cases, while there are two suspected cases in Belgium.

Experts believe the strain may have originated in Botswana, but continental Africa does not sequence many positive samples, so it may never be known where the variant first emerged.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, told MailOnline the virus likely emerged in a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

In patients with weakened immune systems infections can linger for months because the body is unable to fight it off. This gives the virus time to acquire mutations that allow it to get around the body's defences.

Will I be protected if I have a booster?

Scientists have warned the new strain could make Covid vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one.

The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: 'The booster jab was already important before we knew about this variant  but now, it could not be more important.'

When will we know more about the variant?

Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away.

The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks.

But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths.

What is the variant called?

The strain was scientifically named as B.1.1.529 on November 24, one day after it was spotted in Hong Kong, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the 'Nu' variant.
Ambulance service chiefs are launching an urgent review into the impact of a low traffic neighbourhood scheme amid fears paramedics may have been delayed in getting to patients.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) say there have been a 'number of delays' due to Stockport Council's 'Active Neighbourhood' scheme.

The trial scheme, launched in the Heaton Chapel area of Greater Manchester in September, has seen roads blocked off with traffic-calming flower beds in a bid to cut off rat-runs and ultimately reduce traffic.

But ambulance service chiefs say paramedics have had to 'navigate around' the road closures.

Astonishing CCTV, flagged to council chiefs by concerned residents, appears to show ambulances on blue lights have to u-turn in the road due to the planters.

Council bosses say all emergency services were consulted before the three month trial, which is due to end next month.

However they are now 'urgently awaiting' the findings of a review by NWAS who said in a statement: 'The trust has looked into some of the incidents reported by residents and found that there were a number of delays, as some ambulances had to navigate around the road closures.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) say there have been a 'number of delays' due to Stockport Council's 'Active Neighbourhood' scheme (pictured)

Ambulance service bosses say paramedics have had to 'navigate around' the road closures. Astonishing CCTV (pictured), flagged to council chiefs by concerned residents, appears to show ambulances on blue lights have to u-turn in the road due to the planters.

The review comes after residents flagged CCTV of ambulances appearing to do u-turns when confronted by traffic-calming planters in Heaton Chapel

'As a result, we are now undertaking an investigation into all incidents reported to us and will be consulting with the council. We are also reiterating to staff the importance of our reporting systems to identify these types of issues.'

The review comes after residents flagged CCTV of ambulances appearing to do u-turns when confronted by traffic-calming planters in Heaton Chapel.

What is Stockport Council's Active Neighbourhoods scheme? Stockport Council's Active Neighbourhoods scheme is a type of low traffic neighbourhood, which aims to cut down traffic by making it more difficult to drive in a designated area. This is achieved by using planters - large flower beds - to block of sections of road. Ultimately, a resident or road user can still get to everywhere via car in a low traffic neighbourhood, however they may have to go the long way round and they can no longer cut through the area. Stockport Council hopes that the scheme, which is currently being trialed in parts of the town, will encourage more people to make short trips on foot or by bike - because the planters do not prevent pedestrians or cyclist from getting through. Similar schemes have been rolled out in different areas nationwide - to mixed reviews. Earlier this year Ealing Council scrapped its low traffic neighbourhood scheme after residents voted against it in a referendum. Advertisement

Footage appears to show several ambulances with blue lights flashing being forced to turn around since it began on September 10.

Locals say they have had to give directions to confused emergency service workers who have come up against the roadblocks.

Outraged locals repeatedly highlighted the issue to the council, saying the 'overkill' planters cause emergency vehicles up to four minutes' delay and ultimately could cost lives.

Council transport chiefs had firmly rebuked the idea of the planters causing ambulance delays and branded the claims 'misinformation' in a letter sent to residents on September 28.

However NWAS have since investigated the incidents caught on camera and claim there have indeed been 'a number of delays as some ambulances had to navigate around the road closures'.

Stockport Council said the safety of residents is 'of paramount importance' and are looking into the situation, while the 'trial' scheme remains in place until early December before a consultation takes place next year.

Resident Alison Stafford-Bentley said she 'feels sorry' for paramedics caught out by the roadblockers and admits she was annoyed by the 'misinformation' letter as she claims to have seen the issue first-hand.

Alison, 55, said: '[Head of Highways and Transportation of Stockport Council] Sue Stevenson sent out this letter saying that the ambulance delays were "misinformation". I challenged her on this at the drop-in at a school in early October.

'She said 'I never said it was misinformation'. I said 'Do you want me to show you the letter?' She just turned away at that point, because she knew I was right.

'It really annoys me when they say that this is misinformation.

'How would they feel if it was one of their relatives waiting for an ambulance because it was getting diverted down different roads?

Council transport chiefs had firmly rebuked the idea of the planters causing ambulance delays and branded the claims 'misinformation' in a letter sent to residents on September 28.

'The scheme started on September 10 and since then we've had eight delays that I know of.

'But people have been telling me about other delays they've seen, so that's about ten or twelve - which is more than one a week.'

Alison even claims to have approached an ambulance driving near her house on November 2 and says she found they were unaware of the new road scheme.

Alison said: 'I felt sorry for the two paramedics, because they told me they didn't have any idea about these planters or the scheme.

Concerned campaigner Helen Jones, 49, has spoken out against the scheme as she believes there are delays occurring but they are not being logged

'They told me they were trying to get onto Bollington Road, and I was telling them how to get there. I asked 'have you not been told? Are you not aware of this?'.

'They said 'no'. They also said 'It's absolutely ridiculous, we're driving up and down these roads and we can't get where we need to be'.

'I just feel it's terrible. They're trying to get to an emergency which they need to get to as quickly as possible, and yet these filters are impeding them.

'I did ask the guys to report it. These guys are working, their jobs are to save lives.

'At the end of the day, the last thing they're probably thinking is 'we've got to file paperwork', so I can understand it. It's hard for them.

'We're being told that the ambulance drivers are being told about the scheme when they're clearly not.

'I would hate to think that it would take a fatality for this to be brought to somebody's attention and for something to be done about it.'

Concerned campaigner Helen Jones, 49, has spoken out against the scheme as she believes there are delays occurring but they are not being logged.

Helen said: 'With all this footage, there's no way that these ambulances haven't been delayed.

'I think the council have seen this footage - they know. The councillors have seen the footage because it's been all over Facebook.

'We're getting nowhere, even though we have video footage. I don't see how it can be denied.'

Helen claims that most residents who showed up to a meeting about the scheme were against its implementation.

Alison even claims to have approached an ambulance driving near her house on November 2 and says she found they were unaware of the new road scheme.

Helen claims that most residents who showed up to a meeting about the scheme were against its implementation

A spokesperson for Stockport Council said: 'We had been made aware of reports from residents regarding ambulances travelling through the area.

'We consulted all of the emergency services prior to the start of the trial, and we have been in dialogue with the North West Ambulance Service since the trial began.

'We had been reassured by NWAS that there had been no issues with their crews being affected by the modal filters.

'Following a letter sent to residents by NWAS regarding crews experiencing delays, both ourselves and Transport for Greater Manchester are urgently awaiting the details from the NWAS operations team so we can understand the issues that their crews have faced while travelling through the area.

'The safety of our residents is of paramount importance to the council.

'With the trial scheme coming to an end in early December, a consultation on a permanent scheme for the area will take place in early 2022.'
This is the horrifying moment a Texas man shot his partner's ex-husband dead during a furious child custody row outside of his home.

Footage shows Kyle Carruth opening fire on Chad Read after the two squared up against each other and wrestled over the gun in Lubbock, Texas.

However, Carruth has not yet been charged by police over the killing with his lawyers arguing that it was 'justifiable homicide' and carried out in self defence.

The argument leading up to the November 5 shooting centred around a custody dispute over the children of Chad Read and his ex-wife Christina Read.

Through her attorney, Chad Read's widow Jennifer Read released a statement along with the footage that shows the moment her 54-year-husband was shot and killed by Carruth, reportedly Christina Read's new boyfriend.

In an affidavit, Jennifer Read has since accused Christina Read and Kyle Carruth of engaging 'in a conspiracy to assault and/or murder Chad that day,' and claims that Chad had threatened to expose Carruth's affair with Christina.

She has said Carruth was already married to Judge Ann-Marie Carruth, who is the judge of the 72nd District Court in Crosby and Lubbock counties, and that Chad Read had threatened to expose the affair.

Pictured: Two men, Kyle Carruth (left in a black top and holding a rifle) and Chad Read (right wearing a teal top) are seen in a grab from mobile phone footage squaring off outside a home that reportedly belongs to Carruth

Left: Carruth fires one shot into the floor at the pair's feet, which does not appear to deter Chad Read, who continues to push against Carruth. Right: Suddenly, Carruth jumps back away from the porch, raises the rifle and fires two shots at Chad Read, who slumps to the floor

Chad Read (left) was married to Jennifer Read (right) when he was shot dead by his ex-wife Christina Read's boyfriend Kyle Carruth

The footage, captured by Jennifer Read from a car parked on the street outside Kyle Carruth's South Lubbock home, shows Chad Read arguing with his ex-wife and Carruth.

From the mobile phone video, it appears that Chad Read and Kyle Carruth are arguing on the porch of the house, with Christina Read standing to the right.

Kyle Carruth - wearing a black top and jeans - is heard telling Chad Read to 'get off of my property'. Chad Read, who is wearing a teal top and jeans, gesticulates with his arms as Carruth turns around to go inside the house.

Chad Read turns around and continues talking to Christina Read, telling her that he wants his son, who he was supposed to have custody of from 3.15pm that day, according to Jennifer Read in an affidavit filed after the incident.

'I'm supposed to have him at 3.15,' Chad Read is heard saying to Christina Read. 'But you're playing games telling me that I have to pick him up at six?'

The pair continue arguing, with Chad Read suggesting that his son is probably at his ex-wife's mother's house. Christina Read is heard telling him that she wanted to see him, to which Chad Read says: 'I don't care if you wanted to see him or not.

'I get him at 3.15. If you want to see him you can see him up until 3.15. You keep trying to keep my son from me, I'm going to drag you, and Ann-Marie, and everybody else into court.'

It has been reported that Ann-Marie could refer to Judge Ann-Marie Carruth - who Jennifer Read has said is the wife of Carruth.

A second video, filmed from inside the house, showing the same incident. Left: Carruth and Chad Read face off in-front of Christina Read. Right: Carruth raises the rifle moments before firing two shots at Chad Read

The 'Castle Doctrine' law in Texas The attorney for Kyle Carruth, the man seen in the video shooting Chad Read, has cited the Castle Doctrine in his client's defense, saying the killing was 'justified homicide'. The castle doctrine, also known as a castle law or a defense of habitation law, is a legal doctrine that states a person's home or legal abode is a place where they have some protections and immunities permitting the use of force, in certain circumstances, to defend against intruders. The term is most often used in the United States, although other countries also have similar laws. In Texas, the so-called castle doctrine is found in the state's Penal Code, section 9.32. The section, titled 'Deadly force in defense of a person' states: (A) A person is justified in using deadly force against another: (1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and (2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary: (a) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or (b) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery. (B) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor: (1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used: (a) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; (b) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or (c) was committing or attempting to commit an offense described by Subsection (a)(2)(B); (2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and (3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used. (C) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the deadly force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this section. (d) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), in determining whether an actor described by Subsection (c) reasonably believed that the use of deadly force was necessary, a finder of fact may not consider whether the actor failed to retreat. Advertisement

Carruth is then shown re-emerging from the house holding a firearm, which he's holding down by his side, shouting 'leave' at Chad Read.

Chad Read is heard shouting back: 'Use it mother f***er,' and squaring up to Carruth, threatening to take the gun from him.

Now face-to-face, Carruth fires one shot into the floor at the pair's feet, which does not appear to deter Chad Read, who continues to push against Carruth.

Suddenly, Carruth jumps back away from the porch, raises the rifle and fires two shots at Chad Read, who slumps to the floor.

Carruth walks back to the porch and turns around to face the camera. Still holding the gun, he wags his finger as Jennifer Read is heard saying 'I have it on video Kyle'.

'I told all of y'all to leave,' Carruth is heard saying, telling her that his son is not at the house. 'None of y'all should be here, I asked you leave. I did everything. I did not want to do any of this,' he says.

A second video, filmed from inside the house, shows the same incident.

After Chad Read falls to the floor, his wife filming the incident appears surprisingly calm. She has written in the affidavit that she initially thought Carruth had used a paintball gun or 'some type of stun-gun'.

'Even when Kyle Carruth fired the shots, the sound was very muffled and not as loud as I know firearms to be,' she wrote.

'It wasnt until I got to Chad on the ground that I realized that he had in fact been shot and that the weapon held by Kyle Carruth was a firearm.'

Jennifer Read is now suing for custody of her step-children, according to a press release published by her attorney.

'Jennifer Read, the widow of Chad Read, has filed a Petition today seeking to take custody of Chad Read's children from their mother, Christina Read,' it says.

The woman and her attorney said they released the footage of 'Kyle Carruth's shooting of her husband' and the affidavit to 'speak for themselves'.

Carruth has not been charged over the incident. Carruth's attorney, David Guinn, told KCBD that the shooting was done in self defense, saying that Chad Read was trespassing on his property, citing the Castle Doctrine.

Speaking to the local news outlet, Guinn said the video 'confirms the Lubbock Police's thorough work reflects this as a justified homicide'.

'When a trespassing Chad Read advanced on Mr Carruth, who was standing within feet of the front door of his home and office, employees there, Mr Read said I'll take your gun and effing kill you with it and then tried to. It was then and only then did that gun get pointed at Mr Read at the fatal moment,' Guinn said.

Chad Read, Guinn added, had every opportunity to leave the property, saying that he was 'threatening to others' and that he 'chose to advance on Mr Carruth'.

'Mr Read said he'd take the gun and kill him with it,' the lawyer said. 'The gun went off into the patio, that still did not deter Mr Read, who then grabbed the gun and tried to kill Kyle.'

Citing the Castle Doctrine, a Texas law that allows someone 'to defend himself, others or his property,' Guinn said that the subsequent shooting was justified, adding that he hoped his client would not be indicted.

But Jennifer Read has since accused Christina Read and Kyle Carruth of conspiring to kill her slain husband, claiming that Chad had evidence of the couple's affair and threatened to make it public.

'I am the stepmother of the children the subject of this suit, ' the affidavit says.

Left: Chad Read argues with Kyle Carruth - the new boyfriend of his ex-wife. Right: Chat Read arguing with ex-wife Christina Read

'The mother of the children, Christina Read, has endangered the physical health and emotional well-being of the children by permitting them to be in the presence of the man that murdered their father,' Read claims in the document.

She also alleged that the children - two boys aged 9 and 14 - 'are aware that Kyle Carruth shot and killed their father in front of their mother, step-brother, and myself'.

'Christina's decision to allow either of these children to be in Kyle Carruth's presence has caused, and continues to cause, significant impairment of their emotional well-being. The oldest child has expressed to me that he blames his mother for the shooting, and that he will run away from home if he sees Kyle there again.'

'Christina Read and Kyle Carruth have been engaged in an ongoing affair, despite Kyle Carruth being married,' she also stated in the document before noting that she believes Carruth and Christina are planning to get married as soon as they can.

The affidavit added: 'On October 30, 2021, Chad Read informed Christina Read that he had evidence of her affair with Kyle Carruth and that he was going to go public with it.'

Jennifer goes on to suggest that Carruth and his girlfriend plotted to kill her husband, pointing out moments from the video that she says suggests it was deliberate.

She also goes on to claim that Carruth's wife, Judge Ann-Marie Carruth, has filed for divorce, and in an affidavit that she is 'very concerned' about her husband's health.

Jennifer has since taken to Facebook to share her thoughts and feelings about her husband's death and was seemingly in disagreement that Carruth fired the gun in an act of self defense

The widow has since taken to Facebook to share her thoughts and feelings about the incident.

'Today was supposed to be the first Happy Thanksgiving I have had since 2006 when my mom passed the day before thanksgiving,' she wrote in a post, adding: 'Thanks to Kyle Carruth and Christina holidays will never be happy.'

She suggested she hopes the couple ends up behind bars. 'Praying their holidays gong forward are spent in orange jumpsuits,' Jennifer said alongside a picture of her and her late husband.

Earlier, she wished a 'Happy Thanksgiving to everyone but Kyle Carruth' and posted a still image from the security footage showing the gunman smiling.

'Look at that smile. He is a cold blooded murderer she wrote,' clearly in disagreement that Carruth fired the gun in an act of self defense.

Investigators have turned their findings over to the Texas Attorney General's Office, which is handling all prosecutions related to this case going forward.

Lubbock County District Attorney Sunshine Stanek did not allow her office to take on the case and cited a local elected official - who is related to the shooting suspect and could be called as a witness - as her reasoning, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Russia is plotting a coup in Ukraine on December 1, the Ukrainian president announced today amid soaring tensions over thousands of Russian troops stationed at the border.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a news conference: 'We have challenges not only from the Russian Federation and possible escalation - we have big internal challenges.

'I received information that a coup d'etat will take place in our country on December 1-2.'

He also said his troops were in full control of the country's borders and stood ready for any escalation by Vladimir Putin.

The Kremlin was swift to deny Zelenskiy's claims, saying that Moscow would never participate in a coup.

Some 94,000 Russian troops have been sent to the Ukrainian border and the White House has warned Europe to brace for an invasion that would dwarf the 2014 annexation of the Crimea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a press conference in Kiev on Friday. The president said: 'We have challenges not only from the Russian Federation and possible escalation - we have big internal challenges. I received information that a coup d'etat will take place in our country on December 1-2.'

Zelensky speaks with members of the press at the Creative State Arsenal venue in Kiev on Friday

Vladimir Putin holds a binoculars as he watches the joint strategic exercise of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, on Sept. 13, 2021

A map shared with Military Times and replicated above shows how Ukrainian intelligence is bracing for a bloody and ferocious invasion that could see swathes of Ukraine captured in an assault which would dwarf the annexation of the Crimea in 2014

Ukraine's foreign minister warned Russia on Thursday that an attack on his country would incur 'political, economic and human losses' and would be too costly.

'We are not trying to guess what is in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's head,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a televised briefing.

'We are working to give him a clear understanding - a new attack on Ukraine will be too costly, so it is better not to do it.'

He said Kiev's main goal was to restrain Russia from 'further aggressive actions'.

'To do this, Moscow must clearly understand what political, economic and human losses it will incur in the event of a new stage of aggression,' Kuleba said.

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence told the Military Times outlet this weekend that Russia had more than 94,000 troops massed around Ukraine's borders and was preparing for an attack by the end of January or beginning of February.

Ukraine, which wants to join the NATO military alliance, received a large consignment of U.S. ammunition and Javelin missiles earlier this year, prompting criticism from Moscow.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian navy received two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats as a part of $2.5-billion package of assistance to Ukraine, and Kuleba said Ukraine could receive one another of the vessels.

Ukraine's ties with Russia collapsed in 2014 after Moscow backed separatists who rose up in eastern Ukraine and took control of territory that Kiev wants back.

Kiev says some 14,000 people have been killed in fighting since then.

A Ukrainian soldier walks along a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near the village of Talakivka, Donetsk region, on Wednesday

A Ukrainian soldier looks through a spyglass at a position on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near the village of Talakivka, Donetsk region

A Ukrainian soldier peers out of a dugout on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists

Russia has not turned its back on talks with France, Germany and Ukraine about how to implement a peace deal over eastern Ukraine, Maria Zakharova, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Thursday.

Warnings intensified on Monday as it emerged that U.S. had shared maps with European allies showing how a buildup of Russian troops and artillery could allow Putin to order a rapid invasion.

The intelligence lays out a scenario for a three-pronged attack.

Troops would cross into Ukraine from Crimea, the Russian border and Belarus, with about 100 battalion tactical groups - up to 100,000 soldiers in all.

Two sources said half the tactical groups was already in position and that any invasion would be backed by air support.

Such a move would dwarf the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Instead the two sources said Moscow had called up tens of thousands of reservists in the biggest mobilization since Soviet times. Their role would be to secure territory taken by the tactical battalions.

A plane performs a flight during military drills of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces in Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine November 21, 2021

Tanks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are seen during drills at an unknown location near the border of Russian-annexed Crimea

Moscow dismissed the reports as disinformation designed to cover up Ukraine's aggressive plans.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said movements of troops inside Russia whoudl worry no one.

Instead he turned the tables, painting Ukraine as the aggressor.

'The number of provocations has been growing, and those provocations have been conducted using the weapons that NATO countries sent to Ukraine,' he told reporters on a conference call, according to the Associated Press.

'We are watching it with a grave concern.'

But U.S. officials say they see a familiar playbook.

'Our concern is that Russia may make a serious mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook back in 2014, when it amassed forces along the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory and did so claiming falsely that it was provoked,' Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week.

For its part, Ukraine's defense ministry announced it had held a military drill of airborne forces close to the capital Kiev.

'We continue to have serious concerns about Russian military activities and harsh rhetoric toward Ukraine and call on Moscow to deescalate tensions,' said Jen Psaki

The drills simulated the landing of airborne troops and armoured personnel carriers for an attack on an enemy target, the ministry said in a statement. It released footage showing the landing of troops, supported by aircraft and helicopters.

Last week, Ukrainian marines conducted drills near the borders of Russian-annexed Crimea.

Ukraine's new defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said during a trip to Washington last week that Putin was 'playing chess' with the West but it remained unclear what his intentions were.

'We're not sure exactly what Mr Putin is up to,' Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, admitted on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Democratic and Republican lawmakers have added amendments to the draft 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that would address Russia's latest provocations

An amendment proposed by Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, and seen by CNN, called for 'substantial new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials - including Putin - in the event of a Russian escalation against Ukraine.
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Passengers arriving into the UK on one of the last flights from South Africa have revealed they were not offered tests and left to mix with hundreds of other passengers despite the country being a hotbed of the new super-mutant 'jab-dodging' Botswana Covid variant.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday today. They have all been placed on the red list.

But today, passengers arriving from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force.

The UK's lax contrasted with the approach in the Netherlands, where a video showed passengers arriving in Amsterdam being told they would not be allowed to leave the plane. They will be tested before being allowed to go home.

Meanwhile, one caller to the Jeremy Vine Show said her daughter was bypassing the ban by travelling back from South Africa via Egypt. 'She's managed to find a flight to Cairo and then from Cairo to Heathrow to get her back tomorrow,' the woman said, before adding: 'She doesn't want to stay in a hotel when she gets back.'

Passengers arriving at Heathrow today after the South Africa flight ban was announced (it is not clear where these particular passengers had travelled from)

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday today. Pictured: Passengers arriving at Heathrow today (destination not known)

Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers.

'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.'

Mr Javid has urged people arriving from red list countries to take PCR tests on day 2 and day 8  even if they are vaccinated - and isolate at home, along with the rest of their household.

In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain.

When the news was broken to them when they touched down at 8.06am on the British Airways flight BA43 from Heathrow Airport there was extreme anger and upset about the change of rules.

Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway, Ireland, had flown into Cape Town for 10 days to say a final goodbye to her terminally ill best friend and was very emotional before she arrived.

She said: 'My daughter Sasha is due to fly to visit me in Ireland on December 13 from San Francisco with her baby son Sebastian who is a one-year-old little baby boy of the pandemic.

'I cannot go into quarantine in a hotel for 10 days when I return and not see her or my grandchild. I just can't. I feel sick. I am going to have to cut short my stay with my friend who is dying.

'I've been crying since I got here': Newlywed couple touch down in Cape Town only to hear it's on the red list A newlywed landed in Cape Town for their 7,000 honeymoon only to find out they will have to fly back to the UK as soon as possible and isolate. Cat and Grant Norton from Edinburgh landed in South Africa this morning to be told the country has been added to the Red List. Doctor Cat, 29, and police officer Grant, 34, now have to get on the earliest flight back to the UK next, believed to be next Friday. They will then have to spend 10 days in a pricey quarantine hotel - costing around 3,700. The couple chose to honeymoon for 19 days in Cape Town so they could also visit Grant's family who are from the city and were unable to attend their wedding in July due to Covid. Speaking today, Ms Norton said: 'We turned our phones on when we landed on a million messages on WhatsApp from family and friends saying South Africa had been placed on the red list. 'We got no word of it coming off the plane. 'We went straight to the international sales desk to try to get a flight home, but we were told there were none. 'There has been no reply from our travel agent either. We have no plan, we are trying to get home, but we have to do a quarantine hotel. 'Grant's family wasn't able to make the wedding so this was our chance to see them. I have been crying basically since I got here.' Advertisement

'I'll have to spend a couple of hours with her only and then tell her I can't spend more time with her and get back to this airport and try to find a way home before my daughter arrives from the USA.

'My daughter works in San Francisco and is bringing her baby to meet his family for the first time so I cannot be in quarantine so I will have to say my short goodbyes to my lovely friend and get home.

'I am very angry but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. It is not how I would have wanted to say goodbye to my friend. I can't believe all this happened overnight with us all oblivious,' she said.

Father-of-six Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford, had just touched down to visit 5 of his children who live in Cape Town and was furious when he was told about the red listing and the need to quarantine on return.

Retired Tony said: 'I was supposed to stay here for a week and then get back to England for my daughter's university graduation which is exactly 10 days after I get back to the UK and I just cannot miss that.

'I have to be there for Charlie, 23, when she graduates as it didn't happen last year due to Covid so I will have to make lots of unplanned changes to my travel plans right away and just hope I get back in time.

'You telling me about the red listing and the quarantine and the sheer cost is the first I have heard about it and it sounds to me like a knee jerk reaction and shows once again this Government's incompetence.

'I am bloody furious and after a long day travelling and overnight spent in the air this is just not the news I want to hear on touch down and I am struggling to control my anger to be really honest.

'I have been double jabbed and had my booster and after going through all that and being told I am triple locked as safe I am now told I am going to have to pay a fortune to go into quarantine' he fumed.

Six Southern African countries Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa have been added to the UK and much of Europe's red list due to the Covid scare.

A married couple, who refused to be named, were travelling with their two young daughters aged 3 and 5 and were mortified when they heard about South Africa being red listed.

The husband stormed off furious and his wife said: 'Excuse him but it has got to him since we were told as we came through immigration and it has ruined our Christmas holiday.

'We have saved for two years to come out so our daughters can meet family and friends for the first time and this has just shattered our dreams as we can foresee a nightmare ahead.

'If the four of us have to pay to quarantine in a hotel when we go home it will cost us nearly 10,000 to be imprisoned in a hotel which is far more than this holiday is costing us.

'Quite frankly we haven't got the money so we are praying our holiday insurance will pay. We are keeping this from our girls because we don't want to spoil their holiday' she said.

There is huge concern about a new Covid variant which may be far more resistant to the vaccine and may be far more infectious than the variants that have gone before so far.

There are no direct flights to the UK from South Africa until at least 4am on Thursday and anyone arriving after that time will have to quarantine at their own expense on arrival.

It is believed passengers will have to pay 2350 to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days after news broke of the new variant known as B.1.1.529 first identified in a lab in South Africa.

South Africa's Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu expressed disappointment at the ban

She said the decision by the UK and European Union and Japan and Israel took place before the World Health Organisation could advise about the new Covid-19 strain of virus.

The Minister added: 'SA will continue working with policymakers in all the countries to ensure that the best possible interventions are put in place but we hope it's lifted soon.

Sisulu said she will attend the 24thSession of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organisation in Madrid from next Tuesday in a bid to open SA once again to tourists.

The Federated Hospitality Association of SA said it is hopeful the temporary ban will be lifted swiftly as scientists unpack the extent to which Covid-19 vaccines will be effective against the new variant, named B1.1.529.

National chair person Rosemary Anderson said: 'The UK is our largest inbound international market and last night's news by the British government has caused widespread disbelief and disappointment in our hospitality industry as we enter our peak festive season period'.

She said new variants were discovered all the time, often without making any major impact and was hopeful that advanced scientific capability will find that in this case there is little to worry about.

Anderson added: 'However, that does not mean that this decision by the British government won't have widespread repercussions, not only by dissuading British travellers to visit SA, but also due to the likely spin-off we will see from other key source markets if they take the UK's lead'.

In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain. Pictured is Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway (left) and Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford

SA's tourism and hospitality sector generates 1.5-million direct and indirect jobs and the new travel ban is a severe blow to a country just getting over severe lockdowns.

'There is no question that South Africans need to go out and get vaccinated as a matter of urgency,' Anderson added.

The Association of Southern African Travel Agents said the ban was a 'knee-jerk' reaction by the UK government that put airlines, hotels, travel businesses and travellers in a very difficult situation.

ASATA Chief Executive Officer Otto de Vries said: 'The world will unfortunately need to learn to live with Covid-19 variants for the foreseeable future.

'While we await more clarity, there is currently no scientific evidence that the new variant is more resistant to the vaccine'

The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association said it is too early to tell what the impact of the new variant will be but hopes the temporary ban will be lifted soon.

SATSACEO David Frost said: 'By imposing a blanket red list ban on Southern African countries as a 'precautionary' measure, the UK sends a signal to the world that they don't believe their vaccination programme will effectively deal with the variant, when we have seen that Covid-19 vaccines have performed their role to reduce the severity of hospitalisation and death from the virus'.

Mr Frost said: 'This news is devastating for our tourism industry not just because of the impact on British travellers headed to SA during the peak season but also because of the message it send out to the rest of the world.

'SA cannot consistently be punished for its advanced genomic sequencing abilities' he said.

SA infectious diseases expert Prof Marc Mendelson says there is nothing to indicate at this stage that the protection Covid-19 vaccines offer will change in the face of the latest variant.

South Africa has had 2.95m cases of Covid so far with 89,971 deaths with 114 reported in the last 24 hours along with 2465 new cases and has a successful recovery rate of 96.3%.

Sajid Javid warns 'the pandemic is far from over' amid fears of ANOTHER Christmas lockdown as No10 scientists admit super-mutant 'jab-dodging' Botswana variant 'could ALREADY be here' and Africa travel ban might be too late

Sajid Javid today warned the pandemic is 'far from over' after No10's experts admitted the new super-mutant, vaccine-evading Botswana Covid variant could already be in the UK and threatened another Christmas lockdown.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it is 'possible' the strain has already entered the UK and 'people are arriving every day' to the UK from South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been identified.

And Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), insisted people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' amid growing alarm at the emergence of a 'worst-ever' variant that could make vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective.

The Health Secretary told MPs this morning no cases of the strain have been recorded in the UK but warned it is of 'huge international concern' and poses poses a 'substantial risk to public health'.

He said the Government is working quickly but with a 'high degree of uncertainty' and boosters could not be more important now.

Around 700 people per day have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two week since it the strain was first detected in the country.

The government acted last night to ban arrivals from South Africa and five other countries. Top experts said that if the strain spreads faster and can avoid current jabs it 'will get here'. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that the aim of the travel restrictions is to 'slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country'.

But asked if it was possible the variant was already in the UK, Dr Hopkins said: 'Well, it's always possible. We have no cases identified whatsoever yet, nothing in our genome sequencing.

'So overall, I think the situation is reassuring in-country, but of course, people are arriving every day.'

The World Health Organization (WHO) is holding an emergency meeting later today to discuss the variant and is expected to name it the Greek letter 'Nu' in the coming days.

The B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  suggesting it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it. It has caused an 'exponential' rise in infections in South Africa.

In response, Mr Javid announced last night that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations after a first case was detected in the country today.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

The above slide shows the proportion of tests that picked up a SGTF mutation, a hallmark of the B.1.1.529. It suggests that the Covid variant may be spreading rapidly in the country. The slide was presented at a briefing today run by the South African Government

The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests B.1.1.529 is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government

The above shows the test positivity rate  the proportion of tests that picked up the virus  across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by B.1.1.529

Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list

Speaking in the House of Commons this morning, Mr Javid said it 'is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries'.

He said: 'We are concerned that this new variant may pose substantial risk to public health.

'The variant has an unusual large number of mutations.'

Yesterday the UK Health Security Agency classified B.1.1.529 as a new variant under investigation and the very technical group has designated it as a variant under investigation with very high priority.'

The Health Secretary added early indications show the current vaccines 'may be less effective against it'.

Earlier, Dr Susan Hopkins told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'The first look at it shows it has a variety of different mutations, it's got 30 different mutations that seem relevant, that's double what we had in Delta.

'And if you look at those mutations as mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evades the immune response, both from vaccines and natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility, it's a highly complex mutation, there's new ones we haven't seen before, so we don't know how they're going to interact in common.

'So all of this makes it a pretty complex, challenging variant and I think we will need to learn a lot more about it before we can say for definite it's definitely the most complex variant before.'

She added: 'It is the most worrying we've seen.'

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

Super-mutant Botswana Covid variant is now spotted in Israel The new 'worst ever' Botswana Covid variant causing international alarm has been detected in Israel today, as the ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant strain spreads to four countries in two weeks. Israel's health ministry said the patient tested positive for B.1.1.529 after returning from Malawi, suggesting it is already widespread on continental Africa. There are two other suspected cases in Israel. There are also two suspected cases in Belgium, but these are yet to be confirmed. A public health doctor from the country says the strain is 'likely already in Europe' but in small numbers. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting today to discuss the variant, and could name it 'Nu' which is the next letter available in the Greek alphabet. Germany and Italy joined the UK in suspending travel from South Africa today and, in a sign of growing alarm, the European Union is also proposing prohibiting travel from the country and its neighbours. Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid has raised the prospect of travel being suspended from more countries, saying the variant is a clear sign the pandemic is 'far from over'. He called on everyone to get their booster jabs. South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge with local scientists saying it is likely already in all the country's nine provinces. There is yet to be a surge in hospitalisations at the epicentre Johannesburg. The new case is the third outside of Africa after two were spotted in Hong Kong. The first was in a traveller who had recently returned from South Africa and a second has now been detected in the same quarantine hotel. Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it was 'highly likely' that the variant was already in other countries, adding that it poses a 'substantial risk to public health'. Countries are restricting travel from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. No measures have been announced for arrivals from Malawi. Advertisement

At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'If it spreads more quickly then yes it will get here, the travel ban will delay its arrival but if it spreads more quickly the lesson has surely been from all the variants we've seen before that it will get here eventually.

'We shouldn't despair, vaccines will be effective, so if you haven't had your vaccine go and get it, be that the booster, the first dose, the second dose.

'Secondly there are new medicines coming along these will not be affected almost certainly by this mutation.

'We have got much better at controlling the disease in other ways in hospital so it is bad news but it is not doomsday.'

Professor Finn said: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said the Government is taking a 'safety-first approach' to the new variant.

'It is important to make sure that you do act immediately and in doing so you get to slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country,' he told Sky News.

'That gives us a bit of time for the scientists to work on sequencing the genome, which involves growing cultures  it takes several weeks to do  so we can find out how significant a concern this particular variant is.

'It is a safety-first approach. We have done that before with things like the mink variant from Denmark and we were then able to relax it reasonably quickly.'

The chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said the new variant is the most 'complex' and 'worrying' seen.

Announcing the travel ban last night, Mr Javid said: 'The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

'Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time. But we've always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

'So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list.

'Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

'If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.'

The minister added: 'Our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. I'm concerned, of course, that's one of the reasons we have taken this action today.'

Asked what the situation would mean for the UK over the coming weeks, with Christmas approaching, Mr Javid said: 'We've got plans in place, as people know, for the spread of this infection here in the UK and we have contingency plans - the so-called Plan B.

'But today's announcement, this is about a new variant from South Africa - it's been detected in South Africa and Botswana - and this is about being cautious and taking action and trying to protect, as best we can, our borders.'

South African scientists, meanwhile, add that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

A baby cries as her mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

He said that more work was needed to understand how concerning the variant is, adding: 'From what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant.

'That would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.'

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement today that the UK's decision to ban flights 'seems to have been rushed'.

She said: 'Whilst South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps.

'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

The variant has not yet been given the title 'variant of concern' in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

The expert whose modelling helped instigate the first coronavirus lockdown said that the decision to impose travel restrictions was 'prudent'.

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: 'The B.1.1.529 variant has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein gene, the protein which is the target of most vaccines.

'There is therefore a concern that this variant may have a greater potential to escape prior immunity than previous variants.

'It is also concerning that this variant appears to be driving a rapid increase in case numbers in South Africa. The Government's move to restrict travel with South Africa is therefore prudent.

'However, we do not yet have reliable estimates of the extent to which B.1.1.529 might be either more transmissible or more resistant to vaccines, so it is too early to be able to provide an evidence-based assessment of the risk it poses.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker 'Nu' - with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

The original Red List was reduced to zero nations at the end of last month when the remaining seven countries on it were removed.

No10 had left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

The UKHSA said it had been in extensive talks with scientists in South Africa about the new variant but the situation is 'rapidly evolving'.

Although only 100 cases of the new variant have so far been identified, it is already in three countries, suggesting it is more widespread than the official tally.

Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong  both of whom had links to South Africa three have been picked up in Botswana and the remainder are in South Africa.

But a lack of surveillance on continental Africa may be underestimating the true numbers there, scientists warned.

UK experts say it will be another two to eight weeks until they can study the variant in enough detail to work out how infectious or vaccine-resistant it is.

Nationally, infections in South Africa have surged tenfold from 100 per day to 1,100, after the variant was first detected in neighbouring Botswana on November 11.

UK Government scientists believe it can infect previously-infected patients with ease, because South Africa has very high levels of natural immunity.

Only 41 percent of adults have received at least a single dose of vaccine, while 35 percent are fully vaccinated.

In a hastily organised press conference today, the South African Government revealed the variant had been officially spotted in three provinces but warned it was probably already in all nine.

Experts in the UK earlier called for travel restrictions to be reimposed to prevent the strain being seeded here and avoid risking a repeat of this spring when the Delta variant was imported in huge numbers from India.

Zero-Covid scientist Professor Christina Pagel urged ministers to 'get ahead of this right now' by immediately' reimposing the red travel list '  which was only scrapped a few weeks ago.

And Chris Snowdon, an economist who is normally in favour of fewer restrictions, also called for an immediate travel ban.

The Government has left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

MailOnline first sounded the alarm about the variant yesterday after British scientists warned that it had more than 30 mutations and is the most evolved version of Covid yet. They said it likely emerged in a long-term infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

The fact that South Africa has the largest number of people living HIV out of any country in the world has complicated its fight against Covid, as immuno-compromised people can harbour the virus for longer, scientists say.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases began to flatline yesterday, official data showed after weeks of falling deaths and hospitalisations. This was the first time the percentage jump was below one since November 10.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said the variant could become dominant in South Africa 'very quickly'.

Asked whether it could soon make up the majority of cases in South Africa, he told MailOnline: 'The numbers [of cases] are very small and there is a lot of uncertainty... but I would say it might become dominant very quickly.'

He said it was 'plausible' that the variant was more infectious because it was 'better at infecting' people that had immunity from vaccines or previous infections.

But he said very little is known about how likely someone who catches the variant would be to become seriously ill and die from the virus. Experts say viruses normally become less virulent over time.

Professor Tulio de Oliveira, a director of Covid surveillance in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, said that the variant had spread rapidly in South Africa.

'In less than two weeks it now dominates all infections following a devastating Delta wave in South Africa.

'We estimate that 90 per cent of cases in Gauteng (at least 1,000 a day) [are this variant].'

Botswana Covid variant may have emerged in an HIV patient, has twice as many mutations as Delta and could make jabs at least 40% less effective against infection  what we know so far

By EMILY CRAIG HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A new super mutant Covid variant that has sparked fears of another lockdown in the UK may have emerged in a HIV patient in Africa, is the most-evolved version yet and could make jabs much weaker.

Scientists believe that its extensive mutations mean it must have originated in a severely immunocompromised patient, possibly an undiagnosed person with AIDS.

It has more than 30 mutations, giving it all the transmissibility of the currently-dominant Delta strain and the same ability to escape vaccines as the old South African variant Beta.

Experts fear the new variant  called B.1.1.529  may make the vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective, because it is so different from the original strain the vaccines were made to target.

Britons have been put on alert that there could be a Christmas lockdown, with one of No10's vaccine advisers warning 'we all need to be ready' for restrictions to be reimposed.

Here is everything we know about the variant so far:

What is so concerning about the variant?

Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries.

The variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain. One scientist said these changes made the variant the worst seen so far.

Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario, because the new version of the virus is better at dodging the protection the jabs provide.

This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus.

But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off.

It also includes mutations that allow it to spread more easily.

Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks.

Will it affect Christmas in the UK?

Experts said it will be weeks until they know how worrying the new variant is, so it is not yet clear what extra steps might need to be taken.

The only action measures introduced by the Government so far has been to add six countries to the red list.

But Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

Where has the variant been detected so far?

The variant has so far been spotted in four countries: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

And Belgian health chiefs said the country has two suspected cases caused by the new strain.

Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in north east South Africa.

The first case was uploaded to an international variant database by Hong Kong and was spotted by someone who travelled to the country from South Africa.

No cases have been seen in the UK. But scientists do not sequence every positive Covid sample in the UK and not everyone who catches the virus will take a test.

This means there could be people infected with the variant in Britain.

What is the UK doing about the variant?

The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26.

The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned.

Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test.

Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight.

What mutations does the variant have?

The Botswana variant carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines.

But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant, which are also linked to antibody escape.

The variant also has mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant.

And the mutation N501Y that makes viruses more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others.

Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear.

Will I be protected if I have a booster?

Scientists have warned the new strain could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one.

The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said.

When will we know more about the variant?

Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away.

The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks.

But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths.

What is the variant called?

The strain is known scientifically as B.1.1.529, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the 'Nu' variant.
The medals of a fearless Battle of Britain ace who survived being shot down five times have emerged for sale for 70,000.

Squadron Leader Trevor 'Wimpy' Wade was one of 'The Few' who destroyed up to 19 German planes during the Second World War.

During the height of the Battle of Britain in 1940 he shot down three enemy aircraft in a single day.

Such was the Spitfire pilot's relish for a dogfight he would often close to within 50ft of the enemy to fire a barrage.

His five narrow escapes included the time he crash-landed into a Sussex racecourse after being taken out by a formation of Dornier 17 bombers.

He was trapped upside down in the wreckage of his Spitfire, which luckily did not catch fire.

On another occasion he crawled from the wreck of his aircraft just before it exploded.

Squadron Leader Wade, of 92 Squadron, survived World War Two only to be killed in an accident in 1951 when the experimental aircraft he was flying, which had been built to try to smash the sound barrier, crashed.

The medals of fearless Battle of Britain ace Trevor 'Wimpey' Wade, who survived being shot down five times, have emerged for sale for 70,000. Above: Wade after the war

Squadron Leader Wade (pictured front, far right) was one of 'The Few' who destroyed up to 19 German planes during the Second World War. Above: Wade (pictured front, far right) is seen with comrades and guests celebrating the first anniversary of the arrival of No. 92 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill, September 1941

Weeks before his death he had confided in fellow RAF ace and member of 'The Few', Flying Officer Tony Bartley, that he had 'lost his nerve'.

But pride dictated he kept flying, with tragic consequences as his Hawker P.1081 aircraft crashed near Ringmer, East Sussex.

An unpublished letter from Bartley, who became a Hollywood producer after the war, is included in the sale.

In it he wrote: 'I told him to, for God sakes, quit while he was ahead. But he obviously disregarded my advice.'

Squadron Leader Wade's medals, including the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Force Cross, are being sold by a private collector with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb.

Mark Quayle, a medal specialist at Dix Noonan Webb, said: 'Wade was a pilot's pilot, and a member of what is recognised as one of the elite squadrons of the Battle of Britain.

'A Spitfire "Ace" who survived multiple dices with death during the war, but tragically succumbed to a peace time test flight.'

Squadron Leader Wade's medals, including the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Force Cross, are being sold by a private collector with London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb. Above from left to right: Distinguished Flying Cross; Air Force Cross; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Air Efficiency Award

Squadron Leader Wade was born in Tonbridge, Kent, in 1920 and joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1938.

At the outset of war, he was called to full time service, and he was commissioned into the RAF in April 1940.

He married his sweetheart Josephine Gibbins in August 1940 and weeks later was risking his life daily to fight the Luftwaffe.

His first kill was a 'shared' Junkers Ju88 on August 19, but his Spitfire was hit by return fire and he made a forced landing at Norton, Selsey, escaping the wreckage just before it exploded.

His combat report reads: 'Return fire was observed from coming underneath the enemy aircraft.

'Some three minutes later smoke came out from both sides of my engine when half a mile south of Selsey Bill.

'By this time flames were coming from my engine and fumes filled my cockpit.

'I got out unhurt, and eventually the aircraft blew up.'

Between September 10 and October 29, 1940, he destroyed or damaged 11 more German planes, including three on a single day, October 12.

His patrol combat read: 'P/O Wade made a number of attacks on an Me.109 which he chased down to 2,000 feet, in the Dover area, and was then smoking enough to be claimed as damaged.

Squadron Leader Wade's five narrow escapes included the time he crash-landed into a Sussex racecourse after being taken out by a formation of Dornier 17 bombers. Above: The pilot in 1949

Squadron Leader Wade is pictured front right with comrades during the Second World War

'A second e/a was destroyed... by P/O Wade, who made two attacks, the second closing to within 15 yards, resulting in the pilot baling out... P/O Wade then fired from full starboard beam at another Messerchmitt which immediately started pouring glycol, rolled slowly to the right and dived vertically.

'With his remaining ammunition he engaged a third which dived, smoking, to 4,000 feet approximately, before he lost sight of it...'

Squadron Leader Wade destroyed a Dornier 17 over the Thames Estuary on November 26, 1940, then added a Me Bf 109E over the Channel on December 2.

Five further kills were recorded in May and June 1941, including an Me 109 destroyed after a 90 minute dogfight led by legendary Group Captain Brian Kingcome on June 16.

Squadron Leader Wade, of 92 Squadron, survived World War Two only to be killed in an accident in 1951 when the experimental aircraft he was flying, the Hawker Hawker P.1081 (pictured) which had been built to try to smash the sound barrier, crashed

The Daily Reported Squadron Leader Wade's death in 1951. It described him as a 'brilliant' pilot

During the skirmish, he came to Group Capain Kingcome's aid when he was being attacked and took out the enemy fighter.

A combat report states: 'P/O Wade, after being attacked himself 2 or 3 times, got in a number of bursts at an e/a which was attacking F/Lt Kingcome, from varying angles and varying ranges from 200 to 50 yards.

'After his first burst the port side of the e/a's engine caught fire, it dived steeply and rolling on its back, crashed into the sea.

'He was then engaged by another, and getting in to a position to fire from above found his ammunition exhausted.'

Squadron Leader Wade was posted for a rest to 123 Squadron for a rest at the end of June 1941, by which time he had earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.

His DFC citation reads: 'This officer has been engaged continually in operational flying since May 1940, and has proved to be a pilot of skill and determination and has contributed much to the success of his squadron.'

He spent the rest of the war as a test pilot, receiving an Air Force Cross in 1944.

Post-war, he became a journalist with The Aeroplane and tested the first Hawker jet-propelled fighter.

An unpublished letter from Flying Officer Bartley, who became a film executive after the war, is being sold with the lot.

It reveals that Squadron Leader Wade visited him in Hollywood and voiced his flying doubts not long before the fateful flight on April 3, 1951.

He writes: 'Just before Wimpy was killed he came out to Hollywood where he stayed in my home, and one evening, confessed to me that he had lost his nerve test flying.

'I told him to, for God sakes, quit while he was ahead. Could happen to any of us, but he obviously disregarded my advice and warning.

'He was one of the most skilful pilots I knew and flew with.

'Maybe it was his natural conceit forbade him to do this, but in any event, he was a very nice fellow I was very fond of, and a very sad and unnecessary loss in my book.'

Squadron Leader Wade's medal group consists of the Distinguished Flying Cross; Air Force Cross; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Air Efficiency Award.

The sale takes place on December 8.
A dozen police officers were injured and seven arrests were made as Leicester City's Europa League match descended into violent chaos last night.

Two officers were taken to hospital for treatment after being attacked by fans of Polish club Legia Warsaw in the away fans' section of the King Power Stadium last night.

Both Leicester's fans and police were pelted with missiles in the second half of their Europa League group match that ended up being marred by the violent scenes.

Video from the scene shows a horde of furious Legia fans screaming at Leicester FC supporters, before the violent thugs took on police as they tried to break through barriers separating the fans.

UEFA has promised an investigation after flares were set off and some fans attempted to breach the segregated line, assaulting officers in the process.

Dozens of police equipped with riot gear managed to push the 1,134 Legia fans back after a battle that lasted about 10 minutes.

Order was eventually restored by the end of the match, with the Polish club's travelling support being held behind in the stadium well after the final whistle.

A dozen police officers were injured and seven arrests were made as Leicester City's Europa League match against Legia Warsaw descended into violent chaos last night

Video from the scene shows a horde of furious Legia fans screaming at Leicester FC supporters, before the violent thugs took on police as they tried to break through barriers separating the fans

The riot police had their work cut out against thugs trying to break the barriers

Midway through the second half of Leicesters 3-1 win, supporters housed in the away end attempted to reach Leicester supporters by storming through the lines of security that separated them.

In video shared widely across social media, a heavy police presence can be seen in the away stand as officers put themselves between the rival club's supporters, prompting a melee.

A violent brawl broke out as sections of the Polish club's following clashed with riot police inside the stadium for 10-minutes.

Two officers were taken to hospital, one with a broken wrist and the other with concussion, after police responded to disorder which broke out within the away fans' section during the second half, the force said.

Legia Warsaw fans caused trouble during their side's Europa League clash with Leicester FC on Thursday

Warsaw fans broke through the barricades and started attacking the police

This fan was pictured attempting to land a punch on a policeman during the clashes

While I am pleased that our officers responded well and managed to contain the away fans within their section and minimise contact between them and the home crowd, its extremely disappointing that a number of fans acted the way they did and twelve officers were injured during the incident, said Julia Debenham, assistant chief constable of Leicestershire Police.

This type of behaviour is not acceptable and we will be investigating the incident fully in order to bring those offenders to justice.

Leicester were fined 17,000 earlier this season after incidents between rival fans during their 2-2 draw with Napoli in September.
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps today urged schools to let Christmas events happen as Number 10 insisted that they 'can go ahead', despite a string of cancellations in recent days amid coronavirus fears.

The Transport Secretary was asked this morning about whether events such as nativity plays should be allowed to continue despite the threat posed by Covid-19.

There are fresh fears about the virus following the emergence of the Nu mutation from southern Africa. It has been described as the 'worst ever' variant of the disease.

Some headteachers have this week banned parents from attending events or have cancelled fayres and nativity plays entirely due to rising Covid cases.

A school in Plymouth said on Twitter that they had 'sadly' decided to cancel their Christmas fayre, whilst others in Essex in Dorset did the same with their nativity plays, or allowed them to go ahead whilst banning parents from attending.

However, Mr Shapps insisted to LBC that nativity plays should 'play on' because the country did not go through 'two, now three rounds of vaccination' to have to 'live out last Christmas again'.

His comment was a reference to how families were separated last year and unable to spend Christmas together, whilst many schools were closed and events cancelled in the weeks prior due to infections among pupils.

Mr Shapps's comments were echoed by the Prime Minister's spokesman, who said that whilst cancellations were 'a matter for individual schools', Government guidance states that schools 'can continue to hold events' with parents present.

A blog post released on the Department for Education's website on Friday also insisted that plays could go ahead, saying that they are 'one of our most cherished traditions'.

Cabinet minister Grant Shapps today urged schools to let Christmas events happen as Number 10 insisted that they 'can go ahead', despite a string of cancellations in recent days amid coronavirus fears

Mr Shapps told LBC this morning: 'We did not go through two, now three rounds of vaccination and everything else to have to live out last Christmas again when we weren't able to get together as we should have done, in the numbers we should have done, with our friends and families.

'So of course steps will be taken no doubt to make them as safe as possible, ventilation and the rest of it. Yes people should be able to get together.'

The PM's spokesman later added: 'It is a matter for individual schools to decide if they want to host nativity plays this year.

'We have set out our guidance to schools that states they can continue to hold events where visitors such as parents are on site, which includes things like school plays.

'Our guidance is clear there is no limit on group size for these events either indoor or outdoor. But ultimately it is a matter for individual schools.'

The blog on the Department for Education's website said: 'Christmas and nativity plays are one of our most cherished school traditions.

One school, Lipson Co-operative Academy in Plymouth, said they were cancelling their 'Christmas Fayre'

'Sadly last year many had to be cancelled but this year, as we are at a different stage of the pandemic and so many people are benefitting from the protections the vaccines offer, we hope many more will be able to go ahead.'

They added: 'Nativities, plays, concerts and other festive events can go ahead but it is a matter for schools and early years to decide if they want to host them.

'Our guidance has not changed and says schools, nurseries and other settings can continue to hold events where visitors such as parents are on-site.

However, the post said that schools should take precautions to try to lessen the threat of the virus, including by improving 'fresh air flow'.

Children and parents have this week faced disappointment over the decision of some headteachers to cancel Christmas events.

One school, Lipson Co-operative Academy in Plymouth, said on Friday they were cancelling their 'Christmas Fayre'.

A post on Twitter read: 'With the rise in #COVID19 cases in school and our community, we've decided sadly to cancel our Christmas Fayre, set for this Saturday, November 27.

'A hard decision, in many ways, but the right one. Let's stay safe now and we'll maybe have a Spring Fayre instead.'

Earlier this week, parents elsewhere reacted with fury when it emerged that a school in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, said they were cancelling Christmas fun and games.

Reynolds Academy, a mixed primary with 420 youngsters aged three to 11, run by the Tollbar Multi Academy Trust, said it had 'had to take the measures with a heavy heart'.

An upset parent said in response: 'Boris says nothing has changed. But now it is back to staggered times, bubbles, dinners in classroom and queuing for the designated toilet cubicle.

'It is the mixed messages which are making people angry. We are all told to get jabbed, get a booster and life will go back to normal.

'Parents are angry on behalf of their kids because on Friday they were all given their roles in the Nativity and were practising their lines.

Some headteachers have this week banned parents from attending events or have cancelled fayres and nativity plays entirely due to rising Covid cases

School children said on the BBC's Newsround site that their nativity plays were being performed behind closed doors and instead being filmed for parents

'But after the weekend it is all off. All the after school clubs in music and everything are off.

'The worst thing was on Monday having to book time off work so that we could go to the Nativity and by the end of the day being told it was cancelled.

'The children are gutted there is going to be no Christmas play or parties. For some it would have been their last one and they all missed out last year too.'

School principal Rebecca Scott said cancelling Christmas events and reintroducing social distancing has been forced by 'a significant rise' in the number of Covid cases within the academy and the local area.

Whitmore Primary School in Essex last week said it was cancelling its in-person end-of-term performance.

Instead they said each class would have to perform its own play which would be recorded for parents. They said the measure was necessary to 'prevent the spread of Covid'.

At Wyke Regis Primary Federation in Dorset, all Christmas activities are set to be limited to 'in-school only and will be shared online with parents'.

Cranborne Primary School in Hertfordshire have also told parents that they can only watch their nativity play remotely.

Yesterday, schools minister Robin Walker said schools should hold nativity plays despite the Covid concerns.

Mr Walker said: 'I want to see schools continuing to engage with parents in as constructive a way as they possibly can.

'Of course, where they can go ahead safely, things like Nativity plays and end-of-term shows are really important and a good way of doing that. I would want to see as many going forward as possible.'

But he added: 'I understand there will be schools that feel that they have to take extra precautions and particularly when it's about adults coming into a school... they need to be able to look at their local circumstances.

'They need to be able to work with the local directors of public health who will have a feel for the local situation. And I respect that that's going to be different in different parts of the country.'

School leaders' union NAHT said some of its members had this year moved Nativities and festive celebrations online or to video-only, because of rising cases in their area.

Mr Walker said: 'I recognise  and I had to do that last year  in these circumstances sometimes they will feel it's safer for the children to go ahead with a performance and the parents to watch it remotely. That has been part of the reality that we've all been through.'

James Bowen, director of policy for NAHT, said: 'There is nothing schools want more than to have a hall full of families enjoying the children putting on their festive show.

'However, they have so many things to balance when deciding what to do this year. Schools will be listening carefully to the advice being given by the public health teams and local authorities and putting the appropriate measures in place based on that advice.'

Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'Leaders will be realistic about the significant challenges they continue to face in tackling the disruption to normal school life...

'Some may, reluctantly, decide to cancel shows but the technology that has played such a vital role in education during the pandemic also offers schools the opportunity to stage virtual performances.'
Keir Starmer set up a potential massive Labour election battle today as he warned his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn may be banned from representing the party at the next election.

The hard Left icon has sat as an independent in the Commons after having the Labour whip removed last year in the wake of a damning independent investigation into anti-Semitism during his tenure.

The 72-year-old has been told to make a fulsome apology before he can represent the party in Parliament again, something he has so far refused to do.

Attending the party conference in Brighton in September he refused to rule out running in Islington North as an independent.

And speaking to the BBC's Political Thinking podcast today, Sir Keir admitted he may have to.

'He knows what he must do in order to move this forward. Hes not chosen to do so - thats his choice', Sir Keir said.

Asked if that meant Mr Corbyn could be blocked from standing for Labour he added: 'I dont know, but at the moment that may be the case.'

He also revealed to the programme that he has not spoken to his predecessor on more than a year.

'He knows what he must do in order to move this forward. Hes not chosen to do so - thats his choice', Sir Keir said.

The hard Left icon has sat as an independent in the Commons after having the Labour whip removed last year in the wake of a damning independent investigation into anti-Semitism during his tenure.

An independent run by Mr Corbyn in his north London seat is sure to lead to a bitter internecine battle at the next election.

He has held the seat since 1983 and at the 2019 election he won a majority of 26,188 - down from 33,215 two years previously as Labour was hammered by Boris Johnson's Tories.

Mr Corbyn was suspended from Labour in October 2020 after claiming the scale of anti-Semitism had been 'dramatically overstated for political reasons' by opponents inside and outside Labour, along with the media.

His suspension was later overturned by the party's National Executive Committee.

An election is expected in 2023 or 2024. If Mr Corbyn was to stand as an independent it would be a major headache for Sir Keir, who was attacked by the Corbynista left wing of the party at the Brighton conference in September

Its panel of five members are independent of the Labour leadership but they had no power to restore the parliamentary whip. That decision rests with Sir Keir and party chief whip Nick Brown.

Mr Corbyn has yet to apologise, despite it being a condition of having the whip restored.

Asked at the party conference about his plans in Islington North seat if the whip was not restored he refused to discuss 'hypotheticals'.

But he added: 'As far as I am concerned I was proud to be elected as the Labour MP in December 2019. I have been elected 10 times for my constituency since 1983. I love the area, I do my best to represent all the people in the community...

'I dont think the Parliamentary Labour Party should try to gainsay what the National Executive has decided so as far as I am concerned there is no case other than I should be reinstated on the Labour whip.'

Bookmaker Coral today made Corbyn 3-1 to win a seat at the next general election.

Spokesman Harry Aitkenhead said: 'We think if he does not get reinstated into the party before the next UK vote, it will harm his chances quite significantly.'
A loophole allowing unvaccinated Australians to fraudulently gain access to services only available to the double-jabbed has emerged in one state's Covid check-in app.

Queensland will only allow the fully-immunised to entre pubs, cafes and restaurants after December 17 by showing a government-issued vaccination certificate on the Check In Qld app.

The app allows users to legitimately add dependents and family members to their device for convenience via their MyGov account.

But the same feature can allow them to upload that person's vaccine certificate, potentially allowing them to pose as someone else.

The app is being exploited by anti-vaxxers who are using proof of someone else's vaccination to fraudulently claim they have received both Covid-19 jabs.

Queensland residents exercise in the Gold Coast during the pandemic. A loophole has been exposed in the state's Check-In Qld app

Queensland Health's Covid-19 check in apps could be exploited by unvaccinated people because it contains a flaw that allows people to unload a third party's vaccination certificate

The potential loophole could mean unvaccinated people illegally crowding into the Sunshine State's popular venues.

The change on December 17 also applies to visiting aged-care homes, meaning unvaccinated people could potentially visit vulnerable Queenslanders.

Fully-immunised Queensland residents can go to pubs, cafes and restaurants without restriction from December 17. Pictured: A federal government Covid digital certificate

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said it is inevitable some people will try to cheat the system.

'You know, its human nature and some people just dont want to comply, and weve seen that throughout the pandemic,' she told the Courier Mail.

The department of Public Works Minister, Leeanne Enoch, confirmed it was aware of the potential flaw.

'Deliberately and fraudulently sharing or using a certificate that is not your own  be it paper, electronic or otherwise  would be considered a criminal offence,' said Ms Enoch's department spokesperson.

There have meanwhile been fresh calls by the pharmacy and aged care sectors to increase penalties for vaccine passport fraud in Australia.

There were no new Covid cases in Queensland on Friday and only seven deaths in 20 months. Pictured is a masked pedestrian in the Brisbane CBD

There have been reports of forged vaccine certificates being created and in some cases GPs and pharmacists have reported being bribed up to $1,000 to fake proof of vaccination.

According to Services Australia existing penalties are up to $6,660 for vaccine providers who forge records.

Queensland has maintained some of the lowest Covid case numbers in Australia during the pandemic, with no new cases on Friday and only seven deaths in 20 months.
A man and a woman have been killed after their car was hit by a train on a railroad crossing in Kansas on Thanksgiving .

Police officers were called out to a rural area 75 miles outside of Topeka in Miami County, Kansas, after the incident which occurred at around 6pm yesterday.

The Sedan and the section of the train involved in the crash reportedly caught fire following collision, which KSHB reports also shunted the vehicle a quarter of a mile down the rail tracks.

The sheriff's office confirmed that both of the people killed in the incident had been in the car.

Police officers were called out to a rural area 75 miles outside of Topeka in Miami County, Kansas, after the incident which occurred at around 6pm yesterday

It was also confirmed that nobody onboard the train suffered any injuries.

Sheriff's Office Captain Matthew Kelly said that it is currently too early to determine exactly why the crash took place.

But he added that it does not appear to be as a result of a malfunction with the crossing or the train.

'It was on the tracks, but we dont know the reasoning of why it was on the tracks,' Kelly said.

'We don't know if it was moving across the tracks [or] stopped on the tracks.'

Firefighters from a number of agencies descended on the scene to put out the fire.

The railroad crossing has arms as well as bells and flashing lights as warning mechanisms.

Kelly added: 'We dont believe that theres any malfunctions that occurred at this intersection at the time.

'However, were not sure if the arms were down after the accident occurred or if the vehicle was there prior to the arms going down. If they went around it is something that were trying to figure out.'

The identities of the two victims have not yet been released.
A man suspected of being the Zodiac Killer recruited a posse of troubled young men and ordered one to shoot one an enemy dead, it is claimed.

Gary Poste is said to have let alleged apprentice Chris Avery watch as he ordered another unidentified boy to shoot an enemy dead after luring the unidentified man to a remote lake near his home in Groveland, California.

'He just didnt have a conscience,' Avery said of Poste - the man who was tabbed as the infamous Bay Area killer by a group of 40 private investigators last month.

'He could kill indiscriminately.'

Suspected Zodiac Killer Gary Poste (at left) reportedly trained a group of wayward youths how to kill in the decades after his alleged Bay Area killing spree, one alleged mentee has revealed

Speaking to the group of independent sleuths, dubbed the Case Breakers, last month, Avery revealed he had served under the alleged serial murderer after he had migrated from San Francisco to Groveland in 1970, following his string of highly publicized killings.

'He couldn't stop after he moved up here,' Avery divulged to the group.

'He still had to continue to kill... even if it was small animals - just to make himself feel better.

'Of course, he did end up killing other people,' Avery added.

Chris Avery says he served under Poste as a young man for decades while the pair lived in the picturesque mountain town of Groveland

Avery said he fled Groveland in 2010 after coming across Zodiac sketches bearing a likeness to Poste, spurring him to confront his malevolent mentor - who he says oversaw a group of 10 men whom he trained as assassins over the course of several decades, until his death in 2018.

Ex-cop turned investigator Thomas Colbert, the head of the Case Breakers, is still investigating the late Poste, however, and says Avery was one of the 'wayward' men, often in their late teens or early 20s, recruited by the house painter. It remains unclear if Avery is telling the truth, and if Poste is the Zodiac, with investigations into both allegations continuing.

Locals reportedly labeled the group 'The Posse.'

Ex-cop turned investigator Thomas Colbert, the head of the group investigating Poste, says Avery was one of many 'wayward' men, often in their late teens or early 20s, recruited by the suspected serial killer

Colbert told The New Post Friday that Poste, a veteran of the US Air Force, would regularly take his young followers deep into the nearby Sierra Mountains, where they were taught how to 'hike and kill.'

He also instructed the impressionable recruits how to build powerful pipe bombs and kill animals for fun, the snoop said.

'He taught them how to turn a pipe bomb into a bomb that would blow up houses,' Colbert told the outlet.

Avery said he fled Groveland in 2010 after coming across Zodiac sketches bearing a likeness to Poste, spurring him to confront his malevolent mentor. Pictured here is a 1969 police sketch of the serial killer, next to a 1963 photo of Poste, then 25

'One time, he had a kid climb out on a tree branch and hang caches of raw meat from it,' the investigator added.

'He also nailed salmon hooks below to catch bears trying to get to the meat. One time there were three bears bleeding to death from this tree trying to get the meat and Gary [Poste] just watched them, laughing at them.'

The sleuth also said that Poste would regularly have his proteges scare off law enforcement in the area, so that they could engage in their villainous practices.

'If new cops moved into town,' Colbert added, he would have them throw rocks into their windows to get them to move out.

'He was involved in loaning guns out to suicidal people in town.'

Colbert's collective of 40 sleuths, which included former federal agents, prosecutors, retired Army intelligence officers, investigative journalists and academics, came forward last month claiming Poste was the infamous Zodiac, citing.

The Zodiac Killer was known for his ciphers that he sent to the San Francisco Chronicle during his string of murders in the Bay Area in the 60s. Some have still not been solved to this day

The team of volunteer investigators used photographic evidence comparing a distinctive scar seen in sketches depicting the Zodiac killer to known photos of Poste over past six decades to make the identification, as Fox News first reported.

They also relied on accounts of people who knew Poste, including Avery's account of his experiences with the alleged killer, whose recruits would affectionately refer to him as 'The Old Man,' as well as further accounts from a neighbor whom the alleged killer used to babysit as a child, and an ex-girlfriend of Poste's son.

The group also obtained physical evidence against Poste during their exhaustive probe into the identity of the elusive Zodiac, which included weapons and bullets the said Poste had given prior to his death to his 'favorite locals.'

In 2020, an international code-breaking team cracked Zodiac's notorious '340 cipher' (pictured) sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969

Little is known about Poste's life beyond the fact that he was married, had a son, and worked as a house painter after retiring from the US Air Force, according to information gathered by the Case Breakers.

In February 2016, a then 78-year-old Gary Francis Poste, from Groveland, was arrested at his home on Merrell Road on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse.

Two years later, Poste passed away in Groveland on August 14, 2018, at the age of 80 of sepsis and dementia.

He was never charged with any offenses related to the Zodiac Killer - a case that is still deemed by lawmen to be unsolved.
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A four-alarm tire tore through a Brooklyn apartment building, leaving six firefighters hurt and a dozen people homeless on Thanksgiving.

The three-story apartment building located at 65 Devoe Street in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood went up in flames around 11.15pm on Thursday.

Forty firefighting units and 170 personnel responded to the call.

The firefighters arrived to find the top floor of the building completely engulfed in flames, according to ABC 7.

After more than two and a half hours four apartments were gutted, leaving 12 residents homeless.

A four-alarm tire tore through a three-story Brooklyn apartment building, leaving a dozen people homeless on Thanksgiving

The blaze engulfed four residential units at 65 Devoe Street in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood

The fire spread to the attic and crumbled the roof. Footage of the fire showed the top floor completely blackened and charred

Firefighters responded to the call just after 11.15pm Thursday and had the fire under control around 1.49am

The rapidly-spreading flames grew larger throughout the night and also burnt a tree planted in front of the building

Six firefighters were also rushed to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries but they are all expected to recover, according to ABC.

FDNY Assistant Chief Tom Currao told the news station that four residential units were affected and no civilians were injured.

'We're working with NYC Emergency Management on relocation for those residents,' he told ABC.

The 12 displaced residents were temporarily relocated to area hotels throughout the city with the help of American Red Cross, as reported by News 12.

The department is investigating the cause of the fire, which also charred the siding of the neighboring building.

Videos circulating social media showed the fast-moving blaze.

Videos circulating social media captured huge flames engulfing the apartment building

The FDNY is investigating the cause of the fire, which also charred the siding of the neighboring building

Forty firefighting units and 170 personnel responded to the call on Thursday night

Firefighters were pictured putting out the last of the fire in the early hours of Friday morning

Six firefighters were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries but they are all expected to recover

Firefighters were seen in tower ladders as flames and thick black smoke poured out of the top-floor windows and the structure began to crumble.

The fire reportedly spread to the attic and crumbled the roof of the building before subsiding around 1.49am.

Once the fire was put out, more footage showed personnel investigating the top floor, which was completely blackened by smoke and soot.

The fire came after 18 New York City fire companies out of 300 were out of service as a result of the vaccine mandate that came into effect and forced supervisors to send home unvaccinated firefighters.

Earlier this month, at least one crew of eight from FDNY Engine 243 in Brooklyn was told to go home and another ten units were down in Williamsburg, East New York, Brownsville, Sunset Park and Flatbush.

The flames were filmed billowing out of the top-floor windows as they crumbled the roof of the structure

The 12 displaced residents were temporarily relocated to area hotels throughout the city with the help of American Red Cross

Videos from the scene captured the aftermath of the fire. The top of the building and a nearby tree were heavily charred
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England's Covid crisis started to pick up again last week, official data today showed after two weeks of declining cases.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data estimated around 862,300 people caught the virus on any given day in the week up to November 20, up 4.5 per cent on the 824,900 the week before.

Its weekly surveillance report, based on random swab tests of thousands of Britons, suggested one in 65 people were infected during the week.

The figures add to the slew of reports released yesterday suggesting infection levels across the country are increasing again  although the spike is being driven in unvaccinated children.

The ZOE symptom-tracking study estimated that 76,728 people fell ill per day in the week ending November 20, based on test results from around 750,000 volunteers.

And separate data from the UK Health Security Agency today showed cases are rose in three quarters of England's local authorities last week.

The agency's weekly surveillance report found the number of positive cases overall increased by eight per cent from 223,000 in the week ending November 14 to last week.

Meanwhile, the Government's dashboard data  which offers a snapshot of the current levels of infection  suggested cases began to flatline yesterday.

Department of Health bosses posted 47,240 new infections, up just 0.9 per cent on last Thursday's figure of 46,807.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data estimated around 862,300 people caught the virus on any given day in the week up to November 20, up 4.5 per cent on the 824,900 the week before

The ONS figures show the proportion of people testing positive increased for those in school Year 12 to age 24 years and those aged 25 to 34 years last week

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid continued to fluctuate across regions in England last week, increasing in the North East, East Midlands and South East, and decreasing in the East of England

Sajid Javid warns 'the pandemic is far from over' amid fears of ANOTHER Christmas lockdown Sajid Javid today warned the pandemic is 'far from over' after No10's experts admitted the new super-mutant, vaccine-evading Botswana Covid variant could already be in the UK and threaten another Christmas lockdown. In a sombre statement to MPs in the House of Commons this morning, the Health Secretary said the new B.1.1.529 strain  which has been spotted in Europe  posed a 'substantial risk to public health' and described its ultra-transmissibility and vaccine-dodging abilities as of 'huge international concern'. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK. Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was 'possible' the strain has already entered Britain. She said 'people are arriving every day' to the UK from Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been officially detected. Around 10,000 people have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two weeks since it the strain was first detected. Mr Javid insisted no cases of the strain have been confirmed in the UK but warned the Government is working quickly but with a 'high degree of uncertainty' and boosters could not be more important now. Advertisement

The ONS figures show the proportion of people testing positive increased for those in school Year 12 to age 24 years and those aged 25 to 34 years last week.

The percentage of people testing positive decreased for those in school Year 7 to school Year 11, and for those aged 70 years and over in the two weeks up to November 20, but the trend was uncertain in the most recent week. The trend was uncertain for all other age groups during the most recent week .

It was highest for those aged two years to school Year 6 and those in school Years 7 to 11, at 3.69 per cent and 3.53 per cent respectively in the week ending 20 November 2021.

The percentage of people testing positive for Covid continued to fluctuate across regions in England last week, increasing in the North East, East Midlands and South East, and decreasing in the East of England.

In the two weeks up to 20 November 2021, the percentage testing positive also decreased in the North West, Yorkshire and The Humber and the South West  but the trend was 'uncertain' in the most recent week, the ONS said.

Meanwhile, the ZOE data yesterday suggested England's R rate  the average number of people an infected person will pass the virus onto  is estimated to be around 1.1 for the whole of the UK, but slightly lower in Scotland (1.0).

Professor Tim Spector, the King's College London epidemiologist behind the study, warned cases were 'too high' and now was not the time 'to portray the UK as a Covid success story'.

Cases rose 18 per cent compared to the estimate on the previous week, meaning one in 66 Britons suffered a symptomatic infection at any given time.

Cases are now being driven by the unvaccinated, the KCL team said, with 52,509 in cases last week in those who were not jabbed at all or had only one dose.

Infections are rising most rapidly in under-18s, many of whom are not eligible for jabs. Cases in children were described as 'the main driver of the bounce back in overall numbers'.

Professor Spector said: 'Seeing cases on the rise again is really disheartening and the recent ups and downs, unlike previous waves, is making it hard to predict where things will be from week-to-week. However, for me, the message is that cases are still far too high.

'Although we appear, for now, to be faring better than some European countries in terms of case numbers, the UK continues to have relatively high hospital admissions and deaths, which is a real cause for concern.

'Given the current overloading of our hospitals, now isnt the time to portray the UK as a Covid success story, far from it.

'Whilst the rise in new cases is being driven by children, focusing on them in the short-term would be a mistake.'

Symptomatic Covid cases rose by nearly a fifth last week with more than 76,000 Britons falling ill each day, according to the ZOE symptom-tracking study

 Slide me  The UK Health Security Agency's weekly surveillance report shows Covid infection levels grew in three quarters of England's local authorities last week from the week ending November 14 (left) to last week (right)

He continued: 'While the government is unlikely to enforce restrictions for Christmas, family gatherings will undoubtedly increase risk, especially for older and more vulnerable family members who havent yet had their third vaccine dose.

'Saving Christmas is up to us. Those of us eligible for the third jab should take it now, and we should be mindful that one in four people with cold-like symptoms have Covid.

'Consider the risks and keep your family out of hospital over the holidays.'

Department of Health data yesterday showed cases are continuing to increase. It was the seventh day in a row cases have increased but the first time the percentage jump was below one since November 10.

Data also showed 147 people died within 24 hours of a positive Covid test yesterday, down more than a quarter (26.1 per cent) on the 199 recorded last week.

And hospital admissions are continuing to fall, with 745 recorded on Sunday, the latest date data is available for. It was down 6.8 per cent on the previous Sunday.

Experts believe the disparity between Britain's recent surge in cases compared to the falling deaths and hospitalisations is explained by the fact that the spike in cases has been driven by schoolage children who are less vulnerable to the virus.

Rates of infection have fallen in all over-60s over the last week, according to separate figures from the UK Health Security Agency released today. The agency's weekly surveillance report showed cases rose in three quarters of England's local authorities last week.
The travel industry was today wracked with despair at the new uncertainty caused by the super-mutant Botswana variant, with the mayor of tourism-dependent Cape Town slamming the 'rushed' announcement to the world.

Health chiefs in the country hastily called a news conference on Thursday to announce the new B.1.1.529 variant was driving soaring infections - accounting for around 90 percent of all cases in just a matter of weeks.

It has caused a surge in infections, with the 7-day average for daily cases standing at 1,000 on Thursday - a 262 per cent increase on the week before.

Just hours after it was announced, Britain barred all flights from South Africa, and a slew of countries have followed suit, including France, Germany, Italy, Israel and Singapore.

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis lashed South Africa's Covid experts for sounding the alarm so early, saying that the country's tourism industry had been dealt a 'crushing blow.'

The news comes at a crucial juncture for travel firms around the world as people look ahead to the Christmas holidays - and fears over the new variant have already spooked the market.

Shares in British Airways parent IAG, German carrier Lufthansa and aircraft maker Airbus dropped about 10 per cent on Friday.

Travel expert Paul Charles tweeted: 'The UK Government have again created a pre-Xmas lottery for travellers by saying they will review the red list in three weeks.

'Few will risk their bookings and will now assume they won't be able to travel to the six countries affected during the festive period.'

Health chiefs in SA hastily called a news conference on Thursday to announce the new B.1.1.529 variant was driving soaring infections - accounting for around 90 percent of all cases in just a matter of weeks. It has caused a surge in infections, with the 7-day average for daily cases standing at 1,000 on Thursday - a 262 per cent increase on the week before.

People lineup to get on the Air France flight to Paris at OR Tambo's airport in Johannesburg, South Africa', Friday

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis (pictured on September 30) has slammed the government's response to the new Covid variant, saying it will 'crush' the tourism industry

Travel expert Paul Charles tweeted: 'Few will risk their bookings and will now assume they won't be able to travel to the six countries affected during the festive period.'

As well as South Africa, the UK is blocking travel from Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe, adding all six to the red list.

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

Travel data firm Cirium said 289 UK flights were scheduled to and from South Africa in December, with capacity for 79,000 passengers.

Cape Town Mayor Hill-Lewis told radio station SAfm Sunrise today: 'If we know we're going to get punished for detecting new variants, as in the past ... then surely, we should know what we're dealing with before we go and announce it to the world.'

FTSE slides amid renewed Covid fears The dramatic Covid developments sparked jitters on stock markets today. More than 65billion was wiped off the value of FTSE 100 companies after the index opened. The 250 point tumble put it on track for the steepest one-day drop in a year. Shares in major airlines were hit hard, with IAG, the owner of British Airways, falling more than 21 per cent in early trading. EasyJet dropped 16 per cent. Tourism-sensitive stocks such as plane engine maker Rolls Royce, easyJet and International Consolidated Airlines all saw double digit losses in Europe. Malaysian rubber glove maker Supermax, which soared 1500% during the first wave of the pandemic, leapt 15 per cent. Germany's DAX was down 2.8 per cent. US equity markets have been shut for Thanksgiving. Advertisement

'We're not even sure if this variant is anything to worry about,' the 34-year-old said.

'I do understand that information shouldn't be withheld, but the national government should have directly approached our travel markets with the news before announcing it publicly. And it shouldn't have been announced in such a way that sows panic,' he added.

Mr Charles accused ministers of making 'another knee-jerk decision'.

The travel consultant said: 'While Government has to act swiftly on any serious threats, it should be steering away from imposing blanket country measures such as flight bans.

'It would be better to assess travellers based on their individual risk, and ask fully jabbed consumers to test regularly at home rather than force them to pay over 2,000 per person to stay in grim hotel quarantine.

'Variants will come and go for years yet so the Government has to find new, less economically damaging measures to deal with each situation.

'Yet again, we are now in a position where Government is knocking consumer confidence with such draconian measures.'

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, the UK's largest independent travel agent group, said: 'Yet again, an entire industry is informed of drastic changes to travel restrictions by a late-night tweet from Government, leaving travel agents scrambling to repatriate their customers in these southern African countries and cancel and rebook those who had planned to travel over the festive period.

'It's important to remember that many of these people who are overseas in these destinations would be visiting friends and family for the first time in over two years - and now they have to make the heart-breaking decision to return home early.

'Not only that, but there is only a very small window for passengers to try and make it home in time to avoid the inhumane hotel quarantine and a hefty bill to go with it.

'Why can't this be replaced with home self-isolation and appropriate testing instead?'

Ms Bue-Said said the wider knock-on effect for consumer confidence is 'deeply concerning for the travel industry'.

Shares in British Airways parent IAG, German carrier Lufthansa and aircraft maker Airbus dropped about 10 per cent on Friday.

She added: 'We simply cannot operate our businesses with this level of uncertainty hanging over us for the foreseeable future.'

A spokeswoman for travel trade organisation Abta said the announcement was 'devastating' for travel companies that specialise in travel to southern Africa.

She went on: 'These businesses have had very little opportunity to generate income for almost two years and now face a further period of being unable to trade - just as the region's peak season begins.

'The Government must consider stepping in to provide targeted support where precautionary measures such as these close UK travel businesses, as they have done previously for other sectors of the economy.

'It is also vital the decision is kept under careful review and that restrictions are lifted promptly if it becomes clear there is not a risk to the UK vaccination programme.'

Helpless and furious, South African tour operators are now flooded with cancellations as countries follow Britain's decision.

'This is a knee-jerk reaction but with such a strong snowball effect,' said Richard de la Rey of Dark Giraffe Marketing, which organises safaris and beach holidays in Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.

'No one knows anything about this variant at all and they just assume the worst,' he huffed.

The World Health Organization cautioned against imposing travel restrictions, saying it would take weeks to understand the implications of the newly discovered strain.

'Finally, we were starting to see the traction of recovery,' said Shelly Cox, who organises sustainable trips to Victoria Falls, one of Africa's most coveted tourist attractions on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

High-paying foreign tourists were just starting to return to South Africa, renowned for its wildlife and natural vistas, after the country was shut off from the rest of the world for most of 2020.

Countries then blacklisted South Africa after another variant was found in December - a crippling blow as tourism directly accounts for three percent of the nation's economy and provided more than 700,000 jobs before the pandemic.

Britain only removed it from its dreaded coronavirus 'red list' in October this year, before which travellers were forced to undergo an expensive hotel quarantine upon return to the UK.

Maxine Mackintosh, a 28-year-old genomics researcher, landed in Johannesburg on Thursday and was scheduled to travel around South Africa for 10 days.

By early afternoon Friday, she was airborne on her way back to the UK to avoid have to quarantine.

'We were going to do fun touristy things... go to vineyards, climb up mountains, go surfing... I feel pretty frustrated because this is my first trip since the pandemic and I had been really looking forward to it,' said Mackintosh.

'As a safari operator we had seen a really nice uptick in October,' Andre Van Kets, co-founder of Discover Africa Group, told AFP.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

'Booking rates shot through the roof compared to the pandemic era and we were really optimistic... so to have the hand brake pulled up so suddenly is very significant,' he added.

International visitors represent 90 percent of the company's clients. Most come from the UK and the United States, and Van Kets said he dreaded a similar announcement from the White House.

Travel agencies were meanwhile swamped with holidaymakers seeking to change their bookings.

'We are mostly dealing with cancellations from people who cannot fly,' said Morongoe Khoboko, who works for Corporate Traveller Evolution in Johannesburg.

'It's been a crazy morning,' she exclaimed.

Many feel South Africa's blacklisting in unjust. They note that the country has stricter coronavirus rules than many Western nations, including mandatory face masks in public and caps on gatherings.

'I am a real big rugby fan and I see stadiums full with 50,000 people... but South Africa is still the problem?' asked de la Rey.

Vaccine uptake has been low, however, with just around 35 percent of the population fully jabbed after a slow campaign start and widespread hesitancy.

Governments 'panic and I get that to a certain extent, but there has got to be a better way,' said de la Rey.

'It seems we, and the African continent in general, are the scapegoat.'

A flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was barred entry into the country today. Passengers are pictured above waiting in their seats

Pictured above is the cockpit shown on screens on the flight (right), and seats on the plane. The Netherlands suspended entry to flights coming from South Africa at noon today

Botswana Covid variant may have emerged in an HIV patient, has twice as many mutations as Delta and could make jabs at least 40% less effective against infection  what we know so far

By EMILY CRAIG HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A new super mutant Covid variant that has sparked fears of another lockdown in the UK may have emerged in a HIV patient in Africa, is the most-evolved version yet and could make jabs much weaker.

Scientists believe that its extensive mutations mean it must have originated in a severely immunocompromised patient, possibly an undiagnosed person with AIDS.

It has more than 30 mutations, giving it all the transmissibility of the currently-dominant Delta strain and the same ability to escape vaccines as the old South African variant Beta.

Experts fear the new variant  called B.1.1.529  may make the vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective, because it is so different from the original strain the vaccines were made to target.

Britons have been put on alert that there could be a Christmas lockdown, with one of No10's vaccine advisers warning 'we all need to be ready' for restrictions to be reimposed.

Here is everything we know about the variant so far:

What is so concerning about the variant?

Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries.

The variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain. One scientist said these changes made the variant the worst seen so far.

Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario, because the new version of the virus is better at dodging the protection the jabs provide.

This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus.

But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off.

It also includes mutations that allow it to spread more easily.

Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks.

Will it affect Christmas in the UK?

Experts said it will be weeks until they know how worrying the new variant is, so it is not yet clear what extra steps might need to be taken.

The only action measures introduced by the Government so far has been to add six countries to the red list.

But Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

Where has the variant been detected so far?

The variant has so far been spotted in four countries: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

And Belgian health chiefs said the country has two suspected cases caused by the new strain.

Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in north east South Africa.

The first case was uploaded to an international variant database by Hong Kong and was spotted by someone who travelled to the country from South Africa.

No cases have been seen in the UK. But scientists do not sequence every positive Covid sample in the UK and not everyone who catches the virus will take a test.

This means there could be people infected with the variant in Britain.

What is the UK doing about the variant?

The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26.

The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned.

Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test.

Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight.

What mutations does the variant have?

The Botswana variant carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines.

But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant, which are also linked to antibody escape.

The variant also has mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant.

And the mutation N501Y that makes viruses more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others.

Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear.

Will I be protected if I have a booster?

Scientists have warned the new strain could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one.

The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said.

When will we know more about the variant?

Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away.

The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks.

But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths.

What is the variant called?

The strain is known scientifically as B.1.1.529, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the 'Nu' variant.
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Omicron variant timeline Monday, 22 November : Variant found in Hong Kong, Botswana and South Africa

: Variant found in Hong Kong, Botswana and South Africa Tuesday, 23 November : UK scientist sounds the alarm about 'horrific' 32 mutations

: UK scientist sounds the alarm about 'horrific' 32 mutations Wednesday, 24 November : Downing Street claims strain is not an 'issue' but ministers meet behind the scenes

: Downing Street claims strain is not an 'issue' but ministers meet behind the scenes Thursday, 25 November : Cases soar in South Africa and Britain issue flight ban

: Cases soar in South Africa and Britain issue flight ban Friday, 26 November : Strain found in Belgium and countries across world close borders Advertisement

The world shut itself off from Southern Africa today in response to a super mutant variant that was unheard of just days ago.

B.1.1.529  which has now been named Omicron was first picked up in Hong Kong on Monday in a patient who had travelled from South Africa.

It did not catch international attention until Wednesday after a British scientists mentioned its 32 'horrific' mutations on social media after cases were picked up in Botswana and South Africa as well.

Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the variant was not an 'issue' on Wednesday afternoon despite UK experts warning it had a horrific set of mutations that could allow it to dodge vaccines.

By Thursday the South African Government was forced to warn the world about the strain at a sombre press conference, admitting it had triggered an 'exponential' rise in Guateng province and was likely in every corner of the country, outpacing Delta at ferocious speed.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was monitoring the situation closely but that it did not pose a threat to the UK at the time. Chris Whitty and other prominent experts warned of a potential global outbreak that could undermine the UK's vaccine programme.

Journalists were briefed on Thursday night by senior scientists at a hastily organised briefing where they were told the variant was at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive than Delta.

The media was told the strain was the worst seen 'ever' and that the variant could be at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive.

At the same time, an emergency Covid committee cabinet meeting convened to discuss Britain's next steps to deal with the variant.

It prompted a rapid announcement from Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night that there would be a travel ban on six African countries in the south of the continent.

And scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn of the potential return of draconian Covid restrictions this winter because of the strain.

New cases were picked up in Israel and then Belgium and European countries began shutting off their borders to people coming in from South Africa, with passengers unable to leave a plane in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Here MailOnline reviews how the Botswana variant inspired global pandemic within the space of 48 hours...

Monday and Tuesday

Researchers in Hong Kong were the first to raise the alarm about the new strain on Monday after discovering the strain in two passengers who had recently returned from South Africa.

It was also picked up in Botswana, where it was sequenced three times, and South Africa  who had only seen one case at the time.

Scientists from all three countries uploaded it to an international database of variants used by experts from across the world, including the UK.

Dr Tom Peacock, a British virologist at Imperial College London who works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), voiced concern about the strain's 32 'horrific' mutations  twice as many as Delta  on Tuesday.

Writing on social media, Dr Peacock said: 'Just spotted: Very small cluster of variant associated with Southern Africa with very long branch length and really awful Spike mutation profile.'

Wednesday

MailOnline broke the news about the variant on Wednesday, before No10's official spokesperson shrugged it off as 'not seen as something that is an issue' despite experts' fears that it would be more vaccine evasive than Delta.

Some scientists dismissed fears, saying the strain's large amount of mutations meant it could become unstable  meaning it would be unlikely to become widespread.

But others warned if it started taking over the dominant Delta variant in South Africa it could have knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said it likely emerged in a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

He said it was likely the variant would be much more able to dodge antibodies than Delta.

Professor Balloux told MailOnline: 'For the time being, it should be closely monitored. But there's no need to be overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency.'

Behind the scenes, MailOnline understands there were 'extensive talks' between British Government scientists and those in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Thursday

Cases began to grow exponentially in the Guateng Province in South Africa on Thursday, with a particular spike in Johannesburg, where they shot up 93 per cent in a single day.

The South African Government held a press conference on the same day, saying that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

British ministers were called to an emergency meeting of the Covid Operations Cabinet Committee on Thursday, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Steven Barclay, to discuss shutting Britains borders to travellers from Africa.

They were told vaccines would be at least 40 per cent less effective against the variant  because of a mutation it shares with the original South African Beta variant  at the meeting.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid attended the meeting but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing minister, were not part of discussions.

It was set up due to concerns raised by England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and UKHSA boss Dr Jenny Harries.

Passengers on last flights back from South Africa say they faced no extra restrictions Passengers arriving into the UK on one of the last flights from South Africa have revealed they were not offered tests and left to mix with hundreds of others despite mounting concern over the new variant. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday. They have all been placed on the red list. But passengers arriving from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force. Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers. 'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.' Advertisement

A Government source said: 'Whitty and the experts said we needed to act. They wanted to get it out as soon as possible.'

Insiders stressed they were acting out of an 'abundance of caution'. The issue only came on the radar at No10 on Wednesday. 'We have moved more quickly than with previous decisions,' one source said.

Later, senior UK Government scientists briefed the media at a hastily organised press conference last night at 7.45pm.

One senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Sajid Javid released a video on Twitter on Thursday night at around 8.50pm announcing the Government was banning all flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

Friday

7am

Scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn Britain may have to accept the reintroduction of draconian lockdown restrictions this Christmas as a result of the warning.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was 'possible' the strain has already entered Britain.

She said 'people are arriving every day' to the UK from Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been officially detected.

Belgium's health ministry said a case was spotted in an unvaccinated young woman who got tested after suffering symptoms. She had returned from Egypt 11 days ago.

11am

Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

Passengers flying to Holland from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain.

Flights in and out of Britain from the six African countries were supposed to be scrapped at midday today, despite No10 scrapping the no-fly travel 'red list' just weeks ago.

Yet, British arrivals from the variant's epicentre Johannesburg were left to mingle with hundreds of others as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at midday. Passengers revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history.

Those coming from variant epicentre Johannesburg said they faced 'no additional precautions'. Others told how they were getting around the ban by flying to other countries and then to the UK.

Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to pull the 'emergency brake' on travel from southern Africa on the back of the announcement, warning that the strain could be world-dominant in months.

The EU Commission president said: 'All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant. It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united.'
A 49-year-old barmaid 'suddenly' collapsed and died after believing she was spiked at a nightclub.

Cordelia Stemp told friends she felt something was 'seriously wrong with her' when she left Hampshire Boulevard nightclub in Portsmouth feeling unwell.

The mother of two texted her friend, Billy Marchant, who was with her on the night out, at 1.20am to say she had a 'pain' in her stomach and was 'sweating'.

When she arrived at her home in Portsmouth the 49 year old 'was not herself at all', and told her lodger and family friend Charlie Brown she 'felt like she had been spiked'.

She then collapsed, and even with her partner Roger Beaumont and Mr Brown attempting CPR, when the ambulance arrived paramedics found there was 'no sign of life'.

The 'much-loved' pub worker was later confirmed dead at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth on November 11.

An inquest has now been triggered - but the grandmother's family have been told toxicology examination results could take two months. Police are investigating the circumstances leading to her death which remains 'unexplained' but is not being treated as 'suspicious'.

Its comes after a spate of of spiking incidents have been reported across the UK. Today a woman told how she was 'spiked by needle' at a Pitcher and Piano bar in Tunbridge Wells, that was forced to close when six other pub goers said they had also been drugged.

Cordelia Stemp, 49, told friends she felt something was 'seriously wrong with her' when she left Hampshire Boulevard nightclub in Portsmouth feeling unwell

Casey Thompson was said she felt the 'room spinning' before she 'passed out', leading to a four-hour stay in hospital and HIV tests to stop her getting more ill. She was enjoying her night out at the Pitcher and Piano on Church Road, Tunbridge Wells, when she felt 'a sharp pinch' and a red lump formed on her arm.

Portsmouth barmaid Cordelia Stemp's 23 year old daughter, Yolanda Stemp, said it was peculiar for her mother to go home alone and she must have felt 'awful' to take herself home in a taxi.

Ms Stemp said the family feels 'overwhelmed' by the sudden death and the troubling circumstances, as well as the community's response.

The ferry company worker said: 'She texted [her friend] on her way home, saying she didn't feel well at 1.15am.

When she arrived at her home in Portsmouth the 49 year old 'was not herself at all', and told her lodger and family friend Charlie Brown she 'felt like she had been spiked'. Pictured with her grandson Riley in 2019

'At 1.20am she texted him saying, 'I'm burning, I'm sweating'.

'She said she had a pain in her stomach.

'When she got home, her friend - who is a lodger there - was in the front room. She said to him, 'I feel like I've been spiked'.

'My mum clearly stated in her text messages that there was something seriously wrong with her.

'I understand that things are very complicated. My main thing is that my mum was very loved, but there is a possibility this could have happened. We're not ruling that it is - it's still inconclusive.

'I want people to remember my mum as the funny, bubbly person that she was.

'If you needed someone to talk to, even if it was 3am on Facebook, she was there for you. She was my best friend* I cry all day most days.'

The 'much-loved' barmaid, who worked at Lady Hamilton pub in Portsmouth, was later confirmed dead at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth on November 11

Tributes left outside Lady Hamilton pub in Portsmouth for their barmaid Cordelia Stemp

After the police were alerted, officers evacuated the Hampshire Boulevard nightclub so a 'thorough' investigation could be conducted.

Mr Marchant said he was shocked at how Ms Stemp - who also went by the name Dee Skelton - suddenly fell ill.

He added: 'When she texted me, she obviously felt different to normal. She was lovely, lovely lady.'

Mr Brown, who was at home when Ms Stemp got back from the club, said: 'She was not herself at all.

'She was a lovely person, always smiling. If anyone was down, she would put a smile on their face.'

Casey Thomson, pictured, was enjoying a night out in Pitcher and Piano when she felt a 'sharp pinch' and a red lump formed on her arm

The landlord of The Lady Hamilton pub, where Ms Stemp worked, told of the staff's 'shock' at her passing.

Ivan Lim, who has been landlord for five years, said: 'We all felt really shocked and sad, so we decided to put some flowers out the front of the pub.

'She has lived in Portsmouth for a long time and received a lot of affection from the community here since she joined the pub.

'If you knew her, she came across as really friendly, she always had a smile. She always tried her best to make you feel better.'

Fellow barmaid Jancie Dore added: 'She was a lovely, lovely lady. She was very popular - I'm not surprised by the amount of flowers.'

Ms Stemp's death has 'hit a lot of hearts' and her funeral on December 3 is expected to be attended by more than 130 people.

Venues in Portsmouth are now rolling out a new app-based alert to keep customers safe.

Ms Thomson described how within seconds the room was spinning and she passed out, and later shared this picture online of a 'needle' mark

Meanwhile, Ms Thompson shared her experience on Instagram and Facebook to raise awareness of the disturbing trend.

She said: 'I will post this as many times as it takes to spread awareness.

'The people that are doing this are sick.

'A normal Saturday night with friends turned into one surrounded by police and four hours in hospital.

'This happened in Tunbridge Wells Pitcher and Piano.

'It felt like a sharp pinch, I turned to look at my arm and there was a red lump, within seconds the room was spinning and I had passed out.

'Thank god @georgialello and @lydia-mallion was with me so nothing further happened.

'Now it's blood tests and HIV prep to stop me getting further ill.

'This has definitely stopped me going out. PLEASE BE CAREFUL, feel free to SHARE.'

Following Casey's complaint, Anthony Thomson also posted on Facebook about his horror night out at the venue in the commuting town of Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

He said: 'Hi all, just thought I'd make a quick post to spread some awareness.

'On Saturday night I was spiked via an injection at Pitcher & Piano in Tunbridge Wells.

'I blacked out for around four to five hours and have limited memory of what happened.

'After going to the police in the morning it came to light that two other girls had also been injected on the same night in the same venue.

'You'd never think this sort of thing would happen in your hometown, especially to a bloke so just keep an eye on your mates if they start acting differently in any way.'

After the complaints were received, the Pitcher and Piano was temporarily closed by the owners.

Kent Police requested that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's licensing committee review the venue's licence in light of what happened in the early hours of Sunday, November 2.

The application raised concerns about the management of the venue and existing security measures.

Casey Thomson, pictured, also posted on Facebook about his horror night out at the venue in the commuting town of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, claiming he was 'spiked by injection'

A post by Kent Police reads: 'This followed reports received by officers that, between midnight and 3am on 21 November, seven people became unwell whilst at the premises.

'Those reporting the incidents suspected their drinks might have been tampered with and, in two instances, thought they may have had needles used on them to administer substances.

'No further offences were reported against the victims, who are in their late teens and 20s, and none of the complainants witnessed or recovered needles.

'An investigation is underway into the allegations and officers are working with the venue while carrying out enquiries into the circumstances, including a review of CCTV footage.'

The council's licensing committee has now suspended the venue's licence until December 1 while they install better quality CCTV with a wider coverage, provide cup covers for drinks, improve lighting and install metal detectors at the entrance.

The suspension will be lifted on December 1 when the bar will reopen with an amended licence that has additional conditions intended to reduce crime and disorder at the venue and promote public safety.

A full review of the licence will be completed by the licensing committee on a date to be confirmed.

Kent Police said there were three incidents involving a group of three women, a group of two women and a man, and a single man.

District Commander for Tunbridge Wells, Chief Inspector Lizzie Jones, said: 'The application to review this licence was made due to the seriousness of the allegations received and the concerns of officers that the bar should have more effective safety measures in place for their customers.

'We were pleased to receive the co-operation of premises owners at the hearing who have taken the additional step of closing the bar while safety measures are put in place.

'We will continue to work constructively with the management of the Pitcher and Piano once it has reopened.'

Between September and October, the National Police Chiefs' Council reported there had been a total of 198 reports of drink spiking and 56 confirmed reports of injection incidents.

In October, women and girls across the UK boycotted nightclubs for a 'Girls Night In' to help raise awareness.
The brother of a British socialite charged with helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit underage girls says her prosecution is 'the most over-hyped trial of the century,' designed to break a woman targeted by authorities desperate to blame someone for the late financier's crimes.

Ghislaine Maxwell continues to have the backing of her family, and a family member will be in court at all times to show support, Ian Maxwell said in an interview ahead of the trial, which is set to begin Monday in the US District Court in Manhattan.

This is 'the most over-hyped trial of the century without a doubt,' Ian Maxwell told the Associated Press.

'This is designed to break her; I can't see any other way to read it. ... And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence and she is going to give the best account she can.'

Prosecutors allege Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, groomed girls as young as 14 to have sex with Epstein and lied about her knowledge of his crimes when she testified in an earlier case.

Businessman Ian Maxwell, pictured, brother of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, gestures during an interview at his office in London on Monday, November 15, 2021

At Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Centre, the fallen British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured), 59, waits for her 'Trial of the Decade' to start on Monday

Disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured here in 2005

Defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim points toward Ghislaine Maxwell standing during a pre-trial hearing on charges of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch on November 23

She has been in custody for almost 17 months, after Judge Alison J. Nathan repeatedly denied requests for bail earlier this month.

Prosecutors held a press conference when they announced the charges against Maxwell, saying she lured young girls into a trap that she and Epstein had set for them.

'Ms. Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibility as an adult, using whatever means she had at her disposal to lure vulnerable youth into behavior they should never have been exposed to, creating the potential for lasting harm,' FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney said at the time.

But Ian Maxwell says his sister is being blamed by US authorities who are intent on holding someone responsible for Epstein's crimes.

Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 before he could face trial.

'This is not quite a put-up job, but nonetheless has been cobbled together so that Ghislaine is made to face the charges that Epstein never faced,' Ian Maxwell said.

Ghislaine Maxwell is the youngest of the late media mogul Robert Maxwell's nine children.

Pictured: Elisabeth and Robert Maxwell with their children Kevin, Philip, Ian, Anne, Christine, Isabel and Ghislaine Maxwell (to the left of Robert Maxwell)

Ian Maxwell, pictured, said his sister's upcoming trial 'is designed to break her. And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence'

Pictured: the main entrance of the Metropolitan Detention Center, where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held in Brooklyn. Maxwell claims a guard physically abused her at the jail

The tycoon was once one of the richest men in Britain, but that wealth evaporated after he drowned in 1991 and investors discovered he had siphoned hundreds of millions of pounds from employee pension funds to prop up his empire.

The children supported each other after Robert Maxwell died and Ian and his brother were charged with financial crimes related to their father's actions. Both were acquitted.

Now they are rallying around Ghislaine, who lived with Epstein for years and was his frequent companion on trips around the world.

Back in late April, her lawyer released the first photo of the jailed socialite since her arrest last year, with Maxwell sporting a black eye, pictured above

The family continues to demand that Maxwell be released on bail, arguing that the conditions of her detention are tantamount to torture and prevent her from assisting her defense attorneys.

Back in late April, her lawyer - who once represented one of Osama Bin Laden's henchmen - released the first photo of the jailed socialite since her arrest last year, with Maxwell sporting a black eye.

So-called 'super lawyer' Bobbi Sternheim shared the close-up snap of Maxwell as her client continues to languishe in jail.

Her left eye had a bruise underneath, while Maxwell's usual short dark cropped hairstyle had grown out and was flecked with gray hairs.

The six remaining siblings this week asked the United Nations to investigate Ghislaine Maxwell's 'inhumane' treatment.

Defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim points toward Ghislaine Maxwell during a pre-trial hearing on charges of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City on Tuesday

Pictured: a photo provided by the New York State Sex Offender Registry from 2017, showing Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein's longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, goes on trial next week

Ian Maxwell says his sister is in 'effective isolation' at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she is being held in a 6-by 9-foot cell that has no natural light and is equipped with a toilet and a concrete bed.

She is unable to sleep because she is watched around the clock by four guards and 10 cameras due to unwarranted concerns that she is a suicide risk, he said.

Earlier this month, a judge again refused to let Epstein's former girlfriend trade her jail cell for home detention, citing the serious nature of the charges and her risk of flight.

'The denial of bail is wholly inappropriate,' Ian Maxwell said.

'Some very famous, infamous people were granted bail as most recently the killer of George Floyd, a murderer. John Gotti, another murderer, a mobster. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Bernie Madoff. These are all men, of course, who got bail. Ghislaine is a woman who somehow doesn't get bail.'

Americans who are interested in justice should be worried, because anyone could be accused of a crime and be held under the same conditions, he said.

'The authorities are feeling under pressure ... because they lost (Epstein) and they're feeling under the public's pressure, and that combination of pressure is keeping Ghislaine inside,' her brother said. 'But it still doesn't make it right.'
A 60-year-old man in Malaysia could face 20 years in jail or whipping if he is found guilty of having sex with a goat.

Shaari Hasan was yesterday charged with voluntarily having had 'carnal intercourse' with the animal on July 27.

The man was discovered by the goat's owner after she heard it making strange sounds.

Shaari Hasan, 60, left, was yesterday charged with voluntarily having had 'carnal intercourse' with a goat

The judge said not admitting to the evidence made his guilty plea unacceptable and when the charge was again read out to him, Hasan pleaded not guilty

Going to check on the animal, she saw the man next to the goat, half-naked, Free Malaysia Today reports.

The man fled the scene and the goat was found dead. The owner put in a complaint with the police and the carcass was sent to a veterinary service department for a post-mortem examination.

The accused widower was allegedly caught behind a house in the village of Kampung Sungai Buaya in Rawang, at around 1.30pm.

He initially pleaded guilty when the charge, under Article 377 of Malaysia's criminal code, was first read out by judge Nurul Mardhiah Mohammed Redza, as reported by Detik.

A 60-year-old man in Malaysia could face 20 years in jail or whipping if he is found guilty of having sex with a goat

But after being presented with evidence which was said to be taken from him when he was arrested, a green T-shirt and brown trousers, Hasan denied the items were his.

The judge said not admitting to the evidence made his guilty plea unacceptable and when the charge was again read out to him, Hasan pleaded not guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor Siti Khadijah Amir Hamdzah opposed bail for the offence.

However Hasan's lawyer Zolazrai Zolkapli said the offence is bailable, hence his client should be freed depending on the trial's outcome.

Bail was refused by the judge, and Hasan will return to court for mention on December 24.
The operator behind Southern Rail and Thameslink could be forced to pay 73million in compensation after being accused of overcharging customers.

Campaigners claim more than 3million passengers of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have essentially double paid for parts of their journeys because so-called 'boundary fares' are not made readily available.

Boundary fares are fares where a person who already has paid for the use of a travel zone - such as those in London - and so only has to pay to travel from the edge of that zone when making an outward journey.

But campaigners allege that GTR passengers with London Travelcards have been routinely paying for their full journey, meaning they have essentially paid twice for part of their travel.

Now they are lodging a compensation claim against GTR, saying that the firm, who also run the Gatwick Express, should have offered discounted tickets for those using London Travelcards.

Consumer campaigner Justin Gutmann, who is bringing the case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, is already challenging two other rail operators over the same issue.

He said: 'This claim is the latest step in my campaign to stamp out routine overcharging of millions of passengers by some of Britain's top rail operators.

The operator behind Southern Rail (pictured: Library image of a Southern Railway train) and Thameslink could be forced to pay 73million in compensation after being accused of overcharging customers

What is the claim against GTR all about? Consumer campaigner Justin Gutmann, a former London Underground market planning boss and former head researcher at Citizens Advice, says the claim revolves around Travelcards. In London, a Travelcard provides unlimited travel on London's public transport network and can be issued for travel on any one day, seven consecutive days or for regular commuters, any period between one month and a year. Travelcards can also be to cover certain zones - such as a Travelcard for London Zones 1-4. In London, a Travelcard provides unlimited travel on London's public transport network and can be issued for travel on any one day, seven consecutive days or for regular commuters, any period between one month and a year But if someone with a valid Travelcard wants to travel out of London, Mr Gutmann argues that they should only have to pay from the edge of the Zone boundary. Mr Gutman says that a person making a journey from London Waterloo to Reading with a Zones 1-4 Travelcard should only have to pay at the edge of the Zone 4 boundary, which in this example would be Southall station. But he claims millions of people bought tickets covering the whole journey, meaning they essentially paid twice for the journey between Waterloo and Southall. Mr Gutmann has accused rail companies of not making the 'boundary fares' sufficiently available for Travelcard holders to buy, nor making passengers fully aware of their existence. Lawyers representing Mr Gutmann in his claim say research has demonstrated that such fares are not readily available online or over the telephone and are rarely offered at ticket counters unless expressly requested. An estimated 240 million journeys since November 2015 could have benefited from boundary fares if travellers had been aware of them, they allege. The claim states this is a breach of the UK's competition rules (s.18 of the Competition Act 1998) and an abuse of market powers. Advertisement

'The failure of these companies to make boundary fares more freely available is scandalous and has been going on for years.

'It's a practice that needs to stop - and passengers who have overpaid deserve compensation.'

Last month, Mr Gutmann secured legal approval to bring to trial collective actions seeking compensation worth up to 93 million against two other rail operators, the South Western and Southeastern rail franchises, over the issue of boundary fares.

Mr Gutmann, a former head researcher at Citizens Advice, says the claim revolves around Travelcards.

In London, a Travelcard provides unlimited travel on London's public transport network and can be issued for travel on any one day, seven consecutive days or for regular commuters, any period between one month and a year.

Travelcards can also be to cover certain zones - such as a Travelcard for London Zones 1-4.

But if someone with a valid Travelcard wants to travel out of London, Mr Gutmann argues that they should only have to pay from the edge of the Zone boundary.

Mr Gutman says that a person making a journey from London Waterloo to Reading with a Zones 1-4 Travelcard should only have to pay at the edge of the Zone 4 boundary, which in this example would be Southall station.

But he claims millions of people bought tickets covering the whole journey, meaning they essentially paid twice for the journey between Waterloo and Southall.

Mr Gutmann has accused rail companies of not making the 'boundary fares' sufficiently available for Travelcard holders to buy, nor making passengers fully aware of their existence.

Lawyers representing Mr Gutmann in his claim say research has demonstrated that such fares are not readily available online or over the telephone and are rarely offered at ticket counters unless expressly requested.

An estimated 240 million journeys since November 2015 could have benefited from boundary fares if travellers had been aware of them, they allege.

The claim states this is a breach of the UK's competition rules (s.18 of the Competition Act 1998) and an abuse of market powers.

GTR disputes the claim and says that the firm is 'committed to providing the best value fares' to its customers.

A GTR spokesperson said: 'Millions of journeys are made every week on GTRs rail networks and we are committed to providing the best value fare to every passenger.

'We consider this claim to be flawed, and we dispute the allegations within it. We will be defending our position robustly.'

GTR operate various subsidies across the UK including Southern, which serves destinations including Brighton, Hastings, Portsmouth, Southampton, Eastbourne and Milton Keynes.

Thameslink is a key commuter line to central London linking Brighton, St Albans, Bedford, East Grinstead and Luton Airport.

Consumer campaigner Justin Gutmann, who is bringing the case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal, is already challenging two other rail operators over the same issue

Campaigners claim more than 3million passengers of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), which also runs Thameslink (pictured: Library image) have essentially double paid for parts of their journeys because so-called 'boundary fares' are not made readily available

Mr Gutmann, now retired, previously worked for London Underground for eight years before becoming head of research for Citizens' Advice.

In his claim, known as an opt-out collective claim, he is jointly represented by law firms Charles Lyndon and Hausfeld and Co.

The 2015 Act allows for a collective claim to be brought on behalf of a group of individuals who are alleged to have suffered a common loss.

Instead, these consumers may all receive compensation through a single, collective claim brought on their behalf by Mr Gutmann.

The legal group say passengers who owned a Travelcard at any time from 24 November 2015 and also purchased a rail fare from a station within the zones of their Travelcard to a destination outside those zones may be eligible for compensation under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (2015 Act).
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Europe is tightening lockdowns even after mass protests and rioting last week as its winter wave of Covid continues to worsen with Germany forced to airlift patients out of overflowing hospitals in the hard-hit south.

Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, warned that infections in his country are now 'worse than the worst-case scenario' as he announced that nightclubs will have to shut their doors while restaurants and bars will be forced to close at 11pm starting on Saturday.

'We have been hoodwinked by the Delta variant,' Mr De Croo said, just hours before a case of the Botswana strain - believed to be even-more infectious than Delta - was confirmed in his country, making it the first in Europe.

The EU Commission has since recommended suspending all travel between Europe and southern African countries where the new variant has been discovered to protect the continent.

Meanwhile the Netherlands is poised to extend a night-time curfew that has been in place since November 12, forcing restaurants and non-essential shops to close between 5pm and 5am each day despite riots

And Germany, which has tightened restrictions on the unvaccinated in recent days, summoned the Luftwaffe to its hard-hit southern regions to airlift patients out.

A Covid patient is airlifted out of hospital in Germany's hard-hit southern region of Bavaria after wards overflowed with cases rising sharply

As patients were loaded on to planes, health minister Jens Spahn called for people to 'massively' reduce their social contacts or else risk a Christmas lockdown

Covid cases are hitting all-time highs in many countries in Europe, as leaders rush to reimpose lockdowns and target the unvaccinated with the harshest measures

Doctors were pictured loading patients on to aircraft at the main airport in Memmingen, Bavaria, as health minister Jens Spahn called for a 'massive restrictions of contacts' - hinting that full lockdown will be necessary if cases don't fall soon.

In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge are scheduled to give a news conference at 7pm local time to outline the new measures.

'That we need measures - tough measures - is beyond doubt,' De Jonge said on Thursday shortly after a meeting of ministers to discuss the crisis.

He said a panel of experts that advises the government on its coronavirus policies has advised the use of measures that will force a turnaround in the rising line of infections. 'That turnaround won't happen on its own,' De Jonge said.

Infections and deaths are soaring across Europe as the continent is hit by a virulent winter wave of Covid that has seen the return of lockdown measures that many assumed were a thing of the past following the summer's vaccination drive.

Leaders have warned that not enough people have voluntarily taken up the jabs to prevent community transmission, and are trying to drive up their vaccination figures by targeting the unvaccinated.

Austria has gone the furthest, initially confining the unjabbed to their homes before making vaccines mandatory for everyone who is eligible.

Germany, Italy and France have also targeted the unvaccinated by expanding the use of their health pass systems - requiring people to be vaccinated to enter a range of public spaces and businesses.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran was the latest to announce measures on Thursday night, saying it would make COVID-19 booster shots available to all adults, toughen rules on wearing face masks and ramp up health pass checks.

The number of infections is doubling every 11 days in France but officials said there was no need to follow Austria's example of reimposing a lockdown.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said anyone aged 18 or over would be eligible for booster shots and that the period between full vaccination and the booster jabs would be shortened to five months from six.

Brussels is considering harsher measures on travel as the continent suffers through a winter wave of Covid that has caused virus deaths to spike

In a piece of positive news, cases appear to be levelling off in Austria and the Netherlands after both countries imposed restrictions

France will require everyone over the age of 12 to show a vaccine passport in order to access ski slopes from December 4

'We still have our fate in our hands,' Veran told a news conference, urging people to respect social distancing rules.

Booster shots are currently available only to over-65s and to those with underlying health issues.

France currently holds about 25 million doses, enough to accelerate the booster campaign, Veran said. Earlier, France's health regulator (HAS) backed a widening of the campaign.

France reported over 30,000 new infections for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, a sequence unseen since late April.

The seven-day moving average of daily new cases - which evens out reporting irregularities - stands at a three-month high of 21,761 and has almost quadrupled in a month.

Veran said he would ask the HAS and medical ethics committee to examine whether children aged 5 to 11 should be vaccinated. Any programme for such children would not begin before 2022.

Earlier, the EU's drug regulator approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds as Europe fights a spike in infections.

Booster shots will become a requirement for a valid health pass, which is needed in France to enter restaurants, cafes, cinemas and museums, among other public venues, Veran said. The pass shows proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID test.

After Veran's announcement, vaccination bookings soared, causing medical appointments app Doctolib to freeze. At 1615 GMT, the app gave a waiting time of more than 30 minutes to book a vaccination.

The new rules will potentially cause chaos for anyone planning a ski holiday to France this winter, after health passes were also extended to the slopes.

Everyone over the age of 12 will now have to provide proof they are double-vaccinated to access the slopes and that their last jab was no more than seven months ago, under plans announced Thursday by health minister Olivier Veran.

That poses multiple issues for British travellers - with children aged under 16 unable to get a vaccination passport and those aged 12-15 only eligible for one jab.

Additionally, boosters are currently only being offered to Britons aged over 40 meaning people in their mid-to-late 30s whose second doses were given in June risk missing out as their passports will 'expire' in January.

European leaders are relying on vaccinations to combat the new Covid wave, cutting the time required to get booster jabs and restricting the activities of the unjabbed
A Colorado police department faces an internal investigation after they let an armed kidnapping gang keep an innocent man they abducted from his home to extort the victim's family.

On November 4 Brandon Sharp, 34, William Holland, 40, and three other men stormed 25-year old Jose Salguero-Martinez' apartment in Aurora claiming to be bounty hunters and proceeded to extort his family for thousands of dollars for his release, police said.

They did so by claiming Salguero-Martinez was wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it is claimed, although ICE says there was no such warrant out for the victim.

Holland uploaded a portion of his alleged crime to the Instagram FRA Investigations with the caption: 'This guy ran from New York since 2015, 6 years later here we are.'

Jose Salguero-Martinez, pictured, was abducted by a gang of armed men claiming to be bounty hunters working on behalf of ICE in Denver earlier this month

Salguero-Martinez was bundled into a hotel by the five men - but Denver Police failed to rescue him when called, with the kidnapping now said to have been an extortion attempt

In the video Salguero-Martinez is captured with his legs spread out in handcuffs as he is being searched by a group of men near a vehicle.

His face is clearly visible, and he appears panicked.

In the clip a woman related to Salguero-Martinez is heard asking 'So you guys take him down to the county, the cops don't pick him up?' and one of the men posing as bounty-hunters replied 'We do everything.'

According to a criminal affidavit, the men then took Salguero-Martinez to a Best Western hotel where surveillance footage captured the 25-year-old being escorted into the hotel in handcuffs with a black hood over his head.

The men then called Salguero-Martinez's aunt demanding $1,500 or else they would hand over her nephew to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, court documents said.

Salguero-Martinez's aunt was able to raise the $1,500 and an additional $250 the so-called bounty hunters demanded to cover the hotel room costs.

But when they then told her they would also need and additional $5,000 in order to get rid of the ICE warrants, the family realized they were being extorted and called Denver Police.

Officers from the department visited the hotel room and saw Salguero-Martinez with his alleged kidnappers.

They reported that they 'did not see anything suspicious' and the paperwork they provided police was deemed legitimate, court documents said. The cops left without rescuing Salguero-Martinez from his captors.

Holland and Sharp both face first- and second-degree kidnapping charges

'The suspects produced some type of paperwork stating they were Bail Bondsman which DPD accepted as legitimate. After reviewing the paperwork, DPD departed the area and advised (the aunt) to do the same,' Holland's arrest affidavit said.

The alleged kidnappers then transported Salguero-Martinez to a Radisson Hotel in Aurora and when his family contacted Aurora Police, officers reached out to an ICE officer who confirmed that there was no order to arrest the 25-year-old.

'Thankfully, Aurora PD was able to reach out to one of my ICE officers to get the confirmation that this was not someone we had targeted,' John Fabbricatore, the Denver Field Office Director for ICE, told news10.com

Fabbricatore said it is not ICE protocol to hire bounty hunters to kidnap someone at gunpoint and hold them at a hotel for ransom.

'No, that is not part of the immigration bond process. We do not use bounty hunters,' he told news10.com

Bail bondsman William Ellenburg told news10.com that Holland broke all the rules of actually executing an arrest warrant and said that real bounty hunters and bail bondsmen can not force their way into people's homes to make an arrest in the state of Colorado.

Ellenburg also added that Holland made a huge mistake by posting his alleged crime on to social media.

'That was a nail in his own coffin. He basically just showed everybody that him and his team are a bunch of criminals,' Ellenburg said.

Denver Police have not commented on the case since there is an ongoing internal affairs investigation.

But Fabbricatore said the department should have done what Aurora Police did and called his office.

'That would have been ideal had they done that,' Fabbricatore told news10.com, adding, 'In a situation like this, where we had a non-citizen that was kidnapped by a supposed bounty hunter, we need to make sure that we are working with local law enforcement to make sure that does not happen.'

Sharp and Holland both face first- and second-degree kidnapping charges as police search for three other 'bounty hunters' involved in the alleged kidnapping who are now themselves on the run.
The elder brother of Salman Abedi will be arrested and brought to the Manchester Arena Inquiry to give evidence if he comes back to the UK, a judge has ruled.

Ismail Abedi, 28, had been ordered to attend the public inquiry into the May 2017 terror attack but boarded a flight to Istanbul from Manchester Airport at the end of August and has not returned.

Bereaved families of the 22 people killed in the explosion labelled him a 'coward' for refusing to attend in October and give an account as to how Salman Abedi, 22, had become radicalised.

They said they were 'shocked' how he was allowed to leave a day after he missed a flight when he was stopped and questioned by police and told them he was going on a three-week break.

The elder brother of Salman Abedi will be arrested and brought to the Manchester Arena Inquiry to give evidence if he comes back to the UK, a judge has ruled. Ismail Abedi (above), 28, had been ordered to attend the public inquiry into the May 2017 terror attack but boarded a flight to Istanbul from Manchester Airport at the end of August and has not returned

Bereaved families of the 22 people killed in the explosion labelled Ismail a 'coward' for refusing to attend in October and give an account as to how Salman Abedi (pictured), 22, had become radicalised

Paul Greaney QC, said the inquiry wants to know if Salman and another Abedi brother, Hashem, had received military training in Libya after photographs of the pair holding weapons were found on Ismail's phone. (Above, Ismail posing with a rocket launcher)

On Friday, Mr Justice Sweeney sitting at Manchester Civil Justice Centre granted an application from inquiry chair Sir John Saunders to issue a bench warrant against Abedi.

Paul Greaney QC, for the applicant, argued Abedi had 'important' evidence to give on his younger brother's path to extremism.

He said the inquiry heard this week that their father, Ramadan Abedi, was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group - a militia that had links with terror organisation al-Qaeda.

Another Abedi brother, Hashem, 24, was jailed for life last year for the 22 murders by assisting the bomb plot.

Mr Greaney said: 'The question that the inquiry would like to pose is was Ramadan Abedi a violent Islamist extremist and, if so, did that rub off on his sons.'

He said the inquiry also wants to know if Salman and Hashem had received military training in Libya after photographs of the pair holding weapons were found on Ismail's phone.

The terror attack claimed 22 lives at Manchester Arena and injured hundreds more

Police near the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017

Another area to probe would be to ask Ismail if it was 'just a coincidence' that Salman spent increased time with mutual friend Abdalraouf Abdallah, 28 - later jailed for terrorism offences - in 2015 and 2016 when he was said to have eschewed his previous partying lifestyle and become more religious, said Mr Greaney.

Finally, Abedi has potential relevant evidence to give, said Mr Greaney, on the preparation of the bomb given his DNA was found on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives.

Abedi's other brother, Hashem Abedi (above), was previously found guilty of 22 counts of murder relating to the attack

Rebecca Filletti, appearing for Abedi under his new name of Ben Romdhan, said he was held in custody for two weeks after the attack in 2017 and he was detained again in August this year when his phone was examined, with neither investigation resulting in any criminal charges.

She also pointed out her client aired caution over the issue of forensics as the court would be aware DNA is transferable and the hammer was a moveable object.

Last month, lawyers for Abedi issued a statement in which they said he was unwilling to give evidence and the questions asked by the inquiry are 'essentially the same as he was asked by the police'.

He added requiring him to attend before the inquiry would place him and his family at risk.

It is understood Abedi's wife and child flew out separately to join him.

At the time of the bombing, Ramadan Abedi was in his homeland of Libya where he remains and has not co-operated with the inquiry.

Police still want to question him as a suspect.

Friday's hearing was told Ismail Abedi could face criminal prosecution if he does not attend the inquiry before it ends.
Five Derbyshire police officers are facing a misconduct investigation over their handling of the case of model Gracie Spinks who was stabbed to death in June.

Ms Spinks, 23, had reported Michael Sellars to police, alleging the 35-year-old warehouse supervisor was staking her four months before her body was discovered in a field in Dunkmanston, Derbyshire on June 18.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct today said they have served a misconduct notice on a police sergeant and a police constable over their handling of the stalking allegations.

Three other officers, a sergeant and two constables are also facing misconduct charges after a bag containing weapons including hammers were found in a bag a month before Ms Spinks was attack.

The bag was found only a short distance to where she was killed.

investigation into how a stalking and harassment allegation was handled.

The 23-year-old victim is believed to have been killed by 35-year-old Michael Sellars, who she had reported to Derbyshire Police in February for stalking.

Gracie Spinks, 23, reported Michael Sellars, 35, to police four months before she was stabbed to death in Derbyshire in June 18

Michael Sellars is suspected of murdering Ms Spinks before taking his own life. His body was found by police several hours after his alleged victim

A total of five Derbyshire Police officers are being probed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct for their handling of the case

The IOPC said three other Derbyshire Police have been served with misconduct notices over the steps they took after a bag of weapons, including a hammer, an axe and some knives, was discovered in May near where Ms Spinks was later found dead.

A police sergeant has been served with a gross misconduct notice relating to the action taken over the stash of weapons, and two other constables have been served with misconduct notices.

Ms Spinks was last seen alive by her mother at 7.30am on June 18, leaving the family home in Chesterfield to drive a few miles to Blue Lodge Farm stables in Duckmanton, where she kept her horse.

She was discovered unconscious with stab wounds at the stables half an hour later.

The body of unemployed Sellers, from Sheffield, who was her former supervisor at a warehouse where she once worked, was found in a nearby field off Tom Lane a few hours later.

Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield, previously called for stalking victims to be the 'law's upmost priority' following Ms Spinks's death.

Ms Spinks, pictured, had reported Sellars to Derbyshire police whose conduct is now under investigation for failing to handle the case correctly

Part of the investigation concerns the discovering of this bag which was recovered only 100 yards from where the model was killed. Police were handed this bag one month before Ms Spinks was stabbed to death

The weapons cache included a hammer, an axe and several knives

IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: 'We have made good progress, but our investigation is ongoing and there is more work still to do.

'After consideration of evidence so far, we have reached a stage where we have now served disciplinary notices on five officers.

'The purpose of such notices is to advise officers their conduct is subject to investigation, and do not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow.

'The serving of notices will be kept under review.

'We aren't able to provide more detail at present, but we appreciate the impact Gracie's death has had on the local community and beyond and the importance of keeping people updated with our investigation's progress.

'We are keeping Gracie's family informed and we note the work they have undertaken with others to campaign for Gracie's Law to help better protect victims of stalking.'
A TV news team were attacked and their security guard shot by a group of robbers as they tried to report on smash-and-grab crimes seen recently throughout California.

The news team from KRON4 had been reporting on Wednesday on a robbery which had involved 12 armed thugs wearing masks and hoods targeting a Prime 356 clothing store in Oakland.

However, police have said that criminals then targeted the news crews camera equipment during their report at around 12.20pm.

Oakland Police confirmed that the crew's security guard had been shot in the abdomen and was taken to Highland Hospital for surgery.

He is currently still at the hospital an in a stable condition.

Speaking later about the incident, Oakland police said: 'As you know its been an extremely violent week. We are asking if you were in the area, have a business or live nearby to please check your surveillance footage as you may have captured the crime before, during, or after it occurred.'

The news team from KRON4 had been reporting on Wednesday on a robbery which had involved 12 armed thugs wearing masks and hoods targeting a Prime 356 clothing store in Oakland. Pictured: Police are seen arriving at the scene following the incident

A reward of $17,500 was initially offered by police and the security guard's company - Star Protection Agency - as a reward for information that leads to the arrest of those involved - but this has now been raised to $25,000.

It is not uncommon for news teams to hire private security to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

KRON4's VP Jim Rose said that the safety of their personnel is the station's top priority, which is why they had hired security.

He added: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the security guard and his family and we wish him a complete recovery.'

Police officers also later found an additional victim - who had been hit by shrapnel - who was also transported to hospital and is also now in a stable condition.

The second victim was released from hospital yesterday.

The incident is just the latest in a series of recent robberies to have taken place throughout the Golden State, which started last Friday.

Oakland Police confirmed that the crew's security guard had been shot in the abdomen and was taken to Highland Hospital for surgery. He is currently still at the hospital an in a stable condition

Earlier today, it was reported that a group of four young men are wanted for robbing $20,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple Store, all caught on security cameras in broad daylight.

The incident took place at Santa Rosa Plaza, about an hour from San Francisco, on Wednesday morning.

Four young men, believed by police to be between the ages of 14 and 18, entered and grabbed the merch before fleeing in what authorities called a 'brazen daytime burglary' in broad daylight.

A detective from the Santa Rosa Police Department said they werent notified about the theft until 10 minutes after it occurred due to an Apple in-house protocol.

In the last week, thieves have made off with tens of thousands of dollars in luxury goods, amid soft misdemeanor theft laws in the Democrat-run state.

Around 20 robbers smashed their way into a Nordstrom at The Grove retail complex in LA on Monday night, making off with $5,000 worth of merchandise; and a CVS pharmacy in the city was struck just an hour later, where looters stole $8,000 from a cash register.

Law enforcement say that mercenary thieves are being recruited for up to $1,000 to steal the expensive goods which are then shipped across state lines and sold on the internet. The sophisticated method makes it harder for cops to track the criminals.

The thieves sped off and managed to escape despite multiple police cruisers, as well as fire trucks and ambulances, responding to the raid (pictured: cop cars outside the Nordstrom in Canoga Park on Wednesday night)

A police car outside the Nordstrom on Wednesday night after thieves made off with around eight luxury handbags

There have been a series of thefts throughout the Golden State over the last week

San Francisco has seen a dramatic increase in crime rates across the board, particularly in larceny thefts

California Governor Gavin Newsom vowed on Monday to get tough with organized gangs of thieves who have ransacked and looted luxury retail stores in the San Francisco Bay Area

Police in Palo Alto announced Wednesday that two women had been arrested in connection with a Sunday night attempt to steal items from the RealReal clothing boutique downtown.

California's Proposition 47 - lighter sentences for thieves Proposition 47 was passed by California voters on November 5, 2014. It made some 'non-violent' property crimes, where the value of the stolen goods does not exceed $950, into misdemeanors. It also made some 'simple' drug possession offenses into misdemeanors, and allows past convictions for these charges to be reduced to a misdemeanor by a court. Under California law, though, if two or more person's conspire to 'cheat and defraud any person or any property, by any means which are in themselves criminal' they can face no more than one year in county prison, a fine of $10,000 or a combination of the two. Advertisement

Police said 30 to 40 people arrived in some 20 cars and tried to break down the glass front door but it held. A security guard reported the effort and the crowd fled as police arrived.

The women were stopped in a car where police said they found at least $15,000 in clothes from a second RealReal location that was burglarized in Larkspur earlier that night.

Meanwhile, five people pleaded not guilty Wednesday to felony charges involving thefts in San Francisco.

Nine people have been charged in connection with Friday night attacks on stores including Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdale's in the downtown area and in Union Square, a posh shopping district popular with tourists that was teeming with holiday shoppers.

Ben Dugan, president of the Coalition of Law Enforcement and Retail, said: 'We're not talking about someone who needs money or needs food. These are people who go out and do this is for high profit, and for the thrill.'

Other major US cities have also seen a spike in store break-ins, including Chicago and its suburbs, where more than a dozen suspects attacked a Louis Vuitton store last week and stole more than $120,000 worth of high-end clothing and other merchandise.

Aside from the organized crime rings, the growing problem has been attributed to police officers' apparent reluctance to pursue retail criminals in the current political climate, prosecutors' failure to prioritize larceny and theft, and the decriminalization of low-level offenses in some jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, two progressive criminal justice experts suggested the news media and law enforcement officials should stop using the term 'looting' to describe the brazen store robberies, arguing that the term is racist.

Lorenzo Boyd, a professor of criminal justice & community policing at the University of New Haven, and Martin Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute of Journalism Education, urged news outlets to refer to the crimes as 'organized smash-and-grabs.'

Boyd and Martin's remarks immediately opened the floodgates of mockery on Twitter, with critics on the right mercilessly pillorying the 'woke' experts.

Conservative activist and former convicted felon Dinesh D'Souza tweeted: 'Experts refuse to call a spade a spade, unless, of course, it's a spade wielded by a white male.'

Ex-Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker compared it to the language used in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Wisconsin: 'It's looting. Just like there were riots in Kenosha, not just protests.'

Best Buy CEO Corie Berry said this week that the situation has become so dire that her company is stepping up security measures to protect its staff and shoppers.

'This is traumatizing for our associates and is unacceptable,' Barry said on a call with analysts on Tuesday. 'We are doing everything we can to try to create [an] as safe as possible environment.'

A day earlier, California Gov Gavin Newsom vowed to crack down on gangs of retail thieves, despite a controversial 2014 law - Proposition 47 - that barred prosecutors from charging suspected shoplifters accused of stealing less than $950 worth of merchandise with felonies.

A group of about 40 to 50 teenage shoplifters made off with an unknown amount of jewelry and other items in Hayward, California, on Sunday. Experts and officials say national crime networks are behind many of the 'smash-and-grab ' operations

A suspect was seen running away with an armful of merchandise after stealing from a Louis Vuitton store in San Francisco's Union Square on Friday night

Los Angeles police say at least 20 people used sledgehammers to break the glass at a Nordstrom on Monday night and ransack its shelves before fleein

'For the low-level criminal, the benefit far outweighs the risk, since the threshold for a misdemeanor offense is $950, meaning that a person can steal up to that amount and only be charged with a misdemeanor,' Lynda Buel, president of Ohio-based security consulting firm SRMC, told CNN.

'People see the ability to commit these 'smash-and-grab incidents' knowing that there is little consequence, especially if the thefts are kept below the threshold of a felony offense,' Buel added. 'It's easy, it's fast, and the payback is good.'

Over the weekend, the San Francisco Bay Area saw a string of audacious 'smash-and-grab' robberies, including an incident involving a gaggle of hammer-wielding masked bandits who ransacked jewelry, sunglasses and clothing stores at the Southland Mall in the San Jose suburb of Hayward.

Dramatic footage released on Monday showed a group of about 40 to 50 robbers smashing glass display cases at Sam's Jewelers at the mall at around 5.30pm on Sunday. Staffers are seen screaming in terror as the heist unfolded.

Around the same time on Sunday evening, packs of thieves ransacked a sunglasses store and a Lululemon store in San Jose, stealing nearly $50,000 in merchandise, San Jose police Sgt. Christian Camarillo said Monday.

The group that targeted the Lululemon store included two women and two men, including one who had a 'visible gun in his waistband,' he added.

On Saturday, police said as many as 80 suspects, some wearing ski masks and carrying crowbars, targeted a Nordstrom in the San Francisco suburb of Walnut Creek, assaulting employees and stealing merchandise before fleeing in waiting cars, police and witnesses said.

Two employees were assaulted and one was hit with pepper spray during what police called a 'clearly a planned event.' Walnut Creek police said they arrested two suspects and recovered a gun.

A day prior, roving bands of thieves brandishing hammers and crowbars hit a string of high-end retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Bloomingdales, as well as a Walgreens pharmacy and several marijuana dispensaries, in the vicinity of Union Square in San Francisco, a high-end area popular with tourist that was crowded with holiday shoppers.

Videos of the chaotic scene posted on social media by witnesses showed police officers dragging one suspect from a waiting car and people running with merchandise in their arms or dragging suitcases.

The 'smash-and-grab' operations are usually organized by local people who recruit their crews and send them to steal specific merchandise requested by criminal organizations throughout the country, Dugan said.

'Crew bosses organize them, they'll give him the crowbars, and in some cases even rent them cars, or provide them with escape routes or a list of products to actually go out and steal. It looks very chaotic but it's actually very well organized,' Dugan said.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in September that large-scale store thefts orchestrated by organized crime rings are costing retailers across the US an estimated $45billion in annual losses.

Raoul has formed the Organized Retail Crime Task Force comprised of public and private entities to tackle the problem head on.

'These brazen, violent crimes are committed by sophisticated criminal organizations that are involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and other serious crimes,' Raoul said.

'Even during the looting we saw last year, we came to understand that some of these criminal acts were not merely opportunistic, but organized in advance,' he said.

'The Organized Retail Crime Task Force will allow investigators and prosecutors in my office to better collaborate with our law enforcement partners and ensure cooperation between law enforcement, as well as retailers and online marketplaces, to protect communities, consumers and combat the rise in retail crime.'

Police were able to pursue one of the getaway cars, which had fled onto the 110 Freeway

The robbery (not pictured) occurred at 7pm on the eve of Thanksgiving and left a security guard injured.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said his office met with retailers over the weekend who asked for more police patrols.

'You will see substantially more starting today, in and around areas that are highly trafficked and coming into the holiday season Black Friday in shopping malls,' he told reporters Monday at an event in San Francisco.

He said the California Highway Patrol immediately stepped up patrols along nearby highway corridors following the thefts this weekend and asked local officials how they could help.

In July, Newsom signed a law that allows prosecutors to charge those who work with others to steal merchandise. He said this year's state budget included millions of dollars for local officials to address retail theft and his January budget proposal will include an "exponential increase of support to help cities and counties.'

'My business has been broken into three times this year,' he said. 'I have no empathy, no sympathy for these folks, and they must be held to account.' Newsom owns two wine shops in San Francisco.

Most of the 'smash-and-grabs' had been happening in stores near highways in suburbs where police response can be slower. But last year, the packs of robbers took advantage of BLM protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and ransacked stores in several cities, including San Francisco, Dugan said.

'It was meant to look like looting, but it really wasn't. Its a criminal entity employing other people to steal for them so they can profit by selling it online,' he said.

Retailers lose about $65billion each year to organized theft, the bulk stolen by professional thieves.

OAK BROOK, ILLINOIS: Surveillance footage from inside a Louis Vuitton store showed masked shoplifters, top right, pour into the store and grab handfuls of merchandise as customers ran away last week

The National Retail Federation said a recent survey found stores are seeing an increase in organized thefts and perpetrators being more aggressive.

On Tuesday, Best Buy's shares fell 16 per cent after the nation's largest consumer electronics retail chain posted a drop in profit for the fiscal quarter, citing organized theft - especially in San Francisco.

Best Buy CEO Corie Barry warned that businesses are in danger in the San Francisco area due to rampant looting

'We are definitely seeing more and more particularly organized retail crime and incidents of shrink in our locations,' Barry, the company's CEO, told analysts. 'This is a real issue that hurts and scares real people.'

Barry warned that employees could start quitting their jobs, rather than face the threat of hammer- and crowbar-wielding thieves terrorizing stores in California with relative impunity due to lax shoplifting laws.

Best Buy's top executive said the company is hiring security guards and keeping more products under lock and key.

Experts said state laws raising the threshold for what constitutes a felony and the ease of reselling stolen goods online are contributing to the increase in brash robberies.

Following Friday's thefts, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said officers arrested six men and two women, all young adults, and seized two guns and two vehicles. They are mostly residents of the Bay Area and some are known to San Francisco police, Scott said, adding that he expects more suspects will be arrested in the coming days.

Car access to the streets in Union Square will soon be limited and the area will be flooded with police officers, Scott said.

'We will do what we need to do to put an end to this madness,' Scott said at a news conference Saturday.
Police have grown 'increasingly concerned' by the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl who was last seen boarding a train in Liverpool last week.

Caitlin Black, 18, is from Northern Ireland but had been living in Winsford, Cheshire.

The teenager has not been seen or heard from by her family since last Wednesday, November 17.

She was reported missing on November 24 when family became increasingly concerned for her welfare.

Police said their enquiries have established Caitlin likely left Winsford via the train station sometime between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on November 18 and may have travelled to Liverpool.

Caitlin Black, 18, who is from Northern Ireland but lives in Winsford, Cheshire, has not been seen or heard from by her family since Wednesday November 17

The missing teenager is described as being 5ft 6ins tall and of slim build. She has long faded pink blonde hair.

She was also said to be carrying a suitcase and was wearing jeans or leggings.

Inspector David Christmas said: 'We are growing increasingly concerned for Caitlin's welfare and are doing all we can to try and locate her.

Police said their enquiries have established Caitlin likely left Winsford via the train station, pictured, sometime between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on November 18 and may have travelled to Liverpool

'We'd ask anyone who sees or has seen Caitlin to get in touch with us. I'd also appeal to Caitlin to please get in touch with us.

'Your family are worried about you and just want to know you are safe and well.'

Anyone with information should contact Cheshire Police on 101 or via the website quoting IML 1139869.
A father who violently shook his six-month-old Down's Syndrome baby to death has today been jailed for life.

Mihai-Catalin Gulie, 28, was convicted of murdering Robert Ion by inflicting irreparable brain damage during a fit of rage at home in Widnes, Cheshire in February this year, a court heard.

The baby, who was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome at birth and suffered from a range of medical complications, was rushed to hospital but was tragically pronounced dead just three days later.

His mother Gabriela Ion, 35, had briefly left the house with her two-year-old daughter to buy sweets, a jury was told.

She admitted trying to cover up the baby's bruises and injuries including broken ribs with toothpaste, but insisted that she did not foresee the fatal attack despite witnessing serious earlier violence.

Today, Gulie was sentence to life after he was found guilty of murder following a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court. He must serve 20 years behind bars before being eligible to apply for parole.

Ion was found guilty of causing or allowing his death and has been jailed for three years. Neither of the defendants showed any emotion during the hearing.

Mihai-Catalin Gulie (left) was convicted of the murder of his six-month-old child and his wife Gabriela Ion (right) was found guilty of causing or allowing the baby's death

Sixth-month-old Robert Ion, who was diagnosed with Down's Syndrome at birth and suffered from a range of medical complications, was rushed to hospital but was tragically pronounced dead just three days later

Sentencing, Mrs Justice Yip said Gulie 'plainly had a quick temper' and on an earlier occasion had admitted throwing Robert because he 'lost control to the devil'.

The couple often rowed and a neighbour revealed that the two children 'were living in a climate of aggression'. The children could frequently be heard crying 'while raised adult voices could be heard', a court was told.

'He had his whole life ahead of him and no doubt would have continued to bring joy to those around him.'

She jailed Ion for allowing the death of their son, who was born with Down's Syndrome and other medical complications, and had only been allowed home from hospital about two months earlier, just before last Christmas.

Ion had witnessed Guile assaulting Robert 11 days earlier by grabbing him by the chest and forcefully shaking him before slamming him into his crib. This caused injuries including broken ribs and a bleed on the brain, but instead of getting treatment for him she tried to cover up the bruises with toothpaste after internet searches for remedies to get rid of bruising quickly.

'Poor Robert undoubtedly suffered pain in the last days of his life as Miss Ion's evidence revealed,' Mrs Justice Yip said.

The judge told Ion that she must have realised the injuries were significant and yet she did not seek help.

'Had you done so his fractured ribs would have been discovered and Robert would have been alive today,' the judge said. 'That is something you must live with for the rest of your life.'

Gulie was convicted of the murder after a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court

The judge said that even while the baby was critically ill, her first instinct was to cover up for Gulie and she lied to doctors, police and social workers.

She said that on another earlier occasion Ion had seen him pick Robert out of his pram and throw him onto a sofa.

Ion asked Gulie's brother to speak to him about his behaviour but it had no affect, and Ion knew that, the judge added.

The court heard statements from members of the family today, expressing their sorrow at Robert's death and saying they have 'a heavy sense of sadness.'

The couple had moved from their native Romania to Widnes in 2019.

The judge pointed out that Ion could have turned to her supportive family for help but had not done so. She also said that the couple both assaulted their daughter on occasions and Ion admitted hitting their daughter with a wooden spoon 'when she was cheeky.'

Gulie denied killing Robert and told the jury: 'I don't know what happened to him. I was watching TV and when I stood up, he was yellow in the face and breathless. I didn't even touch him or put my hands on him.'

He has convictions in the Czech Republic involved domestic violence to a previous partner and Ion told how he had pushed her violently because she had not cooked when he returned home from work.
Three men have been charged with death by dangerous driving after a prep school teacher was killed during a 'road race' down a dual carriageway.

The race was between two high performance Audis and a pair of Suzuki motorbikes along one of Britain's busiest commuter routes, on the A34 dual carriageway near Handforth Dean retail park in Cheadle, near Manchester.

Asad Rashid, 34, who was riding one of the motorbikes, died after crashing into one of the cars at a roundabout on September 15, 2020.

Mohammed Chaudhry, 29, pictured outside Stockport Magistrates where he entered his plea for causing death by dangerous driving. Chaudhry is also accused of dangerous driving on four occasions in the months before the crash, three times on the A34 and once on an unnamed motorway

Asgar Taj, 32, Osama Saeed, 30, and Mohammad Zubair Chaudhry, 29, appeared before the court, accused of death by dangerous driving.

Chaudhry is also accused of dangerous driving on four occasions in the months before the crash, three times on the A34 and once on an unnamed motorway.

One of the cars involved in the crash was a 205mph Audi R8 Plus Quattro with a 5.2 litre engine which accelerate from 0-62 mph in only 3.2 seconds.

The other Audi was a 155mph RS 3 TFSI Quattro.

The bikes involved were a black Suzuki GSXR and blue copy of the same model.

Osama Saeed , 30, leaving court after being charged for death by dangerous driving

David Morgan prosecuting said: 'There were two motor vehicles and two motorbikes.

'One of the parties crashed into a roundabout and the gentlemen on the motorbike has ended up underneath one of the vehicles and died at the scene.'

All three suspects made no plea and the case was sent to Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester for a pre-trial hearing in January.

The trio were granted unconditional bail.

Rashid taught at the Islamic Tarbiyah Preparatory School (ITPS) in Manningham, Bradford and was a Hafiz in his local mosque.

In a tribute issued at the time of his death his family said: 'Asad's family would like to thank all those who have shared condolences from the bottom of our hearts.

'Asad was a son, a brother, a friend, a dear uncle and also a primary school teacher at ITPS Bradford.

Many will remember Asad by his infectious smile, love for children and willingness to lend a hand to any good cause.

Asgar Taj, 32, pictured leaving court

'He was passionate about paving the way and creating a brighter future for the generations to come.

'His kind hearted nature made him a favourite amongst colleagues and students alike.

'He had a passion for motorbikes and enjoying riding out on warm summer days.

'The support and commemorations we as a family have received in praise of Asad has left us feeling truly blessed.

Asad's older brother, Assam Rashid said: 'Many will remember Asad by his infectious smile, love for children and willingness to lend a hand to any good cause.

'He was passionate about paving the way and creating a brighter future for the generations to come.

'His death was very sudden. It was a shock, and the pain is always going to be there.'

Wellwishers raised 10,000 via a GoFundMe page which will help renovate the Dar-ul Mahmood mosque.
Intrigued by tales of Quasimodo, fascinated by the gargoyles, or on a pilgrimage to see the Crown of Thorns said to have rested on Jesus' head on the Cross, more than 13 million people each year flock to see Europe's most popular historic monument.

The 12th century Catholic cathedral is a masterpiece of French Gothic design, with a cavernous vaulted ceiling and some of the largest rose windows on the continent.

It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Paris and its 69m-tall towers were the tallest structures in Paris until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1889.

It survived a partial sacking by 16th century zealots and the destruction of many of its treasures during the atheist French Revolution but remains one of the greatest churches in the world and was the scene of Emperor Napoleon's coronation in 1804.

A view of the middle-age stained glass rosace on the southern side of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral

The foundation stone was laid in front of Pope Alexander III in 1163, with building work on the initial structure completed in 1260.

The roof of the nave was constructed with a new technology: the rib vault. The roof of the nave was supported by crossed ribs which divided each vault into compartments, and the use of four-part rather than six-part rib vaults meant the roofs were stronger and could be higher.

After the original structure was completed in the mid 13th century - following the consecration of the High altar in 1182 - flying buttresses had been invented, and were added to spread the weight of the mighty vault.

The original spire was constructed in the 13th century, probably between 1220 and 1230. It was battered, weakened and bent by the wind over five centuries, and finally was removed in 1786.

During a 19th century restoration, following desecration during the Revolution, it was recreated with a new version of oak covered with lead. The entire spire weighed 750 tons.

At the summit of the spire were held three relics; a tiny piece of the Crown of Thorns, located in the treasury of the Cathedral; and relics of Denis and Saint Genevieve, patron saints of Paris. They were placed there in 1935 by the Archibishop Verdier, to protect the congregation from lightning or other harm.

The Crown of Thorns was one of the great relics of medieval Christianity. It was acquired by Louis IX, king of France, in Constantinople in AD 1239 for the price of 135,000 livres - nearly half the annual expenditure of France.

The elaborate reliquary in which just one of the thorns is housed sits in the Cathedral having been moved from the Saint-Chappelle church in Paris. The thorn is mounted on a large sapphire in the centre.

The crown itself is also held in the cathedral, and is usually on view to the public on Good Friday - which comes at the end of this week.

Notre-Dame de Paris is home to the relic accepted by Catholics the world over cathedral. The holy crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ during the Passion

During the 1790s with the country in the grip of atheist Revolution the cathedral was desecrated and much of its religious iconography destroyed. It was rededicated to the Cult of Reason and 28 statues of biblical kings - wrongly believed to by French monarchs - were beheaded. Even the great bells were nearly melted down.

Napoleon returned the cathedral to the Catholic Church and was crowned Emperor there in 1804, but by the middle of the 19th century much of the iconic building.

It wasn't until the publication of Victor Hugo's novel - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - in 1831 that public interest in the building resurfaced and repair works began.

A major restoration project was launched in 1845 and took 25 years to be completed.

Architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugene Viollet-le-Duc won the commission.

By 1944 the cathedral was to be damaged again and during the liberation of Paris, stray bullets caused minor damage to the medieval stained glass.

This would be updated with modern designs.

In 1963 France's Culture Minister, Andre Malraux, ordered the cleaning of the facade of the cathedral, where 800 years worth of soot and grime were removed.

Notre Dame has a crypt, called the Crypte archeologique de l'ile de la Cite, where old architectural ruins are stored. They span from the times of the earliest settlement in Paris to present day.

The cathedral has 10 bells, the heaviest bell - known as the boudon and weighing 13 tonnes - is called Emmanuel and has been rung to mark many historical events throughout time.

At the end of the First and Second World Wars the bell was rung to mark the end of the conflicts.

It is also rung to signify poignant events such as French heads of state dying or following horrific events such as the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001.

The three stained glass rose windows are the most famous features of the cathedral. They were created in the Gothic style between 1225 and 1270.

While most of the original glass is long gone, some remains in the south rose which dates back to the last quarter of the 12th century.

The rest of the windows were restored in the 18th century.

The south rose is made up of 94 medallions which are arranged in four concentric circles.

They portray scenes from the life of Christ and those who knew him - with the inner circle showing the 12 apostles in it 12 medallions.

During the French Revolution rioters set fire to the residence of the archbishop, which was around the side of the cathedral, and the south rose was damaged.

One of the cathedral's first organs was built in 1403 by Friedrich Schambantz but was replaced in the 18th century before being remade using the pipe work from former instruments.

The Cathedral is also home to a Catholic relic said to be a single thorn from the crown of thorns worn by Jesus on the cross.
Scientists say climate change is to blame for Lake Michigan's waters being far warmer than normal at this time of year just weeks ahead of its annual freeze.

This unusually warm November, the hottest one ever recorded, brought warmer air temperatures to the the U.S. and the Midwest, which can delay the cooling of lake temperatures.

Grand Haven, one of the towns which sits on the coast of Lake Michigan, has seen water temperatures hover around 52F on Friday morning.

It would normally see an average temperature of around 44F for this time of year.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service - which has multiple thermometers located a mile off the coast of the huge lake - also recorded above average water temperatures.

They currently sit at 46F or 47F, with scientists warning a prolonged period of 2F or 3F water temperature increases could cause serious problems such as coastal erosion, and the death of underwater ecosystems.

Climatologist Trent Ford told the Chicago Tribune the warmer lake waters could also delay winter storms in the area, possibly pushing back the freezing of Lake Michigan even further.

Grand Haven, on the shores of Lake Michigan, is pictured on Friday, with water temperatures of around 52F. They normally sit around 44F at the this time of year

Large swathes of Lake Michigan - whose Chicago shore is pictured in January 2018 - freeze as winter begins, but scientists say the above-average water temperatures are delaying this

'What was kind of jarring was the consistency of the warmer-than-normal conditions, and the lack of cool nights.' Ford said.

And while residents may enjoy a longer respite from the lake's famously frigid winter temperatures, there'll be downsides too.

They include coastal erosion that can destroy homes, toxic algae blooms encouraged by warmer water that can kill marine life, as well as a proliferation of pests including mosquitoes that normally die out as the mercury plummets.

The states bordering Lake Michigan all saw high minimum temperatures from July through October, marking one of the hottest transitions from summer to fall in recorded history.

Illinois saw this year's October about 8 degrees higher than average, the highest on record. Temperatures in the state were as high as 68 degrees before dipping to 56.

'Getting a record number of 60-degree-or-higher nights in October is not like getting a record number of 100-degree days in July, but certainly there are impacts from that, even though they may be a bit more subtle.'

While the warmer temperatures extend the activity of ticks, mosquitos and even allergy season, the more notable impacts will be seen through Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes, which are also registering higher than normal temperatures.

Scientist are expecting to see warmer days, more intense rain and longer dry spells in the coming years if the lakes continue warming.

Climatologist blamed climate change for the unusually warm fall and predicted warm lake water would persist into winter for all the Great Lakes. St Joseph on the shoreline of Lake Michigan is pictured during January 2016

This is due to a lack of ice cover, which begins in January and peaks in February and March, and directly affects the summer and fall conditions in the upper Midwest.

Ice climatologist Jia Wang, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, also warned of warmer weather to continue this winter season due to global climate change.

Wang told the Tribune that above average surface water temperatures and below-average ice cover was projected across all the Great Lakes this year.

As ice cover diminishes in the lakes, coastal erosion around them increases, as does the likelihood of invasive species settling in the lakes, which can trigger harmful algae blooms that kill many of marine animals.
A white Missouri cop who 'accidentally' shot a black shoplifting suspect in the back has had her felony charge dropped after she had a 'restorative justice' video conference with the victim.

Julia Crews, 39, a 13-year police veteran from Ladue Police Department in Missouri, resigned in May 2019 - a month after she shot Ashley Fountain Hall, 36.

In her resignation letter, she called the shooting an 'innocent mistake'.

The incident occurred when Crews responded to a call from Schnucks supermarket saying two women left the store without paying on April 23, 2019.

One woman, later identified as Hall, tried to run away when Crews said that she was under arrest.

According to KSDK, Crews put one handcuff on Hall, then there was a struggle.

Crews told Hall she was reaching for her taser and instead grabbed her service gun and shot Hall in her torso from behind.

All charges have been dropped against former Ladue police officer Julia Crews (right), 39, after a 'restorative justice' session earlier this month, which took place two years after she 'accidentally' shot alleged shoplifting suspect Ashley Fountain Hall (left), 36, in the back

Crews responded to the call after two Schnucks employees accused Hall of stealing a cart full of steak and seafood from the grocery store. She scuffled with Hall in the parking lot (pictured) before saying she was firing her taser and accidentally shooting her firearm

Instead of pursuing the traditional prosecuting system, Hall and Crews reached a solution through 'restorative justice' mediation where the two agreed to meet on a Zoom videoconference on November 5 (pictured)

The ex-cop was charged with second-degree assault - which has a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison - and Hall spent nearly three weeks in the hospital with several organ injuries, including a lacerated stomach, a gunshot wound and fractured ribs.

Hall - who was already a stroke survivor - also had to have her spleen removed.

She told KSDK in an interview that she was dead upon arriving at the hospital but emergency personnel has resuscitated her.

Months after the shooting Hall hosted a news conference to say she forgave the officer and recalled Crews immediately regretting her actions.

Hall told her even helped Hall onto the gurney and into the ambulance, as reported by KSDK.

'I felt like she was nervous or scared,' Hall recalled of that day in April 2019, adding that the officer 'was scaring me'.

According to a federal lawsuit filed by the victim last year, Crews apologized to Hall as she lay bleeding in the parking lot.

Two Schnucks employees accused Hall of stealing a cart full of steak and seafood from the grocery store.

However, she never charged with shoplifting and was instead at the store allegedly buying balloons for her mother's birthday.

Her mother spoke to KSDK and said that the city of Ladue 'didn't give the proper training' to Crews, adding that she should've known 'the difference between a taser and a gun'.

Hall told the local news station that forgiveness is Christian but so is taking action.

But instead of charging Crews through the traditional justice system, Hall and Crews used 'restorative justice' mediation where the two agreed to meet on a Zoom video conference on November 5.

The meeting was organized by the St Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell two years after the shooting and one year after the city of Ladue agreed to a $2million settlement with Hall.

Hall told Bell that she didn't want to see Crews go to jail.

The 'restorative justice' approach as an alternative to prosecution in the 1970s and allows people charged with committing crimes to reconcile with victims simply by talking to them.

It's often used to settle nonviolent cases, is facilitated by a mediator and lets each party talk about how and why the crime happened to reach a solution.

Hall and Crews's facilitator was the chief of the restorative justice program for Attorney General of DC Seema Gajwani.

Crews consistently maintained that the shooting was an accident and told KSDK through tears: 'It destroyed my life and her life'

Hall and Crews's facilitator was the chief of the restorative justice program for Attorney General of DC Seema Gajwani (pictured), who said the mediation was emotional and moving

Gajwani said on the approach: 'Too often, the criminal justice system gets in the way of resolution and healing, even though that is what these two women wanted and needed.'

She added: 'Ashley and Julia have the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met. It was an honor to be a part of that conversation.'

This case was the first time the approach had been used in St Louis County and Bell told KDSK that it wouldn't be the last.

Gajwani also noted that the mediation was incredibly emotional and moving, adding to KDSK that both women demonstrated vulnerability, bravery and compassion.

Crews consistently maintained that the shooting was an accident and told KSDK through tears: 'It destroyed my life and her life.'

'I was devastated,' she said of trying to fire her taser after scuffling with Hall and instead shooting her gun.

'I heard a pop... It was wrong. I was just shocked.

'Because she stole from Schnucks? Nobody deserves to be shot for that,' she added, likening the incident to a 'living nightmare'.

Crews now hopes to return to work - although not at the police force - now that the charges have been dropped.
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Britain's daily Covid cases breached 50,000 today for the first time in a month and deaths crept up  as scientists warned the super-mutant Botswana variant could already be in the country.

Department of Health figures show there were 50,091 new cases in the UK in the last 24 hours, up 13 per cent on the previous week.

It marks the first time they had topped 50,000 since October 21 and follows a fortnight of growth, driven mostly by children and young adults.

Some 160 deaths were also registered, which was up two per cent on the same time the previous week when 157 were recorded.

But latest hospitalisations data showed they had fallen 11 per cent after 730 people were admitted to wards with the virus on November 22.

Health chiefs have credited the booster programme with drops in hospitalisations and deaths, which has bolstered the protection of the older age groups who are more vulnerable to the virus. Cases are also falling in the over-60s.

It came as UK scientists warned the 'worst ever' Covid variant could already be in Britain. The head of variant tracking in the UK, Professor Sharon Peacock, said it was 'likely to be transmitted into the UK at some point' if it wasn't here already.

The mutant strain has already been spotted in three continents in just two weeks  including in Europe where a case was today confirmed in Belgium.

Most cases are in South Africa where infections have spiked 93 per cent in a day. Scientists are worried that its 'constellation' of 32 mutations could make it ultra transmissible and more able to resist vaccine-induced immunity than any other variant.

Britain, Germany, Italy and a slew of other nations have imposed travel bans on six nations in southern Africa to stop it arriving on their shores.

Passengers arriving at Heathrow today after the South Africa flight ban was announced (it is not clear where these particular passengers had travelled from)

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data estimated around 862,300 people caught the virus on any given day in the week up to November 20, up 4.5 per cent on the 824,900 the week before

The ONS figures show the proportion of people testing positive increased for those in school Year 12 to age 24 years and those aged 25 to 34 years last week

But today, passengers arriving in the UK from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force.

The UK's lax contrasted with the approach in the Netherlands, where a video showed passengers arriving in Amsterdam being told they would not be allowed to leave the plane. They will be tested before being allowed to go home.

Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers.

'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.'

Mr Javid has urged people arriving from red list countries to take PCR tests on day 2 and day 8  even if they are vaccinated - and isolate at home, along with the rest of their household.

In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain.

When the news was broken to them when they touched down at 8.06am on the British Airways flight BA43 from Heathrow Airport there was extreme anger and upset about the change of rules.

Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway, Ireland, had flown into Cape Town for 10 days to say a final goodbye to her terminally ill best friend and was very emotional before she arrived.

She said: 'My daughter Sasha is due to fly to visit me in Ireland on December 13 from San Francisco with her baby son Sebastian who is a one-year-old little baby boy of the pandemic.

'I cannot go into quarantine in a hotel for 10 days when I return and not see her or my grandchild. I just can't. I feel sick. I am going to have to cut short my stay with my friend who is dying.

'I've been crying since I got here': Newlywed couple touch down in Cape Town only to hear it's on the red list A newlywed landed in Cape Town for their 7,000 honeymoon only to find out they will have to fly back to the UK as soon as possible and isolate. Cat and Grant Norton from Edinburgh landed in South Africa this morning to be told the country has been added to the Red List. Doctor Cat, 29, and police officer Grant, 34, now have to get on the earliest flight back to the UK next, believed to be next Friday. They will then have to spend 10 days in a pricey quarantine hotel - costing around 3,700. The couple chose to honeymoon for 19 days in Cape Town so they could also visit Grant's family who are from the city and were unable to attend their wedding in July due to Covid. Speaking today, Ms Norton said: 'We turned our phones on when we landed on a million messages on WhatsApp from family and friends saying South Africa had been placed on the red list. 'We got no word of it coming off the plane. 'We went straight to the international sales desk to try to get a flight home, but we were told there were none. 'There has been no reply from our travel agent either. We have no plan, we are trying to get home, but we have to do a quarantine hotel. 'Grant's family wasn't able to make the wedding so this was our chance to see them. I have been crying basically since I got here.' Advertisement

'I'll have to spend a couple of hours with her only and then tell her I can't spend more time with her and get back to this airport and try to find a way home before my daughter arrives from the USA.

'My daughter works in San Francisco and is bringing her baby to meet his family for the first time so I cannot be in quarantine so I will have to say my short goodbyes to my lovely friend and get home.

'I am very angry but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. It is not how I would have wanted to say goodbye to my friend. I can't believe all this happened overnight with us all oblivious,' she said.

Father-of-six Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford, had just touched down to visit 5 of his children who live in Cape Town and was furious when he was told about the red listing and the need to quarantine on return.

Retired Tony said: 'I was supposed to stay here for a week and then get back to England for my daughter's university graduation which is exactly 10 days after I get back to the UK and I just cannot miss that.

'I have to be there for Charlie, 23, when she graduates as it didn't happen last year due to Covid so I will have to make lots of unplanned changes to my travel plans right away and just hope I get back in time.

'You telling me about the red listing and the quarantine and the sheer cost is the first I have heard about it and it sounds to me like a knee jerk reaction and shows once again this Government's incompetence.

'I am bloody furious and after a long day travelling and overnight spent in the air this is just not the news I want to hear on touch down and I am struggling to control my anger to be really honest.

'I have been double jabbed and had my booster and after going through all that and being told I am triple locked as safe I am now told I am going to have to pay a fortune to go into quarantine' he fumed.

Six Southern African countries Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia and South Africa have been added to the UK and much of Europe's red list due to the Covid scare.

A married couple, who refused to be named, were travelling with their two young daughters aged 3 and 5 and were mortified when they heard about South Africa being red listed.

The husband stormed off furious and his wife said: 'Excuse him but it has got to him since we were told as we came through immigration and it has ruined our Christmas holiday.

'We have saved for two years to come out so our daughters can meet family and friends for the first time and this has just shattered our dreams as we can foresee a nightmare ahead.

'If the four of us have to pay to quarantine in a hotel when we go home it will cost us nearly 10,000 to be imprisoned in a hotel which is far more than this holiday is costing us.

'Quite frankly we haven't got the money so we are praying our holiday insurance will pay. We are keeping this from our girls because we don't want to spoil their holiday' she said.

There is huge concern about a new Covid variant which may be far more resistant to the vaccine and may be far more infectious than the variants that have gone before so far.

There are no direct flights to the UK from South Africa until at least 4am on Thursday and anyone arriving after that time will have to quarantine at their own expense on arrival.

It is believed passengers will have to pay 2350 to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days after news broke of the new variant known as B.1.1.529 first identified in a lab in South Africa.

South Africa's Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu expressed disappointment at the ban

She said the decision by the UK and European Union and Japan and Israel took place before the World Health Organisation could advise about the new Covid-19 strain of virus.

The Minister added: 'SA will continue working with policymakers in all the countries to ensure that the best possible interventions are put in place but we hope it's lifted soon.

Sisulu said she will attend the 24thSession of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organisation in Madrid from next Tuesday in a bid to open SA once again to tourists.

The Federated Hospitality Association of SA said it is hopeful the temporary ban will be lifted swiftly as scientists unpack the extent to which Covid-19 vaccines will be effective against the new variant, named B1.1.529.

National chair person Rosemary Anderson said: 'The UK is our largest inbound international market and last night's news by the British government has caused widespread disbelief and disappointment in our hospitality industry as we enter our peak festive season period'.

She said new variants were discovered all the time, often without making any major impact and was hopeful that advanced scientific capability will find that in this case there is little to worry about.

Anderson added: 'However, that does not mean that this decision by the British government won't have widespread repercussions, not only by dissuading British travellers to visit SA, but also due to the likely spin-off we will see from other key source markets if they take the UK's lead'.

In Cape Town, shocked tourists told how they burst into tears when they were told South Africa had been 'red listed' over the new strain. Pictured is Digital marketer Anna DeMarigny, 64, from Galway (left) and Tony Haupt, 77, from Oxford

SA's tourism and hospitality sector generates 1.5-million direct and indirect jobs and the new travel ban is a severe blow to a country just getting over severe lockdowns.

'There is no question that South Africans need to go out and get vaccinated as a matter of urgency,' Anderson added.

The Association of Southern African Travel Agents said the ban was a 'knee-jerk' reaction by the UK government that put airlines, hotels, travel businesses and travellers in a very difficult situation.

ASATA Chief Executive Officer Otto de Vries said: 'The world will unfortunately need to learn to live with Covid-19 variants for the foreseeable future.

'While we await more clarity, there is currently no scientific evidence that the new variant is more resistant to the vaccine'

The Southern Africa Tourism Services Association said it is too early to tell what the impact of the new variant will be but hopes the temporary ban will be lifted soon.

SATSACEO David Frost said: 'By imposing a blanket red list ban on Southern African countries as a 'precautionary' measure, the UK sends a signal to the world that they don't believe their vaccination programme will effectively deal with the variant, when we have seen that Covid-19 vaccines have performed their role to reduce the severity of hospitalisation and death from the virus'.

Mr Frost said: 'This news is devastating for our tourism industry not just because of the impact on British travellers headed to SA during the peak season but also because of the message it send out to the rest of the world.

'SA cannot consistently be punished for its advanced genomic sequencing abilities' he said.

SA infectious diseases expert Prof Marc Mendelson says there is nothing to indicate at this stage that the protection Covid-19 vaccines offer will change in the face of the latest variant.

South Africa has had 2.95m cases of Covid so far with 89,971 deaths with 114 reported in the last 24 hours along with 2465 new cases and has a successful recovery rate of 96.3%.

Sajid Javid warns 'the pandemic is far from over' amid fears of ANOTHER Christmas lockdown as No10 scientists admit super-mutant 'jab-dodging' Botswana variant 'could ALREADY be here' and Africa travel ban might be too late

Sajid Javid today warned the pandemic is 'far from over' after No10's experts admitted the new super-mutant, vaccine-evading Botswana Covid variant could already be in the UK and threatened another Christmas lockdown.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it is 'possible' the strain has already entered the UK and 'people are arriving every day' to the UK from South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been identified.

And Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), insisted people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' amid growing alarm at the emergence of a 'worst-ever' variant that could make vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective.

The Health Secretary told MPs this morning no cases of the strain have been recorded in the UK but warned it is of 'huge international concern' and poses poses a 'substantial risk to public health'.

He said the Government is working quickly but with a 'high degree of uncertainty' and boosters could not be more important now.

Around 700 people per day have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two week since it the strain was first detected in the country.

The government acted last night to ban arrivals from South Africa and five other countries. Top experts said that if the strain spreads faster and can avoid current jabs it 'will get here'. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that the aim of the travel restrictions is to 'slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country'.

But asked if it was possible the variant was already in the UK, Dr Hopkins said: 'Well, it's always possible. We have no cases identified whatsoever yet, nothing in our genome sequencing.

'So overall, I think the situation is reassuring in-country, but of course, people are arriving every day.'

The World Health Organization (WHO) is holding an emergency meeting later today to discuss the variant and is expected to name it the Greek letter 'Nu' in the coming days.

The B.1.1.529 variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  suggesting it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible than any version before it. It has caused an 'exponential' rise in infections in South Africa.

In response, Mr Javid announced last night that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations after a first case was detected in the country today.

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the B.1.1.529 variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

The above slide shows the proportion of tests that picked up a SGTF mutation, a hallmark of the B.1.1.529. It suggests that the Covid variant may be spreading rapidly in the country. The slide was presented at a briefing today run by the South African Government

The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests B.1.1.529 is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government

The above shows the test positivity rate  the proportion of tests that picked up the virus  across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by B.1.1.529

Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list

Speaking in the House of Commons this morning, Mr Javid said it 'is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries'.

He said: 'We are concerned that this new variant may pose substantial risk to public health.

'The variant has an unusual large number of mutations.'

Yesterday the UK Health Security Agency classified B.1.1.529 as a new variant under investigation and the very technical group has designated it as a variant under investigation with very high priority.'

The Health Secretary added early indications show the current vaccines 'may be less effective against it'.

Earlier, Dr Susan Hopkins told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'The first look at it shows it has a variety of different mutations, it's got 30 different mutations that seem relevant, that's double what we had in Delta.

'And if you look at those mutations as mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evades the immune response, both from vaccines and natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility, it's a highly complex mutation, there's new ones we haven't seen before, so we don't know how they're going to interact in common.

'So all of this makes it a pretty complex, challenging variant and I think we will need to learn a lot more about it before we can say for definite it's definitely the most complex variant before.'

She added: 'It is the most worrying we've seen.'

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

Super-mutant Botswana Covid variant is now spotted in Israel The new 'worst ever' Botswana Covid variant causing international alarm has been detected in Israel today, as the ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant strain spreads to four countries in two weeks. Israel's health ministry said the patient tested positive for B.1.1.529 after returning from Malawi, suggesting it is already widespread on continental Africa. There are two other suspected cases in Israel. There are also two suspected cases in Belgium, but these are yet to be confirmed. A public health doctor from the country says the strain is 'likely already in Europe' but in small numbers. The World Health Organization is holding an emergency meeting today to discuss the variant, and could name it 'Nu' which is the next letter available in the Greek alphabet. Germany and Italy joined the UK in suspending travel from South Africa today and, in a sign of growing alarm, the European Union is also proposing prohibiting travel from the country and its neighbours. Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid has raised the prospect of travel being suspended from more countries, saying the variant is a clear sign the pandemic is 'far from over'. He called on everyone to get their booster jabs. South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge with local scientists saying it is likely already in all the country's nine provinces. There is yet to be a surge in hospitalisations at the epicentre Johannesburg. The new case is the third outside of Africa after two were spotted in Hong Kong. The first was in a traveller who had recently returned from South Africa and a second has now been detected in the same quarantine hotel. Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid said it was 'highly likely' that the variant was already in other countries, adding that it poses a 'substantial risk to public health'. Countries are restricting travel from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. No measures have been announced for arrivals from Malawi. Advertisement

At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'If it spreads more quickly then yes it will get here, the travel ban will delay its arrival but if it spreads more quickly the lesson has surely been from all the variants we've seen before that it will get here eventually.

'We shouldn't despair, vaccines will be effective, so if you haven't had your vaccine go and get it, be that the booster, the first dose, the second dose.

'Secondly there are new medicines coming along these will not be affected almost certainly by this mutation.

'We have got much better at controlling the disease in other ways in hospital so it is bad news but it is not doomsday.'

Professor Finn said: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said the Government is taking a 'safety-first approach' to the new variant.

'It is important to make sure that you do act immediately and in doing so you get to slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country,' he told Sky News.

'That gives us a bit of time for the scientists to work on sequencing the genome, which involves growing cultures  it takes several weeks to do  so we can find out how significant a concern this particular variant is.

'It is a safety-first approach. We have done that before with things like the mink variant from Denmark and we were then able to relax it reasonably quickly.'

The chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said the new variant is the most 'complex' and 'worrying' seen.

Announcing the travel ban last night, Mr Javid said: 'The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

'Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time. But we've always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

'So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list.

'Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

'If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.'

The minister added: 'Our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. I'm concerned, of course, that's one of the reasons we have taken this action today.'

Asked what the situation would mean for the UK over the coming weeks, with Christmas approaching, Mr Javid said: 'We've got plans in place, as people know, for the spread of this infection here in the UK and we have contingency plans - the so-called Plan B.

'But today's announcement, this is about a new variant from South Africa - it's been detected in South Africa and Botswana - and this is about being cautious and taking action and trying to protect, as best we can, our borders.'

South African scientists, meanwhile, add that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

A baby cries as her mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

He said that more work was needed to understand how concerning the variant is, adding: 'From what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant.

'That would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.'

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement today that the UK's decision to ban flights 'seems to have been rushed'.

She said: 'Whilst South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps.

'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

The variant has not yet been given the title 'variant of concern' in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

The expert whose modelling helped instigate the first coronavirus lockdown said that the decision to impose travel restrictions was 'prudent'.

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: 'The B.1.1.529 variant has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein gene, the protein which is the target of most vaccines.

'There is therefore a concern that this variant may have a greater potential to escape prior immunity than previous variants.

'It is also concerning that this variant appears to be driving a rapid increase in case numbers in South Africa. The Government's move to restrict travel with South Africa is therefore prudent.

'However, we do not yet have reliable estimates of the extent to which B.1.1.529 might be either more transmissible or more resistant to vaccines, so it is too early to be able to provide an evidence-based assessment of the risk it poses.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker 'Nu' - with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

The original Red List was reduced to zero nations at the end of last month when the remaining seven countries on it were removed.

No10 had left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

The UKHSA said it had been in extensive talks with scientists in South Africa about the new variant but the situation is 'rapidly evolving'.

Although only 100 cases of the new variant have so far been identified, it is already in three countries, suggesting it is more widespread than the official tally.

Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong  both of whom had links to South Africa three have been picked up in Botswana and the remainder are in South Africa.

But a lack of surveillance on continental Africa may be underestimating the true numbers there, scientists warned.

UK experts say it will be another two to eight weeks until they can study the variant in enough detail to work out how infectious or vaccine-resistant it is.

Nationally, infections in South Africa have surged tenfold from 100 per day to 1,100, after the variant was first detected in neighbouring Botswana on November 11.

UK Government scientists believe it can infect previously-infected patients with ease, because South Africa has very high levels of natural immunity.

Only 41 percent of adults have received at least a single dose of vaccine, while 35 percent are fully vaccinated.

In a hastily organised press conference today, the South African Government revealed the variant had been officially spotted in three provinces but warned it was probably already in all nine.

Experts in the UK earlier called for travel restrictions to be reimposed to prevent the strain being seeded here and avoid risking a repeat of this spring when the Delta variant was imported in huge numbers from India.

Zero-Covid scientist Professor Christina Pagel urged ministers to 'get ahead of this right now' by immediately' reimposing the red travel list '  which was only scrapped a few weeks ago.

And Chris Snowdon, an economist who is normally in favour of fewer restrictions, also called for an immediate travel ban.

The Government has left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

MailOnline first sounded the alarm about the variant yesterday after British scientists warned that it had more than 30 mutations and is the most evolved version of Covid yet. They said it likely emerged in a long-term infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

The fact that South Africa has the largest number of people living HIV out of any country in the world has complicated its fight against Covid, as immuno-compromised people can harbour the virus for longer, scientists say.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases began to flatline yesterday, official data showed after weeks of falling deaths and hospitalisations. This was the first time the percentage jump was below one since November 10.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said the variant could become dominant in South Africa 'very quickly'.

Asked whether it could soon make up the majority of cases in South Africa, he told MailOnline: 'The numbers [of cases] are very small and there is a lot of uncertainty... but I would say it might become dominant very quickly.'

He said it was 'plausible' that the variant was more infectious because it was 'better at infecting' people that had immunity from vaccines or previous infections.

But he said very little is known about how likely someone who catches the variant would be to become seriously ill and die from the virus. Experts say viruses normally become less virulent over time.

Professor Tulio de Oliveira, a director of Covid surveillance in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, said that the variant had spread rapidly in South Africa.

'In less than two weeks it now dominates all infections following a devastating Delta wave in South Africa.

'We estimate that 90 per cent of cases in Gauteng (at least 1,000 a day) [are this variant].'

Botswana Covid variant may have emerged in an HIV patient, has twice as many mutations as Delta and could make jabs at least 40% less effective against infection  what we know so far

By EMILY CRAIG HEALTH REPORTER FOR MAILONLINE

A new super mutant Covid variant that has sparked fears of another lockdown in the UK may have emerged in a HIV patient in Africa, is the most-evolved version yet and could make jabs much weaker.

Scientists believe that its extensive mutations mean it must have originated in a severely immunocompromised patient, possibly an undiagnosed person with AIDS.

It has more than 30 mutations, giving it all the transmissibility of the currently-dominant Delta strain and the same ability to escape vaccines as the old South African variant Beta.

Experts fear the new variant  called B.1.1.529  may make the vaccines at least 40 per cent less effective, because it is so different from the original strain the vaccines were made to target.

Britons have been put on alert that there could be a Christmas lockdown, with one of No10's vaccine advisers warning 'we all need to be ready' for restrictions to be reimposed.

Here is everything we know about the variant so far:

What is so concerning about the variant?

Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries.

The variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain. One scientist said these changes made the variant the worst seen so far.

Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario, because the new version of the virus is better at dodging the protection the jabs provide.

This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus.

But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off.

It also includes mutations that allow it to spread more easily.

Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks.

Will it affect Christmas in the UK?

Experts said it will be weeks until they know how worrying the new variant is, so it is not yet clear what extra steps might need to be taken.

The only action measures introduced by the Government so far has been to add six countries to the red list.

But Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said new restrictions cannot be ruled out.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

Where has the variant been detected so far?

The variant has so far been spotted in four countries: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

And Belgian health chiefs said the country has two suspected cases caused by the new strain.

Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in north east South Africa.

The first case was uploaded to an international variant database by Hong Kong and was spotted by someone who travelled to the country from South Africa.

No cases have been seen in the UK. But scientists do not sequence every positive Covid sample in the UK and not everyone who catches the virus will take a test.

This means there could be people infected with the variant in Britain.

What is the UK doing about the variant?

The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26.

The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned.

Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test.

Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight.

What mutations does the variant have?

The Botswana variant carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines.

But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant, which are also linked to antibody escape.

The variant also has mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant.

And the mutation N501Y that makes viruses more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others.

Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear.

Will I be protected if I have a booster?

Scientists have warned the new strain could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one.

The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said.

When will we know more about the variant?

Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away.

The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks.

But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths.

What is the variant called?

The strain is known scientifically as B.1.1.529, but has not yet been given a name based on letters of the Greek alphabet.

The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

Experts at the World Health Organization are holding emergency meetings about the variant today, during which it is expected to be named. It could be called the 'Nu' variant.
An ex-doctor from Alabama is facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to his part in a sprawling, sordid drug ring, court documents disclose - but his sentencing has since been delayed after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Two years ago, feds busted Marshall Plotka, 67, after fingering the former physician as part of an elaborate network of 60 medical professionals running illegal 'pill mills,' clinics or doctor's office that illicitly shill pain medications and other drugs.

He had been due to be sentenced this month, but on November 24 the hearing was delayed until next April after Plokta was diagnosed with cancer. Further details on what type of cancer he is suffering, and what stage it is at, have not been disclosed.

At the time of the arrest, agents alleged that Plotka transformed his mansion, located in a ritzy gated community in Huntsville, into a syringe-strewn den of debauchery where he would regularly house and have sex with prostitutes, and ply them with controlled substances - which included crystal meth.

Marshall Plotka, 67, was busted by feds in 2019 for his part in what agents called the largest prescription opioid takedown in US history. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises. He will be sentenced in April of next year

Court documents further reveal that the then-doctor kept a trove of drugs stored at the home in an otherwise quiet cul-de-sac, and permitted the prostitutes, along with their friends and family, to stay at the domicile over the course of several years.

Upon searching Plotka's home in March 2019, federal agents also uncovered a trove of drug paraphernalia, including several used syringes.

At the time, federal prosecutors called the raid the largest prescription opioid takedown in US history, as it spanned five states - Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Alabama - and caught eight Alabamians - including Plotka - in its snare.

Feds say that Plotka transformed this mansion, located in a ritzy gated community in Huntsville, into a syringe-strewn den of debauchery where he would regularly house and have sex with prostitutes, and ply them with controlled substances - which included crystal meth

Huntsville police were called to the physician's home, pictured here, on 35 separate occasions, spurred by complaints from Plotka's neighbors. Two of the incidents involved overdose

With that said, the charges against Plotka, who received his doctorate from the esteemed Duke University and calls himself a retired 'chronic pain management physician' and 'addiction physician' on social media, stood out over the dozens of other docs named in the sprawling sting, due to the details surrounding his case.

While others were arrested on charges like healthcare fraud and overprescribing, Plotka was cited by federal agents for enlisting these prostitutes as patients, possession of heroin, overdoses on his posh property, and thievery.

Plotka, who received his doctorate from the esteemed Duke University and calls himself a retired 'chronic pain management physician' and 'addiction physician' on social media, retired in the wake of the scandal

Plotka, who has since retired and saw his Huntsville practice shuttered after being named in the damning ring, pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises earlier this year.

The April 2019 indictment further stated that Plotka paid the women to have sex with him, and regularly supplied them with drugs - some of which he reportedly obtained from his practice - which they would in turn use at his residence.

What's more, the complaint revealed that Plotka recruited the prostitutes and other young women he had sexual relations with to become patients at his practice.

The indictment also alleges that Huntsville police were called to the physician's home on 35 separate occasions since October 2015, spurred by complaints from Plotka's neighbors.

Two of the incidents, in February and May 2018, respectively, involved drug overdoses, the filing revealed.

A 2019 federal filing revealed that Plotka recruited the prostitutes and other young women he had sexual relations with to become patients at his Huntsville practice

Per the federal document, Plotka admitted to police after his arrest that he knew people were using drugs in the home.

After the plea, administered in Alabama federal court in June, Plotka's sentencing was set for September of this year - but the scheduled hearing never materialized.

A recent federal filing reveals why this was the case - the discredited doctor was diagnosed with cancer.

According the Friday filing, the doc's diagnosis came in the buildup to the planned September sentencing, forcing prosecutors to push back the date.

The hearing will instead be held on April 14 of next year - with Plotka facing up to 20 years for the singular drug charge.
A United Nations report on gender violence found that 4,091 women were victims of femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020, compared with the previous year.

The study was released by the global organization's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean on Wednesday, and noted a 10 percent decrease compared to 2019 when 4,576 gender-related deaths of women were registered in the region. Femicides are killings of women, by men, on account of their gender.

'Feminicide or femicide as an extreme and lethal form of gender violence continues to affect thousands of women and girls every year in Latin America and the Caribbean,' the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said in the report.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean released on Wednesday its report on gender violence which found that 4,091 women were victims of femicide in 2020, decreasing from 4,576 in 2019

Anguila and British Virgin Islands were the only two nations among 26 countries reporting gender-related killings of women to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean that did not register femicides in 2020. Both countries reported one each in 2019

A woman participates in Wednesday's demonstration that called for the end of violence against women in Mexico City. Her sign reads, 'Girls are not touched'

The Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean, which each year consolidates and updates the feminicide figures provided by the governments, found that the femicides were registered in 17 countries in Latin America and nine in the Caribbean.

Brazil was the most dangerous country for women with 1,738 femicides in 2020, a decreased from 2,048 the previous year. Mexico came in second with 948 femicides, three less than in 2019.

Only Anguila and the British Virgin Island were the only nations not to report femicides in 2020 after each registered one in 2019.

At least 344 women who were victims of femicide were between the age of 30 and 33, according to data provided by 18 of the 26 countries that report to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The commission's study showed that 334 females between the age of 15 and 29 were victims of femicides.

Brazilian judge Viviane Vieira do Amaral Arronenzi was stabbed to death by her ex-husband, Paulo Jose Arronenzi, in front of their three daughter on December, 24, 2021. According to a United Nations report released Wednesday, the South American nation led the Latin America and Caribbean region with 1,738 femicides in 2020

Jazmin Lugo Payero was murdered by her boyfriend, Jose Espinal Almonte, on November 30, 2020 in the Dominican Republic city of Pekin, outside Santiago. Police said Espinal Almonte then fled the scene of the crime and was found hanging from a tree in his hometown, Sabaneta. According to the United Nation's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic had the second highest rate of gender-related killings of women in 2020, with 2.4 femicides per 100,000 women

The striking report shows that Honduras (4.7 per 100,000 women), the Dominican Republic (2.4 per 100,000 women) and El Salvador (2.1. per 100,000 women) registered the highest rates of gender-related killings of women in 2020.

The figures for all three countries were considerably lower than 2019. Authorities in Honduras reported 6.1 femicides per 100,000 women and 3.3 femicides were registered per 100,000 women in El Salvador. The rate drop in the Dominican Republic was a bit lower, 2.7 per 100,000 women in 2019.

They did not say why the drop had occurred, amid fears COVID lockdown measures may have actually caused a spike in domestic violence, and smaller numbers of victims reporting the assaults.

Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Nicaragua maintained the same rates, while Ecuador, Costa Rica and Panama registered an increase compared to the previous year.

Women protest for the elimination of violence against women in Mexico City on Wednesday

The Gender Equality Observatory described the situation as a true 'shadow pandemic.'

At least 344 women who were victims of femicide were between the age of 30 and 33, according to data provided by 18 of the 26 countries that report to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The commission's study showed that 334 females between the age of 15 and 29 were victims of femicides.

Shockingly enough, the countries studies registered 40 femicides of girls under the age of 15.

'Despite the fact that their visibility, the state response and the pressure exerted massively by women's movements that have expressed their rejection of gender violence throughout the region has increased,' the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said.

The report was published on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

'We will not tire of making visible the violence that affects women and girls in our region on a daily basis and that affects society as a whole, as it constitutes an obstacle to achieving equality and sustainable development and peace,' said Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean executive secretary, Alicia Barcena.
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The flimsy and battered dinghies used to ferry migrants and refugees across the English Channel have been pictured in a haunting boat graveyard near Dover.

The vessels lay piled on top of one another, many of them deflated, next to woodland outside a high-security government compound in Whitfield - just half an hour's drive from where they landed after making the perilous crossing from Calais in France.

It comes after 27 people, including seven women, one of whom was pregnant, and three children, perished when their boat capsized in the Channel on Wednesday.

At least 14 others have died attempting to make the journey this year.

The two sole survivors  an Iraqi and a Somalian  told police their poorly made dinghy was hit by a container ship, puncturing its thin rubber hull.

Five people have been arrested in France over the 27 deaths, including one man held overnight driving a German-registered vehicle packed with inflatable ribs, although there is 'no provable link' with the sinking, according to prosecutors, despite French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin insisting all were 'directly linked' to the drownings.

Deflated dinghies used to carry migrants across the Channel pictured at a storage facility in Whitfield, Dover

Rows of vessels used to ferry migrants and refugees are being kept as evidence for smuggler prosecutions

Images show the flimsy dinghies stacked on top of one another

A security worker in a high-vis jacket is seen keeping watch over the evidence

The boats are kept locked behind black gates at the facility just half an hour's drive from Dover's shores

Aerial view shows the dozens of dinghies being stored by the UK government

The motors of some of the vessels are seen in a pile inside the storage facility

Inflatable craft, used by migrants to cross the channel, pictured being stored at a facility

Another aerial shot shows some of the dozens of inflatable rafts being stored as evidence

This is the first picture of the flimsy and dangerous dinghy that sank off Calais yesterday, killing 27 people including seven women - one of whom was pregnant - and three children

Images today show how the dinghies which land on English shores are being kept at a locked storage site in nearby Whitfield as pieces of evidence.

They show rows of and rows of boats, many of them deflated, and piles of motor engines.

A man wearing a high-vis jacket can also be seen keeping an eye on the vessels.

A picture of the boat that carried the doomed migrants on Wednesday looked similar to those found outside the high-security compound.

The Home Office said in July the boats are stored to use as evidence in people-smuggler prosecutions.

Those wanting to make their way to the UK are willing to pay thousands of pounds to people smugglers who can buy the vessels for a very small fraction of their takings.

Last month in Hull, Nzar Mohamad, 34, was jailed for his part in a people-smuggling plot, in which he arranged to bring 21 people to the UK. He had bought a dinghy for 6,500.

Mohamad had arrived in the UK in a lorry in 2019 and had himself paid 2,000 to a people smuggler for the journey.

Some of those living in Calais' camps described what life would be like compared with what they had left behind in Iraq, Iran and Belarus.

Aerial shot shows the dinghies tucked away behind vans and lorries

A deflated dinghy bears a haunting resemblance to the doomed vessel which capsized on Wednesday, killing 27 people

France and the UK are being urged to do more to tackle the smuggling crisis

Migrants and refugees say they are still willing to make perilous journey despite the recent tragedy (Pictured: Aerial shot of dinghy 'graveyard')

Row of deflated dinghies at storage facility in Whitfield, Dover

A view of boats used by people thought to be migrants are stored at a storage facility near Dover in Kent

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night tweeted a letter he addressed to President Macron setting out steps that he believes would help prevent a repeat of Wednesday's tragic loss of life in the Channel (Pictured: Dinghy storage site in Whitfield)

Ali, 23, from Iraq, said: 'We don't have a life. We want to live like you in the UK.

'You only have one life. People are trying and they die or have a chance to get past (the Channel.)'

He said the news of Wednesday's deaths had not put him off getting into the small boats, adding: 'They had no chance to pass but maybe we do.'

Another man, who did not want to be named, said he was due to board a boat on Wednesday, and he had even gone to a boat to meet smugglers, but his attempt was stopped by police.

He said: 'There were two boats and one had already gone.'

The man was among those who said the news of Wednesday's drowning had 'scared' them, but added that they would still be attempting to make their way across the Channel.

It comes as furious Tories today warned Emmanuel Macron's 'petulance' could cost lives in the Channel after the French president lashed out at Boris Johnson and uninvited Priti Patel from a crisis summit.

Mr Macron delivered a furious rant after the PM sent him an open letter demanding action on the migrant flows, branding Mr Johnson 'not serious' during a press conference on a visit to Italy.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the president said the premier's 'mediocre' proposals 'don't correspond at all' with discussions the leaders had on Wednesday.

Emmanuel Macron went into meltdown at Boris Johnson today branding the PM 'not serious' for sending a public letter with demands for ending migrant tragedies in the Channel

Home Secretary Priti Patel said there is 'no quick fix' to tackle migrants crossing the Channel in small boats as France demanded fresh assistance

'We are sick of double-speak,' they swiped - adding that 'you wonder whether Boris Johnson doesn't regret leaving Europe'.

The bitter score-settling came as Storm Arwen rolls in towards the Channel - with MPs pleading for migrants not to risk more devastating tragedies by attempting to cross.

Despite the furore No10 flatly insisted the PM had no regrets about sending the letter, saying it had been written 'in the spirit of partnership and cooperation'.

'The public rightly want to know what we are looking at in terms of solving this problem,' a spokesman said.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told counterpart Priti Patel this morning that she is no longer welcome at the crisis meeting on Sunday, after UK condemnation of lax patrolling at French beaches where migrants are launching boats in a desperate bid to reach Britain.

The Elysee Palace had already warned Mr Johnson not to 'exploit' the disaster that saw dozens of migrants drown off the French coast earlier this week for political gain, but the premier penned a letter overnight with a five-point plan for cooperation.

Mr Macron could not contain his anger when asked about the developments. 'I'm surprised when things are not done seriously,' he seethed. 'We don't communicate between leaders via tweets or published letters, we are not whistle-blowers.'

A spokesman for Mr Darmanin, who yesterday accused Britain of 'bad immigration management' and enticing migrants with benefits and slack labour rules, said: 'We consider Boris Johnson's public letter unacceptable and in opposition with discussions between counterparts.

'As a consequence, Priti Patel is not invited anymore to the meeting on Sunday.'

Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is running for the French presidency in looming elections, also waded into the spat accusing Mr Johnson of being 'in a state of mind of confrontation on all subjects'.

The summit with other European interior ministers will go ahead without the Home Secretary, whose aides had already travelled to Paris by Eurostar last night.

The decision sparked fury from British MPs. Tory backbencher Jacob Young tweeted: 'Ridiculous behaviour from the French government seeming to forget that two days ago 27 people died crossing the Channel. Stop the boats - as simple as that.'

Fellow Conservative Nicola Richards said: 'It's truly childish behaviour being shown by France, becoming more and more evident they don't want to stop these boats leaving France. 27 people died a matter of days ago, but they would rather to be petty than help find a solution.'
A mosque leader, 53, who lost two sons in the war in Syria has denied encouraging terrorism after he was allegedly filmed tell his congregation that 'Jihad is compulsory'.

Abubakr Deghayes, of Saltdean, Brighton, allegedly made the comments during evening prayers at Brighton Mosque in East Sussex on November 1 last year.

The 20-minute speech was given to members of the congregation, including children, at the mosque in Dyke Road, Brighton.

He allegedly told them that armed conflict and violence was a religious obligation, made stabbing motions and said that 'scholars fought the enemies of Allah'.

He faces a starting point of four years in prison if found guilty of the alleged offences.

Two of Deghayes' sons, Abdullah, 18, and Jaffar, 17, both died in the Syrian Civil War. Another of his son's, Abdul, 20, was stabbed to death in Brighton on February 16, 2019. They are survived by a fourth son, Amer, who is believed to be in Libya.

Abubakr Deghayes, of Saltdean, Brighton, (pictured in 2018) has denied encouraging terrorism after he was allegedly filmed tell his congregation that 'Jihad is compulsory'

Deghayes appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday, wearing a blue and grey jumper, tan trousers, and a traditional Afghan Pakol cap.

According to the charges he published statements, namely giving a speech, present at evening prayers at Dyke Road Mosque in Brighton on November 1 last year.

It is also said he intended or was reckless as to whether members of the public would be directly or indirectly encouraged to prepare or instigate acts of terrorism.

Deghayes was released on bail on the condition of residence, electronic curfew and not attending the Brighton mosque.

He is next expected to appear in court on December 20 with his seven-day trial scheduled for January 10, 2022.

Deghayes is next expected to appear in the Old Bailey (pictured) on December 20 with his seven-day trial scheduled for January 10, 2022

The mosque leader's eldest son, Amer, 19 left his home in Brighton for Syria in 2013. He joined a radical Islamist militia fighting Bashar al-Assads army and was joined by his friend Ibrahim.

Despite interventions by police, social workers and other agencies his two younger brothers travelled to Syria in 2014 and were killed just a few months after their arrival in the war-torn region.

Abdullah was shot by a sniper while chasing retreating forces in Lakatia in April 2014, and Jaffar was killed six months later during a close-range firefight amid the ruins of Idlib.

Deghayes' fourth son, 'drug enforcer' Abdul, bled to death on a Brighton street in 2019 after Daniel MacLeod, 37, stabbed him in the leg, arm and buttocks and drove away.

Two of Abubakr Deghayes' sons, Abdullah, 18, (left) and Jaffar, 17, (right) both died in the Syrian Civil War
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The World Health Organisation has named the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19 Omicron and labelled it a 'variant of concern'.

UN health chiefs warned that preliminary evidence suggests the strain has an increased risk of reinfection and could spread more rapidly than the Delta variant.

'Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology... the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron,' the UN health agency said in a statement.

The Omicron variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  meaning it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible that any version before it.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there is 'huge international concern' surrounding the strain after banning flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia to limit its spread.

He told MPs there are concerns the variant may be more transmissible, make vaccines less effective and may affect one of the UK's Covid treatments, Ronapreve.

Belgium today revealed a case of the Omicron variant, sparking fears of a new Christmas shutdown and prompting EU chiefs to call for an 'emergency brake' on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

The Belgian health ministry said a case of the new Omicron strain was confirmed in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already being seeded across the continent and is widespread in Africa.

Professor John Edmunds, who advises the Government as part of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), warned that could create a 'very, very, very difficult situation'.

The EU followed Britain's move to ban flights from the six African nations ahead of the WHO adding the Omicron strain to its highest category for concerning variants. Boris Johnson spoke to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa tonight to discuss the situation.

The strain was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on November 24 but the specimen was from a case collected on November 9.

The World Health Organisation (pictured, Director General World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus) has named the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19 Omicron and labelled it a 'variant of concern'

What do we know about the Omicron variant? Scientists have said they are concerned about the B.1.1.529 variant, named by the World Health Organisation as Omicron, as it has around 30 different mutations - double the amount present in the Delta variant. The mutations contain features seen in all of the other variants but also traits that have not been seen before. UK scientists first became aware of the new strain on November 23 after samples were uploaded on to a coronavirus variant tracking website from South Africa, Hong Kong and then Botswana. On Friday, it was confirmed that cases had been identified in Israel and Belgium but currently there are no known cases in the UK. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Good Morning Britain on Friday that sequencing is being carried out around the UK to determine if any cases have already been imported. Work is also under way to see whether the new variant may be causing new infection in people who have already had coronavirus or a vaccine, or whether waning immunity may be playing a role. Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, has said the new variant will 'almost certainly' make vaccines less effective, though they would still offer protection. Pfizer/BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine against Covid-19, is already studying the new variant's ability to evade vaccines. Advertisement

Boris Johnson held a call with South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa this afternoon after foreign minister Naledi Pandor said the flight ban 'seems to have been rushed'.

The Prime Minister 'commended South Africa's rapid genomic sequencing' and its 'leadership in transparently sharing scientific data', Downing Street said.

'They discussed the challenges posed globally by the new Covid-19 variant and ways to work together to deal with it and reopen international travel,' a statement said.

Prof Edmunds said the new strain 'is a huge worry' and that 'all the data suggests' it would be able to evade current immunity.

'Our fears are it would do so to a large extent,' he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.

Prof Edmunds urged ministers to look at extending travel restrictions and to prepare a plan to deal with Omicron because 'at some point we're going to get this variant here in the UK'.

He suggested mass testing and local restrictions must be looked at while other preparations could include making the booster programme more rapid, perhaps by reducing the gap between second and third doses, and widening it to younger age groups.

'Even the vaccines don't work particularly well against this new variant, they do against Delta, and we're still fighting a Delta wave and we certainly don't want to be fighting both at the same time,' he said.

'There are things we can do and we need to get on with it very rapidly.'

However, Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions.

'It's a hasty decision,' she told the BBC. 'I would understand if it was two weeks later and we knew much more about this viral infection that is going around, this mutation.

'But for now, it is a storm in a tea cup, we have only become aware of this viral mutation ... in the last week. So far what we have seen are very mild cases, so I'm not sure why we are all up in arms.'

Passengers flying to the Netherlands from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain which scientists have described as the 'worst variant ever'. They were eventually let off the runway after being forced to take a test and leave their details with contact tracers.

By contrast, British arrivals from the variant's epicentre Johannesburg were left to mingle with hundreds of others as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at noon. Passengers flying into Heathrow revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases breached 50,000 today for the first time in a month and deaths crept up by 2 per cent in a week - but hospital admissions were down 12 per cent.

Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

In a glimmer of hope, the South African Medical Association said that all cases of the Botswana variant had been in young people and caused only mild illness. It described the global response as a 'storm in a teacup'.

Angelique Coetzee, the chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, said that it was too early to begin imposing travel restrictions

This chart shows the proportion of cases that were the Omicron variant (blue) and Indian 'Delta' variant (red) over time in Guateng province in South Africa, where the virus is most prevalent. It suggests that the mutant strain could outcompete Delta in the province within weeks

The above slide shows variants that have been detected by province in South Africa since October last year. It suggests Omicron is focused in Gauteng province. This was presented at a briefing today from the South African Government

The above shows the test positivity rate  the proportion of tests that picked up the virus  across Gauteng province. It reveals that there is an uptick of cases in the northern part of the province. It is not clear whether this could be driven by Omicron

A flight from South Africa to the Netherlands was barred entry into the country today. Passengers are pictured above waiting in their seats

Passengers on last flights back from South Africa say they faced no extra restrictions Passengers arriving into the UK on one of the last flights from South Africa have revealed they were not offered tests and left to mix with hundreds of others despite mounting concern over the new variant. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that flights from South Africa - as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe - will be suspended from midday. They have all been placed on the red list. But passengers arriving from Johannesburg - the capital of the province of Gauteng where the variant was first identified - were subjected to 'no additional precautions', according to one of the people on the flight - one of three arriving at Heathrow before the ban comes into force. Writer and political commentator Adam Schwarz tweeted: 'A friend arrived in London this morning on one of the last flights from South Africa. Health officials met the plane, but no additional precautions are being taken for the hundreds of passengers. 'The captain read out a statement ''advising'' self-isolation and further tests. But it's at the discretion of passengers and it's not legally enforceable. Passengers then got on the airport shuttle to baggage reclaim, mixing with dozens of other flights. No testing was offered.' Advertisement

Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned the pandemic was 'far from over' after No10's experts admitted the new super strain could already be in the UK and make vaccines 40 per cent less effective.

In a sombre statement to MPs in the House of Commons this morning, the Health Secretary said the new Omicron strain posed a 'substantial risk to public health' and described its ultra-transmissibility and vaccine-dodging abilities as of 'huge international concern'.

Vaccines adviser Professor Adam Finn earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was 'possible' the strain had already entered Britain. She said people 'are arriving every day' to the UK from countries where the strain had been spotted.

Some 10,000 people are thought to have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two weeks where the most cases of the mutant strain have been found. Mr Javid insisted no cases of the strain have been confirmed in the UK but warned the Government is working quickly but with a 'high degree of uncertainty' and boosters could not be more important now.

Top experts said that if the strain spreads faster and can avoid current jabs it 'will get here'. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that the aim of the travel restrictions is to 'slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country'.

In response, Mr Javid announced last night that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe would be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list.

Israel was the first country to follow suit, also red-listing the six nations after a first case was detected in the country today. The European Commission has recommended an 'emergency brake' on travel from countries in Southern Africa.

Speaking in the House of Commons this morning, Mr Javid said it 'is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries'.

He said: 'We are concerned that this new variant may pose substantial risk to public health. The variant has an unusual large number of mutations. It's the only variant with this designation, making it higher priority than Beta. It shares many of the features of the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.

'Early indications show this variant may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and current vaccines may be less effective against it. It may also impact the effectiveness of one of our major treatments, Ronapreve.'

The Health Secretary added the Government is continuing to assess its travel restrictions with countries with strong links to South Africa and urged the public to book their booster doses as soon as possible.

He said: 'We are continuing to make assessments, including about those countries with strong travel links to South Africa and we're working with our international partners  including South Africa and the European Union  to ensure an aligned response.

'But this variant is a reminder for all of us that this pandemic is far from over. We must continue to act with caution, and do all we can to keep this virus at bay including, once you are eligible, getting your booster shot.

'We've already given over 16 million booster shots. The booster jab was already important before we knew about this variant  but now, it could not be more important.'

Earlier, Dr Susan Hopkins told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'The first look at it shows it has a variety of different mutations, it's got 30 different mutations that seem relevant, that's double what we had in Delta.

'And if you look at those mutations as mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evades the immune response, both from vaccines and natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility, it's a highly complex mutation, there's new ones we haven't seen before, so we don't know how they're going to interact in common.

'So all of this makes it a pretty complex, challenging variant and I think we will need to learn a lot more about it before we can say for definite it's definitely the most complex variant before.'

She added: 'It is the most worrying we've seen.'

No cases have been detected in the UK so far but everyone who has returned from South Africa in the past 10 days will be contacted and asked to take a test.

At the moment, around 500 and 700 people are travelling to the UK from South Africa each day, but it is expected this figure could increase as the festive period begins.

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'If it spreads more quickly then yes it will get here, the travel ban will delay its arrival but if it spreads more quickly the lesson has surely been from all the variants we've seen before that it will get here eventually.

'We shouldn't despair, vaccines will be effective, so if you haven't had your vaccine go and get it, be that the booster, the first dose, the second dose.

'Secondly there are new medicines coming along these will not be affected almost certainly by this mutation.

'We have got much better at controlling the disease in other ways in hospital so it is bad news but it is not doomsday.'

Professor Finn said: 'On the one hand, I don't want to induce unnecessary anxiety in people, but on the other hand, I think we all need to be ready for the possibility of a change in the restrictions.'

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Shapps said the Government is taking a 'safety-first approach' to the new variant.

'It is important to make sure that you do act immediately and in doing so you get to slow things down in terms of potential entry into the country,' he told Sky News.

'That gives us a bit of time for the scientists to work on sequencing the genome, which involves growing cultures  it takes several weeks to do  so we can find out how significant a concern this particular variant is.

'It is a safety-first approach. We have done that before with things like the mink variant from Denmark and we were then able to relax it reasonably quickly.'

The chief medical adviser at the UK Health Security Agency said the new variant is the most 'complex' and 'worrying' seen.

Announcing the travel ban last night, Mr Javid said: 'The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

A baby cries as her mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, South Africa

'Now to be clear, we have not detected any of this new variant in the UK at this point in time. But we've always been clear that we will take action to protect the progress that we have made.

From discovery to global panic in 48 hours: How the Covid super-mutant variant sparked frantic cabinet meeting and worldwide travel ban A nationwide lockdown looked likely for the first time in months today after the world reeled at the prospect of a mutant virus that was unheard of just days ago and threatens to put Britain back to square one of the pandemic. Researchers in Hong Kong were the first to raise the alarm about the new strain on Monday after discovering the strain in two passengers who had recently returned from South Africa. It was also picked up in Botswana, where it was sequenced three times, and South Africa  who had only seen one case at the time. Scientists from all three countries uploaded it to an international database of variants used by experts from across the world, including the UK. Dr Tom Peacock, a British virologist at Imperial College London who works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), voiced concern about the strain's 32 'horrific' mutations  twice as many as Delta  on Tuesday. MailOnline broke the news about the variant on Wednesday, when No10's official spokesperson shrugged it off as 'not seen as something that is an issue', despite fears that it would be more vaccine evasive than Delta. Experts told MailOnline the strain's large amount of mutations meant it could become unstable  meaning it would be unlikely to become widespread  although others warned if it started taking over the dominant Delta variant in South Africa it could have knock-on effects for the rest of the world. Behind the scenes, MailOnline understands there were 'extensive talks' between British Government scientists and those in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday. Cases began to grow exponentially in the Guateng Province in South Africa on Thursday, with a particular spike in Johannesburg, where they shot up 93 per cent in a single day. The South African Government held a press conference on Thursday, saying that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'. British ministers were called to an emergency meeting of the Covid Operations Cabinet Committee on Thursday, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Steven Barclay, to discuss shutting Britain's borders to travellers from Africa. They were told vaccines would be at least 40 per cent less effective against the variant  because of a mutation it shares with the original South African Beta variant  at the meeting. Health Secretary Sajid Javid attended the meeting but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing minister, were not part of discussions. It was set up due to concerns raised by England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and UKHSA boss Dr Jenny Harries. A Government source said: 'Whitty and the experts said we needed to act. They wanted to get it out as soon as possible.' Insiders stressed they were acting out of an 'abundance of caution'. The issue only came on the radar at No10 on Wednesday. 'We have moved more quickly than with previous decisions,' one source said. Later, senior UK Government scientists briefed the media at a hastily organised press conference last night at 7.45pm. Advertisement

'So what we will be doing is from midday tomorrow we will be suspending all flights from six, southern African countries and we will add in those countries to the travel red list.

'Those countries are South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We will be requiring anyone that arrives from those countries from 4am on Sunday to quarantine in hotels.

'If anyone arrives before then they should self-isolate at home and take a PCR test on day two and day eight. If anyone has arrived from any of those countries over the last 10 days, we would ask them to take PCR tests.'

The minister added: 'Our scientists are deeply concerned about this variant. I'm concerned, of course, that's one of the reasons we have taken this action today.'

Asked what the situation would mean for the UK over the coming weeks, with Christmas approaching, Mr Javid said: 'We've got plans in place, as people know, for the spread of this infection here in the UK and we have contingency plans - the so-called Plan B.

'But today's announcement, this is about a new variant from South Africa - it's been detected in South Africa and Botswana - and this is about being cautious and taking action and trying to protect, as best we can, our borders.'

South African scientists, meanwhile, add that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

He said that more work was needed to understand how concerning the variant is, adding: 'From what we do know there's a significant number of mutations, perhaps double the number of mutations that we have seen in the Delta variant.

'That would suggest that it may well be more transmissible and the current vaccines that we have may well be less effective.'

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in a statement today that the UK's decision to ban flights 'seems to have been rushed'.

She said: 'Whilst South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps.

'Our immediate concern is the damage that this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

The variant has not yet been given the title 'variant of concern' in the UK, but one senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Only 59 confirmed cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

The variant has over 30 mutations - around twice as many as the Delta variant - which could potentially make it more transmissible and evade the protection given by prior infection or vaccination.

The expert whose modelling helped instigate the first coronavirus lockdown said that the decision to impose travel restrictions was 'prudent'.

Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said: 'The B.1.1.529 [Omicron] variant has an unprecedented number of mutations in the spike protein gene, the protein which is the target of most vaccines.

'There is therefore a concern that this variant may have a greater potential to escape prior immunity than previous variants.

'It is also concerning that this variant appears to be driving a rapid increase in case numbers in South Africa. The Government's move to restrict travel with South Africa is therefore prudent.

'However, we do not yet have reliable estimates of the extent to which B.1.1.529 [Omicron] might be either more transmissible or more resistant to vaccines, so it is too early to be able to provide an evidence-based assessment of the risk it poses.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) are meeting with South African officials on Friday to assess the evolving situation in the country.

The variant could eventually be given the moniker 'Nu' - with the most concerning variants given named after the Greek alphabet.

The original Red List was reduced to zero nations at the end of last month when the remaining seven countries on it were removed.

No10 had left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

The UKHSA said it had been in extensive talks with scientists in South Africa about the new variant but the situation is 'rapidly evolving'.

Although only 100 cases of the new variant have so far been identified, it is already in three countries, suggesting it is more widespread than the official tally.

Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong  both of whom had links to South Africa three have been picked up in Botswana and the remainder are in South Africa.

But a lack of surveillance on continental Africa may be underestimating the true numbers there, scientists warned.

UK experts say it will be another two to eight weeks until they can study the variant in enough detail to work out how infectious or vaccine-resistant it is.

Nationally, infections in South Africa have surged tenfold from 100 per day to 1,100, after the variant was first detected in neighbouring Botswana on November 11.

UK Government scientists believe it can infect previously-infected patients with ease, because South Africa has very high levels of natural immunity.

Only 41 percent of adults have received at least a single dose of vaccine, while 35 percent are fully vaccinated.

In a hastily organised press conference today, the South African Government revealed the variant had been officially spotted in three provinces but warned it was probably already in all nine.

Experts in the UK earlier called for travel restrictions to be reimposed to prevent the strain being seeded here and avoid risking a repeat of this spring when the Delta variant was imported in huge numbers from India.

Zero-Covid scientist Professor Christina Pagel urged ministers to 'get ahead of this right now' by immediately' reimposing the red travel list '  which was only scrapped a few weeks ago.

And Chris Snowdon, an economist who is normally in favour of fewer restrictions, also called for an immediate travel ban.

The Government has left the door open to bringing back the notorious traffic light travel system with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying last month hundreds of hotel rooms were still on standby for quarantine.

MailOnline first sounded the alarm about the variant yesterday after British scientists warned that it had more than 30 mutations and is the most evolved version of Covid yet. They said it likely emerged in a long-term infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

The fact that South Africa has the largest number of people living HIV out of any country in the world has complicated its fight against Covid, as immuno-compromised people can harbour the virus for longer, scientists say.

It comes as Britain's daily Covid cases began to flatline yesterday, official data showed after weeks of falling deaths and hospitalisations. This was the first time the percentage jump was below one since November 10.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said the variant could become dominant in South Africa 'very quickly'.

Asked whether it could soon make up the majority of cases in South Africa, he told MailOnline: 'The numbers [of cases] are very small and there is a lot of uncertainty... but I would say it might become dominant very quickly.'

He said it was 'plausible' that the variant was more infectious because it was 'better at infecting' people that had immunity from vaccines or previous infections.

But he said very little is known about how likely someone who catches the variant would be to become seriously ill and die from the virus. Experts say viruses normally become less virulent over time.

Professor Tulio de Oliveira, a director of Covid surveillance in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, said that the variant had spread rapidly in South Africa.

'In less than two weeks it now dominates all infections following a devastating Delta wave in South Africa.

'We estimate that 90 per cent of cases in Gauteng (at least 1,000 a day) [are this variant].'
A barrister who cried rape in a plot to frame her married lover has had her life sentence for perverting the course of justice overturned on appeal.

Anisah Ahmed, 33, of Oxford, had staged her own kidnapping and stabbing as part of an 'evil' campaign to ruin the life of her lover Iqbal Mohammed, after finding out he had a wife.

She became the first person to receive life for perverting the course of justice, but her sentence was overturned by a panel of three judges on the Court of Appeal this week, who changed her prison term to 10 years.

The twisted plot, which began in 2014, saw the qualified barrister send intimate messages of her lover's affair to his wife and colleagues, before emailing his Head of Chambers demanding an investigation into his integrity.

Mr Mohammed described the ordeal as like something out of Fatal Attraction - the cult classic Hollywood film starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in which a jilted lover takes increasingly extreme steps to enact revenge on her married victim.

Ahmed's scorn took a more sinister turn when she created fake emails to support her false claims which made it look like they were sent by the victim threatening her, amounting to 'blackmail.'

But after the emails were found to be falsified, she then accused Mr Mohammed of raping her on several occasions, giving detailed and convincing accounts to investigators.

In a final, desperate bid to frame her ex-lover, Ahmed then staged her own kidnap and stabbing  roping in an ex-boyfriend as an accomplice  who confessed to police she had ordered him to knife her three times.

Anisah Ahmed (pictured), 33, had staged her own kidnapping and stabbing as part of an 'evil' campaign to ruin the life of her lover Iqbal Mohammed, after finding out he had a wife

When he refused, fearing he might accidentally kill her, Ahmed is believed to have stabbed herself  almost severing her femoral artery with a horrific injury to her thigh.

She told police Mr Mohammed had ordered the attack on her, later producing a forged confession from an imaginary hitman.

Fortunately, her plot was foiled, and Ahmed was convicted for perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing her to life at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Michael Gledhill previously said: 'It appears that Ahmed had no idea that Mohammed was married.

'When she found out, she felt utterly betrayed and took her revenge by putting into effect a comprehensive and orchestrated plan to destroy him - both professionally and personally.'

Mr Mohammed, who the court heard became suicidal during the ordeal, had been publicly arrested at his barrister chambers before he was taken to a police station and locked in a cell for seven hours, the judge heard.

After Mr Mohammed's chambers instructed IT experts to search the chambers' computers, they discovered that the email evidence had been falsified and police arrested Ahmed for harassment.

She later admitted that she had created the fake emails but persisted in the lie that Mohammed was still harassing her.

When it was decided to instead prosecute Ahmed for harassment, far from stopping her campaign of destruction - she escalated it.

Judge Gledhill QC added: 'As a barrister, Ahmed was well aware of the gravity of what she had done and the potential consequences to herself.

'In order to avoid such consequences, her strategy then took an even more sinister turn.

'She made another attempt to frame Mr Mohammed for a serious criminal offence.

'She reported that he had raped her on several occasions. Her complaint was detailed and convincing, even though it was completely false.

'Her purpose was twofold - revenge and to divert the police attention away from herself and back onto Mr Mohammed. In the short term it worked. Mr Mohammed was again arrested and interviewed.

Iqbal Mohammed (pictured) described the ordeal as like something out of Fatal Attraction - the cult classic Hollywood film starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in which a jilted lover takes increasingly extreme steps to enact revenge on her married victim

'The effect on Mr Mohammed can hardly be over-stated. He saw his career, livelihood and family life disintegrating before his eyes, he even thought of taking his own life.'

However, the panel of three Court of Appeal judges this week overturned the life sentence - instead imposing a 10 year prison term and a lifelong restraining order.

Lord Justice Edis urged Ahmed, who appeared over video link from HMP Eastwood Park, to continue her good work in prison and seek help with her mental health upon her release.

'The stakes are very high for you,' he said.

'They are not as high as they were because you are no longer subject to a life sentence but they are high.

'If you commit further offences or breach any of those orders you will go to prison for a long time. Whether that happens or not is up to you.'

Ahmed was so overjoyed she rose from her seat and walked out of shot when the judgement was announced.
A husband said his wife died a 'hero' after a coroner ruled rare complications from the AstraZeneca vaccine caused her death.

Mother-of-two Michelle Barlow, 51, from Orrell, near Wigan, Greater Manchester, died 16 days after having the jab, after falling ill and developing 'unsurvivable' blood clots.

A civil servant for 34 years with the Department for Work and Pensions, Mrs Barlow, originally from Portsmouth, Hampshire, was admitted to hospital.

While doctors noted her recent vaccination, and emerging knowledge about bad reactions in some patients, they persisted with a diagnosis of a gastro infection, Bolton Coroner's Court heard.

One of her sons even Googled the symptoms his mother was suffering, and it showed how other doctors were saving the lives of people with similar complications.

But three days after being admitted to Wigan Infirmary, Mrs Barlow died from blood clots as a result of 'rare complications' of the Covid-19 vaccination, the inquest heard.

Husband Ian Barlow said: 'I've had a close friend die of Covid and now my wife has died from the vaccine.

'The Covid vaccine victims are forgotten heroes alongside the Covid victims because lessons have been learned.'

A civil servant for 34 years with the Department for Work and Pensions, Michelle Barlow, originally from Portsmouth, Hampshire, was admitted to hospital on March 20 and died three days later from severe blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine

Michelle first visited the hospital on March 19 but was 'fobbed off' according to husband Ian. She returned a day later with worse symptoms and was admitted to Wigan Infirmary A&E (pictured)

Timothy Brennand, senior coroner for Greater Manchester West, ruled, 'The deceased died as the consequences of the unrecognised, rare complications of a recently administered elective and necessary Covid-19 vaccination.'

Her multiple organ failure caused by the blood clots was as a result of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) a condition not recognised at the time of her death, the inquest heard.

Mr Brennand said there may have been some 'sub-optimal care' and 'confirmation bias' among medics in persisting with their initial wrong diagnosis.

Outside court Mrs Barlow's husband, Ian, a retired factory worker, said he felt 'relief' that the vaccine's role in her death had been recognised.

He said the family felt stonewalled by public health officials when he raised his concerns about the vaccine.

Mr Barlow said: 'I'm happy and sad. I'm sad Michelle is not here. I'm happy Michelle has got the answers to what we wanted.

'It's took eight months to get here, that it was the vax that took Michelle.

'The Covid vaccine victims are forgotten heroes alongside the Covid victims because lessons have been learned.

'I've had a close friend die of Covid and my wife has died from the vaccine.

'I'm not saying don't get the vax, I'm saying check it out first, if it's right for you.'

The family are calling for a judicial review of the vaccine rollout.

Earlier the inquest heard Mrs Barlow went to a mass vaccination centre at Robin Park, Wigan and was given the AstraZeneca jab on March 7, and slowly began to suffer 'side effects' of flu like symptoms over the next couple of weeks.

On March 19 she first went to Wigan Infirmary but her husband said she felt 'fobbed off' and was discharged.

A health worker prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in May 2021. The family of Michelle Barlow are calling for a judicial review of the vaccine rollout in the UK after Mrs Barlow died from blood clots brought on by the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Michelle's multiple organ failure caused by the blood clots was as a result of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) a condition not recognised at the time of her death, the inquest heard

The next day she went to the A&E department of the hospital and was admitted, with medics first suspecting a gastro-enteritis infection.

Her husband and family were unable to be with her at the hospital due to Covid restrictions, and on March 22 Mr Barlow got a phone call from a nurse telling him to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

He said: 'I was told by Michelle they could not do anything for her. Then two doctors came in and explained.

'I said, you have got to save her.'

Matthew Barlow, one of her two sons, said that while his mother was in hospital he clicked on an internet link showing how a professor in Norway had 'saved five lives' of patients suffering the same symptoms as his mother.

He added: 'If I can do that, why can't the doctors and nurses who were treating my mother? Just go on Google.'

The coroner said he could not say whether Mrs Barlow would have lived if doctors had recognised sooner that the bad reaction to the vaccine was casing her illness.

Pathologist Dr Naveen Sharma told the inquest: 'There's no denying a small number of people with the AstraZeneca vaccine have gone on to develop blood clots.'

Dr Sharma said the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had this month produced guidance suggesting a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the 'very rare' side effect of blood clots.

He said 425 cases of major blood clots had been identified in people who had taken the AstraZeneca vaccine and said this represented rare but very clearly recognised potential complications.

Of the 425 cases, 215 in women and 206 in men, 154 cases related to blood clots in the head and 271 other parts of the body.

Of the 425 cases, the ages ranged from 18 to 93, with 101 cases in the 50 to 59 age range, 19 of whom were among the 73 fatal cases in total.

He said currently 24.8 million people had been given the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 24.1 million people had been double-jabbed with it.

Dr Peter Kreppel, Mrs Barlow's GP, who referred her to hospital, said he still would have recommended her taking the vaccine, as the risk of thrombosis was 100 times greater without the vaccine than when having taken it.

Dr Mian Ahmed, consultant at Wigan Infirmary, said if the same situation arose now, he would prescribe haemoglobin, blood thinners and CT scans sooner to the patient.

Surgeon Dr Marius Paraoan told the hearing that once he looked at Mrs Barlow's CT scan he concluded the blood clots were not treatable with surgery and 'not compatible with survival'.
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President Joe Biden has announced travel will be banned from eight African countries including South Africa starting from Monday in an effort to stop a highly transmissible new variant of COVID that has been given the name Omicron from entering the US.

The countries travel will be banned from are South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.

US citizens and green card holders will still be able to travel into the US from the banned countries, but no one else will be allowed.

Biden announced the ban on Friday hours after his top COVID expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said in an interview that it was too soon to enact such measures.

The World Health Organization named the new variant on Friday and also officially categorized it as a strain of concern.

Speaking outside the Nantucket Tap Room where he had lunch on Friday afternoon, he told reporters that he'd spoken with his team for half an hour on Friday, and that the ban was the result of that meeting.

'We don't know a lot about the variant except that it is a great concern and seems to spread rapidly. I spent about a half hour this morning with my covert team led by Dr. Fauci and so that was the decision we made,' he said.

The UK had already halted flights as had some European countries but Biden said he waited until the medical experts told him he should impose restrictions.

He also reiterated the need for everyone to get vaccinated and then get booster shots as soon as they can.

'Every American that has not been vaccinated, should be responsible and be vaccinated from age five years and up, number one. Number two, everyone eligible for the booster shot, should get the booster shot immediately upon being eligible. That is a minimum that everyone should be doing. And you know, we always talk about whether this is about freedom and I think it's a patriotic responsibility,' he said.

Forty percent of the US population remains unvaccinated.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have already assured that they will be able to update their vaccine technology to tackle Omicron, should it be necessary.

The panic surrounding the new variant has been sudden and has sent shivers through the stock market; the Dow plummeted by 1,000 points on Friday.

President Biden said the drop was 'expected' but that he is not worried about the markets.

Further details on what new restrictions will be imposed on non-US citizens and green card holders are expected to be announced imminently.

President Biden spoke with reporters today outside The Nantucket Tap Room where he said he decided on the ban out of an abundance of caution. He is Nantucket celebrating Thanksgiving with his family

Why is the Botswana variant so scary? Super strain has evolved to have ALL of the worst mutations of Alpha, Beta and Delta combined plus new ones What is so concerning about the variant? Experts say it is the 'worst variant they have ever seen' and are alarmed by the number of mutations it carries. The variant  which the World Health Organization has named Omicron  has 32 mutations on the spike protein  the most ever recorded and twice as many as the currently dominant Delta strain. Experts fear the changes could make the vaccines 40 per cent less effective in a best-case scenario. This is because so many of the changes on B.1.1.529 are on the virus's spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike from older versions of the virus. The Botswana variant has around 50 mutations and more than 30 of them are on the spike protein. The current crop of vaccines trigger the body to recognise the version of the spike protein from older versions of the virus. But the mutations may make the spike protein look so different that the body's immune system struggles to recognise it and fight it off. And three of the spike mutations (H665Y, N679K, P681H) help it enter the body's cells more easily. Meanwhile, it is missing a membrane protein (NSP6) which was seen in earlier iterations of the virus, which experts think could make it more infectious. And it has two mutations (R203K and G204R) that have been present in all variants of concern so far and have been linked with infectiousness But because the spike protein looks so different on the new strain, the body's immune system may struggle to recognise it and fight it off. It also includes mutations found on the Delta variant that allow it to spread more easily. Experts warn they won't know how much more infectious the virus is for at least two weeks and may not know its impact on Covid hospitalisations and deaths for up to six weeks. What mutations does the variant have? The Botswana variant has more than 50 mutations and more than 30 of them are on the spike protein. It carries mutations P681H and N679K which are 'rarely seen together' and could make it yet more jab resistant. These two mutations, along with H655Y, may also make it easier for the virus to sneak into the body's cells. And the mutation N501Y may make the strain more transmissible and was previously seen on the Kent 'Alpha' variant and Beta among others. Two other mutations (R203K and G204R) could make the virus more infectious, while a mutation that is missing from this variant (NSP6) could increase its transmissibility. It also carries mutations K417N and E484A that are similar to those on the South African 'Beta' variant that made it better able to dodge vaccines. But it also has the N440K, found on Delta, and S477N, on the New York variant  which was linked with a surge of cases in the state in March  that has been linked to antibody escape. Other mutations it has include G446S, T478K, Q493K, G496S, Q498R and Y505H, although their significance is not yet clear. Is it a variant of concern? The World Health Organization has classified the virus as a variant of concern, the label given to the highest-risk strains. This means WHO experts have concluded its mutations allow it to spread faster, cause more severe illness or hamper the protection from vaccines. Where has the variant been detected so far? The variant has so far been spotted in five nations: South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. Most cases have been spotted in Gauteng, a province in north east South Africa where Johannesburg is based. The first case was uploaded to international variant database GISAID by Hong Kong and was spotted in someone who travelled to the country from South Africa. No cases have been seen in the UK. But scientists do not sequence every positive Covid sample in the UK and not everyone who catches the virus will take a test. This means there could be people infected with the variant in Britain. What is the UK doing about the variant? The Health Secretary announced last night six countries would be added to the red list from midday on Friday November 26. The red-listed countries are: South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This means all direct flights from these countries to the UK are banned. Anyone arriving in England between midday today and 4am on Sunday from these countries  or who has been in the countries in the 10 previous days  must complete a passenger locator form, quarantine at home and should take a PCR test. Anyone arriving from these countries after 4am on Sunday must stay in a managed quarantine hotel for 10 days and take a Covid test on or before the second day of their stay, as well as another test on or after day eight. And the UK Health Security Agency classified B.1.1.529 as a Variant Under Investigation, which means it has worrying mutations. Experts will now conduct a risk assessment and may increase its ranking to Variant of Concern if it is confirmed to be more infectious, cause more severe illness or make vaccines and medicines less effective. Where did B.1.1.529 first emerge? The first case was uploaded to international variant database GISAID by Hong Kong on November 23. The person carrying the new variant was travelling to the country from South Africa. The UK was the first country to identify that the virus could be a threat and alerted other nations. Since then, 77 cases have been confirmed in South Africa, two in Hong Kong and three in Botswana. Health chiefs in Israel today announced it had one confirmed and two suspected B.1.1.529 cases, while there are two suspected cases in Belgium. Experts believe the strain may have originated in Botswana, but continental Africa does not sequence many positive samples, so it may never be known where the variant first emerged. Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, told MailOnline the virus likely emerged in a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS. In patients with weakened immune systems infections can linger for months because the body is unable to fight it off. This gives the virus time to acquire mutations that allow it to get around the body's defences. Will I be protected if I have a booster? Scientists have warned the new strain could make Covid vaccines 40 per cent less effective. But they said emergence of the mutant variant makes it even more important to get a booster jab the minute people become eligible for one. The vaccines trigger neutralising antibodies, which is the best protection available against the new variant. So the more of these antibodies a person has the better, experts said. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: 'The booster jab was already important before we knew about this variant  but now, it could not be more important.' When will we know more about the variant? Data on how transmissible the new variant is and its effect on hospitalisations and deaths is still weeks away. The UK has offered help to South Africa, where most of the cases are concentrated, to gather this information and believe they will know more about transmissibility in two to three weeks. But it may be four to six weeks until they know more about hospitalisations and deaths. What is the variant called? The strain was scientifically named as B.1.1.529 on November 24, one day after it was spotted in Hong Kong. The variants given an official name so far include Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma. Experts at the World Health Organization on November 26 named the variant Omicron. Advertisement

The administration is in contact with African officials to keep an eye on the situation.

We are in close contact with the Southern African public health officials and working closely with them to understand more, the senior administration official added.

Dr Anthony Fauci said on Friday there is not enough evidence about the South African variant to halt flights to the US despite the UK, Israel and Germany all suspending travel because of it

It comes amid fears of the newly-emerged COVID variant, which scientists fear could be the most infectious strain of the virus to date.

Earlier this morning, White House COVID tsar Dr Anthony Fauci told CNN that the US will had no immediate plans to restrict travel from South Africa, where a new 'super mutant' variant of COVID-19 is panicking scientists, until officials can study the variant more, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday despite the UK and some European countries banning travel.

The World Health Organization has named the new variant Omicron.

It remains unclear exactly how deadly it is among unvaccinated people, and American health agencies are yet to make any form of warning about it but there are fears it is more transmissible than any other variant yet and that it may also render some vaccines ineffective.

FULL BIDEN OMICRON STATEMENT This morning I was briefed by my chief medical advisor, Dr. Tony Fauci, and the members of our COVID response team, about the Omicron variant, which is spreading through Southern Africa. As a precautionary measure until we have more information, I am ordering additional air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries. These new restrictions will take effect on November 29. As we move forward, we will continue to be guided by what the science and my medical team advises. For now, I have two important messages for the American people, and one for the world community. First, for those Americans who are fully vaccinated against severe COVID illness  fortunately, for the vast majority of our adults -- the best way to strengthen your protection is to get a booster shot, as soon as you are eligible. Boosters are approved for all adults over 18, six months past their vaccination and are available at 80,000 locations coast-to-coast. They are safe, free, and convenient. Get your booster shot now, so you can have this additional protection during the holiday season. Second, for those not yet fully vaccinated: get vaccinated today. This includes both children and adults. America is leading the world in vaccinating children ages 5-11, and has been vaccinating teens for many months now  but we need more Americans in all age groups to get this life-saving protection. If you have not gotten vaccinated, or have not taken your children to get vaccinated, now is the time. Finally, for the world community: the news about this new variant should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations. The United States has already donated more vaccines to other countries than every other country combined. It is time for other countries to match Americas speed and generosity. In addition, I call on the nations gathering next week for the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting to meet the U.S. challenge to waive intellectual property protections for COVID vaccines, so these vaccines can be manufactured globally. I endorsed this position in April; this news today reiterates the importance of moving on this quickly. Advertisement

South African health officials are trying to calm other countries and have called the sudden panic a 'storm in a teacup'.

Both Pfizer and Moderna have said they can quickly update their vaccines if they need to to take the new variant on.

'It seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate. We're finding more about it,' he said.

He added that there is 'no indication' the mutation is in the US, but that it is possible.

'When you look at a mutation it can give you a hint or prediction that it might evade the immune response you need to get that sequence of the virus, put it in the lab and test the antibodies.

'Right now, we're getting the material together to get a situation where you can directly test it.

'Right now it's a red flag that it might be an issue but you don't know.

'Once you test it you know for sure whether it does or does not evade the antibodies for example that we make for a vaccine.

'The answer is we don't know right now but we're going to find out for sure.'

The variant, though still largely a mystery to scientists, has already sent shivers through the US markets.

Dow futures fell 2.25 percent, and both the NASDAQ and S&P Futures Indices were down by more than 1 percent.

The price of Brent Crude, the market of the global price of oil, fell by six percent.

The variant, B.1.1.529, is believed to have emerged in Botswana - from where there are no direct flights to the U.S. - and is also being found in neighboring South Africa.

Hong Kong reported a case after a passenger who had recently traveled from South Africa was found to be infected with the variant, and then infected another person while in the same hotel, quarantining.

Israel has also identified a case 'in a person who returned from Malawi,' with 'two more cases of people returning from abroad' placed in quarantine, the country's health ministry said Friday.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said initial data from the variant was worrying and border restrictions should be imposed.

'Looks like vaccine evasion could be real with this variant,' he tweeted, pointing out that the two patients in Hong Kong who had the variant were both doubled-jabbed with the Pfizer vaccine.

One of the two had recently been in Southern Africa. That person then passed it on to a second person, quarantining in the same hotel.

The only direct flight from South Africa to America is scheduled to land at Newark tomorrow. There were none today but United operates a nightly flight ordinarily from Johannesburg to Newark, with around 250 people on board. There are other flights that will land in the US having originated in South Africa, but that have gone through Doha first. Some that were scheduled to stop in Europe have been canceled

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today called for all flights to be halted until more is known about the variant.

The Dow tumbled on Friday morning as did the Nasdaq and the price of Brent Crude - the global marker for oil- also sank while Europe and the UK panicked over the new strain. The Dow sank more than 1000 points on Friday

WHO calls new Covid strain Omicron: UN health chiefs label super-mutant a 'variant of concern' with increased risk of reinfection that could spread more rapidly than Delta The World Health Organisation has named the recently-discovered B.1.1.529 strain of Covid-19 Omicron and labelled it a 'variant of concern'. UN health chiefs warned that preliminary evidence suggests the strain has an increased risk of reinfection and could spread more rapidly than the Delta variant. 'Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in Covid-19 epidemiology... the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a variant of concern, named Omicron,' the UN health agency said in a statement. The Omicron variant has more than 30 mutations  the most ever recorded in a variant and twice as many as Delta  meaning it could be more jab-resistant and transmissible that any version before it. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there is 'huge international concern' surrounding the strain after banning flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia to limit its spread. He told MPs there are concerns the variant may be more transmissible, make vaccines less effective and may affect one of the UK's Covid treatments, Ronapreve. Belgium today revealed a case of the Omicron variant, sparking fears of a new Christmas shutdown and prompting EU chiefs to call for an 'emergency brake' on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel. The Belgian health ministry said a case of the new Omicron strain was confirmed in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11 days ago, suggesting it is already being seeded across the continent and is widespread in Africa. Advertisement

'It's very airborne,' Feigl-Ding said. 'The hotel guests were in different room across the hallway from each other. Environmental samples found the virus in 25 of 87 swabs across both rooms.'

He added: 'I think border and travel restrictions make sense. Especially since Hong Kong only caught the case because of a mandatory hotel quarantine. Which countries in the west still have that??? Almost none.'

Botswana has four confirmed cases, South Africa 77 - with the real figure likely in the hundreds - and Hong Kong has two, meaning 83 cases of the variant are confirmed so far.

But South African scientists tried to backpedal today saying it was 'likely' that vaccines still offered 'high levels of protection' against hospitalisations and deaths from the variant.

As of 5:00 a.m. EST, the CDC website's travel advice page for South Africa had the country listed as 'Level 1: Low Level of COVID-19', with flights to the US permitted from the African country since November 8.

The levels range from Level unknown, Level 1: Low, Level 2: Moderate, Level 3: High and Level 4: Very High.

The CDC page asks anyone travelling to and from South Africa to be fully vaccinated, or for those who are not to be tested for Covid. It also recommends travelers follow measures in-place in South Africa, including wearing a mask and social distancing.

South Africa's infection rate spiked 93 per cent in a day yesterday amid fears the strain is driving the surge. Local scientists say it has likely spread to all the country's nine provinces, but there is yet to be a surge in hospitalizations in epicenter Johannesburg.

From discovery to global panic in 48 hours: How South African scientists' warnings about soaring cases of Covid super-mutant variant sparked frantic cabinet meeting and worldwide travel ban

Omicron variant timeline Monday, 22 November : Variant found in Hong Kong, Botswana and South Africa

: Variant found in Hong Kong, Botswana and South Africa Tuesday, 23 November : UK scientist sounds the alarm about 'horrific' 32 mutations

: UK scientist sounds the alarm about 'horrific' 32 mutations Wednesday, 24 November : Downing Street claims strain is not an 'issue' but ministers meet behind the scenes

: Downing Street claims strain is not an 'issue' but ministers meet behind the scenes Thursday, 25 November : Cases soar in South Africa and Britain issue flight ban

: Cases soar in South Africa and Britain issue flight ban Friday, 26 November : Strain found in Belgium and countries across world close borders.

: Strain found in Belgium and countries across world close borders. UK, Europe and America all close themselves off to South Africa and a handful of other African countries Advertisement

The world shut itself off from Southern Africa today in response to a super mutant variant that was unheard of just days ago.

B.1.1.529  which has now been named Omicron was first picked up in Hong Kong on Monday in a patient who had travelled from South Africa.

It did not catch international attention until Wednesday after a British scientists mentioned its 32 'horrific' mutations on social media after cases were picked up in Botswana and South Africa as well.

Boris Johnson's spokesperson said the variant was not an 'issue' on Wednesday afternoon despite UK experts warning it had a horrific set of mutations that could allow it to dodge vaccines.

By Thursday the South African Government was forced to warn the world about the strain at a sombre press conference, admitting it had triggered an 'exponential' rise in Gauteng province and was likely in every corner of the country, outpacing Delta at ferocious speed.

The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was monitoring the situation closely but that it did not pose a threat to the UK at the time. Chris Whitty and other prominent experts warned of a potential global outbreak that could undermine the UK's vaccine program.

Journalists were briefed on Thursday night by senior scientists at a hastily organized briefing where they were told the variant was at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive than Delta.

The media was told the strain was the worst seen 'ever' and that the variant could be at least 40 per cent more vaccine evasive.

At the same time, an emergency Covid committee cabinet meeting convened to discuss Britain's next steps to deal with the variant.

What do we know about the Omicron variant? Scientists have said they are concerned about the B.1.1.529 variant, named by the World Health Organisation as Omicron, as it has around 30 different mutations - double the amount present in the Delta variant. The mutations contain features seen in all of the other variants but also traits that have not been seen before. UK scientists first became aware of the new strain on November 23 after samples were uploaded on to a coronavirus variant tracking website from South Africa, Hong Kong and then Botswana. On Friday, it was confirmed that cases had been identified in Israel and Belgium but currently there are no known cases in the UK. Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told Good Morning Britain on Friday that sequencing is being carried out around the UK to determine if any cases have already been imported. Work is also under way to see whether the new variant may be causing new infection in people who have already had coronavirus or a vaccine, or whether waning immunity may be playing a role. Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute in Oxford, has said the new variant will 'almost certainly' make vaccines less effective, though they would still offer protection. Pfizer/BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine against Covid-19, is already studying the new variant's ability to evade vaccines. Advertisement

It prompted a rapid announcement from Health Secretary Sajid Javid last night that there would be a travel ban on six African countries in the south of the continent.

And scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn of the potential return of draconian Covid restrictions this winter because of the strain.

New cases were picked up in Israel and then Belgium and European countries began shutting off their borders to people coming in from South Africa, with passengers unable to leave a plane in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Here DailyMail.com reviews how the Botswana variant inspired global pandemic within the space of 48 hours...

Monday and Tuesday

Researchers in Hong Kong were the first to raise the alarm about the new strain on Monday after discovering the strain in two passengers who had recently returned from South Africa.

It was also picked up in Botswana, where it was sequenced three times, and South Africa  who had only seen one case at the time.

Scientists from all three countries uploaded it to an international database of variants used by experts from across the world, including the UK.

Dr Tom Peacock, a British virologist at Imperial College London who works with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), voiced concern about the strain's 32 'horrific' mutations  twice as many as Delta  on Tuesday.

Writing on social media, Dr Peacock said: 'Just spotted: Very small cluster of variant associated with Southern Africa with very long branch length and really awful Spike mutation profile.

Wednesday

MailOnline broke the news about the variant on Wednesday, before No10's official spokesperson shrugged it off as 'not seen as something that is an issue' despite experts' fears that it would be more vaccine evasive than Delta.

Some scientists dismissed fears, saying the strain's large amount of mutations meant it could become unstable  meaning it would be unlikely to become widespread.

But others warned if it started taking over the dominant Delta variant in South Africa it could have knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

Professor Francois Balloux, a geneticist at University College London, said it likely emerged in a lingering infection in an immunocompromised patient, possibly someone with undiagnosed AIDS.

He said it was likely the variant would be much more able to dodge antibodies than Delta.

Professor Balloux told MailOnline: 'For the time being, it should be closely monitored. But there's no need to be overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency.'

Behind the scenes, MailOnline understands there were 'extensive talks' between British Government scientists and those in South Africa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Thursday

Cases began to grow exponentially in the Gauteng Province - which surrounds the capital, Pretoria, and the biggest city, Johannesburg - in South Africa on Thursday, with a particular spike in Johannesburg, where they shot up 93 per cent in a single day.

The South African Government held a press conference on the same day, saying that they are 'concerned by the jump in evolution in this variant'.

British ministers were called to an emergency meeting of the Covid Operations Cabinet Committee on Thursday, chaired by Cabinet Office minister Steven Barclay, to discuss shutting Britains borders to travellers from Africa.

They were told vaccines would be at least 40 per cent less effective against the variant  because of a mutation it shares with the original South African Beta variant  at the meeting.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid attended the meeting but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, the housing minister, were not part of discussions.

It was set up due to concerns raised by England's Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty and UKHSA boss Dr Jenny Harries.

A Government source said: 'Whitty and the experts said we needed to act. They wanted to get it out as soon as possible.'

Insiders stressed they were acting out of an 'abundance of caution'. The issue only came on the radar at No10 on Wednesday. 'We have moved more quickly than with previous decisions,' one source said.

Later, senior UK Government scientists briefed the media at a hastily organised press conference last night at 7.45pm.

One senior UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) expert said: 'This is the worst variant we have seen so far.'

Experts from the UKHSA have been advising ministers on the issue, with a number of scientists expressing serious concern over the variant due to the significant number of mutations in the spike protein.

One senior scientist said: 'One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines, that it has a great cause of concern.'

Sajid Javid released a video on Twitter on Thursday night at around 8.50pm announcing the Government was banning all flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe.

Friday

Scientists hit the airwaves this morning to warn Britain may have to accept the reintroduction of draconian lockdown restrictions this Christmas as a result of the warning.

Professor Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK.

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser of the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned it was 'possible' the strain has already entered Britain.

She said 'people are arriving every day' to the UK from Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel where the variant has been officially detected.

Belgium's health ministry said a case was spotted in an unvaccinated young woman who got tested after suffering symptoms. She had returned from Egypt 11 days ago.

Israel has also detected a case in a vaccinated individual, meaning it has now been confirmed in three continents. The Israeli had returned from Malawi. Two other suspected cases are being investigated.

Passengers flying to Holland from South Africa were banned from getting off the plane as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain.

Flights in and out of Britain from the six African countries were supposed to be scrapped at midday today, despite No10 scrapping the no-fly travel 'red list' just weeks ago.

Yet, British arrivals from the variant's epicentre Johannesburg were left to mingle with hundreds of others as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at midday. Passengers revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history.

Those coming from variant epicentre Johannesburg said they faced 'no additional precautions'. Others told how they were getting around the ban by flying to other countries and then to the UK.

Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to pull the 'emergency brake' on travel from southern Africa on the back of the announcement, warning that the strain could be world-dominant in months.

The EU Commission president said: 'All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant. It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united.'

Dr. Anthony Fauci said during an appearance on CNN that it was too soon to panic about the variant because not enough was known. He was overruled within hours.
An anti-vaxx nurse will face trial next month for organising three anti-lockdown rallies at the height of the pandemic.

Kay Shemirani, also known as Kate Shemirani, 56, is said to have led demonstrations in Trafalgar Square on August 29 and September 19 last year, and Whitehall on September 5.

Fiona Hine, 36, also appeared in Westminster Magistrates Court charged with three counts of breaking lockdown restrictions by attending those gatherings.

Shemirani, who lost her nursing license, has made a name for herself by promoting conspiracy theories about Covid, 5G and the vaccines.

Hine, who also goes by Fiona Rose Diamond, has a smaller social media following by promoting various conspiracies and calling the vaccine rollout a 'genocide'.

Kay Shemirani, also known as Kate Shemirani, 56, is said to have led demonstrations in Trafalgar Square on August 29 and September 19 last year, and Whitehall on September 5

Shemirani was removed from social media and suspended from the Nursing and Midwifery Council for spreading misinformation

Representing Shemirani, who was did not attend court, Robert Bullock said his client would be arguing the restrictions are 'unconstitutional'.

'We are facing three charges of holding an event, which could be equated to organising the event, and very simply we submit we are not actually organisers.

'There are other factors legally, on the basis of human rights,' said Mr Bullock.

'Of course, we are referring to the simple right of assembly. That is longstanding and that would simply have to be abolished.'

Mr Bullock said that his client did not dispute attending those events, but maintains she was not the organiser.

He asked the court for a number of witnesses to be called in this trial, including several police officers.

Mr Bullock said: 'They deal with Piers Corbyn, someone who has been a very prominent figure in this movement from the outset.

'Those officers have had a number of dealings with him. This relates in particular to the 29 August charges for these defendants.'

Pictured: Kate Shemirani with Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn

Maskless supporters of the pair, including Piers Corbyn, packed the public gallery.

Sherimani, of Uckfield, west Sussex, denies three charges of holding a meeting of more than 30 people during an emergency period in England.

Hine, of Putney, south London, denies two charges of participating in gatherings of more than thirty people and a charge of participating in a gathering of more than six people during during the emergency period in England.

They were bailed ahead of their trial before District Judge Briony Clarke on December 6.
Black Lives Matter sparked furious backlash on social media after an anti-Thanksgiving tweet that claimed that Americans were eating their holiday meals on 'stolen land.'

On Thanksgiving Thursday the social activism group's official Twitter slammed American's across the country gathering to celebrate the holiday.

'You are eating dry turkey and overcooked stuffing on stolen land,' the group posted from its @Blklivesmatter verified Twitter account, which has 1 million followers.

On Thanksgiving Thursday the social activism group's official Twitter slammed American's across the country gathering to celebrate the holiday

When it first launched in 2013, BLM sought to bring attention to and prevent police violence against African Americans

'You are on stolen land. Colonization never ended, it just became normalized,' a graphic with a link to help people find which 'ancestral homeland' they are 'currently occupying' said.

The link was to Native Land Digital, a digital map that allows people to see the indigenous history of the land they currently inhabit.

Discussing Native American people who had their land taken by settlers has become an increasingly popular topic during Thanksgiving, with some progressives now keen to discount the annual event as a celebration of colonialism and racism.

But the post rubbed many the wrong way and some on social media said Black Lives Matter's message was itself 'racist', while also calling out the group for being hypocritical.

Are these 5 homes on #stolenland?' one person tweeted referring to reports that BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors has used her vast earnings as a consultant to purchase multiple luxury homes while preaching Marxist ideas.

Another person tweeted: 'Fanning the flames of racism. This is the true insurrection, but no one can say anything about it without being chastised and canceled. What a privilege that must be.'

Someone else said the group spreads hate: 'BLM espouses hateful, racist stupidity, utterly ignorant of history & wisdom. BLM professes hate for the very Christian-Judaea values key to this countrys prosperity. Instead, BLM should be grateful for USAs freedoms, even to be stupid, as is my right to call them on it.'

BLM has been a constant source of controversy over the years.

In July the Utah chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked anger on social media during independence Day weekend after it posted a message on Facebook calling the American flag a symbol of hate.

That same month, the group as blamed the 'cruel and inhumane' US for unrest in Cuba, as the activists praised the Communist regime, sparking furious backlash

BLM accused the US of causing the instability with its embargoes which have caused 'pain and suffering' for Cubans for 60 years in the message which was branded 'worse than embarrassing'.

When it first launched in 2013, BLM sought to bring attention to and prevent police violence against African Americans.

Today, it describes its mission as one that will 'eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes'.

Supporters say the organization is finally correcting decades of injustice and rebalancing the scales. Critics say they are trying to rewrite history and erase any indicator of white success, particularly in America.
A Canadian school has cancelled an event with ISIS survivor Nadia Murad, saying her visit would be offensive to Muslims and foster 'Islamophobia'.

Murad was scheduled to sit down with students from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) - the largest school Board in Canada with nearly 600 schools - to discuss her book The Last Girl: My Story Of Captivity in February 2022.

Murad's graphic expose detailed how she escaped the Islamic State, where she was ripped from her home and sold into sexual slavery aged just 14 years old, according to The Telegraph.

She uses the book to talk about how she was raped and tortured before finding her way to a refugee camp in Durhok, in northern Iraq, and then to Germany where she now lives.

Nadia Murad (pictured) wrote an expose detailing how she escaped the Islamic State and was slated to discuss it at a book club event for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). However, the event was cancelled because Superintendent Helen Fisher (right) said said it would offend Muslim students and 'promote Islamophobia'

In her book (pictured), Murad talks about how she was raped and tortured before finding her way to a refugee camp in Durhok, in northern Iraq, and then to Germany where she now lives

But before the event could happen the superintendent of the Board Helen Fisher said that her students would not participate.

She has since issued an apology but refused to allow her students to attend.

Fisher expressed that she believed the book would 'promote Islamophobia' and cited how offensive the book was to her Muslim students as her reason for cancelling the event.

The decision enraged TDSB parent Tanya Lee, who wrote an email to the superintendent about the decision.

Lee also founded the book club - called A Room Of Your Own Book Club - which allows teen girls aged 13 to 18 from secondary schools around the country to hear from female authors, and was hosting the event set to feature Murad.

'This is what the Islamic State means. It is a terrorist organization. It has nothing to do with ordinary Muslims. The Toronto school board should be aware of the difference,' she wrote, as reported by The Telegraph.

The next day Lee told the news site that Fisher sent her a copy of the school board's policy on selecting fair, culturally-relevant reading materials, which a TDSB spokesperson said was 'a misunderstanding'.

'The equity department does not review and approve books for book clubs,' they added.

The Board later issued a statement stating they 'wanted to provide some clarification'.

'An opinion that did not reflect the position of the Toronto District School Board was shared with the organizer of the book club prior to staff having an opportunity to read the books - something that is routinely done before giving them to students,' it read.

The statement added that 'staff are currently reading' the book and the Board 'sincerely apologizes to Ms Murad (who) has powerful stories to tell,' adding that they 'believe students would learn a great deal (from)'.

Murad was captured by the Islamic State aged 14 and went on to become a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and a UN Goodwill Ambassador (Murad pictured visiting her village for the first time after being captured by the Islamic State in 2017)

Murad became the first woman from Iraq to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism in speaking out against abuse and sexual violence (pictured during the award ceremony in 2018)

Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence also became a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and UN Goodwill Ambassador.

Lee, who opened the book club up to young girls from the UK, told The Telegraph: 'The book club event for A Room Of Your Own Book Club with Nadia Murad will go ahead across Canada in February.

'The TDSB has not committed to letting their students attend. This is unfortunate for all involved. A great loss to the students, community, and educators at the TDSB.'

However, this isn't the first time Fisher banned a book from a book club event.

Back in October, A Room Of Your Own Book Club featured author and lawyer Marie Henein, who defended Canadian radio host Jian Ghomeshi while he was being faced with sexual assault charges.

Although Ghomeshi was acquitted on all charges in 2016, the TDSB sill refused to let its students attend the event.

In response, dozens of users took to Twitter to express their fiery discontent towards TDSB's decision.

One user referred to when Holocaust survivors spoke to TDSB schools and sarcastically said: 'I guess all the Holocaust survivors who have spoken at schools were promoting hatred of Germans - any response to your idiotic position on Nadia Murad???'

Meanwhile, another user said the school's choice to cancel Murad's event is 'sad (because) she is being de-platformed'.

Yet another response said the decision is the 'opposite' of cancel culture, 'where incompetent professionals face no consequences for bungling their jobs, because their errors are seen as being committed in the (nominal) service of social justice'.
An appeal by two touts jailed for reselling tickets worth millions to event including Ed Sheeran and Adele concerts was today dismissed by a judge, who said the ticketing market has 'a high degree of criminal fraud'.

Peter Hunter and David Smith were convicted of fraudulent trading in a landmark trial last year and jailed for four years and two-and-a-half years respectively.

Using computer bots, the married couple used multiple identities to buy large numbers of tickets, selling them on secondary ticketing websites for a substantial mark-up.

Leeds Crown Court previously heard that over 30 months, the pair spent around 4 million on tickets, with returns of more than 10.8 million.

Lord Justice Green said the scheme 'was designed to deceive tickets vendors into selling them tickets when, had they known the true identity of the purchaser and their intended use of the tickets, they would have refused to make the sale.'

He added: 'They were deceiving those consumers into believing that they were purchasing valid tickets'.

Peter Hunter and David Smith were convicted of fraudulent trading in a landmark trial last year and jailed for four years and two-and-a-half years respectively

Using computer bots, the married couple used multiple identities to buy large numbers of tickets for events such as Adele concerts

They would then sell tickets, including those for Ed Sheeran gigs, on secondary websites for a substantial mark-up

The Court of Appeal judge said consumers were also not told about the risk of purchasing a ticket, including that event organisers could treat it as void.

He continued: 'Had this been transparent then it can properly be inferred that purchasers might have been reluctant to spend large sums on tickets that might turn out not to permit entry to the event in question. This lack of transparency is unlawful.'

During his trial, Hunter, of Crossfield Road, north London, suggested there were about 120 similar businesses to his and that bulk selling was 'encouraged' by secondary websites, which could take a cut of up to 25% of the sale.

While he used different identities to buy more tickets than permitted, he claimed this was not fraudulent as primary ticketing websites were 'aware of the practice and approved of it'.

Lord Justice Green said: 'If the appellants are correct and there are potentially hundreds of other operators all running businesses like theirs, and if they are also correct and there is connivance and collusion between ticket touts and the primary ticketing websites and secondary ticketing websites, then the ticketing market is one which appears to be characterised by a high degree of criminal fraud.

'The evidence we have seen certainly suggests this possibility.

'This appeal, however, focuses more narrowly upon the conduct of the appellants as buyers and resellers of tickets, and not on the possibility that fraud is also being perpetrated by others.

'It will be for the prosecutorial authorities to consider whether other and broader enforcement action is necessary.'

During their trial, the court heard that Hunter, then 51, and Smith, then 66, had harvested tens of thousands of tickets to high-profile music concerts and West End hits like Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.

Sheeran's manager Stuart Camp gave evidence, telling jurors at Leeds Crown Court they had decided to take a stand against touts after spotting 75 seats at a Sheeran charity gig on sale for 7,000.

Lord Justice Green (pictured) said today the scheme 'was designed to deceive tickets vendors into selling them tickets when, had they known the true identity of the purchaser and their intended use of the tickets, they would have refused to make the sale'

At the Court of Appeal last month, Hunter and Smith challenged their convictions, arguing that the trial judge acted unfairly in how he directed the jury.

However, three senior judges dismissed the appeals.

Lord Justice Green, sitting with Lady Justice Macur and Mrs Justice Cheema Grubb, concluded: 'Their conduct deliberately distorted and imbalanced supply and demand and created an artificially inflated demand which could be satisfied only by sales on secondary ticketing websites at hyper-inflated prices.

'The greed of the touts who forced consumers to pay for intrinsically risk-laden tickets at high prices is, in our judgment, an important matter which also informs any decision about the nature of the prejudice arising out of the appellant's conduct.'

The judgment was welcomed by National Trading Standards' director Wendy Martin, who called the ruling 'another major milestone in the efforts to tackle the dishonest and fraudulent practices in the secondary ticketing market'.
From the moment it is felled, the giant Norwegian spruce  known as the Queen of the Forest  is revered and cosseted by foresters.

When the time comes for it to be transported to London, towards the end of November, schoolchildren in Norway gather to sing carols while the Mayor of Oslo holds one end of a saw and the Lord Mayor of Westminster the other.

The ceremony is only for the cameras, as the complicated job of cutting through the trunk, lifting the tree into the air on a crane and delicately lowering her into a carefully constructed cradle is done by experts.

For every year since 1947, a 20-metre tall tree has been donated to the British people as a thank-you from the Norwegians for British support during World War II.

This year's, measuring 24 metres (78ft), will be put up on Thursday, as is traditional, in London's Trafalgar Square.

Since 1947, the 20-metre tall tree in London's Trafalgar Square (pictured in 2017) has been donated to UK as a thank-you from Norwegians for British support during World War II

Although well-known as a symbol of Christmas, not many people know the true story of heroism behind the annual gift, and the courageous role played all those years ago by the King of Norway.

For as wicked and misguided as the human race has so often been, occasionally there has arisen a person of bravery, integrity and decency, at a point in history when those qualities were under threat.

By his refusal to surrender those values to unspeakable evil, by his love of the country of which he ruled during exile in Britain, King Haakon VII of Norway was such a man  and made popular broadcasts to his country via the BBC through the war.

Aware that he was likely to be found and apprehended by the Nazis after the invasion of neutral Norway in April 1940, he slept in his uniform, fearful they would be able to publish humiliating photographs of him in pyjamas.

Then aged 67, tall, thin, moustachioed, he was a man in grief. Less than two years earlier, his English wife, Maud, the third daughter of Edward VII, had died of cancer.

The royal couple were very popular in Norway, liked for being a personal presence almost in the medieval tradition. Over the years it is estimated that the King gave tens of thousands of private audiences.

However, Maud was always homesick for England and stayed in their house on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, a wedding present from her father, as often as she could.

There, she could indulge her twin passions, riding and  by taking trains from King's Lynn to London clothes shopping.

Her diminutive, beautifully clad figure, teetering down Bond Street, usually accompanied by one of her dogs, was a familiar sight in the mid to late-1930s.

During a UK visit in November 1938, Maud died. The King was desolate. He and their much-loved only son Crown Prince Olav, then 35, accompanied her body back to Oslo on HMS Royal Oak, lashed by storms.

After the German invasion of Norway on the night of 8-9 April, 1940, the country's chief weapon against the Nazis was surprise.

For more than 150 years, Norway had been at peace. None of her army officers had ever known combat and Hitler was convinced King Haakon would agree to his demands that he should dismiss his ministers and appoint a government led by the contemptible Vidkun Quisling, leader of the Norwegian Nazi Party.

Not many people know the story of heroism behind the gift, and the courageous role played all those years ago by King Haakon VII of Norway (pictured with Queen Maud and Prince Olav)

Denmark surrendered just six hours after Hitler's troops crossed its border. To do otherwise would be to risk further bloodshed and almost certain defeat. But Haakon and his government were determined Norway would not collaborate with the Nazis.

Not for one moment did they depart from the principle they held dear: namely free, democratic government, legality which followed the will of the people.

The Norwegians had the measure of the gangster state they faced even at this early stage.

As German warships neared Oslo, the national gold reserve, 53 tons of ingots worth about 2billion, was smuggled from the Bank of Norway to a hiding place on the shores of a fjord, with just hours to spare.

The Germans arrived to find the vaults empty and the King gone. He had escaped to a hotel in a village 135 miles north-east of the capital. With him were his son, the government and members of their parliament.

On hearing that they had rejected the German ultimatum to surrender, Hitler ordered that the King should be taken dead or alive.

Soon, low-flying planes were roaring over the tiny village. At one point, father and son threw themselves face down in the snow beside the road as the air attacks took place.

Explosives and incendiary bombs were falling all about them, but King Haakon remained calm as he picked up a machine-gun bullet which had fallen between him and Prince Olav.

'A greeting to me personally from Germany,' he remarked quietly.

For the next two months, the King and his party moved from place to place to evade the Germans.

By April 21, he was sheltering on a farm, where, during a Cabinet meeting held in his bedroom, the windows rattled with exploding bombs.

The King was next to a window and someone suggested changing places. 'We sit where we are,' Haakon replied.

In the coastal town of Molde, they had to retreat to the woods, for six days in freezing conditions.

From there, they boarded HMS Glasgow which lay low in the water due to its secret cargo of a large part of the national gold reserve on its way to the Bank of England.

But the King was not ready to leave Norway yet.

While the warship headed for Britain, a small fishing vessel took him to the Arctic port of Tromso.

His arrival there was supposed to be top secret, but German intelligence had discovered his whereabouts, and planes were soon pursuing him.

So, for the next month the royal party hid in the snow-covered mountains  the King and Prince Olav sleeping in one small chalet and using another as an office and audience chamber.

On June 7, shortly before the Germans finally overran the country, the King travelled back to Tromso to preside over a Cabinet meeting for what could have been the last time on Norwegian soil, his voice breaking as he said 'God bless Norway' to his ministers.

That afternoon, he, Olav, and a few members of the Government boarded County Class crusier HMS Devonshire, and set sail for the Scottish port of Gourock.

From here they travelled by train to London's Euston, where they were met by King George VI and driven to Buckingham Palace.

The London exile had begun.

When the citizens of Oslo heard their King had left the country, they felt abandoned. Only in the unfolding months was it clear the King was not fleeing out of cowardice.

He was taking with him, as the most precious of cargoes, their idea of themselves as a nation.

His broadcasts from Britain reminded them to keep their values and his moral fortitude cheered them, just as he was cheered by the defiance of the greater part of the Norwegian people.

Rather than saying 'when we win the war', he spoke of the day he would 'come home'. Loyalty to their constitutional monarch provided the focus for Norwegian resistance.

One of the jobs assigned to the thuggish henchmen of Quisling's pro-German administration was to rip flowers out of the button-holes or hats of those who wore them on the King's birthday.

For his part, the King of Sweden told Haakon to give up.

But with unbridgeable stubbornness, he held to his declaration that the government of Norway continued in England.

King Haakon passed the tree on to Londoners and it was first erected in Trafalgar Square in the middle of the war (pictured in 1948) with no electric lights, but evergreen with defiant hope

Alongside regular meetings with his ministers, the King presided over councils of state held in the Norwegian embassy, a beautiful building in Kensington.

He also remained in close contact with all serving forces, land, sea and air, who had left Norway, often lunching at the United Service Club.

Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 merchant vessels and 30,000 Norwegian merchant seamen were at the disposal of the Allies and played a vital role in keeping Britain fed.

Their work was praised by Philip Noel-Baker, parliamentary-secretary in the Ministry of Transport: 'If Norway had done as stronger nations did, and said: 'What's the use?'

'I can imagine that we would not have been able to hold out when things were at their worst. Great Britain will never forget what Norway has done.'

Norwegian forces clearly could not regain their country by conquest of the mighty Wehrmacht, but in exile they could plan to make life difficult for the German invaders, sometimes with the help of British intelligence.

But for one such operation in February 1943, history would have been horrifically different.

A raiding party of nine Norwegians were dropped into their homeland, carrying high explosive charges. With these, they blew up an industrial facility in the mountains of Southern Norway.

It was the only place in the world producing 'heavy water', which the Nazis planned to use in developing a German atom bomb.

Another success which shone a light in the darkness was a seemingly small event the year before.

A brave Norwegian resistance fighter called Mons Urangsvag was taking part in a commando raid on the tiny island of Hisoy, two miles off Norway's west coast.

Urangsvag cut down a Norwegian pine in an arboretum, intending it as a gift to exiled King Haakon. It was taken by tanker and transported to the King's temporary home at Foliejon Park, his home in exile at Windsor.

Among its admirers was George VI, who wished his 'dear Auntie Maud could have lived to see this beautiful tree, which seems, in a strange way, a symbol of all our hopes in these dark days'.

As a result, King Haakon decided to pass the tree on to Londoners.

So it was first erected in Trafalgar Square in the middle of the war. No electric lights  there was still a blackout!  but evergreen with defiant hope.

The year after, the King returned to Norway, the people of Oslo remembered the gift, and so began the tradition, kept thereafter.

These days, the lights are energy-efficient LED bulbs. But they will still be beacons of an imperishable light, reminding us how much difference can be made to history by just one individual possessing the rare gift of moral courage.

The King And The Christmas Tree by A.N. Wilson is published by Manilla Press, 9.99. A.N.Wilson 2021.

To order a copy for 8.99, go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over 20. Offer price valid until 11/12/21.
An Insulate Britain eco-warrior on hunger strike in prison is 'sounding sad' and 'tearful' on the phone and has not yet had her belongings delivered to her cell, her sister has claimed.

Emma Smart, 44, is entering her tenth day of hunger strike at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, where she was sentenced to four months for protesting on the M25, in defiance of a High Court order.

But it seems the biologist, from Weymouth, who is locked up in Europe's largest women's prison, alongside rapists and murderers, may be struggling to cope behind bars.

'Day 9 of hunger strike,' her sister Clare wrote on Twitter Friday, 'Emma is always so strong yet today she was tearful when she phoned. It is really tough to hear her sounding sad.

'The frustrating delays of not getting any of her belongings; her books, clothes, even her glasses for her to be able to comfortably read the emails that have been printed out.

'Each day she is told that it will happen and each day passes without it.'

The picture seems at odds with the defiant statement Emma put out via Insulate Britain this morning, telling the government to 'bring down the combined might of your best lawyers', adding: 'We will not be cowed'.

Emma Smart (pictured), from Weymouth, announced via an Insulate Britain spokesman that she would be going on hunger strike

Emma Smart (left) waves to supporters as she arrives at the High Court in London for sentencing last week

Emma Smart was arrested for blocking the M25 despite a High Court injunction banning such demonstrations (Pictured: Insulate Britain protestors block a roundabout at a junction of the M25)

Clare added that her sister wants her voice to be heard and the reasons for her hunger strike to be 'shouted out loud.'

She said: 'For those that are able to act in solidarity to do so. To not be forgotten about.

'To feel that she is continuing to act and to do everything that she can even from inside a prison cell.'

Emma is undertaking the hunger strike to try and persuade Boris Johnson to insulate more council homes in Britain.

Clare continued: 'Emma is not eating in solidarity with those who will have to make the choice between eating and heating their homes this winter.'

Mail Online has contacted Insulate Britain for comment.

Emma was arrested on October 8 along with eight other Insulate Britain activists after four injunctions were granted by the High Court to National Highways in September.

These banned protests on the M25, around the Port of Dover and on major roads around London.

A fifth injunction was granted to Transport For London on October 8.

Speaking from prison today, Emma said in a statement via Insulate Britain: 'Imprisoning all those who disagree with you is the mark of a bully and we all know that at heart, bullies are cowards.

'So to the government we say carry on, bring down the combined might of your best lawyers and all the vast machinery of the state. We will not be cowed.

'Our numbers are growing because the general public knows we are on the right side of history.'

In a video shared by Insulate Britain online this week, a short recording of Emma, believed to have been taken before she was sent to prison, can be seen in which she defends her actions and called for more civil disobedience.

Emma Smart told the court that the proceedings were 'obscene' and glowered at barristers representing National Highways. However, the biologist has faced allegations of hypocrisy after undertaking a gas-guzzling 81,000-mile drive across the globe with her husband Andy Smith. Above: The couple are pictured with their diesel-fuelled Toyota before the trip in 2012

Insulate Britain eco mob's Emma Smart, 44 previously urged more eco-zealots to step up and continue the group's extreme campaign this week

Smart, an ecologist by trade, said: 'It was quite an extreme campaign, you know, going onto the motorway but we're in an extreme situation and I felt I had to do what was necessary.

'I stepped up, we all need to step up. Non-violent civil disobedience is the only way we're going to enact change.

'We don't need nine of us, or 20 of us in prison, we all need to put our liberty on the line because we are facing losing everything.'

In the clip shared to Twitter, Smart explains her actions leading up to taking part in the mob's motorway protests earlier this year.

Speaking with a row of fence panels behind her, she said: 'I don't know what more I can do and then IB [Insulate Britain] came along and yes, this was a way I could step up.

'It was quite an extreme campaign, you know, going onto the motorway but we're in an extreme situation and I felt I had to do what was necessary.

'So I feel this is the moment. Our government could have accepted and acted or done something meaningful in relation to our demands.

'But they chose to imprison us and really that has got to send a strong message to everyone. Now is the time. We need to come together, whatever we're doing is not enough.

'I stepped up, we all need to step up. Non-violent civil disobedience is the only way we're going to enact change.

'We don't need nine of us, or 20 of us in prison, we all need to put our liberty on the line because we are facing losing everything.

'Our life support systems are collapsing, society is going to collapse. Be part of that change while you have the chance.'

During her sentencing, Emma told the court that the proceedings were 'obscene' and glowered at barristers representing National Highways.

However, the biologist has faced allegations of hypocrisy after undertaking a gas-guzzling 81,000-mile drive across the globe with her husband Andy Smith.

Insulate Britain said today that a further nine of its members have been summoned to appear at the High Court on December 14.

The group said they face the charge of contempt of court and face up to two years in prison.
It's an angler's paradise, a picturesque setting to escape life's cares and be at one with nature.

But the peaceful waters of Loch Lomond have been rocked by an unseemly spat between the chairman of one of Britain's most prestigious angling societies and a disgruntled suspended member.

James Raeburn, chairman of the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association, accused Peter Lyons of 'glowering' at him in an act of intimidation as he was shadowed in his boat  with the case ending up in court.

Lyons had already been suspended from the association for ten years after refusing to take down a blog post  titled Loch Lomond Bitter and Twisted  which contained 'derogatory remarks' about the committee.

Peter Lyons (pictured) was banned from fishing at the Scottish beauty spot where he had kept his boat for years, Stirling Sheriff Court heard

It meant he was banned from fishing at the Scottish beauty spot where he had kept his boat for years  and he blamed Mr Raeburn for his exclusion, a court was told.

The retired policeman, 67, claimed Lyons had 'lain in wait' for him on the return leg of a salmon fishing trip in July last year.

He told Stirling Sheriff Court that Lyons had approached him at speed and drew up so close he feared he wouldn't have enough room to pull away from the bank to avoid underwater obstacles.

Bizarrely, Mr Raeburn claimed that Lyons was staring at him through binoculars despite their proximity, the court heard.

He said: 'As I was proceeding southwards, I noticed a boat in the middle of the loch, where [it] is only about 400 yards wide.

James Raeburn (right) said Lyons had approached him at speed in his boat and drew up so close he feared he wouldn't have enough room to pull away from the bank to avoid obstacles

'I didn't think anything of it until I noticed the boat belonged to Peter Lyons. I could see by the wake it was travelling quite fast in my direction  white water at the sides.'

He added: 'It was my perception he was trying to intimidate me. I shouted to him several times to back off, but he made no reply.

'Every time I speeded up, he'd speed up, if I slowed down, he slowed down.'

Mr Raeburn said the 'cat and mouse' pursuit lasted for 45 minutes, adding: 'Even though he was only 30ft away he was looking at me through a pair of binoculars, which I thought a strange thing indeed.'

Lyons, 64, a retired architect who conducted his own defence, suggested that the account of the sail-by was 'total fantasy' and claimed that Mr Raeburn had in fact executed a 'sharp' manoeuvre that put his propeller at risk of getting tangled in some fishing lines.

Lyons had already been suspended from the association for ten years after refusing to take down a blog post  titled Loch Lomond Bitter and Twisted

He added: 'It was just a mild glower to let you know that despite the ten-year ban I still existed ... I just wanted to disrupt your day, to make it unpleasant for you.'

After a day-long summary trial, Sheriff Keith O'Mahony found Lyons not guilty of reckless navigation and culpable and reckless conduct, but fined him 320 for fishing without a permit last June.

Referring to the fact that much of the trial had been taken up with Lyons examining witnesses regarding the justice of his suspension, the sheriff said: 'I should say that the machinations, the politics, the grievances of the committee structure that is responsible for the issuing of permits for Loch Lomond are absolutely nothing to do with this court.'
Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her demands for her vote for the next GOP leader to earn the House Speaker position, so long as Republicans reclaim the majority following the upcoming 2022 elections.

Among Greene's demands are kicking out fellow GOP members for participating in the January 6 committee and the removal of political foe NY Rep. John Katko from his position on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Greene, who was one of former President Donald Trump's reliable allies in Congress, laid out her terms on Thursday while calling into question House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's ability to be elected to the House Speaker position, according to CNN.

'We know that Kevin McCarthy has a problem in our conference. He doesn't have the full support to be speaker,' Greene told Florida Representative Matt Gaetz's Firebrand podcast that aired Thursday morning.

'He doesn't have the votes that are there, because there's many of us that are very unhappy about the failure to hold Republicans accountable, while conservatives like me, Paul Gosar, and many others just constantly take the abuse by the Democrats.'

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Greene, pictured, announced her demands for her vote for the next GOP leader to earn the House Speaker position if Republicans reclaim majority in 2022 elections

Greene called into question House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA), pictured, ability to be elected to the House Speaker position

Greene had previously mentioned she would have a list of stipulations for whoever is to earn her speaker vote, and raised several obstacles that McCarthy has in his pursuit for the House Speaker position.

The Republican told Gaetz that among those demands is having Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, both fellow members of the GOP, kicked out of the House Republican Conference for participating in the January 6 committee, which was a proposed commission that would have investigated the 2021 United States Capitol attack.

McCarthy, who has thus far defied efforts towards said commission, added that she has no respect for the incumbent GOP leadership, CNN reported.

Greene's demands in obstructing McCarthy's quest for the speaker's gavel comes amidst a larger sense of resentment from the Georgia Representative and a handful of other House Republicans against current GOP leadership.

Trump's other congressional allies have similarly expressed doubt with McCarthy over the last several weeks, while beginning to exert their own influence in the upcoming House of Representatives elections, which is still over a year away.

Greene insisted McCarthy does not have the full support of House Republicans to become Speaker, as Republicans remain favored to take the congressional majority next year as polling and recent redistricting favor them taking the lead from Democrats.

Should these congressional Trump supporters remain united, McCarthy may indeed have issues in seeking the House Speaker role, according to CNN.

The roughly 40-member House Freedom Caucus has already rejected McCarthy's quest for the speakership once before.

Greene's demands included removing NY Republican Rep. John Katko, pictured, a moderate and McCarthy ally, from his spot as Ranking Member on House Homeland Security Committee

Meanwhile, Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as Gaetz have suggested that the former president himself pursue the position of House Speaker, in an effort to show McCarthy the strength of the MAGA influence on the Republican party in a speaker's race.

Greene's demands also included the removal of New York Republican Representative John Katko, a moderate and McCarthy ally, from his spot as Ranking Member on the House Homeland Security Committee, while questioning his commitment to the GOP.

'Katko's not a Republican. He's a Democrat,' Greene said.

'Our conference and the NRCC needs to stop playing this majority-maker game.'

Katko, who voted in impeach Trump, represents a crucial swing district and has defended the bipartisan infrastructure law and has supported efforts by Democrats to axe Greene from the committees she currently sits on.

Both Greene and Gosar, a far-right politician who has served as the US representative for Arizona's 4th congressional district since 2013, have been stripped of their committee assignments for threatening Democrats.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene during his Firebrand podcast, where Greene laid out her demands for her vote for next GOP leader to earn House Speaker position

Pictured: Paul Gosar, who served as US representative for Arizona's 4th congressional district since 2013, has been stripped of his committee assignments for threatening Democrats

Greene introduced a bill on Wednesday that would award Kyle Rittenhouse, pictured, the congressional gold medal for 'protecting the community of Kenosha'

Gosar was censured this month for posting a manipulated anime cartoon showing him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Greene was removed from her assignments after posting messages that included anti-Semitic and Islamophobic comments, as well as sharing QAnon conspiracy theories.

McCarthy has been under pressure to take action against members who have used violent rhetoric, amid a growing number of threats against lawmakers in the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

But he shrugged off the matter, at a press conference, saying they could expect to get back their committee position if Republicans retake the House in the 2022 midterms.

Meanwhile, Greene introduced a bill on Wednesday that would award Kyle Rittenhouse the congressional gold medal for 'protecting the community of Kenosha.'
A railway conductor who celebrated pubs reopening after lockdown by saying we cannot live in an 'alcohol-free caliphate' to beat Covid has won an unfair dismissal claim.

Jeremy Sleath, 63, a self-declared 'secular atheist', was sacked for the Facebook post in which he said Britain should not copy Islamic State's drink ban.

A tribunal ruled this week that West Midlands Trains did not follow proper procedure when it decided to fire him for gross misconduct after a complaint of racism.

But employment judge Geraldine Flood dismissed claims that his rights to freedom of speech had been violated and called the post 'reckless'.

Jeremy Sleath, 63, a self-declared 'secular atheist', was sacked for a Facebook post he made in July 2020 in which he said Britain should not copy Islamic State's drink ban. He wrote: 'Thank f*** our pubs open up today. 'We cannot let our way of life become like some sort of Muslim alcohol-free caliphate just to beat Covid-19.'

A tribunal ruled this week that West Midlands Trains did not follow proper procedure when it decided to fire him for gross misconduct after a complaint of racism (file pic: West Midlands Railway train in Birmingham)

Despite acknowledging the decision to sack him was harsh, she said it was reasonable to conclude his post was racist.

She said: 'Taking action in relation to that post (including dismissing the claimant) to protect its employees was in these circumstances a reasonable step to take.'

But she ruled he was unfairly dismissed because the train company did not handle the appeals procedure properly.

Mr Sleath posted the comment on his personal Facebook page in July 2020.

He wrote: 'Thank f*** our pubs open up today.

'We cannot let our way of life become like some sort of Muslim alcohol-free caliphate just to beat Covid-19.'

Mr Sleath, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, told the employment tribunal in Birmingham that his 'secular, pluralist and atheist views' were as important as a 'religious person's beliefs'.

He later clarified that he meant to write IS instead of caliphate and said he was not anti-Muslim.

Because he tagged his local branch of the RMT union in the post, the tribunal found the remarks could be linked to his job.

Mr Sleath, of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, told the employment tribunal in Birmingham that his 'secular, pluralist and atheist views' were as important as a 'religious person's beliefs'.

The Birmingham tribunal said any compensation  to be determined at a later hearing  should be reduced by 60 per cent to reflect Mr Sleath's 'culpability in his own dismissal'.

Mr Sleath was supported in his appeal by campaign group the Free Speech Union.

General Secretary of the Free Speech Union Toby Young said last night: 'Jeremy should never have been sacked for saying he didn't want to live in an alcohol free caliphate.

'I'm glad the Free Speech Union was able to help him take West Midlands Trains to court.

'Employers have got to learn that a worker expressing a robust but lawful point of view is not a sackable offence, even if some of their colleagues find that opinion disagreeable or even offensive. That goes double if the view is expressed on a personal Facebook account outside office hours.

'What's next? Will people be sacked for having said something inappropriate in the pub 20 years ago? A line has to be drawn and it takes people with courage and determination like Jeremy to draw that line.

'Anyone concerned about finding themselves in the same situation should join the Free Speech Union.'
Seth Rogen was slammed after dismissing car break-ins in LA as part-and-parcel of living in the city - as its revealed his property portfolio includes two very secure properties.

Rogen, 39, who owned a secure $2.5 million home in West Hollywood and currently lives in a $8 million ranch house in Hollywood Hills, told Casey Neistat that crime was just part of 'living in a big city.'

Neistat, 40, who used to be a prominent YouTuber in New York before moving to the West Coast, took to Twitter on Wednesday to tell his followers that 'our cars got robbed,' and blamed the city for being a 'crime riddled 3rd world s**thole of a city.'

This caught the attention of Rogan, whose previous home was outfitted with steel gates and surveillance cameras, to tweet: 'Dude I've lived here for over 20 years. You're nuts haha. It's lovely here. Don't leave anything valuable in it. It's called living in a big city.'

Rogen owned two West Hollywood homes, once of which was sold last year. The other features a tall steel gate and a sign warning locals it has surveillance cameras to deter crime.

Meanwhile, Rogen also owns a huge 10 acre ranch in a gated neighborhood in Nichols Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, where petty theft such as the car break-in he airily dismissed is unlikely to be a problem.

The 10-acre ranch includes a guesthouse, a sporting court, swimming pool and a nature trail with views of two streams and a waterfall, the LA Times reported.

Many on Twitter called out Rogen for victim shaming Neistat and called the actor 'out of touch' as crime rates soared in LA and California through an ongoing series of brazen daylight robberies.

Actor Seth Rogen, 39, caught slack on Twitter after dismissing YouTuber Casey Neistat, who got his car robbed

Rogan was lived for more than 20 years in Los Angeles. His most recent West Hollywood home is worth about $2.5 million when he sold it in 2020

The home featured large steel gates, with a sign also warning locals they're being watched by a surveillance camera

The $2.5 million house features three full baths. Rogen originally purchased the home in 2016

The actor bought the home for $1 million less than its current value. It has four large bedrooms

The expensive home also had a large background grotto, complete with a firepit

Neistat later reported that his seven-year-old daughter's birthday party decorations were stolen from his car and that the looter left 'bloody hand prints' on his vehicle. It is unclear what caused the looter to bleed.

The YouTuber - who estimated to be worth $16million, according to Wealthy Gorilla - jokingly asked the Neighbors actor if he 'can still be mad tho' before saying he felt 'so violated.'

Rogen replied: 'You can be mad but I guess I don't personally view my car as an extension of myself and I've never really felt violated any of the 15 or so times my car was broken in to. Once a guy accidentally left a cool knife in my car so if it keeps happening you might get a little treat.'

The funny guy - who is worth an estimated $80million caught slack, not only from the influencer himself, but also from fans alike for his 'privileged' comment.

Neistat called out the actor, saying he 'didn't get any treats.'

Rogen (pictured at the Vulture Festival earlier this month) also admitted he had his car broken into at least 15 times since living in the city and told Neistat to not 'leave anything valuable in it'

The pair had a lengthy exchange on Twitter

Twitter user Cathy Young called wrote: 'You know, people talk about how this or that statement embodies 'privilege,' and 95% of the time it's total bulls***, but this... yeah.'

Another Twitter user wrote: 'HAHAHAHA I wish I could live such a carefree existence,' in response to Rogen not viewing his car as an 'extension of myself.'

Other's encouraged 'cancelling' the actor while other pointed out his immense wealth.

Rogen also said he enjoyed private messages haters

Daily Caller reporter Dylan Housman called out Rogen's wealth: 'Multi-millionaire celebrity explains to you why having your car broken into isn't a big deal and you should just get over it.'

Writer Katherine Brodsky also called out Rogen's insensitive comment, writing: 'It may not be a huge deal to someone with tremendous wealth, but it certainly is for someone who's struggling.'

Others called it a 'bad take' as crime, especially aggravated assault and burglary, are on the rise across major cities.

'Bad take,' one wrote. '"It's called living in a big city" shouldn't be used to dismiss the rise in crime.'

It seems not all those were against Rogen's 'privileged' comment.

User Kristen McPike remarked how she had her car 'stolen in Hollywood' and 'sometimes you just gotta roll with it.'

'Had my car stolen in Hollywood. They found it in Inglewood a couple days later,' she wrote. 'Someone took it for a joy ride to a Rams game. LA is just one big 'ol adventure all of the time. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.'

The star didn't let hatred get to him too much, as he wrote on Wednesday: 'A lot of people come at me and talk s**T on Twitter hoping Ill engage with them publicly and give them attention, but instead I DM them and tell them to go f**k themselves privately. Its a lot more fun.'

However, Neistat didn't let it slide that Rogen revealed he had been burglarized 15 or more times, asking: 'Serious question; how did you get your car broken into 15 times?'

Rogen replied: 'I lived in West Hollywood for 20 years and parked on the street.'

Rogen received a lot of hate over his 'privileged' comment, with many calling out his immense wealth. The actor is worth an estimated $80million

Earlier this year Rogen admitted it would be 'really hard' for him to live without marijuana after smoking the drug helped his low-level OCD and Tourettes.

Speaking as he graced the cover of British GQ's May Issue, the actor, 38, said that people are 'still weird' about cannabis despite it being legalized for medical use in 35 US states.

Rogen explained that he's smoked marijuana to help his obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourettes.

Asked whether he could live without the drug, he said: 'It would be like saying you can't wear clothes anymore. It would be a real bummer. It would make it really hard for me to do what I need to do in the world.'

Rogen says he could go a day without smoking it but 'it's just not how I would prefer to be feeling.'

'The only stigma with weed is because it affects your brain. And people are just weird about it. They don't like talking about brain health.

Rogen says he could go a day without smoking it but 'it's just not how I would prefer to be feeling.'

Currently marijuana is legal for medical use in 35 states including California, Nevada and Vermont, while 15 have also made the drug legal for recreational use.

Rogen also confessed he between the ages of 13 and 23 he 'drank as often as he could without derailing his life in any meaningful way,' but slowly began to question why he needed to drink so heavily.

He said: 'Like, why am I getting blackout drunk at these things and hating myself the next day? And I think I realized I had been lied to about alcohol and that it held a place in society for the wrong reasons.'

'Once I grew more comfortable with doing other drugs that were more stigmatized and not worrying about damage in terms of anyone's perceptions of me, there was just a point where I realized I just need to be comfortable doing a quarter tab of molly [MDMA] at this party and not drinking and having a much better time.

'Or eating a tiny bit of shrooms at this thing or having a [weed] lollipop. The next day I don't have a hangover. I'm not throwing up. It's just much better for me...Truly, you would be better off doing a hit of acid than drinking.'

Candid: Seth Rogen has admitted it would be 'really hard' for him to live without marijuana after smoking the drug helped his low-level OCD and Tourettes

More than 10,000 burglaries have occurred in Los Angeles since the start of 2021 and motor vehicle theft is up almost 10 per cent. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the increase in robberies is due to the availability of handguns.

'The number of handguns that are in the streets today  you'd have to go back probably at least a decade or more to find this level,' Moore said.

Homicide, rape, and aggravated assault are also up in Los Angeles.

Other cities like New York and Chicago are also experiencing rises in violent crimes.

On Wednesday, a looting gang targeted an LA Nordstrom ahead of Thanksgiving, making off with eight luxury handbags and assaulting a cop - the latest in a string of smash-and-grab raids to plague California.

Five people, one wearing an orange wig, entered the open store in Canoga Park shortly before 7pm on Wednesday and sprayed a security guard with 'some kind of chemical' in front of terrified shoppers, police said.

The thieves sped off and managed to escape with thousands of dollars worth of handbags despite multiple police cruisers, as well as fire trucks and ambulances, responding to the raid.

It is the eighth smash-and-grab robbery in California in the last week where thieves have made off with tens of thousands of dollars in luxury goods, amid soft misdemeanor theft laws in the Democrat-run state.

In July, LA cut $150million from the LAPD's budget following the death of George Floyd. The city funneled the money into social services, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In August, the LAPD reported it had 300 positions open and had around 500 fewer officers are duty than the year prior, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The police department is still looking to fill 94 positions, Moore said.

However, as of Wednesday, the LAPD will receive a $213million increase to their budget next year, which would likely raise staffing levels, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Birdwatchers have been left 'shaking with excitement' after seeing a rare bird that has been spotted for only the fourth time in the UK in more than a century.

Twitchers have been wading into the River Ribble to try to catch a glimpse of the belted kingfisher.

The bird is normally a native of Florida, but was seen on the banks of the river at Brockholes nature reserve near Preston, Lancashire, on Thursday.

It has been spotted only three times in the UK since 1908, with previous sightings in Cornwall in 1979-1980, and Staffordshire and Aberdeenshire in 2005.

Unlike the UK's common kingfisher, the belted variety has a distinctive white band around its neck.

Morgan Caygill, a birder based in Otley, West Yorkshire, tweeted yesterday: 'Belted kingfisher still on the Ribble this morning, shaking with excitement.'

The belted kingfisher was first seen at the site on November 8 with a common kingfisher, but then disappeared until Thursday.

The belted kingfisher (pictured) has been spotted on the River Ribble near Preston in Lancashire

The belted kingfisher is markedly different from the more colourful common kingfisher (pictured)

The Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Trusts warned bird enthusiasts to exercise extreme caution and said in a statement: 'Although this is very exciting and we understand many of you will want to catch a glimpse of this rare bird, we urge everyone to use caution when trying to access this section of the river and encourage all our visitors to keep to the paths.

'We hope this special bird will stay around Brockholes for the winter and there will be many opportunities for safe sightings.'

George Shannon, of Whittle-le-Woods, was fishing upstream from Brockholes nature reserve near Preston, Lancashire when he saw the incredible sight.

Mr Shannon said: 'I genuinely couldn't believe what I was seeing.

'I just stared at the bird through my binoculars running every possible scenario through my head of if it was an escapee or had I definitely got the ID correct; there really isn't anything else it could be but I knew how rare it was.

'I started uncontrollably shaking and fumbling to get my phone from my pocket to get some pics and that's what caused the bird to fly some 50 metres further upstream,' he told Blog Preston.

The belted kingfisher (pictured top) was first seen at the site on November 8 with a common kingfisher (pictured bottom), but then disappeared until Thursday

Birdwatcher Colin Davies, of York, said that the first sighting earlier in the month had led to scepticism in the birding community with some suggesting the rare bird was in fact just a great tit.

Mr Davies said: 'Before today the only photo that I had seen was by the original finder and was so poor as to be considered a great tit by some commentators.

'At times this bird seemed nearly as dodgy and elusive as Father Christmas, so when it was reported again today, the first sighting in 11 days, I almost didn't bother going such was my scepticism.

'However thank goodness I did go, because this was certainly no great tit!'

Males of the species have one blue band across the white breast, while females have a blue and a chestnut band.

The Belted Kingfisher is one of the few bird species in which the female is more brightly coloured than the male.

They weigh between 140-170 grams, are slate blue, and eat fish, shrimp, tadpoles and insects. Their tails are stubby and their legs are very short.

A fossil of a belted kingfisher has been found dating back two million years in Florida.
Thanksgiving, on the fourth Thursday in November, marks the start of America's holiday season: a time to celebrate the harvest and show gratitude for the good things in life.

On a sunny day in Manhattan this week, the streets were buzzing, the shops festooned with Christmas decorations, and restaurants and bars were doing a brisk trade as New York rebounded from lockdown restrictions.

But a few miles away at Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Centre, there were no lavish turkey dinners  and little to feel grateful about  for the fallen British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, as she waited for her 'Trial of the Decade' to start on Monday.

She has spent the past 17 months in custody there in conditions described by her own brother as 'degrading' and 'amounting to torture', following her arrest in July 2020 over sex-trafficking allegations.

Soon she could be spending the rest of her life behind bars  unless she convinces a jury of her proclaimed innocence.

At Brooklyn's grim Metropolitan Detention Centre, the fallen British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell (pictured), 59, waits for her 'Trial of the Decade' to start on Monday

For her, the next six weeks, in a trial that will span her 60th birthday on Christmas Day, represents only terrifying uncertainty. It is the fight of her life.

As Maxwell contemplates her fate in the 6 ft x 9 ft cell that has been her home for more than 500 days, media organisations have been rolling out special reports to coincide with the start of the trial.

The New York Times has run a major investigation into the final days of Maxwell's paedophile ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire who apparently killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting prosecution.

Up to 80 journalists are expected to arrive for the start of Maxwell's trial in courtroom 318 of the classically inspired Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

With only a handful of press seats available in the court itself, reporters, authors and documentary and film makers have been advised to queue well before 6am to ensure they get into the 'overflow' courts carrying a live feed of proceedings.

Maxwell faces six counts in this trial, including enticement of minors and sex trafficking of children. She denies all of the charges, which cover a period between 1994 and 2004 and carry jail sentences of up to 80 years.

In court papers, she revealed she has set aside an astonishing 5.2 million to pay her legal bills.

Her star-studded defence team includes a former federal prosecutor who helped bring down Sinaloa Cartel drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, a feat for which he was given a True American Hero Award, and another ex-federal prosecutor whose scalps include mob killer Thomas 'Tommy Karate' Pitera.

In the trial, prosecutors will focus on four women who say they were recruited by Maxwell as teenagers to be abused by Jeffrey Epstein (pictured in 2004)

They will be up against the formidable U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, with a team of prosecutors who have an impressive track record themselves for pulling off high-profile cases.

It promises to be a bitterly fought trial.

Prosecutors will focus on four women who say they were recruited by Maxwell as teenagers to be abused by Epstein, and who will come face to face with Maxwell in court.

According to a newly released court document, one of her accusers will detail a 'repugnant' sexual act that Epstein did to her.

The British woman, identified as Minor Victim 3, describes the moment as 'morally reprehensible'. Maxwell's lawyers claim there is a danger the jury may convict their client based on a 'moral judgment of sexual activity which was entirely legal'.

Minor Victim 3 met Epstein and Maxwell in 1994 when she was about 17 years old. According to the indictment, Maxwell 'groomed and befriended' the girl in London and arranged for 'multiple' sexualised massages with Epstein.

Maxwell's lawyers, in their filing, argue that the woman's evidence should be excluded because it could unfairly sway the jury, given she was over 16  the age of consent in the UK, where the act is said to have taken place.

According to another recently released court document, Maxwell's legal team have objected to a sex toy called the 'Twin Torpedo' being used in evidence against her. It was seized during a 2005 raid on Epstein's house.

Prosecutors also plan to produce emails allegedly sent by Maxwell to at least two 'influential men', setting them up on dates with women.

Court filings claim the messages show Maxwell was 'using her ability to provide access to women as a form of social currency'. They allege she was 'eager to please' the men and wanted to 'ingratiate' herself with them by making connections with women.

In their response, Maxwell's lawyers said that if she was trying to 'ingratiate herself with a friend, so what?' The filing added that prosecutors have 'no evidence that she was not already well-established friends of many years with both of the men'.

Prosecutors have also said they intend to introduce up to six pages of Epstein's infamous 'Black Book' of contacts as 'compelling' evidence of Maxwell's guilt. They will claim the book was actually Maxwell's and will produce a witness who will testify to that effect.

The key part of the book will be a section called 'massage', as it features the names of the parents of some girls, prosecutors have said, and this indicates how young they were.

Prosecutors said they intend to introduce up to six pages of Epstein's 'Black Book' of contacts as 'compelling' evidence of Maxwell's guilt. They will claim the book was actually Maxwell's

So far, only one alleged victim in the prosecution case has given up her right to anonymity. She is American psychologist Annie Farmer who has already alleged Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused her when she was 16 while she was at his New Mexico mansion in 1996.

Ms Farmer, who has described Maxwell as a 'sexual predator' who has 'never shown any remorse for her heinous crimes', has made clear she would never have been abused if Maxwell hadn't gained her trust.

In Maxwell's defence, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus will testify about 'false memories' of sexual abuse that people can describe with 'confidence, detail and emotion'  without deliberately lying.

It may not fill Maxwell with complete confidence that last year Loftus gave evidence in defence of the disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein during his rape trial. He was convicted and jailed for 23 years.

Judge Alison Nathan, who previously served as a special assistant to President Obama and associate White House counsel, will have the final say on which pieces of contentious evidence will be heard by the jury.

What she considers admissible could have a significant bearing on the outcome of the trial.

This is the fourth time I have travelled to America to work on the Epstein story.

The first time, in 2011, I secured an exclusive first interview with Epstein's former long-serving butler and handyman, Juan Alessi, who told me about the sordid goings on at the disgraced tycoon's Palm Beach mansion in Florida  and of the paedophile's friendship with Prince Andrew and the then relatively unknown Ghislaine Maxwell.

Alessi told me how the Duke of York had attended pool parties where women frolicked nude (the royal kept his trunks on, the ex-butler clarified), received daily massages by young but not underage females, and pictures of nude girls (again, not juveniles) adorned the walls. This was not, I remember thinking, a suitable place to visit for the Queen's second son.

Alessi also revealed Maxwell kept a stash of sex toys at the property which he cleaned for her, and that he had quit his job as butler after an unexplained 'conflict' with her.

But due to a legally binding confidentiality agreement with Epstein, a clearly frightened Alessi said he could talk only in 'general terms' in response to some of my questions.

These included issues concerning Maxwell, whom Alessi claims recruited young 'massage therapists' to serve Epstein.

'She was looking for the best kind,' he said at one deposition hearing. 'I went one time with her, or twice maybe, to different spas and different clubs... She was looking for the best massage therapists available.'

One young woman whom Maxwell did 'find' as a massage therapist for Epstein was Virginia Roberts. In 2011, Roberts (now married and living in Australia as Virginia Giuffre) sensationally alleged in the Mail On Sunday that she had met Andrew on three occasions in a matter of weeks in 2001, in London and New York, when she was 17.

A now-notorious photograph, taken in Maxwell's former London mews house, shows Ghislaine looking on as a beaming Andrew grips the 17-year-old by her bare waist. The picture is believed to have been taken by Epstein.

One alleged victim in the prosecution case has given up her right to anonymity. She is Annie Farmer, who alleged Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused her when she was 16 in 1996

Andrew will no doubt be an anxious spectator to Maxwell's trial. And he is far from the only VIP who once enjoyed Epstein's largesse  the Duke stayed at the paedophile's home on a number of occasions.

Earlier this week there was a rare day of good news for Andrew, when it was confirmed that, contrary to earlier claims, Ms Giuffre, 38, will not take the witness stand during the Maxwell trial. No official reason was given.

'Team Andrew' welcomed the news, with a source close to the Duke's legal team telling the Mail: 'As the most high-profile and vocal accuser... one might have expected Ms Giuffre to be the star witness.

'However, the fact she is not to be called can only lead one to conclude that her increasingly inconsistent accounts make her a less than credible witness.'

The big question is whether Maxwell herself will testify. In a BBC Radio interview earlier this week, her brother Ian said he was not yet sure.

Raising concerns about her chance of receiving a fair trial, her brother cited 'the enormous amount of negative media coverage of Ghislaine for at least the last 18 months'.

His comments appear at odds with what happened during the first day of jury selection last Tuesday, when hardly any of the potential jurors had even heard of Epstein or Maxwell.

Those who were aware of Epstein had mostly heard that he had committed suicide, not that he was involved in a sex-trafficking operation.

While Ian Maxwell and his siblings have been publicly supportive of Ghislaine  her U.S.-based sister Isabel has regularly attended pre-trial court hearings  Maxwell's husband of five years, millionaire technology entrepreneur Scott Borgerson, has been keeping a very low profile.

Earlier this week he surfaced hundreds of miles away from New York in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, but declined to comment.

It's still not clear whether Borgerson will attend his wife's trial, and questions remain over the true state of their relationship.

Maxwell insists she's being treated as a scapegoat by prosecutors after Epstein's prison suicide.

Her family are entirely right when they say she deserves the presumption of innocence. She is not being tried for having had a questionable moral compass, but for allegedly committing very serious criminal offences.

But as she prepares to enter court on Monday, there is a strong sense that the U.S. justice system is going on trial, too.
A man has been arrested at gunpoint by police after allegedly hiring a hitman to shoot his ex-girlfriend's mother at her home in front of her eight-week old grandchild.

Stuart Daniel Campbell, 29, was arrested while driving his mobile home at Honeysuckle in Newcastle, NSW, on Friday.

Detectives allege he hired a hitman to gun down Stacey Klimovitch, 61, after the pair's relationship deteriorated.

Mrs Klimovitch was allegedly shot through the screen door of her flat on Queen Street at 8pm on June 9.

Detectives allege Stuart Daniel Campbell hired a hitman to gun down Stacey Klimovitch, 61, (pictured) after the pair's relationship deteriorated

Mrs Klimovitch was allegedly shot through the screen door of her flat on Queen Street at 8pm on June 9

The retired swimming teacher's 31-year-old daughter and her eight-week-old granddaughter were also at the home at the time.

Detectives swooped in on the alleged hitman, 45, and took him into custody in Canberra just hours after arresting Campbell.

He is currently being held on an arrest warrant for murder and will be extradited to Newcastle.

Campbell was charged with murder and he will appear at Newcastle Local Court on Saturday.

Devastated friends and neighbours said they had spoken to Ms Klimovitch just moments before she was allegedly gunned down.

'I've never heard a gunshot but there was no mistake what it was', a friend told 9 News.

'That's when I heard the noise and the screaming. I tried to call her and couldn't get her on the phone.

'She was a brand new grandmother, and so happy to be a brand new grandmother.'

'I'm going to miss her. Things like this shouldn't be allowed to happen.'

Devastated friends and neighbours said they had spoken to Ms Klimovitch just moments before she was allegedly gunned down

The 61-year-old is survived by three daughters and an autistic son, who requires full-time care.

Other local residents said more than a dozen police officers attended the scene with sniffer dogs, while a helicopter flew overhead.

Detective Superintendent Wayne Humphrey described the attack as 'horrendous'.

'An innocent person has answered the front door of a home and she's been shot in the chest and killed in the presence of a relative and a child', he said.

'It doesn't get any worse.'
Minnesota Rep Ilhan Omar responded to Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's apology on Friday to the Muslim community for a crude joke she told about Omar.

Boebert added that she has reached out to Omar's office but Omar - one of the first Muslim women in Congress - said it is past time for GOP leadership to punish her.

'Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter,' Omar tweeted Friday. '[GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy] and [Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi] need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress.'

The Congressional Black Caucus also issued a condemnation of Boebert Friday, saying her conduct was 'morally reprehensible and dangerous' and would lead to further death threats on Omar's family.

Boebert offered an apology on Twitter Friday to the Muslim community, but said that she would speak with Rep Omar directly

Lauren Boebert, the Colorado congresswoman, was at an event where she told a story about Ilhan Omar, representative for Minnesota

Ilhan Omar, pictured on September 21, is - along with Rashida Tlaib - one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress

Omar asked Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to punish Boebert

The Congressional Black Caucus offered their own condemnation of Boebert's words

Boebert tweeted Thursday: 'I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly.

'There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without unnecessary distraction.'

Boebert sparked fury earlier Thursday when video emerged of her telling a 'backpack' joke to a crowd of supporters - recounting a supposed encounter that Omar quickly confirmed as a lie.

Boebert, a 34-year-old gun rights activist and fervent Trump supporter, was speaking during what the website Patriot Takes said was a Thanksgiving gathering.

Commanding the stage like a stand-up comedienne, she told the crowd: 'Actually I have an Ilhan story for you.'

With the Stars and Stripes hanging behind her, Boebert tells her 'joke'

Over the Thanksgiving break, Lauren Boebert said she was recently in a Capitol elevator with Ilhan Omar when a fretful Capitol police officer ran up.



Lauren Boebert said: Well, she doesnt have a backpack. We should be fine.



Boebert then called Ilhan Omar, jihad squad. pic.twitter.com/Y7f0nFbnud  PatriotTakes  (@patriottakes) November 25, 2021

She began to describe an encounter with Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman who - along with Rashida Tlaib - were the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

'So the other night was not my first 'jihad squad' moment,' said Boebert.

'I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I were leaving the Capitol, we're going back to my office, we get in the elevator, and I see a Capitol Police officer running, hurriedly, to the elevator.

'I see threat all over his face, and he's reaching. The door's shutting, and I can't open it.

'I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar.

'And I say well, she doesn't have a backpack, we should be fine.'

The crowd reacted with a mixture of shocked gasps and muffled laughter.

Boebert added: 'The jihad squad decided to show up for work today.'

Ilhan Omar is pictured with Pramila Jayapal, another member of 'The Squad'

The clip rapidly went viral, and was seen 2.2 million times on Twitter, with many calling for Boebert to be reprimanded by her party and stripped of her committee assignments.

But Omar, 39, swiftly said that the incident Boebert described never happened.

'Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up,' said Omar.

'Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout. Anti-Muslim bigotry isn't funny & shouldn't be normalized.

'Congress can't be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.'

Boebert (left) is seen on October 21 sitting next to fellow members of Congress Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene

On social media, many were disgusted with Boebert's remarks, pointing out that you would be fired from many jobs for making similar comments.

'Censure Boebert and remove her from all committees  then we vote her out!' said one woman.

'The Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States  REALLY!?!'

Another said: 'What the Hell. Strip her of committees, too. In for a penny in for a pound.

'This cannot be acceptable behavior. In any other employee situation, the person would be fired immediately for violation of personnel policies.'

Another added: 'Doesn't Congress have an HR department? I mean if you said that to a coworker at McDs you'd get fired. WTF?'

'If I literally did the EXACT thing in a Colorado public school I would be suspended and then fired,' said another.

'Why does Congress not have ANY repercussions for this sort of behavior?'

One woman said that her remarks were indicative of how low standards in public life had sunk.

'This is such a grossly unpatriotic, dangerous comment coming from a member of Congress,' she said.

'It's beyond deplorable, beyond censure. Watching LB say these things with an unenthusiastic smattering of applause really hits just how low standards in the US gov't have become since '16.'
Ministers are poised to add more countries to the travel 'red list' as the threat to foreign winter holidays from the new 'Botswana' Covid variant grows.

Officials were considering whether to add Malawi and Mozambique to the 'no-go' list as soon as this weekend  amid criticism from blacklisted countries, the UN and travel bosses that Britain has overreacted.

South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) and Lesotho were added on Thursday night over growing fears about the variant.

It came as the first European case of the ultra-infectious and potentially vaccine-busting new strain was confirmed in Belgium, leading to concerns of travel restrictions to countries outside Africa.

The Government's move on Thursday night triggered a scramble among the up to 20,000 or so Britons who are in South Africa for leisure travel to return before 4am tomorrow.

Anyone arriving back after this will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 11 nights at a cost of 2,285 per adult.

Ministers defended the move yesterday, saying it was a necessary 'safety-first approach' which would 'buy time' by stemming the import and spread of the variant.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will be suspended from midday Friday and all six countries will be added to the red list

Stephanie Cramer, 55, (pictured) is stranded in Cape Town after flying from London to visit her sick father and celebrate her parents Wedding Anniversary

Gill Dixon, 52, (pictured), who flew to South Africa to attend her nephew's funeral, has criticised the government for not giving British nationals any notice over the travel ban

But South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor hit out at the move, saying it 'seems to have been rushed'.

She added: 'Our immediate concern is the damage this decision will cause to both the tourism industries and businesses of both countries.'

Officials at the World Health Organisation studying the new strain, officially named yesterday as the Omicron variant, suggested the border curbs were an overreaction.

'At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against,' spokesman Christian Lindmeier said during a briefing at the UN agency's headquarters in Geneva.

He said it would be several weeks before scientists knew how much less effective vaccines are against the variant.

Q&A on everything you need to know about the new 'Omicron' variant What is the new variant of concern? B.1.1.529 was identified on Tuesday by South African scientists. They raised the alarm after routine analysis of Covid samples taken from patients in mid-November uncovered the most heavily mutated version of Covid-19 to date. Last night the World Health Organistion formally named it Omicron. It was initially referred to as both the Nu and Botswana variant. How widespread is the variant? About 100 cases have been confirmed across the world, the vast majority in South Africa. Four other countries have confirmed cases: Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium. Why are scientists now worried? Omicron contains 50 mutations  32 of which are on the spike protein, used by the virus to bind to human cells and attack the body. The spike protein is the target of vaccines and antibodies  therefore the number of mutations means it may no longer be recognised by our immune system. UK health officials say the variant is the most worrying seen because the mutations are linked to increased transmission and evasion of immunity. Will vaccines still work? The new variant is likely to evade existing immune responses to some extent both from prior infection and vaccination. But vaccines are still likely to offer some protection. Both AstraZeneca and Pfizer are confident they can tweak existing vaccines to target concerning variants. Is it more deadly and do existing treatments still work? There is no evidence the variant is causing more severe disease or deaths. But it is likely to make antibody treatments which target the viruss spike protein less effective. Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs the variant may impact the effectiveness of one of our major treatments, Ronapreve. But other key treatments including antivirals will be unaffected. Do we need to panic? No. As chief medial officer Chris Whitty put it yesterday: To be honest I just think there is speculation about the [new variant] at the moment  the sensible thing at this stage is to be precautionary. There have been previous scares about new variants  such as Beta/South African and Brazilian  that turned out not to trouble the UK. There is also nothing yet to suggest another UK lockdown is on the cards. Advertisement

Travel bosses also reacted with anger. Paul Charles, chief of the PC Agency luxury travel consultancy, said: 'It's a complete overreaction.

There's no evidence at the moment that this variant has any impact on the vaccines.

'It will now hit confidence and lead to lots of people being worried about Christmas holidays in South Africa and possibly elsewhere.'

Figures compiled for the Daily Mail by flight data analysts Cirium show 289 flights with 79,299 seats were scheduled to fly between the UK and South Africa next month.

Direct flights into the UK from the six African countries were banned from midday yesterday.

The red list will be reviewed again in two weeks, but Health Secretary Sajid Javid warned it is likely to be expanded in the coming days to include more countries with travel links to South Africa.

He told MPs the new variant potentially poses a 'substantial risk to public health'. He said it is 'highly likely' the variant 'has now spread to other countries'.

No cases have yet been detected in the UK.

Three confirmed cases in Israel were in people who had travelled from Malawi. It has also been detected in Hong Kong.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: 'It is important to act immediately. That gives us a bit of time for the scientists to work on sequencing the genome... so we can find out how significant a concern this particular variant is.

'It is a safety-first approach... it's about buying time.'

Boris Johnson spoke yesterday with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.

A No 10 spokesman said: 'They discussed the challenges posed globally by the new Covid-19 variant, and ways to work together to deal with it and reopen international travel.'

The two leaders also 'agreed to stay in close contact as we deal with the ongoing threat'.

Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands followed the UK's lead yesterday by restricting travel from South Africa and its neighbouring countries.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union's top eurocrat, urged all the bloc's leaders to do so.

The US has also restricted flights from eight African countries.

A woman who flew to South Africa to attend her nephew's funeral has criticised the Government for not giving British nationals any notice over the travel ban.

Gill Dixon, 52, suffered the bereavement a fortnight ago after visiting her relative in the ICU in the coastal city of George.

But her plans to fly back on Monday evening to return to work have been thrown into turmoil following yesterday's announcement.

Mrs Dixon, pictured right, said: 'I cannot believe the UK Government has pulled something like this on Britons in South Africa.

'I woke up this morning to find out about the news, that they've cancelled all the flights back home.' Mrs Dixon said the treatment of British nationals is nothing short of a disgrace.

'There was no warning from the Government,' she added. 'They should help repatriate British nationals. I'm absolutely furious.'

Even if she can return to her native Kent, the extortionate cost of a quarantine hotel only adds to her anguish. She said: 'There is no reason why I even have to be in quarantine when I come back. I'll have tested negative, and I live on my own. To add to this, they have pushed up the price of quarantine.'

Mrs Dixon added: 'It's time to consider flying to the US or Europe and staying there for ten days before returning to the UK.'

Stephanie Cramer is stranded in Cape Town by the new variant after flying over to visit her sick father.

She received a text from Virgin late on Thursday telling her that her flight back home to London had been cancelled.

Miss Cramer, 55, pictured, said she was incredibly stressed by the situation as she is starting a new job on Monday.

'There are no flight options,' she said. 'I'm desperate and I've run out of ideas.

'This is beyond a nightmare. I came to see my dad who is ill in hospital and was here for just seven days.

'Now I have no idea when I will get home.'

Miss Cramer, a former enrolment officer for a training company in London, also made the trip to South Africa to celebrate her parents' wedding anniversary.

One of South Africa's biggest airline ticketing agencies, Flight Centre, said no flights would be leaving for the UK or Europe until 4am on Sunday at the very earliest.

Arrivals from this time will have to isolate in expensive quarantine hotels in the UK for two weeks. But Miss Cramer said she cannot afford the cost of the hotel. 'Everywhere I turn it is costing us more money and it is more complicated,' she added.
Britain yesterday warned Vladimir Putin that he will pay a heavy price if he invades Ukraine  as Kiev claimed that it had uncovered a coup backed by the Kremlin.

UK diplomats issued a direct plea to the Russian president to hold back 90,000 troops stationed on Ukraine's border, sources revealed.

It is understood Mr Putin is considering either a temporary incursion into eastern Ukraine or a wider invasion of the country.

Yesterday, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky revealed details of a secret plot to remove him from office next week.

UK diplomats issued a direct plea to Russian president Vladimir Putin (pictured) to hold back 90,000 troops stationed on Ukraine's border, sources revealed

He said wealthy Russians had been tape-recorded discussing the possible coup.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement. But it is believed such a bid to destabilise Ukraine  ahead of possible military action  is 'straight out of Russia's hybrid playbook'.

According to Mr Zelensky, the plot was to be bankrolled by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, said to be worth over 5billion.

But the oligarch said this was 'an absolute lie'. Meanwhile, Nato told Mr Putin that use of force against his neighbour would 'come at a cost'.

However, it would not respond militarily as Ukraine is not a Nato member. Instead, the UK and its allies would impose harsh economic sanctions on Russia.

At a wide-ranging press conference in Kiev, Mr Zelensky said: 'I have received information that a coup d'etat will take place in our country on December 1st to 2nd.

Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) revealed details of a secret plot to remove him from office. He said wealthy Russians were tape-recorded discussing the possible coup

'He [Rinat Akhmetov] is being drawn into this war. I believe he has begun it and that is a big mistake.'

He added: 'We believe that very dangerous rhetoric is coming out of Russia. It is a signal that there could be escalation.'

However, he said Ukraine's 'powerful' army was ready to take on Russia if it invades.

Ukraine has been strengthening its relationships with western countries. Kiev recently agreed a deal to buy UK-made warships and missiles.

Enhanced military cooperation between Ukraine and Nato is said to have angered Mr Putin and triggered the latest invasion preparations.

Mr Putin recently proclaimed that Russia and Ukraine are 'one country'  even though its neighbour has been independent since 1991.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula in 2014 and more than 14,000 people have so far been killed in the ensuing conflict.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss spoke to Ukraine's foreign minister yesterday reiterating Britain's support.
A High Court judge has ordered the police to arrest a campaigning Left-wing lawyer after she failed to appear in court to face dishonesty claims.

In an unprecedented case, Mr Justice Fancourt issued a warrant for the arrest of prominent civil liberties solicitor Soophia Khan after finding her in contempt of court for failing to show up for her own case.

The ruling on Wednesday, thought to be the first of its kind against a solicitor, means Miss Khan is effectively on the run.

It comes after the 41-year-old human rights lawyer was sacked from a leading role at the Law Society in 2019 after being found to have discriminated against an official by calling her a 'white woman'.

In an unprecedented case, Mr Justice Fancourt issued a warrant for the arrest of prominent civil liberties solicitor Soophia Khan (above) after finding her in contempt of court for failing to show up for her own case

Miss Khan, the former chairman of the society's civil litigation committee, then had her Leicester practice shut down in August by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which said there was reason to suspect 'dishonesty'.

It was also alleged that she and the firm had not complied with the profession's principles, code of conduct and accounts rules.

She was automatically suspended from the practice and officials went to the High Court after Miss Khan allegedly failed to pass all her client files to the watchdog.

But she apparently continued offering legal services under a new business. She has built a reputation campaigning against the police over stop and search powers and other policies.

On Wednesday, regulators applied to the High Court again for an order that would force her to hand over her files and for an injunction preventing her from continuing to provide legal advice.

The ruling on Wednesday, thought to be the first of its kind against a solicitor, means Miss Khan is effectively on the run. (File photo of the High Court, London)

But Miss Khan did not attend the hearing so the court ruled that she was in contempt and issued a 'bench warrant' for her arrest  meaning police can take her into custody at any time.

The SRA, which oversees 155,000 practising solicitors in England and Wales, said it was unaware of a bench warrant ever having been issued for the arrest of a lawyer before.

Miss Khan had applied to have the hearing adjourned, claiming she needed 'emergency elective surgery', reported The Law Society Gazette.

But Mr Justice Fancourt rejected her request saying he believes Miss Khan 'will not voluntarily attend the court' and the 'only sensible option was to have her arrested and brought to court'.
The Jetstar pilot charged with murdering two elderly campers has appeared in court charged with their murder more than 20 months after they vanished.

Gregory Lynn, 55, appeared before the Sale Magistrates' Court on Friday from the local police station in Victoria's east charged with the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.

The court heard it was the father of three's first time in custody.

Lynn was seated behind glass from the watch house of the Sale police station for his brief court hearing on Friday

Russell Hill (pictured, right) and Carol Clay (left) are alleged by police to have been murdered during a camping trip in March 2020

Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) was charged with the murder of secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, as police begin the exhaustive search for their bodies

Police have been unable to account for the trailer (pictured) being towed in the CCTV footage the night the couple vanished near a remote camping spot

His wife Melanie Lynn, a flight attendant with Jetstar, tuned into the videolink.

A masked Lynn, who appeared from behind bulletproof glass in a cell, only showed his face to take a sip of water from a cup of water and did not speak.

At times he dipped his head and looked at the white table before him as his immediate fate was discussed.

Few details were provided during the short filing hearing, which is the first step in what will likely be a long and arduous legal process that could take years to finalise.

Lynn's lawyer Chris McLennan did not make any application for bail on behalf of the alleged killer, who was remanded in custody by Magistrate Greg McNamara until his next court appearance on May 31.

The court heard Lynn had no 'issues' that might make his time behind bars more difficult.

A brief of evidence against Lynn will not be ready until at least April 19.

Lynn faces life in prison should he be convicted of the double murder.

Lynn will now likely be transported back to a Melbourne jail where he will be placed into a protected unit while awaiting his next court date.

Meanwhile police are preparing for the dangerous task of entering the rugged Victorian wilderness yet again in the hope of finally locating the missing bodies of Mr Hill and Mrs Clay.

Victorian Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill said police had been provided 'specific' information as to where to find the burial site within the Great Alpine region.

But even with detailed information on a burial site, police have said it will take days to prepare for the dig in what is some of the most rugged terrain on the planet.

Last night, Assistant Commissioner Hill stole the spotlight from Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper, who has tirelessly led the investigation for near on two years.

'This morning detectives identified a crime scene within the Great Alpine area and forensic specialists will commence searching at that location over the coming days,' Assistant Commissioner Hill told reporters.

'We have located a specific area and we will establish a search parameter.

'Police are hopeful we will be able to locate the deceased in order to find closure for the families.'

While the search is taking place in remote bushland, forensic specialists will also be scouring Lynn's two-storey home in Melbourne's west.

Ground-penetrating radar which can uncover anomalies deep within the earth or even concrete structures will be brought to assist the evidence gathering operation.

Keen camper and dad Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) has been in custody since Monday and faced court on Friday morning

An Australian flag sits proudly in the top window of the Lynn's property in Caroline Springs (pictured)

For 20 months police have been investigating what happened to the two missing campers

Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper has worked tirelessly to bring justice to the families of the deceased campers

Lynn had been arrested on Monday night at a remote campsite in Arbuckle Junction, 1.5 hours south of Wonnangatta in the states east.

Police, desperate for knowledge on where the bodies of the campers might have been disposed, grilled Lynn for a whopping four days before finally charging him with their murders.

It is understood detectives only received the information on the likely location on Thursday morning, with police making a preliminary scout of the rugged terrain.

Lynn's court appearance comes just three weeks after detectives laid a cunning trap for him with a detailed expose of their investigation progress on Channel 9's 60 Minutes.

There, Inspector Stamper revealed police had been on the hunt for the driver of a blue late 90s Nissan Patrol, which had been captured on CCTV at the top of Mount Hotham when the campers vanished on March 20 last year.

Police seized a Nissan Patrol belonging to Lynn on Monday when Special Operations Group officers dramatically arrested the Caroline Springs man after tracking his movements and flying into remote bushland by helicopter.

A trailer being towed by an off-road vehicle - also captured on CCTV the night the secret lovers vanished, remains missing- and is believed to have been sold on Gumtree.

Mr Hill's white Toyota Landcruiser (pictured) was found with minor fire damage at their burnt campsite near Dry River Creek Track in the valley on March 21

Police put out a public appeal for this 4WD (pictured in a police sketch) with roof racks, side steps, off-road tyres and a bulbar. The box trailer is 'fairly standard' but has been fitted with 'off-road wheels', detectives say

The beige off-roader belonging to Lynn was taken by police at a remote campsite in East Gippsland where heavily armed officers swooped on the suspect, north of Sale

A subsequent search of his property did not uncover the trailer, which police believe could be the final piece of the puzzle.

In the hunt for human remains, specialist teams will also deploy ground-penetrating radar at Lynn's two storey home in Melbourne's West - the same technology being used in the search for missing NSW child William Tyrrell.

Assistant Commissioner Hill said investigators are keen to speak to anyone who may have purchased a rusty silver or blue 7x5 ft trailer with off-road wheels between March 20 to July 2020.

'We believe the trailer was sold on Gumtree,' he said.

Just this week it was revealed Lynn had resprayed his 4WD at least twice over the past seven years.

Google images show Lynn's then white Nissan Patrol parked outside his Caroline Springs home in 2016.

By 2019 - the next available image - it can be seen parked in the driveway, but this time it's blue.

Fast forward to June this year and the vehicle is again pictured in the driveway in the same beige colour it was upon Lynn's arrest.

Assistant Commissioner Hill said he was 'proud' of police efforts during the 20-month long police probe, but added the 'long haul' investigation is 'far from over' as the focus now turns to uncovering the couple's remains.

'My heartfelt thoughts are with the Hill and Clay families. The past 20 months has been a difficult time for them and I know their grief remains as raw as ever,' Assistant Commissioner Hill said.

Greg Lynn is seen with his wife Melanie - who is a flight attendant with Jetstar - with the pair meeting through work

Greg Lynn's Nissan Patrol went from white, to blue to beige over the past seven years

The pair went missing in the Wonnangatta Valley, more than 200km north east of Melbourne
The Jetstar pilot charged with murdering two elderly campers had not been in the cockpit in the weeks and months leading up to his dramatic arrest.

Airline sources have told Daily Mail Australia Gregory Lynn, 55, had been grounded long before special operations group officers took him into custody on Monday.

Lynn appeared before the Sale Magistrates' Court on Friday from the local police station in Victoria's east charged with the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.

Confirmation Lynn was grounded comes as police release images of the area being searched for the elderly couple's bodies.

Lynn was seated behind glass from the watch house of the Sale police station for his brief court hearing on Friday

The bodies of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay lay somewhere within this thick bushland in Victoria's high country

Russell Hill (pictured, right) and Carol Clay (left) are alleged by police to have been murdered during a camping trip in March 2020

Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) was charged with the murder of secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, as police begin the exhaustive search for their bodies

Police have been unable to account for the trailer (pictured) being towed in the CCTV footage the night the couple vanished near a remote camping spot

The photos show the type of thick terrain police will need to navigate to exhume the bodies of the slain campers, who were allegedly murdered by Lynn on the day they arrived at the Wonnangatta Valley in the Victorian Alps.

Speaking amid community concern a suspected killer could have been within the cockpit of commercial flights, the source told Daily Mail Australia Lynn had been safely on terra firma as police turned-up the heat on him to boiling point.

Instead, the experienced check pilot and accused double killer had been training other Jetstar pilots.

Many Australians had been rightfully worried that Lynn may have still been in the skies on November 5 when police released CCTV footage to the public allegedly of his Nissan Patrol leaving Mount Hotham on the day the campers were killed.

Forums discussing the case had imagined a scenario resembling the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 tragedy, in which an experienced pilot took 227 passengers of course and was never seen again.

On Friday, a calm Lynn sat quietly from an interview room within Sale police station as he was remanded in custody until mid next year.

His wife Melanie Lynn, a flight attendant with Jetstar, also tuned into the videolink.

A masked Lynn, who appeared from behind bulletproof glass in a cell, only showed his face to take a sip of water from a cup of water and did not speak.

At times he dipped his head and looked at the white table before him as his immediate fate was discussed.

Few details were provided during the short filing hearing, which is the first step in what will likely be a long and arduous legal process that could take years to finalise.

Lynn's lawyer Chris McLennan did not make any application for bail on behalf of the alleged killer, who was remanded in custody by Magistrate Greg McNamara until his next court appearance on May 31.

The court heard Lynn had no 'issues' that might make his time behind bars more difficult.

A brief of evidence against Lynn will not be ready until at least April 19.

He faces life in prison should he be convicted of the double murder.

Keen camper and dad Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) has been in custody since Monday and faced court on Friday morning

Police released two images of thick bushland officers will need to navigate to find the bodies of the missing campers

An Australian flag sits proudly in the top window of the Lynn's property in Caroline Springs (pictured)

For 20 months police have been investigating what happened to the two missing campers

The now former pilot had been living the Australian dream when police arrested him in the pristine Victorian wilderness on Monday.

On Wednesday, shocked neighbours described Lynn as a friendly but 'guarded' neighbour, who seemingly had it all.

Nestled on a corner overlooking a green reserve in Caroline Springs, west of Melbourne, Lynn's home is a postcard for the 'Great Australian Dream'.

The sprawling double-storey home includes a backyard perfect for lovers of the outdoors, with colourful rosellas spotted snacking from a bird feeder next to rope fitted to trees that allows the movement of native possums.

An Australia flag sits proudly in a front window of the house facing the sprawling green field.

Behind the fence, the experienced outdoorsman kept bees - his pride and joy.

Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia Lynn had been noticeably present during Victoria's six hard lockdowns.

Before then, the Jetstar pilot was usually only seen when he was heading out the door to go bush again - the couple's great joy.

By all accounts the family had been happy, with not a hint of any issues - at least not that neighbours were aware of.

Mr Hill's white Toyota Landcruiser (pictured) was found with minor fire damage at their burnt campsite near Dry River Creek Track in the valley on March 21

Police put out a public appeal for this 4WD (pictured in a police sketch) with roof racks, side steps, off-road tyres and a bulbar. The box trailer is 'fairly standard' but has been fitted with 'off-road wheels', detectives say

The beige off-roader belonging to Lynn was taken by police at a remote campsite in East Gippsland where heavily armed officers swooped on the suspect, north of Sale

One woman portrayed her neighbours as living an idealistic lifestyle that would make ordinary Australians green with envy.

'They talk in the backyard, they never get into any fights. They are lovely and the couple always talk to each other very nicely. They are very close,' she said.

'He said him and his wife go camping sometimes and they love camping.'

Police seized a Nissan Patrol belonging to Lynn on Monday when Special Operations Group officers dramatically arrested the Caroline Springs man after tracking his movements and flying into remote bushland by helicopter.

A trailer being towed by an off-road vehicle - also captured on CCTV the night the secret lovers vanished, remains missing- and is believed to have been sold on Gumtree.

A subsequent search of his property did not uncover the trailer, which police believe could be the final piece of the puzzle.

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 00

Greg Lynn is seen with his wife Melanie - who is a flight attendant with Jetstar - with the pair meeting through work

The charged remains of Russell Hill's tent
The family of a Jetstar pilot accused of murdering two missing campers have broken their silence to speak of their 'trauma' following his dramatic arrest.

Gregory Lynn, 55, faced court on Friday from a local police station in Victoria's east after being charged with the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73 - who vanished while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley in March last year.

He was taken into custody by special operations group police officers at a remote campsite 100km south of the valley on Monday before being charged on Thursday.

His family on Friday spoke publicly for the first time about his arrest and said they were 'completely traumatised' by the allegations against the 55-year-old.

The 'traumatised' family of Jetstar pilot Gregory Lynn (pictured) accused of murdering two missing campers have broken their silence following his dramatic arrest

Russell Hill (pictured, right) and Carol Clay (left) are alleged by police to have been murdered during a camping trip in March 2020

Lynn's wife Melanie (pictured) was described as 'lovely' by her neighbours as she and her family issue a statement on her husband's arrest

Pictured are Mr Hill's distraught daughters Colleen and Debbie

'It has been distressing for our family and the families of the deceased and we are completely traumatised as well by these tragic events,' they said.

'We need to deal with the legal proceedings as they arise and try to restore some balance in our lives.

'We also acknowledge the suffering of the Clay and Hill families at this difficult time.'

The family said they understood the media was interested in the case but requested privacy.

Airline sources earlier told Daily Mail Australia Lynn had been grounded from flying for Jetstar long before his arrest this week.

Confirmation Lynn was grounded comes as police release images of the bushland area being searched for the elderly couple's bodies.

Lynn was seated behind glass from the watch house of the Sale police station for his brief court hearing on Friday

The bodies of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay lay somewhere within this thick bushland in Victoria's high country

Gregory Lynn, 55, (pictured) was charged with the murder of secret lovers Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, as police begin the exhaustive search for their bodies

Police have been unable to account for the trailer (pictured) being towed in the CCTV footage the night the couple vanished near a remote camping spot

The photos show the type of thick terrain police will need to navigate to exhume the bodies of the slain campers, who were allegedly murdered by Lynn on the day they arrived at the Wonnangatta Valley in the Victorian Alps.

Speaking amid community concern a suspected killer could have been within the cockpit of commercial flights, the source told Daily Mail Australia Lynn had been safely on terra firma as police turned-up the heat on him to boiling point.

Instead, the experienced check pilot and accused double killer had been training other Jetstar pilots.

Lynn has been remanded in custody to appear in court in May next year

Many Australians had been rightfully worried that Lynn may have still been in the skies on November 5 when police released CCTV footage to the public allegedly of his Nissan Patrol leaving Mount Hotham on the day the campers were killed.

Forums discussing the case had imagined a scenario resembling the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 tragedy, in which an experienced pilot took 227 passengers of course and was never seen again.

On Friday, during his appearance at the Sale Magistrates Court, a calm Lynn sat quietly from an interview room within Sale police station as he was remanded in custody until mid next year.

His wife Melanie Lynn, a flight attendant with Jetstar, also tuned into the videolink.

A masked Lynn, who appeared from behind bulletproof glass in a cell, only showed his face to take a sip of water from a cup and did not speak.

At times he dipped his head and looked at the white table before him as his immediate fate was discussed.

Few details were provided during the short filing hearing, which is the first step in what will likely be a long and arduous legal process that could take years to finalise.

Lynn's lawyer Chris McLennan did not make any application for bail on behalf of the alleged killer, who was remanded in custody by Magistrate Greg McNamara until his next court appearance on May 31.

The court heard Lynn had no 'issues' that might make his time behind bars more difficult.

A brief of evidence against Lynn will not be ready until at least April 19.

He faces life in prison should he be convicted of the double murder.

An Australian flag sits proudly in the top window of the Lynn's property in Caroline Springs (pictured)

The now former pilot had been living the Australian dream when police arrested him in the pristine Victorian wilderness on Monday.

On Wednesday, shocked neighbours described Lynn as a friendly but 'guarded' neighbour, who seemingly had it all.

Nestled on a corner overlooking a green reserve in Caroline Springs, west of Melbourne, Lynn's home is a postcard for the 'Great Australian Dream'.

The sprawling double-storey home includes a backyard perfect for lovers of the outdoors, with colourful rosellas spotted snacking from a bird feeder next to rope fitted to trees that allows the movement of native possums.

For 20 months police have been investigating what happened to the two missing campers

An Australia flag sits proudly in a front window of the house facing the sprawling green field.

Behind the fence, the experienced outdoorsman kept bees - his pride and joy.

Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia Lynn had been noticeably present during Victoria's six hard lockdowns.

Before then, the Jetstar pilot was usually only seen when he was heading out the door to go bush again - the couple's great joy.

By all accounts the family had been happy, with not a hint of any issues - at least not that neighbours were aware of.

Mr Hill's white Toyota Landcruiser (pictured) was found with minor fire damage at their burnt campsite near Dry River Creek Track in the valley on March 21

Police put out a public appeal for this 4WD (pictured in a police sketch) with roof racks, side steps, off-road tyres and a bulbar. The box trailer is 'fairly standard' but has been fitted with 'off-road wheels', detectives say

The beige off-roader belonging to Lynn was taken by police at a remote campsite in East Gippsland where heavily armed officers swooped on the suspect, north of Sale

One woman portrayed her neighbours as living an idealistic lifestyle that would make ordinary Australians green with envy.

'They talk in the backyard, they never get into any fights. They are lovely and the couple always talk to each other very nicely. They are very close,' she said.

'He said him and his wife go camping sometimes and they love camping.'

Police seized a Nissan Patrol belonging to Lynn on Monday when Special Operations Group officers dramatically arrested the Caroline Springs man after tracking his movements and flying into remote bushland by helicopter.

A trailer being towed by an off-road vehicle - also captured on CCTV the night the secret lovers vanished, remains missing- and is believed to have been sold on Gumtree.

A subsequent search of his property did not uncover the trailer, which police believe could be the final piece of the puzzle.

Anyone with information is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 00

Greg Lynn is seen with his wife Melanie - who is a flight attendant with Jetstar - with the pair meeting through work

The charged remains of Russell Hill's tent
Driving into Hexham, I cross a sturdy stone bridge spanning the Tyne. The satnav is set for the Market Place, but forget about parking there or in the short-stay.

In fact, I'm forced back down the hill to the huge car park by Waitrose. Not many spaces here either. Maybe everyone is flocking to Hexham after the property website Rightmove announced this week that it's the Happiest Town in Britain.

Or maybe, it's just a normal weekday: Northumberland is a huge county and this is the only realistic place to do your shopping if you live between Newcastle and Carlisle.

Convivial: Hexham's Market Place. The market town was a frontline settlement in the medieval skirmishes and wars between Scotland and England

Fortunately, it's only a short walk uphill on Hallgate from the car park to the Market Place, enough to establish the demographics of this northern market town.

Hallgate is a winding row of fine Georgian houses  there's a memorial mason, chic hairdresser's, three cafes, four art galleries. And Waitrose.

The huge, impregnable cube of the old gaol in the centre of town is a reminder of a more turbulent history.

This was a frontline settlement in the medieval skirmishes and wars between Scotland and England.

That noble, heroic William 'Braveheart' Wallace terrorised Northumbria in 1297  something Mel Gibson managed to leave out of his movie  though the monks of Hexham Abbey struck a deal to save the town.

If today's residents are ecstatic at their Rightmove award, they are hiding it well. The newsagent hasn't read the newspapers describing Hexham's triumph.

But at the Grateful Bread artisan baker in Market Street, I'm told: 'Aye, they're happy enough around here.'

An informative welcome: Hexham boasts chic shops, a bustling High Street and the ancient kingdom of Northumbria on its doorstep - as well as rows of fine Georgian houses

I buy one of the shop's fine sourdough loaves, noting that the 4 price tag wouldn't be out of place in the second happiest town on Rightmove's list, swanky Richmond in South-West London.

The story that made the biggest difference to the town isn't the two Rightmove wins (they also won the Happy gong in 2019), but Country Life's description of Hexham as 'the best market town in Britain'. That was in 2005.

Some residents describe the property market here as BCL and ACL  Before and After Country Life.

And the houses on offer are a far cry from the 'small, spare, dour' cottage the writer Joan Aiken encountered when she first came here in the 1930s. But like many southerners, she stayed.

I do find some people who aren't overly happy: estate agents. That might seem odd. After all, a major property website has just given their town a big shot in the arm.

At Pattinson estate agents, situated on the wonderfully named Priestpopple, manager and senior valuer Marc Hydelman tells me prices 'have shot up. And as an estate agent I ought to be pleased  we're up 60 per cent on last year. Crazy.' He is also happy he moved here from Rickmansworth, in Hertfordshire, 29 years ago.

So why the unhappiness? 'Supply can't keep up with demand,' says Mr Hydelman. As a result, you will struggle to find any properties for sale in Hexham town centre.

'Lack of supply is hitting both rentals and sales,' agrees Ed Seymour of Foster Maddison. 'Some vendors are being aspirational with prices, but good stock is selling fast  often over the asking price. We have had more best and final offers at closing dates than we have ever had  it sounds great, but the volume of sales is still down hugely'.

Hexham is handsome and agreeable. That said, I can name half a dozen English market towns I've visited in the past three years alone that can rival it

Hexham is handsome and agreeable. That said, I can name half a dozen English market towns I've visited in the past three years alone that can rival it: Malvern, Tetbury, Shaftesbury, Uppingham, Diss, Market Harborough.

What you don't get in those towns is an average price of under 300,000 for a house. And you also don't get the ancient kingdom of Northumbria on your doorstep.

As the winter light fades, I drive north to a section of Hadrian's Wall at Carrawburgh. Here, sunken in a farmer's field, are the remains of a temple dedicated to the Roman god Mithras.

It's not the most impressive Roman ruin. But then I gaze north and south and see England's most magnificent county stretching as far as the eye can see. There's not a soul in sight. And that makes a lot of people happy.
Solar Orbiter, a Sun-observing satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), will perform a 'risky' flyby of Earth on Saturday.

The spacecraft runs the small risk of colliding with a cloud of space junk as it comes within 285 miles our planet, in the low Earth orbit (LEO) zone, ESA says.

ESA will closely monitor the situation and perform collision avoidance manoeuvres if necessary, it said.

Any evasive action will be taken on Friday, about six hours before close approach at around 04:30am GMT.

Space junk, or space debris, is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space  usually from no-longer-operational satellites.

Earlier this month, Russia added to the mass of space junk circling Earth by deliberately destroying one of its own defunct satellites, Cosmos 1408 satellite, launched in 1982.

According to experts, the space debris from last week's collision over the Atlantic Ocean  which included 'some 1,500 pieces of trackable size'  will cause havoc for spacecraft for years, if not decades.

Solar Orbiters crucial flyby of Earth on 27 November will place the spacecraft onto the correct orbit for its science phase to begin. It's depicted with the Sun in an artist's impression

'Solar Orbiters riskiest flyby': ESA graphic shows the satellite's course through a ring of space junk

SOLAR ORBITER Launch date: February 2020 Completed milestones: First images released in July 2020 Beginning of routine science operations: November 2021 Mission highlights: The closest ever images of the Sun, the first ever close-up images of the Suns polar regions, measuring the composition of the solar wind and linking it to its area of origin on the Suns surface. Closest distance to the Sun: 42 million kilometres Advertisement

ESA outlined the risk space junk will present to Solar Orbiter on its website.

'Solar Orbiters crucial flyby of Earth on 27 November will place the spacecraft onto the correct orbit for its science phase to begin,' ESA says. 'But the manoeuvre is not without risk.

'At closest approach, the spacecraft will be around 460 km [285 miles] above our planet.

'This is in the Low Earth Orbit zone, where the International Space Station and many other spacecraft can be found.

'It is also home to a lot of space debris, meaning that there is a small risk of a collision between Solar Orbiter and some space junk.'

ESA selected Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage to build Solar Orbiter in 2012. The $1.5 billion Solar Orbiter was launched in February 2020 following several delays.

Solar Orbiter's flyby on Saturday precedes its main science mission to explore the Sun. The manoeuvre will place the spacecraft on to the correct orbit for this phase to begin.

By approaching a planet, satellites can making use of its gravitational pull to add momentum, increase its velocity and propel it onward.

Solar Orbiter will also have to fly through another well-used orbital region, called Geostationary orbit, which again is congested with space debris and other satellites.

The UK-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft was launched in February from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, and will provide images of the Sun from inside the orbit of its nearest planet, Mercury (artist's impression)

SCIENTISTS REVEAL PLANS TO TRANSFORM SPACE JUNK INTO ROCKET FUEL Scientists have revealed plans to transform space junk - debris in Earth's orbit - into rocket fuel and set up a 'gas station in space'. It would involve satellites capturing bits of space junk, which whizzes around at speeds of up to 17,000mph, before it is stored and then cut up using advanced robotics. A space foundry that is currently being developed would then melt the debris into metal rods, which would in turn be used as rocket fuel for an 'in-space electric propulsion system'. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there is approximately 9,200 tonnes of space debris now floating aimlessly above the Earth, which can pose a danger to astronauts. Just last week, crew members on the International Space Station (ISS) were forced to take emergency action after a 'reckless and irresponsible' Russian weapons test created more than 1,500 pieces of debris. Read more: Scientists reveal plans to transform space junk into ROCKET FUEL Advertisement

Once the orbiter comes up from LEO and passes above Geostationary orbit, it is out of the risk zone. This should be about one hour after its minimum distance to Earth.

The probe is currently following an elliptical orbit around the Sun, completing one revolution every 168 days.

Using gravity assists from Venus and Earth, Solar Orbiter is gradually lifting itself out of the ecliptic plane, ultimately reaching an angle of 24 degrees above the Sun's equator.

From this vantage point Solar Orbiter is capturing the first ever images of the Suns north and south poles from high latitudes.

At its fastest, Solar Orbiter can almost catch up to the Sun's rate of rotation, allowing the spacecraft to hover over specific spots on the Sun as it turns and study how a single solar feature evolves over time.

After Saturday's flyby, regular Venus gravity assists will bring the spacecraft higher over the Sun's never-before-seen poles, providing new details about how activity on the Sun generates space weather.

While Solar Orbiter won't venture close enough to penetrate the Sun's corona (its crown-like outer atmosphere), it will manoeuvre into a unique out-of-plane orbit that will take it over both poles, never photographed before.

At its closest approach, Solar Orbiter will come within 26 million miles (42 million kilometres) of the Sun, well within the orbit of Mercury.

In August, it made its second flyby of Venus and returned some amazing images just days later.

Six more Venus flybys are planned from 2022 to 2030 to progressively increase its orbit inclination to best observe the Sun's uncharted polar regions.

In August, Solar Orbiter made its second flyby of Venus and returned some amazing images just days later. Here, Venus' nightside, the part hidden from the sun, appears as a dark semicircle surrounded by a bright crescent of light, which is glare from the Venus sunlit side
Brooke Blurton chose Darvid Garayeli as her winning suitor during Thursday night's season finale of The Bachelorette.

And things seem to be going swimmingly for the couple in the months since filming wrapped on the Channel 10 dating show.

The landscaper, 27, confirmed on Instagram shortly after the episode aired that he and Brooke, 26, were very much still an item.

Moving on up! Things seem to be going swimmingly for Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli in the months since filming wrapped on The Bachelorette. Pictured during Thursday's finale

He also revealed they were about to move in together in Melbourne.

'I can't believe I found my person. When I entered this experience, I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect. I've come out of this with my life partner and she's so much more than I could have ever envisioned,' Darvid said.

'It's been an absolute roller coaster to get to this point, four months of laughter, tears and endless FaceTimes.

'This is the beginning of a new chapter for both of us and I cant wait to move into our Melbourne abode.

New chapter: The landscaper confirmed shortly after the episode aired that he and Brooke were very much still an item. He also said they were about to move in together in Melbourne

'Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and a big shoutout to everyone Ive leant on throughout this process.'

Earlier this month, Brooke sent fans into a frenzy when she was allegedly spotted visiting Darvid's home on the Gold Coast while the show was still airing.

At the time, a Bachelorette super-fan claimed her sisters had caught Brooke sneaking into Darvid's home on the Gold Coast for a secret post-show rendezvous.

Spoiler: Earlier this month, Brooke sent fans into a frenzy when she was allegedly spotted visiting Darvid's home on the Gold Coast while the show was still airing

'Trying to be secretive': At the time, a Bachelorette super-fan claimed her sisters had caught Brooke sneaking into Darvid's home on the Gold Coast for a secret post-show rendezvous

As reported by gossip website The Wash, a Facebook user said her parents lived opposite Darvid's home, and that Brooke had been staying at his place.

'Trying to be secretive, blinds shut, parking all the way at back of driveway etc but my sisters saw [Brooke] and the suitcases she had in her Insta story late last week too, when Darvid was getting her in/out of the car,' they wrote.

During The Bachelorette finale, Brooke chose Darvid as her winner.

Love wins! During The Bachelorette finale, Brooke chose Darvid as her winner

'From the moment I met you and you came off that lawnmower, you left a massive impression on me,' she told him in heartwarming scenes.

She added: 'You came in here and you granted me three wishes. I still have one left. Will you make the happiest girl...'

'Of course,' he responded, before kissing her passionately.

Sweet: 'From the moment I met you and you came off that lawnmower, you left a massive impression on me,' she told him in heartwarming scenes

Romantic: She added: 'You came in here and you granted me three wishes. I still have one left. Will you make the happiest girl...' 'Of course,' he responded, before kissing her passionately

She then gave Darvid a promise ring, and told him she couldn't 'wait to spend our lives together'.

Darvid then looked deep into her eyes, and said: 'I genuinely have known from the first moment I met you, that this was going to be the start of something special.

'I have completely fallen in love with you, as you know. I want you to always feel loved, and I want you to always feel supported.

'I wanted to get you a little something to show you'll I'll be there for you, and will love you no matter what.'

He then gave her a stunning diamond promise ring of her own, which she wore on her right hand.

The Bachelorette Australia can be streamed on 10Play
Travis Barker is reaping praise on his daughter Alabama for facing her fear of flying in order to celebrate his 46th birthday with him in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

'I'm so proud of you for flying,' wrote the Blink-182 drummer, who shared a snapshot of himself and the 15-year-old that was taken during the recent family getaway.

Earlier this year, Travis boarded a plane for the first time since surviving a horrific plane crash in 2008 that claimed four lives.

Big deal: Travis Barker is reaping praise on his daughter Alabama for facing her fear of flying in order to celebrate his 46th birthday with him in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Alabama had commented 'Love you the most' on Travis' vacation post, which prompted him to write: 'love you more ... @alabamaluellabarker I'm so proud of you for flying.'

Joining them on the trip to Cabo was Alabama's brother Landon, Travis' fiancee Kourtney Kardashian, and two of the three young children she shares with ex Scott Disick.

In his 2015 memoir, entitled Can I Say, Barker claimed that Alabama, who was just three at the time, could tell that something wasn't right about the plane he was set to board with his collaborator DJ AM, security guard, assistant, and two pilots.

Travis, who shares Alabama and Landon with second wife Shanna Moakler, recalled: '[She] just kept saying, "The roof's gonna come off. Dad, the roof's gonna come off."'

So proud: 'I'm so proud of you for flying,' wrote the Blink-182 drummer, who shared a snapshot of himself and the 15-year-old that was taken during the recent family getaway

Family affair: Joining them on the trip to Cabo was Alabama's brother Landon, Travis' fiancee Kourtney Kardashian, and two of the three young children she shares with ex Scott Disick

Travis and his crew had just played a show in South Carolina and were boarding a plane to their next destination, which would crash shortly after takeoff.

Barker and DJ AM were the only two out of the six passengers to survive the horrific crash. They each suffered second and third degree burns.

DJ AM, born Adam Michael Goldstein, sadly passed away in 2009 from a prescription drug overdose, as reported by People at the time.

Brave: Earlier this year, Travis boarded a plane for the first time since surviving a horrific plane crash in 2008 that claimed four lives

In August, Barker took his first flight to the same destination at his most recent birthday trip, Cabo San Lucas, on a private flight with Kourtney.

He revealed that it was the 42-year-old POOSH founder who convinced him to overcome his fear of flying.

Travis previously told Nylon magazine that 'I made a deal with her that she had just said to me, "I would love to do so much traveling with you. I want to go to Italy with you."'

Because of her: He revealed that it was partner Kourtney Kardashian who convinced him to overcome his fear of flying; Kourtney and Travis seen in October

He gave Kardashian one condition for traveling, which she met.

'I said, "Well, when the day comes you want to fly, I'm telling you I'll do it with you. I would do anything with you. And just give me 24 hours notice." And that's what she did,' he recalled.

And Travis, who popped the question with a romantic beach proposal last month, remarked that his partner has transformed his life over recent months.

He added: 'It's still something very new to me, but having something that gives me the strength and hope to be able to overcome things that were so traumatic in my life, it just says a ton.'

The performer went on to express that spending time his fiancee had made a definite change in his personality.

'She's definitely that for me. I'm invincible when I'm with her. It's just like I never dreamed, I never even considered flying again,' he said.
She's the Aussie model who likes to push the envelope with her racy Instagram snaps.

And Gabrielle Epstein turned up the heat on Thursday as she shared a gallery of sizzling photos from her California road trip.

The OnlyFans star, 27, showcased her surgically enhanced bosom in a lacy red bustier top while posing in the passenger seat.

Sexy: Gabrielle Epstein turned up the heat on Thursday as she shared a gallery of sizzling photos from her California road trip

She teamed the risque top with a pair of denim cut-offs, which she left unbuttoned.

Gabrielle accessorised with rings and a pendant necklace as she struck a series of seductive poses by the roadside.

It comes after she modelled a skimpy black bikini in a sponsored post on Tuesday, showing off her ample cleavage and incredibly lean abs in the process.

Daring: The OnlyFans star, 27, showcased her surgically enhanced bosom in a lacy red bustier top while posing in the passenger seat

Racy: She teamed the risque top with a pair of denim cut-offs, which she left unbuttoned

The Aussie influencer tucked her blonde hair neatly behind her ears while taking an iPhone selfie in her bathroom.

Comedian Celeste Barber, who is known for her parodies of celebrities and models on Instagram, lampooned Gabrielle on Monday.

She shared a video that began with Gabby pouting in skimpy black underwear and adjusting her bra to ensure her assets were secured.

Poser: It comes after she modelled a skimpy black bikini in a sponsored post on Tuesday, showing off her ample cleavage and incredibly lean abs in the process

Sizzling: The Aussie influencer tucked her blonde hair neatly behind her ears while taking an iPhone selfie in her bathroom

Parody: It comes after Celeste Barber (left), who is known for her parodies of celebrities and models on Instagram, lampooned Gabrielle (right) on Monday

But in Celeste's version, she exchanged the tiny G-string knickers for high-waisted Spanx.

She was seen frantically pulling her figure in all sorts of bizarre positions so the waist band pulled in her curves.

Celeste spluttered in pain during her hilarious video, before giving the same funny smile to the camera as Gabby had in her own video.

'The struggle continues,' she captioned the footage.

Funny: In Celeste's version, she exchanged the tiny G-string knickers for high-waisted Spanx

Hot to trot: She was seen frantically pulling her figure in all sorts of bizarre positions so the waist band pulled in her curves

Fans were obsessed with the video, with one writing: 'I love you!' while another added: 'You look amazing!'

Celeste's hilarious post comes after she announced her tour of Australia.

The tour, called 'Fine, Thanks', begins in Newcastle in May 2022 and finishes up in Sydney in June.

Saucy! Gabby was seen pouting in skimpy black underwear in her video, moving around her bra to ensure her ample assets were secured

'Ive been stuck inside staring at a wall for the best part of two years, so trust me when I say Im ready to pack a suitcase, reacquaint myself with what the inside of a plane looks like and get back on stage,' the comedian said.

'Everyone in my house is sick to death of listening to me bang on so its time to find some new ears to chew off. Plus mamas got bills to pay,' she added.

Visit celestebarber.com for more information and tickets
People aboard a bus tour looking to get a first-hand glimpse at the homes of some of Hollywood's biggest stars got more than they bargained for on Thanksgiving.

On Thursday, just before the afternoon bells rang, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson gave a bus full of unsuspecting tourists in Los Angeles the surprise of their trip when he pulled up alongside their parked vehicle.

And in true The Rock fashion, he showed off his engaging and personable personality by saying hello like he was just any other guy being nice and courteous.

Surprise!: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson gave people onboard a Hollywood bus tour of the stars a pleasant surprise when stopped to say hello on Thanksgiving

The Rock, 49, just happened to shoot the brief encounter with his cell phone camera and post it on his Instagram page, to the delight of his 280 million fans and followers.

The clip begins with Hollywood leading man sitting in the driver's seat of his truck moments after he stopped just a few feet from the bus.

'Have you guys seen my house yet?' Johnson, 49, asked the tourists, who were seated in an open-roof convertible bus, with many of them shooting video of their own.

'No,' several of the pleasantly surprised people said in unison to the A-list actor, who could be seen wearing a pair of dark sunglasses.

Hilarious: The A-list actor, 49, showed off his comedic touch when he asked the startled tourists if they had seen his house while on their tour of the stars in Tinseltown

Engaging: When the tourists said they hadn't yet visited his home while on their tour of the stars, The Rock jokingly shot back, 'Okay, cool keep it that way,' and then wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving

It's at this point that he showed off his comedic touch and impeccable timing by responding,'Okay, cool keep it that way. Alright, you guys take care and have a happy Thanksgiving.'

When The Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle star did get around to posting the clip on Instagram, he shared most of his brief conversation with the tourists by writing it nearly verbatim in the caption.

'A lil' Thanksgiving Star Tour Bus surprise Have you guys seen my house yet? No. Cool, keep it that way,' he wrote, before sharing that he was headed to the gym before he ate his holiday meal.

'Happy Thanksgiving you guys, enjoy my hood and I'm gonna get after this workout before we feast.'

'I love you rock!!!' and 'spread love' were some of the comments that summed up fan reaction to the post, along with a plethora of flame emojis to point out that they thought the video was hot.

Shout out: Johnson also gushed over his family chef on the Thanksgiving holiday

About an hour later, The Rock would take back to Instagram and give a shout out to the woman who creates most of his and his family's meals, including the Thanksgiving holiday.

'Our amazing family chef @chefputtie smilin' big because she knows she's gonna deliver a deliciously Thanksgiving meal,' he gushed in the caption of the image that shows Chef Puttie in the kitchen.

'For all you foodies out there, you're looking at a cornbread stuffing that she adds cranberries to with sauteed carrots, onions, celery & sage. And some damn good collard greens that have been braising since yesterday ~ a slow, long & delicious process ~ like all my dates as a college freshman.'

He ended by wishing everyone: 'Happy Thanksgiving, to you and your families. Man I am grateful today.'

Chef Puttie: The Rock has showcased Chef Puttie and gave away some of her food secrets
They have been married for over a decade.

And the romance is well and truly alive in Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's relationship.

The couple shared a passionate kiss as they went sightseeing in Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday.

Romance is not dead! Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth shared a passionate kiss as they went sightseeing in Prague, Czech Republic, on Thursday

The actor, 38, is in the city to film action thriller film Extraction 2, a four-month shoot expected to last until March.

Elsa posted two sweet pictures of the genetically-blessed couple going for a walk through the fairytale city.

In one photo, the couple recreated the beautiful painting 'Kiss Under The Bridge' by figurative artist Igor Shulman.

Sweet: Elsa posted two sweet pictures of the genetically-blessed couple going for a walk through the fairytale city

Just like a movie: The actor, 38, is in the city to film action thriller film Extraction 2, a four-month shoot expected to last until March. Elsa and the couple's children recently joined the actor in Europe after flying in from Byron Bay

And in another, they cuddled up while strolling alongside the Vltava River.

Earlier in the day, Chris shared a clip of his wife, 45, enjoying a cream-filled doughnut as they explored the Czech capital, and he jokingly told her she had something on her chin.

Cute: Earlier in the day, Chris shared a clip of his wife, 45, enjoying a cream-filled doughnut as they explored the Czech capital, and he jokingly told her she had something on her chin

'How's it going?' he said.

'Yeah good,' she replied.

'You got a little something on your chin,' Chris said, although the cream was actually on her nose.

'Yeah you got it now it's all gone. Perfect. You look good,' he added, after she wiped none of it off.

Cute: 'You got a little something on your chin,' Chris said, although the cream was actually on her nose

Chris captioned the post: 'Here in Prague, thankful to have my wife teaching me her fine European dining skills'.

Extraction, released in April 2020, became Netflix's most-watched original film upon release and received positive reviews from critics.

Chris and Elsa, who is from Spain, met in early 2010 and married in December that year. The couple are parents to India, nine, and twins Sasha and Tristan, seven.

The family of five spend most of their time living in Byron Bay, on the NSW North Coast, in a mega-mansion estimated to be worth $30million, after relocating from Los Angeles in 2014.

They spent years renovating their home, which sits on 4.2 hectares of land, with the help of Sydney-based MCK Architects - but the development faced some resistance from locals, who compared it to a multi-storey car park or shopping centre.

New role: The actor is in the city to film action thriller film Extraction 2, a four-month shoot expected to last until March (pictured in Extraction, 2020)

Elsa told Sunday Life in March that patience, communication and understanding were key to her successful marriage.

'You need to put a lot of work into marriage; I don't think every couple is perfect,' she said.

'It requires patience, understanding, a lot of conversation, getting to know the other person, to know yourself and what you do wrong. It's about not letting one's pride get in the way.'

Elsa also said it was important for her and Chris to spend time together as a couple without the children.
She never fails to wow fans when she poses in daring ensembles.

And Zara McDermott looked sensational as she took to Instagram in a busty brown corset and lace-up leather-look trousers for PrettyLittleThing's black Friday event.

The reality star, 25, wowed in the figure-hugging ensemble as she posed with her curves on display and her arm above her head.

Wow: Zara McDermott looked sensational as she took to Instagram in a busty brown corset and lace-up leather-look trousers for PrettyLittleThing's black Friday event

Zara looked flawless in the satin corset style top that accentuated her assets with its skintight design.

She swept her caramel tresses to one side as she smouldered for the camera in minimal makeup.

The reality star toted a coral orange bag and popped her hip out to the side in the daring mesh cut out trousers.

The stunning snaps come after Zara revealed boys as young as eleven are sending her explicit messages on social media saying 'I want to sh*g you' and telling her to 'come over now'.

Stunning: The reality star wowed in the figure-hugging ensemble as she posed with her curves on display and her arm above her head

Appearing on her BBC Three documentary, Uncovering Rape Culture, the 24-year-old, investigated whether online pornography has a part to play in sexism and rape culture in Britain.

She said that while her job as a social media model means she is lucky enough to pose for 'glamorous photoshoots', the images become part of an 'online world of sexual imagery'.

The London-based reality star said her job as a social media model posting racy pics on Instagram means she receives the 'most outlandish, forward messages' from young boys online.

Acknowledging that they're just trying it on, or being dared by friends, she said that it's 'concerning', telling the Sun: 'If they think it's okay to send it to me, what are they sending to their peers?'

Turning heads: Zara looked flawless in the satin corset style top that accentuated her assets with its skintight design

'Working as a fashion model means I'm lucky enough to travel and do glamorous photoshoots, but it's not lost on me that I am part of an online world of sexual imagery out there for everyone to see,' she said.

'I do get a fair amount of young boys from school, They'll message me the rudest most outlandish, most forward things like 'I want to shag you' or 'come to mine now' and I'm like 'Oh my god you're literally 11-years-old'.

She said that while she's 'mindful' posting sexualised imagery 'does contribute to the problem', she stressed she works as an influencer promoting brands, and does not believe that selling fashion has the same detrimental effect as 'hardcore porn'.
She recently returned Down Under after spending more than a decade living in the United States with her family.

And Tammin Sursok celebrated the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving this week as she brought her family and friends together for a gathering in Queensland.

The South-African born Aussie actress, 38, stunned in an emerald green mini dress by Zimmermann, which retails for $1,650, in photos from the lavish lunch.

Traditions: Tammin Sursok celebrated the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving this week as she brought her family and friends together for a gathering in Queensland

Tammin rented the gorgeous frock from a dress hire website.

The stylish number featured cut-outs over the bust, a mini design and long sleeves which looked gorgeous on the former Home and Away star.

She wore her long dark locks loosely and her makeup comprised dewy foundation and a soft pink lip.

Back home: She recently returned Down Under after spending more than a decade living in the U.S. with her husband, Sean, and their daughters, Phoenix, seven, and Lennon, two

Party: Tammin held her 'Aussie Thanksgiving' at The Grand on Stanley in Brisbane, Queensland

Tammin held her 'Aussie Thanksgiving' at The Grand on Stanley in Brisbane.

Her husband, film producer Sean McEwen, looked dapper in a white-and-green striped shirt and beige pants.

Tammin set up long tables with elaborate floral displays and hired chefs to prepare traditional Thanksgiving food, including a roast turkey.

She revealed on Instagram she'd managed to pull the event together in a week and was thrilled with the results.

Dressed up: Her husband, film producer Sean McEwen, looked dapper in a white-and-green striped shirt and beige pants

'Happy Thanksgiving, my beautiful people. I'm so grateful for all of you,' she said on Instagram

'Five days ago I had no venue and no idea how I would pull this off but the people who know me would have bet that I would get it done, somehow. If there is a will there is a way!' she added

'Happy Thanksgiving, my beautiful people. I'm so grateful for all of you,' she wrote.

'A week ago I decided to throw Thanksgiving for my new friends, who have now become family, over here in Australia. I've never had a Thanksgiving on this side of the world and I was so honored to introduce them to a very American celebration.

'Five days ago I had no venue and no idea how I would pull this off but the people who know me would have bet that I would get it done, somehow. If there is a will there is a way!'

Tammin returned to Australia earlier this year after living in the U.S with her husband Sean and their daughters, Phoenix, seven, and Lennon, two, for years.

She came back to shoot a film and it remains to be seen if the move is permanent.
It is every girl's worst nightmare, turning up to an event in the same outfit as another guest.

But Justin Hemmes' girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel and reality stars, The Bachelor's Sophie Tieman and Love Island's Cassidy McGill, were thrilled to pose in matching dresses at an event in Sydney on Thursday.

All three beauties wore tummy-baring black frocks at the launch of Sammy Robinson's new label One Mile.

Who wore it better? Justin Hemmes' model girlfriend Madeline Holtznagel and reality stars Sophie Tieman and Cassidy McGill all wore the SAME tummy-baring dress at an event in Sydney on Thursday

The dresses featured a large cut-out at the waist that exposed half of their torsos.

The launch was held at Madeline's boyfriend's upscale Coogee restaurant, Mimi's.

Madeline paired her ensemble with towering black strappy heels and had her honey-coloured locks styled in a chic updo.

Sophie and Cassidy wore their shoulder length blonde tresses in a beachy waves.

Matchy-matchy: All three beauties wore tummy-baring black frocks at the launch of Sammy Robinson's new label One Mile

Meanwhile, Madeline and Justin's relationship has been going from strength to strength.

Justin shared a sweet tribute to his girlfriend on her 26th birthday in October.

Posting a rare image of the pair together to his Instagram Stories, the pub baron marked the occasion with a sweet caption.

Revealing: The dresses featured a large cut-out at the waist that exposed half of their torsos

While it's not known exactly how long Justin and Madeline have been dating, she hinted their relationship has carried on longer than many people may think.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald in October 2020, Madeline said they'd actually met two years before reports emerged of their relationship early last year.

'We have known each other for two years and met when I was modelling in Singapore,' she said at the time.

She noted her parents and sister Anna were yet to meet her beau at the time.
Ruth Wilson will return to the London stage as the tragic heroine of Jean Cocteau's tale of heartbreak, The Human Voice, in which a woman fights for the man she loves.

The actress told me in September that she had theatre plans for 2022, but refused to divulge the name of the play.

However, I can reveal that Wilson will star in Ivo van Hove's adaptation of Cocteau's 1930 'voice play' about an abandoned woman's one-sided telephone conversation, as she begs her former lover not to marry another woman.

Ruth Wilson (pictured) will return to the London stage as the tragic heroine of Jean Cocteau's tale of heartbreak, The Human Voice, in which a woman fights for the man she loves

The monologue can also be seen on screen, starring Tilda Swinton (pictured) in a version directed by Pedro Almodovar, set in an opulent Madrid apartment

Wilson, van Hove and producer Sonia Friedman began talking about the idea of doing The Human Voice several years ago, when the actress appeared  on blistering form  in van Hove's modern-day production of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre.

The Human Voice will begin performances at the Harold Pinter Theatre in early spring.

Van Hove premiered his take on Cocteau's play in Amsterdam in 2009. It has since been performed in New York, Dublin and Sydney.

The monologue can also be seen on screen, starring Tilda Swinton in a version directed by Pedro Almodovar, set in an opulent Madrid apartment.

Wilson (pictured) will star in Ivo van Hove's adaptation of Cocteau's 1930 'voice play' about a woman's telephone conversation, as she begs her former lover not to marry another woman

The Human Voice will begin performances at the Harold Pinter Theatre in early spring. Pictured: Tilda Swinton starring in the short film version of The Human Voice

Wilson has enjoyed enormous success on TV, with brilliant roles in The Affair, Luther, His Dark Materials, Jane Eyre, Small Island and Mrs Wilson; and on the big screen  in Dark River, The Little Stranger and Saving Mr Banks. (Her latest, True Things, is out on March 11.)

But she's breathtaking live on a theatre stage. She scooped two Olivier awards in three years for performances in Anna Christie and A Streetcar Named Desire, both directed by Rob Ashford at the Donmar Warehouse.

WHY CALL MY AGENT'S CAMILLE GOT COLD SHOULDER FROM LADY GAGA

French actress Camille Cottin wasn't surprised when Lady Gaga was mean to her on the set of new film House Of Gucci.

The two play love rivals, and 'she was definitely in character', said Cottin.

'But she was lovely, because she was this double person. She leaned over and said, 'OK, I'm in character. You're very beautiful. Now let's stop talking.'

'It was clear that she was concentrating on who she was playing,' Cottin told me when we discussed her role in the movie, in which Gaga gives an all-guns-blazing portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, who served jail time for hiring a hitman to murder her former husband, Maurizio Gucci.

Camille Cottin (pictured) wasn't surprised when Lady Gaga was mean to her on the set of House Of Gucci. The two play love rivals, and 'she was definitely in character', said Cottin

In Ridley Scott's film, opening today, French actress Cottin portrays Paola Franchi (pictured), the Italian designer and artist for whom Maurizio left Patrizia

In Ridley Scott's film, opening today, Cottin portrays Paola Franchi, the Italian designer and artist for whom Maurizio left Patrizia.

There's a clear class divide between the two women. One of the best scenes is when Patrizia and Paola meet on the ski slopes. It's an icy encounter in every sense.

'The thing that mattered was to understand that Paola came from Maurizio's world, different from Patrizia's,' she said.

'She hadn't endured the same humiliation. Maurizio's with a woman who understands him, and has the same references.'

Her Paola may be cold and haughty, but Cottin in person is deliciously zany. She puts that down to being a 'very big fan of English humour'.

'It's limitless and funny  and goes much further than French humour,' she said. 'It allows itself to be more crude, and more loud.

'Whereas the French, even though they pretend to be libertine and free...'

Cottin said Gaga 'was concentrating on who she was playing in the movie, which sees Gaga gives an all-guns-blazing portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani (pictured)

Cottin is in the UK at the moment, shooting the last series of Killing Eve with Jodie Comer. She plays Helene, also known as the duchess of crime and she's one of 'The Twelve'

And then she censored herself. 'I think the British can be much more crazy,' she concluded. Cottin's an Anglophile.

She lived in South Kensington for five years, from the age of 12, with her mother, sister and stepfather, attending school and hanging out in Camden Town and in the King's Road.

'You want to be wild in London. This is the city that inspires you for living at night and experiencing new things. There's a free spirit!' said the mother of two, who these days resides in Paris.

However, she's back in the UK at the moment, shooting the last series of Killing Eve with Jodie Comer.

Cottin plays Helene, also known as the duchess of crime. She's one of 'The Twelve'  the assassins who form the distinctly dirty Dozen Incorporated.

Cottin has shot many French feature films, but recently has been appearing in more Hollywood fare, including House Of Gucci and Stillwater, with Matt Damon.

Cottin has shot many French feature films, but recently has been appearing in more Hollywood fare, including Stillwater, with Matt Damon

Cottin will always be linked with the Netflix goldmine of a show, Call My Agent, in which she excels as the complex and committed actors' agent Andrea Martel (pictured)

For me, though, she'll always be linked with the Netflix goldmine of a show, Call My Agent, in which she excels as the complex and committed actors' agent Andrea Martel.

A cinema version is being developed, though Cottin cautioned that 'if they don't come up with something they're happy with, they won't do it. It's reassuring that they're working in this perspective'.

In France, she is also a noted stage actress; and she doesn't rule out treading the boards here.

She told me she sat next to National Theatre artistic executive Clint Dyer (his film of Roy Williams's National Theatre play Death Of England: Face To Face is out now on Sky Arts) at a production of 'The Milky Way, with Michael Sheen'. I think she meant Under Milk Wood.

'I would love to find something to do with Clint Dyer at the National Theatre,' she told me. Then added, more firmly: 'This is something that could happen. Maybe.'
A$AP Rocky rang in his Thanksgiving this year helping those less fortunate than himself in New York City.

The 33-year-old returned to his native Harlem to serve food to the needy at the Volunteers Of America family residence.

He could seen posing up with fans behind the buffet while lending a hand to the organization, which is focused on homeless youth.

Giving back: A$AP Rocky rang in his Thanksgiving this year helping those less fortunate than himself in New York City

In the midst of his shift he was able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner of his own, making himself a plate and chowing down.

Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was born in Harlem but relocated to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when he was nine.

Lately he has been hitting the headlines for his high-profile relationship with Rihanna, who like Rocky's father is originally from Barbados.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have been friends for years, and he even opened for her on her Diamonds World Tour in 2013.

Doing his part: The 33-year-old returned to his native Harlem to serve food to the needy at the Volunteers Of America family residence

Gracious: He could seen posing up with fans behind the buffet while lending a hand to the organization, which is focused on homeless youth

Yum: In the midst of his shift he was able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner of his own, making himself a plate and chowing down

Relationship rumors had been swirling about them for years, but they both dated other people until late last year.

Around the end of 2020 Rihanna and A$AP Rocky were glimpsed kissing on a boat during a vacation to her native country.

Then by May of this year he had featured in a GQ profile where he called Rihanna 'My lady' and gushed that she is 'The love of my life.'

Origin story: Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was born in Harlem but relocated to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania when he was nine

Love life: Lately he has been hitting the headlines for his high-profile relationship with Rihanna, who like Rocky's father is originally from Barbados

He called her 'The One' and spilled that: 'She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones,' adding: 'I think when you know, you know. She's the One.'

Rocky also spoke about the feeling of 'homecoming' he experienced during his trip to Barbados with his girlfriend.

'It was crazy. I always imagined what it would be like for my dad, before he came to America,' the Babushka Boi rapper shared.

'Foreign but familiar': Rocky has spoken about about the feeling of 'homecoming' he experienced during his trip to Barbados with his girlfriend

'And I got to visit those places, and believe it or not, there was something nostalgic about it. It was foreign but familiar,' said he.

A People source dished in August: 'This romance evolved since they were friends first. They already knew and respected each other and it has just grown from there.'

They had constructed a 'great foundation' and 'loved to laugh and have a blast together before they even dated' which 'makes for a solid romance now.'
Alec Baldwin's wife Hilaria watched in horror as her son Rafael used his finger to write the F-word in dust covering the family car on Thursday.

But in an attempt to find a 'silver lining,' the star, 37, admitted that she was 'kind of proud' of the six-year-old for being able to spell the expletive in the first place.

Alongside images of the scrawl to Instagram, she wrote: 'He's proud...I'm kind of proud of his spelling [and] reading. Silver lining??'

Yikes! Alec Baldwin's wife Hilaria watched in horror as her son Rafael used his finger to write the F-word in the dust covering the family car on Thursday

In one shot, Rafael posed beside his work, while another showed him in the midst of tagging the words on the car with his index finger.

'It's over the whole car,' wrote Hilaria as she snapped a close up image of the damage.

Along with spelling out the F-word, the eldest Baldwin son etched 'ya poop' near the rear of the SUV to spell out 'f*** ya poop.'

To close out the hilarious Instagram Story posts, Hilaria uploaded a sweet image of her and Rafael cuddling indoors by a fireplace.

Silver lining? But in an attempt to find a 'silver lining,' the 37-year-old admitted that she was 'kind of proud' of the six-year-old for being able to spell the expletive in the first place

Proud: 'He's proud...I'm kind of proud of his spelling [and] reading. Silver lining??' captioned Baldwin, who shared images of the scrawl to Instagram

'Grateful that you can spell... now we can work on some nicer words.'

Thursday's tagging may not have been much of a surprise to the couple since earlier this year they caught Rafael keying his name into another one of their cars.

Also deciding to share the aftermath to social media, the Boston native explained to her Instagram followers that her son was beating himself up over the incident in July.

Up close and personal: 'It's over the whole car,' wrote Hilaria as she snapped a close up image of the damage

She wrote that Rafael was 'having a hard time' and that he regretfully 'scratched the car in very, um, artistic ways, including writing his name and different emoji faces.'

Instead of yelling at the young boy, Baldwin tried to 'stick with my calm and just explained to him why we don't do that.'

She continued: 'You know when you were a kid and sometimes you would do bad things because you weren't paying attention and wrapped up in a game, then reality hit and you were like, "What have I done?" It was one of those.'

Along with a photo of Rafael crying over his mistake, Hilaria wrote that she and her husband of nine-years brought him outside to '[show] him where both Alec and I have scratched the car' in the past.

The message: Along with spelling out the F-word, the eldest Baldwin son etched 'ya poop' near the rear of the SUV to spell out 'f*** ya poop'

Despite their attempts to quell their son's emotions, the fitness guru returned to Instagram hours latter to report that Rafael was still having 'big emotions' over what he had done.

His little brother Leonardo, five, chimed in to offer Rafael some words of wisdom. Hilaria claimed that the toddler reminded his older sibling that, 'you should not hate yourself. It's because yourself is yourself. There is two of you.'

She shares Rafael and Leonardo, as well as daughters Carmen, eight, Lucia, eight months, and sons Romeo, three, and Eduardo, one, with Alec.

Hilaria revealed in a follow-up post on Thursday that Alec was responsible for setting up the fireplace for her and that she is 'so grateful' that the 63-year-old actor cooked their Thanksgiving meal.

Grateful: Hilaria revealed in a follow-up post on Thursday that Alec was responsible for setting up the fireplace for her and that she is 'so grateful' that the 63-year-old actor cooked their Thanksgiving meal

The Baldwin family has been keeping a relatively low profile over the past month after Alec accidentally shot and killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set of the Western film on October 21.

He now faces a looming lawsuit for the accidental shooting.

Baldwin, who had been shooting Rust in New Mexico, was told the prop gun he was rehearsing with on set was 'cold', or safe to use, according to the Santa Fe county sheriff's office.

But tragedy unfolded when he fired the weapon which turned out to be loaded with live rounds, killing Hutchins and injuring film director Joel Souza.

Big family: She shares Rafael and Leonardo, as well as daughters Carmen, eight, Lucia, eight months, and sons Romeo, three, and Eduardo, one, with Alec; the family pictured in October

Baldwin released a statement expressing his 'shock and sadness regarding the accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.'

'I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family,' he said.

'My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.'
Pip Edwards recently returned to Australia after a whirlwind work trip to US to promote her activewear label P.E Nation.

And on Friday, the 41-year-old businesswoman took some time to recharge in her sauna.

In the comfort of her own home, Pip appeared to go nude for the self-care session.

Relax and unwind: Pip Edwards posed nude in her home sauna on Friday as she 'recharged' following a whirlwind work trip to the US

'The only way to recharge and recalibrate is to sauna,' she captioned a picture of herself in the steam room.

Earlier in the day, the Bondi It girl had shared an image taken inside her stunning Rose Bay property.

'Home sweet home, back in my cosy nook,' she wrote in the caption.

It seems Pip's trip to New York City managed to help her reflect on what matters most.

On Wednesday, she posted a photo she had taken from her window seat as she jetted out of the Big Apple.

At the time, she wrote: 'It's been real. But it's so home time for me. And I can't wait to get home. Home, is where I wanna be.'

Happy to be home! Earlier in the day, the Bondi It girl had shared an image taken inside her stunning Rose Bay home

Home is where the heart is: Earlier in the week, Pip said she 'couldn't wait to get home' to Sydney following a whirlwind work trip to the US. Pip is pictured at the Brooklyn Bridge

Up in the air: She shared a photo taken from her window seat as she jetted out of New York City

Earlier she shared a photo of her shopping bags, clothes and shoes strewn across the floor, along with a heartfelt caption.

She wrote: 'Packing to finally come home after this whirlwind visit to the states to make up for the past two years of being apart and actually I can't wait to get home.'

'I really miss home': Earlier she shared a photo of her shopping bags, clothes and shoes strewn across the floor, along with a heartfelt caption. She wrote: 'Packing to finally come home after this whirlwind visit to the states to make up for the past two years of being apart and actually I can't wait to get home'

'It's crazy how much I missed travel, but what I realise is I'm a creature of comfort, routine and family, and I really miss home,' she added.

Pip started her trip in Los Angeles on November 11 and kicked off the whirlwind trip with a hike in Runyon Canyon.

Pip launched P.E Nation in 2016 with business partner Claire Tregoning.
Bindi Irwin tied the knot with her Chandler Powell in a ceremony at Australia Zoo just before the nation went into lockdown on March 25 last year.

And the Wildlife Warrior has found a surprising connection between the moment they exchanged the vows to the birth of their daughter, Grace Warrior.

On Friday, the 23-year-old shared a screen shot of a photo of her wedding from her camera roll, which was time stamped at 5.49pm.

Beautiful coincidence: Bindi Irwin has revealed the surprising connection between the moment she married Chandler Powell and the birth of their daughter Grace Warrior

She followed that with the date and birth time of their daughter Grace Warrior, who was born on their first anniversary at 5.52pm.

Bindi wrote in the caption of her Instagram post: 'Grace Warrior was born at 5:52pm on the 25th of March 2021.

'We just discovered that Chandler and I said our vows and were officially married exactly 3 minutes earlier on the 25th of March 2020. Three. Minutes.

Special moment: On Friday, the 23-year-old shared a screen shot of a photo of her wedding from her camera roll, which was time stamped at 5.49pm

'This is why I believe in miracles': She also shared the date and birth time of their daughter Grace Warrior, who was born on their first anniversary at 5.52pm, and said: 'We just discovered that Chandler and I said our vows and were officially married exactly 3 minutes earlier'

'This is why I believe in miracles,' she added, along with a heart emoji.

Bindi's sweet connection to the milestone moments comes after her younger brother Robert shared heart warming photos of himself bonding with his niece.

The budding photographer posted a photo of him doting over the eight month old tot in sweet pictures on Instagram.

Cute: Bindi's sweet connection to the milestone moments comes after her younger brother Robert shared heart warming photos of himself bonding with his the eight month old niece in sweet pictures on Instagram

Cheeky! Robert cradled baby Grace in his arms as she cheekily tried to grab his face

Dressed in his signature khaki uniform, Robert cradled baby Grace in his arms as she cheekily tried to grab his face.

The bub was dressed in a cute checked playsuit and top knot headband, and at one point cheekily grabbed her uncle's nose.

Bindi first met Chandler in 2013, when the young American went on a guided tour of Australia Zoo in Queensland.
Chrissy Teigen opened up truly being able to appreciate Thanksgiving with her husband John Legend and their kids after becoming sober last year.

Before reflecting on past years when she overindulged in alcohol, the star admitted this is the 'first time' she's been able to 'enjoy everyone enjoying dinner' during the holidays.

'I used to start my thanksgiving prep with a shot of tequila patron and Id pretty much take another every couple of hours' the 35-year-old cookbook author confessed in a lengthy caption on Thursday evening.

Big changes: Chrissy Teigen opened up truly being able to appreciate Thanksgiving with husband John Legend and their kids after becoming sober late last year

She concluded: 'I didnt even make any crucial recipe errors this year! Toot toot goes the horn! Anyhoo hope you had a beautiful holiday.'

The mother-of-two spent her special Turkey Day celebration snuggling up with he adorable son Miles, three, who wore a Burberry button-down.

Additionally, she whipped up a perfectly crispy and golden brown turkey, a pecan pie, and more Thanksgiving staples.

Doting spouse: The duo could be seen cuddling on the couch after dinner

Among the sweet snaps in her slideshow, Teigen uploaded one of Legend holding up the turkey and a selfie of them cuddled up on the couch.

In one photo, her eldest, five, could be seen smiling as she waited for her plate in a brown patterned dress.

Her spouse commented: 'This meal was flawless.'

Handsome: Among the pictures in her slideshow, Teigen uploaded one of Legend holding up the turkey

Making a change: Before reflecting on past years when she overindulged in alcohol, the star admitted this is the 'first time' she's been able to 'enjoy everyone enjoying dinner' during the holidays

Earlier this month, Teigen and Legend were slammed for being out-of-touch for throwing a Squid Game-inspired party for her VIP friends.

The group dressed up like the characters and played high-stakes children's games, like in the dystopian series from South Korea, where indebted players take on a life-or-death competition for cash.

The internet was quick to call out Teigen for her celebration, pointing out the irony of the ultra-wealthy masquerading as the poor, desperate characters from the show.

Too cute: In one photo, her five-year-old daughter could be seen smiling as she waited for her plate in a brown patterned dress

Yum! Additionally, she whipped up a perfectly crispy and golden brown turkey, a pecan pie, and more Thanksgiving staples

'I'm sorry rich people are literally so tone deaf,' one critic tweeted. 'Squid Game was literally about people whose lives were so awful because of being poor that theyd rather play a game of literal life or death to escape going back to poverty and chrissy teigen is really reenacting it in her mansion.'

Another Twitter user said: 'Taking personal offense at the complete lack of self awareness Chrissy Teigen must have in order to throw a Squid Game-themed party where she watches her rich friends "fight to the death." The commentary just writes itself...'

Guests included Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Pretty Little Liars' Shay Mitchell, according to People.

Think it through: Chrissy Teigen is being slammed as out-of-touch for throwing a Squid Game-inspired party for her VIP friends last week

The help: All of the event's servers were costumed as the anonymous orange jumpsuit-wearing henchmen

'Tone deaf': The internet was quick to call out Chrissy for her 'tone-deaf' celebration, pointing out the irony of the ultra-wealthy masquerading as the poor, desperate characters from the show

Servers were costumed as the show's anonymous henchmen and the party was decorated with a huge piggy bank full of cash hovering above, just like in the show.

Social media from the event revealed that the guests had been competing for a trip to Napa and dinner at the Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant.

One person added: 'Usually Im a fan of Chrissy Teigen but theres something super f**ked up and weird about spending the weekend cosplaying Squid Game with your incredibly rich friends.'

Eager: The party was decorated with a huge piggy bank full of cash hovering above, just like in the show

Grand prize: Social media revealed that the guests had been competing for a trip to Napa and dinner at the Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant

Teigen has been the target of backlash since her abusive tweets originally made in 2011 resurfaced online, including one that urged a then 16-year-old Courtney Stodden to kill themselves.

Stodden recently claimed that Teigen has yet to personally apologize for her actions, but Chrissy told TMZ in September that she 'reached out to' Stodden via text.

During the same interview, Chrissy was asked about Addison Rae's backlash for introducing herself to Donald Trump at a UFC fight, which she replied: 'I have decided I'm not getting involved in anyone's s**t ever again.'

Chrissy attempted to right a few of her wrongs with an apology shared to Medium in June  which was her first time speaking out since taking a social media hiatus after a host of bullying allegations came to light.

'Hi all. It has been a VERY humbling few weeks,' she wrote. 'I know Ive been quiet, and lord knows you dont want to hear about me, but I want you to know Ive been sitting in a hole of deserved global punishment, the ultimate "sit here and think about what youve done."

She added: 'Not a day, not a single moment has passed where I havent felt the crushing weight of regret for the things Ive said in the past.'
Michael B. Jordan and Lori Harvey went Instagram official with their romance back in January after being spotted together about two months earlier.

Now, some 11 months later, the Hollywood leading man seemingly took their relationship to a whole new level, when he spent the Thanksgiving holiday with her parents, comedian Steve Harvey and his wife Marjorie Harvey.

The family gathering happened at Steve Harvey's posh mansion in Atlanta, Georgia that he bought from filmmaker Tyler Perry last year for a whopping $15 million, according to The Real Deal.

Holiday with family: Lori Harvey, 24, and beau Michael B. Jordan, 34, spent Thanksgiving with her family at their posh mansion in Atlanta, Georgia

Lori first dropped a quick clip showing herself sitting on her man's lap as they sipped on wine.

The Creed star, 34, flashed a wink and a smile, while his ladylove puckered her lips for the camera.

There's also a another clip of the A-list actor playing a game of pool with Steve Harvey watching in the background, while playing with one of his grandchildren, who was riding a large toy zebra.

Playful: The Creed star gave a wink towards the camera as she puckered her lips

Showing off his pool skills: The Hollywood leading man shot pool while his lady's stepfather watched from the sidelines

Spreading the love: The couple looked loved-up when the Creed star lifted his lady up for a passionate kiss in one of the spacious bathrooms of the mansion

During the clip, Michael actually made a shot and was setting up for his next attempt.

Steve is actually Lori's stepfather, who adopted her and her siblings, sister Morgan and brother Jason, after he married their mother back in 2007 when Lori was about 10-years-old.

The television personality also has three children with his first wife Marcia, two twin daughters Brandi and Karli and son Broderick Harvey Jr., and a son Wynton from his second marriage to Mary Shackelford.

There's also a loved-up photo of Michael lifting Lori up on to his waist for a passionate kiss in one of the home's spacious bathrooms.

Of course, there were plenty of images of all the different holiday dishes that were served up, including the traditional turkey, and other photos of the Harvey family.

Thankful: Lori Harvey also shared her gratitude for 'the real one on my life'

Tasty: The California native tasted one of the holiday pasta dishes

Ponding it down Lori revealed how her man ate three plates of the main course

Beaming approval: The Hollywood star flashed an approval smile at the camera

When the Fantastic Four star sat for a dish of some of the main courses, he lady captured him on camera enjoying a pasta dish.

At one point, he looked up towards the camera and flashed a smile of approval for the tasty food.

In all, Michael downed three plates of food before even touching all the deserts, which included an array of pies.

'Extremely thankful,' Lori, 24, wrote in the caption of her Thanksgiving post.

Feeling festive, she shared a separate caption where she expressed her gratitude by writing, 'Thankful for the real ones in my life.'

Lori and Michael celebrated their first anniversary as a couple by heading out on a romantic dinner for two on November 16.

Thanksgiving classic: The chef gave a glimpse of the traditional turkey and fixings

Cheesy: There was also such favorites as a macaroni and cheese dish

Holiday show: The turkey was cut into small slices and pieces for the table

Yummy: There were also other main course dishes served up at the Harvey house

Sweet: There was an array of deserts that were served up after the main courses

Sleepy time: After all the food, some of the Harvey household had to get in a nap

Playtime: Some of Steve Harvey's other children were on hand for the holiday celebration
Who knew they were friends?

Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends, and shared an array of videos and photos of their festive dinner on Instagram.

And it turns out Will Smith's co-star on the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, Alfonso Ribeiro, was among the guests on hand to enjoy all the holiday food and lively conversation.

Festive: James Van Der Beek, 44, hosted Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, which included the likes of Fresh Prince Of Bel Air star Alfonso Ribeiro

The holiday festivities appeared to have been held at Van Der Beek's spacious ranch in Austin, Texas.

The family had a big dinner table set up outside their home, where everyone could sit together and chat.

As the proud father of now six, following the birth of son Jeremiah last month, he walked around the area shooting video the Ribeiro could be seen flashing a big beaming smile into the camera.

Like Van Der Beek, Ribeiro is also a proud father; only he has four children, son Anders, six, and Alfonso Jr., one, and daughter Ava, two, with his second wife, Angela Unkrich, as well as a daughter Sienna, 18, he shares with his first wife, Robin Stapler.

Say cheese: Ribeiro, 50, flashed his familiar smile when van Der Beek made the rounds with his camera during his Thanksgiving feast

Holiday: The Dawson's Creek alum was the picture of contentment as she filmed his guests relaxing in the backyard of his Austin, Texas ranch

New dad, again: The proud father also got s shot of newborn Jeremiah, who was being cradled by one of his kids

'What's up bud?' the Dawson's Creek alum could be heard saying to the actor from behind the camera.

Being a proud new father, once again, Van Der Beek moved the camera from Ribeiro towards his newborn son, Jeremiah, who was being lovingly cradled by one of his older siblings.

The gorgeous outdoor setup showed a long dinner table full of place-settings and a fire pit.

At one pit the camera fixed on Van Der Beek's five-year-old daughter, Emilia, eating a big turkey drumstick, which from the sounds things, she got with a little clever thievery.

Festive feast: The guests could be seen siping on drinks as Van Der Beek moved around the yard shooting video for his Instagram page

Cute: The actor's daughter, Emilia, was adorable in a big hat while chewing on a drum stick

One with nature: For the dinner, there were several long tables set up outside in the yard

Social: Van Der Beek chatted with people as he made the rounds around the gathering

'Emilia, you stole my turkey leg,' one man could be heard telling the adorable blonde little girl, as she held up the prized drum stick.

'You know what: when you look like that you get to [eat someone's else food],' the man added, in a reference to the cute look on her face.

Van Der Beek and his wife Kimberly welcomed son Jeremiah five weeks earlier, after suffering through multiple miscarriages.

They also are proud parents to five other children: son Joshua, nine, and daughters Olivia, 11, Annabel, seven, Emilia, five, and Gwendolyn, three.

Watch the iconic series Dawson's Creek, on Stan in Australia.

Hilarious: Emilia was accused of taking one man's drum stick, to the amusement of that guest

Focused: The dogs kept a keen eye on Van Der Beek's kids, just in case they fed them

Adorable: A number of people shot photos and photos of Van Der Beek's newborn son

Van Der Beek shared how he was feeling 'grateful' on Thanksgiving, just days after going public with the birth his their sixth child with wife Kimberly five weeks earlier

'Grateful' for family: Van Der Beek is feeling 'grateful' after the birth of his sixth child five weeks earlier
Director Paul Thomas Anderson returns with his first feature film in four years with Licorice Pizza, which has come under fire for a controversial scene.

The scene in question involves a restaurant owner played by John Michael Higgins, who owns the building with his Japanese wife, with the story set in 1973.

The character speaks with his wife with a fake Asian accent, and he appears again with another Asian woman where he employs the same accent, which did not sit well with fans, even those who otherwise enjoyed the movie.

Under fire: Director Paul Thomas Anderson returns with his first feature film in four years with Licorice Pizza, which has come under fire for a controversial scene

Neither Higgins nor director Anderson responded to requests for comment by NBC News, though a number of fans and critics are talking on Twitter.

'Picture this: Youre watching Licorice Pizza. Its brilliant. Then, early on, a buffoonish character drops an Asian caricature. The (mostly white) audience laughs. And now, you gotta think about that laughter the rest of the film. Did you picture it? Because it f***ing sucks,' said film critic Dave Chen.

Writer-director Karen Maine said she saw the film, which opens in limited release on Friday, last week.

Picture this: 'Picture this: Youre watching Licorice Pizza. Its brilliant. Then, early on, a buffoonish character drops an Asian caricature. The (mostly white) audience laughs. And now, you gotta think about that laughter the rest of the film. Did you picture it? Because it f***ing sucks,' said film critic Dave Chen

Limited: Writer-director Karen Maine said she saw the film, which opens in limited release on Friday, last week

'I saw #LicoricePizza over a week ago and it's taken me this long to process it. There's an incredibly racist, seemingly pointless (other than a cheap laugh, which it got at the screening I was at) scene that mocks Asian accents,' Maine said.

She added in another tweet, 'It was beautifully shot and incredibly well-acted by all, esp Alana (Haim) and Cooper. I thought it was too long and I never really connected enough with the two main characters for a worthy pay off at the end.

Maine concluded, 'The whole Haim family and Bradley Cooper were my fave parts. But that pointless, racist scene ruined the whole film for me, and more people need to call PT out on it.'

Great: Henry Ahn added, 'Licorice Pizza is great but I was reminded that it has extremely uncomfortable scenes with a white man speaking in the most obscenely offensive mock Asian accent to his Asian wife. Cringe was unbearable. Cringe at the scene but also at the theater full of white people laughing'

Henry Ahn added, 'Licorice Pizza is great but I was reminded that it has extremely uncomfortable scenes with a white man speaking in the most obscenely offensive mock Asian accent to his Asian wife. Cringe was unbearable. Cringe at the scene but also at the theater full of white people laughing.'

Filmmaker So Yun Um added in her tweet, 'Damn, cant us Asians ever have anything nice? Some of my fav white male Directors: PTA, Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve all have been making real amazing films lately and then theres a fake Asian accent or a sneaky Asian character trope. Let it end.'

Sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen said the criticism appears to be warranted, because the film itself doesn't take Higgins' character to task for his actions.

Nothing nice: Filmmaker So Yun Um added in her tweet, 'Damn, cant us Asians ever have anything nice? Some of my fav white male Directors: PTA, Wes Anderson, Denis Villeneuve all have been making real amazing films lately and then theres a fake Asian accent or a sneaky Asian character trope. Let it end.

'Its irresponsible to use racism against Asians as a running gag,' Yuen said, though she admitted she hasn't seen the film yet.

She did notice, though, the plot is, 'not even about Asians or race, and what it does is normalize this violence, this casual anti-Asian racism.'

'Racist stereotypes like the accent are a cheap way of getting laughs because you dont need to explain anything  even though there is nothing funny about accents,' Yuen said.
Lachlan Mansell starred in a photo shoot for underwear brand Knobby this week.

The Beauty and the Geek star led a throng of underwear models as they paraded amongst the traffic of Parramatta Road in Sydney on Friday.

However one photo of the 32-year-old caught the reality star in an unfortunate position.

Oh dear! Lachlan Mansell (pictured) starred in a photo shoot for underwear brand Knobby this week. However one photo of the 32-year-old made it appear the reality star was showing more than he meant to

As he jumped in the air, the arm of someone walking behind him was positioned between his legs - leading to an unfortunate optical illusion.

Radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson noted the funny image on their KIIS FM radio show on Friday.

'Is there something that stands out as not quite right?' Kyle asked his co-host.

Oops: Radio hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson noted the funny image on their KIIS FM radio show on Friday. 'Is there something that stands out as not quite right?' Kyle asked his co-host

'Oh my god! it's one of those optical illusions!' Jackie cried out in reply. 'Someone is walking behind him and you can see that person's arm dangling between his legs, which makes it look like a big donger hanging out,' she added

'Oh my god! it's one of those optical illusions!' Jackie cried out in reply.

'Someone is walking behind him and you can see that person's arm dangling between his legs, which makes it look like a big donger hanging out,' she added.

'At first glance, [you think] look at those guy, he's hung like a dinosaur, then you realise in the guy's hand [behind him] is a giant water bottle,' Kyle said.

'At first look you think, "Oh my god his penis is huge,"' Jackie agreed.

'At first glance, [you think] look at those guy, he's hung like a dinosaur, then you realise in the guy's hand [behind him] is a giant water bottle,' Kyle said

Fun: The Beauty and the Geek star led a throng of underwear models as they paraded amongst the traffic of Parramatta Road in Sydney on Friday

In August, Lachlan was crowned the winner of Beauty and the Geek alongside his partner Kiera Johnstone.

The pair earned the most votes from the other contestants, ahead of Alexander Wojno and Eliza Sowada-Smith, and Josie Werner and George Goldfeder.

Lachlan and Kiera broke down in tears as Sophie announced they'd won the life-changing $100,000 cash prize.
Bobby Brazier cut a stylish figure as he attended an intimate dinner hosted by drinks company Nuet at the London restaurant Ekte on Thursday.

The son of Jade Goody and Jeff Brazier, 18, donned a Nordic themed green jumper which he paired with a white collared shirt and black slacks.

Looking in good spirits, he sipped on an orange coloured beverage as he posed for snaps.

Looking good: Bobby Brazier, 18, cut a stylish figure as he attended an intimate dinner hosted by drinks company Nuet at the London restaurant Ekte on Thursday

He completed the look with black leather loafers as he tied his long locks back into a bun.

Bobby later posed with pals including James Greig, Alistair Guy, Morten Pharo Halle and Isabella Charlotta Poppius.

The star has been making a name for himself in the fashion world and was spotted at many of London Fashion Week's hottest events in September.

Stylish: The son of Jade Goody and Jeff Brazier donned a Nordic themed green jumper which he paired with a white collared shirt and black slacks

He has established a successful career as a model, already working for brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Dolce and Gabbana.

Bobby turned 18 on 6 June and he, his father Jeff, and brother Freddy celebrated the birthday milestone.

Bobby bears a striking resemblance to his late mother Jade, who passed away in 2009 at the age of 27 following a battle with cervical cancer.

The fashionista's brother Freddy has followed in his older brother's footsteps by securing a modelling contract with Unsigned Models.

Bobby signed to modelling agency, Unsigned Models, in 2019 and has since participated in campaigns across the globe.

He previously revealed that he followed an unusual route into modelling. He got into trouble at school which resulted in an unexpected encounter with Unsigned Group model scout, Cesar Perin.
Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays of the year, with almost 300 million Americans dining on turkey after watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC.

And, Winnie Harlow, 27, celebrated her first American thanksgiving on Thursday by baking pumpkin pies in patched trousers and a crop top, and showed off the festivities on Instagram.

The Canadian model hosted family and friends at her house in Los Angeles, which she'd had elaborately decorated with pumpkins and autumn leaves.

Bake on! Winnie Harlow, 27, celebrated her first American thanksgiving on Thursday by baking pumpkin pies in patched trousers and a crop top

Winnie threw herself into the annual holiday, wearing an outfit perfectly coordinated with her pumpkin orange decor.

In one shot, the raven haired beauty sat amongst pumpkins and leaves as she outstretched her arms while clad in a denim patched coat over he matching trousers and skimpy crop.

She gushed alongside the snaps: 'Thankful for love! Can't believe I'm spending my first American thanksgiving in my first house with family and friends feeling is wild.

'Happy Thanksgiving! Praying love, blessings and happiness to you this thanksgiving. And thank you to @marketingstudiola for all the incredible holiday decor. Brought it all to life!'

Joyful: Winnie sat amongst pumpkins and leaves as she outstretched her arms to celebrate

Thankful: 'Can't believe I'm spending my first American thanksgiving in my first house with family and friends feeling is wild' gushed Winnie as she posed with young children

Thanksgiving is a national holiday which always falls on the last Thursday of November.

It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast which has been considered the very first Thanksgiving celebration in the colonies.

Yum! Winnie gave her followers a glimpse of their thanksgiving dinner

Cute: She cosied up to three young loved ones for group shots at her front door

Her lavish bash comes after winnie volunteered for the Los Angeles Mission's annual Thanksgiving event this Wednesday.

The event was evidently a lively affair as Page Six reports Kanye West gave a speech insisting God intended for him and Kim Kardashian to patch up their marriage.

A cavalcade of famous faces could be spotted behind the buffet line helping serve seasonal favorite food items to the needy on Skid Row the day before Thanksgiving.

The Los Angeles mission also spends the fete furnishing the homeless with north of 1,200 tarps and 1,400 blankets, as well as 650 Bibles, according to its website.
Catherine Zeta-Jones appeared to be in high spirits while taking to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family.

The actress, 52, looked incredible in an unmissable red dress as she panned the camera around her swanky dining room at the $4.5 million New York mansion she shares with husband Michael Douglas, 77.

Joined by their children Dylan, 21, and Carys, 18, the Welsh native announced: 'Happy thanksgiving everybody,' while the rest of the gang chimed in and waved.

Happy: Catherine Zeta-Jones appeared to be in high spirits while taking to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family

The Romancing The Stone actor looked ever-dapper in a black zip-up sweater while wearing his silver tresses in a smart slicked-back hairdo.

The Mask Of Zorro star wrote in her caption: 'Happy Thanksgiving to all. So much to be thankful for [praying emoji].'

Their lavish onyx dining table had been adorned with yellow-and-red autumnal leaves, before being completed with a traditional wicker basket in its centre.

Gorgeous: The actress, 52, looked incredible in an unmissable red dress

Adorable: Joined by their children Dylan, 21, and Carys, 18, the Welsh native announced: 'Happy thanksgiving everybody,' while the rest of the gang chimed in and waved

Wow! She panned the camera around her swanky dining room at the $4.5 million New York mansion she shares with husband Michael Douglas, 77

Grateful: The Mask Of Zorro star wrote in her caption: 'Happy Thanksgiving to all. So much to be thankful for [praying emoji]'

Candy apple red lacquered walls and a statement crystal chandelier added to the decadence of the room, along with a stunning white fireplace.

The movie stars splashed out on the 1930s built country estate called Long Meadow in 2019, located just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where they also own a property.

Spanning 12 acres and continuing down to the Hudson River, the property boasts 22 rooms, eight of which are bedrooms, as well as luxuries such as an indoor pool.

Sitting at the head of a long, gated driveway is the Georgian mansion which as well as its many bedrooms, includes 10 full and two half bathrooms across the three stories.

Stunning: Candy apple red lacquered walls and a statement crystal chandelier added to the decadence of the room, along with a stunning white fireplace

Making an entrance: The movie stars splashed out on the 1930s built country estate called Long Meadow in 2019, located just 25 miles outside of Manhattan where they also own a property

Not too far from their family celebrations, the 95th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade returned to its pre-pandemic glory in the heart of NYC.

It featured 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, more than 800 clowns, 10 marching bands and nine performance groups and the ever-popular Santa Claus.

It comes after the downsizing of last year's which had cut thousands of participants, limited the route to one block, and of course requested spectators to watch the anticipated holiday tradition solely on their television screens.
Reporter Matt Doran will address his disastrous interview with Adele on Saturday's episode of Weekend Sunrise.

The TV host told The Daily Telegraph that he has 'no choice' but to speak about the scandal.

'I've had inquiries from Good Morning Britain, CNN, Dubai and Japan,' he said on Friday.

Speaking out: Matt Doran (pictured) will address his disastrous interview with Adele on Saturday's episode of Weekend Sunrise. The TV host said that he has 'no choice' but to speak about the scandal

Matt also insisted that he'd dedicated hours preparing for the interview, contrary to reports.

'I spent the next five hours at my desk preparing for the interview. And we got to the interview three hours early the next day,' he told the paper.

He also denied rumours that his fiancee, executive producer of Today, Kendall Bora, had travelled to London with him.

Offended? It comes after Doran was reportedly taken off the air for two weeks after 'offending' the 33-year-old hitmaker - a claim the journalist has since disputed. Adele is pictured

Matt says Kendall had flown to Geneva to see her family there, then returned to London four days after the interview so they could fly home together.

It comes after Doran was reportedly taken off the air for two weeks after 'offending' the 33-year-old hitmaker - a claim the journalist has since disputed.

Doran had flown to London to chat with the pop diva but admitted during the chat he hadn't actually listened to her new album, reported The Sunday Telegraph.

'I've had inquiries from Good Morning Britain, CNN, Dubai and Japan,' Matt said on Friday 'I spent the next five hours at my desk preparing for the interview. And we got to the interview three hours early the next day,' he added

He was then 'suspended by Seven Network bosses', the newspaper claimed - but Doran later clarified there was no formal suspension and he just took a week off.

Doran sat down with the Hello hitmaker for a '20-30 minute' interview, during which he did not 'ask a single question about the new album'.

When asked by Adele what he thought of her 30 album, Doran allegedly admitted he had not listened to it.

Denied: He also denied rumours that his fiancee, executive producer of Today, Kendall Bora (right), had travelled to London with him

An 'offended' Adele is then said to have walked out of the interview; however, other sources have disputed this.

Although the interview was recorded, Adele's label Sony reportedly denied Seven the rights to air any portion of it.

The network allegedly spent $1million on the ill-fated interview, plus her sit-down with Oprah Winfrey and footage from her One Night Only concert.

Seven still kept the rights to the latter two broadcasts, which aired on Sunday night.
Sofia Vergara looked sensational as she danced alongside her family during Thanksgiving celebrations in a Thursday Instagram post.

The actress, 49, was joined by her musician sister Veronica, 21, and her influencer niece Claudia, 29, as they put their enviable frames on display.

Swaying from side-to-side, the three-piece shook their curvaceous figures in brown cutout dresses before spinning around in a circle.

Lookalikes: Sofia Vergara (left) looked sensational as she danced alongside her influencer niece Claudia, 29, (centre) and actress sister Veronica, 21, (right) during Thanksgiving celebrations in a Thursday Instagram post

They certainly worked up a storm while busting their best moves to a catchy Latin American track as they admired themselves in a mirror.

The former Modern Family star appeared to be having a blast at the bash, which saw her take selfies with her many family members.

Her grandma looked sensational in a black blouse featuring gold printed leaves as she joined the star on for a follow-up dance later on.

Triple trouble: The ladies put their enviable frames on display in their matching ensembles

Incredible: Swaying from side-to-side, the three-piece shook their curvaceous figures in brown cutout dresses before spinning around in a circle

Having a blast! They certainly worked up a storm while busting their best moves to a catchy Latin American track

Sofia paid tribute to her husband Joe Manganiello as she celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary on Tuesday - although he didn't appear to be present at the Thanksgiving party.

The America's Got Talent judge shared romantic throwback snaps and a video from the couple's lavish ceremony in Palm Beach.

She wrote in her caption: 'Feliz Aniversario mi amor ! 6yrs. To many more! Love u!' before adding several heart emojis.

The Colombia-born beauty looked stunning in her custom Zuhair Murad bridal dress that took 1,657 hours to create as she gazed lovingly into her man's eyes.

Work it! Her grandma (left) looked sensational in a black blouse featuring gold printed leaves as she joined the star on for a follow-up dance later on

Cute: The former Modern Family star appeared to be having a blast at the bash, which saw her take selfies with her many family members

Woah! She flashed her ample assets in a plunging black dress

The dress featured a strapless sweetheart neckline, a fitted silhouette, Baroque-embroidered lace and a detachable ball gown skirt.

The Magic Mike star cut a handsome figure in a classic black tuxedo with a crisp white dress shirt and a black bow tie.

In the second image, Sofia was seen beaming as she draped her arms around her husband's neck.

The two were seen cutting into their wedding cake in the third photo. The elaborate five-tier cake by celebrated cake designer Sylvia Weinstock was decorated with white flowers.

Pals: She picked up her white Chihuahua dog, Bubbles, for a sweet snap later on

In her element: Sofia's grand dinner table had been adorned with a gold candle as well as yellow autumnal leaves

Sensational: Sofia and Veronica posed up a storm as she joined forces for a sizzling selfie during the night

Sweet: Sofia was joined by an endearing young member of her family for a photo at the dinner table

Sofia concluded her post with a video in which she was seen handing over her wine glass to a guest before hitting the dance floor with Joe as Latin music played.

The couple began dating in June 2014, just weeks after Sofia called off her engagement to Nick Loeb.

Just six months later, the True Blood star popped the question, in Spanish, while they vacationed in Hawaii for Christmas.

Though the couple have no children together, Sofia is mother to a son, Manolo, 27, whom she shares with her ex-husband Joe Gonzalez.
He recently said that he hopes he lives long enough to see the 'woke' generation get cancelled by the next one.

And on Thursday, Ricky Gervais, 60, cut a casual figure as he stepped out for a low-key stroll with a pal in Hampstead, North London.

The comedian wrapped up warm for the November chill as he donned a cosy grey fleece for his outing.

Casual: Ricky Gervais cut a low-key look as he headed out for a stroll with a pal on Thursday...after he said he hopes to live long enough to see 'woke' generation cancelled

Ricky stepped out in slate coloured jacket with a black T-shirt and baggy dark blue denim jeans as he met up with a friend.

He wore a practical pair of black trainers and shielded his eyes from the winter sun with a classic pair of onyx Ray Ban wayfarers.

His pal wrapped up in a blue puffer jacket as the pair could be seen carrying some boxes down the road.

Low-key: Ricky stepped out in slate coloured jacket with a black t-shirt and baggy dark blue denim jeans as he met up with a friend

The actor's low-key outing comes as he said that he wants to live long enough to see the young people of today called out by the next generation.

Ricky is a vocal critic of cancel culture and is unimpressed by 'snowflakes' or 'woke' people who are easily offended, and see older people as having outdated views.

He told neuroscientist Sam Harris on the Absolutely Mental podcast: 'I wanna live long enough to see the younger generation not be woke enough for the next generation.

Aspirations: Ricky said that he wants to live long enough to see the young people of today criticised by the next generation, with the star being a critic of cancel culture

'It's going to happen. Don't they realise that, it's like, they're next. That's what's funny.

'We kicked out the old guard. We did it. There's only so woke and liberal you can get and then you start going the other way. But it's inevitable.'

Sam went on to say progressiveness is not necessarily generational and people will always criticise each other's opinions.

Ricky has previously slammed cancel culture, even saying he thinks he will be cancelled due to his comedy in the future.

He previously said on an episode of the SmartLess podcast: 'You don't know what the world's going to be like in 10 years time.

'You can get cancelled for things you said 10 years ago because you don't know what it's going to be like in 10 years time.'
Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse has revealed she won't be on the judging panel this week after being pinged by NHS Test and Trace.

The professional dancer, 40, explained that while she is triple jabbed, she is currently in Germany and is not able to travel back due to UK Government guidelines, which do not recognise the vaccines she received.

Motsi's news comes a week after Craig Revel Horwood was forced to pull out of last week's show after testing positive for Covid-19.

Missing out: Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse has revealed she won't be on the judging panel this week after being pinged by track and trace

Taking to her Twitter page on Friday, Motsi wrote: 'I am gutted to say I will have to miss this weekend on Strictly... yesterday, I was contacted by NHS Test and Trace as being in close contact with someone on Sunday November 21 who has since tested positive.

Being double vaccinated & booster as I am, would normally mean exemption from isolation under the 'close contact' rules, but unfortunately German EU vaccinations are not recognised and neither is my booster in this instance.

'So I must follow UK Government Guidance and can only return after 30 November 2021 to the UK. Our health is the most important thing and luckily I have been tested multiple times this week and am negative.

Explanation: The professional dancer, 40, said although she has been tripled jabbed she must still isolate because her vaccinations which were done in Germany are not recognised

Taking to her Twitter page on Friday, Motsi wrote: 'I am gutted to say I will have to miss this weekend on Strictly'

'I am healthy, I am with my family that's what matters! I wish everyone good luck, sending you my love. Keep dancing. Until then, lots of love and stay safe xx.'

The government website states the EU Digital Covid Certificate (EUDCC) is not recognised as proof of vaccination for passengers travelling to the UK.

A spokesperson for the show then confirmed that guest judge Cynthia Erivo - who covered for Craig last week - would return to take Moti's place.

Why isn't Motsi covered by her vaccine passport? The EU Digital COVID Certificate is accepted in all EU Member States - including her native Germany. However as the UK is no longer a member of the EU, the passport it not accepted. When travelling, the EU Digital COVID Certificate holder should in principle be exempt from free movement restrictions. Member States should refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital COVID Certificate - unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health. As the UK is not held to these rules it is able to impose different restrictions. Source: ec.europa.eu Advertisement

They said: 'We can confirm Motsi Mabuse will not be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this weekend.

'We are delighted that Cynthia Erivo will be joining us as a guest judge again, joining Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke and Head Judge, Shirley Ballas on the judging panel.

'We look forward to having Motsi back with us next weekend.'

Last year, Motsi was forced to judge virtually from home after flying outside of the UK to travel to Germany following a break in at her dance studio.

After jetting in and out of the country, Motsi had to follow the 14 day isolation rules which meant she was unable to appear in person on the show for two weeks.

She said at the time: 'Earlier this week, I needed to travel to Germany for an urgent reason. I will of course be following the UK Government guidelines and self-isolating for 14 days.

'I'll be watching from home and by the power of technology, should be in your living rooms. Watch out though, I'll be doing my own hair and make-up.'

Last week it was revealed Cynthia was stepping in to guest judge as Craig continued to isolate after testing positive for Covid.

The star - who has won Emmy, Grammy and Tony awards for her on-stage performances, took to the panel for Musicals Week in Craig's absence.

She said of the exciting role: 'I'm so delighted to be joining the Strictly judging panel for Musicals Week. Musicals have a unique place in my heart, its such a special way of connecting all art and making it one.'

Stand in: She will be replaced by Cynthia Erivo on Saturday's Strictly - who stood in for judge Craig Revel Horwood last week when he tested positive

The Bad Times at the El Royale actress continued: 'Im excited to bring my experience to the show and I cant wait to see what the couples have in store this weekend.'

London born Cynthia has starred in numerous theatre productions across the globe, including Broadways revival of The Colour Purple, the Sister Act UK Tour and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

She played the lead role of Aretha Franklin in the third series of Genius, the title role in acclaimed biopic Harriet, is currently filming for the new Luther movie and will star as Elphaba in the highly anticipated upcoming film adaptation of musical, Wicked.

Sick: Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Craig tested positive for COVID-19 and would be absent from this weekend's Strictly shows

The acclaimed star has won a Daytime Emmy Award, Grammy Award and Tony Award, and been nominated for two Academy Awards and will bring plenty of experience to the judge's table.

It was confirmed that Craig tested positive for COVID-19 and would be absent from this weekend's Strictly shows.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge will return to the show this Saturday.

A Strictly spokesperson said: 'Craig Revel Horwood has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating following the latest government guidelines.

'While Craig will not be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, all being well he will return the following week.'

Presenter Rylan Clark-Neal has also discussed the situation on Strictly: It Takes Two.

Absent: Craig is currently self-isolating and hopes to be back in action the following week (L-R, Craig, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke)

He said: 'Craig, we're sending you all of our love and we can't wait to see you really soon.'

Craig, who is on the panel with Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, is the first judge to have to pull out of the show due to a positive test.

Celebrity contestants Tom Fletcher and Judi Love both tested positive for Covid on this year's series and were allowed to return to the competition after taking one week off.

A Strictly spokesperson said: 'Craig Revel Horwood has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating following the latest government guidelines'

Judi was quite sick during her isolation and told fans that she had 'a rough couple of days' and warned them that the prevalence of the illness should prompt them 'to get your health in order'.

Posting a video from her bed, Judi said: 'I don't even know what day it is. Some kind of motivation day.

'I just want to say to you guys, 'Rona is real. I give thanks that I was doing little exercise and dancing thing. I feel like I'm handling it much better than I would have had if I hadn't been doing little exercise and a little sweat.

'You can hear from my voice, I have done all the West Indian recipes and remedies, for those who are West Indian, especially Jamaicans, you know what I'm talking about.

Ill: Celebrity contestants Tom Fletcher and Judi Love (pictured) both tested positive for Covid on this year's series and were allowed to return to the competition after taking one week off

'I eat the garlic, onion, the turmeric, the honey - the expensive one, the Manuka one - the ginger, the lime, the lemon, the rum.

'I've had all kind of soup - chicken foot soup, lamb neck soup, red peas, and my voice is still like this and then 'Rona will then turn round to you and say to you, 'You know what, on top of that bredrin, I'm not going to make you able to smell or taste.'

Tom and his professional dance partner Amy Dowden both caught Covid early in the series and were forced to miss the second live show.

The McFly star said at the time it was 'frustrating' not to be able to take part and added that the hardest part was that he had to quarantine away from his children Buzz, seven, Buddy, five, and Max, three.

Tom and Amy are still in the competition, having made it to the final seven, while Judi and Graziano Di Prima were the fifth couple eliminated.

Contenders: Tom and Amy are still in the competition, having made it to the final seven

Covid regulations on the BBC show were much stricter on last year's series which saw Nicola Adams and Katya Jones being forced to leave the show after Katya tested positive.

Meanwhile, judge Bruno Tonioli has missed the last two series of Strictly as he was unable to fly between Los Angeles and London during the pandemic and so remained as a judge on the US Dancing With The Stars.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturday November 20 on BBC One.
Clare Crawley seems to have moved on from fiance Dale Moss after being on and off since their 2020 Bachelorette engagement.

The blonde beauty, 40, from Sacramento, California is reportedly dating Jeff Dye, 38, who used to romance The Hills vet Kristin Cavallari. The two stars are having fun getting to know each other, it was claimed by UsWeekly on Tuesday.

But on Thursday the comedian told the same outlet that the two are not in a romance and are only friends.

It's on? Clare Crawley is reportedly dating comedian Jeff Dye, 38, according to a Tuesday report from UsWeekly. But by Thursday he told the outlet they were just pals

Jeff told UsWeekly: 'Since my breakup, I basically just do comedy, write, yoga and watch late-night short films about romance,' Dye shared.

'I met Clare and shes awesome but if sitting by someone at a Lakers game means Im dating someone, I guess me and my friend Richard have been in a relationship for years.'

The 'breakup' he was referring to was most likely Cavallari whom he was romancing after she split from husband Jay Cutler, 38, in the spring of 2020.

There is plenty of proof Jeff and Clare have been spending time together.

They certainly look chummy here: They were seen having fun at an Alo event in early November

Hilarious: Jeff shared the images of the two goofing around at the party to his Instagram page. 'Dear @alo, thanks for all the free s***, I love yoga and I love you,' he wrote in the caption as Clare and Jeff had on matching fake fur jackets

They were seen having fun at an Alo event in early November. Jeff shared the images of the two goofing around at the party to his Instagram page.

'Dear @alo, thanks for all the free s***, I love yoga and I love you,' he wrote in the caption as Clare and Jeff had on matching fake fur jackets.

They also attended a Los Angeles Lakers game in early November, which the site said was a 'date.'

And they 'met for coffee' while he was doing standup shows in San Diego.

Hard to say goodbye: Crawley split from fiance Moss in September. They became engaged on season 16 of The Bachelorette. In October, Crawley talked about Moss. 'The one that gets me is, how do you say goodbye to somebody you never wanted to walk away from?' she said on Jana Kramer's podcast, Whine Down; seen in 2020

Earlier this week a source told UsWeekly that the two are indeed an item.

'She was set up with Jeff since they have mutual friends,' a source told the site on Tuesday. 'Clare agreed to go on the date because she thought he was handsome.'

But the source also said that the budding romance was not too serious as they live in different cities: she is in Sacramento while he is from Seattle but travels to LA and Denver.

She romanced Dye first: Jeff has been linked to The Hills veteran Kristin Cavallari; seen this month promoting her jewelry line Uncommon James

And a second source even put some cold water on the story saying 'they're just friends.'

Crawley split from fiance Moss in September. They became engaged on season 16 of The Bachelorette.

In October, Crawley talked about Moss.

'The one that gets me is, how do you say goodbye to somebody you never wanted to walk away from?' she said on Jana Kramer's podcast, Whine Down.

'Like I would have never walked  You're having to say goodbye to somebody you don't want to be saying goodbye to, you have to walk away from somebody you don't want to walk away from.'
James Nesbitt is set to star as a veteran detective alongside Richard E. Grant and Ben Miller in a new Channel 4 drama.

The Cold Feet star, 56, will star in the leading role called Danny Frater who identifies his daughter's body when he thinks he's doing a routine ID check.

It is then when Danny is left distraught when he realises the young woman in the mortuary is his young estranged daughter Christina.

First look: James Nesbitt, 56, is set to star as a veteran detective alongside Richard E. Grant, 64, and Ben Miller in a new Channel 4 drama

The post mortem then reveals that Christina has committed suicide, leaving Danny utterly devastated and seeking answers.

Danny and Christina had a complicated father-daughter relationship in recent years, but he refuses to accept that she would have ended her own life.

He then set out on a mission for the truth and retraced the last days and hours of her life to discover what happened to his child.

Danny then comes investigates those closest to his daughter including her partner Nicola (Niamh Algar), and her best friend, Maia (Antonia Thomas).

New: The Cold Feet star will star in the leading role called Danny Frater who identifies his daughter Christina's body when he thinks he's doing a routine ID check; pictured 2019

He also gets in contact with her business partner, Jaisal (Sacha Dhawan), her godfather, Ryan (Sam Heughan), her mentor, Harry (Richard E. Grant) and finally her mother, Susannah and Danny's ex-wife (Anne-Marie Duff).

It is after these intense exchanges that he learns about her descent into delinquency.

The story then follows Danny have to confront his own failings as a father while trying to make sense of the contradictory evidence.

He has to then decided who, if anyone is responsible for Christina's death.

Ensemble cast: Richard (pictured, 2021) plays Christina's mentor in the new show

Also appearing in the series is Jackie (Joely Richardson), the pathologist who carries out the post-mortem on Christina's body and Richard (Ben Miller) Danny's Detective Superintendent boss.

Discussing his character, James previously said: 'I could relate to Danny, with his flaws, vulnerabilities and the devastating situation he faces, from the very first moment I picked up the script.

'Each episode of Suspect is an intensely theatrical double-hander, a psychological battle of wits between Danny and another character who may know something about his daughter's untimely death.

'I really can't wait to lock horns with my fellow cast members and to lead this incredible array of acting talent.'

Star-studded: While Ben plays Danny's Detective Superintendent boss

James' return to the screen comes months after he explained his unusual eyebrows during an appearance on The One Show in October, revealing he's secretly living with alopecia that has impacted his eyebrow and beard growth.

The Cold Feet actor's unusual look led viewers to speculate on social media why his trademark bushy eyebrows had dramatically changed shape.

But MailOnline can reveal he was sporting fake eyebrows applied by the hair and make-up team on his latest filming role, having just come off set.

A source close to the Irish star said: 'James has no issue at all with having Alopecia. He's been living with it for some time and it does not affect his life in any way.

'James has never tried to hide it while away from filming. But when he's in character, it's normal for make-up to be applied on that area where there is now no hair.'

James lives with the condition called Alopecia Areata which is considered a common but unpredictable autoimmune ailment which affects two per cent of the population in the UK.

It causes hair loss on the scalp, face and other areas of the body but in James's case, the condition only impacts his eyebrows and small parts of his beard.

However, it was not a factor behind his highly-publicised hair transplants, of which he's believed to have had six  costing 20,000 each.
They recently became engaged after dating for more than one year.

And Teresa Giudice celebrated Thanksgiving with her new fiance, Luis Ruelas, and her four daughters at her new mansion in New Jersey on Thursday evening.

The 49-year-old reality star was positively beaming as she stood alongside her gorgeous family in a snap shared to his Instagram account.

Family forever: Teresa Giudice celebrated Thanksgiving with her new fiance, Luis Ruelas, and her four daughters at her new mansion in New Jersey on Thursday evening

'Thankful, Grateful & So Blessed,' he captioned the snap of his new family. 'Happy Thanksgiving. Love you guys'

Teresa and Luis stood alongside her daughters, Gia, 20, Gabriella, 17, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 12, and his son Louie.

Earlier in the morning, Luis got to work in the kitchen perfecting a few recipes in a far more comfortable outfit.

All together: Teresa and Luis stood alongside her daughters, Gia, 20, Gabriella, 17, Milania, 15, and Audriana, 12, and his son Louie

Carbs please: Earlier in the morning, Luis got to work in the kitchen perfecting a few recipes in a far more comfortable outfit

Passing on the turkey: She shared her opulent golden tablescape with a ham taking centerstage as she tagged her husband-to-be

She shared her opulent golden tablescape with a ham taking centerstage as she tagged her husband-to-be.

Teresa also paid homage to her late parents with a sweet snap of a framed photo surrounded by colorful hearts.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star had a few major life changes this year including the engagement ring Luis gave her during a recent trip to Greece.

'Miss you both very much:' Teresa also paid homage to her late parents with a sweet snap of a framed photo surrounded by colorful hearts

Marry me: Under a firework-lit night sky, Teresa said 'Yes' to her boyfriend of about one year

Luis dropped down to one knee and proposed in grand fashion last month with fireworks blasting in the sky for the perfecting romantic setting.

Weeks earlier, Teresa traded in her six-bedroom home she shared with ex Joe Giudice for a new, $3.3million estate across 5.6 acres with 7,728-square-feet of indoor living space.

'It's hard for me to sell the house,' she said on the hit Bravo show. 'Joe and I built the house together; we raised our four daughters in that home,' before she maintained: 'I am ready for a new beginning. I'm looking for a fresh start.'

Famously, the former couple of 20 years were charged with bankruptcy fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and failing to pay taxes in 2013, with both serving time in prison.

Joe has been living in his home country of Italy since being deported in 2018, and is fighting to return to the United States to be a part of his children's lives.
Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson welcomed her second child, a daughter, with her husband Humberto Preciado, on Sunday.

The 38-year-old brunette beauty from Arizona shared the good news with People on Friday morning. Their first child is son Joaquin Ramon, aged one.

'Humberto and I were overjoyed to welcome our sweet Paloma Ruby Preciado a little earlier than expected. Born on Nov. 21st at 3:54 am, she was small but mighty at 4 pounds, 15 ounces and 18.5 inches long,' the couple shared.

Happy parents: Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson welcomed her second child, a daughter, with her husband Humberto Preciado, on Sunday

With the bump: The 38-year-old brunette beauty from Arizona shared the good news with People on Friday morning

'We are all home and enjoying our new party of 4. We had to set an extra plate at Thanksgiving this year.'

She met Humberto in 2019 and they wed in 2020.



Courtney shared her pregnancy news in June: 'I am so excited to have a daughter, I can't wait to do all the girly things with her.'

Their first born: Their first child is son Joaquin Ramon, aged one; seen earlier this year

She went on to joke about how 'Dad has been joking that he and Joaquin can't wait for her first date.'

Robertson and family beamed in the accompanying photos, where Humberto held up pink glitter-filled balloons while mom held onto her first born.

Appearing more than ready to be a big brother, Joaquin donned a cute shirt which read: 'Did we just become best friends?'

Courtney and Humberto wed a year ago in an intimate outdoor ceremony in Sedona, Arizona.

The wedding location held a special significance to Robertson, whose parents were wed near the Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village 40 years prior.

Girls just wanna have fun! Robertson said 'I am so excited to have a daughter, I can't wait to do all the girly things with her'

The spot was also a tribute to Courtney's mother, who passed away in 2019.

'My mom was in my heart all day,' she told People at the time.

'Tlaquepaque has always been a special place for my family. So I love that I can keep coming with Joaquin and Humberto and it's special for us too.'

'It was just surreal to watch my dream come to life,' she added. 'We've had so many life events this year. And I'm so excited for our next phase as a family.'

Bad girl: Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain'

Marry me! The model won a proposal from San Francisco resident Ben Flajnik in 2012

Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain.'

The model won a proposal from Ben Flajnik in 2012, but the two split shortly thereafter.

Speaking about her now partner, Courtney revealed, 'I was giving up on dating. But I'm so glad I waited.'

She continued, 'Humberto feels like home to me. And I know I finally met the right one,' adding, 'hes been everything I ever dreamt of.'
She never fails to wow when she steps out for filming.

And Nadiya Bychkova put on a very leggy display in a pair of thigh-skimming leather-look shorts and knee-high suede boots as she headed home from It Takes Two filming with her celebrity partner Dan Walker on Friday.

The dancer, 32, wowed in the form-fitting dress as she posed with Dan outside the BBC Studios.

Wow: Nadiya Bychkova put on a very leggy display in a pair of thigh-skimming leather-look shorts and knee-high suede boots as she headed home from It Takes Two filming on Friday

Nadiya looked stunning in the chic leather-look shorts, which she styled with a Marilyn Monroe T-shirt and an oversized black blazer.

The professional dancer looked effortlessly cool as she tucked the white top into her shorts and tucked her tousled blonde curls behind her ear.

She wheeled her suitcase along with one hand and clutched a pair of dark shades in the other as she accessorised with an enviable grey quilted cross-body bag.

Nadiya showcased her natural beauty as she opted for minimal makeup for the outing and decorated her lobes with a pair of dinky diamond earrings.

Sharp: She was joined by her celebrity partner Dan Walker who cut a dapper figure in a navy trousers and a maroon half-zip

Stunning; Nadiya looked stunning in the chic leather-look shorts, which she styled with a Marilyn Monroe T-shirt and an oversized black blazer

Nadiya and Dan were the final couple to perform on Strictly's Musicals Week last Saturday.

The pair hit the floor to perform a Charleston to Good Morning from Singin In The Rain.

The BBC presenter gave it his all on the dancefloor and it didn't go unnoticed by the judges, with Motsi commenting that he really pushed himself out of his 'comfort zone'.

Gorgeous: The professional dancer looked effortlessly cool as she tucked the white top into her shorts and tucked her tousled blonde curls behind her ear

An impressed Anton said it was 'a joy to see someone grow', while Shirley noted that it was his best dance so far.

Their scores reflected this as Dan and Nadiya finally broke the 30 barrier, earning 31 points on the night.

Ahead of their glittering performance, Dan revealed that Nadiya accidentally kneed him the face as they were rehearsing for their Charleston.

Finishing touches: She wheeled her suitcase along with one hand and clutched a pair of dark shades in the other as she accessorised with an enviable grey quilted cross-body bag

Flawless: Nadiya showcased her natural beauty as she opted for minimal makeup for the outing and decorated her lobes with a pair of dinky diamond earrings

The BBC Breakfast host took to Instagram to tell his fans about the accident, describing how there was blood coming out of his mouth.

Lying side by side on the floor of the rehearsal studio, he said: 'We're celebrating the end of our training session with a chocolate digestive

'The Charleston this week - it's good fun and I can swivel. That's the high point of the week.'

Feeling good: Nadiya appeared in high spirits as she left the BBC studios ahead of week ten of the competition

Pointing at his face, he added: 'The low point is, can you see? There's still a bruise here where I got kneed in the face by the Ukrainian queen here.'

Nadiya responded: 'Are you still talking about that? It wasn't pretty, we were doing the lift.'

Dan pointed out: 'There was blood coming out of my mouth, all over the place.'

She apologised profusely, saying: 'I'm really, really sorry partner. It's all right.'
Irina Shayk was seen wearing an all-black outfit when stepping out in New York City alone on Thursday.

The Vogue model was heading to the home of her former partner, Bradley Cooper -with whom she shares daughter Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper, age four - as the beauty seemed to be carrying a pie in one hand.

The cover girl and the Nightmare Alley actor have been spending more time together this year after splitting in 2019.

Holiday look: Irina showed off her chic sense of style as she headed out for Thanksgiving dinner at ex Bradley Cooper's New York City apartment

Shayk paired the look with large sunglasses and a pair of chunky dangling earrings.

She expertly maneuvered the streets while wearing black heels and carrying a purse, which was a Burberry tote bag.

Shayk and Cooper have been happily co-parenting their four-year-old daughter Lea.

All black: the model carried a black Burberry bucket bag and paired the look with large sunglasses and a pair of chunky dangling earrings

Super mom: Shayk maneuvered the streets while wearing black heels and carrying a purse, a tote bag, and what looked to be a surprise Thanksgiving dish in her hands

The two even sparked reconciliation rumors after looking very cozy on a walk through Manhattan's West Village area earlier this month.

The happy exes were seen smiling as they walked arm-in-arm on their way back to his place, two years after announcing their split after four years of dating.

The supermodel was most recently romantically linked to Kanye West.

The romance was short-lived, and a source told PEOPLE in August that the relationship 'was never a serious thing that took off.'

Co-parenting: Shayk and Cooper have been happily co-parenting their four-year-old daughter Lea, seen here in 2018
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Christine McGuinness, Emily Andre and Imogen Thomas brought the glamour to the Caudwell Children's Butterfly Ball on Friday evening.

TV personality Christine, 33, the wife of Peter Andre, 32, and 38-year-old model Imogen pulled out all the fashion stops for the charity do at the Roundhouse, north London.

Christine looked spectacular in a lilac off the shoulder Cinders Party Dress which encompassed stunning mesh detailing and darker purple intricacies, while Emily wowed in a blue gown and Imogen flashed a hint of leg in a LBD.

Beauties: Christine McGuinness, Emily Andre and Imogen Thomas (L-R) were among the celebrities who rallied round for Caudwell Children's Butterfly Ball on Friday evening

Mother-of-three Christine wasn't afraid to showcase her sensational effort for the evening, her blonde hair, curled to perfection, tumbling over her shoulders and her face aglow with radiant makeup.

Meanwhile Emily, who earns a living as a doctor, cut an elegant figure royal blue dress and slicked her brunette tresses back into a tight plait.

Welsh star Imogen wowed in a thigh-grazing split dress, pairing the strapless number with elegant gold heels and adding a touch of colour to her look with eye-catching green nail polish.

Princess-esque: Christine looked spectacular in a lilac, off the shoulder Cinders Party Dress

Working the angles: Welsh star Imogen wowed in a thigh-grazing split dress, pairing the strapless number with elegant gold heels

Phenomenal: Emily, who earns a living as a doctor, opted for a classy royal blue dress and slicked her brunette tresses back into a tight plait

Big arrival: Mother-of-three Christine wasn't afraid to showcase her sensational effort for the evening, her blonde hair, curled to perfection, tumbling over her shoulders and her face aglow with radiant makeup

Stunning: Christine beamed as she posed at the event

Working it: Christine appeared in her element as she posed up a storm for the cameras

Walk this way: Christine stole the show as she strutted through the capital in the figure-hugging gown which came complete with a feather trim

Beautiful in blue: Emily beamed a wide smile as she got out of a taxi

Glamorous: She held a diamante clutch bag in her hand as she stepped into the event

Pretty: The model added a touch of colour to her look with eye-catching green nail polish

Former Geordie Shore star Holly Hagan also turned heads in a bejewelled gown, which accentuated her enviable curves.

The television personality wore her long locks in thick curls and was proud to show off the dress' open back design.

Her clutch perfectly aligned with her Friday night attire and her makeup was applied in neutral tones.

Wow: Holly Hagan also turned heads in a bejewelled gown, which accentuated her enviable curves

Outing: Amy Childs posed with beau Billy Delbosq who opted for a three piece suit and trainers

Sensational: The TOWIE veteran showed her keen eye for fashion, opting for a plunging silver dress

Entrance: Talia Storm went bold in neon orange, the dress flowing behind her as she worked her angles for the cameras.

Switching it up: The singer later took to the stage at the 21st annual Caudwell Children Butterfly Ball

Quirky look: Talia wore a black skin tight catsuit with sequin shapes all over

Dressed to the nines: Lizzy Cundy (l) told her Instagram followers she was dressed as Snow White, sharing a photo on way to the event, with Ester Dee (r) also heading to the ball

Loved up: Ester and Glynn looked nothing short of smitten as they posed for a photo on a marble staircase

Dazzling: Lizzy and Claire Caudwell had a glamorous photo against a sparkling back drop

All eyes on her: Lizzie put on a very busty display in the one shouldered gown which had subtle sequin detailing

TOWIE veteran Amy Childs showed her keen eye for fashion, opting for a plunging silver dress with a split that left one leg on full display.

Talia Storm went bold in neon orange, the dress flowing behind her as she worked her angles for the cameras.

Also gracing north London's Roundhouse was The Chase's Jenny Ryan - aka The Vixen.

Couple's night out: Michelle Heaton and husband Hugh Hanley put on a show-stopping display, dressed to the nines for the big event

Looking good: Michelle opted for a stunning black bustier dress

Love Island beauties: Kaz Kamwi (l) and AJ Bunker (r) showcased their very best fashion credentials

Wow: AJ stunned in the ensemble which boasted a feather hem cut out paneling

Flawless: The former Liberty X star posed up a storm in her gorgeous get-up

Elegant: Saffron Lempriere (l) and Hollie Arnold (r) wowed in their sophisticated ensembles, opting for vibrant hues

The 39-year-old quizzer sported a mesh checker print dress, her ruby red lipstick coordinating with a hue from her ensemble.

Michelle Heaton and husband Hugh Hanley put on a show-stopping display, dressed to the nines for the big event.

The former Liberty X star posed up a storm in her gorgeous get-up, flaunting her latest hair-do.

Family outing: Duncan Bannatyne, Nigora Whitehorn and Gabby Whitehorn (from L-R) arrived as a trio

Evening attire: Model Elen Rivas (l) was sure to command attention on the glitzy purple carpet, whilst Love Island's Tyne-Lexy Clarson stunned in a figure-tight ensemble

Amazing: Tyne-Lexy wowed in the racy ensemble

Photo opportunity: Tyne-Lexy posed with Chyna Ellis

Wow: Chyna looked festive in a green velvet ensemble

Checker print clad: Also gracing north London's Roundhouse was The Chase's Jenny Ryan - aka The Vixen

Finery: Neil Jones (l) and Kris Boyson (r) arrived suited and booted

Caudwell Children transforms the lives of disabled children across the UK.

They describe themselves as an organisation that 'acts as a safety net for families who are unable to gain the help they need.'

The Butterfly Ball marks 21 years of the establishment changing disabled childrens lives.

Stylish: Fashion designer Chanel Joan Elkayam looked stunning in a strapless gown and tulle gloves

Gorgeous in green: Nicole O'Brien pulled her hair up into a trendy ponytail
Hilaria Baldwin reflected on a 'challenging year' and expressed gratitude toward her friends, family and followers on Thanksgiving.

The 37-year-old yoga enthusiast shared a clip of daughters Carmen and MariLu playing at the market to Instagram on Thursday afternoon.

Hilaria's endured a difficult year which included her husband Alec's involvement in last month's fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of Rust, her heritage scandal, and adding two new members to their family.

Staying strong: Hilaria Baldwin reflected on a 'challenging year' and expressed gratitude toward her friends, family and followers on Thanksgiving

'I didn't take a photo of my whole family today,' she admitted to her followers on social media. Here is Carmen and Marilu dancing in the supermarket.'

'I want to tell you all how grateful I am for you. This has been one of a challenging year. I know for many, many of usbut I will only speak from personal experience right now.

'Sometimes I didn't think I was gonna make it through. I want you to know how much you have helped me through some pretty dark struggles. Knowing you were theresuch comfort.

'Yes, my children and my husband, my family and close friends have been invaluablebut YOU, I don't get to express this face to face, due to the nature of social media and how far we all areI SO want you to know and take in how grateful I am every day for you.

Her full statement: Hilaria posted her thoughts to Instagram on Thursday, about her 'challenging' year

Taking it easy: The 37-year-old yoga enthusiast shared a clip of daughters Carmen and MariLu playing at the market to Instagram on Thursday afternoon

'I didn't take a photo of my whole family today,' she admitted to her followers on social media. Here is Carmen and Marilu dancing in the supermarket'

'I miss our chats and the safety net of our community. I'm hoping, one day, we will get back there. One thing struggle has taught me is to say 'I love you more'. It's what all of this is all about, in my opinion. So, I love you sowith my whole, grateful soul. Happy gratitude day.'

The Baldwin family has kept a relatively low profile over the past month after Alec accidentally shot and killed Hutchins on set of the Western film on Oct. 21.

He now faces a looming lawsuit for the accidental shooting.

Baldwin was told the prop gun he was rehearsing with on set was 'cold', or safe to use, according to the Santa Fe county sheriff's office.

Relaxing: She put her feet up by the fire as Alec helped put the kids to bed on Thanksgiving

Mom mode: Hilaria was also grateful for her son Rafael's spelling escapades after he scrawled a few choice letters on their car

But tragedy unfolded when he fired the weapon which turned out to be loaded with live rounds, killing Hutchins and injuring film director Joel Souza.

Earlier this year, Hilaria apologized for faking her Spanish heritage after it was revealed her real name was Hillary Hayward-Thomas and she was from Boston, not Majorca, Spain.

She atoned on Instagram for misleading her followers and noted that she 'should have been more clear' about her past.

Hilaria insisted she was brought up 'with two cultures, American and Spanish' and feels 'a true sense of belonging to both.'

Baldwin gave birth to Eduardo in September 2020 after suffering two miscarriages and then welcomed Maria via surrogate in late February, a surprise announcement which an insider told People: 'It's no one's business about a woman's right to choose how and when she expands her family.'

Prior to welcoming Eduardo and MariLu, the couple  who have been married since 2012  has Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo and Romeo.
Dean Rowland has responded to his ex-fiance Harry Derbidge's allegations he assaulted him on a night out and then left him stranded in London without a phone or money.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Dean shared a lengthy post which claimed the TOWIE star, 27, had physically assaulted him 'several times', was a 'compulsive liar', drank 'too much' and pressured Dean to lie about their ongoing child adoption for publicity.

In the explosive social media post, Dean told of how his 'toxic relationship' with Harry left him suicidal and he called the police on the star's family for their 'disgusting behaviour' when they 'broke into his home and stole his dog' following their split.

'Those allegations are not true and fabricated': Dean Rowland has responded to his ex-fiance Harry Derbidge's allegations that he assaulted him on a night out

Harry and Dean, who were engaged for two years, announced they had split up back in early October and it appears tensions rose after Dean got into a new relationship.

Dean wrote: 'I hate to have to share such personal information but this is needed. The night in question that Harry has referred to in his social media post. Yes, I indeed took my bag back off him as it was my bag, but at no point did I know that his phone was inside it as we had been out all day beforehand and he had been posting stories during that day.

'I even called his mum and his dad that night to let them know that we had an argument and that I took my bag off him, I found his phone inside my bag while on the phone with his mum so his family knew this. I just said to them he will probably come to one of their houses.

Sad: Harry claimed that his ex-fiance Dean hit him on a night out and then left him stranded in central London without a phone or money

'His mum said on the phone to me that Hes a bit of a nightmare after a drink. This was around 7 pm and after looking for him for 3 hours I went to my friends house as I was upset about how the evening ended.'

Dean went on to say Harry didn't mention any physical violence had occurred from the night after picking up his phone.

Not holding back, he said: 'Harry broke into my house with his mum, dad and brother late at night a week after our break up and stole one of the dogs off me which legally are both registered to me and in my name.

'He also tried to intimidate me where my sister had to call the police on them for their disgusting behaviour. When the police arrived I decided not to take anything further as I wanted to calm the situation as his mum was screaming all sorts outside of my house.'

Allegations: Dean responded on Friday the 'toxic relationship' with Harry left him suicidal and that he called the police on the reality star's family when they 'broke into his home'

Dean then addressed Harry's black eye, claiming he believes the make-up artist had created it with make-up.

'The tracksuit he is wearing in one of those pictures is clothing I packed up for him more than 3 weeks after that night which his dad collected from my house while my friend was there to witness this. So, he wouldnt still have a black eye,' he wrote.

'Harry and I have stayed in contact for our business the whole time and never one had he ever mentioned any of this, we were even speaking the day before he did his post regarding Vets details for one of our dogs Baby.

'According to Harry he has been hidden away for 2 months which is a lie as hes going to a local pub every night, nights out with friends, doing makeup appointments in Brentwood at a salon and in a salon in Kent more than once a week.

Two sides to the story: Dean claimed: 'Harry several times physically assaulted me, which I never took any further'

'He has also been filming TOWIE. He also messaged me the other day to let me know hes working with a makeup training school and wanted to use Celebrity Brushes for it. Is this sounding shady yet? Keep reading.'

Addressing his own mental health, Dean revealed: 'Harry also knew our whole relationship that I had issues with mental health and used this to make me feel like sh*t on several occasions. I tried to take my own life twice in the last 6 months of our toxic relationship.

'As I wanted to end our relationship on many occasions but was made to feel like I couldnt survive without him and I also know that he has a very spiteful sting in his tale with lies and most of the time thought it would be easier to stay with him because of the business and our dogs.

'He stated he was abused on several occasion during our relationship which comes as complete news to me. Harry several times physically assaulted me, which I never took any further.

Bruised? Dean then addressed Harry's black eye explaining that he has been told by professionals that the picture is 'makeup and mixed with photoshop and facetune etc'

'Harrys post stated he has given me everything and left him nothing which is not true as I gave him everything he wanted, I also even said to him that I would help him get a flat so he could live independently.'

Explaining how the social media spat began, Dean wrote: 'All this started after I said I was going to go public about it as he withdrew money from our business account illegally and it was never discussed or signed off by all directors.

'I posted what I think was a nice post touching on the end of our relationship in which he told me he was doing the same and Whatsapped me the screenshots of what he was going to say, not once did he ever mention anything he claims in his recent post.

'The breakdown of our relationship was always to do with how much alcohol Harry drank and the fact that he was a compulsive liar.'

Hitting back at his ex's allegations, Dean wrote: 'Harrys lies dont come as a surprise' as he detailed the star had made him lie about adopting a child to get on Loose Women

Dean then said of his new romance: 'Harry found out last weekend that Ive moved on. For some people, this may seem soon, but we broke up way before any stories went out or any posts.

'Steven and I have been friends for 5 years and is the one person that I have always been in love with but unfortunately, the timing was never right, we reconnected after me being single and I can honestly say Ive never been happier in my life,

'Ive turned down some big TV dating shows as I know I want to spend the rest of my life with Steven and finally know what it feels like to be in a relationship with someone that respects you.

'Harrys Instagram post is nothing but a cry for help as those allegations are not true and fabricated. Ive also asked a few professionals for their opinion on the picture he has posted and they have confirmed its the makeup and mixed with photoshop and facetune etc.'

His side: Dean detailed his version of events in a lengthy Instagram post which claimed Harry had assaulted him several times and had lied about many details in his previous post

Hitting back at his ex's allegations, Dean wrote: 'Harrys lies dont come as a surprise to most people judging by the messages I have received so far. He even made me pretend we started our adoption process. We got on Loose Women from this, its all not true and it was all for the press as he wanted to get back on TOWIE.

'I know many will say why did I go along with it all this time? And to be honest Im not sure. Ive spent years defending his lies especially from all the cheating Towie stories and Ive been extremely trolled for it over the time.

'Im disgusted that a platform such as TOWIE would allow someone like this to constantly broadcast such lies about people and Im not just talking about me, Im talking about everyone he has done over the years.

'I thank everyone who has reached out to me so far and for those who havent especially Friends please take this time to read over what Ive said and know that this isnt a one-sided story.'

MailOnline has contacted Harry's representatives for comment.

Harry and Dean announced they had split up back in early October.

Furious: Dean revealed that Harry had recently found out he had moved on from their split with a new beau and slammed TOWIE for allowing Harry to continue appearing on the show

The TOWIE star took to Instagram earlier this week to share pictures of his alleged black eye, writing: 'Here is the story. On the 25/9/21 I was attacked by my ex because he was violent while under the influence of alcohol. I tried to resolve the situation but it ended up turning on me.

'He then pulled my side bag off of me and hit me full in the face which left me with a black eye and marked my neck, this all happened in Piccadilly Circus in public and he made me so scared I had no choice but to run away from him to get to safety

'I ran without a phone, money or anything (because he had taken my bag and then decided to carry on drinking at he's friend whilst I was left stranded) I had to find my own way home which took me 8 hours. No one would take me home because I didn't have any money on me, I was left in the city without any means to get home and I was a scared [sic]

'A few days later my ex and his sister called the police on me because I went into my own home with my family to collect my stuff including one of my dog's he's sister called the police on me.

'But the police were more concerned with my injuries and asked me did I want to press charges regarding the assault.. I said no because I was scared and to emotionally distraught.

'For the last 2 months I've been hidden away sad and scared but today I have finally found the courage to be honest and find the strength to see the person for who he truly is. No more today I start putting myself first

The story: He detailed his claims about what happened on the night in the caption of the post, claiming Dean was under the influence when the incident happened

'No one should be alone in these situations and just remember we are all stronger than what we think.'

'I've wanted to share my honesty I've been treated bad by someone and from now on I'm back to me and I'm back to the Harry we all know and love thank you and love you all.'

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Harry Derbridge and Dean Rowland for comment.

In October Dean announced that he and Harry had split up, writing: 'After 4 long amazing years, Harry and I have decided to part ways.'

'It's with a really heavy heart and absolute anxiety that I'm sharing this with you all.

'It feels odd that we have to share this kind of thing with everyone, but it's a consequence of the lives we've chosen to lead, which we also happen to be deeply grateful for. We're living in an incredible moment in time, but it's also a time where truth can easily be distorted into "alternative facts" :)

'So, I want to share the truth, so you know that it's most certainly fiction if you didn't read it here.

'Everyone on here, friends and social friends, have supported our relationship and been behind us no matter what we have been going through, be it our adoption process, giving us advice on our little 2 French bulldogs and just being a massive supporter of our business @celebritybrushes.

'After 4 long amazing years, Harry and I have decided to part ways; this is totally on good terms. Nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure taking us different paths for now.

'There are no secret nor salacious events at the root of decision- just two best friends realising it's time to take some space and help each other live the most joyous, fulfilled lives possible.

'I would trust him with anything and he still remains that important person in my life.

'No relationship is easy, and we all know this, but with my hand on my heart, I can say the last 4 years have been the most amazing memories I could have ever asked for in a human being. We have laughed, cried and drunk a lot of wine, and after all of this, I still have the utmost respect for Harry and his decisions going forward.

The former Pineapple Dance Studios reality TV star went on to say at the time that they plan to remain close friends.

'Not only was Harry a lifelong partner for me, but he also was my best friend I did everything with, and although I've lost the connection on that level he's still my best friend and someone I trust with my life.

'We are still a family and will always be dedicated to our business Celebrity Brushes.

'We won't be commenting beyond this, and we thank you all in advance for respecting our family's privacy and our mental well-being.

'Sending lots of love to everyone and thank you all for taking the time out to read small story from a very large part of my life. Dean xxx'

Harry hadn't commented on the break-up, however, many friends and fans rushed to send their love to the former couple.
The Bachelor's Irena Srbinovska has returned to work as a nurse - a year after finding love with Locky Gilbert.

On Friday, she shared a selfie dressed in blue scrubs and with a face shield on her head and looked happy to be back at work.

The 32-year-old, who is now based in Perth, beamed for the photo and appeared to have a hint of make-up on her visage with a little blush and mascara.

On the job! The Bachelor's Irena Srbinovska beamed in a post-work selfie on Friday after her first week back as a nurse and admitted she's struggling with a full-time return to the job

She appeared to be wearing her promise ring, given by her boyfriend Locky Gilbert, on a necklace around her neck.

'Week one done! So good to be back at work!' the brunette beauty wrote in the caption.

Irena also shared a photo of herself enjoying her brand new coffee machine following her first week back as a nurse, and said her body and mind are 'in shock'.

'Shift work is not easy to navigate': Irena also shared a photo of herself enjoying her brand new coffee machine following her first week back as a nurse, and said her body and mind are 'in shock' after almost two years since working full time

'I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since I last worked full time but I am back nursing and I have finished my first week back!

She continued: 'Shift work is not easy to navigate, my body clock is out of whack already but waking up to my morning coffee is such a treat!'

Back in September, Irena spoke about her career as a nurse before finding love with Locky Gilbert on The Bachelor last year.

Career: Back in September, Irena spoke about her career as a nurse and work at Geelong Hospital, before finding love with Locky Gilbert on The Bachelor last year

In the Instagram Q&A post, she shared a photo of herself during her time at Geelong Hospital.

Irena explained she had been in the profession for more than 10 years, working in a range of roles before taking 12 months off.

'I have taken some time to get back into it but I am finally going back to work... watch this space. News coming soon!' she added, hinting of her upcoming job at the time.

Loved up: Irena's career update comes after she found love with former Australian Survivor star Locky Gilbert on season eight of The Bachelor last year

She also advised nurses to look after their mental health, adding: 'Burnout is a real thing and in order to be able to look after others we need to look after ourselves.'

Irena's career update comes after she found love with former Australian Survivor star Locky Gilbert on season eight of The Bachelor last year.

Since falling in love, the couple have spent the past year travelling across Australia before settling in Locky's hometown of Perth.
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I'm A Celeb bosses have been forced to pre-record Friday night's show amid safety concerns for contestants as Storm Arwen hits Gwrych castle.

Ant & Dec will not present tonight's episode live for the first time in the show's 19-year history and filmed their segments earlier this afternoon ahead of the storm worsening.

Storm Arwen is due to hit the local area around 9pm, which is the same time the episode airs on ITV, with producers fearing the impending weather conditions could impact the satellite link.

It comes amid mounting fears that I'm A Celeb bosses have made this year's series 'too tough' following Richard Madeley's shock departure on Thursday.

Incoming: I'm A Celeb bosses have been forced to pre-record Friday night's show amid safety concerns for contestants as Storm Arwen hits Gwrych castle (pictured hosts Ant & Dec)

A storm is coming: Ant & Dec will not present tonight's episode live for the first time in the show's 19-year history and filmed their segments earlier this afternoon ahead of the storm worsening

An ITV spokesperson told MailOnline: 'Tonight's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! will be broadcast as a pre-recorded show rather than live due to the developing Storm Arwen and precautionary measures we're putting into place on production.

'Ant & Dec will record their links early evening and these will be played out during tonight's show. Our celebrities will remain inside the castle which is secure and we have contingencies in place to cover all weather scenarios to ensure the safety of our cast and crew.'

Speaking in a short clip posted to their Instagram ahead of the show the duo explained about the change to the set up, with the storm and strong winds clearly audible in the background.

Dec said: 'So you've probably heard we are having to record the show a bit earlier tonight because of the winds and Storm Arwen. It's bad, it's really windy isn't it, you can hear the wind rattling, so we have got to get it done now and get out of here.

'It's due to get worse later, so everybody is afraid that the satellite is going to go down and all of that so it's a bit risky to do a live show. So we will have to do it recorded tonight, that's the first time we've ever done that.'

Doing what they can: Speaking in a short clip posted to their Instagram ahead of the show the duo explained about the change to the show, with the storm and strong winds clearly audible in the background

He then joked: 'It's very very windy, and even worse for that it was lentils for lunch! So Ant is a bit windy as well!'

Stars including Frankie Bridge and Naughty Boy, who argued on Thursday's show over rice, will face further tensions as the storm hits, forcing contestants to shelter together in the freezing castle.

Gwrych castle has been taking a battering with gale force winds and rain bringing down tree branches and safety signs.

The Met Office has warned there is worse to come for the area around the castle later tonight from a storm they have given the Welsh name of Arwen.

Weather woes: The castle had been taking a weather battering with gale force winds and driving rain bringing down tree branches and safety signs.

The first heavy blasts meant security guards who had been brought into Gwrych Castle to protect the eleven remaining celebrities had to leave their posts to retrieve and reposition fencing blown down by the extreme weather.

Road signs which had been held down with sand bags were felled and blown into the road as cars had to swerve to avoid them.

Extreme weather warnings have forced the show's producers to take emergency measures to protect its stars who are staying in the 19th century castle.

The Met Office said: 'Storm Arwen will bring very strong northerly winds into coastal parts of Wales and parts of western England Friday night and into Saturday. '

Gwrych castle is positioned high up on a hill in an open space, less than a mile from Liverpool Bay which borders the Irish sea.

The Met office added: 'Flying debris is likely and could lead to Injuries or danger to life; Probably damage to trees, temporary structures and buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.

'Some roads and bridges are likely to close; There is a good chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services, such as mobile phone coverage.

'Injuries and danger to life is likely from large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal roads, sea fronts and properties.'

Storm drama: The first heavy blasts meant security guards who had been brought into Gwrych Castle to protect the eleven remaining celebrities had to leave their posts to retrieve and reposition fencing blown down by the extreme weather

Uh oh: The celebrities have been warned by ITV that tonight further massive disruption is likely by the furious weather blast with gusts of 70mph, which the Met Office named 'Storm Arwen'

Elsewhere, red alerts  warning of a 'danger to life'  have been issued across the northeast of England and Scotland for the first time in three years as Britons are warned to prepare for flooding, blizzards and power cuts.

The red warning, which covers areas including Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, will be in place from 3pm Friday until 2am Saturday morning.

Public transport in the red zone will be cancelled as the Met Office warned roofs could be blown off and 'power lines brought down.'

Warning: Red, amber and yellow wind and snow warnings have been released for Scotland, western England and Northern Ireland on Friday, before extending to almost the entire of the UK on Saturday

Disruption: Road signs which had been held down with sand bags were felled and blown into the road as cars had to swerve to avoid them

Amendments: A guard fixes some of the security fencing at Gwrych Castle ahead of the arrival of Storm Arwen

Windy: The Met Office said: 'Storm Arwen will bring very strong northerly winds into coastal parts of Wales and parts of western England Friday night and into Saturday'

As temperatures on Friday plunged well below average to -4.4C in the Lake District, the Met Office warned commuters of 'flying debris' expected to cause chaos on roads, bridges and railway lines.

ITV said it was making preparations for the heavy winter storm and had advised its show's stars that safety measures may have to be taken.

An I'm A Celeb spokesman told MailOnline: 'Show bosses are monitoring Storm Arwen and we have contingencies in place to cover all weather scenarios.'

Meanwhile, local resident Diana Pritchard, a retired dental assistant who lives with husband Ian close to the castle, said: 'We have been warned that the storm is going to last for nine hours from midnight and be absolutely terrible.

'I hope they take care of the celebrities up there. It's going to be pretty cold windy and wet and who knows what the storm will do to the trees and the structure of the walls around the castle.'

Location: The 19th century castle is positioned high up on a hill in an open space, less than a mile from Liverpool Bay which borders the Irish sea

Fears: Meanwhile, local resident Diana Pritchard, a retired dental assistant who lives with husband Ian (both pictured) close to the castle, said: 'We have been warned that the storm is going to last for nine hours from midnight and be absolutely terrible'

Bad weather: Fencing and signs have been blown over in the area surrounding the derelict Welsh castle

Sharon Roberts, 41, a charity worker of Rhyl, added: 'I live close to the coastline. I'm really worried about the sea and what it might do to the houses alongside as the waves are going to be pretty strong.

'But I would hate to be up there in that castle. They're not going to get any sleep that's for sure.

'I've been watching the show and they seem pretty grumpy with low morale. I wonder what this will do to them.

'It isn't going to help them in terms of spirit. But I'll probably make good TV. The show hasn't been as great this year because no one really knows who most of people are, but a storm hit in the castle will be very dramatic.'

Safety first: ITV said it was making preparations for the heavy winter storm and had advised its show's stars that safety measures may have to be taken

It comes after fears that I'm A Celebrity bosses have made this year's series too tough are mounting after Richard Madeley's shock departure yesterday.

The ITV show has been dramatically thrown into chaos after three of the contestants  Dame Arlene Phillips, Naughty Boy and Frankie Bridge  sought urgent medical treatment.

To make matters worse, its viewing figures have plummeted by 3 million on the same time last year down to 5.92 million.

Madeley was forced to quit I'm A Celeb after becoming ill following a gruelling bushtucker trial in which he crawled through fish guts and rotting fruit and vegetables which he complained were cold  before eating a squirrel for dinner.

Tricky: It comes after fears that I'm A Celebrity bosses have made this year's series too tough are mounting after Richard Madeley's shock departure yesterday (pictured Arlene Phillips and Naughty Boy)

The Good Morning Britain presenter, 65, was treated at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Wales  which meant that he broke Gwrych Castle's Covid-safe bubble and ultimately had to leave the show.

Former Strictly judge Phillips, who at 78 is the oldest contestant on the series, is reportedly being medicated for 'chronic pain'. Music producer Naughty Boy, 36, is said to be struggling mentally and Saturdays singer Bridge has developed a rash, The Sun reported.

A spokesman for I'm A Celebrity refused to be drawn on whether this year's series is too tough for the contestants when approached by MailOnline for comment.

Normally, the celebrities head to sunny Australia to complete horrific challenges which involve handling creepy crawlies and eating 'wobbly bits'. However, the past two series have taken place in damp and cold Wales because of the pandemic.

In chaos? The series is said to have been thrown into chaos behind-the-scenes after three of the celebrities have had to have urgent medical treatment (pictured Frankie Bridge)

The show's producers previously told MailOnline how they had planned on making this year's series even harder for the stars. I'm A Celebrity has been running so long, they argued, that they wanted to throw in extra challenges to keep the contestants 'on their toes'.

Who's panicking ITV? ARLENE PHILLIPS, 78 - Producers are concerned about Arlene's future on the show as she is dependent on painkillers to treat her chronic pain. She is the oldest ever star to take part in the show NAUGHTY BOY, 36 - Naughty Boy is the primary carer to his dementia-stricken mother Zahida and is said to be struggling more and more with being away from his ill mum FRANKIE BRIDGE, 32 - Frankie has also been seeking medical help for an unidentifiable rash that has left doctors stumped Advertisement

Bosses have scheduled one terrifying bushtucker trial every day of the programme, which airs for three weeks - meaning there will be 25 cruel challenges in total.

Five celebrities were forced to spend their first few nights in a brand new rival camp where they had to endure hellish living conditions. They have been forced to sleep on the cold hard floor, shower in the dark while having to keep hold of a chain to release water, and brush their teeth in a grubby sink  as well as relive themselves in a cramped privy.

I'm A Celeb creative director Tom Gould told MailOnline: 'We needed to make this year tougher. We need to keep on pushing the celebrities.

'Last year we were quite anxious because we didn't know what we were going to face, we didn't know how cold it was going to be or if the celebrities would be able to stick it out. They survived, just, so now we're going to push them even further every series and make sure we keep them on their toes, so they don't know what is coming.

'The show has been running for so long now that there are people that know it really, really well so we need to keep the surprise element. It means we have upped our game.'

I'm A Celebrity airs daily from 9pm on ITV.

Out and about: Madeley appeared frail but in high spirits as he was pictured at his home on Friday

The Sun reports that Phillips is on painkillers for 'chronic pain', while Naughty Boy is having a 'tough time' mentally due to being away from his dementia-stricken mum. And Bridge is said to have developed a rash and has had to seek medical attention.

A source said: 'There are growing concerns for Arlene who is really struggling and in chronic pain, she is being helped around by the likes of David Ginola and Naughty Boy and is looking really frail.

'It's hard enough roughing it in the ruins of an old castle let alone at 78 years old. She is a trooper and wants to show everyone how tough she is.'

The insider said Naughty Boy, real name Shahid Khan, is having counselling over his mother's health.

'He's been speaking to the show's psych team, led by Sandra Scott, on a specially set-up iPad to make sure he is staying upbeat,' an insider said. 'This is the longest he has been away from his mother since her diagnosis so they are keen to make sure he's not spiralling quietly.'

Phillips and Naughty Boy have both previously expressed their desire to leave Gwyrch Castle after struggling in breakout camp, The Clink.

Health scare: Richard, who was paid an estimated 200,000 to star in this year's competition, was taken ill hours after participating in a gruelling trial

The music producer had been particularly vocal about his desire to leave following the Treacherous Traps trial, with the star remarking: 'My time here is done!'

He told his fellow campmates: 'I do think my time here is done. I had a feeling earlier and I was thinking about mum and obviously I love you guys. I don't think after knowing what the Main Camp probably knew what they were putting me through knowing I did the challenge earlier  I don't know if I could ever join that camp.'

Naughty Boy's fellow campers were quick to reassure him but he continued his threats quit altogether and was joined by Phillips  even after the news that they were to join the Main Camp.

Meanwhile, Phillips said: 'I feel exactly the same. For me, I was hoping I was going to come out here strong and proud, but it hasn't started in the right way. I find it unacceptable. I know that I can't go on and my mind isn't going to change in the morning, one night isn't going to change.'

Medical treatment: Naughty Boy, real name Shahid Khan, is reportedly having counselling over his mother's health, while Frankie is said to have developed a rash

The crisis comes after Madeley was forced to leave the show after being rushed to hospital with an unknown medical condition.

In a major blow to the show as one of their top signings, the broadcaster, who was paid an estimated 200,000 to star in this year's competition, was taken ill hours after participating in a gruelling trial and complaining about the castle's temperatures.

In a statement, Madeley confirmed he had to quit the series after breaking the show's 'Covid bubble'. His daughter Chloe, 34, revealed her father is 'livid' he can't go back into the I'm A Celebrity camp.

He said in a statement: 'Hello all! Richard here  firstly just to say that I'm absolutely FINE. I started to feel briefly unwell in the small hours of the morning and was taken to hospital as a precaution.

'By leaving the camp, I had consequently broken the Covid 'bubble' and as such I've had to leave the castle and all the wonderful celebs that remain in the camp.

'Gutted': In a statement Richard, who was believed to be at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl, reassured fans he's 'fine' after his health scare

'Obviously I'm gutted to be leaving so soon but the safety of all the campmates is the number one priority. I'm incredibly excited to watch their journey continueeven more so at the prospect of being somewhere a little warmer than Gwrych Castle

'Thank you to everyone who supported me on my brief but completely unforgettable adventure  I've made some great friends and honestly had the time of my life.

A spokesman for I'm A Celebrity added: 'Our strict Covid protocols means Richard has sadly had to leave the show as he is no longer in the bubble the celebrities form when entering the castle. He has been a truly brilliant camp mate and we thank him for being part of this series.'

It was then revealed on Madeley that Richard is still 'too ill' to appear on Good Morning Britain on Monday.

Discussing his experience on Friday show, fellow GMB star Richard Arnold also spoke of the host's whopping 200,000 fee, admitting he's 'not sure he'll forfeit his fee yet'.

Ben Shephard admitted that show bosses are unsure whether the former This Morning anchor would be well enough to join them, stating: 'Apparently we'll be talking to him on Monday. Maybe we won't. We're hearing he's too ill. Okay, hopefully we'll talk to Richard on Monday.'

Sharing his opinion on Madeley having to leave the camp, Ben added: 'It was short and sweet. It's such a shame because Richard was the person who was trying to persuade the others not to leave and all of a sudden, he's gone.

'It sounds like it was a bit of a Covid-19 protocol issue, he broke the bubble to go to hospital and then couldn't go back in.

'I feel like someone's made a bit of a mistake there. It's such a shame though because he's already been such an integral part of the show.'
Unknowingly, a 12-year-old girl shook the conscience of millions around the world and forced them to turn an eye towards one of the biggest humanitarian crises unfolding during the time. It was Sharbat Gula, an Afghan refugee at a camp in Pakistan.

The iconic picture of Afghan Green-Eyed Girl, Sharbat Gula. Photo: National Geographic/Steve McCurry

Sharbat Gula and her piercing green-eyed gaze tore through the cover of National Geographic in 1985. At the time, Afghanistan was at war.

The Soviet Union had invaded the country and the Mujahideen were hard at battle with them. Amid the chaos were innocent people and children like Sharbat Gula, who were rendered homeless, and stateless overnight.

After nearly 4 decades of war, Sharbat Gula still represents the anguish of the displaced population of Afghanistan. Recently, US decided to end its 20-year war in Afghanistan. And the Taliban took over the country.

SO, WHERE IS SHARBAT GULA NOW? Fortunately, Sharbat Gula and her family are alive and well. She is 49 now. However, shes become a refugee all over again. After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Sharbat Gula was evacuated by Italian officials. She has now sought refuge in Rome.

Sharbat Gula pictured at the President's palace in Afghanistan in 2016. Photo: Getty Images

WHERE WAS SHE BEFORE BEING EVACUATED? Sharbat Gula lived life peacefully and anonymously in Pakistan for over 30 years after fleeing Afghanistan in the 80s. However, she was arrested by Pakistani officials in 2016 on charges of possessing fake identification papers. She was jailed and eventually deported to Afghanistan.

Finally, Sharbat Gula went back to her birthplace. The previous Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan welcomed her with open arms. She was given a house and a land of her own, and also a monthly stipend for her and her familys expenses.

Sharbat Gula with former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Photo: Getty Images

Fast forward 5 years, Ashraf Ghani has fled the country and there's a Taliban government in power.

WHAT WAS HER LIFE AFTER NATIONAL GEOGRPAHIC? After the picture was clicked in 1984 and published the next year, Sharbat Gula went on to live life normally without knowing about the publication of her picture or how famous she had become. She was married off at the age of 16, just 4 years after the picture was taken.

She lived most of her life in Pakistan. In an interview with the BBC, she said it was a good life. She also felt that Afghanistan was only her birthplace and Pakistan was her homeland.

17 years after the iconic picture was taken, photojournalist Steve McCurry, went on a search for the Afghan green-eyed girl. He found her. It was then that she came to know about the famous picture and the difference her picture made to the struggle of Afghan refugees.

Sharbat Gula's life centred around her husband and their three children. However, she lost her husband in 2012 to Hepatitis C.

CONTROVERSY OVER THE PICTURE: The famous moment frozen forever in time and history also brought along a bit of controversy.

When the picture was clicked, we didnt know much about the Afghan girl; not even her name. In the 2002 National Geogrpahic cover story, A Life Revealed, we got to learn more about who the girl was.

American Photojournalist Steve McCurry posing with his famous click of the Afghan girl. Photo: Getty Images

We also got to know that Sharbat Gula felt sad, angry and nervous when she learned about her world-famous photograph. Sharbat Gula is a conservative Pashtun. It is against their culture for a woman to reveal her face or be photographed by a man outside of her family.

In the BBC interview, Sharbat Gula said that the picture created more problems for her than benefits. She also blamed her picture for her arrest in Pakistan.

Sharbat Gula and her family have become refugees again. Now, shes living in land far from her birthplace or her homeland. Looking back, it seems her powerful world-famous picture changed the course of even her life.
Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Mainly cloudy. High 52F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 33F. Winds light and variable.
Bounty Killer has admonished both the police and Prime Minister Andrew Holness, after rank and file members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) descended on the Supreme Court in Downtown Kingston, to protest what they said were delays in the payment of their overtime claims.

The Dancehall veteran made his dissatisfaction known after media reports surfaced that hundreds of placard-bearing police officers clad in monochromatic black, had taken to the Supreme Court building to await the verdict on their 40-hour workweek and overtime claim.

A hungry man is a hangry man. This is managing of crime Andrew talking about when teh police is being underpaid. Yall see why teh crime rate is at peak high, Bounty wrote in addressing the Prime Minister, on his Instagram page where he shared a Star tabloid video of the protesting cops.

He then took issue with the police officers for breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) for which they had been prosecuting scores of Jamaicans, over the last year, which forbids large gatherings.

To the police them now, is this an illegal protest too thats why when the public voicing their opinions and demonstrating their rights the police should not let the same government thats not paying them programs them to violate the ppls rights. Who feels it knows it. Jamaicans we fed up, he noted.

Bountys concerns come against the background of an incident which took place in September in which the leader of the United Independent Congress (UIC) Joseph Patterson was arrested during a protest in Downtown Kingston, after he and his supporters tried to march on the House of Parliament, to, among other things, voice objection to forced COVID-19 vaccinations.

At the time the JCF had made it clear that no permit was applied for, or granted for a protest by the political party and its supporters and that the main organizer of the protest, Joseph L Patterson, following his non-compliance with the provisions under the Public Order Act.

Bounty Killer had at the time, shared a video clip of police arresting protesters and expressed dismay, which he directed at Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Mr Holness @andrewholnessjm where is your holiness god not sleeping though real dictatorship or its government badness, Bounty had written.

When did the people ever need permission to have a peaceful protest, ppl need to know that there is state law federal law and then there is universal law which is bigger than every other law and as living humans we are not subjected to any law of man but only the law of God, he later added on ZJ Sparks Instagram page where an image of one of the arrests was shared.

The Police High Command had also noted that while the Constitution allows for peaceful gathering, a march of that nature would not be authorized at this time, as it would be in breach of the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) which stipulates that no more than ten persons must be gathered in any public place.

Today, fans of the Warlord, agreed with him, some jeeringly in pointing out the duplicitousness of the police, in gathering in large groups to protest at a judicial building.

They dont need to be out there protesting they the ones always arresting people for protest in their rights dem need fi go do some police work or get a better paying job, realikon1212 said.

Bet if it was the normal Citizen of Jamaica those sooo called police would be brutalising them & killing them but unuh want money & unuh fi have right to demonstrate unuh damn lucky go tell mr nose unuh self make him use government badness pan unuh rathid cloth bugger unuhunuh ludddy, blackchampagnebeauty jeered.

Others said the police should be arrested for lawbreaking, as they were certain they were given no permission by the Commissioner of Police to protest in front of the Supreme Court.

Lock dem up fe breach of DRMA jus like how dem duh poor people, fraterdwayne said.

Jamaica is capital of double standards Couple months ago dem a lock up people fi protest n now dem a protest Dem fi get lock up too smfh, gazacorey demanded.

However, others like Billboard producer Kirk Koolface Ford and Bring Life artist Kalado, empathized with the police officers.

This is a longtime coming and I want the citizens of Jamaica to stand with the Police to demand that they get better wages because that will bring fort better service to the country, Koolface said.

For his part, Kalado argued that police and other civil servants ought not to have to pay taxes.

Police needs better pay for real!..every civil servant/government workers as a matter of fact, teachers, nurses, fire and fighters etc. instead the government taking back percentage off their paycheck and tax, when they should not be take tax from those workers pay check! which is already being taxed, he said.
Theres no stopping Samantha! The actress has now signed an international film based on the novel Arrangements of Love by Timeri N. Murari. Sam plays a progressive bisexual Tamil woman who runs a detective agency. BAFTA-winning Welsh director Philip John will wield the baton for the film, which is being bankrolled by Sunitha Tati.

I am excited to work with Philip John, and I am a big fan of Downton Abbey series (also directed by John), says Samantha.

This project will open a whole new world as I start this journey with Arrangements of Love, She says her role will be exciting and challenging too. Sunitha, who had worked with Samantha in the 2019 film Oh Baby, says she always had the actress in mind for the role.

I needed a performer from the South who can pull this off. I was wondering whether she would agree to do the film, given the high acclaim she won for The Family Man. However, when I narrated the story to her, she was curious to know more about her character arc and layers of the plot, Sunitha shares.

When she met John in Chennai recently for a detailed narration, Samantha was very excited about the nuances of her role and the preparation that was required, the filmmaker reveals.

Sam was very keen to thoroughly understand her role. She did a lot of homework. John was impressed with her prep and was glad to have someone like her on board, says Sunitha, adding that the director was keen to have an actor from the south, who was fluent in Tamil, for the part.

When we ask Sunitha why she zeroed in on Philip John and not an Indian filmmaker, she says that the story is that of a person who sees India for the first time in his life.

Someone who grew up in another country can see India in that perspective and romanticise our culture, which an Indian director would not have been able to achieve, she explains. Sunitha also reveals that shes tweaking the novel for the onscreen adaptation. The film will be made in English and Tamil, so we are tweaking it a bit to suit the different sensibilities without diluting the essence of the plot; we are trying to make the story appeal to an international audience," she says.

The filmmakers are now looking for a male lead who, as per the script, hails from the UK. Auditions are currently going on, and we are also looking for a south Indian actor to play the heros father, another important character, Sunitha adds.
Hyderabad: The Sardar Vallabhai Patel cantonment general hospital in Bolarum, which has once served as a reliable maternity hospital to not only residents of in and around the cantonment area but also neighbouring districts, is still yet to have a maternity care centre.

Flanked by the state highway leading to Karimnagar on one side and national highway 44 on the other, the hospital is conveniently located to cater to healthcare needs of lakhs of people. Yet, the general hospital lacks a trauma centre to provide treatment in case of road accidents. Residents have no option but to visit either Gandhi or Osmania hospitals in such cases.

Although the last few months have seen a significant improvement in the services offered -- OPD, dental, ENT, orthopaedic, ophthalmology, and skin among others, there is a need for recruiting full-time specialist doctors and extending in-patient capacity. According to the authorities, the hospital currently has a 50-bed in-patient facility, including a Covid treatment ward, in addition to an ICU unit. Authorities said the recruitment process is on for hiring five assistant medical officers.

If the hospital can provide all services with a 100-bed in-patient facility, it will be of excellent use to lakhs of low-income people in the region. The general hospital can hence decentralise services from Gandhi and Osmania hospitals, which have a heavy patient load, said A. Murali Krishna, working president, federation of new Bolarum colonies welfare association.

B. Ajith Reddy, CEO of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board, says the lack of support from the state government makes it difficult to sustain the maintenance of the hospital. Although we could gather funds to build infrastructure, we need funds to sustain the operations.

Women in surrounding areas complained that there was a need for a dedicated maternity centre in the hospital. We are referred to other hospitals in far off places in the city for pregnancy care, complained B. Laxmi, a resident of Machabollaram.
Various realtor bodies in Telangana raised their voices against the unscrupulous and unchecked mode of cheating the gullible customers in the name of registering undivided share of land, prelaunch and presale offers. (Representational Photo:DC)

HYDERABAD: Various realtor bodies in Telangana raised their voices against the unscrupulous and unchecked mode of cheating the gullible customers in the name of registering undivided share of land, prelaunch and presale offers.

Representatives of these real estate bodies including the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Credai) on Friday appealed to the state government to immediately act against people indulging in illegal sale, that too presumptive, of the properties. They also expressed concern over the Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority not acting firmly to put an end to the menace.

It is no less than a cancer to the realty sector. The image of Hyderabad as the top real estate investment destination will soon be hit badly if the government fails to act now, Credai Hyderabad president P. Ramakrishna Rao told media persons here.

Explaining about the procedure adopted by individuals and companies, some of which are very popular in the city, Rao said the former made prospective flat buyers invest in the land first by promising to offer the finished flat at half the market price. While some amount would be given as advance to the landowner, the remaining would be invested elsewhere. It is impossible to construct the project with the money they collected from the prospective buyers as a result of which there will be inordinate delay in launching the project. In some cases, they remain non-starters, Rao pointed out.

C. Prabhakar Rao, president of Telangana Builders Federation, cautioned that the investor inland in the form of undivided share would not get protection from any of the statutory agencies because his status would change from the customer to that of a co-developer of the project. The RERA Act provides stringent action against the builder or developer for cheating the customers but those buying undivided share of land inadvertently become a developer and liable to be punished, he said.

The realtors also wanted the RERA to find out such projects and notify besides initiating action to protect the interest of the buyers. Maintaining that they as advisory bodies would not have power to inspect the records of the companies indulging in the illegal practices, they said it would be easy for the government to detect such projects.

The first alert will be in the form of hundreds of people coming for registration of extents as small as 40-50 sq yds, they said adding that the RERA should immediately call for inspection of the records and bank accounts of the project developer and take necessary action.

Ch. Ramachandra Reddy, chairman, Credai, Telangana, D. Murali Krishna Reddy, president Credai, Telangana, R. Chalapathi Rao, president, TREDA, G. V. Rao, president, Telangana Developers Association and V. Rajasekhar Reddy, general secretary, Credai, Hyderabad, were present.
HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has sought the opinion of Kukatpally police in an anticipatory bail plea filed by IPS trainee officer Mrugender Lal Banoth, who is facing rape charges.

Kukatpally police registered a case against Mrugender Lal, son of former TRS legislator Madan Lal, in September for offences under Sections 376(2)(N), 420, 506, 406 of IPC for cheating, raping a woman after promising to marry her, destroying evidences, outraging the modesty of a woman among several other offences.

Police instituted Mrugenders parents as accused for abetting the crime. All three accused filed separate petitions against possible arrest. On November 5, Justice

Sri Devi granted relief to them by directing the police not to take coercive steps against them.

Meanwhile, the rape victim sought the court to make her a respondent.

However, the accused named only the SHO,Kukatpally police as the respondent. The victim urged the court to hear her contention in the anticipatory bail petition filed by the accused.

On Wednesday, counsel for the victim, Raja Gopal submitted that the police had not initiated any inquiry into the issue nor did they interrogate anyone.

He submitted that the police officers who were approached by the victim had advised her to settle for a compromise.

Meanwhile, counsel for the accused, Radha Rani pointed out that the defacto complainant hadlodged a complaint against the accused only after a FIR was registered against her on September 4 on charges of sending abusive messages on social media against persons known to the accused.

The single judge Justice Kanneganti Lalitha expressed displeasure against police for the delay in submitting their stand and gave them a days final chance to submit the status of investigation in the two cases.
New Delhi: In a tough election that saw Indian diplomats burning the midnight oil, the CBIs Special Director Praveen Sinha was on Thursday as Delegate for Asia on the Executive Committee of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol), sources said on Thursday. The elections were held in Istanbul, Turkey, during the ongoing 89th Interpol General Assembly. India was running against four other contestants  China, Singapore, South Korea and Jordan for two posts from Asia.

Sources said that Thursdays electoral victory was the result of an intense and well-coordinated election campaign across the world and that the Indian Ambassador in Turkey had camped in Istanbul for the last few days and held on-the-ground bilateral meetings with delegations for the final efforts to gain support for Indias candidate. Sources added, Crucial support of friendly countries was sought at bilateral engagements at different levels. Our Embassies and High Commissions regularly followed up with host governments. Ambassadors and High Commissioners resident in Delhi were similarly reached out to.

Simultaneously, Indias National Central Bureau (NCB-India) reached out to its counterparts around the world to campaign for this election. Sources said New Delhi deeply appreciates all those countries who voted for India in the election.

Interpol is a vital body for tackling the rising spectre of trans-national organised crimes, terrorism and cyber-crimes. India will continue to actively contribute to Interpols aims and objectives and to enhance its effectiveness through our professional competence and experience, sources pointed out.
Scientists the world over will be watching the new variant for signs of gaining momentum or spreading more widely and rapidly. (Representational image)

New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday asked all states and union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana, where a new COVID-19 variant of serious public health implications has been reported.

In a letter to additional chief secretaries or principal secretaries or secretaries (Health) of the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked them to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive are sent to the designated IGSLS or genome sequencing laboratories promptly.

It has now been reported by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) that multiple cases of a COVID-19 variant B.1.1529 have been reported in Botswana (3 cases), South Africa (6) and Hong Kong (1 case), Bhushan said in the letter.

"This variant is reported to have a significantly high number of mutations, and thus, has serious public health implications for the country, in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel.

"It is therefore imperative that all international travellers travelling from and transiting through these countries, (they are part of the 'at risk' country category of international travellers coming to India) and also including all other 'at risk' countries indicated in the revised Guidelines for International Arrivals issued by this ministry dated November 11, 2021, are subjected to rigorous screening and testing, as per MoHFW Guidelines," he said.

The contacts of these international travellers must also be closely tracked and tested as per MoHFW guidelines.

"You are also requested to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive are sent to the designated IGSLS promptly as per the INSACOG Guidance Document issued by this Ministry dated 15 July, 2021," the letter said.

Bhushan said state surveillance officers must also establish close coordination with their designated/tagged IGSLS for expediting results of genomic analysis, so that necessary public health measures may be undertaken by the states and union territories in case presence of variant of concern or variant of interest is reported by the INSACOG network.

"It is critical for the states and UTs to adhere to the overarching Test-Track Treat-Vaccinate principle to ensure stringent implementation of containment measures as per MoHFW guidelines, and to prevent the spread of VoC/Vols and formation of clusters of cases," he said.

The new variant of COVID-19, feared to have a high amount of spike mutations unseen before, has been detected in South Africa, with authorities there confirming 22 positive cases associated with it on Thursday.

Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, had posted details of the new variant classed as B.1.1.529 on his Twitter account earlier this week, following which scientists have been weighing in on what is being considered a variant of concern  though it is yet to be formally categorised in the UK.

Scientists the world over will be watching the new variant for signs of gaining momentum or spreading more widely and rapidly. The high number of spike mutations are concerning from the point of view of both higher transmissibility and immune evasion.
VISAKHAPATNAM: The proposed floating restaurant on Bangladesh-abandoned merchant vessel MV Maa, the first of its kind in south India, will be thrown open for public viewing from December 29.

The vessel will in phases have an open restaurant on the deck, an air-conditioned restaurant in cargo area with a sky roof, and additional facilities like sea-going yacht, cottages and water scooters.

A visit to the vessel itself will be exciting. Hence we are opening it for public, said Surender Singh Gill, promoter of Shore and Ship Resorts, which has tied up with AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) for the Rs 15-crore project.

In the first phase, the ship and marine works will be developed by Shore and Ship Resorts and infrastructure on the shoreside beach will be put in place by APTDC. As the project is close to popular tourist places like Tenneti Park and Kailasagiri Hills, a separate road and parking lots are being developed at Jodugullapalem beach to avoid traffic congestion, said APTDC managing director S. Satyanarayana.

The abandoned ship will be an attractive tourist project for the state. Hence we have asked the developers to advance their opening dates, so that it can cater to tourists visiting Vizag this winter season itself, Satyanarayana told Deccan Chronicle on Friday.

There was a lot of excitement in Visakhapatnam when the vessel ran aground at Tenneti Park on October 12 last year. Thousands closed in to view the ship and took pictures. Police had to cordon off the area to prevent accidental drowning.

The 80-metre Bangladeshi vessel had been anchored at Visakhapatnam on September 19 in ballast condition to load 2,800 tonnes of quartzite for Port of Mongla in Bangladesh. Due to strong winds on the fateful night of October 12, the vessels anchor chain snapped and the ship ran aground near Tenneti Park.

The AP government quickly took advantage of the situation and floated the idea of converting it into a floating restaurant. Incidentally, the previous Telugu Desam government had made futile attempts to turn decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Viraat as a major floating hotel.
Revanth Reddy said the Congress party will fight in support of farmers on November 27 and 28 at Indira Park. He called upon party activists and farmers to participate in the agitation.  DC Image

HYDERABAD: TPCC president Revanth Reddy said on Thursday that around 67,000 farmers ended their lives in distress after Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao came to power for a second time in 2018, and asked what KCR gave to their families.

The chief minister announced Rs 3 lakh as ex-gratia to families of farmers who died in Delhi while agitating against farm laws, but ignored the farmers of Telangana state, Revanth said, adding that "KCR is a traitor to the causes of Telangana and its farmers.

The Congress leader, at an event on Wednesday, welcomed TRS NRI cell America convener Rangineni Abhilash Rao of Kollapur assembly constituency into the Congress fold. Hundreds of youths along with Abhilash joined the Congress party.

Revanth Reddy said the Congress party will fight in support of farmers on November 27 and 28 at Indira Park. He called upon party activists and farmers to participate in the agitation.

He demanded that the chief minister reveal to the people what he has gained from his recent Delhi visit. Undivided Mahabubnagar is the-most backward district and especially Kollapur assembly constituency. People of Kollapur are unable to get either drinking water or irrigation water. KCR betrayed the oustees of various acquired lands, who had been promised government jobs, he alleged.

Revanth urged the people to re-think as to why they achieved Telangana state and who ruled them. KCR is a traitor who ignored the causes of Mahabubnagar district, he said.

He said, Sonia Gandhi gave me an opportunity to be TPCC president. This is an honor to the backward Mahabubnagar district. He said the Congress will win 14 MLA and 2 MP seats in undivided Mahabubnagar districts in the next general elections.

The Congress chief came down heavily on agriculture minister Niranjan. He alleged that the minister responded to requests from the public only when he got some monetary benefits. Niranjan Reddy took a cut from the funds meant for Krishna river pushkar works, he alleged.

He said the BJP and TRS governments are playing dramas on paddy procurement and pushing farmers into distress.
Back in May, a report had emerged that Apple has chalked out plans to manufacture its own 5G modem and be ready to incorporate them in the iPhones launching in 2023.

However, there was no information on who would be the supply partner for Apple. Now, Nikkei Asia has learned that the company's long-time A-series chipset-maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.(TSMC) sealed a deal to manufacture the 5G modems.

Despite the chipset supply constraints around the world, Apple is the least affected among the technology companies. With a clear strategy in place to take care of future requirements, the Cupertino-based company has been a step ahead and seen selling its products with less delay in shipments compared to rival brands.

It should be noted Apple and Qualcomm had a long battle over modem pricing and licensing fee issues and out of the blue, dropped all litigations against each other in 2019. They sealed a deal including a six-year license agreement with Qualcomm and an option to extend for two years for procuring modems for iPhones.

But, within less than a year of the signing, Apple acquired a majority stake of Intel's smartphone modem division for $1 billion. The deal included 17,000 wireless technology patents, ranging from protocols for cellular standards to modem architecture and modem operation.

This was done to end the dependence on Qualcomm and now, Apple is on course to accomplish self-reliance on designing and manufacturing of a major component of iPhones, iPads, and Watches.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
The European Union said on Friday that it will ease its restrictions on exporting Covid-19 vaccines.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said that as of January it will no longer require vaccine producers to request special authorisation to export outside the 27-nation bloc.

Earlier this year when vaccines were still in short supply, the EU introduced a mechanism to keep some of the jabs it secured from AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish drug company, from being diverted elsewhere.

The export control system, aimed at making sure large drug companies would respect their contracts, was used by the EU in March, when a shipment of more than a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia was blocked from leaving.

When the dispute with AstraZeneca broke, the EU was lagging well behind the United States and other countries in Covid-19 vaccinations. According to Stella Kyriakides, the Commissioner for Health, the bloc has now vaccinated over 65% of the total EU population of some 450 million inhabitants.

Also read: EU drug regulator approves first Covid shot for 5-11-year-olds

The EU and AstraZeneca said in September that they reached a deal to end their legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the company's Covid-19 vaccines.

EU commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said the transparency of exports will be ensured by a new monitoring mechanism that will provide the commission with companies' vaccine export data.

Spinant noted that the EU is the biggest global provider of Covid-19 vaccines, with over 1.3 billion doses exported to more than 150 countries.

Amid a new significant uptick in infections in the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said vaccinations need to be stepped up further.

"We need to convince more people to get vaccinated," she said. "The good news is that we have enough vaccine doses. By the end of this week, Europe will have delivered 1 billion doses to our member states."

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The WHO on Friday cautioned against imposing travel restrictions due to the B.1.1.529 Covid-19 variant, saying it would take weeks to understand the implications of the newly discovered strain.

The World Health Organization said its Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) was holding a meeting Friday to discuss the variant first detected through surveillance in South Africa.

As European nations began banning flights from South Africa, the UN health agency said countries should take a risk-based and scientific approach when considering travel curbs in light of the variant -- but cautioned against restrictions.

"WHO is closely monitoring the recently reported variant B.1.1.529," spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a media briefing in Geneva.

"Early analysis shows that this variant has a large number of mutations that require and will undergo further study.

"It will take a few weeks for us to understand what impact this variant has.

Also read: South Africa calls British travel ban over new Covid-19 variant 'rushed'

"Researchers are working to understand more about the mutations and what they potentially mean for how transmissible or virulent this variant is, and how they may impact on diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines."

Germany and Italy on Friday joined Britain and other European countries in banning most travel from South Africa as governments scramble to prevent the spread of the new variant.

Singapore and Malaysia said they would restrict arrivals from seven African countries.

The WHO is cautious on imposing travel restrictions relating to Covid-19.

"At this point, again, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against," Lindmeier said.

The TAG-VE group began a virtual meeting at 1100 GMT to discuss whether B.1.1.529 should, at this stage, be classified as a variant of interest, or the more troubling variant of concern.

There are currently four variants of concern: Alpha, Beta (which was first documented in South Africa), Gamma and the overwhelmingly dominant Delta.

There are also two variants of interest: Lambda and Mu.

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More than 50 European and Asian leaders called for vaccine equity Friday at a virtual summit as a new Covid-19 variant was detected in South Africa.

The two-day 13th summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting, hosted by Cambodian leader Hun Sen, came as nations raced to slow the spread of the new more infectious strain -- known as B.1.1.529 -- that scientists fear could be more resistant to vaccines.

Globally, coronavirus jab distribution has been unequal with poorer nations' vaccination rates remaining at dismal levels while wealthier countries push booster jabs.

In a statement after the summit, leaders emphasised the need for "all countries to have equitable and timely access" to Covid-19 testing, medication and vaccines.

They also called "for the strengthening of national and multilateral approaches and international cooperation" over the pandemic.

Also read: EU eases its controls on Covid-19 vaccine exports

"We will continue sharing vaccines with the world," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the summit.

But she warned that increased vaccine manufacturing capacity was needed to reach a 70 per cent global vaccination rate by mid-2022.

Europe has already exported more than 550 million doses to the Asia Pacific region, she said, adding, "Global solidarity is vital to end the pandemic."

So far 7.7 billion doses have been administered worldwide but vaccination rates in poor countries remain low.

The World Health Organisation states for every 100 people in high-income countries, 133 doses have been administered, while in low-income countries, only four doses per 100 people have been administered.

Last month the United Nations and the WHO criticised rich nations' rollout of booster shots, choking off poorer nations' access to jabs.

The summit also discussed "turning climate ambition into climate action," von der Leyen said.

Recovery from the pandemic was an opportunity to accelerate transitions to green and low carbon emission economies, leaders said.

"The meeting attached high importance to a balanced and environmentally friendly recovery," Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said.

The summit also discussed the ongoing crisis in coup-hit Myanmar and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, calling for unhindered access for humanitarian groups providing assistance.

"Leaders expressed concern about the security situation and agreed that Afghanistan must never again become a safe haven for terrorism and called on the Taliban to cut ties with all terrorist groups," a statement said.

On Myanmar, leaders urged all parties to "immediately cease violence", and called on the junta to release individuals arbitrarily detained.

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Only a quarter of health workers in Africa are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the World Health Organization said Thursday warning that the majority of the continent's frontline medical workforce were dangerously exposed.

By contrast, a recent study of 22 predominantly high-income countries revealed that more than 80 per cent of healthcare workers there were fully vaccinated against coronavirus, according to the WHO.

"The majority of Africa's health workers are still missing out on vaccines and remain dangerously exposed to severe Covid-19 infection," WHO's Africa director Matshidiso Moeti said after revealing just 27 per cent of health workers on the continent were jabbed.

Also Read | Covid will continue to spread as people socialise and travel, says WHO

"It is important to have high vaccine coverage among health workers not only for their own protection but also for their patients and to ensure health care systems keep operating during a time of extreme need," the WHO said.

Only one country in Africa had the necessary number of health workers -- 10.9 per 1,000 population -- while 16 countries had fewer than one per 1,000, according to the WHO.

"Any loss of these essential workers to Covid-19 due to illness or death therefore heavily impacts on service provision capacity," the WHO said.

Also Read | Children at lower risk from Covid, vaccines should go to poor nations, says WHO

The WHO intervention came as scientists in South Africa revealed that they had detected a new Covid-19 variant with "a very high number of mutations", blamed for an "exponential" surge in infections there.

For the first time since the third wave peak in August, cases in Southern Africa have increased, jumping 48 per cent to November 21, compared with the previous week.

"With a new surge in cases looming over Africa following the end-of-year festive season, countries must urgently speed up the rollout of vaccines to health care workers," said Moeti

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At least 14 Opposition parties on Friday boycotted the Constitutional Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament, protesting against the violation of fundamental rights and undermining of the Constitution.

Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, NCP, AAP, CPI(M), CPI, RSP, Muslim League and Kerala Congress were among the parties which kept away from the function attended by President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

This was a repeat of 2019 when the entire Opposition boycotted the function in protest against the way in which BJP's Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as Maharashtra Chief Minister in an early morning coup.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed "pain" over the boycott, saying that staying away from such non-partisan events held by Parliament was not good for the health of democracy.

Congress said it did not participate in the Constitution Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament in protest and to remind the country that the Constitution is not being respected and is being undermined instead

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted, "height of hypocrisy! Observing Constitution Day while severely undermining it's fundamental features. Opposition boycott as a mark of protest against the violation with impunity of fundamental rights guaranteed to all. Resist and defeat these diabolic designs."

Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma told reporters, "our protest today is based on fundamental principles. We have protested to remind the country that the Constitution is not being respected, the Constitution is being undermined, parliamentary democracy is being undermined and insulted with the enactment of laws bypassing scrutiny which is creating enormous problems, because each law enacted by Parliament impacts the masses."

Referring to Modi's remarks that family-run parties are a danger to democracy as they go against the spirit of democracy, Sharma said the Prime Minister wants to change history itself and obliterate the memory of those who sacrificed for the freedom of the country.

"The BJP had no role in the freedom struggle which Mahatma Gandhi led. All leaders were Congressmen. The BJP is seeking out these leaders. They know their ancestors had no role in the freedom struggle. Rather, they were complicit with the British who crushed the freedom movement," he said.

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Fifteen more countries have recognised India's Covid-19 vaccination certificate, taking the total number of such nations that have approved India's vaccine certificate to 21, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates continues! Fifteen more recognitions for India's vaccination certificate," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet.

"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates with India: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palestine, Philippines, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine," MEA said in a statement.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare said earlier that nearly 100 countries have agreed to the mutual acceptance of vaccination certificates of India's Covid-19 vaccines and the vaccination process.

Also Read | What we know about the new Covid-19 variant in South Africa

The Minister in an event on Thursday said, "Mutual recognition of vaccinations increases ease of travel for tourism and business thereby boosting economic recovery the world so desperately needs,".

Highlighting how India helped other countries throughout the pandemic, he said, "Being the Pharmacy of the World, India has generously supplied HCQ tablets and other medical equipment to 27 countries. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, 6.63 crore doses were sent to 95 countries".

Explaining India's strategy of curbing Covid pandemic, he said that six vaccines are approved in India, of which two are indigenously developed. Near 1.2 billion doses have been administered with 82 per cent Indians receiving at least one dose and 44 per cent being fully vaccinated.

"India is willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin to all the countries", said Union Health Minister in a meeting with the ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean nations on Thursday.

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Stressing the importance of maritime security in an increasingly globalised world, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said oceans are the pathways to prosperity and it is important that their access remains free and unencumbered, both from traditional and non-traditional threats.

Naidu also said the Covid-19 pandemic has brought out the many inadequacies in the current global system, particularly the health system and the supply chains. He called for a multilateral and collaborative approach to address these gaps.

Addressing the Retreat Session of the two-day AsiaEurope Meeting (ASEM) Summit which began on Thursday in a virtual format, he mentioned India's contribution in the fight against Covid, saying that by controlling the transmission of the infection in one-sixth of the world's population it has contributed to making the world safer.

Referring to the milestone of more than a billion vaccinations, Naidu said India is also in the process of restarting the global export of vaccines to countries in need.

"Stressing the importance of maritime security in an increasingly globalised world, the vice president said oceans are the pathways to prosperity and it is important that their access remain free and unencumbered, both from traditional and non-traditional threats," an official statement issued by the Vice-President Secretariat said.

Naidu also mentioned the five principles that define India's approach.

That include free, open and secure maritime trade, peaceful settlement of maritime disputes based on international law, collective address of natural disasters and maritime threats, preservation of the maritime environment and maritime resources and encouraging responsible maritime connectivity based on sustainability and absorption capacity of countries.

Describing climate action as another area of common interest, the vice-president reiterated that the road to fighting climate change is through climate justice which requires countries to take a bigger and long-term picture into account.

Noting that in the post-pandemic era, a different world awaits us, Naidu said, "It is one that puts a greater premium on trust and transparency, resilience and reliability, as also on choices and redundancy."

He observed the ASEM process, bringing together countries of Asia and Europe, has a critical role to play in this regard.

Naidu also reaffirmed India's commitment to share its experience and resources with the world in the spirit of solidarity to ensure security and growth for all in the region.

ASEM is a platform for the countries in Asia and Europe to exchange views on regional and global issues and strengthen cooperation in a wide range of areas.

The grouping comprises 51 member countries and two regional organisations  the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The countries in the grouping represent 65 per cent of the global GDP, 60 per cent of the global population, 75 per cent of global tourism and 55 per cent of global trade.

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President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday described the Opposition as the most important element of democracy, on a day when 14 opposition parties boycotted the Constitution Day function organised by Parliament.

Addressing the function in the Central Hall of Parliament, Kovind said it was natural for members of the ruling party and the Opposition to have differences of opinion, but it should not hinder the real purpose of public service.

The Opposition is, in fact, the most important element of democracy. Without an effective Opposition, democracy becomes ineffective. It is expected that the government and the Opposition, despite their differences, continue to work together in the best interests of the citizens, the President said at the function that was attended by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and members of the Parliament.

Kovind said that all members of Parliament, whether from the ruling party or the Opposition, were defenders of the dignity of Parliament.

The President said that if the Members of Parliament look at their responsibility as an extension of the ideals of the freedom struggle, they would remain mindful of their duty towards strengthening the legacy of the framers of the Constitution.

The President said Indian democracy was undoubtedly one of the greatest achievements of human history considering the challenges the nation faced at the time of Independence.

Some western scholars said that the system of adult suffrage was bound to fail in India. But this experiment has not only proved successful, but has gained in strength over the past decades. Even other democracies have learned a lot from Indian democracy, Kovind said.

Also read: Congress skipped Constitution Day event in protest against authoritarian functioning of BJP govt: Sharma

Kovind said it is natural for members of the ruling party and the opposition to compete  but this competition should be about being better representatives and doing better things for the public good.

"Only then will it be considered healthy competition, he said, adding that the competition in Parliament should not be confused with rivalry.

We all believe that our Parliament is a 'Temple of Democracy'. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of every parliamentarian to conduct themselves in this temple of democracy with the same spirit of reverence with which they do in their places of worship, Kovind said.

Speaking about the release of the digital version of the debates, the calligraphed version of the Constitution and the updated version of the Constitution as well as the launch of online quiz on constitutional democracy, the president said in the Constituent Assembly debates we get glimpses of the greatness of human thought and consciousness channelled for nation-building.

With the digital version of the debates made available, people in the country as well as in the whole world, especially the younger generation, would get to know about the greatness and potential of India and would also get guidance for the future, he said.

Also read: Modi committed to welfare of all sections, says Shah on Constitution Day

In the calligraphed version of the Constitution, people would get to see the finest examples of the excellence of our art, culture and ideals contained in our history and legend. And with the updated version of the Constitution, citizens, especially students would get knowledge about the journey of our constitutional progress so far, he said.

The initiative to conduct an online quiz on the subject of constitutional democracy would be very effective in promoting constitutional values among our citizens, especially the younger generation, the statement said.

The president said that we have recently observed the year-long 150th birth anniversary celebrations of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.

We are now celebrating the 75th anniversary of our Independence. It is a matter of happiness for all of us that people from all over the country are actively participating in various programs organised as part of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', he said.

It is evident from the enthusiasm of ordinary citizens that they carry within their hearts deep respect for those known and unknown freedom fighters whose sacrifices made it possible for us to breathe the air of freedom, Kovind said.

He urged all to rededicate themselves to follow those great national ideals in our daily lives.

Kovind said that by following these ideals, we would further enhance our stature on the world stage and would be equipped to face any challenge effectively.

(with inputs from PTI)

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National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Chairman Dr Bhagwan Lal Sahni on Friday said caste-based census is a legitimate demand and it would help in making better policies.

Sahni said several organisations have met him with this demand and he has apprised the authorities concerned of the matter.

It is for the government to act now, he told reporters in Patna.

Also Read | All-party meeting soon to take decision on caste-based census in Bihar: Nitish

Caste census will certainly help policymakers frame targeted welfare policies for backward castes.... I personally feel that if it is done, it will be easy for the government to know how many people belong to which caste and what should be done for them, Sahni said.

In caste-based census, details of Other Backward Class (OBC) people will be taken besides those of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Several political parties have started demanding caste-wise enumeration of the countrys population, Sahni said.

A number of political parties have raised the demand for such a census ahead of assembly elections due next year in various states including Uttar Pradesh.

The only caste-based census in the country had been conducted way back in 1931.

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Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya Friday said about Rs 64,000 crore will be invested by the Centre in creating health infrastructure in the country over the next five years.

The Union Health & Family Welfare Minister who was on a day-long tour to Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, while interacting with health officials at Khandro Drowa Zangmo District Hospital, said the central government is working to provide health security to all through various health welfare schemes, an official statement released here said.

We will work with Ayushman Bharat digital health mission which will enable us to know the history of a patient and can provide quality health services, the minister said.

Mandaviya also lauded the Pema Khandu government for taking various health initiatives in the state and assured all help and support from the Centre. State health Principal Secretary Dr Sharat Chauhan presented the overall health scenario of the state through a power point presentation and apprised the union minister on the Covid-19 management and vaccination status in the state, the report said.

President of the Arunachal chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr Lobsang Tsetim requested that the centre take over the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) at Nahrlagun for its future sustainability, quality education and services.

Dr Tsetim also underlined the urgent need for setting up a super specialty hospital in the state besides reforms of all existing primary health centres.

Earlier, Mandaviya visited the wards of the district hospital and interacted with the patients and distributed fruits among them.

He also visited the Jan Aushadi dispensary in the hospital, the report added.

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Even as the opposition parties like the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party rollout sops after sops for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling BJP in the state is not responding to their promises and is confident of its own agenda.

The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are making tall promises even before releasing their manifestoes officially.

The Congress leads the list by promising 40 per cent reservation in tickets to women, smartphones and electric scooty to girl students, three free gas cylinders every year to women, free bus travel for women, Rs 1,000 pension for widows, Rs 10,000 for anganwadi and ASHA workers, and 75 schools named after women warriors.

The Aam Aadmi Party, on the other hand, is trying to make inroads into the middle class vote base by promising free electricity up to 300 units and massive upgradation of educational and health facilities on their Delhi model.

Also Read | Priyanka Gandhi to meet kin of those killed in UP village

The Yogi Adityanath government has conveniently turned a blind eye to the promises made by two parties.

A senior minister said, "Why should we bother about what these parties are promising because neither of them are even in the race to form the next government. They are far, far away from the majority figure and so they can promise the moon. People know that their promises have no value because they are non-players in the political arena."

The BJP is confident that the work done by the Modi and Yogi governments, along with a liberal topping of Hindutva, will take it comfortably beyond the majority mark.

"Look at the work done by our governments and compare it to what these parties have done and anyone can see the difference. The Purvanchal Expressway in the east and the Jewar airport in the west, are best examples. Some parties are contesting elections only for the fun of it. If Priyanka is so serious about women's issues, why does she not ensure the same facilities in the Congress-ruled states?" asked Uttar Pradesh Minister Satish Mahana.

A senior BJP functionary said that the party was gearing up to reach out to voters on the basis of its achievement.

"We are not building castles in the air. We will give proof of the work done by our governments. The promises for the future will be included in the manifesto but we are not wasting our time by responding to what the Congress, AAP and other parties claim," he said.

Also Read | Yogi Adityanath bans sale of meat on birth anniversaries of 'great personalities'

Interestingly, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has constantly refused to respond to the demands raised by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Whether it was the demand for removal of district magistrate after the Hathras incident or a CBI inquiry into the custodial death of a Dalit or withdrawal of cases against anti-CAA protesters -- the BJP government has refused to accept any demand of the Congress.

In the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, the arrest of accused Ashish Misra, was ensured only after the Supreme Court took a stern view of the incident in which four farmers were mowed down by an SUV belonging to the Union minister's son.

"The media is playing up the Priyanka factor but we know her standing. What magic did she weave in the Lok Sabha elections where her own brother lost in Amethi? All the Congress propaganda is only for media consumption," said a party leader.

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The "Swarnim Vijay Mashaal" (Victory Flame), which was lit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last year marking the beginning of the 50th anniversary celebrations of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, was welcomed at a colourful ceremony in Kolkata on Friday.

Enthralling presentations by young boys and girls, a military band display and a film, '1971 War of Liberation', were part of the function at Eco Park.

Several officers of the three services - the Army, Navy and Air Force - were present at the function, apart from retired officers including former Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.

"The Victory Flame will be stationed at Kolkata till December 4," a Defence official said.

Air Marshal (retd) Raha said the flame is an eternal sign of sacrifice.

"We must remember the sacrifices made by the Indian soldiers and the Bangladesh Mukti Joddhas (liberation warriors)," he said, adding that the modern generation needs to be made aware of their valour in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to the birth of a new nation - Bangladesh.

The Victory Flame will be taken to the residences of the heroes of the 1971 war who were awarded medals for their gallantry, the Defence official said.

Colonel (retd) Sheel Kumar Puri, who was awarded 'Vir Chakra' for his valour in the war, said he is thrilled to be part of the golden jubilee celebrations of a war in which he fought.

Born in 1939, Puri was a Major and a company commander in the Army when he fought the Pakistani forces on the western front.

"When you go out in the war, you don't know whether you will come out alive or not, but I came out alive," he told PTI.

"But in my wildest of dreams, I never thought that I will be alive in the 50th anniversary. There cannot be a better moment than that," Puri, who is settled in Kolkata, said, standing proudly in front of the Victory Flame.

Four Victory Flames lit from the eternal flame at the National War Memorial in New Delhi are being carried throughout the cities and villages across the nation.

The victory flames have been sent to four cardinal directions of the country and they will converge back at New Delhi in December 2021.
Hundreds of farmers gathered at the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders abutting the national capital to mark one year of the protests against three farm laws which Prime Minister Narendra Modi dramatically announced to repeal last week.

Riding on tractors, chanting slogans, and distributing sweets, the protestors celebrated the government decision to repeal the three farm laws, but appeared ready for fresh battle to demand legal cover for Minimum Support Price, withdrawal of cases against protestors and shelving of amendments to the Electricity Act.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which has been spearheading the year-long protests against the three farm laws, is expected to meet on Saturday to decide on the future course of the agitation, which has won supporters far and wide.

It has been a year of unmatched struggle mixed with happiness and sadness. We have been fighting and winning. We will fight and we will win. MSP law is farmers' right, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said.

The government has set in motion the process to repeal the three farm laws and a Bill to the effect is expected to be placed in Parliament as early as Monday.

The BJP and Congress have issued three-line whips to its members of Parliament to remain present in their respective Houses next week for important legislative business.

Also read: Stir will continue till farmers' demands are met: Rakesh Tikait

The opposition is expected to push for a discussion on the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, when it is taken up in Parliament next week.

Since the Prime Ministers announcement to repeal the three farm laws, the government has been in an overdrive to publicise the quick actions to implement his assurances.

The protesting farmers have already announced that they will await a formal withdrawal of the three farm laws in Parliament before taking any decision on the future of the year-long agitation.

The farmers had planned a daily tractor march to Parliament for the duration of the Winter Session beginning Monday and intend to proceed as planned despite the governments announ

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The dastardly terror attack on star hotels like the Oberoi Trident, Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai in which several guests and staffs lost their lives has changed the security scenario in the hospitality industry, hoteliers said.

After the 26/11 attacks, hotels have resorted to visible and invisible security measures for guests as well as for the staff -- own and outsourced, they said.

"The hotel industry did a paradigm shift post the 26/11 when for the first time the principles of hospitality did not apply including the first impression. Guests and staff had to go through strict security hurdles like car checks, body scans and luggage scans to enter the hotels," Vikram Cotah, CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts, told IANS.

The GRT group owns and operates a chain of hotels and resorts.

"Though they (hotel guests) were used to it to fly airlines it was something new for the customer in hotels. This changed the way people looked at hotels. But this decade, the focus has shifted to cleanliness and sanitation including physical distancing and contactless services which is another shift for a close contact industry," he added.

Also read: India asks Pakistan to expedite trial in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case

Soon after the 26/11 attacks, star hotels had installed X-ray machines to scan the baggage and security personnel also did physical scans with handheld devices.

"Bigger hotels were investing in X-ray machines, under chassis scanning machines and pole detectors," Cotah added.

In Chennai, Courtyard by Marriott also had sniffer dogs.

"Access controls have been installed at critical places. For instance in the lifts only staying guests can go to the floors where staying rooms are located. Similarly, access controls are there for drinking water sources and other critical areas," a General Manager of a five star hotel told IANS preferring anonymity.

"The level of security measures depends on the hotel's star status and its profile. High profile hotels will have higher security measures as terrorists normally would attack such properties," another hotelier told IANS.

While there are government norms whereby details of guests from certain countries have to be notified to the law enforcement agencies, some hotel properties do not accept walkin guests from some countries.

"Guests from countries that are known to support terrorists or where drug cartels flourish are generally not allowed to stay in our property unless they come under a corporate account. Walkin guests from those countries are not allowed in the property," a head of a star hotel told IANS preferring anonymity.

Further, hotels also resorted to securing a government identification card while allowing a guest to stay in their property.

Also Read: 26/11: Nation will always be grateful for bravery, sacrifice of security forces, says President

"No government ID, no room to stay is the policy. Securing a copy of the government identification card is made even at restaurants from some guests," the hotelier added.

Post 26/11 hiring of hotel staff, outsourced personnel and also vendors have become stringent.

"Background checks of recruits have become more stringent. Further, anyone with an employment record in Pakistan/Bangladesh or a travel record to Pakistan/Bangladesh are checked more thoroughly," a hotelier told IANS.

"While hiring we carry out third party checks on the potential candidate. Crisis management has taken more importance. Mock drills for safety measures for terror attacks are now added to fire safety mock drills,a Rahul Nama, General Manager, Mercure Chennai Sriperumbudur, told IANS.

Nama, who was heading the HomeTel property in Mumbai when the 26/11 terror happened recalled: "On hearing the attack, we closed the hotel gates and adviced the guests not to go out. Those who wanted to come to the property were advised against it. The hotel security personnel were asked to be extra vigilant."

While background checks on recruits are done, such strict scrutiny is not done in the case of vendors.

The hotels go by reference given and no great background checks on the vendors are currently being done. While hotels have uniformed personnel at the gate to bow and welcome a guest, professional security personnel in coloured clothes are not employed as it adds up to the cost, a hotelier said.

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Russia, India and China (RIC) need to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without any hindrance and politicisation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday.

In a virtual address at a foreign ministerial meeting of the trilateral, he said it is necessary for the RIC countries to coordinate their respective approaches on the threats of terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov were present at the meeting.

Also read: Where Afghanistans new Taliban leaders went to school

As a contiguous neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India is concerned about the recent developments in that country, especially the suffering of the Afghan people, Jaishankar said.

Chairing the meeting, he said India supports an inclusive and representative government in Afghanistan as also other provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2593.

"In line with our commitment to the well-being of Afghan people, we have offered supply of 50,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan to address the drought situation," he said.

"The RIC countries need to work together to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without hindrance and without politicisation," he added.

In his remarks, Jaishankar reaffirmed India's continued commitment to foster closer dialogue and cooperation among the three largest nations in the Eurasian region under the RIC mechanism.

Under the RIC framework, the foreign ministers of the three countries meet periodically to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of their interest.

India took over the chairmanship of the RIC after the last meeting of the trilateral in Moscow in September last year.

"I believe that our cooperation in areas like trade, investment, healthcare, education, science & technology and politics etc could significantly contribute to global growth, peace and stability," Jaishankar said.

"This would be in line with our common ethos of recognising the 'World as a Family'. Our approach to global development should be human-centric and not leave anyone behind," he added.

The external affairs minister said the Covid-19 pandemic has shown the interdependence of an inter-connected world and the need of the hour is to have a 'One Earth One Health' approach.

"That means a timely, transparent, effective and non-discriminatory international response to global health challenges including pandemics, with equitable and affordable access to medicines and critical health supplies," he said.

Also read: India pitches for inclusive political settlement to Afghan crisis

Since joining the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in January this year, India has been actively contributing to finding mutually acceptable solutions to international and regional issues, the minister said.

"We believe that a multi-polar and re-balanced world based on sovereign equality of nations and respect for international law and contemporary realities requires reformed multilateralism," he added.

The meeting took place in the midst of the lingering border row in eastern Ladakh. Jaishankar and Wang had a bilateral dialogue in September in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

In the talks, the two foreign ministers agreed that the military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue discussions to resolve the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh.
India will lead demands for an intellectual property rights waiver for Covid-19 vaccines and supplies at a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting next week, two government officials said.

A year after India and South Africa introduced a proposal to temporarily waive intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines and therapies at the WTO, negotiations are deadlocked in the face of opposition from some developed countries.

Shyamal Misra, a senior official at the Ministry of Commerce, said India would not just be speaking for itself at the WTO ministerial conference in Geneva starting on Nov. 30, but for other developing countries with which it is working closely.

"We expect that the interests of developing countries are not compromised," Misra told an event late on Thursday to discuss India's strategy.

India has alleged that developed countries, led by the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, were "preventing access to vaccines for poor countries," leading to loss of lives.

Also read: When's the best time to get a Covid booster shot? Doctors suggest a six-month interval

Switzerland's ambassador to the WTO Didier Chambovey said on Thursday the country was open to compromise but remained opposed to a full waiver.

WTO members at a meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) last week, agreed to continue negotiations until the start of the ministerial conference to seek a solution.

Another senior government official, who is accompanying commerce minister Piyush Goyal at the meeting, told Reuters on Friday that India would push for a fair and equitable deal.

The developed countries need to understand that for the benefit of a few pharmaceutical companies they cannot put the lives of people in developing countries at risk, he said.

"All eyes are looking for a positive outcome," Sachin Chaturvedi, a government adviser and head of Delhi-based think-tank Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), said.

Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with G20 leaders last month, he said India would be producing over five billion doses of Covid vaccines for the country and the world by the end of 2022.

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Indians in Israel commemorated the victims of killings by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008, demanding swift justice by punishing the masterminds of the crime and seeking coordinated efforts to tackle the menace of terror, on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the deadly attacks.

Indian students at all the leading institutions in Israel, members of the Indian Jewish community, and Indians living and working in Israel organised separate events across the country on the eve of the anniversary of 26/11 Thursday, paying respects to the innocent victims of the terror attack, including six Jews who died at the Chabad House. Several events are also planned for Friday.

Isaac Solomon, 84, an Indian Jewish community leader in the southern coastal city of Eilat at an event organised at the club Sitar told the gathering that both India and Israel have been at the receiving end of terror even though both the countries seek peace with their neighbours, as well as internationally.

"The terrorists do not really have a real objective. They have only one goal  to harm people. India and Israel are democracies that seek peace and will continue to raise their voice against the menace of terrorism anywhere in the world, Solomon said.

In Pics | 13 years since 26/11: Remembering bravehearts of Mumbai terror attacks

Eilat Deputy Mayor Stas Bilkin also participated in the event in solidarity with victims of the attacks.

Jewish outreach movement, Chabad, last year unveiled a plaque in the city in the memory of the six Jewish victims of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

"To the memory and rise of souls of Rabbi Gavriel Noah and Rivka Holtsberg, who were martyred during the time of their holy mission in a terror attack at Chabad house in Mumbai, India from which the message of Torah was being spread all over the area. And for the four guests who stayed in Chabad house at the time of the attack, and were also martyred: Rabi Gavriel Taitelbaum, Mrs. Norma Rabinovich, Rabi Ben Zion Kurman, Mrs, Yocheved Orpaz. May their souls be bound up in the bond of eternal life", the plaque in Hebrew reads.

Ceremonies were also held at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University and Technion in Haifa with a large number of Indian students turning up to participate while observing Covid-19 norms.

"It is a shame that the real masterminds of the attack roam around freely while the families of the victims await justice. All peace seeking nations must unite in their resolve to defeat terror and their state sponsors. 26/11 is a shared pain between India and Israel and we must do everything to bring the perpetrators to justice, said Ankit Chauhan, a researcher at Ben-Gurion University.

"On this day, we remember the tragic loss of human life during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Through the candles we light in this vigil, we pay homage to all the innocent souls that were victims of blind rage and terror. The candles that we lit today also symbolise the everlasting hope in humanity that each of us share for working together towards a future that is safer and harmonious for the generations to come," Trivikram Muralidharan, a PhD student in the department of industrial engineering and management at Ben-Gurion University, told PTI.

Some of the participants also recounted the valiant efforts of the Indian soldiers in dealing with the terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

Also Read | Mumbai: Tributes paid to martyrs on 13th anniversary of 26/11 attack

"Remembering the heroes who gave up their lives for our safety on this day, 13 years ago. I salute their spirit and bravery. Let's never forget their sacrifice. We will forever be indebted to our bravehearts for their supreme sacrifice, said Ajay Wagh, a postdoctoral fellow at the Technion in the northern coastal city of Haifa.

Degel Menashe, an organisation representing the Bnei Menashe Jewish community that has connections with India's north-eastern states of Manipur and Mizoram, condemned the attacks calling it a "cowardly" act on unarmed innocent people.

Members of the organisation organised protests also in Churachandpur holding placards reading, "no to terrorism", "we stand by all the victims of 26/11 attacks" etc.

Several groups of Indians living and working in Israel have planned events to pay respects to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks on Friday.

"We will pay our respects to 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack victims tomorrow. We are Indian caregivers preparing to hold a gathering on the 13th anniversary of the Mumbai attacks lighting candles. We condemn Pakistan sponsored terrorism. Peaceful countries should come together to boycott diplomatically and financially those countries that support terrorism", said Ravi Soma, President of Israel Telengana Association.

A march will be held in the memory of the 26/11 victims at the St. Peters Church, Jaffa, and organisations of Indians from Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Gujarat will also be separately holding candle vigil on Friday to mark the 13th anniversary of the deadly attacks.

The Indian Jewish Heritage Centre and The Cochin Heritage Centre have organised a Zoom conference on Friday to mark the occasion.

People participating in such gatherings held posters of victims, pictures of mayhem in Mumbai and flags of India and Israel.

The 26/11 attack by 10 heavily-armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed 166 people and injured more than 300.

The terrorists launched coordinated shooting and bombing attacks at several landmarks in Mumbai, including the Chabad House at Nariman point where six Jews were killed in the attack.

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News Highlights: India subjected to pressures in name of environment, says PM Modi
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said Ambedkarites and Samajwadis will defeat the BJP in next years Uttar Pradesh polls, fulfilling socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohias wish of working together with followers of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar.

The former chief minister also asserted that people have made up their mind to oust the BJP, saying people make their oppressors pay when the time comes.

"This time, 'Ambedkarwadi' and 'Samajwadi' will remove the BJP," he said at a constitution day programme.

The event was organised by former MP Savitri Bai Phule, grandsons of B R Ambedkar--Prakash Ambedkar and Bhimrao Yashwant Rao Ambedkar--BSP founder Kanshirams sister Swaran Kaur, SBSP chief Omprakash Rajbhara and Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel.

Read | Battle for Uttar Pradesh: Akhilesh Yadav has seized the moment, but will it be enough?

The SP chief said Dr Ram Manohar Lohia wanted to work together with Baba Saheb.

"We tried but that dream was not fulfilled. But we have not given up hope and in 2022, this dream will definitely be fulfilled," he added.

The SP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with the BSP but the coalition bagged only 15 of the 80 seats.

This time, the BSP said they will fight alone while the SP said they will have an alliance with smaller parties.

Without naming the prime minister, also said, "Those who made their way to Delhi from here, their door will be shut by people of UP and they will be ousted from the power."

Alleging discrepancies in the panchyat polls, the SP chief said if people raised their voice, police beat them up with sticks and pulled them by hair.

He also accused the Centre of selling government properties.

Former MP Phule, who resigned from the BJP in 2019, said they will not be able to save the constitution If the BJP comes to power in the state again.

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The BJP on Friday hit out at the Opposition for boycotting the 'Constitution Day' celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament and termed it as an "insult" to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.

It also used the opportunity to criticise the Congress which had denounced the BJP leaders for skipping the function held at Parliament to celebrate the birth anniversary of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14.

About 14 Opposition parties, including Congress, will boycott the 'Constitution Day' programme.

The function at the Central Hall of Parliament will be addressed by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Lok Sabha Speaker.

In-charge of BJP's national information and technology department, Amit Malviya tweeted, "14 parties including Congress, Left, TMC, RJD, SS, NCP, SP, IUML and the DMK to boycott 'Constitution Day' celebrations in Central Hall.

Also Read | Dynastic parties a matter of concern across India: PM Modi at Constitution Day event

Congress, which created a big hue and cry during Nehru's birth anniversary program, is leading the boycott. This is an insult to Dr Ambedkar."

At the function, after the speech of President Ram Nath Kovind, the nation will join him live, in reading the Preamble of the Constitution. The President will also release the digital version of Constituent Assembly Debates, digital version of calligraphed copy of Constitution of India and its updated version that will include all amendments till date.

Kovind will also inaugurate an online quiz on 'Constitutional Democracy'.

On November 14, Congress Chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh alleged that during the traditional function in Parliament to mark the birth anniversary of India's first Prime Minister Nehru, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Chairman RS and the central ministers were absent.

Taking to twitter, Jairam had said: "Extraordinary scene today in Parliament at the traditional function to mark the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn the Central Hall. Speaker Lok Sabha absent. Chairman Rajya Sabha absent. Not a single Minister present."

A day later, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat issued a rejoinder and said that the Vice President never attends such events.

"It is hereby stated that the Vice President of India never attends such ceremonies organised in the central hall of Parliament, as a matter of convention. It was misleading to suggest that Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu skipped the ceremony on November 14. The misleading reports have caused deep distress to the Vice President," the RS Secretariat had said.

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Opposition parties from Congress to Trinamool to the Left will boycott Fridays Constitution Day event at Parliaments Central Hall where President Ram Nath Kovind will address, in protest against Narendra Modi governments trampling upon the Constitution.

Besides Congress, other parties that will not send MPs for the programme are Trinamool Congress, RJD, DMK, CPI(M), CPI, RSP, Kerala Congress and Muslim League among others.

This is the second time that the Opposition is boycotting the November 26 function. In 2019, the Opposition boycotted the Central Hall function and assembled near Ambedkar Statue in Parliament House complex where leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, read the Preamble of the Constitution in protest against the swearing in of Devendra Fadnavis as Maharashtra Chief Minister in an early morning coup.

Congress took the decision to skip the function at a meeting chaired by Sonia and attended by leaders like Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Read | Data Protection Bill raises concerns

From Congress, sources said, senior leaders Kharge, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury spoke with leaders of other parties to coordinate the boycott.

Sources said the party felt that Opposition leaders were not given the respect it deserved. The leaders also felt that it was ironic that the BJP government was organising a function to celebrate the Constitution on a single day while it was disrespecting it every other day.

Leaders from two other Opposition parties said the MPs were informed about the function very late and just through bulletins and several were not aware of it.

Actually, the government should have organised Constitution Protection Day instead of Constitution Day celebrations, senior RJD MP Manoj K Jha told DH.

According to a government statement, the President would lead the celebrations of Constitution Day as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav programme.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla would speak at the function.

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The recovery of another consignment of heroin worth over Rs 100 crore in Jammu by police has once again made it clear that Pakistan is not only sending militants but is also pushing narcotics into the Himalayan region.

On Thursday J&K police seized 52 kilograms of heroin worth over Rs 100 crore during a naka checking at Jhajjar Kotli of Jammu district. The packets carried mark 1999 and according to the police, such packets had earlier also been seized which were smuggled from Pakistan.

The consignment was being taken from Kashmir to Punjab and it was part of narco-terror racket under which the cash incurred from selling narco products, smuggled from Pakistan, is being pumped into terrorism, J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh told reporters.

He said in some of the cases, drones are also used to smuggle narcotics from across the border whose proceeds are later pumped for fuelling terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. In Jammu region alone, the police have seized 185 kg heroin valued at Rs 360 crore and arrested 1,500 persons in the last two years.

Read | As Pakistan pumps drugs, experts warn of losing a generation to narcotics in J&K

Singh had recently said that Pakistan was now targeting Kashmiri youngsters by making them addicted to drugs. They (Pakistan) are repeating the same dirty game that they played in Punjab. First giving arms training and later spoiling the youth with drugs, he said.

A survey carried out by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of the AIIMS, New Delhi on the Magnitude of Substance Use in India placed Jammu and Kashmir at the fifth spot with over six lakh people affected by drug abuse. The figures reveal that 90% of the substance abusers fall in the age group of 17 to 33-years.

In the last stages of his life even Hurriyat hawk and pro-Pakistan leader, late Syed Ali Geelani had apparently realised that the country which he supported all along was pushing Generation-Next of Kashmir towards drugs. He issued a statement on drug trafficking in July 2020.

Geelani, without naming Pakistan, had expressed serious concern over drug abuse in Kashmir. Although he had not named the neighbouring country in his statement, it had evoked a strong reaction from across the border which led to him being ousted from the post of a chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference, which was led by him.

A senior doctor at a drug de-addiction center in Srinagar said that after selling illusions and 'Azadi' dreams, Pakistan has now started selling drugs to Kashmiri youth.

The huge seizures of heroin by police and other security agencies have proven it beyond doubt that people sitting across the LoC want to have a drug addict in every house in Kashmir to fight the proxy war which commenced in 1990, he added.

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Senior doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals and other civic facilities are set to go on an "indefinite strike" from Monday over the issue of non-payment of salaries and arrears, their association said on Thursday.

The decision was taken by the Municipal Corporation Doctors' Association (MCDA) in its general body meeting on Thursday, its president Dr R R Gautam said, adding, emergency services will not be affected.

The MCDA, an association of senior permanent doctors of civic hospitals, was established in 1974 and has about 1,200 members. It also includes doctors from hospitals run by the other two -- east and south -- municipal corporations.

Doctors of the SDMC and EDMC are not part of this indefinite strike which "we have planned to resort to from Monday", Gautam said.

"Our salaries were due for September and October. On November 17, a letter was sent to the NDMC commissioner apprising him of the difficult situation that we doctors are facing. Yesterday, our salary for September was released," Gautam said.

If the due salary for October is released, MCDA members will not go on strike, he said.

"However, our demands also include the release of arrears, and DA (dearness allowance) enhancement, among others," he added.

Doctors under the banner of MCDA had gone on strike in October last year, which had stretched for several days.

However, the strike was called off by MCDA following a "written agreement" among the civic authorities, RDA of Hindu Rao Hospital and MCDA that timely payment of salaries will be done in future, Gautam claimed.

"By defaulting on the payment of salaries for the last two months, North MCD has failed to honour the agreement, hence we are free to call for a strike of doctors," the November 17 letter by the MCDA to the commissioner had said.

"We may be informed whether our salaries, arrears and DA enhancement will be done only after observing the routine ritual of a complete strike by doctors, thereby putting the general public to extreme inconvenience or will they be disbursed without resorting to such extreme measures," it said.

In such a scenario, the onus of strike shall lie with the authorities and not with the MCDA, the letter had said.

Six civic hospitals are under the NDMC, including Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, Mrs Girdhari Lal Maternity Hospital, and several dispensaries and polyclinics.

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The Enforcement Directorate has seized cash worth Rs 10.30 lakh and some foreign currency after it raided the premises of a former chief engineer of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority and the promoter of a multi-system operator in Punjab as part of a money laundering investigation.

The searches were carried out on Thursday in Ludhiana, Mohali, Chandigarh and Nawanshahr.

The agency said, in a statement, that the residential and business premises of Surinder Pal Singh alias Pehalwan were searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Singh earlier served as the chief engineer in the Punjab Mandi Board and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

"The premises of Gurdeep Singh Jujhar and main business premises of companies controlled by him like Jhujhar Construction and Travels Pvt Ltd and Fastway Transmission Pvt Ltd (an MSO) were also searched," it said.

"Incriminating documents, digital devices, Indian currency worth Rs 10.30 lakh and foreign currency equivalent to USD 4,000 were seized," it said.

A total of five lockers and fixed deposits of Rs 6.70 crore have also been frozen, the statement said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed the money laundering case against Singh after studying an FIR and chargesheet filed against him by the Punjab vigilance bureau on allegations that he "misused his official position and allotted multi-crore projects to his favoured firms/companies, thereby ensuring illegal monetary gains for himself, his family members and to the companies, firms and entities to which the illegal favours were extended by him."

Singh, the agency claimed, set up companies in the name of his family members and close associates.

"He used bank accounts of these companies for depositing the illegal gratification received by him as bribe. These proceeds of crime were then circulated amongst the bank accounts of these companies in an attempt to launder the same," the ED said.

A part of the "proceeds of crime from the companies owned and controlled by Singh and/or his family members had also flown towards Jujhar and his companies".

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Hundreds of farmers in tractors started arriving at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border as Friday marked one year of the ongoing farmers' protest against the central laws.

Many of them brought along vegetables, sacks of flour and lentils, spices and cooking oil on their tractor-trollies, saying they have come prepared for a long haul.

Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), an influential farmers' union from western Uttar Pradesh, has been leading the charge at the Ghazipur border since November last year.

The BKU is part of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a farmers' collective, which is spearheading the protest for withdrawal of three contentious farm laws and for legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) of crops.

It has been a year of unmatched struggle mixed with happiness and sadness. We are fighting and winning. We will fight and win. MSP law is farmers' right, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait tweeted in Hindi.

Also Read | A year of farmers protests: They won the battle, but the war remains

The outfit's office-bearers claimed the police have been strengthening the barricading at Ghazipur border - both on the Delhi-Meerut elevated highway patch and at the UP Gate down below it -- since Thursday, even as they said the crowd would swell at the protest site by evening Friday

We have a meeting of the SKM on Saturday and the future course of our action will be decided only after that.

We have planned a march towards Delhi on November 29, but SKM will take a call about it on Saturday, BKU spokesperson Saurabh Upadhyay said.

He said, Supporters in large numbers started reaching the border early Friday morning and by evening we are expecting over 50,000 people at Ghazipur alone.

A BKU supporter who reached Ghazipur in the morning from Muzaffarnagar on a tractor in a group said they have come to the protest with arrangements for food and accommodation.

It has been a year, the farmers can continue the protest for their rights for several years, the villager, draped in a shawl and a muffler, said.

Hundreds of farmers have been encamped at Delhi's Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders since November 26, 2020, with a demand that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee MSP for crops.

PM Modi had last week announced his government's decision to withdraw the contentious laws.

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In a shocking incident, four members of a Scheduled Caste (SC) family were axed to death over an alleged land dispute in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district.

A 17-year-old girl, among those murdered, was allegedly gang-raped before being being killed.

Two police personnel, including the inspector of the concerned police station, were suspended on charges of laxity.

Police sources said that those killed included a 50-year-old man, his wife, his son and daughter. Their bodies were found in their house at Phaphamau area in the district on Thursday. ''It appears from their injuries that they may have been killed a day or two ago," a senior police official in Prayagraj said.

One of the relatives of the deceased family members said that there was a land dispute between the latter and a family of upper caste, also from the same village and that a complaint had been lodged with the police a few months ago but the police did not act on it.

An irate mob blocked traffic on the highway demanding the arrest of the accused and compensation, police sources said, adding that the blockade was lifted later after assurance by the officials and the bodies were cremated.

The Opposition parties slammed the BJP government in the state for failing to ensure safety of the members of the SC community. ''This government has failed to protect the SC and other backward communities,'' UP Congress president Ajai Kumar Lallu.

Congress general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will likely meet the relatives of the slain family members, Congress sources told DH on Friday.

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Tractors bedecked with lights and posters rolled through the Singhu border protest site and loud Punjabi and Haryanvi celebratory music filled in the air on Friday as farmers marked one year of the protest against the three farm laws the government is set to withdraw formally.

Farmers flaunting colourful turbans, sunshades, long beards and twirling moustaches danced on the roofs of tractors, distributed sweets and hugged each other to mark the occasion that seemed like a festival.

Thousands of them flocked to the site over the last few days, buoyed by the government announcement to repeal the farms laws, to mark the completion of one year of a dogged protest that saw a long dusty patch of the Delhi-Karnal road between Delhi and Sonepat turned into a makeshift town with bamboo huts and all basic amenities one could think of.

Children and elderly, men and women, carried flags of their farmer unions and raised slogans of victory "Inquilab Zindabad" and "Majdoor Kisan Ekta Zindabad" amid passionate non-stop beating of drums.

The assembly area near the centrestage saw a large gathering like the early days of the protest.

The attendees included businessmen, professionals, lawyers, teachers, among others, belonging to families of farmers.

Sarender Singh, 50, from Pataila spent six months at the protest site managing crowd near the centrestage.

"It is a special day. It is like a festival being celebrated. It is after long that such a large number of people have gathered here. We also have Punjabi singer Babbu Mann among us," he said.

The special day also called for a special breakfast.

Also read: A year of farmers protests: They won the battle, but the war remains

"Aaj jalebi, pakode, kheer and chole poori bane hai!!" Sarender said enthusiastically.

On Friday morning, farmers held special prayers to pay tributes to those who died during the course of the protest.

A notice board outside a tent served as a grim reminder of the sacrifices made during the protest. "732 people have died in the last one year," it read.

Lakhan Singh, 45, from Barnala in Punjab was protesting at the Delhi-Haryana border when he lost his father early this year.

"It would have better had he been here today. But I know his soul will be at peace now," he said.

Bhagwan Singh, 43, from Mavi village in Patiala lost his friend Najar Singh, 35, in the seventh month of the protest and burst into tears remembering him.

"My friend, the sole breadwinner of his family, left behind three small daughters and elderly parents. We miss him," he said.

Farmers remembered how they walked and cycled for days to reach the site of the protest a year ago and kept the fire burning despite the government "trying to scuttle the movement".

Kirpal Singh, 57, who reached the Singhu border in December last year, showed an injury mark on his right leg which he got from police baton.

"Batons, barricades, treats, nails ... nothing could stop us, we won!" he said.

Harpreet Kaur, 45, and her husband brought their specially-abled son to Singhu border in a wheelchair.

"He has been here twice. We could have left him with his grandparents, but it would not have been the right thing. He cannot convey his feelings in words, but I know he is happy," Kaur from Ludhiana said.

On loudspeakers, farmer leaders and activists could be heard asking people not to slacken.

Near the centrestage, a group of farmers celebrated the farm law protest anniversary by donating blood.

Sukhdev Bhullar, 42, from Anantpur Sahib said farmers have nourished the protest with their blood. "My blood is a tribute to all of them," he said.

"Celebrate the win but do not get carried away with it. We won't move an inch until all our demands are met," farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said, reiterating the demand for legislation for MSP law and compensation to families of the 732 farmers.

Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadhuni said more than 700 people would have been alive here had Prime Minister Narendra Modi rescinded the farm laws earlier.

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The new Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Supreme Court to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which four farmers were mowed down by an SUV on October 3, has started working.

IPS officers SB Shiradkar, Preetinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan, along with retired judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court Rakesh Kumar Jain, who was recently appointed by the Supreme Court to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe, visited the crime scene in the Tikunia village on Thursday afternoon.

The SIT team carried out an inspection of the violence spot and prepared a map of the area. The team also visited Agrasen Inter college, where the farmers had initially gathered for the protest on October 3. The SIT team then went to Banbirpur village, 4 kilometres away from the violence spot.

Also Read | Families of Lakhimpur violence victims rue delayed decision on scrapping of farm laws

A wrestling event was organised in Banbirpur, where Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was supposed to be the chief guest.

Later, on Thursday evening, the SIT members held a meeting with all other SIT members, including DIG and former head of the SIT, Upendra Agarwal. No official statement was given out.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had earlier expressed its reservations over the manner in which the investigation was being conducted by the earlier SIT and had incorporated three IPS officers in the probe team.

The reconstituted SIT is now being led by 1993 batch IPS officer Shiradkar, currently posted as additional director general of police (ADG), intelligence, in Lucknow.

Preetinder Singh is a 2004 batch IPS officer of Punjab cadre and is currently posted as DIG in Saharanpur range.

Padmaja Chauhan is a 1998 batch IPS officer currently serving as IG, recruitment board.

Violence had broken out during a farmers' protest in Tikunia on October 3.

Four farmers and a journalist were allegedly mowed down by the convoy of Union Minister of state for home Ajay Misra Teni's son Ashish. Three BJP workers were lynched after the angry farmers retaliated.

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Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will reach Prayagraj on Friday evening to meet the family whose four members were found murdered.

Phoolchand, his wife, daughter and son were allegedly hacked to death in their house in the Gohri village on Thursday over a property dispute.

The local people claimed that the police were delaying action in the case.

According to party sources, Priyanka will meet the other family members and extend her support to them.

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The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a plea against appointment of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi police commissioner, just three days before his retirement.

A bench presided over by Justice D Y Chandrachud sought a response from the Union government and Asthana within two weeks.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO 'Centre for Public Interest Litigation', challenged the Delhi HC judgement, which upheld Asthana's appointment.

He sought an early date of hearing.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the Centre and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Asthana.

Also Read  Delhi Police chief's legal advisor Suresh Chandra resigns

The court put the matter for consideration on December 13.

On October 12, the High Court had dismissed a plea against appointment of Asthana, a 1984-batch officer, as the Delhi police commissioner on July 27, just before his superannuation on July 31.

The court had then declared that the Union government had power, jurisdiction and authority to make inter-cadre deputation of officers in public interest and the top court's judgements in Prakash Singh case on appointment of police heads would not apply to Union Territories.

It had also said the petitioners --advocate Sadre Alam and NGO CPIL led by advocate Bhushan-- have not been able to make out a case calling for interference or even remotely demonstrate that there is any blot in the service career of Asthana, making him unsuitable for the post of Delhi police commissioner.

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Opposition party leaders in Parliament will meet in New Delhi on Monday morning to finalise a united strategy against the Narendra Modi government during the Winter Session of Parliament.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to floor leaders of Opposition parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha inviting them for the meeting on issues to be taken up as well as strategy to be adopted during the Session starting Monday and ending on December 23.

"The winter session commencing from November 29, 2021, is very crucial for all of us for raising important issues. I am convening a meeting of floor leaders of all opposition parties both in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on Monday, November 29, 2021, at 9.45 am in my room in Parliament House," Kharge said in his letter to the leaders.

Read: Opposition most important element of democracy, says President Ram Nath Kovind

While thanking them for their support during the Monsoon Session, he said the meeting on Monday would help work unitedly in raising critical matters of people's concerns in Parliament.

Various opposition parties will try and come together to fight and defeat the BJP in Parliament, he told reporters.

Congress has already issued a three-line whip to its MPs in Lok Sabha asking them to be present in Lok Sabha on November 29. In a meeting chaired by party chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, the party decided to demand the repeal of farm laws, legal backing for Minimum Support Price and sacking of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra who is linked to the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on the first day itself.

There have been questions about Opposition unity following tension between Congress and Trinamool Congress following the latter's poaching of leaders. However, leaders from both sides said there is unity inside Parliament.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday told party leaders that the party should work towards Opposition unity in Parliament irrespective of what others do outside.

Also read: 'Pained' by boycott of Constitution Day event: Om Birla

When asked about Opposition unity, Congress Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said Congress is the central pillar of opposition in the country.

"We have a constitutional duty, which we recognise, we are conscious of that as the main opposition party of this country. There are expectations of people that we will take up issues, which concern our citizens. We will raise issues and oppose the government, where we feel it is necessary to do so.

"It has always been and remained our sincere endeavour to reach out to other parties in the opposition, our own allies and others, who hold similar views on some of the wrong decisions of the BJP government, its policies and its functioning, and that is what happens in a democracy and we hope that we will see this session in the same spirit," Sharma said.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit India on December 6 to hold annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which they will review the status of bilateral ties and discuss regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

The MEA also announced that the first '2+2' foreign and defence ministerial dialogue between India and Russia will be held in here on December 6 as well.

The Modi-Putin summit is expected to produce specific outcomes in further expanding ties in areas of defence, trade and energy, officials said.

It is learnt that the two sides are going to firm up a number of agreements in the areas of defence, trade and investment, and science and technology at the summit.

"President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to New Delhi on December 6 for the 21st India-Russia annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing.

It will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after their talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Brasilia in November 2019.

There have been six telephonic conversations between the two leaders since November 2019, to date apart from virtual meetings for multilateral summits.

The last India-Russia annual summit was held in September 2019 during the visit of Modi to Vladivostok. The annual summit could not take place last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The leaders will review the state and prospects of bilateral relations and discuss ways to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

"The summit will also afford an opportunity to exchange views on regional, multilateral and international issues of mutual interest," he said

He said the visit will provide further impetus to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.

On the '2+2' dialogue, Bagchi said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will be visiting India from December 5 to 6.

"The 2+2 Dialogue is being held pursuant to the agreement reached between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Putin during their telephonic conversation on 28 April. The agenda for the dialogue will cover political and defence issues of mutual interest," he said.

Lavrov and Shoigu will hold the talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

"The establishment of a new mechanism of 2+2 dialogue is expected to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries," Bagchi said.

So far India has the '2+2' ministerial format of dialogue with the US, Japan and Australia.

A framework for military-technical cooperation is set to be renewed for the next decade at the summit besides announcing a joint commission on technology and science.

India and Russia have also reached the final phase of negotiation for a logistics support agreement and it is likely to be signed either during the two-plus-two talks or at the summit.

The pact will allow militaries of the two countries to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies, besides facilitating scaling up of overall defence cooperation.

Russia has been a time-tested partner for India and the country has been a key pillar of New Delhi's foreign policy.

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Tamil Nadu Agricultural Department has implemented a rationing system for the sale of tomatoes in Coimbatore to prevent bulk purchases at Uzhavar Sandhais or farmers' markets.

According to the agricultural department, an individual consumer can buy a maximum of 2 kg of tomatoes while 5 kg can be bought for functions by producing invitations for the function to the concerned officers at the Uzhavur Sandhais.

Coimbatore has seven Uzhavur Sandhais and the arrival of tomatoes to these Sandhais has been affected following heavy rains in many parts of the state.

Manager of Coimbatore East Sandhai, Jayakumar N while speaking to IANS said: "Generally all the seven sandhais of Coimbatore put together get 20-25 tonnes per day but now after the rains, it has come down to 12-15 tonnes per day. This has prompted the department to implement the rationing system of 2 kg per individual and 5 kg for functions

Tomato farmers also said that heavy rains have led to difficulty in the transportation of the product and hence the local buying agents are not paying the farmers properly.

Periyasamy, a tomato farmer at Valparai told IANS: "I am worried as I have more than 20 boxes of tomato with me. A buying agent has offered me Rs 550 per box. 1 box has 15 kg of tomatoes and I have readily agreed to sell the product as I can't wait any longer even though I know this is a loss for me."

Farmer association leader K. Murugesan said: "A Heavy rains have affected the tomato farmers in large numbers as we are not able to sell the product due to transport constraints, bad and broken roads and hence we have to sell tomatoes at the rates fixed by middlemen. This is affecting us as most of the farmers have taken loans and cultivated the product. Agricultural department has asked us to sell the products at Uzhavar Sandhai and they have promised good money. We are yet to decide on that."

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It has been a year since farmers marched towards New Delhi and held highways outside the capital hostage demanding a repeal of the Centres three agricultural reforms which they claimed would leave them to the mercy of the corporates. While their persistence made the government relent and roll back the laws, thousands of farmers are still walking to Parliament because the agitation is not over.

As the protest completes one year, more farmers from Haryana and Punjab headed to the Singhu and Tikri borders of the national capital. Thousands of farmers from parts of both states, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ferozepur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Sangrur, Ambala, Hisar, Sirsa, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, are reaching Delhi's borders.

Even though the first protest against the laws was held in September after the Bills were cleared in both Houses, the Dilli Chalo protest of November 26 is considered the inception of the year-long Satyagrah through which farmers braved the extremities of all seasons and a deadly second wave of Covid-19. Over 700 farmers died during the agitation.

Also Read | Farmers' movement will be remembered for arrogance of BJP government, says Priyanka Gandhi

Farmers formed the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farmer organisations, which would go on to lead the movement to its victory, albeit partial.

As the occupation of Delhis inbound highways continued through December, multiple talks were held with the government but they failed.

In December, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) moved the Supreme Court against the agricultural reforms, for which the apex court pulled up the Centre and its handling of the protests.

Many ministers in the BJP-led government at the Centre said the protests were driven by political motives, with then Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the protests part of the tukde-tukde gangs plan. PM Narendra Modi also labeled some among the protestors Andolanjeevi, or those who only thrive on protests and detest calm.

The protests also took a violent turn on Republic Day when farmers and police clashed during the tractor rally organsied by farmer unions.

Farmers marked a black day when their protests completed six months. Even as crowds started dwindling, farm leaders said the highways will only be vacated when the laws are repealed.

Also Read | Stir will continue till farmers' demands are met: Rakesh Tikait

In October, SC said it was not against people's right to protest even on matters that are sub judice, but made it clear that such protesters cannot block public roads indefinitely. Farmers had planned to move to Prime Ministers residence after the police started removing barricades from the highways.

On November 19, PM Modi apologised to the country for being unable to convince farmers of the laws benefits and announced the decision to repeal them in the upcoming Winter Session.

Farmers said they will protest till all their demands are met, including a legal guarantee of MSP, suspension of MoS Ajay Mishra in relation to the Lakhimpur violence and compensation for the family of those who died during the protests.

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The Samajwadi Party (SP) has emerged as the principal challenger to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. As the countdown to the next state elections begins, it has its work cut out. In the Assembly polls in 2017, it tied up with the Congress Party; in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, it aligned itself with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Both experiments failed miserably. This time, SP president Akhilesh Yadav has opted for a new model. He is assembling a larger alliance of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) by joining hands with a range of smaller parties, hoping to snatch a large chunk of the OBC votes that the BJP has succeeded in adding to its electoral pool in UP since 2014, the year it won power at the Centre.

If that is the centrepiece of his strategy, Akhilesh Yadav is also busy putting his own house in order. He has made peace with patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and is working to tie up with estranged uncle Shivpal Yadav's Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSPL). By positioning himself as the BJP's most significant opponent, Akhilesh Yadav hopes that the Muslims will remain loyal to the SP and not get distracted by the Congress, the BSP and newcomers like Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Finally, Akhilesh Yadav is also trying to attract Dalit votes by poaching BSP old-timers like Ram Achal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma and stressing the "need to bring together the ideologies of both BR Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia to oust the BJP from power in the state."

Also Read | UP polls: The many labours facing Akhilesh

In 2012, when he came to power, father Mulayam Singh had orchestrated a generational transition in the SP, with Akhilesh Yadav's fresh-faced charm, signalling hope, doing the rest. But in the subsequent two elections, the young man - who spent his five years as chief minister (20122017) in the shadow of his father, Mulayam Singh, and uncles, Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav  tried hard to break free of family bonds to strike a path of his own. He wanted to change the image of the SP from that of a bunch of raffish Yadavs riding roughshod while in power into a modern party focussed on good governance. To underscore this message, he had even announced at the time that he would not field candidates with a known criminal record.

Having tasted the rough and tumble of politics after  rather than before -- a stint in power, Akhilesh Yadav has adopted a more "practical" approach this time. He is holding out an olive branch to Shivpal Yadav. He knows that the defeats the SP suffered in its bastion in the Mainpuri-Etawah belt in the last two elections were because the latter had put up independents against the official SP candidates, thus dividing the traditional party vote.

In these elections, he is no longer being as choosy when it comes to selecting candidates, looking for winnability rather than squeaky clean records. Akhilesh Yadav recently welcomed former MLA Sibghatullah Ansari, controversial politician Mukhtar Ansari's brother, into the SP. In 2016, he had blocked the merger of Ansari's Quami Ekta Dal (QED) into the SP, following which the Ansari brothers had teamed up with the BSP. The Ansari clan's influence is spread across eastern UP in Ghazipur, Ballia, Mau, Azamgarh and Varanasi districts.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Polls: The Pasmanda factor

Simultaneously, in a bid to expand his support base beyond his fellow Yadavs and Muslims, Akhilesh Yadav has joined hands with OP Rajbhar's Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), the Mahan Dal (MD), Sanjay Singh Chauhan's Janwadi Socialist Party (JSP) and the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), which have a following among non-Yadav OBC castes. The SBSP draws its sustenance from the Rajbhars in eastern UP; the MD from the Shakyas, the Sainis, the Mauryas and the Kushwahas spread over a dozen Lok Sabha constituencies in western UP, including Aonla, Mainpuri, Etah, Nagina and Badaun, as well as Jaunpur in eastern UP; the JSP from the Binds and Kashyaps in the eastern districts of Ballia, Jaunpur and Prayagraj; and the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi)a breakaway faction of the Apna Dal headed by union minister Anupriya Patelamong the Patels of Prayagraj and neighbouring districts.

Kisan Kranti Manch (KKM) president Onkar Singh Lodhi has merged his party with the SP. Little known parties such as the Sarvsamaj Ekta Dal, the Rashtriya Jansambhavna Party, the Sarvjan Sampta Party and the Abhay Samaj Party have also thrown in their lot with the SP, and Akhilesh Yadav is currently in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), too. The Trinamool Congress has also offered its help to the SP-led alliance.

And then there is the much-publicised alliance with Jayant Chaudhury's Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) that boasts of the support of the Jats of western UP, who have been the backbone of the still ongoing farmers' movement.

Of course, the BJP is also busy tying up with small OBC outfits, hoping to retain its hold in UP. The SP's advantage vis a vis the OBCs is that it can tell the non-Yadav OBCs that the BJP has ensured that power has vested largely with the upper castes, the Rajputs and the Brahmins and that the increased visibility of the OBCs in BJP ranks has not resulted in an actual share in decision-making.

The flip side of this conversation is that memories of the Yadavs ruling the roost whenever the SP has been in power, dominating the OBC space, are still fresh. The other serious challenge that the SP faces is that Hindu majoritarianism has put down very firm roots in UP society. At every opportunity, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his BJP colleagues have been whipping up communal sentiment through inflammatory speeches and classic dog-whistle politics. On the ground, when people express their appreciation for the firm way Adityanath has dealt with law and order, it is shorthand for the crackdown on Muslims, the most recent flashpoint following an episode in Loni in western UP: seven Muslim men, including a 16-year-old, allegedly engaged in unlawful cattle trade, were arrested and jailed after each of them was shot a few inches below the knee on November 11. Subsequently, the Station House Officer was suspended, a suspension that is being strenuously objected to by hardline Hindu groups and local BJP leaders.

Of course, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM)'s choice of Lucknow to hold a mahapanchayat to press for a statutory guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP) for a range of crops as well as other farming-related demands - after the government decided to repeal the controversial farming laws  has sent out its own message: the farmers' movement could well play a role in the upcoming polls.

Akhilesh Yadav has been quick to seize the moment: he has said that if his party comes to power in 2022, its government will give Rs 25 lakh each to farmers who died during the farm laws agitation: "The life of a farmer is priceless because he grows food grains for others," he tweeted in Hindi.

                     2022             25         #  Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 24, 2021

But will that be enough to take on the mighty BJP, backed as it is by state power, money and majoritarian rhetoric?

(The writer is a journalist)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
At 3.04 pm on Thursday, as polling in 222 wards of the Agartala municipal corporation, 13 municipal councils and six nagar (urban) panchayats was still underway, Tripura royal family scion and the head of The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), Pradyot Manikya tweeted: "Violence is unprecedented in parts of Agartala. Wonder how elections can be held in this atmosphere."

Something else that happened on Thursday has also been described as "unprecedented". The Supreme Court heard a Trinamool Congress (TMC) petition in the morning even after the polling had started and instructed the Ministry of Home Affairs to urgently send in additional paramilitary forces to ensure free and fair polling. A couple of days ago, responding to a TMC petition seeking to defer elections, the apex court ordered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Biplab Deb government in Tripura and the state Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling.

But nothing seemed to have worked on Thursday. Scenes of violence, rigging and proxy voting did the rounds on news channels, web portals and social media platforms throughout the day. Around evening, the CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress, in separate demonstrations, protested the violence despite the presence of central armed forces, who were deployed in advance after the state EC declared all polling booths as "sensitive". The TMC and the CPI(M) have both called for repolling. This violence happened after the BJP won 112 of the total 334 municipal wards uncontested, allegedly due to an atmosphere of political terror.

Irrespective of the outcome of the Tripura municipal elections, the implications will not remain restricted within the state borders.

In West Bengal, the Kolkata municipal corporation election is scheduled in December. On Thursday, the state government told the Calcutta High Court that elections to all other civic bodies - more than 100 - will be completed by April 30. The municipal election season in the state is about to begin. While the TMC's senior leaders are busy highlighting the highhandedness of Tripura BJP, the party's district-level leaders in West Bengal have started issuing threats of repeating "the BJP's Tripura model" on them.

For example, Udayan Guha, who recently made a record of winning an assembly seat in Bengal with the highest margin ever - 1.64 lakh votes - contesting in the Dinhata by-election, said on Wednesday, "Biplab Deb has taught us how to conduct municipal elections. We will implement what we have learnt from him." Dinhata municipality is also scheduled to undergo polling by April 30.

A chain reaction, it would seem, is about to unfold.

BJP's IT cell's national head Amit Malviya's tweet on November 24, blaming the TMC for the Tripura violence, offers some glimpses of how violence connects Bengal and Tripura. "On a day Mamata Banerjee met the PM to discuss violence in Tripura, which her party is responsible for, Kolkata police booked Tripura CM's OSD for (an) unknown reason. On the same day, (a) lawyer...wrote a letter to NHRC highlighting continued political killings (in WB)," tweeted Malviya, who is also a co-mentor of the party's Bengal unit.

West Bengal and Tripura, indeed, make a story of role reversals on several planes. First, the TMC in Tripura has adopted the BJP's Bengal model of high-profile political joinings and a high-decibel campaign to expand its organisational footprint. Second, the BJP in Tripura seems to have taken a few leaves from the TMC's Bengal book in terrorising the opposition with violence.

No party is ready to learn lessons from the past.

In 2018, West Bengal's ruling party TMC's victory in 34 per cent of the state's panchayat election seats without a contest earned them a place more in a hall of shame in the public perception than one of fame. As most of the pre-Lok Sabha election reportage and post-poll analysis in 2019 pointed out, the TMC had to pay a high price in the Lok Sabha elections due to their panchayat poll highhandedness, getting its Lok Sabha tally reduced from 34 to 22. The TMC had to take a series of public outreach measures to reduce the people's anger.

Now, the BJP in Tripura has earned themselves the same badge, having won 34 per cent of the municipal election seats uncontested, topping it up with the poll-day violence. The state Assembly election is due in 2023.

The modus operandi for uncontested victories is similar: stop opposition party nominees from submitting their candidature through threats and violence and force those who manage to submit nominations to withdraw from the contest. The Left parties, which ruled Bengal and Tripura for many years, have been the primary victims of this practice in both states.

CPI(M) leaders highlight that the TMC unleashed violence on them in West Bengal even before the advent of the BJP in the state. The BJP unleashed violence on them in Tripura even before the TMC resumed its Tripura initiatives after the Bengal election victory.

The BJP's role in Tripura is ironic since political violence in West Bengal has been one of the BJP's major political issues in the state - something that they also highlighted nationally to discredit Mamata Banerjee, as she prepared to take a leading role in national opposition politics.

Whether the BJP will earn a similar 'punishment' from the voters in the Tripura Assembly elections remains to be seen. As for immediate concerns, the TMC and BJP's role reversal in Bengal and Tripura has opened the door for competitive violence in the two states.

(The writer is a journalist based in Kolkata)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the authors own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
The spectre of the Covid-19 pandemic is haunting Europe again. In some places, it is the third coming and in others, it could even be the fourth wave of the pestilence. The US also has seen an increase in the number of cases in recent weeks, and hospitals and health services are again facing stress. The surge in cases has raised concern not only in Europe and the US but globally. Some countries in Europe have in the last few days seen the highest number of cases to occur since the pandemic began. About 60% of the worlds Covid cases and deaths are in Europe now.

Austria has imposed a lockdown and others, like Germany, are considering it. Some have reimposed travel restrictions and other preventive measures. The winter is going to be a testing time. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has predicted seven lakh more deaths in Europe and Central Asia by next March. A German minister has warned that most Germans would be vaccinated, cured or dead by spring.

It is the Delta variant of the virus, which caused the second wave in India and some other countries earlier this year, which is ravaging Europe and the US. The surge has happened even in countries where about 70% of the population has been fully vaccinated. Though the new cases are reported mainly among the unvaccinated, there are many breakthrough infections also.

There is a demand for booster doses, at least for those who are in the vulnerable segment. These are being given too in some places. At the same time, there are protests against vaccination and the imposition of restrictions on many grounds in many countries. It is stated that a two-tier Covid society is emerging, and that will accentuate the pandemic situation. The opposition to vaccination, precautions and restrictions has ideological roots and historical causes, such as falling trust in government. Governments also find it difficult to deal with such resistance, which can be detrimental to public health, within liberal democratic traditions.

There are lessons India should take from the surge in Europe and the US. Just over 30% of the countrys population is fully vaccinated and that means a majority of the people are still vulnerable. Educational institutions have reopened and economic and social activities have resumed to a good extent. The Covid vaccines do not seem to give a high level of protection against Delta infection, they only reduce its severity and the number of fatalities.

Precautions like mask-wearing, handwashing and physical distancing should still be adhered to. Complacency, such as it was seen before the second wave occurred, has set in now, too. This can again prove dangerous, especially with another round of state elections set to take place in the coming months.

Watch the latest DH Videos here:
Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday said that NASA's asteroid defence mission will avenge the wipeout of dinosaurs from the face of Earth. NASA on Wednesday launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, intended to deliberately crash into an asteroid.

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As many as 66 fully vaccinated students of SDM College of Medical Sciences & Hospital at Sattur in Dharwad have tested positive for Covid-19, prompting authorities to quarantine them in the institution for the next 15 days.

Following the major outbreak, the district administration sealed two student hostels and asked all the students and staff of the hospital to get tested for the contagious disease that is on the wane at the moment but still circulating.

While some of the students were having mild symptoms, many are asymptomatic. Officials said the condition of the students is stable.

Also Read | Six more Jaipur students test Covid positive, parents' worries rise

Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil, who rushed to the college with a team of health officials after getting to know of the outbreak, said the students had participated in a college event on Nov 17, where many of them ended up contracting the virus.

There are 400 students in the college and tests have been conducted on 300, of which 66 students tested positive. The results of the remaining 100 students would be known by Thursday evening, he said.

The DC asked college authorities not to show any laxity in getting themselves tested and see that the virus does not spread.

He also directed police to keep a strict vigil on the students who have been quarantined.

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Figures revealed by the Western Trust of increased numbers of children in Derry and the north west suffering from depression and anxiety are of no surprise given the unknown and the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.

Aileen McGuiness of the Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum insists that both children and adults have been affected with mental health issues during this ongoing Covid-19 period.

A Freedom of Information request made of the Western Trust by the BBC showed an 11 per cent rise of children under 18 years of age with mental health issues attending emergency departments at Altnagelvin Hospital as well as the South West Acute and Omagh hospitals.

There were reports also of two children, aged five and nine respectively, being admitted at emergency departments after having thoughts of suicide.

Ms McGuiness, whose forum helps and supports people of all ages with their mental health, said the Covid-19 pandemic that has been ongoing for nearly two years had taken its toll on child and adult alike with isolation and loneliness being detrimental to all, no matter their age.

She said: I don't think this just affects childhood. Depression and anxiety affects the whole community. It's the unknown and uncertainty that people have that's leaving a feeling of helplessness.

That couples the onset of anxiety and depression with life events getting cancelled and bereavement is affected as well.

Bereavement is a massive thing that we're hearing about from schools with people not getting the opportunity to have that culture of grieving with bereavement. So that will have an impact with young people.

Although the figures are very specific and looking at just young people, we need to be realistic across the board and say this is affecting everybody in all age groups.

Isolation and loneliness is a very, very detrimental thing for anybody at any age. Plus the unknown and uncertainty for people is dragging out and taking its toll.

Not getting the opportunity to do what they would in a normal life such as doing new things, exploring and socialising  that is happening with young people.

You watch children now when they go into a shop. Straight away they go and sanitise their hands. That automatic reaction to be cautious all the time and to think about it all the time affects the high chemicals going on in their heads.

So that anxiety and depression is kicking in. Life for them should be adventurous, climbing trees, going out and exploring, doing happy things and different things.

But nobody's getting the option to do that. It's either sit at home with your family or be confined within one class at school and you can't move about. Even in secondary schools, it's the teacher that moves about  not the pupils.

For young people, exploring a different environment is not happening for them and as a result, they are not getting stimulated.

The virus is there and it's become part and parcel of society. But if you look at the Derry City and Strabane District Council area alone, we are the highest-ranked council in the North for poverty and childhood poverty. We're also one of the highest in the UK.

So you're seeing the restrictions that's happening with families with money coming in and with unemployment as well.

I've been in meetings and found myself going 'oh my God. What are we doing here? How do I need to address this? How do we need to change this?'.

It's not a nice picture. I don't want to sound all doom and gloom because there's organisations out there that can give help and support and that's what we want to promote. To say that we're here and we'll listen.

Nothing should be done in isolation and nothing should be done on your own. Make use of what's on your own doorstep.

Children now have the added worry of this virus. They are worried about themselves, worried about their mothers, their fathers and other people around them.

While vaccinations are being rolled out, the dissenting voices not just on TV or on social media but on the streets as well, are also adding to any anxieties that children may have. Not just about receiving it themselves but for their parents and older siblings too.

Ms McGuiness added: The belief and the non-belief about them will be an added worry. It's probably a constant debate amongst families as well and children are picking up on that.

With the vaccinations, some adults naturally have phobias about receiving a needle. Children will as well. Not to mention any fears they have about what might be in the vaccination because there's been so much hype about it.

We've seen people going to protest against the vaccinations outside of schools and the children are picking up on that and that's not healthy for them. It's just not a normal time for people across the board.

Many the world over are looking forward to the pandemic finally being lifted. However, Ms McGuiness warns that the long-term impact of it will have to be dealt with.

She continued: When we're finally out of the pandemic, we are going to have to be dealing with the long-term impact of what we've all gone through.

It is concerning for everybody. It's not just about high-level mental health, it's about people being able to socialise again and the anxiety of going into buildings again.

But then you do have those people who have totally flourished within lockdown. I'm sitting here talking about the negatives but we also have to look at the lessons learned and the benefits of it  such as working from home which some have benefited from.

It's picking and choosing the best pathway for us. Yes we know there are problems with anxiety and yes, we know that depression is going to sit in.

But lets re-focus that and say 'what positives did you get to do over Covid?'. You got time to spend with your family more than if you were working and they were at school.

So we need to change a bit of the narrative around this too.

If you or a family member or friend has been affected by the issues discussed above, the Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum offer a range of support services. Their website is at: https://www.bbhealthforum.org/

Alternatively, you can contact the Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum on: 028 71365330 or email them at: info@bbhealthforum.org
There was sadness in Inishowen and beyond at the passing of Sr Finian Hegarty, Sisters of Mercy, Grange Inch Island.

Sr Finian died at Nazareth House, Fahan, last Thursday.

She was the dear sister of Joe Hegarty, Grange, Inch Island and will be forever missed by her brother, community of the Sisters of Mercy, nieces, nephews, her extended family, friends and neighbours.

The much loved Nun entered the Convent of Mercy in Pump Street, Derry, on the first day of May 1958 and her first Professional day came three years later in 1961.

Afterwards she spent time at both the Moville Convent of Mercy, where she was active in the local Legion of Mary, and the Convent of Mercy in Buncrana, where she also acted as a supervisor in Scoil Mhuire.

She was one of the first residents to move into the Taobh na Cille retirement complex in Moville when it opened at the end of August 2007 and on May Day 2008 she celebrated a half century of service to her order with a visit to the International Flower Show at Loreto House, where special guest, Daniel ODonnell, presented her with a bouquet of flowers in honour of her significant milestone.

Sr Finian's Requiem Mass took place on Saturday (November 20) in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Inch, followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery.

Speaking before Sr Finian's funeral, in a video message, Donegal singing star, Daniel O'Donnell, said: I just want to send my sympathy to Joe and all of Sr Finian's family. She was a great friend to me and indeed to all of our family.

My mother loved her very much. She used to visit her often when she was in Inch with her own mother and she never came home without baked bread. We will never forget Sr Finian. May she rest in peace. God Bless.

Addressing the mourners at Sr Finian's Requiem Mass, Reverend Fintan Diggin, CC, Fahan, Inch and Burt, said Sr Finian belonged to a family [The Sisters of Mercy] founded by Catherine McCauley, in a time when there was poverty, injustice and ill treatment, especially of Women, in Ireland, in the mid-1800s.

Fr Diggin added: Sisters of Mercy take a vow to be at the Service of people. Finian, when she was professed, bought that vision of life. Her life was dedicated to service, educating people and doing her best to bring Christ to the community that she served.

Those of us who would have known Finian, would know she brought Christ to people in the gentle breeze that was her life. People were attracted by her gentleness, her humanity, her friendship, her sense of joy, her sense of faith. Those were the gifts Finian had, as everyone who met her would know.

For Finian, it was all about what Jesus said in today's gospel. 'My aim is not to do my own will but to do the will of the God who sent me.'

Finian lived her life, carrying that out as best she could. She was a representative of Christ on Earth, bringing him to everybody she worked with and worked for and today we ask God to reward his faithful servant with the gift of eternal life for all her goodness on Earth.

Sr Margaret McConalogue reflected on Sr Finian's life, following Communion.

Sr Margaret McConalogue recalled how the young Brigid Hegarty, only daughter of Patrick and Sheila, grew up in the beautiful locality of Inch Island.

Sr Margaret said: She was surrounded by lake and sea, woods and hills and, of course, an abundance of wild birds, both native and migratory.

Many people travelled far and wide to spend a day here with nature. Brigid, and her brother Joe, in common with many of you gathered here today, have had this every day and you delight in it all. Who could not be aware of God's presence in creation in a place like this?

A religious vocation, to dedicate one's life to the service of God and his people, doesn't come from nowhere. It is planted deep in the Soul, it is nourished and developed, often unconsciously, in the context of family and faith community. Brigid and her brother Joe were blessed to have been formed in a very happy and grace-filled home, with parents who loved them and loved God and followed his ways.

This sense of belonging to a Parish community that is nurtured and practised, where the values of caring and looking after each other in good times and bad was another big plus for Brigid. In fact, she had time and opportunity in this lovely place to be grateful for all of this and to wonder about God's designs for her young life and she responded generously.

On May Day, 1958, Brigid entered the Sisters of Mercy in Pump Street. This was was the Centenary year of the Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes, to whom this Church is dedicated. She was given the name Sr Finian, and after the required time of preparation and formation, she took final vows as a Sister of Mercy in 1963.

She spent her early years a professed Sister in the Pump Street community. Later in Thornhill, Moville, Buncrana and latterly, the Nazareth House in Fahan, where she was very happy living closer to home.

Finian had a gift of being able to bloom where she was planted. In each of these communities, she gave 100%, whether it was preparing delicious meals for the community or ministering to the youth or elderly around her in the wider community. She had a variety of pastoral roles in the schools of Thornhill and Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana and visited the elderly and the sick, where she brought her own unique brand of hospitality and kindness to all.



Her love of people, her approachability, her ability to listen well and deeply, and then to bring all the different intentions of the people to God in prayer where her outstanding gifts and she drew many great friends who loved her and cherished her companionship to the end.

Sr Finian was by nature a gracious and gentle person, yet she loved the craic, a great ceili where she sang and danced the night away. She was a great Irish dancer.

When she was in Moville, she knew all of her fellow residents by name. She knew their cares and their troubles and many turned to her for prayer and support. Finian was a woman of great prayer. She loved to sing hymns in the Church choir and she remembered all the words. She even prayed the Rosary on Highland Radio with the sick and housebound. That was Finian. Full of fun and laughter. Singing and listening to music and singing with it. Especially listening to her great friend, Daniel O'Donnell. She wasn't just a fan, she was a great friend.

No wonder he telephoned from New York yesterday to express his sympathy to Joe, as did Margo and Shaun Doherty, formerly of Highland Radio, who is now studying in Rome, all deeply saddened at Finian's leaving us.

Life was not easy for Finian, in spite of her cheerfulness. Suffering and pain were a huge part of her life and determined everything she undertook. Sr Finian's greatest ministry, her mission, may well have been her acceptance of her suffering, her courage in facing her very serious health issues and dealing with them as best she could, without complaint or grumbling. She exemplified for all of us that beautiful prayer for serenity.

Sr Finian knew all about surrendering to God for her knees hit the floor many times.

Those of us who knew Sr Finian, could see that was how she lived her life. Her motto at First Confession was, 'My Lord and my God' and that was her guiding light throughout the whole of her life.

As we kept watch with her in the final days of life's journey, as she waited for her loving creator God to call her home, we noticed the deep peace and serenity of that waiting and I myself wondered if we might not have been blessed to have our own Little Flower in our midst, who knows?

We, the Sisters of Mercy of the Northern Province, wish to thank all who helped us celebrate Finian's life and death today. We celebrate her life with great thanksgiving. May her gentle Soul rest in peace, said Sr Margaret.

Sr Finian Hegarty: Ar dheis De go raibh a hanam dilis.
New details are emerging on a daily basis about Vicky Kaushal and Katrina Kaifs alleged December wedding. Right from the wedding venue to the guest list, every small details has been debated in the news over the past one month and for the first time, a family member from Vickys side has commented on these rumours.

Vicky Kaushals maternal cousin Dr Upasana Vohra was asked about the Sardar Udham actors impending wedding with is rumoured to take place in Rajasthan, in an interview with Dainik Bhaskar. Dr. Vohra has outright dismissed these rumours and said that there is no wedding in the family in December.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vicky Kaushal (@vickykaushal09)

Reports about preparations to the wedding dates are all rumours being spread in the media. The marriage is not taking place. If such a thing happens, they will announce it. In Bollywood, such rumours are often circulated and later it turns out that it was something else. They are just temporary rumours. I had a talk with my brother recently. There is nothing like that. I don't want to comment on this issue anymore, but the marriage is not taking place at the moment, she told the publication while commenting on the wedding.

In the absence of an actual wedding announcement or confirmation from the actors themselves, it could very well mean that the family is trying to keep this wedding off the radar. While dismissing rumours about high profile weddings isnt unheard of, fans will definitely have to wait till December to finally know the truth behind all these rumours.

Katrina and Vicky grand wedding is said to be taking place at the Sixth Senses Fort Barwara between December 7 to December 12.
Actor Samantha Prabhu has been roped in to play the lead role in 'Arrangements of Love' movie. BAFTA-winning Welsh director Philip John will helm the project, which is an adaptation of the bestselling 2004 novel of the same title by Indian author Timeri N. Murari, reported Variety.

The film, which will be produced by Sunitha Tati's Indian outfit Guru Films, follows a Welsh-Indian man on his quest to find his estranged father with an impromptu visit to his homeland. Samantha plays a strong-minded and funny force of nature 27-year-old, who runs her own detective agency and becomes part of the search. Her character is touted as a "progressive bisexual Tamil woman, with ultra-traditional parents, who want her to have an arranged marriage."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Samantha (@samantharuthprabhuoffl)

Excited about the project, Samantha said, "A whole new world opens up for me today as I start my journey with 'Arrangements of Love,' which has such an endearing and personal story. I am excited to work with Philip John, whose projects I have closely followed for many years, being a big fan of 'Downton Abbey.' I am looking forward to collaborating with Sunitha once again and I hope for only more success than we previously had with 'Oh! Baby'. My role is a complex character and it will be both a challenge and an opportunity for me to play it. I cannot wait to get on set."

The film is expected to go on floors in August 2022. (ANI)
Not just fans but even housemates were heartbroken last night when Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa announced that not one but three contestants have been evicted from the Bigg Boss 15 house-- Vishal Kotian, Neha Bhasin and Jay Bhanushali. This elimination was based on live voting done by the audience. Before leaving, Vishal left the housemates as well as the guests teary-eyed with a heartwarming poem. Later Karan Kundrra, Umar Riaz and Tejasswi Prakash discussed how Vishal didnt get a chance for redemption after the press conference, where he faced many accusations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by VISHAL KOTIAN (@vishaalkotian)

Post his eviction, Vishal took to his official social media handle to share a note for his fans, which read: I have been blessed and privileged enough to be the part of Indias most entertaining show #biggboss15 . Thanks to all my fans who have been my strength when I needed them the most. Theres never a happy ending because nothing ever ends. Ek kahani khatam toh naya kissa shuru hua . And a new journey awaits from here. BOL BAMM. Well, according to latest social media buzz, Vishal will return to the reality show soon as a wild card contestant.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bigg Boss Khabri ? (@mr_khabri)

Reports have revealed that Vishal is currently in quarantine and will soon re-enter Bigg Boss 15, while Neha and Jay have returned home. This will definitely make many people happy because the actors eviction came as a big shock last night. Some housemates could not even believe that wildcard Rajiv Adatia was saved by the audience whereas Vishal, who was one of the top contenders, had to leave the show.

Do you think Vishals eviction was unfair?
Statement by Ambassador Byrne Nason at the UNSC Briefing on the Situation in Libya

Statement

Thank you very much indeed Mr President,

I would to thank Special Envoy Kubis for his briefing, as well as Ambassador Tirumurti for his update regarding the 1970 Committee. I want to thank you Dr. BenSaad, for your really heartfelt messages earlier. Your appetite to partipate in free and fair democratic elections was well understood in this room. I want to say that we have an obligation here to help Libya to deliver on that aspiration, as you asked us to do.

As this is going to be the final briefing by Mr. Kubis to the Council in his capacity as Special Envoy on Libya, I want like to thank him sincerely for his dedicated service and I also want to welcome our friend and colleague Ambassador Tahar M. El Sonni to our meeting here today.

Mr. President,

We meet today precisely one month from Libyas scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections, as stipulated by the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum Roadmap and Resolutions of this very Council. These elections mark a crucial stage in the work of securing a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for all Libyans. To the people of Libya  we say, the future of Libya is in your hands, as it should be, and we assure you that the international community continues to support you on the path to peace. Ireland for our part will certainly keep faith with that.

We welcome the recent successful Conference convened in Paris and co-hosted by France and Libya, with Germany, Italy and the United Nations. The outcome was clear: the Libyan authorities and the international community are committed to the holding of free and fair elections on the 24th of December.

Mr. President,

We know that the electoral process must be Libyan-led and Libyan-owned. We commend the work of the High National Elections Commission, and we welcome progress achieved to date. Ensuring that Presidential and Parliamentary elections take place simultaneously will be key to preserving the integrity of this process.

We believe that it is incumbent on the authorities in Libya to meet the challenge of ensuring an inclusive and consultative electoral process with the wide acceptance of all Libyan stakeholders in a spirit of cooperation, inclusivity, and national unity. It is also incumbent on all Libyan stakeholders to foster mutual trust and build consensus at this really sensitive juncture, including through an inclusive legal framework

The role of regional and international observers will of course be crucial.

Mr. President,

A Libyan-owned process must also mean one owned by Libyan women. I echo the remarks of Dr BenSaad earlier on this critical issue. The meaningful participation of women, as well as young people in these elections is fundamentally important to the goal of achieving inclusive, sustainable peace in Libya. As elections draw near, we also call on the Libyan authorities to guarantee a free, safe and independent civic space for all.

Dr Bensad reminded us that today we are on the eve of oranging the world, the interational day of the elimination of violence against women. I want to emphasise how critical it is that women in Libya, all women, are spared the gender based violence they face. It can end and it must be prevented.

Mr. President,

Ireland welcomes progress made to date in implementing the provisions of the October Ceasefire Agreement, and we reiterate our call to fulfil all remaining provisions. The Libyan Ceasefire Monitoring Mechanism is vital to ensuring that the hard-won gains of the Agreement are preserved. Ireland was encouraged by the deployment of the first UN ceasefire monitors in October, a positive and long-awaited step. It is now critical that a gender perspective also be streamlined into the work of the monitoring mechanism and that it informs the important work going forward.

Mr. President,

The continued presence of foreign fighters, mercenaries, and forces poses a grave threat to Libyas fragile peace and stability and risks furthering insecurity in the region. Everyone at this table knows that is true.

I welcome therefore the adoption last month of an Action Plan by the Committee of Ten, and the subsequent announcement which will see the plan operationalised through departures under a UN-supervised DDR process in the coming weeks. We want to see all efforts made to sustain this momentum and ensure full implementation of the Action Plan, while also taking into account the needs and concerns of Libyas neighbours.

Finally, Mr. President,

With all eyes now on Libyas political and military transition we must not lose sight of the human rights situation. The most recent report of the Independent Fact Finding Mission on Libya was deeply concerning. The ill-treatment of vulnerable individuals, such as migrants in detention, is quite simply abhorrent, and in that regard, we welcome the addition of an individual to the sanctions list in October.

National peace and reconciliation in Libya will require that the human rights and dignity of all the Libyan people, men, women and children, are upheld and respected. We call on the authorities and all parties to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It is also key that the authorities work to ensure accountability, by holding all those responsible for violations of international law to account, including through fulfilling their obligations to cooperate with the International Criminal Court.

Thank you.

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Statement by Ambassador Byrne Nason at the UNSC Briefing on the ICC - Libya

Statement

Thank you Mr President.

Prosecutor Khan, I want to thank you for your report and briefing this afternoon, your first to the Council as ICC Prosecutor and also wish to welcome our friend and colleague Ambassador Elsonni of Libya.

Mr President,

We have seen a number of hard won achievements in Libya since the October Ceasefire Agreement, including the inauguration of the interim Government of National Unity in March.

We continue to view these developments as an opportunity to renew the Courts relationship with Libya, its relevant national authorities and stakeholders.

The Prosecutors intention to prioritise engagement with the Libyan authorities is therefore welcome.

Ireland further encourages the Government of National Unitys efforts, working with the African Union in particular, to create a national reconciliation process, as well as its work with the Libyan authorities to strengthen transitional justice institutions. These are important steps for the future of the Libyan people.

However, we cannot ignore concerning developments. In particular, reports of serious violations outlined by the Secretary General in September on the situation of migrants in Libya. This included reports that certain State officials affiliated with the Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration have allegedly committed serious human rights violations.

We welcome that the OTP has reviewed these findings.

We echo the Prosecutors point that granting amnesties and pardons for serious crimes, including murder constituting crimes against humanity is incompatible with internationally recognized human rights.

In this report, and previous reports, the Prosecutor has voiced concern about credible and substantial information regarding past and ongoing crimes allegedly committed in official and unofficial detention facilities in Libya.

This was echoed in the conclusions of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya in its report of October 2021, which referred to systemic and widespread attack against anyone opposing the interests of those running prisons. Reports of sexual and gender-based violence, primarily targeting women, remain of deep concern to us.

We welcome continued engagement between the Office of the Prosecutor and UNSMIL as well as steps taken by the OTP to foster coordination between stakeholders including Europol, and all efforts aimed at accountability for violent crimes against migrants and refugees in Libya.

The work of the ICC is of course complementary to domestic initiatives and we continue to urge all States to cooperate with the Court as it investigates allegations of serious international crimes in Libya.

Continued lack of cooperation with the Court in the execution of arrest warrants is worrying. We urge all Member States, whether or not they are States Parties to the Rome Statute, to execute outstanding arrest warrants. In particular, we once again urge Libya to arrest and surrender Mr Saif Gaddafi as a matter of urgency.

We note the Prosecutors statement that he will extend particular prioritization to referrals by the Council to the ICC. We reiterate our view that cases to the ICC must be accompanied by consistent follow-up support from this Council. This includes budgetary support.

Findings of non-cooperation by States in relation to situations already referred by the Council, including the situation in Libya, also require a substantive response.

Mr President,

Ireland strongly supports ICC efforts to hold to account those responsible for the most serious international crimes in Libya in order to ensure true accountability for victims.

The Courts pursuit of justice and accountability in Libya will serve to build trust in the State, especially amongst communities disproportionately affected by violent conflict. Accountability for atrocity crimes can assist with the important reconciliation processes in Libya and the consolidation of peace.

We know that accountability for atrocity crimes also acts as a strong deterrent, and contributes to conflict and atrocity prevention efforts.

Prosecutor Khan, allow me to conclude by reiterating Irelands steadfast support for the work of the ICC in Libya. We remain convinced that accountability is key to peace, stability and justice for the future of Libya.

Thank you.

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Statement by Ambassador Byrne Nason at the UNSC Briefing on the Situation in Iraq

Statement

Thank you Mr. President.

I would like to thank our briefers this morning, Jeanine, and Ms. Amal Kabashi, for their critical and really frank assessments of the recent legislative elections. I am also delighted to see our colleague Mohamed, Ambassador of Iraq, amongst us here at the table this morning.

In particular, I would like to take this opportunity to applaud you Jeanine and your team, for the vital role you have played in assisting and monitoring the elections. We are fully aware over time of the considerable challenges you have faced, and you can be sure of our recognition and continued support.

Ms. Kabashi, your remarks this morning regarding what you called the daily challenges facing Iraqi women, and what you described as discrimination and exclusion, were not lost on us. I was also struck by your determined message regarding Iraqi womens aspirations to help shape and participate in the new government. Your messages were very clear. Thank you.

Ireland welcomes the holding of early legislative elections in Iraq on 10 October. The UN, through its enhanced role in monitoring these elections, has found that the electoral process was largely peaceful, as we heard this morning, and orderly.

To the Government of Iraq and to the Independent High Electoral Commission  we commend your extensive efforts in preparing and conducting the elections.

To all who provided support, including regional and international observers  your contribution towards strengthening Iraqs democracy cannot be overstated. We look forward to the EU Electoral Observer Mission publishing its own comprehensive report early next year.

Most importantly, to the people of Iraq  we salute your courage and your determination to exercise your democratic right in a very challenging environment. I want to pay particular tribute to women, minorities, and to the internally displaced, for your participation. The predicted record number of Parliamentary seats for women, as we heard, is very encouraging.

Ireland looks forward to the peaceful formation of an inclusive government that responds to the needs and aspirations of all Iraqis.

Mr. President,

Against the backdrop of these positive developments, Ireland deeply regrets the recent shocking assassination attempt on Prime Minister Kadhimi, and hopes that those who were injured make swift recoveries. We strongly condemn this and all other incidents or threats of violence, including those targeted at members of UNAMI, IHEC, and at those who have tirelessly worked to ensure a free and fair electoral process.

Iraqs stability is already threatened by what you, Jeanine, described this morning as a precarious situation at best. We remain concerned at ongoing attacks across the country, including by ISIL, which have claimed lives in recent months. We reject all attempts to destabilise Iraq, and of course all forms of terrorism.

Mr. President,

The Iraqi people gathered in a popular protest movement just over two years ago to call for system-wide reform. While their determination has borne fruit in the holding of early elections, hundreds of Iraqis tragically paid the ultimate price for this progress.

Regrettably, violence and threats against political and civic activists and human rights defenders continues, in particular against women candidates. We know this happened during the recent electoral campaign.

We can and must do more to break down the barriers to womens full participation in political life, and to foster a political and civic space that welcomes and protects all members of Iraqi society.

We call on the Iraqi authorities to urgently deliver accountability and redress for the crimes committed, and to implement much-needed and urgent reforms.

Turning briefly to the humanitarian situation, Ireland was encouraged by the second round of voluntary returns from the Al Hol camp in Syria in September, combined with the first returns of families from Jeddah 1 camp to their areas of origin. We reiterate that all returns must be safe, voluntary, and dignified.

Finally, Mr. President,

I would like to acknowledge recent progress made in the identification of Kuwaiti and third-country nationals, as well as on reparations. These are vital steps towards full reconciliation and we commend the spirit of cooperation demonstrated between the two countries.

Indeed, Iraqs exemplary commitment to enhanced engagement with its neighbours more generally has the potential to greatly improve the regions stability in our view. In that regard, we welcome thetrilateral partnership between Iraq, Jordan and Egypt, and Iraqssuccessful hosting of the regional conference held in Baghdad on 28 August.

Thank you Mr. President.

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OLYMPIA  The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board recently approved $2,431,250 in grants and $843,750 in low-interest loans for economic development, public infrastructure, and broadband development.

The projects receiving funding are located in Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, King and Whatcom counties and will spur business growth, job creation and high-speed internet connections.





. . .
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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration announced.

A senior administration official said the requirement, which the White House previewed in October, brings the rules for essential travelers in line with those that took effect earlier this month for leisure travelers, when the U.S. reopened its borders to fully vaccinated individuals.





. . .
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By JOHN ANTCZAK

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES  NASA launched a spacecraft Tuesday night on a mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock a speeding space rock off course if one were to threaten Earth.

The DART spacecraft, short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test, lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a $330 million project with echoes of the Bruce Willis movie Armageddon.





. . .
A bit more about Solara

As the DJC first reported in mid October, the 238-unit Solara in Lake City sold to national investor MIG Real Estate for $84 million. Brokers were not then announced, but CBRE later issued a press release. Its Jon Hallgrimson, Eli Hanacek, Frank Bosl and Kyle Yamamoto represented the seller, Sares Regis Group, which like the buyer is based in California. Hanacek said in a statement, We received significant interest in Solara due to the highly desirable large floor plans, complete with traditional one-bedroom homes and an abundance of amenity space. Buyer appetite to invest in the Seattle market recovery is at an all-time high. Down in CBRE's San Diego office, Bill Chiles, Scott Peterson and Brian Cruz arranged the acquisition loan. As reported last month, that over $62 million package came from Forethought Life Insurance.




Morocco is great for married couples. There are all sorts of places to explore. Its also popular, in winter, with young single people, who escape Europe by heading down to places like Tagazhout, Agadir, Marrakesh, Casablanca and of course the blue town of Chefchaouen (to name a few).

But for unmarried couples, its more complicated. Premarital sex is illegal in Morocco, and hotels typically uphold a policy of no marriage certificate, no (shared) room. This has resulted in a lot of workarounds. Tourist websites recommend everything from offering extra money to putting on fake wedding rings, to booking two single rooms and sneaking across to your partners chambers after dark.

@joe_mcelhone omg I was gonna go to Morocco but I read somewhere that they ask for marriage documents to sleep in the same bed   Demi (@__demi16) March 31, 2016

This has a stifling impact on both domestic and foreign tourism, but particularly on domestic tourism, with Travel Guide Marrakech claiming the rule is more strictly enforced when the unmarried couple are Moroccan citizens (or one of them is).

Was emailing back an forth with a fucker who lives is Morocco and I learned that pre-marital sex is a MISDEMEANOR there!! Damn!!  Krystyna Hutchinson (@KrystynaHutch) October 26, 2016

According to Travel Guide Marrakech: Strictly speaking, the ban on the sharing of hotel rooms by unmarried couples applies to foreigners as well as Moroccans themselves. However, I am not aware of any instance in which a foreign tourist has been asked to produce their wedding certificate.

I myself have visited Morocco more than 20 times. Either as part of a couple or with several other people, staying in countless riads, hotels, mountain huts, desert bivouacs or apartments. I have never once been questioned about my marital status. However, if you are unmarried and intend to share your hotel room with a Moroccan citizen, the situation is slightly different, Travel Guide Marrakech adds.

Landlords or hoteliers who allow unmarried couples to share a room are in breach of the law. Consequently, binational couples without a wedding certificate will struggle to rent a room anywhere in Morocco. Naturally, this also applies to other unmarried Muslim couples. I dont know of any hotels that will accommodate unmarried binational couples on an official basis, ( Travel Guide Marrakech).

With the pandemic having cut the number of foreign tourists to Morocco by 78.5% in 2020 (a trend which has continued into 2021), some hoteliers are campaigning to change the law regarding extramarital sex, in order to boost the numbers of domestic tourists choosing to stay in hotels.

A resort manager in Morocco recently told The Economist: I get more calls from unmarried couples wanting to stay than anyone else, adding: I could fill my hotel 100% if only theyd lift the law.

The Economist also reports that hopes of change were sparked recently, after the Islamist party heading the government crashed in elections in September, losing 90% of its seats.

Aziz Akhannouch, the new prime minister, is said to be a bit more liberal. According to The Economist, Akhannouchs government recently said it would review the entire penal code (including article 490).

However, The Economist points out: He has left out of his coalition the only party that publicly calls for Article 490 to be repealed.

Publically calling for such a thing is a risky business.

The BBC reported in 2012: The editor of Moroccos Al-Ahdath Al-Maghribia daily newspaper, Moktar el-Ghzioui, is living in fear for his life after he expressed support for pre-marital sex during a local television debate.

Those who support keeping the law say they fear hotels could end up turning into brothels. Another concern that has been reported is that some hotel owners dont want the bribes that come from this law being in place to dry up.

Young people are fighting back online, pointing out that other Muslim countries (like the UAE) have decriminalised extramarital sex, and that allegedly even Saudi Arabias hotels have stopped asking couples to show their marriage credentials.

They also claim the original Article 490 was introduced by France in 1953, as an oppressive tool, trying to persuade people with the argument its not even Moroccan. The hashtag stop490 was trending on Twitter in February after a woman was sentenced to one month in prison for having sex outside of marriage.

#STOP490

Consensual sex between consenting adults should never be a crime. Anywhere. https://t.co/y9hL17ic7c  Halima Salat (WOMAN)  (@halimasalat) February 5, 2021

 is no longer a french protectorate,so why do we still apply laws that were created and imposed by the colonizer ? This archaic law is nothing more than a repressive tool to control us .Lyautey ,take back your heritage #stop490 pic.twitter.com/YxWZAP9ZRe  Camelia (@RgCamelia) October 23, 2021

Only time will tell if the law will be successfully repealed.

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Dundalk TD Ruairi O Murchu engaged with Taoiseach Micheal Martin on the issue of the Fianna Fail leaders Shared Island Unit during a debate that also highlighted the ongoing Narrow Water Bridge project.

The Sinn Fein deputy told the Taoiseach that he wished the Shared Island Unit would go further in certain fields and called again for a citizens assembly on Irish unity, after Mr Martin said there had been a large amount of dialogue and engagement because of the unit.

Deputy O Murchu said: There are only benefits to be had in relation to a dialogue and engagement with all.

That is why I have previously asked for a citizen's assembly. Those who will be offended will be offended by this or by any of the conversations taking place at this time on unity.

We need to grasp that issue and plan for what is becoming, in an awful lot of people's eyes, a reality coming down the road. That is the situation as it is.

It has been entwined with the politics of the British Government on Brexit and the protocol.

On Narrow Water Bridge, are we still looking at in or around 2023 as the time to begin building? Is there a timeline for delivery and ensuring we have the finances for what is an absolutely necessary piece of infrastructure?

In response to the Louth TD, the Taoiseach said: Within the Good Friday Agreement, the constitutional position is provided for in terms of how that advances. Before we get there, a lot of work has to be done and a lot of engagement is required.

On the issue of the bridge across Carlingford Lough, the Taoiseach said: I am determined to get it over the line through the local authority.

In the documentation we have provided, there is 3 million for tendering and all that.

I want progress to be made and co-operation the whole way.

One single agenda is to get that over the line.

The current timeline on the Narrow Water Bridge is, according to Louth County Council, for the tender to be issued in Q4 2022.

Chief Executive of Louth County Council, Joan Martin, told councillors last month that work is currently underway on examining previous tender documents from 2013.
Irish Water, working in partnership with Louth County Council, is replacing old backyard water mains and providing new service connections for customers in Sliabh Breagh, Ardee.

This will improve water quality and provide the community with a more reliable supply of water as well as reduce the high levels of leakage, according to Irish Water.

In some older properties in Sliabh Breagh water connections, typically made of iron or lead, were installed to the rear of properties and are often referred to as backyard service connections.

The condition of these backyard services has deteriorated over the years which has resulted in increased bursts and leaks, and reduced water pressure for some customers, the water company said.

The works involve the decommissioning of ageing back yard water mains and the construction of nearly 1.5km of new high density, polyethylene (plastic) water mains along the public road.

The works will also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers property boundaries and connecting it to the customers water supply.

Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of the improvement works.

To facilitate the safe delivery of these works, some traffic management will be in place, however, local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.

The works may involve some short-term supply interruptions.

Irish Water said the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice prior to any planned water interruptions.

Irish Water and Louth County Council said they regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause.

The works, which are scheduled to begin at the end of November are being carried out on behalf of Irish Water by GMC Utilities Ltd and are expected to be completed by early 2022.

Speaking about the project Matthew Thomson, Irish Water, said: These upgrades are part of a significant investment by Irish Water to upgrade the water network in Louth.

"Replacing old, damaged pipes will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages and safeguard the water supply for homes and businesses now and into the future.

"We would like to thank the local community, for their patience and cooperation while we deliver this vital water network improvement project.

Their customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and people can also contact them on Twitter @IWCare with any queries.
A digest of recent news from the EBRD.

You can also subscribe to instant email updates on EBRD news about our countries, sectors and topics such as climate finance.

EBRD approves new strategies for promotion of gender equality and equality of opportunity

The two interlinked strategies for the promotion of gender equality and equality of opportunity strategies reflect one of the Banks key strategic priorities for the next four years and highlight its commitment to boost equality of opportunity and to advance womens economic empowerment across its regions.

They aim to address the impacts of megatrends such as climate change and digitalisation to support a just and fair transition for all. They also focus on some of the deep-rooted barriers to womens full participation in the economy and public life, including the lack of affordable care and the persistent risk of gender-based violence and harassment.

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EBRD President Odile Renaus-Basso welcomed the approval of the two new strategies in a specially recorded video message, saying: We have an ambitious goal of scaling up our gender-focused investments, integrating gender-equality components into at least 40 per cent of EBRD annual investments and to scaling up our inclusive projects to a quarter of the our annual investments by the end of 2025.

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EBRD promotes an inclusive economy in Egypt

During an inclusion week in Egypt, the Bank signed an MoU with USAID to support sustainable cultural tourism in historic Cairo and Luxor. The two institutions will focus on improving the environment for private investment in cultural heritage tourism and enhancing the partnership between the public and private sectors.

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Funded bv Switzerland and the SEMED Multi-donor Account, the EBRD and Sawiris Foundation for Social Development (SFSD) launched a new culinary workshop which will offer in-depth experience in culinary education to students and open new employment opportunities for young women and men in Egypt.

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EBRD President in Brussels

EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso paid another visit to Brussels this week to meet senior officials including Charles Michel, President of the EU Council. The trip underlined the Banks strategic partnership with the EU.

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Senior EBRD officials in Ukraine to underscore support

Alain Pilloux, Vice President, Banking, in charge of Bank investments, and Mark Bowman, Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, visited to reconfirm the EBRDs support for Ukraine, its reform agenda and sustainable development.

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Project signings and agreements

Stepping up green financing in Turkey via Garanti BBVA Leasing

The EBRD is providing a US$ 25 million loan to Garanti BBVA Leasing for on-lending to eligible companies looking to invest in greater sustainability. The loan is extended under the third phase of the Turkey Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (TurSEFF) backed by technical cooperation funded by the European Union and the Republic of Turkeys Ministry of Treasury and Finance.

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Supporting successful issuance of senior preferred bond by Latvias Citadele

The EBRD is supporting capital market development and green financing in the Baltics with a 40 million investment in the 200 million senior preferred bond issuance by Latvias AS Citadele banka to expand green financing in the Baltic countries, whereby Citadele committed to allocate 150% of the Banks proceeds to new green projects in line with the EBRDs Green Economy Transition approach.

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Exploring digitalisation in green trade finance

The EBRD is stepping up its support for the digital transition of trade finance by facilitating test transactions between QNB ALAHLI, Banca Comerciala Romana and UniCredit on the we.trade digital trade platform.

The tests will take place through we.trades Preview Offering Program, with a special focus on green trade finance, which enables banks and clients around the world to participate in test transactions with we.trade member banks..

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Hamkorbank joins EBRD green financing facility

The EBRD is strengthening its support for green innovation in Uzbekistan by extending a US$ 10 million loan to the countrys largest private lender Hamkorbank. The financing will help domestic SMEs, which are responsible for at least 56 per cent of Uzbekistans GDP, invest in green technologies.

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EBRD supports largest producer of soft drinks in Mongolia

An EBRD load of up to $15 million will support MCS Coca-Cola, Mongolias largest producer of soft drinks, to finalise the construction of a new PET bottling plant. The funds will be used to install a modern and resource-efficient bottling line and to build an energy-efficient warehouse.

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Donors

EBRD and multi-donor E5P fund to finance green buses for Yerevan

The EBRD is extending a 20 million sovereign loan to Armenia for the benefit of the Yerevan Bus Company to acquire new compressed natural gas buses that will improve the service for the citys 1 million inhabitants.

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EBRD in the media

EBRD and EU funds to Jordans West Irbid Wastewater plant

Funded by EBRD and the EU, the construction of West Irbid wastewater network will provide more than 200,000 residents in Irbid governorate, sanitation services.

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EBRD at Georgias Investors Council meeting

EBRD Regional Director for the Caucasus, Catarina Bjorlin Hansen attended the 16th Investors Council meeting, chaired by Georgias Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, to discuss the prospects of FDI into various sectors.

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Supporting the North Macedonian economy

During a working meeting with the Governor of the National Bank of North Macedonia Anita Angelovska Bezhoska ,the EBRD Head of North Macedonia, Andi Aranitasi reaffirmed the Banks commitment to supporting the countrys economy.

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The EBRD on social media

We're proud to be supporting tourism and human capital development in Egypt!

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Our Odile Renaud-Basso talked at the Energy Transition Europe 2021 conference this week. Her fireside chat explored how investment and policy reform can help companies to help us all meet the Paris Agreement objectives.

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Watch our Nigel Jolland and Lin O'Grady reveal all about how to build a green city!

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Our Alina Mika received a prize for her essay "Fifty Shades of Green: The Ethics of Sustainable Investing," in the Ethics and Trust in Finance awards.

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US$ 10 million to support Hamkorbanks green lending

Latest project under GEFF in Uzbekistan

Donor support from Austria and Taipei China

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is strengthening its support for green innovation in Uzbekistan by extending a US$ 10 million loan to the countrys largest private lender Hamkorbank.

The financing will help domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are responsible for at least 56 per cent of Uzbekistans GDP, invest in green technologies. The funds will be provided under the EBRDs Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) launched in Uzbekistan in 2019 to support green finance.

Hamkorbank is the third financial institution in the country to join the facility that is supported by grants from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund. International consultants, to be selected under the GEFF, will help Hamkorbank develop a portfolio of eligible projects and work with borrowers to assist with their green transformation.

The GEFF is fully in line with the Banks target of making half of its annual investment green by 2025 and compliant with the goals of the Paris Agreement by early 2023.

The GEFF programme is part of the Banks Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. It operates through a network of more than 150 local financial institutions across 27 countries, supported by around 5 billion of EBRD finance. To date more than 200,000 GEFF investments have collectively helped avoid annual CO2 emissions of approximately 9 million tonnes.

To date, the EBRD has invested almost 2.7 billion in 104 projects in Uzbekistan.
A Cork man who claimed pensions for his deceased mother and father for over 30 years gambled away all of the 1 million he collected, it emerged today.

Donal OCallaghan knows he is facing a jail term but wants to address his gambling addiction before the sentence is imposed, his senior counsel Ray Boland said at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The offences are the collecting of his deceased parents pensions over 30 years. The total is close to 1 million.

He suffers a gambling addiction  He gambled it all away.

Mr Boland said that the psychotherapist who examined the accused reported that he would benefit from a gambling diversion programme.

The senior counsel said he did not know if such a programme was available in Ireland.

I am hoping the probation service will be aware of one, he said.

I am asking for it to be adjourned to February and that he be directed to go to any treatment recommended by the probation service. I have told him he will be receiving a custodial sentence and he is aware of that.

He lives alone in Churchfield. He is not a flight risk. He has a realistic attitude in terms of what the penalty will be. I just want to put as much mitigation as possible in place, Mr Boland said.

Judge Helen Boyle remanded the accused on bail for sentencing on February 15.

While Mr Boland referred to some background to the offences, to which OCallaghan pleaded guilty, so far the prosecution has not outlined the background which gave rise to the charges that were brought. This will be given in full in February.

Garda Mick Nagle who is based at the Department of Social Protection arrested Donal OCallaghan of 4 Churchfield Green, Cork, following an investigation.

The accused man was charged with 73 counts related to a period lasting 33 years. 68 counts relate to theft and five relate to false documentation in support of the fraudulent claims.

Donal OCallaghan came before Cork Circuit Criminal Court on a signed plea of guilty to the charges and he confirmed that signed plea of guilty to all of the charges against him.

The theft charges state that the accused man claimed pension payments in respect of his parents pretending they were still alive when in fact they were deceased.
The alarm is sounding. European Union countries are preparing to cancel all flights to or from South Africa and six other African countries due to fears that the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus will be carried along these routes, according to Europa Press. Specifically, the restrictions will be in effect for fourteen days on flights arriving from or leaving for South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Representatives of the 27 European member states met early on Friday afternoon to study the European Commission's proposal to apply the "emergency brake" that allows the closure of the external European border with certain countries where variants of interest are located or are causing concern. Thus, Brussels has taken the initiative in response to the request of several member states to take this step, and the issue received the support of other members at a meeting held in the EU capital.

Emergency brake

The 27 have common guidelines that provide for the activation of an "emergency brake" to coordinate the closure of the external border to countries where new variants are detected that could pose a risk for the control of the coronavirus pandemic in the EU. The instrument is based on a recommendation from the European Commission to define "practical coordination", but does not imply a "legal obligation" for member states, which retain exclusive competences in this matter and decide individually how to act with regard to the traffic on their borders.

It is in this context that the Spanish government announced this afternoon that it will restrict the arrival of flights from South Africa and Botswana due to the appearance of the new Omicron variant. At the same time, a test for the virus and a vaccination certificate will be requested from passengers coming from high-risk areas.

A case in Belgium and sharemarket falls

Due to its rapid emergence as a "variant of concern", the World Health Organization has only today labelled the new variant with the Greek letter omicron. The variant detected in southern Africa has, it says, "a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning".

The countries of the European Union moved quickly this afternoon after it became known that the Omicron variant had already arrived on the continent. Specifically, a case was located in Belgium, in a woman who had arrived from a trip to Egypt which included a stopover in Turkey. The diagnosis was confirmed by UZ Leuven University Hospital in Leuven after the woman, who had not been vaccinated, began to develop symptoms eleven days after making the trip to Egypt.

After the case became known this Friday, Switzerland imposed quarantine measures on travellers arriving from Belgium, as well as from the non-European countries where the new variant has been detected. France said it would tighten checks on its northern border. The Omicron effect also reached the stockmarket: Spain's Ibex 35 index closed 5% down, its biggest one-day fall since June 2020, with transport-related companies faring the worst.

Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has considered it "premature" to predict whether it will be necessary to adapt vaccines "with a different composition" to deal with the emerging variant. "The data known so far is insufficient to determine the extent to which the new variant can evade the protection afforded by vaccines," an EMA source told the Efe agency.
The European General Court (EGC) has made it clear this Friday that the arrest warrants for the three Catalan MEPs in Belgian exile, Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati, have been suspended due to the preliminary questions that Spanish judge Pablo Llarena presented to the Luxembourg courts. With this argument, the vice-president of the European court has once again refused the request by the pro-independence politicians to suspend the lifting of their parliamentary immunity. This suspension was requested by the three MEPs after Carles Puigdemont's arrest in Sardinia on September 23rd.

The vice-president of the EGC states that the criminal proceedings have been suspended until the higher Luxembourg court, the European Court of Justice, rules on the preliminary questions. It explains that this suspension is a direct consequence of the presentation of the said preliminary question and does not require any specific decision of the Spanish Supreme Court in this regard.

A warning to Spain's Supreme Court

The European judge states that the Supreme Court was aware of the suspensory effect of the preliminary question and that "its effects are binding on the competent national authorities, including judicial authorities, without the need for a specific decision on their part." However, when Puigdemont was arrested at L'Alguer airport in Sardinia, the Spanish Supreme Court affirmed that the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for the former Catalan president was still in force and demanded his extradition.

With regard to this, the EU court does note that "some of the circumstances referred to by the MEPs tend to show that it is possible that certain national authorities did not draw all the conclusions from the submission of the request for a preliminary ruling", in particular those relating to the suspension of criminal proceedings and execution of EAWs.

And the court goes on to give a warning, that "under the principle of sincere cooperation, the national authorities must take into account the suspension of the criminal proceedings and the execution of the European Arrest Warrants" against Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati.

Warrants, suspended

In July, over three months after the European Parliament's vote to waive the three MEPs' immunity, the General Court already rejected an appeal from them for the interim reinstatement of the immunity, with a decision based on same argument as today's: that the EAWs were suspended, and this prevented the Belgian authorities or any other Member State from executing them. Therefore, a return to interim immunity was not necessary.

The judge now reaffirms these statements, stressing that the outcome of the arrest in Sardinia - the fact that Carles Puigdemont was released the next day, based on the conditions agreed in July by the General Court - "tends to confirm" that the three pro-independence MEPs do not run the risk of being handed over to the Spanish authorities at this stage, until the preliminary question has been resolved.

Immunity when travelling

In response to the claim from the MEPs that they might nevertheless be arrested or subject to restrictions on their freedom of movement, or even be extradited and imprisoned, and thus suffer serious and irreparable harm, the vice-president of the court insists that "their arrest, in itself, does not constitute serious and irreparable harm". That in order to be classified as such, it would have to "impair the MEPs' right to freely exercise their parliamentary mandate and the proper functioning of Parliament".

"As was observed in the first order for interim measures, the MEPs still enjoy their immunity when travelling to attend meetings of the Parliament, so that serious and irreparable damage caused by an arrest remains hypothetical," it resolves.
Island's precautionary response to new COVID-19 variant

Precautionary actions are underway to reduce the risk of a new COVID-19 variant being transmitted in the Isle of Man.

The designation of a new Variant under Investigation by the UK Health Security Agency has led to six African countries being added to the UKs travel red list from midday today, with direct flights from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia banned until 4am on Sunday 28 November.

British nationals who have been in those countries within the last 10 days are required to quarantine at home for 10 days and take two PCR tests from noon today until 4am on Sunday, following which all arrivals in the UK will have to undertake mandatory hotel quarantine.

The adding of countries to the UK red list means that anyone who has been in a red list country in the past 10 days is prohibited from travel to the Isle of Man until they have completed their quarantine.

Borders officers have identified 21 people who have arrived in the Isle of Man from South Africa in the past 10 days, and are in the process of contacting them. All the individuals are being offered advice by Public Health, and are being asked to make arrangements with COVID 111 for voluntary PCR tests. They are not required to self-isolate while waiting for their results unless they have symptoms, as they travelled before the measures were introduced.

It is important that anyone else who visited any of the six countries before traveling to the UK from a third country and onward to the Island within the past 10 days, comes forward. They are asked to contact COVID 111 to arrange a PCR test.
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has proposed a ban on some types of targeted political ads that employ sensitive personal data, including ethnic origin, religion, health status or sexual orientation, unless users give explicit consent. If the rules come into force, advertisers would have to provide clear details on the criteria they use for targeting, as well as the "amplification tools or methods" they harness.

Every ad would also have to be more transparent in terms of displaying the name of the person or organization that paid for it, as well as disclosing how much was spent, where the money came from and the ad's connection to an election or referendum.

The EC is hoping these measures will help protect election integrity, largely by making it more difficult for campaigns to target and mislead marginalized groups. It said people should be able to easily tell when they see a paid political ad, whether online or offline, and take part in political discussions without being impacted by interference, manipulation or misinformation.

Elections must not be a competition of opaque and non-transparent methods. People must know why they are seeing an ad, who paid for it, how much, what micro-targeting criteria were used," the EC's vice-president for values and transparency Vera Jourova said in a statement.

If the bill becomes law, EU member states will need to determine fines for breaching the rules. National data protection authorities will be tasked with monitoring how personal data is used in ad targeting and imposing fines when appropriate. The EC is hoping to enact the rules, which build on the General Data Protection Regulation and planned Digital Services Act , by spring 2023, ahead of European Parliament elections the following year.

Political ads have been a hot button issue for online platforms for several years. Facebook and Google both temporarily banned them after polls closed in the 2020 US presidential election to stem the flow of misinformation. Earlier this month, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, removed thousands of ad targeting options, including those related to ethnicity, health, religion, sexual orientation and political beliefs. Twitter banned all political ads in 2019.
LG has appointed a new CEO to lead its electronics business. Starting December 1st, current Chief Strategy Officer William Cho will take over for Bong-seok Kwon as the CEO of LG Electronics. Meanwhile, according to The Korea Herald , Kwon will head up LGs main holding company. Cho has been with LG Electronics since 1987. Prior to his most recent role, he served as the president of LG Canada, and later had the same role at LG Australia and LG USA.

Cho is about to take the reins of LG Electronics at an inflection point for the company. It recently shut down its mobile division in July after the unit failed to make a profit in 23 consecutive quarters. At this point, LG Electronics is probably best known for its TVs and monitors, but there too it faces tough competition from Samsung and a variety of Chinese competitors.

However, Cho will have help from a handful of executives the company has shuffled into new positions. Most notably, theres Ik-hwan Jang whos about to take up the top position at the companys Business Solutions unit. Jang was most recently responsible for overseeing LGs IT business portfolio where he helped LG become a powerhouse in the monitor space.
Russian officials are investigating a complaint against Netflix after the public commissioner for protecting families accused the company of violating a "gay propaganda" law, according to Reuters. The commissioner claimed that some Netflix content with LGBTQIA+ themes was rated suitable for those aged 16 and older. The country's laws do not allow the distribution of "propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations" among under 18s.

If the Interior Ministry ultimately deems that Netflix has broken the law, it faces a fine of up to a million rubles ($13,390). More significantly, the service could be temporarily suspended.

A Netflix source told Vedomosti the company didn't find any LGBT content that was rated 16+ during a review earlier in November (a Netflix spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that titles were appropriately rated and that the ratings were accurate). The newspaper also reported this month that officials may ban streaming services from having shows and movies that depict "non-traditional sexual relationships and sexual deviations in their libraries, including the likes of Fifty Shades of Gray and Billions.

The European Court of Human Rights determined in 2017 that the "propaganda" law, which was enacted in 2013, discriminates against LGBTQIA+ people and violates European treaty rules and the right to freedom of expression. Activists and Western states have also criticized the regulation.

Meanwhile, Russia is taking aim at foreign tech companies at a broader level. This week, it said the likes of Apple, Facebook parent Meta, Google, TikTok, Telegram and Twitter would need to set up official presences in the country by the end of the year, if they haven't already done so.

Update 11/29 1:39PM ET: Clarified that the investigation is into the complaint, rather than Netflix.
26 November 2021

During an online ceremony on 23 November, EPO President Antonio Campinos was joined by Ms Ana Margarida Bandeira, President of the Council of INPI Portugal, and Mr Claudio Vilar Furtado, President of the Council of INPI Brazil, to launch an international patent training event addressing the needs of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. The three-day event covered a broad range of patent-related topics and was attended by more than 130 participants from Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe. It drew on synergies with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and Organisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectuelle (OAPI), of which some of the participants' countries are also members.

Multilateral co-operation with global impact

The event is intended to mark the beginning of a long-term training programme and to help develop capacity and competences within the national IP offices of the states where participants are based. This will support them in implementing international best practices in search and examination and help raise awareness of IP among a broader audience, including professionals at universities, technology transfer offices and incubators. The training emphasises the importance of patent knowledge and the PATLIB network, as well as enabling national IP offices to support local innovators more effectively, especially when they consider how best to protect and leverage the commercial value of their inventions.

The training also aims at greater levels of efficiency by helping to avoid the duplication of efforts. Hence the importance of multilateral co-operation between IP offices and the joint commitment to developing the patent system in the Lusophone community. Mr Campinos warmly thanked all partners for their invaluable contributions, including the co-organizers INPI Portugal and INPI Brazil, as well as those organisations that supported the event: ARIPO, OAPI and the EU-funded AfrIPI project.

Looking ahead

The first Lusophone Conference on Industrial Property organised by the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) is scheduled to take place as a hybrid event on 26 April 2022 at the Lisbon premises of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). The conference offers a further opportunity to share and disseminate best practices among IP offices in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Further information
Turbulent Transformations: Non-Brahmin Srivaisnavas on Religion, Caste and Politics in Tamil Nadu by Katherine Young, Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan, 2021; pp 399, 736.

In the past two centuries, Tamil Nadu has witnessed tumultuous religious, social, and political changes that influenced the political understanding and cultural preferences of the Tamil-speaking people.

Beginning from the late 1910s, some of the articulate sections of the non-Brahmin community with the covert support of the colonial bureaucracy had constructed a non-Brahmin identity aimed towards gaining equality with the Brahmins. This non-Brahminism was propelled by the Brahmin cultural supremacy and dominance in the middle and lower ranks of the colonial administrative machinery. The majority of the non-Brahmin leadership comprised of the landed elite and a vast number of their followers were from the peasant castes. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, this constructed homogeneous non-Brahmin identity showed signs of whittling down because of the competition within the non-Brahmin communities, fuelled largely by their social and political aspirations. In this jostling for power and status, non-Brahmin identity gave way to caste-based generic identities. In this situation, sometimes different castes came together, but more often they were engaged in rivalries that were conditioned by the changing power equation in the society. The Hindu castes, whether high or low, on many occasions were drawn towards Shaiva and Vaishnava affiliations. The millennial-old traditions of devotion certainly made this affiliation to one god somewhat of a common cultural experience throughout large parts of South India.
- The Aztiq-Innobic consortium will acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Markets Holdings Limited, thereby becoming the leading shareholders in Lotus Pharmaceutical and the sole shareholder in Adalvo

- Robert Wessman, chairman and CEO of Alvogen and founder of Aztiq, will continue as chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

- The consortium creates a unique alliance of leaders and investors with the industry experience, geographical reach, commitment to sustainable development and financial strength to accelerate the companies' development

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aztiq ("Aztiq"), a healthcare investor led by Alvogen Founder and Chairman Robert Wessman, and Innobic (Asia) Company Limited ("Innobic"), a life sciences subsidiary of Thailand industrial group PTT, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited ("AEMH") from its existing shareholders for $475 million. The aim of the alliance between Aztiq and Innobic and the transaction is to create a powerful pharmaceuticals enterprise with global resources, networks and reach.

Through the transaction, one of the largest in the sector this year, the consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceutical ("Lotus", TWSE ticker: 1795), and the sole shareholder in Alvogen Malta Holding Ltd., the owner of the fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo.

AEMH is currently owned by Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl ("Alvogen"). Key shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners and Temasek Holdings of Singapore, as well as Aztiq. Alvogen will remain a leading shareholder in the generic pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company Almatica, as well as the second largest shareholder in global biosimilars company Alvotech.

The members of the consortium bring impressive and complementary leadership and expertise. Robert Wessman has over the last six years successfully led the transformation of Lotus from a small local Taiwanese company into a leading generic ora oncology company. Innobic's parent company PTT Group is Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate, with extensive commercial and business networks across the fast-growing ASEAN countries.

Aztiq's founder and chairman, Robert Wessman, will continue to serve as chairman of the board of both Lotus and Adalvo.

This consortium's unique market knowledge along with strong support from shareholders will provide Lotus and Adalvo with a competitive advantage in a thriving industry, enabling them to extend their leadership globally. Both companies share the mission of making high-quality medicines accessible to patients around the world, and with the expertise and resources that will be readily available to them, they will accelerate progress towards this goal. From oral oncology to research innovation in over-the-counter products, Lotus and Adalvo will together pave the way for greater global access to first-class treatments and medication.

Robert Wessman, chairman and CEO of Alvogen and founder of Aztiq, commented: "I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing shareholders for their great support in the transformation of both Lotus and Adalvo, and at the same time to welcome our new partner Innobic as we look forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines to more people who need them. With our vast collective expertise, and the comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN brought by innobic and PTT, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a compelling competitive advantage, enabling both enterprises to support one another and advance their global leadership in their sectors."

Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, senior executive vice president, innovation and new ventures, PTT and chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented: "This partnership will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus Pharmaceutical jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business with a primary focus on generic in many key disease areas, specially oncology and neurological disease. This investment, together with the global networks of Adalvo,will strengthen access to high quality medicines in region and is a major milestone for our life sciences business and its mission to advance public health and the pharmaceutical industry in Thailand and the region."

Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux, commented: "After 7 years as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Today's announcement is consistent with Alvogen's strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Aztiq

Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor focused on pharmaceuticals, led by Alvogen founder and chairman Robert Wessman . Going forward, Aztiq will be acting as a specialized pharmaceutical fund advisor and manager investing in various pharmaceutical assets.

. Going forward, Aztiq will be acting as a specialized pharmaceutical fund advisor and manager investing in various pharmaceutical assets. Aztiq's shareholder base consists of individual investors as well as major international investment funds among whose largest assets are pharmaceuticals companies Alvogen, Alvotech, Lotus, Almatica, Almaject and Adalvo.

Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

Relevant history

Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and since then Lotus has evolved into a next-generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global oncology, with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and a portfolio with global into more than 130 markets.

and a portfolio with global into more than 130 markets. Since 2018, Alvogen has evolved Adalvo from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit focusing on global markets. Adalvo has rapidly achieved remarkable growth, with over 500 transactions and a world-class portfolio of 60 differentiated medicines. It is currently one of the fastest growing B2B pharmaceutical company globally, serving partners and patients in over 100 markets around the world.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696901/Virtual_Signing.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696676/AZTIQ_Logo.jpg
Climate activists blocked access to some Amazon depots in Europe on Black Friday, saying the firm was a symbol of overconsumption.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had uncovered a plot to overthrow his government next week involving individuals from Russia, although he declined to say whether he thought the Kremlin was behind it.
Oil has made a solid bounce of around 5% from this weeks low.

While the US government is trying to push oil prices lower, OPEC+ are likely to want it to remain in its current range.

The Canadian Dollar is one of the better performers in G10 currencies and has pushed weaker currencies such as the Yen and the Euro to multi-year lows.

Markets are relatively quiet on Thursday as the US is closed for Thanksgiving and Friday will be a half day of trading as Black Friday gets underway. The lack of big events gives risk markets a slight bullish bias and the FTSE and Dax are drifting higher while most USD pairs are flat with the notable exception of NZDUSD which is lower again by 0.3% following the RBNZs rate hike on Wednesday morning.

Currencies have been dominated by dollar strength this month, but there has also been plenty movement between the rest of the G10 as Covid affects different countries at different times and central bank policies diverge. Large swings in commodity prices have also been a factor and commodity currencies such as the Canadian Dollar and the Australian Dollar have shown relative strength. A recent dip in oil has started to work against CAD but oil remains above $70 a bbl and has made a recovery in recent sessions, even as the US released some of its Strategic Petroleum Reserves in an attempt to drive down prices.

Oil Issues

The oil uptrend of 2021 has sent energy costs sky high and the price at the pumps has been a worry for consumers and businesses alike. However, the uptrend has stalled in recent weeks and may have topped in late October as it dropped 11.8% into this weeks low.

Several factors have been weighing on prices. Firstly, fresh lockdowns in Europe have affected demand and the threat of a winter of further lockdowns and slack demand is a big concern. Secondly, the US administration is making a concerted effort to drive down prices. This extends to possible export bans and releasing Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs). The strategy appeared to be working earlier this week as oil was over 11% from the 2021 high made around a month ago, but it made a sharp recovery just as it was announced US SPRs were released.

This may have been another case of sell the rumour buy the news. Moreover, it begs a number of questions going forward. The US released 50m barrels but oil companies are being asked to replace them over time. Then theres the issue of OPEC+s response.

While the oil market now has some clarity around the coordinated SPR release, there is still plenty of uncertainty around how OPEC+ may react to a number of key consumers releasing stocks onto the market. OPEC+ is set to meet on 2 December and this is when they will decide whether they stick to their plan of increasing output by 400Mbbls/d per month or pause further supply increases to offset the SPR releases. OPECs Economic Commission Board warned that the global oil market could see large surpluses due to these releases, particularly over the early part of next year. As usual, expect plenty of noise in the lead up to next weeks OPEC+ meeting.

OPEC+ will be keen to keep oil in its current range and have been slow to increase production in case it causes a sustained decline. Bloomberg News estimated that Saudi Arabia is on track to earn the most money from oil in eight years in 2022. Presumably what is good for them is also beneficial to a large producer such as Canada.

Assuming OPEC+ does manage to keep oil in a broad range of $60-$80, commodity currencies such as CAD should fare well. CAD is by no means the strongest on the G10 in recent months, but is performing well against the weaker currencies. EURCAD, for example, has dropped to multi-year lows below the 2020 bottom, and CADJPY recently traded at exchange rates last seen way back in 2015.
From: Rych McCain Media Syndication and Rych McCain Black Youth Self-Esteem Workshops For Immediate Release: Dateline: Los Angeles , CA Friday, November 26, 2021





(C) 2021 by Rych McCain, All Rights Reserved. No part of this column maybe reprinted, re-posted or duplicated without written permission from Rych McCain Media/Syndication. Violation is subject to applicable laws

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Rych McCain is MPA (Motion Picture Association) Press Accredited Rych McCain is MPA (Motion Picture Association) Press Accredited Tiesto & Ava Max - Music

Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist Top Hollywood Influencer TIESTO AND AVA MAXTEAM UP TO RELEASE FIERCE PARTY ANTHEM THE MOTTO ALONGSIDE MUSIC VIDEO



GRAMMYAward-winning, platinum-certified, international icon Tiesto hasjoined forces with pop powerhouse Ava Max on TheMotto, a fast-paced dance banger that will get everyone back on theirfeet as the world opens up and the party begins again! The song is the 3 rd singlefrom Tiestos upcoming album on Atlantic Records







Tiesto & Ava Max "The Motto"



The song was released alongside a music videodirected by Christian Breslauer and featuresboth Tiesto and Ava Max time traveling and partying in the1920swatch it here! Themusic video made its broadcast premiere on MTV Live, MTVU and onthe ViacomCBS Times Square billboard.

Ava is such an exciting young talent and herbeautiful voice adds such depth to the song - I cannot wait for the world tohear our collaboration. The Motto is the party anthem keeping us dancing into2022 as we close out a crazy year! says Tiesto.

When Tiesto shared this record with me, I fellin love and couldnt stop playing it. The Motto is empowering - its about notcaring, doing you, having a good time, and letting the world know! says AvaMax.

This new track follows the releaseof Tiestos collaboration with multiplatinum superstar KarolG on Dont Be Shy, which has garnered over 203Million streams to date. Preceding Dont Be Shywas Tiestos massive hit The Business, whichcertified Platinum in the US and has garnered over 1.1 Billion streams to date.The song debuted in the top 10 in 10 countries upon release, reaching #1 on theUS Dance Charts. Tiesto recently hosted a star-studded VIPevent at the new Resorts World Las Vegas in partnership withAtlantic Records, TikTok and Zouk Group. EveningWith Tiesto brought out guests such as Dylan Minette,Rickey Thompson, Harley Quinn Smith, Zack Lugo and CharlyJordan for a special performance by the legendaryDJ. Tiesto will be broadcasting the live performance event fromResorts World Las Vegas tomorrow, exclusively on TikTok.

Tiesto is a Grammy Award-winning,platinum-certified, international icon. The DJ and producer is the only artistto ever hold the titles of The Greatest DJ of All Time courtesyof Mixmag, #1 DJ according to Rolling Stone, and The Godfather of EDM,as proclaimed by Billboard. From his underground dance floor bangers to hishigh-profile Las Vegas residency and crossoversuccess, Tiesto created the blueprint that defines what it means tobe a success in todays dance music world. In Tiesto's true fashion,he continues expand across genres, always evolving his craft. With over 36million albums sold, 8 Billion cumulative streams, and a social platformwith an audience exceeding 30 million fans spanning the globe, he continues torevolutionize the dance music landscape. Tiesto is a Grammy Award-winning,platinum-certified, international icon. The DJ and producer is the only artistto ever hold the titles of The Greatest DJ of All Time courtesyof Mixmag, #1 DJ according to Rolling Stone, and The Godfather of EDM,as proclaimed by Billboard. From his underground dance floor bangers to hishigh-profile Las Vegas residency and crossoversuccess, Tiesto created the blueprint that defines what it means tobe a success in todays dance music world. In Tiesto's true fashion,he continues expand across genres, always evolving his craft. With over 36million albums sold, 8 Billion cumulative streams, and a social platformwith an audience exceeding 30 million fans spanning the globe, he continues torevolutionize the dance music landscape.



Tiestos first release sincesigning with Atlantic Records, "The Business has dominated airplay andcharts worldwide since its September 2020 release, garnering over 1billion streams to date. It has also held a steady position on Apple &Spotifys Todays Top Hits & Todays Hits playlists, and hit #1 at USDance Radio. The Business is certified Platinum in 15 countries andgold in 8 countries and has held a place on the Top 10 officialsingles chart in 10 countries as well as Top 50 on Spotify in 31countries. Tiesto made history with single Dont Be Shy with KarolG, which marked the first English song ever for Karol G, and the Tiestos first release sincesigning with Atlantic Records, "The Business has dominated airplay andcharts worldwide since its September 2020 release, garnering over 1billion streams to date. It has also held a steady position on Apple &Spotifys Todays Top Hits & Todays Hits playlists, and hit #1 at USDance Radio. The Business is certified Platinum in 15 countries andgold in 8 countries and has held a place on the Top 10 officialsingles chart in 10 countries as well as Top 50 on Spotify in 31countries. Tiesto made history with single Dont Be Shy with KarolG, which marked the first English song ever for Karol G, and the first Latin Artist collaboration for Tiesto.The third single from Tiestos upcoming album, The Motto with Ava Max is outnow.



Outspoken, yetmysterious. Empowered, and also vulnerable. Sweet, but psycho. Duality drivesAva Max, cementing her as one of the most listened to pop artists in the world.The daughter of Albanian immigrants grinded since grade school and exploded ona global scale with the 2018 triple-platinum smash Sweet but Psycho. Streamedover 2 billion times by 2020, it clinched a spot in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot100 for three weeks. As the tune took the world by storm, The NewYork Times named it among the 54 Best Songs of 2019, and RollingStone christened her An Artist You Need To Know.



Becominginescapable, Sweet but Psycho received a nomination in the category ofChoice Pop Song at the Teen Choice Awards as she took homeBest Push Artist at the 2019 MTV Europe Music Awards. In addition toperforming on The Late Late Show with James Corden, JimmyKIMMEL LIVE!, and The TODAY Show, she appeared infeatures by Vanity Fair, Billboard, PAPER, FORBES,and more.

She only accelerated this rapid rise to pop superstardom with theGold-selling So Am I [927 million global streams] and Salt [1.5 billionglobal streams]. In the middle of this whirlwind, Ava pieced together her 2020full-length debut album, Heaven & Hell [APG/AtlanticRecords], which skyrocketed to Gold certification upon release. It alsocontinued her hot streak and features her biggest hit yet, Kings & Queens[1 billion global streams]. The song reached #1 on the European and Hot AdultContemporary charts for eight consecutive weeks and soared to #2 at Pop radio.



Last November, Ava added a new single entitled My Head & My Heartto Heaven & Hell and was named a 2021 honoree on the Forbes 30under 30 list. My Head & My Heart has been streamed an impressive 401million times globally and hit Top 15 on Pop radio. She performed it on GoodMorning America, Jimmy KIMMEL LIVE! and The KellyClarkson Show. Ava followed My Head & My Heart with a powerful newsingle EveryTime I Cry. An undisputed summer smash, the highly-anticipated,adrenaline-fueled track is pure electropop perfection. (C) 2021 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM (You DID Hear It From Me!) Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn














Just under 800 people have gotten jobs through the citys one-year job training program, launched in the wake of the pandemic  which is far below the thousands of trainees who were supposed to have started new careers by now.

The number of people who have gotten jobs through the citys Train for Jobs program climbed from 467 in August to 795 as of mid-November, according to city statistics. The first participant enrolled in the program in September 2020.

Some City Council members are losing patience with the programs slow start. Mayor Ron Nirenberg had set an ambitious goal for the initiative  saying it would place 10,000 trainees in new jobs annually  when he was pitching voters on the job-training program last year.

I think there were some expectations, and I certainly had expectations, that Im concerned that the program hasnt met, District 9 Councilman John Courage said. I just cant understand 800 or 900 jobs after a year  and expectations originally talked about where there were thousands of people who were out of work and thousands of people needed to get some kind of training.

On ExpressNews.com: Rollout of San Antonios $200 million job training effort pushed to 2022

The program, called Train for Jobs SA, was launched in the pandemics immediate aftermath in spring 2020, when 140,000 city residents were thrown out of work. It was funded with $65 million in city funds and was designed to offer shorter-term training that would place people into jobs quickly.

Train for Jobs is the precursor to the $200 million, four-year Ready to Work program. Last November, a majority of San Antonio voters approved a 1/8-cent sales tax to pay for the initiative.

Ready to Work was originally set to enroll residents for job training in August, but its rollout was pushed to early next year following the slow start for Train for Jobs.

Ready to Work will offer job training as well as associate and bachelors degree programs. Train for Jobs has only offered short- and long-term training, on-the-job training and GED courses. Participants can still enroll in Train for Jobs through Dec. 31.

Over the past year, 1,441 people have completed training, 55 percent of whom are in new jobs.

In all, the city has provided about 4,300 training courses for residents.

Thats below city staffs own target  which was more conservative than the mayors  to provide 6,271 training courses in the first year.

Mike Ramsey, director of the citys newly formed workforce development department, was hired in August to oversee the Ready to Work program and the end of Train for Jobs.

In response to Courages criticism, Ramsey said he hopes some of the 2,500 people currently enrolled in training land jobs in the coming months.

Others now in the intake process could begin training soon.

As we continue through to the end of the year, were very confident that well get that 6,271 in training programs before (Train for Jobs) sunsets, he said.

Nearly 70 percent of the participants in Train for Jobs are women, and the vast majority are either Black or Hispanic. About 62 percent were living below the poverty line when they entered the program.

Early on, city officials attributed the lower-than-expected participation in Train for Jobs to many applicants who sought longer-term training and college degrees that the one-year program didnt offer. Ready to Work will offer those alternatives when it starts in early 2022.

And the city requires that companies hiring a training program graduate pay them at least $15 an hour. Lower-paying employers who could hire trainees quickly often dont meet the wage threshold.

People have rejected low-wage positions, and theyre figuring out another way, Ramsey said. Theres enough momentum from other employers, enough vacancies that currently exist, that people will have plenty of opportunities out there.

On ExpressNews.com: Were going to change lives: How the citys new workforce director plans to roll out the voter-approved Ready to Work initiative

Meanwhile, large manufacturers in San Antonio, who typically pay well above $15 an hour, have shown little interest in hiring graduates of the citys job training program. Toyota, the citys largest manufacturer, already has its own training program offered through Alamo Colleges.

Among those who have finished training, 235 people landed jobs in the medical field, the most of any industry. Trainees also have gone to jobs in industries such as information technology.

Ramsey said the city has coordinated with employers, such as H-E-B, Navistar International, Credit Human and others, to introduce them to program graduates. The city also has hosted two job fairs, where 20 participants landed employment, he said.

Still, Courage said he wants to see more interest in Ready to Work when it rolls out early next year.

Eight hundred people have found a job through our program, Courage said. Its a concern. I hope to see better numbers and better results over time.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
Correction: The Ready to Work job training program will be funded over several years with a total of $200 million in sales tax revenue. The original story  posted Aug. 30 and published in the newspaper on 1A the same day  included an incorrect dollar amount. Also, the city of San Antonio allocated $65 million for Train for Jobs, Ready to Works predecessor. The original story included an incorrect funding source.

The $200 million Ready to Work program that voters approved in November to train low-skilled workers for new, better-paying jobs wont launch until January  four months later than expected.

City officials are still working out the kinks.

The four-year initiative will follow Train for Jobs SA, a one-year program the city hastily launched last September to provide job training programs for residents thrown out of work by the pandemic.

Train for Jobs has been funded with $65 million in city funds. The program was supposed to end in September and then transition to Ready to Work, which will be paid for with a -cent sales tax that will generate as much as $22.7 million annually for the program.

But Train for Jobs has fallen far short of its job placement goal.

City officials pushed the start of Ready to Work to next year partly because of the existing programs slow start. They say the extra time will allow the city to enroll more trainees and find outside organizations to run the program.

Extending enrollment through the end of December will help us reach those (enrollment) goals and give us an opportunity to serve more individuals, said Christina Reck-Guerra, interim assistant director of the citys newly formed Workforce Development Department.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio hires new director to lead the city's $200 million job training program

The city is looking to contract with nonprofits to run Ready to Work.

Initially, the city planned make the first-year program a pilot for Ready to Work, and it wanted to hire 63 employees to build a city department to run the program, for which voters approved the -cent sales tax in November.

But after blowback from community activists, who claimed the program was becoming an unwieldy bureaucracy, the city opted to award contracts to nonprofits to run Ready to Work.

The city is soliciting proposals for three parts of the training initiative: implementing the program, marketing it to residents and statistically evaluating how effective the training has been. The city will award the three contracts in December, said Michael Ramsey, who started this month as director of the Workforce Development office.

We want to compare our data to national norms, Ramsey said. We want to also have annual reports and quarterly updates so we can track our progress and pivot and make adjustments when necessary.

The city has budgeted roughly $65 million in sales tax revenue over four years for the Ready to Work contracts.

Eligible participants  who must reside in San Antonio and have been negatively affected financially by the pandemic  will be able to enroll in Train for Jobs until Ready to Work starts.

The beginning of the workforce training effort, championed by Mayor Ron Nirenberg, was marked by a glitchy computer system that prevented workers from signing up last year. And interest in the program hasnt met the citys expectations.

Slow going, missed target

Through mid-August, 467 residents had gone through the training program and landed jobs. Just over 3,000 people are enrolled in or have completed training.

Last year, Nirenberg said the program would help 10,000 residents in the first year. That figure turned out to be overly ambitious for the nascent training program, which is overseen by city staffers, not workforce development experts.

On ExpressNews.com: 'Too big to fail': San Antonio's fledgling job training program under scrutiny

Earlier in the pandemic, city officials thought workers would be most interested in short-term training programs to quickly get new credentials or certifications and start working again. But more trainees than anticipated have sought longer-term training programs.

We had big projections. We didnt know how many folks would be taking advantage of the long-term training versus the short-term, said District 4 Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia, who sits on several council committees overseeing the training program. Thats probably where we miscalculated.

But awarding contracts to outside companies to run the program  instead of putting the city in charge of it  makes more sense, she said.

City staff do a great job of trying to juggle things, but were not the experts, Rocha Garcia said. Youre actually now putting this in the hands of experts. This is what they do on a daily basis.

While far below projections, more people in recent weeks have been signing up for training and getting jobs through the first-year program.

Through the first 10 months of Train for Jobs, 338 people finished training and landed jobs. But over the last month, 129 residents made it through training and got new jobs.

diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net
In 2003, Dan Durda, a planetary scientist at San Antonios Southwest Research Institute, joined a research team to shoot tiny aluminum balls at rocks.

The researchers bought big chunks of carbon that resembled asteroids from private dealers, took them to the NASAs Ames Vertical Gun Range in Californias Silicon Valley, and blasted them with pellets fired from a light-gas gun.

They were studying kinetic impact deflection  that is, how asteroids react to force. Nearly two decades of experiments taught them its safer to nudge ancient space rubble to change its course than to smash one apart  since its fragments might continue to race through space and then slam into Earth.

Earlier this week, NASA used the same approach in a first-ever test to protect the human race from asteroids  the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. Durda is part of NASAs project team for the mission.

The agency launched a spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket is making a 6.8-million mile, 10-month flight around the Sun and toward the Disymos asteroid system. The 1,200-pound spacecraft is expected to collide with Dimorphos, an asteroid that 525 feet across, at 15,000 mph in late September 2022.

Durda, who works in SwRIs Boulder, Colo., office, traveled to the Space Force base to watch the launch with hundreds of colleagues from a large swath of grass dotted with tents and food trucks.

It was a beautiful clear sky with a gibbous moon that afforded a wonderful view of the launch all the way through the main engine cutoff and the second engine start, he said. It disappeared into a cloud bank deep in the second stage.

DART is the first-ever NASA mission to do the experiment of pushing on a little asteroid and seeing how its going to respond if we ever need to do this someday with a real threatening asteroid, Durda said.

Earth isnt in any imminent danger of a massive asteroid strike  at least NASA doesnt know of any large rocks targeting the planet in the next 100 years. But Durda and other researchers believe its best to be prepared for the worse-case scenario.

This is not fooling around, he said. Weve been experimenting and modeling these experiments for decades in laboratories. But this is the first time weve been able to experiment on a real-world scale. Theres still a lot of unknowns, and the only way to close the loop on that is to do the experiment but were finally doing it.

Bill Ingalls, HOGP / Associated Press

Watching a mission launch knowing that were really stepping up our game and taking it seriously  thats a good feeling, he added.

NASA said its aiming to bump Dimorphos slightly off its orbital path. The space agency is relying on the work of a host of researchers studying kinetic impact deflection, including Durda and San Antonio-based SwRI colleagues James Walker and Sidney Chocron.

Hours after the launch, SwRI tweeted its congratulations to NASA, the mission team and John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which developed DART in Maryland. SwRI, a nonprofit contract research organization, also highlighted its involvement in the launch: SwRI impact specialists an asteroid researchers are member of the project team. Go DART!

In announcing the lift off, NASAs Defense Coordination Office tweeted: Asteroids have been hitting the Earth for billions of years. Now, we begin to make it stop. Elon Musk, co-founder and CEO of SpaceX, responded with a rallying cry: Avenge the dinosaurs!!

The research behind DART is deeply rooted in the findings of Durda and other researchers, presented after years of unloading aluminum balls into asteroid-like rocks.

The DART, he said, is a little car running into a bigger car on a freeway, except in this case, its a small spacecraft and a sizable near-Earth asteroid.

Its action-reaction, he said. You push something, it pushes back.

By Friday, the DART had separated from the SpaceX rocket and completed the successful unfurling of its two, 28-foot-long, roll-out solar arrays, NASA said, describing the two gold cylinders flanking the sides of the spacecraft.

The solar arrays are expected to power the spacecraft and the agencys Evolutionary Xenon Thruster, a commercial ion engine being tested on the mission.

In addition to all the ways NASA studies our universe and our home planet, were also working to protect that home, and this test will help prove out one viable way to protect our planet from a hazardous asteroid should one ever be discovered that is headed toward Earth, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

NASA, HO / NYT

eric.killelea@express-news.net
Each week, Hearst health reporters field questions about the latest on COVID-19, vaccines and pandemic living. In this weeks COVID Help Desk: what you should know about rapid tests and keeping your family safe this holiday season.

Once scarce, COVID rapid tests are now more readily available at pharmacies. Health experts recommend using them on unvaccinated relatives as a stop-gap measure before holiday get-togethers.

The tests are less sensitive  and more costly  than PCR tests. They may not pick up on an asymptomatic infection if someone is carrying a low viral load. But they are good at detecting when someone is highly contagious and most likely to infect others.

Rapid tests work by identifying COVID-specific viral proteins in a persons nasal cavity, said Dr. Linda Yancey, an infectious disease specialist Memorial Hermann. A positive test result is clear cut: You have COVID, she said. A negative test result is slightly less clear, as the testee could simply be in the early stages of an infection.

But the good news, Yancey said, is that a negative test means you are almost certainly not able to infect someone at that time.

Many Houston pharmacies carry the BinaxNOW test from Abbott Laboratories or the QuickVue test from Quidel. While the CVS and Walgreens websites show available test kits by ZIP code, its still a good idea to call the store to confirm it still has them in stock.

If possible, encourage unvaccinated family members to book a free PCR test at their local pharmacy ahead of your next gathering. A single rapid test can cost around $25, making it an expensive investment in holiday health.

How can I protect myself while visiting unvaccinated relatives?

A fully vaccinated person with two doses and possibly a booster should feel fairly confident they are going to be relatively safe gathering with unvaccinated people, said Dr. Melanie Mouzoon, managing physician for immunization at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic.

Mouzoon recommends asking whether unvaccinated family members have already had COVID. In general, those who have recovered from the virus are unlikely to be spreading it. The Lone Star states severe summer outbreak left many unvaccinated Texans with a measure of natural immunity.

The vaccine expert also recommended making the reasonable request that unvaccinated relatives take a rapid COVID test or schedule a PCR test prior to gathering.

Its better to get a rapid test than no test at all, she said.

When it comes to breakthrough infections, age is a key factor in assessing risk.

The majority of breakthrough cases in vaccinated people are mild and may go undetected, especially in healthy people under the age of 65. For those groups, the three approved vaccines  Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson  have been proven effective at preventing serious symptoms, hospitalization and death.

But for the elderly or immuno-compromised, breakthrough infections are a far riskier prospect. People with obesity, heart disease or other complicating health conditions should be extra cautious  and get boosted as soon as possible, Mouzoon said.

My child is unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. How do I protect them while traveling this holiday season?

Like adults, children between the ages of 5 and 11 are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the COVID vaccine. That means most children will not be protected in time for the December holidays.

But just like attending school in person, kids can safely travel if their caretakers take the proper precautions, said Dr. Pedro A. Piedra, a virologist at Baylor College of Medicine.

The experts recommended eating outdoors if weather permits and having kids wear their masks indoors around unvaccinated or immuno-compromised relatives.

Youre trying to have a joyful time and not regret it later, Piedra said.

If traveling by air, the doctors recommended avoiding long layovers and social distancing when possible in airport terminals. While airplanes have advanced filtration systems in place to remove the virus, terminals often lack adequate ventilation. Yancey, of Memorial Hermann, advised travelers with kids to avoid snacking in the airport.

Buy your food and eat it on the airplane, she said. You are going to be safer on the airplane.

The infectious disease specialist also encouraged parents to inoculate kids against influenza, which targets young children. After a historically light flu season in 2020, a resurgence is expected this winter. The combination of COVID, flu, and a return to holiday normalcy has doctors concerned.

This is going to be a very fraught holiday season, Yancey said.

nora.mishanec@chron.com
JERUSALEM (AP)  Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Friday that Israel is "on the threshold of an emergency situation after authorities detected the countrys first case of a new coronavirus variant and barred travel to and from most African countries.

The Health Ministry said it detected the new strain in a traveler who had returned from Malawi and was investigating two other suspected cases. The three individuals, who had all been vaccinated, were placed in isolation.

A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province.

At a Cabinet meeting convened Friday to discuss the new variant, Bennett said it is more contagious and spreads more rapidly than the delta variant. He said authorities were still gathering information on whether it evades vaccines or is deadlier.

We are currently at the threshold of an emergency situation, he said. "I ask everyone to be prepared and to fully join in the work around the clock.

The government later said that all countries in sub-Saharan Africa would be considered red countries from which foreign nationals are barred from traveling to Israel. Israelis are prohibited from visiting those countries and those returning from them must undergo a period of isolation.

The Israeli military will work to locate all individuals who have been to red countries within the past week and instruct them to go into isolation while testing is carried out, it said.

Israel launched one of the world's first and most successful vaccination campaigns late last year, and nearly half the population has received a booster shot. Israel recently expanded the campaign to include children as young as 5.

But the country only recently managed to contain a wave of infections driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

Israel, with a population of more than 9 million, has reported at least 8,182 deaths since the start of the pandemic. It currently has more than 7,000 active cases, including 120 who are seriously ill, according to the Health Ministry.
Before packing 80 bags of turkey meals in under an hour, Robert Reyes stands in a circle to lead a prayer. Eyes closed and head bowed, he thanks God for the day, for kindness and for the people around him. Then, snapping to action, he and 15 volunteers start packing turkey like a well-organized train.

At Communities Under the Bridge, a ministry just east of downtown, long, cafeteria-size tables are topped with nearly 100 plastic foam take-out boxes. Half of them get turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and stuffing, while the other half get apple pie, a bun, gravy and whipped cream. All of them are put in blue reusable bags, along with small plastic containers of little desserts made by one Romanian volunteer.

Today is a day we count blessings, not calories, Roberts wife, Rose Reyes, shouts.

Robert is the founder of Kings Compassion, a faith-based organization, and Rose is its CEO. For the past decade, they have provided services to San Antonians who are 65 and older and below the poverty level, whether its delivering toiletries, doing minor home maintenance or caring for lawns. For today, the mission is Thanksgiving.

The Reyeses partnered with Communities under the Bridge to make and deliver food on Thursday morning. Communities under the Bridge serves meals for homeless people every night, and for Thanksgiving, its also providing food for Kings Compassions recipients. Food, donated by people in the church community and others, is dished cold and delivered to 50 older adults in the morning and then distributed hot to 200 homeless people at night.

Back in 1999, Robert and I volunteered for a different Southtown nonprofit, and we did a lot of door knocking. In that process, we met a lot of elderly and recognized that, unfortunately, very often, they are overlooked, Rose said. Thats who we felt needed to be served.

Before partnering with Communities under the Bridge, Kings Compassion used to work solely from the Reyeses house, where Rose would cook. For this Thanksgiving, the team at Communities under the Bridge took care of that the night before. Volunteers then came in the morning to do the rest of the work.

After the food is packed, delivery drivers are given addresses with the names of the people at each location and how many food packages each should receive. Most of the recipients live alone, though a few have partners.

For Gina Mitchell, a volunteer with Kings Compassion, the work reminded her of her own aging parent.

I know my mom has the funds she needs, but for so many other people, they are just barely living in their house, she said. I mean, they could be homeless at any point in time. Theyre just the forgotten ones.

Mitchell, who helps prepare and deliver the boxes, gets three addresses in Southtown and one homeless location.

Felipe Garcia  the homeless person on Mitchells list, who is living in a chicken coop  does not respond to her calls, so she leaves the food outside his place. The other elderly members answer the door with enthusiasm. Kings Compassion called them all beforehand to let them know they would be receiving a Thanksgiving meal.

Norman Monroe, an 80-year-old man living in Southtown and alone for the holiday, invites Mitchell in. Kings Compassion gives him two meals because everyone loves Thanksgiving leftovers, Rose Reyes said.

Mitchell asks if its alright to pray with Monroe, which he agrees to. She says a quick prayer at the door and wishes him a happy Thanksgiving.

Ive delivered here before, she said. Im always happy to see Norman.

After the delivery, Mitchell heads home to have her own Thanksgiving, but the work at Communities Under the Bridge is far from over. Hot meals for the homeless start at 6 p.m., as the ministry has done every night since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coming up, Communities Under will host an open house for the public at 10 a.m. on Dec. 11 to celebrate its work, said Dianne Talbert, the organizations director. This year, the group has served more than 42,000 meals for homeless people.

As long as theres need, we keep going, Talbert said.

Elena Bruess writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. elena.bruess@express-news.net
Sometimes justice isnt greeted with joy but relief.

Joy is possible when something taken has been given back, when something, or someone, removed has been restored.

Ahmaud Arberys life cant be returned to his family, but there is relief the three men responsible for stealing his life will spend the rest of theirs in prison. Its a nationwide relief given what would have happened had the verdicts gone the other way.

For the second time in seven months, a jury saved this nation from being broken in a way that all its parts would never again be pieced back together. Despair would have overcome the hope that it is still possible for us to rise above our legacy of racism and to correct injustices. Despair still may prevail if were not careful about preserving this democracy, protecting it and each other from those threatening to harm the body politic and the bodies of individuals for political reasons.

For now, the verdicts in the George Floyd and Arbery cases reassure us that justice is possible and when theres only one obvious verdict, juries can render the correct one.

Had former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin been acquitted in April of murdering Floyd in May 2020, the world would have been told the crime we saw on video for more than nine minutes, the crime that launched the largest social movement in American history, either didnt happen or didnt happen the way we saw.

Had Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan not been convicted of murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and other charges, we would have been told we didnt see, or saw wrong, the video from Feb. 23, 2020, in which 25-year-old Arbery was chased, hunted and killed because white men were suspicious of a Black man jogging in their Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood and wanted to make a citizens arrest.

Even with both these videos clearly showing the culpability of the murderers of Floyd and Arbery, many Americans, especially those who are Black and brown, werent confident in the outcome of the trials. It was a pessimism rooted in a painful history of disappointing experiences with the justice system.

That a nearly all-white jury in the Deep South took only 10 hours to find the men guilty of murdering Arbery was an especially heartening departure from that history. But the question that gnaws is, what if there were no video?

Local officials allowed the McMichaels and Bryan to go free for weeks and would have continued to do so were it not for the dogged reporting of Larry Hobbs of the Brunswick News, video of Arberys slaying and protests.

Arbery was killed nearly eight years to the day another unarmed young Black man was killed by a vigilante profiling him as a criminal: Trayvon Martin.

On the night of Feb. 26, 2012, 17-year-old Martin was walking to his fathers house in Sanford, Fla., with Skittles and iced tea when he was confronted by George Zimmerman, whod been following him in his car because he thought Martin looked suspicious. A fight ensued, and Zimmerman shot and killed Martin. He claimed self-defense and was acquitted.

There was no video to contradict him.

It was Martins death that gave rise to Black Lives Matter, and to watch Arbery stalked like he was a runaway slave or an animal is to see how little his life meant to his killers. After the shooting and the arrival of police, body cam footage shows Arbery, soaked in blood, laying across the yellow stripes of the road. Hes still moving, and the audio catches his painful, heartbreaking gasp.

No one, not the men who chased him or any of the officers, care that a horribly wounded human being is dying in the street. No one attends to him or offers him comfort.

Had the jury not heard Ahmauds gasp and seen all that led to it, would it have mattered? Video of an injustice shouldnt be the standard by which justice is achieved.

Until the hearts of men stop them from hunting, attacking and murdering other men out of fear and hate, well celebrate victories in the courtroom and that of hope over despair.

Despair will destroy us. Hope sustained by justice is our salvation.

cary.clack@express-news.net
Three men stood accused of killing an unarmed Black man, but it was the American judicial system that seemed on trial.

A jury recently convicted the three men  William Bryan, Travis McMichael and McMichaels father, Gregory McMichael  of murdering Ahmaud Arbery on Feb. 23, 2020, in Brunswick, Ga.

Its been a long fight, a hard fight, Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arberys mother, said at a news conference.

On ExpressNews.com: Clack: In Arberys killing, an all-too-familiar pain

The 12-member jury  all but one of them white  deliberated over two days, and the tension mounted with every passing day. The trial transcended the simple facts of the case  the forensics and witnesses and videos. It would provide a glimpse into the soul of America.

Some observers saw the trial as a litmus test for racism in our judicial system, a reasonable view considering the hate that permeates across the country. Are we the nation the Constitution calls on us to be? Or are we something else, something rotten and toxic?

We got the answer last week, and it was encouraging. The jury focused on the facts, finding the three men guilty of killing the 25-year-old man. All three will spend their lives in prison.

Arbery was jogging through a suburban neighborhood, and the three men, suspecting him of burglarizing a home under construction, chased him in their pickups. They claimed self-defense, but Travis McMichael acknowledged, under questioning, that the victim had no weapon. Arbery was shot three times with a shotgun.

God is good, Cooper-Jones said of the verdict. He will now rest in peace.

We like to think we have left the past behind, that Jim Crow is dead and buried. But is it? If racism had been interred, it has been unearthed in recent years, with prejudice assuming more subtle iterations, including voter suppression and partisan redistricting.

On ExpressNews.com: Blow: Rittenhouse and the rights white vigilante heroes

Sometimes, as in the Arbery murder, there is nothing subtle or nuanced about racism. It is horrifying, as cold and naked as a razor blade. And it recalls an era when lynchings were common throughout the South.

Reflecting the poisonous mood in the country, the trial seemed rife with the potential for racism. The signs were there, starting with the jury composition  one African American in a state where almost 33 percent of the population is Black. The makeup invited comparisons to the Emmett Till trial in 1955, when an all-white jury acquitted two white men of killing Till in the Mississippi Delta region.

The accused would confess, in a Look magazine interview a year later, to murdering the Black teenager. No matter. There would be no retribution for one of the most heinous crimes of the 20th century; the victim was mutilated so brutally that his mother demanded an open casket so the world could see the horror visited upon both the teenager and his loved ones.

History did not replicate itself in the Arbery case, for the simple reason that the jury acted with honesty and integrity.

While the guilty verdicts reflect our justice system doing its job, that alone is not enough, President Joe Biden said in a statement. Instead, we must recommit ourselves to building a future of unity and strength, where no one fears violence because of the color of their skin.

It will not be easy. The Arbery case proves that. Despite the just verdict, it was not until a video emerged, months after the killing, that the three men were arrested; the video showed them chasing an innocent man.

The verdict was all the more heartening because it came on the heels of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. He was found not guilty of killing two men during a racial injustice rally on Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. Conservatives celebrated while liberals commiserated, viewing the verdict as an example of white privilege triumphing over justice.

That did not happen in the Arbery case. This could be an inflection point, if we only see the signs.
As San Antonios job training program lags and officials try to suss out the details of its next phase, a key backer worries the initiative is in trouble.

COPS/Metro, a grassroots advocacy group, aggressively lobbied city leaders to create an emergency program to help some of the thousands of people thrown out of work amid the pandemic get the skills they needed to land higher-paying jobs.

The groups leaders later threw their weight behind Mayor Ron Nirenberg when he asked voters in November to use sales tax dollars to create an expanded program.

But months after the idea proved victorious at the polls, members of COPS/Metro have grown increasingly disillusioned with how the citys job training efforts have played out. They feel city officials have all but ignored their concerns. The groups leaders are disappointed in the meager number of participants who have obtained training certificates and landed jobs through the emergency program  dubbed Train for Jobs SA.

Nine months after the $75 million initiative began, 214 people have been placed into jobs.

And COPS/Metro leaders worry the city hasnt done enough to prepare for the next stage of its training efforts  Ready to Work, the $200 million program backed by a sales tax that will also help residents enroll in college degree programs. Already, the programs rollout has been pushed back a month from September to October.

City officials drawing up Ready to Work have done so at a breakneck pace, COPS/Metro leaders argue, and focused too much on figuring out bureaucratic procedures rather than what jobs participants will train for  points that officials contest.

They have just done this, if you will, by the seat of their pants, said Sister Pearl Ceaser, former head of Project Quest, the jobs training program COPS/Metro founded more than 25 years ago.

When Train for Jobs began last September, officials said the program would help 10,000 people in some fashion, even if they didnt complete their training and land jobs. But the program has fallen short of even that number  about 6,000 people have qualified for training and finished the programs intake process.

For their part, COPS/Metro leaders said they initially expected low enrollment and job placement numbers  in part because its hard to roll out a job training program. The programs participants have largely opted for training programs that take longer but theoretically will lead to even higher-paying work.

But the city risks seeing similar figures from Ready to Work if it doesnt bring in more outside workforce development experts to weigh in and pinpoint jobs that will be there when participants graduate, COPS/Metro leaders contend.

They will be recasting the same flawed program on a grander scale and come up with no better results than what theyre getting now, said Sonia Rodriguez, a COPS/Metro leader who worked on Nirenbergs Ready to Work campaign.

City officials said they are focused on those things. Nirenbergs office provided a list of outside experts he and his staff have consulted with on the program.

They also pinpointed several target industries for Ready to Work, including health care, manufacturing and cybersecurity. Plus, they plan to release a detailed list of potential occupations for those who complete the program. Still, the city expects a third-party organization that will run the program to stay in touch with employers and ensure there are jobs waiting for program participants.

Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

We know what occupations command the wages and are in demand right now, said Assistant City Manager Alex Lopez, who is overseeing both job training programs. We know that already. Will that change year after year? Perhaps.

Its not the first time COPS/Metro has aired grievances publicly about Ready to Work. Its members were outraged when city staff floated a proposal in December to hire 65 new city employees and create a new agency to enroll participants in job training and college degree programs and help make sure they dont drop out. Rodriguez labeled the proposed department a bloated bureaucracy.

Officials pulled back that proposal, opting instead to contract out that work  along with the training itself  to an outside organization.

That process, too, has drawn heat. After the city put out a document detailing its expectations for the contract, COPS/Metro and would-be contractors complained the expectations were too strict and would amount to micromanagement by the city. Officials went back to the drawing board and plan to open the bidding process July 6.

City leaders have largely defended how Train for Jobs has performed and how Ready to Work is taking shape. Even if they needed work, prospective enrollees in Train for Jobs likely were scared off given the prevalence of COVID-19 in the programs early days, officials and proponents have posited. Employers also were slow to hire over the winter months.

But since the beginning of the year, interest in Train for Jobs has grown as the pandemic eases and more residents receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials have said.

We are building an unprecedented workforce program, and we knew all along that we would face challenges, Nirenberg said in a statement. That is a natural part of the process, and we will address the challenges as they arise.

But Nirenberg said hes with COPS/Metro when it comes to concerns about how long its taking the city to hire an executive director to oversee Ready to Work. The city was initially expected to hire someone by May. Months later, the position hasnt been filled  and its unclear when it will be. A city spokeswoman said the hiring process is in its final selection stage.

Further baffling COPS/Metro leaders: The person overseeing the citys current job training program is Heber Lefgren, who leads the citys Animal Care Services department.

Do we not have people who know a little more about workforce development who might be in the leadership positions? Rodriguez told the Express-News Editorial Board.

City staff defended the move to put Lefgren in the spot overseeing Train for Jobs day-to-day operations on a temporary basis.

Kin Man Hui /Staff photographer

Lefgren has been instrumental in many of the innovations and improvements to Animal Care Services, City Manager Erik Walsh said in a statement. His past work in the citys budget and innovation offices gave Lefgren a solid foundation for creative, effective system design and implementation, Walsh said.

Ready to Work will be rolled out in October  after City Council awards the contract to run the program. But the program will steadily ramp up with a stronger push to get enrollees through the doors starting in January  in part to allow the contractor time to get settled.

Weve learned we need to do a soft launch, Lopez said during a Thursday public form on the program. Its not going to be flipping a switch.

Even after the city hires the contractor, officials expect there to be kinks to work out. To Rodriguez, the time to iron out those kinks is before that organization is hired.

Theres a real lack of logic in all of this and sequence that is still missing, Rodriguez said.

Despite their misgivings, COPS/Metro leaders dont plan to walk away from the process.

Its too important, Rodriguez said. This one is too big to fail.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  A Maine university plans to use a federal grant to pilot a nutrition program for older residents who live in low-income housing.

The University of New England received the $900,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living. The university said the project will seek to address food security and health and well-being of seniors in the state.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High 43F. Winds SW at 25 to 40 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies with gusty winds. Low 34F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
A farming partnership has been ordered to pay out over 67,000 after a 21-year-old employee was killed while dismantling a redundant piece of agricultural equipment.

Folkestone Magistrates Court heard how, in April 2019, George Murrell was crushed by a grain drying tunnel at Fishpond Farm in Tonbridge, Kent.

Mr Murrell, who worked for farming partnership J & D Foster Farms LLP, sustained fatal injuries.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that the firm did not ensure, so far as was reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of the employees and that the system of work in place was intrinsically unsafe.

The work involved dismantling the grain drying tunnel whilst working underneath it. The structure had heavy aggregate across the upper walkway.

The partnership failed to ensure the structural integrity of the grain drying tunnel was not compromised during the dismantle, putting themselves and their employees at significant risk.

This risk materialised when the structure concertinaed and fell, crushing Mr Murrell under the heavy aggregate and framework of the structure.

J & D Foster Farms LLP of Fishponds Farm, Upper Hayesden Lane, Tonbridge, pleaded guilty to a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The partnership was fined 60,000 and ordered to pay costs of 6,731.

HSE inspector Joanne Williams said: This incident has resulted in a young man losing his life in what was a wholly avoidable incident, caused by the failure of the company to identify their own competencies in what was basically demolition work.

"All too often those working in the agriculture industry take on tasks which they are not competent to do. As in this case, this work can and does result in serious and even fatal injuries."

Every year many people are killed or seriously injured within the UK agricultural industry, according to HSE's annual report.

A total of 41 people in Britain were killed in agriculture during the past year, including two children and seven members of the public.

Farming accounts for one percent of Britains workforce, but 20 percent of worker deaths, the safety watchdog said.

Abnormal work on the farm needs to be assessed as to whether the job is within the capability of the farm workers," Ms Williams said.

"For demolition work, as in this case, it will likely be safer and more efficient to contract out to professionals who understand the risks."
A new Scottish Agricultural Export Hub will help develop export opportunities and expand existing markets for Scottish agri produce for the benefit of farmers.

The new initiative will focus on the potatoes, cereals, fruit and vegetables sectors, with an aim to expand market connections more directly for primary producers.

The Hub will be delivered by NFU Scotland and the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS).

Scotlands farming, fishing, food and drink sector is a 15 billion industry, employing around 120,000 people.

But all too often, the existing supply chain does not deliver for farmers, NFU Scotland and SAOS said.

They added that success in export markets will support a sustainable, profitable farming sector in Scotland.

Patrick Hughes, the former Head of Potato Export Development at AHDB and former Head of Seafood Scotland, has joined SAOS to drive the initiative forward.

I am delighted to be involved in this project to support capability building activities within the supply chain to realise export opportunities and to manage the relationships within the identified export supply chains.

"There is clear potential to build upon the existing platform in the potato sector and explore the exciting opportunities for cereals, fruit and vegetables," he said.

NFU Scotland chief executive, Scott Walker said the union wanted to see the benefits of market access and export promotion come back to farmers.

The Export Hub will realise some of these export market opportunities by linking producers here in Scotland with export opportunities," he explained.

"Creating diversity, where farmers can sell their products into different and new markets can only help in sustaining Scottish farms and supporting profitable production.

We have an opportunity to develop new supply chains and support existing ones."
Farmers have welcomed a pledge by Waitrose to increase the price it pays for pigs as the sector continues to see an on-farm backlog, record feed costs and falling prices.

The retailer says it will establish a base price that aims to ensure producers won't be disadvantaged by the falling pig price, rather than "cutting the price of the pork we sell and putting on promotions to take advantage."

Waitrose, which is supplied by BQP-Pilgrims and uses entirely outdoor-bred pork, says paying a fair price for its pork is "the only way to save the UK pig sectors bacon this Christmas."

The National Pig Association (NPA) welcomed the pledge at a time when the sector faced a 'catastrophic combination of events'.

These include a growing pig backlog on farms due to labour shortages in processing plants, record feed costs and plummeting pig prices.

Defra recently announced a support package for the sector, with measures such as 800 new butchers' visas, a private storage aid scheme and incentives for processors to put on extra kills.

But Waitrose's senior agriculture manager Jake Pickering said pig producers needed even more support, and that a longer-term strategy was the only way forward.

"We pledge to add new measures over the coming months to help increase the price our farmers receive for their livestock," he said.

Although we have a long-standing payment model that takes into account the cost of production, during these unprecedented times, our farmers need even more support.

Paying the lowest price could mean compromises both in terms of the standards the meat is reared to, as well as how it might impact the farmers that reared it."

Mr Pickering said a longer-term strategy was going to be needed over the course of the next few months, rather than offering short-term solutions such as price cuts and promotions.

We have always had a strong sense of right and wrong, particularly when it comes to animal welfare, and thats why we rear our pigs differently. Our stance is different."

NPA chief executive Zoe Davies welcomed Waitrose's recognition of the 'dire situation' facing pig producers at the moment and its commitment to a base pig price.

"The British pig industry is currently facing a catastrophic combination of events - a backlog of pigs on farms, record feed costs and falling pig prices," she said.

As a result, producers have been losing more than 25 per pig, on average, for much of this year, a financial position that Ms Davies said could worsen for many in the coming months.

"We are losing producers from the industry as a result, and it is great to see Waitrose, which has always been a strong supporter of the British pig industry, taking action to back producers in their moment of need.

"Retailers have a big role to play in helping the industry through this crisis - we hope to see similar commitments elsewhere," Ms Davies said.

It comes as the NPA wrote to all the major retailers in October asking how they were supporting pig producers at this time.
The National Sheep Association (NSA) is searching for a new group of young sheep farmers who want to further their development within the sector.

The Next Generation Ambassador programme, now in its seventh year, offers farmers aged 18-34 a series of technical and personal development sessions.

The sessions are aimed to further their experience and understanding of the UK sheep industry, the NSA explains.

As well as providing the chance to visit varied sheep farming systems and parts of the supply chain, the programme delivers networking opportunities.

Young farmers are also given the chance to meet with industry experts and leaders, the NSA says, with the scheme opening doors to new opportunities.

Young shepherds from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are being urged to apply for their chance to become one of 12 ambassadors.

An NSA spokesman said: The online application is a simple process. Interested parties will have to share some information about their own shepherding experience and their hopes for their futures in the UK sheep industry.

"We hope to attract a varied group of young sheep farmers; whether you are a first-generation farmer, someone who hopes to one take on their family farm or just starting out in your career.

"We are excited to see what you can offer as an NSA Next Generation ambassador, and we are proud of the opportunity that we can provide you and other keen young sheep farmers.

Jacob Anthony, a sheep farmer from South Wales who was an ambassador in 2016, called his time on the programme 'invaluable'.

"I learnt an awful lot that I was able to implement back at home on our family farm in South Wales," he added.

"Not only did I learn a lot I met l made some lifelong friends and like-minded individuals from the length and breadth of the UK.

"Another thing I valued about my time was the fact I learnt what NSA does for us as sheep farmers by engaging with decision-makers and the public on our behalf."

He added: "If you are thinking about applying to be an Next Generation Ambassador I cant recommend it enough, I gained much by being a part of it.

Applications opened online earlier this month on the NSA Next Generation website and will close on Friday 10 December.

Applications will then be shortlisted by NSA regional representatives before online interviews take place in early January 2022.

The programme will commence in February and will require successful applicants to commit to spending around 12 nights away from home during the year.
Samantha is a big name down South especially in Telugu films, but she achieved pan-India fame when she starred as Raji in the second instalment of The Family Man series. Now, according to our sources, the actress is keen to test international waters. We had learnt that Samantha met with Downton Abbey director, Philip John, in Chennai, earlier this month. It is now confirmed that Samantha will join the cast of Arrangements Of Love, which will be directed by Philip John, of course.Arrangements of Love is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Timeri N Murari. According to an international news portal, Samantha will play the role of a feisty and progressive bisexual Tamil woman who runs a detective agency. A whole new world opens up for me today as I start my journey with Arrangements Of Love, which has such an endearing and personal story, Samantha told Variety.I am excited to work with Philip John, whose projects I have closely followed for many years, being a big fan of Downton Abbey. I am looking forward to collaborating with Sunitha (Sunitha Tati who worked with Samantha in Oh! Baby) once again and I hope for only more success than we previously had with Oh! Baby. My role is a complex character and it will be both a challenge and an opportunity for me to play it. I cannot wait to get on the set, she added.
Foundation set for future organic growth

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 25, 2021) - - Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Inc. (TSXV: DWS) ("Diamond Estates" or "the Company") today announced its financial results of position for the three and six months ended September 30, 2021 ("Q2 2022 and "YTD 2022" respectively).

Q2 2021 Summary:

Revenue for Q2 2022 was $7.1 million, a decrease of $0.1 million from Q2 2021 revenue of $7.2 million, due to softness experienced in the months of July and August in the Agency Business from a combination of delayed orders by provincial retailers in commission markets and supply chain delays in Western Canada. The softness in the Agency Business was offset by increased sales within the winery division. The elimination of some of the COVID pandemic restrictions resulted in the reopening of many on-premise and private retail accounts nationally in addition to the resumption of export orders from overseas distributors.

Gross margin for Q2 2022 was $2.7 million, a decrease of $0.4 million from $3.1 million in Q2 2021, and gross margin as a percentage of revenue was 38.1% for Q2 2022 compared to 43.0% in Q2 2021. The shift in sales mix from commission to buy/sell markets and supply constraints in the Agency Business resulted in the gross margin in the Agency business decreasing from 44.0% YTD 2022 to 38.0% YTD 2022.;

EBITDA was $(0.2) million in Q2 2022, a decrease of $1.0 million from $0.8 million in Q2 2021, largely a result of the decrease in gross margin and an increase in employee compensation of $0.4 million. The increase in employee compensation is directly attributable to the reduction in government relief funding received this year versus last year; and

Net loss was $1.0 million, compared to a net loss of $0.4 million in Q2 2021.

The Company experienced increasing sales in the Winery Business but also some softness in the Agency Business in Q2 FY2022. The strength in the Winery Business persisted throughout the second quarter even with the sales continuing to be impacted by government-mandated restrictions. While further restrictions were lifted during Q2 2022, the Company expects sales to continue to be impacted by COVID-19 measures especially with domestic and international travel and supply disruptions.

Subsequent Events:

On October 6, 2021, the Company closed on two acquisitions, an equity raise and converted its convertible debentures to equity. The acquisitions are expected to be highly accretive to Diamond's current business, capture additional revenues, create brand expansion, further leverage the Company's infrastructure and deliver on cost saving synergies.

For the rolling twelve-month period ended September 30, 2021, the Company was in breach of its fixed charged covenant ratio. The covenant breach has been cured as of October 6, 2021 with proceeds of the equity raise, as permitted by the Company's lending institution.

The recent events exhibit the confidence and strength in the company and also sets the foundation for future organic growth.

"While the pandemic and the government restrictions continue to impact our business and customers in unusual and unprecedented ways, we do see encouraging signs that these factors are beginning to wane as the pandemic eases," stated Murray Souter, President and CEO of Diamond Estates. "Our winery business has begun to return to more normal volumes particularly in our on-premise business as restaurant restrictions are easing. Additionally, we are starting to see an increase in our export business as other counties ease their restrictions. We believe that over the longer-term we will see a return to sales growth and pre-pandemic margins as more normal conditions return."

About Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits Inc.

Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits Inc. is a producer of high-quality wines and a sales agent for over 120 beverage alcohol brands across Canada. The Company operates two wineries, one in Ontario and one in British Columbia, that produce predominantly VQA wines under such well-known brand names as 20 Bees, Creekside, EastDell, Lakeview Cellars, Queenston Mile, Fresh, Seasons, Serenity, and Backyard Vineyards.

Through its commercial division, Trajectory Beverage Partners ("TBP"), the Company is the sales agent for many leading international brands in all regions of the country as well as being a distributor in the western provinces. These recognizable brands include Josh wines from California, Fat Bastard and Andre Lurton wines from France, Kaiken wines from Argentina, Blue Nun wines from Germany, Francois Lurton wines from France and Argentina, Felix Solis wines from Spain, Waterloo Brewing from Canada, Landshark Lager from the USA, Marston's beers from England, Edinburgh Gin from Scotland, Tamdhu, Glengoyne and Smokehead single-malt Scotch whiskies, Barcelo Rum from the Dominican Republic, C.K. Mondavi & Family wines including Charles Krug from Napa, Bols Vodka from Amsterdam, Koyle Family Wines from Chile, Pearse Lyons whiskies and gins from Ireland and Fontana di Papa wines from Italy.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Diamond Estates Wines and Spirits Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to: the economy generally; consumer interest in the services and products of the Company; financing; competition; and anticipated and unanticipated costs. While the Company acknowledges that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the views of the Company as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Non IFRS Financial Measure

Management uses net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) as presented in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statements of net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) as well as "EBITDA" as a measure to assess performance of the Company. EBITDA is another financial measure and is reconciled to net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) under "Results of Operations" in the Company's MD&A.

EBITDA is a supplemental financial measure to further assist readers in assessing the Company's ability to generate income from operations before taking into account the Company's financing decisions, depreciation of property, plant and equipment and amortization of intangible assets. EBITDA comprises gross margin less operating costs before financial expenses, depreciation and amortization, non-cash expenses such as share based compensation, one time and other unusual items, and income tax. Gross margin is defined as gross profit excluding depreciation on property, plant and equipment used in production. Operating expenses excludes interest, depreciation on property, plant and equipment used in selling and administration, and amortization of intangible assets.

EBITDA does not represent the actual cash provided by the operating activities nor is it a recognized measure of financial performance under IFRS. Readers are cautioned that this measure should not be considered as a replacement for those as per the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements prepared under IFRS. The Company's definitions of this non IFRS financial measure may differ from those used by other companies.

For more information, please contact:

J. Murray Souter

President & CEO

Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.

jmurraysouter@diamondwines.com

905.641.1042 Ext 234

Ryan Conte, CPA, CA, CBV

CFO

Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Inc.

rconte@diamondwines.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105198
Iron Deficiency Day unites a strong international coalition dedicated to raising international awareness on the serious health impact of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia 1

Patient access to diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency directly affected by COVID-19 pandemic

This year, spotlight is on raising awareness on symptoms and importance of early diagnosis

Already for the seventh consecutive year of Iron Deficiency Day, Vifor Pharma is supporting a growing international alliance including the Heart Failure Policy Network, European Kidney Health Alliance, Global Heart Hub and Croi the West of Ireland Cardiac Foundation with the aim to educate people about the importance of iron for the body and what can happen if iron levels are not properly managed. Iron Deficiency Day 2021 encourages people at risk to listen to their body, to take iron seriously and to take control over their health by seeking early diagnosis and medical help from their physician.

Iron Deficiency affects about half of the patients with chronic kidney disease2 and chronic heart failure and is associated with reduced quality of life3, an increased risk of hospitalization4 and cardiovascular death5. Despite the serious consequences and high prevalence, of iron deficiency, the condition remains under-recognized6. Diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency has been further impaired during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients have been facing limited access to healthcare, resulting in even more cases going undiagnosed.

"We are pleased to join our partners in supporting Iron Deficiency Day 2021, at a time when pressures on healthcare systems exacerbated by the pandemic mean that awareness around the importance of iron is more pertinent than ever," commented Abbas Hussain, CEO of Vifor Pharma Group. "Together, we are dedicated to support people at risk of and living with iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia so they can lead better, healthier lives."

"COVID-19 is having a significant impact on access to care. With many healthcare systems facing significant backlogs, patients experiencing iron deficiency symptoms have been less likely to seek support from healthcare professionals." said Dr. Ewa Anita Jankowska, Professor at Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. "However, iron deficiency is easily diagnosed and treatable. It is therefore vital that we raise awareness of this debilitating disease and ensure individuals understand how to recognize the symptoms and gain access to early diagnosis and treatment options."

To learn more about the importance of early diagnosis and recognizing symptoms of iron deficiency, visit www.takeironseriously.com/raise-awareness. Use hashtags TakeIronSeriously IronDeficiency IronDeficiencyDay and IDDay2021 on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Vifor Pharma Group

Vifor Pharma Group is a global pharmaceuticals company. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The company is a partner of choice for pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions. Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe and chronic diseases lead better, healthier lives. The company develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and consists of the following companies: Vifor Pharma and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care). Vifor Pharma Group is headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN, ISIN: CH0364749348).

For more information, please visit viforpharma.com.

Notes to Editors

Takeironseriously.com is intended to provide educational information to an international audience outside the US; it is available in 12 languages. All information on the site is intended for educational purposes only and should not be used to replace a discussion with a healthcare professional. All decisions regarding patient care must be handled by a healthcare professional and be made based on the unique needs of each patient.

About iron deficiency

Iron plays a vital role in many bodily processes, including the production of red blood cells, effective heart and brain function, and the prevention of infection and illness. Without enough iron, the body is unable to function properly. Common symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia is estimated to affect one in three people worldwide7, yet despite the serious consequences and high prevalence8, it remains an under-recognized condition.

Although iron deficiency can affect anyone, it is most prevalent in premenopausal women, pregnant woman and children under five9. Left untreated, it can develop into iron deficiency anemia. The effects of iron deficiency differ from person to person but can be linked to an overall decline in general health and well-being10. Even without anemia, iron deficiency can be debilitating, exacerbate an underlying chronic disease and lead to increased morbidity and mortality11. Common symptoms include fatigue10, 12, 13 pale skin12, brittle nails12, 14, craving non-food items such as dirt, clay and ice15, and an inability to concentrate10, 16. In children, iron deficiency can significantly impair cognitive and motor development17

References

1. Hassan, Tamer Hasan et al. "Impact of Iron Deficiency Anemia on the Function of the Immune System in Children." Ed. Esaki M. Shankar. Medicine 95.47 (2016): e5395. PMC. Web. 12 June 2018.

2. Wong MMY et al. Clin Kid J 2019:1-12; Rocha BML, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;71(7):782-793.

3.Guedes M NDT 2021. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfab050; Enjuanes C, et al. Int J Cardiol. 2014;174(2):268-275.

4. Guedes et al. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Aug;32(8):2020-2030, Martens P, et al. Acta Cardiol. 2018;73(2):115-123.

5. Guedes et al. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021 Aug;32(8):2020-2030; Klip IT, et al. Am Heart J. 2013;165:575-82.e3.

6. Eur J Heart Fail. 2021 Sep 3. doi: 10.1002/ejhf.2338.

7. Peyrin-Biroulet L, et al. Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency across indications: a systematic review. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(6):1585-94.

8. World Health Organization. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia 1993-2005. 2008. Available at URL: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43894/9789241596657_eng.pdf;jsessionid=9C613E2F4D481EDEB9DE07986AFC E0C7'sequence=1. Last accessed: June 2018.

9. Hercberg S, et al. Iron deficiency in Europe. Public Health Nutr. 2007;4(2b).

10. Fernando B, et al. A guide to diagnosis of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in digestive diseases. World J Gastroenterol. 2009 Oct 7; 15(37): 4638-4643.

11. Cappellini MD et al. Iron deficiency across chronic inflammatory conditions: International expert opinion on definition, diagnosis, and management. Am J Hematol. 2017 Oct;92(10):1068-1078.

12. Auerbach M, Adamson JW. How we diagnose and treat iron deficiency anemia. Am J Hematol. 2016;91(1):31-38.

13. Favrat, B., et al. (2014). Evaluation of a single dose of ferric carboxymaltose in fatigued, iron-deficient women--PREFER a randomized, placebo-controlled study. PLoS One 9(4): e94217. eCollection 2014.

14. Cashman MW, Sloan SB. Nutrition and nail disease. Clin Dermatol. 2010;28(4):420-5.

15. Barton JC, et al. Pica associated with iron deficiency or depletion: clinical and laboratory correlates in 262 non-pregnant adult outpatients. BMC Blood Disord. 2010;10:9. doi:10.1186/1471-2326-10-9.

16. Patterson A et al. Iron deficiency, general health and fatigue: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Qual Life Res. 2000;9:491-497.

17. World Health Organization. Nutritional anaemias: tools for effective prevention and control. 2017. Available at URL: http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/micronutrients/anaemias-tools-prevention-control/en/. Last accessed: June 2018.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211125006152/en/

Contacts:

Contact and further information:

Media Relations

Nathalie Ponnier

Global Head Corporate Communications

+41 79 957 96 73

media@viforpharma.com
Financing composed of a 3.0 million R&D innovation loan and a 1.3 million reimbursable advance

Cash position strengthened and runway extended

Regulatory News:

Lysogene (FR0013233475 LYS) (Paris:LYS), a phase 3 gene therapy platform Company targeting central nervous system (CNS) diseases, announced today that it has secured a 4.3 million non-dilutive financing from Bpifrance.

This financing consists of a 3.0 million R&D innovation loan to finance the clinical study of LYS-GM101 drug candidate for the treatment of GM1 gangliosidosis, and a reimbursable advance of 1.3 million to prepare the preclinical studies of LYS-FXS01 in Fragile X syndrome.

The R&D innovation loan is fully drawn down upon signature of the contract and amortized over 5 years from 2024. The reimbursable advance is paid in two installments, including 0.9 million upon signature of the contract and 0.4 million in 2024, and is repayable over 5 years starting in 2025.

Stephane Durant des Aulnois, Chief Financial Officer of Lysogene commented: "This non-dilutive financing is an essential boost for the development of Lysogene's new programs with the ongoing recruitment of patients in LYS-GM101 clinical study for GM1 gangliosidosis, and the start of LYS-FXS01 preclinical studies for Fragile X syndrome. We are very pleased with the support and confidence shown by Bpifrance, which continues to accompany the Company in its development."

About Lysogene

Lysogene is a gene therapy Company focused on the treatment of orphan diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The Company has built a unique capability to enable a delivery of gene therapies to the CNS to treat lysosomal diseases and other genetic disorders of the CNS. A phase 2/3 clinical trial in MPS IIIA in partnership with Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. is ongoing. An adaptive clinical trial in GM1 gangliosidosis is ongoing. In accordance with the agreements signed between Lysogene and Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. will hold exclusive commercial rights to LYS-SAF302 in the United States and markets outside Europe; and Lysogene will maintain commercial exclusivity of LYS-SAF302 in Europe. Lysogene has also entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with SATT Conectus for a gene therapy candidate for the treatment of the Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disease related to autism. www.lysogene.com.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements, especially on the Company's progress of its clinical trials and cash runway. Although the Company believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, all statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release about future events are subject to (i) change without notice, (ii) factors beyond the Company's control, (iii) clinical trial results, (iv) increased manufacturing costs, (v) potential claims on its products, and (vi) a modification of the terms of its agreements with Sarepta Therapeutics. These statements may include, without limitation, any statements preceded by, followed by or including words such as "target," "believe," "expect," "aim," "intend," "may," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "objective", "project," "will," "can have," "likely," "should," "would," "could" and other words and terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties beyond the Company's control that could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the expected results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other risks can be found in the Company's regulatory filings with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers, including in the 2020 universal registration document, registered with the French Markets Authorities on April 12, 2021, under number D.21-0296, and future filings and reports by the Company. Furthermore, these forward-looking statements are only as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. If the Company updates one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will or will not make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

This press release has been prepared in both French and English. In the event of any differences between the two texts, the French language version shall supersede.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211125006084/en/

Contacts:

Stephane Durant des Aulnois

Chief Financial Officer

stephane.durant-des-aulnois@lysogene.com

+ 33 1 41 43 03 99
26 November 2021

TECTONIC GOLD PLC

("Tectonic Gold" or the "Company")

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REFUND

Tectonic Gold plc (TDIM: TTAU), the Intrusive Related Gold ("IRGS") exploration pioneer, is pleased to announce the successful renewal of its Australian Federal Government Research and Development Tax Incentive Scheme participation for the 2021 tax year.

Highlights:

Tectonic successful in renewal of R&D status for IRGS research program

$275,000 cash rebate estimated with funds expected before year end

cash rebate estimated with funds expected before year end Current field work and analytics expected to have continued participation in 2022 and beyond

Mr. Brett Boynton, Managing Director - Tectonic Gold Plc

"This is a very important result as we present Specimen Hill to a number of major copper and gold mining groups. The Australian Federal Government has supported us with in excess of $3 million in direct cash funding since the inception of our research program. Tectonic is a technology driven business and we are at the forefront of innovative new thinking in the Australian exploration industry."

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

For further information, please contact:

Tectonic Gold plc

Brett Boynton

Sam Quinn

www.tectonicgold.com.

@tectonic_gold +61 2 9241 7665

Financial Adviser, Corporate Adviser and Broker

VSA Capital Limited +44 20 3005 5000

Andrew Raca - Corporate Finance

Andrew Monk - Corporate Broking

Ends

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
AIM and Media Release

26 November 2021

BASE RESOURCES LIMITED

Chair's Address to the Annual General Meeting

Friday, 26 November 2021, 11.00am (AWST)

African mineral sands producer, Base Resources Limited (ASX & AIM: BSE) (Base Resources or the Company) advises that the following address was delivered by Base Resources' Chair at the Company's Annual General Meeting held today at 11.00 am (Perth time) in Perth, Western Australia and online via the Lumi software platform.

Management also delivered a presentation at the Annual General Meeting. A copy of that presentation is available from the Company's website: www.baseresources.com.au.

Chair's AGM Address

Ladies and gentlemen

In another operationally and financially successful year, Base Resources continued to deliver robust results at our Kwale Operations in Kenya while working to progress development of the world class Toliara Project in Madagascar.

Base Resources continued to closely manage the risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and despite these challenges, Kwale Operations maintained full production, achieved guidance and met shipping schedules throughout the 2021 financial year.

After some early volatility, markets for mineral sands products were remarkably resilient and finished the year very tight, with customer demand exceeding the Company's ability to supply.

Our strong operational performance, combined with a robust pricing environment, allowed the Company to record revenue of US$198.2 million. This result, along with a continued focus on efficiency, drove EBITDA of US$94.6 million and a net profit after tax of US$11.0 million. Strong underlying cashflow enabled the Company to end the year with US$64.9 million net cash, after paying out an aggregate of US$56.4 million in dividends over the course of the financial year.

Following another year of strong cash generation, the Board was pleased to determine a final dividend of AUD 4.0 cents per share. Together with the AUD 3.0 cents per share paid in March, total distributions to shareholders in respect of the financial year were AUD 7.0 cents per share, unfranked.

On site, the Company maintained its uncompromising focus on safety, health and wellbeing with no lost time or medical treatment injuries during the financial year. Kwale Operations also continued to set a benchmark for sustainability in mining project implementation and operation with a wide range of activities focused on our people, community and environment.

To build on the Company's long history of sustainable operational practice, an Environment, Social and Ethics committee of the Board was established in the financial year. The Committee oversees development and implementation of the Company's ESE strategy and reporting mechanisms, with the objective of enhancing and cementing the Company's reputation for excellence in the full lifecycle of mining.

The Company remains intensely focused on extending Kwale mine life to maximise the value created by the Kwale development for shareholders, employees, the community and the nation of Kenya. Subsequent to the year end, the Kwale South Dune Ore Reserves estimate was updated and the Kwale Special Mining Lease extension was finalised, extending mine life to December 2023. The outcomes of the Bumamani PFS were also released, with the study concluding that higher grade subsets of the North Dune and Bumamani deposits can be economically mined, supporting an extended mine life to mid-2024 1.

We are also further expanding our exploration tenure in the Kuranze region of Kenya, with a number of prospecting licence applications moving through the regulatory approval process, and we secured adjacent prospecting licences in Tanzania and have commenced our exploration program there.

The Toliara Project in Madagascar continues to represent a significant and attractive growth opportunity for the Company and, during the 2021 financial year, meaningful progress was made in discussions with the Government of Madagascar about the fiscal terms applicable to the project. More recently, the Company updated the Ranobe Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves estimates and released an enhanced DFS which significantly increases the scale and economics of the Toliara Project.

As we proceed through the 2022 financial year, we remain highly optimistic for the future of Base Resources and the value we can create for all stakeholders, especially against a backdrop of strong commodity markets with fundamentals that are calling forward new supply.

As previously announced, I am retiring from the Board at the conclusion of this AGM. It has been an honour to Chair the Board since 2015, during which time we achieved many significant milestones of which I am very proud. It has been my absolute pleasure to serve with my fellow directors and to work with such a high-quality management team.

Mr Stirzaker will take up the role of Chair at the conclusion of the AGM. A director of Base Resources since 2014, and with over 30 years of commercial experience, Mr Stirzaker is well placed to take Base Resources into its next phase of development.

In closing, I would like to thank my fellow directors for their support and wisdom, the Base Resources team for their enduring focus on excellence, and our shareholders for your ongoing belief in the Company.

[Note (1): Refer to Base Resources' market announcements on 3 September 2021 "Bumamani PFS supports extension of Kwale mine life to mid-2024" and "Further supporting information for Bumamani PFS" (Bumamani PFS Announcements) for the material assumptions and underlying methodologies adopted for deriving the summary outcome of the Bumamani PFS disclosed above. Base Resources confirms that all the material assumptions underpinning the production information and forecast financial information disclosed in the Bumamani PFS Announcements continue to apply and have not materially changed.]

ENDS.

For further information contact:

James Fuller, Manager Communications and Investor Relations UK Media Relations Base Resources Tavistock Communications Tel: +61 (8) 9413 7426 Jos Simson and Gareth Tredway Mobile: +61 (0) 488 093 763 Tel: +44 (0) 207 920 3150 Email: jfuller@baseresources.com.au

About Base Resources

Base Resources is an Australian based, African focused, mineral sands producer and developer with a track record of project delivery and operational performance. The company operates the established Kwale Operations in Kenya and is developing the Toliara Project in Madagascar. Base Resources is an ASX and AIM listed company. Further details about Base Resources are available at www.baseresources.com.au

PRINCIPAL & REGISTERED OFFICE

Level 3, 46 Colin Street

West Perth, Western Australia, 6005

Email: info@baseresources.com.au

Phone: +61 (0)8 9413 7400

Fax: +61 (0)8 9322 8912

NOMINATED ADVISOR

RFC Ambrian Limited

Stephen Allen

Phone: +61 (0)8 9480 2500

JOINT BROKER

Berenberg

Matthew Armitt / Detlir Elezi

Phone: +44 20 3207 7800

JOINT BROKER

Canaccord Genuity

Raj Khatri / James Asensio / Patrick Dolaghan

Phone: +44 20 7523 8000


Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian and NZ dollars weakened against their major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, while the Japanese yen jumped, as Asian shares fell on fears over the global spread of new COVID-19 variant that was first identified in South Africa and its impact on the global economy.



Hong Kong found two cases of the new coronavirus strain. The U.K. and Israel temporarily suspended flights from six African countries to prevent the spread of the variant.



In Asia, airlines and other travel shares led the decline, as worries intensified about the likelihood of further travel restrictions from more countries.



Oil prices retreated on fears that transmission of the new virus variant would hurt demand growth.



The variant, known as the B.1.1.529, was found to be different from previous versions and pose great concern, Scientists warned.



It has an unusually high number of mutations and the World Health Organization has scheduled a meeting today to assess the new variant.



The aussie depreciated to more than a 3-month low of 0.7131 against the greenback and a 1-1/2-month low of 81.62 against the yen, down from its prior highs of 0.7190 and 82.94, respectively. The aussie may locate support around 0.70 against the greenback and 80.00 against the yen.



Reversing from its early highs of 1.5567 against the euro and 0.9095 against the loonie, the aussie dipped to more than a 2-week low of 1.5739 and a fresh 6-month low of 0.9069, respectively. If the aussie falls further, it is likely to test support around 1.61 against the euro and 0.89 against the loonie.



The aussie pulled back to 1.0455 against the kiwi, from a high of 1.0490 seen at 6:00 pm ET. On the downside, 1.03 is possibly seen as its next support level.



The kiwi touched more than a 3-month low of 0.6815 against the greenback, 1-1/2-month lows of 78.04 against the yen and 1.6476 against the euro, retreating from its previous highs of 0.6860, 79.09 and 1.6330, respectively. The kiwi is seen finding support around 0.66 against the greenback, 76.00 against the yen and 1.66 against the euro.



The yen recovered from its early lows of 153.68 against the pound, 123.28 against the franc and 115.36 against the greenback, climbing to a 1-1/2-month high of 152.21, 4-day highs of 122.75 and 114.45, respectively. Next key resistance for the yen is seen around 149.00 against the pound, 120.00 against the franc and 112.00 against the greenback.



The yen hit 1-week highs of 128.46 against the euro and 89.84 against the loonie, following its prior lows of 129.29 and 91.18, respectively. The yen is likely to test resistance around 126.00 against the euro and 88.00 against the loonie.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 / Blender Bites Ltd. (the "Company", "Blender Bites" or "Blender"), (CSE:BITE)(FWB:JL4) (WKN: A3C3Y2), a Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of frozen premium organic and plant-based pre-portioned frozen smoothie pucks, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Wilson, former VP at Vega Foods, and Mr. Richard Pollock, Co-founder of Pauling Labs and the brand Ener-C Vitamins, to the Company's Advisory Board.

About Mark Wilson

Mr. Wilson joins Blender's Advisory Board with over 25 year's experience in supply chain operations management. Mark is the former Vice President - Operations of VEGA, a leading North American plant-based, nutritional supplement company. Mark led all aspects of the company's Supply Chain, Quality, and Research and Development Operations from the early days as a smaller Canadian player with $10M in sales to an international company selling over $200M USD annually. The growth of the company saw Mark architect a completely new manufacturing and distribution structure with four times the manufacturing partners, twice the number of distribution centers, and supporting rapid growth in new product development. Mark was also an integral player in supporting the company through a highly successful strategic sale to Whitewave Foods for $550M USD in 2015.

Following his success at Vega, Mark founded his own Supply Chain Operations consulting firm called Wilson Management Group Ltd, where he and his team advise companies in developing and deploying their procurement, purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, distribution, research & development, regulatory, and quality control programs. Mark focuses his firm's efforts on primarily smaller to medium sized nutrition and supplement companies who are experiencing explosive growth often in partnership with leading private equity organizations.

"Supply chain management and logistics is an aspect to Company operations that cannot be underestimated," stated Chelsie Hodge, CEO of Blender Bites. "The ability to streamline the operational processes of planning, sourcing, producing, and delivering quality well-timed products will be crucial in executing our rapid growth and expansion plans. The timing of Mark's appointment to the Advisory Board will allow Blender Bites to capitalize on his extensive knowledge and experience at an early stage of our growth development, maximize customer value, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, in a relatively short period. Mark's expertise in this area will be invaluable, and we are honoured to have him as the newest member of our 'team'".

About Richard Pollock

A perennial entrepreneur with multiple exits, Richard co-founded Pauling Labs-and the brand Ener-C-in 2014. Ener-C experienced significant global growth in its first three years of business and is currently one of the fastest growing supplement brands in North America. Ener-C is currently distributed in 15,000+ retail locations in Canada, US, England, Greece, Cypress, Ukraine, UAE, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Caribbean.

In 1999, Richard founded Vitascorb Supplements and acquired the license for the brand Emergen-C in Canada. Vitascorb was acquired by Pfizer Inc. in 2012. Since 2012 Richard has actively invested and sat on the board of several CPG companies that have either transacted or continue to operate today.

"I am extremely pleased to welcome Richard to our advisory board. His experience building and leading companies from inception speaks for itself and will provide a deep pool of invaluable knowledge upon which to dive, as our team ramps up our expansion and brand recognition endeavours. I look forward to working with Richard, and on behalf of the entire Blender team, welcome him to the 'team',"commented Chelsie Hodge.

About Blender Bites

Blender Bites is a Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium frozen food products with a focus on functionality. Blender Bites was founded in 2016 and was first to market in Western Canada with a pre-portioned "easy smoothie" product that is free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging. Blender Bites products are certified organic, vegan, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. They contain no added sugars and are made in Canada. Blender Bites products are distributed internationally across Canada and the US, and are currently sold in over 900 stores, including Loblaws, Real Canadian Superstore, Sobeys, Safeway, Save on Foods, Thrifty Foods, Whole Foods Market, and select Ontario club stores.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Blender Bites Limited

Chelsie Hodge, Chief Executive Officer

For further information, contact Blender IR Team at:

Email - investors@blenderbites.com

Telephone - 1-888-997-2055

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties, and uncertain capital markets. Readers are cautioned that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Blender Bites Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674740/Blender-Bites-Appoints-former-Vega-VP-Mark-Wilson-and-Ener-C-Co-Founder-Richard-Pollock-to-Advisory-Board


MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Competition and Markets Authority or CMA announced Friday that it has secured improved commitments from Google (GOOG) on its proposals to remove third party cookies and other functionalities from its Chrome browser.



The agency said it has been investigating Google's proposals since the start of the year. The CMA was concerned that, without its involvement, Google's alternatives could be developed and implemented in ways that impede competition in digital advertising markets.



This may cause advertising spending to become even more concentrated on Google, harming consumers who ultimately pay for the cost of advertising, the CMA noted. It was also concerned that this may undermine the ability of online publishers such as newspapers to generate revenue and continue to produce valuable content in the future, reducing choice for consumers.



The CMA said its intervention, and the improved commitments, would ensure that Google's proposals can improve privacy without adversely affecting competition.



Google has now offered to ensure that the CMA's role and the ongoing CMA process are mentioned in Google's key public announcements, and to instruct its staff not to make claims to customers which contradict the commitments.



The company, among other things, would also report regularly to the CMA on how Google has taken account of third party views.



The CMA's provisional view is that Google's revised offer addresses the CMA's competition concerns, so the CMA is now consulting on these modifications.



CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said, 'We have always been clear that Google's efforts to protect user's privacy cannot come at the cost of reduced competition. .. If accepted, the commitments we have obtained from Google become legally binding, promoting competition in digital markets, helping to protect the ability of online publishers to raise money through advertising and safeguarding users' privacy.'



The CMA said it will now consult on these new commitments until December 17.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks slumped on Friday as the detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant in South Africa hit global risk sentiment. The new variant has been red-flagged by scientists over an alarmingly high number of spike mutations that might make the virus more resistant to vaccines. Chinese shares ended lower as a handful of local Covid-19 cases in eastern parts of China prompted Shanghai city to limit tourism activities and a nearby city to cut public transportation services. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index slid 20.09 points, or 0.56 percent, to 3,564.09, dragged down by semiconductor-related and energy stocks. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell as much as 659.64 points, or 2.67 percent, to 24,080.52. Japanese shares hit one-month low and the safe-haven yen rallied, as fears of a new coronavirus variant raised fears about the global economic outlook. The Nikkei average plunged 747.66 points, or 2.53 percent, to 28,751.62, closing below 29,000 for the first time in about a month. The broader Topix index ended down about 2 percent at 1,984.98, with selling seen across the board. Rail companies suffered heavy losses, with Central Japan Railway, Western Japan Railway and Keisei Electric Railway losing 3-6 percent. All Nippon Airways parent ANA Holdings plummeted 4.5 percent after raising funds through a sale of convertible bonds. Softbank Group lost 5.2 percent on a Bloomberg report that Beijing has asked Chinese hailing giant Didi to delist from New York due to concerns about data security. The Japanese conglomerate is a large investor in U.S.-listed Chinese tech firms, including Didi and Alibaba. Australian markets suffered their sharpest drop in nearly two months as worries about the new South African Covid variant overshadowed better-than-expected October retail sales data. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell 128 points, or 1.73 percent to end at 7,279.30, marking its biggest drop since Oct. 1. The broader All Ordinaries index ended down 137 points, or 1.77 percent, at 7,599.90. Energy stocks had their worst session since September 2020 as oil prices tumbled amid fresh demand fears and concerns about oversupply. Oil Search, Woodside Petroleum and Santos fell about 5 percent each. Travel stocks such as Qantas Airways, Corporate Travel Management and Flight Centre Travel lost 5-7 percent after authorities warned the country may have to close its borders to travelers from the African nation if risks from the new strain rise. Gold miners Evolution and Newcrest rose about 1 percent each as investors flocked to safe havens, including gold. Seoul stocks extended losses for the fourth day running as the coronavirus evolves and spreads with worrying mutations. The Kospi average dropped 43.83 points, or 1.47 percent, to close at 2,936.44, dragged down by chemical and tech heavyweights. Banks bucked the weak trend, a day after the country's central bank raised its policy rate to 1 percent. New Zealand shares fell, with the benchmark NZX 50 index dropping 165.72 points, or 1.30 percent, to 12,628.89 in its worst session since March 22. Travel stocks paced the declines, with Air New Zealand and Auckland International Airport ending down 2.5 percent and 2 percent, respectively. Stride Property Group gave up 5 percent after completing a capital raise. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Grand Final of the 2021 PHBS-CJBS Global Pitch Competition was held on November 12 in Shenzhen, China. As one of the key events of the "2021 National Mass Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week & the 7th Shenzhen International Maker Week ", the event attracted more than 3,000 investors, startup entrepreneurs, and audience, both on-site and online.

Jointly initiated by the innovation and entrepreneurship centers of Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) and the Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), the competition involves nearly 150 high-quality startups worldwide in a variety of fields such as medical and health care technology, agricultural technology, advanced manufacturing, and new consumption technology. Participating entrepreneurs and investors come from regions in Europe, North America, and the greater China area. After a series of competitive pitching sessions over the last year, ten startups made it to the final round.

The first prize went to MAGIC WEAVER "3D Digital Human Engine". Shenzhen-based startups BionicM and QYSEA won second prize with their "IoT-based Intelligent Electric Prosthetic Robots" and "Underwater Robots". "R&D and Industrialization of Modular Intelligent Combined Mobile Cold Storage" from CIMC Cold Chain, "Power Exoskeleton to Consumer" from Enhanced Robotics, "Non-invasive Liver Fibrosis Precision Digital Diagnosis" from Precision MedCare, "Optical Active Alignment System" from AIT-PRIME and "Self-healing Concrete" from MIMICRETE, won the third prize. "The Breast Pumping Massage Bra" from Lilu won the Outstanding Startup Award.

Consisting of well-recognized scholars, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Advisory Board of PHBS was also established and held its first meeting. According to PHBS Dean Hai Wen, the advisory board will further strengthen the connection and cooperation with renowned innovative enterprises, venture capital institutions, and experts and scholars in innovation and entrepreneurship. It aims to promote the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area by facilitating the growth of innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises, enhancing talent cultivation, and conducting related research.

The following Greater Bay Area Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Forum featured keynote speeches given by renowned entrepreneurs and investors, who shared their insights into investment, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. In the future, PHBS and CJBS are committed to further strengthening this collaboration, integrating resources of first-tier investment institutions and industry leaders, as well as creating an ecosystem that engages in cooperation, empowerment, and cultivation of innovation and entrepreneurship.

https://english.phbs.pku.edu.cn/2021/news_1123/2993.html

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696896/The_finalists.jpg
The Consortium jointly, through Aztiq II HoldCo, will acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Markets Holdings Limited, thereby becoming the leading shareholders in Lotus Pharmaceuticals and Adalvo

The Consortium's collective industry experience, geographical reach, and commitment to sustainable development, creates a unique alliance of investors and leaders, with the financial strength to support the companies continued development.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

The Iceland based healthcare investor, Aztiq ("Aztiq"), founded by Alvogen's Chairman and CEO, Robert Wessman and Innobic Asia ("Innobic"), a wholly-owned Life Science arm of PTT Public Company Limited ("PTT", SET ticker: PTT), Thailand's largest publicly traded conglomerate, have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited ("AEMH") from Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl ("Alvogen"). Key shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners ("CVC") and Temasek Holdings of Singapore ("Temasek"), as well as Aztiq. The total transaction value is estimated to be approximately US$475 million, and the deal is expected to close during the first quarter 2022.

With this transaction the consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceuticals ("Lotus", TWSE ticker: 1795), and the owner of 100% shares in Alvogen Malta (Out-Licensing) Holding Ltd., shareholder of the fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo.

Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl will remain a leading shareholder in the generics pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company Almatica, as well as being the second largest shareholder in global biosimilar company Alvotech.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen and Founder of Aztiq, will continue to serve as Chairman of the board of Lotus and Adalvo.

Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO of Alvogen/ Founder of Aztiq, commented: "I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing shareholders for their great support in transformation and at the same time I would like to welcome our new partner as we look forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines with strong expertise collectively by all parties. With the comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN brought by PTT and Innobic, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a compelling competitive advantage, which enables them to become global leaders in the pharma industry."

Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux Holding Sarl commented: After seven years as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Today's announcement is consistent with Alvogen's strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value.

Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, Senior Executive Vice President, Innovation and New Ventures, PTT and Chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented:"This partnership will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business, ranging from research, development, and formulation to production and commercialization, with a primary focus on generic drugs covering a wide range of therapeutic areas, in particular, oncology and central nervous system. The strengthened access to high quality medicines, together with the global networks and commercialization capability of Adalvo, and Innobic's support to further expand the pharmaceutical businesses in the ASEAN and globally, make this investment fully in line with the goals and strategies for realizing life science business in Thailand and the ASEAN."

Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and together with its shareholders, Lotus has evolved into a next generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global oncology with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and global reach of its portfolio to over 130 markets.

Alvogen has further developed Adalvo in 2018 from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit focusing on global markets. In a short period of time, Adalvo has achieved a remarkable growth with over 500 transactions and a world class portfolio of 60 differentiated medicines and is currently one of the fastest growing B2B pharmaceutical company globally, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets around the world.

In April of 2021, Innobic invested approximately US$50 million into Lotus by acquiring newly-issued shares via a private placement. Both parties, Lotus and Innobic, are committed to further collaboration with the aim of expanding access to high quality medicines. Further participation by Innobic, through its investment in AEMH, demonstrates both a strong belief in the Lotus strategy as well as a commitment to drive opportunities in South East Asian pharmaceutical markets including Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

About Aztiq

Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor led by Alvogen's and Alvotech's Founder and Chairman Robert Wessman. Aztiq whose key investment focus is on pharmaceutical assets, is currently a leading and co-leading shareholder and operator of the following pharmaceutical assets:

Lotus Pharmaceuticals A leading global oncology pharmaceutical company (www.lotuspharm.com)

Adalvo Global B2B pharmaceutical company, serving its partners and patients in over 100 markets worldwide (www.adalvo.com)

Alvotech A global biosimilar company (www.alvotech.com)

Alvogen US Almatica US generics (Gx) and Specialty Pharmaceutical company. (www.alvogenus.com www.almatica.com)

Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

Robert Wessman, has led over 50 strategic acquisitions and partnerships and established operations in over 60 countries. Wessman, alongside his seasoned team in Aztiq, continues to successfully launch and scale both industry-leading generic pharmaceutical and biosimilar companies all over the world.

About Innobic

Innobic is a Thailand-based Life Science Platform with primary focus on South East Asia, while reaching global opportunities. Innobic is a wholly owned subsidiary of PTT Public Company Ltd, the state-owned enterprise and the largest company by market capitalization on Thailand Stock Exchange. Being a national energy provider as well as multinational conglomerate, recently diversifies into new sectors, including Life Science, Renewables, and Electricity value chain. PTT currently has consolidated group revenues of over US$60 billion and market value US$33 billion.

PTT established Innobic to become a leading Life Science Platform in ASEAN with a primary focus on Pharmaceuticals, Medical Technology and Nutrition businesses. The investment in Lotus as well as close partnership with Aztiq will support that objective. (www.innobicasia.com)

About Lotus

Founded in 1966, Lotus (1795: TT) now is a leading Asian based pharmaceutical company with global reach to provide high-value generic products covering CNS, CVS, women health, and anti-obesity drugs in tablets and hard/softgel capsule with a special focus on oral oncology for global markets.

By boasting a best-in-class R&D and manufacturing platform in Asia, Lotus aims to benefit patients, its employees and stakeholders. Furthermore, Lotus can reach nearly every global market with its high value pipeline through its direct markets, currently encompassing Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, and China, or via alliances with top-tier pharma companies based on its industry-leading infrastructure certified by most of the advanced regulatory authorities around the world, including US FDA, EU EMA, Japan PDMA, China FDA, and Brazil ANVISA.

Lotus has also delivered outstanding financial results since Alvogen's majority investment in 2014. It has achieved over 25% CAGR of net sales and over 40% CAGR of EBITDA during the past seven years, and is expected to continue the growth momentum with major launches in global markets in the next 12 months.

About Adalvo

Founded in 2018, Adalvo is a leading global B2B pharmaceutical company serving a global list of top tier partners and patients with its differentiated, high-value portfolio. The Company's 3-pillar portfolio strategy, covering small molecules, value-added products, and peptides biosimilars, positions Adalvo as a unique platform among its peers. Adalvo has established itself as a reliable global partner with commercial partnerships in more than 100 countries and currently serving over 90 partners globally.

Adalvo's brand promise is to be "Always on Target" for its partners and patients.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211126005334/en/

Contacts:

Elisabet Hjaltadottir

Elisabet.Hjaltadottir@alvotech.com


One of Hektar REIT's neighbourhood malls, Subang Parade, Selangor





KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Hektar Asset Management Sdn. Bhd., the Manager of Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust ("Hektar REIT") ("Manager"), today announced that for the third quarter ended 30 September 2021 ("3Q 2021"), Hektar REIT recorded revenue of RM19.1 million, which is a decrease of 26.4% compared to the RM26.0 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.Hektar REIT registered net property income of RM10.3 million for the quarter under review, which decreased 20.1% compared to the RM12.9 million recorded in 3Q 2020, while realised income for 3Q 2021 was 69.0% lower at RM1.4 million compared to the RM4.5 million recorded in 3Q 2020. Earnings per unit stood at 0.30 sen as at 3Q 2021 compared to 0.98 sen in the same quarter of the previous year. The dip in Gross Revenue and NPI compared to the previous year is due to the strict containment measures in early 3Q 2021 due to the implementation of the National Recovery Plan ("NRP"), with states being under Phase 1 for a prolonged period until they met certain criteria to transition to other phases.The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic leading to the imposition of more stringent movement restrictions from May to mid-August 2021 had an adverse impact on the business in the quarter under review. However, Hektar REIT is now seeing more visitors to its malls with the easing of restrictions in tandem with the reopening of the economy. Hektar REIT expects its business to gradually recover as almost all sectors of the economy are now allowed to open while allowing dine-ins and inter-state travel have also been beneficial to the REIT and other mall operators.Hektar REIT is maintaining a cautious outlook for its business given all that has happened in the past 20 months and in light of the emergence of COVID-19 variants of concern, such as the Delta-plus variant that is highly transmissible. In line with the government's efforts to transition the country towards endemicity, the REIT will continue to prioritize the adherence to strict standard operating procedures to ensure the continued safety of visitors, tenants, vendors and employees. The operating landscape continues to be challenging despite the rebound in economic activities, but the REIT is hopeful of stronger momentum in the quarters ahead, given that consumer sentiment tracked by the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research has surged past the 100-point critical threshold to 101.7 in 3Q 2021, the first time since 3Q 2018 the gauge has gone above 100 and the highest since 3Q 2013.The Manager has also announced on 15 November 2021 that Hektar REIT is proposing a private placement of up to 23.098 million units representing 5% of the 461.96 million total units been issued as at 12 November 2021. The private placement, which may be implemented in either a single tranche or multiple tranches over six months from the date of approval, will be placed out to independent third-party investors. The proceeds from the private placement will be used for working capital and capital work in progress as well as expenses for the private placement exercise.Hektar REIT remains committed to fulfill its obligation to ensure that all the business activities are performed to high standards of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Various energy utilisation and optimisation initiatives since 2017 have been put in place for all of its shopping malls, resulting in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (recorded as CO2e) and energy usage over the last five years. From 2017 to Sept 2021, the CO2E avoided was 15.8 million kg, equivalent to saving 409,440 trees. Overall, the Building Energy Intensity ("BEI") for the portfolio is also on a declining trend. Hektar REIT is a constituent member of the FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index and in its latest June 2021 evaluation, its ESG conduct has been recognised with a 3-star ESG rating by FTSE Russell.Source: Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (Hektar REIT)Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
The German Design Councilhas named the STEYR TerrusCVT tractor and the IVECO T-WAY truck as "Excellent Product Design"Winners. The German Design Awards series is one of the most prestigious in the design landscape across all industries.

London, November 26, 2021

CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) has been recognized with two "Excellent Product DesignWinner" distinctions for its STEYR and IVECO brand products in the German Design Awards, the premier award of the German Design Council (est. 1953). The winning designs were determined by a jury of 37 eminent design experts spanning 10 nationalities and representing the design industry, business, academia, and science.

The Terrus CVT tractor from the company's agricultural specialist brand STEYR was named "Winner" in the Industry category. Its design features a perfect balance of style and function with a premium interior that puts the focus on operator ergonomics and comfort and an exterior design that is tough and rugged with a strong personality. Designed for the most extreme off-road missions, the T-WAY from the commercial vehicle brand IVECO was named "Winner" in the Utility Vehicles category. The aesthetical proportions between the cab and chassis together with its robust full metal bumper express power and confidence, elements that are evocative of the brand DNA.

These "Winner" distinctions from the German Design Awards pay tribute to the outstanding design work demonstrated by the CNH Industrial Design team in their specific categories. They are the latest recognition of the Company's continued excellence in industry-leading design and a direct result of its drive for unmatched style and quality translated into unique brand identities.

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GENEVA, Nov. 26, 2021has today announced the launch of the Charter for Environmentally Sustainable Self-Care, the first global commitment from the consumer health industry to drive sustainable self-care.

The Charter aims to reduce the impact of self-care products on the environment, while ensuring better health outcomes, product safety and access to effective treatment options. Self-care products include medicines available over the counter without prescription (OTC), food supplements including minerals and vitamins, and self-care medical devices.

GSCF members, including consumer health manufacturers and associations, have made a range of commitments as part of the Charter for Environmentally Sustainable Self-Care, based on their individual sustainability programs. The Charter is focuses on three priority areas where the industry has the greatest impact and influence: Plastics and Packaging, Pharmaceuticals in the Environment and CO 2 Footprint.

Members have pledged to reduce plastics and packaging wherever possible, striving for circular design in self-care products. The industry continues to take measures to reduce the presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment, which include promoting the safe disposal of unused medication for example via take-back schemes. With respect to carbon, GSCF members and the broader industry are adopting emissions reduction targets that accelerate the transition to the low carbon economy, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Judy Stenmark, Director General at GSCF, said, "Voluntary and proactive action across the consumer health industry is essential to find urgent, sustainable solutions to address the sector's environmental impact. That's why I am very pleased to see the Charter come to fruition at a time when we are truly seeing a collective global movement from business to address sustainability, both through making tangible commitments and delivering on them. The Charter provides an ambitious platform for all our members globally to drive innovation in sustainability."

"Minimising the impact of self-care products on the environment while safeguarding access to effective treatment and well-being options for people is a critical issue for the consumer health industry. Member companies have already embarked on the sustainability journey individually; with the Charter we establish a platform for good practice sharing and collaboration with an objective to create collective actions and move the needle forward," commented Jurate Svarcaite, Director General at AESGP.

Find out more about the Charter for Environmentally Sustainable Self-Care.



About The Global Self-Care Federation

The Global Self-Care Federationrepresents associations and manufacturers in the self-care industry, promoting sustainable and better global health outcomes for all. The Global Self-Care Federation is the go-to source of information for the self-care industry. We work closely with our members and relevant stakeholder groups to deliver better choice, better care and better value. By placing the benefits of self-care at the heart of what we do, promoting industry transparency, and supporting the regulated use of health data, we ensure that self-care continues to play its increasingly vital role in sustainable healthcare, worldwide. More information please visit: www.selfcarefederation.org

Media Contact:

Fatima John-Sandoz

fatima.john-sandoz@leidar.com

+41 76 604 2425

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Demonstrating over 92% protection to the entire medical team during fluoroscopy-based procedures

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Radiaction Medical ("Radiaction"), a medical device company, is launching its US operation with a first demonstration of its innovative radiation shielding solution, protecting entire medical teams from scattered radiation in interventional suites.

Radiaction will present at the Radiological Society of North America ("RSNA") annual conference, at the McCormick Place, Chicago, booth #6949, November 28th through December 2nd, 2021. Visitors are welcome to learn about the technology and its advantages, see a live demonstration and an interactive multimedia presentation.

Radiaction is revolutionizing radiation protection by launching the only solution on the market that provides full-body shielding to all medical personnel during fluoroscopy-guided procedures, without compromising procedural workflow. Real-life clinical experience has demonstrated an entire room scattered radiation reduction performance of 91% in Interventional Cardiology procedures and 93% in Electrophysiology procedures. Specifically, the system nearly eliminates radiation exposure to the head, which is unprotected with commonly used equipment.

Mounted on the C-arm, the system encapsulates the imaging beam and blocks the scattered radiation at its origin. The system retrofits existing fixed C-arms and is intended for use in Interventional Cardiology, Electrophysiology and Interventional Radiology labs, where physicians experience the highest rates of radiation exposure.

"We are very excited to enter the US market," says Mr. Jonathan Yifat, Radiaction's CEO. "A demonstration center is being built in Florida which will allow partners and physicians to work with the system and evaluate its seamless integration into the clinical workflow. We are highly encouraged from feedback provided by initial users, pipeline centers and customers and are looking forward to changing the paradigm of protection for the medical team during fluoroscopy-based procedures."

About Radiaction:

Radiaction, which was founded by Amir Belson MD, is based in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has developed a radiation-shielding system providing a radiation-safe environment for the entire healthcare team. It is revolutionizing radiation protection by providing full-body shielding to all medical personnel during fluoroscopy-guided procedures. Placed on the C-arm, it encapsulates the imaging beam and blocks the scattered radiation at its origin, creating a paradigm shift in medical staff radiation protection.

For more information, visit Radiaction's website at www.radiactionmedical.com or contact Jonathan Yifat, CEO, Email: Jonathan@radiactionmedical.com
CHICAGO, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new research report, the "Precision Guided Munition Market by Speed (Subsonic, Supersonic, and Hypersonic), Product, Technology, Mode of Operation (Semi-autonomous and Autonomous), Launch Platform (Land, Airborne and Naval) and Region - Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, is projected to grow from USD 32.8 billion in 2021 to USD 41.0 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2021 to 2026. The growing demand for surveillance activities along the attack-prone borders, rising defense spending of emerging economy, increasing incidences of terror attacks and rising number of ongoing inter-country conflicts have led to the growth of Precision guided munitions market.

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The precision guided munition market includes major players Lockheed Martin Corporation (US), Boeing Company (US), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Northrop Grumman Corporation (US), and BAE (Uk). These players have spread their business across various countries includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. COVID-19 has impacted their businesses as well. Industry experts believe that COVID-19 has affected missile defense system production and services globally in 2020.

Increasing need for defense programs to defend nations against various threats

The performance of US weapon systems is unmatched, ensuring that the US defense forces have a tactical combat advantage over any adversary in any weather condition. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 acquisition (Procurement and Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)) funding requested by the US Department of Defense (DoD) totals USD 247.3 billion, which includes funding in the Base budget and the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) fund, totaling USD 143.1 billion for Procurement and USD 104.3 billion for RDT&E. The funding in the budget request represents a balanced portfolio approach to implement the military force objective established by the National Defense Strategy. Of the USD 247.3 billion in the request, USD 83.9 billion finances Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs), which are acquisition programs that exceed a cost threshold established by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment.

According to the Missile Defense Agency, there has been an increase of over 1,200 additional ballistic missiles over the last 5 years. The total of ballistic missiles outside the US, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Russia, and China has risen to over 5,900. Hundreds of launchers and missiles are currently within the range of US deployed forces.

Hence, the increasing need for defense programs by nations to defend against various threats is driving the precision guided munition market.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Precision Guided Munition Market"

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The weapon system technology segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR rate for the precision guided munition market during the forecast period.

A weapon system plays an important role in precision guided munition majorly for land, air, and marine platforms. The weapon system segment has been further sub-segmented into interceptors, gun/turret systems, and missile launchers. The weapon system segment is projected to reach USD 40,967 million by 2026. In the Asia Pacific region, this segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 5.4% during the forecast period.

The hypersonic segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast period

Based on speed, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. Hypersonic precision-guided munitions are equipped with a propulsion system to enable them to attain a speed of Mach 5 or higher, which is five times faster than the speed of sound. Hypersonic precision-guided weapons are difficult to counter due to their high speed. Currently, these weapons are in a development phase and are expected to be operational in the near future.

The hypersonic missiles threat type segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR rate for the precision guided munition market during the forecast period.

Based on speed, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. Hypersonic precision-guided munitions are equipped with a propulsion system to enable them to attain a speed of Mach 5 or higher, which is five times faster than the speed of sound. Hypersonic precision-guided weapons are difficult to counter due to their high speed. Currently, these weapons are in a development phase and are expected to be operational in the near future.

By product, the tactical missiles segment is estimated to account for the largest share (41.4%) of the precision guided munition market in 2021

Based on product, the precision guided munition market has been segmented into tactical missiles, guided rockets, guided ammunition, torpedoes, and loitering munitions. Tactical missiles are used for a shorter range and can carry a variety of warheads that can be used for various purposes. They are very versatile and can be fired in various modes, angles, and platforms. These weapons are equipped with guidance technologies that enable them to hit targets with precision.

The North American market is projected to contribute the largest share from 2021 to 2026

North America is projected to be the largest regional share of precision guided munition market during the forecast period. Major companies such Northrop Grumman Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, and General Dynamics Corporation are based in the US. These players continuously invest in the R&D of new and advanced technology used in missile defense system.

Related Reports:

Electromagnetic Weapons Market by Product (Lethal Weapons, Non-lethal Weapons), Application (Homeland Security, Military), Platform (Land, Naval, Airborne), Technology (Particle Beam Weapons, Laser-induced Plasma Channel), and Region - Forecast to 2026

Missile Defense System Market by Technology (Fire Control System, Weapon System, Countermeasure System, and Command and Control System), Range (Short, Medium, and Long), Threat type, Domain (Ground, Air, Marine, and Space), and Region - Forecast to 2026

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MUMBAI, India, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- India FinTech Forum's IFTA 2021 saw 34 innovative product demos over 3 days with the felicitation of Stockal as Fintech Startup of the Year and IDfy as Fintech Scaleup of the Year. IFTA 2021 saw the participation of senior representatives from Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) and Tamil Nadu Government. It is the longest-running fintech event in India, and this was the 6th consecutive year of celebrating innovation in the Fintech sector.

Meet the most innovative companies in fintech

The 4-month assessment process culminated with recognising the most innovative companies in a number of fintech and allied fields from 800+ applications. The assessment framework was developed and managed by Deloitte, and Perfios felicitated the winners. Over 40 industry leaders were part of the eminent Jury and 50+ Speakers shared their valuable insights.

Past winners of IFTA include well-known names like Simpl, Capital Float, ZestMoney and Valocity Global, and have cumulatively raised over USD 3 billion in funding till date.



Winner at IFTA 2021 Fintech Startup of the Year Stockal Fintech Rising Stars (Runners-up to Fintech Startup of the Year) BukuWarung, AccuraScan, Money View Fintech Scaleup of the Year IDfy Fintech Leader of the Year Ravi Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, Upstox Woman Leader in Fintech Aarti Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder and COO, Crayon Data Most Innovative Fintech Product Pine Labs Best Fintech Consumer Lender Paisabazaar Best Fintech Business Lender InCred Best International Fintech in India MODIFI Best FinTech Ecosystem Partner Grameen Impact Ventures Most Innovative Bank of the Year IDFC FIRST Bank Financial Inclusion Initiative of the Year Jai Kisan Excellence in Payments Mswipe Technologies Best Use of AI in Fintech Marsview.ai Most Innovative Blockchain or Crypto Product Whrrl Best Innovation in RegTech Signzy Best Innovation in Wealth Management Stockal Best Technology Company for Fintech Solutions Zeta Most Innovative Neo Bank Open Financial Technologies Excellence in InsureTech Digit Insurance

The list of winners is available at: www.indiafintech.com

Enablers for fintech growth

Fintech's growing importance can be seen from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's participation in the upcoming fintech InFinity Forum organized by IFSCA and launch of Tamil Nadu's FinTech Policy by Chief Minister Shri M K Stalin. Mr. Sandip Shah, Head- IFSC Dept, GIFT City informed the IFTA audience that GIFT City is the only location today in India that has been recognised and notified as an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

Ms. Pooja Kulkarni, IAS, MD and CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu elaborated on the multifarious initiatives being taken under the Fintech Policy for fintech companies including a Fintech Governing Council under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Industries, development of a Fintech City with built-up space of 1 million sq.ft in Chennai, Neo-TIDEL Parks in Tier II and III cities, power infrastructure, connectivity, cybersecurity, disaster recovery centre at Trichy, funding avenues and reduced compliance burden.

Drivers of fintech growth in India

Companies including PayU, CashRich, Perfios, Huobi Global, KUDOS Finance, TransUnion CIBIL and Miami Fintech came together to power discussions on the opportunities for upcoming technologies, challenges and way forward to capitalise on the next 2-3 years. Mr. Jitendra Gupta, Founder and CEO, Jupiter and Advisory Committee Member of India FinTech Forum noted, "The India Stack has been game changing alongside Aadhaar. Government initiatives and regulatory sandbox for fintechs have been very helpful. Availability of capital in a vibrant ecosystem is one of the key drivers of fintech growth."

Fintech companies in India are riding the global innovation wave despite the pandemic. This is supported by the number of unicorns in India that are fintech companies. Mr. Rajesh Kumar, MD and CEO, TransUnion CIBIL had a very positive outlook for growth of fintech companies, and said, "This is a dynamically evolving ecosystem where collaboration, competition and convergence exist in equal measures. Fintech sector players must take into consideration a very strong focus on data security norms, privacy laws and strong governance framework in their quest for growth."

Upcoming innovation in global payments

Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI, noted that global payment systems were traditionally offered by large monolith institutions with payment infrastructure in various countries but now we have popular country-specific payment systems also. There is a need to look at how these payment systems can start operating together so that a network of payment systems can get created. The recently announced plan from the RBI and MAS to link UPI and Singapore's PayNow will be useful. She pointed out, "There is a need to look at those payment solutions that can operate in an offline manner." Global payments is likely to be a very significant revenue pool for fintech companies, given the current high cost of international transactions, and potential to bring more efficiency, transparency, and speed to the same. Mr. Mohit Gopal, SVP at PayU cautioned that vanilla payment products tend to have very low margins, so it is important to find other products to get those margins.

Mr. Vincent Lau, MD - International Operations, Huobi Global spoke about recent global trends such as NFT, gaming and metaverse, and how cryptocurrencies could allow unbanked people to earn, invest and transact.

Mr. Ramgopal Subramani, COO, Perfios noted that India FinTech Forum's IFTA continues to be one event where you get to know not only what is happening in India but also globally. He said that it was inspiring to know that the future is bright in the hands of the startups that presented their fintech innovation.

Mr. Sougata Basu, Founder, CashRich and Executive Committee Member of India FinTech Forum, said, "IFTA 2021 gave us an opportunity to see some amazing innovation done by fintech firms during the year in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic. Several fintech companies have created solutions for true financial inclusion using the power of technology."

About India FinTech Forum: India FinTech Awards (IFTA) is organised by India Fintech Forum, a non-profit initiative that offers a platform for fintech companies to collaborate and voice their opinions on the relevant policy issues. More than 2000 fintech companies and over 25000 individuals who are members of this forum, are dedicated to enhancing the ecosystem to ensure that India leads the global fintech innovation wave. Website Link: www.indiafintech.com

Media contact:

bhumika@indiafintech.com

+91 91379 29779

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MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Investor and a partner for alternative assets, Allianz Capital Partners (AZSEY.PK), on behalf its Allianz Insurance Companies and the Allianz European Infrastructure Fund, has signed a one-billion- euros agreement with Oesterreichische Glasfaser-Infrastrukturgesellschaft, to fund the launch of fibre-to-the-home service in Austria. According to the deal, Allianz will provide around one billion euros of equity for the deployment of fibre in Austria in order to be able to connect through oGIG up to one million households to the fibre optic network by 2030. Michael Pfennig, Co-Head of Infrastructure at Allianz Capital Partners (ACP), commented: 'The Corona pandemic has once again confirmed the importance of fibre. As one of the largest infrastructure investors worldwide, we are delighted to be able to make an important contribution to the digitization in Austria with the long-term pension and insurance capital of our customers and further investors.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, UK, 26NOVEMBER2021. QuantuMDx Group Limited ("QuantuMDx"), today confirms that both its SARS-CoV-2 assays for open PCR platforms and its rapid PCR device, Q-POC, as well as its future respiratory panel (SARS-CoV-2, Flu A, Flu B and RSV A/B), remain able to detect all known virus strains, including the latest variant, B.1.1.529.



In silico analysis of the mutations represented in the variant's genome sequences that are publicly available in GISAID (the online SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence database) show that none of the primer or probe sites are affected by the mutations. This is testament to the advanced assay design deployed by the QuantuMDx and further underlines the quality of the company's products.

Jonathan O'Halloran, Chief Executive, QuantuMDx, said: "Following the detection of this new variant, we have performed a detailed analysis of the mutations to fully assess the reliability of our existing tests and Q-POC.

"Our assay design strategy, to include three targets, where most only target one or two regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, is being proven to be a robust one and with all the new variants continually emerging, we are confident that our tests and device remain able to detect all known variants."

QuantuMDx is a company passionate about empowering the world to control disease and reduce suffering. QuantuMDx tackles real-world diagnostic problems by delivering molecular point of care solutions for anyone, anywhere.

Q-POC is a rapid, simple to use, portable, sample to answer PCR device and has been designed for use in a wide range of settings, such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and workplace testing providing accurate PCR results at the point of need. Q-POC and its first test, a SARS-CoV-2 detection assay, are CE-IVD marked under the In Vitro Diagnostics Directive (98/79/EC), enabling use within Europe

###

Notes to editor:

About QuantuMDx:

QuantuMDx has operations and strategic partnerships in the United States, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Africa - keeping it at the forefront of molecular diagnostics.

In scientific experiments and research 'in silico' testing conducted or produced by means of computer modelling or computer simulation.

Interview opportunity:

Jonathan O'Halloran, Chief Executive, QuantuMDx, is available for interview on the subject of the new Covid variant, B.1.1.529, and the importance of PCR testing.

For media enquiries and interview requests:

Emma Long, Marketing Communications Manager, QuantuMDx, M: +44 (0) 7495 341 930 T: +44 (0) 870 803 1234 E: emma.long@quantumdx.com

Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal and Lindsey Neville, Consilium Strategic Communications, +44

For investor enquiries:

David Wilson, Nigel Barnes and Jeff Glushakow, WG Partners
EL DORADO, Ark., Nov. 26, 2021and https://www.standardlithium.com/projects/arkansas-smackover.



The Technical Report, entitled "Preliminary Economic Assessment of SW Arkansas Lithium Project" was prepared by independent consulting companies: NORAM, HGA (Hunt, Guillot & Associates), APEX Geoscience Ltd., ECCI, Matrix Solutions Inc., and METNETH 2 O Inc.

Key Points:

Pre-tax US$2.83 Billion NPV at 8% discount rate and IRR of 40.5%;

After-tax US$1.97 Billion NPV at 8% discount rate and IRR of 32.1%;

20-year mine-life producing an average of 30,000 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM);

Operating costs of US$2,599 per tonne of battery quality lithium hydroxide;

AACE Class 5 Total CAPEX estimate of US$870 Million including conservative 25% contingency of direct capital costs; and,

SW Arkansas Lithium Project PEA lithium brine resource is updated to consider the potential unitized area of production, leading to an increased total (global) in-situ resource of 1,195,000 tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) at the Inferred Category.

The final content of this news release has been reviewed by Clive Brereton, a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and vice-president of NORAM Engineering and Constructors, and reviewed and approved by Eric Mielke, of NORAM. Mr. Mielke is a qualified person as the term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and is independent of the company.

About Standard Lithium Ltd.

Standard Lithium is an innovative technology and lithium development company. The Company's flagship project is located in southern Arkansas, where it is engaged in the testing and proving of the commercial viability of lithium extraction from over 150,000 acres of permitted brine operations. The Company has commissioned its first-of-a-kind industrial-scale direct lithium extraction demonstration plant at Lanxess's south plant facility in southern Arkansas. The demonstration plant utilizes the Company's proprietary LiSTR technology to selectively extract lithium from Lanxess's tail brine. The demonstration plant is being used for proof-of-concept and commercial feasibility studies. The scalable, environmentally friendly process eliminates the use of evaporation ponds, reduces processing time from months to hours and greatly increases the effective recovery of lithium. The Company is also pursuing the resource development of over 30,000 acres of separate brine leases located in south west Arkansas and approximately 45,000 acres of mineral leases located in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino county, California.

Standard Lithium is jointly listed on the TSX Venture and the NYSE American Exchanges under the trading symbol "SLI"; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "S5L". Please visit the Company's website at www.standardlithium.com .

On behalf of the Board of Standard Lithium Ltd.

Robert Mintak, CEO & Director

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, accuracy of the PEA, including NPV, IRR, capital and operating costs, life of mine production, progression of the project, including to a pre-feasibility study, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
GUANGZHOU, China and OSLO, Norway, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- XPENG, a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company, has been awarded the Most Known Newcomer of the Year in Kantar's Car Index survey, conducted in association with Aller Media Group, one of the largest media publishers in Norway.

XPENG has been expanding its local presence in Norway as a key initiative in its long-term international strategy. Together with its local partner XBI, XPENG has established 17 local sales outlets and 21 service outlets in Norway. The Norwegian launch of the XPENG P7 and P7 Wing special edition in October marks another significant development of its product portfolio in Norway following the launch of the G3.

"We have invested significant efforts in the establishment of XPENG in the Norwegian market. The top ranking today is a strong testimony of the recognition of our product competitiveness and the increasing appeal of XPENG to customers in Norway," says Christian Hem, Sales Director of XPENG Norway. "We are committed to optimizing customer experience and building our local presence with a long-term perspective."

XPENG is witnessing increasing visibility in the European market, presenting the sixth-generation flying car of HT Aero, XPENG's affiliate Urban Air Mobility company, at European Rotors 2021, the rotorcraft industry event, in Cologne, Germany this month.

Follow us:

XPeng Twitter

XPeng LinkedIn

XPeng Facebook

About XPENG

XPeng is a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets Smart EVs that appeal to the large and growing base of technology-savvy middle-class consumers in China. Its mission is to drive Smart EV transformation with technology and data, shaping the mobility experience of the future. In order to optimize its customers' mobility experience, XPENG develops in-house its full-stack autonomous driving technology and in-car intelligent operating system, as well as core vehicle systems including powertrain and the electrification / electronic architecture. XPENG is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and San Diego. The Company's Smart EVs are manufactured at its plant in Zhaoqing, located in Guangdong province. For more information, please visit https://en.xiaopeng.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1697022/XPENG_Named_Norway_s_Most_Known_Newcomer_Year.jpg
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 /Golden Dawn Minerals Inc., (TSXV:GOM)(FRANKFURT:3G8C)(OTC PINK:GDMRD), ("Golden Dawn" or the "Company"), provides an update on the impact of the heavy rains, flooding and mudslides recently experienced in British Columbia on the Company's core assets.

To date, the heavy rains and flooding in southwestern British Columbia have had no material impact on Golden Dawn's infrastructure and field operations. There was no significant rainfall in the area of the Greenwood Mill and tailings storage facility and the infrastructure remains in excellent condition and under 24-hour security. Similarly, no impacts were observed at the Lexington mine and the nearby May Mac mine and tailings storage. Golden Dawn continues to monitor these properties regularly. All of Golden Dawn's other exploration properties are unaffected by the flooding.

Our priority remains the health, safety, and well-being of our employees, contractors and communities.

Project Profile

Golden Dawn's Greenwood Gold Process Plant is located in the historic Greenwood Mining Division in south-central British Columbia, Canada, approximately 500 km east of Vancouver. The Company's focus is re-activating the process plant for toll milling of material from surrounding mines. For more information, refer to the company website www.goldendawnminerals.com.

Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate.

Technical disclosure in this news release has been approved by Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., President of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101,

For more details, please see the most recent National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Company's website at www.goldendawnminerals.com.

The Company also corrects the finders fees disclosed in it's November 19, 2021 news release. The correct finders paid to Qwest Investment Fund Management Ltd. are a cash commission of $40,000 and issued 200,000 finders warrants. These finder warrants are valid for 2 years from closing with an exercise price of $0.20. The warrants are subject to a hold period expiring March 13, 2022.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.

Per: "Christopher R. Anderson"

Christopher R. Anderson

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. - Corporate Communications:

Tel: 604-488-3900

Email: Office@goldendawnminerals.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, relating to, among other things, preliminary plans for a consolidation of the Company's Shares. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the TSX Venture Exchange will not approve the proposed share consolidation, and that the Company may not be able to raise sufficient additional capital to continue its business. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Golden Dawn Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674738/Golden-Dawn-Provides-Update-on-Greenwood-Mine-and-Mill-Following-the-Heavy-Rains-in-Southwest-BC
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) (OTCQB: FDCFF) ("Forum" or "Company") announces the final set of assay results from Rio Tinto Exploration Canada's ("Rio Tinto" or "RTEC") summer drill program at the Rafuse target on Forum's 100% owned Janice Lake copper/silver project in Saskatchewan (Figure 1).

RTEC reports that it has spent $14 million in exploration expenditures to date, which exceeds the $10 million required to earn a 51% interest in the Janice Lake project. Rio Tinto does not plan an exploration program for the 2022 budget year. A $100,000 cash payment to Forum is due on or before May, 2022 to complete its 51% earn-in obligation.

Rick Mazur, President & CEO reports, "Rio Tinto's $14 million in drilling and regional exploration has added tremendous value to the Janice Lake project, most notably at the Janice and Jansem targets where drilling has significantly expanded high grade copper mineralization. Forum's diversified energy metals portfolio will focus on our extensive uranium property portfolio in Q1 2022, including plans to begin drilling at our 100% owned Wollaston uranium property nearby the Orano and Cameco uranium mills in the eastern Athabasca Basin."

Exploration Summary

To date, RTEC has drilled thirty-nine holes on the property totalling 10,033 metres on four targets- Jansem, Janice, Kaz and Rafuse. Drill results on the Rafuse target are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. In addition, extensive geophysical, geochemical and geological surveys over the 52 km extent of the Wollaston Sedimentary Copperbelt has identified new areas for potential copper mineralization. Prospecting has identified copper boulders as high as 3.8% copper and 3.7 g/t silver, 25 to 30 kilometres to the southwest of the Janice and Jansem targets (Figure 2).

Results from the last five holes on the Rafuse target are:

JANL0035 - Nil

JANL0036 - Nil

JANL0037 - 0.15% Cu and 1.63 g/t Ag and 0.41% Pb over 42.25 metres from 221.25m to 263.5m, including 0.19% Cu and 1.94 g/t Ag and 0.51% Pb over 30.9 metres from 232.6m to 263.5m.

JANL0038 - 0.16% Cu and 2.77 g/t Ag and 0.18% Pb over 15.4 metres from 95.6m to 111m, including 0.25% Cu and 4.93 g/t Ag and 0.34% Pb over 7.5m from 95.6m to 103.1m, 0.19% Pb over 1.37 metres from 134.8m to 135.75m, 1.09 g/t Ag and 0.43% Pb over 1.2 metres from 157.8m to 159m

JANL0039 - 1.28 g/t Ag and 0.14% Pb over 2.6 metres from 154.2m to 156.8m

Hole JANL0028 drilled in the winter program intersected 0.86% copper and 8.02 g/t silver over 14 metres from 246m to 260m, including 6m of 1.67% copper and 13.6 g/t silver from 254.1 to 260.1m (see news release dated June 9, 2021). Hole JANL0028, JANL0032 and JANL0037 have intersected structurally controlled mineralization that is oxidized at depth.





Figure 1: Plan Map of the Rafuse Target. Background is from the airborne magnetic survey, with red colours indicating magnetic highs. Holes JANL0022 to 0030 were drilled by RTEC during the winter of 2021 and Holes JANL0031 to 0039 were drilled in the summer of 2021. See News Releases dated May 25, 2021, June 9, 2021 and October 28, 2021

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4908/105201_3fbd4c5304e62ad1_003full.jpg

Table 1: Diamond Drill Hole Statistics for 2021.

Hole ID Easting Northing Dip Azimuth Length (m) JANL0022 502173 6306311 -70 305 221 JANL0023 502334 6306210 -75 130 264 JANL0024 502239 6306273 -70 125 306 JANL0025 502411 6306146 -70 130 171 JANL0026 502433 6306392 -65 135 234 JANL0027 502580 6306281 -65 315 258 JANL0028 502553 6306540 -72 122 294 JANL0029 502441 6306613 -65 125 300 JANL0030 501987 6306125 -60 130 282 JANL0031 502601 6306505 -60 130 300 JANL0032 502573 6306648 -60 125 330 JANL0033 503042 6307066 -60 130 273 JANL0034 502962 6307177 -60 120 213 JANL0035 501759 6305487 -60 135 249 JANL0036 501673 6305637 -60 130 267 JANL0037 502709 6306574 -60 310 321 JANL0038 502778 6306811 -60 115 321 JANL0039 501901 6305834 -60 125 273

Table 2: Assay Results from 2021 Rafuse Winter and Summer Drill Programs

Hole ID Easting Northing Length Dip/Azimuth From (m) To (m) Thickness Cu (%) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) JANL0023 502334 6306210 264 -75/130 19.00 67.00 48.00 0.32 2.04 - - including 19.00 36.15 17.15 0.59 3.96 - - including 33.00 36.15 3.15 1.78 9.25 - - 53.00 69.00 16.00 0.29 1.47 - - JANL0024 502239 6306273 306 -70/125 71.50 148.00 76.50 0.28 2.00 - - 188.00 206.00 18.00 0.20 1.58 - - 297.00 306.00 9.00 0.07 0.84 0.05 0.14 JANL0025 502411 6306146 171 -70/130 21.00 29.00 8.00 0.16 1.75 - - JANL0026 502433 6306392 234 -65/135 39.66 52.00 12.34 0.25 2.05 - - JANL0027 502580 6306281 258 -65/315 208.00 210.00 2.00 0.25 2.85 - - 224.00 226.33 2.33 0.17 1.74 - - JANL0028 502553 6306540 294 -72/122 40.09 41.23 1.14 0.33 2.12 - - 210.00 229.00 19.00 - - 0.13 0.19 including 223.00 229.00 6.00 0.03 0.71 0.29 0.22 246.05 260.06 14.01 0.86 8.02 1.76 0.16 including 254.09 260.06 5.97 1.67 13.62 1.93 0.14 JANL0029 502441 6306613 300 -65/125 3.00 46.00 43.00 0.06 0.83 - - 294.00 300.00 6.00 0.03 0.47 0.24 0.06 JANL0030 501987 6306125 282 -60/130 155.00 157.59 2.59 0.11 1.10 - - 172.00 211.00 39.00 0.27 3.08 - - JANL0031 502601 6306505 300 -60/130 10.16 12.15 1.99 0.12 1.36 - - 271.90 273.00 1.10 - 2.96 - - JANL0032 502573 6306648 330 -60/125 89.89 131.00 41.11 0.04 1.03 0.07 - including 89.89 115.00 25.11 0.07 1.57 0.10 - including 89.89 97.43 7.54 0.19 4.04 0.11 - 92.00 109.41 17.41 0.06 1.62 0.12 - 217.56 277.55 59.99 - - - 0.13 235.00 279.00 44.00 0.23 1.62 0.35 0.14 including 235.00 257.00 22.00 0.08 0.60 0.16 0.09 including 265.00 279.00 14.00 0.59 4.04 0.83 0.23 including 235.00 243.00 8.00 0.06 0.66 0.30 0.15 including 247.00 257.00 10.00 0.13 0.67 0.02 0.06 including 273.00 279.00 6.00 1.21 7.59 0.89 0.18 JANL0033 503042 6307066 273 -60/130 42.20 49.00 6.80 0.29 3.01 - - JANL0034 502962 6307177 213 -60/120 19.30 27.44 8.14 0.09 1.22 - - 74.90 93.70 18.80 0.14 2.12 0.20 0.18 including 74.90 86.00 11.10 0.19 2.68 0.25 0.26 including 88.00 93.70 5.70 0.08 1.73 0.16 - 173.90 180.40 6.50 0.10 1.01 - - JANL0035 501759 6305487 249 -60/135 86.10 88.30 2.20 - - - 0.13 JANL0037 502709 6306574 321 -60/310 18.00 30.00 12.00 - - 0.11 - 221.25 263.50 42.25 0.15 1.63 0.41 - including 232.60 263.50 30.90 0.19 1.94 0.51 - including 232.60 246.00 13.40 0.10 2.72 1.14 - including 247.70 258.00 10.30 0.40 2.01 - - JANL0038 502778 6306811 321 -60/115 95.60 111.00 15.40 0.16 2.77 0.18 - including 95.60 103.10 7.50 0.25 4.93 0.34 - 134.38 135.75 1.37 - - 0.19 - 157.80 159.00 1.20 0.05 1.09 0.43 - JANL0039 501901 6305834 273 -60/125 154.20 156.80 2.60 0.04 1.28 0.14 -





Figure 2: Prospecting and mapping Program 2021- Concentrated in an area 25km southwest of the drilling area where a 3.8% copper boulder was found by prospecting in 2020.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4908/105201_3fbd4c5304e62ad1_006full.jpg

Quality Control/ Quality Assurance

Core samples were sawed in half, keeping the half with the reference line for orientated core in the box. Samples averaged 2 metres in length through the mineralized zone, 4 metres in length in the unmineralized zone, however these lengths varied depending on stratigraphy, alteration or mineralization. Standards were introduced after every 20th sample, using a high grade, low grade or unmineralized, depending on the surrounding core. Duplicates were also introduced on every 20th sample, quartering the core. Blanks were used for the first sample of the hole and at the beginning and end of a mineralized interval, using certified rose quartz. A 4-acid digestion was used on the samples at ALS lab in Vancouver, followed by analysis by ICP-MS (the ME-MS61L package).

Ken Wheatley, P.Geo., Forum's VP, Exploration and Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101, has verified the data as per NI43-101 Clause 3.2 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

About Forum Energy Metals

Forum Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV: FMC) has three 100% owned energy metal projects that were drilled in 2021 by the Company and its major mining company partners Rio Tinto and Orano for copper/silver, uranium and nickel/platinum/palladium in Saskatchewan, Canada's Number One Rated mining province for exploration and development. Forum is well funded and plans an aggressive drilling campaign in 2022. In addition, Forum has a portfolio of seven drill ready uranium projects and a strategic land position in the Idaho Cobalt Belt. For further information: www.forumenergymetals.com

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard J. Mazur, P.Geo.

President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information contact:

NORTH AMERICA

Rick Mazur, P.Geo., President & CEO

mazur@forumenergymetals.com

Tel: 778-772-3100

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105201
XIAMEN, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 / Marine economy in the coastal city of Xiamen saw robust development in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20). Statistics show that in 2020, the output value of Xiamen's marine economy reached 140.53 billion yuan ($22.02 billion), accounting for 22 percent of the city's total GDP.

Xiamen's marine economy is expected to embrace high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xiamen's marine economy is expected to embrace high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) as it has recently been guaranteed a leading city status in developing marine sectors in East China's Fujian province.

The municipal government released two marine economy development plans, which noted that efforts should be made to enhance Xiamen's role in bolstering the province's marine economy.

Build a modern marine industrial system

In 2020, the added value of Xiamen's emerging marine industries totaled 52.44 billion yuan, growing by 4.24 percent year-on-year, taking up 37.3 percent of the total output value of the city's marine economy. Statistics have shown that emerging marine industries have grown into new growth drivers of Xiamen's marine economy.

According to the newly released development plans, Xiamen will set up strategic emerging marine industrial clusters by promoting the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, accelerating cross-border integration, and reinventing business models.

Efforts will be made to speed up the construction of a national demonstration zone for the marine economy. Marine biological industries will also be cultivated, and build global supply bases for marine products.

Xiamen will foster new drivers of growth for marine economy, such as building itself into a Southeast International Shipping Center, improving the efficiency of the ocean shipping transportation system, as well as boosting the coastal and marine tourism industry of Xiamen.

The plan noted that as of 2023, Xiamen will set up a modern marine industrial system, which is expected to be supported by emerging marine industries, modern fisheries, port logistics, and high-end coastal tourism.

Promote scientific and technological innovation

In Xiamen, rich marine resources and a solid industrial foundation are the city's major advantages in developing the marine economy.

The Xiamen government has stepped up efforts to improve basic research capability, and build a batch of marine scientific research institutions, aiming to promote the innovative development of marine science and technology.

In order to promote the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, Xiamen has sped up the deep integration of industrial and innovation chains. A wide range of supportive measures have been rolled out to further stimulate the vitality of scientific and technological innovation.

A high-tech industrial park for marine industry is expected to be built in Xiamen, which will push forward the development of high-end marine industries such as marine medicine and biological products, advanced maritime equipment, and new marine materials.

Supported by strong scientific and technological prowess, the output value of Xiamen's marine industry will reach 300 billion yuan by 2025, which is estimated to account for 30 percent of the city's total GDP. The layout of the city's marine economy will be further improved, in an effort to build it into a modern and strong marine city.

Further opening-up

As a key port city of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Xiamen will deepen trade exchanges and cooperation of countries and regions along the road, according to the development plans.

The city will beef up efforts to attract world-class marine enterprises and core technologies, encourage Xiamen enterprises to go abroad, and deepen opening-up and cooperation in the marine economy. Xiamen will also explore ways to build a new cooperative mechanism for marine industry, to actively engage in international exchanges and cooperation in ocean field.

By 2035, the influence of Xiamen as a global marine center will be significantly enhanced, according to the city plan. The city will develop itself into a world-class port, an international coastal tourism city, an ocean cultural exchange center for countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as a global model for marine ecological governance.

Contact: Lorraine Yuan

Email: lorraine@hehutech.cn

Tel: +86139 1113 0781

Website: www.chinadaily.com.cn

SOURCE: China Daily

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674771/Marine-Economy-Set-to-Boom-in-Xiamen-During-14th-Five-Year-Plan-Period
OPPORTUNI has acquired Bidstats and now owns the largest database of UK procurement data in existence

and now owns in existence OPPORTUNI will ensure this data remains accessible for public searches aligned to their mission to level the playing field for UK SMEs

Bidstats helps over 2m people per year search for UK government contract data

people per year search for UK government contract data Data archive enables historical analysis of awards and management of public funds

Nearly a decade of data to be opened up to Think Tanks, the ICIJ & Educational Bodies

to Think Tanks, the ICIJ & Educational Bodies Helps more small businesses get into tendering with the support of the Cabinet Office

Bidstats provides information to over 50,000 sites including The Guardian, RT, Politico, and Imperial alongside feeding into reports by the big 4 including PwC

TEESSIDE, England, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading tech firm OPPORTUNI has acquired Bidstats, the world's no.1 trusted procurement website.

OPPORTUNI, the world's sole end-to-end solution for bidding for government contracts, is tackling corruption in public procurement by giving all SMEs fair and equal access to information regarding government contract awards.

Bidstats is the largest and most comprehensive source of contract award data in the UK, with nine years' archive in its database.

This historic database allows for detailed analysis of contract award data, along with the ability to track contract awards going forward. Additionally, OPPORTUNI subscribers will now benefit from access to this database to allow for more effective planning of bidding activity.

The acquisition of this exceptional source of government contract data will accelerate OPPORTUNI's mission to redirect 225 billion worth of government spend to SMEs, while at the same time introduce a culture of transparency and accountability that is not always evident in public procurement.

This development will allow OPPORTUNI to celebrate and promote changing trends in the industry and the success of small and medium sized businesses in taking their fair share of Government contracts, highlighting the opportunities available to great British businesses.

OPPORTUNI is confident that by creating a more transparent procurement landscape, they can help facilitate an unprecedented number of SMEs into working with the public sector across the UK and beyond.

Tim Ward, CEO of OPPORTUNI, said: "The acquisition of Bidstats is a vital part of our mission to level the public procurement playing field and support even more great small and medium sized businesses to identify and win government contracts.

"Our global mission is to redirect over 225 Billion worth of government contracts to great local businesses. These are the ones who should be fixing the school roofs, laying the roads, cleaning our hospitals, providing IT support to the NHS, and so much more."

Tim added: "This acquisition provides us with the UK's most comprehensive database of contract award data, allowing us to deep dive and call out both historic and future instances of corruption.

"Transparency of the procurement process and accountability is in the public interest and will further the agenda of supporting great local businesses to win local contracts whilst reinvigorating local economies."

Notes to editors:

Media contact:

Tori Lynn, tlynn@differentnarrative.com

About OPPORTUNI

OPPORTUNI is a venture capital backed scale-up that gives small and medium-sized businesses a genuine ability to match with government tenders, providing them with all the tools they need to compete and bid alongside much larger firms.

Although their services are available now in the UK, US and Europe - OPPORTUNI are originally one of the North East's rising stars, according to Tech Nation. Their goal is to bring more first-time bidders into the market in the next three years than the entire three decades before it.

OPPORTUNI enables small businesses to also access some of the world's best bid writers through its marketplace. This unique global marketplace gives both writers and business owners complete transparency on costs like never before, levelling the playing field for SMEs once and for all.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1697158/OPPORTUNI_Tim_Ward.jpg


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Amid a surge in Covid infections in the United States, deaths due to the pandemic fell by 10 percent in the last two weeks. The weekly average was 1,066, as per latest data provided by the New York Times.



The seven-day average of cases increased by 20 percent in a fortnight, to 92,221.



With 34544 new cases reporting on Wednesday, the total number of Covid infections in the United States rose to 48,126,574, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.



An additional 395 Covid deaths on the same day took the total number of people who died due to the pandemic to 775,797.



New York reported the most number of cases - 6,762 - while Pennsylvania recorded most Covid deaths - 146.



The lower metrics are attributed to reporting delays on holidays. Many states did not report data on Thanksgiving Day.



38,799,986 people have so far recovered from the disease in the country.



454,447,737 vaccine doses have been administered so far nationally.



Elsewhere in the world, Germany crossed 100,000 deaths from Covid-19 Thursday, prompting Chancellor Angela Merkel to call it 'a very sad day'. She called for more restrictions.



Germany is the fifth European country to pass that mark, after Russia, the United Kingdom, Italy and France.



Cases have surged by 79 percent in two weeks. It marks the highest average since the start of the pandemic in the country.



Covid deaths have increased by 60 percent there.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 / Accelerated Technologies Holding Corporation. (the "Company" or "Accelerated") (OTC PINK:ATHC), Further strengthens its Advisory Board with the appointment of New York Super Lawyer Wayne M. Greenwald, Esq. ATHC is a FinTech holding company that provides business services for SMB's and owns and operates disruptive technologies products in the sectors of artificial intelligence, short-term alternative funding platforms, electronic payment solutions, social engagement, health, and wellness solutions.

Wayne M. Greenwald has been concentrating in debtor-creditor law for more than 40 years. He was the assistant chair of the Defense Research Institute's Special Litigation Group on Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy. He formerly served as co-chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute's commercial fraud task force. Mr. Greenwald is knowledgeable in the entire spectrum of debtor-creditor matters and cases under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. He has extensive experience in business and commercial litigation and all phases of dispute resolution, including pre-claim negotiations, mediation, arbitration and trial. Mr. Greenwald lectures frequently and has published or edited articles, treatises and books on bankruptcy and creditors' rights, including Criminal Practice and Bankruptcy Proceedings. He is highly regarded in the legal community and has been included in 2007 - 2008, 2010 - 2011, 2014 - 2021 New York Super Lawyers. Wayne M. Greenwald is a top-rated attorney located in New York City.

"We are pleased to welcome Wayne Greenwald in preparation of a full-scale launch of the KashOnDemand brand. Mr. Greenwald's expertise will be invaluable with respect to our contractual and risk mitigation needs. As we expand on the KashOnDemand brand and deploy capital intended to help SMB's with their immediate and On Demand financing needs, preservation of capital and risk mitigation will be equally important as we build shareholder value. Wayne brings immeasurable experience, knowledge and strategic resources. His wisdom will be invaluable as we accelerate our expansion of KashOnDemand, ATHC's small business financing brand. ATHC will be able help merchants nationwide, filling another need with respect to financing options and leveling the playing field with larger conglomerates with whom our clients oftentimes compete at a huge disadvantage," said Harry Falkenburg, Chief Executive Officer of ATHC.

Mr. Greenwald will be instrumental as a member of ATHC's Advisory Board. ATHC intends to provide guidance to further address common pain points and debtor-creditor educational needs of SMB's and SME's nationwide. Providing small to medium size businesses with access to continued education and updates with respect to credit and indebtedness will enable ATHC to scale operations in other verticals. Accelerated intends to guide business owners towards exploring additional business financing options and opportunities as it strives to become the ultimate one-stop-shop for SMB's and SME's.

"I am pleased at the opportunity to work with ATHC, and, more specifically its business financing brand KashOnDemand. I look forward to assisting small businesses obtain much needed, traditionally difficult to obtain, financing. Immediate access to capital would have yielded immeasurable results for many of the small and medium sized businesses, and their clients and customers whom I have represented over the past 40 years. Small business owners are hardworking entrepreneurs that keep our local economies alive. Too often, they are unaware of their options," said Wayne Greenwald, ATHC Advisory Board Member.

For additional updates, inquiries and direct messaging to ATHC, follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/ATHCOTC

info@athc.com

About Accelerated Technologies Holding Corporation (OTC PINK:ATHC)

Accelerated Technologies Holding Corporation (OTC PINK:ATHC) is a publicly traded holding company. Via ATHC brands and affiliates, it provides business services for SMB's and is a full-service end-to-end business solution and technology company that specializes in cloud-based disruptive technologies. ATHC provides consulting and enterprise-level technology services and operates disruptive technologies products in the sectors of artificial intelligence, short-term alternative funding platforms, electronic payment solutions, social engagement, health, and wellness solutions. ATHC's expertise lies in consumer Internet, cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS), mobile software and services, software-powered consumer electronics, infrastructure and applications software, networking, storage, databases, and other backend systems. ATHC's infrastructure can accommodate most business sectors ranging from small local business to national conglomerates.



About ROMPOS: RETAIL - ONLINE - MOBILE - PROCESSES - OPTIMIZATION - SOLUTION

ROMPOS, an exemplary all-in-one solution automates and digitizes workflows intended to enable small businesses to increase efficiencies, quality control, customer satisfaction, brand recognition and maximize bottom lines. ROMPOS has been tested in fast paced quick serve environments and is capable to accommodate small businesses in retail, online and mobile environments. ROMPOS Command Center provides management and staff all in one access and controls over inventories, sales, staff management, analytics, payments, working capital, micro targeted marketing, online sales and gamification. Deployment for ROMPOS has begun.

For ROMPOS, we intend to sign a significant number of strategic resellers. We will be engaging business service providers with portfolios primarily in the sectors of payment processing, alternative lending.

About KashOnDemand



KashOnDemand, delivers access for small businesses to sustainable financing 24/7. AI driven underwriting with Bi gathered via ROMPOS will enable merchants to fund purchase orders, receivables, expansion, and refinance alternative debt at favorable rates. The micro financing product fills the much needed gap between traditional banking inefficiencies and the draconian rates merchants pay for Merchant Cash Advances. Business owners nationwide will dynamically prequalify for financing and funded within one hour during banking hours. ATHC's tech team is currently working on version 2 and intends to offer 24/7 funding via utilizing crypto currencies and exchanges. Version 1 is anticipated to launch Q1 2022.

About ShieldMost

ShieldMost is a health, wellness and media platform. A public safety solution that deliverslocal, remote, single and multi-channel technologies for automated and manned temperature screening, surveillance, access control conveniently and safely. A we expand market share, ShieldMost intends to launch a media platform to its IOS and Android tablets. The website for Shieldmost.com is scheduled for completion by the early part of December 2021.

About InstaMaven



InstaMaven is a mobile application that allows professionals and hobbyists to monetize their skills, knowledge and experience by connecting them with people seeking such services and advice, instantly, online and on demand. The platform enables a broad spectrum of services to be rendered in a safe and secure environment. Tutors, chefs, bartenders, plumbers, dog walkers, you name it will be able to earn extra income while helping others at discounted rates. Instamaven charges a percentage of the collected funds. The platform has been in beta for approximately 18 months. Forms of payment are all major credit and debit cards, bank transfers and crypto will be accepted. Our own Accelerated Coin is highly probable. ATHC intends to launch InstaMaven in limited capacity in Q2, 2022.

About Wayne Greenwald, P.C.

Wayne Greenwald Esq., focuses on Bankruptcy: Business issues. Additionally, Mr. Greenwald helps clients with legal issues in the following areas of law: Business Litigation. Wayne Greenwald received Super Lawyers designation for 2007 - 2008, 2010 - 2011, 2014 - 2021. He was selected for this honor subsequent to undergoing an evaluation of many different factors including peer recognition and professional achievement. Mr. Greenwald became a licensed attorney in 1980. Before practicing law, he attended law school at Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and graduated in 1979. Mr. Greenwald additionally serves as a director for the New York State Bar Association.

Wayne Greenwald, P.C., offers creative solutions to debt and business problems. Debtors, creditors, trustees, investors, landlords and other interested parties in debtor-creditor matters. The practice provides effective solutions to complex legal and financial challenges. As an innovative debtor-creditor practice, Wayne Greenwald, P.C., offers a unique knowledge of the interplay between bankruptcy and commercial, business, domestic, criminal problems, and other interrelated legal issues. ATHC intends to educate SMB's and SME's with respect to responsible business financing, small business funding and various alternatives, short term working capital and information regarding the full spectrum of debtor-creditor rights. ATHC will provide ongoing information to all business owners via athc.com free of charge. Anticipated launch Q1, 2022.

Mr. Greenwald's areas of practice include:

Small to midsize businesses and their owners

Individual debtors

Members of the Fortune 500 and Forbes 500

The ministry of defense of a foreign sovereign

Secured and unsecured creditors

Banks and insurance companies

Trustees and creditors' committees

Indentured trustees

Landlords

Parties involved in commercial litigation

Individuals facing financial and criminal problems

Foreign and domestic investors

Hedge funds

Judgment debtors



Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to our strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectations or estimates of future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. The words "believe," "expect," "will," "anticipate," "contemplate," "target," "plan," "continue," "budget," "may," "intend," "estimate," "project" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, certain delays beyond the company's control with respect to its plans or operations. Our actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation those set forth as "Risk Factors" in our filings with the SEC which can be found at www.sec.gov. There may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Anticipated launch dates may vary due to technical issues, timing and other variables that may affect actual launch dates.

For further information, please contact the company info@athcorp.com

Related Links:

ATHC.COM

ROMPOS.COM

INSTAMAVEN.COM

https://twitter.com/ATHCOTC

SOURCE: Accelerated Technologies Holding Corporation.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674777/Accelerated-Technologies-Holding-Corporation-OTC-PINKATHC-Further-Strengthens-its-Advisory-Board-and-Initiates-Debtor-Creditor-Guidance-for-Small-Business-Owners-with-the-Appointment-of-New-York-Attorney-Wayne-M-Greenwald
DGAP-News: CPI PROPERTY GROUP / Key word(s): AGM/EGM

CPI PROPERTY GROUP: AMENDED CONVENING NOTICE OF THE COMPANY'S EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING TO BE HELD ON 16 DECEMBER 2021



26.11.2021 / 17:30

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



CPI PROPERTY GROUP

Societe Anonyme

40, rue de la Vallee

L-2661 Luxembourg

R.C.S. Luxembourg B 102254

(the "Company") AMENDED CONVENING NOTICE

OF THE COMPANY'S EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING

TO BE HELD ON 16 DECEMBER 2021

Dear Shareholders, The Company convened the extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Company (the "Meeting") to be held at the registered office of the Company at 40, rue de la Vallee, L-2661 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, on 16 December 2021 at 11:00 CET , in the presence of a Luxembourg notary public. The convening notice for the Meeting was published on 13 November 2021 in the Luxembourg newspaper Tageblatt and on 15 November 2021 in the Luxembourg official gazette (Recueil Electronique des Societes et Associations). In accordance with article 4 of the law dated 24 May 2011 on the exercise of certain rights of shareholders in general meetings of listed companies, as amended from time to time, EFIMACOR S.a r.l., being a shareholder of the Company holding more than 5 percent of the share capital of the Company (the "Requesting Shareholder") requested, in its letter dated 23 November 2021, to amend the agenda of the Meeting, by proposing the following additional agenda items: Additional items proposed by the Requesting Shareholder to the initial agenda item 1 of the Meeting: 1. Subject to approval of the point 1 of the agenda, decision to fully restate the articles of association of the Company in order to, among others things, reflect point 1 of the agenda above and remove the reference to the possibility for the Company to issue non-voting shares. 2. Subject to approval of points 1 and 2 of the agenda, decision to appoint with immediate effect Mr. Tim Scoble to the Board of Directors of the Company until the annual general meeting of the shareholders of the Company to be held in 2022 concerning the approval of the annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending on 31 December 2021. Following the request of the Requesting Shareholder, the agenda of the Meeting is revised as follows (the "Revised Agenda"): REVISED AGENDA

1. Decision to amend the last two paragraphs of the object clause of the Company contained in article 4 of the articles of association of the Company, so that such paragraphs shall be read as follows: "The corporation may borrow and grant any assistance, loan, advance or guarantee to companies in which it has a participation or in which it has a direct or indirect interest, or to any person (a "Holding Entity") which is for the time being a member of or otherwise has a direct or indirect interest in the Company or any body corporate in which a Holding Entity has a direct or indirect interest and any person who is associated with the Company in any business or venture, with or without the Company receiving any consideration or advantage (whether direct or indirect). The corporation may carry out any commercial, industrial or financial operations, as well as any transactions on real estate or on movable property, which it may deem useful to the accomplishment of its purposes, PROVIDED ALWAYS that the Company will not enter into any transaction which would constitute a regulated activity of the financial sector or require a business license under Luxembourg law without due authorisation under Luxembourg law."



2. Subject to approval of the point 1 of the agenda, decision to fully restate the articles of association of the Company in order to, among others things, reflect point 1 of the agenda above and remove the reference to the possibility for the Company to issue non-voting shares. 3. Subject to approval of points 1 and 2 of the agenda, decision to appoint with immediate effect Mr. Tim Scoble to the Board of Directors of the Company until the annual general meeting of the shareholders of the Company to be held in 2022 concerning the approval of the annual accounts of the Company for the financial year ending on 31 December 2021. Notes to the Revised Agenda In relation to the Revised Agenda, the Requesting Shareholder also proposed draft resolutions which are published on the website of the Company. * * * * ATTENDING THE MEETING In the context of the present sanitary situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in accordance with the law of 23 September 2020, implementing measures concerning the holding of meetings in companies and other legal entities, as amended (the "Law of 23 September 2020"), the board of directors of the Company has decided as a temporary measure to ensure both the safety of the participants to the Meeting and the business continuity of the Company during the pandemic to hold the Meeting remotely without physical presence of participants. In accordance with the Law of 23 September 2020, the Company requires that (i) the Meeting be held without any participant attending in person, and (ii) shareholders and other participants participate to the meeting and exercise their rights exclusively by a vote in writing or by appointing a special attorney designated by the Company. Therefore, in order to participate to the Meeting, shareholders must provide the Company with the following three items as explained in greater detail below: (i) Record Date Confirmation, (ii) Attendance and Proxy Form, and (iii) Proof of Shareholding Record Date Confirmation: This document shall be provided to the Company by a shareholder at the latest by 23:59 CET on the Record Date. The Record Date is 2 December 2021 (the "Record Date", i.e. the day falling fourteen (14) days before the date of the Meeting). The Record Date Confirmation must be in writing and indicate that a shareholder holds the Company shares and wishes to participate in the Meeting. A template form of the Record Date Confirmation is available on the Company's website at www.cpipg.com. The Record Date Confirmation must be sent to the Company by post or electronic means so that it is received by the Company at the latest by 23:59 CET on the Record Date, i.e. 2 December 2021 , to: CPI PROPERTY GROUP 40, rue de la Vallee L-2661 Luxembourg Fax: + 352 26 47 67 67; email: generalmeetings@cpipg.com Attendance and Proxy Form: A template form is available on the Company's website at www.cpip g.com and is to be duly completed and signed by shareholders wishing to participate or be represented at the Meeting. Proof of Shareholding: This document must indicate the shareholder's name and the number of Company shares held at 23:59 CET on the Record Date. The Proof of Shareholding shall be issued by the bank, the professional securities' depositary or the financial institution where the shares are on deposit. Please note that Proof of Shareholding is not necessary for those shareholders whose shares are still recorded as registered shares in the Company's shareholders' register. Shareholders wishing to participate to the Meeting must send the Attendance and Proxy Form together with the relevant Proof of Shareholding by post or electronic means so that they are received by the Company at the latest by noon (12:00 noon CET) on 9 December 2021 , to: CPI PROPERTY GROUP 40, rue de la Vallee L-2661 Luxembourg Fax: + 352 26 47 67 67; email: generalmeetings@cpipg.com Please note that only persons who are shareholders at the Record Date and have timely submitted their Record Date Confirmation, Attendance and Proxy Form, and Proof of Shareholding shall have the right to participate and vote in the Meeting. Documentation and information: The following documents and information are available for the shareholders on our website: www.cpipg.com: - the present convening notice; - the total number of shares and the voting rights in the Company as at the date of the initial convening notice to the Meeting; - the amended draft resolutions of the Meeting; - a mark-up of the proposed changes to the articles of association (per resolution 2 of the Revised Agenda); - the Record Date Confirmation template; and - the amended Attendance and Proxy Form. The above documents may also be obtained by shareholders upon written request sent to the following postal address: CPI PROPERTY GROUP, 40, rue de la Vallee, L-2661 Luxembourg. For further information, visit our website: www.cpipg.com. Quorum Requirement: With respect to all items of the Revised Agenda (except item 3), the Meeting shall not validly deliberate, unless at least one half of the corporate capital is represented and if the Revised Agenda of the meeting includes the statutory changes to be considered. In the event that such quorum condition is not fulfilled, a second meeting may be convened by publishing this convening notice in the Luxembourg official gazette (Recueil Electronique des Societes et Associations), a Luxembourg newspaper and in such media which may reasonably be expected to be relied upon for the effective dissemination of information to the public throughout the European Economic Area, and which are accessible rapidly and on a non-discriminatory basis, seventeen (17) days prior to the date of the reconvened meeting provided that (i) the first Meeting was properly convened; and (ii) the agenda for the reconvened Meeting does not include any new item. The second meeting shall deliberate validly whatever the part of the corporate capital represented thereat. At both meetings, resolutions, in order to be adopted, must be carried by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast. Votes cast shall not include votes attaching to shares in which the shareholder has not taken part in the vote or has abstained or has returned a blank or invalid vote. With respect to item 3 of the Revised Agenda, the Meeting shall validly deliberate regardless of the corporate capital present or represented. Resolutions, in order to be adopted, must be carried by a majority of the votes cast. Votes cast shall not include votes attaching to shares in which the shareholder has not taken part in the vote or has abstained or has returned a blank or invalid vote. For further information, visit our website: www.cpipg. com . If you need further assistance or information, please contact: CPI PROPERTY GROUP, 40, rue de la Vallee, L-2661 Luxembourg, Tel: + 352 26 47 67 1; Fax: + 352 26 47 67 67; email: generalmeetings@cpipg.com. Luxembourg, 26 November 2021 Yours faithfully, The Board of Directors of the Company





26.11.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Advance United Holdings Inc. (CSE: AUHI) (FSE: 9I0) (the "Company" or "Advance United") today announced the results from the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the "Meeting") held Wednesday, November 24, 2021.

Resolutions approved and passed by the majority of shareholders included the following matters at the meeting:

Approval of the audited financial statements.

Approval to set the number of board of directors to five.

Nomination and election of the board of directors to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders to be Chairman James Atkinson, Walter Henry, Kevin Wright, Vishal Gupta, and Daniele Spethmann.

Appointment of the auditors MS Partners LLP to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders.

Approval of the Company's Stock Option Plan.

Approval of the Special Resolution for continuance of the Company in the provincial jurisdiction of Ontario

Management Update

Upon termination of the AGM, the Company provided an update to shareholders summarizing 2021 work performed of the Company's current properties, the strategy to pursue increasing the Company's portfolio of properties including the launch of the Company's online marketplace, and the future growth and expansions into new territories and marketplaces including possibilities in the copper, lithium, PGE's mineral group in the United States and internationally.

About Advance United

Advance United, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange in Canada under the symbol "AUHI" and the Borse Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany under the symbol "9I0".

We are a different kind of Canadian junior mining company, one designed to succeed where other junior mining companies fail. We are involved exclusively in the acquisition and advancement of past projects - with no intent to bring them back into production or to mine them ourselves. Our expertise is in identifying and acquiring undervalued properties with significant historical work, which were uneconomic at the time, but we believe have economic value at today's prices.

We fund the development of re-working historic data and applying modern technology to underwrite new qualified reports, document quantifiable resources and reserves to current standards, thereby recognizing the current value.

Our purpose is to bring immediate and long-term value to our partners and shareholders while seeking to eliminate exploration risk, so that we can all advance united in the shortest possible time frame.

For additional information about us, our projects, or to find out how you can get involved please visit www.advanceunited.ca.

Contact Information

James Atkinson, P. Geo., CEO

Email: jim.atkinson@advanceunited.ca

Tel: (647) 278-7502

Forward-Looking Information and Statements

There is no assurance as to when and/or if the application to FINRA will be accepted, and that the Company will be eligible for public quotations pursuant to Rule 15c2-11 or any other applicable regulation. Also, once the application is received by FINRA it may be assigned to an auditor for review. FINRA may reply with a letter listing questions and/or comments on Advance United's application and filing. After FINRA receives a response, they may have further comments, or they may approve or not approve the Company' application.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to trading on the CSE and the focus of the Company's business. Any such forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "contemplates", "believes", "projects", "plans" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Company's ability to increase the value of its current and future mineral exploration properties and, in connection therewith, any long-term shareholder value, the Company's ability to mitigate or eliminate exploration risk, and the Company's intention to develop a portfolio of historic gold properties. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the Company will continue its business as described above. Readers are encouraged to refer to the Company's annual and quarterly management's discussion and analysis and other periodic filings made by the Company with the Canadian securities' regulatory authorities under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances or actual results unless required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105246
The legendary 'Afghan Girl' photographer, Steve McCurry, and his sister, Bonnie McCurry, are delighted to announce that, together with the British-American charity, Future Brilliance, and with the support of the Italian government, and NFT for Social Good platform Metagood, they have been able to bring the famous icon for Afghan female refugees, Sharbat Gula, to safety.

Background:

Six weeks ago, Bonnie McCurry reached out to Future Brilliance founder, impact pioneer, and investor Sophia Swire who has a 30-year track record of empowering women in Afghanistan. She told Sophia that Sharbat Gula wanted to be evacuated with her family. After considering all the various country options, they confirmed with Sharbat that her family hoped to seek asylum in Italy. Sophia and her team activated the Future Brilliance network in Afghanistan and, together with the McCurry family, arranged the necessary paperwork, visas, and logistics.

The NFT for good platform Metagood (who worked with McCurry to display his latest work during COP26) donated funding to this effort that was raised during its highly successful sale of its NFT collection, OnChainMonkey. Metagood will be working with Steve and Bonnie McCurry to raise additional funds from the crypto community for Sharbat Gula and her family's resettlement in Italy through the sale of NFTs in 2022.

Steve McCurry is "grateful for the humanitarian gesture of the Italian government, the operational excellence of Future Brilliance, and the generous financial support of Metagood.

"This was the most incredible news to receive on Thanksgiving Day," said Bonnie McCurry. "It is truly a godsend; this rescue mission has been a group effort from the start. It's a dream come true. Sharbat is incredibly grateful to the Italian people, and we are all deeply grateful to the Italian government for their support and generosity."

"We are so proud of our Metagood and OnChain Monkey community their support helped make this incredible achievement possible," said Bill Tai, Metagood chairman and co-founder. "The Metagood Giving Fund was designed precisely for initiatives like this to harness the power of crypto communities for real-world good."

About Metagood

Metagood is a platform for auctioning purchasing digital collectables and NFTs with a cause. OnChainMonkey was their first NFT collection launched in September 2021. The Metagood Giving Fund is the philanthropic arm of Metagood. To learn more, visit us at metagood.com and onchainmonkey.com.

About Steve McCurry

Steve McCurry is an award-winning American photojournalist. His 1984 photo Afghan Girl has appeared on magazine covers around the globe.

About Future Brilliance

Future Brilliance is a dynamic, women-led, non profit organisation that fosters stabilisation in vulnerable communities through workforce and enterprise development. Since August 2021, they have supported safe passage for more than 300 Afghans, mainly women and children. Donations to Future Brilliance can be made here.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211126005556/en/

Contacts:

Contact Information:

Steve McCurry: press@stevemccurry.com

Future Brilliance: Sophia Swire, sophiaswire@futurebrilliance.net

Metagood: Amanda Terry, hello@metagood.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil prices plummeted on Friday, sending the most active crude futures contract to their biggest single-session tumble this year, as reports about the emergence of a new vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant raised concerns about the outlook for global energy demand. Several countries in Europe are already reporting a surge in coronavirus cases, and have imposed stricter restrictions on movements in order to curb the spread of the pandemic. Now, following the detection of the new variant, the U.K. issued a temporary flight ban on six African countries. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December ended down by $10.24 or about 13% at $68.15 a barrel, the biggest single-session loss since April 2020. There was no settlement for WTI contracts on Thursday because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Brent crude futures dropped by $8.77 or 10.7% to $73.45 a barrel. Earlier this week, the U.S. government announced plans to release 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, as part of a global effort to calm rising fuel prices. Several other countries, including India, China and the U.K. too will be be releasing some of their reserves. Meanwhile, the OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet on December 2 to discuss production policy for 2022. The group has been ignoring calls from the White House and others to hike output. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Satori Resources Inc. (TSXV: BUD) ("Satori" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has entered into a liquidity services agreement with Red Cloud Securities Inc. ("Red Cloud") whereby Red Cloud shall, subject to regulatory approval, provide market-making services to the Company in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange ("Exchange"). Red Cloud will manage trading of the Company's shares from time to time for the purposes of maintaining an orderly market, with a view to reducing trading volatility and improving the liquidity of the Company's shares. Satori shall pay Red Cloud a committed fee of $5,000 per month for the services during the first two months, and thereafter, the agreement may be terminated by either party by providing 30 days prior written notice. There are no additional performance factors, shares, or options offered as compensation. Red Cloud is arm's length and independent from the Company.

Red Cloud is a private and independent investment dealer and member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada based in Toronto, Ontario.

ABOUT SATORI RESOURCES INC. (TSXV: BUD)

Satori is a Toronto-based mineral exploration and development company whose primary property is expanding the resource at the past producing Tartan Lake Gold Mine Project, located in the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, Manitoba.

The Tartan Lake Project (2,670 Ha.) is located approximately 12 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and includes the Tartan Lake Mine (1986-1989) which produced 36,000 ounces of gold before the mine was shut down due to, in part, the price of gold falling below USD$390. Remaining infrastructure includes: an indicated resource estimate of 240,000 ounces averaging 6.32 g/t Au (see news release February 23, 2017), an all-season access road, grid connected power supply, mill, mechanical, warehouse and office buildings, tailing impoundment and a 2,100 metre decline and developed underground mining galleries to a depth of 300 metres from surface. Gold mineralization is associated with anastomosing quartz-carbonate veins hosted in east-west striking, steeply dipping shear zones up to 30 metres in width. The veins vary from several centimetres to several metres in width and gold grades vary from 1.0 to +100 g/t. Satori believes the mineral resources of the project are currently limited by drill coverage, a conclusion supported by recent drill results including 9.73 g/t Au over 4.15 metres at the Main Zone in a hole 200 meters down plunge of the historical drill coverage. At the adjacent South Zone, the 2021 drilling returned 9.59 g/t Au over 11.75 metres, the highest value intercept reported to date at the South Zone.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Jennifer Boyle, B.A., LL.B.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Satori Resources Inc.

(416) 904-2714

jennifer@capexgroupinc.com

Mr. Pete Shippen

Chair, Satori Resources Inc.

(416) 930-7711

pjs@extramedium.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release of Satori contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Satori's actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105291
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") reports that pursuant to their news release of November 16, 2021, they have closed the Private Placements for aggregate proceeds of $1,762,803.

On November 22, 2021, the Company issued 2,515,968 Flow-Through Units at a price of $0.52 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,308,303 and 636,250 non-flow-through units at a price of $0.40/unit for gross proceeds of $254,400. On November 26, 2021, the Company issued an additional 500,000 non-flow-through units at a price of $0.40/unit for gross proceeds of $200,000.

Each unit consists of one common share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant, each whole warrant entitles the holder to purchase an additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.65 per share (the "Warrants") for a period of 24 months from the closing of the Offering. The expiry of the Warrants may be accelerated if the closing price of the Corporation's common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange is equal to or greater than $0.90 for a minimum of ten consecutive trading days and a notice of acceleration is provided in accordance with the terms of the Warrants. The common shares forming part of the National FT Units and BC FT Units, will be issued as "flow-through shares".

Finder's fees were paid to Glores Securities Inc. ($90,998.84 and 174,998 warrants) pursuant to the flow-through financing and, to StephenAvenue Securities ($1,330 cash), MMP MunichMining Partners GmbH ($9,100 cash and 34,388 warrants) and Haywood Securities Inc. ($14,000 cash and 35,000 warrants) pursuant to the non-flow through financing.

All securities issued in connection with the Private Placement have a four-month and one day hold period from the date of issuance.

Net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to for exploration and drilling on its British Columbia, Newfoundland and Chilean gold projects and general working capital.

None of the foregoing securities have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About GoldHaven Resources Corp.

GoldHaven Resources is a Canadian precious metals exploration company focused on acquiring and unlocking highly prospective gold projects in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt (Canada) & the Maricunga Gold Belt (Chile). All properties have large scale discovery potential and all properties in Chile are drill-ready. GoldHaven currently holds the Pat's Pond and O'Neill projects covering approximately 228 km2 of mineral tenements in Newfoundland, Canada. The Company also holds seven Chilean projects; Rio Loa, Coya, Roma, Alicia, Condor, Jacqueline and Valle covering approximately 251 km2; many in close proximity to renowned discoveries or large precious metals mines including Salares Norte (Gold Fields), Esperanza (TDG), La Coipa (Kinross), Cerro Maricunga (Fenix Gold), Lobo Marte (Kinross), Volcan (Volcan), Refugio (Kinross/Bema), Caspiche (Goldcorp/Barrick), Cerro Casale (Goldcorp/Barrick).

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Daniel Schieber

For further information, please contact:

Bonn Smith,

Head of Business Development

www.goldhavenresources.com

bsmith@goldhavenresources.com

Office Direct: (604) 638-3073

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Private Placement, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Private Placement, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Private Placement, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

**NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES**

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105295
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Synex International Inc. (TSX: SXI) (the "Company") is pleased to report the voting results of the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company held on November 26, 2021.

Description of Matter Outcome of Vote To set the number of directors at six (6) The resolution was passed by the requisite majority. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Against: 29,269,086

(82.92%) 6,028,389

(17.08%) To elect the directors of the Company for the ensuing year All nominees proposed by management were elected. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Withheld: Daniel J. Russell 26,802,652

(75.93%) 8,494,823

(24.07%) Tanya L. DeAngelis 26,802,652

(75.93%) 8,494,823

(24.07%) Richard McGivern 26,804,486

(75.94%) 8,492,989

(24.06%) Danny Sgro 26,802,652

(75.93%) 8,494,823

(24.07%) Paul J. O'Sullivan 26,804,486

(75.94%) 8,492,989

(24.06%) Adarsh Mehta 32,832,875

(93.02%) 2,464,600

(6.98%) To appoint Dale Matheson Carr-Hilton Labonte LLP as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors to fix their remuneration The resolution was passed. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Withheld: 35,297,375

(99.99%) 100

(0.01%) To consider and, if deemed advisable, pass a special resolution to approve an amendment to the articles of the Company to change the name of the Company from "Synex International Inc." to "Synex Renewable Energy Corporation" The resolution was passed by the requisite majority. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Against: 35,209,475

(99.75%) 88,000

(0.25%) To consider and, if deemed advisable, pass a special resolution to authorize the Company to consolidate the common shares of the Company at a share consolidation ratio of up to ten (10) pre-consolidation common shares for one (1) post-consolidation common share The resolution was passed by the requisite majority. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Against: 29,180,986

(82.67%) 6,116,489

(17.33%) To consider and, if deemed advisable, pass an ordinary resolution to ratify and approve the Company's 2021 stock option plan The resolution was passed by the requisite majority. Details of the voting was as follows: For: Against: 26,699,552

(75.64%) 8,597,923

(24.36%)

Synex is a Vancouver, British Columbia based company engaged in the development, acquisition, ownership and operation of renewable energy projects in Canada. It has ownership interests in 12 MW of operating hydro projects in British Columbia and owns a Vancouver Island grid connection and utility carrying on business as Kyuquot Power Ltd. The company also has 9.4 MW of construction ready run-of-river projects, applications and land tenures on another 24 potential hydroelectric sites totaling over 150 MW of capacity, and approximately 18 wind development sites that could provide up to 4,850 MW of clean power in British Columbia. For further information, visit www.synex.com.

(signed) "Daniel J. Russell"

Daniel J. Russell, President

4248 Broughton Ave., Niagara Falls, Ontario L2E 0A4

Phone (604) 688-8271

E-mail: daniel.russell@synex.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105298
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 / Torq Resources Inc. (TSXV:TORQ)(OTCQX:TRBMF) ("Torq" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Marie-Helene Turgeon, who served as a Board observer and advisor for the Company, has now been appointed as a Director. Ms. Turgeon is an ESG advisor with extensive experience working in Latin America. Ivan Bebek, a co-founder and a Director, has retired from his role as a Director, due to conflicts with over-boarding, however, he will continue his involvement with Torq as an advisor to the Board of Directors.

A Message from Shawn Wallace, Executive Chair & Director:

"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Ivan for his numerous contributions as a co-founder and Director as we navigated the Company to the path it is now firmly travelling. I look forward to continuing to work with Ivan as we execute our plan to aggressively explore our portfolio of assets over the coming months and years."

A Message from Ivan Bebek, Co-Founder & Board Advisor:

"Torq started its pursuit for a world-class exploration asset in 2011, and after a decade of extraordinary efforts, the Company has assembled a globally significant exploration asset and high-quality technical team to drive it forward. The timing of the Santa Cecilia option and the outlook for commodities could not be better aligned for investors."

"As a major shareholder and co-founder, I look forward to my continued involvement with Torq and remain committed to working closely with management as the Company explores its portfolio of projects in Chile."

Additional Appointments:

The Company is also pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Antonio Arribas as an advisor to the Board. Mr. Arribas was formerly Vice President Geoscience at BHP Billiton Minerals Exploration in Singapore (2013), Senior Manager Geosciences at Newmont Mining Corp. in Denver, Colorado (2012) and Exploration Manager South America at Placer Dome Exploration in Reno, Nevada (2006). He is a world-renowned expert on gold-copper-silver deposits with over 20 years of experience in the mineral exploration industry across multiple companies and geographic regions.

In addition, Wesley Gervais has been appointed as Information Security Officer. Mr. Gervais has been working with the Company since its inception, serving as IT manager, and is responsible for data protection strategies and procedures within the organization.

Option Grant:

Torq is issuing incentive share options, subject to customary stock exchange approvals, for the purchase of 115,000 common shares to officers of the Company. The options are exercisable at C$0.86 and expire five years from the date of grant.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,

Shawn Wallace

Executive Chairman

For further information on Torq Resources, please contact Natasha Frakes, Vice President of Communications at (778) 729-0500 or info@torqresources.com.

About Torq Resources

Torq is a Vancouver-based copper and gold exploration company with a portfolio of premium holdings in Chile. The Company is establishing itself as a leader of new exploration in prominent mining belts, guided by responsible, respectful and sustainable practices. The Company was built by a management team with prior success in monetizing exploration assets and its specialized technical team is recognized for their extensive experience working with major mining companies, supported by robust safety standards and technical proficiency. The technical team includes Chile-based geologists with invaluable local expertise and a noteworthy track record for major discovery in the country. Torq is committed to operating at the highest standards of applicable environmental, social and governance practices in the pursuit of a landmark discovery. For more information, visit www.torqresources.com.

Forward Looking Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking information is information that includes implied future performance and/or forecast information including information relating to, or associated with, exploration and or development of mineral properties. These statements or graphical information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different (either positively or negatively) from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Torq Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674784/Torq-Announces-Changes-to-Board-of-Directors
Cranbrook, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - DLP Resources Inc. (TSXV: DLP) (OTCQB: DLPRF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has entered into an agreement for services dated November 25, 2021 (the "Agreement") with Ian Gendall, who is President of the Company and a Non-Arm's Length Party (as defined under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange). Pursuant to the Agreement, in full satisfaction for certain exploration, supervisory and geological related services provided to the Company, the Company has agreed to issue 300,000 common shares of the Company (the "Shares") at a deemed price of $0.20 per Share, being equal to the closing price of the common shares of the Company on the date prior to the date of the Agreement. The total dollar value of the Shares to be issued is $60,000.

The issuance of the Shares is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Shares will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

About DLP Resources Inc.

DLP Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company operating in Southeastern British Columbia and Peru, exploring for Base Metals and Cobalt. DLP is listed on the TSX-V, trading symbol DLP and on the OTCQB, trading symbol DLPRF. Please refer to our web site www.dlpresourcesinc.com for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

DLP RESOURCES INC.

Ian Gendall, President

Jim Stypula, Chief Executive Officer

Robin Sudo, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary

Telephone: 250-426-7808

Email: iangendall@dlpresourcesinc.com

Email: jimstypula@dlpresourcesinc.com

Email: robinsudo@dlpresourcesinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, the issuance of the Shares pursuant to the Agreement.

These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required regulatory approvals for the Agreement and the issuance of the Shares.

In making the forward looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, without limitation, that the Company will obtain the required regulatory approvals for the Agreement and the issuance of the Shares.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105302
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2021) - Karus Gold Corp. ("Karus Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion and filing of the National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Independent Technical Report (the "Report") for the Company's South Cariboo Gold Project located in British Columbia, Canada (the "Project") titled "Technical Report on the South Cariboo Property, British Columbia, Canada". The Report provides detailed information on the Project with an effective date of June 10, 2021.

The Report has been filed on SEDAR under the profile of the Company and can be viewed or downloaded at www.sedar.com or the Company's website.

In accordance with the guidelines of NI 43-101 and Form 43-101F1 issued by the Canadian Securities Administrators, the Report was prepared by Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. under the direction of Ron Voordouw, P.Geo. and Henry Awmack, P.Eng., who are Qualified Person. Mr. Voordouw and Mr. Awmack are independent of the Company and have reviewed and approved this news release.

Listing Update

As previously disclosed in the September 23, 2021 news release, Karus Gold has filed an updated listing application in October 2021 and continues to work with the TSXV to complete the listing process.

About Karus Gold

Karus Gold is the 100% owner of the 1,000 km2 South Caribou Gold District that includes the drill-stage FG Gold and Gold Creek projects in British Columbia. Karus Gold is supported by strategic investor Eric Sprott; and insiders, together with the management and Board, own approximately 57% of the basic shares outstanding.

Further information on Karus Gold and its assets can be found on the Company's website at www.karusgold.com and at www.sedar.com, or by contacting us as info@karusgold.com or by telephone at (888) 455-7620.

On behalf of Karus Gold

"Andrew Kaip"

Chief Executive Officer

(647) 515-7858

Investor Relations

Victor Ostlund - Kin Communications

(604) 684-6730

KAR@kincommunications.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects", "suggests" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company, the successful closing and timing of the financing and final proceeds received and the successful listing on the TSXV, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith, and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information.

Such factors include, among others: risks related to exploration and development activities at the Company's projects, and factors relating to whether or not mineralization extraction will be commercially viable; risks related to the hazards and risks normally encountered in the exploration of minerals, such as unusual and unexpected geological formations; uncertainties regarding regulatory matters, including obtaining permits and complying with laws and regulations governing exploration, development, production, taxes, labour standards, occupational health, waste disposal, toxic substances, land use, environmental protection, site safety and other matters, and the potential for existing laws and regulations to be amended or more stringently implemented by the relevant authorities; risks related to title to the Company's properties, including the risk that the Company's title may be challenged or impugned by third parties; the ability of the Company to access necessary resources, including mining equipment and crews, on a timely basis and at reasonable cost; competition within the mining industry for the discovery and acquisition of properties from other mining companies, many of which have greater financial, technical and other resources than the Company, for, among other things, the acquisition of mineral claims, leases and other mineral interests as well as for the recruitment and retention of qualified employees and other personnel; access to suitable infrastructure, such as roads, energy and water supplies in the vicinity of the Company's properties; and risks related to the stage of the Company's development, including risks relating to limited financial resources, limited availability of additional financing and potential dilution to existing shareholders; reliance on its management and key personnel; inability to obtain adequate or any insurance; exposure to litigation or similar claims; currently unprofitable operations; risks regarding the ability of the Company and its management to manage growth; and potential conflicts of interest.

Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/105305
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 26, 2021 / Earl Resources Limited ("Earl Resources") (TSXV:ERL.H), further to its press release dated March 17, 2021, announces that, effective November 24, 2021, it has terminated its previously announced agreement with Kepis & Pobe Financial Group Inc., to acquire an assignment of certain property rights in Northwest Arizona, which was intended to constitute Earl Resources' proposed "Change of Business" as such term is defined in TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") Policy 5.2 ("Policy 5.2").

Earl Resources is pleased to announce that it has instead entered into: (i) a letter of intent with Pomeroon Trading (Holdings) Ltd. ("PTHL") and certain shareholders (that together hold the majority of the issued shares) dated November 25, 2021 to acquire a minimum 60% interest in PTHL (the "Guyana Transaction"); (ii) a letter of intent with Rewilding Maforki Ltd. ("RML") and its sole shareholder Aristeus Projects Limited ("APL") dated November 25, 2021, to acquire the assignment of a minimum 51% of RML's rights and interests to develop and market carbon credits with respect to certain areas in Sierra Leone (the "Sierra Leone Transaction"); and (iii) a definitive assignment agreement with Compania Mexicana de Captacion de Carbono ("CMCC") dated November 25, 2021 to acquire an assignment of all of CMCC's rights and interests to develop and market carbon credits with respect to certain areas in the State of Yucatan in Mexico, conditional upon approval of the Government of the State of Yucatan, Mexico, and the TSXV (the "Yucatan Transaction", and together with the Guyana Transaction and the Sierra Leone Transaction, the "Proposed Transactions"). It is intended that the Proposed Transactions will constitute Earl Resources' "reactivation" under the policies of the TSXV and that upon completion of the Proposed Transactions ("Closing") and satisfaction of all conditions of the TSXV, Earl Resources will have its listing transferred from the NEX board of the TSXV ("NEX") to the TSXV.

Proposed Change of Business/Reactivation Transactions

Information regarding Earl Resources

Earl Resources was incorporated under the British Columbia Companies Act as a specialty limited company on November 21, 1963. In July 1998, Earl Resources continued its jurisdiction into the Cayman Islands and in February 2019 Earl Resources continued its jurisdiction back into British Columbia. Earl Resources is currently inactive with limited operations and the common shares of Earl Resources ("Common Shares") are currently listed on the NEX.

Following the Closing, Earl Resources expects to address the rapidly growing demand for carbon credits in global voluntary and regulated markets by investing in the exploration, development and management of terrestrial and marine systems that can either be protected to enhance sequestration of greenhouse gases or restored from a degraded status to fully productive ecosystems. Earl Resources anticipates that it will significantly expand the production of carbon credits drawing on a senior executive team and board that bring experience in key target markets from the mining and natural resources sectors. Earl Resources plans to deploy capital at risk under various arrangements (including cooperation, assignment and production sharing agreements) with large land owners in various suitable jurisdictions around the world.

Information regarding Guyana Transaction

On November 25, 2021, Earl Resources entered into a letter of intent with PTHL and certain shareholders (that together hold the majority of the issued shares) (the "Guyana LOI") to purchase a minimum of 887,703 shares of PTHL ("PTHL Shares") from such shareholders for an inferred price of US$3,550,812, on the basis that such PTHL Shares are valued at US$4.00 per share. The consideration for the foregoing PTHL Shares is expected to be settled by the issuance of 9,917,575 Common Shares issuable at a deemed value of $0.45 per share. In addition, Earl Resources has agreed pursuant to the Guyana LOI to concurrently subscribe for an additional 187,000 shares of PTHL for cash, at an implied price per share of US$4.00 or consideration in the amount of US$748,000, which, with the aforementioned purchase of PTHL Shares, will result in Earl Resources holding a 60% ownership interest in PTHL. The Guyana LOI also provides that the PTHL shareholders that are party to the Guyana LOI may also convert certain existing loans they have made to PTHL for up to 149,797 additional PTHL Shares that would in turn be acquired by Earl Resources at the Closing at a implied price of US $4.00 per share, to be satisfied by the issuance of up to 599,188 Common Shares at a deemed value of $0.45 per shares, resulting in Earl Resources holding a 70% ownership interest in PTHL (on a fully-diluted basis).

PTHL is a company that was incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands on January 19, 2018. PTHL currently carries on the business of sustainable agriculture, including the rehabilitation of coconut estates. Guyana established the model for large scale carbon projects through a US$250M agreement with the Government of Norway in 2009 and is a key jurisdiction for future project generation. PTHL will provide an operating base in the country to expand private investment into further carbon credit projects associated with land restoration and conservation and will also provide Earl Resources with a base for developing jurisdictional carbon credit projects in Latin America. PTHL has invested approximately US$2.3 million to date of capital into three significant agriculture projects comprising approximately 1,600 acres. PTHL anticipates that the growth and maturity of these sites will make significant contributions to revenue in 2021 and 2022. In addition, PTHL is in discussions with certain private stakeholders and the Government of Guyana regarding a material expansion of these project operations (comprising a minimum of 20,000 acres) upon which PTHL would also create carbon-offsetting opportunities. PTHL has completed a detailed feasibility study for a processing facility powered with a pyrolysis plant generating biochar and carbon credits.

As a leading global carbon credit jurisdiction, PTHL's investment to date provides the operational base for significant exploration and development of very large scale forest carbon credit projects in the country and within the region.

Summary Financial Information of PTHL (in US Dollars)

Year ended December 31, 2020 (audited) Year ended December 31, 2019 (audited) Revenues $104,314 $84,836 Net loss after tax (205,927) (471,741) Total assets 2,700,061 2,676,018 Total liabilities 3,662,265 3,432,295

The Guyana Transaction is expected to constitute an "Arm's Length Transaction" pursuant to the policies of the TSXV and no new "Control Person" (as defined in TSXV policies) will be created upon completion of the Guyana Transaction.

Information regarding Sierra Leone Transaction

On November 25, 2021, Earl Resources entered into a letter of intent with RML and its sole shareholder APL (the "Sierra Leone LOI"), to acquire a minimum 51% of RML's rights and interests to develop and market carbon credits ("RML Carbon Credits") with respect to certain areas in Sierra Leone for aggregate consideration consisting of 7,500,000 Common Shares issuable at a deemed value of $0.45 per share for consideration in the amount of $3,375,000. Pursuant to the Sierra Leone LOI, Earl Resources has also agreed to invest a minimum of US$750,000 in RML in order to fund the rewilding and reforestation of its projects in the Maforki Chiefdom and has been granted a pre-emptive right with regard to: (i) any other assignment or disposal by RML of its rights in and to carbon credits that have not been previously assigned to Earl Resources; and (ii) any proposed disposal of any shares in RML by APL. RML holds 25,000 ha of land designated for re-wilding. The sites are certain pieces of land situated within the Malal, Rokon, Gbonkohyeni and Maforay communities of the Maforki Chiefdom. The land is cleared and was previously used for mixed use agriculture and ideally located for high impact, high credit value planting. The initial planting phase of 5,000 ha of planting is underway as is nursery establishment with the species and planting plan all confirmed.

The Sierra Leone Transaction is expected to constitute an "Arm's Length Transaction" pursuant to the policies of the TSXV and no new "Control Person" (as defined in TSXV policies) will be created upon completion of the Sierra Leone Transaction.

Information regarding Yucatan Transaction

On November 25, 2021, Earl Resources entered into an assignment agreement with CMCC (the "Yucatan COB Agreement") to acquire all of CMCC's rights and interests under a consulting services agreement dated May 11, 2021 with the Government of the State of Yucatan, Mexico (the "Yucatan Contract"), to develop and market carbon credits with respect to certain areas in the State of Yucatan in Mexico for aggregate consideration of $50,000, of which $25,000 was paid as a non-refundable deposit upon execution of the Yucatan COB Agreement and $25,000 will be paid at Closing. The assignment of the Yucatan Contract to Earl Resources is conditional upon approval of the Government of the State of Yucatan, Mexico, and the TSXV. Pursuant to the Yucatan Contract, CMCC has the right to 5% of the net value of the carbon credits successfully sold (or the equivalent to the final transaction price) resulting from the determination, development, execution, structuring, marketing, and selling of such as provided in the Yucatan Contract (the "Original Commission"). James Tansey, a holder of 33% of the shares of CMCC and the proposed Chief Executive Officer and a director of Earl Resources upon Closing (as detailed below) has concurrently entered into an agreement with CMCC and Earl Resources (the "Commission Agreement") whereby the parties have agreed that 33% of the Original Commission shall assigned and payable to Earl Resources on a go-forward basis, in consideration for the issuance to Mr. Tansey of 7,250,000 Common Shares issuable at a deemed value of $0.45 per share for consideration in the amount of $3,262,500.

The Yucatan Contract provides an exclusive right to develop carbon credit projects within specified areas in the Yucatan. Pre-feasibility work completed to date indicates there is up to 50,000 ha of degraded mangrove that can be restored to their full carbon sequestration potential of 10-15 tons/ha per annum. Initial feasibility work was completed by Silvestrum Climate Associates, the leading global forest and blue carbon consulting team in October, 2021, and they will lead the completion of the required baseline data and documentation required for carbon credit validation on certain agreed projects. Restoration in these projects will require significant up-front investment by Earl Resources, but thereafter once the restoration is complete revenues will be generated from the sale of voluntary market carbon credits under a Production Sharing Agreement with the relevant government and non-governmental partners associated with the project sites.

The Yucatan Transaction is expected to constitute an "Arm's Length Transaction" pursuant to the policies of the TSXV and no new "Control Person" (as defined in TSXV policies) will be created upon completion of the Yucatan Transaction.

Concurrent Financing

In connection with the Proposed Transactions, Earl Resources intends to complete a non-brokered private placement to be completed in conjunction with, or prior to the Closing (the "Concurrent Financing"). It is anticipated, subject to the policies of the TSXV, that the Concurrent Financing will consist of an offering of subscription receipts ("Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.45 per Subscription Receipt for minimum gross proceeds of $6,100,000. Each Subscription Receipt will be automatically exchanged immediately prior to the completion of the Proposed Transactions (without any further action by the holder of such Subscription Receipt and for no further payment) for one Common Share upon satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions (the "Escrow Release Conditions"). The proceeds from the Concurrent Financing will be used to fund the Proposed Transactions, develop the Business (as defined below), and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Change of Business

Upon Closing of the Proposed Transactions and completion of the Concurrent Financing, it is anticipated that Earl Resources will carry on the business of developing validated and verified carbon credits from afforestation and reforestation of degraded land areas for sale into international voluntary carbon markets (the "Business") and will meet the Tier 2 Initial Listing Requirements for an Industrial Issuer, such that Earl Resources will be graduated from the NEX to the TSXV. In connection with the Closing, it is anticipated that Earl Resources will change its name to "Carbon X Resources Inc.", or such other name as the directors of Earl Resources may chose (subject to applicable regulatory approvals and approval of the TSXV), in order to more accurately reflect its operations and the Business.

Pursuant to Section 4.1 of Policy 5.2, Earl Resources will not be obtaining shareholder approval of the Proposed Transactions as: (i) the transactions are not a "Related Party Transaction" and do not involve any Non-Arm's Length Parties (as such terms are defined in the policies of the TSXV); (ii) Earl Resources is without active operations and is currently listed on the NEX; and (iii) Earl Resources is not subject to, and, to the best of its knowledge will not be subject to, a cease trade order on completion of the Proposed Transactions.

Completion of the Proposed Transactions is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, closing conditions customary to transactions of the nature of the Proposed Transactions, approvals of all regulatory bodies having jurisdiction in connection with the Proposed Transactions and approval of the TSXV.

Director Appointment and Resignation

Earl Resources is pleased to announce that Ford Nicholson and Paul Matysek have each been appointed as independent directors. Based on each of Mr. Nicholson's and Mr. Matysek's extensive experience with public companies (as summarized below), Earl Resources is confident that the newly appointed board members will be valued contributors to the Business and Closing of the Proposed Transactions. In connection with these appointments, Earl Resources announces that Paul Larkin has resigned from his positions as President, Chief Executive Officer and director, and the board of directors has accepted his resignation. Chris Colborne, a director of Earl Resources, has been appointed as interim Chief Executive Officer in connection with Mr. Larkin's resignation. Earl Resources thanks Mr. Larkin for his valuable contributions and wishes him success in his future endeavors.

Updates to Directors and Management of Result Issuer

It is currently contemplated that on completion of the Proposed Transactions and the receipt of the requisite approvals from the applicable regulatory authorities, including approval of the TSXV, that, Mischa Zajtmann will resign from the board of directors of Earl Resources and that James Tansey will join the board of directors, in addition to Chris Colborne, Paul Matysek and Ford Nicholson, who are existing directors. Earl Resources expects to hold a shareholder meeting in due course in order to approve the new board of directors upon completion of the Proposed Transactions. The following is a brief description of the background and experience of the proposed directors of Earl Resources upon Closing:

James Tansey - Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Tansey is an experienced carbon markets executive who advised on the creation of the BC carbon market and the Great Bear Rainforest Carbon. He was also involved with the planning of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics which were the first to be carbon neutral. As former CEO of NatureBank, he created one of the first and largest voluntary market carbon developers in North America producing more that 50M tonnes. More recently, he has created jurisdictional carbon development agreements in countries like Mexico.

Paul Matysek - Director and Co-Chairman

Serial entrepreneur, geochemist and geologist with over 40 years of experience in the mining industry. Since 2004 as CEO and Chairman, Mr. Matysek has primarily focused on the exploration, development and sale of five publicly listed companies, in aggregate worth over $2bn.

Chris Colborne - Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director

Mr. Colborne has 13 years professional experience providing consulting and executive management services in the energy industry. Mr. Colborne is an executive director of both Cutter Resources Ltd. and Southwest Partners. Mr. Colborne began his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), focused on North American energy and infrastructure clients. Prior to joining PwC, Mr. Colborne worked in energy services in the area of new facility construction. Mr. Colborne is a Chartered Accountant and is a graduate of the University of Lethbridge.

Ford Nicholson - Director and Co-Chairman

Mr. Nicholson is a Managing Partner and founder of Kepis & Pobe Financial Group. Over the past 25 years Ford has invested in and provided executive management to multiple international projects. He currently serves as the Chair of the board of EverGen Infrastructure Corp and Satisfai Health.

Mr. Nicholson is the former deputy chairman of the board of InterOil Corporation, a fully integrated company developing LNG for Asian markets formerly listed on the NYSE before its sale to ExxonMobil. He was a co-founder and Director of Nations Energy Ltd. in Kazakhstan and a co-founder and former board member of Bankers Petroleum Ltd. in Albania. Ford is also a former member of the President's council of the International Crisis Group.

Incentive Stock Options

On November 26, 2021, Earl Resources granted 3,849,040 incentive stock options ("Options") to certain directors, officers and consultants, with an Option exercise price of $0.445 per Common Share and with an expiry date of five years from the date of grant, being November 26, 2026.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship of the Proposed Transactions is required by the TSXV unless an exemption from this requirement can be obtained in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. Earl Resources intends to apply for an exemption to the sponsorship requirement. There is no assurance that an exemption from this requirement will be obtained.

Trading Halt

In accordance with Policy 5.2, the Common Shares of Earl Resources are currently halted from trading and are expected to remain halted pending the requirements of Section 2.5 of Policy 5.2 being met.

Additional Information

For further information:

Earl Resources Limited

Christopher Colborne

Suite 390, 1050 Homer Street

Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 2W9

Phone: 1-778-373-3736

Reader Advisory

Completion of the Proposed Transactions is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable, disinterested shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Proposed Transactions cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Proposed Transactions 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 Earl Resources should be considered highly speculative. The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transactions and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news 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.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends" "expects" and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward looking statements and information concerning: the Proposed Transactions; the proposed structure by which the Proposed Transactions are to be completed; the approval of the assignment of the Yucatan Contract by the applicable governmental authorities; the Concurrent Financing; the Escrow Release Conditions; the proposed change of name of Earl Resources; that the Proposed Transactions will constitute the "reactivation" of Earl Resources under the policies of the TSXV; and the officers and directors upon completion of the Proposed Transactions. Earl Resources 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 Earl Resources, including expectations and assumptions concerning Earl Resources, the Proposed Transactions, the timely receipt of all required TSXV and regulatory approvals and exemptions (as applicable) and the satisfaction of other closing conditions in accordance with the terms of the Sierra Leone LOI, the Yucatan COB Agreement, the Guyana LOI and the Commission Agreement. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Earl Resources. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Earl Resources does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by securities law.

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES, AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO SELL ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN IN THE UNITED STATES. THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE, REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. PERSONS UNLESS REGISTERED OR EXEMPT THEREFROM.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.

SOURCE: Earl Resources Limited

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/674817/Earl-Resources-Limited-Provides-Information-Regarding-Change-of-Business-Transaction-Concurrent-Private-Placement-Financing-Director-Appointment-and-Option-Issuance
Mindspace founders Dan Zakai (left) and Yotam Alroy (right). Image copyright: David Garb

Mindspace, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of flex office spaces, raised USD72M in funding.

The round was led by Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd., More Provident Funds, Shalom Meckenzie, Arkin Holdings with participation from Yoav Harlap, Kobi Rogovin and Globalworth.

The company intends to use the funds to continue to grow and further expand across Europe, the United States and Israel.

Led by founders Dan Zakai and Yotam Alroy, Mindspace is a boutique flex space provider, presenting a global mindset with a local flavor in the workplace experience for companies of all sizes. It provides designed offices, luxurious lounges, equipped kitchens and meeting rooms, in addition to its community of entrepreneurs, business professionals and established companies.

Founded in 2014 by Zakai and Alroy, the company currently operates 32 branches in 17 cities in seven countries, spread over 100,000 square meters (over 1 million sq. ft). It serves a wide variety of companies; about 41% are large enterprises and corporations and 38% are small and medium-sized companies. In the past year alone, Mindspace launched new branches in London, Tel Aviv, Philadelphia and a new hub and spoke location outside Tel Aviv, at Yakum. Past and present customers include Microsoft, Samsung, Playtika, Taboola, Yahoo!, Expedia, GoPro, and more.

FinSMEs

25/11/2021

In 2021, Mindspace demonstrated a significant recovery when it reached the pre-COVID occupancy levels of early 2020, and even exceeded them with over 95% occupancy in Israel and Germany. The high occupancy levels are not the result of lowered prices as Mindspace maintained its pre-pandemic prices.

In the past two years, Mindspace signed six management agreements with landlords in Europe, Israel and the U.S., including for its recent launches in Israel and Philadelphia. A management agreement is a model that is gaining both momentum and recognition worldwide, inspired by the hotel industry. This innovative concept presents a partnership between the landlord and the flex operator, allowing increased profitability and greater flexibility for the landlord, while providing a relevant response to todays market landscape.

Earlier in March 2021, Mindspace launched Hybrid, a new array of on-demand office solutions for companies and individuals who work under a hybrid model, combining work from home and in-office. The shift to hybrid has been on the rise for a few years and the outbreak of the pandemic has accelerated the process. At Mindspace, the increase of the hybrid trend is noticeable: casual, on-demand contracts have almost tripled in the past six months, compared to the same period last year, pre-COVID.

As part of Mindspaces innovative development and the current flex trend, tenant experience is taking up a more central position. This experience envelops the customer journey from the first encounter with the office space through the use of the space and its various services, all the way to the end of the work day in the office. Tenant experience is accompanied by technological innovations, such as apps, data-driven insights and personalized activities, that enable the expansion of services and benefits to additional tenants in the buildings.

Sami Babkov, Deputy CEO and CIO at Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services, Ltd.: Harel is proud to lead the current investment round with a total funding of $30 million. This investment is an expression of confidence in the flexible workspace model, against the backdrop of COVIDs impact on the office market, and shows confidence in Mindspaces experienced and professional management team. Through this investment were able to diversify and improve our investments in real estate and faithfully serve the customers utilizing Harels investment department.

We believe Mindspace brings an interesting model to the market  both economically and in terms of the value it produces for its customers, says Ori Keren, CIO at More Provident Funds. In a short time the company managed to create new standards in the market, to build high loyalty among its customers and is experiencing steady growth.

Barak Capital Underwriting, Ltd. served as the investment banker in the transaction.

About Mindspace

Mindspace is a boutique flex space provider, presenting a global mindset with a local flavor. We redefine the workplace experience for companies of all sizes. Our beautifully designed spaces, personalized level of service and carefully curated events foster enhanced employee engagement and a strong sense of community, accommodating the way people work, innovate and grow. Our customer base includes blue-chip companies, enterprises and SMBs, in 32 locations, 17 cities and seven countries across Europe and the US. Mindspace is home to corporations and large companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, Playtika, Yahoo!, Expedia, GoPro, Taboola, Techstars Accelerator, Barclays Bank, Klarna and more.

Amongst its landlord partners are JTLV2, Patrizia, an affiliate of Rubenstein Partners Ltd., REIT1 and Rogovin-Tidhar.

For further information please visit Mindspace.me, or follow Mindspace on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Contact:

Nicole Nanikashvili

[email protected]

SOURCE Mindspace
Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) today announced that it has demonstrated a

range of 5G-based technology solutions in Pune, Maharashtra and Gandhinagar, Gujarat as part of its ongoing 5G trials. Vi said that it has been conducting 5G trials and developed a wide range of use cases relevant for Enterprises and Consumers in India.

Vi has partnered with industry leaders like L&T Smart World & Communication, Athonet, Indian start-ups like Vizzbee & Tweek Labs, and technology leaders  Ericsson and Nokia for trialling use cases in the two locations.

The company said that it is leveraging the power of 5G technology across segments such as industry 4.0, smart cities, smart healthcare, smart workplace, smart education, smart agriculture, gaming, amongst others.

It added that its trials have proven that high data speed, low latency and reliability of 5G technology, can bring about massive developments by enhancing business performance, revolutionizing customer experience, changing consumer lifestyle and positively impacting people dwelling in remote corners of India.

Vi has been allocated 26 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum in the mmWave band by the DoT, for 5G network trials and use cases. It said that it has achieved peak speeds in excess of 1.5 Gbps on 3.5 GHz, more than 4.2 Gbps on 26GHz and up to 9.8 Gbps on backhaul spectrum of E-bands.

The 5G trial network set up by Vi in Pune, deploys Ericsson Radios and Ericsson Dual Mode Core based on cloud native technology comprising 5G SA, 5G NSA & LTE packet core functions. All use cases demonstrated in Pune have been developed over Ericssons 5G technology solutions.

In Gandhinagar, Vi is using Nokias AirScale radio portfolio and Microwave E-band solution for the trial that support enterprises, both large and small and medium businesses with reliable connectivity. Vi use cases in Gandhinagar were demonstrated via a live telecast at the special media preview held in Pune.

According to Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited:

With our 5G trials underway, Vi is preparing to take India on the next journey of fifth generation wireless mobile communication technology. Our 5G trials showcase a whole new world of possibilities across various domains that promise a new era of technology advancement in India. I am confident that 5G will bring a better tomorrow that will deliver significant benefits to consumers, businesses and society, driving digital economy growth in India.
Fujitsu Global Delivery Center Recognized for Environmental Programs, Community Outreach and COVID-19 Response

News facts: Philippine Economic Zone Authority named Fujitsus Global Delivery Center as an award winner in three categories

Fujitsu in the Philippines has been quick to respond and adapt to the changes brought about by the pandemic, implementing comprehensive internal policies while continuing its environmental and community outreach

As part of its commitment to responsible business, the Center partnered with schools for technical training, mentoring and work immersion programs, and continued to innovate its environmental programs

Manila, November 26, 2021

Fujitsus Global Delivery Center (GDC) in the Philippines has been recognized for outstanding environmental performance, outstanding community projects, and has received a special citation COVID-19 response award from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

In the Philippines, Fujitsus GDC is committed to making the world sustainable. It focuses on building trust in society through innovation and supporting the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Employees at the Philippines GDC implement community activities under Fujitsus Global Delivery Responsible Business Program (known as GRiP) Community Pillar, which aims to empower, engage, and enable communities, even amidst the Covid pandemic.

Environmental Programs

The PEZA outstanding environmental performance award is given to a company in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority region that has demonstrated sustained environmental management and implemented environmental projects/outreach programs. Fujitsus GDC in the Philippines has been certified to ISO 14001  Environment Management since 2015 and has since implemented comprehensive plans to minimize the environmental impact of its operations. Notable environmental projects include partnering with government and non-governmental organizations to plant trees, clean-up drives, and outreach programs to inform, educate and facilitate involvement in environmental initiatives. Even with the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Fujitsu GDC Philippines continued to raise awareness and partnered with organizations to support environmental conservation efforts.

Arlene Gregorio, Head of Fujitsu GDC in the Philippines, comments: It is an honor to be recognized by PEZA for the third consecutive year. These awards help inspire our Fujitsu Team to redouble our efforts related to environmental stewardship and community volunteering, including sharing our Covid-19 response methodology.

Community Projects

The PEZA Outstanding Community Projects Award recognizes social welfare programs that benefit the Filipino community. Outreach projects undertaken by Fujitsus GDC in the Philippines include educational activities. In 2020, Fujitsu GDC Philippines swiftly adjusted to virtual teaching for its partner schools, including an orphanage with youth centers across the country. Fujitsu created online immersion classes on the different facets of Japanese culture, classes on English proficiency and Microsoft Office applications.

Fujitsu GDC Philippines also partnered with schools to deliver technical training, mentoring, inspirational/career talks. This initiative is alongside its communications campaign, mentoring and immersive technology programs. GDC employees also taught other transferable work skills, including understanding Australian and Japanese culture, automation, HTML, Python, networks, and presentation skills. These formed part of its Women in Tech program focused on improving gender diversity and inclusion globally.

COVID-19 Response

The special citation COVID-19 response award is a new category awarded for commendable efforts in establishing and implementing policies and programs to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Fujitsu GDC Philippines was quick to respond and adapt to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the coronavirus outbreak, Fujitsu GDC Philippines has developed measures and incorporated them into its business processes to ensure the safety of all its employees. These programs cover business continuity, policy planning, risk assessment, and communication plans, in addition to processes to handle suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases and policies to address the prevention and migration of COVID-19 cases unique to Fujitsus GDC in the Philippines.

Notes to editors

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) is an arm of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines tasked with promoting investments, extending assistance, and facilitating export business operations.

Online resources

Find out more about the Fujitsu Global Delivery Centers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ouZ9S75Vs

Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com

Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Fujitsu_Global

Follow us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu

Find Fujitsu on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FujitsuICT

Fujitsu pictures and media server: http://mediaportal.ts.fujitsu.com/pages/portal.php

For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: https://www.fujitsu.com/emeia/about/resources/news/newsroom.html

About Fujitsu Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 126,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$34 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. For more information, please see Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 126,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$34 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. For more information, please see https://www.fujitsu.com/

About Fujitsus Global Delivery Centers Fujitsu's Global Delivery Centers (GDCs) offer a range of key competitive capabilities to meet client requirements. They are at the heart of end-to-end IT service and a part of Fujitsus Managed Infrastructure Services (MIS) and Business and Application Services (BAS) offering. The GDCs contribute to maximizing customer productivity by delivering high-quality digital age services with great customer care while using innovative automation technology to improve services constantly. Global Delivery Centers provide around-the-clock support with Follow the Sun" operations through a worldwide network of eight Global Delivery Centers located in China, Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal and Russia. As key components of Fujitsus Global Delivery Framework all of our GDCs offer 24/7 coverage 365 days per year, supporting 1.2 M+ end-users from over 290 customers in 40 languages, handling over 700,000 contacts a month.

Alvin A. Marayan Media Relations Director

Phone: +63 9989613729

E-mail: alvin.marayan@teamprcinc.com.ph



Date: November 26, 2021

City: Manila
CHICAGO, Nov. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trayport Limited (Trayport), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TMX Group, and IncubEx, Inc. (IncubEx), a Chicago-based privately held company that designs and develops new financial products in global environmental, climate risk, and related commodity markets, today announced the forthcoming launch of a new global voluntary carbon marketplace.

The Voluntary Climate Marketplace (TVCM) operated by IncubEx, will offer best-in-class market access to trade voluntary carbon offsets to the growing base of stakeholders looking to achieve net-zero commitments around the world. The voluntary carbon offsets will be tradable through Trayport's Joule platform, a leading global electronic trading solution for energy markets, providing market access to high-quality voluntary carbon offsets and other renewable attributes. IncubEx will work to build the marketplace through its extensive experience in establishing and growing environmental markets globally.

"We are excited to be working with IncubEx, which will operate a digitised marketplace, with Trayport's dedicated front-end screen being used for trading OTC, spot and forward voluntary carbon offsets," said Peter Conroy, President, Trayport. "This collaboration aims to bring transparency, liquidity and greater standardisation to an otherwise opaque marketplace. In doing so, it will greatly improve transactional efficiency and open up the market to a wider array of market participants including a growing number of corporates and sovereigns who have made net-zero commitments."

By digitising the trading of carbon offsets, TVCM products will be accessible via Joule, offering market participants a transparent and comprehensive view of the global voluntary marketplace enabling brokers, buyers and sellers to transact offsets that meet their specific requirements for verified carbon reductions around the world.

"This collaboration is focused on increasing market access, transparency and execution efficiencies in more bespoke off-exchange voluntary carbon offset credits and other environmental attributes alongside more liquid, standardised exchange-traded environmental commodities," said Michael MacGregor, CEO, IncubEx. "The IncubEx team has deep-rooted experience in pioneering voluntary carbon markets at Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) and this initiative is in direct response to voids and opportunities expressed to us by our longstanding network of environmental market customers."

TVCM is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2022 and will initially support the trading of offsets from: Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard (Verra), Climate Action Reserve and American Carbon Registry, which are voluntary offset standards and recognized by The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA).

About Trayport Limited Trayport is the primary network and platform for European wholesale energy markets. Our network and solutions support the growth of our clients and trading markets. Our solutions are used worldwide by traders, brokers and exchanges in multiple asset classes across OTC and cleared markets. Trayport Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TMX Group Limited (TMX Group). For more information about Trayport Limited, visit our website at www.trayport.com.

About IncubEx IncubEx is an incubator which develops products, services and technology solutions in environmental markets. The company works in conjunction with its global exchange partner, European Energy Exchange (EEX), Nodal Exchange and other leading service providers including Trayport and stakeholders to design and develop new financial markets, technologies and trading solutions in global environmental, climate risk, and related commodity markets. The IncubEx team is led by former key executives from Climate Exchange, which pioneered exchange based environmental trading and CCX, the world's first and only voluntary, but legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading program. IncubEx, a privately held company founded in 2016 with offices in Chicago and London, is uniquely positioned to capture these opportunities globally with its partners. For more information, please visit https://theincubex.com.

For more information, please contact:

Asif Iqbal Head of Marketing and Communications Trayport Limited +44 (0) 207 960 5500 media@trayport.com Time Zone: UK, EMEA

Jim Kharouf Communications Director IncubEx, Inc. +1 (773) 391-0439 jim.kharouf@theincubex.com Time Zone: USA, Asia

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
LONDON, Nov. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huge end-of-the-year sale with discounts on ALL market research reports at The Business Research Company! Save money now.



According to The Business Research Companys research report on the drug delivery devices market, the rising demand for advanced and improved drug delivery devices owing to the increasing launch of new products will increase the growth of the market in the forecast period. These advanced new products offer better customer satisfaction and enhance efficiency. Hospitals and consumers are looking for advanced devices such as self-administered devices, smart wearables, and others. For example, nanomaterial chemistry enables the development of smart stimuli-responsive DDS (Drug Delivery Systems) over the conventional DDS. Stimuli-responsive DDS ensures spatial or temporal, on-demand drug delivery to targeted cancer cells.

Nano-based drug delivery systems will gain more traction in the drug delivery devices market. There is a fast-growing interest in using nanomaterials in drug delivery and various other applications, as they can increase the cellular uptake of drugs because of the surface charge and time and they can increase the stability and water solubility of drugs. Nanotechnology offers multiple benefits in treating chronic human diseases by site-specific, and target-oriented delivery of precise medicines. There are several outstanding applications of nanomedicine (chemotherapeutic agents, biological agents, and immunotherapeutic agents) in the treatment of various diseases.

The Business Research Companys report titled Drug Delivery Devices Global Market Report 2021 - By Route Of Administration (Oral Drug Delivery, Injectable Drug Delivery, Topical Drug Delivery, Ocular Drug Delivery, Pulmonary Drug Delivery, Nasal Drug Delivery, Transmucosal Drug Delivery, Implantable Drug Delivery), By Patient Care Setting (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Ambulatory Surgery Centers/Clinics, Home Care Settings), By Application (Cancer, Infectious Diseases, Respiratory Diseases, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, Autoimmune Diseases, Central Nervous System Disorders), COVID-19 Implications And Growth covers major drug delivery devices companies, drug delivery devices market share by company, drug delivery devices manufacturers, drug delivery devices market size, and drug delivery devices market forecasts. The report also covers the global drug delivery devices market and its segments.

Request for a sample of the global drug delivery devices market report

The global drug delivery devices market is expected to grow from $40.7 billion in 2020 to $42.76 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%. The change in growth trend is mainly due to the companies stabilizing their output after catering to the demand that grew exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The market is expected to reach $50.9 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 4.5%, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drugs used for COVID-19 treatment are both oral and injectable; however, a marginal increase is expected for pulmonary or respiratory-based drug delivery devices.

Respiratory drug delivery devices and systems are used to treat respiratory diseases using the pulmonary route of drug administration. This pulmonary route of administration is preferred as it is the non-invasive, large surface area for absorption, high blood circulation, and high permeability rate. As the number of cases and associated applications of COVID-19 have risen, it has necessitated the use of respiratory-based delivery devices for improved patient care. Major companies are working in the respiratory-based delivery devices manufacturing and in the approval of new devices and approaches to treat respiratory diseases, and to meet the urgent demand for these devices. For instance, in July 2021, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnsons UPTRAVI (selexipag) intravenous injection was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Also, in October 2020, The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad designed a nebulizer-based inhalation therapy to fight COVID.

North America was the largest region in the drug delivery devices market, accounting for 41.2% of the total in 2020. It was followed by the Western Europe, Asia- Pacific and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the drug delivery devices market will be South America and the Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 12.4% and 10.74% respectively during 2020-2025. These will be followed by Africa and Asia-Pacific, where the markets are expected to register CAGRs of 10.71% and 9.7% respectively during 2020-2025.

Drug Delivery Devices Global Market Report 2021  COVID-19 Implications And Growth is one of a series of new reports from The Business Research Company that provide drug delivery devices market overviews, drug delivery devices market analyze and forecast market size and growth for the whole market, drug delivery devices market segments and geographies, drug delivery devices market trends, drug delivery devices market drivers, drug delivery devices market restraints, drug delivery devices market leading competitors revenues, profiles and market shares in over 1,000 industry reports, covering over 2,500 market segments and 60 geographies.

The report also gives in-depth analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the market. The reports draw on 150,000 datasets, extensive secondary research, and exclusive insights from interviews with industry leaders. A highly experienced and expert team of analysts and modelers provides market analysis and forecasts. The reports identify top countries and segments for opportunities and strategies based on market trends and leading competitors approaches.

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Pharmaceutical Drugs And Biologics Logistics Market 2021 - By Type Of Service (Cold Chain Logistics, Non-Cold Chain Logistics), By Mode Of Transport (Air Transportation, Ocean Transportation, Land Transportation), By Pharmaceutical Type (Pharmaceutical Drugs, Biologics), By Therapeutic Area (Metabolic Disorders Drugs, Anti-Infective Drugs, Central Nervous System Drugs, Respiratory Diseases Drugs, Cardiovascular Drugs, Musculoskeletal Disorders Drugs, Oncology Drugs, Hematology Drugs, Monoclonal Antibodies (MAbs), Genito-Urinary Drugs, Gastrointestinal Drugs, Therapeutic Proteins, Dermatology Drugs, Vaccines, Ophthalmology Drugs), And By Region, Opportunities And Strategies - Global Forecast To 2030

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Tokyo, Nov. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Precedence Research, Recently Announced Report on HVAC Equipment Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, Regional Outlook, and Forecast 2021  2030.



Heating, ventilation, and air conditioner (HVAC) systems are significantly being used in a variety of buildings, such as commercial, industrial, and residential buildings. The primary task of the ventilation and air-conditioner system is to ensure the comfort of the people by providing desired atmospheric conditions in the occupied buildings. The selection of Heating, ventilation or air conditioning is dependent on factors such as the age of building, humidification, depends on the weather, personal choice of the occupants and the project's design, with the completion of the project, the architectural design of the buildings.

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Crucial factors accountable for market growth are:

Surge in development of energy efficient HVAC equipments.

The rapidly changing climatic conditions.

Rising disposable income of the consumers.

Increasing global warming and the need for comfort.

Scope of the HVAC Equipment Market

Report Coverage Details Market Size in 2021 USD 130 Billion Growth Rate From 2021 to 2030 CAGR 6.1% Fastest Growing Market North America Largest Market Asia Pacific Base Year 2021 Regional Scope North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

LAMEA Companies Covered Johnson Controls, Carrier Corporation, Daikin Industries Ltd., Ingersoll Rand, Honeywell International Inc, Trane Technologies, LG Electronics, Hitachi Ltd., United Technologies, Electrolux, Emerson Electric Co., Lennox International Inc.

Regional Snapshots

Asia Pacific dominates the HVAC Equipment Market in terms of market share contributing a revenue share of more than 45% in 2020 and is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period owing to the rise in population, rapid industrialization & urbanization and increasing disposable incomes of the consumers. For instance, On 24th September 2021, Daikin Air-conditioning India Pvt. Ltd. signed a land lease agreement at Sri City to manufacture the air conditioners and components.

Report Highlights

The cooling product segment accounted for more than 54% revenue share in 2020.

The residential end use segment of the HVAC Equipment Market is estimated to lead the market with a market share of more than40% in 2021.

By Geography, Asia Pacific is expected to lead the market contributing more than 45% revenue share in 2021 owing to the rise in population, urbanization and surge in disposable income of the consumers.





Market Dynamics

Driver - The rapid surge in the use of technologically advanced products in the HVAC systems that are energy-efficient is the major factor that drives the market growth. Also, the changing climatic condition across the globes propels the market demand for the need of HVAC systems

Restraint - The high installation and maintenance costs, high energy consumption, and other operational difficulties are negatively impact the growth of the market

Opportunity - The increasing awareness about the health hazards caused by the impure surrounding air, the consumers are inclined towards the use of HVAC systems for purifying the air and creating a hygienic indoor environment. This factor is expected to create huge opportunities that will accelerate the market growth.

Challenges - Climate variables in specific areas can have an impact on the life cycle of HVAC systems. For example, moist climates can shorten the life expectancy of HVAC systems due to their corrosive effects. This feature is expected to stifle market expansion.

Recent Developments

On 4th May 2021, Evaporative pre-cooling technology is now available on Carrier's AquaForce 30XV product range, according to the company. This technique uses evaporation to lower ambient air temperatures entering Carrier's 30XV chiller, decreasing chiller power consumption, increasing dependability, and extending the chiller's life.

On 9th July 2021, Mitsubishi Electric said that it will spend 167 million Turkish Lira in Mitsubishi Electric Air Conditioning Systems Manufacturing Turkey to expand production capacity (MACT).

On 27th September 2021,  Emerson, a global leader in software, technology, and engineering, announced a partnership with Colgate-Palmolive Company to reduce wasted energy in Colgate's product packaging facilities and contribute to the company's goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions in operations by 2040, using Emerson's Smart Sensor Technology for Compressed Air Monitoring.

On 15th October 2021, Trane Technologies, a global climate innovator, has acquired Farrar Scientific, a critical supplier for bioscience and biopharmaceutical customers that provides proprietary technology to fill an unmet need for flexible, modular, and efficient ultra-low temperature processing and storage, including cooling and heating/thawing.

On 2nd September 2021, The launch of "K-12 Playbook," a new online resource centre for parents and schools to assist them build a more pleasant and efficient classroom environment for children, was announced by Trane Technologies, a global climate pioneer.





Segments Covered in the Report

By Product

Heating

Ventilation

Cooling





By End-use

Residential

Commercial

Industrial





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SHENZHEN, China, Nov. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MobiusTrend releases the insight research report on 'Rising of China's Civilian Restaurant'. In China, a restaurant with good taste and reasonable price is called Civilian Restaurant. Unlike the luxury of star hotels, civilian restaurants are often more appealing to local residents because they offer better prices and have a touch of traditional Chinese culture. 'Shatou Four-Season' is a representative of Civilian Restaurant, which has grown from a small restaurant of 20 square meters to a famous restaurant brand after nearly 10 years of development.

On the eve of Thanks-giving, AR Cheng, CEO of 'Shatou Four-Season Catering Group' announced that they hit 270,000 followers on Douyin (TikTok in China). AR Cheng, like most local villagers in Shenzhen, China, is a pragmatic businessman. "The diners who come to our restaurant eat over 20,000 oysters a day, and that number is growing quickly!", says AR Cheng.

"Oysters, along with other seafood items, are the favorite dish of most of our guests. The Chinese people are richer, so they are more willing to come and spend money. Our TikTok account, with more than 270,000 followers, comes from customers of my restaurant. They not only like the food, but they also like to share food information to their friends. They use social media platforms like Dianping, TikTok, Wechat, Weibo to share their opinions."

For more information of Shatou Four-Season story, visit Douyin (TikTok in China), Dianping, QQ Video.



AR Cheng, on the other hand, is one of the many smart and hardworking people in China. And the rise of Civilian Restaurant also represents the steady rise in income levels of its residents.

Detail of the research report, please visit: http://www.mobiustrend.com/

About MobiusTrend

MobiusTrend Group is a leading market research organization in Hong Kong. They have built one of the premier proprietary research platforms on the financial market, emphasizing on emerging growth companies and paradigm-shifting businesses. MobiusTrend team is professional in market research reports, industry insights, and financing trends analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.mobiustrend.com/

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Pune, India, Nov. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global green technology and sustainability market size is expected to gain momentum by reaching USD 41.62 billion by 2028 while exhibiting an impressive CAGR of 20.3% between 2021 and 2028. Fortune Business Insight, in its report titled Green Technology and Sustainability Market, 2021-2028., mentions that the market stood at USD 9.57 billion in 2020.

The world is transitioning towards greener technology to combat the problems caused by excessive pollution and harmful gases. An article from Soulful Concepts Group Pvt. Ltd mentions that the global investment in green technologies increased by nearly 20% in recent years in various sectors such as the energy, chemical, and manufacturing industry. Whether small or big businesses, all of them are levitating towards the sustainable approach of energy production. Such thoughtful and environment-friendly initiatives are expected to propel the market growth during the forecast period.





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List of the Companies Profiled in the Global Market for Green Technology and Sustainability:

General Electric Company (New York, United States)

Enablon (Wolters Kluwer) (France, Europe)

Salesforce.com, Inc. (California, United States)

Microsoft Corporation (New Mexico, United States)

Schneider Electric (Rueil-Malmaison, France)

Engie Impact (Washington, United States)

Sensus (North Carolina, United States)

Enviance (California, United States)

Intelex Technologies Inc. (Toronto, Canada)

CropX Inc. (San Francisco, California)

Report Scope & Segmentation -

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2021-2028 Forecast Period 2021 to 2028 CAGR 20.3 % 2028 Value Projection USD 41.62 Billion Base Year 2020 Market Size in 2020 USD 9.57 Billion Historical Data for 2017-2019 No. of Pages 160 Segments covered Component; Industry; Regional Growth Drivers Increasing Consumer and Industrial Interest about Climate Change to Boost Market Growth



Pitfalls & Challenges High Costs Associated with Green Technology and Sustainability Solutions to Limit the Market Growth





COVID-19 Impact

The negative effect of the global pandemic, COVID-19, has been felt across several economies facing unprecedented loss. Since it was a non-essential service, the companies were shut amidst the lockdown. However, the market is expected to boom back during the forecast period, as many nations envision creating a green future for their residents. For instance, In January 2018, the government of the United Kingdom initiated Green Future, a 25-year environment plan to change the environment over the next decade by increasing wildlife habitat, enhancing air and water quality, and reducing the scourge of plastic in the oceans.

Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market.





Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/green-technology-and-sustainability-market-102221





Market Segmentation:

Based on component type, the market is bifurcated into solutions and services.

Based on component type, the solution segment held a major market share in 2020. The segment is expected to experience considerable growth due to increased technological advancements that negatively impacted the environment. Thus emerging developments are more focused on green and sustainable solutions to fuel the market growth.

By industry, the market is segmented into air and water pollution monitoring, carbon footprint management, crop monitoring, fire detection, forest monitoring, green building, soil condition/moisture monitoring, sustainable mining and exploration, water management, weather monitoring, and forecasting, and Others. Finally, the market is categorized into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific.

What does the Report Provide?

Green technology and sustainability market report provide a detailed analysis of several factors, such as the key drivers and restraints that will impact growth. Additionally, the report provides insights into the regional analysis that covers different regions, contributing to the market's growth. It includes the competitive landscape that involves the leading companies and the adoption of strategies to introduce new products, announce partnerships, and collaborate to further contribute to market growth. Moreover, the research analyst has adopted several research methodologies such as PORTERs Five Point Analysis and PESTEL to obtain information about the current trends and industry developments that will drive the market growth in the forthcoming years.

Driving Factor

Increasing Focus to Reduce Carbon Emission to Fuel Market Growth

The demand for sustainable development has increased in recent years. The push toward zero carbon emission has become a global concern. For instance, European Union cut down emissions of harmful gases by 55% by 2020 and aims to establish climate neutrality by 2050 under its Climate Target Plan. Along with nations, major companies are also contributing to green and clean technology. For instance, in January 2020, Ford Motor Company rolled out a USD 11.5 billion electric car plant. This will help in providing North America with the biggest electric vehicle charging network. Such initiatives are expected to drive the market growth in the forthcoming years.

Regional Insights

North America to Remain Dominant; Growing Investments in Green Technologies to Aid Growth

North America is expected to hold the highest position in the green technology and sustainability market share during the forecast period. This is ascribable to green environment investments and initiatives. For instance, the North American Climate, Energy, and Environment Partnership promote government policies and the procurement of more sustainable goods, renewable energy, and electric vehicles as required. The region stood at USD3.50 billion in 2020.

Europe is anticipated to hold a significant share of the market. This is owing to increased research and development in sustainable and green technology. For instance, In July 2020, the European Commission (EU) invested EURO 1 billion funds for low-carbon and clean hydrogen solutions for chemicals, cement, and steel industries.

Competitive Landscape

Key Players to Focus on Establishing Partnerships to Intensify Competition

The market for green technology and sustainability is consolidated by major companies striving to maintain their position by focusing on collaborations and establishing partnerships. For instance, In May 2020, Ballard inked a Memorandum with ITM Power and others to work on Fuel Cell Electric Buses (FCEBs) in Australian public transport systems. Moreover, other key players adopt proactive strategies such as new product launches, mergers, and facility expansion to favor the market's growth in the forthcoming years.





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Industry Development

September 2020  ISOMETRIX launched a new solution to help companies better understand, track, and monitor Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) results and risks, resulting in long-term value.





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Table Of Content

Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Methodology/Approach Data Sources

Key Takeaways

Market Dynamics Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Drivers, Restraints,Opportunities and Trends Impact of COVID-19 Short-term Impact Long-term Impact

Competition Landscape Business Strategies Adopted by Key Players Consolidated SWOT Analysis of Key Players

Global Green Technology and Sustainability Key Players Market Share Insights and Analysis, 2020

Key Market Insights and Strategic Recommendations

Companies Profiled (Covered for key 10 players only) Overview Key Management Headquarters etc. Offerings/Business Segments Key Details (Key details are subjected to data availability in public domain and/or on paid databases) Employee Size Key Financials Past and Current Revenue Gross Margin Geographical Share Business Segment Share Recent Developments

Annexure / Appendix Global Green Technology and SustainabilityMarket Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2017-2028 By Component (Value) Solutions Services By Industry(Value) Air and Water Pollution Monitoring Carbon Footprint Management Crop Monitoring Fire Detection Forest Monitoring Green Building Soil Condition/Moisture Monitoring Sustainable Mining and Exploration Water Management Weather Monitoring and Forecasting Other By Region (Value) North America South America Europe Middle East & Africa Asia Pacific North America Green Technology and SustainabilityMarket Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2017-2028 By Component (Value) Solutions Services By Industry(Value) Air and Water Pollution Monitoring Carbon Footprint Management Crop Monitoring Fire Detection Forest Monitoring Green Building Soil Condition/Moisture Monitoring Sustainable Mining and Exploration Water Management Weather Monitoring and Forecasting Other By Country (Value) United States Canada Mexico



TOC Continued!

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New York, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Oil & Gas Drill Bit Market Report 2021-2031" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186248/?utm_source=GNW



Global Oil & Gas Drill Bits Market our new study reveals trends, contracts, and predicted investments



Increasing oil & gas drilling activities



The rising energy demands are expected to put a burden on the oil and gas industries to increase their downstream. To ensure short and long-term supplies of energy the oil and gas industries turn their focus towards unconventional oil and gas resources such as shale oil, oil sands, extra heavy oil, tight gas, shale gas, and coal bed methane. There are around 137 shale formations in 41 countries in the world. The U.S. shale industry is slowly reviving after the pandemic and is expected to increase its production capacity to meet the declining supply from conventional sources of energy. Governments across the world are providing support to the shale industry on account of energy security, job creation, and economic growth. Several countries such as the U.S., Canada, UK, Norway, Russia, China, Australia, and the Middle East are investing in oil & gas exploration and drilling activities and easing restrictions for foreign investment.



If you are involved in this sector you must read this newly updated report. Visiongains report shows you the potential revenues streams to 2031, assessing data, trends, opportunities and business prospects there.



Key questions answered are in this report

 How is the oil & gas drill bits market evolving? And how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?

 What are the upcoming developments and regulatory framework in the market?

 Where is the oil & gas drill bits market heading?

 What is driving and restraining the oil & gas drill bits market?

 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?

 What are the oil & gas drill bits projects for these leading companies?

 What are the implication of oil & gas drill bits projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?



You need to discover how this will impact the oil & gas drill bits market today, and over the next 10 years:

 Our 850+ page report provides 635 tables and 677 charts/graphs exclusively to you.

 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.

 Contains in-depth analysis of global, regional and national sales and growth

 Highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors



Read on to discover the most lucrative areas in the industry and the future market prospects. Our new study lets you assess forecasted sales at overall world market and regional level. See financial results, trends, opportunities, and revenue predictions. Much opportunity remains in this growing Oil & Gas Drill Bits Market. See how to exploit the opportunities.



Forecasts to 2031 and other analysis reveal the oil & gas drill bits prospects

 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2031, our new study provides you with recent results, growth rates, and market shares.

 You find original analysis, with business outlooks and developments.

 Discover qualitative analysis (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), product profiles and project developments.

 Discover how the COVID 19 pandemic has impacted the world market and submarkets, and what are the projected recovery patterns



This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect your industry. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W, and U are discussed in this report.



Oil & Gas Drill Bits: By Type

 Roller Cone Cutter Bits

 Milled-tooth Bits

 Tungsten Carbide Inserts

 Fixed Cutter Bits

 Polycrystalline Diamond Compact

 Diamond Impregnated



Oil & Gas Drill Bits: By Component

 Onshore

 Offshore



In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for 5 regional and 19 leading national markets:

 North America

 U.S.

 Canada

 Mexico

 Europe

 UK

 Germany

 Russia

 Rest of Europe

 Asia Pacific

 China

 India

 Japan

 Indonesia

 Australia

 Rest of Asia-Pacific

 Middle East & Africa

 UAE

 Saudi Arabia

 South Africa

 Iran

 Rest of Middle East & Africa

 South America

 Brazil

 Argentina

 Colombia

 Rest of South America



The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the oil & gas drill bits market, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.



Leading companies and the potential for market growth

 Atlas Copco Group

 Baker Hughes Company

 Bit Brokers International

 Caterpillar Inc.

 Haliburton Company

 NOV Inc.

 Palmer Bit Co.

 Sandvik AB

 Schlumberger Limited

 Sichuan DeepFast Oil Drilling Tools Co. Ltd.

 Sinocoredrill Group

 Taesung Co. Ltd.

 Taurex Drill Bit LLC

 Torguato Drilling

 Ulterra



Overall world revenue for oil & gas drill bits market will surpass US$xx million in 2021, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2031. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.



How the Oil & Gas Drill Bits Market report helps you



In summary, our 830+ page report provides you with the following knowledge:

 Revenue forecasts to 2031 for Oil & Gas Drill Bits Market, with forecasts for Type, Component, Solutions, and End-use each forecasted at a global and regional level discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues

 Revenue forecasts to 2031 for 5 regional and 19 key national markets  See forecasts for the oil & gas drill bits market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Russia, UK, China, India, Indonesia and UAE among other prominent economies.

 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market including company profiles for 15 of the major companies involved in the oil & gas drill bits market. Some of the companys profiled in this report include Atlas Copco Group, Baker Hughes Company, Bit Brokers International, Caterpillar Inc., Haliburton Company, NOV Inc., Palmer Bit Co., Sandvik AB, Schlumberger Limited, Sichuan DeepFast Oil Drilling Tools Co. Ltd., Sinocoredrill Group, Taesung Co. Ltd., Taurex Drill Bit LLC, Torguato Drilling, and Ulterra.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186248/?utm_source=GNW



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__________________________
TORONTO and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V: SOLR) announces it has filed its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The Companys Financial Statements and related Managements Discussion and Analysis are available under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com.



In Q3 2021, Solar Alliance continued to successfully transition its focus to include larger, higher revenue solar projects in addition to owning and operating the Companys own solar assets.

Business development efforts in Q3 resulted in the signing of contracts for up to 1.7 megawatts (MW) of solar projects for third party customers, with approximately .7 MW expected to be completed in Q4, 2021 for a total of 2.2 MW of contracted projects in 2021. This represents a significant increase over the total of .74 MW of commercial solar projects contracted in 2020.

This quarter sets the stage for future revenue growth as we are now signing contracts for significantly larger projects, and in greater numbers, said CEO Myke Clark. These most recent contract signings have positioned Solar Alliance for a strong end to 2021 and an even stronger beginning to 2022, with a growing backlog of contracted projects. We also completed the acquisition of a 298kW solar project in New York that will be built in early 2022 and generate stable, recurring revenue under a 30-year power purchase agreement.

Key Financial Highlights

Revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2021, was $252,352, compared to $530,385 in the comparable period in 2020. Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, was $2,255,460, compared to $2,517,610 in the comparable period in 2020.

Q3 represents an inflection point for Solar Alliance as the Company invested in new sales channels to improve the long-term sales pipeline of larger solar projects. This focus resulted in the signing of two larger projects after the end of Q3 and the addition of several other large projects to our sales pipeline. The contracts signed subsequent to the end of Q3 will positively impact revenues in Q4 and moving forward.

Cash and cash equivalents of $3,165,889 provide a strong balance sheet to continue pursuing larger project sales opportunities and provide a stable platform for growth.



Key Business Highlights

The Company signed a Joint Development Agreement with Boyd Company (Boyd CAT), a regional Caterpillar dealer, and will be opening an office in Louisville, Kentucky. Boyd CAT is the authorized dealer of Cat solar equipment for businesses and contractors across Kentucky, Southern Indiana, West Virginia and Southeastern Ohio.

Agreement with Abundant Solar Power (Abundant) to jointly pursue largescale utility solar projects in the U.S. Southeast. The projects will range in size from 1 megawatt to 10 MW and larger and will typically involve competitive bids to local and regional utilities.

Solar Alliance announced the appointment of Mr. Rob Roberti as the Companys new Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Brian Timmons as a new independent member of the Board of Directors.



Key Highlights Subsequent to Quarter End

Solar Alliance signed a contract for a 526-kW solar system in Tennessee. Solar Alliance will design, engineer and install the project, which is targeted for completion by the end of 2021.

The Company signed a contract to build a 500-kW solar system in Kentucky. The contract includes an option for the customer to select Solar Alliance to build an additional 500-kW system at the same location, for a potential total project size of 1 MW.

The Company completed the acquisition of a 298-kW project in New York State from Abundant Solar Power Inc. The project acquisition, first announced on May 26, 2021, represents the first project Solar Alliance will own and operate under a 30-year power purchase agreement. Construction will commence in early 2022.



The recent contract signings are in addition to smaller commercial and residential projects we continue to deliver to customers. This balanced strategy  the high growth of building for third party customers combined with recurring revenue from solar assets we own  is scalable and supports our goal of becoming a leading commercial and industrial solar provider in the U.S., concluded Clark.

The Company also announces that, subject to regulatory approval, it has granted an aggregate of 1,000,000 incentive stock options (Options) to certain directors and/or officers in accordance with the Companys stock option plan. All such Options have an exercise price of $0.175 per share and a 5-year term.

Myke Clark, CEO



For more information:





Solar Alliance Sales

(865) 309-4674

info@solaralliance.com



Investor Relations

Myke Clark, CEO

416-848-7744

mclark@solaralliance.com





About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com)

Solar Alliance is an energy solutions provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. The Company operates in Tennessee, Kentucky, North/South Carolina and Illinois and has an expanding pipeline of solar projects. Since it was founded in 2003, the Company has developed $1 billion of renewable energy projects that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. Solar Alliance reduces or eliminates customers' vulnerability to rising energy costs, offers an environmentally friendly source of electricity generation, and provides affordable, turnkey clean energy solutions.

Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release."
Dublin, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Asia Pacific MNO Directory 2021-2022" directory has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Asia Pacific MNO Directory 2021-2022 will help telecom service providers interested in doing business with mobile network operators throughout Asia Pacific (including Australia & New Zealand).

The latest Asia Pacific Directory features over 185+ operators from over 53 countries.

The Asia Pacific MNO Directory is carved out as a niche product that specifically helps 'service providers to mobile operators' obtain and gain new business.

Featuring important operator business info to contacts of key executives holding influential roles, the Directory offers the following information for any mobile operator business across Asia (including Australia & New Zealand):

Operator Details - Registered Name, Brand, Region, Market Share (%), Ownership, Group Information

Business Details - Network portfolio, Subscribers/Growth Trend, Network Penetration, Technologies offered, Contact Details.

Online presence - website/URL

CXO/Management/Decision-Makers/Influencer contacts

What's special about the 2021-2022 edition:

Whole Asia Pacific covered (including Australia & New Zealand): 185+ Operators from over 53 countries.

100% Anti-Spam US Law, European GDPR, Asian Laws compliant

1750+ CXO/Management/Decision-making contacts: Up to 300% more contacts than previous (2021) edition

Available in PDF & Excel: New user friendly PDF & campaign friendly XLS design

First time with detailed Executive Summary & Questions Answered: Giving clear and precise understanding of the Asia Pacific telecom market to corporates.

1-Update free of cost



For more information about this directory visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ixoeg2

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
New York, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Clinical Trial Supplies Market Report 2021-2031" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186246/?utm_source=GNW



The Clinical Trial Supplies Market Report 2021-2031: This report will prove invaluable to leading firms striving for new revenue pockets if they wish to better understand the industry and its underlying dynamics. It will be useful for companies that would like to expand into different industries or to expand their existing operations in a new region.



Ensure The Partners Are Well Aware



Clinical supply chain managers also need to build solid contacts with reputable partners in addition to future planning. A supplier must be qualified, capable and ready to follow the GMP regulations for all those involved in the storage and distribution of IMPs and non-investigation medical items. The criteria such as European Union GDP rules should be respected by even those involved in direct distribution, particularly by courier. A three-stage qualification is recommended with each party to assure trusted suppliers, starting with an RFI approach to business and quality feedback.



Considerations for the Cold Chain



Distribution facilities and managers need to provide in-house supply chain information in real time to assure patient safety and continuous dosing regimens in the whole research. Facilities must also support temperature-controlled storage at several temperature levels, including ambient, regulated, cooled, frozen and depth frozen temperatures. A key element of the biopharmaceutical mix is the cold chain. The properly managed technique is of paramount importance for maintaining product safety and stability, and hence product safety. While this applies to commercial pharmaceuticals, the problem with clinical trial materials is particularly critical. Stage two should include a supplier audit, and in addition to regular business terms, followed by the implementation of quality technical agreements.



What Are These Questions You Should Ask Before Buying A Market Research Report?

 How is the clinical trial supplies market evolving?

 What is driving and restraining the clinical trial supplies market?

 How will each clinical trial supplies submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2031?

 How will the market shares for each clinical trial supplies submarket develop from 2021 to 2031?

 What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2021 to 2031?

 Will leading clinical trial supplies markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others?

 How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2031 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2031?

 Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?

 What are the clinical trial supplies projects for these leading companies?

 How will the industry evolve during the period between 2020 and 2031?

 What are the implication of clinical trial supplies projects taking place now and over the next 10 years?

 Is there a greater need for product commercialisation to further scale the clinical trial supplies market?

 Where is the clinical trial supplies market heading? And how can you ensure you are at the forefront of the market?

 What can be the best investment options for new product and service lines?

 What are the key prospects for moving companies into a new growth path? C-suite?



You need to discover how this will impact the clinical trial supplies market today, and over the next 10 years:

 Our 575-page report provides 365 tables and 351 charts/graphs exclusively to you.

 The report highlights key lucrative areas in the industry so you can target them  NOW.

 Contains in-depth analyse of global, regional and national sales and growth

 Highlights for you the key successful trends, changes and revenue projections made by your competitors



This report tells you TODAY how the clinical trial supplies market will develop in the next 10 years, and in-line with the variations in COVID-19 economic recession and bounce. This market is more critical now than at any point over the last 10 years.



Forecasts to 2031 and other analyses reveal the commercial prospects

 In addition to revenue forecasting to 2031, our new study provides you with recent results, growth



rates, and market shares.

 You find original analyses, with business outlooks and developments.

 Discover qualitative analyses (including market dynamics, drivers, opportunities, restraints and challenges), cost structure, impact of rising clinical trial supplies prices and recent developments.



This report includes data analysis and invaluable insight into how COVID-19 will affect the industry and your company. Four COVID-19 recovery patterns and their impact, namely, V, L, W and U are discussed in this report.



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by Location

 Offshore Clinical Site

 Domestic Clinical Site



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by Type

 Small Molecule Products

 Biologic Products

 Medical Devices



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by Services

 Manufacturing

 Packaging, Labelling, and Blinding

 Logistics & Distribution

 Storage & Retention

 Comparator Sourcing

 Other CTS Services



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by Therapeutic Areas

 Oncology

 CNS and Mental Disorders

 Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

 Infectious Disease

 Immunology Disease

 Blood Disorders

 Metabolic Disorders

 Digestive Disorders

 Other Therapeutic Areas



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by Phase

 Phase-I

 Phase-II

 Phase-III

 Phase-IV



Global Clinical Trial Supplies Market (COVID Impact Analysis) by End-User

 Contract Research Organizations

 Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies

 Medical Device Companies

 Other End-User



In addition to the revenue predictions for the overall world market and segments, you will also find revenue forecasts for 4 regional and 20 leading national markets:

 North America Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Outlook

 U.S. Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Canada Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Mexico Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Europe Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Outlook

 Germany Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Spain Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 United Kingdom Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 France Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Italy Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Rest of Europe Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Asia Pacific Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Outlook

 China Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Japan Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 India Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Australia Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 South Korea Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Rest of Asia Pacific Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 LAMEA Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Outlook

 Brazil Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Turkey Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Saudi Arabia Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 South Africa Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 UAE Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market Forecast & COVID Impact Analysis

 Rest of Latin America, Middle East and Africa



The report also includes profiles and for some of the leading companies in the Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031, with a focus on this segment of these companies operations.



Leading companies and the potential for market growth

 ADAllen Pharma

 AmerisourceBergen Corporation

 Ancillare

 Biocair

 Catalent, Inc.

 Clinigen Group Plc

 Coghlan Group

 DHL

 Endpoint Clinical

 Eurofins Scientific SE

 KLIFO

 Marken (A UPS Company)

 Liveo Research

 Lonza

 Myonex

 N-SIDE

 Parexel

 PCI Pharma Services

 Piramal Pharma Solutions

 Rubicon Research Pvt S.A.

 Sharp Corporation

 Seveillar Clinical Supplies Services

 SIRO Clinpharm

 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc

 UDG Healthcare PLC



Overall world revenue for Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 in terms of value the market will surpass US$xx million in 2021, our work calculates. We predict strong revenue growth through to 2031. Our work identifies which organizations hold the greatest potential. Discover their capabilities, progress, and commercial prospects, helping you stay ahead.



How the Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market report helps you?



In summary, our 575-page report provides you with the following knowledge:

 Revenue forecasts to 2031 for Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market, with forecasts for location, type, services, Therapeutic Areas, phase, end-user each forecasted at a global and regional level discover the industrys prospects, finding the most lucrative places for investments and revenues

 Revenue forecasts to 2031 for 4 regional and 20 key national markets  See forecasts for the Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 market in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA. Also forecasted is the market in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, UK, Italy, China, India, Japan, and Australia among other prominent economies.

 Prospects for established firms and those seeking to enter the market including company profiles for 25 of the major companies involved in the Clinical Trial Supplies Market, 2021 to 2031 Market.



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186246/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Icanic Brands Company, Inc. (CSE: ICAN, OTCQB: ICNAF) (Icanic Brands or the Company), a multi-state brand operator of premium cannabis brands in California and Nevada, is pleased to provide an update on the LEEF Holdings, Inc. acquisition. The Company previously announced the LOI agreement on August 31st, 2021 in an all-stock transaction.



The Company and LEEF Holdings, Inc. have been working diligently to provide all necessary materials to prepare for the closing of the transaction. It is anticipated a definitive agreement will be entered into by December 31st, 2021.

About Icanic Brands Company, Inc.



Icanic Brands Company, Inc. is a leading cannabis branded products manufacturer based in California & Nevada, the largest and most competitive cannabis markets in the world. The companys mission is to make cannabis safe and approachable - that starts with manufacturing high-quality products delivering consistent experiences.

For more information, please visit the companys website at: www.icaninc.com.

About Ganja Gold

Ganja Gold, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Icanic Brands Company, Inc. (CSE: ICAN, OTCQB: ICNAF), is the premier brand of infused pre-rolls in the state. Ganja Gold focuses on using only the best available flower and concentrates with state of the art proprietary technology to create connoisseur level pre-rolls unseen in the marketplace. With our flagship Tarantula, Ganja Gold continues to set the bar in quality and experience.

For more information about Ganja Gold, visit their website at www.ganjagold.com .

ICANIC BRANDS COMPANY INC.

Per: Brandon Kou

Chief Executive Officer

For further information about Icanic Brands, please contact the Company at:

Email: ir@icaninc.com

Phone: (778)999-4226

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Green Light Solutions ("GLS" or "the Company"), an innovation firm committed to driving excellence in the Cannabis industry, is pleased to announce the launch of its CBD dominant brand, LoFi, in the Ontario market. The signature product, LoFi CBD Oil 1500, is now available through Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), ocs.ca, and licensed retailers.



LoFi CBD Oil 1500 is a potent, full-spectrum formula with hemp-derived CBD extract and sustainably sourced MCT oil. LoFi CBD Oil 1500 ranks among the top CBD oils sold in B.C. after its launch in August this year.

"We are excited for our Ontario friends to experience our standout CBD. Since launching this summer, LoFi CBD Oil 1500 has quickly become one of B.C.'s best-selling CBD oils and a customer favourite," said Walker Patton, Corporate Development at GLS. "Expansion into Ontario, Canada's largest retail market, is key to our product roadmap. We look forward to providing Ontario a new way to enjoy CBD with our great-tasting and affordable full-spectrum products, available through the OCS and licensed retailers."

LoFi is committed to helping users make informed decisions through product transparency and evidence-based CBD education. All LoFi products feature inLite traceability technology that provides customers enhanced product data, including ingredient source and batch-specific lab results.

LoFi offers potent, CBD-forward formulations using highly concentrated, full spectrum CBD and premium ingredients. An expanded product suite, including one gram vape cartridges, will be available in the B.C. market in December as LoFi continues to enter supply agreements for additional product SKUs with provincial wholesalers.

About LoFi

LoFi is a BC-based independent cannabis brand passionate about three simple things: quality, innovation, and value. We are committed to upholding the highest quality standards through our inclusive CBD products that are market competitive in potency and price.

About Green Light Solutions

Green Light Solutions (GLS) is an innovation firm committed to driving excellence in the Cannabis industry. GLS delivers value across multiple cannabis verticals through an agile, tech-forward business model, following Cannabis and Hemp specific strategies. The Company's leadership team combines extensive experience in the cannabis industry with strong manufacturing and technology development expertise and a robust I.P. portfolio.

www.grnlight.ca

www.loficannabis.ca

https://www.instagram.com/lofi.cannabis/

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bc9cef51-ab84-4e92-a202-5c2a193132bf
New York, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Digitalization in Defense Growth Opportunities" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186274/?utm_source=GNW

This is compounded by rising geopolitical concerns from state and non-state actors, which can only be countered by the strategic advantage digitalization offers in and off the combat zone.Artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and autonomous technologies (SWARM, manned-unmanned teaming) are set to revolutionize military operations during the forecast period. The main areas of application will be to reduce the Observe, Orient, Decide, Act loop, in addition to cybersecurity applications and unmanned underwater and surface vehicles. The various digitalization technologies are interdependent and do not function in a silo. For example, data collection from interconnected devices (IoT) is processed by cloud computing to provide a common operating picture. AI demonstrates the capability to further analyze this for target identification and allocation. Harnessing the collective power of these technologies holds the key to strategic advantages in the future. In the past, internal challenges have hampered the adoption of digitalization, further compounded by data security and sharing concerns as well as the lack of a framework, concept of operations, and platform-centric approach. While the internal challenges are unlikely to disappear overnight, stakeholders have taken positive moves to ease the adoption process. The initiatives include joint operations networks, a shift away from data silos to a centralized model, and modification of acquisition procedures for software services to promote greater ease. Military stakeholders and defense OEMs widely collaborate with commercial companies, which hold the lead in defense digital transformation. United States and China are the leaders in defense technology adoption, followed by Europe. In the future, United States and China will accelerate adoption to attain technological supremacy. Other defense forces, notably the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Israel, Australia, and South Korea, will also increase adoption rates. Countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East will see more widespread adoption of autonomous technologies followed by cloud and AI in the next 5 years. The force multiplier effect and cost efficiency that digitalization brings about in combat operations will inevitably increase adoption across various programs and countries. Defense OEMs should be cognizant of the uptrend and expand their product offering either through in-house development or partnerships with suitable companies.

Author: Rohit Beri

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06186274/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (TSX: BEPR) Brompton Funds Limited (the Manager and Brompton), the manager of Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Preferred Income Fund (TSX:FFI.UN, the Fund) is pleased to announce that the Fund has completed its conversion from a closed-end fund to an exchange-traded fund (the Conversion). The Conversion was approved by unitholders at a special meeting of unitholders of the Fund held on November 1, 2021.



Commencing today, the name of the Fund has changed to Brompton Flaherty & Crumrine Enhanced Investment Grade Preferred ETF, and the units of the Fund were redesignated as CAD units. CAD units of the Fund now trade under the new Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) ticker symbol: BEPR.

As of October 31, 2021, the Fund had a 10-year annual compound return of 9.8%1. The Conversion allows for the continuation of the Funds successful investment strategy (as an exchange-traded fund), while adding incremental flexibility and increasing the Funds investible universe.

The Fund is the first actively managed leveraged-long-only Fixed Income ETF listed in Canada, offering investors a U.S. Preferreds strategy with active management by specialists Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated (FCI). The Fund is an attractive option for investors seeking enhanced income in todays low-interest-rate environment, offering a distribution rate of over 6% by continuing its leveraged investment in a U.S. Preferreds portfolio comprised of at least 75% investment-grade securities.

The Fund also offers a distribution reinvestment plan (DRIP) which provides unitholders with the ability to automatically reinvest distributions, commission free, and realize the benefits of compound growth. Unitholders can enroll in the DRIP program by contacting their investment advisor.

About Flaherty & Crumrine

Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated is the sub-advisor to the Fund. FCI was established in 1983 and specializes in US-dollar-denominated preferred securities and corporate debt instruments. The firm uses 30 years of proprietary data on over 1,500 preferred securities to carry out intensive credit analysis, thorough vetting of securities terms and structures, and active portfolio management, with the goal of exploiting pricing inefficiencies in the preferred securities market to provide attractive rates of return to investors.

About Brompton Funds

Founded in 2000, Brompton is an experienced investment fund manager with income focused investment solutions including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other TSX traded investment funds. For further information, please contact your investment advisor, call Bromptons investor relations line at 416-642-6000 (toll-free at 1-866-642-6001), email info@bromptongroup.com or visit our website at www.bromptongroup.com.

Annual Compound Returns1

YTD

1 Yr

3 Yrs

5 Yrs

10 Yrs TSX:BEPR - Brompton Flaherty & Crumrine Enhanced Investment Grade Preferred ETF (formerly Flaherty & Crumrine Investment Grade Preferred Income Fund) 8.3% 17.7% 9.5% 7.1% 9.8%



1) Returns are for the periods ended October 31, 2021 and are unaudited. The table shows the Funds compound return for each period indicated. Past performance does not necessarily indicate how the Fund will perform in the future. The information shown is based on NAV per unit and assumes that distributions made by the Fund on the units in the period shown were reinvested at NAV per unit in additional units of the Fund. The table above also shows the Funds compound return for each period indicated.

Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with exchange-traded fund investments. Please read the prospectus before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and does not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income tax payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. Exchange-traded funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.

Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information may relate to matters disclosed in this document and to other matters identified in public filings relating to the Fund, to the future outlook of the Fund and anticipated events or results and may include statements regarding the future financial performance of the Fund. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by terms such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, predict, potential, continue or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts. Actual results may vary from such forward-looking information. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.
SINGAPORE, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AECO Energy, a Singapore-based energy solutions and technology company, today announced it has been named the 2021 winner of the Australian High Commission Singapore sponsored Digital Capability Award from the Australian Chamber of Commerce Singapore (AustCham).

The annual AustCham Business Awards for 2021 were presented physically for the first time since the pandemic. The awards night aimed to celebrate the achievements of businesses that are leaders in their fields and managed to thrive despite the circumstances.

Angela Robinson, Australia's Deputy High Commissioner to Singapore presented the inaugural Digital Capability award. The award aims to recognise an organisation that is at the forefront of its field that has made outstanding contributions to the industry and is positioned to make a significant impact to the future.

"Innovation has become a pivotal theme for organisations across virtually all industries, and this year's winner has demonstrated digital innovation and capability. I am pleased to present the 2021 Digital Capability award to AECO Energy. We are thrilled to be honouring a company that has made strides in the digitalisation of energy procurement and for making real progress on improving the efficiency of businesses in Singapore," she said.

AECO Energy's CEO, Alan Jones, received the award and committed to using digital innovation to mitigate the risks and costs of businesses in a maturing Open Electricity Market.

"The energy market is rapidly changing, and it will continue to do so in the coming months, and every business needs to be prepared. At AECO Energy, we aim to save businesses more with our energy solutions that will help them efficiently buy electricity through a platform that's been customised based on their business's energy profile," said Alan Jones, CEO of AECO Energy.

"Winning this award is huge for us, and we would like to thank AustCham and the Australian High Commission for this honour. We are excited to win this award and proud of all the work that the AECO Energy team has done to make our technology solutions indispensable to our customers. We see this award as a validation of our leading position in the energy solutions industry and a positive representation of the energy industry's need and thirst for a digital solution that will change the way businesses buy electricity. We will continue to innovate and deliver digital solutions to provide value to our customers while upholding our ethical values of smart, rigorous and trustworthy."

For any media queries, please contact:

Rome Lopez

media@aecoenergy.sg

Related Images











Image 1: AECO Energy accepting the award from the Australian High Commission Singapore





Alan Jones, AECO Energy's CEO, accepts the award from Angela Robinson, Australia's Deputy High Commissioner to Singapore









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Uniserve Communications Corporation (the Company or Uniserve) is pleased to announce that it held its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, November 18, 2021, whereat Messrs. Earnest C. Beaudin, Kelly Walker, Walter Schultz, Owen Morley, and Stuart Omsen were re-appointed to the Companys Board of Directors, and Mr. Arif Merali was appointed as a member of its Board for the ensuing year.

Uniserve continues to successfully shift the focus of its revenue generating activities to a contractual recurring model. Over the recent months, Uniserve has been proud to launch a number of new products to its customers including Uniserve Hyperconverged (UHC), Uniserve Firewall as a Service (FaaS), Uniserve DR as a Service (DRaaS) and has continued the expansion of its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS) offerings. As Cyber Security continues to present significant risk to small and medium businesses, Uniserve has responded by providing services geared specifically towards the SMB market.

About Uniserve

Uniserve Communications Corporation is a 2018 TSX Venture top 50 performance company.

Uniserve is a unified communications company which has been in business for 30 years, combining voice, data and media services all into one seamless solution, one bill and one point of contact.

This news release was prepared on behalf of the Board of Directors, which accepts full responsibility for its contents.

Learn more at www.uniserve.com or at www.sedar.com.

Kelly Walker

President and CEO

For more information please call 604-395-3961 or email corporate.relations@uniserveteam.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Management has prepared this release and no regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. The statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on managements estimates, assumptions and projections using available information. Uniserve cautions that actual financial results could differ materially from the current expectations due to a number of factors.
Waukesha, WI (53187)

Today

Windy with on and off snow showers this morning. Bright sunshine later. High 34F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 27F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.
Next year, Guanyu Zhou will become the first Chinese driver in the history of Formula 1. He will sit alongside Valtteri Bottas at Alfa Romeo. Frederic Vasseur at Formulapassion.it admits that they didn't just look at talent, since they also looked at the money.

Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikonnen will leave Formula 1 next year. The Finn is retiring and Giovinazzi will drive in Formula E, as he will be replaced by the Chinese driver. According to Vasseur, they definitely looked at his driving style and performance and it wasn't just about the money.

"The performance speaks for itself. He is a driver who has won in Bahrain and at Silverstone; in F2 those are probably the two most demanding tracks, respectively for tyre management and high speed corners. He has achieved some pole positions, I am sure he will do well next year."

Vasseur aims to hit cost ceiling

The Alfa Romeo team boss admits they also looked at the money the Formula 2 talent would bring, but according to him he never lied about that either. "I have always been clear about that, because we want to hit the cost ceiling. That's the best way for us to perform, but it's not the only way. I think Zhou is doing a great job in F2, and I think everyone underestimates the level of performance and the work he's done this season."
INOVYN is partnering with Netherlands-based VT Group (Verenigde Tankrederij) to build Europes first bulk liquid chemical barge powered by hydrogen. The hydrogen powered barge will transport vital raw materials for INOVYN between its sites at Antwerp and Jemeppe.





This is part of INOVYNs ongoing strategy to develop green hydrogen and replace existing carbon-based sources of energy, feedstocks and fuel. The low carbon hydrogen to power the barge will be supplied by INOVYN as a co-product from its chemical manufacturing operations.

VT Group will retrofit an existing barge with hydrogen technology, replacing the gasoil combustion technology that is fitted today. This will reduce annual CO 2 emissions by an estimated 1,000 tonnes.

INOVYN, through its parent company INEOS, is involved in multiple projects across Europe to develop green hydrogen and replace existing carbon-based sources of energy, feedstocks and fuel.

The group will work closely with national and European governments to facilitate hydrogens significant role in the new green economy, including this project.
The Port of Narvik in northern Norway needs a new workboat which should be both fast and emissions-free. Together with eight project partners, it is now seeking public funding to build one of the worlds first hydrogen-powered high-speed vessels. The boat will be equipped with hydrogen fuel cells from TECO 2030 and will be built by the shipyard Grovfjord Mekaniske Verksted (GMV), which is located near Narvik.

When completed, the boat will replace one of the ports diesel vessels. As a result, the Port of Narvik will be able to reduce both its diesel consumption and its CO 2 emissions significantly.





A new hydrogen-powered workboat will put the Port of Narvik in a unique position, where we will reduce our own emissions and use pioneering technology that will become important for both national and international shipping in the years to come. This project will contribute to economic growth and development in Narvik and its surrounding regions and will also be an important contribution to the green transition in the maritime industry. We are very happy that we are able to take the lead in reducing emissions from ships. Brge Edvardsen Klingan, Port Director at the Port of Narvik

The boat is planned to be completed in 2023. The Port of Narvik will mainly use it for keeping an overview of the port and the activities there, for emergency preparedness, and for teaching and training of crews.

The Port of Narvik aims to get the boat classified as a long-range, high-speed passenger vessel, and the plan is that it should be able to keep a pace of 23 knots.

The fuel cells that will ensure the boats propulsion will be produced at the TECO 2030 Innovation Center in Narvik. The boat will be one of the first vessels to have fuel cells from TECO 2030 installed.

TECO 2030 has signed an agreement with UiT The Arctic University of Norwaywhich has a campus in Narvikto cooperate on enhancing research and education in Norway on hydrogen and fuel cells.

UiT Narvik will therefore participate in the project as a research partner, with the aim of gaining expertise in maritime hydrogen systems. This will ensure that they can provide education that will enable their students to become valuable potential, future employees of the partners in the project.

The maritime engineering company BLOM Maritime, the hydrogen supplier Everfuel, the consultancies Proactima and KUPA, and the company Norinnova Narvik, which specialises in commercializing research results, are also partners in the project.

BLOM Maritime and Proactima will contribute to the development of the boat. BLOM Maritime will provide technical assistance to Grovfjord Mekaniske Verksted during the building of the boat, and Proactima will be responsible for risk assessments and analyses to ensure that it will be safe to use.

Knowledge dissemination will be an important part of the project, and KUPA will focus on disseminating the knowledge about hydrogen boats that will be developed during the boats building and testing phase. KUPA is leading a maritime technology cluster in Norway and will pass on lessons learned in the project to its members.

The hydrogen boat will become Narviks first hydrogen consumer and will need to be refueled on a regular basis. The project therefore also involves the establishment of a hydrogen filling station.

Everfuel will seek to develop this filling station. The company is currently working to establish hydrogen filling stations for trucks, buses and other heavy-duty transport all across Norway.

Other users of the port will also be able to use the planned filling station in Narvik. About 500 trucks drive through the city every day, and the filling station will therefore not solely be intended to cater for sea traffic.

The goal is that it will become the worlds first hydrogen filling station that can serve both ships and road traffic, and that its establishment will make it possible for more companies and people in the region to switch to climate-friendly hydrogen.

Everfuel will now, together with UiT and Norinnova Narvik, work to find possible new hydrogen users within the municipality and county municipality, such as buses, waste collection vehicles and taxis.

TECO 2030 is developing hydrogen fuel cells together with the Austrian powertrain technology company AVL.
GREENWICH  Overcast skies and raindrops were no match for the Christmas spirit when Santa and his reindeer arrived Friday afternoon at Sam Bridge Nursey and Greenhouses.

Almost as if on cue, morning rain stopped and skies cleared to patches of sun and blue sky when Santa arrived for the annual Greenwich Reindeer Festival and Santas Workshop and a special Welcome Back ceremony on Friday.

And in true Greenwich fashion, Santa did not arrive by sleigh but pulled into the backcountry nursery in a chauffeured Mercedes convertible, waving to the crowd of nearly100 people of all ages that gathered for the start of the 13th annual event.

The sun came out for us! How wonderful that is, said event master of ceremonies Mary Ann Heaven, who drove the Mercedes  courtesy of Mercedes Benz of Greenwich  to the event with Santa as her VIP passenger. Were so happy Santa and his reindeer are back.

Greenwich resident Carolyn Leistensnider came with her husband Scott and their 3-year-old son Rex. They are Sam Bridge shoppers during the holiday season, they said, and had hoped to come last year until the pandemic changed their plans. Friday was their first trip there as a family to see Santa.

We are very eager to see Santa and the reindeer, Carolyn Leistensnider said.

The event typically attracts people from out of town. This year, Jen De Loizaga from Colorado was there with her 3 1/2-year-old daughter Genevieve and her mother-in-law, Adela De Loizaga, from Norwalk. The family was visiting Connecticut for Thanksgiving and came to Sam Bridge for the first time to start the holiday season off right, they said.

We thought this would be great for her and were eager to enjoy all the festivities, De Loizaga said. This is a fun family event.

While the reindeer were in Greenwich last year, there could be no Santas Workshop because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With that in mind, the Greenwich Reindeer Festival had something special this year.

A mural created by artist Rick Garcia and sponsored by Greenwichs C. Parker Galley was unveiled. People will have a chance through December to sign the edges around it with well-wishes and thank yous to front line medical workers.

Santa himself was the first to sign the mural.

The mural will eventually be presented to Greenwich Hospital for display. Hospital President Diane Kelly not only was on hand for the ceremony on Friday but signed the mural with a thank you to her staff.

Just being recognized by the community is very important for healthcare workers, Kelly told Greenwich Time at the ceremony. They are our heroes. We tell them that every day but this is taking a lot out of them. The pandemic is taking its toll, and knowing theyre being recognized and supported by their community speaks volumes to them.

During the ceremony, Kelly said the hospital would proudly display the mural and that it was an honor to serve the community during such an unprecedented time. Everyone has appreciated the cards, the letters, the drive by salutes, the donated meals during the pandemic and the many incredible gestures of solidarity and kindness, she said.

It truly does sustain the people working in health care, Kelly said.

Artist Garcia traveled from Florida for the event.

It started off with the idea of honoring the nurses, he said. I have a special passion for nurses. I wanted to make it bright and colorful and positive as an overall thank you.

The mural is seven feet by 20 feet and was done digitally.

We wanted to show our appreciation for Greenwich Hospital and all the essential workers, Tiffany Benincasa, principal of C. Parker Gallery, said. Theyre here for us every day and theyve especially been here for us through the pandemicI think this will connect the community with the art world. Maybe not everyone will walk into an art gallery or an art museum, but a mural is a great public way to connect everyone.

The festival, which is being presented by Jenny Allen/Compass, allows kids to give their Christmas lists to Santa and for their parents to purchase photo packages of them with the Jolly Old Elf. A portion of all the photos purchased through the holiday season will benefit Kids in Crisis, a non-profit based in Cos Cob that provides services for the region, including 24/7 care to children and families in need of emergency shelter and counseling.

There is also a Kids in Crisis Giving Tree in set up at Sam Bridge for people to offer their direct support to the non-profit.

This is Sam Bridges fifth year hosting the reindeer festival; it will host the three reindeer through most of December.

The reindeer, who are safely in a pen, will be available for public viewing during business hours at Sam Bridge until Dec. 22. Santa will be meeting with kids until Christmas Eve.

The hours of operation are from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Sam Bridge Nursery and Greenhouses is closed on Sundays.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
GENEVA (AP)  The World Health Organization says it could still take some time to get a full picture of the threat posed by omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus as scientists worldwide scramble to assess its multiple mutations.

Stock markets swooned, some public gatherings got canceled, and countries across the globe suspended incoming flights after scientists in South Africa last week identified the new version that appears to have been behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in the countrys most populous province.

Over the weekend, the list of countries that have spotted the new variant in travelers grew. Portugal detected 13 cases linked to the new variant among members of a single soccer club  only one of whom had recently traveled to South Africa.

On Friday, WHO designated it as a variant of concern, its most serious designation of a COVID-19 variant, and called it omicron as the latest entry into its Greek alphabet classification system designed to avoid stigmatizing countries of origin and simplify understanding.

___

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT OMICRON?

By Sunday, U.N. health agency issued a statement on omicron that boiled down to: We don't know much yet.

It said it wasn't clear whether omicron is more transmissible  more easily spread between people  compared to other variants like the highly transmissible delta variant. It said it wasn't clear if infection with omicron causes more severe disease, even as it cited data from South Africa showing rising rates of hospitalization there  but that could just be because more people are getting infected with COVID-19, not specifically omicron.

From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to more than 3,200 on Saturday, most in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province.

Now, up to 90% of the new cases in Gauteng are caused by it, according to Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform.

There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with omicron are different from those from other variants, WHO said. It said there's no evidence  yet  that COVID vaccines, tests and treatments are any less effective against the new version.

___

WHY ARE SCIENTISTS WORRIED ABOUT THIS NEW VARIANT?

So far, the main difference with other variants appears to be that there may be an increased risk of reinfection with omicron  in other words, that people whove already had COVID-19 could get reinfected more easily.

The variant appears to have a high number of mutations  about 30  in the coronavirus spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people.

Some experts say that could mean that vaccine makers may have to adapt their products at some point.

Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations consistent with enhanced transmissibility, but said that the significance of many of the mutations is still not known.

Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, described omicron as the most heavily mutated version of the virus we have seen, including potentially worrying changes never before seen all in the same virus.

___

WHAT SETS OMICRON APART?

Scientists know that omicron is genetically distinct from previous variants including the beta and delta variants, but don't know if these genetic changes make it any more transmissible or dangerous. So far, there is no indication the variant causes more severe disease.

It will likely take weeks to sort out if omicron is more infectious and if vaccines are still effective against it.

Peter Openshaw, a professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London said it was extremely unlikely that current vaccines wouldnt work, noting they are effective against numerous other variants.

Even though some of the genetic changes in omicron appear worrying, its still unclear if they will pose a public health threat. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially alarmed scientists but didnt end up spreading very far.

We dont know if this new variant could get a toehold in regions where delta is, said Peacock of the University of Cambridge. The jury is out on how well this variant will do where there are other variants circulating.

To date, delta is by far the most predominant form of COVID-19, accounting for more than 99% of sequences submitted to the worlds biggest public database.

___

HOW DID THIS NEW VARIANT ARISE?

The coronavirus mutates as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying genetic changes, often just die out. Scientists monitor COVID-19 sequences for mutations that could make the disease more transmissible or deadly, but they can't determine that simply by looking at the virus.

Peacock said the variant may have evolved in someone who was infected but could then not clear the virus, giving the virus the chance to genetically evolve, in a scenario similar to how experts think the alpha variant  which was first identified in England  also emerged, by mutating in an immune-compromised person.

ARE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS JUSTIFIED?

Depends on who you ask.

Israel is banning foreigners from entering the country and Morocco stopped all incoming international air travel. Scores of countries in Europe, North America, Africa and beyond restricted flights from southern Africa.

Given the recent rapid rise in COVID-19 in South Africa, restricting travel from the region is prudent and would buy authorities more time, said Neil Ferguson, an infectious diseases expert at Imperial College London.

But WHO noted that such restrictions are often limited in their effect and urged countries to keep borders open.

South Africas government said the country was being treated unfairly because it has advanced genomic sequencing and could detect the variant quicker and asked other countries to reconsider the travel bans.

___

AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng reported from London.

___

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.
The brother of a British socialite charged with helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit underage girls says her prosecution is the most over-hyped trial of the century, designed to break a woman targeted by authorities desperate to blame someone for the late financiers crimes.

Ghislaine Maxwell continues to have the backing of her family, and a family member will be in court at all times to show support, Ian Maxwell said in an interview ahead of the trial, which is set to begin Monday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

This is the most over-hyped trial of the century without a doubt, Ian Maxwell told the Associated Press. This is designed to break her; I cant see any other way to read it.  And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence and she is going to give the best account she can.

Prosecutors allege Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, groomed girls as young as 14 to have sex with Epstein and lied about her knowledge of his crimes when she testified in an earlier case. She has been in custody for almost 17 months, after Judge Alison J. Nathan repeatedly denied requests for bail.

Prosecutors held a press conference when they announced the charges against Maxwell, saying she lured young girls into a trap that she and Epstein had set for them.

Ms. Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibility as an adult, using whatever means she had at her disposal to lure vulnerable youth into behavior they should never have been exposed to, creating the potential for lasting harm, FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney said at the time.

But Ian Maxwell says his sister is being blamed by U.S. authorities who are intent on holding someone responsible for Epsteins crimes.

Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 before he could face trial.

This is not quite a put-up job, but nonetheless has been cobbled together so that Ghislaine is made to face the charges that Epstein never faced, Ian Maxwell said.

Ghislaine Maxwell is the youngest of the late media mogul Robert Maxwells nine children. The tycoon was once one of the richest men in Britain, but that wealth evaporated after he drowned in 1991 and investors discovered he had siphoned hundreds of millions of pounds from employee pension funds to prop up his empire.

The children supported each other after Robert Maxwell died and Ian and his brother were charged with financial crimes related to their fathers actions. Both were acquitted.

Now they are rallying around Ghislaine, who dated Epstein and was his frequent companion on trips around the world.

The family continues to demand that Maxwell be released on bail, arguing that the conditions of her detention are tantamount to torture and prevent her from assisting her defense attorneys. The six remaining siblings this week asked the United Nations to investigate Ghislaine Maxwells inhumane treatment.

Ian Maxwell says his sister is in effective isolation at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she is being held in a 6- by 9-foot (1.8- by 2.7-meter) cell that has no natural light and is equipped with a toilet and a concrete bed. She is unable to sleep because she is watched around the clock by four guards and 10 cameras due to unwarranted concerns that she is a suicide risk, he said.

Earlier this month, a judge again refused to let Epsteins former girlfriend trade her jail cell for home detention, citing the serious nature of the charges and her risk of flight.

The denial of bail is wholly inappropriate, Ian Maxwell said. Some very famous, infamous people were granted bail as most recently the killer of George Floyd, a murderer. John Gotti, another murderer, a mobster. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Bernie Madoff. These are all men, of course, who got bail. Ghislaine is a woman who somehow doesnt get bail.

Americans who are interested in justice should be worried, because anyone could be accused of a crime and be held under the same conditions, he said.

The authorities are feeling under pressure  because they lost (Epstein) and theyre feeling under the publics pressure, and that combination of pressure is keeping Ghislaine inside, her brother said. But it still doesnt make it right.
GREENWICH  Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise in town, although confirmed cases remain relatively low in the schools.

With the students and staff out of the classroom for the long Thanksgiving weekend, the Greenwich Public Schools reported six new cases of COVID-19, according to the Friday update of the districts online tracker.

Overall, town officials said this week COVID-19 cases are rising across Greenwich, with 65 cases since Nov. 16 and one death reported, as well as seven patients at Greenwich Hospital currently admitted with the virus. Greenwich has moved into the red because of the increase in reported cases town-wide.

Friday, town and health officials said they expected the uptick and were prepared for it; First Selectman Fred Camillo said he did not plan to change the current open status of town buildings.

In recent months, Camillo relaxed restrictions on masks in both private and town buildings while saying they would continue to monitor the situation and follow state and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. He said the uptick was expected given that colder months mean more people indoors where the virus can spread more easily. He urged people to continue to be careful.

Thats why Ive said to never throw those masks away, Camillo said on Friday. You never know when youre going to need them again. We have the colder weather and we have new variants. Were going to keep things open and do it in as safe a matter as possible. Whatever comes well be ready for it.

He said he was not considering at this time putting stronger restrictions back in place.

Were going to keep monitoring things as we have been since day one, Camillo said. We continue to encourage people to get vaccinated. Were close to 90 percent for people who have had their initial vaccinations so thats really good and we have the boosters available now. That will help mitigate things. We knew the spikes were coming. Were where we thought we would be and were encouraged by the vaccination rates in town.

Greenwich Hospital President Diane Kelly said the town is on average where we have been.

Were watching it closely. Wed like to see no patients with COVID but were perfectly able to care for seven, she said.

What I would say to people as we head into flu season and the COVID winter months, she continued, is it is so critical that people wear their masks appropriately, are getting both of their vaccines and now to get their booster shots.

The report of an increasing number of cases of COVID-19 is occurring as children ages 5 to 11 became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The CDC gave final approval earlier this month for young children to get size-appropriate doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

On Tuesday, the school district reported nine new cases of COVID-19, according to the tracker. Nine new cases were also reported on Nov. 19. The district updates the tracker every Tuesday and Friday to keep the school community updated on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in Greenwich schools now stands at 55 for the month of November and 142 since classes began on Sept. 1.

A total of 58 cases were reported in September and 29 cases in October, according to the tracker.

As of Friday, there were 23 active cases in Greenwich schools, impacting eight buildings, according to the tracker.

There were nine active COVID-19 cases reported at Riverside School; three at Greenwich High; two each at Cos Cob, Eastern Middle, New Lebanon, North Street and Old Greenwich; and one at Parkway, according to the tracker.

Of the 23 active cases in Greenwich schools, 17 were reported among students; two cases each among teachers and service providers, and one each among administrators and non-teaching staff.

Of the active cases, 14 were attributed to family or outside activity; eight of undetermined origin; and one due to in-school transmission, according to the district. Some 22 families reported multiple cases of COVID-19 affecting 51 individuals, according to the tracker.

For the 2020-21 school year, a total of 697 cases of COVID-19 were reported district-wide.

The schools were closed Thursday and Friday for a four-day weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday, giving students and staff a break.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health and Griffin Hospital hosted vaccine clinics at three elementary schools in Greenwich for children in the new cohort to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Jonathan Supranowitz, director of communications for the Greenwich Public Schools.

We had more than 460 total children, ages 5 to 11, get their first vaccination dose at our three clinics. All of these children were given appointments for their second doses as well, Supranowitz said.

Vaccination clinics have also begun at Greenwich Hospital, and appointments are required by calling 833-275-9644 or visiting www.ynhhs.org/covidvaccine. There is high demand for the childrens vaccination, said Magaly Olivero, coordinator of public and media relations at Greenwich Hospital.

Children can also receive COVID-19 vaccines at some drug stores and at pediatricians offices, Olivero said.

Statewide as of last Thursday, 13 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 11 had received their first dose of the vaccine, according to Gov. Ned Lamonts office. Thats about 36,000 doses that have been administered to this age group, which became eligible on Nov. 2.

The increase in new cases is also mirrored in the overall number of COVID-19 cases reported among students and staff in Connecticut public and private schools over the past week. In total, 781 new student cases were reported in the states schools over the past week, the data shows, while 194 cases were reported among employees. Both numbers have increased statewide since the end of October and beginning of November and increased from last Thursday, the last date the state updated its data. The state updates its student tracker on Thursdays but this week was a federal holiday.

The town of Greenwich also reported a recent increase in the rate of infection. From Oct. 31 to Nov. 13, the rate of positivity rose to 2.6, with 10.7 new cases per 100,000 population. That was up from a positivity rate of 1 or lower throughout October, according to the tracker.

The most recent information  as of Nov. 20  now shows the towns positivity rate at 5.5 percent with 15.8 new cases per 100,000 population.

On Wednesday, according to the towns Department of Health there are 80 COVID-19 cases that it considers active in town. By comparison, the number of COVID-19 cases being monitored on Nov. 10 was 28.

I think people still need to practice precautions, especially when gathering over the holidays and not knowing if the people theyre gathering with are vaccinated, said Dana Marnane, director of public relations and communications for the Yale New Haven Health System. Wear masks. Wash hands and, yes, get vaccinated. Get your booster if youre eligible.

Greenwichs death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 97 since the pandemic began, with a total of 6,057 cases recorded since March 2020.

In general, vaccination numbers continue to be strong in Greenwich. According to numbers put out by the town on Wednesday, in the age range of 12 to 17, 96.38 percent are partially vaccinated and 87.83 percent are fully vaccinated. For people age 18-24 in town, 93.36 percent are partially vaccinated and 81.25 are fully vaccinated.

The 45 to 64 age range has 87.88 percent of people partially vaccinated and 81.56 fully vaccinated. And for the age group of 65 and older, 100 percent are partially vaccinated and 90.95 percent are fully vaccinated.

The only demographic that is not at least 80 percent are people age 25 to 44. The number of people in thar age range is at 74.94 percent and fully vaccinated is at 66.66 percent.

For people who are not vaccinated, I will continue to urge them to rethink that, Camillo said.

The town is holding clinics from 1 to 4 p.m. Dec. 1 and 8 at Town Hall to provide Moderna booster shots to eligible people 18 and older. People will need to register in advance through the VAMS system and bring proof of their previous vaccinations as well as identification.

While the clinic for Dec. 1 is fully booked, there were appointments for Dec. 8 still available as of Wednesday afternoon.
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Actors Rayah Julian and Franky Lynn Hill talk about the story behind "The Elite Elf Squad," a free, family friendly 30-minute holiday musical opening at 2 p.m. on Dec. 11 at Agana Shopping Center. For more information, visit @bwtcguam on Instagram.
A federal defendant is scheduled to enter a plea of guilty in connection to illegally coming to Guam after being deported.

T.S. Borja, also known as T.S. Gabriel, attempted to enter Guam in late October, according to court documents.

Coming from Chuuk, Borja arrived at the Guam International Airport and presented a Federated States of Micronesia passport to customs officers. Officers checked a database and saw Borja was deported in March, 2000, after being convicted of aggravated assault, court documents state.

The conviction meant Borja couldnt re-enter the United States without prior approval, which he didnt have.

Borja was indicted on a charge of attempted re-entry of a removed alien. He initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, documents state.

Borja is scheduled to change his plea to guilty at the District Court of Guam Dec. 2.
Fred Aguigui Aguon Jr was arrested twice this week in connection with an arson charge and allegedly assaulting a deaf man.
Yona residents welcome the arrival of the Santa Marian Kamalen statue during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in front the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Yona Dec. 8, 2020.
Vehicle and equipment procurements, increases in pay to staff and to Section 8 landlords approved in 2019 were necessary to prevent a permanent decrease in Guam Housing and Urban Renewal funding, Executive Director Ray Topasna said in a Friday statement.

Because of an on-island visit from (U.S. Housing and Urban Development) officials, we were made aware of a risk to our funding levels and believed these supplemental expenditures were necessary to avoid a permanent decrease in those levels. These supplemental expenditures, therefore, were critical to our mission, so we tasked our staff with planning for and programming them, he stated.

Because of these expenditures, GHURA avoided permanently decreased funding levels, and the agency is now at an all-time high in funding.

Retroactive pay

Topasna issued the statement in response to a recent opinion made by Attorney General Leevin Camacho that it was illegal for the executive and deputy directors of GHURA to be paid retroactively. Public Auditor Benjamin J.F. Cruzs office discovered that personnel action forms from GHURA appeared to have effective dates retroactive to the date that salary adjustments were authorized, which prompted Cruz to request the clarification from Camacho.

According to Topasnas statement, GHURA had suspended salary increments for the calendar year 2020 and 2021 because of concerns from the Public Auditor and the AGs work to clarify the law.

Comprehensive review

GHURA will conduct a comprehensive review of all laws and regulations that govern the agencys expenditures, Topasna said. While GHURA respected the authority of the OPA and the AG, the agency was required to ensure that local laws that specifically applied to GHURA did not conflict with federal laws governing expenditures made to ensure the agencys mission, he said.

GHURA will nonetheless remain committed to proper stewardship over federal dollars, compliance with local law, fiscal responsibility and transparency, Topasna concluded.

GHURAs Board of Commissioners authorized pay raises for the agencys directors on Sept. 11, 2020, following a performance review, and an across-the-board one-step pay increase to all GHURA employees on July 8, 2019, PDN files show. The office of the AG requested written confirmation from the board that payments for these raises were in compliance with Guam law.
The achote-colored rice traditionally eaten on Guam is orange and not red.
Contractors work onthe construction of residential homes in Yigo Oct. 29, 2021. We strongly urge residents to take full advantage of the Emergency Rental Assistance program to get help with their rent costs, especially if they owe arrears.




Haiti - Politic : The new Government already under fire from critics





24 hours after his appointment the new transitional government of Prime Minister ai Ariel Henry https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35323-haiti-flash-ministerial-reshuffle-8-new-ministers.html is already under fire first critics



Former Senator Steven Benoit :

On Thursday, on a radio station of the capital, former Senator Steven Benoit Leader of the "Entente" party criticized the new Government formed by Prime Minister Ariel Henry, calling it an "improved version" of the Tet Kale party, considering that this ministerial cabinet "is the same regime which has been in power since 2011". According to Benoit, "the most powerful politician in Haiti since 2011 is Martelly who he has been pulling the strings of the country for a decade." On his Twitter account Steven Benoit in reaction to the reshuffle declared "Bravo, bravo, bravo to PHTK and allies and above all bon appetit to the new Ministers. There will be no accountability : Loot, loot and loot again 'Kale dada nou Jan nou vle' Haiti is open for business !"



Clarens Renois :

Clarens Renois from the UNIR party said "This is once again a division of the pie between politicians. Therefore, we should not expect much. The only conclusion to be drawn from this installation is that some politicians practice a facade challenge. As soon as their personal interests are satisfied, they quickly fall into line. "A thinly veiled allusion to the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation Ricard Pierre, member of the radical opposition of the "Democratic and Popular Sector" (SDP) to the great satisfaction of Me Andre Michel



Edouard Paultre :

Edouard Paultre Head of the National Council of Non-State Actors (CONHANE), signatory of the Montana agreement, is also very critical, contesting in particular the continuity of the new Government for him "Ariel Henry continues his policy of accomplished fact. The Government is not inclusive and continues to protect the interests of PHTK. We are heading towards an impasse which can only lead to a clash."



TB/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Minister of Planning, a radical opposition member

Ricard Pierre, the Minister of Planning and External Cooperation is a member of the radical opposition of the "Democratic and Popular Sector" (SDP) to the great satisfaction of Me Andre Michel...



Women called to impose themselves on the political scene

Wednesday Ms. Lisa Francois Coordinator of the Association Femmes en Democratie during a workshop for women on participatory democracy, called on Haitian women to assert themselves on the political scene during the next electoral contests.



ADIH met with members of Congress

A delegation from the Association of Industries of Haiti (ADIH) met with representatives of the American Congress to continue the advocacy campaign for the renewal of the HOPE/HELP law which expires in September 2025. More than 58,000 jobs are created thanks to the textile sector in Haiti (data September 2021).



Vaccination b: Promise of the PM

While vaccination is a failure in Haiti 153,182 doses of vaccine injected in total in Haiti since July 16, 2021, date of the first injection and that 68,888 people are fully vaccinated (2 doses). Update 19 November 2021, latest data available. Prime Minister Ariel Henry promises to make millions of doses of vaccine available to the population to prevent Haiti from being isolated from the world (the vaccination record is becoming more and more compulsory for traveling around the world).



Binational dialogue between border town halls

As part of the project "Strengthening the binational dialogue between Haiti and the Dominican Republic to promote social cohesion in the border area", the International Organization for Migration (IOM-Haiti) organized, thanks to the support "United Nations Peacebuilding" a meeting between the border town halls of the North-East. This initiative aims to strengthen the binational dialogue between the Town Halls of the region on both sides of the border.



Installations of Ministers

Josue Pierre-Louis :

On Wednesday evening the former Minister of Justice Josue Pierre-Louis and Secretary General of the Council of Ministers was installed as Secretary General of the Presidency with the rank of Minister. He replaces Lyonel Valbrun in this position.



Dr Alex Larsen :

Thursday, November 21, the Minister of Tourism, Cassandra Francois proceeded to the installation of the new Minister of Public Health, Dr Alex Larsen. He replaces Dr. Marie Greta Roy Clement in this position.



Odney Pierre Ricot :

Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, invested in his functions, the new Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Odney Pierre Ricot. The country is experiencing an extremely serious socio-economic situation. Thus, the Government undertakes to allocate, in the 21-22 budget, funds intended for the institutional capacity building program of the Ministry, to enable it to accomplish its noble mission in the community 



New ministerial cabinet : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35323-haiti-flash-ministerial-reshuffle-8-new-ministers.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Korean Movie | 2018

 Drama

Directed by Ryan Kwon ()

Written by Ryan Kwon ()

78min | Release date in South Korea: 2021/12/02

Synopsis

Jin-da is a 27-year old Chinese young man.

He was raised by a Korean grandmother.

And grew up in China with his biological grandmother.



After her grandmother's death, Jin-da and his friend Jeong-nam visited Namhae, Korea, where she missed her grandmother during her lifetime, and his younger brother Han-byeol and her friend Soo-jin also gathered in Namhae.



When asking if someone's at home, they greet with "Woah, who died?", not as parting words with someone who died, but just being the elderly people in Honghyeon Village in Namhae.



In this village, Jin-da and his company lives with the elderly in Nam-hae, helps and comforts them, and gradually adapts to the life there.



Having stayed in the South Sea longer than they thought of, they eventually face the moment when they have to leave.
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Published on 2021/11/26 | Source

New poster added for the upcoming Korean documentary "I Am Chosun People" (2020)

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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 from Chosun", 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
conjunction with the 25 November of each year, the International Day against Violence against Women, our agency polled opinion women's figures on women's issues and women's issues on the legal and societal side in north and east Syria.

Repercussions of domestic violence

Defining the forms and causes of violence, repercussions and consequences, and how to build a society free from domestic violence, the Head of the Women's Body of Jazira region, Zainab Sarokhan, said that outdated customs and traditions had led to a greater incidence of domestic violence among society and its practice against women.

The capitalist system had formulated laws based on a purely masculine mindset, which exacerbated violence in society and, in its perspective, customs and traditions were a set of guidelines for a society and, over time, turned into laws that bragged about societies, whether positive or negative.

"Wrong customs and traditions are a form of violence"

Zainab compares the maternal and capitalist systems to the success of the former in that period of time: "The natural maternal system called for gender equality, the participatory life between them did not create societal problems, and with the emergence of the hierarchy of power and its climbing ranks upward, societal problems increased with it, as women were subjected to violence and their system was eliminated in the beginning, and then society was subjected to violence in the second degree.

The Administrator of the Women's Body, Zainab Sarokhan, noted the difficulty of resolving the phenomenon of violence in a short period of time, stating that it was a deep-rooted issue in society, which was due to outdated customs and traditions that must be overcome at the outset, thus dissolving the country's regime, so that the phenomenon or problem could be resolved.

The Women's Body aims to combat all forms of violence against women, safeguard their rights, achieve social justice and contribute to the advancement of women's role in politics, as well as to support and encourage women economically through the development of associations and projects.

In addition, the Women's Body has focused on the promulgation of special protection laws for women, including the fight against masculinity in all its forms, equality between men and women in all spheres of life, and their right to nominate for election. During the past years, numerous centres for women and kindergartens have been opened in all cities and parts of Jazira region.

What's domestic violence?

The Women's Council of the Syrian Future Party, in a dialogue seminar, identified the forms of violence as the International Day against Violence against Women approaches, such as physical violence, which is one of the most visible forms of violence, and includes the exercise of physical force against women and their accompanying psychological effects, including weakening women's self-confidence, reducing their abilities and potential and threatening them, as well as verbal violence, which is one of the most affecting women's mental health.

"We follow the situation of women through organizations and events organized in north and east Syria, where we seek to represent their voices in order to identify their problems and try to find solutions to all problems," says Stir Kassem, member of the Women's Council of North and East Syria on civil society organizations.

"Information obtained by women's organizations working in north and east Syria reveals large numbers of women who have been subjected to domestic violence, but remain silent," she adds, referring to the preparation of a programme of events and activities through a special committee comprising a large number of women's organizations in north and east Syria.

The programme includes awareness-raising activities on violence against women and attempts to induce them to break their silence. It also organizes events in the camps for women who have been subjected to double violence by the Turkish occupation and have been displaced from their homes, as well as in the camps of displacement.

As an example of herself not being subjected to violence for her political work, Stir Kassem explains, "The fact that I have not experienced violence, my family has encouraged me to work in the political sphere, believing in the role of women in building a society in which women and men are equal."

In Stir 's words, she had chosen the way to fight the cause of women, despite her difficulty: "I have chosen this path to the lofty goal of the cause of women, their freedom, dignity and rights."

Why does a man resort to violence?

Violence is the product of ancient societal heredity, and its use has been reinforced by the abuse of power that has divided society, linking difficult jobs with men, and characterizing women as weak, thus enabling greater violence against women.

About that, Stir Kassem says: "In the education curricula of the Damascus Government, women have always had domestic chores, and men have tasks outside the home," calling for a change in the stereotype in society, through awareness-raising and the enactment of laws.

To build a society free of violence, the family must be initiated in terms of gender equality and non-discrimination, and educational curricula must be developed to break down the political, economic and diplomatic stereotypes of women over management and employment. This gives continuity and impetus through the enactment of laws to criminalize all forms of violence against women, polygamy and the marriage of minors.

Some male perpetrators of violence are also based on religion, as a result of distorted approaches to the interpretation of the verses of the Holy Koran, while the correct teachings of religion must be disseminated, so as to be a factor in society's lead towards a democratic moral society in which women are able to play their part without exclusion or marginalization.

Women are a free entity"



Legally, the legal adviser of the SARA Organization against Violence against Women in Qamishlo, Nada Malki, said, "To build a society free from violence, the family being the fundamental building block of society, the parents must be made aware, and the father must first be rid of the authoritarian masculine mind and be made aware of the existence of a free woman, who has the right to education, health and work."

While the mother should be alerted to the dangers of a weak personality, and her inability to respond in a timely manner, making her vulnerable to violence and persecution, the patriarchal and authoritarian mindset cultivated by customs and traditions must be overcome.

For a society free of violence, the family must be developed

Nada Malki stressed that in order to build a society free of violence, the family must be developed, so that we have built a society of morality, "stressing that the power of the law is not a real deterrent and can be eliminated, and that laws are not discarded once and for all, but formulated in accordance with ethical regulations.

The administrator of the Social Committee at the Kongra Star in Qamishlo, Mazkin Hamo, and the legal adviser Nada Malki, agreed that the family was the main foundation of society, "so it must be built properly to create a society free of violence and based on equality, safeguarding the rights of the genders."

The principle of mutual discussion between the family and the adoption of the language of dialogue was put forward by Mazkin, in a move that would eliminate masculine mentality, while accepting the other view, through awareness-raising campaigns, cultural lectures and free time for the child.

Two sides limit women's participation"

For her part, the spokeswoman for the Syrian Women's Council, Lina Barakat, referred to violations committed against women in areas under the control of the Damascus Government and in areas occupied by Turkey, noting "There is no legal environment that protects women. They cannot resort to the courts to protect themselves from violence. There are discriminatory articles regarding areas of the Damascus Government, which prevent them from exercising their rights. What made matters worse was the presence of mercenaries of the Turkish occupation, who had ideas that were hostile to women's freedom.

Lina Barakat stressed that the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation do not possess the lowest standards of morality. The occupied regions are experiencing almost daily rape and abduction.

She added: "The failure of the Turkish occupation to allow humanitarian organizations to monitor such violations, to obtain accurate statistics of such crimes, and mercenaries endanger the lives of humanitarian workers in organizations, prevents them from being detected and raised as official documents of international organizations to hold the perpetrators of such crimes accountable."

According to Lina Barakat, in order to protect Syrian women, the Syrian Women's Council must, for example, be a functioning women's institution throughout Syrian geography, carrying out the defence of abused women, obtaining their rights or demanding changes and amendments to laws, eliminating discrimination in laws and applying international treaties and agreements that preserve and safeguard the dignity of women.

T/S

ANHA
FRIDAY Street in Henley is the towns worst road for illegal parking.

A total of 39 offences was recorded there in the first two-and-half weeks after the return of civil enforcement.

Oxfordshire County Council took over responsibility for parking offences from Thames Valley Police on November 1.

Tickets and fines in towns and villages in South Oxfordshire are now issued by wardens and enforced by Conduent Public Sector, a contractor for the council, which is the highways authority.

For the first two weeks, only warning notices were issued to offenders but since Monday last week, drivers have been issued with fines, which vary from 50 to 70.

In the initial fortnight, 144 warning notices were issued in Henley town centre, including 34 in Friday Street, and 23 fines were issued between Monday and Wednesday last week, including five in Friday Street.

The vast majority of offences were for vehicles parked in a restricted street during proscribed hours.

Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak, a town councillor who also represents Henley on the county council, said he wasnt surprised by the figures and believed that civil enforcement would be good for Henley.

He said: It will mean residents drives arent parked over and cars parked inconsiderately are ticketed so the drivers then park in sensible places.

Oxfordshire County Council were very fair in having a grace period so drivers and residents could get used to the new system.

What we must remember is the reason for all of this. If cars are parked illegally and inconsiderately then on occasion it can really screw up the traffic in Henley. In the past the local bus service has been compromised in its operation and could not visit Townlands Hospital because of inconsiderate parking.

If people are parked in places they should not be, its perfectly reasonable for them to be ticketed.

Mayor Sarah Miller said: I feel sorry for the people in Friday Street as I imagine they live there and its not people coming into town and being a bit cheeky.

But we do need to enforce illegal parking, particularly in the town and in the delivery bays.

Some residents of Friday Street welcomed the new rules.

Richard Owen said: People do still park on double yellow lines and some are residents and some are people from outside town.

I think doing the fines will get the message across as not a lot was happening before and there has been an improvement already. Overall its a positive thing that were seeing more ticketing. Nigel Pike, who has lived in Friday Street for 23 years, said: The majority of the illegal parking is actually by residents as theres not enough parking spaces in the street  I am almost never able to park outside my house.

In the last five to six years theyve put in a lot more flats and that has increased the demand.

Im quite happy for the council to ticket people because when you have three or four cars parked illegally it encourages other people to do the same.

However, they need to think about a balance as its unrealistic to expect residents to park in a car park.

In April, a Tesco lorry got stuck attempting to turn left into Queen Street from Friday Street because cars were parked illegally on both sides at the junction.

In May, a heavy goods lorry being driven along Friday Street dented and scratched a Vauxhall Agila due to the lack of room caused by cars parked unlawfully. However, the commercial drivers were also in the wrong as HGVs are banned from Friday Street. The HGV driver said he had not seen the warning sign.

Across South Oxfordshire a total of 1,199 warning notices was issued in the first two weeks.

Councillor Tim Bearder, cabinet member for highway management at the county council, said: People have praised our enforcement officers for finally taking action against drivers who have previously been getting away with it while causing a major inconvenience to other road users, cyclists and pedestrians.

It is heartening to hear that so many people are thanking them for doing something about a problem that has been going on for many years.

Drivers who are fined will receive a 50 per cent discount if they pay within 14 days of receiving a notice.

 What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters

@henleystandard.co.uk
A CHARITY in Henley has appealed for more support during the winter despite having its best ever year for fundraising during the pandemic.

Nomad is a community project based at the d:two centre in Market Place which helps children, young people and families.

It also runs the Henley food bank, which received more than 85,000 worth of donations last year.

Peter Lloyd, a trustee of the charity, said there was a tough winter ahead.

Speaking at the charitys annual meeting, he said: Demand for our food bank fell over the summer but it is now rising again.

Theres much more to be done so please continue to support us as you have done in the past.

In the financial year to March 31, Nomads total income was 267,533, up from 191,096 the previous year.

Mr Lloyd said: The year started on April 1, 2020, two weeks after the start of lockdown. It was a time of anxiety and many people found themselves without regular income.

The trustees anticipated two things; firstly, that there were people who wouldnt be protected by the furlough scheme and more people would fall on hard times and, secondly, that people would be less generous. We were right on the first point, demand did rise but wrong on the second. Donors recognised our needs and responded generously.

Were very grateful and thankful to all of you who have helped us through the year.

Mr Lloyd said that government grants, including one from Henley Town Council, had risen from 39,000 to 54,500.

The income from work in schools went down from 11,115 to 4,443 because the charity wasnt allowed to go into them for most of the year.

The charity received 26,229 in donations to buy items for the food bank as well as 60,000 worth of actual food, up from 7,465 the previous year. The food bank supported 250 households during the year.

Mr Lloyd said: Were extremely grateful to all those who have given time, money and food.

The charity replaced its old vehicle with a one-year-old van, which is used to transport food and equipment and take children and young people on day trips.

Nomad reduced its staff by one during the pandemic, which saved 10,000, but the role has since been reinstated and the charity hopes to add a new staff member in the new year.

Chris Ward, a businessman and Nomad fundraiser, said: Ive been blown away by the support weve received. It has been the best ever year of fundraising for Nomad.

The money has gone towards a new van and a much-needed kitchen refurb for the people at d:two and to help cover salaries and possibly one new addition to the team in the new year.

Mr Ward was among those who took part in a virtual row of the Channel which raised 10,000.

He also organised a fundraising dinner at the Relais Henley earlier this month which raised another 10,000. The 50 guests included former BBC director-general Lord Hall and his wife, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, who live in Henley. Hotel owner Grace Leo provided a subsidised three-course meal. This helped Nomad reach its fundraising target for the year of 25,000 to mark its 25th anniversary.

Mr Ward said it was one of Nomads most successful ever nights and he planned to make it an annual event.

Nomad manager Tim Prior said: Nomad isnt just a food bank, it is community work, schools work, after-school work and family support. Back in 1996 we were established with a single youth worker with the simple remit to build positive relationships on the streets.

Theres often a false assumption that Henley doesnt have any of these issues. Why should it  its a beautiful town?

I can categorically say that we are experiencing these issues on our doorstep. Whether or not you are on a high or low income, personal situations can change very fast. Loneliness and isolation are problems for many.

He said the charity had provided grants to help a young person learn the piano, to provide laptops and white goods and to buy a single father a mobile phone as it was the only way he had of contacting his child.

The meeting marked the retirement of Mr Priors mother Sue as secretary of the charitys trustees after 25 years.

He said: Some say you should never work with family members but working for the best part of 13 years with my mum has been a real honour.

As long as I can remember, mum has been supporting people. It has never been a job for her. its much more of a lifestyle. We are very proud of everything she has achieved. Her legacy in Henley will last a long, long time and the team and I will miss her immensely.
Press Release

26 November 2021

Singapore  Trip.com Group, the leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar, in cooperation with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) yesterday published their global consumer trends report which observes the global travel and tourism landscape for 2021 as well as forecasts for the short-term and long-term future. The new report titled, Trending in Travel: Emerging Consumer Trends in Travel & Tourism in 2021 and Beyond, uncovers the global trends for consumer travel by evaluating the booking data analysis and consumer survey responses acquired by the Groups platforms as well as those from industry sources, in a bid to better understand the changing consumer behaviour as a result of COVID-19.

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According to WTTC research, the impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for the global travel and tourism industry as the sector witnessed a US$4.5 trillion drop in gross domestic product (GDP) and losses of 62 million jobs globally. According to the report, the pandemic has widely promoted a dynamic shift in consumer preferences for travel which are reflected in three broader clusters  notably booking trends, consumer considerations and consumer profiles. The pandemic has greatly impacted how consumers choose to travel, giving rise to the acceleration of existing and emerging trends which are detailed in the report. In addition, various market examples are also featured across the report.

Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, said, Travellers around the world have shown their eagerness to travel, whether limited to domestic travel or able to cross borders, we see a huge amount of pent-up demand steadily being released. To better evolve with the recovery we must understand travellers, and as an industry adapt to emerging trends.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said, It is clear people are really looking forward to travelling again. Consumers are curious, they are looking at new destinations, the great outdoors and travel that benefits the places and people they visit. As travel and tourism represents over 10 percent of global GDP this is good news for jobs and economies. The impact in some countries has been devastating for local communities and this report shows that business is returning in earnest.

SUSTAINED DOMESTIC REDISCOVERY

As international travel continues to face persisting limitations or restrictions, travellers continue to remain compelled to search for travel experiences within their home countries. Therefore, the report identifies that domestic travel will continue to lead the recovery of the travel and tourism sector, especially in the short to medium-term.

In particular, the concept of staycations may continue to be in demand and more so for countries with prolonged restrictions on outbound travel. Globally, the report found that more than half of global travellers plan to travel for a domestic holiday in the next 12 months. Trip.com data analysed a surge in overall global domestic hotel bookings in 2021 as compared to previous years, with an increase of over 200 percent for 2021 compared to 2019.

Particularly for Asia-Pacific markets including Singapore, there has been a sustained increase in demand for staycations domestically. The report indicated that this growth and demand would also be attributed to the respective governmental policies for each country. Singapore, for example, introduced the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV) scheme to boost domestic demand. The scheme grants locals, above the age of 18, S$100 vouchers for use on hotel stays, tours, and at attractions.

The report noted that domestic travel may slow proportionally as international travel returns, but added that the trend to rediscovering domestic destinations is likely to linger in the long-term.

PREFERENCE FOR LONGER STAYS

2021 has shown a pent-up demand for extended stays with approximately one in four global travellers preferring longer stays of over ten nights, thus suggesting a trend towards extended stays as travellers attempt to make the most of trips taken. In addition to which, the pandemic has also incited an appetite for hybrid models of travel, which combine work and school with leisure travel. Termed Bleisure, in the form of workcations or flexcations, this form of travel is also a key force to aid the recovery of the travel and tourism industry.

In Asia Pacific, a majority of Thai (69 percent), Vietnamese (57 percent) and Chinese (54 percent) respondents indicated that remote work during quarantine and travel would encourage them to stay longer during their trips.

A NEW WAVE OF TRAVELLERS

The report uncovered that travellers today value flexible bookings for travel products and this has led to the need for the industry, including airlines, hotels and travel providers, to adapt and review cancellation policies to accommodate changes that may affect traveller itineraries. Global data from Trip.com also identified shorter booking windows for hotel and flight bookings made on the site - where flight booking windows decreased by 56 percent to 23 days, and hotel bookings dropped by 22 days to 10 days in H1 2021, compared to H1 2019.

With the prolonged periods of isolation facilitated by COVID-19, travellers are showing a preference to travel to less crowded and even unfamiliar destinations, with an increased interest in exploring secondary destinations and nature. According to Ctrip data for Asia-Pacific, there has been a rise in nature-related attraction bookings  with a 264.5 percent increase in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020.

Travellers today are seen to opt for more sustainable and wellness-driven travel options. The report identified an increase for travellers, notably 94 percent of travellers in Thailand, who plan to reduce and recycle when visiting a destination. Virus prevention measures are also crucial in the making of travel plans. In particular, a majority of Asia-Pacific consumers (72.8 percent) prioritise clear health and safety precautions above price (36.8 percent) and location (46.3 percent).

Looking ahead, there is no doubt that travel will recover  with the WTTC projecting a rise in travel & tourism GDP by 30.7 percent in 2021 and 31.7 percent in 2022.

For more information on the Trending in Travel: Emerging Consumer Trends in Travel & Tourism in 2021 and Beyond report, download the full report here.
Press Release

26 November 2021

Following the ease of travel restrictions and reopening of international borders for vaccinated travelers, global airlines companies are striving to maintain services majorly by addressing staffing shortage issue amid massively increase in bookings. Against this backdrop, American Airlines, Inc. (American Airlines) has emerged as the top mentioned airlines operator among the top 10 most mentioned airlines companies on the basis of social media conversations of Twitter influencers and Redditors in 2021*, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

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Photo: GlobalData Plc

An analysis of GlobalDatas Social Media Analytics (SMA) Platform, which identifies and tracks the emerging trends, pain areas, new fields of innovation among discussions of Twitter influencers and Redditors, revealed that the remaining top nine positions are occupied by Delta Airlines, Inc (Delta), Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest), British Airways), United Airlines, Inc (United Airlines), Air Canada, Air France-KLM, JetBlue, Alaska and Qatar Airways.

Smitarani Tripathy, Influencer Analyst at GlobalData, comments: Global airlines are facing staffing shortage due to the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a necessary step according to the social media contributors to boost confidence among travelers amid the rise in travel demand on ease of travel restrictions."

Airline companies have taken varied approach for vaccination of their unvaccinated employees, including pay cut, increase in insurance premium, unpaid leave or termination. On other side, airlines companies are also offering bonuses to employees to avoid staffing shortages, a key underlying issue which is threatening to hinder the recovery.

1. American Airlines | 12,000 Mentions

American Airlines was the most discussed airlines company among Twitter influencers and Redditors in 2021*. The conversations on American Airlines spiked the most when the company cancelled more than 2,000 scheduled flights due to unfavorable weather and shortage of staff.

Social media conversations also surged when the company reported better than expected sales for Q4 2020. Influencers have appreciated the companys move as the partnership with JetSmart Airlines has the potential to meet customer demand with restart of travel.

2. Delta | 8,450 Mentions

A dramatic conversation spike among influencers around Delta was noticed when the company announced to take stricter measures by imposing a US$200 monthly surcharge on the companys healthcare plan of employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. Influencers sees this as the latest tactic to cajole workers into having a COVID-19 jab.

3. Southwest | 6,900 Mentions

Southwest gained 46% growth in conversations following the cancellation of thousands of flights due to the protest of employees against vaccination mandate policy of the U.S. federal government.

4. British Airways | 5,700 Mentions

A sharp rise in social media conversations around British Airways was noticed when it restarted flight to its long-haul destination New York, as the US eased travel restrictions and reopened border for fully vaccinated international travelers after 18-months.

5. United Airlines | 5,200 Mentions

Conversations around United Airlines spiked up when the company became the first airline to mandate vaccination for their employees, after The US FDA gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in August.

*As on 20 November 2021

About GlobalDatas Social Media Analytics Platform

GlobalDatas Social Media Analytics platform allows businesses to understand brand sentiments, product led conversations, buzzing trends over Reddit and Twitter by using a combination of AI and human based analysis that curate content and displays only what matters to you.
Press Release

26 November 2021

SINGAPORE - This week, Hilton announced Travel the World, its new marketing campaign inspiring consumers to explore the wonders of their home countries and discover local alternatives that match the experiences at some of their favourite international destinations.

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At a time when many travel restrictions remain and international travel is complex to navigate, Hilton understands consumers are eager to explore something new, yet many feel more comfortable travelling closer to home. The new campaign aims to showcase how domestic travel offers a wealth of similarly wonderful experiences that are a lot more accessible.

This year, Hilton conducted extensive proprietary consumer research in Asia Pacific, and found that on average 34% of families are now more actively looking to book domestic travel versus pre-pandemic1. We understand there is a significant pent-up demand to travel or reconnect with loved ones, and we continue to adapt to meet the evolving needs of our guests, said Ben George, senior vice president and commercial director, Asia Pacific, Hilton.

With 500 hotels across Asia Pacific, Hilton has the breadth and depth of properties across 11 trusted brands for travellers to connect with these local experiences, all of which deliver the exceptional hospitality that we are known for. Our latest marketing campaign, Travel the World, inspires and connects consumers in large domestic travel markets Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and Thailand to experiences they can have in their home countries that satisfy their international travel ambitions, he added.

Travel the World highlights the endless options for international-inspired travel accessible from many Hilton hotels in Australia, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. There is no shortage of culture, nature, adventure, and food and wine in these countries and the campaign celebrates them all, highlighting the best travel experiences across the region:
Rumours regarding a relationship between Rick Ross and Tanzanian model Hamisa Mobetto have been flying for some time now, and from the looks of their latest vacation photos, things are heating up between the two.

Back in September, the Diced Pineapples rapper was asked about his situation with Mobetto, to which he said, to be honest, there is a connection but then Im going to leave it to her to explain the nature of the relationship we share. Ross then added that the 26-year-old is doing a great job and that hes very proud of her. She is such a beautiful person, beautiful spirit and she is a huge entrepreneur and I want to help her take it to the next level.





Just a few months later, footage uploaded to The Shade Room shows the two in Dubai, bumping and grinding at a nightclub. The clip reveals Mobetto in a beautiful black dress, adorned with plenty of jewels and a sleek black ponytail. Ross can be seen leaning in for a kiss, and the model covers her face for the intimate moment before they smile and continue to dance the night away, making the most of their romantic getaway.

He even got me flowers, another photos in TSRs post is captioned, seemingly screenshotted from the mother of threes Snapchat story. While she didnt offer up an explanation to her and Ross relationship following his September comments, Mobetto did write, awwww I'm Truly honored..... Thank you @richforever I appreciate the Love, See You soon," on her Instagram at the time.





What do you think of Rick Ross new relationship? Let us know below.

[Via]
Backups at U.S. ports. Delayed shipments. Empty shelves. It all adds up to one thing for moms, dads and grandparents: toy anxiety.

Acquiring the most popular toys presents a challenge even in the best of times, and this years supply chain problems might appear to make it insurmountable. But toy industry analysts say dont give up. Persistence can go a long way in in finally getting sought-after toys, analysts said, and if that fails, there are lots of other cool toys out there that will bring smiles to kids on Christmas morning.

Even though theres going to be shortages on specific products this holiday season, theres going to be stuff out there to buy. said James Zahn, senior editor of the Toy Insider, a publication considered to be the Bible of the U.S. toy industry. And because theres such a big demand, I think that people are going to buy it.

At the top of the hot toys list  other than the ever-elusive PlayStation 5  are so-called fidget toys that keep childrens hands busy, led by the Pop It line, which includes a variety of rubbery pads of various shapes, keychains and animal figures covered in bubbles, which can be pushed in and out.

Kinetic Sand, another popular brand that focuses on hands-on play, offers a variety of kits that allow children to manipulate the colorful, pliable sand mixture into a variety of shapes and objects, industry analysts said. Plush toys, such as Squishmallows, sort of next-generation stuffed animals, are all the rage for young children.

For preschoolers wanting to get in on the technologic toy craze, the Fly Bar Bumper Car is a tyke-sized electronic bumper car on which kids as young as 18 months can ride, Zahn said.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

Judging the trends

In Houston, owners of independent toy stores have developed their own strategies to compete with the big-box stores and online retailers, offering outstanding unique or unusual products not widely available.

Vanessa Wodehouse, owner of the Big Blue Whale toy store in the Heights, and On the Park, a toy and candy store in Kingwood, said thriving in a competitive market requires anticipating consumer trends and by offering comparable products to brand-name items found in the big-box retail stores. Take, for example, Squishmallows.

Because of their popularity, only the biggest chains can procure them, Wodehouse said. But instead of ceding that market to her larger competitors, Wodehouses stores offer similar huggable, squeezable plush toys of equal quality, produced by manufacturers Ty of Oakbrook, Ill., Douglas of Keene, N.H. and Squishable.com of New York.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Supply chain struggling to meet holiday demand

We try to follow trends, said Wodehouse, but we also get inventory that were able to procure that sometimes is not available to other small toy stores.

Carol Stanley, owner of Tomfoolery Toys, an independent Meyerland-area toy store, said she knew Pop It toys would be popular this year shortly after last Christmas when her young customers began asking for them. She started laying in supplies of silicone toys, which provide the sensation and satisfaction of popping bubble wrap.

Stanley sees the popularity of Pop It as a reaction to the immense amounts of screen time that children endured during the pandemic as schools went virtual. They toys have also proved cathartic for parents, who have spent more than a fair share of time staring at screens while working remotely.

This was a way to keep their hands busy, movement, Stanley said. Its funny, because adults come in and they play with the toy and theyre like Oh my goodness. I cant stop.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

STEM and STEAM toys

Fiddle Sticks Toys, located in the Childrens Museum Houston, focuses on toys with a connection to the museums exhibits. The shop offers a wide selection of the popular fidget toys, including Pop Its, the Nee Doh Groovy Glo stress ball and Pea Pod toys that let young children squeeze a bean out of a pod again and again.

Then theres the NebulaOrb Flying Boomerang Spinner Drone, which combines the flying characteristics of a drone with those of a boomerang that returns to the user. You shoot it out and it lights up and spins and comes back to you, she said.

Another popular line of toys among Fiddle Sticks youngest customers are those produced by Melissa & Doug, including play food sets and puzzles. Those have always been popular, but lately kids have been gravitating towards them more, even the older kids, Lewis said.

FUNdamentally Toys, an independent toy shop in Rice Village, specializes in educational toys, but also offers not-so-educational toys such as LEGO, and Mattels Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels, owner Cliff Moss said.

The store showcases science-oriented products produced by European companies, such as Thames & Kosmos, a German company that makes Gravity Bugs Free-Climbing MicroBot, which can crawl up solid surfaces like an insect. The companys Dr. STEM Toys Talking World Globe teaches youngsters about geography in an interactive way.

Another popular product that combines creativity with learning is the Pixicade Mobile Game Maker, a designing toy, which works with an application that lets users create their own video games, Moss said. But after a year of lockdowns, toys that encourage physical play, especially in the outdoors, are flying off the shelves.

Micro Kickboard, which produces a line of scooters, is the number-two product brand in his store, after LEGO, Moss said.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

National trends

Despite a focus on the latest technologic marvels, dolls, action figures and other timeless toys, are expected to be in high demand this year, said Leigh Stidham, a Walmart spokeswoman. Part of the trend comes from the nostalgia of parents, she said. The other part? Its still fun to squish and craft Play-Doh into whatever your imagination comes up with.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Why Houstonians are shopping early and often

Among the in-demand toys is the Play-Doh Kitchen Creations Rising Cake Oven playset, which lets young, aspiring bakers create their own culinary masterpieces, Stidham said. I dont think my Play-Doh was quite that fancy, she added,

In another example of breathing new life into an older familiar product, Spin Master has introduced the Giant Edition of the classic board game Sorry. The floor model version, about the size of the Twister game, includes pop-up dice and allows players to interact with it  as opposed to just having the game sit on a table.

One of the hottest new toys this year for children ages 5 to 15, is the Magic Mixies Magic Cauldron. Produced by Moose Toys, the toy features a plastic cauldron that when stirred, produces a stuffed animal inside. For preschool-age children, Stidham said hot-selling toys include anything that features characters from popular childrens television shows, such as Raya and the Last Dragon, Paw Patrol and Ryans World.

Justin Rex, Houston Chronicle / Contributor

Dolls and action figures

Dolls remain a perennial favorite category of toys, and many established brands are coming out with new doll-related products this year.

The L.O.L. Surprise line of dolls this year is offering the L.O.L. Surprise OMG House of Surprises, a doll house that measures 4-feet-tall by 4-feet-wide with four stories and 10 rooms, including a bedroom, bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, living room, pool, rooftop patio, movie theater and diner. The My Life As collection of dolls, featuring 18-inch-tall dress-up figures, also is expected to be popular again this year.

Hasbro has recently come out with a new line of GI Joe action figures, GI Joe Classified, which is super-hot, said Toy Insiders Zahn. Mattel has relaunched its popular Masters of the Universe franchise, featuring He-Man and Skeletor. Similarly Spin Master this year is offering the Batman Bat-Tech Batcave, a 30-inch Batman that opens into a large Batcave playset for smaller action figures.

In the action figure aisles, Zahn said, weve seen growth in the legacy brands this year.
Sylvia A. Matthews presided over more than 175 jury trials and 160 bench trials during her decade as a Harris County District Court judge. Lawyers for plaintiffs and defendants say she is smart, fair, well-prepared, hard-working, efficient and decisive.

Matthews will need all those qualities over the next several months as she oversees more than 150 highly complex civil lawsuits filed by victims seeking billions of dollars in damages as the result of last Februarys winter storm, which was one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in Texas history.

The lawsuits filed across Texas include individuals suing for wrongful death, personal injury and property damages and companies complaining about breach of contracts, interruption of business and price-gouging.

Some of the largest power companies, such as the Houston utility CenterPoint Energy, the Chicago company Exelon and Vistra Energy of Irving, one of the states biggest generators and retail electricity providers.

While the lawsuits have been filed in more than a dozen Texas courts, the Texas Supreme Court has consolidated them into one docket, called multidistrict litigation.

The cases are consolidated for efficiency, allowing pretrial issues, such as production of evidence and admissibility of testimony, to be decided in a uniform matter. Once the pretrial issues are decided, the cases are usually sent back to the courts where the lawsuits were filed for trial.

For example, lawyers predict that the 200 lawsuits already filed in the Astroworld tragedy will also be consolidated into a single proceeding for pre-trial purposes.

The litigation involves some of the most experienced and high-profile lawyers in Texas and they overwhelmingly say that Judge Matthews is the perfect jurist to tackle such a massive undertaking.

Shes absolutely one of the most predictable judges Ive been in front of - and thats a compliment, said John Zavitsanos, a Houston trial lawyer who tried numerous cases before Matthews. I didnt always like her rulings, but I could always understand why she made them.

Judge Matthews declined a request for an interview. The judicial canons of ethics prevent me from communicating with you about this pending matter, she said in an email.

Math major

A 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Matthews has bachelors degree in mathematics, which lawyers say underpins her ability to understand and evaluate complex business disputes.

Before becoming a judge, Matthews was a litigation partner in the Houston office of Hunton Andrews Kurth, where she represented companies facing commercial disputes and personal injury claims.

In late 2008, then-Gov. Rick Perry appointed Matthews, a Republican, to preside over the 281st District Court of Harris County as the successor to Judge David Bernal, who resigned.

Matthews handily defeated Democratic opponents in the 2010 and 2014 general elections. As a district judge, she consistently earned high marks in Houston Bar Association polls.

But like many of her GOP colleagues on the bench, she was swept from office in the 2018 Democratic wave that dramatically reshaped Houstons courts.

In 2019, she began serving as a visiting judge around the state, with a specialty in multidistrict litigation matters. In addition to the winter storm litigation, she as appointments to four statewide multidistrict litigation involving more than 1,000 cases related to alleged underpayment of insurance claims.

Years to resolve

She is obviously very smart, said Houston plaintiffs lawyer Randy Sorrels, who is a former president of the State Bar of Texas. Shes got a good temperament. Shes fair. She keeps an open mind whether youre on the defense side or the plaintiffs side. And when she makes a ruling, whether its for you or against you, you can be confident that shes right on the law.

The winter storm litigation is likely to take years to resolve, according to legal experts. In fact, the statute of limitations for more lawsuits does not expire for another year, meaning more cases may still be filed.
Oil prices crashed more than 10 percent as a new coronavirus strain sparked fears that renewed lockdowns will threaten a global recovery in demand.

West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled below the $70-a-barrel level on Friday for the first time since late September, while the global benchmark price, Brent, slumped to less than $75.

The downward spiral in prices comes three days after a U.S.-led effort by top consuming nations to release stockpiled crude in an attempt to tame surging energy inflation. Next weeks OPEC+ meeting will now take on an even greater significance, as the producer group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia must decide whether to continue ratcheting up supply or pause the increases in response to the latest market volatility. OPEC+ is leaning toward abandoning a plan for a modest production hike scheduled for January when it meets on Dec. 1 to 2, according to delegates.

The identification of the new Covid variant has already prompted the U.S., the European Union and the U.K. to restrict air travel and triggered a selloff across financial markets, even as researchers have yet to determine whether its more transmissible or lethal than previous strains.

The development apparently wrong-footed many in the oil market who had been comforted by low inventory levels and demand that had rebounded to 2019 levels, said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Management.

It was a lack of downside that had us continuing to think nothing bad could happen, she said. No one was thinking we could get a variant that were not familiar with and it could have meaningful impact.

The price plunge marks a dramatic change in market sentiment. Crude hit multiyear highs in recent months amid an energy crisis in Europe and China that had also sparked rallies in prices for coal and natural gas. Some traders and analysts predicted oil could reach $100 a barrel or more.

High gasoline retail prices prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to seek ways to ease the pressure on consumers, leading to Tuesdays announcement that the U.S. will release 50 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with China, Japan, India, South Korea and the U.K. also set to tap inventories. Still, oil rose on the day that the move was confirmed, suggesting traders had already priced in the new supply, or that they were underwhelmed by the supply response.

OPEC+ had warned previously it would reconsider a potential output increase if other nations went ahead with a reserve release. UBS Group AG said Friday that OPEC+ could choose to pause its current planned output hike of 400,000 barrels a day, or even cut production.

Fridays oil selloff was likely exacerbated by a lack of trading activity during the U.S. holiday period, coming a day after Thanksgiving, and as the New York market closed early.

Its a sign the market got carried away from itself and that we still remain very vulnerable to Covid-19, said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital LLC.

Aside from the headline prices, crude traders also watched several other notable shifts in the market. WTI crude futures closed below its 200-day and 100-day moving averages, signs of technical weakness. The extreme pressure on the U.S. benchmark meant its discount to Brent expanded, reaching the widest since May 2020.

The picture wasnt much brighter in oil-product markets, the part of the oil complex most directly affected by end-user demand. Diesel plunged, particularly in Asia, as the market began to price in a potential renewed hit to economic growth.

This is a huge overreaction in terms of the market, Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at consultant Energy Aspects Ltd. said in a Bloomberg Television interview. This is the market pricing in the worst possible scenarios.
Editor's note: This column originally ran on Dec. 10, 2020.

The cooler weather ushers in one of my favorite special dishes in Texas barbecue: chili.

There are many types of chili. Theres the fancy chili made by talking heads on food television featuring chunky cubes of ribeye steak, tomatoes and maybe even a handful of cringe-inducing beans.

There are turkey and chicken varieties of chili (Jasons Deli has a pretty good chicken version). Theres a soupy Cincinnati-style chili redolent of cinnamon and allspice and served with spaghetti (James Coney Island is the closest you can get here, minus the spaghetti). Theres even a vegan chili with tofu and even more beans (I have no idea where to get this).

But for Texans, theres really only one style of chili that bubbles away on our stove top from the day we are born to the day were no longer around to eat chili. That would be Texas red chili.

I wish I could tell you I have a family recipe for Texas red that includes dozens of ingredients and takes a full day to prepare, passed down for generations on stained and crumbling notecards.

The Pit Room 1201 Richmond, 281-888-1929 See More Collapse

I do not. On the contrary, like many Texans who grew up with a pot of Texas red on the stove, the recipe comes out of a box, acquired at a supermarket, with one of two names on the front  Wick Fowler or Carroll Shelby.

These two brands of chili-kits-in-a-box include packets of spices (paprika being the one that gives it the red tint) that are combined with ground beef, tomato sauce and water. We were always a Wick Fowler family. Still are.

A few decades of making Texas red has yielded insights on how to make box chili the best it can be.

Lets start with the ground beef. Box recipes will often call for an 80-20 grind of ground beef (80% beef, 20% fat). It then instructs you to drain off most or all of the fat after browning. Im not a fan of draining fat off anything, as that is where most of the flavor is.

So Ill actually use a 90-10 slightly leaner grind. It produces just enough fat so no draining is needed, developing a rich flavor with that shiny, thin sheen of flavorful fat floating on the top of the finished product.

Also, both brands include a masa packet of earthy flour you can stir in at the end of cooking. Its raison detre is as a thickening agent and to add some counterpoint to the acidity of the tomatoes, richness of the meat and pungency of the spices. I personally find that the masa flour muddles the flavors of the other ingredients, so I leave it out. If you want thicker chili, just cook it a half-hour longer.

Accouterments should be basic. To make it a meal, Ill ladle the chili over a small amount of white rice and drop on some fresh, crunchy chopped onions.

Of course, if youve made a full pot of Texas red, youll have plenty left over. I separate the remaining chili into single-serving Tupperware containers, put one in the refrigerator for lunch the next day, and the others in the freezer for future chili meals. And although I have no scientific basis for this assertion, Id say the chili is even better the next day after marinating overnight in the refrigerator.

Those single-servings of frozen chili are also great for barbecue leftovers. If I find myself with leftover brisket from a trip to my favorite neighborhood barbecue joint, Ill warm up the chili and brisket (separately) in the microwave, chop up the brisket, and stir it into the chili. Its a meal unto itself.

But if you open the freezer and realize you finished off the last of the chili, no need to panic. Head over to a local barbecue joint like The Pit Room in Montrose, where they make real-deal, scratch-made Texas red from multiple fresh ingredients in a day-long process. Ill order a bowl and a side of crispy chicharrones (pork rinds) for dipping, and a quarter-pound of moist brisket that Ill pull apart and add to the chili.

Lunch doesnt get much better on a crisp, cold winters day.

jcreid@jcreidtx.com

twitter.com/jcreidtx
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP)  A California community is mourning with a recently retired police officer whose son and nephew were killed in a shooting in Colorado. Another son of former Hollister, California police Sgt. Ray Celano was also wounded in Saturdays shooting near a skate park in Colorado Springs.

Dominic Celano, 14, was found dead by police and his cousin, Gage Celano, 23, died after being taken to the hospital, Colorado Springs police said. Dylan Celano, 12, was hospitalized. An online fundraiser is taking donations to cover medical care and funeral expenses.
2 1 of 2 Jay R. Jordan / Jay Jordan, Staff Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Houston Police Department Show More Show Less



Authorities are seeking a 21-year-old man wanted in a Southside killing of another man, according to Houston Police.

Police say Quinton Jermaine Wilson has been charged with murder in the death of 25-year-old Giovanie Thompson, who was fatally shot in the 6600 block of Madrid Street Sunday.
A man accused of killing his wife in Cypress had signed a quarter $1 million life insurance policy two days prior to her death, prosecutors said Thursday, alleging he went to great lengths to make it appear as if she had been killed by an intruder.

Christopher Collins, 41, was charged with murder in the Nov. 18 death of his 46-year-old wife, identified as Yuan Hua Liang. He was being held at a Harris County jail on $150,000 bond as of Friday, records show.

An autopsy found that Liang died of a gunshot wound to the head; the manner of her death ruled a homicide.

On HoustonChronicle.com: HPD: Altercation leads to fatal shooting in north Houston parking lot

At a probable cause hearing Thursday that Collins did not attend, a prosecutor laid out what authorities believe occurred based the steps they retraced.

Collins allegedly called police to request a welfare check after he missed a few text messages from Liang while talking on the phone with his brother. The texts stated there was someone outside of their residence. He did not receive a response when he asked her if she was OK, he told authorities, according to the prosecutor.

A deputy and Collins, arrived at the home on 18000 block of Clayton Bluff Lane and found Liangs deceased body on the living room floor. Upon opening the door, Collins stood in the doorway of the home for several seconds before dropping a bag of food and running over to her, the prosecutor said.

During an interview with authorities before his arrest, Collins said he had gone to a nearby restaurant but forgot his wallet. He returned to grab his wallet from Liang, who stood in the driveway garage, waving goodbye, as he drove away. He then drove to a gym and called his brother, at which point he missed the messages from Liang, according to prosecutors.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Man shot in leg near southwest Houston convenience store

Collins said he tried calling Liang 10 times to no avail. He stayed at the gym for about 45 minutes.

Additionally, he told authorities there was a 9-millimeter handgun in a laundry room when asked if there were any firearms in the house, which he contended Liang had bought him and that he did not like guns. He also stated the couple did not have any life insurance because they had missed a payment.

Officers who searched the house found a sheet of paper for life insurance for $250,000, signed by both parties Nov. 16, prosecutors said. When they searched his clothing, they found .22 caliber cartridge in his pants.

The medical examiner recovered a projectile from Liangs head, which was fired from a small-caliber firearm, according to prosecutors.

Officers obtained surveillance footage from the gym, which showed Collins allegedly going in and out of a mens locker room several times before going to a cafe, where he paced about while on the phone.

Using a key provided by the gyms manager, officers found Liangs wallet and cosmetic bag in a locked locker.

A public defender who represented Collins at the probable cause hearing said he has owned a home in Houston for the last 8 years and was honorably discharged from the military, adding that he was not a flight risk. He has cooperated with authorities.

A judge set bail at $150,000. He is next due in court Monday morning.

alejandro.serrano@chron.com, leah.brennan@chron.com
Google Earth

The CEO of a law firm consulting company is accused of showing two underage girls pornography in the aisle of a Walmart in Katy, according to Harris County court records.

The mother of the two young sisters, one seven and the other four years old, said she was in the women's shoe aisle of the Walmart Supercenter located at 25108 Market Place Drive on Nov. 19, when the man identified in court documents as Bryan Charles Linn, 62, approached the girls and showed them a "naked blonde woman" on his phone.
Houston is the best city in Texas for students seeking a cost-effective higher education, according to a 2021 list of best value colleges compiled by financial technology company SmartAsset.

Rice University and the University of Houston ranked first and third in the company's list, which considered the base tuition, the average scholarship size, and the average starting salary, along with student retention rate and local living costs. Prairie View A&M University, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, ranked seventh, the top value historically Black university in Texas.

No other city in Texas had more than one college in the top ten. The University of Texas at Austin took a distant second place, with the Rice Owls trouncing the Longhorns for the best overall value despite the far higher tuition at the private university.

While the state's top public university charges only $10,600 per year for in-state students compared to Rice's $47,300 price tag, the latter brings down its sticker price with $38,000 in scholarships on average. Rice graduates also obtain an average starting salary of $72,000, about $10,000 more than the average UT graduate.

The University of Houston, at third, is the best value local university in Texas, offering tuition and an average scholarship comparable to UT Austin and an average starting salary of $57,000. The school shot up from 7th place in the 2020 rankings and Houston's Cougars edged out the Aggies of Texas A&M University, which sank to fourth with a slightly higher tuition and lower average scholarship than their rival in Austin.

The Aggies were followed by UT Dallas, Texas Tech, Prairie View A&M, LeTourneau University, Midwestern State, and Texas State in the Lone Star top ten. UT Arlington and Trinity University in San Antonio no longer made the list this year.

TOMLINSON: When it comes to value for money, Texas colleges dont score well

But in a U.S. list dominated by technical universities and institutions, Texas schools fell short of cracking the top ten best value colleges nationally. Rice University ranked 16th, behind the Virginia Military Institute but ahead of Duke University, while the University of Houston ranked 35th, behind the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Texas overall ranked in the bottom half of states at 28th nationally.

charlie.zong@chron.com
"Congressional gerrymandering by Texas Republicans cut out the heart of Houstons Asian community" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

***

An invisible line now separates the Korean Community Center in Spring Branch from its people. When Texas lawmakers redrew congressional maps following the 2020 census, they split up Asian American populations in both Harris and Fort Bend counties.

One district line, winding between a local car wash and bar, severs most of the Korean neighborhoods, grocery stores, restaurants and a senior center from the community center itself, which now hangs on the edge of one congressional district while most of its members reside in the next district over.

Its like (lawmakers) dont even know we are here, said Hyunja Norman, president of the Korean American Voters League, who works out of the center that offers language and culture classes and is home to political groups that work out of its offices. If they were thoughtful, they couldve included the Korean Community Center in (our district). But its like they are ignorant of us, or they just dont care.

Although they make up only about 5% of Texas total population, Asian Texans accounted for a sizable portion of the states tremendous growth over the past decade, increasing from a population of about 950,000 in 2010 to nearly 1.6 million in 2020.

The number of new Asian Americans in Texas surpassed both the Black and white population growth over the past decade, but fell behind Hispanic Texans. Vietnamese is the third most-spoken language in Texas, and the half of Texas households that speak English less than very well speak in Asian and Pacific Islander languages, according to a report from the governors office.

Those numbers gave hope to Texans like Norman that when lawmakers met to divvy up political representation, the redistricting process might yield stronger opportunities for people who look like her to be elected. Instead, Asian Texans lost voting strength around Dallas and Houston, where their numbers have grown the most.

When Korean citizens face language barriers while voting or seeking medical assistance, or undocumented family members need advocates, they look to the Korean Community Center for help. Severing it from its neighborhood, Norman said, exemplifies why representation matters.

During the pandemic, Asian American and Pacific Islanders nationally found themselves the targets of increased hostility. A Pew Research Center study found that 58% of Asian Americans said people more commonly expressed racist views toward them after the pandemic began.

In Fort Bend County, Lily Trieus parents grew scared of even routine errands like grocery shopping or filling their gas tanks after the March shooting in Atlanta that killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.

And when Asian Americans in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a resolution condemning the Atlanta shootings, almost every Texas Republican voted against it, including Fort Bend Countys U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls.

This is why representation matters, Trieu told Texas lawmakers when she testified at redistricting hearings. This is why splitting our community to dilute our votes is directly denying our opportunity to receive that representation.

Asian American populations in Fort Bend County have been cracked and packed between three Congressional districts 7, 9 and 22 by drawing new lines straight through heavily Asian neighborhoods.

It makes it really difficult for the (South Asian) community, an emerging political entity, that we havent had years of experience (with redistricting), said Chanda Parbhoo, president of South Asian American Voter Empowerment of Texas. Everything moves so fast that the process doesnt really allow for people to absorb it and to be able to ask questions.

Ashley Cheng, lead organizer of the Texas AAPI Redistricting Coalition, said the community has various issues at stake that a continued loss of representation will exacerbate.

We are in a time of history where were really rising up as a community and making sure that our political voices are heard, Cheng said. Part of that is because our lives are being threatened. Theres been a heightened sense of Islamophobia in the last few years, heightened anti-Asian hate because of all of the political rhetoric around COVID. We have so much in common in a need for representation.

Despite people of color accounting for 95% of population growth in Texas over the past decade, Republican Texas lawmakers approved new congressional maps increasing the power of white voters, but repeatedly insisted they werent intentionally marginalizing Black, Hispanic and Asian communities.

Multiple groups representing Latinos, Asian, Black and other voters have lawsuits challenging the new political maps, saying they intentionally discriminate and violate the federal Voting Rights Act.

As the cases swirl through state and federal courts, experts say gerrymandering that specifically targets Asian American communities may not violate the law.

One thing that distinguishes Asian Americans from other communities of color is courts havent formally protected them in terms of redistricting, said Joshua Blank, manager of polling and research at the Texas Politics Project. Mapmakers have to be careful in distributing African American and Latino populations, but theyre not required to do so for the AAPI community.

Blank said this difference comes from stereotypes like the model minority myth. Asian Americans are not viewed as a minority population in need of protection at the voting booth, Blank said.

The Texas Tribune (texastribune.org) is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy.
Woori Juntos is a new organization that advocates for Korean Americans in Houston, who face language access issues and limited community representation.

Its founder, Korean American organizer Hyunja Norman, says its easy for Houstons relatively small Korean American community to be overshadowed by other nationalities with larger populations, such as immigrants from Mexico, India and Vietnam.

An estimated 1.6 million immigrants live in Greater Houston; just 14,000 of them are Korean, according to the Migration Policy Institute.

Norman calls Woori Juntos  which is supported financially by the progressive National Korean American Service and Education Consortium  a community group advocating (for) our own place in America.

From her office inside the Korean Community Center, Norman wears a blue T-shirt that reads citizenship for all. Her hair is cut close to her head  it hasnt had the chance to grow out since she shaved her hair off as part of a pro-citizenship protest in Washington, D.C.

Norman isnt new to community work. Around seven years ago she said she started registering Korean voters through her church. Shes president of the Korean American Voters League and has fought to improve language access in Harris County for Korean-speaking voters.

Now, Norman seeks to build on her community work and advocate for policies that would benefit Koreans in Houston and immigrants from other cultural backgrounds.

Norman chose the groups name  Woori Juntos  to be inclusive of the large Latino population that lives close to its headquarters in Spring Branch. Woori means we in Korean, and Juntos means together in Spanish.

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Norman has already involved the small but active group in multiple protests advocating for immigrant rights across racial and ethnic lines.

At an October rally, Norman played the buk, a Korean drum, while marching with other largely Latino organizations such as FIEL, CRECEN and United We Dream to push Democrats to support a path to citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. through budget reconciliation.

Path to citizenship: Advocates call for reform outside Harris County Democratic Party headquarters

Without immigrant help, we cannot build back better, Norman said, emphasizing the labor contributions of unauthorized immigrants of all backgrounds. She said shes gotten to know many Koreans living here illegally through her community work, people who would benefit from immigration reform.

Woori Juntos is important because it seeks to make Korean Americans more politically visible, board member Dona Kim Murphey said.

With around 10 to 20 percent of Korean Americans being undocumented in this country, with laws like SB1 specifically targeting our experiences as limited English proficiency voters, and with redistricting to dilute our votes, we must protect our foundational rights, she said. If we dont, no one else will.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, around 5,700 Koreans living in the United States without legal permission are protected from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, an Obama-era protection for people brought in unlawfully as children.

Another 32,000 more Koreans are eligible for DACA but wont be able to access protections, as the government has been blocked from granting protections to new applicants due to a ruling by a federal judge in Texas.

DACA Lawsuit: Undocumented youth left in limbo

Norman sees advocating for citizenship as an extension of the work shes done to promote voting among Korean Americans.

Being American means voting, said Norman, who immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea in 1999.

But coming out in favor of progressive immigration policies has its drawbacks in her community work.

Citizenship for all isnt well-received among a population she works with closely  first-generation Korean seniors, who tend to support Republican candidates.

Seniors, older generation, first generation  they are very conservative, Norman said. That is my dilemma.

She acknowledges the irony that she often registers and drives voters to the polls who may cast a ballot for candidates who oppose immigration reform.

She also translates candidate information from any political party into Korean for posters and local media so the community can decide for themselves whom to vote for.

It doesn't matter, she said. I want to help our people get out the vote.

elizabeth.trovall@chron.com

twitter.com/eliztrovall
As the scent of fresh stir-fried vegetables and rice wafted through the air outside of the Houston Public Library downtown, Food Not Bombs volunteer Justin Jackson saw the beauty in helping out people facing a lack of housing  a predicament he was in not too long ago.

The good thing about us is that pretty much every one of the regular volunteers has been homeless, Jackson said, referring to the handful of individuals who were serving food on a recent Wednesday night. We understand the frustration and the needs.

Food Not Bombs  which started its local chapter in Houston in 1994  has been serving vegan meals since 2006 at the library location. Yet, the group has recently found itself at odds with Mayor Sylvester Turner, who last summer said he would like to see the food distribution effort moved to a parking lot across the street from the downtown municipal court on Lubbock Street.

This is not about trying to hurt the homeless at all, Turner said at an August city council meeting, refuting claims by homeless activists that the city was trying to keep the unhoused community out of sight and out of mind.

What has never worked is having this done at the library, which discourages families and their children from attending the library, Turner added. This has never been a good fit.

Food Not Bombs at loggerheads with mayor: group to continue serving in front of downtown Library

The city has threatened to use a 2012 ordinance to try to move the group to the Lubbock Street parking lot. The ordinance states that groups of more than five people cannot be served at a single time. On average, Food Not Bombs serves about 150 individuals per night outside of the downtown library.

Food Not Bombs is a loosely organized national collective, with each group able to run its own programs as it sees fit. Since the collectives inception in 1980 outside of a protest against nuclear weapons in New Hampshire, its food sharing has included veganism and access to healthy foods for everyone.

Volunteers will either cook their own vegan dishes to share or donate ingredients that can be used for the menus served on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.

Although the group has changed over the decades, the precepts remain the same: fully vegan meals being offered to communities with less access to those types of foods.

Florida court battle

This isnt Food Not Bombs only time in the cross-hairs of a city. In August, a federal appeals court overruled a city ordinance in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that prohibited food sharing in a local park. The court ruled the ordinance violated the groups constitutional rights to free speech, religion and assembly.

Randall Kallinen, the civil rights attorney who represents Food Not Bombs Houston, said he believed some judicial precedent was set in relation to the food sharing that Food Not Bombs organizes in local communities.

The 11th Circuit (Court of Appeals) decided that based upon what (Food Not Bombs) promotes  in terms of use of land and veganism  it is a form of speaking, he said. When the city of Fort Lauderdale decided to have a similar law as the one in Houston, they declared it unconstitutional because Food Not Bombs is speaking through their work.

While advocates cheered the ruling, the Fort Lauderdale and Houston ordinances differ, said Jodi Siegel, executive director of the Southern Legal Counsel, which represented Food Not Bombs in the Florida case.

The ordinance in Fort Lauderdale did completely ban food sharing essentially, Siegel said. The (Houston) one seems to be regulating and not banning it which makes it a lot harder to challenge, although Im not saying it cant be challenged.

On a recent weeknight, one of four nights a week that Food Not Bombs volunteers feed the unhoused outside the library, the line of those seeking food wrapped around the block. Volunteers passed out numbers that would later be called out when the meals were ready.

For Shere Dore, a homeless advocate for Food Not Bombs, sees the food-sharing event as an opportunity to meet a glaring need in her city.

If we dont have food out here or the reliability of food out here, then youre going to have up to a hundred hungry people out here and what are they going to do for food? Dore asked. At least we take away that element.

Ordinances addressing food sharing  like Houstons  are part of a larger, nationwide movement that fails to adequately address the root causes of homelessness, said Sarah Narendorf, as associate professor of social work at the University of Houston.

Food-sharing ordinances are included in a long list of bans such as camping bans or bans that you cant sleep on the sidewalk, Narendorf said. All of these are ways of criminalizing homelessness rather than getting at the heart of the drivers of homelessness. You see this escalation across the country  not just in Houston  in the past decade where there is a growing trend to have these laws that are really targeting people that are on the streets.

Narendorf said that although officials might declare the issue of homelessness a public health issue, laws that criminalize run counter to that.

City concerned about location

Marc Eichenbaum, special assistant of homeless initiatives for Turner, said the citys concern is the group providing its service outside of the library  not the work being done by the group.

Ill tell you this, we are not against Food Not Bombs feeding the homeless. The city has no issue with them helping the homeless, we are thankful for it, said Eichenbaum, citing the citys own effort in housing nearly 5,000 individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like Food Not Bombs to work with us to find a better location to better suit their homeless clients.

Groups wanting to serve food can apply for permission from the Mayors Office for Homeless Initiatives, which provides training prior to the permit being granted. However, Dore said the idea of obtaining government permission to serve food to those in need conflicts with the groups core values.

Our feeling is we dont have to ask the government for permission to serve out here, Dore said, describing the permit as a whole lot of control.

The groups work, according to Narendorf, is unique in Houston because it provides food in easily accessible public spaces.

They are one of the only ones that feed people in public, she said. And with more housing, there is more need for people to be supported in those spaces Just because a person has housing doesnt mean that food is being taken care of.

To Dore, the attempts to move the group reflect a lack of familiarity among city officials with those in the unhoused community.

If I could bring them out here and ask any of the homeless we serve on a Tuesday night  the 150 that we serve  Do you know their names? and they answer No, that should speak volumes, Dore said.

Since September, attempts by the city to relocate the group have quieted down, yet the needs of the unhoused and recently housed remain as high as ever, she said. Dore pointed to the aftermath of the pandemic and the lack of available mental health resources.

According to the Mayors Office for Homeless Initiatives, more than 3,000 people are experiencing homelessness in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Nearly four in 10 have ahave a self-reported mental illness and nearly three in 10 list an alcohol or substance use disorder.

Dore voiced concern about recently housed people being placed in communities far from support services.

The city could improve its homeless services by including those who have experienced being unhoused previously in roles that would allow their perspective to be heard by officials who are structuring services, she said.

Eichenbaum confirmed that city officials arent actively pursuing the issue with the group, focusing more instead on getting individuals who live in encampments into permanent housing.

For its part, Dore said, the group plans to continue to provide meals outside the library on designated nights, come rain or shine.

joel.umanzor@chron.com
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have been deadlocked over President Joe Biden's Build Back Better bill, which would fund Democratic social and economic goals, including free preschool education.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she wanted to see the bill put to a vote this week, though as of Friday the Congressional Budget Office had yet to score the bill and determine a final cost. Congress passed Biden's separate $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which he signed Monday.

Among the Democratic advocates for the $1.75 trillion bill is Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, who has emphasized the devastating economic effects of the pandemic as a reason why Americans need some of the social safeguards guaranteed in the Build Back Better bill. While speaking on MSNBC on Oct. 25, Allred pointed out the pandemic's disproportionate economic effect on women.

"You've had over 2 million women drop out of the workforce during this pandemic," Allred said. He went on to highlight the provisions regarding pre-K and child care in the Build Back Better bill aimed to strengthen the workforce.

Is Allred right? Did more than 2 million women drop out of the workforce nationally during the pandemic?

Fewer women working

When asked about the statistics, Allred's office pointed to an April Pew Research Center article that found, in an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, a net 2.4 million women dropped out of the workforce from February 2020 to February 2021.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data from the Current Population Survey indicates 77,534,000 women ages 16 and over were in the labor force in February 2020 and 75,149,000 women were working in February 2021. The difference between those numbers is nearly 2.4 million women.

If you wanted to update those numbers, there were 75,737,000 women working in October 2021. The difference between that February 2020 value  before the March 2020 plummet  and October 2021 is nearly 1.8 million women.

So, there were 1.8 million fewer women in the labor force in October than in February 2020.

That shows a significant number of women have rejoined the workforce since February 2021, but the number of women working is still much lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Experts say many women dropped out of the workforce to take care of their children at the beginning of the pandemic, when many schools closed and children learned virtually.

Many economists have tied the September 2020 decline of women in the labor force to the start of school, when 865,000 women dropped out of the workforce compared with 216,000 men.

Mothers have not seen the same economic recovery non-parents and fathers experienced. A February 2021 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found that if recovery had been similar for mothers as it had been for non-parent women, the December labor force participation rate would have been 2 percentage points higher than the actual rate. About 700,000 more working-age women would have been in the workforce then.

While economic conditions have changed since the pandemic's beginning, economist Kathryn Edwards at the RAND Corporation noted women still face pandemic-related challenges to rejoining the workforce. This includes waiting for guidance on and the opportunity to vaccinate their children, finding childcare after the pandemic brought exacerbated staffing challenges in the childcare industry, and schools temporarily closing that would require a parent to be home with their child.

Our ruling

Allred said on Oct. 25 while advocating for spending bills like the Build Back Better bill, "You've had over 2 million women drop out of the workforce during this pandemic."

He accurately cited a comparison of the number of women in the labor force from February 2020 to February 2021.

However, the most recent data indicates many women have rejoined the labor force since February and the net number of women who dropped out of the workforce is a lower number, but not far off from Allred's 2 million. Roughly 1.8 million fewer women ages 16 and over are in the workforce compared to February 2020.

We rate this Mostly True. The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.
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Residents working to preserve Clarksburg School this month offered to get the district information on how a chair lift like the one seen here could help address accessibility issues at the school.

Clarksburg School Advocates: Gradual Repairs Show Town's Dedication to Building



Residents working to preserve Clarksburg School this month offered to get the district information on how a chair lift like the one seen here could help address accessibility issues at the school. CLARKSBURG, Mass.  A group of residents who have worked to make improvements to the elementary school are pressing the administration to explore funding options with the state to do a roof replacement.

But the Northern Berkshire School Union superintendent cautioned that officials from the Massachusetts School Building Authority have been clear that it will not participate in a "piecemeal" project at the 70-year-old facility.

Thomas Bona said the MSBA is punishing the town for voting down a comprehensive school building project that would have meant a $7.7 million local contribution in 2017.

"A lot of people, like the four of us who are here, are going to fight to keep the school open," Bona told Superintendent John Franzoni and the Clarksburg School Committee at its November meeting.

"[The state is] slapping our hands because we voted down a $24 million school project we can't afford. The townspeople are realistic about it. That's why they voted it down."

Bona told the committee earlier in the meeting that he was willing to meet with representatives of the Canadian firm Garaventa about installing a chair lift on a flight of stairs at the school.

He and the other volunteers pointed to that as the kind of small-scale modification, often accomplished with volunteer labor, that can help make the school more functional and demonstrate the town's commitment to keeping it open.

Bona listed a series of improvements that have been made to the school in recent years short of the total renovation that was on the table four years ago.

"We're asking for your help," Bona told Franzoni. "Help us. You have more connections than we do. Who should we talk to?"

Franzoni told the residents that the MSBA has been clear with the district that any project has to be comprehensive before the state will contribute funds.

"They said come back with the town's approval, and we'll consider you for an MSBA project," Franzoni said.

"When I first started this job in 2018, I went to MSBA. They said we're not going back there until the town is in favor of it. I asked if we qualify for an accelerated repair project? They said no."

Franzoni referenced another project in the NBSU to make a point.

"In Florida, that's an MSBA project," he said, referring to window replacements at the Abbott Memorial School. "The town is putting in about $500,000 for that project, but they're getting $1.1 million from the state."

The building repair advocates noted that Clarksburg voters did approve a $500,000 debt exclusion for school repairs in 2019, two years after the failed building project vote.

Franzoni said that money helped but it only goes so far.

"The $500,000 was great," he said. "We've done a lot of great improvements with it.

"I was in a meeting two years ago when the town approved the debt exclusion, and it basically said, 'Don't come back and ask for it again in five years.' That message was pretty clear."

There is a $500,000 earmark for the roof sitting in a capital spending bill passed in 2018. The executive office has been reluctant to invest in the school since the town rejected the renovation project. The MSBA and the state Department of Education had determined that the structure does not meet contemporary educational needs, including being full accessible.

Bona expressed hope that once the town's Select Board is fully functioning and Town Hall is stabilized the town will be able to address fiscal issues and the needs of the school more directly.

In the meantime, Principal Tara Barnes suggested that the district could reach out to Sen. Adam Hinds to see if there is some way to open a dialogue with the MSBA.
This is a contributed article by Malcolm Heath, Senior Threat Researcher at F5 Labs.

On October 4th, 2021, Facebook properties experienced a six-hour outage. The global outage extended to the Facebook-related properties including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus VR.

In a blogpost, Facebooks Santosh Janardhan, vice-president of engineering, explained the outage had begun when the companys engineers issued a command that unintentionally disconnected Facebook data centres from the rest of the world.

During a routine maintenance job, the command was issued with the intention to assess the availability of global backbone capacity, however, this command took down all the connections in Facebooks backbone network. Facebooks systems are designed to audit commands to prevent mistakes like this, but a bug in an audit tool prevented it from stopping the command. This change caused a disconnection of the network connections between Facebooks data centres and the internet.

Given the magnitude of this event, we thought it would be good to dig a little bit deeper into some of the internet technologies that we so heavily rely on.

It's always DNS

Domain Name System (DNS) is a single point of failure for Internet systems. DNS maps names, such as facebook.com, to IP addresses, allowing users to easily refer to sites by name.

DNS, in effect, provides translation between names and IP addresses, like an address book. When a sites DNS servers are down, this lookup cannot happen, and people will be unable to reach your site. Keeping your DNS servers up, operational, and secure is a critical piece of site reliability.

Except when its BGP

Underneath that, theres another technology that is at least as critical as DNS. This is a routing protocol (one of many) called Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). BGP is the protocol that allows Autonomous Systems (collections of large networks controlled by a single entity) to let other Autonomous Systems know how to reach the networks they control. It doesn't do the routing directly but is the protocol that shares information between routers. Having received this information, routers can make decisions about where to forward data.

Why is BGP important?

As an example, one might type f5.com into a web browser. This causes your computer to perform a DNS lookup, and the local DNS server your computer uses will hopefully return an IP address of 107.162.162.40. Thats the address book part.

Now however, your computer must be able to send traffic to that IP address. It's important to note that routing decisions are made on a hop-by-hop basis. Each router your data passes through will decide what the next step of the route should be by looking at the destination IP address and consulting its routing table to determine the next place to forward the data.

If the router participates in BGP, this routing table is constructed from the announcements it has received from other BGP enabled routers.

This will include information on what networks can be reached by which routers. It will also have information about how close that router is to the destination. Close, in this case, doesn't mean the number of routers the data will have to go through, but rather the number of Autonomous Systems that the data will traverse. There is a complex algorithm used to determine which of the possible routes is best. Best can mean a lot of things too, as factors such as egress policies and transit agreements between ISPs are considered as well.

If it turns out that Router As routing table shows two routers that it can forward the data to reach 107.162.162.40, it will pick one of the two, based on those metrics.

Similar routing decisions are made by each router that receives the data, either forwarding it to another router, or determining that it is directly connected to the 107.162.0.0/16 network and delivering the data to the final destination. The same process will be performed in reverse to route the traffic back through another series of routers, and then to the client.

There are a lot of advantages to this scheme. As long as an eventual final destination router for the traffic is available  and most companies with large internet presences have many such routers  our data should (eventually) end up there. As the information required to serve a site is broken down into many packets, they may even take different routes.

This is a feature  if some intermediate router goes down, the packets that compose our request or response can be re-routed to avoid the issue. This is great if the routing tables are consistent and have good information in them. After all, the internet was originally designed to route around nuclear strikes.

Can you supply an enlightening metaphor?

Imagine you want to get to your friends house, but youve never been there. You look up their address. Thats like the DNS part. Now, you need to figure out how to get there, so you go to the nearest intersection and ask someone which way you should go. They tell you to turn left. You go along that road until you reach another intersection and ask again. This person tells you to go right.

You continue this process until you reach your destination. It's possible that someone will tell you, "normally, I'd say go over the bridge, but the bridge is out, so go left here and ask at the next intersection." Or they may say, "going left is more direct, but going right and getting on the highway is actually faster."

The route you take won't always be the most direct way to get there, nor even necessarily the fastest, but it will help you avoid roadblocks, collapsed bridges, and washed-out roads. If everyone you ask has good info, you will get to where you're going. The means by which that good info is communicated is BGP. If BGP is providing incorrect information, or no information at all about how to get where you want to go, bad things can happen.

Is BGP bulletproof?

In a word, no. It's very robust, and scales well, which is a critical feature when you're trying to interconnect billions of hosts. But problems can occur.

A route announcement can omit routes it should be providing  meaning that the associated network simply disappears from the internet. No one knows how to get there, and the traffic destined for that network will be dropped.

This is sometimes done intentionally  its called blackholing a route, and its typically done to block connections to or from a given network. There are a variety of cases. For example, to block DDoS traffic from a hostile network, or in some circumstances, to remove an entire country from the internet during a time of civil crisis. The result is the network traffic is simply deleted, often with no notification back to the sender. The network being blackholed will receive no traffic and will effectively be cut off from the (digital) world.

A route can be announced incorrectly as well. A misconfiguration on the part of an Autonomous System can make it appear as if it can route traffic to networks it does not control. Done intentionally, this is called BGP hijacking, and while there are defences against this, it has happened many times, causing large amounts of traffic to be routed to very strange places, perhaps as an attempt to capture and inspect the traffic for purposes of espionage.

Accidents are far more common. For example, a network operator or automated system misconfigures something. The necessary route either disappears entirely, or the misconfiguration ends up creating a routing loop (where traffic is forwarded back and forth between two routers endlessly), or it sends the traffic to a router that doesnt know anything about the route, which then drops it.

A wake-up call

The outage was an unexpected incident for Facebook. However, it is proof that any organisation  no matter how big or small  can be impacted by outages.

The story is a good reminder for us all to pay a bit more attention to this lesser known but critically important part of the internet's plumbing, and how it helps us get all those cat videos to our browsers in one (eventual) piece.

Malcolm Heath is a Senior Threat Researcher at F5 Labs. His career has included incident response, program management, penetration testing, code auditing, vulnerability research, and exploit development at both large and small organisations. Prior to joining F5 Labs, he was a Senior Security Engineer with the F5 SIRT.
The smartphone has become the center of how we work, live, and play. For many, it has even become the only thing that we bring out of the home, replacing our laptops, wallets, and even house keys.

While we are generally more mindful today of the dangers posed by hackers to our laptops and computers, we also need to recognize that smartphones are prone to cyberattacks as well. Hackers go where the crowds are and right now, thats mobile devices. Thats why its never been more important to stay safe, and why were constantly innovating to protect you and your data against emerging threats.

The billions of smartphones around the world are filled with sensitive personal and business data, providing infinite opportunities for hackers to steal and sell private information. In fact, cybersecurity firm IronNet reported that cyberattacks have increased 168% between May 2020 and May 2021, with attacks on smartphones becoming one of the biggest cybersecurity threats in the Asia Pacific region.

Samsung is committed to keeping users safe and secure, with Samsung Knox providing true end-to-end protection throughout the entire lifecycle of your device. In this article, we explore five potential cyberattack scenarios that could happen when the safety of your device is compromised  and explain how Samsung Knox protects you from these threats, in line with our ethos of placing security at the heart of every decision we make.

Cyberattack Scenario 1: Unauthorized backdoor access

Outside of Samsung, developers routinely create software backdoors for apps and even mobile OSes so that they can gain easy access for troubleshooting purposes. However, hackers are able to discover these backdoors, which usually bypass any or all cybersecurity measures on the device in question.

To prevent unauthorized backdoor access, do not download unofficial or unauthorized apps. Downloading software other than what the manufacturer originally installed to gain full access to the devices operating system could also introduce malware or spyware that leads to unauthorized backdoor access.

How Samsung protects you against this threat: At Samsung, we design, create, and validate every computer chip, every piece of wiring, and every hardware component before using them to manufacture our smart devices in highly secure factories around the world. This chip-up approach gives us control over design, manufacturing, and assembly, ensuring a secure supply chain that prevents unauthorized backdoor access in our devices  resulting in an end product that our users can trust completely.

Cyberattack Scenario 2: Compromised, weak, or re-used passwords

As users continue to create new accounts for digital services, ranging from telehealth services to new ride-hailing and e-commerce platforms, they provide more avenues for hackers to exploit.

An August 2021 survey from IBM found, 86% of consumers in the Asia Pacific admit that they re-use the same credentials across multiple online accounts. This is a poor data privacy habit  just one attack could leave a users entire internet footprint vulnerable to hackers.

How Samsung protects you against this threat: Samsungs devices are equipped with innovative biometric authentication technology, such as Ultrasonic Fingerprint so that access to your data can be protected even if your device is lost or stolen. Known as Samsung Pass, this biometric authentication tool also lets users easily access log-in credentials without the need to remember countless usernames and passwords. To take data protection to the next level, we have also equipped our devices with Knox Vault, a secure processor that operates independently from the main CPU. Knox Vault securely isolates your biometrics data from the rest of your phone, so no one can get their hands on your data.

Cyberattack Scenario 3: Free Wi-Fi may not be so free after all

Free Wi-Fi hotspots are a boon for everyone who needs access to the Internet on their mobile devices for work or play. However, public Wi-Fi services provide an opportunity for hackers to steal data, as the data that you send across the web  such as credit card information for online purchases  might first pass through the hands of a hacker via a public Wi-Fi network.

How Samsung protects you against this threat: For everyday browsing, Secure Wi-Fi encrypts outgoing internet traffic and disables tracking apps and websites. It allows you to browse the internet safely on public wireless connections without fear of security breaches.

Cyberattack Scenario 4: Phishing attacks compromising sensitive data

Phishing is a type of attack in which cybercriminals trick victims into handing over sensitive information or installing malware, disguised as links, attachments, or even legitimate apps, on their devices.

Once hackers have access to your sensitive information, they could use it to demand a ransom from you, steal your personal information, carry out other vices, or make purchases with your credit card information, for instance.

How Samsung protects you against this threat: Device Protection in Samsung Device Care continuously scans your device for malware or suspicious activity and alerts you when you mistakenly install malicious apps through detection via the McAfee protection.

Additionally, the Samsung Secure Folder keeps data secure and isolates problematic apps within the folder to keep apps away from users personal information.

Meanwhile, when youre purchasing with Samsung Pay on your mobile device, your card information is encrypted and completely isolated to protect it at all times.

Cyberattack Scenario 5: Zero-day vulnerability

As hackers and cyber attackers are constantly trying to hack into devices, they are always on the lookout for zero-day vulnerabilities. A zero-day vulnerability is a vulnerability in a system or device that has been discovered but is not yet patched. This can be particularly dangerous as cybercriminals target the flaws in a system before developers or the public are aware it even exists.

How Samsung protects you against this threat: Samsung Knox offers real-time protection, always actively protecting your devices against data attacks or malware. This means that unauthorized attempts to access or modify your phones core is blocked in real-time.

When users reboot their Samsung smartphone, Secure Boot is activated to detect any unauthorized software and block attempts to compromise the device through multi-layered, defense-grade security. If the smartphone is booted in an unapproved state, Samsung Knox will automatically lock-up apps containing sensitive data such as Samsung Pay, Samsung Pass, Secure Folder, or Samsung Health.

Looking ahead to a more secure future

The smartphone has become a key part of our digital lives, whether from home, in the classroom, or even in the office. With new cyber-threat vectors continuously putting us at risk, we need to stay vigilant and play an active role in keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe in this digital world.

Security does not just stop at smartphones for Samsung, as Knox protection also extends to the smart appliances in Samsungs portfolio for an additional layer of protection. This means that your Samsung smart appliances are protected and secured, whether you are mirroring the video you are watching on your Galaxy device with the SmartView app to the screen on your Family Hub or using the AI function on your AI EcoBubble washing machine to calibrate optimal wash settings.

As a Samsung user, you can be assured that you have a digital partner committed to world-class security and privacy standards  keeping you safe while you work, study, and play.

To know more about how Samsung Knox protects your devices from cyberattacks, watch Samsung Knox: Collective Protection or read it at samsung.com/ph/news/local/how-samsung-protects-your-smartphones-from-cyberattacks.
Lenovos LanSchool recently announced that its cloud-based classroom management software, LanSchool Air, is now available for schools in the Philippines. LanSchool has provided a leading classroom management software in the education technology space for over 30 years, serving over 12 million customers in 75 markets.

LanSchool Air helps teachers guide learning on digital devices, improve student engagement and maximize teaching time

LanSchool Air helps teachers connect with students within a digital space to create more meaningful online experiences, both in the classroom and remotely. It includes features to help monitor and protect student devices, enabling communication and screen sharing, and providing device management to help guide learning, promote collaboration, and maximize teaching time. Top features include screen monitoring, limit web, blank screen, messaging, and push website. With LanSchool Air, educators can help improve student engagement, teach digital citizenship, and provide an immersive learning environment.

For the past year, LanSchool has helped educators maintain education continuity during the pandemic with our cloud-based classroom management software, said Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager. LanSchool Air offers streamlined deployment, decreased IT admin workloads, and convenient maintenance and support. We are proud to now extend these same benefits to our partners and educators in the Philippines.

Schools across The Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific have already adopted the self-hosted version of the software, LanSchool Classic, which is available in over 15 languages including English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Arabic, Korean, Hebrew, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Hungarian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Indonesian, and Brazilian Portuguese. The addition of the new cloud-based LanSchool Air, which is fully hosted and managed by LanSchool, gives schools a quick and easy path to classroom management software adoption. Additionally, the cloud-based software provides flexibility and reduces management overhead as schools scale, accelerate the adoption of new technology, and continue to incorporate distance learning into their teaching models.

2020 was an unprecedented year in education. Remote learning quickly moved from being a futuristic option to a necessity for schools," said Rich Henderson, Director of Global Education Solutions in Lenovos Intelligent Devices Group. "LanSchool Air's expansion to Asia Pacific, provides educators access to a cloud-based award-winning classroom management solution and a reliable partner in continuing to create meaningful learning experiences beyond the classroom.

A free, 30-day trial of LanSchool Air is available for schools that may be interested in learning more.
#1: Productivity Anywhere Will Shake Up Workforce and Workplace Structure

Remote working has enabled employees to be productive anywhere, everywhere, and anytime. With hybrid working being the default arrangement, business leaders will start looking into providing a more equitable work experience for those inside and outside the office, especially during meetings and group discussions. Willis Tower Watsons recent 2021 Employee Experience survey found that 90% of APAC employers are prioritizing enhancing the employee experience over the next three years.

This collaborative infrastructure will also complement the greater adoption of asynchronous work practices  a trend triggered by the pandemic. It will not just redefine how employees collaborate with one another, but also help businesses rethink hiring practices and tap into a more global and diversified talent pool. Industries have and will continue to change how they work, with decentralised work practices and processes enabling effective business continuity for a workforce that may be largely working from home.

#2: Greater Use of A.I. and Data Analytics in the Workplace

According to a survey by Juniper Networks, 95% of respondents said their companies daily operations, products and services would benefit from implementing AI technologies. Leaders across the region will start adopting AI and data analytics to support and improve employee productivity and safety, in addition to driving business growth and operational efficiency, as part of their continued digital transformation plan.

IT departments will turn to data and insights to have a more objective view on employee productivity both in the office and when they work remotely. These will help inform decisions on what technology investments to help a hybrid workforce collaborate better. Office managers will also leverage insights such as occupancy data can help office managers determine the most effective office layout, minimise wasted space and reinforce or improve proper safe distancing measures.

#3: Office Spaces Reimagined for a Hybrid Future

With employees working remotely half or most of the time, companies are turning to a flexible and cost-effective approach for their office space investment. In Singapore, central business district (CBD) office occupiers could aim to reduce their footprint by 10% to 20% over the next three years, according to Maybank Kim Eng.

There will be a growing adoption of the office on-demand approach to help businesses effectively add on workspaces as needed. On the other hand, companies with existing excess office space can consider subleasing part of that space as needed; this core and flex model enables a combination of long-term security for core operations while allowing flexibility for growth. At the same time, companies will start redefining workforce roles and determine which functions are best suited to be based in central business district (CBD) areas, and who can work either remotely or in satellite offices in regional cities or districts.

Business leaders will also look how to make return to office something that employees look forward to. Offices will become collaboration hubs, serving as a place for teams to gather to brainstorm in small groups, host client meetings, celebrate milestones, and work on joint projects. They will also serve as a central hub for community socialisation that will help provide a culture that cannot be replicated via remote working.

Looking Ahead: Organisations Must Invest in Technology that Improve Employee Experiences

Companies technology investments and collaboration strategies will focus on improving employees working experience both remotely and on-site. Users are expecting technology to be easy to use to minimise disruption that may hamper productivity and collaboration, so that they can spend more time getting real work done instead of figuring out how the tools work.

With limitations around business travels and in-person meetings, video conferencing is now the norm for collaboration. This also led to new usage model of videos such as telemedicine, hybrid events, virtual property viewing and educational courses via videos. As such, more and more organisations are adopting a no-compromise attitude to ensure the highest quality video solutions are used for high level productivity, resilience, and customer experience.

This will drive an increased demand in pro-grade technology and collaboration tools that are geared to drive better user experiences. ReportLinker is already forecasting that the Asia Pacific Video Conferencing Market will grow at a CAGR of 17.8% within 2021-2027.This is prime opportunity for collaboration vendors that are platform-agnostic to thrive, as they enable office collaborators to use the same infrastructure in the conference room as they have grown accustomed to using from their home offices.
The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the retail landscape with most retail transactions now occurring online through e-commerce platforms. With the evolving consumer needs, top IT solutions company Yondu announced the launch of Vessell, an off-the-shelf eCommerce platform that aims to enable businesses to shift their sales and operations online to thrive in the now normal.

Yondu set to launch Vessell, the newest e-commerce platform for businesses in the now normal

Vessell helps businesses increase productivity by providing them with well-designed sites and e-commerce tools to build their own online store. It also takes care of business-critical tasks like validating payments, booking deliveries, and syncing inventories from system to system. Additionally, businesses can even work with the Vessell team in creating customized features that meet their needs, allowing them to focus on growing their company instead.

According to Alex Pelayo, the product manager who is spearheading Vessell, the new platform allows business owners to create opportunities out of the chaos brought on by the pandemic. For instance, businesses can reach a wider audience through nationwide delivery. Whereas a brick-and-mortar store limited businesses to selling only within their vicinity, now a customer can come from anywhere in the Philippines, Pelayo explained. With Vessell, businesses get better visibility on inventory across multiple stores to ensure the efficient fulfillment of orders no matter where their customer lives.

Pelayo shared that Vessell was created and primed especially for the Philippine market, and even boasts dedicated teams that can help businesses from inception to launch. We were able to provide that level of support because we have a team dedicated to e-commerce.

Yondu believes that payment gateways and delivery should be available out of the box. One of the many challenges that businesses face is not having the expertise, knowledge or even time to set up these things. When working with other platforms, they would still need to go through several steps before they can connect with couriers and payment gateways.

Fortunately, Vessel is already automatically integrated with local e-wallets and has entered into partnerships with local couriers. We understand that not every business has e-commerce experience, Pelayo said. So thats where we step in, ready to help in any way we can.

Currently in soft launch, this allowed the Vessell team to incorporate user feedback into the platform design. As Vessell then moves closer to its official launch date in the first quarter of 2022, Pelayo revealed that the platforms team continues to work on tools and features that will make it easier for businesses to monitor their stores, inventories, and checkout flow.

We understand the landscape is changing rapidly, so were taking a product-centric approach to development and collecting feedback regularly from users to understand what features are important to them to make Vessell relevant and valuable in the new normal, Pelayo said.

Together, business owners and the Vessell team can work together to better understand what the business needs and offer the best plan based on a business requirements.

Overall, Yondus Vessell platform promises to be an efficient and cost-effective aid in helping businesses thrive in the increasingly competitive world of online selling, allowing them to focus on other important aspects of business like increasing sales or providing customer support. With the countrys retail and e-commerce landscape constantly evolving, Vessell is ready to equip business owners to navigate the now normal.

Businesses interested in signing up for the Vessell platform can get in touch with its team through the official email marketing@vessell.ph. To know more about the platform, visit Vessell on the platforms official website and LinkedIn profile.
The social justice protests of recent years spurred many companies to make public statements supporting diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). But new research into the state of DE&I efforts at companies shows that the real work has only just begun.

Just 49 percent of employees say their companies have DE&I improvement strategies, according to my company's Pulse of Talent survey of almost 7,000 workers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and four other countries. About 20 percent of workers polled globally say their companies lack strategies to boost DE&I and 31 percent don't know if their companies have them. That likely indicates the companies don't have DE&I strategies or, if they do, they're not highly effective.

The situation in the U.S. is only slightly better with 59 percent of employees saying their companies have strategies to boost DE&I, 26 percent who don't know if their companies have them and 14 percent who say their companies lack them.

Making workplaces truly diverse, fair and inclusive has never been easy given inherent biases in everything from how companies source talent to how people interview to how people see themselves. But DE&I is more necessary than ever given renewed awareness of racial, gender, sexual orientation and other inequities.

I believe that most companies want to do the right thing, but many may not know how to start to change long-held practices that perpetuate bias and inequity. My experience is that all companies, of any size in any industry, can improve DE&I starting with five core strategies:

1. Secure top-down and bottom-up commitment.

For too long, DE&I has been left to one person or one team, often in human resources. This doesn't work. You need champions at every level of the organization to push change forward.

This starts with leadership voicing support for DE&I initiatives and creating a runway for employees to drive efforts forward on the front lines. These individuals will carry out the mission because they connect with more people, day in and day out. At my workplace, we got this started by assembling a 21-member Global Diversity Advisory Council. It includes employees from all levels of the company, including the C-suite with our president as an advisor to the council.

2. Get data.

You cannot improve at DE&I until you take full stock of where you are. Gather qualitative and quantitative data. Listen to employees in focus groups discuss the state of DE&I at work-- do they feel a sense of belonging? If not, what do they need?

Anonymous surveys provide a safe forum for employees to be honest. Be transparent with employees about how you will use the data. Encourage leaders to share, show vulnerability and they'll encourage others to do the same.

3. Identify opportunities to create equity.

Data may reveal gaps in such things as women or people of color in leadership. But policies and processes perpetuate inequities and changing them will help bridge those gaps, too.

For instance, we looked at our job descriptions and found that the use of words like "strong" spoke more to men than to women. We dropped requirements for years of service because it measured time versus skills. We also found that white men applied if they had just a third of job requirements but that Black women didn't apply unless they had almost all of them. By changing job descriptions, we boosted the opportunity for Black women to apply.

4. Lead with proactive acts of inclusion.

Being more inclusive starts by recognizing biases that work against inclusion. We all have biases, often because of how we were raised. We counteract biases by watching and changing our behavior.

Calling out microaggressions is also a proactive act of inclusion. I once led a meeting on DE&I efforts. One of my male colleagues got so excited about the initiative that he interrupted me and started explaining what I'd already said. I listened, then I pointed out that his action made me feel inadequate. He held no malice, quite the opposite. Instead, he was unconscious of his bias and his behavior. Calling out microaggressions is important so that everyone learns to identify them and how they make people feel.

5. Individualize learning.

Meet people where they are. If your organization thrives with collective learning, great. But if you have people in different time zones, working different schedules, give them multiple ways to access learning, including in micro-segments, which can be as short as three minutes. Allow for mistakes. That's what learning is about.
When Jayson Waller says he's fully invested in his solar company, Powerhome, he means it. In 2017, when the business was running low on capital, he downsized to a smaller home and invested the profits into the company.

"The wife gave me the stink eye and the kids were upset," says Waller today, "but I said, 'Look, I believe in what I'm doing.' "

A few months later, Waller wanted to take the company to the next level, which would require even more investment. He hired a CEO and a CFO to lead the search for capital, and they eventually settled on Trivest, a Miami-based private equity firm with decades of experience growing direct-to-consumer companies. After Trivest bought a 25 percent stake in Powerhome for $15 million, the firm got to work implementing a series of improvements, in collaboration with Waller. Fast-forward five years and Mooresville, North Carolina-based Powerhome has grown annual revenue more than 15 times over.

Family-run businesses tend to have the most opportunities to create new efficiencies, says Trivest partner Jamie Elias. "The founder has done an unbelievable job of creating a unique business model, but there is that next level they want to get to," he says. "We assist them in getting there." Trivest has more than 40 companies in its portfolio, many of which were family-owned businesses when the firm invested.

Trivest's $15 million infusion gave Powerhome the capital required to hire more employees, increase its marketing budget, and buy more solar panels. "Solar construction is a cash-flow business," says Waller. "If you don't have the cash, you can't grow."

But the firm's impact went beyond just more spending power. Trivest helped Powerhome establish a more robust financial reporting system and revamp the way it created and measured internal objectives. The firm's executives worked with the Powerhome team to optimize the customer journey from beginning to end, starting with the moment a potential client sees an advertisement and all the way through post-installation follow-ups. In the four years since, Powerhome has expanded its business from four states to 15.

Having the backing of an established firm with 40 portfolio companies and more than $2 billion in assets under management has proved useful in Powerhome's interactions with potential vendors. Last year, when Waller decided to start supplementing the company's solar installation business with home batteries for energy storage, he learned that the startup wasn't big enough to buy batteries from its preferred manufacturer. Trivest served as a go-between, giving Powerhome a line of credit that allowed it to buy the products in bulk.

Though collaborating with Trivest required daily communication early on in the partnership, today, Waller checks in every few weeks, especially when he needs feedback on something. He credits the added capital and expertise the firm provided with helping his company get where it is today. "A lot of business owners pretend they know everything, and they fake it until they make it," he says. "That's not the way to do it. You have to surround yourself with people smarter than you."

Doing so has paid off in a big way. Powerhome's annual revenue has grown from $40 million at the time of the investment to $700 million today. Meanwhile, the company has expanded its head count from 460 employees at the time of investment to 2,200 today. Waller is now exploring taking Powerhome public, which, with its recent valuation of more than $1 billion--nearly 20 times what it was five years ago--would mean a strong return for Trivest.

Waller says that selling a minority stake in his company was worth it. "As an entrepreneur, you can't do it alone," he says. "You've got to put ego to the side. You've got to have some humility, and sometimes that means giving up equity. That was the difference-maker for us. Had we not had that opportunity, we couldn't have grown as fast as we have."

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When county officials closed off North Carolina's Outer Banks to visitors and nonresident property owners in March 2020, Clark Twiddy, president of the local vacation rental management company Twiddy & Company, anticipated a steep downturn for business. He was right--but only for about two months.

Once the Outer Banks reopened in May, Twiddy's company received an unprecedented overflow of demand that continues today. It quickly became clear that the 43-year-old company needed to ramp up and restructure its customer service strategy. And it isn't the only business that has faced this challenge.

Over the course of the pandemic, a confluence of factors, including, but not limited to, supply-chain snags, increased customer demand, and new Covid-19 safety protocols have changed the frequency at which small and medium-size businesses communicate with their customer base. Exactly how companies have addressed the increased need for customer service support varies, but one thing is clear: An increased investment can be well worth it.

Here are just six ways small businesses are expanding their ranks--and keeping them happy once they're in the door.

1. Weigh the value of outsourcing.

Outsourcing customer service is hardly a new strategy, but it's one that companies of all sizes can take advantage of. PartnerHero, a Boise, Idaho-based outsourcing company that hires remote customer associates around the world and primarily works with startups, grew by nearly 100 percent in 2020, and is on track to do the same by the end of 2021. According to Heather Casey, president and COO, there are a few reasons why small and medium-size businesses may be better off outsourcing their customer service.

For one, many businesses just don't have the time, infrastructure, or resources to scale up--especially when they have to make rapid changes. "Last year, one of the world's largest film festivals contacted us and said, we need 80 people in three days," Casey says. "They had to suddenly digitize the festival, so they had an unanticipated need." About 80 to 90 percent of PartnerHero's contracts are just three months long, according to Casey--which makes some companies more willing to try it out.

Horatio, a customer service outsourcing startup that's based in New York City and the Dominican Republic, has also seen immense growth over the course of the pandemic, largely because of changes in customer demands: A dog food brand that Horatio works with has seen a massive uptick in orders owing to the increased adoption and foster rate of dogs over the course of the pandemic, for instance. Ultimately, CEO and founder Jose Herrera sees outsourcing as a solution that can "free up a lot of headspace" for businesses, but acknowledges it isn't the right decision for all companies: "If you're getting 10 customer support inquiries a week, you don't need to outsource. If you're getting thousands, then that can be quite cumbersome to take on alone."

2. Create new pathways to communication.

In addition to hiring nearly 40 additional customer service agents since the start of the pandemic, Twiddy & Company also adopted new digital solutions. When one of the company's interns--a 20-year-old college student--revealed he'd been working on a chat bot for the website, Twiddy asked him to install it immediately. Questions that customers typically would have called to ask can now be instantly answered thanks to the bot's machine learning capabilities.

3. Hire to fill noticeable needs.

But A.I. isn't the solution for everyone. At the onset of the pandemic, Denver CBD brand Feals not only saw an uptick in the number of orders it received--customers also started interacting with the brand on a deeper level. Pre-pandemic, calls to its customer support hotline generally lasted about four to five minutes--and then, during the pandemic, they were, on average, closer to 10 minutes, founder and CEO Alex Iwanchuk says. As a result of higher-than-normal stress levels, the entrepreneur says, more customers, who were unfamiliar with CBD, started calling and inquiring after CBD products' purported health benefits. In August, the company added two new dedicated employees to the customer support team, which now accounts for five of the brand's 30 staffers.

4. Invest in customer experience staff training.

Finding good customer service agents--especially during a labor shortage--is a challenge enough, especially when you're searching for candidates with "extreme understanding and empathy" that make them well-suited to the jobs, as Casey says. But employee training is just as critical. At Feals, customer support employees go through a training process that lasts from four to six weeks, involving quizzes about the intricacies of CBD and phone call shadowing sessions. Twiddy & Company has also started implementing video training to streamline the process of onboarding new employees.

5. Consider a strategy shift.

When a company sees an increase in customer engagement, they may also need to shift their response. "We used to never respond to negative feedback online, whether it was through email or social media--but as we sought to build our engagement with customers, particularly around travel uncertainty, we had to correct misinformation, and we had to do it the right way," Twiddy says. Ultimately, the president thinks customers want more "transparency around their purchase decisions for fear that they would lose money or wouldn't get what they want." So, the company shifted its customer service strategy to be even more transparent. Previously, if there was a delay in a customer's rental house being ready, the company would simply communicate the delay. Now, it shares exactly why there's a delay--if it was messier than expected and needed a more thorough cleaning, if something broken had to be fixed, etc.

Twiddy has also come around on his stance on text-based communication. Pre-pandemic, the company prioritized in-person interactions and phone calls as the gold standard of hospitality. Now, the rental company also offers customer service via text--and, after some debate, has authorized the use of emojis in those texts--to provide customer service that's "prompt, effective, and compassionate."

6. Prioritize employee well-being.

In the age of the Great Resignation and labor shortages, customer service workers may be hard to come by--and even harder to retain, which is why several companies have paid close attention to the work environments of these employees. During the pandemic, PartnerHero began offering interest-free loans to employees, which they could apply for with few questions asked. "Just that bump for some of these people meant that they could have a little less stress in their life, and therefore be a bit more productive at work," Casey says.
The film industry did not offer a very rosy view of the business world in 2021.

Dominated by streaming giants and independent studios, the year in movies had a wealth of poignant stories about financial distress in a range of cultures and locations. There was a mass of gig economy workers struggling professionally and financially. A daughter helping to keep her deaf parents' fishing business from collapsing. An Albanian widow in Kosovo working to start a small business amid civil unrest. Inspirational and tragic alike, each film has a lesson to offer for entrepreneurs.

Here are eight 2021 movies every business owner should see, listed in order of release date.

1. Silk Road

This high-octane thriller tells the true story of how Ross Ulbricht created his infamous dark web-based "Amazon-for-drugs," which amassed more than $1 billion in sales before being taken down by the DEA. It's an instructive parable about the dangers of unfettered e-commerce.

Where to see it: Hulu

2. WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn

The epic documentary about how WeWork's frathouse-like office culture, unrealistic expectations, and cartoonish overspending caused the co-working business's IPO and its utopian vision to unravel in just six weeks. Along the way, co-founder Adam Neumann demonstrates some excellent examples of how not to lead an organization.

You find Inc.'s review of the doc here.

Where to see it: Hulu

3. CODA

Ruby, a Child Of Deaf Adults (CODA), spends every morning before school working on the family's struggling commercial fishing boat in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Embroiled in the local fishing industry's fight with authorities, Ruby must choose between her family obligations and her dream of pursuing a music career. A critical darling, CODA is a touching story of learning how to communicate and the challenges of running a family business.

Where to see it: Apple TV+

4. The Gig Is Up

The Gig Is Up explores the human costs of the $5 trillion gig economy. Told through the lives of people working for Uber, Deliveroo, and other companies, the documentary offers an alternative view of the much-hyped transformation of the global workforce.

Where to see it: Google, Amazon, and Apple TV+

5. El Buen Patron (The Good Boss)

El Buen Patron is the thrilling Spanish-language story of the owner of an industrial scales manufacturing business (Javier Bardem) who works tirelessly to pacify his disaffected staff before a visit from an awards committee. Satirical and witty, the film is focused on what happens when supervisors cross boundaries into employees' personal lives.

Where to see it: In theaters

6. Hive

This Albanian-language darling of the Sundance film festival tells the story of a widow in Kosovo starting a business selling honey and ajvar (a traditional relish made from red bell peppers) to provide for her two children, in the face of overwhelming grief and a repressive patriarchal society.

Where to see it: In theaters

7. Dear Rider

Transforming a niche (and often dangerous) hobby into a globally recognized sport takes an entrepreneurial vision. The late Jake Burton Carpenter did just that for snowboarding. By tenaciously pulling together sponsors, ski resorts, and major athletes, Carpenter launched his business--and ultimately a worldwide phenomenon.

Where to see it: HBO Max

8. Black Friday
3D printing is really touching new heights every day! Besides helping engineers and creators, 3D printing has multi-faceted uses in the healthcare industry.

A British man on Thursday became the first patient in the world to be fitted with a 3D printed eye. Revealed by Moorfields Eye Hospital in a press release, 47-year-old Steve Verze's left eye is completely 3D printed.

World's first 3D printed eye Moorfields Eye Hospital /CNN

World's first 3D printed eye prosthetic

Verze received the eye on Thursday while it was first checked for size earlier in November. According to the hospital, it the first fully digital prosthetic eye created for a patient.

The hospital added that the eye is more realistic than its alternatives, with "clearer definition and real depth to the pupil."

Unsplash

Other prosthetic eyes usually have an iris which is painted onto a disc and then adjusted in the eye socket. This method prevents light from entering the "full depth" of the eye, something that this 3D printed design is able to achieve.

Also read: 3Dirigo, World's Largest 3D-Printed Boat Was Built In Just 3 Days

3D printing is extremely accurate and efficient with the right directions. In fact, such prosthetic printing is also considered less invasive. Usually, moulds of the eye socket are taken manually before a fake eye is built. With 3D printing, the design is created digitally after scans.

Uncredited

To create a balanced and natural look, scientists scanned Verze's functional eye as well. The 3D image was sent to Germany to be printed, after which it was sent back to the United Kingdom, where Moorfields Eye Hospital's ocularist polished it further.

Also read: Israeli Doctors Recreate Jaw Of Badly Injured Soldier Using 3D Tech



What are your thoughts on this fantastic achievement through 3D printing? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of tech and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

Citation

Spary, S. C. (2021, November 25). British man given 3D printed eye in world first, hospital says. CNN.
Bone-chilling footage is going viral showing a zombie shark still hunting for prey despite a significant chunk of its body being missing.

A scientist captured the incredible footage of a shark on the hunt for prey despite being 'half-eaten'. The missing chunk was eaten in an act of shark-on-shark cannibalism, according to the scientist, who saw it firsthand, The Sun reported.

Screengrab/YouTube

Sharks eat sharks, that is well known, but it is super difficult to film and document, Dr Mario Lebrato, told The Sun.



The incident unfolded in front of Lebrato and his team off the coast of Spain after they released an oceanic blacktip shark back into the sea. Shortly after doing so, a group of fellow sharks set upon it, inflicting fatal injuries to the unsuspecting black tip.

According to the scientist, these included several bull sharks, which can weigh up to a whopping 400kg.

Despite the onslaught which led to a large portion of its body missing after it had been bitten off, the shark astonishingly continued to fight for its life and tried to swim away.

Lerato explained that the shark struggled for around 20 minutes before eventually succumbing to its injuries.



Earlier this year, a man had a close shave with death when a shark leapt out of the water and bit off part of his foot while he was parasailing in the Red Sea.

In the clip, a paraglider from Jordan can be seen enjoying himself hovering above the water. All seems to be going well until a shark suddenly emerges out from the sea and takes a large bite of his foot, attempting to drag the man under.

As per various reports, he lost the back part of his foot as well as several tendons and was left with torn muscles and broken bones after the horror attack.

He was rushed to the Prince Hashem Military Hospital, in the port city, by emergency services, where he had an operation on his right foot. His condition was described as stable.

For more interesting trending stories, click here.
A furious boss was so annoyed with his employees charging their phones in the office that he left a note for them stating that they shouldn't do that because it is 'theft of electricity.'

Unsplash/Daniel Korpai

This weirdly obnoxious note was posted on Reddit with the caption, "One of a seemingly endless series of unreasonable notes left by my boss. Its great here."

This full note read, Nobody is entitled to charge up any mobile phone or other electrical devices on these premises. It is theft of electricity, and you may find a deduction has been made from your pay. Phones should be switched off.



Honestly, after a note like that, one would definitely consider resigning from the job.

A Reddit user claimed to be an employee of this workplace and said it was one of a string of nasty notes left by the manager over the past year. Well, sadly this isn't the first time an employee has been totally frustrated by their boss and the way they work.

Bosses can sometimes be a real pain especially during these unprecedented times where most of us are working from home. Keeping that in mind, the government of Portugal passed a rule recently that bans bosses from messaging staff after hours.

In a new law, Portugal just made it illegal for your boss to text you after work.



Meanwhile, America is the only country in the developed world without paid family leave. Not only can our bosses text us after work, but they can text us to come in on the same day our kid is born.  Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) November 8, 2021

Not just that, under the new rules, employers could face penalties for contacting workers outside of office hours. Companies will also have to help pay for expenses incurred by remote working, such as higher electricity and internet bills.

Well, here's hoping for a world with understanding bosses.

Facebook image: Shutterstock

For the latest from trending, click here
Being stalked by some random guy is the sad reality every woman faces at one point in her life. But in this age, we women don't only have to be aware of who's stalking us physically but digitally as well.

A woman on Twitter had to face that and shared some screenshots of a guy who stalked her digitally after seeing her outdoors and reached her DM's.



Pexels/ Eric McLean





When the girl asked him how he even found her, his explanation was spine-chilling. The guy boasted how he used an app to scan the number plate of her father's car and then tracked him on Facebook. Then he tracked down her older sister, looked through her Instagram friend list, and finally found the girl.

He basically stalked her entire family and called it 'talent'.

The woman captioned the screenshots of her conversation and wrote, "Men have 0 shame. They have apps that scan number plates of cars and give you the personal information of the owner. Apparently, they use it for stalking women. This is so scary."

Men have 0 shame. They have apps that scan number plates of cars and give you personal information of the owner. Apparently they use it for stalking women. This is so scary. pic.twitter.com/QIMV2TrjWs  S (@shreyatwts) November 24, 2021

Twitter was enraged after seeing the screenshots and mostly by how proudly he shared his stalking technique.

How tf are they describing it so proudly ?!? Don't they feel internal cringeness and shame on their own  BIJLI (@whoresomelife) November 24, 2021

The audacity of explaining it.  E (@engisneer) November 24, 2021

Which police department should I tag to honor his intelligence?  Nitesh Singh (@TheNiteshSingh) November 24, 2021

He really said "talent" DFKM   Silly Pitch |   (@sillypitch) November 24, 2021

Oh God. This is a new low. I'm so sorry.  Pankaj Sabnani (@pankajsabnani) November 24, 2021

this is so scary what the fuck  palak (@ughhpalak) November 24, 2021



While most of us enjoy and even romanticise these kinds of stalking habits when we see them in a movie or a show, nobody knows what kind of inspiration is one taking from these kinds of narratives.

As a woman, knowing that there is an application that can lead a random stranger to know all my and my family details is absolutely a personal hell. There is a thin line where technology can turn from a boon to bane in no time. Strict punishment needs to be implemented for such vile acts.

For the latest from trending, click here.
Praveen Sinha is seen at the right along with (l-r) CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Jitendra Singh during the 1st National Conference on 'Cybercrime Investigation and Forensic' at the CBI Headquarters in New Delhi on Sept. 5, 2019. (ANI photo)
1. The Christmas lights

Bishop Lucey Park has been transformed into a festive wonderland and the iconic 32-metre Ferris Wheel is back on the Grand Parade. Should it ever leave, we ask!

There's festive lighting and Christmas musical hits in Bishop Lucey Park featuring drummers, dancers, hoola-hoops, golden egg laying geese, splendid swans and  more birds than can probably fit in a pear tree. And the elves are busy working in Santas Pop-Up workshop here too.

Community groups, professional artists, actors and street entertainers  including Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance, Salsa Cubana Cork, Amedie Mexican Dancers, Aatma: Indian Dance Troupe in Cork, and Cork Circus Factory  will bring the story of the Twelve Days of Christmas to life in the park.

Glow at Bishop Lucey Park

The switching on of Corks Christmas lights is when you really and truly know Christmas is here. While there couldnt be a public event to mark the switching on of the lights this year (thanks Covid), Cork City Council has shared a video showcasing the illumination of Cork City Centre in all its sparkling Christmas glory and we have to say, we cant help but feel the magic.

The Christmas Lights have been switched on in Cork and the city is glowing! #CorkGetsLit #ThankCorkItsChristmas pic.twitter.com/ImWxyIUiDb  Glow Cork (@GlowCork) November 19, 2021

This year, some 50 Christmas Trees and 7.4km of lights are glistening across the Rebel city and GLOW, A Cork Christmas Celebration, has returned to Cork for four weekends:

* Friday, November 26 to Sunday, November 28;

* Friday, December 3 to Sunday, December 5;

* Friday, December 10 to Sunday, December 12

* and Friday, December 17 to Sunday, December 19.

Oliver Plunkett Street is getting Christmas ready. Picture: Larry Cummins

Visit glowcork.ie for more information  you have to prebook the ferris wheel.

Thank Cork it's Christmas: Lord Mayor Councillor Colm Kelleher switches on the Christmas lights in Cork

2. The Holly Bough goes on sale

Keith Anderson pictured with his Hollybough artwork on South Gate Bridge, with the River Lee and St Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork City. in the background. Picture: Larry Cummins

The start of the festivities is marked every year as the Holly Bough magazine hits news stands across the city. The publication has been a Cork Christmas tradition for over 120 years and features stories, songs, history, puzzles, festive food tips and the infamous Diffney quiz. This years cover features a red robin perched in front of South Gate Bridge with St Finbarrs Cathedral in the background and is designed by local artist Keith Anderson.

3. Spiced beef in the English Market

Butcher Tom Durcan, cuts some classic spiced beef at The English Market, Cork. Picture: Paul Sherwood

Turkey and ham are Christmas dinner in so many Irish homes, but in the Rebel county theres a third meat thats crucial to any festive feast: spiced beef. This Christmas delicacy can be picked up from a range of traders in the English Market or made at home up to two months in advance. Tom Durcan has raised the alarm about potential shortages of spiced beef this Christmas, citing availability of product, price rises and lack of staff as indicators that it might be hard for us to get our hands on the prize unless we order early, but luckily Eoin OMahony of OMahonys Butchers has shared a simple recipe with us to make sure you dont have to go without this Cork tradition this Christmas  just remember to start making it at least one week before December 25.

4. Christmas windows

Pinocchio's toyshop on Paul Street. Picture: Larry Cummins

It just wouldnt feel like Christmas without the various elaborate displays in iconic shops around our city streets.

Olivia McCarthy looks at the Brown Thomas Christmas window display on Patrick Street, Cork. Picture Dan Linehan

On Patrick Street, the Brown Thomas display attracts the attention of shoppers every year, while Caseys Furniture on Oliver Plunkett Street is another local attraction. Just walking down Cork's main thoroughfare gets us in the festive spirit!

Sadie and Sonny Lambe, from Mitchelstown were excited to be first to see the unveiled Christmas window display at J Casey, Casey's Furniture store at 65, Oliver Plunkett Street. Picture: Larry Cummins

5. S.H.A.R.E crib in Daunt Square

The blessing and turning on of the lights of the SHARE Crib is a key moment in the run-up to Christmas on the Leeside. The evening marks the commencement of boys and girls taking to the street with bright yellow jackets and charity buckets to raise money to help elderly people live independently. This year the Cork charity, which was founded by school students in 1970, is asking Corkonians to help combat loneliness and isolation amongst the elderly this year with the simple request to 'Say Hello to Someone You Know'. Stay tuned for details of the construction of this years crib.

Success Okorie, Christ King secondary school; Ronan McAuliffe, Presentation Brothers College and Manahil Sabir, St. Aloysius Secondary School, at the launch of the 2021 fundraising campaign which starts with Yellow Day on Friday, November 26 #TimeToSHARE. Picture: Gerard McCarthy

Meanwhile, the second annual Yellow Day in aid of Share will take place on November 26 when hundreds of students from schools across the city wear yellow jackets to raise awareness of the SHARE (Students Harness Aid for the Relief of the Elderly) organisation.

6. The Panto

Nanny Nellie's Adventures in Pantoland at Cork Opera House

Oh yes, it is! The panto is a Christmas tradition among many rebel families and after a year without a live panto, we are more excited than ever to scream hes behind you! along with a packed-audience. Corks beloved Nanny Nellie will return to the Cork Opera House stage this Christmas for Nanny Nellies Adventures in Pantoland from December 10 to January 9. Cork's Everyman Theatres classic Christmas Panto will also return to the stage this year with Aladdin set to bring a whole new world of adventure to the festive season. The Everymans panto, in association with CADA Performing Arts Academy, will open on December 8 and run until January 15.

Aladdin at The Everyman
Minister Stephen Donnelly is deeply concerned following the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19 while the Department of Health continues to liaise with UK authorities on the matter.

In a statement, the Department of Health said it has, in recent days, been monitoring the emergence of a new variant (B.1.1.529), of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

This variant has been identified in a number of countries in southern Africa and in Hong Kong.

Following its emergence, six countries have been added to the UKs red list.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is meeting tomorrow to further assess the significance of the variant.

No cases of this variant have been reported in Europe to date, but the Minister for Health is deeply concerned," the Department said.

The Department has been in contact with colleagues in Northern Ireland and we will continue to liaise with UK authorities.

A new variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province, health minister Joe Phaahla said.

The coronavirus evolves as it spreads and many new variants, including those with worrying mutations, often just die out.

Scientists monitor for possible changes that could be more transmissible or deadly, but sorting out whether new variants will have a public health impact can take time.

South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in new infections, Mr Phaahla said at an online press briefing.

Over the last four or five days, there has been more of an exponential rise, he said, adding that the new variant appears to be driving the spike in cases.

Scientists in South Africa are working to determine what percentage of the new cases have been caused by the new variant.

Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travellers from South Africa, he said.

The new variant has a constellation of new mutations, said Tulio de Oliveira, from the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, who has tracked the spread of the Delta variant in the country.

The very high number of mutations is a concern for predicted immune evasion and transmissibility, said Mr de Oliveira.

This new variant has many, many more mutations, including more than 30 to the spike protein that affects transmissibility, he said.

We can see that the variant is potentially spreading very fast. We do expect to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks.

Mr de Oliveira said that a team of scientists from seven South African universities is studying the variant.

The one piece of good news is that it can be detected by a PCR test, he said.

After a period of relatively low transmission in which South Africa recorded just over 200 new confirmed cases per day, in the past week the daily new cases rapidly increased to more than 1,200 on Wednesday.

On Thursday they jumped to 2,465.

The first surge was in Pretoria and the surrounding Tshwane metropolitan area and appeared to be cluster outbreaks from student gatherings at universities in the area, said Mr Phaahla.

Amid the rise in cases, scientists studied the genomic sequencing and discovered the new variant.
The Government is now expected to introduce more restrictions from next week, given the rise of a new Covid variant, the Finance Minister has indicated.

Paschal Donohoe has said hotel quarantine measures could be signed off on as early as today and further measures are likely to be discussed at a full Cabinet meeting next Tuesday.

Mr Donohoe warned that community transmission of the virus is currently "high" which he said means the starting position for dealing with any new variant is "not what we wish it to be".

"I think, given what has happened with this variant, there certainly will be (more restrictions), as we move into Cabinet next Tuesday, the possibility of needing to take further decisions," he said.

Mr Donohoe, speaking on RTE's Today with Claire Byrne show, said the Government will be making a decision on reintroducing hotel quarantine for those coming from South Africa and other countries where the new variant has been found "imminently".

"Every hour, every day does matter. And that's why a decision on this will happen very quickly."

However, he said any form of hotel quarantine would be "very different in scope and scale" and would be limited to a small number of countries.

"If there is a need to meet today that will quickly be implemented. This is the kind of decision that if it does require a full Cabinet decision can be done incorporeally, and that will happen quickly," Mr Donohoe said.

"I believe, and anticipate that we will need to make changes," he said, adding that any Irish people currently in impacted countries will have to be considered.

Any reintroduction of hotel quarantining will require legislation, but he hopes the Dail would act very quickly on this.

"We are reminded and confronted to yet again, with a virus that is ever-changing. But what will not change is the ability of our country to get through this challenge and get to a better place," he said.

EARLIER

The Covid adviser for the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has warned that a new African variant of the virus was a source of concern, particularly if it outruns the Delta variant.

The European Union will propose to halt air travel from southern Africa over growing concern about a new Covid-19 variant, as the UK said it will also temporarily ban flights from the region.

The EU bloc will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said in a tweet.

Scientists are still trying to determine whether the new variant, called B.1.1529, is more transmissible or more lethal than previous ones, but it does have the most mutations of any strain yet identified.

Thats raised concerns inside South Africa and internationally, with authorities fearing a wave of cases that could increase pressure on already strained healthcare systems.

This new variant has also been found in Hong Kong in travellers from South Africa.

Dr Mary Favier, Covid adviser for the ICGP, says if the new variant manages to outrun the Delta variant, then we will have a problem.

It is still unknown if vaccines will work against the new variant, she said.

Immunologist Professor Christine Loscher says the World Health Organisation (WHO) will likely move the status of the new variant from one 'of interest' to one 'of concern' in the near future.

The new variant is 'of concern' because of the number of mutations in the spike proteins and it is still unclear how this will respond to vaccines.

It was a case of wait and see the impact, she said.

However, she pointed out that vaccine manufacturers have been able to tweak vaccines as the virus changed.

Thats a positive thing to know, that they have the technology to vary the vaccine as variants arrive," she told RTE's Morning Ireland.

Prof Loscher also highlighted the benefits of vaccination for children.

Studies had indicated the impact of long-lasting Covid on up to 10% of children, she said.

The impact of the virus was not just clinical, she said, it had an impact on education, on extracurricular activities and on not being able to socialise.

There is a high advantage in children being vaccinated especially if new variants emerge, at which point a high level of community vaccination would help, she added.

Prof Loscher also called for the wearing of masks for children in primary school to be a recommendation and guidance, rather than mandatory.

The decision should be made on a case by case basis for every child and parent, she said.

Dr Favier has also welcomed plans to extend the vaccine programme to children aged five years to 11 years.

However, she pointed out that it would be a parental decision and GPs would be willing to discuss the issue with parents.

Emergency Brake The World Health Organisations technical working group is to meet on Friday to assess the new variant and may decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet. The WHO said coronavirus infections jumped 11% in Europe in the past week, the only region in the world where Covid-19 cases continues to rise. The organisations Europe director, Dr Hans Kluge, warned that without urgent measures, the continent could see another 700,000 deaths by the spring. The EUs emergency brake mechanism has been set up to deal with such emergencies. Where the epidemiological situation of a third country or region worsens quickly, in particular if a variant of concern or of interest has been detected, member states should adopt an urgent, temporary restriction on all travel into the EU. This emergency brake should not apply to EU citizens, long-term EU residents and certain categories of essential travellers, who should nevertheless be subject to appropriate testing and quarantine measures, even if fully vaccinated. Such restrictions should be reviewed at least every two weeks.

- additional reporting from AP
Met Eireann has warned that snow could fall in parts of the north west of the country due to the passing of Storm Arwen.

The forecaster has issued yellow wind warnings for counties Donegal, Sligo and Mayo for Friday afternoon into Friday night, with strong gale force nine winds expected along northern and eastern coasts.

The UK Met Office has also issued a yellow wind warning for Northern Ireland through Friday and Saturday.

Named by the UK Met Office, Storm Arwen will track southwards along the east coast of Scotland and England through Friday and Friday night, with the worst of the conditions expected there.

However, Joanna Donnelly from Met Eireann says parts of Ireland will see stormy conditions also.

"Winds gusting up to 110kph, they could get stronger than that over the Inishowen peninsula right up at the top of the country," she said.

"We've got some showers coming through to the showers are heavy, blustery showers with the risk of some of those falling asleep and snow mostly over the hills and mountains in the north of the country."

Storm Arwen - Named by the @metoffice, #StormArwen will bring a spell of cold & very windy weather to the UK on Friday & Saturday.



Itll be cold & windy for Ireland too, especially across northern areas where we have yellow wind warnings in place 



 https://t.co/XGJxZFd5UU pic.twitter.com/UxcYvDR3wj  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) November 25, 2021

Met Eireann says daytime temperatures will be limited to around 4C to 9C, but feeling colder because of the brisk northerly winds.

Overnight temperatures are expected to fall close to freezing for many areas with frost expected.

It will continue cold through Saturday with winds easing early in the day and long spells of sunshine.

While most areas will stay dry, there will be a few showers in the north and towards the west coast.

Milder conditions will move up over the country through Sunday and for the start of next week, bringing rain or showers at times but generally frost-free nights.
The head of the Word Health Organisation's Health Emergencies Programme has urged people to continue to adhere to public health guidelines while health officials carry out assessments on the threat posed by the new variant of Covid-19.

Though early evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection compared to other highly transmissible variants, Dr Mike Ryan said people needed to trust that health officials would inform the public if and when there was a significant change in risk and warned against "knee-jerk responses."

This happens, viruses evolve and we pick up variations," Dr Ryan said. "It is not the end of the world, the sky is not falling in."

Dr Ryan urged people to continue to adhere to guidelines and to avail of vaccinations while global health officials wait for data on the B.1.1.529, or Omicron, variant.

"There is this idea that we are just waiting for the next variant, and I dont want people to spend their lives worrying about that every day," he said.

Scientists need to worry about that, and we need to characterise those risks, and you need to trust that we will tell you if there is a significant change in risk.

Dr Ryan said it was important for people to remain "open and focused."

Weve seen in the past, the minute theres any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel, he said.

Dr Ryan went on to commend the health officials in South Africa who flagged the new variant as one of potential concern.

Vaccine inequality factor in variant's emergence

Meanwhile, a leading South African virologist has said global vaccine inequality was always likely to lead to the emergence of further Covid-19 variants.

Prof Richard Lessells of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa was one of those who first sounded the alarm over the new variant.

He said experts began looking into the matter after a resurgence of cases in some more densely populated of the country over the last couple of weeks.

We saw some cluster outbreaks in universities and other educational institutions," he said.

"What we then noticed was, in one of the diagnostic PCR tests, there was a signal that there was something different about the virus."

Travel bans

Prof Lessells said he and his colleagues "put out the alert very early on" but that southern African states were "now being punished for this openness and transparency in terms of these travel restrictions".

Earlier on Friday evening, following a recommendation from the European Commission, all the EU's 27 member states agreed to temporarily suspend travel from southern African countries affected by the variant.

However, Prof Lessells told RTE's Drivetime that the new measures may not be necessary or effective.

"Weve seen before that by the time you put these travel bans in, it has already moved to other countries and finds its way all around the world," he said.

Alluding to addresses given on this afternoon by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and British secretary of state for health Sajid Javid, Dr Lessells said political leaders needed to follow through on commitments aimed at ending vaccine inequality.

Professor Richard Lessells of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Picture: Centre for Epidemic Response & Innovation/ Youtube

"When they make these statements they dont talk about the support they are going to give to Africa to help us control the pandemic here."

Prof Lessells said there was still a huge number of vulnerable people in Africa who had not even received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

If we continue to leave parts of the world like Africa behind in terms of vaccines, not only do we see the emergence of these variants, but we leave chunks of the population unprotected by vaccines that could save their lives.

"Weve warned continuously and we get the same talks and commitments that are not delivered on. I find that increasingly upsetting that the approach when these things happen is narrow and not the global approach needed to deal with the pandemic."

Later in the interview, Prof Lessells warned that there were some early indicators that the B.1.1.529 variant, now named the 'Omicron' variant, may be able "to evade parts of the immune protection either from vaccines or from a previous infection".

"A lot of mutations that are common with other variants of concern, Alpha, Beta, Delta  we understand those and how they affect the virus," he said.

"This could be a variant that could be more transmissible with stronger ability to evade parts of the immune response. tTats what concerned us and made us raise the alert."

Signals of reinfections

On the ground, Prof Lessells said he and his colleagues had also seen signals of reinfections in people who had previously contracted Covid-19.

"The number of reinfections may be going up, meaning people who had a previous infection are getting reinfected with what we assume is the new variant."

He said some of the infections reported had occurred in fully vaccinated individuals.

"We need to get a clear handle on that data," he said.

"The key thing is going to be understanding whether it causes mild infection, or whether we start to see severe disease and hospitalisations in people that have been fully vaccinated.

"Unfortunately, it will take a bit of time to understand that."
Kids numbering a bakers dozen once played within the walls of this charming waterfront cottage when it wasnt quite as tidy a size as it is now.

No 2, The bungalow

These days, its tipping just about 700 sq ft, about half the size it was when the family of 13 children lived there. In subsequent years, one of those grown-up children bought half the cottage from her parents who continued to live in their side of the house.

After they passed, their half was sold to a chap who lifted the roof off and went up a storey and did plenty more besides, doing an unbelievable job, including cantilevering a deck out over the water, according to the current owner of No 2 The Bungalow, in Carrigaloe, Cobh.

She did her own bit of work on No 2, which she bought four years ago from the daughter of the original owners, who was a friend of hers.

If it also sounds a bit like Six Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon, theres more: the current owner/vendor bought it for her own daughter but she was living in London and decided it was where she wanted to stay.

The vendor put it to other uses, hunkering down there herself for a time during the pandemic and as an avid fan of kayaking, made the most of her waterfront location.

However, her emotional attachment to No 2 is tempered by a class of addiction to renovating and restoring properties.

She is, she confesses, a serial renovator, and has bought and sold dozens of homes both in Ireland and the UK. Shes moving on now from Carrigaloe with her eyes on a bigger prize, another property in dire need of TLC.

She leaves behind a really sweet home, with a very pretty interior, perched just above the water, with west facing views and the most amazing sunsets, she says.

Her work on the cottage she describes as tarting it up and a nautical theme is reflected in the white floorboards in the living room and white timber ceilings in most of the rooms, as well as various blue and grey hues in the soft furnishings.

Although the house is small, there are three bedrooms.

Theres also a kitchen, an L-shaped living room and a bathroom.

A deck on the waterfront side can be accessed via double doors from the living room or via a door from the kitchen and its right on the water.

The front of the house is on the main road and side access to the riverside terrace makes this a semi-detached home.

The owner says if she was to stay on at No 2, she would raise the roof like her neighbour, adding an extra storey. As it is though, its perfect for a retired couple, or a single young person, she says. Its certainly going to appeal to a first time buyer as it comes to market with an AMV of 225,000.

Niamh Smith of Colbert & Co is the selling agent and she says its absolutely stunning with a terrific waterfront location.

Theres huge interest in the property, mainly from women, looking for somewhere safe and secure.

Its in a great location, across the road from Carrigaloe train station and the car ferry is down the road. Its also close to the N25 to Little Island, and Cork city is a short drive away, Ms Smith says. She adds that Midleton is 10 minutes away.

Ms Smith says the property may also appeal to investors as it has excellent AirBnB potential  Cobh has some excellent tourist offerings and just recently won the title of Tidiest Large Town in the annual National Tidy Towns competition.

Cobh town Pic: Larry Cummins

Ms Smith also highlights the potential to extend the property as per next door, by adding a storey.

The agent already has three offers on the property and expects No 2 to fly.

Carrigaloe is less than 3km from Cobh.

VERDICT: As cute as it gets. Nicely-priced and right on the water.
European Union (EU) member states have agreed to temporarily suspend travel from southern Africa after the detection of the new Covid variant.

A committee of health experts from the bloc's 27 states agreed upon the need to activate the "emergency break" and impose temporary restriction on all travel into the EU from southern Africa.

The news was confirmed on Twitter by the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

#COVID19 | Integrated Political Crisis Response mechanism (#IPCR) met & agreed on the need to activate the #emergency break & impose temporary restriction on all travel into EU from southern #Africa.#EU2021SI called upon Members to test & quarantine all incoming passengers.  EU2021SI (@EU2021SI) November 26, 2021

Earlier, the European Commission recommended that EU countries suspend travel from southern Africa in response to the new variant.

Speaking this afternoon, EC President Ursula von der Leyen said the move would help "limit the spread" of the variant, recommending all air travel to affected countries be suspended until more is known about the new strain.

We are taking the news about the new highly mutated Covid variant very seriously.

"The European Commission has today proposed to member states to activate the emergency brake on travel from countries in southern Africa and other countries affected to limit the spread of the new variant.

"All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the dangers posed by this new variant."

Anyone returning from the region should "respect strict quarantine rules", she said.

Ms von der Leyen said the vaccine contracts the EU has with pharma companies state that their Covid jabs must be adapted as new variants emerge.

The EC President also urged Europeans to "take every opportunity to protect themselves" through vaccinations and other public health measures.

"We have gained experience with other measures like masks, hand hygiene, and social distancing, but also contact-tracing travel bans and border measures.

"This helps to slow down the spread of the virus, which is important because it buys us valuable time for more vaccinations and booster shots," she added.

The news about the new COVID variant is very concerning.



I have talked to scientists and vaccine manufacturers today. They share the concern.



Please get vaccinated as soon as possible, if not done yet.



And follow the known rules to protect yourself. https://t.co/eSKPzr8J5Q  Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 26, 2021

First EU case of new variant

Belgium has detected the first case of the new Covid-19 variant which was first found in South Africa, a virologist said on Friday.

Marc Van Ranst, whose laboratory works closely with Belgium's public health body Sciensano, said on Twitter that the variant was found in a traveller returning to Belgium from Egypt on November 11.

The patient developed the first symptoms on November 22, the virologist said.

It is reported that the patient has been identified as an unvaccinated, young adult woman who developed mild flu-like symptoms.

She did not report any links with South Africa or other countries in southern Africa and it is understood none of her family members has developed symptoms.

The patient was said to have a high viral load at the time of diagnosis by researchers at the universities, KU Leuven and UZ Leuven.

The new measures come just a week after a previous package of coronavirus restrictions, including enforcing wider use of masks and more working from home.

The Belgian government brought in new restrictions on Friday including early closing of bars and full closure of nightclubs for three weeks to reduce social contact and curb a rapidly spreading fourth wave of Covid infections.

We are confronted with a situation now that is worse than the most pessimistic view of the experts from only two weeks ago, the Belgian premier Alexander De Croo told a news conference. He said strain on the health service was mounting.

The new measures come just a week after a previous package of coronavirus restrictions, including enforcing wider use of masks and more working from home.

Under the new rules, Christmas markets, cultural sites, bars and restaurants will have to close at 11pm, with a maximum of six people per table. Private parties and gatherings are also banned, unless they are for weddings or funerals.

Scientists are still trying to determine whether the new variant, called B.1.1529, is more transmissible or more lethal than previous ones, but it does have the most mutations of any strain yet identified.

Thats raised concerns inside South Africa and internationally, with authorities fearing a wave of cases that could increase pressure on already strained healthcare systems.

Despite only being tracked for the past three days, the virus has been identified as having 30 different mutations already. By comparison, that is twice as many as the Delta variant, which has been the most prominent variant in Europe over the past few months.

The mutations contain features seen in all of the other variants but also traits that have not been seen before.

- additional reporting from The Guardian
Profile Jailed Karen Chief Minister Has Long History of Standing Up to Myanmars Military

Ousted Karen State Chief Minister Nan Khin Htwe Myint (center) is seen at the National League for Democracy's second party congress at the Myanmar Convention Centre on June 23, 2018.

Being unbowed, defiant and outspoken are trademarks of Nan Khin Htwe Myint, the detained Karen State chief minister of the ousted National League for Democracy government.

When the military staged a coup on Feb. 1, the 67-year-old was detained, like other NLD government officials. She told The Irrawaddy in February that during her house arrest, the Karen woman challenged the commander who detained her, saying, If the military thinks there is vote fraud, I am ready to contest with you via an open ballot system anytime, rather than a secret ballot. That was her response after the commander read her the regimes official notice announcing the coup, which said the military seized power due to electoral fraud. The commander responded with an uneasy laugh.

Even under house arrest, she urged the people to continue their anti-regime strike in whatever ways possible, whether by raising three-finger salutesa symbol of defiance against military rulebanging on pots and pans, or joining the civil disobedience movement (CDM).

She herself engaged in all these different means of anti-regime protest. As she still had access to her phone, Nan Khin Htwe Myint gave interviews to the media, urging public support for final efforts to strike against the regime and to speak up for the release of detained leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

She even posted a video online calling on people to unite to fight against military rule and urging soldiers to defend the people and unite with the general public.

On Feb. 8, two days after tens of thousands of Myanmar people took to the streets rejecting the military coup, she was taken to Hpa-an Prison in the Karen State capital.

In May, she was sentenced to two years in prison for comments she made following the Feb. 1 coup calling for people to show unity in striking against the regime, which were deemed by the junta to be incitement.

Then on Nov. 9, the NLD Central Executive Committee member was sentenced to 75 years in prison on four corruption chargeswhich she deniedby the junta court inside Hpa-an Prison. She is now serving a total of 77 years in prison, a move by which the junta hopes to ensure that the core NLD member stays behind bars.

Her family and people close to her say it shows the depth of the militarys grudge against her for her outspokenness and defiance.

Dedicated democracy activist

Nan Khin Htwe Myint has made many sacrifices due to her activism and family history of opposing military rule.

Her father was the Karen State head of the AFPFL (Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League) in the years shortly before and after independence from the British. Through family discussions Nan Khin Htwe Myint gained a homegrown knowledge of federalism, as well as political and ethnic history. Under Myanmars military rulers, her family was targeted for persecution for their political ties.

She has inherited her fathers commitment to working for ethnic rights and equality. She told The Irrawaddy in 2016 that she is dedicated to establishing my country as a federal-based democratic nation.

She was detained for the first time in 1975 for taking part in the student movement and imprisoned for six years. She continued to be imprisoned; she was jailed for two years in 1997, and then arbitrarily detained multiple times throughout the 1990s, without any charges.

She became a dedicated member of the NLD upon its formation in 1988, following the nationwide uprising that year. She contested and won a seat in the 1990 general election, in Hpa-an Constituency, the same constituency she represented in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.

The military regimes targeted acts of oppression against her include prison sentences and numerous arbitrary detentions. Now, she is being defamed by the junta with corruption charges. The allegation is ironic given that as chief minister of Karen State, Nan Khin Htwe Myint was known for her anti-graft stance.

We are really surprised by the charges and the verdicts, said her younger brother Saw Than Htut, who won election to an Upper House constituency in the 2020 election.

We, ourselves, loathe committing graft. She has never committed any corruption. The charges are a complete swindle, said the brother. The juntas charges against her are totally based on grudges as she is a decisive, outspoken and courageous politician.

Those who know her well speak of her as leading a very simple and far from luxurious life, even though she was the chief minister. She didnt even own a car.

A senior NLD leader who has known her for more than 30 years, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she is loyal to both the party and the country and a role-model in the NLD after chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Trumped-up charges

After they were detained in prison in the second week of February, the regime filed complaints against Nan Khin Htwe Myint and U Than Naing, Karen States municipal minister under the NLD government, accusing them of violating tender and financial regulations related to infrastructure development projects in Karen State. She was given 75 years while her colleague got a total of 92 years for corruption and sedition.

The pair told the court that they didnt commit the offenses, according to their lawyer U Aung Thein.

A source close to the court said that the rulings were unjust because they were entirely based on the prosecutors arguments, neglecting the defense lawyers arguments. The judge just read out a prepared ruling, the source said.

Some lawyers said such cases could be solved through departmental inquiries and did not need to be brought to trial.

These cases are simply based on grudges, said a lawyer who is familiar with the cases.

Knowing her integrity, a judge reportedly apologized to her during one proceeding, according to the source close to the court.

Juntas grudges against NLD

Reflecting their desire for NLD members to stay behind bars, the Myanmar juntas grudges against the partys leaders become more obvious by the day. Nan Khin Htwe Myints cases are just the latest examples.

Similar charges have been brought against other senior leaders including detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other chief ministers.

The junta has filed 11 charges against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD party chairperson, including for sedition, alleged breach of COVID-19 restrictions, violating the Official Secrets Act and corruption, which are also widely believed to be trumped-up charges.

The 76-year-old Nobel Laureate faces up to 102 years in prison if found guilty.

In the 10 months since the military coup, the juntas courts across the nation have handed jail sentences to 286 people including NLD members, former lawmakers, students and civilians participating in the peaceful anti-regime movement, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which documents rights abuses and killings.

Civilian courts have sentenced them to terms ranging from at least two years to life imprisonment, while fewer than a dozen civilians have been sentenced to death by a military court.

Among them, 80-year-old NLD patron U Win Htein was sentenced to 20 years in prison for high treason by a court inside Naypyitaw Prison for criticizing the coup on Oct. 29.

Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu was sentenced to two years in prison for incitement by Sittwe Court on Oct. 8. Magwe Region Chief Minister Dr. Aung Moe Nyo was sentenced to the same term on June 8. Mandalay Region Chief Minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who is also the NLDs vice chair, is also accused of sedition and corruption, and awaits trial.

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Burma Chin State Town Blames Myanmar Junta for Arson Attacks

Thantlang on Nov. 24.

Thantlang, a mountain-top town in Chin State, has suffered from eight fires and lost around 254 houses in two months, according to residents, who blame Myanmars military.

The latest fire broke out on Wednesday after junta troops shelled the town following clashes with the Chinland Defense Force (CDF) resistance group.

The regime claimed that 30 houses, a shop and church were destroyed by resistance attacks on Wednesday.

Around 36 houses in a ward burned down and then 10 more houses caught fire when another fire broke out in the same ward hours later after fighting had ceased. Three houses burned down in another ward.

A civilian resistance fighter from the CDF in Thantlang said junta soldiers were responsible for the fire that broke out after shooting ceased in the evening.

The sounds of gunshots and shelling had stopped. I am sure it was arson. They have committed arson several times. It seems that they torch anywhere they think we have been firing from. They want to make their targets clear. They want to blame us for the fires, said a CDF member.

Since Sept. 9, Thantlang has lost around 254 houses in eight fires, which have been blamed on junta shelling.

More than 160 houses out of around 2,000 homes in Thantlang burned down after junta artillery strikes on Oct. 29. The fires raged until the following day morning.

Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun disputed the allegations as groundless and accused resistance groups of setting fire to the houses.

The majority of Thantlangs population have left the town due to earlier artillery strikes. At least 70 junta troops are deployed in the town.

A house burned down during a junta artillery strike on Sept. 9 following fighting with resistance groups. Nineteen more houses burned down during shelling on Sept. 18, 164 on Oct. 29, 9 on Nov. 6, two on Nov. 9, seven on Nov. 10 and three on Nov. 11.

The military is supposed to protect the lives and property of the people. But it is doing the opposite. It is a terrorist army being exploited by a small group, said a Thantlang resident whose house burned down.

The resistance fighters consider everything and try to minimize the impact on people and their property if they fight. But Min Aung Hlaings troops are different. When they suffer heavy casualties, they steal and destroy houses. They open fire at random without mercy. They have no regard for civilians, added the resident.

A Chin pastor was shot dead and troops cut off his finger for his wedding ring during fighting with resistance forces in Thantlang on Sept. 18.

Chin State has been seen some of the heaviest resistance to the regime since the Feb. 1 coup. Clashes broke out between junta troops and the CDF in Thantlang on August 20.



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Heavy Fighting Reported Between Myanmar Junta and Northern Shan Armed Group
Burma Heavy Fighting Reported Between Myanmar Junta and Northern Shan Armed Group

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops. / Shwe Phee Myay News

Myanmars junta and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) have been clashing fiercely in northern Shan State.

The two sides clashed six times on Sunday in Mongkoe near the Chinese border, according to the MNDAA, which is also known as the Kokang Group.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify any of the reports.

Junta troops fired more than 900 artillery strikes at an MNDAA base before Battalion 15, which is part of the Meiktila-based Division 99, and Battalion 105 of Bago-based Division 77, attacked the base, the Kokang Group said. Junta troops retreated after fighting for more than three hours.

The regime suffered around 20 casualties while an MNDAA fighter died and three others were injured, according to the Kokang Group. The two sides also clashed in five other locations in Mongkoe, said the MNDAA.

The Kokang Group said on November 10 that the armed group instructed three Mongkoe companies to withdraw at Chinas request to control COVID-19 in the town.

Clashes are, however, continuing in Mongkoe because of the junta attacks, an MNDAA officer told The Irrawaddy.

Fighting happens because of the military. We are exercising restraint but we have to fight when the regime attacks us, said the officer, who asked not to be named.

More than 10 junta battalions are now in Mongkoe to attack the MNDAA, the group said.

Myanmars junta was unavailable for comment.

An analyst, who asked for anonymity, said: It seems the Kokang Group has gained a foothold. The junta cannot get rid of it.

The military is overstretched and its combat capability is declining. It needs air and artillery support to fight the PDFs [Peoples Defense Forces] which were only formed recently. It is even harder for it to fight the Kokang Group, which is experienced.

The area of conflict stretches from Mongkoe town and Phaung Sai west of the Salween river to Mong Ya, Mong Hong and Tarmoenye south of the river and to the Hsenwi-Kunlong road.

It gives the MNDAA access to Kokang to the east of the Salween and the group might try to reoccupy the town, said the analyst.

The group has been trying since early July to occupy Mongkoe, which is key to trade with China.

According to the MNDAA, dozens of junta soldiers have been killed in clashes and their weapons have been seized.



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Burma In Another Snub, Myanmar Junta Barred From Asia-Europe Meeting

Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in Russia in June 2021 / AFP

Myanmars military regime, which has become notorious for its brutal crackdowns on protesters, is appearing increasingly isolated on the world stage after being shunned from another international summit on Thursday, in the third such snub in two months.

The two-day virtual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) involving leaders of Asia and Europe is being hosted by Cambodia.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations sources said the junta was told it could only send a nonpolitical representative to the meeting as the regional bloc continues to sideline Myanmar junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing over the countrys post-coup political turmoil. Myanmar is an ASEAN member.

Kyodo News reported that the regime informed Cambodia it would not participate in the summit, citing the ASEAN sources.

Prior to its exclusion from the ASEM summit, the Myanmar regime was sidelined at the ASEAN-China special summit early this week. Junta ally China tried to persuade the blocs other member states to allow Myanmar to be present at the meeting. However, faced with ASEANs opposition, China was unable to help bring Myanmar to the table.

The 10-member bloc first excluded Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who has led bloody crackdowns on protesters against his regime since his power seizure in February, from its leaders summit in October. It attributed the coup leaders exclusion to his failure to honor commitments he made to ASEAN to ease the political turmoil caused by his takeover.

ASEANs unprecedented sanctioning of the Southeast Asian country is a departure from its basic principle of noninterference in member states domestic affairs. In response, Myanmar has criticized the bloc for not adhering to the longstanding principle.

The regime still hasnt made any official statement on its exclusion from the ASEAN-China summit, however.

Being barred by ASEAN from the summits is a huge blow for the regime, which desperately seeks recognition as Myanmars rightful government, especially from its regional neighbors. It also faces a contesting claim for legitimacy by a civilian shadow government formed by lawmakers from the ousted administration and their ethnic allies. At the same time, the regime has seen growing armed resistance from civilian forces across the country who refuse to submit to its rule.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Sacked Generals Who Served as Minsters During NLD Govt

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attends a ceremony at the presidential residence in Naypyitaw in March 2016 marking the official transfer of power to the National League for Democracy government. From left Lt-Gen Ye Aung, who would be appointed minister of border affairs, Lt-Gen Sein Win, the defense minister, and Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, who would run the Ministry of Home Affairs. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmars military reportedly forced into retirement two generals who served as ministers with the ousted democratic government.

Lieutenant General Sein Win and Lieutenant General Ye Aung were the military-appointed defense and border affair ministers respectively under the ousted National League for Democracy government from April 2015 to January 2021.

Both were forced to retire during the Feb. 1 coup and moved to the juntas National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing formed a new governing body after the coup and General Mya Tun Oo and General Tun Tun Naung were appointed as defense and border affairs ministers respectively on Feb. 1.

Lt-Gen Sein Win and Lt-Gen Ye Aung were appointed as the chairman and vice chairman of the Myanmar Veterans Association this month, according to Naypyitaw sources.

Lt-Gen Sein Win was tipped to be appointed as vice president by the military after the 2020 general election.

Under the 2008 Constitution, the defense, home affairs and border affairs ministries are controlled by the military and the ministers were generals nominated by the commander-in-chief with a parliamentary and presidential rubber stamp.

Myanmars military had 25 percent of all parliamentary seats and could nominate one of the two vice presidents.

An officer who defected from the military to join the civil disobedience movement known as Captain Zero told The Irrawaddy: They were somewhat well-respected within the military and did not have bad relations with the people. In a way, they were good at civilian-military relations.

Echoing other observers who believe the regime is looking to silence its moderates, the former officer said the junta keeps those who support the military dictators and lackeys.

In February 2020, former home affairs minister Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe, who was seen as close to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was replaced by Lt-Gen Soe Htut, who still holds the position.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the February coup, said during a visit to Singapore in 2018 that her relationship with the military was not that bad and the generals in her cabinet were rather sweet.

Colonel Khun Okkar, patron of the Pa-O National Liberation Organisation, who held peace talks with the ousted generals, said, if true, it was sad news because the two generals built mutual trust during the negotiations.

It shows the disagreements among the military leadership, he said. Some generals might oppose the ongoing atrocities. They might have parted company.



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Burma Over 20 Anti-Coup Activists Sentenced to Death by Myanmar Junta

Myanmar military regime forces seen in Yangon. / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar military tribunals handed down death sentences to 21 people on Tuesday for their alleged involvement in attacks on military targets. Another 29 people received life terms in jail.

Among those sentenced to death are people accused of killing two regime-appointed local administrators in Yangons South Dagon Township, as well as an alleged military informant and a ward administrator and his driver in Yangons Dagon Seikkan Township. The killings took place in July and August.

Youths accused of undergoing military training in areas controlled by ethnic armies were among those sentenced to life in prison. Also given life sentences were people accused of making donations to Peoples Defense Forces and the civilian National Unity Government, as well as people allegedly involved in bomb attacks on administration offices in Yangons Hlaing Tharyar Township.

The death sentences have been handed down to anti-regime protesters in townships currently under martial law. The military regime has imposed martial law in Hlaing Tharyar, Shwepyithar, South Dagon, North Dagon, Dagon Seikkan and North Okkalapa townships in Yangon, as well as in townships in Mandalay.

Martial law orders laid out 23 offenses to be tried in military tribunals in the designated townships, all of them carrying penalties of either death or life imprisonment.

The offenses include high treason, sedition, obstructing military personnel and civil servants performing their duties, instigation, incitement, spreading false news, possession of weapons, ties to unlawful associations, homicide, rape, robbery, corruption, drug abuse and vandalism.

Up until the end of October, the junta had sentenced 65 people to death including two people under the age of 18, according to rights group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

39 of them were tried in their absence and the junta has issued arrest warrants against them.

None of those sentenced to death are believed to have been executed. The last time the death penalty is known to have been used in Myanmar was 1988.

Rights groups have condemned the death sentences, which were handed down after egregiously unfair trials. The trials were conducted in secret, while the rules of evidence and procedure applicable in civilian courts do not apply to military tribunals.

Those sentenced by the military tribunals can appeal only to coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to reverse the decision within 15 days of sentencing.



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Burma Shoppers Boycott Myanmar Plaza After Attack on Anti-Regime Protest

Myanmar Plaza under guard by regime forces on Friday following its boycott by Yangon residents. / The Irrawaddy

Yangons most popular shopping center was deserted on Friday as Yangon residents boycotted the Myanmar Plaza complex, after its security team forcefully broke up an anti-regime protest by young people inside the mall.

On Thursday afternoon, a group of young people, including a woman, staged a flash mob protest on the ground floor of the Vietnamese-owned mall, Myanmars first international retail center. They called on people not to use bus services linked to the military regime, as part of the ongoing opposition to the junta which snatched power in a February 1 coup and has since launched brutal crackdowns against pro-democracy protesters.

The Myanmar Plaza security staff physically attacked the protesters, kicking and punching them before seizing them. The protesters were later released.

But many shoppers captured the attack on their phones and the images went viral on Facebook, generating considerable public anger over the treatment of the demonstrators by the mall security staff. Soon afterwards, people started to call for a boycott of the mall.

Myanmar Plaza released a statement overnight, saying that they were sorry that their site personnel acted in an inappropriate manner, during the incident.

We fully understand and acknowledge the feelings of the affected people. The young people involved were escorted away peacefully, said the statement.

But a majority of the shops at the mall  nearly four dozen including international retailers such as Adidas and Sony  said on Thursday night that they would close their outlets at the mall from Friday in response to the widespread calls for a boycott.

Late on Friday morning, the normally busy shopping center was eerily empty. Two-thirds of the malls shops were closed, with their roller shutter doors still down. Most of the malls lights were off and the food court, home to some of Yangons most popular eateries, was totally deserted. The only people in the complex were mall staff and people who had come to check out the situation following the boycott call. No shoppers were in sight.

Ko Evan, one of the group of young people who staged Thursdays protest, told The Irrawaddy that no one, especially youths like him, wanted to live under the military dictatorship that staged the coup.

That is why we staged the demonstration at Myanmar Plaza, a crowded place where we can call on people not to use junta-linked bus services, said Ko Evan.

U Min Ko Naing, one of the veteran leaders of the 88 Student Generation, told The Irrawaddy that he saluted the bravery and determination of the young protesters because their demonstration had made a serious impact.

This is a fight that all city residents can join. It can uplift peoples spirits. Its strong enough to inflict fear on those who ignore the revolution [against the regime], he said.

Fridays boycott is a huge blow for Myanmar Plaza after months of COVID-19 restrictions kept shoppers away. It also coincides with the Christmas sales, normally one of the malls busiest and most profitable periods.

Some taxi and delivery services have announced that they will not provide delivery services for Myanmar Plaza and offices in the complex.

A number of civilian resistance groups have also vowed to retaliate against Myanmar Plaza, warning people not to visit the mall as it may be attacked.

In April, the shopping center was targeted in a stun grenade attack.

Myanmar Plaza, which is owned by the Vietnam-based Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Group, opened in Yangons Bahan Township in December 2015.

HAGL was granted an investment license in 2012 by U Soe Thane, the chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission under U Theins Sein government, to build a complex of commercial centers, hotels and apartments that includes Myanmar Plaza.

U Soe Thane was one of U Thein Seins closest allies, overseeing the Ministry of Industry and the Presidents Office. U Thein Sein also assigned him to supervise national development projects.

Myanmars junta is currently facing nationwide opposition by armed civilian resistance groups and ethnic armies, as well as a Civil Disobedience Movement that sees people boycotting paying taxes and utility bills in an effort to starve the regime of cash.

People are also boycotting military-linked products including Mytel telecom services and beer products.



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Burma Thousands Flee as Myanmar Regime Resumes Raiding Resistance Groups

A house burned down by regime forces in a village in Demoso Township, Kayah State on November 18. / KnLC

Several thousand people in Kayah State in southeastern Myanmar have been forced to flee their villages after regime forces renewed their raids against civilian resistance groups.

Since November 17, Myanmar military reinforcements have randomly bombarded villages along the Demoso-Loikaw Highway, forcing several thousand residents to flee from around 30 villages between Demoso and Loikaw, the Kayah State capital, according to the Demoso command of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF).

The junta shelling follows clashes on November 11 between regime troops and the combined forces of the KNDF and the Karenni Army (KA), the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party, which resulted in the deaths of 20 junta soldiers and one civilian resistance fighter.

KNDF sources said they are still trying to ascertain the number of displaced civilians in Demoso Township.

Eight junta soldiers and four civilian resistance fighters have been killed in a series of firefights between November 18 and 25.

On early Thursday morning, an intense firefight between military regime forces and the KNDF broke out at Six Miles Village in Demoso Township after two military columns from Loikaw and Demoso raided the village.

During the clash, junta artillery based in Loikaw shelled the village, according to the KNDF.

Four of our comrades were killed in the shootout. Some civilian homes were destroyed by junta shelling, a KNDF official told The Irrawaddy.

After the battle, regime forces reportedly detained villagers and used them as human shields to travel ahead of them as they left the village.

On Tuesday, four clashes between junta soldiers and a combined KNDF and KA force took place at Daw Poese and Six Miles villages and in residential wards of Loikaw and Demoso.

During the battles, five junta troops were killed and seven others were injured. One resistance fighter suffered minor injuries.

Another two junta soldiers died and one civilian fighter was injured on Monday in three clashes between the Myanmar military and a combined KNDF and KA force also at Daw Poese and Six Miles villages.

On November 18, the Karenni combined force ambushed a military convoy of 20 vehicles near Six Miles Village.

A regime soldier died in the subsequent shootout, while two civilians were killed and houses in the village were torched.

Armed resistance to military rule in Kayah State began in late May, following the regimes brutal crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup demonstrations across Myanmar.

Regime forces have continued their atrocities, including the arbitrary killing of civilians, using civilians as human shields, bombarding residential areas, looting and burning houses, especially in Kayah, Shan and Chin states and Sagaing and Magwe regions.

The junta that has unfairly grabbed power from the elected government and will continue with its atrocities in Kayah State. But we [Karenni resistance forces] are trying our best to protect people from the juntas atrocities and to fight back against the military, a KNDF spokesperson told The Irrawaddy.

Currently, junta troops are facing increasingly intense attacks from Peoples Defense Forces and ethnic armed groups across the country.

As of Wednesday, 1,291 people have been slain by regime forces during their crackdowns, raids, arrests and interrogations, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group that records deaths and arrests since the juntas February 1 coup.

Another 10,452 people, including elected government leaders, have been arrested by the regime.



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Young Australians are taking the charge in navigating their own safety experience online, with nearly three quarters of teens - or 71% - found to be more confident to challenge cyberbullying and shutting down online hate than they were before joining the Digital Ambassadors program run by youth-driven anti-bullying organisation, Project Rockit.

According to a report from Project Rockit, following support and education interventions, new insights from more than 6,000 students from Year 79 students just released, highlight the importance of educating young Australians about how to engage safely online.

As well as the 71% being more confiedent to challenge cyberbullying, participants of the program also reported:

80% of students who have taken part of the Digital Ambassadors program reported they would rather speak out about issues online than in person.

88% of students said that their online interactions were more meaningful while remote learning during this year.

And Iimportantly the insights reveal that students through the program want to see more positive action online in the following areas:

Mental health Challenging racism Body positivity Kindness

Project Rockit Chief Executive Officer & Cofounder Rosie Thomas OAM said the insights highlight an important trend educators, teachers and our online community should focus on.

Young people in Australia want to use the powers of social media for good, and its promising to see the results from the Digital Ambassadors program mirroring anecdotal feedback were hearing from parents, guardians and young people, said Thomas.

We believe empowering young people with the right skills and tools will enable them to stand up, challenge the status quo and reclaim technology for good and tackle issues like hate speech and bullying.

To open up the benefits of the program to teachers, parents and guardians and students Project Rockit announced it is launching a one-off free public event to help encourage more young people to become Digital Ambassadors.

Project Rockit says the free, 45-minute, youth-driven program will equip students with tools to take control of online platforms, provide strategies to shut down online hate and cyberbullying, and take positive action online on the issues they care about.

Powered by Facebook and Instagram, the youth-driven program equips Digital Ambassadors to take control of online platforms, provide strategies to shut down online hate and cyberbullying, and take positive action online on the issues you care about.

Metas Australias Head of Policy Programs, Alisha Elliott said: Were proud to have supported PROJECT ROCKIT for nearly ten years to support Australias youth in addressing cyberbullying and its impacts. The Digital Ambassadors program is important for all ages to consider but we want young people to learn these behaviours and skills now so they have these good practices and skills available to them as they continue to grow and navigate their online experience.

Project Rockits Digital Ambassadors program unites students across Australian schools to participate in a national movement of change against cyberbullying, that is led by young people for young people.
FinTech Integrated Payment Technologies, better known as InPayTech, is rebranding to wrkr.

The change of name from InPayTech to wrkr was triggered by the merger of InPayTech with Comply Path, a regulation compliance technology business that started within PwC Australia.

"The new brand defines our focus on every Australian worker, making simple the often complex 'moments of compliance' during a person's working life," said wrkr CEO Trent Lund.

"As Australia emerges out of lockdown, employers are being met with a myriad of national compliance reforms. wrkr solves compliance and payments issues for businesses and their workers.

"Recent government reforms, such as new stapling requirements of the Your Future, Your Super rules and other increasing workforce compliance demands have been further accelerated as we come out of the Covid crisis."

wrkr CTO Joe Brasacchio said "Our customers can offer a compliant and rich onboarding experience to their employees and gig workers. These customers are benefiting from a 70% reduction in cost and savings of more than 7 hours per new worker that is onboarded using the wrkr Ready solution."

"Improving the worker experience and compliance at the source sets up our customers with improved data quality for further efficiency in downstream processing. This is where our wrkr Pay solution kicks in  it integrates into our customers' existing payroll process for a one stop shop for payment of wages, Single Touch Payroll reporting to the ATO, Superannuation Guarantee payments and other entitlement processing.

"Our customers can present a great first impression to their workers via a branded and contemporary user experience, all while having security checks within the solution to best defend them from many workforce risks."

wrkr currently serves 70,000 employers, 20,000 SMSFs, four of Australia's largest superannuation funds, and a number of advisors and accounting firms

The other members of wrkr's executive team are commercial director Jean-Paul Seow, head of growth Greg Tonner and CFO Karen Gilmour.
Security specialist Secureworks has appointed Demetrios Georgiou to the role of director of APAC.

Demetrios brings over 17 years of experience to the company.

He joins Secureworks from Bitdefender, where he worked as ANZ regional director.

Georgiou previously worked for Webroot (most recently as APAC strategic alliance manager) and Avnet (most recently as business development manager).

Earlier in his career he held sales and sales management roles at M.Tech, SQL Tools, CA and Insight.

Georgiou holds a bachelor of business administration from Swinburne University of Technology.

"I couldn't be more excited to join Secureworks at a time of astronomical growth, evidenced by Secureworks Taegis XDR reaching $100M in ARR within the first two years of launch," said Georgiou.

Secureworks, he said, is "uniquely positioned to help organisations find the solution that solves security's toughest challenges, and there's nothing better than knowing our work helps security analysts sleep easier and CISO's focus more time on strategy."

In related news, Secureworks recently appointed Murray Whitlocke-Jones to the role of head of channel.
Telecommunications icon, Mr Gary Smith, has taken out the Australian communication industrys most prestigious accolade; being awarded the title of Communications Ambassador 2021 at this years ACOMM Awards.

The winners of the prestigious 2021 Communications Alliance Awards were announced this evening at the 15th Annual ACOMM Awards Dinner in Sydney. The evenings keynote address was delivered by Paul Fletcher, Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts.

The individual category awards were taken out by a star-studded line-up of Australian service providers - featuring a mix of long-established players and new faces.

In a storied career spanning more than three decades in the industry, Gary Smith has made leading contributions to regulatory agendas and frameworks which support industry performance and good customer outcomes.

Gary has led industry activities through his positions on multiple Boards, reference panels and working groups. From his time at AUSTEL, helping set the industry framework for de-regulation, to his 25 years at Optus and his roles on the TIO Board, TIO Council and Comms Alliance Board, to his involvement in the development of mobile porting arrangements, content blocking and take-down processes, and security-related industry rules, Gary's wisdom and guidance has been valued throughout the sector.

Garys contribution has been enormous. He personifies the qualities that the judging panel looks for in a Communications Ambassador and has been a source of regular and invaluable counsel for me, the Comms Alliance Board, our management team and industry colleagues more broadly, said Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton.

Highly respected by all stakeholders, Garys constructive demeanour, his insight and logical approach have been instrumental in solving many of the challenges that industry has confronted in its quest for continuous improvement.

Stanton added, The ACOMM Awards represent the pinnacle of achievement for the Australian communications industry, and I congratulate all the winners and finalists in the 2021 ACOMMS,

Excellence in innovation is a pervasive trait in the achievements of the 2021 ACOMM winners.

The winners of the 2021 ACOMM Awards are:

COMMUNICATIONS AMBASSADOR  Gary Smith

Innovation  Large Company  Optus: Donate Your Data - An innovative product that empowers customers to be able to make a meaningful impact in bridging the digital divide for young Australians in need by donating something that has become a vital ingredient in connecting to the world around us  data.

Donate Your Data - An innovative product that empowers customers to be able to make a meaningful impact in bridging the digital divide for young Australians in need by donating something that has become a vital ingredient in connecting to the world around us  data. Innovation  SME  National Narrowband Network Company (NNNCo): N- Station, the Plug-and-Play, Portable LoRaWAN Gateway - The new NNNCo N- Station Portable Gateway Kit is part of NNNCos brand new LoRaWAN Network in a Box, the NNN Now range. This offer can easily and quickly be deployed by industrial customers around the world to connect their devices or sensors to the Internet of Things and start unlocking new business cases by receiving valuable data within minutes!

N- Station, the Plug-and-Play, Portable LoRaWAN Gateway - The new NNNCo N- Station Portable Gateway Kit is part of NNNCos brand new LoRaWAN Network in a Box, the NNN Now range. This offer can easily and quickly be deployed by industrial customers around the world to connect their devices or sensors to the Internet of Things and start unlocking new business cases by receiving valuable data within minutes! Vendor Innovation  Ericsson : Ericsson's 5G Leadership & Innovation in Australia - Ericsson has delivered several technology innovations to help Australian operators build among the worlds most advanced 5G mobile and FWAnetworks. Ericsson has helped Telstra, Optus, and NBN achieve ten worlds first, including two world records in recent years, accelerating the rollout and adoption of 5G in Australia.

: Ericsson's 5G Leadership & Innovation in Australia - Ericsson has delivered several technology innovations to help Australian operators build among the worlds most advanced 5G mobile and FWAnetworks. Ericsson has helped Telstra, Optus, and NBN achieve ten worlds first, including two world records in recent years, accelerating the rollout and adoption of 5G in Australia. Commitment to Customer Service  Telstra : EME Education Campaign  Telstras Chief 5G Investigator - Telstras 5G Investigator was a content campaign designed to help customers and the wider Australian populace disregard the spreading misinformation and feel more comfortable with the deployment and application of 5G technology.

: EME Education Campaign  Telstras Chief 5G Investigator - Telstras 5G Investigator was a content campaign designed to help customers and the wider Australian populace disregard the spreading misinformation and feel more comfortable with the deployment and application of 5G technology. Services to the Industry, Professional Services  (joint winners) au.Domain Administration and Clayton Utz au.Domain Administration: New rules to keep the .au domain trusted and secure - The auDA Compliance Team has overseen the implementation of a new licensing rules framework for the .au domain, working with the domain name industry to promote compliance and ensure the .au remains secure, accessible and trusted for the benefit of all Australians. Clayton Utz: Legal Services - We are a leading Australian law firm with a national top-tier telecommunications practice. Our practice has unrivalled industry knowledge and we are at the forefront of current industry and regulatory developments. We work on some of the most complex, strategic and high profile projects, many of which have redefined the telecommunications landscape in Australia.

Best Mobile Solution  Soprano Design : Soprano Connect - Soprano Design, a global leader in CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service), offers Australian companies a mobile solution to communicate with all of their customers needs. During COVID-19, this service was adapted for the inclusion of communicating contact tracing, connecting hospitals and patients, and the vaccine rollout.

: Soprano Connect - Soprano Design, a global leader in CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service), offers Australian companies a mobile solution to communicate with all of their customers needs. During COVID-19, this service was adapted for the inclusion of communicating contact tracing, connecting hospitals and patients, and the vaccine rollout. Community Contribution  Telstra : Supporting the nation through fires and pandemic - During 2020, Australia rolled out of one large-scale crisis into another, with months of unprecedented bushfires compounded by the disruption of the pandemic. These challenges highlight the importance of connectivity for all Australians & were proud of our compassionate and continuous response. We stepped up in a big way for the nation in the last 18 months to help our customers, our people, and the country in a time of need.

: Supporting the nation through fires and pandemic - During 2020, Australia rolled out of one large-scale crisis into another, with months of unprecedented bushfires compounded by the disruption of the pandemic. These challenges highlight the importance of connectivity for all Australians & were proud of our compassionate and continuous response. We stepped up in a big way for the nation in the last 18 months to help our customers, our people, and the country in a time of need. Australian Space Industry Award  Vocus : Business Internet-Satellite - Our Business Internet-Satellite solution, developed with NBN, makes it easier and more affordable for enterprise, government, and wholesale to invest and operate in regional and remote Australia, bringing benefits for both businesses and the surrounding communities, and cements our position as a leading enabler of Australias satellite industry.

: Business Internet-Satellite - Our Business Internet-Satellite solution, developed with NBN, makes it easier and more affordable for enterprise, government, and wholesale to invest and operate in regional and remote Australia, bringing benefits for both businesses and the surrounding communities, and cements our position as a leading enabler of Australias satellite industry. Diversity and Inclusion  Aussie Broadband : Inclusion first program - Aussies Inclusion first program focuses on real actions rather than words on paper, so that diversity and inclusion have become part of the companys DNA. It is not about any specific large project, but an absolute belief that it is the small things that make a bigger impact over time. On winning the award Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt said, Im very honoured to accept this accolade on behalf of the team, because diversity and inclusion is really important to us here at Aussie Broadband. This award is a huge recognition of all the amazing work everyone does at Aussie with our Inclusion First approach. I would like to thank every one of the team members at Aussie Broadband.

: Inclusion first program - Aussies Inclusion first program focuses on real actions rather than words on paper, so that diversity and inclusion have become part of the companys DNA. It is not about any specific large project, but an absolute belief that it is the small things that make a bigger impact over time. On winning the award Aussie Broadband managing director Phillip Britt said, Im very honoured to accept this accolade on behalf of the team, because diversity and inclusion is really important to us here at Aussie Broadband. This award is a huge recognition of all the amazing work everyone does at Aussie with our Inclusion First approach. I would like to thank every one of the team members at Aussie Broadband. Sustainability  TPG Telecom: felix mobile: one tree planted - Differentiating itself from other telco brands in the market, felix launched with a pledge to plant one tree a month for every active customer, with a goal to plant 1,000,000 trees with the help of their customers.

one tree planted - Differentiating itself from other telco brands in the market, felix launched with a pledge to plant one tree a month for every active customer, with a goal to plant 1,000,000 trees with the help of their customers. Artificial Intelligence  Nokia: Nokia Scene Analytics - Nokia and City of Melbourne use AI to improve the city experience in Melbournes iconic laneways.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 24 November 2021.
The offices of Paul Fletcher Minister for Communications Urban Infrastructure Cities and the Arts and Simon Birmingham Minister for Finance, announced that the Morrison Government has appointed current NBN Co Board member Ms Kate McKenzie to the role of Chair, and Ms Nerida Caesar as Non-Executive Director to the Board for a term of three years, effective 1 January 2022.

The Ministers advised that McKenzie joined the Board in 2019 as a Non-Executive Director and during her first term has also served as a member of NBN Cos Audit and Risk Committee, Financing Committee, Nominations Committee, and People and Remuneration Committee.

McKenzie brings a strong understanding of government and regulatory environments following more than 30 years of experience in government and senior executive leadership. Ms McKenzies extensive communications sector experience, including as former Chief Executive Officer of national telecommunications firm Chorus New Zealand, includes strong experience of oversight of a large operational telecommunications firm. This will be of particular value as NBN Co transitions to its operational phase, the Ministers say.

Caesar is a non-executive director of Westpac, a member of its technology committee, and legal, regulatory and compliance committee. Ms Caesar was formerly a senior executive at Telstra, Chief Executive Officer of Equifax, and held several executive and senior management positions with IBM.

These appointments will add to the strength of the diverse leadership making up the Board and will continue its focus on overseeing the transition of NBN Co to its operational phase following the completion of the network build, the Ministers said.

The Government thanked Dr Ziggy Switkowski for his years of outstanding service as Chair of the Board, the Ministers advised. The Government stated that Switkowski will continue in his role as Chair until January 1 2022 to ensure a smooth transition to Ms McKenzie.

Switkowski was first appointed Executive Chairman of NBN Co in October 2013, after the Coalition won the 2013 federal election. He then reverted to the role of Non-Executive Chairman in April 2014 when Bill Morrow was appointed Chief Executive Officer. Switkowski's current term was to expire on 2 October 2022. No reason was given for Switkowski's early departure, but it is interesting to note he is leaving just a few months prior to the next federal election, in a period when the opposition is bringing increasing scrutiny on NBN decisions and technology choices made, or influenced, by the Coalition Government.

Initially, Switkowski oversaw the implementation of the then Minister Turnbull's Multi-technology Mix (MTM) network solution, including the now semi-redundant FTTN access technology. Switkowski had NBN Co set and maintain more realistic timeframes for deployment, better managing stakeholder and market expectations as a result, something the previous board and executive had not done well. Switkowski also oversaw the completion of the initial build of the MTM network and the initial transition to an operating wholesale telco company.

Switkowski oversaw NBN Cos approach to private debt markets and the substantial reduction in the Commonwealth loan, a positive outcome politically for the Morrison Government and a reduction in interest expenses for NBN Co.

It will be interesting to see if McKenzie will be able to steer NBN Co to being as effective in Australia as Chorus was in NZ under her leadership. For a company that is relatively young, NBN Co comes with considerable politically instigated baggage to manage.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 23 November 2021.
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.
Libyas government has condemned an attack on a court ahead of an appeal by the son of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi against the rejection of his presidential election candidacy.

The December 24 polls come as Libya seeks to turn a page on a decade of violence that has rocked the oil-rich nation since a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed Kadhafi in 2011.

Libyas electoral commission on Wednesday announced the rejection of the candidacy of Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.

Seif al-Islam was among 25 of the 98 hopefuls whose bids were turned down for non-compliance with the provisions of the electoral law.

The unsuccessful applicants were given 48 hours to appeal the decision in courts.

But on Thursday morning a group of outlaws launched an odious attack on the court in the southern town of Sebha forcing it to shut  just hours before Seif al-Islam had been due to appeal, the government said in a statement.

It has ordered the interior and justice ministries open an investigation into the attack, said Khaled al-Zaydi, lawyer for Seif al-Islam.

The attackers forced all staff from the court building at gunpoint hours before the appeal hearing, said Khaled al-Zaydi, Seif al-Islams lawyer.

This act is an obstacle to the electoral process, he said in a video broadcast on Libyan media.

In the case of Seif al-Islam, the commission had pointed to articles of the electoral law stipulating that candidates must not have been sentenced for a dishonourable crime and must present a clean criminal record.

The final list of candidates is due to be published by early December, once verifications and appeals are completed.

Other hopefuls still in the running include eastern-based strongman Khalifa Haftar, interim premier Abdulhamid Dbeibah and former interior minister Fathi Bashagha.

Both presidential and legislative polls had been slated for December 24, but in early October parliament split the dates of the votes, postponing the legislative elections until January.

The path to the ballot box has been lined with disputes over the constitutional basis for the polls and the powers to be given to whoever wins.
Time for the truth in Gambia has taken its time. After two years and a half of hearings and investigations, after a recent series of delays and political hold-ups, the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commissions (TRRC) members were at the State House, in Banjul, on Thursday November 25 to deliver their final report to the President of the Republic, Adama Barrow.

It is now up to him  or to his successor  to make this report public and implement its recommendations, in a country wounded by systemic human rights violations during the military regime of his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, from July 1994 to January 2017.

At least 240 people have been arbitrarily killed under Jammehs regime, said Commissions chair Dr Lamin Sise at a press briefing with journalists on Thursday. But the Truth Commission refused to reveal a list of people it has recommended for prosecution, leaving it for the government to publish or proceed with the judiciary.

Even if they didnt reveal his name today, the Commission left no doubt that Jammeh was top among the former officials whose prosecutions it was recommending, said Reed Brody of the International Commission of Jurists, who works with Gambian victims. This report begins the countdown to the day Jammeh will have to face his victims. Whether its in The Gambia or before an international court, it will be very difficult now for him to escape justice.

Barrow swings between victims and Jammeh

In the course of its mandate, the TRRCs work has already lead to high-profile prosecutions.

One case was particularly exposed. In July 1995, Gambia recorded its most high-profile murder. A Finance minister, Ousman Koro Ceesay, was found beaten to death, in a partially burnt vehicle. The silence from the military who were implicated in the murder was deafening. The Truth Commission would torn the case widen open, preparing the ground for the eventual incarceration of Yankuba Touray, a former local government minister.

(Alagie) Kanyi, when he was giving his testimony about how they killed Koro Ceesay, that was a moment I will never forget, President Barrow, who bids for his second term as his country head to polls on December 4, told a private television in July. I am assuring [victims] that there will be justice in this country, he also said.

But the same Barrow later attempted to form an alliance with Jammeh. In the same month he was promising justice to victims, members of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction Party (APRC)  Jammehs party  came in Banjul to hand a petition to Barrow. Its content was never made public. But two things were clear: they wanted the government to negate the Commissions recommendations and free Yankuba Touray.

When the TRRCs final report is out, let it be put in a wastepaper basket, said the APRC leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta on July 26 this year. Jatta became APRCs leader after Jammeh departed for Equatorial Guinea, where he has been living in exile since 2017.

Two weeks before presidential election

These political shifts have led to dissension and delays for the Truth Commission who, after three extensions of its mandate, delivered a 17-volumes report to President Barrow.

Barrow is required by the Commissions act to submit copies of the report to countrys National Assembly and to the office of the United Nations Secretary General within 30 days. Within this period, the Justice minister can publish the report. Then the government has six months to issue a position paper on how it will implement TRRCs recommendations.

The report is coming at a very critical time when Gambians are heading to the polls in two weeks It puts the issue of the TRRC on the table and on the agenda, Sait Matty Jaw, a Gambian academic, told Justice Info.

Three parties are tipped the likeliest winner of December polls: United Democratic Party (UDP), Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) and National Peoples Party (NPP). The APRC new leader is supporting Barrows NPP while Jammeh is with GDC. Only one of the three parties  UDP  made a commitment to fully implement the recommendations of the Truth Commission. Among the challengers, Essa Faal, the former lead council for the TRRC who is now running for presidency also made a public commitment to fully implement them.

I assure victims that my government will ensure that justice is done, but I urge them to be patient and allow the legal process to take its course.

Barrow, though, appeared to have changed his tone since Jammeh finally refused alliances with the NPP. In the last two weeks, Jammeh has been using the platforms of GDC to lambast Barrow, something the administration reported to the Independent Electoral Commission as a threat to the stability of the country.

I assure them (victims) that my government will ensure that justice is done, but I urge them to be patient and allow the legal process to take its course. That way, justice will prevail, and we will be able to heal as a country and move forward united and stronger, with greater determination, said Barrow as he met the TRRC on Thursday.

Since his arrival to State House in 2018, Barrow has implemented recommendations of two commissions. He is both criticized for his failure to implement the conclusions of an inquiry into the shootings of protesters  when three young men were killed by paramilitary  and for having selectively implemented the recommendations of the Janneh Commission  an inquiry into the financial transactions of the former ruler.

With this in the background, couple with the complex political environment, academic Matty Jaw is sceptical on Barrows ability to implement the TRRCs report if he is not subject to strong social pressure. President Barrow has been seen to be foot-dragging (on receiving Commissions report) but what Gambians need to do is to ensure that the recommendations of the Truth Commission is implemented, he told Justice Info.

No amnesty

In their many progress reports, the commissioners put in recommendations on crimes and special courts that could be established to address them. But the TRRC has not granted amnesty to any individual and it seems that no one has applied.

To forgive and forget with impunity the violations and abuses narrated by witnesses to the Commission would not only undermine reconciliation but also constitute a massive and egregious cover-up of the crimes committed, said chair Dr Lamin Sise on Thursday.

Not addressing these crimes could threaten, in the long term, the stability of our country and society. The individuals involved in perpetrating the violations and abuses must be held accountable for their crimes, Sise added.

427 findings, 218 recommendations

In its final report, the TRRC outlines 427 findings and 218 recommendations. The recommendations fall on prosecutions, further probe on certain cases, banning certain individuals involved in rights violations from holding public office, repeal certain laws, legal and institutional reforms and training and capacity building of security and other personnel.

The crimes committed under the Jammeh regime have proven to constitute crimes against humanity, which means they fall under universal jurisdiction and can be prosecuted by any member of the international community  states and non-state actors like the International Criminal Court, the executive secretary of the Truth Commission, Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, told Justice Info. In the beginning we didnt know the scope and extent of the violations. I am more optimistic today that however long it takes, however difficult it proves, justice will be done.

In any event, the final say on the fate of the Gambias Truth Commissions report may eventually rest on the shoulders of the winner of the December 4 presidential polls.
South Africas Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, announced on Thursday that a new variant of the coronavirus has been discovered in South Africa. Scientists said the variant is worrying because of the large number of mutations and the presence in Gauteng, the countrys most populous. Spread rapidly among young people in the province.

Coronaviruses evolve as they spread, and many new variants, including those with worrying mutations, usually disappear. Scientists monitor possible changes that may be more contagious or lethal, but it may take time to determine whether the new mutation will have an impact on public health.

Phaahla said in an online press conference that the number of new infections in South Africa has increased dramatically.

In the past four or five days, there has been an exponential increase, he said, adding that new variants seem to be driving a surge in cases. Scientists in South Africa are working to determine the percentage of new cases caused by new variants.

He said that it is currently identified as B.1.1.529, and this new variant has also been found among South African travelers in Botswana and Hong Kong.

The World Health Organizations technical working group will meet on Friday to evaluate the new variant and may decide whether to give it a Greek letter name.

The British government announced that from noon on Friday (1200 GMT), flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries will be banned, and anyone who has recently arrived from these countries will be tested for coronavirus.

British Health Minister Sajid Javid said there are concerns that this new variant may be more contagious than the main delta strain and that the vaccine we currently have may not be effective against it.

Tulio de Oliveira of the South African Genome Surveillance Network said that this new variant has a series of new mutations, and he has been tracking the spread of the delta variant in the country.

De Oliveira said: A lot of mutations are a problem in predicting immune evasion and spread.

He said: This new variant has many, many mutations, including more than 30 spike proteins that affect transmission. We can see that this variant may spread very quickly. We do expect that in the next few days and weeks, the healthcare system will begin to be under pressure.

De Oliveira said a team of scientists from seven universities in South Africa is studying this variant. He said they have 100 whole genomes and expect to have more in the next few days.

We are worried about the evolutionary jump of this variant, he said. He said that the good news is that it can be detected by a PCR test.

After a relatively low transmission period, the number of new confirmed cases recorded in South Africa every day is only slightly more than 200. In the past week, the number of new cases per day has rapidly increased to more than 1,200 on Wednesday. On Thursday, they jumped to 2,465.

Health Minister Phaahla said that the first surge occurred in Pretoria and the surrounding Tshwane metropolitan area, and it appeared to be a cluster of university student gatherings in the area. As the number of cases increased, scientists studied genome sequencing and discovered new mutations.

Ravindra Gupta, professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Cambridge, said: This is obviously a mutation that we must take very seriously. It has a large number of spike mutations that may affect infectivity and immune response. .

Gupta said it will take time for scientists in South Africa to determine whether the surge in new cases is attributable to the new mutation. It is very likely that this is the case, he said. South African scientists have done an excellent job of quickly determining this and bringing it to the worlds attention.

Phaahla said South African officials have warned that a new recovery is expected from mid-December to early January and hopes to prepare for this by getting more people vaccinated.

Approximately 41% of adults in South Africa are vaccinated, and the number of vaccines injected daily is relatively small, less than 130,000 times, which is far below the governments target of 300,000 times a day.

The Acting Director-General of South Africas National Health Department, Nicholas Crisp, stated that South Africa currently has about 16.5 million doses of Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in the country, and it is expected that about 250 will be delivered next week. Ten thousand doses of vaccine.

Crisp said: We are getting vaccines faster than we are currently using them. So for some time, we have been postponing deliveries instead of reducing orders, but just postponing deliveries so as not to accumulate and store vaccines. .

South Africa, with a population of 60 million, has recorded more than 2.9 million COVID-19 cases and more than 89,000 deaths.

To date, the delta variant is still the most contagious, and has squeezed out other once worrying variants, including alpha, beta, and mu. According to the sequence submitted to the worlds largest public database by countries in the world, more than 99% are deltas.
Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Sik are the new Kdrama tandem that is gaining the viewers' hearts for their subtle and charming chemistry in tvN's "Happiness."

Fashion magazine Elle released the first set of snaps featuring the gorgeous lead stars Park Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo for its upcoming December issue.

Park Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo Display Amazing Teamwork

The pictorial was done in solo to emphasize the characteristics of the two actors and couple shots that displayed their exquisite chemistry as new on-screen partners.

They play as Yoon Sae Bom and Jung Yi Hyun in the series, and their interactions always give excitement to the audience. The two stars also showed off incredible teamwork and stayed focused in every click of the cameras.

'Happiness' Lead Stars Share Sneak Peek of Their Elle Magazine Interview

Former ZE:A member Park Hyung Sik just made his drama return after military discharge. His new role as Jung Yi Hyun is a smart and honest detective that always prioritizes the safety of others. In the interview chops published by Elle, Park Hyung Sik shared that it was captivating to express his characters simply and clearly.

The "Strong Woman Do Bong Soon" actor added, "The emotional line was deep and developing. The action scene also tried to capture survival-type of actions that could be used when the detective faced extreme situations.

Meanwhile, Han Hyo Joo said that her character is like a big sister and sometimes looks playful and free-spirited. She added that even though there were a lot of difficult stunts, she managed to finish it strong.

The "Happiness" stars looked happy and comfortable working for their first magazine shoot together. Many were amazed by strong presence on screen may it be in dramas or fashion photo shoots.

Park Hyung Sik and Han Hyo Joo's pictorial and full interview can be found in Elle's December issue.

"Happiness" airs every Friday and Saturday at 10:40 p.m (KST) on tvN. The drama is also in a tight viewership rating competition with MBC's "The Red Sleeve Cuff" and SBS' "Now, We Are Breaking Up."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Han Hyo Joo Surprises 'Happiness' Production Team With Witty and Playful Remarks in New Behind-the-Scenes Video

What can you say about Han Hyo Joo and Park Hyung Sik's chemistry in "Happiness"? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins.
Netflix drops the second teaser for the much-awaited team-up of Gong Yoo, Bae Doona, and Lee Joon in the upcoming Kdrama "The Silent Sea."

The highly anticipated sci-fi series focuses on space elite crews and their mission to recover mysterious artifacts from an abandoned lunar space station.

'The Silent Sea' Teaser Feature Lead Stars Gong Yoo, Bae Doona, and Lee Joon

Gong Yoo, Bae Doona, and Lee Joon transform as crew members from a special space agency alongside Kim Sun Young and Lee Moo Saeng in the second teaser.

The group looks distraught while inside a spacecraft, trying to set out their mission and safely return to the earth.

Based on the caption, the team only had a 10 percent chance of survival as their spaceship heads to the moon.

IN CASE YOU MISSED: Gong Yoo Goes Under the Radar in Seoul + Receives a Thoughtful Gift as he Celebrates his 20th Debut Anniversary

'The Silent Sea' Cast, Release Date and More

The "Kingdom" actress took on the role of the space biologist Song Ji An, who is responsible for unraveling the secret behind an accident that killed her sister.

The said incident took place at the now-abandoned research station on the moon.

Meanwhile, the Hallyu actor suits up as he portrays space team leader Han Yoon Jae.

He focuses on retrieving samples from the research station and returning to earth safety despite the critical mission.

Joining his team is Lee Joon as the talented engineer Ryu Tae Seok.

Wrapping up the elite space group is the team doctor Hong Ga Young, played by "Crash Landing on You" actress Kim Su Young, while Lee Moo Saeng took on the role of security team leader Gong Su Hyeok and the spaceship pilot Kim Sun will be portrayed by Lee Seong Wook.

Interestingly, Gong Yoo will be reunited with his "Squid Game" co-star Heo Sung Tae who took on the role of the villain player no. 101 Jang Deok Soo.

However, in the upcoming Netflix series, he will play Kim Jae Seon, Korea Space Aviation Administration's resource team leader, as he works together with Bae Doona and Gong Yoo.

As Netflix gears up for the highly anticipated sci-fi series, the streaming giant previously announced the official release date of "The Silent Sea."

Gong Yoo and Bae Doona's Kdrama is scheduled to debut on December 24 exclusively on Netflix.

The eight-part episode is based on the movie "The Sea of Tranquility" directed by Choi Hang Yong, the PD for the upcoming series.

On the other hand, award-winning actor Jung Woo Sung will produce "The Silent Sea."

In an interview, he revealed what prompted him to produce the sci-fi series.

He said that he instantly fell in love with the plot when he first saw the movie seven years ago.

"I loved the idea, so I wanted to make a longer version, and I started to take on the challenge without fear. I've ended up producing it after coming together with this amazing cast," he said.

KDramastars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Following the colorful and witty teaser posters, "When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon" released the first look of lead actors Byun Woo Seok and Kang Mi Na through a set of new breathtaking stills.

Byun Woo Seok and Kang Mi Na Display Undeniable Beauty in 'When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon' Stills

KBS2's forthcoming historical drama "When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon" follows the romantic story between Kang Ro Seo (Girl's Day Hyeri), an aristocrat who tries to make ends meet by making alcohol illegally and Nam Young (Yoo Seung Ho), a great inspector who lives his life with morally upright principles.

On November 25, the production team of the drama released a new set of stills featuring the two stars who will act alongside Girl's Day Hyeri and Yoo Seung Ho.

The newly released photos capture Byun Woo Seok and Kang Mi Na's synchronization with their characters, which steal the fans and prospective viewers' hearts.

Byun Woo Seok takes on the role of the handsome crown prince Lee Pyo. He is great in both martial and fine arts, however, he isn't interested in books and studying.

Lee Pyo is a crown prince who mischievously sneaks out of the palace to drink alcohol illegally, despite the heavy prohibition.

Byun Woo Seok is clothed in a beautiful pair of clothes, projecting an undeniable charm. Despite his wealth and power, he is only truly happy when he's drinking.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Girl's Day Hyeri, Yoo Seung Ho, Byun Woo Seok and More Display Enthusiasm and Synergy at Their New Drama Script Reading

On the other hand, the beloved daughter of a noble family Han Ae Jin is played by Kang Mi Na. She grew up like a beautiful flower that blossomed in the spring.

Han Ae Jin only eats the healthiest and most scrumptious food and only wears high quality clothes.

Because her father Han Sang Woon (Lee Hwang Eui) loves her so much, she always got what she wanted and never had to do anything she didn't want to do.

Despite her picture-perfect life, she has a lot of curiosity about the surroundings outside her family and her home.

Attention is focused on what kind of relationship the two will have with Kang Ro Seo and Nam Young. The two are expected to add depth and strength to the drama with their unmatched visuals and amazing ability in acting.

'When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon' Production Unit On Byun Woo Seok and Kang Mi Na

The production staff of "When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon" teased the fans and potential viewers by saying, "Lee Pyo will surely capture the viewers' attention with his unusual set-up as an alcoholic crown prince in the Joseon era of alcohol prohibition."

"Please pay attention to his comical antics that will make the drama fun and refreshing," they continued.

On the other hand, Kang Mi Na's character, Han Ae Jin, was praised by the production unit, "Han Ae Jin's youthful glow and unpredictability add depth to the drama. Please give her a lot of interest and love."

Moreover, "When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon" will air for the first time after "The King's Affection" drama's conclusion on Monday, December 20 at 9:30 p.m. KST on KBS.

ICYMI, watch the drama's heart-thumping teaser here:

Follow KDramaStars for more Korean drama updates!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Elijah Mully wrote this.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - International health experts are sounding the alarm about a new covid variant that is highly mutated and could be vaccine resistent. The new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa. Scientists say its a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday that South Africa has seen a dramatic rise in new cases, adding that the new variant appears to be driving the spike. The British government announced that it was banning flights from South Africa and other countries that may be affected.

The Health Minister said the new variant, currently identified as B.1.1.529, has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, in travelers from South Africa. The World Health Organizationss technical working group is going to meet on Friday to assess the new variant and the dangers it could pose. They are going to decide whether or not to give it a name from the Greek alphabet.
The Arctic Ocean has been warming since the onset of the 20th century, decades earlier than instrument observations would suggest, according to new research.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, found that the expansion of warm Atlantic Ocean water flowing into the Arctic, a phenomenon known as "Atlantification," has caused Arctic water temperature in the region studied to increase by around 2 degrees Celsius since 1900.

Francesco Muschitiello, an author on the study and assistant professor of geography at the University of Cambridge, said the findings were worrisome because the early warming suggests there might be a flaw in the models scientists use to predict how the climate will change.

"The Arctic Ocean has been warming up for much longer than we previously thought," Muschitiello told CNN. "And this is something that's a bit unsettling for many reasons, especially because the climate models that we use to cast projections of future climate change do not really simulate these type of changes."

The researchers used marine sediments in the Fram Straight, where the Atlantic meets the Arctic east of Greenland, to reconstruct 800 years of data that paint a longer historical picture of how Atlantic water has flowed into the Arctic. The marine sediments are "natural archives," the researchers wrote, which record data on past climate conditions.

Researchers found temperature and salinity, the saltiness of ocean water, remained fairly constant up until the 20th century -- then they suddenly increased.

"The reconstructions suggest a substantial increase in the Atlantic Ocean heat and salt transport into the Nordic Sea at the beginning of the 20th century, which is not well simulated by (climate models)," Rong Zhang, a senior scientist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, who was not involved with the study, told CNN. "It's important to understand the cause of this rapid Atlantification, as well as the discrepancies between the model simulations and the reconstructions."

Muschitiello said it's not clear how much of a role, if any, human-caused climate change played in the early Arctic warming, and more research is needed.

"We're talking about the early 1900s, and by then we've already been supercharging the atmosphere with carbon dioxide," he said. "It is possible that the Arctic Ocean is more sensitive to greenhouse gases than previously thought. This will require more research, of course, because we don't have a solid grip on the actual mechanisms behind this early Atlantification."

The study notes that changes in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)  a system of currents that moderates temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere  could have played a role in the Arctic warming. Notably, the AMOC weakened after a period of cooling ended in the mid-1800s in the North Atlantic region, which researchers suggest could have led to rapid Atlantification along the east Fram Strait.

A recent study found that the AMOC, often described as a "conveyor belt" that transports warm water from the tropics and redistributes it northward, is now showing signs of further instability due to human-caused climate change. Scientists have warned that a collapse of the circulation could lead to an abrupt shift in weather patterns across the globe  colder winters in Europe, changes to monsoons and potentially permanent drought in West Africa.

The rapidly warming temperatures in the Arctic have caused sea ice to melt, which in turn causes more warming -- while bright white sea ice reflects the sun's energy, dark ocean absorbs the energy as heat.

James E. Overland, NOAA Arctic scientist based at NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle, said such long-term changes in the North Atlantic, coupled with recent loss of sea ice in the Arctic, threatens marine ecosystems.

"Loss of sea ice and ocean currents has shifted the buffer region between the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean to something closer to an arm of the central Atlantic," Overland, who was not involved with the study, told CNN. "Important fisheries and marine mammals are vulnerable to ecosystem reorganization from such Atlantification."

A recent UN state-of-the-science report on the climate crisis found the Arctic will continue to warm faster than the rest of the planet as long as humans continue to burn fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. On top of that, Muschitiello said the Arctic Ocean may experience further warming due to Atlantification.

"When I talk to my students I always try to make them aware that the Arctic is warming very, very quickly, and much faster than any other area on the planet," Muschitiello said. "It's very unsettling and very troubling, especially because we still don't have a full understanding of feedbacks at play."

"We're still slowly getting to know how the whole system works," he said. "And my fear is that by the time that we do crack the problem, it's going to be too late."

The-CNN-Wire

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CENTRAL POINT, Ore-- A Thanksgiving miracle Thursday afternoon as firefighters were able to save a home from burning to the ground.

Around 4:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon, firefighters from Fire District 3 and Medford Fire where called to 250 Wilson Road in Central Point.

Once firefighters arrived to the scene, crews discovered flames inside the kitchen that had moved their away up into the attic of the home.

During that time, firefighters were able to rescue the family's dog and stop the flames from spreading further throughout the structure.

NewsWatch 12 has learned that the family was not home at the time of the fire and as of Thursday night, it is believed that the fire was accidental.

However, because of fire and smoke damage inside the home, firefighters have told NewsWatch 12 that the home is unlivable.

Fire crews are still trying to determine the exact cause of the fire, but it is not believed by Fire District 3 that the fire was caused because of a Thanksgiving meal.
By Pete Muntean and Gregory Wallace, CNN

(CNN) -- Thanksgiving travelers have set a new pandemic-era air travel record in the United States.

The Transportation Security Administration says it screened 2.3 million people (2,311,978) at airports across the country on Wednesday, making it the busiest day at security checkpoints since March 2020.

The number is 88% of the traffic (2,624,250) on the equivalent Wednesday in 2019, before the pandemic. And it is more than twice the number of people (1,070,967) TSA screened on this day last year.

Wednesday is the seventh consecutive day the TSA screened more than 2 million passengers.

Goal: Safe and secure

TSA chief David Pekoske told CNN ahead of the holiday that the agency was prepared for the travel surge.

"We've looked at passenger volume projections, we've worked with the carriers and with the airports, and collectively we're ready for the Thanksgiving holiday," he said. "Our goal is to make it as safe and secure and as enjoyable for people as we possibly can."

AAA predicted 53.4 million Americans would travel for the holiday, including millions by air. Pekoske warned travelers to "just be patient" navigating travel, especially because some people have traveled infrequently or not at all since the pandemic began.

At the same time, the Justice Department says it will finally crack down on the thousands of passengers accused of violence and outbursts on aircraft. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed federal prosecutors to prioritize charges against unruly passengers.

The Federal Aviation Administration has received more than 5,300 cases, launched more than 1,000 of its own investigations and issued $1.6 million in fines.

But some aviation groups have been calling for prosecutors to step in because the Justice Department does not have the authority to pursue criminal charges. The FAA said it has turned over 37 cases to the DOJ.

Covid safety tips for flying this holiday season

With what's already proving to be a busy holiday flying season, you might be understandably nervous about Covid-19. Here are some tips on how to keep you and your family safe -- and reduce stress -- while flying:

Fly off-hours and on less busy days

If you can travel to and from your destination on less busy travel days, you and your family will encounter fewer people and may be more successful at social distancing, said Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech.

Book window seats

Experts suggest booking window seats for children (or adults) who are not vaccinated, partly due to the air vents along the inside panels of most planes.

Delay your meal

You can also protect yourself by eating when everyone else is masked, Marr suggested.

"When they come around and serve drinks and snacks, I'll take it but I don't eat them right away because that's when everyone else has their masks off," she said.
Pearce Brennan, right, reaches for equipment on a shelf as he and other staff work in the kitchen at The Lazy Gourmet catering company, in Vancouver, on Thursday, November 18, 2021. Limited guest lists and flexibility in case of rising COVID case counts are among the ways companies are trying to balance the uncertainty of the pandemic with a desire to celebrate the holiday season. Caught in the middle are restaurants, party venues and caterers hoping to eke out a profit. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Parking spaces for private aircraft will be increased and improved at Kelowna Airport through a $5 million upgrade to be paid for by members of the Kelowna Flying Club.
Members of the Canadian Forces build a temporary dike with sandbags behind houses on Clayburn Creek ahead of a rainfall warning Environment Canada has forecast for the region which is already affected by flooding, in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
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I was sitting in my car on the phone when I heard the news. My boyfriend and I were chatting while I was driving to my parents house to have dinner. He mentioned to me that he had something to tell me and wanted to wait until I had stopped driving and had a chance to had dinner. My stomach is strong from having little time to eat and lots of time to hear bad news. I told him I could handle whatever he could tell me after I ran through a laundry list of bad things it could be. I wondered about whether he was dying or if his dog had died. It briefly crossed my mind to ask him if I was dying or if I was pregnant. I pulled over to listen. A usually talkative man, He had grown strangely quiet as I prattled on about what happened when I was in clinic that day. He was sure that my car was parked when he told me that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted for murder in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

I sat for a second, feeling a sinking sensation in my stomach and crushing chest pain. I sat for a moment with my arms in my jacket sitting on my hands on my thighs, trying to practice the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding technique. I took a deep breath and thought about whether or not I would be able to get into the house. I quickly ushered him off the phone and told him we would talk later. I sat for what felt like a long time in my car and turned off the radio. In my long coat and combat boots, I barreled, unhinged into my childhood home, and sat down to process what I had just heard.

As I sat there, sitting at the kitchen table, I thought about what this meant for me. A YouTube video came out a few years ago when I was in college which described Calling in Black. I wont spoil the details of such a beautiful video, but Evelyn describes what it is like to be Black and watch horrible things happen to other Black people and have to go to work. I heard the news, and I barely ate that night. I just picked at my dinner and thought about how I might be able to fill my empty stomach that felt so full of sadness.

I didnt know how I was going to go back to being a normal person after this. I didnt know, and still dont know, how I am going to be able to feel safe in my Midwestern town. I thought about how I was going to be able to continue living in the United States as a Black woman. I thought about the children I do not have yet and how I will protect them.

As a budding physician and a young Black woman, I think about all the people I have the privilege of trying to protect. I think of all the people who I partner with in their health. I think about how the little Black girls see me with my stethoscope wrapped around my neck and my sparkly gym shoes. I think about how I bedazzle myself to be a fairy godmother and to prepare to do the work of healing. I think about how it is going to be nearly impossible for me to partner with them on this journey as I am so hurt, but so unsurprised. How am I supposed to show up every day in my most selfless form and listen unabashedly? I thought about all the trauma that would show up to my clinic and all the people who I would be taking care of who wouldnt be able to breathe, just like me, in the morning. This is the work of trauma. This is the work of an inability to remove people from terrible environments. But no one talks about when the people who do the care work become traumatized themselves.

I think about the riots that are happening in response to this. How am I going to protect people who are protesting and hurt. I cannot, and would not, counsel them to stopbut how will I keep my composure when I take care of them. I cannot separate myself from them and be an objective party caring for them as I normally am with all of my patients. And this also begs the question of how I will provide care to patients who openly support Kyle Rittenhouse wounded and murdered.

I wanted to end this article with specific and tangible steps Black people could take to care for themselves and what allies to Black people can do to care for us right now. I am out of answers. I dont know when I or anyone else will have any other answers. But right now, the best thing anyone can do is bear witness to our pain. Bare witness to watching us sit in call rooms not being able to breathe. Bear witness to every time your Black colleague holds a Black baby so close after being in the operating room with him, since we are so afraid of what our hospital and what our world will do to him. Bear witness to the times when we spend a little too much time with little Black children every day they spend in the hospitals when their families are not there with them. We are helpless. We are so absolutely helpless.

Micaela Stevenson is a medical student.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
EUGENE, Ore.- Churches in Lane County are working to spread some holiday cheer by giving back to families who need it the most this year.

The Willamette Christian Center, along with 40 other local churches, works with One Hope in Eugene to put meal boxes together for families in need.

Gabrielle Turner, the office administrator for the Willamette Christian Center, has been working to get families enough to eat during the holidays for five years. She said she is happy to be a part of that process. She reaches out to local schools, and then they help provide the names of families that can benefit.

"I've gotten to meet a lot of wonderful individuals over the phone and a couple even in person when they choose to come in and pick up their meal boxes themselves. I always get a little glimpse in their lives and I always find them so grateful," Turner said.

She said the church has participated in the program for 27 years this year.

RELATED: Volunteers assemble 1,400 Thanksgiving meal boxes

"We have a lot of volunteers who pitch in on Thanksgiving, and then again on Christmas," Turner said. "I'm just really grateful. And I'm really grateful to be able to shed light on this outreach for the community."

One of the families Turner helped this year was the Taylor family. Ruth Ann Taylor, her husband, and their 10 children moved to Eugene two years ago after her husband got a new job.

But seven months ago, Taylor's husband lost his job, and while he was able to get a new one recently, they've had a rough go of it.

"My first instinct was to say 'Oh, we're okay, we're okay.' I'm sure there are other families that are needy. And then I thought, wait a minute, you're kind of not okay," Taylor said.

But when she got the call from Churchill High School that Turner wanted to help, she reconsidered.

"I know there are so many families that are needy right now, and we're not the only ones and I keep thinking you know, I need to just pass it on," Taylor said. "Gifts of the spirit are amazing and can bless people's lives in ways that physical things can't."
CORVALLIS, Ore.--- It was the best leg day ever for hundreds of runners in Corvallis who showed up for the annual Turkey Trot.

"We didn't have many very registrations initially and we were concerned about people coming out of the pandemic and how they feel," said race director Chelsea Chytka. "We've definitely adjusted to keep COVID-19 protocols in mind."

One of those adjusted protocols was handing out packets outdoors instead of an indoor space.

In 2020, the event went virtual with around 350 attendees. This year, more than 1,200 runners participated in the 10K, 5K and 1K races.

It was a family-friendly event with the Little Gobblers race for the youngest runners.

"I want to run really fast," said little gobbler Hunter Brownback.

Racers told KEZI they were excited to see the community again.

"It's a lot of fun to see everyone festive and in the mood," said turkey trotter Ripi Gupta.

Gupta participated in the race with her longtime friend since sixth grade.

Trotter Kathleen Reeves weighed in.

"We ordered some tool and more our tutus last night," Reeves said.

Lori and Austin Haslam said they've been doing the race for over ten years and coming back in person makes it extra special.

"I think everybody just wants to be out here doing stuff together," said Lori Haslam.

The race also helped out a good cause.

"All of the funds got to a scholarship so low-income families can take advantage of that," said Chytka.

Trotters said the race was the perfect way to get into feast mode for the big Thanksgiving dinner.
Three classic one-act plays from one of Irelands greatest playwrights will be performed in the Watergate next month.

Druid are delighted to announce Three Short Comedies by Sean OCasey, a new production of three of OCaseys one-act plays: A Pound on Demand (1939), Bedtime Story (1951) and The End of the Beginning (1937) will run from late November into December.

Throughout the pandemic, Druid has continued to produce work and reach audiences on every available platform: online, on the radio and outdoors. Now the company can return safely to indoor theatre and to its home, The Mick Lally Theatre in Galway, followed by a national tour to the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire, the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny, and the Jerome Hynes Theatre at the National Opera House in Wexford.

These short one-act comedies will be directed by Garry Hynes and performed by Druid Ensemble members Aaron Monaghan, Rory Nolan and Marty Rea, alongside Venetia Bowe, Liam Heslin and Sarah Morris.

A Pound on Demand is the tale of Jerry and Sammy who badly need a quick injection of cash to continue their night on the town. In Bedtime Story, poor John Jo Mulligan learns the hard way that inviting members of the opposite sex to Miss Mossie's lodging house comes with serious consequences. All hell breaks loose in The End of the Beginning when Darry Berrill and his wife Lizzie agree to swap their household roles - and that's before Darry's clumsy friend Barry arrives.

Garry Hynes, Druids Artistic Director: Sean OCasey is celebrated as one of our greatest playwrights and hes also one of our funniest. These three one-act plays are rarely produced but they are crackingly funny and Im dying to get back into the rehearsal room to start work on them.
Gardai have questioned 77 people on suspicion of having purchased sexual activity as part of a two-day initiative targeting human trafficking.

The purchase of sexual services and the soliciting or purchasing of sex from a trafficked person is criminalised in Ireland under the Sexual Offences Act 2017.

Personnel across sixteen Garda divisions participated in the operation, which focused on the enforcement of this legislation.

The aim was to target people involved in the purchase of sexual services, as well as the protection of individuals engaged in the sex trade.

Fifty eight premises across the country were targeted during the Days of Action, with forty five safeguarding visits made to individuals within the sex trade to identify potential sexual exploitation or trafficking.

One female victim of sexual/labour exploitation was identified, and one male was arrested for crimes related to brothel keeping.

Over 10,000 was seized as proceeds of crime for organised prostitution

A number of files will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
What a fantastic way to make your senior nations cup debut - with a win!

Twenty-year-old Kilkennyman Jack Ryan was a member of the Irish team that won in Vilamoura Portugal as the 2021 Nations Cup season came to an end on Sunday.

A brilliant team performance took the win in a tough and exciting competition as Ireland were in a five-way share of the lead at the halfway stage.

Ryan made his senior Nations Cup debut riding the nine-year-old Irish sport horse BBS McGregor, owned and bred by his mother Marguerite Ryan.

He delivered an excellent clear to leave Ireland in a battle with Italy for the winners prize as the last line riders took to the arena.

When Tipperary's Trevor Breen completed the round clear, Ireland could not be beaten on a final score of eight faults, with Italy and Switzerland sharing runner-up spot on 12 faults each.

(Image: Trevor Breen, Shane Breen, Michael Blake (manager), Jack Ryan, Anthony Condon)

A delighted Irish team manager Michael Blake said, "To win any Nations Cup is very difficult but with 17 teams this was always going to be a tough battle.

"It was an excellent Nations Cup debut for Jack, jumping a very important clear round. It is a very good way to finish the Nations Cup season with a team that included two 9-year-old horses."
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Thousands of people have raised nearly 900K for Kevin Strickland who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
Members of the Korea Nurses Association stage a rally in front of the National Assembly, calling for the legislation of the Nursing Act, Nov. 23. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han



By Lee Hyo-jin



Controversy is deepening among different groups of medical staff over legislation of the Nursing Act, a law that stipulates the role and duties of licensed nurses.



The Korean Nurses Association (KNA), a group representing 460,000 nurses nationwide, has been calling for the legislation, insisting that the enactment will lay the groundwork for the improvement of nurse-related policies, which will improve their working conditions and resolve a chronic manpower shortage in the field.



However, other medical workers, such as doctors, care workers at nursing homes, assistant nurses and paramedics fiercely oppose the legislation, as they believe that the law will only benefit nurses and create confusion in the public healthcare system.



The Nursing Act, proposed by Rep. Kim Min-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, along with two other similar bills, proposed by Rep. Seo Jeong-suk and Rep. Choi Yeon-suk of the main opposition People Power Party, is currently being discussed in the National Assembly.



Attention is being paid to whether the bills will be passed amid the ongoing disputes between the various groups of medical workers.



The KNA argues that the 460,000 licensed nurses across the country  a figure that amounts to triple the number of doctors  have long been suffering from poor working conditions due to the absence of a separate law stipulating the specific roles and duties of professional nurses.



Currently, the legal role of a nurse is stipulated in the Medical Services Act. But according to the nurses' group, due to ambiguities in the law, many nurses are forced to perform duties outside their job descriptions, often leading to overwork and difficulty in providing quality care for patients.



According to the association, in Korea, each nurse takes care of 11 to 18 patients, approximately double the average of nurses in OECD countries, which stands at six to eight.



For this reason, the nurses have been calling for a separate law defining the legal role of a nurse, citing the growing importance of professional nurses for Korea's aging society and in the pandemic era.





A coalition of medical groups opposing the legislation of the Nursing Act holds a press conference in front of the National Assembly, Nov. 22. Yonhap
GM International President Steve Kiefer said none of the company's 10 new electric vehicle (EV) models to be launched by 2025 will be manufactured in Korea, during his visit here in early November. Korea Times file



GM Korea, SsangYong, Renault Samsung lack diversity in EV lineups



By Yi Whan-woo



The Korean units of three foreign carmakers  GM, SsangYong Motor and Renault Samsung  are falling behind in the race to transition to electric vehicles (EV), after staggering in the combustion-engine competition.



Their poor performance is in contrast to the country's two largest carmakers  Hyundai Motor and Kia  that accounted for 92 percent of the 2021 EV market here in the third quarter.



The polarized market trend is attributed to a lack of commitment to the EV market among the foreign brands.



Such a trend is fueling concerns that the gap may widen as Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Hyundai Motor and Kia, has been orchestrating carefully developed strategies under a vision to become the world's third-largest player in the EV market by 2025.



"The three foreign brands have been considered second-tier players in the domestic market, and they may lose further ground considering they do not have a vision for EV, or hydrogen-powered cars, or other next growth engines," an industry source said.





SsangYong Motor, a debt-ridden carmaker, does not have any electric vehicle (EV) models. Korea Times file



GM Korea, SsangYong Motor and Renault Samsung sold a combined 141,237 cars between January and October in the domestic market, down 35 percent from the same period last year, according to the data by the Korean Automobile Manufacturers Association (KAMA).



By companies, Renault Samsung suffered the deepest sales drop of 40 percent year-on-year to 47,805.



SsangYong Motor's sales retreated 36.9 percent to 47,805, and GM Korea's dipped 26.8 percent to 49,156.



In particular, the trio suffered the worst sales slump since 1998 in the first half, with sales plunging 35.4 percent year-on-year to 88,625.



In 1998, the three sold only 73,169 vehicles in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.



The situation also remains unfavorable in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs).



From January to September, GM Korea sold 1,016 EVs and Renault Samsung sold 966  SsangYong Motor sold none because it does not have any EV models.



During the same period, Hyundai sold 17,209 and Kia sold 10,711, which altogether accounted for 92 percent of domestic EV sales.



The two leading carmakers' combined performance helped Korea's EV sales surge by more than 90 percent year-on-year, and accordingly, had the country ranked seventh in the international EV market.



The market share of EVs in Korea was 5.5 percent, which is lower than China with 9.4 percent but higher than the United States with 2.3 percent.





Renault Samsung has two electric vehicle (EVs): Zoe, an all-electric variant of the SM3 sedan, and two-seater Twizy, with sales below 1,000 from January to October. Korea Times file
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Windy with snow showers this afternoon. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds W at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of snow 40%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 28F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph.
Brian May, the guitarist for the British rock band Queen, has excoriated the Brit Awards for its decision to scrap gendered categories, describing the "frightening" move as "a decision that has been made without enough thought." According to The Hollywood Reporter, earlier this week the Brits scrapped four awards including male solo artist, female solo artist, international male solo artist and international female solo artist, in favour of two gender-neutral categories, which are the artist of the year and international artist of the year. Brit Awards 2021 Winners List: Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift Receive Top Honours; Check Out the Complete Winners List.

Organizers said the change was to reward artists "solely for their music and work, rather than how they choose to identify or as others may see them" and was part of the event's "commitment to evolving the show to be as inclusive and as relevant as possible." Speaking to a newspaper at ITV's Palooza event in London, May took aim at the organizers of the UK's biggest music awards for giving into the woke culture as he saw it and even suggested that Queen, and even the late Freddie Mercury, would have struggled in the current climate. Maisie Williams Blonde Hairdo and Bleached Eyebrows at 2021 BRIT Awards Get Her Full Marks From Fans!

"It's a decision that has been made without enough thought. A lot of things work quite well and can be left alone," said May. "I get so sick of people trying to change things without thinking of the long-term consequences. Some of these things are an improvement, some of them are not," he added. Referring to cancel culture, May felt there was an "atmosphere of fear everywhere because people are afraid to say how they really think," before adding, "I think so many people are feeling, 'Hang on, this isn't quite right.' But they don't dare say anything. Eventually, there will be some kind of explosion."

The veteran rocker also spoke at length about his former bandmate Freddie Mercury and how the band would struggle to be relevant today for their lack of diversity and how such things shouldn't matter. "Freddie came from Zanzibar, he wasn't British, he wasn't white as such - nobody cares, nobody ever, ever discussed it," May said. Speaking further about Freddie, he continued, "He was a musician, he was our friend, he was our brother.

We didn't have to stop and think: 'Ooh, now, should we work with him? Is he the right colour? Is he the right sexual proclivity?' None of that happened, and now I find it frightening that you have to be so calculating about everything."As per The Hollywood Reporter, he added, "[Queen] would be forced to have people of different colours and different sexes and we would have to have a trans [person]. You know life doesn't have to be like that. We can be separate and different."

(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 26: In view of the threat from a new COVID variant from African countries, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he has requested experts to make a presentation to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and suggested necessary steps in this regard.

"In view of the threat from new COVID variant from African countries, we have requested experts to make a presentation to DDMA on Monday and suggest what steps we should take. We will take all steps necessary to protect you and your family," Kejriwal tweeted.

Also Read | One Year of Farmers Protest: Delhi Police Issues Advisory on Traffic Movement; Check Details.

In view of the threat from new COVID variant from African countries, we have requested experts to make a presentation to DDMA on Mon and suggest what steps we shud take. We will take all steps necessary to protect u and ur family  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 26, 2021

Newly identified COVID-19 variant --- B.1.1.529 --- is causing an increase in new COVID-19 infections in South Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a special meeting to discuss the new Covid variant.

Also Read | Schools, Colleges to Be Closed Due to Heavy Rains in Puducherry, Karaikal.

"We don't know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves," Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's the technical lead on Covid-19, said in a briefing.

(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 26: With a new heavily mutant novel coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 reported in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana triggering alarms in India, the country's top health experts have urged for stringent surveillance at the government level.

The World Health Organisation which met today to assess the new Covid strain said it would share further guidance for governments on the action they can take Also Read | IBPS Clerk Prelims Admit Cards 2021 Released At ibps.in; Here Are Steps To Download The Hall Ticket.

"Early analysis has revealed that the new variant has a large number of mutations that require and will undergo further study. It'll take a few weeks for us to understand what impact this variant has. Researchers are working to understand more," WHO's Spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. Also Read | Lalu Prasad Yadav Admitted to AIIMS Emergency Ward Due to Fever and Drowsiness.

Citing serious public health implications that may surface, Union Health Ministry has issued directions to the states regarding international travellers arriving from and transiting through Botswana, South Africa, and Hong Kong.

Levelling up the precaution measures, the ministry has directed the states to undertake rigorous screening and testing. In conversation with ANI, Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor, Community Medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said, "Botswana variant is a new variant. Sarcov 2 is an RNA virus that has a single strain and during multiplication, this virus enters the body. Currently, only the 'Delta' is a variant of concern (VOC)."

"It's a new variant. We will have to wait and watch, we don't know its overall infectivity but the probability is that it may bypass your existing immunity either acquired through a vaccine or natural infection. If it bypasses, it'll be a serious issue," Dr Rai said on the B.1.1.529 variant.

Dr Rai also said that the new variant may have more than 50 mutations in its spike protein. "But we will have to watch first because it's new and then behave accordingly," he said.

"If the variant is capable of invading natural immunity then it is a really serious issue because, so far, various evidence have shown that natural infection is providing better and longer duration of protection," the expert added.

Adding to it, Dr Atul Gogia, Senior Consultant of Department of Medicine at Ganga Ram Hospital said that the virus is known to mutate and for as long as the virus multiplies in the population, there are chances that it will mutate.

"The variant that has been found in certain parts of the world is the latest variant whose mutant capacity is more than the earlier variants. As a virus mutates, there is an apprehension that it may escape our immune response," he said.

"As we are seeing that a lot of people are being vaccinated and a lot of people have antibodies or immunity, but with the new variant, apprehensions are there as we are unsure whether or not this immunity will be helpful in protecting us against this variant," he added while saying that India has to primarily concentrate on whether the variant will cause severe disease or is more contagious.

Dr Gogia further stated that travelling has become frequent and as the whole world is one global village, getting affected with the new variant is definitely possible. "It is yet to be clear if the new variant is more aggressive or more contiguous. Till we know what it is, following appropriate Covid behaviour is a must," he said.

"Whenever there is a new variant, concern on whether or not the vaccination will work is always there. But as of now, our aim should be to get fully vaccinated and monitor the situation," Dr Gogia added.

The B. 1.1.529 variant carries 32 mutations, many of which suggest it is highly transmissible and vaccine-resistant and has more alterations to its spike protein than any other variant.

As India is strictly depending on surveillance and monitoring, the Union Health Ministry has asked states to send the samples of travellers reporting positive to designated labs of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium (INSACOG). In addition, the state surveillance officers have also been asked to coordinate with the INSACOG labs and undertake "test-track-treat."

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
By Ashoke Raj

New Delhi [India], November 26 (ANI): India will resume scheduled regular international flights from December 15, nearly 20 months after these flights were suspended to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Also Read | B.1.1.529: Know All About The New COVID-19 Variant That Has The Scientists Worried.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suspended operations of scheduled international commercial passenger services to and from India with effect from March 23, 2020, due to COVID-19.

"The matters of resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and it has been decided that scheduled commercial international passenger services to/from India may be resumed from 15.12.2021," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in an order.

Also Read | Czech Republic Hits New Record High of 27,717 COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours; President Milos Zeman To Be Discharged From Hospital.

For the resumptions of flights, the countries have been categorised into three categories with separate capacity restrictions. The categorisation has been done based on the COVID-19 situation in the country.

Flights to and from the countries which have been identified by the Ministry of Health as not "at-risk" will have full capacity entitlements as per bilateral air service agreements.

Flights from countries identified to be "at-risk" and with whom air bubbles have been formalised, will have 75 per cent of pre-Covid operations of Indian and foreign carriers.

However, countries identified to be "at-risk" and with whom air bubbles have not been formalised, will have 50 per cent of bilateral capacity entitlements or 50 per cent of pre-COVID-19 operation of Indian or foreign carrier whichever is higher.

The ministry clarified that the resumption of commercial international passenger services would imply reversion to bilaterally agreed capacity entitlements and termination of bubble arrangements.

India has categorised 16 countries including some in Europe in "at-risk" category.

"The flights to these 16 countries will follow the guidelines related to air bubbles and under Vande Bharat mission (VBM)," a source told ANI.

The countries are UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

India had embarked on Vande Bharat Mission to bring back its citizens stranded abroad due to travel restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19. It also signed air bubble arrangements with some countries. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Wellington [New Zealand], November 26 (ANI/Xinhua): The New Zealand Police and all New Zealand Defense Force staff have become the new groups required to be vaccinated in preparation for the transition to the new COVID-19 Protection Framework on December 3.

First doses of the vaccine for workers in these organizations are required by Jan. 17, 2022, and second doses by March 1, 2022, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said on Friday.

Also Read | Japan to Approve $314 Billion Supplementary Budget for Stimulus Package.

These groups are added to the list of sectors covered by vaccination, which includes Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) and border work, healthcare, education and prisons.

Vaccine requirements have been extended to include constabulary, recruits and authorized officers of New Zealand Police, and the armed forces and civilian staff of the New Zealand Defense Force, Wood said in a statement.

Also Read | Squid Game Smuggler to Face Death Sentence and Jail Term in North Korea For Distributing Copies of The Netflix Show: Reports.

"Vaccine mandates are very strong legal requirements that have to be carefully considered based on a clear assessment about how justifiable they are," he said, adding that a simple vaccination assessment tool will be available for businesses in mid-December to help streamline the process.

New Zealand reported 173 new Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the community on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country's current community outbreak to 7,832.

To date, 92 per cent of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 85 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health. (ANI/Xinhua)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London [UK], November 26 (ANI): UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid on Thursday announced a temporary suspension of flights from six countries after reports emerged that a new COVID variant with more than 30 mutations is spreading in South Africa.

It comes as Variant B.1.1.529 is declared a Variant under Investigation (VuI) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Also Read | European Union Sets Deadline for UK To Resolve France Fishing Row.

"The variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility. More investigation is required," UK Health Security Agency said in a statement.

Taking to Twitter, Javid said UKHSA is "investigating a new variant and more data is needed but we're taking precautions now." "From noon tomorrow six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine," he said.

Also Read | Russia Upgrading MiG-31 Interceptors To Triple Their Combat Effectiveness.

"We are taking precautionary action to protect public health and the progress of our vaccine rollout at a critical moment as we enter winter, and we are monitoring the situation closely," he added.

This announcement comes after media reports said that a new COVID-19 variant of "serious concern" has been detected in South Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the potentially rapidly spreading COVID strain found in South Africa and Botswana, the Financial Times reported, citing sources.

Earlier, UK media reports said that scientists from the UK had warned of the appearance of a coronavirus strain, which contains 32 mutations, in Botswana.

Many of the mutations indicate its high transmissibility and resistance to vaccines, the strain has more changes in the spike protein than all other COVID-19 variants, the Russian news agency reported. The South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases later also confirmed that the new strain had been found in South Africa. (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 26 (ANI): China on Thursday urged the US side to stop "close-in reconnaissance, interference, provocation and show of force" in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, Senior Colonel Wu Qian made this remark at a press conference when being asked to comment on the US military's actions to hold officials accountable for the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine collision and dismiss the submarine's commanding officers.

Also Read | European Union Sets Deadline for UK To Resolve France Fishing Row.

Wu said that, since the collision occurred, the US side's awkward and secretive attitude has inevitably raised doubts in the international community. "The US side should answer three questions clearly. First, what's the intention of the US submarine's navigation? Second, what's the exact location of the collision? Finally, did it cause nuclear leakage or marine environmental pollution?" according to the official Chinese Military news media center.

Wu said that China believes the root causes of this incident are the extensive and high-intensity close-in reconnaissance, interference, provocation and show of force made by the US military vessels in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the US "militarization and navigation hegemony" in the South China Sea.

Also Read | Russia Upgrading MiG-31 Interceptors To Triple Their Combat Effectiveness.

"We urge the US side to stop such activities immediately, so as to avoid beating its head against the wall," Wu said.

Last month, US Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine --USS Connecticut --collided with an unknown submerged object last Saturday while travelling through international waters in the Pacific Ocean.

The accident happened amid rising tensions between the US and China over the Chinese military's incursions into Taiwan's Air Defense Integration Zone (ADIZ).

Media reports said that Connecticut was operating in the waters around the South China Sea as the US and its allies have been carrying out a major multinational show of force in the region, known as Carrier Strike Group 21. (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 27: The World Health Organisation has named the new COVID-19 strain, that was first detected in South Africa, as 'Omicron.' The WHO has also declared the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 as a 'Variant of Concern.' This variant has a large number of mutations and the cases of this strain appears to be increasing all South African provinces. Several countries have announced new travel guidelines amid the scare of Omicron variant of coronavirus.

India has also added several countries to the lost from where the passengers would need to follow additional measures on arrival into the country. India will screen and test travellers from certain countries including South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Israel, Hong Kong, UK and other European countries. New COVID-19 Variant: WHO Names New Coronavirus Strain from South Africa as Omicron, Calls It 'Variant of Concern.'

The discovery of a new COVID-19 variant called B.1.1.529 has left the scientists around the world worried and they are working to understand potential implications of this new variant. Cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Botswana. India to Screen, Test Travellers from Several Countries Including UK Amid New COVID-19 Variant 'Omicron.'

Scientists say that the new variant has relatively high number of mutations in its spike protein, which is a cause of concern because they could help in the virus entry into cells in the body and make it more transmissible.

The new deadly variant was first found in South Africa and the country has confirmed about 100 cases as B.1.1.529 but the variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong. Hong Kong recorded two infections and it is believed that traveller from South Africa was found to have infected the person in the room next to him. Israel also confirmed that they had detected the first case of the variant, in a person who had returned from Malawi.

Senior scientists described Omicron variant as the most deadly variant that has been discovered since the start of the pandemic. It has a total of 32 mutations in the spike protein, that is about double the number associated with the Delta variant. Mutations in the spike protein can affect the viruss ability to infect cells and spread, but also make it harder for immune cells to attack the pathogen.

The Delta variant was first detected in late 2020 and has since spread around the world, causing an increase in case rates and deaths. India on Thursday called for rigorous screening and testing of passengers coming from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong. The Health ministry said that this variant could have serious implications on public health in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening of international travel.

The World Health Organisation(WHO) while underlining the importance of getting fully vaccinated called for caution in initial stages in dealing with this variant. It said that more research is needed to understand the behaviour of B.1.1.529.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2021 09:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
A pet shelter in Texas received many Thanksgiving meal donations, allowing the organization to feed the animals in the facility. This shows that people are not the only ones that can enjoy Thanksgiving Day.

This national holiday is being celebrated by many people across different countries for many years now. These include residents in Canada, the United States, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Liberia.

Thanksgiving Day, which happens every Nov. 25, is based on the colonial Pilgrims' harvest meal, which started back in 1621. This holiday celebration is actually about showing gratitude, as well as sharing your blessings with other people.

But, you can also share it with your pets, especially those furries living in animal shelters.

Texas Pet Shelter Receives Thanksgiving Meal Donations

According to Pet Rescue Report, the Fort Worth Animal Care and Control, a pet facility located in Texas, received a huge amount of Thanksgiving meals from many volunteers.

READ MORE: How to Virtually Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month This Year

"Happy Thanksgiving! Wow, it only took a little more than an hour to serve and feed the special meals to all 750 animals! Our volunteers rock! This is a great day to be thankful," said the organization via its latest Facebook post.

The pet shelter added that they were preparing all the donations they received, together with volunteers and staff, to feed around 750 pets.

"They all receive a little bit of holiday cheer and happiness in their bowl but it's really the extra kindness that means the most to the pets," added the non-profit organization.

How Can You Donate?

The Texas Fort Worth Animal Care and Control said that if you are near the area where they are located, you are definitely welcome to donate or volunteer in the shelter.

If you are interested, you can visit the place around 12:00 p.m. every day at North Campus, 351 Hillshire 76052South Campus, 4900 Martin St 76119.

As of the moment, the organization aims to decrease the pet overpopulation of Fort Worth. They are making huge efforts to increase pet adoptions so that no dogs, cats, or other furries will be roaming the streets.

If you want to see more details about their works, you can visit this link.

READ NEXT: Thanksgiving Weekend 2014: Digest Your Turkey on the Couch While Watching These TV and Online Specials
A new Hill-HarrisX poll found that the majority of Thanksgiving hosts will not require guests to have the COVID vaccine or wear masks on their dinners.

Sixty-five percent of Thanksgiving hosts are okay with guests not having received the COVID vaccine or wearing masks, while only 11 percent require both, according to The Hill report. In addition, 21 percent say that they will be demanding guests to be vaccinated, and four percent say that they will require masks at gathering.

The poll also showed that 79 percent will be spending Thanksgiving with family or another group of people, while 13 percent said they don't plan to be with others for the holiday.

A partisan divide was also noted in the poll, with 78 percent of Republicans saying neither vaccine nor masks are required in their Thanksgiving dinners, while 47 percent of Democrats said the same.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, advised that Americans should be very careful when it comes to attending Thanksgiving gatherings with those who are unvaccinated, according to a Breitbart News report.

Fauci said to get vaccinated so people can enjoy the holidays very easily.

READ NEXT: California Health Officials Shut Down Second In-N-Out Chain for Defying Vaccine Mandates for Indoor Dining

Physicians on Hosting Thanksgiving Dinners

Meanwhile, a physician warned that if you are unvaccinated and plan to meet with others, you are putting yourself at risk, even if everyone else is vaccinated, according to a Fox 5 San Diego News report.

Dr. Jyotu Sandhu advises wearing a mask indoors and making sure that there's plenty of ventilation inside or just moving the celebrations outdoors. Sandhu said that vaccinated people can pass the virus on unvaccinated, not even knowing that they have it.

Dr. Michelle Barron, senior medical director of infection prevention and control for the University of Colorado Health, said to have an honest conversation with guests and decide whether or not that is something that will dictate who comes or who doesn't come, according to a News 10 report.

Barron said hosts can ask guests if they have no symptoms, citing the availability of home tests. Air purifiers should also help with air circulation, according to experts.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a few guidelines for people to enjoy Thanksgiving and holidays this year.

The CDC recommends wearing a mask in public indoor settings for those unvaccinated, while people who are vaccinated should wear a mask in places of high risk of COVID spread, according to another News 10 report.

Thanksgiving Amid COVID

Two-thirds of Americans are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving with about as many people as they did before the pandemic.

The Transportation Security Administration is seeing as much volume of people as in the same period in 2019, according to The Washington Post report.

The White House coronavirus response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, said he was "optimistic" about this year's Thanksgiving. Zients noted that he has heard from many families that they can now reunite due to the protection of COVID vaccines.

Meanwhile, infections are rising in about every state, specifically in the Upper Midwest. Experts noted that the increase in infections could be attributed to the colder weather, which drives people indoors.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Says He Personally Phoned Emergency Room for a Good Friend During a COVID Vaccine Mandate Talk

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Thanksgiving Travelers Make For Busiest Travel Day of 2021 - from NBCLA






Police pull over drivers, not to issue tickets, but to give turkeys in light of this year's Thanksgiving celebration.

The Mesa Police Department in Mesa, Arizona starts gifting turkeys to drivers who thought they were being pulled over for a violation, according to a Fox News report.

Police officer Jason Flam of the Mesa Police Department told a motorist he pulled over that he made a wide turn and that the driver was supposed to stay in his lane.

However, Flam offered a turkey instead of returning with a ticket.

The police officer said some of the unsuspecting drivers pulled over were emotional, with one man being in tears. Flam said that he does not think they can afford the turkey, adding that it worked out really well.

One driver thanked Flam for the turkey. However, she said that she had already bought a Thanksgiving turkey and requested that he give it to another.

One person, Mike Ormerod, said that he was on his way to pick up some Thanksgiving food. He said that the turkey saved him a "few bucks."

Mesa police is one of the many U.S. police departments handing "turkeys not tickets."

A Mesa police commander proposed the Turkeys not Tickets program in an effort to connect with the community.

READ NEXT: Poll Shows 65 Percent of Thanksgiving Hosts Do Not Require COVID Vaccine, Masks on Guests

U.S. Police Departments During Thanksgiving

The McAllen Police Department in Texas had also made numerous traffic stops to give away Thanksgiving turkeys, according to a Valley Central News report.

The McAllen Police noted that the "Ticket or Turkey" event is a "goodwill gesture" during the Thanksgiving holiday.

McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said that it is a great opportunity for them. He added that they had faced some difficult times as a community, as a country.

Rodriguez said that the gesture allows them to quickly "turn that around."

One motorist, Perla Romero, said she was worried at first when she saw the police lights behind her. Romero said she was grateful after realizing that she was receiving a turkey. She noted that it feels really nice and thankful for the food.

Romero said that it means people out there care.

The McAllen Crime Stoppers Board raised funds to procure Thanksgiving turkey dinners for 250 families with "modest means" for the giveaway.

Rodriguez said that they are very proud to be part of the effort, as well as the leadership of the Crime Stoppers Board.

Castle Hills law enforcement had done the effort earlier.

Police Chief Esteban Zuniga said that it's their way of putting some cheer in the holidays, according to a KSAT report.

Castle Hills Mayor JR Trevino came up with the idea of handing out Thanksgiving turkeys. Trevino said that it is the time of the year that everybody has something going on, citing COVID and the winter weather storm. The Castle Hills mayor said that it was an opportunity for them to do something for the community.

Local business True Flavors Catering was tapped to purchase 20 turkeys to be given to drivers.

One of the drivers, Denise Shelley Livingston, said that she thinks it was wonderful for them who have less to have to buy and more to share.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Says He Personally Phoned Emergency Room for a Good Friend During a COVID Vaccine Mandate Talk

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Denver police on 'turkey patrol' deliver Thanksgiving meals to those in need - from FOX 31 Denver






U.S. President Joe Biden had gone through a colonoscopy last week, wherein a polyp was removed.

The polyp was determined to be "benign" and "slow-growing." However, it was thought to be a possibly precancerous lesion, according to an NBC News report.

The White House physician noted that no more action is required at this time. The polyp was identified as a "tubular adenoma," which is similar to one Biden had removed in 2008, according to White House physician Dr. Kevin O'Connor in a letter.

However, O'Connor recommended that the president remains under "routine surveillance," according to a People report. In addition, the White House physician also advised Biden to repeat another colonoscopy in seven to 10 years.

The White House's summary of Biden's physical examination noted that the polyp was removed without difficulty at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The White House also noted that several diverticula or small pouches were also removed from Biden's colon, according to The Hill report.

READ NEXT: Kamala Harris Briefly Becomes First Woman Acting U.S. President as Joe Biden Underwent Colonoscopy

Biden's Colonoscopy and Brief Transfer of Power to VP

The "routine colonoscopy" of Biden was announced last week.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement that former President George W. Bush had the same procedure, particularly in the years 2002 and 2007.

Psaki said that during the time that Biden was under anesthesia, the vice president will be the commander-in-chief briefly.

The short period of transfer of power made Vice President Kamala Harris the first woman to be the acting commander-in-chief. Psaki said that the Vice President worked from her office in the West Wing at the time, according to a DW report.

Biden signed a letter to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives saying he was unable to discharge his duties under anesthesia.

Meanwhile, O'Connor said that Biden "remains fit for duty" after his first physical exam while in office, according to a CNBC report. O'Connor noted that the is an increase in frequency and severity of throat-clearing during speeches, which he attributed to acid reflux.

The findings were supported by the exam and expert consultation.

Biden's weight was reported to be at 184 pounds, while his pulse rate was 72.

Biden is the oldest person to hold the Office of the President, leading to concerns regarding his health and ability to lead the country.

A public medical report of Biden was released in late 2019 when he was a candidate for president. The report noted that the president was healthy and fit. However, he was also being treated with medication for numerous common age-related conditions, including elevated cholesterol levels, minor heart arrhythmia, and seasonal allergies.

The medical report in 2019 also noted that Biden suffered from occasional acid reflux, which is being treated with over-the-counter medication.

The president said he takes care to maintain his health, such as doing some weights and exercises on the treadmill and a Peloton bike.

READ MORE: Majority Believes Joe Biden Unfit to Be President and 'Others' Are Secretly Running the White House: Poll

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: President Biden's physician says small growth 'potentially pre-cancerous' - from GMA






A pregnant woman who was traveling back to North Carolina from Mexico gave birth to her first child on an airplane. An onboard nurse assisted her to buy some time for the first responders, who safely delivered her baby girl.

Pregnant Woman Traveling From Mexico Delivers on Delta Plane

According to NBC News, the pregnant woman was identified as Liliana Castaneda, and she was traveling with her husband, Edgar Acevedo. The pregnant woman and her partner were on board a Delta Air Lines flight heading to their home to North Carolina after they visited Mexico on November 14 when Castaneda started having contractions.

Castaneda's water broke an hour before the flight, but a nurse who was on board helped the pregnant woman to manage the possible delivery for more than three hours until the plane landed at the Atlanta International Airport, where the responders were waiting for the labor.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, who responded to a 911 call from Delta alerting emergency authorities, posted a video on social media on Wednesday showing Castaneda sharing her labor experience.

"He was like 'Yeah the baby girl is coming, it's on its way.' And he was like 'Don't try to push because if you push more the baby will come out.' So I held those contractions for like three hours and 30 minutes on the way here," Castaneda said in the video.

First responders rushed to the Atlanta International Airport and waited for the plane to arrive at the gate to help the pregnant woman in her delivery.

READ MORE: Pregnant Woman Fatally Shot While Unloading Presents From Her Baby Shower; Unborn Child Dies 10 Minutes Later After Mother's Death

Pregnant Woman Thanks Responders, Everyone Who Helped Her Deliver Her Baby Girl on a Plane

Juanita Nash, one of the individuals who greeted the plane, said that the Delta airplane was coming in exceedingly fast, and it traveled faster than normal. That is why they already knew that there was an emergency. Nash even shared that she saw that people on board were nervous.

Moreover, as soon as Nash and other first responders were able to get inside the aircraft, they have found Castaneda in the back of the plane, lying on the floor. After the responders assessed the situation, emergency personnel decided not to move the pregnant woman and deliver the baby on the plane.

Castaneda said that she just pushed once during the delivery and the baby girl came out crying.

The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department said that Baby Analia Acevedo Castaneda was born aboard Delta Flight 1804. Responder Juanita Nash said that once the pregnant woman delivered the baby, one of the flight attendants got on the microphone and said that they have a baby girl. Nash considered it as a special occasion.

Castaneda shared to WRAL, NBC's affiliate in Raleigh, North Carolina, that she was expecting her baby to arrive on December 23, but she came out early. Acevedo, Analia's father, said that he was nervous at the same time and worried for her wife and the baby during the delivery.

Furthermore, on Tuesday, the new parents met with Nash and other first responders who witnessed Analia's birth in Atlanta before the new family returned home to North Carolina for the holidays.

Castaneda thanked all the individuals who helped their family in the airplane, including the EMS, the fire department, and everybody who helped them.

READ NEXT: Ambulance Driver Who Drinks Beer, Smokes Pot Before Fatal Crash That Killed Patient Tries to Escape Using Uber

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Mother who gave birth on a plane thanks first responders who delivered -Great News


An official request from the United States has been sent to Colombia regarding the extradition of the Gulf Clan drug kingpin Dairo Antonio Usuga, who is also known as Otoniel.

Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Thursday that "administrative procedures" related to Otoniel's extradition "have already been carried out by the ministry of justice and the foreign ministry," Aljazeera reported. Duque added that the request was sent to the Supreme Court of Justice yesterday.

Duque said that he asked the Supreme Court President Luis Antonio Hernandez to expedite the process.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has already approved the extradition of the Gulf Clan's second in command, Antonio Moreno Tuberquia, also known as Nicolas, according to a Reuters report.

READ NEXT: Colombia Seizes 10 Tons of Cocaine Worth Over $300 Million, the Largest Drug Bust This Year

Dairo Antonio Usuga's Capture

Otoniel, who is Colombia's most-wanted drug trafficker and was the alleged leader of the country's largest criminal gang, has been captured after a joint operation by the army, air force, and police, according to a BBC News report.

Duque said that Otoniel's capture is the "biggest blow against drug trafficking" in Colombia this century. He added that the capture of the Gulf Clan leader is comparable to the fall of Pablo Escobar in the 1990s.

Otoniel was found in Antioquia province, which is close to the border with Panama. Around 500 soldiers with 22 helicopters were involved in the operation. One police officer was killed during the capture of Usuga.

Otoniel was fearful of capture and never approached inhabited areas, according to Police chief Jorge Vargas. Vargas said the drug lord's movements were traced by more than 50 signal intelligence experts using satellite imagery, with the involvement of U.S. and U.K agencies.

Otoniel was also reportedly involved between several guerillas and paramilitary groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a far-right paramilitary and drug trafficking gang. He rose to power when his brother was killed by police in a raid on a New Year's Eve party almost 10 years ago.

The amount of cocaine the Usugas had smuggled had caused comparisons to Escobar and the notorious Medellin Cartel. However, many Colombians saw the capture of Usuga to be Duque's media stunt.

One Medellin resident, Carlos Bohorquez, said that it was a political stunt to get some press attention and to legitimize the Duque administration, according to a Business Insider report.

Sergio Guzman, director of Colombia Risk Analysis, said that the market has opened the doors to new players in drug trafficking, noting that the capture has eradicated monopoly.

Guzman noted that it happened when Escobar was killed. He said that paramilitary groups had extended their drug trafficking operations while also being involved in robberies, extortion, and kidnapping.

The director of the security and risk-analysis firm said that it raises a question of who will be next after Otoniel's arrest.

A nongovernmental group promoting peace and justice, Indepaz, said that there are currently about 10 major criminal organizations operating in Colombia.

READ MORE: Colombia's Most-Wanted Drug Lord Dairo Antonio Usuga Arrested; Pres. Ivan Duque Likened It to Capture of Pablo Escobar

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Colombia's most wanted drug lord arrested - from Al Jazeera English






Gabby Petito's mom, Nicole Schmidt, has broken her silence days after it was ruled that Brian Laundrie died by suicide.

She tweeted a tribute for Petito on Thanksgiving Day, saying that her daughter will always remind her to be grateful for "every moment, every breath, and every memory."

Schmidt noted that she will always cherish what they had and "have in the present, always." She added that she learned from her daughter to "live with love, laughter and gratitude."

Schmidt included an image of a mountain range in her tweet, which the Gabby Petito Foundation uploaded on Instagram, The Sun reported.

The Gabby Petito Foundation was launched in late September, shortly after federal officials confirmed the death of Brian Laundrie's fiancee.

Petito's family formed the foundation to address the needs of organizations that support locating missing persons. The foundation also aims to provide aid to organizations that assist victims of domestic violence through education, awareness, and prevention strategies.

Schmidt earlier said, "the foundation is a way of us grieving, and getting through this." She noted that justice for them was helping others, especially the victims of domestic violence, and making the world a better place.

"For me, it means preventing this from happening to someone else... That's what we're trying to do here. And that's justice, for me, it's helping others," she added.

Also, on Thanksgiving Day, Petito's dad, Joe Petito, tweeted that they miss his daughter. Joe said his daughter should have been with them, but all they have now "are the pictures," ABC 7 reported.

Petito's stepfather, Jim Schmidt, has paid Thanksgiving tribute to his family, including her stepdaughter. Aside from Petito, Jim also lost his mother and grandmother this year.

"Went to visit mom today. Our first thanksgiving without her, grandma, and Gabby. I miss you all immensely. I know you are all together watching over us. Life is truly a gift and love every minute of it. Be present in every moment with your family, and live life to the fullest," he tweeted.

According to Jim, his mom passed away in April after battling pancreatic cancer for 11 months, and he lost his grandmother "a week" after Petito's service.

Members of Petito's family shared their tweets a few days after their family lawyer noted that they would not be commenting on Laundrie's autopsy results.

READ NEXT: Brian Laundrie's Autopsy by Forensic Anthropologist Showed That He Died of Suicide

Attorney of Gabby Petito's Family Hints of More People to Be Charged

Following the medical examiner's announcement about Brian Laundrie's autopsy on Tuesday, Gabby Petito's family attorney said prosecutors were considering charging more individuals in the case.

In a statement, attorney Richard Stafford noted that Petito's family was asked not to make any comments as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) continued with its investigation.

He said the family was also asked to wait for the United States Attorney's Office and the Teton County Prosecutor's Office "to make a determination on whether any additional individuals will be charged."

"When that determination is made, we will have a statement," the lawyer noted. According to Stafford, the Schmidt-Petito family was already aware of "the circumstances surrounding the suicide of the sole suspect" in Petito's murder.

Meanwhile, the attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie believes that Laundrie's parents would not be charged with any crimes in connection with Petito's killing.

Lawyer Steven Bertolino told Insider on Wednesday that he has "no reason to believe" that Laundrie's parents, Chris and Roberta, would be charged with any crimes concerning "this case."

Brian Laundrie's Autopsy Results

The autopsy report released on Tuesday said Brian Laundrie died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

According to Bertolino, Laundrie owned a gun, and one pistol was missing from the family home after cops told them to turn over all their firearms.

Bertolino said the elder Laundries are still mourning the loss of their son and hoping that the findings will bring closure to both families, NBC New York reported.

The lawyer noted that Laundrie would not be laid to rest with a traditional funeral. Bertolino said what's left of his body will be cremated and held onto privately by his family.

Laundrie's partial skeletal remains were found at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida on October 20. The remains were confirmed to belong to him after a "comparison to known dental records."

The initial autopsy of Laundrie's remains did not uncover a cause or manner of his death, so the remains were sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination.

Brian Laundrie was named a person of interest by the North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family.

Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie. The couple was traveling to Oregon when the YouTuber stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

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 Gabby Petito was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

READ MORE: Brian Laundrie Manhunt: Parents of Gabby Petito's Fiance Change the Date of Florida Fugitive's Disappearance

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Gabby Petito Case: Brian Laundrie Died by Suicide, Family Attorney Says - From LiveNOW From FOX






Authorities in Mexico said Wednesday they have found 14 clandestine graves in the northern border state of Sonora after a tip from volunteer search teams made up of relatives of missing persons.

State prosecutors noted that the burial pits found by authorities contained bones and decomposing bodies with some burned, CTV News reported.

Relatives of Missing People in Mexico Discover the 14 Clandestine Graves

Investigators said they could not yet determine the exact number of bodies recovered. However, they noted that it was rare for Mexican drug cartels to take the trouble to dig more than one pit to bury a single body. That's why their initial assessment on the number of victims was likely to be at least 14 individuals.

Authorities said the body dumping ground was discovered in a patch of scrubland by volunteer search teams composed of relatives of individuals who disappeared. The clandestine graves were found near a highway west of the Sonora state's capital, Hermosillo.

READ NEXT: Six More Bodies Found Hanging in Mexico as Mexican Drug Cartels Battle for Territory

Remains of Alleged Victims of Mexican Drug Cartels Recovered in Sonora

The state Sonora has been the scene of Mexican drug cartels' turf battles allegedly involving factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, allies of the Jalisco cartel, and a gang connected with fugitive drug kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero.

The announcement of the Mexican authorities about the discovery of the clandestine graves came a day after police discovered six human bodies hanging from a bridge and a tree in Zacatecas state.

The Secretary of Public Security of Zacatecas state said three bodies were hung from an overpass and three others from a tree in Fresnillo. Reuters reported that another two bodies were discovered on the ground of a property in a nearby community.

A week ago, Mexican drug cartels' gunmen reportedly hung 12 bodies of men from two separate overpasses in the state. They had hung three bodies from a bridge in the town of Fresnillo, while the second incident took place in Cuauhtemoc town, where nine bodies were hung on another bridge. There was a 10th body that was found on the side of the road. All of the victims were men.

On Wednesday, the Mexican army said it would send some 1,750 additional soldiers and 1,650 more members of the quasi-military National Guard to perform law enforcement duties in Zacatecas. It would also send three helicopter gunships to patrol in the area.

Mexico's Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said the number of homicides linked to organized crime in the state has increased to almost three times since 2019. The incidents rose from 560 that year to a projected total of about 1,450 this year.

Most of the cartel violence in Zacatecas is reportedly connected to turf wars between Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel.

Aside from the two notorious Mexican drug cartels, the Gulf Cartel, Northeast Cartel, and the Los Talibanes also reportedly operate there. All five crime organizations are involved in the operations of trafficking fentanyl and other illegal drugs.

Mexican drug cartels usually make public displays of bodies to taunt their rivals or authorities. It is also sometimes used to scare local residents.

According to federal data, Mexico reportedly had more than 25,000 murders during this year's first nine months. This number was 3.4 percent less than the same period a year earlier.

READ MORE: Alleged Murderer in Mexico Arrested With Bag Containing 2 Human Heads

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Bodies of Young People Found in Mass Grave in Mexico's Guanajuato - From Al Jazeera English
Many people have recently raised questions on whether Brian Laundrie's parents could be charged in Gabby Petito's case.

Even though Laundrie was the lone suspect in Petito's death, some legal experts said it was still possible that other individuals could be charged.

Former agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Jennifer Coffindaffer believes that Chris and Roberta Laundrie could still face charges.

Coffindaffer told News Nation Now that the elder Laundries have "possible culpability under 18 U.S.C. 3," which was accessory after the fact.

"And possibly 18 U.S.C. 1519, which is obstruction in terms of if they tampered with any evidence after that crime was committed," she added.

Larry Koblinsky, a forensic scientist, echoed Coffindaffer's arguments. He told News Nation Now that members of Laundrie's family could find themselves in legal trouble if they assist or help Laundrie escape.

Koblinsky cited the likelihood that Laundrie "didn't do this alone" and may have had assistance.

"Whoever did help him can be penalized, can suffer legal consequences for aiding and abetting his escape," he noted.

READ NEXT: Brian Laundrie Commits Suicide by Gun? Here's What Dog the Bounty Hunter Thinks

Family Lawyer Believes Brian Laundrie's Parents Will Not be Charged in Gabby Petito's Case

The attorney for the family of Brian Laundrie believes that Laundrie's parents would not be charged with any crimes in connection with Gabby Petito's disappearance and death.

Attorney Steven Bertolino told Insider on Wednesday that he has "no reason to believe" that Laundrie's parents would be charged with any crimes concerning "this case."

Neama Rahmani, the president of the firm West Coast Trial Lawyers, said prosecutors would need to find evidence that the elder Laundries "knew or should have known" that their son killed Petito to charge them "with accessory after the fact."

Rahmani noted that if Laundrie's parents did lie to law enforcement like leading them "on a wild goose chase to get their son a head start, that's a problem," as they could be charged with making false statements.

Gabby Petito's family attorney revealed that prosecutors were considering charging more individuals in the case. In a statement, attorney Richard Stafford said Petito's family was asked not to make any comments as the FBI continued with its investigation.

He noted that the family was also asked to wait for the United States Attorney's Office and the Teton County Prosecutor's Office "to make a determination on whether any additional individuals will be charged."

"When the determination is made, we will have a statement," the lawyer said.

Stafford issued the statement following the medical examiner's announcement about Laundrie's autopsy report on Tuesday.

Brian Laundrie's Autopsy Could Close Gabby Petito's Case

According to the autopsy report, Brian Laundrie died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death was suicide.

Some experts think that the information on Laundrie's death could close the case of Gabby Petito. Forensics expert Jennifer Shen told The Sun that she believes there was enough evidence to close Petito's case.

"While we will have to wait for the completion of the investigation, which will likely include attempts to examine and decipher the notebook, the circumstances seem pretty clear," said Shen, adding that there's currently no indication there were other individuals involved.

Former NYPD homicide detective Tom Joyce also echoed what Shen said as he also feels the case will be closed because of the "exceptional" incidents.

"Gabby's murder will be closed with what's known as an exceptional clearance, or where the suspect and culprit is known but cannot be arrested - in this case, because he's dead," Joyce said as reported by The Sun.

Brian Laundrie's partial skeletal remains were found at the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park in Florida on October 20. The remains were confirmed to belong to him after a "comparison to known dental records."

The initial autopsy of Laundrie's remains did not uncover a cause or manner of his death, so the remains were sent to a forensic anthropologist for further examination.

According to Bertolino, Laundrie owned a gun, and his parents turned over all of their guns after cops told them when they first reported him missing.

Laundrie was named a person of interest by the North Port police after returning home on September 1 or 10 days before Petito was reported missing by her family.

Petito disappeared on a cross-country road trip with Laundrie. The couple was traveling to Oregon when the YouTuber stopped communicating with her family in Wyoming in late August.

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 Gabby Petito was strangled to death by a "human being," and the manner of death was homicide.

Brian Laundrie was never charged in connection with Gabby Petito's murder. But an arrest warrant was issued for him for allegedly fraudulently using his fiancee's debit card after her death.

READ MORE: Brian Laundrie Update: Gabby Petito's Family Breaks Silence, Tweets Tributes to Daughter After His Autopsy Report Was Released

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Will the Laundrie Parents be Charged as Accessories to Brian? - From NewsNation Now
A federal court in Mexico on Thursday said the re-arrest of Sinaloa Cartel boss Hector Luis Palma Salazar, also known as "El Guero Palma," was legal.

The court has rejected the appeal of El Guero Palma, who asked to have his re-apprehension and admission to the maximum-security prison of the Altiplano declared illegal since the process was full of irregularities.

The Attorney General's Office (FGR) put the Sinaloa Cartel founder in Altiplano prison on July 12 after a federal court revoked his acquittal due to his alleged participation in organized crime.

A lower court ordered the release of El Guero Palma in April. But weeks later, a judge ordered the Sinaloa Cartel boss to be held for 40 more days in non-prison custody pending investigation on drug and organized crime charges.

Mexico Court Junks Sinaloa Cartel Founder Hector Luis 'El Guero' Palma Salazar's Appeal

According to Milenio, the judge found that the arguments of Hector Luis Palma Salazar were unfounded since the definitive suspension that prevented his re-apprehension when he was at the Centro Nacional de Arraigos in Mexico City was not violated.

The judge noted that El Guero Palma's allegations were unfounded because the responsible authorities denied having failed to comply with the definitive suspension decreed issued on June 3.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss filed a complaint before the Fourth Collegiate Court in Criminal Matters. El Guero Palma maintained that Judge Rosa Montano Martinez has granted him a suspension so that his personal freedom would be at her disposal, in the place where he was rooted. However, this argument was rejected.

The court noted that the judge's decision was correct, determining that there was no violation of the definitive suspension since "the responsible authorities acted in accordance with the law."

The court said the magistrates indicated that authorities immediately released El Guero Palma at the Centro Nacional de Arraigos. Upon his release, the FGR issued a re-arrest order against him.

The court noted that the re-apprehension represents an act other than the definitive suspension that was granted.

READ NEXT: Six More Bodies Found Hanging in Mexico as Mexican Drug Cartels Battle for Territory

Hector Luis 'El Guero' Palma Salazar and the Sinaloa Cartel

Hector Luis Palma Salazar was a founder and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, maneuvering the drug cartel's operation with now-imprisoned Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

El Guero Palma was arrested in Mexico in 1995 and had served 12 years in Mexico for bribery and weapons charges before he was extradited to the U.S. in 2007.

The Sinaloa cartel founder served nine years of a 16-year sentence in the U.S. for cocaine trafficking before being sent back to Mexico, where his trial on the charges he was acquitted of was held.

According to an El Pais report, the Sinaloa cartel and the Tijuana cartel had a violent rivalry in the early 1990s, marking Mexico's first major narco war.

When Tijuana cartel boss Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo was arrested, his nephews, the Arellano Felix brothers, led the cartel. Sinaloa cartel was then led by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

The battle between the Sinaloa cartel and the Tijuana cartel intensified further after El Chapo, and El Guero Palma tried to kill Ramon Eduardo Arellano Felix at a nightclub in Puerto Vallarta. But the botched attempt hit and killed six others instead.

The violence had spilled over into the lives of the cartel families when the Arellano Felix brothers ordered a hitman to seduce El Guero Palma's wife.

The hitman has successfully completed his mission by killing El Guero Palma's wife. He then sent her head to him in a refrigerated box.

The Sinaloa Cartel boss had also received a videotaped showing the death of his two children, being thrown off in a 150-meter high bridge in Venezuela.

READ MORE: Alleged Murderer in Mexico Arrested With Bag Containing 2 Human Heads

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: El Guero Palma: Tragic Life Story of a Narco - From WorthTheHype
Ireland's Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is 'deeply concerned' about the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19 which has emerged in Africa, according to the Department of Health.

The Department issued a statement late on Thursday, November 26 as reports being to emerge. It said that in recent days, it has been monitoring the emergence of a new variant (B.1.1.529), of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This variant has been identified in a number of countries in southern Africa and in Hong Kong.

It said the World Health Organisation (WHO) is meeting on Friday to further assess the significance of this variant. The WHO has not yet designated this variant as a variant of concern.

The Department added that the European Centre for Disease Control has reported that it continues to monitor all emerging evidence in relation to this variant.

The Department said it is aware of measures taken by the Government of the United Kingdom including the suspension of flights from a number of African countries.

While no cases of this variant have been reported in Europe to date the statement added "the Minister for Health is deeply concerned".

The Department of Health says it has been in contact with colleagues in Northern Ireland and we will continue to liaise with UK authorities.

The statement added that the Departments advice to the Minister will continue to be informed by relevant guidance emanating from the ECDC and the WHO.

There are concerns that the virus is highly infectious and can bypass vaccine protection and immunity due to the heavy mutations.
Vital intensive care services must be expanded on a permanent bases at Portlaoise hospital and its sister facility in Tullamore according to Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley.

Speaking in the Dail during a debate on measures needed to deal with the Covid crisis, the Laois Offaly TD made a direct appeal to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. He said there are just six beds between the two hospitals and two of these are located in Portlaoise.

He insisted that the public want solutions for quicker and decisive action to address the Covid-19 surge.

On healthcare facilities and hospitals, I am aware we came into this crisis with under capacity, with less than half the ICU beds needed. That is accepted now. However, we have had more than 18 months to respond to this. I know the capacity cannot be magically increased as specially trained staff are needed, and it is not as simple as just putting a bed into a room, but we must try to improve ICU capacity. We have hundreds of people on trolleys. We have that every winter. We knew this was coming and the capacity issues are nothing new.

I highlight to the Minister that in Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise there are only two permanent ICU beds. There are four in Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore. If you do the maths, with the population ratio of the region, it is way under what is required. I ask the Minister to look at increasing the capacity in Portlaoise and Tullamore hospitals as we move ahead, he said.

The Sinn Fein TD said his party would spend to create 600 extra acute beds, 34 ICU beds and 194 specialist beds around Ireland. He said this would involved 2,500 staff. He said the Government plan for 19 ICU beds is welcome must go further than that.
Advance payments of 16million have been issued to 18,000 farmers as part of the Sheep Welfare Scheme.

It was announced today by Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, who confirmed the farmers will receive a rate of 85% of the full annual payment.

He called the payment - the remainder of which will issue in Q2 of 2022 - an "important support" and financial boost to sheep farmers and the wider rural community.

Minister McConalogue said, "I am pleased to announce that a total of almost 16 million is now being paid to some 18,000 farmers participating in the Sheep Welfare Scheme. These payments reflect the change to the reference year, bringing the reference year to the higher of either the farmers existing reference number or their 2017 sheep census return."

According to the minister, the reference year for new entrants is reportedly being updated to 2019.

He continued: "The change to the reference year better reflects the level of activity on participants' farms given the passage of time since the introduction of the scheme in 2016. It will mean an increased payment for 11,500 farmers under the scheme and no-one will see their payment being reduced because of this change.

"The extension of the scheme into 2022 and the change to the reference year reflects both my and this Governments commitment to the long-term viability of our sheep sector."

Minister McConalogue also confirmed that funding for an additional year of the scheme has been secured and will open in February 2022.
Over 2,500 children in Ireland were homeless last month, according to the most recent data.

The monthly homeless report for October 2021 was released today by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and refers to the number of people in emergency accommodation during a specific count week, typically the last full week of the month.

The latest report reveals that 1,082 families were homeless in October, with 2,513 child dependents.

Homeless charity, Focus Ireland, recently welcomed a commitment from the government to end homelessness.

In a statement on their website, they noted the best start would be to make child homelessness "the first step of this journey".

According to the charity, child homelessness causes trauma, contributes to malnutrition, and can do life-long damage to children.

The report notes a total of 6,317 homeless adults, 4,117 of whom were men as well as 2,200 women.

One thousand and fifty three 18-24 year olds were also recorded as homeless.

Three thousand three hundred and seventy nine people were housed in private emergency accommodation, including hotels, B&Bs and other residential facilities.

Men living in Dublin between the ages of 25 and 44 were noted as the most common homeless demographic in the country, while women in the North-East were the least common.
A Mountrath student is set to represent the interests of Laois and Offaly pupils on the Irish Second Level Students Union.

The Mountrath Community School Transition Year been elected for the Laois Offaly Regional Officer Union.

The Irish Second Level Students Union is the representative body for second- level students in the Republic of Ireland. Each year, the ISSU elects a Regional Officer from each region. There are 22 regions in Ireland, and our region is Laois Offaly.

The elections took place on November 18 at the ISSU Laois Offaly Regional Councils, which were held virtually due to Covid-19. At this event there were two representatives from each school in Laois and Offaly. Three students nominated themselves for elections. Each candidate had to make a one minute speech, and all attendees got the opportunity to vote.

Courtney aims to now represent, uplift and defend student voice in the region. She will have has the responsibility for organising student council cluster meetings once a month. This involves the chairperson of each student council in the Laois Offaly region meeting to discuss local issues for students.

It will be Courtney's responsibility to promote the work of the ISSU in the and to increase school membership of the ISSU. Schools can opt to be a member of the union, and must abide by their policies. Mountrath Community School is a member. There are 500 member schools in Ireland of the ISSU.

All issues/ consultations that Courtney receives from students travel through her to the ISSUs National Student Executives. These students lead the National Campaigns and execute the work the Union undertakes.

Courtney believes her role is a very important role as student voice in the Laois Offaly region is often excluded from national campaigns, and instead, is more concentrated in cities such as Dublin or Cork.

She adds that ISSU meetings are held in Liberty Hall in Dublin, which isnt feasible for a lot of students in the region to attend. For this reason, Students in the region are often turned off nominating themselves for ISSU positions. Courtney's ultimate goal to establish a meeting quarters in the Laois Offaly Region, so that the region doesnt get left behind when it comes to student consultation.

Her predecessor was Reuban Murray, a past student of Mountrath Community School. Reuban went on to become president of the ISSU, and led all elected officers through campaigns last year. Courtney will meet with Reuban next week for advice on her new role and to transfer ongoing campaigns.

Her term officially starts in January. On the 15th and 16th of January, Courtney will be meeting with the other Regional Officer Elects from across Ireland. They will undergo a two day training in Dublin City in which our travel, food and accommodation will be covered for this period.

As the Chairperson of our own Student Council at Mountrath, Courtney was delighted to attend the Regional Councils alongside the Second Year rep Ryan Collins. She was even more delighted to be elected.
Work is set to be carried out on the science labs at Colaiste Iosagain in Portarlington under an emergency works programme.

Laois Offaly TD and Minister of State Sean Fleming welcomes the of approved funding for the Laois Offaly secondary school.

He said the funding has been approved under the Emergency Works Scheme for Science Laboratories including Gas works.

"This is great news for students and staff in Colaiste Iosagain and I am very pleased to see funding for improvements and new facilities in our schools.

"As the works have not yet been priced by contractors the amount of funding available cannot be announced at this stage.

"Finally, I wish acknowledge the excellent work of the Principal and all involved in the school for their on-going commitment to improving facilities and the provision of new accommodation for the increasing student population in Portarlington," he said.

The Department of Education said in September 2021 that the major building project for Colaiste Iosagain was currently at Stage 1 of Architectural Planning, which entails preliminary site and design options.

A statement said the Design Team has been instructed to provide an initial sketch scheme for a 1,300 pupil new build school, and to submit their proposals to the Department for review.

It was anticipated in September that the Stage 1 Report would be finalised and submitted to the Department within a month, for review, with a date to be arranged for presentation by the Design Team to the school and the Department.
Storm Arwen is the first winter storm is set to hit Ireland this winter and according to Met Eireann it will down freezing winds and snow to parts of the country.

Named by the UK Met Office - Met Eireann's forecasting official partner, Storm Arwen will introduce strong northerly winds and a cool polar maritime air. The strongest winds are expected along northern and north-western coasts.

Met Eireann have issued yellow wind warnings for counties Donegal, Sligo and Mayo for Friday afternoon into Friday night, with strong gale force 9 winds expected along northern and eastern coasts.

Met Eireann meteorologist, Elizabeth Coleman, spoke about what Arwen would mean for Ireland.

Its going to be a cold and very windy day on Friday. Well see north to northwest winds starting to pick up through Thursday night into Friday morning, peaking late Friday afternoon . Gale to strong gale force winds are forecast along north facing coasts, generating large coastal waves and spray overtopping. Strong northerly winds over land in the north and northwest could bring down some trees and power lines with travel distribution possible.

Met Eireann has forecast blustery scattered showers on Friday, which will turn to sleet, mainly parts of the north with snow possible over the hills. Daytime temperatures will be limited to around 4 to 9C, but feeling colder with an added wind chill factor from the brisk northerly winds. Overnight temperatures are expected to fall close to freezing for many areas with frost expected.

It will continue cold through Saturday with winds easing early in the day and long spells of sunshine and while most areas will stay dry, there will be a few showers in the north and towards the west coast.

Although it may feel like winter has arrived, milder conditions will move up over the country through Sunday and for the start of next week bring rain or showers at times but generally frost free nights.

The Met Office in the UK says Arwen will track southwards along the east coast of Scotland on England through Friday and Friday night. It has has issued a yellow wind warning for Northern Ireland through Friday and Saturday.

Met Eireann and the Met Office jointly work on storm forecasts and naming. MORE BELOW TWEET

Storm Arwen - Named by the @metoffice, #StormArwen will bring a spell of cold & very windy weather to the UK on Friday & Saturday.



Itll be cold & windy for Ireland too, especially across northern areas where we have yellow wind warnings in place 



 https://t.co/XGJxZFd5UU pic.twitter.com/UxcYvDR3wj  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) November 25, 2021

NATIONAL FORECAST issued by Met Eireann on 26 November at 8:53am

FRIDAY: Cold and windy today with widespread showers, heavy at times, and falling as sleet and snow over hills and mountains, particularly in the north. Northwesterly winds will be fresh to strong and gusty and will reach gale force on coasts. Highest temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees Celsius, with an added wind chill factor.

Strong northwesterly winds will continue overland tonight with gales along northern coasts, and strong gales on the Irish Sea. Scattered wintry showers and long clear spells; mainly occuring across the north and northwest with snow over hills and mountains. Bitterly cold owing to an added wind chill factor with lowest temperatures of 0 to 2 degrees Celsius.

SATURDAY: The strong winds and bitterly cold weather continue through Saturday with highest temperatures ranging just 3 to 6 degree Celsius. There'll be further showers, again some of sleet, mainly across Ulster. Some good spells of sunshine too though with northerly winds easing later in the day.

Winds will become mainly light westerly during Saturday night with lowest temperatures of between minus 2 and plus 2 degrees occurring early in the night. It'll be dry at first with clear weather. Cloudier conditions will develop in the west with rain along western coasts early in the night, slowly spreading through Munster and Connacht. The east will stay dry and cold with temperatures rising in the west.

SUNDAY: The east of the country will stay cold on Sunday, with higher temperatures returning to western parts. It'll be cloudy and dull with patchy rain for a time then it will brighten up with sunny spells, the best in the east. Winds will be light southerly or variable in the east and will freshen over Munster and Connacht from a northwesterly direction. Temperatures will be between 9 and 11 degrees in Munster and Connacht and between 3 and 5 degrees in Leinster and Ulster. Sunday night will be cold with temperatures near to or below freezing in the east and north and not below 5 degrees in Munster and Connacht.

MONDAY: Temperatures on Monday will range between 7 degrees in the east and 10 degrees in the west. Light westerly winds will freshen overnight. There'll be showers along coasts and in the north with sunny spells elsewhere and it will be mainly dry on Monday night when temperatures will fall to between 3 degrees in the east and 7 degrees in the west.

Tuesday: Mainly dry with showers on coasts at first, becoming widespread later. Afternoon temperatures will be 11 or 12 degrees for all provinces with a moderate to fresh westerly wind. Temperatures overnight between 3 and 5 degrees.

The further outlook to the middle of next week is for fresh northwest winds moderating west to southwest with showers mainly on coasts and temperatures between 7 and 11 degrees generally.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has responded to the reported lack of PCR appointments in 18 counties, including Kildare, which occurred earlier this week.

The HSE's self-referral portal showed zero availability in counties including, Carlow, Dublin, Meath, and Wicklow, last Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the HSE explained in a statement: "We have seen a sustained extremely high demand for COVID-19 testing at our community testing centres in the last number of weeks in particular."

"This reflects the high prevalence of the disease and other illnesses at this time."

The spokesperson continued: "The community testing service was established initially to support the delivery of 15,000 tests per day  the service has a number of additional measures which we have implemented to increase that daily testing figure for peak periods to 20,000 tests per day.

"Over the last number of weeks we have consistently carried out more than 20,000 tests per day, and Tuesday, November 23 was our busiest day to date in community testing with over 27,000 appointments offered in test centres.

"In recent days it has been particularly busy in test centres across the country, however, we monitor test appointment slots continually throughout the day and slots often do become available later in the day or the following day.

"We have been working on plans to further increase the volume of COVID-19 testing we can provide to communities.

"We have agreement in place with a private testing provider  RocDoc to operate a testing centre on the HSEs behalf, located at Dublin airport: this opened on Monday, 15th November and initially provided 500 appointments daily, which has quickly increased to 1200 appointments every day."

The spokesperson added that the HSE opened a further test centre operated on our behalf by RocDoc at Cork airport on Monday, November 22 with a test centre opened at Shannon airport on Tuesday, November 23: "We expect 700 tests will be available at each of these test centres by the end of this week."

"In addition to the additional capacity agreed with RocDoc, we are continuing to recruit additional staff to our Community Test Centres. We are also working to put further additional external resources in place to increase our testing capacity including potentially other private service providers."

Further details:

They also pointed to a press briefing from yesterday in which, Damien McCallion, the HSE's National Lead of its Vaccination Programme said: "If you think back over a year ago, 100,000 tests was seen as the bar, as the standard..... We've doubled that effectively."

"The surge capacity has now become our norm, so 20,000 is our base and we've grown it through some actions over the last couple of weeks even further, so, we've opened up centres in Dublin, Cork and Shannon in the last seven days."

He continued: "Cork and Shannon opened this week. Again, giving additional capacity that would grow up to about 3,000 tests over the coming days in those centres alone.

"In addition to that, were working with a number of other partners to open up three more centres over the next week around the country and we've also increased what we call our mobile teams who are able to go into areas where there may be pressures occurring at a point in time; and those again will be coming on stream over the next seven or eight days also."

Mr McCallion added that the Permanent Defence Forces again have "come to the fore" and are working with the HSE on both its contact tracing and its testing.
A Senator has said that the news surrounding a brand-new Primark centre in the county shows that the company has "a huge vote of confidence" in South Kildare.

Last month, Primark submitted a planning application to Kildare County Council to seek permission to develop a new 75 Million state-of-the-art warehousing and distribution depot facility in Newbridge.

As part of this wider investment announcement, they have confirmed that planning permission has now been granted for the development of a 500,000 sq. ft facility that will comprise of a distribution centre, warehouse, and office space on a 38-acre site.

Senator Fiona O' Loughlin welcomed the news in a statement: "I am pleased to see the planning process for the Primark facility being approved so efficiently; ensuring we have a responsive and efficient planning process is crucial for us to ensuring that we can seize opportunities quickly."

"Newbridge has truly become a major national retail centre in recent years."

The Fianna Fail politician continued: "We are delighted to have one of Irelands largest shopping centres outside Dublin, Whitewater as well as a sizable Penneys and a plethora of small independent retailers.

"The fact that Newbridge has been chosen for a 75 million distribution facility to be constructed is a huge vote of confidence in our retail and distribution sectors in South Kildare.

"Primark choosing Newbridge for a major European wide distribution centre shows how respected Newbridge, and Kildare, is in terms of retail," she concluded.

Senator Fiona O' Loughlin made headlines throughout the country this week after she proposed a bank holiday to coincide with RTE's Late Late Toy Show.
John Delaney has failed to comply with a court order to provide the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement with certain details about legal actions involving the FAI's former CEO, a High Court judge has said.

Mr Delaney's lawyers dispute this and argued before the court that he has complied with the order as much as he possible can.

At the High Court on Friday, Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds said that as far as she was concerned Mr Delaney had not complied with last month's order to provide the ODCE with the information it sought regarding litigation involving the former FAI CEO.

While the judge voiced her displeasure over the non-compliance, the court was prepared to give Mr Delaney more time to comply and adjourned the matter to a date next month.

The ODCE has sought the information as part of its review into recommendations that some 1,100 documents, relating Mr Delaney, seized by the corporate watchdog are covered by Legal Professional Privilege (LPP).

The recommendations were contained in a review by independent lawyers to help establish how many of some 280,000 documents, seized in February 2020, are covered by LPP.

Any documents deemed covered by LPP cannot be used by the ODCE as part of its ongoing criminal investigation into certain matters at the FAI.

Mr Delaney claims that the documents contained certain legal advice given to him regarding litigation that occurred during the many years he was with the Association, and therefore are covered by LPP.

The ODCE, which does not know what is contained in the documents, claims that LPP may not apply to many of these documents.

In a sworn statement to the court Mr Delaney said despite their best efforts he and his lawyers to conduct a review of documents, held by the ODCE, he has not had sufficient time to provide the court with the information it requires.

He also claims that the requires copies of certain documents from the ODCE to fully comply with the order.

However, he and his legal team have not been able to obtain due to factions including time constraints, and a refusal by the ODCE to provide him with such copies.

The failure to get these copies have made it impossible to make meaningful submissions to the court so it can assess what documents are covered by LLP, he added.

It was his intention to apply to the court for a direction that he be provided with the copies of these documents.

Mr Delaney also criticised the ODCE and said he could not understand its dogmatic refusal to engage with his lawyers and help to expedite the process.

Mr Delaney also rejected claims by the ODCE that he was delaying the process.

That allegation against him, he said, could "not be taken seriously" in the context where the ODCE "has been guilty of culpable delay."

Paul McGarry SC, for Mr Delaney disputed that Mr Delaney had not complied with the court's order, adding it had been difficult for his client to provide the information sought by the director.

Some of the material regarding litigation involving Mr Delaney is being held by other solicitors, and his client has not been able to obtain it, counsel added.

Kerida Naidoo SC for the ODCE said as far as it was concerned Mr Delaney had not complied with the order, and it was now asking the court to fix a hearing date early next year so that all issues relating to LLP could be considered.

The ODCE remains sceptical about assertions that 1,100 documents relating to Mr Delaney are covered by LPP.

In a sworn statement to the court the ODCE, said that Mr Delaney has not been given the details the court directed him to provide about legal proceedings he is involved in.

The court heard that LPP is asserted by Mr Delaney in relation to approximately 900 items of documentation generated from legal actions he had been involved in.

However, the ODCE says Mr Delaney does not identify specific litigation to it, but rather provides "completely generic terms" including defamation/reputation, shareholder dispute, and property advice.

This it claims amounts to a failure to comply with the court's order.

The ODCE said while it has refused to provide copies of certain documents to Mr Delaney, his representatives have been given plenty of supervised access to materials where LPP is claimed and to take notes.

In addition, the ODCE says it is not prepared to hand over copies of material, that potentially may be used as evidence, to Mr Delaney.

To do that would have far reaching consequences beyond the parameters of this investigation, the ODCE said, adding that all times it has sought to expedite matters.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds said that she wanted the order complied with before the matter progressed any further and was not prepared to fix a hearing date for the case to be heard.

She said she agreed with the ODCE that Mr Delaney had not identified specific litigation and have given vague descriptions that lacked specificity.

The judge said that a process that commenced two years ago was now "going around in circles".

The judge said she was adjourning the matter to a date in December to allow Mr Delaney to comply with the court's order.

The material at the centre of the dispute between the ODCE and Mr Delaney was taken as part of 280,000 documents covering a 17-year period, seized from the FAI's offices in February 2020.

The ODCE wants to use the material as part of its ongoing criminal probe.

However, both the FAI and Mr Delaney claimed that some of the material cannot be used as it is covered by LLP.

Following the implementation of an examination strategy, and a review by two independent barristers recommended that approximately 1,000 documents relating to the FAI are covered by LLP.

The barristers also made recommendations regarding documents relating to Mr Delaney are covered by LLP.
Last week, 200,000 vaccines were administrated, 630,000 boosters distributed, and 76,000 third doses for those who are immune-compromised, according to HSE chief Paul Reid.

Starting from next week, the medically vulnerable group will start to receive appointments from this weekend which equates to more than 470,000 people.

Over 50's will begin getting their booster vaccine from mid-December.

Speaking on RTE's Morning Ireland, the HSE chief said they are working across the different groups and cohorts recommended by NIAC and long-term care facilities.

He said 85% of over 80's were complete, 2/3 of 70-79 complete, and 60-69s are advancing quickly as more people are becoming eligible.

More than 60% of Healthcare workers have received their third dose of the vaccine, according to Mr. Reid.

He said the model is parallel working through agreed groups that have come based on eligibility with a combination of appointment-driven vaccination centres and specific centres offering walk-in facilities at specific times for those who are eligible.

Mr. Reid said they hope to focus on 60-69-year-olds and healthcare workers at the walk-in vaccination clinics.

"If you are in that age bracket, and if you are 5 months from your second vaccine you are eligible." he said.

The HSE welcomes the decision by the EMA on vaccines for children and it is under consideration by NIAC, and will be a decision for government recommendation.

"From our perspective, we are not waiting on that, we are working on the delivery schedule from the suppliers of the vaccine, and all indications are it will be the end of December."

The HSE chief hopes to set up a process that engages with parents on their view on what would be important for them when bringing children for a vaccine and hopes to ensure it will be a 'safe and pleasant enviroment'

He said they will look at all options for the delivery of a vaccine to children, and to set it up in an 'efficient' way when clearance is given to rolling out the vaccine.

Paul Reid said he understands the frustration felt about the delay of PCR testing and he has been communicating on behalf of the HSE to 'explain the reality of the situation'.

15,000 tests in the community per day were scaled up to 20,000 and in the last week, it has reached 26,000 PCR tests in the community.

"We are having high positivity rates of transmission levels in the community between 15-19%.

"It is not infinite the resources we can put into this, we are prioritising those clinically referred through GP clinical practice and symptomatic close contacts." added Mr. Reid.

The HSE chief advised everyone to isolate if symptomatic and it is key to continue to isolate 48 hours after your symptoms desolate.
The go-ahead has been given for a 100% increase in annual funding for the Land Mobility Service  an independent facilitated service that matches young farmers and older farmers wanting to create collaborative farming arrangements.

At the Macra na Feirme Agricultural Conference today on Friday, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Charlie McConalogue announced the increase.

Speaking via Zoom to the conference, the minister said: The Land Mobility Service has been one of the great success stories of agricultural policy over the past few years. I am a firm believer in using all the tools at our availability to leverage generational renewal.

"Funding through CAP supports young farmers but initiatives such as the Land Mobility service are crucial. I am a firm supporter of the service and I know that as we transition through the next decade, the need to have an agile and fit-for-purpose Land Mobility Service will be crucial. The Department has provided annual funding to the Land Mobility Service of 50,000 and this has remained unchanged since its inception.

Minister McConalogue continued to announce an increase in funding for the Land Mobility Service in 2022 saying I am pleased to announce that following positive engagement between John and his team, I have decided to increase the Departments contribution by 100% for the year 2022. This is another clear example of my commitment to facilitating generational renewal in our sector.

Responding to the announcement Macra na Feirme National President John Keane said: We welcome the additional increase in funding for the Land Mobility Service. This funding recognises the continued role that a land mobility service can actively play in generational renewal.

"We look forward to the proposed engagement with the Department and Teagasc on the future of the Land Mobility Service, and to continuing our engagement with the Department about the role that the Land Mobility Service can play in the context of supporting the achievement of objectives of Generational Renewal within the future Common Agricultural Policy," he said..

In reference to recent announcements relating to CAP Minister McConalogue said: "There has been a 50% increase in the national envelope ringfenced for young farmers rising from 2% to 3%. I am ensuring that the National Reserve will remain open for young farmers too.

"The higher rate of 60% for young, trained farmers under TAMS will also be in place. I have also proposed to lift the TAMS investment ceiling from 80,000 to 90,000 in order to support farmers to make investments on their farms in light of rising costs. I have a review into TAMS costings ongoing which I expect will be completed shortly," he said.

The conference also heard from Diana Lenzi, President of CEJA, the European Council of Young Farmers who represents over 2 million young farmers across Europe. Diana outlined some of the common challenges facing all young European farmers, such as access to land and access to credit.

"There are three traditional roadblocks for young farmers. Access to land, credit and knowledge & skills. We cannot tackle land access or knowledge without access to credit and financing. If we do not solve the issues of land access and credit access in particular we will not have a cohort of young farmers entering the sector across Europe," she said.

In response to a question about the challenges facing young women entering agriculture Diana said: It is important to speak up and be the voice of our own interests. We often hear a lot of policy makers speaking about young female farmers, but they are doing it without the knowledge of the challenges facing young female farmers.

"Young female farmers want to have the tools to address the barriers facing young women entering agriculture.

The CEJA President also highlighted the importance in other EU member states of installation aid to support young farmers establishing their farming enterprises upon entry to the sector.

Ireland is one of only five member states where young farmers do not receive installation aid or start-up business support.

The Macra president has regularly called for start-up business supports in the next CAP for young farmers entering agriculture.
A woman who pleaded not guilty to theft of goods valued at 242 from a charity shop in Carrick-on-Shannon was acquitted when the case collapsed after legal argument over her phone records not being sought by the prosecution.

Appearing before a jury in Carrick-on-Shannon Circuit Court was Asha Iqbal with an address at Meath Street, Dublin 8, charged with theft of items from Creative Care Social Enterprise, Shannonside Retail Park, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim on March 13, 2018.

Gardai were called to the shop by the then manager, Dawn Walsh. Ms Iqbal, who was residing at the County apartments, Bridge St, Carrick-on-Shannon at the time, removed items of furniture including a large gilt mirror, two smaller mirrors, a rug, two candlesticks, a chest of drawers and two packets of floating shelves, which she claimed were hers or were in lieu of items of hers which had been damaged. Ms Iqbal had been storing some of her items in the shop's storeroom.

Ms Walsh told the court that Ms Iqbal and another lady came into the shop and took the items and began to load them into a van outside.

Ms Walsh said she removed the cash from the till, locked it and then turned off the electricity and closed the shop as she thought it was going to be robbed.

Ms Walsh put the money in her car and took some video footage on her phone of Ms Iqbal with the items outside the shop. She then got into her car and drove away.

She said Ms Iqbal had been given permission by a previous staff member to put her items into storage but she said she had taken some items that were not hers.

Garda Mary Burke gave evidence of attending at the shop and seeing a number of household items on the path outside the door. There were two women present and a van driver and they were loading the items into the van. She said the shop was locked and there was no sign of anyone inside.

Garda Burke rang Ms Walsh and took a statement from her. She then got a warrant to search Ms Iqbal's apartment on March 26 and saw a number of the items she had seen on the path outside the shop.

Garda Burke interviewed Ms Iqbal on August 9, 2018 in Dublin and put it to her what Ms Walsh had said. Ms Iqbal told her the incident was a misinterpretation of what happened on the day.

She said all her things had been mixed up with other things in the shop and damaged. She said she met Ms Walsh by appointment and she helped them to load the items. Ms Walsh denied this and said she did not lift any items. She also said there had been no prior arrangement between them and no phone contact and that she did not know Ms Iqbal or her name.

Counsel for Ms Iqbal, Ciaran Elders BL, instructed by Niamh McGovern, solicitor, asked Garda Burke about Ms Iqbal's phone records. During her interview Ms Iqbal asked her to get the phone records which she said would prove there had been contact between the parties.

Garda Burke said she didn't deem the phone records as being a necessary part of the investigation she was conducting. She said Ms Iqbal never made a complaint to her.

Neil McDaid, Acting CEO of Creative Care Social Enterprise, said a friend of Ms Iqbal's had been working in the shop and had agreed to accommodate her by storing some of her things there. He said there was no list of items and no process of identification of the items.

Mr McDaid said Ms Iqbal never contacted him about her items being damaged or about taking others as compensation.

He said he had a vague recollection of once meeting Ms Iqbal in the warehouse. Mr McDaid said he became aware Ms Iqbal had become frustrated and annoyed when she couldn't find her stuff.

Mr Elders applied to Judge John Aylmer for a direction on a number of points.

In relation to Ms Walsh, he said, At best, some of her evidence is bizarre and at worst wholly unbelievable.

He also questioned Mr McDaid's recollection of events as to whether he had met with Ms Iqbal.

Mr Elders also said that in her interview Ms Iqbal had asked for her phone records to be sought. He said Ms Walsh had said there was absolutely no previous contact between them and the phone records would severely taint all the evidence on that basis.

Mr Elders raised case law of DPP v Braddish, a Supreme Court decision which established principles in relation to the gathering of evidence.

In Ms Walsh's video footage Ms Iqbal can be heard asking her if she was accusing her of stealing, to which Ms Walsh replied 'no.'

Donal Keane BL, instructed by Noel Farrell, on behalf of the State, argued the phone records were not relevant to the issue of theft.

Judge Aylmer, however, suggested it was critical to the case that there was said to be no phone contact between them. He said it was clearly relevant to the issue of whether they had met by prior arrangement.

The judge said the gardai did not seek out the phone records. He said he was concerned about the point raised under Braddish, that there is a duty on the prosecution to seek out all the evidence that is relevant to the issue.

He said it was a fundamental issue that if done could have put the case beyond doubt. He acceded to the application and withdrew the case from the jury and acquitted Ms Iqbal.
Gardai in Pearse Street are appealing for witnesses in relation to an incident at a business premises on Grafton Street in Dublin on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at approximately 4pm.



A man without a face-covering entered a store, and became abusive to staff working there. The man left this premises shortly after but returned approximately ten minutes later, where again, he became abusive to staff.



When the man left for the final time, it is believed he went in the direction of College Green.

Gardai wish to speak to a member of the public who is alleged to have been attacked by this man when he exited the premises.

Gardai said no arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing.



Gardai are appealing for anyone who was in the Grafton Street area between 3.55pm and 4.25pm on Thursday 18th November 2021 and who may have witnessed this incident, to come forward to them.

Gardai can be contacted at Pearse Street Garda Station on 01 666 9000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.

An Garda Siochana said they take takes any crime or incident, with a hate motivation, seriously, and incidents reported to us are professionally investigated.

"We encourage anyone who believes they may have been the victim of any crime or incident with a hate motivation to report it to any Garda Station." added Gardai.
Mandatory hotel quarantine could be reintroduced in Ireland following the announcement of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa, according to the Minister for Justice.

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Helen McEntee said that while we're still learning about the new variant, "the early indications would show that this is potentially more transmissible and potentially more able to evade the vaccination".

"If we need to move quickly here, be it with the introduction of hotel quarantine, then I think that's something we need to do.

"When something like this happens, we've seen how quickly variants travel and move, and the implications that has had. We've learned from this pandemic as time has gone on", she said.

Chief Executive of the HSE Paul Reid said that when it comes to hotel quarantine, the HSE will wait for NPHET to communicate with Government to make a decision.

It is not yet known if vaccines are strong enough to work against the new variant.

Meanwhile, the first case of the new variant in Europe has been announced in Belgium, in an unvaccinated person returning from abroad.

Scientists in Africa said yesterday that they had detected the new B.1.1.529 strain with at least 10 mutations, compared with just two for the Delta variant.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told a news conference the strain on the health service was mounting, adding "we are confronted with a situation now that is worse than the most pessimistic view of the experts from only two weeks ago."
THERE has been a small day-on-day reduction in the number of new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.

In an update, released this Friday evening, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre says it has been notified of a further 4,620 confirmed cases of the disease - a slight reduction on the 4,764 cases which were reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, as of 8am this Friday, there were 571 Covid-19 patients in hospital with 118 are in ICU. This compares to 598 at the time on Thursday when 126 patients were in ICU.

Separately, the campaign to administer Covid-19 booster vaccines will ramp up this weekend when a walk-in vaccination clinic takes place in Limerick.

The UL Hospitals Group, which is responsible for the community vaccination programme across the region, has confirmed the no-appointment clinic will take place between 8.15am and 6pm on Sunday at the Vaccination Centre in Limerick Racecourse.

"There is no appointment for these walk-in booster vaccine clinics, which will deliver a single booster dose of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. These clinics are for 60-69 year-olds only  no other age groups are permitted," said a spokesperson.

Those attending are also being reminded that five months must have elapsed since they were fully vaccinated. Anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 in the last six months should not attend for a booster vaccine.

As with other vaccine clinics, anyone attending the walk-in clinics should bring their vaccine record card, and also bring identification.
A KERRY man who got married last Valentines Day was caught, along with his best man, breaking Covid-19 travel restrictions the following day.

The two, Jonathan OBrien, 101 OConnell Avenue, Listowel and Stephen McCarthy, 4 OConnell Avenue, Listowel appeared before Judge Carol Ann Coolican in Newcastle West court last Thursday.

Garda Michael OConnor, Patrickswell Garda Station, told the court that last February 15, he stopped a Berlingo van with the two men on board on Main St, Patrickswell.

Covid-19 travel restrictions were in place at the time, he said and when he asked the men the purpose of their journey, they said they were dropping off furniture to a friend in Patrickswell after a wedding reception for Jonathan OBrien.

Asked when the wedding was, Mr OBrien told the judge it was the day before and he was just dropping stuff off. There were only six of us, he added referring to the wedding itself.

The judge fined him 200 before looking to Mr McCarthy.

I was his best man, Your Honour, Mr McCarthy said, before receiving a fine of 150.
LIMERICK City and County Council members have passed the local authority budget for 2022, which promises a 5m increase in spend.

Members met today at the Millennium Theatre in the Technological University of the Shannon's Moylish campus.

Here, they agreed what has been described as a "prudent budget for uncertain times."

Among the measures passed are 378.5m for capital projects, plus a special focus on climate action, public realm and sustainable active travel.

Crucially, for Limerick's hard-pressed business community, there will be no increase in the commercial rate, a property-based charge levied on firms.

And supports for small traders will also be retained going into the New Year, with 3.97m set for the Local Enterprise Office.

In total, revenue of 952.23m was approved by members, with the vast majority, 749.23m, reserved for the Housing Assistance Payment shared service centre which is run locally on behalf of Ireland's 31 local authorities.

Some 8.5m is earmarked for housing maintenance, Traveller and estate management, with 14.7m going to the Rental Accommodation Scheme and leasing.

Almost 50m is to be spent on local, regional, primary and secondary roads, plus public lighting, road safety and traffic management.

The Fire service is getting 11.4m, councillors have agreed.

A total of 3.8m is set aside for street cleaning and tackling illegal dumping, and the maintenance of parks is to see spend of 2.6m.

Earlier this year, councillors voted to raise the Local Property Tax by 15% above the base rate, ensuring that council has an extra 2.36m in its 2022 budget.

This is being ring-fenced to support a range of measures, including the fire service and library (442,000), traffic management, roads and street cleaning (768,000) and capital investment for local services (400,000).

Council boss Dr Pat Daly said: "It has been a tough twelve months for everyone particularly our business community who have had to operate within the severe restrictions that we have all learned to live with. After suffering a very sharp fall in activity in 2020, the Limerick economy commenced its recovery in 2021 as we began to open up from Covid-19.

The budget proposes no increase in the Annual Rate of Valuation for commercial rate payers. It is proposed to retain the business schemes to support many key sectors in our economy.

This budget will help with the Councils commitment to reduce emissions as part of the governments plan for climate action. All directorates in the Council will be involved in achieving targets in the Climate Action Plan.

Budget 2022 will actively see further engagement with our communities, it will address enhancing quality of life for our citizens while supporting new public realm projects and programmes across the city and county in our libraries, galleries and museums.

2022 Council budget of 952.23m passed following meeting in @TUS_ie Moylish Campus #Limerick.  Limerick Council (@LimerickCouncil) November 26, 2021

It will also continue to focus on dereliction, vacancy and the delivery of public realm improvements that will animate our public spaces and support place-making activity.

Limerick City and County Council plans to maintain services at existing levels following adoption of the 2022 budget which will see a slight increase in day to day spending next yearhttps://t.co/hTmz2vpO3Q  Limerick Council (@LimerickCouncil) November 26, 2021

The budget will also help us to deliver on targets set out across the four pathways in the Housing for All plan to enable us to improve our own social housing stock, tackling homelessness and supporting the Regeneration programme," he said.

The revenue budget works in tandem with the capital budget of 378.5 million.

Among the projects earmarked for funding next year in this are the renovation of derelict homes, the revitalisation of O'Connell Street, plus other high-profile infrastructure projects, including the Coonagh to Knockalisheen Road, the Cork to Limerick motorway and the Foynes to Limerick link.

Flood relief projects will also be prioritised, as will the upgrade to the Askeaton swimming pool.

Money is also being set aside to develop playgrounds at Caherdavin and Corbally.
A PENSIONER who was the subject of a noise complaint from his next-door neighbours has been ordered to only use power tools at his home for a maximum of two hours a day.

William McCarthy and Mary Anne Ryan initiated court proceedings against Michael OReilly over what they claim has been his almost constant use of power tools.

Mr McCarthy, who lives with his partner at The Park, Galbally, told Judge Patricia Harney, their lives have been severely impacted over Mr OReillys use of tools such as power saws and skill saws.

Its like a building site, he said adding that loud noise can be heard at anytime of the day and during weekends.

The plaintiff played a mobile phone recording to the court of the noise which, he said, is a constant problem.

Ms Ryan said the power tools are being used in close proximity to the dividing wall between the properties and that the noise is so loud she cannot work from home.

In his evidence, the defendant, accepted he uses power tools at his home but denied that he uses them all the time or at night.

I use them occasionally, he said adding its a hobby rather than a business.

Mr OReilly, whose aged in his mid-70s, told the court he recently contracted Covid-19 and that he intends to continue using his tools.

I want to work when I want to, he said adding that he is not at home every day.

Having considered the evidence, Judge Harney said she had to strike some kind of balance.

She directed Mr OReilly to only use power tools between 1pm and 3pm on weekdays and not at all at weekends. Additionally, she directed that he use his best endeavours to operate any power tools away from the dividing wall between the properties.
HOMELESSNESS group the Peter McVerry Trust is seeking to construct a six-storey apartment block in Limerick city.

The trust has indicated it plans to seek permission from the local authority to alter a planning permission which is already in place for an apartment block of the same size in the area near Creagh Lane.

Granted in 2018, this would have seen 20 apartments in a mix of one, two and three bed apartments.

Now, the Peter McVerry Trust want to change the make up of these to build 30 living spaces, comprising of three one-bed studio apartments, and 27 one-bedroom apartments.

Its housing director Francis Doherty said there is a big need for one-bedroom accommodation in Limerick.

The scheme has been changed to better reflect what our needs are. Anybody moving in would be allocated by council  theyd come from the city housing lists. We have regular interaction with the homeless team in Limerick council and the key message at every meeting is we need more one-beds. Thats the message in all the cities  that this will free up space in our homeless accommodation, explained Mr Doherty.

Once lodged, the planning application will also include provision for a public footpath to Curry Lane, the demolition of an existing warehouse on site, and bicycle parking at ground floor level.

The Peter McVerry Trust has just under two weeks to furnish council with an application.
A YOUNG Limerick woman who helped her siblings with autism, as her sister suffered through a bout of Covid-19 sickness, has been honoured for her tremendous character.

Only a teenager at the time, Limerick city resident Clodagh Bennett was put forward for the Netwatch Young Family Carer of the Year Award 2021 by her mam and has taken the Munster title.

Ive been helping out in the home all my life. My sister has mobility issues and needs help in and out of her room and the shower. She had Covid last year, so she was suffering with the aftereffects of the illness. While she was sick in the hospital, I was cooking and cleaning at home as mam was in there looking after her, she said.

The 18-year-old, a graduate of Salesian College Pallaskenry, helps care for her three siblings. Aidan (22) is on the ASD spectrum and has mental health difficulties.

Niamh (20) is also on the ASD spectrum on a milder level with a moderate intellectual disability and epilepsy. Lastly, there is Saoirse who is also on the ASD spectrum and has some mental health difficulties.

Clodagh's mother Jessica stressed that Clodagh plays a vital part in helping to care for them as well as commuting to college daily from Limerick to Thurles on the train.

Clodagh is a first year student at MIC St Patricks Thurles. She is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Arts in Irish and Business studies.

Despite her hectic timetable divided between travel and study, Clodagh still finds the time to ease the burden on her mother and provide sisterly affection and care to her three siblings.

Nominated by an immensely proud mother, Clodagh told the Leader that she was completely shocked upon learning that she was named Limerick and Munsters Young Family Carer 2021.

Clodagh believes that having good listening skills and communicating as best you can is vital to the role.

You have to adjust to whatever needs the person may have. Sometimes it will be tough, but you will always get through it, the aspiring teacher and Limericks young family carer concluded.
A VERDICT of accidental death was recorded at the inquest of a pensioner who was found lying on a footpath near a Limerick village by a person heading to work.

At Limerick Coroner's Court, Inspector Sandra Heelan read out a deposition from the garda who attended the scene of the incident on a date in 2020.

We received a report of a male, who was unresponsive, lying on a footpath. He had no socks on and had a cut on his right foot. We were satisfied there was no foul play. His injuries were consistent with a fall, stated the garda.

The inspector also read the deposition of the man who found the deceased, who was aged in his 70s, into the record.

I got up at 6.30am and headed off to the farm. I saw what I thought was a coat on the footpath and said I would check it out. I parked the car and got out. It was a person lying down on their back. They were half frozen, cold and stiff. Their socks and shoes were off, he told gardai.

The Limerick coroner, John McNamara, asked the deceased mans brother, who attended the inquest at Kilmallock Courthouse, if his sibling had fallen before.

No, said the brother.

The pathologist, Dr Gabor Laskai, said the cause of death was injuries to the head and skull. The post mortem showed there was no alcohol or drugs in his system.

Mr McNamara said unfortunately when the man fell whatever way he landed caused his death. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr McNamara expressed his condolence to the brother of the deceased. Insp Heelan passed on her sympathies on behalf of the gardai in Limerick.
Retail workers at big-box stores and malls across America want you to know they dont control prices, hiring or the global supply chain.

We get a lot of angry customers coming in the morningjust coming at the world angry," said Jessica Rivenburgh, a manager at the Williams-Sonoma store at the Crossgates Mall in Albany, N.Y. It isnt her store causing the ire, she said, but a nearby department store opening late because of understaffing.

At her store, most of the stressful interactions involve products that are back-ordered, Ms. Rivenburgh said. Most customers are pleasant and the level of items in-stock has improved in recent months, the 23-year-old said. Her store struggled to hire enough seasonal workers, she said, but the existing group of workers are strong so weve hired enough to get by."

Millions of retail workers are on the front lines this Black Friday during an unusual time for the industry, as the Covid-19 pandemic hangs over a second holiday season. Last winter felt more tense in stores, say hourly retail workers, as many staffers dealt with people unhappy over contentious mask policies. This year its a different tone of customer complaints, as shoppers are back in force and some stores dont have enough goods or staff to satisfy them.

Demand for many products is high, with industry watchers predicting a jump in holiday sales this year and large retailers such as Walmart Inc. reporting strong revenue heading into the season. Retailers and their suppliers have struggled to manufacture and transport products fast enough to meet demand, with supply-chain snarls around the world and Covid-19 complicating production, creating product lags.

At the same time, more people have left retail jobs as competition for hourly workers creates labor shortages. In August, 750,000 people quit a job in the retail sector, the highest seasonally adjusted monthly number recorded since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping track in 2000. In September, the most recent data available, the number fell to 685,000, still near historical highs.

Back-order levels are at record highs at Williams-Sonoma Inc., finance chief Julie Whalen said on a call with analysts last week. The company, which also owns Pottery Barn, West Elm and other brands that sell housewares, furniture and holiday decor, projects its revenue will jump at least 22% this fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma has less severe delays than competitors and is proactively calling shoppers to warn of problems, said CEO Laura Alber, resulting in declines in escalations, cancellations and calls into the care center."

Executives at other chains, including Gap Inc., Urban Outfitters Inc. and Victorias Secret & Co., said in their latest earnings reports that they have missed out on sales because of inventory shortages that could carry into the holidays.

Consumer awareness of the issues is growing as more hear of labor shortages or supply-chain constraints, said Joel Bines, global co-leader of the retail practice at AlixPartners, a consulting firm. But we havent seen retail consumers as a group become more forgiving of retail employees who are objectively having more difficulty doing their job."

Some retailers are giving workers guidance on how to explain changes to shoppers. When Dollar Tree Inc. announced it would sell more products above a $1 to offset rising costs earlier this fall, the company handed out talking points to store workers with answers to common questions, including Why is Dollar Tree raising prices?" (the answer: to offer more variety). The company is also adding new signage to stores explaining the change.

In other cases workers are given little guidance on how to respond to customer questions.

At a PetSmart store in Howell, Mich., customers frequently ask about a shortage of Friskies and Fancy Feast cat food and some kinds of Tidy Cat litter, said Isabela Burrows, a closing manager who started working at the retailer last year. I get asked that six different times in a day," said the 19-year-old, who is a member of United for Respect, a retail worker activist organization.

Prices have also risen for many items, said Ms. Burrows, leading to rude customer comments. She said she did her own digging online to come up with explanations that might calm customers, such as shortages of ingredients and plastic packaging. I dont think it clicks in their head that we cant do anything about it," she said.

Throughout the pandemic more people have added pets to their families, driving increased demand for pet food that has led to shortages from producers of wet food and canned food supply, said a PetSmart Inc. spokeswoman. The retailer is actively working with our manufacturing and shipping partners to ensure supply is increased," she said.

A spokeswoman for Nestle SA, which makes Friskies, Fancy Feast and Tidy Cat, said the company is doing everything it can to meet the demand. Companies continue to face unprecedented volatility with transportation as well as ingredient and packaging supply," she said. While we are producing and shipping more than ever before, there is a high demand for our wide range of pet food products and litter."

After some people downsized parties last year because of Covid-19, many are returning to social gatherings this year, planning parties and sprucing up their homes with new decor and furniture, said Victoria Garcia, who is working part time at Pottery Barn in the Albany mall. That has led to some tense customer interactions about product delays amid the holiday stress, said the 20-year-old design student. In those moments, we are not feeling the Christmas cheer," she said.

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India cannot forget the wounds of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday, even as the external affairs ministry summoned a senior Pakistani diplomat to demand the expeditious trial of those responsible for the carnage in the countrys financial hub.

The attacks on Mumbai by a 10-member squad of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, which began on 26 November 2008, resulted in the death of 166 people, including 26 foreign nationals. Pakistani authorities arrested seven LeT operatives, including operations commander Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, but there has been little headway in their trial.

India cant forget the wounds of the Mumbai attacks. Now, todays India is combating terrorism with a new policy and new ways," Modi said, speaking in Hindi, in a brief video on the attacks posted on Twitter by the foreign ministrys spokesperson.

I pay my homage to all those who died in the Mumbai attacks. Many brave police personnel were martyred in this attack. I also pay homage to them," Modi added.

A senior diplomat of the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi was summoned by the external affairs ministry and handed a note verbale, or unsigned diplomatic correspondence, reiterating Indias call for an expeditious trial in the Mumbai terror attacks case".

The note also called on the Pakistan government to abide by its commitment to not allow territories under its control for terrorism against India", according to a ministry statement.

It is a matter of deep anguish that even after 13 years of this heinous terror attack, the families of 166 victims from 15 countries across the globe still await closure, with Pakistan showing little sincerity in bringing the perpetrators to justice," the statement said.

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For the second time in a little over a century, the world is about to face the winter holidays amidst a raging pandemic .

This year, as new COVID-19 cases soar to record high numbers in the U.S., bedrock holiday traditions like interstate travel and indoor family gatherings have been called into question. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised American families not to dine with anyone outside their households this Thanksgiving, while some cities are following Europe's lead in imposing new lockdown restrictions.

But in late November 1918 - after a strain of influenza called the Spanish flu had killed nearly 300,000 Americans in just a few months - the holiday outlook was very different. New cases were plummeting. World War I was over. Troops were returning to their families - and Americans were ready to party.

"There was definitely a mixed message after Armistice Day [Nov. 11, 1918]," Nancy Tomes, a history professor who studies public health at Stony Brook University in New York, told Live Science. "There was a leftover concern about big public gatherings, and some cities issued stern warnings before the holidays. But there was also this tremendous conflation of gratitude that the war was finally over. The dominant tone to the public was: Be grateful, celebrate that we've come through this national emergency, go to church, say your prayers."

Related: 20 of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history

But even as Americans celebrated and took care of one another's physical and psychological needs, a new wave of infections was lurking just around the corner. For some communities, it would prove devastating.

Burning like wildfire

The influenza pandemic of 1918 was one of the deadliest the world had ever seen, ultimately infecting roughly one-third of the global population, and killing more than 50 million people.

Unlike the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Spanish flu hit America in four discrete spikes, with new infections dropping significantly between them. The first wave hit in March 1918 and was relatively mild; CDC records show that the U.S. reported roughly 75,000 flu-related deaths in the first six months of 1918, compared with 63,000 during the same period in 1915. (Modern medicine has helped halve those numbers; in the 2018-2019 flu season, America reported 34,000 flu-related deaths).

The second wave, which began in September, proved far deadlier.

"The 'great influenza' tears through the U.S. beginning in late September, and by mid-November it's done in most of the United States," Tomes said. "It moves fast, and it burns out."

This epidemic curve shows the first three spikes of the 1918 influenza pandemic. The second wave, which hit in September and October 1918, resulted in more than 200,000 deaths. A smaller third wave followed the winter holidays in early 1919. (Image credit: CDC.gov)

Related: 28 devastating infectious diseases

Between September and December 1918, more than 290,000 Americans died of flu-related illness, compared with just 26,000 during the same period in 1915, the CDC reported. Fatalities peaked in October, with an estimated 195,000 Americans killed in that month alone. (In Canada, which traditionally celebrates Thanksgiving in October, the holiday was officially postponed until December.)

The entire U.S. was already rationing food and restricting spending to help the war effort, but many cities met the virus with further restrictions that would seem familiar today  such as lockdowns, mask mandates and social-distancing requirements  and a few that wouldn't seem so familiar, like New York City's crackdown on public spitting at the time. Cities with lax restrictions were hit hardest; infamously, a Sept. 28 parade to promote war bonds in Philadelphia became a super-spreader event that resulted in more than 12,000 flu deaths within a month, according to the University of Pennsylvania .

As cases plummeted in early November, the nation's attention turned to victory, Tomes said. As Crosscut reported , papers like The Seattle Times wrongly declared victory over influenza and victory in Europe simultaneously, as city officials promptly ended lockdowns and social-distancing restrictions. Charity organizations hosted dinners for thousands of troops separated from their families, and citizens around the country gathered for " victory sings " and other spontaneous parties to celebrate the war's end. In his official Thanksgiving proclamation in mid-November, President Woodrow Wilson urged Americans to "be grateful and rejoice" at home and in houses of worship.

"Everybody is out celebrating during this great patriotic burst, and you don't see public health officials saying 'stay home,'" Tomes said. "Psychologically, people believed the pandemic was done. I think you see a lot of people going through that now."

The third wave

Red Cross volunteers assemble gauze masks in Boston, MA. Many cities imposed mask mandates at the height of the 1918 pandemic. (Image credit: CDC.gov)

In hindsight, it seems obvious that the third wave of the Spanish flu pandemic would follow a season of intimate gatherings and public celebration. Tens of thousands of new cases were reported between December 1918 and April 1919, many of which arose in metropolitan hotspots.

In the first five days of January 2019, San Francisco reported 1,800 flu cases and more than 100 deaths, according to the CDC , and other big cities like New York, Minneapolis and Seattle were similarly hard-hit. Overall, however, the spike that followed the 1918 winter holidays was not nearly as deadly as the autumn spike that preceded them. The fourth wave, which began in winter 1919, similarly saw widespread infections around the U.S., though not nearly as many as autumn 1918 did.

It's hard to draw specific parallels from that pandemic to COVID-19, Tomes said, because everything about it  from the nature of the virus itself, to the world war that facilitated its spread  was totally different than today. Even the culture of the time, which was beset constantly by the threat of deadly diseases like tuberculosis and scarlet fever, may have made Americans more willing to "accept that microbes were powerful agents of nature," Tomes said. This daily risk may have made Americans more psychologically prepared for the death toll of a pandemic 100 years ago than we are today, she added.

One thing that is clear, though, is that influenza cases surged after the holiday seasons of 1918 and 1919, just as coronavirus infections are predicted to surge again in late 2020 and early 2021. Despite the overwhelming air of celebration after the war, some cities did ultimately cancel their Thanksgiving plans as small outbreaks popped up. When public gatherings were banned in Richmond, Indiana, shortly before Thanksgiving 1918, a reporter at the local newspaper characterized the imminent holiday as "a pleasant Thanksgiving with nothing to do." Hopefully, that's the worst that can be said about Thanksgiving 2020, as well.

Originally published on Live Science.
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Alec Baldwin has engaged the services of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron S. Dyer of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman for civil suits related to the Rust shooting, Variety has confirmed. The L.A.-based Dyer will represent Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions and other production companies involved in the film.

Baldwin, who was both starring in and serving as producer on the independent Western movie Rust, fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Oct. 21 near Santa Fe, N.M., after being told a prop gun was safe. The gun contained at least one live round, which killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

Two lawsuits have been filed so far  one by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who said she suffered physical and emotional injuries when Baldwin shot the films cinematographer. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, names several crew members in addition to Baldwin and the films producers.

Gaffer Serge Svetnoy also filed a claim stating that he was in close proximity to Baldwin when the shot was fired, causing him to suffer physical and emotional harm.

Hutchins family, however, has not yet filed a lawsuit. Her husband and sons attorney, Brian Panish of Panish, Shea, Boyle and Ravipudi, told the Daily Journal legal publication that the family was still in mourning and that the firm is conducting an intensive investigation of the facts, including interviewing witnesses and meeting with the district attorney and law enforcement.

Dyer previously defended Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis, who had been charged with racketeering and child pornography, as well as astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who punched a conspiracy theorist who insisted the moon landing was fake. Aldrin was not charged.

There has been no indication that Baldwin would face criminal charges for the shooting.

The news was first reported in the Daily Journal.

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The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

David Graeber and David Wengrow

Macmillan. 704 pp. $35

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Anthropologist David Graeber, famous for summing up several millennia of economic history in his best-selling "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," spent the past decade collaborating with the archaeologist David Wengrow on another ambitious project. The two scholars sifted through evidence from 200,000 years of human history in an effort to understand how inequality began. Their exhaustive research has come to fruition in "The Dawn of Everything," a fascinating argument about why humans today are "stuck" in rigid, hierarchical states that would have appalled our ancestors. "Something has gone terribly wrong with the world," they write. "A very small percentage of its population do control the fates of almost everyone else, and they are doing it in an increasingly disastrous fashion."

Sadly, this book is also Graeber's last work. The famed anarchist philosopher, a major figure in the Occupy movement as well as an influential scholar, died in late 2020. This final work is a fitting capstone to his career, a tome that rivals fantasy epics in heft and imaginative scope. Indeed, Graeber and Wengrow seem aware of this comparison, noting with a wink at one point that early human history, with its Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, was like a world full of "hobbits, giants and elves." And though the book is packed with explanatory material from early civilizations - Wengrow is an expert in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeology - it's also a self-conscious exercise in mythmaking. "Social theory is largely a game of make-believe," the authors write. "Essentially, we reduce everything to a cartoon so as to be able to detect patterns that would be otherwise invisible." Put another way, this isn't a book that attempts to be scientifically accurate, whatever that might mean. It's a polemic.

The book begins by turning the history of the Enlightenment on its head, contending that the 18th century European quest for rational thought actually begins in the Americas with a Wendat intellectual named Kandiaronk. Back in 1703, their story goes, a French colonial explorer named Lahontan published a book of dialogues with a thinly disguised version of Kandiaronk, in which the two debated the nature of freedom and civil society. (Lahontan spoke Wendat and Algonquin languages, so it's plausible that these dialogues were basically edited versions of actual conversations.) Lahontan argues that European society was wealthy, liberated and spiritually superior. Kandiaronk counters that the French were enslaved to their king, brutally ruled by money and morally impoverished because they allowed some people to go hungry while others wasted food.

Kandiaronk and other Indigenous thinkers were the true architects of Enlightenment, Graeber and Wengrow argue, because they called into question everything that Europeans had taken for granted about their lives. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other French philosophers would eagerly read Lahontan's book, as well as other popular dialogues with Indigenous people published at the time, influencing their own thinking about inequality. What Europeans called wealth was in fact spiritual poverty; and their precious freedom was reserved only for aristocrats. Inspired by Kandiaronk's critique, "The Dawn of Everything" invites readers to look at our received wisdom about civilization from diverse perspectives and not assume that the Western state is the only rational political system.

Many of us were taught in school that civilization evolves in revolutionary jumps that are roughly the same no matter where you are. These "revolutions" take us from simple to complex cultures: Hunter-gatherers become farmers; farmers make the leap to industrialized nation states. In "The Dawn of Everything," we learn that this might have been true in some European regions, but it's not how most civilizations emerge. In the near east, for example, there were hunter-gatherers who developed urbanized states without ever moving through an agricultural phase. Meanwhile, in the Americas, some Indigenous groups were agriculturalists for half the year and nomads for the other half. Though some civilizations developed bureaucracies, militaries and property regimes, others held property communally and established temporary police forces that were dissolved every few months.

Slowly a new picture of human civilization emerges, one that does not conform to tidy Western myths of development. And that's when Graeber and Wengrow pull the rug out from under us, revealing that the search for the origin of inequality - ostensibly their project - isn't a useful way to cure what ails us. It's impossible for everyone to be "equal," they write, and indeed a focus on equality leads to one-size-fits-all accounts of history. Instead, we can only get unstuck from our present crisis of disaster capitalism by exploring the origins of "freedom," especially the freedom to move anywhere, disobey authority and redefine the mythologies that help us make sense of our lives.

Graeber and Wengrow tell a dazzling array of stories about civilizations across many continents and thousands of years, all of which are grappling with what it means to be free. We're immersed in tales of the 9,000-year-old Turkish city of Catalhoyuk, where there was no great "agricultural revolution," but instead thousands of years of gradual transformation from hunting and gathering to planting a yearly harvest; the 19th century Yurok civilization on the California coast, where people tried and rejected agriculture; and the Minoan urbanites of Bronze Age Crete, ruled by female politicians who shared power with male traders.

One of this book's most intriguing assertions is that humans have been engaging in social experiments and political debate throughout our entire 200,000 year history, trying every sort of political structure along the way. The problem is that we tend to remember the civilizations founded on war and hierarchy, often because those societies are generally obsessed with recording their every (exaggerated) deed in writing. Modern thinkers often marginalize societies built on oral traditions and ever-changing political structures, relegating them to "prehistory" or "the dark ages."

Exploring these supposedly inferior eras, we find models for civilizations based on vast networks of hospitality and trade, rather than conquest. Graeber and Wengrow speculate that the Hopewell peoples of North America, whose incredible earthworks have stood for millennia, did not define their civilization as a social ladder with some overlord at its top. Instead, their many cities and villages were in a loose confederation, where any individual had the freedom to disobey her chief, leave her band and visit other groups where she might be welcomed. Though the Hopewell were part of a mass society of great complexity, they managed to retain key freedoms for individuals - freedoms that everyone in the world has lost.

Occasionally, Graeber and Wengrow fall into the same kind of biased thinking as the Enlightenment-obsessed men they criticize. Looking back into history, they find examples of anarchism everywhere, offering suspiciously utopian accounts of cultures to whom they ascribe values of feminism and anarchy. Still, the authors admit openly that their examples are cherry-picked, and in some cases interpreted extremely speculatively, because they aren't writing a science textbook. They're writing a manifesto, suggesting another way for humanity to live, inspired by ideas our ancestors left to us.

The more we learn about the many paths our ancestors have taken, the more possible futures open up. "The Dawn of Everything" begins as a sharp rejoinder to sloppy cultural analysis and ends as a paean to freedoms that most of us never realized were available. Knowing that there were other ways to live, Graeber and Wengrow conclude, allows us to rethink what we might yet become.

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Annalee Newitz is the author of "Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age."
Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America

John McWhorter

Portfolio. 224 pp. $28

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John McWhorter's new book, "Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America," is a standard-issue tirade against "cancel culture," a Bill Maher routine without the jokes or a Tucker Carlson segment without the bow tie and smirk. The alleged twist here is that it's a Black man saying it this time. Even that has been done better and less hamhandedly by the past few years of Dave Chappelle's career.

Nevertheless, McWhorter, a linguistics professor at Columbia University, believes that he's uncommonly well-positioned to make these familiar arguments. "A version of this book written by a white writer would be blithely dismissed as racist," he writes. He offers no evidence to support this claim, nor does he offer any argument that his Black experience brings anything insightful or additive to arguments White authors have made that he believes are dismissed. He just seems to believe that making culturally conservative arguments while Black is inherently thoughtful, or at least provocative.

It's not.

McWhorter's central thesis is that being woke - by which he seems to mean acknowledging the ongoing fact of bigotry, systemic racism and the resulting forms of oppression - is a religion. Not "like" a religion - McWhorter refuses to hedge this contention with simile. No, McWhorter argues that people who advocate for anti-racism policies, racial sensitivity training and (of course) "critical race theory" are all part of a religious movement with its own clergy. (Ibram X. Kendi, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates have all been ordained, apparently.) He argues that this religion's "Elect" has taken over the country and "rule[s] by inflicting terror" on those who dare to speak against it. Along the way, he warns that it is "coming after your kids" with a breathlessness that makes him sound less like a thoughtful academic and more like a conspiracy theorist looking for hidden critical race messages in the menus at Chuck E. Cheese.

McWhorter never engages with any of the actual cultish movements that are threatening American democracy. He likewise never engages with actual religions, the ones who get tax breaks and Supreme Court justices, who hold the power to take away human rights from pregnant people and civil rights from the LGBTQ community. McWhorter managed in the course of about 200 pages to claim that the woke are perpetrating a "reign of terror" - a phrase he uses twice - but devoted only three paragraphs (I counted) to the actual insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol and tried to overthrow the government.

When he finally gets to those attacks, McWhorter brushes them away, writing, "As scary as those protesters were, which institutions are they taking over with their views?" He quickly answers his own question with "none." It's easy to respond with a list of institutions that have either been fully taken over by anti-Democratic Trumpist ideology, from local school boards to the electoral machinery of Wisconsin to the Republican Party itself, or institutions that are so riddled with white supremacists that they can no longer be trusted (like various local police departments). But note the word choice from the linguistics professor. The people who attacked the Capitol were "protesters" with "views."

McWhorter downplays White domestic terror threats in favor of regular criticism of Coates (the imagined Salieri to his Mozart, it sometimes seems) and other anti-racist thinkers, but he believes that speaking against this so-called clergy will earn people like him the ad hominem label of "race traitor" by critics. He warns readers that some will say he's "not black enough" to write his book.

It's an odd pre-buttal, given that his work fits neatly within the long history of African American assimilationist thought. There's a tradition in this country of Black people arguing that other Black people shouldn't be so "sensitive" to encounters with white racism, and that all that Black people need to overcome 400 years of slavery and oppression in the New World is hard work, good grammar and pants reliably secured at the waist. If McWhorter wasn't so eager to play the victim (as the anti-woke establishment so often does) he might have aligned himself with people like Booker T. Washington, Colin Powell or even Barack Obama, depending on the audience for one of his speeches. There are plenty of people who are "black enough" who also preach respectability politics and take a dim view of challenging systemic racism.

Of course, most of those thinkers avoid dismissing the entire Black American experience or infantilizing those who insist on its ongoing importance. McWhorter, by contrast, says that Black people have no pride.

Framing the civil rights era as a benevolent gift from Whites, he writes: "Segregation had been outlawed from on high, with black Americans not having had to endure the long, slow clawing our way into self-sufficiency regardless of prevailing attitudes that other groups had dealt with. . . . This had an ironic by-product: It meant that black people could not have a basic pride in having come the whole way." Basic protections under the law are, he suggests here, a gift that Black people are insufficiently grateful for yet secretly hobbled by. In coming to this conclusion, he glosses over the literal hundred years Black people struggled to force this country to recognize their human rights. This is a fundamental misreading of American history and politics - and Black people's contribution to both. If McWhorter's readers dismiss him out of hand, it will be because of these sort of ahistorical arguments, not because of the color of his skin. They expose him not as a race traitor but as an unserious person, one either unwilling or incapable of contributing meaningfully to the discussion of race, politics and free speech in modern America.

McWhorter will probably get what he wants, assuming that what he wants is the opportunity to chat with aggrieved podcast hosts. This book will be a pleasing bedtime story to a certain kind of White person who is always looking for a magic Black person to tell them what they want to hear. His solution for White people to "fight" woke-ism is for White people to get used to being called "racist" and walk it off. He elevates being called a racist to a badge of honor, likening it to "Galileo being told not to make sense because the Bible doesn't like it." For once, the analogy is almost apt, if misdirected: McWhorter's whole book is like being lectured by an astronomer who thinks you can study the stars with a kaleidoscope.

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Elie Mystal is justice correspondent at the Nation.
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The next generation of Singaporean filmmakers are displaying the rich tapestry of the city-states culture at the Southeast Asian Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.

Shopping malls are an intrinsic part of Singaporean culture and for Dewi Tan, who is from an anthropology and environmental science background, they are endlessly fascinating. The filmmakers lab project Practical(ly) Consumption, currently in the script development stage, follows a secondary school boy who gets into trouble stealing a supermarket trolley.

Malls are more than a space to hang out or get your daily needs, it is also a place of self-discovery that often project and engineer societal ideals, Tan told Variety. In many ways, this film is an experimental and exploratory take on the essence of the Singaporean hunger for endless consumption  a meandering piece thats something about nothing in an air-conditioned sanctuary, amidst an inescapable urban heat.

Tan previously made the acclaimed LGBTQ+-themed short The Cycle (2017), which received considerable festival play and in 2018, attended Werner Herzogs film workshop where he brought 48 international filmmakers to the Peruvian jungle location for Fitzcarraldo to make films based on the theme of fever dreams.

Chan Sze-Wei hails from a background of contemporary dance, has directed several dance-based shorts and has been mentored by dance filmmakers including Gabriela Tropia and Alex Reuben. In early 2017, fellow dancer Sun (Phitthaya Phaefuang) asked Chan if they knew anybody who might like to make a documentary about the vogue and ballroom subculture in Southeast Asia. Chan decided to take up the opportunity and began filming I Am Walking, which is another lab selection.

This is the project that Ive been preparing for my whole life without knowing it  as a dance filmmaker, as an arts journalist and researcher on Southeast Asia, as a queer activist, and as a movement activist using choreography and improvisation to question politics and privilege, Chan told Variety. At the same time, I have been on my own long journey with my sexual orientation and gender identity.

The production of I Am Walking, which follow the journeys of four misfits as they carve out sanctuaries for queer folk, was paused by the pandemic, and the shoot will recommence in 2022.

Giselle Lins short, the grief-themed Time Flows in Strange Ways on Sundays, debuted at Locarno earlier this year, where it was nominated for the Leopards of Tomorrow award. Her lab project Midnight Blue Spring, which is in the early stages of conceptualizing and writing, will tell the story of a solitary secondary school teacher in Singapore who counsels one of her students, all the while knowing that the student is the teenage daughter of her first girlfriend. Through these circumstances, the teacher is made to confront long denied truths about her own sexuality, identity and regrets.

Deep down I also always knew my first feature would be this, and while Im really grateful to be able to work on it, I am also terrified, Lin told Variety. This is a story that draws from my own struggles with sexual identity and growing pains, and after winding it in my head (and heart) for 10 years, its scary to finally see it as something else other than just a secret.

The Southeast Asia Film Lab is mentored by Indonesian filmmaker Edwin (Locarno winner Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash), Thailands Taiki Sakpisit (Rotterdam winner The Edge of Daybreak) and Singapores Tan Chui Mui (Busan winner Love Conquers All).

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Chilean directing duo Bettina Perut and Ivan Osnovikoff have secured the Best Pitch Forum Award at the 34th edition of IDFA with their documentary La Casa. Co-produced by Perut + Osnovikoff and Germanys Dick Manthey Film, the project impressed with its story of a couple, stuck at home in Santiago due to COVID-19 and sequestered from the political tumult of the Chilean uprising, who turn inward and find multidimensional universes.

In a statement about La Casa, the IDFA Forum Award jury said the [Best Pitch] award goes to a project that presents a unique perspective of an isolated space in a multifaceted form with nuanced sensory perception, though diverse visual and sound elements. The seclusion becomes a background for exploration of the many layers of relationships  with one another, the nature, the neighborhood, and the current social and political context of the contemporary world.

Variety spoke to Perut and Osnovikoff ahead of the documentarys win at IDFA Forum Awards.

What drew you to this project? What was the inspiration to tell this story?

We had always lived in small city apartments but due to life circumstances and for the love of our dogs, two years ago we moved into a big house in an upper class condo near Santiago. We can tell you that it was a real cultural shock. We were in the middle of that process when in October 2019, the massive and violent Chilean social outburst broke out. The government declared a state of emergency and a curfew, and we lived our first confinement. Things began to get back to normal thanks to an agreement to draft a new Constitution, but then the coronavirus pandemic appeared and we began a strict quarantine.

Those were difficult times due to the isolation, the uncertainty and because we were overwhelmed by not being able to work. One day, looking for a way out, we discovered that there was a film in our own house. We discovered a multidimensional universe where a house is much more than just a home for human beings. In our last films, Surire and Los Reyes, the portrayal of places allowed us to address relevant issues using non-human characters as protagonists. In La Casa we want to take this same concept to explore the privileged world of an upper class community, in a context of inequality, social crisis, and political change. But we also want to make clear that our life is not only about relationships between human beings, creating ecological awareness on the connections we have with everything.

La Casa was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic  what sort of difficulties did this cause in production? How did you creatively overcome filming during a pandemic?

Its true that the pandemic made it difficult as there were plenty of restrictions to move, to put together a crew or even get the right supplies. But what is interesting is that those same difficulties were the ones that triggered this artistic research that ended up being the new idea for our film.

What sort of parallels do you see between whats happening inside and outside of the house in La Casa?

This is a story about us and our house but it is also a bigger story. The strength of this film lies in showing how our ecosystems daily life relates to the global environmental crisis and the social and political transformations we are experimenting worldwide. So this is real universal stuff.

Is there a political message which underpins La Casa?

We are interested in approaching the political conflict in Chile as part of the transformation processes and social protests that are taking place in the rest of America and the world. It is the rebellion of a new generation that doesnt want to wait for solutions to social and ecological problems and that demands quick answers from the establishment.

What do you think is the reason for the current surge of strong films and documentaries from Chile?

We think our strong documentary industry comes from an important tradition of documentary filmmakers, and a stable policy that has over 20 years of support and funding from the government, but mostly the rise of directors with very personal styles for filmmaking. When you watch a Chilean documentary you can recognize a clear brand, a very particular way of telling a story in each director. We have all worked in developing a unique and personal language and that is always very much valued in the international arena.

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The Philippines is a vibrant filmmaking region in Asia and that brio is underlined by the brace of projects from the country selected at the Southeast Asia Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.

Paul Rembert Patindol (sometimes credited as PR Patindol) was training to be a chemist but he came to a point in life where he needed a different kind of magic, and turned to filmmaking instead.

His short Hilom won the youth jury prize at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2016, in addition to awards at Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and the FAMAS Awards.

His new work, Rafael is a deeply personal project, where in four generations, the name Rafael and his image are passed on from father to son, and carried to cities on different islands, even outside the bloodline.

I wished I knew my grandparents well. I wish I talked to my father more. Thats how Rafael started, Patindol told Variety. I needed to know better where I come from. I started with an exploration of inheritance  a fathers image, his name and the wounds and ghosts that his legacy carries.

In Rafael, I wanted to navigate young peoples attempts to reconcile identity by means of a father and by means of a motherland, by following the diaspora of sons from one island to anothereach son, aching for a home that he has lost, Patindol said. Rafael is currently at the script revision stage.

Like Patindol, Austin Raniel Tan changed track in order to move into film. He was studying materials engineering for a while, before realizing that the field was not for him. In contrast, however, Tans lab project RA 8491 or How we Recall Lost Memories in Transit is a political subject.

While at film school, Rodrigo Duterte became the countrys president and launched his brutal war against drugs. One night in August, 2017, Tan saw a report about Kian Delos Santos, a 17-year-old student who was killed by two police officers. It later emerged that Santos had no connection to any drug activities, but was killed anyway.

Every day on the television, you could see reports in the news of people being unjustly killed, teenagers and children being collateral damage, corrupt cops planting evidence and abusing their positions and power to kill innocent people. It really opened my eyes, Tan told Variety.

Set in the aftermath of a violent drug war, RA 8491 sees three victims seek revenge, redemption and remuneration in the wake of unjust deaths.

A number of films were made in the past five years, tackling these issues about the drug war, and yet it still continues to this day. I wanted it to stop. It feels like an obligation for me to use films as a platform for change and for the truth, said Tan. As a country that dealt with countless wars, colonialism, a dictatorship, and now a drug war, I wanted my films to tackle the silent suffering, grief, and sense of loss that we still experience. RA 8491 or How We Recall Lost Memories in Transit is a film that I wrote to tackle and show the consequences and effects of this bloody drug war.

The script is in the development stage and the project has already participated in the Philippines Full Circle Lab and received support from the Locarno Open Doors initiative.

Previously, Tans 2023-set 2018 short Happy Birthday Mylene! 2023 ka na, about a security guards dream and reality experiences, played at the CineFilipino Film Festival.

The Southeast Asia Film Lab is mentored by Indonesian filmmaker Edwin (Locarno winner Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash), Thailands Taiki Sakpisit (Rotterdam winner The Edge of Daybreak) and Singapores Tan Chui Mui (Busan winner Love Conquers All).

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CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Violence receded Friday in the capital of the Solomon Islands, but the government showed no signs of addressing the underlying grievances that sparked two days of riots, including concerns about the country's increasing links with China.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare sought to deflect attention from domestic issues by blaming outside interference for stirring up the protesters, with a thinly veiled reference to Taiwan and the United States.

External pressures were a very big ... influence. I dont want to name names. Well leave it there, Sogavare said.

Honiaras Chinatown and its downtown precinct were focuses of rioters, looters and protesters who demanded the resignation of Sogavare, who has been prime minister intermittently since 2000.

Sogavare has been widely criticized by leaders of the country's most populous island of Malaita for a 2019 decision to drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of mainland China. His government, meanwhile, has been upset over millions in U.S. aid promised directly to Malaita, rather than through the central government.

Those issues are just the latest in decades of rivalry between Malaita and Guadalcanal, where the capital, Honiara, is located, said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank's Pacific Islands program.

"Most of the drivers of the tension have been in the country for many decades and generations, and a lot of it is born out of the abject poverty of the country, the limited economic development opportunities and the inter-ethnic and inter-island rivalry between the two most populous islands," he said.

So everyone's pointing fingers, but some fingers also need to be pointed at the political leaders of the Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands, with a population of about 700,000, are located about 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) northeast of Australia. Internationally they are probably still best known for the bloody fighting that took place there during World War II between the United States and Japan.

Riots and looting erupted Wednesday out of a peaceful protest in Honiara, primarily of people from Malaita demonstrating over a number of grievances. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators, who set fire to the National Parliament, a police station and many other buildings.

Protesters defied a lockdown declared by Sogavare on Wednesday to take to the streets again on Thursday.

Critics also blamed the unrest on complaints of a lack of government services and accountability, corruption and Chinese businesses giving jobs to foreigners instead of locals.

Since the 2019 shift in allegiance from Taiwan to China there has been an expectation of massive infrastructure investment from Beijing  locally rumored to be in the range of $500 million  but with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly after the shift, none of that has yet materialized.

Malaita threatened to hold a referendum on independence over the issue, but that was quashed by Sogavare's government.

Sogavare said Friday that he stood by his governments decision to embrace Beijing, which he described as the only issue in the violence, which was unfortunately influenced and encouraged by other powers.

Im not going to bow down to anyone. We are intact, the governments intact and were going to defend democracy, he said.

More than broad geopolitical concerns, however, Pryke said the demonstrations really boiled down to frustration over the lack of opportunities for a largely young population, and the concentration of much of the country's wealth in the capital.

I guarantee you the vast majority of the people involved in the rioting and looting couldn't point China or Taiwan out on a map, he said. They were there as opportunists because they have had very limited economic opportunity. It's a very poor country with high youth unemployment, and this just shows how quickly these things can spiral out of control in a country that's volatile.

Andrew Yang, a professor at Taiwan's National Sun Yat-sen University and former deputy defense minister, said China's efforts to win diplomatic recognition from the Solomon Islands government are part of a competition for regional dominance.

I think its part of the power competition between United States and China because China also is extending its influence into the Pacific region and also taking advantage of this opportunity to compromise the U.S. so-called Indo-Pacific security strategy," he said. So island countries in the South Pacific regions are a vitally important part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific security umbrella.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been following the protests with concern, said his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.

(Guterres) calls for an end to the violence and the protection of hard-won peacebuilding gains. He urges dialogue and peaceful means to address differences, Haq said in a statement on Friday.

A plane carrying Australian police and diplomats arrived late Thursday in Honiara to help local police restore order.

Up to 50 more Australian police as well 43 defense force personnel with a navy patrol boat were scheduled to arrive on Friday.

They were requested by Sogavare under a bilateral treaty with Australia, and the presence of an independent force, though small, seemed to help quell some of the violence.

Australia has a history of assisting the Solomon Islands, stepping in after years of bloody ethnic violence known as the tensions in 2003. The Australian-led international police and military force called the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands helped restore the peace and left in 2017.

The Australian personnel are expected to be on hand for a matter of weeks," according Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Payne told reporters on Friday that she had no indication that other countries had stirred up the unrest.

We have not indicated that at all, Payne said.

Australia is not assisting in the protection of the National Parliament and the executive buildings, in a sign that it was not taking political sides.

Weve been very clear. Our view is we dont want to see violence," Payne said. We would very much hope for a return to stability."

Local journalist Gina Kekea said the foreign policy switch to Beijing with little public consultation was one of a mix of issues that led to the protests. There were also complaints that foreign companies were not providing local jobs.

Chinese businesses and (other) Asian businesses ... seem to have most of the work, especially when it comes to extracting resources, which people feel strongly about, Kekea said.

Protesters were replaced by looters and scavengers on Friday in Chinatown, Kekea said.

Its been two days, two whole days of looting and protesting and rioting and Honiara is just a small city, Kekea said. The capital has 85,000 residents.

So I think that theres nothing much left for them to loot and spoil now, she said.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison questioned whether Chinese citizens and businesses were being targeted. He described the unrest as a bit of a mixed story and noted Chinatown was the scene of rioting before Australias 2003 intervention.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday condemned the violence and stressed Beijing's support for the Solomon Islands government. He said China was taking measures to safeguard the safety and rights of Chinese people and institutions in the country.

We believe that under the leadership of Prime Minister Sogavare, the Solomon government can restore order and stabilize the internal situation as soon as possible, he said.

The establishment of diplomatic ties with Beijing has won sincere support of the people," and "any attempts to undermine the normal development of China-Solomon relations are futile, Zhao said.

___

Rising reported from Bangkok.
CAIRO (AP)  The deal struck in Sudan to reinstate the prime minister following a military coup is imperfect but has saved the country from sliding into civil strife, the U.N. envoy to Sudan said on Friday.

Special Envoy Volker Perthes was speaking of the agreement between Sudan's military leaders and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who was deposed and put under house arrest following the coup last month that stirred an international outcry.

The military takeover threatened to thwart the process of democratic transition that the country had embarked on since the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The deal, signed on Sunday, was seen as the biggest concession made by the country's top military leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, since the coup. However, the country's pro-democracy groups have dismissed it as illegitimate and accused Hamdok of allowing himself to serve as a fig leaf for continued military rule.

The agreement of course is not perfect, Perthes told The Associated Press. But it is better than not having an agreement and continuing on a path where the military in the end will be the sole ruler."

Both signatories felt compelled to make bitter concessions in order to spare the country the risk of more violence, chaos and international isolation, he added.

It would not have been possible to exclude a scenario which would have brought Sudan to something close to what we have seen in Yemen, Libya or Syria, Perthes said. He spoke to the AP via videoconference from Khartoum.

Sudan has been struggling with its transition to a democratic government since the military overthrow of al-Bashir in 2019, following a mass uprising against three decades of his rule.

The deal that Hamdok signed with the military envisions an independent Cabinet of technocrats led by the prime minister until new elections are held. The government will still remain under military oversight, although Hamdok claims he will have the power to appoint ministers.

The deal also stipulates that all political detainees arrested following the Oct. 25 coup be released. So far, several ministers and politicians have been freed. The number of those still in detention remains unknown.

We have a situation now where we at least have an important step towards the restoration of the constitutional order, said Perthes.

Since the takeover, protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets in some of the largest demonstrations in recent years. Sudanese security forces have cracked down on the rallies and have killed more than 40 protesters so far, according to activist groups.

Further measures need to taken to prove the viability of the deal, said Perthes, including the release of all detainees, the cessation of the use of violence against protesters and Hamdok's full freedom to choose his Cabinet members.

On Friday hundreds rallied in Khartoum and other Sudanese provinces to demand a fully civilian government and protest the deal for the second straight day. It came after thousands protested on Thursday.

One of the marches was led Siddiq Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi, a leader of Sudan's prominent Umma Party, which has split with other pro-democratic groups over the deal to reinstate Hamdok. He told journalists that protesters must remain steadfast in their calls for the generals to surrender power . Al-Mahdi was among those who were arrested during the coup and was let go in recent days.

He refused the idea of further negotiations.

As things currently stand, there is no opportunity for things to move forward, he said.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) needs to hire 46 Census Enumerators to deliver and collect census forms to and from every home in Longford next year.

Enumerators can earn up to 3,200 for working 10 weeks part-time, between 28 February and 6 May 2022.

An online application process opens on Thursday, November 25 at www.census.ie.

Census 2022 will take place on Sunday, 3 April next year. The results from the Census are vital to planning the future of public services in Longford and across the country. To deliver a successful Census the team of 46 enumerators will be required to deliver and collect census forms to approximately 15,000 households across the county.

Speaking about the role of a Census Enumerator, Eileen Murphy, Head of Census Administration said "A Census Enumerator is a job that really counts. Those who undertake this rewarding position will be providing a valuable service to the people of Longford, by ensuring future policy decisions are made based on their community's needs.

"The job of Census Enumerator is highly flexible, so a perfect option for many people not in a position to commit to full time work. Over the ten weeks enumerators will work approximately 22 hours per week and can largely pick their own hours. Each enumerator is responsible for the delivery and collection of around 400 census forms in their local area."

According to Eileen Murphy the role of Census Enumerator is best suited to a people person who enjoys meeting and engaging with new people.

"It is important that you can work well on your own. The job does require some persistence, as you may need to visit some homes multiple times to secure a response. Good weather in Spring in Ireland is not guaranteed, so you need to be ready for working outdoors in all weathers.

Pat O'Rourke, in Longford, had this to say about his experience as an enumerator.

I worked as an Enumerator in 2016 Census. I enjoyed the entire process from start to finish. Meeting and helping people can be very rewarding"

The application process is expected to remain open until December 3.

However, early applications are recommended as the CSO will cease taking applications once they have reached the required number.
The Longford boil water notice, in place since November 3 and affecting over 17,500 consumers, is set to remain in place until at least Christmas following an EPA audit conducted today (Thursday, November 26) at the Lough Forbes Water Treatment Plant.

An Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson confirmed to www.longfordleader.ie that during their audit the Lough Forbes plant 'was producing safe water'. However it stressed that 'further controls are needed on filter operations to ensure safe water at all times'.

The EPA spokesperson revealed that the 'findings of the audit were communicated to representatives of Irish Water and Longford County Council who attended today's audit'. And that 'the EPA will issue an audit report to Irish Water within 1 month of todays audit'.

The spokesperson said the EPA will continue to liaise with Irish Water on this matter, pointing out that 'the EPA does not have a statutory role in the decision to impose or lift a boil water notice'. "Such decisions are taken when Irish Water and the HSE consult and agree on whether there is a need to inform consumers about a impact to water quality that may pose a risk to public health."

Confirming that the audit took place today, the EPA spokesperson stated:

"The EPA undertook an audit of the Lough Forbes Water Treatment Plant today (November 25), to assess the performance of the plant which is currently on a boil water notice for all consumers of the Longford Central public water supply.

"The audit was undertaken in line with EPAs risk based audit programme, and as part of the EPAs statutory, independent functions as regulator for drinking water quality in public water supplies.

"The audit found that the plant was producing safe water during the audit. However further controls are needed on filter operations to ensure that the plant consistently meets the levels of performance required to provide adequate treatment to ensure safe water at all times.

"Irish Water and Longford County Council have identified further measures to improve filter operations at the plant. The EPA will continue to liaise with Irish Water on this matter.

"The findings of the audit were communicated to representatives of Irish Water and Longford County Council who attended todays audit. The EPA will issue an audit report to Irish Water within 1 month of todays audit and that report will be available on EPAs website in due course."
Local News, Business & Finance, Politics

By Chris Boyle Published: November 26 2021

This agreement to substantially raise the cap from $10,000 to $80,000 will help millions of New Yorkers keep billions of dollars in their own pockets said Suozzi.

As a result of his efforts against the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, Congressman Tom Suozzi (D  Long Island, Queens) announced that the United States House of Representatives has successfully passed much-needed relief to middle-class families in New York. In the House, Suozzi was one of the lead negotiators who struck the deal to increase the SALT cap to $80,000. New York State was one of the hardest hit from the $10,000 SALT cap. Now, it must pass the Senate.

This agreement to substantially raise the cap from $10,000 to $80,000 will help millions of New Yorkers keep billions of dollars in their own pockets said Suozzi. "If passed in the Senate, New York's families will see this immediate relief when they file their 2021 income tax in April. This is a major step forward in our relentless pursuit to protect New York taxpayers."

Below are the details of the SALT relief that Suozzi negotiated into the Build Back Better bill:

Would raise the deduction cap to $80,000 for a nine-year period through 2030. It would then return to the current $10,000 level in 2031, and then phase out entirely.

Below is a breakdown of how many filers in different regions across New York claimed the SALT deduction before the $10,000 cap was placed. The $80,000 SALT cap will provide relief to these hardworking taxpayers:
(Alliance News) - French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told UK counterpart Priti Patel on Friday he was scrapping planned weekend talks with her, in protest at a letter made public by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the migrant crisis.

In a message seen by AFP, Darmanin told Patel the letter from Johnson to President Emmanuel Macron suggesting France takes back migrants who cross the Channel was a "disappointment".A

Referring to Johnson's posting of the letter on social media, he added: "Making it public made it even worse. I therefore need to cancel our meeting in Calais on Sunday."

France was planning to host ministers from all Channel littoral states, including Patel, for a crunch meeting on the migrant crisis in Calais on Sunday, after 27 migrants lost their lives this week off the French coast in the deadliest such disaster.

A source close to Darmanin told AFP that the meeting would be going ahead with the ministers from other European countries but added Patel was no longer invited after Johnson's "unacceptable" letter.

"We consider the British prime minister's public letter to be unacceptable and contrary to the discussions we had with our counterparts," said the source, who asked not to be named.

"Therefore, Priti Patel is no longer invited to the interministerial meeting on Sunday, which is maintained in the format of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the European Commission."

Johnson wrote to Macron on Thursday asking France to immediately start taking back all migrants who land in England after crossing the Channel and, in an unusual step, posted the entire text of the letter on Twitter.

Taking back migrants "would significantly reduce a if not stop a the crossings, saving thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of the criminal gangs" behind the trafficking, he said.

Johnson's letter also set out areas for greater cooperation with France, proposing joint border patrols, aerial surveillance and intelligence sharing.

The new row adds to a litany of post-Brexit problems between Britain and France, with French fishermen on Friday due to stage a blockade of Channel ferry ports and stop freight entering the Channel Tunnel in protest at fishing rights.A

source: AFP

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Even without a flake of snow in sight, Kaleva Norman Dickson school district students are selling a flurry of raffle tickets to get their ski season off to a speedy start. For the sixth year running, the student skiers of the KND school district are selling raffle tickets to raise money for ski club transportation.

80 YEARS AGO

Holiday season opening arrives

Manistee merchants and residents plan to go all out in celebration of a peaceful Christmas this year, opening their campaign with a Christmas Window Night this Friday evening, the arrival of Santa Claus, and the formal holiday buying opening. Merchants will compete under 32 different classifications for blue ribbon awards in the window decoration contest.

Rotarians see movies

Movies showing the activities of the public schools of Manistee were shown to members of the Rotary Club at their meeting last night at the Hotel Chippewa. The movies were filmed by Ray Brainerd, high school teacher, who was introduced by Joe Piekarski. Bill Olson acted as program chairman for the evening.

John Nickelsen turns 91

The 91st birthday of John Nickelsen is being celebrated at the home of his daughter, Pat Knudstrup. He was born Nov. 26, 1850. In the spring of 1872 when Nickersen was 22 years old, he came to Manistee from Denmark, his birthplace. He was first employed in the saw mills of Manistee; then as a longshoreman for a period of 35 years, after which he worked as janitor at the Central High School (Woodrow Wilson) from 1910 to 1926 when he retired.
Late actor Irrfan Khan's son Babil Khan, who is all set to make his acting debut, is very active on social media and interacts with his followers regularly. He often shares insight into his personal life with fans by posting various pictures and videos on social media. The star-son recently posted a casual car selfie in which he's seen donning a blue jacket with a white T-shirt and a cap.

Posting the picture on Instagram, he wrote, "When your lips are the elephants in the room, @niveaindia where is my lip balm sponsorship". His friends and followers reacted to the image and the young lad even responded to several comments.

However, a user's reaction has grabbed the maximum eyeballs. He commented, "Itne khubsurat nojawan ho, Bhojpuri filmo mein try kyun ni karte (You're such a handsome guy, why don't you try joining Bhojpuri films?)".

Reacting to the comment, Babil replied with a bunch of laughing (tear of joy) emojis. When a fan inquired about the release date announcement of his debut film, he said, "Soon soon".

Recently, Babil also posted a small clip from Tokyo Trial, a mini-series featuring his late father who passed away last year. In the video, he's seen excitedly watching one of Irrfan's scenes. In the caption, he wrote, "Some things just never get old eh?"

For the unversed, Tokyo Trial was released in 2017 in which Irrfan played the character of Justice Pal. Along with the Hindi Medium actor, the four-part series also had Stephen McHattie, Jonathan Hyde, Paul Freeman, Marcel Hensema, Julian Wadham, and Michael Ironside in pivotal roles.



Following the footsteps of his father, Babil will make his acting debut with the Netflix film Qala. Produced by Anushka Sharma's Clean Slate Filmz, the web film also stars Swastika Mukherjee and Tripti Dimri in pivotal roles. Announcing the project, earlier this year, the makers released the teaser of Qala. Take a look at it here:

Even before the release of his debut project, Babil has already signed his second film with director Shoojit Sircar. While Ronnie Lahiri will be bankrolling it, no other details are yet out.
A deluge of resale 3sp, 150mm steel billet import cargoes, largely held by Chinese traders, has been sold into Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, Taiwan and Thailand in the last month, disturbing the market for 5sp new production billets across the region Such purchasing has not taken place to the same extent in the Philippines, however, where most buyers are unable to consume 150mm-spec billets and many prefer the higher grade 5sp over 3sp materials.With availability of their preferred 5sp 120-130mm billets much lower in the international markets, offer prices of these materials have been stronger than 3sp cargoes in November.

But market sources said that there was a noticeable drop in prices on Russia-origin 5sp billets to the Philippines this week, which followed a key change in the countrys export tax policy. The costly 15% steel export tax will be replaced with a smaller 2.7% excise tax...
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus S.Aleinik meets the Ambassador of hina

On November 26, 2021, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Aleinik met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Peoples Republic of China to the Republic of Belarus Xie Xiaoyung.

The sides discussed topical issues of bilateral cooperation, as well as mutual support in international organizations.

Sergei Aleinik also provided information about the efforts taken by the Belarusian side to resolve the migration crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border.

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs M.Barysevich meets the Ambassador of Pakistan to Belarus

On November 25, 2021, H.E. Mikalai Barysevich, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, met with H.E. Sajjad Haider Khan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Republic of Belarus.

The interlocutors discussed promotion of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, actual issues of functioning of the Diplomatic Mission of Pakistan in Minsk.

Deputy Foreign Minister informed the Ambassador on the current development of situation with the migrants on the western borders of Belarus and the approach to its resolution. He reaffirmed the transparency and readiness of the Belarusian side for dialogue and cooperation with all the concerned parties, including international organizations.

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NEW YORK (AP)  On this year's Black Friday, things almost seem normal.

Malls and stores report decent-sized crowds, if not the floods of people that used to fight over the latest toys and electronics  online shopping is much too common for that now, and discounts are both more subdued and spread out over the weeks leading up to Christmas, on both websites and in stores.

Out-of-stock items due to supply crunches, higher prices for gas and food, and labor shortages that make it more difficult to respond to customers are also causing frustrations for shoppers.

Christian MacDonald, the first person in a line of about 75 people waiting for a Costa Mesa, California Target store to open, came away empty-handed.

I came here because I figured since it was Black Friday, theyd have the new Switch OLED in stock, but they didnt, said MacDonald, who waited an hour and a half to get in for the sought-after Nintendo video game console. So Im just going to go home, I guess.

The country's largest mall, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, said nearly 100,000 people had come as of early afternoon Friday, more than double last year but a bit shy of 2019 numbers.

We had a fantastic start, said Mall of America senior vice president Jill Renslow.

The staffing issues that have hit many retailers and restaurants, however, also affected Mall of America. It had to trim the hours it was open.

Still, Black Friday retail sales surged 29.8% through mid-afternoon, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all types of payments, including cash and credit cards. That was above its 20% growth forecast for the day. Steve Sadove, senior adviser for Mastercard, says the numbers speak to the strength of the consumer."

Overall holiday sales are expected to grow this year. The National Retail Federation predicts a sales increase of 8.5% to 10.5% for all of November and December, after 8% growth in those months in 2020.

While Black Friday has a strong hold on Americans imaginations as a day of crazed shopping, it has lost stature over the last decade as stores opened on Thanksgiving and shopping shifted to Amazon and other online retailers. Stores diluted the days importance further by advertising Black Friday sales on more and more days.

The pandemic led many retailers to close stores on Thanksgiving Day and push discounts on their websites, starting as early as October. Thats continuing this year, although there are deals in stores as well.

At the Fashion Centre mall in the northern Virginia suburbs, window signs advertised 50% off boots at Aldo, 40% off full price items at J.Crew, and 30% off at Forever 21. At the Capital Mall in Olympia, Washington, stores advertised sales of 35% to 50% off.

Big box retailers like Walmart, however, arent blasting doorbuster deals in their ads, said DealNews.com analyst Julie Ramhold. And clothing chains like Victorias Secret and Gap are having harder time managing supply issues. Victorias Secret said recently that 45% of its holiday merchandise is still stuck in transit.

Supply chain hold-ups are a major concern this year, and both stores and shoppers are trying to find workarounds. Some of the biggest U.S. retailers are rerouting goods to less congested ports, even chartering their own vessels.

Macys CEO Jeff Gennette said the company is prepared. We are deep and we are ready, he said, noting inventory levels are up 20% compared to last year.

But many sales floors looked different than in years past, when tall piles of merchandise used to be on display. At Macys in Manhattan, gone were the shoes stacked so high shoppers couldnt reach them.

In the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey, lines formed outside Pandora and Bath & Body Works around noon, while some small shops were largely empty. At Fashion Centre mall in the D.C. suburbs in the afternoon, Macys was jammed with people, making it difficult to move around the store, while Forever 21 security guards had to help clear congestion.

Tim Clayburn was shopping at Fashion Centre Friday morning because he wanted to make sure he could get the gifts he wanted for his relatives.

Everyone is so worried about not having things shipped to you on time, he said. Id rather just get stuff in person so I dont have to worry about the shipping.

Across the country, there were roughly three dozen people in line at a Denver-area Best Buy when doors opened at 5 a.m., said shopper Edmond Kunath, which he found underwhelming.

It is amazing how small the crowd is here this morning, said Kunath, who was looking for deals on Apple AirPods headphones and a hard drive.

Retail workers are worried about their safety because of frustrated shoppers and thin staffing, said Stuart Applebaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, who said stores should provide security and training on how to handle irate shoppers.

One employee at the Zara in Fashion Centre, who declined to give his name, said the store seemed understaffed and he had been stressed all morning. This is the craziest Ive seen things in a long time, he said.

At Macys in Manhattan, the pandemic remained in sight  employees wore masks and many shoppers did too  but there was also a sense of celebrating the fun of shopping, of things returning to how they used to be.

Carol Claridge of Bourne, England, has been coming to New York for Thanksgiving-week shopping for 15 years, but skipped it last year because of the pandemic. The U.S. reopened to travelers from the U.K. earlier in November when it lifted pandemic travel bans.

We had to wait a long time to do this, said Claridge, who was looking at beauty gift sets on the first floor of Macys with a friend. We are picking up anything we see that we like. We call it our annual shopping outing.

Shoppers are expected to pay on average between 5% to 17% more for toys, clothing, appliances, TVs and others purchases on Black Friday this year compared with last year, according to Aurelien Duthoit, senior sector advisor at Allianz Research, with the biggest price increases on TVs. Thats because whatever discounts available will be applied to goods that already cost more.

Aniva Pawlowski, who was looking for shoes and coats Friday at Macy's in Manhattan, plans to spend $1,000 on holiday shopping, similar to years past, even though shes concerned about gas, food and other costs rising.

Everything is expensive, she said.

Online shopping remains huge, and sales are expected to rise 7% for the week after the massive 46% gain a year ago, when many shoppers stayed home, according to Mastercard. For the overall holiday season, online sales should increase 10% from a year ago, compared with a 33% increase last year, according to Adobe Digital Economy Index.

What the pandemic did for retail was, it forced them to be better digital retailers," said Marshal Cohen of market research firm NPD Group.

That means the day after Thanksgiving is no longer what it was.

___

David Zalubowski from Lone Tree, Colorado; Parker Purifoy from Arlington, Virginia; Manuel Valdes in Olympia, Washington; Bryan Gallion from Wayne, New Jersey; and Eugene Garcia from Costa Mesa, California contributed to this report.
MANISTEE COUNTY  Legislation aimed at improving maritime commerce in Michigan could benefit lakeside communities like Manistee, according to the bills sponsor, Rep. Jack OMalley (R) Lake Ann.

House Bill 5291 would establish a Port Facility Improvement Grant program for the expansion and creation of public and private ports within the state. It also creates the Maritime and Port Facility Improvement office within the Michigan Department of Transportation  devoting a specific office to Great Lakes commerce.

OMalley chairs the House Transportation Committee. The second-term legislator underscored the need to focus on maritime activities, just as the state does for roads, bridges, aviation and railways.

Appropriations would still be needed to address the grant process, but OMalley maintains that establishing a framework for the program is a necessary first step.

Michigan really does nothing to support its maritime community, OMalley told the News Advocate. When you look at the amount that the other states are doing: Ohio is cleaning our clocks. Billions of dollars are going to Toledo and Cleveland because Michigan just hasn't supported things.

Michigan has around 36 ports in operation, but Great Lakes freighters often arrive at ports in places like Wisconsin and Ohio, which have similar legislation already in place, according to OMalley.

We've all heard and seen the Tim Allen Pure Michigan commercial where he talks about sitting on the shore watching the Great Lakes freighters slide by. The problem is that boat doesn't stop in Michigan. It's going to Duluth, it's going to Milwaukee, it's going to Chicago, it's going to Cleveland  it's going somewhere else. They really don't stop anywhere in Michigan, OMalley said.

Michigan is basically considered passive in our assistance to the maritime and shipping community in the Great Lakes region. We're the last to the table and we've got to change that, he continued.

While Great Lakes freighters still arrive at cities like Manistee and Ludington, O'Malley said that creating a new maritime office and grant program would open up state and federal funding for local port authorities to improve their facilities.

In particular, O'Malley highlighted a port in Muskegon which he said is "a good sized port" that could still "grow a lot."

"What that means is a port facility could ask for a grant that could then be used as the local portion of paying down to a match with a federal grant (and) it would open us way up to federal monies and other grant processes that we don't have access to right now because there's no money to back them," O'Malley said. "So it would be a grant process and ... Manistee, Muskegon, Ludington if they wanted to build up their port facilities, this grant would help them do it."

Port officials who spoke in support of the bill when it was under consideration in the House Transportation Committee, said the legislation was needed to make the state a water transportation hub. This includes Kyle Burleson, director of operations at the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority and Paul LaMarre III, Port of Monroe director, according to a press release from OMalleys office.

When (the bill) was in the House, and we had testimony on it, no one spoke in opposition  everybody was in favor, OMalley said. That includes every chamber of commerce from around the state (and) the port associations.

The bill passed Nov. 10 in the Michigan House of Representatives by a vote of 94 to 11, and has gone to the state senate transportation committee for consideration. If passed, OMalley said that places could start applying for grants to build or improve their ports within a year.

We are the Great Lakes State, let's utilize it and let's get some of those freighters stopping in Michigan, he said.
Attorney Angela Cole was recognized for the third year in a row for her dedication to providing access to legal services.

Cole, who has law offices in both Midland and Sanford, recently was honored at a celebration event for her top tier placement on the 2021 A Lawyer Helps Pro Bono Honor Roll. The event included remarks by Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget Mary McCormack.
As holiday festivities are bring together friends and family around the state, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has updated its guidance on visiting long-term care facilities.

The MDHHS has recently made changes to its visitation guidance in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

Long-term care residents receive physical, emotional and spiritual support by visiting with their family and friends, particularly during the holiday season, MDHHS director Elizabeth Hertel said in a statement. Our updated guidance provides key steps to take to make these visits as safe and fulfilling as possible.

Previously, guidance on the subject was geared toward limiting transmission from visitors. However, the current risks of transmitting COVID from visits are lower with approximately 84% of residents in long-term care facilities having received the vaccination. Booster doses are now being recommended for both workers and residents.

In these incredibly challenging times we are grateful for the opportunity to give thanks, Health Care Association of Michigan CEO Melissa Samuel said. COVID cases remain at a very high level, and it is critical family and friends follow all current precautions to protect all residents and staff when visiting Michigans skilled nursing facilities.

Additional updates to the guidance per MDHHS and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services include:

Visitors who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, symptoms of COVID-19, or currently meet the criteria for quarantine, should not enter the facility.

 Outdoor visits are preferred during times of warmer weather when the resident or visitor is not fully vaccinated.

 Facilities must allow indoor visitation at all times and for all residents.

 While not recommended, residents who are on transmission-based precautions or quarantine may receive visitors, especially if alternative methods of visitation such as phone call, window or virtual visitation are not conducive for visitation.

 Facilities can no longer limit the frequency and length of visits for residents, the number of visitors or require advance scheduling of visits.

 If a resident and their visitors are vaccinated, they may choose not to wear face masks during the visit. If the nursing home's county transmission level is substantial to high, all residents and visitors, regardless of vaccinations status, should wear masks and social distance.

 Compassionate care visits are allowed at all times.

 Residents may also choose to have physical touch based on their preferences and needs.

 Failure to facilitate visitation would constitute a potential violation and a facility would be subject to citation and enforcement actions.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia health officials say they are working with a family-owned pharmacy to re-vaccinate patients after the pharmacies in Hancock County distributed overly-diluted shots of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

According to news reports, the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, the Bureau for Public Health and partners from the Joint Interagency Task Force for Vaccines are working with Davis Brothers Pharmacy to contact patients 12 years and older who received Pfizer vaccinations between April and November.
HOOVER, Ala. (AP)  Four people were arrested Friday during a protest inside the Riverchase Galleria where a 21-year-old man was shot and killed by police during Thanksgiving shopping three years ago.

The mall in suburban Birmingham was the site of a 2018 police shooting where an officer fatally shot a Black man after mistaking him for the gunman in an earlier shooting at the mall.
MIDDLETOWN  We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with their loved ones. Now that we are entering the holiday season, we want to share two ways you can give back to families in Middlesex County this holiday.

In efforts to continue offering help during these times, this season, we have two exciting events to help relieve the stress that comes with holidays.

The Middlesex United Way Young Leaders Society will host its seventh annual Holiday Social & Stuff-a-Cruiser event at the Middletown Police Department Dec. 4 from 10 to 2 p.m. This year, unlike previous years, will be a contact-less drive-up and drop-off event. There will still be plenty of holiday cheer  with Santa even making an appearance.

We ask individuals to bring a new, unwrapped present to stuff a Middletown police cruiser with gifts for kids in kindergarten to grade 12. The police cars will be outside, and we ask all donors maintain proper social distance while dropping off your generous present. All donations will be distributed throughout the Middletown area to students in need.

If you are unable to attend either event but would still like to be a part of our cause, please consider making a donation, which will be pooled and used to purchase gift cards for the students to use at their favorite stores. If you are interested, please call Amanda Furlong at 860-346-8695 or Amanda.furlong@middlesexunitedway.org.

The Young Leader Society is a group of passionate individuals, 40ish years old and younger, dedicated to growing the spirit of philanthropy, community advocacy, volunteerism and leadership. The Young Leaders Society provides opportunities for networking, learning, leading and volunteering. To learn more about the society, please contact Amanda Furlong.

Additionally, Middlesex United Way is partnering with Columbus House this holiday season to help make the wishes of 10 to 12 Middletown families become a reality this holiday season.

The Adopt-a-Family Program pairs generous sponsors with local families living in emergency shelter and supportive housing. Families are served by Columbus House, a nonprofit that has been providing solutions to homelessness since 1982.

You can be a lifeline for those in need this holiday season. Sponsors come in all shapes and sizes: businesses, churches, families, friends, individuals.

To sponsor a family, please contact Sheree DiMario at sdimario@columbushouse.org.

Columbus House provides both emergency housing and a continuum of housing and services designed to help people who are homeless move toward independence. If offers stable, quality, affordable housing units and delivers case management that is guided by a Housing First, trauma-informed, and person-centered approach to care.

It has over 200 staff serving 2,500 clients across four counties in the state.

Columbus House is a longstanding partner and receives a grant from Middlesex United Way for case management services for residents living in supportive housing apartments at the Peterson Properties in Middletown.

Case management services include referrals to health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment, and employment and housing services. In addition to the Peterson Properties, Columbus House manages the Middlesex Family Shelter in Middletown, which provides beds and case management for approximately 20 families per year, this includes around 70 people with over half of them youth.

We are looking forward to both of these events this holiday season and hope we can count on your support!

Kevin Wilhelm is president and CEO of Middlesex United Way.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Ethiopias government on Thursday warned the United States against spreading false information as fighting in the countrys yearlong war draws closer to the capital, Addis Ababa, while thousands protested outside the U.S. and British embassies.

Ethiopias war is not only against forces from the countrys Tigray region but also with colonialism of the powerful states of the West, government spokesman Kebede Desisa said.

Some Ethiopians were outraged this week when a U.S. Embassy security message warned its citizens of possible terrorist attacks in the country. The U.S. has also repeatedly told its citizens to leave immediately, warning there will be no Afghanistan-style evacuation if the wars chaos reaches the capital.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who announced this week he was going to the battlefront to direct the army, once cast the conflict as a law enforcement operation against the Tigray leaders who had long dominated the national government before a political falling-out.

Now he calls it an existential war and appeals to fellow Africans for support in a struggle against Western intervention.

I am here to protest against foreign atrocities which have been planned to dismantle the sovereignty of Ethiopia, said one of Thursdays protesters, Worku Taddesse.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict that erupted in November 2020, and close to a half-million people in Tigray face famine conditions under a months-long government blockade. The Tigray forces say they are pressuring Abiys government to lift the blockade but also want the prime minister to step aside.

Ethiopias government earlier this year designated the Tigray forces as a terrorist group, further complicating mediation efforts by the U.S. and African Union for a cease-fire.
Ukraine's president has accused Russia of preparing a coup as early as next week.

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that he has information that Russia is involved in a coup planned for December 1 or December 2, Reuters reported.

He told a press conference, according to Reuters: "We have challenges not only from the Russian Federation and possible escalation  we have big internal challenges. I received information that a coup d'etat will take place in our country on December 1-2."

The warning comes as Russia builds up troops along its border with Ukraine, stoking fears that it could be preparing an invasion.

The U.S. warned allies that Russia may decide to invade Ukraine in the next few months and could deploy around 100,000 troops to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported this week.

Experts also told Insider's Ryan Pickrell that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is a "very real possibility."

Ukraine's defense ministry warned this week that Russia is increasing its "combat readiness" in Ukraine.

The head of Ukraine's defense intelligence agency also told Military Times last week that Russia already has around 100,000 troops on the border.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Five U.S. lawmakers met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday in a surprise one-day visit intended to reaffirm the United States' rock solid support for the self-governing island.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and planned to meet with senior leaders including Tsai, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy. No further details were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.

China was quick to condemn the trip when news first broke Thursday night.

When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office received a blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call off the trip, Representative Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat who is part of the delegation, wrote on Twitter.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian condemned the visit, calling it a violation of the one-China principle" under which Taiwan is considered part of China.

That individual U.S. politicians wantonly challenge the one-China principle and embolden the 'Taiwan independence' forces has aroused the strong indignation of 1.4 billion Chinese people," Zhao said. He added that unification of Taiwan and China is an unstoppable historical trend.

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are also part of the delegation.

We are here in Taiwan this week to remind our partners and allies, after two trying years that weve endured, that our commitment and shared responsibility for a free and secure Indo-Pacific region remain stronger than ever," Takano said.

Takano added that the U.S. relationship with Taiwan is rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened.

Tsai, who welcomed the lawmakers at the Presidential Office in Taipei, noted the two sides cooperation in veterans affairs, economic issues and trade while reiterating the islands close alignment with the U.S.

Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and to ensure peace and stability in the region, Tsai said.

The visit is the third by U.S. lawmakers to Taiwan this year and comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican members of Congress visited the island. That delegation met with President Tsai, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.

The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.

In the Solomon Islands this week, anti-government rioters held protests and looted parts of the capital city in part over complaints about a 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. China has been on a campaign to poach Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies.
How to use the mindat.org media viewer

Click/touch this help panel to close it.

Welcome to the mindat.org media viewer. Here is a quick guide to some of the options available to you. Different controls are available depending on the type of media being shown (photo, video, animation, 3d image)

Controls - all media types

Zoom in and out of media using your mousewheel or with a two-finger 'resize' action on a touch device.

Use the mouse or your finger to drag the image or the view area of the image around the screen.

< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

< and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys.

> in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys.

? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key.

Other keyboard shortcuts:

1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons

Scalebar

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Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key.

Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation)

Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys.

The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images

If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways:

- without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method

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- with anaglyph glasses.

- on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system)

For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

Controls - photo comparison mode

If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
The Nationals signed infielder Adrian Sanchez and right-hander Victor Arano to minor league deals, with Sanchezs deal inked earlier this month. Both moves were reported on the teams official transactions feed at MLB.com.

2022 will mark Sanchezs 15th season in the Nationals organization, as he joined the team as an international signing when he was just 16 years old. This long tenure has included big league action in four of the last five seasons, including 16 games with D.C. this past year. Sanchez has hit .262/.287/.328 over 204 career plate appearances as a big leaguer, and .267/.310/.363 over 4304 PA in the minors.

In re-signing the 31-year-old Sanchez, the Nationals return a familiar face to their depth chart, primarily in the infield. While Sanchez has played a smattering of games as a corner outfielder, the vast majority of his experience has come at second base, third base, and shortstop. Hell get the opportunity to win a job during Spring Training, but probably unless an injury arises, Sanchez will spend the bulk of next season waiting in the wings at Triple-A Rochester.

Arano is a newcomer to Washington but not to the NL East, as the rightys MLB resume consists of 74 2/3 innings out of the Phillies bullpen from 2017-19. Rotator cuff inflammation hampered Arano in 2018 and then an elbow surgery sidelined him for much of 2019, as he hasnt appeared in a big league game since April 18, 2019. Arano was claimed off waivers by the Braves last offseason and he posted a 2.50 ERA over 36 innings for Atlantas Triple-A affiliate but didnt get another call to the Show. The Braves outrighted Arano off their 40-man in June.

Arano doesnt turn 27 until February, and there could be some hidden-gem potential for the Nationals if Arano is healthy. When the right-hander was able to pitch, he was quite effective for the Phillies, posting a 2.65 ERA/3.38 SIERA over his 74 2/3 frames, with above-average strikeout (26.3%) and walk (7.6%) rates. At the cost just an invitation to Spring Training, theres no risk for the Nats to see if Arano is again capable delivering such numbers.
The chairman was coming!

It was a great occasion. Detailed preparations were made for this great visit.

In Mumbai (earlier called Bombay), for example, an intense search was done to identify a car that was worthy of transporting the chairman. Nothing less than a Mercedes S320 would do. There needed to be at least two similar cars, as backup, which were hard to find. Eventually, we settled on a Chevrolet Caprice as a standby car and a Mercedes E200 as an emergency back-up.

The chairman wanted to visit various points of interest in Mumbai. An itinerary was drawn up and revised umpteen times based on inputs from the chairmans wife and secretary, which were obtained through unofficial channels.

A question arose: how would the chairmans car find space to park just outside every point of interest?

An enterprising colleague of mine found the answer! Hire 12 Ambassador cars and park three of them at the desired spot in front of each point of interest at 6am. As soon as the chairmans car arrived, the three Ambassador cars would pull out to make space for the chairmans car.

The chairman was to take a private jet from Singapore to Madras (this was before Madras became Chennai) where he would be received by the India chief executive (CEO) and manager at Madras. The next morning the jet would bring the chairman and India CEO to Mumbai.

The plan was  as soon as the plane took off for Mumbai, the manager in Madras would phone the manager in Mumbai, who would set off for the airport with the cavalcade of cars to receive the chairman and the CEO.

The manager of Madras was an old-school boss. His biggest contribution to the development of our Madras branch had been to change the acronym for the branch from MAD to MDR.

He escorted the chairman and the CEO to Madras airport and put them on the private jet. So far, so good.

Then, disaster struck...

The public phones in Madras airport were down. Madras-based manager frantically searched for a working phone, could not find one and in desperation set off towards the city in search of a phone.

Alas, his car had to stop at a railway crossing! By the time, he could call the Mumbai manager the chairmans plane was halfway there.

Result: The chairmans plane arrived at Mumbai airport before manager-Bombay could reach there.

The chairman and the CEO (India) were made to wait on the footpath outside Mumbai airport for nearly half an hour.

The CEO was fuming. Even the chairman was upset.

When manager Bombay finally arrived at the airport the chairman told him, Jolly poor show, old boy.

I do not know to what degree the career of Mumbai manager was affected by this botch-up, but that of manager at Madras certainly was.

He was demoted.

The Understanding Boss

At the time of the chairmans historic visit, I was the operations manager in a big branch in Mumbai.

During his visit, the chairman was scheduled to check out another big branch in Mumbai and come to my branch next.

I rang up my counterpart in the other branch and asked, What is the chairman looking at in your branch?

Basement, my counterpart replied.

I rushed to the basement, cleared out everything that I could dump elsewhere, and put all the non-removable rubbish into one small storeroom in a corner, which had a door. The basement looked perfectly clean and tidy.

As expected, upon arrival at my branch the chairman wanted to see the basement.

He looked around the whole of the basement, complimented me on its tidiness, and then 

The chairman saw the door of the storeroom.

He asked, Ah, what have we here?

Before anyone could answer the chairman marched to the door of the storeroom, yanked it open, and all the rubbish- brooms, buckets, cleaning stuff et al- came tumbling out and clattered on the floor at the chairmans feet.

I thought I was gone!

The chairman said, Sorry, wrong door.

Welcoming The New Boss

After my stint as operations manager in Mumbai, I was transferred to Calcutta (no, not Kolkata yet).

I flew into Kolkata on a Sunday morning with my wife, two baby daughters and six suitcases. When we reached the arrival lobby at the airport, we were greeted by two smiling young men who said, Good morning, Sir. We are from the bank. Welcome to Calcutta. Please can we have your luggage tags?

One of the greeters guided us to a waiting car, while the other stayed back to retrieve our luggage and follow us in another car.

When we reached the assigned apartment, I found the following items:

- A huge bouquet of flowers with a welcome note signed by my boss.

- A map of the city with my branch, the Tolly Club and other notable points of interest circled in red.

- Lunch invitation that day from the chap from whom I was taking over.

- Dinner invitation from my boss.

- A fridge packed with food, including milk for the baby, enough to last us a whole week.

- Two bottles of Scotch and a case of beer.

Later, the operations manager explained that all this was a part of the standing orders for the admin department, which laid down how an officer of my grade was to be greeted when he arrived on transfer from elsewhere.

My wife hated Calcutta at first for its power cuts, bad roads, crowded markets, dirty streets, and cockroaches (more about this later). After a few months, however, she began to like the city and stopped complaining.

Two years later, when I was transferred back to Mumbai, where she had been born and brought up, she was distinctly unhappy. Calcutta had grown on her!

I was returning to Mumbai at a higher grade, and I had expected a welcome on the scale of the one Calcutta had given me, if not better. But that was not to be.

I reached Mumbai one evening in the middle of pouring rain, weighed down by two sleepy daughters, an irate wife, and a mountain of luggage. Alas, there was nobody- absolutely nobody- at the airport to receive us.

After some minutes of waiting my father-in-law arrived huffing and puffing. It appeared that a car had indeed been sent from the bank to meet me, but it had broken down in the rain. The driver had wisely collected my father-in-laws phone number aforehand and had informed him, resulting in him grabbing a cab and reaching the airport.

I packed my father-in-law and family into a taxi along with whatever luggage could fit into the tiny trunk of the Premier Padmini and its roof rack and sent them off to the assigned flat. A little later I followed in another cab with the rest of the luggage.

On reaching the flat, I found my wife sitting despondently, my daughters wailing and my father-in-law absent. My wife tearfully explained that there was nothing in the flat  no food, no milk, no bedsheets or linen, no towels and not even a bottle of drinking water. My father-in-law had gone in search of some emergency supplies.

We survived the night somehow.

The next morning, I accosted the admin head in a somewhat angry mood. He shrugged and said in Mumbai Hindi, Kitna officer aata jaat hai. Sab ko saara cheez de nahi sakta. Flat to khali tha, na? Bas. (So many Officers come and go. I cant give everything to everyone. The flat was empty, right? Thats it.)

I realised that this was welcome the boss Bombay-ishtyle.
November 26, 2021 The New Virus Variant Has Lots Of Mutations - That Does Not (Yet) Mean It's 'Very Bad' Yesterday the chief of the World Health Organzation warned about a 'false sense of security' around Covid-19 vaccines: In a news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many vaccinated people were wrongly thinking receiving the COVID shot meant they no longer needed to take any other precautions. In many countries and communities, we are concerned about a false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic, and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions, Tedros told reporters.

...

We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and infecting someone else who could die. That means wearing a mask, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds and meeting others outside if you can, or in a well-ventilated space inside. The warning was a shot against the Biden administration which has done away with all non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measures. These will be again needed if the news from South Africa of a new variance of concern turns out to be as bad as it sounds: Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an exponential rise of cases in the last few days, although experts are still trying to determine if the new variant, named B.1.1.529, is actually responsible. From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.

...

It appears to have a high number of mutations  about 30  in the coronavirus spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people. Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations consistent with enhanced transmissibility, but said that the significance of many of the mutations is still not known. A presentation by the Health Ministry of South Africa can be viewed here. The slide show at 5:10 forward is the interesting part.

bigger This (blue) variant seems to out-compete others very fast. Yves Smith has a good but scary thread about the potential dangers this new variant may bring. The details she presents look pretty dire. Then again: Dr. Angela Rasmussen @angie_rasmussen - 14:17 UTC  Nov 25, 2021 Friendly reminder that new variants are just that: new. We cant know if they will be bad or just meh based on sequence alone, nor guess at their provenance. Lots of mutations = very bad. The variants name is B.1.1.529 and the WHO has given it the Greek alphabet letter 'Omicron' i.e. O. The virus type was only found last week and then only in a cluster of younger people in South Africa. But it may well have come from elsewhere. There are several mutations visible within this new variant strain which likely means that it must have evolved some months ago: Prof Francois Balloux @BallouxFrancois - 10:36 UTC  Nov 26, 2021 For that genetic diversity to have accumulated, B.1.1.529 must have been in circulation for at least 2-3 months (i.e. SARS-CoV-2 lineages 'click' at ~2 mutations/month). In recent days more cases with this variant were already found in Malawi, Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong. There are likely many more all around the world. The horse has clearly left the barn and the travel stops, which were today again implemented, will only slow down the spread. We already know that some of the monoclonal antibody therapeutics that can be used against previous variants will not work against this one as some specifically targeted gene regions have changed in it. There is also the possibility that the protection that current vaccines give us will not work as well against the new variant as they do against previous ones. It means that we will again need non-pharmaceutical interventions to slow the spread. As Yves writes: By letting business drive public health policy with its quest for a return to normal, the entire last year was squandered, not just NPIs, but testing, contact tracing, international infection control standards, everything. We said this amounted operational to Let er rip. B.1.1.529 may show us the true cost of that recklessness. And where did the recent rounds of bad variants come from? This is three times  Kent, India, now South Africa  where the Anglo incubation reservoirs that capitalism creates have spilled over into waves of world-wide infection. China would be fully justified in never opening up, with obvious consequences for a return to normal in the supply chain. Consider GMs cheery advice (emphasis his): Consider yourself fully unvaccinated from now on and go back to March 2020 precautions. There are many open question about the new variant of concern: How fast does this variant really spread?

Is it more infectious?

Does it cause a more severe illness?

Is it more deadly?

How well do the vaccines hold up against it? From the current data none of those questions can yet be answered. It will take two to four weeks to find out. Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape - 13:58 UTC  Nov 26, 2021 So as usual: Beware of anyone who is overly confident on anything about this variant right now. There is a lot we need to find out. If you have not be vaccinated yet please get a shot as soon as possible. You may want to (re-)read the last Moon of Alabama thread on that: Why You Should Get Vaccinated But Do Not Need A Third Shot Until we do have more information about this new variant we should probably all follow GM's advice at least as much as we can. ---

Note: I will police the comments in this thread. Any hyping of unproven medications and other not science based speculations will be removed and might get you banned. Posted by b on November 26, 2021 at 18:43 UTC | Permalink Comments next page  next page 
CALAIS, France (AP)  Helicopters buzzed above the waves and vessels were already scouring the cold waters when French maritime rescue volunteer Charles Devos added his boat to the frantic search for a flimsy migrant craft that foundered in the English Channel, killing at least 27.

What Devos found was gruesome. But not, he later sorrowfully acknowledged, wholly unexpected. With migrants often setting off by the hundreds in flotillas of unseaworthy and overloaded vessels into the busy shipping lane crisscrossed by hulking freighters, and frequently beset by treacherous weather, waves and currents, Devos had long feared that tragedy would ensue.

That came this week, with the deadliest migration accident to date on the dangerous stretch of sea that separates France and Britain.

We picked up six floating bodies. We passed by an inflatable craft that was deflated. The little bit of air remaining kept it afloat, Devos told reporters.

Id been somewhat expecting it because Id say, Its going to end with a drama, he said.

France and Britain appealed Thursday for European assistance, promised stepped-up efforts to combat people-smuggling networks and also traded blame and barbs in the wake of Wednesdays deadly sinking that shone a light on the scale and complexity of Europes migration problems.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent French President Emmanuel Macron and the EU leadership a letter Thursday proposing joint sea, air and land patrols starting as soon as next week. France has resisted the idea. Johnson also proposed an agreement allowing Britain to send back migrants to France.

Macron appealed to neighboring European countries to do more to stop illegal migration into France, saying that when migrants reach French shores with hopes of heading on to Britain it is already too late.

Macron said France is deploying army drones as part of stepped-up efforts to patrol its northern coastline and help rescue migrants at sea. But he also said that a greater collective effort is needed, referring to France as a transit country" for Britain-bound migrants.

We need to strengthen cooperation with Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, but also the British and the (European) Commission, he said on a visit to Croatia. We need stronger European cooperation.

Migration is an explosive issue in Europe, where leaders often accuse one another of not doing enough to either prevent migrants from entering their countries or from continuing on to other nations.

Ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain and EU officials will meet on Sunday to discuss increasing efforts to crack down on migrant-smuggling networks, Macron's government announced.

They will convene in Calais, one of the French coastal towns where migrants gather, looking for ways to cross to the British coast that is visible from France on clear days. Seaside communities on both sides of the channel were reeling Thursday from the sinking's horrific toll.

This was unfortunately something that could have been foreseen, a scenario of horror that wed feared and dreaded, said Ludovic Hochart, a police union official in Calais.

Across the channel, in the British port of Dover, small business owner Paula Elliot said: Its dreadful that people have lost their lives."

The vessels that they take, are traveling in, are not fit for purpose, she said. "They probably dont understand how arduous the journey is going to be, and especially at this time of year, its so much colder than in the summer.

Devos, the rescue volunteer, told reporters in comments broadcast by coastal radio Delta FM that the flimsy craft used by migrants for the crossing are increasingly overloaded, with as many as 50 people aboard.

Macron described the dead in Wednesday's sinking as "victims of the worst system, that of smugglers and human traffickers.

France has never had so many officers mobilized against illegal migration and its commitment is total, he said.

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are risking the perilous journey from France, hoping to win asylum or find better opportunities in Britain.

The crossings have tripled this year compared to 2020. Shipwrecks on the scale of that seen Wednesday are not uncommon in the Mediterranean Sea, where just this year about 1,600 people have died or gone missing, according to U.N. estimates.

The French prosecutors office tasked with investigating the sinking said the dead included 17 men, seven women and two boys and one girl thought to be teenagers. Magistrates were investigating potential charges of homicide, unintentional wounding, assisting illegal migration and criminal conspiracy, the prosecutors office said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said children and pregnant women were among the dead. Two survivors from the sinking were treated for hypothermia. One is Iraqi, the other Somali, Darmanin said. He said authorities are working to determine the victims nationalities.

Destabilized by shock and sadness, aid workers and Calais residents held a silent vigil Thursday night in the port city to honor the dead, huddling beneath a cold rain and lighting candles in their memory.

Macron's government vowed to bring those responsible for the tragedy to justice, piling pressure on investigators. Darmanin announced the arrests of five alleged smugglers who he said are suspected of being linked to the sinking. He gave no details. The prosecutors' office investigating the deaths confirmed five arrests since Wednesday but said they didn't appear to be linked to its probe.

Darmanin said a suspected smuggler arrested overnight was driving a vehicle registered in Germany and had bought inflatable boats there.

He said criminal groups in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Britain are behind people-smuggling networks. He called on those countries to cooperate better against smugglers, saying they dont always respond fully to French judicial requests for information.

Britain and France must work together. We must no longer be, in effect, the only ones able to fight the smugglers, the minister said.

In their immediate response to the sinking, French authorities initially gave differing figures on the number of dead, from at least 27 to 31. The figure that Darmanin used Thursday morning on RTL radio was 27.

The minister also took a swipe at British government migration policies, saying France expels more people living in the country without legal permission than the U.K. Illegal migration from France's northern shores to Britain has long been a source of tension between the two countries, even as their police forces work together to try to stop crossings. The issue is often used by politicians on both sides pushing an anti-migration agenda.

Darmanin also suggested that by hiring people living in the country illegally, British employers are encouraging illegal migration to English shores.

English employers use this labor to make the things that the English manufacture and consume," he said. We say reform your labor market.

U.K. officials, meanwhile, criticize France for rejecting their offer of British police and border officers to conduct joint patrols along the channel coast with French police.

Macron advocated an immediate funding boost for the European Unions border agency, Frontex, according to his office.

France will not allow the Channel to become a cemetery, Macron said.

___

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Lori Hinnant in Paris and David Keyton in Dover, England, contributed.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
CARLINVILLE  Blackburn College has inducted its newest honors society members.

Students were recognized for exceptional achievements in three distinct academic areas: Alpha Psi Omega, the National Theatre Society, Lambda Pi Eta,the National Communication Association's Honor Society, and Psi Chi, the International Honor Society for Psychology. Students were also inducted into Alpha Chi, which recognizes academic excellence of all disciplines and requires students to be in the top ten percent of the junior and senior classes.
Add Christmas trees to the list of items facing shortages and higher prices this year.

Several factors are driving the trend, including over-the-top sales last year during the first Christmas during the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues this year.

Experts said tree buyers should expect to pay between 10% and 30% more for both live trees and artificial trees this year and also have a smaller selection to choose from.

"Prices have gone up significantly," John Mohlenhoff, secretary of a fire department that sells trees as a fundraiser. "We've had to compromise on what types of trees we're getting, sizes, everything."

The fire department sold out its trees in 48 hours last year in what is normally a week-long fundraising sale, Mohlenhoff said. This year, prices have been raised about $5, the first time that's been done in a decade. The department has had to pay higher prices to the farm that supplies the trees.

Darts Christmas Tree Farm sold out of mature trees last year for the first time in 50 years, and also sold many that weren't mature yet, leaving the farm with fewer large trees this year, owner Ed Dart said.

Several factors are at work. Farmers struggling after the economic recession in 2009 planted fewer trees for several years, and demand has been rising in the last several years, experts told Newsday. It takes eight to 10 years for a tree to reach maturity.

Shipments of artificial trees have been delayed this year due to supply chain issues including a shortage of truck drivers to make deliveries.

"Some of the major retailers say they have about 43 percent of their inventory right now when it should be closer to 70 percent at this time of the year," said Jami Warner, executive director of the American Christmas Tree Association, which represents Christmas tree retailers.

One retailer said they had to raise prices as much as 25%. The store normally has Christmas merchandise set up in stores by late October but is still waiting for some artificial trees being shipped from China that are supposed to arrive next week.
Weeks after a red wave slammed New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats are still reeling. To quote Democratic strategist Lanae Erickson, If House elections had to be held on the day of the Virginia elections, we would have lost 50 seats.

The writing is on the wall, and that writing is public opinion. In terms of congressional outlook, Republicans are currently polling ahead of Democrats by 10 percentage points  their largest lead since the early 1980s. When it comes to handling crime, Republicans hold a 22-point advantage. On the issue of inflation (more pressing with each passing day), it extends to 24 points.

Border security? Americans trust the Republican Party by a 27-point margin. Yes, people still believe in borders. And, no, they do not support six-figure payouts to illegal immigrants.

Making matters worse for Democrats, the liberal base is not energized by the failures of the Biden administration. Uninspired by press conferences with stock questions and scripted answers, under half of Biden voters expect to vote next year.

Democrats, beware: Nov. 2 was just the beginning. We are in the midst of a second American Revolution, characterized by a massive and mounting disdain for President Biden and his left-wing platform.

Back in June, I warned the Biden administration about the red wave approaching. As I wrote, Our Founding Fathers gave us a republic by which our revolutions are fought at the ballot box. Indeed, it was fought in New Jersey, where the Senate president was taken down by an upstart. It was fought in Virginia, where Republicans won the governorship and two other statewide races, while regaining the majority in the House of Delegates. And Americans are still fighting.

Despite the incessant wailing of the radical left, Americans are seeing what happens when good-faith people rise up to fight for their children, their businesses, and the American way of life.

When small businesses were summarily deemed non-essential and shut down last year, while big-box stores and fast-food chains remained open, Americans were infuriated. When schools were closed and childhood education was put on hold, Americans were enraged. When schools were reopened yet reserved for mask-wearers, despite minimal COVID-related risks, Americans were outraged. When children were forced to confront propaganda like critical race theory and white privilege in the classroom, Americans were frustrated yet again.

This month, Americans told the Democratic Party: Enough.

The more Democrats and their allies promote policies with little to no support, the more that everyday Americans will fight back. If President Biden dares to define parents as domestic terrorists, he and his allies will face their wrath at the ballot box.

People will organize and mobilize on Election Day. As one Democrat in Virginia acknowledged, Voted straight ticket Republican today. First time in my life. The Democrats who kept my kids under house arrest all of last year didnt get a single vote from me. And, in the end, former governor Terry McAuliffe lost a state that President Biden won by double digits just one year earlier. Hispanic voters, some of whom became first-time Republicans because of the Biden administration, went for Glenn Youngkin by an 11-point margin.

Yet Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blame the Virginia loss on centrism, urging her party to become even more left-wing. For lawmakers like her, the 2022 midterms will be another rude awakening.

November 2021 was no fluke. Republicans have every reason to be optimistic about the months to come. They have every reason to be encouraged by the Americans organizing and mobilizing to take back their schools, their districts and the entire country.

In the end, it will not be the Republican Party that wins the 2022 midterms  the second American Revolution. It will be the decent, hard-working fathers and mothers who stood up for their nation.
Second group of Iraqis return after failed Europe gamble View Photo

IRBIL, Iraq (AP)  Defeated but somewhat relieved, a second group of Iraqis on Friday returned home to northern Iraq after a failed quest to reach the European Union, citing maltreatment and abuse suffered at the hands of Belarusian authorities.

Over 570 people returned on two flights that landed in Irbil International Airport after 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. respectively in Iraqs northern Kurdish-run region, according to Lawk Ghafuri, spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government. The first flight carried 170, the other over 400 returnees.

A group of children showed reporters their hands with wounds and infections. A returned migrant lowered his surgical mask to embrace his children who came to meet him at the airport.

Iraqs northern Kurdistan region has been shaken by a migrant crisis resulting from thousands of people from around the Middle East  a disproportionate number of them Iraqis  trying to cross into the EU through a backdoor opened by non-EU member Belarus. Most of the repatriated Iraqis from Belarus have been Iraqi Kurds. Last week, 430 Iraqis returned home.

Some cited the cruelty of Belarusian border authorities  from beatings to threats  and attempts to push them to cross into neighboring EU countries Poland and Lithuania. They had hoped to cross, just not under threats from the Belarusians.

Thousands of migrants remain stranded between borders. Most are fleeing conflict or hopelessness in the Middle East and aim to reach Germany or other western European countries. But Poland has taken a hard line about letting them in, and Belarus didnt want them returning to the capital of Minsk or otherwise settling in the country.

We are very thankful for arriving home, because the humanity and justice that people say about Europe is far from reality. It is not true at all. We have been beaten badly, said Awat Nassir, a returnee at the airport.

Now people are regretting they went there and demand to come back home, because it is 15 degrees below zero in Belarus now, he said, an exaggeration of the current temperature of around minus four degrees, but which may feel colder due to the damp and wind chill factor.

Iraqi Kurds in large numbers have chosen to make the perilous journey by selling their belongings to pay smugglers. They cite rising unemployment, endemic corruption and a recent economic crisis that slashed state salaries in the Kurdish-run region as driving their desire to leave.

Budget shortfalls spurred by a crash in oil prices last year has made life more difficult for Iraqi Kurds. The autonomous region relies on budget transfers from the federal government to pay public wages, but these have been intermittent because of a long-standing dispute over Kurdistans independent oil export policy. As a result, austerity measures were introduced and wages were slashed last year.

Iraqi Kurds have taken to the streets to protest salary cuts and budget shortfalls. Water cannons were used to disperse dozens of student protesters in Sulaymaniyah province this week. They were mostly university students demanding the Kurdistan Regional Government pay their student allowances fallen into arrears.

The West has accused Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko of using the migrants as pawns to destabilize the 27-nation bloc in retaliation for its sanctions on his authoritarian regime. Belarus denies engineering the crisis, which has seen migrants entering the country since summer and then trying to cross into Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

The most difficult thing is when you see children stuck there, said Emad Hussein, another returnee. It is very hard.

By SALAR SALIM

Associated Press
Sonora Police Department Logo View Photo

Sonora, CA  The downtown Sonora Christmas Parade returns on Friday evening, and a big crowd is anticipated to attend.

The Sonora Police Department is encouraging everyone to arrive early. Nearly 70 entries are entered this year. As of early Thursday afternoon, many have already started placing chairs in the downtown area as a way to reserve a seat.

At the conclusion of the event, elves will be collecting letters for Santa outside of the Clarke Broadcasting studios at 342 South Washington Street.

The parade itself starts at 6pm.

The Sonora Police Department has the following reminders related to road closures.

If you are planning on attending the parade, we encourage you to arrive before 5:00 PM. This will allow you time to park and find a spot to enjoy the parade. Once the St closures occur, vehicles will not be allowed into the parade route area, even if you are a participant in the parade.

Several streets will be closed before and during the parade, including parts of Highway 49.

The following streets will be closed at 5:30 PM and will remain closed for the duration of the parade.

 S. Washington St at Highway 108

 N. and S. Washington St

 Stockton Rd

 Snell St at Bonanza St

 Restano Way

School St between Washington St (Highway 49) and Snell St will be closed at 4:00 PM.

Temporary No Parking areas will be established for the following locations from 4:00 PM to the conclusion of the event:

 Washington St from Elkin St to Toby St

 Stockton Rd between Washington St

Temporary No Parking zones will also be established between Washington St and Green St and between Washington St and Stewart St beginning at 4:00 PM:

-Elkin St

 Dodge St

 Jackson St

 Yaney St

 Bradford St

 Theall St

 Linoberg St

 Church St

 June St

 Gold St

 Williams St

 Lytton St

Following the parade, the route will remain closed for approximately 20 minutes to allow spectators to leave the area. Motorists can expect heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic after the parade, resulting in delays.

Through traffic from highway 49 to Hwy 108 should use Shaws Flat/Jamestown Rds to bypass the parade route.

Large trucks will not be able to utilize the downtown Stewart St detour.

Tuolumne County Transit will operate on a special schedule to accommodate parade spectators. For information regarding their Christmas Parade schedule and their special pick-up locations, you may call 209-532-0404 or log into the Tuolumne County Transit website.
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  Ahmaud Arbery's mother woke up Thursday with a new, very important blessing on Thanksgiving Day.

But there will still be an empty chair at the family's celebrations. It is a reminder that while she feels justice was served when the three white men who helped shoot her son were convicted Wednesday for cornering and killing him as he ran through a coastal Georgia neighborhood, she will never be made whole again because her son is gone.

This is the second Thanksgiving weve had without Ahmaud. But at the same time Im thankful. This is the first Thanksgiving we are saying we got justice for Ahmaud, Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday.

The three white men who chased and killed Arbery in Brunswick in February 2020 were all convicted of murder Wednesday. They cornered Arbery after finding out he had been seen on a surveillance camera at a nearby house under construction and wanted to question him about recent burglaries in the area.

Arbery ran through the neighborhood and other areas near his home to clear his head. He had nothing in his hands and ran from the men for five minutes before one of them shot three times at him at close range with a shotgun. The men face life in prison when they are sentenced later and a federal hate crimes trial for them is scheduled for February.

Cooper-Jones said after the verdicts were read Wednesday, she thought of her son's supporters at the Glynn County courthouse every day who shouted Justice for Ahmaud!

I finally got a chance to come out of those courtroom doors and say, we did it, we did it together," Cooper-Jones said.

Sitting beside Cooper-Jones as she heard the judge read out guilty 23 times was the mother of Ronald Greene, a Louisiana man who died in 2019 after he was beaten and put in a chokehold by state troopers after a high speed chase. Troopers said Greene suffered his injuries in a crash, but his doctors reported that didn't appear to be true. A federal civil rights investigation into Greene's death continues.

In the days after her son was killed. Cooper-Jones got a call from the mother of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teen killed by a man who successfully claimed self-defense during his murder trial after confronting Martin as he walked in his gated community. Martin was visiting relatives.

She also spoke with the mother of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police who burst into her home without knocking while serving a warrant during a drug operation. Taylor's boyfriend fired on the group. The officers were not charged in her death.

Other mothers who have lost sons and daughters to racial violence or in police shootings also reached out. Cooper-Jones calls them a sorority.

We come together. We share our experience and we grow together, she said.

Cooper-Jones spent the past six weeks away from home, since jury selection started Oct. 18. She moved away from Brunswick after her son was killed.

So she plans a quiet Thanksgiving away from home today. She isn't sure if they will make Arbery's favorite  pork chops and butter beans, but if not Thursday, the they will have them soon because she said her son loved them for Sunday dinner.

Today is actually going to be a day of rest. Ive been sitting in that courtroom since October 18," Cooper-Jones said. I'm gathering my immediate family. Were going to have a small dinner. Weve going to be thankful. Were going to give our praises to God.

Other relatives are also grateful for the blessing of justice.

Were thankful for Ahmauds life. Thankful for the love that hes shown us, for the years we had him. Thankful for the fight we stayed in for justice. Thankful that now we can start healing, Arbery's aunt Thea Brooks told the AP.

Cooper-Jones is also thankful her son's killers are facing justice and his death will make Georgia a safer place.

After Arbery's death, Georgia became the 47th state to pass a hate crimes law. The Legislature also repealed the citizens arrest law that defense attorneys tried to use to justify chasing him, banning people who aren't officers from detaining people outside of shoplifting.

When they hear my son's name. they will say, this young man, he lost his life but he did bring change, Cooper-Jones said.

___

Jeffrey Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Alex Sanz in Atlanta and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
TOKYO (AP)  Japans Cabinet on Friday approved a 770 billion yen ($6.8 billion) request for an extra defense budget through March to expedite the purchase of missiles, anti-submarine rockets and other weapons amid rising concern over the escalation of military activities by China, Russia and North Korea.

The request, still pending parliamentary approval, brings Japans military spending for the current year to a new high of more than 6.1 trillion yen ($53.2 billion), up 15% from 5.31 trillion yen in 2020.

The Defense Ministry says its defense power reinforcement and acceleration package is designed to speed up deployment of some of the key equipment from the 2022 budget request. The goal is to beef up Japans defenses against North Koreas missile threat and Chinas increasingly assertive maritime activity around remote Japanese southwestern islands, officials said.

Japan has also raised concerns over recent joint military activities by China and Russia near its waters and airspace.

A fleet of two Chinese H-6 fighters and two Russian Tu-95s flew from the Sea of Japan to the East China Sea and to the Pacific Ocean, triggering Japanese Self-Defense Force jets to scramble, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Tuesday.

The budget request includes nearly 100 billion yen ($870 million) for the advanced version of PAC-3 mobile surface-to-air missile interceptors and related equipment, as well as cruise missiles.

Separately, more than 800 billion yen ($7 billion) will go to speed up the purchase of reconnaissance planes and equipment, including three P-1s, equipment for P-3Cs and vertical launch systems to be placed on two destroyers, to step up surveillance around Japan's territorial waters and airspace.

Japan has been stepping up defenses in its southwestern regions and islands, including Ishigaki Island, where a new military base with a land-to-sea missile defense system will be operational. Ishigaki is north of the uninhabited Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

Tokyo regularly protests the Chinese coast guards presence near Senkaku Islands.

The ministry also plans to build housing for ground troops on Ishigaki Island.

The combined budget for 2021 will be just over 1% of Japans GDP, keeping its customary cap. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said he is open to doubling Japans military spending to cope with the worsening security environment.

The defense budget also aims to ease burden on Japanese defense equipment and parts suppliers that are struggling to maintain the countrys dwindling industry, officials said.

The defense budget is part of a nearly 36 trillion yen ($316 billion) draft extra budget approved by the Cabinet Friday to fund an economic stimulus package focusing on COVID-19 preparedness and support for the pandemic-hit households and businesses. Some opposition lawmakers criticized Kishidas government for using the stimulus package to cover military spending.

Critics also say Japan, as the worlds fastest-aging country with a shrinking population, should allocate more money toward health care and other services.

Japans military spending and capabilities have grown continuously since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December 2012, and has since risen by 17%. Abes government allowed Japans military to be more involved in international affairs by adopting a new interpretation in 2015 of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the constitution.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  A former Missouri county commissioner plotted ways to skirt open meeting rules and tried to get a county employee to do work for his political action committee, according to a state audit report released Tuesday.

The Missouri Auditor's Office report follows ethics complaints made against the Invest in Greene County Political Action Committee, which was spearheaded by former Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Cirtin to push a 2017 local sales tax increase. Cirtin was voted out of office in 2018.

The audit was done on the commission, which serves the Springfield area.

Auditor Nicole Galloway found that Greene County taxpayers footed $35,000 in bills related to ethics complaints against the PAC. The state audit determined that Cirtin used his county email to ask county employees to volunteer for the PAC.

Cirtin also asked a county spokeswoman to get a quote on a newspaper ad for the PAC, which she refused to do, according to the audit report.

Bob, Youre using County resources to give me an order as my boss to work on behalf of the PAC," she wrote in an October 2017 email included in the report. Is this not a clear violation of the ethical guidelines set forth by the Ethic Commission?

The communications director was not named in the audit.

Emails obtained by the Auditor's Office show that Cirtin tried to skirt open meeting rules as he was forming the PAC in order to avoid attention from the area newspaper, the Springfield News-Leader.

Friends: If we have a meeting with two or more commissioners present we would have to post it as an open meeting," Cirtin wrote to other county officials in September 2017. "This would NOT be a good idea because we cannot run the risk of media attending. We cant have our sausage making appear in the News Leader.

Cirtin didn't immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.

Galloway's office also found that Greene County taxpayers footed about $35,000 in legal expenses related to Missouri ethics complaints against the PAC.

The county didn't get quotes for legal services or compare multiple law firms and didn't enter into a contract with one of the law firms that helped with the ethics complaints, the audit found.

In a response included in the audit, the current County Commission indicated that the legal services were exempt from bidding rules but pledged to solicit proposals for professional services in the right circumstances." It also said it would enter into written contracts for paid services and update its policy to require documentation of the reasoning behind waiving procurement requirements.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  For decades, the tiny Marshall Islands has been a stalwart American ally. Its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has made it a key strategic outpost for the U.S. military.

But that loyalty is being tested amid a dispute with Washington over the terms of its Compact of Free Association agreement, which expires soon. The U.S. is refusing to engage the Marshallese on claims for environmental and health damage caused by dozens of nuclear tests it carried out in the 1940s and '50s, including a huge thermonuclear blast on Bikini Atoll.

The dispute has some U.S. lawmakers worried that China might be willing to step into the breach, adding to a bruising competition for geopolitical dominance between the two superpowers.

Since World War II, the U.S. has treated the Marshall Islands, along with Micronesia and Palau, much like territories. On the Marshall Islands, the U.S. has developed military, intelligence and aerospace facilities in a region where China is particularly active.

In turn, U.S. money and jobs have benefited the Marshall Islands' economy. And many Marshallese have taken advantage of their ability to live and work in the U.S., moving in the thousands to Arkansas, Hawaii and Oklahoma.

But this month, 10 Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives wrote to President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, about the U.S. compact talks with the Marshalls, Micronesia and Palau.

It is distressing that these negotiations do not appear to be a priority  there have been no formal meetings since this Administration began  even as our international focus continues shifting to the Indo-Pacific, they wrote.

The lawmakers said the delays were putting the U.S. in a weaker position, and China is all too ready to step in and provide the desperately needed infrastructure and climate resiliency investment that is sought by these long-time partners.

China's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. should face up to its responsibility to restore the environmental damage it caused with its nuclear tests. It said China was willing to engage with the Marshall Islands and other Pacific island nations on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation under the One China Principle, in which Taiwan is viewed as part of China.

We welcome efforts to boost economic relations and improve the quality of life between the sides, the ministry said in a statement.

China has steadily poached allies from Taiwan in the Pacific, including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands in 2019. Just this week, angry protesters in the Solomons set fire to buildings and looted stores in unrest that some have linked to the China switch.

James Matayoshi, the mayor of Rongelap Atoll on the Marshall Islands, said he and hundreds of others have remained displaced from their atoll since the nuclear tests and want to see it revitalized. He said officials have been talking with potential investors from Asia, after a previous proposal by a Chinese-Marshallese businessman fell through.

It would be a business transaction. We don't advocate for war or any superpower influence, Matayoshi said. But we want to be able to live in our backyard, and enjoy life here.

Like many others on the Marshall Islands, Matayoshi believes a U.S. settlement of $150 million agreed to in the 1980s fell well short of addressing the nuclear legacy. He said his late mother was pregnant at the time of one massive nuclear blast and got exposed to radiation that was the equivalent of 25,000 X-rays before giving birth to a stillborn baby.

But the U.S. position has remained static for more than 20 years, the last time the compact came up for renegotiation. The U.S. maintains that nuclear compensation was dealt with in a full and final settlement and cannot be reopened.

Marshallese Senator David Paul  who is on the islands negotiating committee and also represents Kwajalein Atoll, which is home to a major U.S. military base  said continuing high cancer rates and the displacement of people remain huge issues.

Everyone knows the negotiations at that time were not fair or equitable, Paul said. When you look at the total cost of property damage and the ongoing health issues to date, its a drop in the bucket. Its an insult.

Various estimates put the true cost of the damage at about $3 billion, including for repairs to a massive nuclear waste facility known as the Cactus Dome which environmentalists say is leaking toxic waste into the ocean.

A report to Congress last year from the U.S. Department of Energy said the dome contains over 100,000 cubic yards (76,000 cubic meters) of radioactively contaminated soil and debris but the structure wasn't in any immediate danger of failing. The report concluded that any contaminated groundwater flowing beneath the structure was not measurably impacting the environment.

As it did in earlier compact negotiations, the U.S. has stonewalled discussions on the nuclear legacy, something that American officials acknowledge.

We know thats important, but there is a full and final settlement, and both sides agreed to it, said a senior U.S. official who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity. So, that issue is just not subject to being reopened. But, were still quite willing to work with the (Marshallese) on the broader issues that are important to us and thats what we hope to do."

The U.S. State Department said the Indo-Pacific is central to U.S. foreign policy.

We are prioritizing achieving success in the negotiations related to the Compacts with the Freely Associated States as a regional foreign policy objective, the department said.

The frustrations of the Marshallese were apparent in a letter sent last month by Foreign Minister Casten Nemra to Rep. Katie Porter, a California Democrat who chairs the House Natural Resources Committees oversight and investigations panel.

The State and Interior Department officials involved have been unwilling to discuss an agenda for the talks and tried to confine the discussion to their own limited proposals, Nemra wrote. The nuclear issue clearly was one reason. All issues raised by the Marshall Islands were met with assertions that they did not have authority to discuss the matters without any indication that they would seek it.

Sen. Paul said the American approach needs to change.

I believe the U.S. has the legal and moral obligation to make sure they clean up this debris, Paul said. We want to make sure we get a better deal this time around. As they say, the third time is a charm.

___

Lee reported from Washington.
Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

More to-go alcohol options are coming to San Antonio thanks to a growing local chain that is opening its fifth location on the city's Northwest side. SipIt Daiquiris To-Go will open its establishment at 7430 NW Loop on Saturday, November 27.

During the coronavirus pandemic, co-owners Bernardo Baxter and Daryl Smith decided to launch the daiquiris to-go business after noticing how popular the activity grew when bars temporarily shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Residents of a rural, Republican-leaning town that the Nevada Legislature split into two Assembly districts filed a lawsuit challenging the state's district maps.

John Koenig and Gregory Hafen II, a Republican who represents Pahrump in the Statehouse, argued that the maps passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak are drawn in a way that denies voters their right to elect representatives of their choice.

The maps split rural Nye County into three state Assembly districts and Pahrump  its largest city  into two. The lawsuit filed in Carson City court said that combining Nye County voters into a district with more urban communities in the Las Vegas area dilutes their voting power and makes it unlikely that they'll be able to choose a representative committed to their interests.

A representative from a distant county, they said in the lawsuit, will have little understanding of Pahrump's and Nye County's unique and local problems and issues and as such will be unable to adequately represent the needs and interests of Pahrump's and Nye County's rural voters.

Neither legislative leaders nor Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske  who is named in the lawsuit  immediately responded to requests for comment on Friday.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Nov. 17 and first reported by the Nevada Independent, is the first to challenge the redistricting maps passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature earlier this month. It calls the maps an intentional extreme partisan gerrymander and asks the court to prevent the Secretary of State from using the new maps in future elections.

The lawsuit reiterates complaints from Republican lawmakers, including that the process was rushed, lacked transparency and allowed for few questions to be answered. It argues that dividing counties violated state laws and diluting the voting power of rural residents runs counter to the one person, one vote" concept in the federal Voting Rights Act.

Democrats drew maps less in line with county borders than prior districts to ensure districts of equal population size and keep tribal areas divided between counties in single districts. Although the maps divide Pahrump, legislative leaders praised efforts to keep cities united in single districts, including Henderson and North Las Vegas.

The lawsuit also cites Nevada's Voters' Bill of Rights, which was passed as Question 4 in last year's election. The ballot question, which Democrats advocated putting before voters, enshrines in the state constitution the right to equal access to the election system.

As political maps are redrawn throughout the country to account for population growth and movement, the decisions have also sparked lawsuits in states including Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Texas.

Hafen, the plaintiff in the Nevada lawsuit, plans to run for reelection in his Assembly District and will be challenged by No Mask Nevada PAC co-founder Melissa Blundo.

___

Metz 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 undercovered issues.
Yves here. The 2020 Democratic party triumpalism was overdone given what happened in the 2020 census and the Democrats peculiar failure to enact the For the People Act. Heres an overview of the coming gerrymandering, per The Nation:

Republicans are in full control of states that will be adding seats based on patterns of population growth confirmed by the Census data, such as Texas and Florida. They also control several large states, such as Georgia, where seats will not be added but where a redrawing of lines could be used to tip existing seats to the GOP candidates. In contrast, a number of states where Democrats are in charge, such as New York and Illinois, will lose congressional seats. So, too, will heavily Democratic California, where lines are drawn by a nonpartisan commission.

Mind you, its not as if the Democrats are very good on climate change. But they at least feel compelled to make gestures, which is more than the Republicans do.

By Sarah Wesseler, an Ohio-based writer focusing on cities, culture, and climate change. Originally published at Yale Climate Connections

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, a staunch Trump supporter who recently called the Biden administrations attempts to limit fossil fuel emissions maybe the craziest thing Ive ever heard, represents an Ohio district whose bizarre shape has earned it the nickname the duck. Just north of the ducks bill lies the district of Democrat Marcy Kaptur, a long, slender stretch of land along Lake Erie: the snake on the lake, as its often referred to.

Both districts appear frequently in lists of the nations most egregious examples of gerrymandering, a practice Ohioans voted to rein in in 2018. But the reforms put in place for the 2021 redistricting process havent worked quite as planned. Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, on November 20 signed into law a new congressional map that confers significant advantage to his party, according to the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which gave the map a grade of F. Groups like the League of Women Voters of Ohio and National Redistricting Action Fund have filed lawsuits claiming that the redistricting commission violated the state Constitution.

Another organization suing the redistricting commission is the Ohio Environmental Council, a Columbus-based advocacy group. According to staff attorney Chris Tavenor, recent history has shown that the new maps will play a key role in shaping climate action in the state.

Over the past 10 years weve had a supermajority legislature in Ohio pass bill after bill that short-circuits Ohios ability to fight climate change, he said. These veto-proof Republican majorities are a direct result of harmful redistricting that has given the party a 64-35 majority in the Ohio House and a 25-8 majority in the Senate, although it averaged only 54% of votes in state elections over the past decade.

Redistricting vs. gerrymandering

Variations of this story are playing out across the U.S. this year as political maps are redrawn.

Redistricting happens every 10 years, following the decennial census, said Adam Podowitz-Thomas, senior legal strategist at the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. The goal is straightforward: As populations rise and fall over time in different parts of the country, political boundaries need to shift as well to ensure roughly equal representation per number of residents. But too often, the process devolves into a partisan power grab, with Democrats and Republicans both engaging in gerrymandering.

The term gerrymandering dates from 1812, when then-Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill approving wildly distorted maps drawn to benefit his party. One of the new districts was said to resemble a salamander  or, as one contemporary wit described it, a Gerry-mander.

The practice reverberates throughout American political life. What we know based on political science research is that gerrymandering distorts the voices that are heard most loudly by representatives. The drawing of lines can result in communities that have a coherent view on some particular issue not being able to go to a single legislator and have that voice heard, said Podowitz-Thomas. It also, I think, results in distortions in the partisanship and polarization of those that are elected.

An Anti-Renewables Agenda in Ohio

In Ohio, gerrymandering has enabled Republican legislators to ignore strong public support for clean energy.* In 2014, state officials passed a law mandating setbacks for wind farms that critics said would make new development cost-prohibitive. Five years later, the state passed House Bill 6: the worst energy bill of the 21st century, David Roberts wrote in a 2019 piece for Vox. The bill propped up aging coal plants while decimating the states renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, ultimately leading to a Justice Department investigation into bribery and corruption.

More recently, Ohio Senate Bill 52 created a new layer of challenges for renewable energy projects by empowering county officials to determine the fate of proposed solar and wind farms, including banning them altogether. Fossil fuel developments face no such restrictions in the state.

As has occurred in many parts of the country, the Ohio legislature has also sought to limit the environmental ambitions of the states cities, whose voters and elected officials are reliably more liberal than those in surrounding regions. One bill prohibited municipalities from banning natural gas, even though no such ban had been enacted in the state; another banned taxes on plastic bags.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, a Democrat, believes that Senate Bill 52 falls into the punish-the-cities category. Right now, Cincinnati is building the largest solar farm in America ever built by a city, he said, with the aim of making municipal operations carbon-neutral. It was in reaction to us doing that that [the Ohio Senate] passed a law that now says that if local governments like Cleveland or Columbus or Toledo wanted to follow suit and do something similar to us, they are now subject to a new law that allows small counties to tell farmers what they can and cant do with their land. Because the best land for wind and solar development tends to be in conservative rural areas, state senators reasoned local officials would be sympathetic to their agenda, Cranley said.

Messing with Texas

Similar scenarios are playing out elsewhere in the nation. In Texas, for instance, a majority of residents strongly support bold climate action,* but elected officials stand in its way. This past [state] legislature, there wasnt a single hearing on a climate change bill  well, on a bill to improve action on climate change, said Luke Metzger, the executive director of advocacy group Environment Texas. There were some hearings on bills to take away the rights of cities to tackle climate change, but no bills to proactively try and solve the problem.

Metzger says he believes that allowing politicians to draw districts that virtually guarantee their own victory makes them less sensitive to constituent concerns and more susceptible to persuasion by powerful business interests  e.g., the oil and gas industry. Living in liberal Austin, he rarely takes the time to contact his representative, Roger Williams, a conservative Republican serving the sprawling, gerrymandered 25thCongressional District. Williams doesnt need or expect his vote and has little incentive to take his concerns seriously. But corporations and trade groups devote extensive resources to winning politicians support on issues like energy policy.

The big fossil fuel companies spend millions of dollars in campaign contributions and lobbying efforts and PR campaigns, and that ultimately will influence politicians quite significantly, Metzger said.

Rethinking Redistricting

While Ohios redistricting reforms have floundered, others have had more success. According to Podowitz-Thomas of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, states like California and Michigan have shown that they can increase fairness and transparency by actively engaging the public in well-designed citizen-led redistricting processes.

This year, he and his colleagues are watching Colorado closely as it transitions to a new redistricting process intended to eliminate partisan influence and maximize citizen participation.

According to Marco Dorado, the Colorado state director of anti-gerrymandering group All On The Line, the effort has been functioning essentially as intended. One example: The states two 2021 redistricting commissions  groups comprising average citizens (four registered Democrats, four registered Republicans, and four independents) rather than politicians, with all members selected through a rigorous, randomized process  opted to exceed the requirements for the number of public meetings held throughout the state.

Redistricting Often Most Hurts Those Most Hurting

Dorado said that redistricting reforms like these are vital for making progress on climate issues. Ensuring that voters are able to choose who their elected representatives are and not having it be the other way around  having elected officials choose who their voters are  is a really critical component in ensuring that were able to address whatever challenges were going to face in the next decade, climate change being one, he said.

When it comes to environmental issues like climate change, Podowitz-Thomas emphasized that the stakes for redistricting are particularly high for the people who face the most risk.

Across the nation, environmental justice communities are often split apart during redistricting, diminishing their ability to seek help from elected officials, he said. Theyre such a small percentage of any legislators district that its very easy for a legislator to wave them off and say, Well, I dont really care about this. You dont really elect me anyway, so Im just going to ignore your issues.

Podowitz-Thomas believes that unless the U.S. Senate modifies or eliminates the filibuster, state-level efforts like Colorados represent the best hope for allowing communities to make their voices heard on climate change and other pressing issues. And although some states lag behind others on redistricting reform, hes optimistic about the future.

I dont want people to feel hopeless about this. There has been a lot of energy, a lot of focus from your average citizen that just wasnt the case ten years ago, he said. I think folks showing up and speaking out does make a difference. It does put pressure on the folks that are drawing the lines to draw fairer districts.

Tom Toro is a cartoonist and writer who has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010.
Not only is there a lot not to like about the new variant sighted in a cluster of cases in Gaunteng, South Africa, there is also not a lot to like about the handling of information about it. We held off from posting on this sobering development on Wednesday because we didnt want to ruin your Thanksgiving.

One the one hand, the press in the form of a Guardian story was onto the sequencing of this variant a mere 36 hours after it was posted on GitHub and under discussion there. This evening, the media is giving it considerable coverage, apparently as the result of a press conference in South Africa on Thursday that admitted this variant, B.1.1.529, was widely spread in South Africa after its initial sighting in Gauteng.

One would like to see this speedy press reaction as refreshing departure from its prior tendency to not take notice of new variants, even ones ugly-looking enough to merit concern right out of the box. But as youll see, it appear more likely to be the result of serious concern at high levels, particularly now that the WHO is convening experts on Friday to determine if this new variant should be designated a variant of concern.

On the other hand, as well soon see, even though the Guardian story and now other reports (fori instance, in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the BBC) took an alarmed tone, they are underplaying the downside. The account whose level of concern is closest to appropriately registering how bad this variant, quickly designated B.1.1.529 is is the BBC.

Even worse, the discussion among experts at GitHub was scrubbed and shut down (I know because I opened up the GitHub page apparently right before it was censored and so can see how it differs from the sanitized version). I am told this is not normal behavior at GitHub. One of the comments that was removed gave concrete reasons why B.1.1.529, just named Nu, looks like a train wreck.1 Is this deleted comment, which we have reproduced in our footnote, the sort of discussion among scientists that the officialdom is trying to hide?

This variant has the potential to be DEFCON Level-1 bad. It is so different from current variants that calling it a variant is a misnomer; it is more likely to be another strain and could even be SARS-Cov-3. Unlike the press, the experts on GitHub were discussing the implications in the summary statement, which remains unchanged:

As I asked GM:

I assume if it probably escapes monoclonal antibodies, it probably escapes vaccines too.

His response:

We dont have direct studies on this variant, but based on the sequence, this is completely resistant to all monoclonals, and there is little doubt about it. So this is a kiss-the-vaccine-goodbye strain, that is correct.

My next question:

And am I correct in further assuming that its pretty fast emergence suggests it is competing effectively with and potentially out competing current variants?

This we do not know yet, but there is a worse possibility  that there will be no competition. This is just so antigenically distinct, that it may just as well circulate as its own separate strain that does not compete directly with Delta because there is no cross-neutralization and thus people infected with one are very soon after susceptible to infection from the other (just as COVID does not protect you from infection with OC43/229E/NL-63/229E and vice versa).

And Twitter is showing analyses and concerns similar to those censored on GitHub and articulated by GM:

Here's how mutations in #SARSCoV2 Nu variant (B.1.1.529) will affect polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies targeting RBD. These assessments based on deep-mutational scanning experiments; underlying data can be explored interactively at https://t.co/uP3IKvnDw0 (1/n)  Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) November 25, 2021

If nothing else, Mr. Market has gotten wind of the this sudden variant emergence and is not taking well to it. Dow futures are down 400 points overnight and S&P futures are down 1.7%. That is actually tame in light of what is known now. The UK has already halted some flights from South Africa. But the US has nonstops to Atlanta and NYC from Johannesburg, and they have not been suspended yet, and likely wont be until the early next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. If so, this would be another testament to CDC incompetence. Why arent there provisions for emergency action when days can and do matter?

And underplaying the risk is wrong-headed at the stage when containment is still possible. Recall Nassim Nicholas Talebs warning in late January 2020, which was not heeded: that the downside of Covid-19 was that it could be a pandemic, and the risk was that of ruin. We may be at a January 2020 decision point again and will blow a second chance to do the right thing. That ought to be inexcusable, since by now we should know better.2

And if we collectively had any sense, we might have been able to prevent this. The immunocompromised make for great breeding grounds for new variants. The press did point out what the experts had been discussing, that this variant resulted from a protracted infection in an immunocompromised, likely HIV positive, individual (recall that HIV is widespread in South Africa). For instance, per the BBC: This level of mutation has most likely come from a single patient who was unable to beat the virus.

The Kent variant came from an area in the UKs south, with high levels of poverty and drug abuse, and a large population of the immunocompromised.3South Africa has high levels of HIV and is thus an obvious hot spot for variant generation. Why didnt the WHO trumpet the importance of sending vaccines to developing economies, targeting above all their HIV positive populations? Instead, all they did was bleat when the first world started launching boosters, that they should stop until 10% of the population of emerging economies were vaccinated. 10%? With no recommendation of prioritizing populations that could incubate variants That was tokenism, not a serious proposal.

But we may already be past that point:

Statement from Israel's health ministry reporting 1 confirmed case of new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 [unofficial translation] pic.twitter.com/RTm3QovHm0  BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk) November 26, 2021

The fact that the case came from Malawi means it has spread beyond the nations that have implemented travel bans. And note that the Israel cases were all in vaccinated individuals. Given that 4 million Israelis had gotten boosters as of early November, the odds are decent that at least some of these three were boosted too.

This variant was named quickly, as indicated, B.1.1.529, and now Nu. Before it had any label, GM had written quite a few e-mails about it. Cobbling them together:

This may well be the dreaded SARS-CoV-3  but even if it is at all competing directly with Delta, rather than being its own brand new strain, it will have a gigantic advantage on immune escape in highly vaxxed populations. This is a new variant from South Africa, with the following very large number of spike mutations: A67V, 69-70, T95I, G142D/143-145, 211/L212I, ins214EPE, G339D, S371L, S373P, S375F, K417N, N440K, G446S, S477N, T478K, E484A, Q493K, G496S, Q498R, N501Y, Y505H, T547K, D614G, H655Y, N679K, P681H, N764K, D796Y, N856K, Q954H, N969K, L981F This is as BAD. And it has FCS mutations too.4 Because a fourth wave is starting in SA, specifically in Gauteng. And it started very rapidly and suddenly, i.e. it shows exactly the signs of something driven by a new variant. They have only posted 7 sequences from Gauteng in the last couple weeks, and all 7 of those are this variant. So 7 sequences is very little sampling, but it is all consistent with this variant driving it, and those were not actually sampled from the same cluster, so it is spread quite widely there (which is also evident from the fact it was first reported from Botswana and was also caught in Hong Kong).

Gaunteng posted more sequencing Thursday morning, with another 44 sequences of this variant. So it does appear to be driving this outbreak, as opposed to a coincidence. And now the total is up to 77.

The press accounts have ritual No reason to panic yet statements like this one at the BBC:

There have been many examples of variants that have seemed scary on paper, but came to nothing. The Beta variant was at the top of peoples concerns at the beginning of the year because it was the best at escaping the immune system. But in the end it was the faster-spreading Delta that took over the world.

But this story to its credit does provide evidence that B.1.1.529 is spreading:

There have been 77 fully confirmed cases in Gauteng province in South Africa, four cases in Botswana and one in Hong Kong (which is directly linked to travel from South Africa).

However, there are clues the variant has spread even more widely. This variant seems to give quirky results (known as an S-gene dropout) in the standard tests and that can be used to track the variant without doing a full genetic analysis. That suggests 90% of cases in Gauteng may already be this variant and it may already be present in most provinces in South Africa.

The BBC is behind, there was a second case found in Hong Kong, and embarrassingly a transmission in a quarantine hotel due to the initial B.1.1.529 case wearing a mask with a respirator valve. But the next paragraph tries to dial down the worry level:

But this does not tell us whether it spreads faster than Delta, is any more severe or to what extent it can evade the immune protection that comes from vaccination.

Infection severity is indeed not known, but there is already troubling evidence of its transmissibility. Again from GM on Wednesday AM:

https://unsupervised.online/static/covid-19/estimating_r_za.html#516_Reproduction_Number The R_t for Gauteng is 2.2 right now, which is huge

R_t is the current effective reproduction number. It represents the lower bound for R0. Recall that the RO for the Spanish flu has been estimated at 1.8. The R_t reflects the impact of any and all current interventions, including vaccination (South Africa is 24% fully vaccinated) and a high level of prior infection (seropositivity after the second wave was 60%, and South Africa has had a third). GM added:

We only really saw R_t of 3-4 in February and March 2020. The current massive surges in Europe exhibit R_t of 1.3 or so. Its an exponential, not a linear process It is also notable it is around 1 or slightly above 1 in the other provinces. That gigantic difference screams that something different is happening in Gauteng. Usual caveats apply  need more time to see how things play out, this could be a flash-in-the-pan aberrant event, etc. But on the other hand the precautionary principle mandates that this is taken very seriously.

GMs concern has been validated and then some. Look at how quickly B.1.1.529 has moved towards becoming dominant:

Five quick tweets on the new variant B.1.1.529 Caveat first: data here is *very* preliminary, so everything could change. Nonetheless, better safe than sorry. 1) Based on the data we have, this variant is out-competing others *far* faster than Beta and even Delta did  pic.twitter.com/R2Ac4e4N6s  John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) November 25, 2021

And the S-gene dropout validates his concern about vaccine escape:

So the proportion of PCR tests that shows that signature is rising vertically. Which means that the variant is taking over all throughout South Africa very rapidly.

It also makes B.1.1.529 easy to track without sequencing:

Other experts are quickly coming to grim conclusions:

 [33-43%] 95% CLs. With a generation time of 4.7 days of the virus that would imply a 6 fold higher R value than Delta, if that would even be possible. To be confirmed, but not looking good pic.twitter.com/VG839R2z04  Tom Wenseleers (@TWenseleers) November 26, 2021

2) the viral load of these two with #B11529 in Hong Kong hotels were VERY high. PCR Ct values of 18 and 19!!! Thats insanely high considering they were negative on recent PCR tests. Damn, looks like vaccine evasion could be real with this variant. https://t.co/s4UQS2wi8S  Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 25, 2021

The data comes in the first tweet came from from Tulio de Oliveiras press conference in South Africa Thursday morning, where he confirmed that B.1.1.529 is spreading rapidly through South Africa:

And we are collectively about to pay for the eagerness of the officialdom to declare the pandemic over at every possible turn and put all their chips on a non-sterilizing vaccine, which is very useful at preventing worst outcomes of the current variants, but does little to prevent transmission of Delta due to its very high replication rate. Yet the authorities have been bludgeoning the public to get vaccinated, not to protect themselves and keep the medical system from breaking down, but as a confidence-builder, based on the inaccurate claim that the vaccines stop spread.

In the US, Biden administration systematically failed to support or actively denigrated all non-pharmaceutical interventions. It actively encouraged the vaccinated to abandon masks (positioning non-masking as proof of virtue). The CDC and WHO have been silent on ventilation and have actively opposing the aerosol theory of transmission. Even social distancing has been discouraged with Fauci recommending that the vaccinated carry on as if it were the old normal over Thanksgiving.

Now, when we need non-pharmaceutical interventions to hold the line until some sort of vaccine/treatment rescue arrives, they have all been systematically undermined and rendered dysfunctional by Bidens vax only policy (a view embraced by the Democrat base and indeed taken as a marker of tribal affiliation).

By letting business drive public health policy with its quest for a return to normal, the entire last year was squandered, not just NPIs, but testing, contact tracing, international infection control standards, everything. We said this amounted operational to Let er rip. B.1.1.529 may show us the true cost of that recklessness.

And where did the recent rounds of bad variants come from? This is three times  Kent, India, now South Africa  where the Anglo incubation reservoirs that capitalism creates have spilled over into waves of world-wide infection. China would be fully justified in never opening up, with obvious consequences for a return to normal in the supply chain.

Consider GMs cheery advice (emphasis his):

Consider yourself fully unvaccinated from now on and go back to March 2020 precautions.

What happens when the great unwashed public works out that that is where they are, that their vaccine-conferred immunity is kaput even sooner than they expected, and regular boosting with the current vaccines may protect them against Delta, but not against B.1.1.529? What is going to be their appetite for taking two Covid vaccines and then their frequently boosters, even assuming that that a new mRNA vaccine can be developed rapidly? Remember that we already have riots in Europe right now the vaccine passports and lockdowns. What happens when you tell the vaccinated that they are no longer vaccinated at all? GM again:

Even the more formally educated true believers who have decided that it is all over because they got vaccinated dont really understand anything about Class I/II/III neutralizing antibodies, NTD and RBD, what the Q493K+Q498R combination means, etc. stuff that is hidden in obscure papers that were never given the publicity of the T cells give you lifetime protection headlines. Compliance will not be be there for more serious lockdowns, you cant unring that bell

Remember, as things appear now, B.1.1.529 is so different that it might not displace Delta but co-exist with it, meaning we may now have two pandemics underway.

And for the new one, minimal vaccine testing, for antibody response and then a new round of Emergency Use Authorizations, and then distribution, will easily take six months and longer is more likely. So the prospect of lockdowns is not crazy talk.

Now the one possible silver lining to this cloud may be that B.1.1.529 winds up being less lethal and/or generates less morbidity than recent variants. But we cant pin our hopes on a lucky break.

_____

1 Now you tell me, what is the basis for removing a comment like the one below? This comment is response to another remark, We dont know anything yet.

We actually do  we have neutralization measurements for another RBD sequence with that many mutations, and it was completely resistant to all monoclonals. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.26.21261142v1 WNY4 there had the following: K417T

N439K

K444N

Y449R

L452R

N460K

S477N

del484

F486V

S494T

G496V

Q498Y

N501T

G504D

Y505H

H519Q And that it should be so evasive is obvious just from the sequence anyway  we have multiple, often charge altering mutations in each of the key epitopes. It does not have P681R, but why do we think P681R is the key to the universe? It was seen in many variants other than Delta, and those went nowhere, so clearly there is a context dependence. Who is to say N679K+P681H in this context is not sufficiently fit? R203M

And this has both R203K and G204R, right in the same spot. But most importantly, with very high certainty, this shows essentially zero cross-neutralization with Delta. There was a measurement of the cross-neutralization of Beta with Delta serum, and the reduction was 34x (Delta on Beta was 12x). Which is huge. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.09.14.21263564v1 But Beta has 3 RBD mutations and Delta has 2, 5 differences in total. This thing has 15, one of them common with Delta. What do you think the cross-neutralization is? Is it even going to be competing with Delta other than through viral interference as opposed to just circulating as its own separate thing? And it does not have to be competitive on raw transmissibility  if vaccination reduces Delta transmission by 50-70%, but there is a variant against which it only has a 5-10% effect, that variant should outcompete Delta in highly vaxxed and recently swept through areas, even if it is somewhat less transmissible (as long as it is not drastically less transmissible). We had it bad enough in 2020  lots of areas that already let it rip back then were infected at 70%+ levels.

2 But we have already blown the notion of a cordon, both via our priorities and our prior handling of South Africa. From GM again:

But in South Africa they are very pissed about the fact that after the appearance of B.1.351, much of the rest of the world tried to cordon them off so that it does not get exported (together with all the other nasty variants they have brewed). Ive seen a lot of tweets from scientists from there complaining about the unfair treatment. And it really was unfair in a certain sense  Delta was freely exported from India for many weeks, while travel from South Africa was banned by many countries. The problem is that right now, if you forget about the politics and the fairness of it, what has to be done is what was not done with China  ban all travel from all African countries in that region (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swazilend as a bare minimum) and try to find, isolate and test everyone who has any connection to those countries anywhere else in the world. So that you at leas give yourself a chance to stop it before it takes hold everywhere. And, of course, a complete lockdown right now in those countries with elimination in mind. And all of the Pfizer pill supply goes there to clear the chronic infections. Needless to say, none of that is going to happen, and South African authorities will probably make sure it becomes pointless anyway by minimizing the problem for sufficiently long that it is already exported everywhere. Which other governments will cooperate with, consciously or not, by also minimizing it, so that panic is not created.

And as this post shows, they are already trying to minimize it, when with a dangerous pathogen, the right reaction is to overreact first and dial it back later if better data says thats not reckless.

3 Note it isnt 100% certain that Kent did originate in Kent. The earliest sequences in the database date to New York, but there is some confusion on the reliability of those dates.

4 More detail for the technically-minded:

What is the significance of the FCS mutations?

So the key to Deltas extreme transmissibility is the P681R mutation.

The original FCS was PRRAR, P being position 681. R stands for arginine, and arginine is a positively charged, basic aminoacid. So you have a string of Rs in there, and thats how you form the FCS.

In Delta you change the PRRAR into a RRRAR, so it became even more basic, and that drove even more efficient S1/S2 cleavage (it went from 50% to 90%), which means more efficient infection of cells, and greatly increased cell-cell fusion. And this is one reason why it is so supertransmissible (one reason, the other is that it also seems to be much more efficient at packaging viral particles because of mutations in the N protein; which this variant also has, BTW).

However, other variants also had P681R (e.g. A.23.1 from Uganda/Rwanda) but those eventually disappeared. So clearly there is some context-dependence here.

But other successful (though not as successful as Delta) variants had P681H (Alpha/B.1.1.7 had that, and so does B.1.621/Mu). H stands for histidine, which is also a basic amino acid, but not as basic as arginine. So the thinking has been that P681H is just a poor mans P681R.

More recent studies suggest that it might be a lot more complicated than this, and in fact P681H also enhances fitness through additional mechanisms (though Alpha and Mu are also much better at driving cell fusion than the ancestral variants, just not as good as Delta).

Anyway, in this variant we have N679K+P681H. So we have the P681H but we also have another positive charge replacing a negative charge very close by (the basic lysine K replacing an uncharged asparagine N), so together it might be better than P681H alone. Whether it is competitive with Delta, we dont know, but it does not need to be
As lenders increasingly nudge their customers toward online services, the frequency and scale of bank outages raises serious questions about the resilience and reliability of those services.

On Oct.1, I reported on NC that banks around the world are suffering big outages, leaving millions of customers in the lurch. In the less than two months that have passed since then just about every high street lender in the UK has suffered an outage to their online banking platform and/or mobile app; Ecuadors biggest bank has been targeted by hackers, resulting in a four-day suspension of its online services; Mexicos largest lender has suffered its third nationwide outage of 2021, and the online banking platform of Pakistans third largest lender has been taken down by a cyber attack.

This week was the turn of one of Asias largest lenders, Singapore-based DBS, which suffered its worst system outage in 11 years. This is a bank that has won multiple best bank awards, from publications such as Euromoney, The Banker, and Global Finance, and is considered a pioneer in embedding digitization across the full range of banking processes and services.

DBS began suffering disruptions to its website and mobile app services on Tuesday morning. As reports came flooding in from customers that they were unable to access the banks mobile app or online platform, the bank released the following message on social media:

Some of our customers are facing intermittent slowness when accessing our banking services, and we are currently working to resolve this. We apologise for the inconvenience caused during this time, and please try again later.

Scant Reassurance

Some customers understandably took umbrage with the statement, as there was clearly nothing intermittent or slow about the disruption; the system for many customers just wasnt working.

Slowness implies there is some speed no matter how low, wrote Facebook user Zhaohan Chua. It is simply not working. Is DBS into gaslighting their customers now?

The service outage continued through the day of Tuesday and well into the night. At 2 a.m. Wednesday morning (local time) the bank announced that all digital services had been restored, only to receive a fresh torrent of complaints from customers on social media who were still unable to access their online account or mobile app. This prompted the bank to admit that the digital banking issue ha[d] recurred.

An outage of length of time is extremely disruptive given the growing number of users who depend on digital banking transactions and other services. The lender has been at pains to stress that the outage was not the result of a cyber-attack and that customer accounts and data have not been compromised. On Wednesday afternoon, the banks country manager, Shee Tse Koon, issued a statement blaming the issue on a problem with access control servers, which are used to authenticate usernames, passwords and other identifiers such as biometrics and one-time passwords (OTPs).

We identified a problem with our access control servers and this is why many of you have been unable to log in. We have since been working round the clock, together with our third-party engineering providers, to fix the problem and recover our digital banking services. In the meantime, please be assured that your deposits and monies are safe and that you can continue with your banking needs either through our branches or through phone banking.

The last sentence may not have been overly reassuring given that DBS, like most large lenders in advanced economies, has spent the past decade closing down many of its branches, even in highly populous areas and key business districts.

The banks IT issues appear to have persisted into Thursday. Although customers said they could log in to its digibank online platforms on Thursday morning, many still could not make transactions or view past ones; reported The Strait Times. By Friday the issues appear to have been resolved.

Supervisory Action

It was the banks worst outage since 2010, when an internal failure knocked DBS Banks back-end computer systems offline, leaving customers unable to withdraw cash from ATM machines for seven hours. On Wednesday evening Singapores central bank and financial regulatory authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said it would consider taking supervisory action.

This is a serious disruption and MAS expects DBS to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the root causes and implement the necessary remedial measures, said Mr Marcus Lim, MAS assistant managing director of banking and insurance. MAS will consider appropriate supervisory actions following the investigation. MAS expects all financial institutions to have systems and processes to ensure the consistent availability of financial services to their customers.

The central banks regulations stipulate that the total unscheduled downtime for critical systems affecting services for customers should not exceed four hours within any 12-month period. DBS has exceeded that limit with abandon. That said, the punishment is unlikely to be too harsh given that DBSs controlling shareholder, with 29% of the banks shares, is Temasek Holdings, the countrys second-largest sovereign wealth fund. In other words, the Government of Singapore, which indirectly controls MAS, is also DBSs most important shareholder.

Blushes All Round

But the outage is nonetheless a serious embarrassment for a bank that prides itself on its digital smarts as well as for the city of Singapore, which has topped the global Smart City Index for the past three consecutive years.

Embracing the digital world is a strategic imperative for DBS, wrote the banks Head of Global Transaction Services, John Laurens, in 2015. We have invested in hardware  in addition to the SGD 600 million we spend every year, we will invest a further SGD 200 million over the next two years  to ensure DBS offers our customers the very latest in digital solutions. But, more importantly, we have also invested in our people. For example, over 400 of our staff have been involved in hackathons that expose them to the digital world and give a first-hand experience of what can be achieved with new forms of rapid product development.

Five years later, DBS Chief Financial Officer Chng Sok Hui, explained in a gushing interview with everyones favourite management consultancy firm, Mckinsey & Company, how DBS had essentially morphed from being a traditional bank to becoming a technology company:

I think we needed to learn how it is that we can become digital to the core, but I think that we also need to learn how to change in terms of our own mindsets and in terms of the organization culture. And we remind ourselves that its not only the executives at the top, that its not just the IT folks, that its not just the business folks, its everyone.

So, we started with a lot of change agenda items. I remember we had human-centered design thinking. In fact, almost everyone had to go through a process of coming up with an app. The other thing we did very well I thought was customer-journey thinking, and thinking about the customer.

So not so much an inward process, but how the customer would actually experience the app that we wanted to put out. So today when I look back I actually see an awesome culture change that has actually happened.

That app stopped working for many of DBS customers this week. The disruption certainly had a broad and likely material impact for many customers, and we would expect to see at least a notice from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or a fine, Business Times reported, quoting analysts.

Roy Kee, managing director of cleaning products manufacturer JRW International: As a new convert to e-banking, this will shake my confidence a bit. The bank could have also communicated with clients better by sending us SMS messages about the disruption.

Global Trend?

DBS is not the only large Asian lender to have suffered outages in its digital banking services this year. Mizuho, one of Japans three mega-lenders, has had so many IT system glitches  eight so far this year  that they could end up triggering the resignation of the banks CEO Tatsufumi Sakai. Nikkei, Kyodo and NHK all reported that the CEO is likely to step down, without naming their sources.

Pakistans third largest lender, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), suffered a cyber attack in early November, which brought down its IT system over an entire weekend.

Beyond Asia, banks in many other parts of the world have suffered from widespread outages and cyber attacks in recent months. Heres a quick rundown:

In the last five weeks, just about all of the UKs large commercial lenders have suffered an IT outage of one form or another. Santanders app and online services went down for a number of hours on Nov 22. A week earlier, the mobile apps and internet banking services of three large banks, Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, which all belong to the Lloyds Banking Group, went down, leaving thousands of customers in the lurch. Two weeks earlier, another high street behemoth, Barclays, suffered a nationwide outage. A week before that, it was the turn of HSBC and NatWest.

In Mexico the largest lender, BBVA, has so far suffered three system outages in 2021, two of which took place on a Sunday. As such, the banks 24 million customers were not only unable to use the banks ATMs, its mobile app or in-store payments; they could not even avail of its branch services.

In October, the IT system of Ecuadors largest lender, Banco Pichincha, was brought down by a ransomware attack for a number of days.

In September, Venezuelas largest lender, Banco de Venezuela, suffered a massive cyber-attack that left its 16 million customers without access to digital banking services for five days. The Venezuelan government blamed the attack on the United States government.

Two of South Africas four biggest banks, Standard Bank and Absa, have suffered a number of interruptions of their online banking services.

Kiwibank, one of New Zealands largest lenders and ANZ Bank, Australias third largest lender, both suffered distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks in 2021, leading to a spate of IT system outages. In its latest Financial Stability Review, released in early October, the Reserve Bank of Australia warned that a successful cyber attack on a major financial institution is all but inevitable.

This is all happening at a time when customers and businesses are increasingly dependent on digital payment systems, for a whole host of reasons including: the recent spectacular growth in e-commerce, fuelled in part by the Covid-19 lockdowns; the greater speed, convenience and perceived lower risk of Covid-19 transmission from using contactless payments instead of cash*; and the increasing difficulty of accessing or using cash, in large part due to banks widespread closure of branches, ATMs and withdrawal of cash services.

At my own bank in Spain, Caixabank, most customers will now have to pay two euros for the privilege of visiting a branch for a service they could access online. The bank had already limited cash services in its branches to less than three hours a day, from 8:15 am to 11 am. Yet as lenders increasingly nudge their customers away from the branch and physical currency and toward online services, the frequency and scale of bank outages, even at highly sophisticated lenders such as DBS, raises serious questions about the resilience and reliability of those services.

* Numerous studies, including from the ECB and Bank of England, have shown that the risk of Covid-19 transmission from using cash is extremely low.
(Natural News) Last weeks acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with the murder of two men in Kenosha, Wis., likely came as a shock to millions of Americans who had relied on the media to inform their understanding of the case.

(Article by Drew Holden republished from FreeBeacon.com)

From the time Rittenhouse killed two men on the streets of Kenosha last August, media characterizations of the event suggested his conviction was a foregone conclusion. He was a troubled kid, a high school dropout who viewed law enforcement as his personal heroes and had an affinity for guns. Many took pains to point out that he had attended a rally for then-president Donald Trump. A New York Times report found that he showed strong support for officers. The Daily Beast referred to him as a fanatic.

The men Rittenhouse shot in self-defense quickly became sympathetic figures. Anthony Huber, who attacked Rittenhouse with a skateboard, died doing something heroic, according to CNNwhich was quoting Hubers girlfriend. In a piece that has since been edited, the network described Joseph Rosenbaum, a convicted child rapist, as somebody who would make you laugh out of nowhere.

The allegations against Rittenhouse perfectly fit a dominant narrative within the corporate press: that there is nothing more dangerous than white men. This belief overshadowed the facts on the ground, coloring the resulting coverage and forcing it into rhetorical boxes that never quite fit, particularly around Trump and race.

After Trump refused to condemn him, NPR told us that the president had claimed without evidence that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. MSNBCs Joy Reid suggested that Trumps comments amounted to fomenting deadly violence and ethnic cleansing.

Fact checkers weighed in along similar lines. The Associated Press told us that Trumps assertion that Rittenhouse fled his attackerssomething captured on videowas wrong and slammed him for advocating in defense of someone who opposed racial justice protesters.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact claimed that Trump had lied when he said Rittenhouse had been pursued by a mob and was attacked. Both claims were supported at the time by video evidence. The inaccurate fact check is still online.

Then there were the allegations tied to race. MSNBC speculated that the only possible explanation for the events in Kenosha was white supremacy run amok. Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden went so far as to develop ads accusing Rittenhouseabsent any evidenceof being a white supremacist.

At trial, these assertions didnt materialize. No, the Washington Post admitted, there wasnt any evidence tying Rittenhouse to white supremacists. No, the gun didnt actually cross state lines, as so much of the reporting around the trial suggested. No, he hadnt been the one to fire the first shot. No, even Gaige Grosskreutz, the third man whom Rittenhouse shot in self-defense, admitted that Rittenhouse hadnt shot him until Grosskreutz pointed his own gun (for which he no longer had a valid concealed-carry permit) at Rittenhouse. And, finally, yes, Kyle Rittenhouse had been acting in self-defense.

Most of this information was publicly available long before the trial, overlooked or ignored in favor of red herrings about race and the misdeeds of the former president. If Rittenhouse sues for defamation, it wont come as a shock.

Read more at: FreeBeacon.com
(Natural News) As youve noticed over the last two days, the global corporate media psyop spell weavers have puked up another scariant called Nu, and they are now hyperventilating over it, claiming it has over 30 horrifying mutations and might spread faster than anything in history.

The underlying message, of course, is that everybody should stop resisting and immediately obey the demands of (corrupt) government.

The thing spreading the fastest, of course, is the media hysteria. A passenger plane that departed from South Africa and landed in Amsterdam was prevented from de-boarding, stranding South African passengers on the plane, all due to mass media hysteria over the new covid scarient.

People are panicking as they realize all the vaccines and boosters they already took are now worthless

Part of the message being delivered in this mass media scariant panic is that all the vaccines and boosters that people already took are apparently worthless against this new variant. This means that everybodys vaccine compliance vaccine passport status essentially resets to zero.

The Associated Press is reporting that Israelis are already losing their minds over this new covid scariant and that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is on the verge of declaring an emergency situation. According to the AP, the new variant is being detected in fully vaccinated individuals traveling to Israel. Bennett is already stoking the flames, warning that travel and borders will be locked down while the Israeli military hunts down people who recently traveling from those countries and throws them into covid quarantine camps:

The government later said that all countries in sub-Saharan Africa would be considered red countries from which foreign nationals are barred from traveling to Israel. Israelis are prohibited from visiting those countries and those returning from them must undergo a period of isolation.

The Israeli military will work to locate all individuals who have been to red countries within the past week and instruct them to go into isolation while testing is carried out, it said.

With the Australian military now hunting down and forcibly vaccinating indigenous people (Aborigines), the worlds terrorist governments are ramping up their final assault on humanity, and this coordinated Nu variant media hysteria campaign is designed to drive to much fear into the minds of world citizens that they will go along with full-blown tyranny and genocide.

Will you comply if the media terrorizes you enough?

As I explain in todays short Situation Update podcast, this is all a campaign to try to achieve global compliance with government tyranny. The media are all acting as journo-terrorists, pushing mass hysteria to drive people into compliance (and more vaccines). Big Pharma is drooling over the potential new profits from a whole new wave of vaccines, which will of course set off more mutations and lead to yet more variants in 2022 and beyond.

The entire thing is a rigged criminal scam rooted in fraud and evil. This will never end by complying with it. The people of the world must peacefully rise up and stand strong against the fear campaigns, the bioterrorism and government-run genocide.

The reason this scariant was just released in a coordinated media fear campaign, of course, is because humanity is waking up and learning to resist covid tyranny. So the globalists are doubling down on their attacks against humanity, defrosting more bioweapons from Faucis freezer collection while pounding the psyche of the population with relentless media fear campaigns.

The good news in all this? If you have natural immunity against covid, youre naturally immune to all the variants, too.

But the oblivious masses who already took the early covid jabs have destroyed much of their immune function, meaning they are now extremely vulnerable to any new real variant that might emerge, assuming they really exist at all.

Notice, too, how convenient the timing is with all this, where the media now has an excuse for why so many vaccinated people are dying and have compromised immune systems. Its the variants fault!

Bottom line? If you comply, you die.

Do not comply.

Full details in todays podcast here:

Brighteon.com/f13adc33-72bf-47ca-99bd-f3f85523592f

Find new podcasts and interviews each day at:

https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport
(Natural News) Over the weekend, a series of flash robberies occurred in Oakland, Calif., that left multiple pharmacies and cannabis dispensaries, as well as a Nordstrom, a Louis Vuitton, and a jewelry shop, ransacked of both product and cash.

Surveillance footage from the Wellspring Pharmacy shows dozens of thieves swarming the facility grabbing medications. The incident occurred around 7:30pm, leaving the pharmacy, which is independent, in need of restoration.

One employee said the store was overwhelmed and devastated by the incident, especially since it is not a big chain like CVS or Walgreens.

I feel overwhelmed after learning of coordinated robberies in San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Alameda & beyond this weekend, the person further said. It is too much to cover.

A family-owned jewelry shop in Oaklands Chinatown was also targeted at around 1:40am. The owner told news anchor Dion Lim that about a dozen people were seen on surveillance footage trying to break in with crowbars and what appeared to be a carjack.

The people are unable to break through the metal gate installed earlier this year, Lim tweeted after analyzing the footage, noting that the same facility was robbed back in February.

We just feel so numb & disgusted, the owners further told her.

Things are likely to spiral even worse out of control going into the holiday season

This trend of smash-and-grab robberies appears to be on the rise all over the Bay Area, as several other stores also got hit.

A Nordstrom in Walnut Creek, a Louis Vuitton in San Francisco, and a jewelry store in a Hayward mall all got hit, as did numerous other local businesses including a cannabis store.

At least two dozen businesses were impacted, stated Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to a local CBS affiliate.

Roving caravans of vehicles, targeting cannabis operations, retail shops, pharmacies, throughout the city of Oakland.

A Walgreens store was also hit in Oakland, which prevented a cancer patient from accessing his medications.

Ive got cancer, so Im trying to get certain medications filled and they tell you to go to another Walgreens, this person said.

According to Massey, this was the third time that this particular Walgreens was hit by robbers, causing it to have to be shut down.

It hurts us all, he says. Especially the little guy that really needs it.

Chief Armstrong says that this overwhelming violence throughout the city is really taking its toll on the community and its law enforcement resources, calling it unacceptable.

Its unacceptable for our residents, our visitors, he says. Nobody should have to live through this.

At a Lululemon in San Joses Santana Row area, four people allegedly stole about $40,000 in yet another smash-and-grab incident. Incidents like this are only expected to increase as we venture into the holiday season.

People need to be alert, added San Jose Police Sgt. Christian Camarillo.

Were coming into the busy holiday shopping season. We cant be everywhere at the same time. We do need citizens help; when they see suspicious activity occurring, please let us know, especially at the malls.

In Walnut Creek where the Nordstrom incident took place, Mayor Kevin Wilk said that it is impossible to predict, let alone prepare, for this kind of thing in advance of it occurring.

This is like watching a piranha consume a cow carcass, wrote one commenter at Information Liberation about the video footage of several of the incidents. Were done, society will never be the same.

We are done if we allow the Republican Party to keep patriotic opposition sitting at home rather than marshaling it in the streets to oppose these animals destroying our nation, responded another.

More of the latest news about the breakdown of American society can be found at Collapse.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Long having hid behind the veil of the Fourth Estate, the institutions of mass media; that is, the major newspapers and their radio and television offspring, operated with certain latitude almost exclusively at the leisure of a ruling authority. Transparency, real or imagined, between the ruling class and vox populi became the purpose by which they were allowed to function. For the proletariat the media served, at different times, a savior in the face of oppression through the exposure of corruption on part of the bourgeois, while to the latter, they merely served as yet another mechanism of social control.

(Article by republished from AmericanPartisan.org)

The idea of a free, fair and honest press is exactly that. An idea, irreflective of reality.

One of the great mistakes among conservatives in America, that is, to label those who believe in the promise of American values, the Constitution and the preservation of tradition, is hierarchical thinking when attempting to rationalize threats against them. Conservatives require stratification to define order, which in turn requires an underlying logic and pattern recognition. And in doing so, conservatives mistakenly label things contrary to what they in actuality are; prime example, the condition in which the mass media in America represents a very real and present threat to the people of the United States.

It is often said that news outlets such as CNN, NBC, etc. are representative of Left values. While there is certainly a case that can be made for this assertion, especially considering their pushing of so-called social justice narratives and the consistent demonization of the entire Middle Class in America, simply labeling them leftist is far too simplistic. What they represent is something more insidious than this; they represent the Power Elite, are the voice of the Power Elite, and serve to maintain the iron grip of the Power Elite around the throat of the Nation. A Nation that those same have since sold out.

We understand from Antonio Gramsci this concept of cultural hegemony. With a social structure, more broadly termed the superstructure, rules and boundaries are created with different parameters in differing levels of stratification. The higher in the pyramid, the greater the degrees of freedom. And with those levels of stratification come the associated uniforms  the houses, the cars, the clothes  all symbols of ones status which incidentally come with an initiation into a larger belief system. Who defines such parameters? The next level in ruling class hierarchy. In short, the rulers define the rules, usually not operating by them on their own. Equality is a false god.

This would serve to explain why billionaires can lecture us about such concepts as climate change and carbon footprints from their modern castles and leer jets. Were polluting their Earth, mind you. And theres too many of us. A few less of you would be better for the public health.

So this brings us back to the institution of the media, the storied fourth estate, and their role as the glass ceiling between that same Power Elite and the same Proletariat they claim to serve. That glass ceiling is the lens by which they view us and we are meant to view them, offering a definition of the very same standards surrounding class and the associated roles and functions in society. And if that requires a lie, well, then, lie to your hearts desire.

As we have seen in the horrific events in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the media is performing its function predictably in concealing, or outright obscuring, the facts. In this case; a career criminal, BLM supporter, and incredibly evil human was allowed to continue to victimize until his final act of terror upon a Christmas parade. We need not an explicit statement of mens rea to know why he committed this act. We didnt need such a statement from Dylann Roof or Brendan Tarrant and should not have, but yet, we find ourselves petitioned to believe an absolute absurdity that first, this subhuman was fleeing a police chase and when that story failed, that he was fleeing another crime of some sort. Its a race to bottom through an attempt to sidestep what really occurred; mass murder and an act of terror on part of a useful idiot.

What Americans consider the Left of today is really nothing of the sort; claiming they somehow serve the working class, theyre a loose amalgamation of druggies, petty criminals, losers and misfits not being able to hold down a job much less anything productive, they are little more than an instrument of chaos when the need arises. Their forebears, products of the 1960s, found a home befit a termite in wood among academia with the same result. But they long since sold out to various corporate interests in the form of research grants, leaving the following generations studying nonsense caustic to any functional social system. They serve their corporate masters. CHAZ would never, and could not, threaten Amazon, Starbucks or Microsoft in Seattle. The second they did in any measurable way theyd be crushed. Perhaps not overtly, oh no, thatd destroy the hegemony as Gramsci warned. Instead, their overhead protection in the prosecutors office would simply quit answering the phone. The ACLU-supplied lawyers, bail money and Judge-shopping would all of a sudden vanish. And the heroin-riddled street urchin, replete with piercings and catch phrases, would be fed to the wolves in a gang management unit. Because despite lip service to the contrary, those organizations serve those same corporate interests. Their cash flow is a tax write off.

This recognition returns us to the media. Their lies and complicity in fomenting these crimes have only served to grow corporate interests; ask yourself who bought those sections of town burned down by riots on part of communist trash. The work and lives of middle class business owners, who wagered it all to gain a piece of the American dream only to have it crushed by a communist menace incapable of creating or maintaining order, sold on ideas propelling its actions out of its own self hatred. The Power Elite fully recognizes that a people incapable of figuring out ones biology have no hope of autonomous rule. Heres your insurance check, have a good one. Cash out and get a timeshare. Social Security will cover you from here.

The media created this monster, concealed the facts when the narrative would not support their puppet, and the very same ones will now revert to committing acts of terror on the American populace recognizing that street protests are so 2020. Its a mostly peaceful running over and gunning down. Theres a great reset, as were consistently reminded, and the same Power Elite wants us to own nothing, somehow liking it. Except for those who dont, those who stand the most to lose, the very same lumpenproletariat that Marx defined as needing elimination before Revolution could begin the next phase of human development. Never mind that such a feat has consistently led to the greatest atrocities in history. It is the resistance to progress which must be crushed, clinging ever so bitterly to our God, Guns and Religion. This monster is the vanguard by which they seek to take complete control.

Make no mistake, Americans. The mass media is your enemy.

Read more at: AmericanPartisan.org
(Natural News) Data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) showed 2,620 more fetal deaths after getting the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine than the reported number of fetal deaths from all other vaccines in the past 30 years. One symptom tracked is for ectopic pregnancy.

Upon performing a search in VAERS for ectopic pregnancies following COVID-19 shots in the past 11 months, there have been 52 cases in 11 months where pregnant mothers received COVID-19 vaccine shots, and then later found to have ectopic pregnancy.

To compare, there had been 30 cases where pregnant mothers received vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and reported ectopic pregnancies in the past 30 years for an average of one ectopic pregnancy per year.

This means that there had been a 50-fold increase in ectopic pregnancies in women who had COVID-19 vaccine shots compared to other women receiving safe, FDA-approved vaccines in the past 30 years.

There had been many examples of these fetal deaths being reported, but the government continues to turn a blind eye even as reports continue to flood in.

For instance, two medical doctors and some protesters in Canada recently gathered at the Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, asking the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to press charges against health officials after it was reported that there had been 13 stillborn deaths within 24 hours.

Learn more about ectopic pregnancy

Pregnancy always begins with the fertilization of an egg. This fertilized egg usually attaches itself to the lining of the uterus. But in ectopic pregnancies, the fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube. It can also occur in other areas, such as the ovary, abdominal cavity or the lower part of the uterus (cervix).

Because of the location of the fertilized egg, an ectopic pregnancy cant proceed normally. The fertilized egg cannot survive in other parts of the body, and it may even cause life-threatening bleeding if left untreated.

Most pregnant women dont notice any symptoms of ectopic pregnancy early. However, ectopic pregnancy does present the usual signs and symptoms of pregnancy such as a missed period or breast tenderness and nausea. (Related: Is the new morning after pill a Covid vaccine?)

Women who take pregnancy tests find their results to be positive, but the pregnancy cannot continue as normal. As the fertilized egg grows in an improper place, signs and symptoms become more noticeable.

Often, the first warning signs include light vaginal bleeding and pelvic pain. If blood leaks from the fallopian tube, there may also be shoulder pain or an urge to have a bowel movement, depending on where the blood collects and which nerves are irritated.

There are some factors that make women more likely to have ectopic pregnancies, including inflammation, infection from sexually transmitted diseases, fertility treatments, previous tubal surgery and even the choice of birth control.

One cant prevent an ectopic pregnancy, but there are ways to decrease the risk, such as limiting the number of sexual partners and using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections. Smoking is also a risk factor, so women are advised to quit smoking when trying to get pregnant.

Is COVID-19 vaccine really safe for pregnant women?

A separate study that reported preliminary findings regarding the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant persons noted that the clinical trials for mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines did not include pregnant women, limiting safety data in the group.

With more pregnant women in the general population receiving the vaccines since, they were able to provide information to assess safety data.

The results showed that 3,958 pregnant women enrolled in surveillance system registries, and that injection-site pain was reported to be the most common among pregnant women. However, the pregnancy outcomes were concerning.

Of the registered women, only 827 participants completed their pregnancy. Out of these, 86.1 percent gave live birth, 12.6 percent had spontaneous abortions, 0.1 percent had stillbirths and 1.2 percent had other outcomes like induced abortion and ectopic pregnancy.

VAERS data from December 14, 2020, to February 28, 2021, alone showed 29.9 percent pregnancy-related reports out of 221, most of which include spontaneous abortions  37 in the first trimester, two in the second trimester and seven unknown or not reported.

The authors concluded that data from three different surveillance systems  including VAERS  did not indicate any obvious safety signals regarding pregnancy or neonatal outcomes associated with the COVID-19 vaccinations.

While not directly comparable, the proportions of adverse outcomes in vaccinated women were said to be similar to those reported in studies involving them before the pandemic. Experts suggest further studies are necessary, especially in women vaccinated in the first trimester.

Learn more about adverse effects following COVID-19 vaccinations at Immunization.news.

Sources include:

GlobalResearch.ca

MayoClinic.org

OBGProject.com
(Natural News) Christian theologians David Paxton and Randy Conway believe the conservative patriot movement must also become a movement for the revival of Christianity in the United States.

Now is the time. We are at the end of the age, said Paxton during the Nov. 23 episode of America Unhinged on Brighteon.TV with program host John Diamond. He told us to occupy until He comes. That doesnt mean we sit around  No, he says Get your butt to work until the very second he arrives. So thats what were doing.

Appearing on the same program, Conway explained that Christians being called to occupy until the arrival of Jesus Christ does not mean they should just take up space. Rather, he believes it means Christians need to be taking ground for the Kingdom of God.

Conway said the U.S. has lost its way from being a constitutional republic with 50 sovereign states with a Constitution that was meant to limit the powers of the government, not expand it. He then explained that the patriot movement must also be a Christian revival because every government in the world is a theocracy. God is government.

Christian patriots gaining ground in America

The patriot movement is becoming more entwined with Christianity, and this can be seen in the many recent statements by leading patriots.

Earlier this month, retired Army Lt. Gen. and former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn called for Christians in the U.S. to spread the word of God.

If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion, he said. One nation under God and one religion under God. (Related: General Flynn urges pastors to defend the Constitution from the pulpit  Brighteon.TV.)

This comment drew the ire of many. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota even accused Flynn of hating the Constitution. Rep. Ted Lieu of California said that Flynn is the type of person who would fall asleep in church class.

But Flynn is not alone. Former Ohio State Treasurer and current GOP Senate candidate Josh Mandel recently tweeted: We stand with General Flynn. During a debate, Mandel even publicly stated that the separation of church and state is not real, echoing Paxton and Conways beliefs that every government is essentially a theocratic one.

More and more public figures are calling on the government to return to its Christian roots. Last month, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson pledged to keep fighting for Christian values because that is the right thing to do.

During a speech, Robinson called on his supporters to be Gods regiment on earth and to be the living embodiment of all those who have sacrificed their lives for the United States.

Tell our enemies on the other side of the aisle that will drag this nation down into a socialist hellhole that you will only do it as you run past me laying on the ground, choking on my own blood because I will not give up this nation to you, said Robinson.

It is not yours. You did not build it, you did not defend it and you will not own it. We will, he continued. The Christian patriots of this nation will own this nation and rule this nation and help freedom survive for future generations.

Diamond, Paxton and Conway have a lot more to say regarding the leading role Christian patriots should have among conservatives. Watch the entire Nov. 23 episode of America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond, featuring guests David Paxton, Randy Conway and William J. Federer here:

America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond airs from Monday to Friday at 9-10 a.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Learn more about the rise of Christian patriots in America by reading the latest articles at Awakening.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheHill.com

Newsweek.com

RollingStone.com

CarolinaJournal.com

TheNewCivilRightsMovement.com
(Natural News) Last night, a red Ford SUV plowed through a group of overwhelmingly white people at a Christmas parade in the town of Waukesha, which is west of Milwaukee.

(Article by Eric Striker republished from National-Justice.com)

Media reports have confirmed the identity of the alleged driver, Darrell E. Brooks, a registered sex offender who admitted in a video that he pimps children. The career criminal was released back into the streets on a paltry $1000 bond despite being charged with bail-jumping and facing a plethora of violent felonies and misdemeanors just over two weeks ago, according to Wisconsin Court Records.

Many immediately speculated that Brooks actions had a racial motive and could constitute an act of Black Lives Matter inspired terrorism. So far, officials have refused to comment on this matter. There are five deaths and 40 injuries being officially reported, with many of the victims being children.

A source local to the area told National Justice that the death tally may be higher (closer to eight), and that the overwhelming majority of victims appear to be white. These reports are unconfirmed.

What can be confirmed is that the virulently anti-white, Black Lives Matter supporting Soundcloud rapper Mathboi Fly is Brooks, as proven by the mans distinctive neck tattoo.

Mathboi Flys lyrics emphasize black racial grievance, hatred of white people, and the open support of terrorism and crime. One professionally shot music video shows Brooks rapping alongside men brandishing firearms in front of the same SUV he allegedly used to run the Christmas revelers over.

A Mathboi song titled Minnesota obtained could provide clues on the rappers mindset.

The lyrics go as follows:

Throw a bomb

Kenny Stills

Thats for all the coppers

Time to teach it in the schools

Its that Black Power

Teach em how we built the country

Teach em black authors [] Just another day in Babylon

They aint got another victim like its Eric Garner

They aint gonna make it hard to breath like its George Floyd

Middle finger to police, dont get me started

Try and use deadly force we gonna go harder

Fuck a price, burn it down, this aint Bob Barker

Had his knee on his neck wouldnt get off him

We aint doin no more marchin, its time to get retarded

The lyrics reveal that Brooks is well-versed in black racial ideology.

For example, Babylon is a Rastafarian concept, which according to the Smithsonian is defined as the historically white-European colonial and imperialist power structure which has oppressed Blacks and other peoples of color.

In another song, titled Loudmouths, Brooks refers to himself as a terrorist.

On social media, Brooks spent years regularly indulging fantasies of enslaving and committing violence against white people.

One meme posted in 2015 features a black man whipping white people who are picking cotton while a smiling Martin Luther King looks down from the sky.

In a more violent Facebook message posted in June 2020, Brooks openly urged his hundreds of fans to go out and commit violence against random white people, including and especially the vulnerable we start bakk knokkin white ppl, TF out ion wanna hear it.. the old white ppl 2, KNOKK DEM TF OUT!! PERIOD!

The Waukesha car attack suspects rising extremism and open calls to terrorism were ignored by both local and federal law enforcement, even as he continued to commit violent crimes and interact with the criminal justice system throughout the period.

Waukeshas Black Police Chief Shares Many Of The Alleged Attackers Political Beliefs

So far, the press have refused to authenticate Brooks as Mathboi or comment on the likelihood that race played a decision in his decision to attack the crowd.

This may be thanks in part to the dubious leaks reported in the mainstream media out of the Waukesha police department, which claim that Brooks was fleeing from a knife attack and that the car may have plowed through the crowd by accident.

Daniel Thompson, who is black, serves as the police chief of Waukesha, in spite of the fact that the city is 89% white.

There is no evidence that Thompson provided the knife attack story to reporters, but his objectivity in overseeing investigation should be scrutinized due to his personal support for the ideology Brooks espoused.

Just months after being made Waukeshas police chief, Thompson helped lead a Black Lives Matter march in June 2020, which included one instance where he had his officers kneel alongside the angry, anti-white and anti-police crowd.

There are still numerous loose ends regarding the car attack. What is not up for debate is the fact that the alleged attacker was a fervent black racial ideologue inspired by Black Lives Matter who repeatedly made terroristic threats in his music and fantasized about harming white people right out in the open.

Read more at: National-Justice.com
(Natural News) Lets just say this right off the bat: If the suspect in the Waukesha incident were a white man with a substantial record and not a black man with one, the mainstream media would be screaming bloody murder in wall-to-wall coverage for the next month, declaring him to be a white nationalist-racist-supremacist-mass murderer.

That said, there are even more aspects to this case that the black suspect who was arrested on Monday in connection with allegedly killing five people and injuring more than 40 others by striking them and running them over with an SUV had already been in jail for previously striking a woman with a vehicle.

You literally cannot make this up.

The Epoch Times has more details:

Darrell Brooks, the suspect accused in Sundays Wisconsin Christmas parade massacre, was charged earlier this month with running over a woman with his car, although he later posted $1,000 bond, according to court records.

Brooks may be charged with five counts of intentional homicide, Waukesha Police Chief Daniel Thompson said in a Monday news conference. According to witnesses and footage, a red SUV careened down a parade route, striking dozens of people, including children and elderly participants on Saturday evening.

We actually had a squad and barricades up, and [Brooks] drove right through, Thompson noted regarding the Saturday incident. When an officer tried to engage and stop the threat, he still continued through the crowd for some distance.

Earlier this month, Brooks, 39, who is a career criminal according to several reports, was released from jail on a paltry $1,000 bond after he allegedly ran over a woman as she walked across a gas station parking lot in Milwaukee County, a criminal complaint says. The woman told police that she is the mother of Brooks child, the complaint added.

Officers observed tire tracks on her left pants leg, the complaint says.

In addition, Brooks was charged with obstructing an officer; second-degree recklessly endangering safety with domestic abuse assessments; disorderly conduct with domestic abuse assessments; and misdemeanor battery with domestic abuse assessments, according to the complaint, The Epoch Times adds.

This time, hes been charged with five counts of intentional homicide, which is the legal equivalent of first-degree murder in Wisconsin, and carries a life sentence upon conviction, CBS Chicago reported.

Online court records showed Brooks has two open criminal cases in Milwaukee County. And at least six other convictions for violent behavior, the outlet added.

Here is an ongoing list of charges and convictions, many of them for violence:

 In 1999, he was found guilty on substantial battery-intend bodily harm, a felony;

 In 2003, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest;

 In 2005, Brooks spent a brief stint in prison for obstructing a police officer, which was also a misdemeanor;

 In 2006, he was convicted of a sex crime;

 In 2010 he was found guilty on felony strangulation and suffocation charges in Wood County;

 In 2011, Brooks was also found guilty of resisting and obstructing an officer.

The fact is, Brooks is the poster boy for the 1990s-era three strikes, youre out laws that saw repeat offenders locked up for lengthy prison sentences because they proved over and over again they were incapable of peacefully existing in a civil society by following the rules for our society.

In the past several years, however, thanks to left-wing destroyers of civil society like George Soros, criminal justice reform district attorneys have increasingly refused to hold suspects to account, including repeat offenders like Brooks  which is why they continue to be free to prey upon one victim after another.

And now, this animal may be guilty of killing five more people and permanently injuring several others, though he should not have been free to roam the streets in the first place.

Our country needs a major reset when people like Brooks, regardless of their ethnicity, are allowed to continue victimizing innocent people.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

Brighteon.com
WUHAN, CHINA - JULY 18: (CHINA OUT) A child touches a light show of Herpes simplex virus display whilst visiting the "Enlightenment Of COVID-19" science exhibition on July 18, 2021 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The exhibition aims to explain the unique life form of the coronavirus and the thinking behind China's fight against the pandemic, as well as exploring ways to achieve a long-term coexistence with the virus. With no recorded cases of COVID-19 community transmissions since May 2020, life for residents in Wuhan is gradually returning to normal. (Photo : Photo by Getty Images)

Herpes simplex is the criminal genius of viruses, infiltrating the cells that line our most delicate body parts through nervous system, and lurks in our DNA.

A protein called pUL36, which is encoded the virus, provided hints that protein can lock onto dynein molecules. Previous studies show that tiny biological motors that click-clack their way along the web of rigid strings, helped the cell to form.

The virus uses both kinesin and dynein, moving around cells, as herpes is ingenious and employs one half collection from one cell type to another, to progress quickly.

"For the first time a virus spotted repurposing protein to aid in infection that might help understand the relationship of ancient virus perhaps finding way to keep out of our DNA," Smith remarked.

Herpes Inside the Nervous System

In certain tissues, the rail journey may not have been arbitrary and even in a specific path; the pathogen traveled to the cell's perimeter and could not be described by dynein riding.

This herpes appears to navigate inside of every cell it infiltrates by hitching a ride on the cell's own rail network, used grappling hook.

Virus is cunning, only exposing itself to immune system for a brief moment before putting DNA into our peripheral nerve cells' genetic library.

A nerve cell may not appear large to us, but it is a long journey for a virus constructing strands of cellular webbing.

Investigations revealed how it is able to reach nucleus of nerve cells by an express straight to DNA once entered to neuron's body, avoiding the random zig-zagging.

Experts know how that ability of studying the virus achieves this extraordinary achievement getting into nervous system.

Blocking kinesin from assimilating the virus cannot affect nervous system and have that vaccine candidate.

The herpes virus, on the other hand, didn't appear to make anything else that could assist it in navigating the network.

Silently, herpes causes a variety of unpleasant and harmful symptoms, ranging from the common cold-sore blisters to rare but fatal effect it infects the eye.

Researchers demonstrate how virus steals a tool from the cells it infects.

It's been an intimate friend for our species for as long as we've been human, being found in more than two-thirds of all humans as the type-1 oral variation (HSV-1) or the sexually transmitted type-2 (HSV-2) form or perhaps even longer.

According to Smith "it has long way to go and takes eight hours from the end neuron to the hub."

Also read: Alzheimer's Disease Vaccine? Antibody Experiment in Mice Could Lead to this Breakthrough

Possible Treatment for Herpes

A study led by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers in the United States has identified a crucial piece of the puzzle, lead to novel treatments or even preventions for this exceedingly frequent condition.

Aware or not herpes is infection that affect majority of world's population. It's still there, as catastrophic formula asking to be converted into new generation of infectious particles as soon as the heat subsides.

Gregory Smith, an immunologist at Northwestern Medicine explains cell become viral factory.

Obtaining a viable cure, if not a vaccination, would provide a great deal of relief and security to individuals all around the world. Observations on many other cells, on the other hand, suggested that there had to be more to the story.

The illness from mother to kid can be lethal for a newborn in some of the most catastrophic circumstances. Only a portion of how they carry out this convoluted hijacking sequence is known.

In United States deaths of thousands newborn been blamed for this sickness.

Also read: State of Emergency Declared in British Columbia as Severe Floods and Mudslides Terrorize the Provinces
According to experts, albatrosses, among the world's most devoted monogamous species, are "divorcing" more frequently, who believe global warming is the cause.

Albatrosses Breaking Up

According to a recent Royal Society study, climate change and rising oceans are pushing black-browed albatross breakup rates higher. Only 1-3 percent of couples would separate after picking a partner to pursue more romantic pastures.

However, when water temperatures were abnormally warm, that figure continuously climbed, with up to 8% of couples divorcing. For 15 years, researchers studied a wild population of 15,500 breeding couples in the Falkland Islands.

Warmer waters bring fewer fish, less food, and a stricter habitat for seabirds. Some fewer females survive. The stress hormones in the birds rise. They are compelled to hunt further afield.

Related Article: 5 Animals That Symbolize Love!



Albatross Lovers

Albatross love lives have long focused on scientific research since they are some of the most devoted couples in the animal kingdom. "There are all these creatures we think of as being super-human," says Dr. Graeme Elliot, chief science adviser at New Zealand's department of conservation, who has spent the last three decades researching albatrosses in the country's oceans.

The birds lend themselves to anthropomorphism: they live for 50-60 years, go through a protracted, awkward adolescent phase in which they learn how to attract a partner through dancing, and travel for years at a time as they grow. They usually mate for life, making a big deal out of welcoming a spouse after a long time apart.

However, they are increasingly sharing another rite of passage that may sound similar to young humans: some are fighting to sustain relationships while under stress from the climate catastrophe, working longer hours to eat, and dealing with the logistical obstacles of traveling with a partner.

Rising Divorce Cases

Even when the lack of food was considered, researchers were shocked to see that warmer seas were connected with exceptionally high rates of albatross couples splitting up, according to Francesco Ventura, a researcher at the University of Lisbon co-author of the Royal Society paper.

According to Ventura, albatross divorce is generally preceded by reproductive failure. If a couple was unable to have a child, they were more likely to break up. More failures may result from a lack of food for birds. However, even after accounting for this, the researchers discovered that greater water temperatures had an additional effect, increasing divorce rates even when reproduction was successful.

Ventura proposed two theories: one, that warmer seas were driving the birds to hunt for longer periods of time and fly farther, and the other, that the birds were being forced to hunt for longer periods of time and flee further. If the birds do not return for the following mating season, their spouses may move on to someone else. Furthermore, albatross stress hormones rise in warmer seas and harsher settings. According to Ventura, the birds may feel this way and blame their companion.

"We offer this partner-blaming hypothesis," he adds, "in which a worried female may experience physiological stress and attribute increased stress levels to the male's poor performance."

The study comes at a time when many albatross populations throughout the world are in peril. "Their numbers are dwindling," Elliot observes. The people of wandering albatrosses that he examines have been diminishing at a 5-10 percent rate per year since roughly 2005. Less prey, warmer oceans, and more interactions with tuna line-fishing boats, which mistakenly catch and kill the birds, contribute to the decline in numbers.

Showing Homosexual Behaviors

The birds' mating practices were shifting in other ways due to the population decline, Elliot added, with more same-sex partnerships developing. "On Antipodes Island, we're seeing male-male couples among the birds, which we haven't seen previously," he added. "Because they can't find a female companion, a small percentage of the boys hook up with another boy."

The Royal Society study focused on a group of black-browed albatrosses in the Falkland Islands, where numbers were still high, and divorce was not disastrous, according to Ventura - birds could find new companions. However, he believes that the same dynamics might apply to other albatross populations, with a greater devastating effect in areas where bird populations are more vulnerable. "If we're talking about a population with a lot fewer breeding partners, then the breakup of a link might potentially cause some disruption in the regular breeding operations," he added.

Elliot now hopes that some of the sympathy people have for albatrosses may encourage people to modify their behavior to address the environmental concerns the birds face, such as climate change and tuna fishing. "To conserve these birds, we need a worldwide campaign," Elliot adds. "If we don't do something, they'll go extinct."

Also Read: Scientists: 98% of Emperor Penguins at Risk of Extinction Due to Climate Crisis

For more news from the animal kingdom, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
It's difficult to overestimate the environmental value of trees, which, among other roles remove climate-changing carbon from the atmosphere, purify the air of contaminants, and help curb runoffs.

Role of Urban Trees in Stormwater Management

While some of these benefits may be difficult to measure, a new study carried out by researchers from the University of Maryland sheds light on the role of urban trees in stormwater management, they discovered that even solitary trees along a roadway or in parks can have a substantial effect.

Individually planted trees capture, store, and release stormwater back into the atmosphere at a rate three times higher than trees in a forest, according to a study published on Nov. 22 in the journal Scientific Reports by Assistant Professor Mitch Pavao-Zuckerman and doctoral candidate Sara Ponte, both of the Department of Environmental Science and Technology.

With financing from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, the project was carried out in collaboration with the US Forest Service and the non-profit Center for Watershed Protection, according to Phys.org.

The publication investigates how trees function in various urban settings, from streets to small patches of forest, providing information that can aid in the management of green infrastructure, such as the growing practise of monitoring the environmental service provided by trees to measure stormwater or other fees assessed by municipalities.

Also Read: Living in Greener Areas Lessen the Chances of Getting Cardiovascular Diseases

Importance of Trees in Urban Landscapes

The researchers state that their findings may help tree-crediting regulations better represent the real benefits of trees in urban environments since trees interact with water and their surroundings differently in cities than they do outside cities.

The next step will be to scale up this data collection on how each tree performs to determine how a whole stand or patch of trees mitigates stormwater flows.

Pavao Zuckerman's team examined transpiration in three different urban settings: a closed canopy forest near Baltimore, single trees over turfgrass, and a cluster of trees over turfgrass in Montgomery County.

They created and employed sap flux sensors to get a better understanding of how plants access groundwater, putting them in 18 mature red maple trees during the growing season to track transpiration rates.

Guidelines For Managing Urban Stormwater Runoff

At each location, they also took measurements of soil moisture, air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation.

Deb Caraco, a senior watershed engineer at the Center for Watershed Protection said that knowing how urban trees influence different parts of water balance, such as the evapotranspiration component mentioned in Mitch and Sarah's paper, provides a better awareness of the advantages of urban trees, and where and how to plant and preserve them to achieve the greatest benefit.

The results, according to Pavao-Zuckerman, may be used as guidance for urban stormwater management, and the existing technique of depending on data collected from non-urban places to estimate the influence of urban trees should be abandoned.

Related Article: Madrid Will Plant a Massive Urban Forest to Combat CO2 Emissions in City

For more news, updates about urban trees and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Russia has recently confirmed to carry out a direct-ascending anti-satellite missile operation that destroyed Cosmos 1408, a more than 2-ton Tselina-D espionage satellite placed into orbit in 1982.

Old Spacecraft

According to some estimates, the old spacecraft was smashed on Nov. 15, resulting in a storm cloud of space debris with 1,500 bits large enough to be tracked.

However, many more space debris particles were undoubtedly generated by the collision that was too small to be detected from the ground. Who knows how much debris from Russia's anti-satellite (ASAT) test is floating about in the atmosphere?

In the days, weeks, months, and years ahead, certain spacecraft may be impacted by Cosmos 1408 fragments. Spacecraft operators may run across perplexing faults and snafus that might very well be the result of interactions with ASAT-produced oddities.

Related Article: Experts Wants US to Increase Planetary Defense Against a Potential Asteroid Threat



Orbital Debris

Within the space community, what to do about orbital debris is now a daily issue of discussion and worry. There is a lot of "debris cleansing" concepts floating around. Is it, however, all too little, too late at the end of the day?

There's also the Kessler Syndrome to think about, which is a debris cascade caused by in-orbit collisions that may already be occurring.

Was the Russian ASAT test a wake-up call that served as a tipping point for everyone to come on board with dealing with space waste? Space.com asked leading specialists to comment on the concerning status of space debris.

"Unfortunately," said Moriba Jah, a space debris expert at the University of Texas at Austin, "I don't think this occurrence will force people into action." "It raises the bar; it's still astonishing that this occurred; there's no proof that there would be any ramifications... no penalties that would effectively prohibit anyone from doing this in the future; this is a tragic incident."

Earth Stewards

How do we persuade humanity to embrace space stewardship as if our lives depended on it, Jah wonders? With a growing number of commerce-producing satellite networks, space debris will undoubtedly become a long-term, vexing problem.

"Space is a global resource," says US Space Commission Commissioner Nathan Simington. In a statement, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated. "However, we do know at least one thing: orbital debris fields represent an existential danger," making space exploration more complicated.

"No one owns space, and no one should make it harder to use on purpose," Simington added. "I join my colleagues from throughout the US government in denouncing Russia's reckless and debris-producing destruction of a satellite."

We did not create the orbital debris problem overnight, and we will not repair it overnight, either, according to T.S. Kelso of CelesTrak, a top space debris specialist.

"Like any other environmental issue, addressing the problem will need all of us working together devotedly; we should not be immobilized by indecision in our search for the right answer," Kelso told Space.com.

Also Read: NASA Plans to Deflect Asteroids to Defend the Planet from Cosmic Disaster

For more Space news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA - JULY 31: Bats captured in in a cave on July 31, 2009 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. A typical catch numbers around 800 bats a month. The Imogiri people believe that the meat of the local bat has healing properties for asthma and respiratory problems. (Photo : Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

While facts behind the origin of today's coronavirus remain scarce, scientists have explored on the virus's closest relatives - ancestors to SARS-CoV-2.

Scientists have recently detected SARS CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Cambodian bats from 2010 and this suggests that SARS-CoV-2 that caused COVID-19 have a much wider geographic distribution than previously known.

Using metagenomic sequencing, the virus sampled on 2019 from horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus) in the Yunnan province, southern China, was nearly identical with that of Rhinolophus shameli bats sampled in Laos, Cambodia.

This further supports the hypothesis that the ongoing pandemic originated from bat-borne virus, via multiple Rhinolophus species.

SARS-CoV-2 lineages

To date, close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 identified are Rhinolophus affinis bat in 2013, Rhinolophus malayanus bat in 2019, and Rhinolophus pusillus in 2020, as well as the two more viruses detected in Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) from two provinces of southern China and other more distant virus from bats in Zhejiang province, eastern China.

However, the current knowledge reflects lack of sampling in Southeast Asia, or at least across the Greater Mekong Subregion.

"Southeast Asia is considered a hotspot for emerging diseases. More than 25% of the world's bat diversity is found there," authors wrote.

"In this work we report the identification and characterization of two coronaviruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 in bats sampled in Cambodia in 2010, indicating that this viral lineage circulates in a much wider geographic area than previous reported."

In June 2020, a close relative of SARS-CoV-2 was also identified in bats captured in a cave in Thailand.

This discovery of viruses in bat species not from China indicates that Southeast Asia as a whole represents a "key area to consider for future surveillance for coronaviruses."

Also read: Experts Warn Next Coronavirus Pandemic Will Come From Asymptomatic Rodents

Wide surveillance of pathogens in wildlife

Aside from bats, certain other species in the region like pangolins, cats, civet, and weasels found are readily susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and may be intermediary reservoir for human transmission.

For instance, a virus detected in distinct groups of pangolins seized during anti-smuggling operations in southeast China was found to have strong sequence similarity to SARS-CoV-2.

""These findings underscore the importance of increased region-wide investment in bridging capacity for sustainable surveillance of pathogens in wildlife, through initiatives such as WildHealthNet, said co-author of the study, Dr. Lucy Keatts of the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Health Program.

"Southeast Asia hosts a high diversity of wildlife and an extensive wildlife trade that puts humans in direct contact with wild hosts of SARS-like coronaviruses. The region is undergoing dramatic land-use changes such as infrastructure development, urban development, and agricultural expansion that can increase contacts between bats, other wildlife, domestic animals and humans. Continued and expanded surveillance of bats and other key wild animals in Southeast Asia is a crucial component of future pandemic preparedness and prevention."

Broader coronavirus surveillance efforts will not just prevent the next pandemic, but will also provide better understanding of how animals in such wide distance come in contact with closely-related viruses and how they are infected.

Also read: Alzheimer's Disease Vaccine? Antibody Experiment in Mice Could Lead to this Breakthrough
VINCENNES BAY, ANTARTICA - JANUARY 11: Giant tabular icebergs are surrounded by ice floe drift in Vincennes Bay on January 11, 2008 in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Australia's CSIRO's atmospheric research unit has found the world is warming faster than predicted by the United Nations' top climate change body, with harmful emissions exceeding worst-case estimates. (Photo : Photo by Torsten Blackwood - Pool/Getty Images)

IN SPACE - FEBRUARY 15: In a screen grab taken from a handout timelapse sequence provided by NASA / SDO, a solar spot in the centre of the Sun is captured from which the first X-class flare was emitted in four years on February 14, 2011. The images taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft reveal the source of the strongest flare to have been released in four years by the Sun, leading to warnings that a resulting geo-magnetic storm may cause disruption to communications and electrical supplies once it reaches the earths magnetic field. (Photo : Image by NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory via Getty Images)

sYizhak Feliks, Justin Small, and Michael Ghil discovered that the Earth's global climate system varies in 11-year and 3,5-year cycles. On July 15th, the work was published in Climate Dynamics.

The solar cycle, which climate skeptics have claimed for decades plays a crucial influence in global warming, has an 11-year near-periodicity. However, the study discovers that the Earth's climate system and the Sun are out of sync.

The research, part of the European TiPES project led by the University of Copenhagen, disproves climate doubters' claims that substantial solar impacts have influenced recent climate development.

Addressing an Issue

The study's primary purpose was to address the controversy over whether massive, complicated climate models can predict climatic tipping points. Climate tipping may have occurred in previous climates.

However, current major IPCC climate models do not reflect fundamental low-frequency oscillations that contribute to climate tipping. If our models are accurate, we may not be able to forecast future climate system tipping points due to present global warming.

Multichannel singular spectrum analysis was utilized to look for low-frequency variations. This technology allows for detecting signals in loud surroundings, such as picking out and isolating the sound of a single musical instrument from a vast orchestra.

Related Article: Solar Storm Incoming: Bursts of Solar Winds Bound to Pass Earth



CESM odels

CESM demonstrated that big climate models could capture low-frequency oscillations by analyzing two sizeable observational data sets and an advanced state-of-the-art climate model. In replicating the Earth's two separate low-frequency modes, the model accords with observations: one with about 11 years, and the other with a period of around 3,5 years.

As a result of this finding, the lack of climatic tipping in complex climate models is less likely to be explained by the absence of low-frequency oscillations.

"Finding a decadal cycle in an IPCC-class model like CESM is fantastic. The failure to find intrinsic decadal variability in the high-end IPCC climate models cast doubts on their reliability. Our work with Yizhak Feliks and Justin Small indicates that these doubts are on their way to being resolved," says Michael Ghil, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France and UCLA, Los Angeles, USA.

The discovery of the divisive near-11-year cycle sparked a comparison of the climate system's and the Sun's cycles, which climate skeptics have long claimed may explain global warming.

Solar Cycle

However, the near-11-year cycles reported in the big climate model and the two observational data sets in this work are obviously out of phase with the Sun. The curves aren't quite right. As a result, the current research suggests that the Sun's variations have little, if any, impact on recent global warming.

"The impacts of the solar cycle on climate in general, and global warming in particular, have spawned hundreds of scholarly papers. There is no single document, pro or con, that will end the argument for good. But our paper brings both a new point of view, from the synchronization theory of chaotic oscillators, and a possible resolution: Yes, there is a decadal climate cycle," says Michael Ghil.

"However, it is a natural part of the climate system that is out of phase with the real solar cycle." This lack of synchronization "strongly suggests that the solar cycle's physical impacts on climate are relatively minimal, and consequently of little practical relevance for global warming," Ghil claims.

Also Read: Expert Warns 'Situation Worse than Covid' if Government Ignores Solar Flare Defense

For more cosmic news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
INVERNESS, SCOTLAND - OCTOBER 18: Pony man David Brown walks with Torquil a Garron pony carrying a stag shot in Glen Markie on Stronelairg on October 18, 2021 on the grounds of the Garrogie Estate near Whitebridge, south of Inverness, Scotland. The recreational stag hunting season in Scotland runs from July 1st until October 20th, followed by the hind (female) deer stalking season. The Garrogie estate also features grouse shooting, as well as sheep farming, four hydro schemes, and a wind farm. (Photo : Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Farmworker Irma Gomez picks cilantro on October 4, 2021, in the Kern County town of Lamont, California, where record heat has fuelled drought and wildfires. - Irma Gomez has worked in California's Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions, for nearly a decade -- but she has never experienced a year as hot as this one, so hot that a colleague collapsed and died in the field. Rising temperatures are increasingly threatening workers in the United States, endangering their health as well as their performance. And that has major economic consequences for the entire country, according to two recent studies. (Photo : Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

A global nitrogen fertilizer shortfall has pushed prices to new highs, forcing farmers in North America to postpone purchases and boosting the prospect of a spring race to apply the crop nutrient before planting season.

Fertilizers

Farmers use nitrogen to increase maize, canola, and wheat yields, and greater fertilizer costs might lead to higher meat and bread prices.

According to the UN food agency, world food prices reached a 10-year high in October, owing to rises in cereal crops such as wheat and vegetable oils.

Fertilizer Production

In February, fertilizer production in the United States was affected by the Texas Arctic blast and Hurricane Ida in August. Then, due to increased demand and limited supplies, natural gas prices in Europe skyrocketed, causing the price of nitrogen to skyrocket. According to BMO Capital Markets, global urea prices surpassed $1,000 per tonne for the first time this month. Exports from Russia and China have been slowed.

According to Daren Coppock, CEO of the Agricultural Retailers Association in the United States, nitrogen fertilizer supplies are ample for applications before winter. Farmers' workload in the spring is reduced when fertilizer is applied before winter.

Related Article: Robotic Farmers: Can AI Farming Make Agriculture More Sustainable?



Threatened Supply

However, because prices are so high, some farmers delay purchases, threatening a supply shortage during their peak season, according to Coppock.

According to Argus Media, global nitrogen fertilizer sales were valued at $53 billion in 2020, and prices have risen by at least 80% this year.

MKC, a Kansas agricultural cooperative, often provides fertilizer to farmers for payment in advance with delivery months later, offering them predictability about a critical expenditure.

Due to the rising cost of goods, MKC has reduced its pre-paid sales.

"You just don't know how much it will cost." "It's put a lot of shops in a bind," Troy Walker, MKC's director of retail fertilizer, said.

Fertilizer Demand

Farmers will hurry to apply fertilizer and put seed during a narrow window if fertilizer purchases are postponed until spring.

"A lot of folks are going to wait and see," Coppock said. "However, if everyone is trying to obtain enough in the spring, someone's corn isn't going to be covered."

Jim Zimmerman, a Wisconsin farmer, decided to take the plunge and buy all of his fertilizer in advance of the spring planting season.

"I'm concerned about next year's costs," Zimmerman remarked. "Things may become a lot worse."

Because manufacturers are making less nitrogen fertilizer accessible, Nutrien Ltd, the largest US agricultural supplier, has acquired less nitrogen fertilizer than usual for spring delivery, according to Jeff Tarsi, the company's senior vice-president of retail. He predicted that sales to farmers would be closer to spring than average.

Urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) is the only nitrogen commodity in low supply in North America, according to Kreg Ruhl, crop nutrients manager of Illinois-based agricultural cooperative Growmark. UAN comes in a liquid form that is easy for farmers to use.

At the request of US producer CF Industries, the US International Trade Commission is launching an anti-dumping probe into UAN from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.

According to Ruhl, importers are hesitant to schedule shipments for 2022 because if CF wins its lawsuit, they may be forced to pay retroactive tariffs.

Farmers may save money on fertilizer by growing more soya beans and less maize, but there isn't much indication that they would.

Decrease in Crop Production

Some farmers may be disappointed if they wait until spring to buy fertilizer, according to Matt Conacher, senior fertilizer manager at Federated Cooperatives Limited, a Canadian wholesaler.

"My recommendation is to obtain your fertilizer as soon as possible," Conacher added.

Also Read: Farmers and Food Workers to Get $600 Relief as Part of $700M Stimulus Check

For more Agricultural News, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
MIDDLETOWN  Hundreds of volunteers and dozens of local businesses and organizations worked to provide more than 800 Thanksgiving meals for families in need this holiday through the annual Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project.

Over the past few weeks, food items and monetary donations were collected from dozens of local businesses and organizations in order to create the food baskets. On Tuesday, between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., 839 Thanksgiving meals were distributed, according to event coordinator Lara SantaMaria.

The meals came in baskets filled with turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, bread and pie. Close to 100 baskets were delivered by the Rotary Club to disabled or home-bound individuals, and the rest were picked up in the Fellowship Church parking lot at 1002 Saybrook Road.

SantaMaria has spearheaded the event for the last 10 years. She said that there were a few additional challenges this year, including the national shortages of turkeys and truck drivers. We were worried for quite a while there, but it worked out.

The project needs a refrigerated truck in order to keep the food fresh before it is distributed. This year, Jukonski Truck Services allowed use of a truck and driver to make it happen.

Turkeys were donated from multiple sources, including close to 250 from the Middletown Police Department.

We couldnt do it without the Middletown Police Department, SantaMaria said. Theyre the only reason we can hand out turkeys.

Overall, she is pleased with this years project. It was very successful, SantaMaria said.

She added that so many canned items were collected this year that extras could be added to each basket. They were very full boxes this year thanks to generous donations, SantaMaria said.

Close to 200 volunteers helped package and distribute the baskets. Theyve been doing it for years, SantaMaria said. They love doing it.

SantaMaria explained why she loves participating. Its so gratifying to be able to help people, she said. Its just nice to be able to help people that wouldnt otherwise have that Thanksgiving.

Thats why last year, even with the COVID-19 pandemic in full force, the group still put on the event. The basket pick-up was drive-through only, and less volunteers could help in order to keep them socially distanced.

We did what we could because we still wanted to help, SantaMaria said.

Changing the routine because of the coronavirus ended up improving the operation. We did drive-through again this year because it went so well last year, she said.

To find out how to help with next years event, visit the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project Facebook page.
A new coronavirus variant identified in southern Africa is leading to a new round of travel restrictions just as many had finally begun to ease.

The risks of the variant, called omicron, are largely unknown. But the World Health Organization has called it a variant of concern and governments around the world are not waiting for scientists to better understand the variant to impose flight bans and other travel restrictions.

The U.S. said Friday it will ban travel from South Africa and seven other African nations by non-US citizens beginning Monday. European Union nations agreed earlier in the day to impose a ban on travel from southern Africa to counter the variant's spread. The U.K., Canada and other countries have imposed similar restrictions.

The moves have renewed a debate over whether flight bans and other travel restrictions work to prevent the spread of new variants. Some say at best the restrictions can buy time for new public health measures to be put in place. At worst, they do little to stop the spread and give a false sense of security.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said it strongly discouraged imposing travel bans on people coming from countries where the variant was reported.

DO TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS SLOW THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS?

They might buy countries more time to speed up vaccination and introduce other measures, like masking and social distancing, but they are highly unlikely to prevent the entry of new variants, said Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Edinburgh.

Travel restrictions can delay but not prevent the spread of a highly transmissible variant, he said.

Johns Hopkins University infectious disease specialist Dr. Amesh Adalja says the travel restrictions only give the public a false sense of security and should stop being the knee-jerk reaction by public officials. Adalja noted imposing restrictions makes politicians look as if theyre doing something but doesnt make sense when countries now have countermeasures such as rapid tests and vaccines.

Meanwhile, Swedens chief epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell told a local news agency said he does not believe that a travel ban would have any major effect, other than for countries with direct flights to the affected areas.

It is basically impossible to keep track of all travel flows, Tegnell told the Expressen newspaper.

COULD IT BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME?

Jeffrey Barrett, director of COVID-19 Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, thought that the early detection of the new variant could mean restrictions taken now would have a bigger impact than when the delta variant first emerged.

The surveillance is so good in South Africa and other nearby countries that they found this (new variant), understood it was a problem and told the world very fast about it, he said. We may be at an earlier point with this new variant so there may still be time to do something about it."

However, Barrett said harsh restrictions would be counter-productive and that the South African officials should not be punished for alerting the world to the new variant. Theyve done the world a service and we must help them, not penalize them for this.

WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?

Sharon Peacock, who has led the genetic sequencing in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said any decisions to restrict travel were political decisions, not scientific ones. She emphasized that there was still great uncertainty about the new variant, including whether it is actually more infectious or deadly. Although some of the mutations detected appeared worrying, she said there is still no proof that the new variant is any more lethal or transmissible than previous versions.

Its possible to keep infection out, but you would need very, very severe restrictions and only some countries would be willing to do this, she said.

Buying time is important and worthwhile, but this is a decision for policymakers, she said. At the moment, we wont have any definitive scientific answers for a few weeks.

WHAT ABOUT ECONOMIC IMPACTS?

If theres anything the global economy didnt need, its more uncertainty.

A new highly transmissible coronavirus poses an economic as well as a health risk, threatening to disrupt the global economic recovery and worsen supply chain bottlenecks that are already pushing prices higher. Markets plummeted around the world over worries about the variant  and reaction from political leaders.

The most worrying thing about the new strain at the moment is how little we know about it, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst for the currency trading firm OANDA.

_____

AP writers Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, Paul Wiseman in Washington and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen contributed to this report.

_____

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.
AP

EXPLAINER: What we know and don't know about omicron variant

The World Health Organization says it could still take some time to get a full picture of the threat posed by omicron, a new variant of the coronavirus as scientists worldwide scramble to assess its multiple mutations
Champaign, IL (61820)

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AP

The already fractious relationship between France and Britain is spiralling further downward into anger and incomprehension in the turbulent aftermath of 27 migrant deaths this week
The threat of disease transmission from conservationists moving wild animals between habitats or back into the wild needs to be urgently assessed to minimize risk. Experts at the University of Birmingham are calling on local and national health authorities and wildlife managers to adopt a robust approach.

In a new paper, published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, researchers in the University's College of Life and Environmental Sciences, collaborating with Wildlife Impact and other sector partners, have highlighted the issues using the example of translocated orangutans in Indonesia.

All three species of orangutans in Indonesia are listed as Critically Endangered, and moving animals between habitats is a fairly common practice as demands for agriculture, mining, and other natural resource use puts pressure on the forests they inhabit. Interactions and conflict between humans and orangutans sharing the same habitats also contributes to the complex problems facing these rare species across their range.

During the covid 19 pandemic, the team identified instances of orangutans being released who had been in direct contact or proximity to humans without any protective equipment. In some cases, formerly captive orangutans were released after long periods of contact and potential exposure to human diseases.

The team's results suggest that there is a potential problem of pathogen transmission between humans and animals which needs to be properly understood and managed.

"Covid 19 threw a big spotlight on the risks of releasing captive orangutans back into the wild, or moving them between habitats, but we've been concerned for several years about the ways in which these practices risk the transmission of pathogens such as TB from orangutans exposed to human disease into wild orangutan populations and to other wildlife species," explained the study's co-author, Dr Steve Unwin. "While we can never eliminate all risk, our investigations showed the mitigation measures commonly used are not consistently practiced or enforced.

"If we don't address this deficient, we risk humans acting as a reservoir to transmit disease to endangered species which, if lost, contribute to the overall degradation of our environment. Though there has been much attention paid in both scientific and popular media to the risk of transmission of disease from wildlife to people, the risk in the other direction (from humans to wildlife) is actually much greater."

The team has put together a set of recommendations that can be used by health authorities worldwide which will minimize the risk of disease transmission. This includes:

Conducting a Disease Risk Analysis for orangutan translocation, including identifying what the risks are, and agreeing on acceptable risk levels that will protect wild populations and other species including humans

Improving pathogen surveillance

Putting mitigation measures in place to decrease the likelihood of disease outbreaks, including sufficient PPE and limiting the numbers of people present when animals are released

Refocusing conservation efforts on finding alternatives to translocation

Conserving orangutans by enforcing laws protecting habitats, and assisting communities to develop sustainable solutions to live in harmony alongside wild orangutans.

Disease risk analysis is a way to reduce the uncertainty about disease spread in populations and identify the gaps in the data. While our study focused on orangutans, this approach offers workable solutions for reducing risk of disease transmission in any wild animal species." Dr Steve Unwin, study's co-author
A combination of two targeted cancer drugs showed unprecedented, "clinically meaningful" activity in patients with highly malignant brain tumors that carried a rare genetic mutation, according to a clinical trial report by investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The drug combination, which blocked an overactive cell-growth signaling pathway, shrank tumors by 50% or more in one-third of 45 patients with hard-to-treat high-grade gliomas, including glioblastomas, the most aggressive brain tumor. The patients were selected for the trial because their tumors carried a genetic mutation known as v600E in the BRAF gene. This mutation is found in only two to three percent of patients with high-grade gliomas but is found in up to 60% of certain types of low-grade gliomas. The study included 13 patients with low-grade gliomas. Of those patients, nine had an objective response to treatment with the drug combination, for a response rate of 69%.

"This is the first time that any targeted drug has been shown to work in glioblastoma in a clinical trial," said Patrick Wen, MD, first author of the report in The Lancet Oncology and director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber. With all current chemotherapy treatments for glioblastomas, the response rate is no better than five per cent, he said, which contrasts with the 33 percent response rate achieved by the combination. The response rate was even higher  about 40 %  in patients younger than 40 years of age, according to Wen.

The two drugs paired in the study were dabrafenib and trametinib. Both drugs target proteins in the MAPK pathway, a signaling chain of proteins that acts as a switch for cell growth and can become stuck in the "on" position, causing uncontrolled growth leading to tumors.

Three patients had complete responses  their tumors no longer could be seen on imaging scan  and 12 had partial shrinkage of their tumors. The patients were not cured, but those who responded to the drugs experienced remarkably durable benefits  by one assessment, the median duration of response was 13.6 months, and by another assessment, it was 36.9 months.

The findings are from an ongoing phase 2 study called ROAR (Rare Oncology Agnostic Research) that has been enrolling patients since 2014 in 27 community and academic cancer centers in 13 countries. The study is a so-called "basket" trial, which seeks to enroll patients who share a common tumor characteristic  in this case the BRAF v600E mutation  although they may have an array of different cancers. The ROAR study includes patients with thyroid and biliary tract cancers, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, hairy cell leukemia, multiple myeloma, low- and high-grade glioma brain tumors, and others.

The study is designed to determine the overall response rate of dabrafenib combined with trametinib in patients with BRAF V600E-mutated cancers. The BRAF protein is a growth signaling protein kinase that plays a role in regulating the MAPK signaling pathway. BRAF V600E mutations drive cancer by activating the MAPK pathway, which is made up of many proteins, resulting in uncontrolled cell growth and the development of a tumor.

The drugs used in this study, dabrafenib and trametinib, are oral drugs that block parts of the overactive MAPK signaling pathway. Dabrafenib inhibits an enzyme, B-Raf, and trametinib inhibits molecules called MEK1 and MEK2, which are part of the MAPK pathway. They have been used in combination to treat melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and thyroid cancer.

Gliomas are cancer that originate in the glia  the supporting cells of the brain  not the brain neurons themselves. Gliomas comprise about 80 percent of all malignant brain tumors. Some are slow-growing low-grade gliomas, while others are aggressive high-grade gliomas including glioblastomas that are difficult to remove and almost always recur. No important advances in treating gliomas in recent years, the authors of the report said, but there have been isolated reports of the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib showing activity in gliomas. Their report from the ROAR study "is the first time that a combination of BRAF inhibitor (dabrafenib) and a MEK inhibitor (trametinib) have shown notable activity in these difficult-to-treat gliomas, including glioblastomas which have historically shown resistance to therapies."

Although the drugs only helped patients whose tumors carried the rare V600E mutation, Wen said the results were encouraging "because people were starting to think you will never have any targeted therapies for glioblastoma." He added that there is emerging evidence that there may be other targets in gliomas that could be blocked by designer drugs.

The ROAR trial was originally designed and sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and is currently sponsored by Novartis.

Wen reports research support from Agios, AstraZeneca/MedImmune, Bayer, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Genentech/Roche, Kazia Therapeutics, MediciNova, Merck, Novartis, Nuvation Bio, Oncoceutics, Vascular Biogenics, and VBI Vaccines; and has an advisory or board member role in Agios, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Black Diamond, Boston Pharmaceuticals, ElevateBio, Imvax, Karyopharm Therapeutics, Merck, Mundipharma, Novartis, Novocure, Nuvation Bio, Prelude Therapeutics, QED Therapeutics, Sapience, Vascular Biogenics, VBI Vaccines, and Voyager.
The country's top doctors and medical experts are urging pregnant women to get their COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible, as new data published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today [November Thursday 25] provides further evidence that the vaccines are safe for this group.

The data shows the vaccines have good birth outcomes in vaccinated women who had their babies up to August this year - with no consistent differences between vaccinated women and all women in the figures for stillbirths, low baby birthweights and premature births.

This is in contrast to those who catch the virus, with unvaccinated women at far higher risk of contracting COVID-19. In August 2021, only 22% of women who gave birth were vaccinated.

Of those pregnant women in hospital with symptomatic COVID-19, 98% are unvaccinated, and no fully vaccinated pregnant women were admitted to intensive care with COVID-19 in England between February and the end of September 2021. Around one in five women who are hospitalized with the virus need to be delivered preterm to help them recover and one in five of their babies need care in the neonatal unit.

Around 84,000 pregnant women have had the jab in the UK and senior clinicians across the health system are therefore encouraging women to get the jab urgently to protect themselves and their babies from the virus.

Pregnant women aged 40 and over, who are health or social care workers or are in an at-risk group are now also eligible for booster vaccines, six months after their second dose.

Professor Lucy Chappell, DHSC's Chief Scientific Adviser and Honorary Consultant Obstetrician, said:

This pandemic has created a lot of fear and uncertainty for those who are thinking about pregnancy or expecting a baby, with COVID-19 being very dangerous for pregnant women in particular. It is therefore really important that they get their COVID-19 vaccine - which has now protected hundreds of thousands of pregnant women around the world. Today's data are hugely reassuring and further shows the vaccines continue to be the best way pregnant women can keep themselves and their babies safe from this virus."

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at UKHSA, said:

We already know that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself from serious illness. If you haven't already been vaccinated, this new information should add to the reassuring safety data. Every pregnant woman who has not yet been vaccinated should feel confident to go and get the jab, and that this will help to prevent the serious consequences of catching COVID-19 in pregnancy. This accumulating evidence will also allow midwives and other health professionals to provide better information to pregnant women and help to drive uptake higher. Our figures also highlight stark inequalities in uptake with many of the most vulnerable women in our society going unvaccinated. It is vital that women of all backgrounds accept their offer of their vaccine in order to protect themselves."

Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and Deputy Lead for the NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, said:

It is clear from the data that pregnant women are more likely to become very unwell if they catch COVID-19 - with one in five of the most critically ill coronavirus patients being unvaccinated expectant mothers. This new and encouraging research shows there are no significant concerns about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy, so we will continue to advise midwives and clinicians to give expectant mums the information and support they need to make the right decision for them and their babies."

The vaccines are safe for pregnant women and have no impact on fertility, which has been made extremely clear by the government, its senior clinicians and a range of independent experts from stakeholder groups such as RCOG, RCM and the British Fertility Society.

The proportion of women who gave birth and were vaccinated during pregnancy has been steadily increasing since 16 April 2021, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised all pregnant women should be offered two vaccine doses at the same time as the rest of the population, based on their age and clinical risk group.

This means the majority of women in this group would have had their vaccine from June, in line with their age cohort, and the figures are therefore expected to continue to increase in future publications.

The JCVI make decisions based on the latest available evidence and updated their advice following emerging robust safety data from the US. The original advice preceding this decision was for pregnant women to discuss vaccination with their clinician.

The figures also show uptake in the most deprived areas and for those from certain ethnic minority communities is lower than for other areas or ethnicities, but follows a similar pattern to the uptake figures for these groups in the general population. This includes 5.5% of black pregnant women and 7.8% of pregnant women from the most deprived areas being vaccinated.

The government is working closely with RCOG, RCM and other key stakeholders on engaging with women who are either pregnant or thinking about pregnancy and providing them with the latest advice and information at every possible opportunity. It's also working with faith and community leaders to increase vaccine uptake, holding regular meetings to discuss the best ways to provide information to their communities.

The Chief Midwifery Officer for England, Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, has also written to fellow midwives and GP practices across the country stressing the need to encourage pregnant women to get the jab.

Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup said:

It's absolutely vital that pregnant women get their COVID-19 vaccine if they haven't already - with the virus increasing the risk of severe illness and premature birth for those who catch it. I urge everyone, including pregnant women, to get their vaccine as soon as they can to take advantage of this crucial protection."

Dr June Raine, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said:

We want to reassure all pregnant women that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective for them to use at all stages of pregnancy. Our rigorous safety monitoring of these vaccines in pregnancy shows that the vaccines are safe and that there is no increased risk of pregnancy complications, miscarriage or stillbirth. The data highlights the importance of those who are pregnant receiving the vaccine. Our advice remains that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks for most people, including those who are pregnant. We encourage pregnant women to come forward and receive the vaccine. Please speak to your doctor or midwife if you have any questions.

Dr Mary Ross-Davie, Director for Professional Midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said:

When you're pregnant, you want to do all you can to keep your baby - and yourself - safe. That's why the RCM is urging women to take up the COVID-19 vaccine. Having COVID-19 during pregnancy carries a far higher risk than having the vaccine, particularly in the later stages where it can have serious consequences for both mother and baby. It can double the chance of stillbirth and triples the chance of a preterm birth, which can have long term health impact for the baby. We know that the vaccine is a safe and effective way of preventing this, with hundreds of thousands of pregnant women worldwide having been vaccinated. And we also know that women turn to their midwives for advice, so we've produced some great resources for midwives and maternity staff to support women in their decision-making."

Dr Edward Morris, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), said:

This important report is the first detailed analysis of COVID-19 vaccine coverage in women giving birth in the UK and provides further reassuring evidence that vaccinated women have no increased risk of having a stillbirth or low birthweight baby. The evidence reinforces our strong recommendation that getting vaccinated before or during pregnancy is the best way to protect against the known harms of developing COVID-19 while pregnant, including admission to intensive care and premature birth. We are concerned that women of Black ethnicity and those living in the most deprived areas in England were least likely to have been vaccinated before they gave birth. Efforts must be strengthened to support and encourage these groups - who are already at the highest risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes - to accept the offer of vaccination."

A government-backed trial, Preg-CoV, has also been launched to provide more data about how the NHS can best protect pregnant women and their babies, and the evidence will be used inform future vaccination programmes. Pregnant women are being encouraged to sign-up to the trial.

The data has been published for the first time today, now sufficient numbers of women who were pregnant when the vaccines were rolled out have given birth.
The government is taking decisive precautionary action against a new COVID-19 variant by introducing travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia from midday tomorrow (Friday 26 November).

It comes as Variant B.1.1.529 is declared a Variant under Investigation (VuI) by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome. These are potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility. More investigation is required.

No cases have been identified in the UK. We are taking these precautionary measures to protect public health and the progress we've made so far through our successful vaccination programme.

From midday on Friday 26 November, non-UK and Irish residents who have been in these countries in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England. This does not apply to those who have stayed airside and only transited through any of these countries while changing flights.

UK and Irish residents arriving between midday Friday 26 November and 4am Sunday 28 November from these six countries will be required to self-isolate at home for 10 days. They must take PCR tests on Day 2 and Day 8 post-arrival. These can be NHS PCR tests and passengers should take them even if they have already booked or taken their lateral flow test.

UK and Irish residents arriving from 4am Sunday must isolate in a government-approved facility for 10 days. During their stay, they will be required to take a coronavirus test on day 2 and day 8.

A temporary ban on commercial and private planes travelling from the six countries will also come into force at midday on Friday until 4am Sunday to reduce the risk of importing this new variant under investigation while hotel quarantine is stood up. This excludes cargo and freight without passengers.

The UK government thanks the government of South Africa for its surveillance of this variant and its transparency. Meanwhile the UKHSA continues to monitor the situation closely, in partnership with scientific and public health organisations across the world, and we will offer to work collaboratively with the six countries that have been currently placed on the UK red list to understand the virus and possible mitigations.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid said:

As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant, which UKHSA has designated a Variant under Investigation. We are taking precautionary action to protect public health and the progress of our vaccine rollout at a critical moment as we enter winter, and we are monitoring the situation closely. I want to pay tribute to our world-leading scientists who are working constantly to keep our country safe, and I urge everyone to keep doing their bit by the getting the jab and following public health guidance."

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

We've always maintained public safety is our number one priority, which is why we've kept in place measures which allow us to protect the UK from new variants. We're taking this early precautionary action now to protect the progress made across the country, and will continue to keep a close eye on the situation as we continue into the winter."

Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive, said:

Scientists at UKHSA are in constant close collaboration with colleagues around the world to identify and assess variants as soon as they emerge. This is the most significant variant we have encountered to date and urgent research is underway to learn more about its transmissibility, severity and vaccine-susceptibility. The results of these investigations will determine what public health actions may limit the impact of B.1.1.529 This is a clear reminder to everyone that this pandemic is not over, and we all have a responsibility to do what we can to limit transmission and reduce the infection rate and prevent the emergence of new variants. This means coming forward for vaccination as soon as possible and following public health advice. Wear a face covering in crowded places where it's difficult to avoid coming into close contact with others, try to meet people in well-ventilated areas and seek a test immediately if you have symptoms."

The first genomes of this variant were uploaded to the international GISAID database on 22 November. Genomes have now been uploaded from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong but the extent of spread is not yet determined.

The government has been clear it will take decisive action if necessary to contain the virus and has taken the decision to add these destinations to the red list.

We continue to work with the hospitality sector to ensure it is ready to meet any increased demand - with hundreds of rooms on standby which can be made available to book as needed.

British nationals in these countries should check Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) travel advice and follow local guidance. The FCDO will continue to offer tailored consular assistance to British nationals in country in need of support overseas on a 24/7 basis.

The UKHSA produces risk assessments of the spread of Variants of Concern or Variants under Investigation internationally. These risk assessments cover a range of factors for each country including assessment of surveillance and sequencing capability, available surveillance and genome sequencing data, evidence of in-country community transmission of COVID-19 variants, evidence of exportation of new variants to the UK or other countries and travel connectivity with the UK.

Background
Six years ago, Michael Niederweis, Ph.D., described the first known toxin of the deadly pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), an exotoxin that had gone undetected for 132 years.

Now Niederweis and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham describe the mechanism of secretion and trafficking of that toxin, TNT, which is the major cytotoxicity factor for the pathogen that infects 9 million people a year and kills more than 1 million.

Their report, published in Nature Communications, identifies key secretion systems used by Mtb in pathogenesis, which makes them candidate targets for therapeutics.

When Mtb bacteria are inhaled into a human lung, they are engulfed by host lung macrophages and trapped inside intracellular vesicles called phagosomes. Mtb prevents the phagosome from merging with a lysosome, which otherwise would kill the bacteria. Instead, Mtb safely grows inside the phagosomes, then breaks out of the phagosomes into the cytosol of the macrophage, and it uses the TNT toxin to kill the macrophage by necroptosis, releasing the bacteria to infect other cells.

Exotoxin export from Mtb or similar bacteria face two barriers -; first, the toxin protein needs to be transported across the bacteria's cytoplasmic membrane, and then, it needs to be transported across the bacteria's outer membrane. To do this, bacteria employ a wide variety of specialized secretion systems -; essentially molecular machines that recognize and transport the bacterial toxins or other proteins involved in a variety of bacterial functions, such as adherence or scavenging.

Toxin secretion mechanisms have been described in almost all major bacterial pathogens, but there has been one notable exception -; Mtb.

Now, Niederweis, David Pajuelo, Ph.D., Uday Tak, Ph.D., Lei Zhang, Ph.D., UAB Department of Microbiology, have used a comprehensive genetic analysis to learn which of the five type VII secretion systems in Mtb is used for TNT secretion. They also discovered which three secretion systems are essential, acting in concert, to permeabilize the phagosome membrane. That sieve-like damage allows TNT to enter the macrophage cytosol, where it depletes NAD+ to induce necroptotic death.

The five type VII secretion systems in Mtb are known as ESX-1, ESX-2, ESX-3, ESX-4 and ESX-5. Each of these secretion systems is a complex of between seven and more than 15 proteins that form the molecular machinery. Up to now, no roles were known for ESX-2 and ESX-4.

TNT begins its journey as a part of a larger protein, CpnT. Only when CpnT reaches the outer membrane does the toxic TNT break away from the larger protein. Niederweis and colleagues found that both export to the cell surface and secretion of CpnT/TNT into the cytosol of macrophages infected with Mtb require the ESX-4 system. This is the first known molecular function for the ESX-4 system in Mtb.

While it was known that ESX-1 participates in permeabilizing the phagosome membrane, the UAB researchers surprisingly found that ESX-2 and ESX-4 are also required to act in concert with ESX-1 to rupture the phagosomal membrane and enable trafficking of TNT into the cytosol of Mtb-infected macrophages.

Thus, our study identifies not only the system required for the secretion of the only known exotoxin of Mtb, but also establishes new molecular roles for the two previously uncharacterized type VII secretion systems, ESX-2 and ESX-4, in phagosomal rupture, a critical step in Mtb pathogenesis." Michael Niederweis, Ph.D., UAB

In the Nature Communications paper, the researchers also propose a model for TNT production, export, secretion and trafficking by Mtb, and they point out the steps of this process that are still unclear.

"The paradigm-changing discovery that both the ESX-2 and ESX-4 systems need to act in concert with the ESX-1 system to permeabilize the phagosomal membrane raises important questions regarding the molecular mechanism of this process and the regulation of these activities," Niederweis said. "This study presents a major advancement in our understanding of protein secretion and trafficking by Mtb and will certainly stimulate further research in these important areas of Mtb biology."
Hospital can be very challenging and stressful places in which to work. They are equipped to treat seriously ill patients who need constant monitoring, such as patients with severe COVID-19,those who require organ support or who are recovering from a major operation. Reducing the negative psychological impacts on critical care staff can have a range of positive outcomes, including improved job satisfaction and a higher quality of patient care.

Kate Grailey from the at Imperial College London, UK, along with her colleagues, conducted a study of the factors in the workplace environment that contribute to employee stress in critical care units. Their aim was to identify those factors that are modifiable, and how these can be addressed,in order to reduce staff stress. They present their conclusions in a in Elsevier's journal .

A comprises various factors including the physical space itself and its conditions and facilities, the social interactions and atmosphere, the support and recognition an employee receives, and the processes and procedures of the organisation.

The critical care workplace can be a challenging and fast-paced environment with its ongoing need to provide exemplary care for the sickest patients in the hospital." Kate Grailey, Imperial College London, UK

Moreover, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the profile of critical care has been raised, highlighting the role it plays in the delivery of a functioning healthcare system. Nevertheless, critical care units remain faced with substantial challenges, such as limited resources, and organisational problems that can lead to elevated job demands and stress.

Grailey and her colleagues recruited participants from a cross-section of professional disciplines and seniority who worked at three critical care units in a London healthcare trust. The multidisciplinary makeup of the participants was a new departure as existing publications, have focused on nursing staff only. The researchers performed , in which they asked the participants a series of predetermined but open-ended questions, enabling the participants to freely discuss the topic, leading to the emergence of new ideas.

Using a thematic analysis technique to analyse the data, Grailey and her colleagues mapped the resultant themes and ideas onto a well-established model called the . This model holds that stress is highest when staff are faced with a high workload and a lack of control over their tasks and conduct (also known as low ''). This mapping highlighted the most significant stressors in the critical care workplace environment, and the negative psychological impacts these created on staff.

These results corroborated the existing literature regarding the impact of stressors and organisational challenges. They also provided new insights into significant factors in the critical care working environment, such as a feeling of isolation experienced when working in single-patient rooms and a lack of support from senior staff. These factors led to increased stress and perceptions of inadequacy.

From this analysis, Grailey and her colleagues created a framework for decision-makers (such as hospital managers and team leaders) to help them to identify the most significant stressors, and to implement mitigating solutions. "This research highlights ways in which team leaders can address modifiable aspects within the workplace environment, such as giving individuals control over their workload, that can reduce psychological strain."
(Newser)  A grandmother in Canada says she was more than a little surprised when the dancing cactus toy she bought for her toddler granddaughter started rapping in Polish about depression and cocaine use. "It just so happens that I am Polish and when I started to listen to the songs and I heard the words," Ania Tanner tells CTV. "I was in shock. I thought what is this, some kind of joke?" She says she bought the toy for the 15-month-old from Walmart's website, where it was described as a fun educational toy with songs in English, Spanish, and Polish. The Polish song is "Gdzie jest bialy wegorz""Where's the White Eel?"by rapper Cygnis. It begins, "Only thing is my head is five grams of cocaine, fly away alone."

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"These items are sold by a third-party seller on our marketplace website," a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement. "We are removing the items while we look into this complaint further." After similar complaints about the toy earlier this year, a rep for Cygnis said the Chinese manufacturer had used the song without permission and the rapper planned to take legal action. In June, a Polish woman living in Taiwan told Taiwan News that she had complained about the cactus being sold as a toddler's toy despite the explicit lyrics.

It's not clear why the toy was still on the market months after the complaints and threats of legal action. Tanner says she's relieved Walmart has now stopped selling it. Tracey Anne Duncan at Mic, however, argues that while it's clearly not a toy for children, the "perversely ironic stuffed and prickly chanteuse" should stay on the market. "Does no one see that all this apropos gift item needs is a little rebranding? Just rename it, 'Coke-craving Cactus Dancer,' and lets all put it on our adults-only list for Santa," Duncan writes. (Read more strange stuff stories.)
(Newser)  The Russian Supreme Court on Thursday took up a prosecutor's request to permanently shut down a leading human rights group, another step in a crackdown against government opponents. The International Memorial Society documents executions and the imprisonment of dissidents during the Soviet era, the Washington Post reports. The Memorial Human Rights Center, the human rights arm, uncovers current abuses by the Russian government. The organization includes more than 50 groups in Russia and elsewhere, per the AP. Human rights observers and Russian citizens expressed shock at the attempt to abolish the group.

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A crowd gathered outside the Supreme Court building in Moscow on Thursday in support of the organization as the hearing began. Police detained at least three people in the crowd, including two older women carrying banners that said: "Thank you, Memorial, for remembering us" and "You can't kill the memory of the people." A spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch recently called the moves against the organization an "outrageous assault on the jugular of Russia's civil society." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also has been critical.

The Russian government's strategy is to declare such groups "foreign agents." That requires them to put "Foreign Agent" warning labels on everything they publish and also subjects to groups to tougher rules on reporting finances. If the court decides to outlaw Memorial, its chair said Thursday, it will keep operating anyway while it fights the ruling. "We will appeal up to the European court level," Oleg Orlov said, "and we'll keep working one way or another." After several hours, the court adjourned the hearing until Dec. 14. (Read more human rights stories.)
(Newser)  The snowboarding world is mourning accomplished freestyler Marko Grilc, who died in an accident while filming in Austria this week. The 38-year-old, nicknamed "Grilo," was one of the most successful snowboarders Slovenia has ever produced, with nine podium finishes over an 11-year competitive career that started in 2002, CNN reports. In later years, he focused on snowboarding-related filming ventures. Police in Austria say Grilc was part of a team exploring terrain near the ski resort of Solden Tuesday when he fell while descending a slope in deep snow and hit his head on a snow-covered rock. Grilc, who was not wearing a helmet, died at the scene, police say.

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Grilc is survived by two young children and fiancee Nina, who is pregnant with their third child, the Slovenia Times reports. Grilc's "legendary acclaim might have come from his early days riding, but over the past few years his role as a father and teacher in snowboarding forever solidified him as a pillar of our culture," Mark Clavin writes in an obituary in Snowboard magazine. Sponsors GoPro and Burton Snowboards also paid tribute to Grilc. "He was a beloved member of the GoPro family and inspired us not only as a professional athlete, but as a father and an amazing human," GoPro said in a statement. "He was a legend and will be truly missed." (Read more snowboarding stories.)
(Newser)  A 31-year-old woman in Chicago was mourning the death of her 14-year-old son when she was shot dead in the same spot he had died only three days earlier. Kevin Tinker Jr. had been walking home from a friend's house in the Roseland neighborhood shortly after 5pm Sunday when he was fatally shot multiple times, his father tells CBS Chicago. "He was a good kid. He didn't gang bang" but "some violence found him," said Kevin Tinker Sr. Kevin's mother, Delisa Tucker, was lighting candles at the site of his death early Wednesday when she was also shot and killed, according to a GoFundMe page.

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Police, who found her on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the chest shortly after midnight, said there were no witnesses to the killing. "We need justice for Delisa and Kevin. That's all we want, family friend Michelle Tharpe told CBS. "They didn't deserve this." She urged people to donate to the GoFundMe page she created to raise funds for funeral expenses and Tucker's other five children, between the ages of 4 and 15, who are now without a mother. On the page, she writes that Tucker "lost her mother and brother last year and now this  This world is so cold."

Police are now asking for the public's help in identifying two suspects linked to Kevin's murder. They've released store surveillance footage showing two Black males in black hoodies getting into a silver-colored Nissan hatchback, per WGN. "If you see these individuals, DO NOT APPROACH! Call 911," police said. There have been 3,105 shooting incidents in Chicago this year as of Nov. 8, for a 10% increase over 2020 and 66% increase over 2019, per ABC News. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, 729 people have been killed this year, compared to 775 in all of 2020 and 501 in 2019. (Read more murder stories.)
(Newser)  France and Britain are butting heads over how to address the migrant crisis in the Channel following the deaths of 17 men; seven women, one of whom was pregnant; and three children on Wednesday, per the BBC. French President Emmanuel Macron told Britain to "get serious" after Prime Minister Boris Johnson requested that France take back all migrants who illegally cross the 45-mile stretch of water between the two countries in a public letter shared Thursday on Twitter, per Reuters. A French government spokesman quickly deemed it "unacceptable." It's "clearly not what we need to solve this problem," Gabriel Attal said, per the AP, adding Britain Home Secretary Priti Patel was now disinvited to a European meeting in Calais to discuss the problem, set for Sunday.

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Relations between the two countries have been strained for weeks by the migrant crisis and a submarine deal, but that statement marked "a sharp deterioration," per the AP. Johnson had also proposed that British border officials be allowed to patrol the beaches of northern France and that both countries be permitted maritime patrols and airborne surveillance in each other's waters. Macron himself said he'd had a serious discussion with Johnson after Wednesday's tragedy, but the methods proposed "are not serious," per the BBC. British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps countered that Johnson made the proposals in "good faith." "I dont think there is anything inflammatory to ask for close co-operation with our nearest neighbors," he added.

French officials, however, fault Britain for making itself too attractive to migrants, who can easily remain and work in the country. Doctors Without Borders has also faulted the UK for its "harsh migration policies" following a crackdown at the France-UK border, per NBC News. Robert McNeil of the University of Oxfords Migration Observatory tells the outlet that the only route to asylum is to "actively arrive on UK soil." More than 23,000 people have done so via small boat this year, up from 8,500 last year, according to the British government. More than 90% of those who made the crossing between January 2020 and May 2021 came from 10 countries "where human rights abuses and persecution are common," including Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria, according to a Refugee Council report. (Read more migrants stories.)
(Newser)  Ukraine's president made some stunning allegations at a press conference Friday. Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence had received information that a coup was being plotted for Wednesday or Thursday next week. He said security services had obtained recordings of Russian and Ukrainian officials discussing a coup and mentioning the possible involvement of Rinat Akhmetov, the country's richest oligarch, the AP reports. Zelensky said he believes Akhmetov is being "dragged into the war against Ukraine," which would be "a big mistake, because it is impossible to fight against the people, against the president elected by the people of Ukraine."

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In recent weeks, tensions have risen both between Moscow and Kyiv and between Zelensky and Akhmetov, whose media properties have been increasingly critical of the president, the Washington Post reports. At Friday's press conference, Zelensky also addressed the buildup of Russian troops along the border, which has caused fears of an imminent Russian invasion, reports Reuters. "We are in full control of our borders and are fully prepared for any escalation," the president said. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said the US has "real concerns about Russias unusual military activity on the border."

Russia firmly denied any role in the alleged coup plot. "Russia had no plans to get involved," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, per the AP. "Russia never does such things at all," Peskov claimed, although Russia did annex Ukraine's Crimea region and has been supporting rebels in the east of the country for years. Zelensky said Friday that he would like Vladimir Putin to publicly declare that he is not planning an invasion, the Wall Street Journal reports. (Read more Ukraine stories.)
(Newser)  A murder suspect who fled from Taiwan to China may have made himself an easy target for authorities as he's now under a mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine. The few travelers admitted to China must spend at least 14 days in quarantine as part of efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19, per CNN. According to Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, the male suspect in his 30s with the last name Huang, accused of fatally shooting a 45-year-old man twice in the neck in New Taipei City early Monday, hopped on a plane to the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen within hours, only to become trapped by China's policies.

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Taiwanese authorities say Huang carefully planned the murder, waiting outside his victim's home. He allegedly opted not to shoot the man with the surname Ho when he emerged with a child around 7am, but opened fire when Ho returned from dropping the child at school about an hour later, reports Taiwan News and the Central News Agency. Ho's wife and youngest daughter were reportedly home at the time. Huang allegedly then abandoned his vehicle in a shopping mall parking lot, changed clothes, took a taxi to a metro station, changed clothes again, then took another taxi to Taoyuan International Airport, where he boarded a flight to Xiamen around noon. A gun found in a drain outside an airport terminal is thought to be the murder weapon, per Taiwan News.

The CIB subsequently sent an extradition request, received by China's Ministry of Public Security, per CNN. It's unclear how Beijing will respond, however, given that relations between Taiwan and China are at their lowest in decades. Extraditions across the Taiwan Strait have fallen dramatically since Tsai Ing-wen became president of Taiwan in 2016. There were just 17 extraditions that year, compared to 63 in 2015. Only four suspects were returned to Taiwan from China in 2020, and none had been returned this year as of September, CNN reports, noting some users on Chinese social media site Weibo see the case as an opportunity for Beijing to advance its claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. (Read more Taiwan stories.)
(Newser)  Steve Bannon is pushing for the release of court documents as he faces contempt of Congress charges. A "standard protective order for discovery" has been applied to the case, blocking the government and the defense from releasing relevant documents to the public, reports the Washington Post. But "members of the public should make their own independent judgment as to whether the US Department of Justice is committed to a just result based upon all the facts," reads a statement provided to the Post on Bannon's behalf. It notes Bannon filed an opposition asking the judge "to follow the normal process and allow unfettered access to and use of the documents."

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The former Trump White House adviser, 67, has pleaded not guilty to one count related to his refusal to appear for an Oct. 14 deposition before the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and another related to his refusal to produce documents. Attorneys for the government say there are "less than 20 documents" to be provided, per the Hill. But Bannon's team has said there are many more to find, and that witnesses are also needed. His team claims the government "offered no reason why it wanted to limit Mr. Bannon's attorneys in their use of the documents to prepare a defense."

Defense attorneys also say it's unclear why the documents should be kept from the public when many of them are already public. The House panel is particularly interested in Bannon's role in meetings at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, a block away from the White House, where advisers and lawyers reportedly plotted to reinstate Trump for a second term in the days leading up to Jan. 6. Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and conservative legal scholar John Eastman were also reportedly in attendance, per Business Insider. Eastman was subpoenaed earlier this month. (Read more Steve Bannon stories.)
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(Newser)  The COVID virus keeps mutating, and drugmakers are racing to adapt along with it. But on that front, Merck reported some relatively disappointing news about a pill under developmentmolnupiravir turns out to be 30% effective at reducing hospitalizations and deaths, which is down from preliminary estimates of 50%, reports Reuters. The company announced the updated stats from clinical trials on the same day the FDA made public its initial review of the drug. All of this comes ahead of a pivotal meeting on Tuesday in which outside experts will meet to decide whether to recommend that the agency approve the drug. Pfizer also has a pill awaiting FDA review, and the company says its drug, Paxlovid, reduces severe cases by almost 90%.

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Health authorities are eager to add pills to the COVID arsenals because they could greatly improve treatments. As the Wall Street Journal notes, people could take a pill at home and potentially avoid a trip to the hospital. In general, the initial FDA analysis released Friday found Merck's pill to be effective enough for use, though it did raise concerns over whether pregnant women should take it, reports the AP. That could result in warning labels, allowing doctors to weigh whether benefits outweigh the risks for individual patients. Tuesday's meeting of outside experts is expected to address issues such as that one. No meeting has yet been scheduled on the Pfizer pill. (Read more COVID-19 stories.)
(Newser)  A coalition of organizations protested at Amazon buildings in the US and Europe on Friday, causing scattered disruptions on one of the company's busiest days. Separately, the environmental group Extinction Rebellion blocked access to distribution centers in the UK, the BBC reports, and said at least 30 of its UK protesters were arrested. The group, which calls Amazon "environmentally destructive," said it was taking similar action at company sites in Germany and Netherlands, per the Independent.

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The coalition, Make Amazon Pay, wants the company to raise pay, improve working conditions, stop surveillance on employees, and engage with workers on union organization. The coalition's membership varies but country but includes nonprofits, grass-roots groups and labor and environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, but not Extinction Rebellion. Make Amazon Pay had called for a work stoppage on Friday in 20 countries, per CNET, including the US.

"Amazon takes too much and gives back too little," the coalition says. "The pandemic has exposed how Amazon places profits ahead of workers, society, and our planet," Make Amazon Pay says in its documents. The company said it's making progress, including on such issues as cutting its greenhouse gas emissions and paying its taxes. "If you objectively look at what Amazon is doing in each one of these areas you'll see that we do take our role and our impact very seriously," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday. (After his trip to space, Jeff Bezos said he'll do more to preserve the environment.)
Fairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow showers. High 1F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the evening. Low -7F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 30%.
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is committed to supporting international efforts that enhance development, security and stability. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister said that international partnerships have proven effective in addressing global challenges and are a cornerstone for consolidating the foundations of global peace and security.

HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister were speaking as he received yesterday the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Dr John Chipman, at Riffa Palace.

His Royal Highness highlighted the cooperation between the Kingdom and the IISS, noting the latters success in organising the regional security forum Manama Dialogue, the seventeenth edition of which was recently held in Bahrain.

He said that the forum is an influential global platform that facilitates communication channels and the exchange of ideas on issues of regional and global security and stability.

HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister highlighted the importance of research studies as a base on which international strategies and efforts to strengthen security and stability can be built, noting the role played by the IISS in this aspect.

Dr Chipman expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to meet with HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, noting HRHs commitment to strengthening cooperation between Bahrain and the IISS.

Dr Chipman also expressed his thanks to the Kingdom for hosting the seventeenth edition of the Manama Dialogue.

Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club High Committee Chairman HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa and HH Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa also attended the meeting
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

King Fahad Causeway, a series of bridges and causeways that link the island of Bahrain and Saudi mainland, today celebrates 35 years of operations.

The impressively-engineered causeway, Bahrains only terrestrial link with another country, is named after former Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Work on the 25-kilometre long and 23.3 meters wide causeway was launched in 1981 following studies about numerous geographic and technical details, environmental factors and maritime currents.

It was opened to the public on November 26, 1986, during a grand ceremony attended by the Late King Fahad and HH the Late Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

Cars, buses, trucks, and more recently motorcycles have been steadily using the link to travel quite seamlessly in both directions, boosting its political, economic, social and cultural significance as more than just a road causeway to millions of people and the two Kingdoms and well beyond. Around 400 million people have used the causeway since it was opened.

For most people, the causeway sums up the ease with which they have been able to travel between the two countries

Several Saudi Arabia-based Saudi nationals and foreigners who work or study in Bahrain commute daily while a large number of Bahrain-based expatriates and Bahrainis use the causeway daily to go to their work or universities.

Strong family links between Gulf citizens are a significant factor in the exchange of visits over the causeway. Shopping complexes and recreational facilities are also among the major reasons for trips.

As the causeway became one of the busiest links in the Arab world, drastic changes were introduced to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

Plans to build a second causeway, King Hamad Causeway, named after His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is progressing.

The new causeway would be used by passenger and freight trains besides vehicles. The railway lines will be part of the wider 2,170-km Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) railway network.
ROME (AP)  National Geographic magazines famed green-eyed Afghan Girl has arrived in Italy as part of the Wests evacuation of Afghans following the Taliban takeover of the country, the Italian government said Thursday.

The office of Premier Mario Draghi said Italy organized the evacuation of Sharbat Gulla after she asked to be helped to leave the country. The Italian government will now help to get her integrated into life in Italy, the statement said.

Gulla gained international fame in 1984 as an Afghan refugee girl, after war photographer Steve McCurrys photograph of her, with piercing green eyes, was published on the cover of National Geographic. McCurry found her again in 2002.

In 2014, she surfaced in Pakistan but went into hiding when authorities accused her of buying a fake Pakistani identity card and ordered her deported. She was flown to Kabul where the president hosted a reception for her at the presidential palace and handed her keys to a new apartment.

Italy was one of several Western countries that airlifted hundreds of Afghans out of the country following the departure of U.S. forces and the Taliban takeover in August.

In a statement announcing Gullas arrival in Rome, Draghis office said her photograph had come to symbolize the vicissitudes and conflict of the chapter in history that Afghanistan and its people were going through at the time.

It said it had received requests by those in civil society, and in particular by non-profit organizations working in Afghanistan backing Gulla's plea for help to leave the country.

Italy organized her travel to Italy as part of the wider evacuation program in place for Afghan citizens and the governments plan for their reception and integration, the statement said.
BRUSSELS (AP)  Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world raced Friday to contain a new coronavirus variant potentially more dangerous than the one that has fueled relentless waves of infection on nearly every continent.

A World Health Organization panel named the variant omicron and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant, which is still a scourge driving higher cases of sickness and death in Europe and parts of the United States.

It seems to spread rapidly, U.S. President Joe Biden said of the new variant, only a day after celebrating the resumption of Thanksgiving gatherings for millions of American families and the sense that normal life was coming back at least for the vaccinated. In announcing new travel restrictions, he told reporters, Ive decided that were going to be cautious.

Omicron's actual risks are not understood. But early evidence suggests it carries an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible variants, the WHO said. That means people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered could be subject to catching it again. It could take weeks to know if current vaccines are less effective against it.

In response to the variant's discovery in southern Africa, the United States, Canada, Russia and a host of other countries joined the European Union in restricting travel for visitors from that region, where the variant brought on a fresh surge of infections.

The White House said the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday. Biden issued a declaration later Friday making the travel prohibition official, with exceptions for U.S. citizens and permanent residents and for several other categories, including spouses and other close family.

Medical experts, including the WHO, warned against any overreaction before the variant was thoroughly studied. But a jittery world feared the worst after the tenacious virus triggered a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people around the globe.

We must move quickly and at the earliest possible moment, British Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

Omicron has now been seen in travelers to Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel, as well as in southern Africa.

There was no immediate indication whether the variant causes more severe disease. As with other variants, some infected people display no symptoms, South African experts said. The WHO panel drew from the Greek alphabet in naming the variant omicron, as it has done with earlier, major variants of the virus.

Even though some of the genetic changes appear worrisome, it was unclear how much of a public health threat it posed. Some previous variants, like the beta variant, initially concerned scientists but did not spread very far.

Fears of more pandemic-induced economic turmoil caused stocks to tumble in Asia, Europe and the United States. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly dropped more than 1,000 points. The S&P 500 index closed down 2.3%, its worst day since February. The price of oil plunged about 13%.

The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said. Members of the 27-nation EU have experienced a massive spike in cases recently.

Britain, EU countries and some others introduced their travel restrictions Friday, some within hours of learning of the variant. Asked why the U.S. was waiting until Monday, Biden said only: "Because that was the recommendation coming from my medical team.

The White House said government agencies needed the time to work with airlines and put the travel limits into effect.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights will have to be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this region should respect strict quarantine rules.

She warned that mutations could lead to the emergence and spread of even more concerning variants of the virus that could spread worldwide within a few months."

Its a suspicious variant," said Frank Vandenbroucke, health minister in Belgium, which became the first European Union country to announce a case of the variant. We dont know if its a very dangerous variant.

Omicron has yet to be detected in the United States, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert. Although it may be more transmissible and resistant to vaccines than other variants, "we dont know that for sure right now, he told CNN.

Speaking to reporters outside a bookstore on Nantucket Island, where he was spending the holiday weekend, Biden said the new variant was "a great concern that should make clearer than ever why this pandemic will not end until we have global vaccinations."

He called anew for unvaccinated Americans to get their widely available doses and for governments to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines so they can be more rapidly manufactured around the world.

Israel, one of the world's most vaccinated countries, announced Friday that it also detected its first case of the new variant in a traveler who returned from Malawi. The traveler and two other suspected cases were placed in isolation. Israel said all three were vaccinated, but officials were looking into the travelers' exact vaccination status.

After a 10-hour overnight trip, passengers aboard KLM Flight 598 from Capetown, South Africa, to Amsterdam were held on the edge of the runway Friday morning at Schiphol airport for four hours pending special testing. Passengers aboard a flight from Johannesburg were also isolated and tested.

Its ridiculous. If we didnt catch the dreaded bug before, we're catching it now, said passenger Francesca de Medici, a Rome-based art consultant who was on the flight.

Some experts said the variant's emergence illustrated how rich countries hoarding of vaccines threatens to prolong the pandemic.

Fewer than 6% of people in Africa have been fully immunized against COVID-19, and millions of health workers and vulnerable populations have yet to receive a single dose. Those conditions can speed up spread of the virus, offering more opportunities for it to evolve into a dangerous variant.

This is one of the consequences of the inequity in vaccine rollouts and why the grabbing of surplus vaccines by richer countries will inevitably rebound on us all at some point, said Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Britains University of Southampton. He urged Group of 20 leaders "to go beyond vague promises and actually deliver on their commitments to share doses.

The new variant added to investor anxiety that months of progress containing COVID-19 could be reversed.

Investors are likely to shoot first and ask questions later until more is known, said Jeffrey Halley of foreign exchange broker Oanda.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discouraged any travel bans on countries that reported the new variant. It said past experience shows that such travel bans have not yielded a meaningful outcome.

The U.S. restrictions will apply to visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi. The White House suggested the restrictions will mirror an earlier pandemic policy that banned entry of any foreigners who had traveled over the previous two weeks in the designated regions.

The U.K. banned flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries and announced that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.

Canada banned the entry of all foreigners who have traveled to southern Africa in the last two weeks.

The Japanese government announced that Japanese nationals traveling from Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho will have to quarantine at government-dedicated accommodations for 10 days and take three COVID-19 tests during that time. Japan has not yet opened up to foreign nationals. Russia announced travel restrictions effective Sunday.

____

Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Colleen Barry in Milan; Pan Pylas in London; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; Dave McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany; Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal; Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg; Frank Jordans in Berlin; and Darlene Superville in Nantucket, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.
TIOHTIA:KE (MONTREAL), Nov. 25, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - A new school for First Nations leaders is being launched today as the Grand Economic Circle of Indigenous People and Quebec gets underway. Initiated by First Nations, this new school is propelled by Executive Education HEC Montreal and will welcome its first cohort starting December 9, 2021.

A school for and by First Nations

First Nations Executive Education (FNEE) is an innovative, one-of-a-kind initiative led by Manon Jeannotte (Mi'gma) and Ken Rock (Innu), both graduates of the McGillHEC Montreal Executive MBA program.

"Our vision is to give every leader the tools they need to be a force for positive change and success within their communities, elements that are critical to First Nations' self-determination and improved socio-economic conditions. To achieve this, FNEE will offer university-level short programs for First Nations elected officials, administrators, managers, and entrepreneurs in communities, online and in Montreal," said project co-initiator Ken Rock.

Propelled by Executive Education HEC Montreal

"To bring this extraordinary project to life, we teamed up with HEC Montreal, world-renowned for their management education programs and research. They were open to sharing their expertise and collaborating with us, and they have proven to be a first-rate ally. We have jointly developed a school for First Nations that exemplifies our values and leadership and that will help pave the way to a prosperous future," said project co-initiator Manon Jeannotte.

Serge Lafrance, Director, Executive Education HEC Montreal, stated: "This partnership in First Nations' prosperity is a natural one, given our mission to train management leaders so they can make a responsible contribution to the success of organizations and sustainable social development." It is from this perspective that HEC Montreal will serve as an incubator for FNEE, which will eventually become an independent school.

"I welcome this co-development concept between HEC Montreal and First Nations, which hearkens back to the alliances that characterized our first contacts and that are in keeping with an outlook for a brighter future for us all. The creation of First Nations Executive Education not only addresses a need for upskilling our leaders, but it is also an initiative that will undoubtedly have positive repercussions on all of our communities," concluded Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.

Learn more: hec.ca/fnee

Images

About the AFNQL

The Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador is a political organization that unites 43 First Nations Chiefs in Quebec and Labrador.

About FNEE

Launched on November 25, 2021, FNEE is the culmination of the vision of two McGillHEC Montreal EMBA alumni, Manon Jeannotte (Mi'gma) and Ken Rock (Innu). Co-created with Executive Education HEC Montreal, FNEE will offer university-level short programs online, in First Nations communities and in Montreal.

About Executive Education HEC Montreal

For over 65 years, Executive Education HEC Montreal has been there to foster the growth of the people and organizations who drive the economy, training 9,000 executives, professionals and leaders every year. Starting in December 2021, Executive Education HEC Montreal will be the institution propelling the brand-new First Nations Executive Education school.

A member of UNICON, the leading global consortium for university-based executive education, with 110 members in more than 30 countries, Executive Education HEC Montreal will be delivering all its courses out of the new HEC Montreal building in the heart of the downtown business district as of fall 2022.

SOURCE First Nations Executive Education

For further information: INFORMATION AND INTERVIEW REQUESTS: For First Nations Executive Education and AFNQL: Eric Duguay, Media Relations Officer, Mobile: 514-377-1980, [email protected], For Executive Education HEC Montreal: Emilie Novales, Senior Media Relations Advisor, HEC Montreal, Mobile: 438-520-3536, [email protected]
China on Thursday accused India of instigating a geopolitical confrontation after the chief of defence staff (CDS) Bipin Rawats termed China as Indias biggest security threat. Chinas Defense Ministry voiced opposition to CDS Rawat remarks and called the Indian military chiefs comments provocative.

Hyping up China threat has severely breached the strategic guidance set by leaders of the two countries that China and India pose no threat to each other, said Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian. Inciting geopolitical confrontation is both irresponsible and dangerous, the spokesperson was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.



He expressed hope that India can jointly safeguard regional peace with China. As neighbouring countries, we hope the India side can work with China to jointly safeguard regional peace and tranquillity in the border regions, and together maintain the positive development of bilateral ties, the spokesperson added.



This comes a day ahead of the 18th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China. The meeting, which will be chaired by External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, will be held in the digital video conference format. Last week, India and China had agreed on the need to find an early resolution to the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols so as to restore peace and tranquillity.



The two sides had a candid and in-depth discussion on the situation along the LAC in the western sector of border areas at the 23rd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC), according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs. The two sides also reviewed the developments since the last meeting of the Senior Commanders of both sides which was held on October 10 this year.



There is a stalemate on complete disengagement from friction points along the LAC following the actions of the Chinese Army last year. While areas like Pangong Tso and Gogra have seen a pullback of troops by the two sides after several rounds of talks, Hot Springs is yet to see disengagement.
The 18th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China will be held on Friday. India took over the chairmanship of the RIC after the last meeting of RIC Foreign Ministers in Moscow in September 2020.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Friday will chair the 18th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China (RIC). The meeting will be held in the digital video conference format. The Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss further strengthening of RIC trilateral cooperation including exchange of views on various regional and international issues of importance, Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said on Thursday.

The 18th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India, and China will be held on Friday. India took over the chairmanship of the RIC after the last meeting of RIC Foreign Ministers in Moscow in September 2020. Following the meeting, Jaishankar will pass on the chairmanship of the RIC to the Foreign Minister of the Peoples Republic of China for the next one year.



In a veiled reference to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, EAM Jaishankar on Thursday said any serious connectivity initiative must be consultative, transparent and participatory and conform to principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. Addressing the 20th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, Jaishankar said India today is an emerging economic force at the global level and despite the economic devastation caused by COVID-19,



He said India believes that greater connectivity is an economic force-multiplier that has acquired greater salience in the post-Covid era.
STAMFORD  Stamford school and city officials are looking for plenty of state funding for a new Westhill High School, and debated achieving that by opening enrollment of a career program to surrounding communities.

During a brief meeting of the Board of Educations Operations Committee recently, Superintendent Tamu Lucero said school representatives met with state officials earlier in the month to discuss creating a regional program within the school.

Going that route could mean considerably more state dollars to fund the estimated $250 million project, she said.

State funding for construction projects is based on a formula which is tied to a municipalitys wealth. In essence, the poorest municipalities in Connecticut get the highest reimbursement rates while wealthier communities receive a smaller reimbursement percentage.

For next year, Stamfords percentage of reimbursement is slated to be 30 percent for general construction and 20 percent for new construction. The states formula is set up to offer 10 percentage points less funding for all cities and towns for new construction, as opposed to renovation projects.

By comparison, in Bridgeport, which has one of the highest poverty rates in Connecticut, the state pays for 79 percent of general construction and 69 percent of new buildings.

Stamford officials said they are hoping Westhill gets the same type of funding recently secured by Norwalk Public Schools for a new high school. That district was able to secure 80 percent funding, well above Norwalks normal rate of 23 percent for new construction.

But Norwalk got that amount after filing for special legislation emphasizing its regional program, said Konstantinos Kosta Diamantis, the director of the Office of School Construction Grants and Review.

He said in October that Stamfords request for more reimbursement did not meet the same standard as Norwalk.

Diamantis said the state encourages regional programming, which explains why such projects  like the one in Norwalk  get more money.

Lucero pointed out to committee members how Westhill could offer a regional program.

The tentative plan would be to allow students in surrounding communities to enroll in the schools recently created Pathway to Career program, designed to help students entering the workforce.

In an emailed message, Lucero said local officials met with representatives from the state Department of Education to discuss how to make Pathway to Career more regional.

The regional program is proposed in recognition of federal and state initiatives to intentionally bridge workforce development and education, Lucero said in the message. It supports the vision of the governors Workforce Council  Workforce Strategic Plan  and its call to action to business leaders and educators, and intends to provide more opportunities for students to successfully enter the workforce.

Lucero said the meeting with the state went well.

I think that were in a really good place, she said during the Operations Committee meeting.

Beside Westhill, the district also submitted to the state a project for a preschool program to be housed at 83 Lockwood Ave. That redevelopment could cost roughly $80 million.

Beyond that, the city has also identified four other schools  Cloonan Middle School, Hart Elementary School, Roxbury Elementary School and Toquam Magnet Elementary School  as buildings that need to be torn down and replaced.

In March 2020, Lucero estimated that the cost for rebuilding all five schools would be $500 million, based off the price to build a new facility at Strawberry Hill School.

That structure cost $500 per square foot to build; the five schools slated for demolition are 1 million square feet combined.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

HAMDEN  Quinnipiac University public safety officers will increase their presence in the area of West Woods Road and Kimberly Avenue after an attempted break-in, officials said.

An unknown male attempted to break into a female students university-owned off-campus home in the area of West Woods Road and Kimberly Avenue at approximately 6:30 p.m. Thursday, according to a statement from the universitys Public Safety Chief Tony Reyes.
RACELAND, La. (AP)  Two wrecks in 24 hours have killed seven people, including five who werent belted in and were ejected from vehicles, Louisiana State Police said.

Four people died and two were injured when a Mississippi woman failed to yield to oncoming traffic and a pickup truck hit her car and overturned about 5 p.m. Thursday, Louisiana State Police said Friday.

About 5 p.m. Wednesday, two adults and a baby were thrown from a compact car that crossed a median and collided with an SUV and a pickup truck.

Two occupants of the Ford F-250 that hit the Mississippi woman's Kia Optima were ejected when the truck flipped over about 5 p.m. Thursday just east of Raceland, a news release said.

Those killed in that crash were identified as Barbara Guidry, 54, and Catlin Leboeuf, 35, both of Wiggins, Mississippi, and Dustin Moore, 31, and Michelle Moore, 30, both of Raceland.

Guidry had stopped at a stop sign on Louisiana Highway 182 but then failed to yield to the truck coming down U.S. 90, police said. She and Leboeuf were wearing seat belts.

A front passenger in the Kia suffered moderate injuries and a rear passenger in the Ford suffered minor injuries, Trooper Ross Brennan said in an email. Both were properly restrained, the news release said.

Police said Angela Wilkins, 52, and Keayette Wilkens, 31; and 10-month-old Jacon Wilkens, all of LaPlace, died Wednesday on U.S. 61 near Gramercy.

State police said Keayette Wilkens was driving south when her Chevrolet Cruze crossed the median, hit a Kia Telluride SUV and was hit by a Toyota Tacoma.

Police said the other two drivers were properly restrained and suffered minor injuries.
WILTON  The number of COVID-19 cases in town more than quadrupled in the week before Thanksgiving.

After repeatedly achieving gray zone status  or less than five reported cases on the states COVID-19 report  for a number of weeks, the town has slipped into orange zone status, with 21 reported positive cases last week.

Wilton had only five confirmed cases from the week of Nov. 7 to Nov. 13, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health. That number rose to 21 cases for the week of Nov. 14 to Nov. 20, according to the data updated the day before Thanksgiving.

With larger household gatherings likely taking place this week, those COVID numbers may change again in future reports. First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice was not available for comment Friday on whether the town expects an increase in cases and what mitigation strategies the town may employ to quell a possible jump.

The most recent COVID-19 totals from Wilton Public Schools might provide a hint at the overall town numbers, though, as there have been seven students confirmed positive from the district as of Friday. According to the district website, 40 students and three staff members are quarantining after being deemed in close contact with someone who has tested positive.

Three of the students are from Middlebrook Middle School, three are from Cider Mill Elementary School and one is from Miller-Driscoll Elementary School. There are also three staff members from the district quarantining.

Wilton High School has not had a positive case reported by the district since the end of September.

These positive COVID-19 numbers signify a change from the recent trend in the schools, though. In the first two weeks of November, Wilton schools reported zero total cases of COVID-19. On Nov. 15, the first case of the month was reported by the district. Since, 12 more students have been confirmed positive.

To date this year, more than 250 students have had to quarantine after being in close contact with someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The town still has resources offering COVID-19 testing under Progressive Diagnostics at Our Lady of Fatima at 229 Danbury Road.

All residents ages 5 and older are now eligible for the vaccine. Links to book an appointment to receive a dose of the vaccine are readily available to residents at www.wiltonct.org/coronavirus-resources.

There, eligible residents can also register for a Pfizer, Moderna or J&J booster shot.
CAIRO (AP)  The U.N. mission in Libya condemned on Friday an attack by armed men on an appeals court as it was set to re-examine an earlier decision that disqualified the son of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi from running for president.

On Thursday, armed men surrounded the court in the southern town of Sabha and prevented judges from convening to look into Seif al-Islam Gadhafi's appeal. Earlier, the country's electoral body had deemed Seif al-Islam ineligible to take part in the presidential race set for next month, citing his previous convictions.

Attacks against judicial or election facilities or judicial or elections personnel are not only criminal acts, punishable under Libyan law, but also undermine Libyans right to participate in the political process, tweeted the U.N. mission, known as UNSMIL.

Libya is to hold the first round of presidential elections on Dec. 24, after years of U.N.-led attempts to usher in a more democratic future and end the countrys civil war. However, the upcoming vote faces many challenges, including unresolved issues over laws governing the elections and occasional infighting 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.

The oil-rich North African county is currently governed by an interim government that was elected by Libyan delegates after U.N.-led talks in Geneva in February.

Interim Interior Minister Khaled Mazen vowed to hunt down and prosecute the assailants in Thursday's attack. He insisted that the transitional government is keen on securing the electoral process in order to encourage all Libyans to vote, according to Libya's state-owned news agency.

On Wednesday, Libya's High National Elections Committee decided to exclude Seif al-Islam from the race, citing his criminal record. He had been sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in 2015 for using violence against protesters in a 2011 uprising against his father, but that ruling has since been called into question by Libyas rival authorities. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the uprising.

The announcement of his possible candidacy stirred controversy across the divided country, where a number of other high-profile candidates have also emerged in recent weeks. Among them are powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter and the countrys interim prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

The Mission reiterates its call for holding transparent, fair and inclusive elections on 24 December, said UNSMIL.

The U.S. Embassy in Libya also issued a statement on Friday voicing concern over the attack. It condemned the attack and stressed that the electoral process must be protected.
HARTFORD  A man was shot twice on Allyn Street early Thursday, according to police.

Around 1 a.m., officers were sent to the 200 block of Allyn Street for a ShotSpotter gunfire activation in the area. Officers found evidence of gunshots, Lt. Aaron Boisvert said.

Soon after, a victim showed up at an area hospital to be treated for his injuries. The victim, a man in his 40s, was treated for two non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, according to Boisvert.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the tips line at 860-722-TIPS.
WEST HAVEN  The city will hold a holiday festival and Christmas tree lighting Saturday, officials said in a release.

The festival will begin at 4 p.m. and will feature Christmas songs by instructors, students and a choir from The Rock House School of Music, according to the release.

The event is presented by the city, the First Congregational Church of West Haven and West Haven United, which aims to bring together city volunteer groups.

The four-hour festival will also include an inflatable Santas village and four craft stations on the Green, where children can make marshmallow reindeer ornaments, decorate wooden ornaments, write letters to Santa, and make cards for U.S. troops overseas and those at the West Haven VA Medical Center, the release said.

Performances by members of Top Hat Dance Academy are slated for 5:30 p.m., it said.

Mayor Nancy Rossi, joined by Santa and Mrs. Claus, will light the tree at 6 p.m., the release said, and the North Pole power couple will meet with children and pose for photos until 8 p.m.

Following the tree lighting, The RumRunners will perform a holiday concert.

The event also will feature hayrides and rides for children in a vintage firetruck from the West Shore Fire Department, the release said.

While most activities set for the festival are free, people are asked to bring nonperishable items for the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force, which provides food for residents in need.

Food, snacks and drinks will be available for sale by volunteers from the First Congregational Church, the release said.

In case of rain, the lighting will be held at 5 p.m. Monday.
Gov. Ned Lamont is taking heat for backing away from a Northeast climate pact to reduce carbon emissions. We dont blame him for withdrawing from the Transportation and Climate Initiative, given the lack of enthusiasm that state legislators showed for it.

Plus, money is coming from the federal government to do what TCI intended.

TCI would have raised the price of gasoline in Connecticut and other participating states to pay for zero-emissions buses, electric-car charging stations, bike lanes and so forth. But with the price of gas shooting up to $3.50 a gallon lately, theres no appetite at the State Capitol for inflicting extra pain at the pump.

Even the liberal Senate President Martin Looney balked at imposing higher gas prices on constituents, though he liked TCIs clean-air policy. We shouldnt be doing anything that has any kind of regressive financial effect, he said.

TCI was not exactly a tax, but a scheme that, in a nutshell, would have made large fuel suppliers pay to pollute. It would have required them to purchase allowances for the pollution caused by the fuel they sell. Naturally, the suppliers would pass those costs on to consumers, and the costs would grow as the amount of pollution allowed got smaller and smaller. Gas prices would go up 5 to 10 cents per gallon and possibly beyond.

The hope was that states would use the money made off the allowances to invest in lower-emissions options as drivers ditched their gas-guzzlers for cheaper, cleaner rides. Cars, trucks and buses are currently the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in Connecticut. TCI could have cut those emissions by a quarter by incentivizing drivers off the road, Jan Spiegel of the CT Mirror wrote.

Many states seemed to embrace TCI early on  in theory. But when it came time to sign on the dotted line, only three states did so  Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, plus the District of Columbia.

Then, last week, Gov. Lamont gave up on TCI. Look, I couldnt get that through (the Legislature even)when gas prices were at a historic low, he said.

It should come as no surprise that we in this Land of Steady Habits are are very attached to our cars  even with the highest gas taxes in New England. Budget wizard Keith Phaneuf writes that Connecticut drivers now pay 47.6 cents per gallon in state taxes alone. TCI would have added to that cost, making drivers unhappy even as it cleaned their air.

But all is not lost. Connecticut is getting $5 billion in transportation funds soon from the federal government. It includes money to do some of the things TCI would have done: $1.3 billion for public transit, $79 million to reduce emissions and $52.5 million to build electric vehicle charging stations.

Its little wonder, then, that the state Capitol is lukewarm toward TCI, now that the federal government is offering Connecticut a windfall to wean the state off its gas addiction.
The Attah Igala HRM Mathew Opaluwa has charged Nigerians to take the COVID-19 vaccine and ignore every negative perception against the vacci...





The Attah Igala HRM Mathew Opaluwa has charged Nigerians to take the COVID-19 vaccine and ignore every negative perception against the vaccine.





Opaluwa, gave the charge on Friday in Idah when a non governmental organization Challenge Parenthood Initiative, (CPI) paid him an advocacy visit.





He agreed that there are many negative information making the rounds about the vaccine but asked the government and other key stakeholders to work hard to change the myths.





The monarch, however, warned that the distribution of the vaccine must not be hijacked by some fraudulent individuals who intend to sabotage government efforts at curtailing the pandemic by administering fake vaccines for Nigerians to consume.





Let us get the original vaccine and put an end to this deadline pandemic he said.





The monarch however promised to mobilize his people towards the successful uptake of the vaccine in Igala land.





Earlier in her remarks, the Executive Director of CPI, Eunice Abimbola Agbogun congratulated HRM Mather Opaluwa for his installation as the new Attah of Igala land.





On the advocacy visit on COVID-19 vaccines to the Attahs palace, Agbogun noted that their objective is to enhance awareness on the efficacy of the vaccine and mobilize target communities to increase demand and uptake of the vaccines and to build the capacity of stakeholders on emerging issues in the fight against the virus.





Continuing, Agbogun said In the wake of the emergence of the third wave of the COVID-19, Nigeria has begun to see a pandemic of two tracks  where the Delta variant is tearing through





unvaccinated populations. Despite the support by the COVAX Facility led by WHO and UNICEF who have so far delivered 3.9 million doses to Nigeria, the country has continued to suffer from the gross inequity in global vaccine access.





The current COVID-19 case surge across other parts of the country has resulted in the need to encourage citizens of Kogi State to take up responsibilities of adhering to preventive measures aimed at avoiding the spread of the virus from high burden states into Kogi State. Therefore, there is a need for both State and Non State actors to provide the needed interventions to promote the uptake of the vaccines in particular.
A man, Ekerete Ukpong of Udok Atai community, Ikono Local Government area of Akwa Ibom State, on Thursday, wailed uncontrollably after the...

A man, Ekerete Ukpong of Udok Atai community, Ikono Local Government area of Akwa Ibom State, on Thursday, wailed uncontrollably after the High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene sentenced him to death for kidnapping a four-year-old boy.

The presiding judge, Justice Augustine Odokwo, said the prosecuting counsel had told the court that the victim, Success Amos Kalu, a native of Ohafia in Abia State, is yet to be found since he was kidnapped on 25 September, 2015, at Ibiakpan Akananwan, Ikot Ekpene.

He said the court found the convict guilty of kidnapping, punishable by death, under section one of Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law, 2009.

While condemning the spike in kidnapping accross the country, Odokwo urged every one to join hands in ensuring that the menace is tackled.

He held that, the convict is taking the punishment alone although records show that he acted in consent with others, who are now at large.

Justice Odokwo added the judgmentshould serve as warning to everyone that the full weight of the law will descend on kidnappers.

He held, I have gone through Section 1 (2) of Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law 2009, the section that provides for punishment for the offense of kidnapping. That section of the law provides for only one punishment. I will in this circumstance, follow the law and the law only. The sentence of this Court against the convict is death.

The court held that, His Excellency, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State will determine the means and place of the execution within the State.

Our correspondent reports that before the sentence, Odokwo had changed to a black cap and the convict wept uncontrollably in the courtroom, before he was whisked away by officials of Nigeria Correctional Centre, Ikot Ekpene.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has given reasons why the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, cannot reject the ...

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), has given reasons why the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, cannot reject the report of the judicial panel on police brutality.

In a speech delivered on Thursday when some leaders of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights visited him in Lagos, Falana said, Pursuant to the Tribunals of Inquiry Law, Laws of Lagos State, 2015, the Justice Doris Okuwobi Commission of Enquiry was instituted by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, last year to probe allegations of police brutality in the State.

Upon the conclusion of the assignment last week, the commission submitted a full report in writing of its proceedings, findings and recommendations, records, opinions, and reasons leading to its conclusions in line with Section 15(1) of the Law.

Thereafter, the governor set up a four-member committee of cabinet members headed by the state Attorney-

General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), to advise him with respect to the position of the Government which will be contained in a White Paper.

We are not unaware of the purported rejection of the report of the commission by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, and the pressure on the White Paper Committee by some anti-democratic forces to advise the governor to jettison the findings and recommendations of the commission.

Falana said critics were not aware that there is no provision for the issuance of a White Paper under the law.

He described a White Paper as a mere administrative medium for conveying the decision or position of the government on the report of an administrative or judicial enquiry.

He added, Since the White Paper Committee is not known to law, its members are not competent to edit, modify, alter, edit or reject the report of the Commission. More so, that the members of the White Paper Committee did not have the opportunity of taking evidence from the witnesses who had testified before the Commission.

Having regard to the letter and spirit of the Tribunal of Enquiry Law, it is submitted that the Federal Government lacks the legal competence to reject the report of a panel of enquiry duly constituted by the Lagos State Government. Therefore, Governor Sanwo-Olu should not hesitate to reject the gratuitous call for the rejection of the report of the Lagos Judicial Commission by Mr Lai Mohammed.

Once a White Paper is issued by the governor on the recommendations, the institutions and individuals indicted by the commission may wish to approach the High Court to challenge any aspect of the report.
Garba Shehu says the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the first to put forward a workable solution to the herder-farmer c...

Garba Shehu says the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the first to put forward a workable solution to the herder-farmer clashes.

The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity spoke on Friday while presenting a paper at the 10th anniversary of the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), Katsina state.

The presidential spokesman said no other administration has been able to effectively tackle the issue since Nigeria gained independence in 1960.

It is a fact that the Buhari administration is the only government of Nigeria that has put forward a workable solution to the herder-farmer challenge in all the years since independence, NAN quoted him as saying.

The threat to civilians and peaceful co-existence between different ethnic and religious groups from farmer-herders clashes, banditry and land disputes are of serious concern to the Buhari government.

It is incorrect, however, to assert that the government has or is doing nothing to address the threats.

Firstly, there are ongoing efforts for the establishment of cattle ranches to prevent or curtail open grazing, the practice that brings herders and farmers into conflict.

This is an age-old problem facing Nigerian governments since the colonial days. However, matters of land distribution are dealt with at state level.

This means willingness has to be shown by state governors to drive the process forward. The Federal government launched a plan last year to work with states to address these issues together.

Unfortunately, this has been lacking in some states, and with regards to the long and determined battle waged against Boko Haram, Nigerians are aware of the efforts made by this government.

When the government came to power, the terrorist group held and administered an area the size of Belgium. Now they hold none. The terrorists are hiding out amongst remote forests and across borders.

This makes it difficult to extinguish the final flames of the insurgency, and the government has no illusions of the potent threat still posed. Recent statistics have shown that over 14,500 Boko Haram members have voluntarily surrendered.

The presidential spokesman added that the Buhari administration has made progress in tackling the security threats bedeviling the country  and they cannot be denied.
Niger State Governor and Chairman North Central Governors Forum, Abubakar Sani Bello has described the lifestyle and legacies of his father,...





Niger State Governor and Chairman North Central Governors Forum, Abubakar Sani Bello has described the lifestyle and legacies of his father, Col Sani Bello (retired) as source of strength and inspiration to him.





Bello stated this in a message to celebrate his Father at 79.and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Mrs Mary Noel-Berje in Minna





He said the celebrant from a humble background rose through determination and persistent hard work to become a seasoned Military Administrator of the old Kano State, Nigerian High Commissioner to Zimbabwe and now a successful businessman.





The Governor also acknowledged the immense contributions of his father at promoting a peaceful and united Nigeria when he was in active service as a Military officer.





He noted that even after active service, the celebrant has remained steadfast in humanitarian services through his foundation.





According to the statement, You are my hero and a true father, the type many would wish for. You have consistently remained an epitome of love, compassion, support not only to your biological children but to all around you.





As your son, I am proud of you because I can clearly see that you are continously making impact on the lives of people despite your age.





The educational support, and provision of entrepreneurship skills among other things your foundation is rendering to the people of the state, have in no small measure complimented the efforts of government





My prayer for you is that May Allah continue to keep you in good health, increase your wisdom and grant you more years for people to continue to benefit from your kind gesture .
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Windy with occasional light rain. High 57F. Winds SSW at 25 to 40 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph..

Tonight

Windy. Showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 33F. W winds at 25 to 40 mph, decreasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.
A man and a woman were shot in their vehicle while stopped at the intersection of Dwyer Road and the I-10 service road on Thanksgiving evening, New Orleans police say.

NOPD responded to the call in Pines Village around 9 p.m. Thursday. Unknown assailants had pulled up, gotten out of their vehicle and started shooting at the 27-year-old man and the 25-year-old woman.

One of the victims was shot in the back. The man and woman fled in their vehicle to a hospital.

The police department did not immediately release more details.
BLOCK ISLAND, R.I. - A tour bus spills a few dozen people at its usual stop beside a postcard-perfect lighthouse at the south end of this tiny green island. But the tourists walk right past the 148-year-old Block Island icon and begin snapping photos of the slender, sci-fi-looking structures spinning out in the sea.

Its like 'Star Wars' out there! says Sam Nelson, of Ohio.

Itd be so cool to see them up close, fellow Ohioan Sharlene Warner adds.

The countrys first offshore wind farm has managed to cut power bills on Block Island, supply it with a surplus of clean, renewable energy, and  as an added perk  given its tourism-dependent economy an unexpected boost.

Its been very well received, tour guide Lisa ONeill said. Half the people on our tours come just for the windmills.

Built in 2016, the five turbines of the Block Island Wind Farm generate about 30 megawatts of electricity. Thats more than enough for the 1,000 year-round residents and the several thousand people who visit each summer. The remaining electricity is fed to the mainland power grid to supply about 1% of Rhode Islands energy needs.

Several Louisiana companies with roots in the offshore oil and gas industry played leading roles in the farms design and construction. Now, those firms are looking forward to the offshore wind industrys growth closer to home. And the same energy companies that plan to build hundreds of turbines on the East Coast are now eyeing the waters off Louisiana and Texas.

How might Louisianans react when turbines start popping up south of Lake Charles and Grand Isle? If Block Island offers a hint of whats to come, people in the Bayou State might end up with an even split between pride and indifference.

Ive always thought they were a good idea, said Eileen Keenan, whose property overlooks the wind farm. I think its great that Block Island is a showcase for what a wind farm can be, and a place for people to learn about them.

Joe Coppola, who was hauling a clam rake and a bucket of quahogs from the beach, shrugged when asked about the wind farm.

They dont bother me, he said. Some people dont like how they look. Theyre not hideous. But Im the type of guy where if I dont like how something looks, I dont look at it.

Local opinion wasnt all rosy when the wind farm was proposed several years ago, said Kim Gaffett, who served on the town council for almost 20 years.

There were concerns the turbines would loom over the island, marring its best and most lucrative attribute: natural beauty. Block Islanders are passionate conservationists. Almost half of the islands 10 square miles are protected from development. Property sales are taxed at 3%, the revenue going toward preserving more open space. More than 30 miles of trail link the spacious parklands to several public beaches.

This story is the fourth in a series of five.

On a sunny morning, Gaffett, a Nature Conservancy naturalist, led a group of bird watchers through an estuary in one of the islands wildlife refuges. They spotted egrets, willets, oystercatchers and ...

An osprey! Gaffett yelled as pairs of binoculars suddenly aimed skyward.

Wind turbines can be a danger for birds, but Gaffett isnt concerned about the ones off Block Island. The wind farm isnt on a migratory pathway, and the shorebirds and sea ducks common to the area fly well below the turbines blades.

A lot of work goes into monitoring birds around the wind farm, she said. I havent heard of a single bird strike.

Worse for birds are the fossil fuel emissions that cause climate change, she said. The wind farm is helping to change that. Plus, if disaster strikes, the wind turbines are not going to blanket the islands beaches in oil. Thats what happened in 1996, when a tank barge ran aground and spilled almost 1 million gallons of oil, decimating the lobster fishery and killing thousands of birds.

If a wind turbine falls over, all it spills is air, Gaffett said.

Bird watchers and other nature enthusiasts make up a large share of the thousands of people who visit the island during summer days. When theyre not eating chowder and lobster rolls, theyre out fishing, hiking, biking and sunbathing.

The wind farm, located 3 miles from the island, only enhances the experience, said Mike Butler and Kathleen McGrane, a couple visiting from Rochester, New York.

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Theyre so simple and beautiful, McGrane said gazing out at the turbines from a cliff near the lighthouse.

Id rather look at these than an oil platform, Butler added.

Michael Warner, of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, wanted to take the turbines home with him.

Id like to put them in Lake Erie, he said. You can feel good its not coal or something hurting the air.

Block Island used to hurt the air plenty, Gaffett said. About 9 miles from the mainland and reachable only by boat and a small airport, the island relied on a dirty and obnoxiously loud diesel generator for all its power needs. For an island that prides itself on being green, its energy use was anything but.

It was pretty bad, Gaffett said. We had to have a million gallons of diesel fuel shipped here every year.

The generator smelled awful and frequently broke down, said Sean Mahoney, who runs a moped rental stand on the island.

It would cut out in the middle of dinner and youd have to do everything by candlelight, he said.

Mahoney expressed a common misgiving about the wind farm: that it wasnt the big money saver people had hoped.

The bills are still pretty damn high, he said.

Some islanders have a short memory, said Renee Meyer, editor of The Block Island Times. Before the wind farm, Block Island had some of the highest energy costs in New England.

Diesel prices soared and then plummeted just before the wind farm was completed, giving some residents the impression they would have saved money if theyd stuck with the old generator. But Meyer, a former accountant, crunched the numbers and found the average residential power customer had their bills cut by about 40%. Bottom line, Meyer wrote in her analysis: Ka-ching.

Another plus is that the wind farm connected Block Island to the mainland power grid. If the turbines break down, the island can draw from the wider system. Barring that, theres always the old generators.

Nobody wanted to buy used diesel generators, said Bryan Wilson, the wind farms manager. So we have triple redundancy.

The airs cleaner, and the fishings better, too. As anyone who fishes the Gulf of Mexico can tell you, some of the easiest fishing is near the offshore oil and gas platforms. Thats because the steel foundations act as artificial reefs.

Most offshore wind turbines in Europe are built on a single piling, but the Block Island turbines were set on foundations built by Houma-based steel fabricator Gulf Island Fabrication. The company built them much the same way it would build an oil platform, with a latticed steel jacket. No surprise theyd be coated in critters that fish love to eat.

Fish here are guaranteed, fishing guide Chris Willi said while steering his boat around one of the turbines yellow foundations. Below the water, its bright-colored legs were dark with mussels, barnacles and anemones.

Its an added bonus to be able to take people here, he said as the immense blades quietly spun overhead. Its an experience you cant have everywhere.

This story is part of a Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate series on offshore wind energy supported by an MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative journalism fellowship.

Tristan Baurick is an environment reporter for The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. Email him at tbaurick@theadvocate.com and follow him on Twitter, @tristanbaurick.
The European Unions drug regulator on Thursday recommended expanding the use of Pfizer-BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine for children from 5 to 11 years old.

The decision, announced by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), cited Pfizers clinical trial data, which the company says indicates a 90.7 percent efficacy in preventing illness in the age group.

The benefits of Comirnaty in children aged 5 to 11 outweigh the risks, particularly in those with conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19, the EMA said in a statement.

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech called Comirnaty is already approved by EMA for use in adults and children aged 12 and above.

EMA recommending the Pfizer jab for young children marks the first time the EU regulator has cleared a COVID-19 shot for use in this age group. While final approval is up to the European Commission and is not confirmed yet, it typically follows EMA recommendations.

In children from 5 to 11 years old, a dose of the two-shot regimen is one-third lower than that used in people aged 12 and above. Just like in the older age groups, it is administered as two injections in the muscles of the upper arm three weeks apart.

The EU joins a growing number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Israel, China, and Saudi Arabia, which have cleared COVID-19 vaccines for children in the 511 year age group and younger.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that practically every child in the United States between 5 and 11 get Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine.

The only exceptions to the recommendation are children with a history of severe allergic reactions to a previous vaccine dose or a component of the vaccine, or a known allergy to a component of the shot. At least 10 percent of the 28 million eligible American children have had the first dose.

Some experts, though, have said that most children dont need the shot because theyre at little risk of severe disease when they contract the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. Federal officials disagree, pointing to the small number of hospitalizations and deaths among the age group and asserting the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks.

While children remain more resilient than adults to this virus, they still remain at risk. And with the help of vaccines, we can prevent COVID-19 and many other diseases that were once fatal, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters.

EMA clearing the shot for young children also comes as the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that as children and adolescents are at a lower risk from the CCP virus, countries should prioritize adults and sharing doses with the COVAX program aimed at supplying the worlds poorest countries which have struggled to get vaccines.

Other countries previously announced they have decided to limit the use of COVID-19 shots based on the so-called mRNA technology to younger people after reports of possible cardiovascular side-effects.

Some U.S. advisers have also cautioned against vaccinating every child, noting that heart inflammation post-vaccination is much higher among youth than adults, particularly among young males, and that children who have recovered from the CCP virus may not need a shot.

Its safe to assume that vaccinating a healthy child would take this extremely low risk of serious disease and drive it down even lower, Drs. Nicole Saphier and Marty Makary wrote in an op-ed this week.

Theres an important exception, though: If a child already had COVID, theres no scientific basis for vaccination, they added, pointing out how none of the previously infected, including those who didnt get a jab in the Pfizer trial contracted the illness.

The CDC has recommended that people with post-infection immunity, widely known as natural immunity, should still boost their protection against the CCP virus with a vaccine.

Zachary Stieber and Reuters contributed to this report.
BELGRADE, SerbiaA series of explosions ripped through an munitions factory on the outskirts of Serbias capital Tuesday, killing at least two workers and injuring at least 16, police and media reported.

Police said the first explosion took place around 2 p.m. at a warehouse where rockets were stored in the factory, which produces several sorts of munitions. The explosion also could be heard in the capital, Belgrade.

Police said said rescuers were using drones to look for potentially more victims. Firefighters rescued five people from the rubble, they said.

State RTS television said some 40 people were inside the warehouse when the explosion took place. The injured workers have been transferred to hospitals in Belgrade with severe burns while more people remain unaccounted for.

The warehouse was completely destroyed, leaving a crater in the ground, footage from the scene showed.

The fire has been localized and residents in the area are safe, police said. Media have reported that the detonation shattered windows on homes nearby.

Dozens of firefighters were immediately dispatched to the scene, which is 15 kilometers (nine miles) south of Belgrade. Police and firefighters have sealed off the area where a thick billowing smoke could be seen. Several cars at the plants parking lot were on fire.

The factory was the scene of another explosion in 2008 when three workers were injured.
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Experts are warning that the United States is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack from adversaries such as China and North Korea, which could render the nation helpless and shut down basic components such as military communications, water delivery systems, food, and transport.

Speaking at a virtual forum hosted by the Universal Peace Federation on Tuesday, experts stressed that time is running out to invest in defending the country from such an attack and urged officials to take action.

While not deadly on its own, an EMP attack can ruin most electronics within a massive radius and could cripple the power grid, sending the country back into the 18th century and into a complete and long-lasting blackout. That could result in the eventual deaths of 90 percent of the U.S. population, experts from the congressional EMP Commission have warned.

Such a catastrophic scenario could be triggered by an EMP attack from China, which already harbors super EMPs that could create massive, deep damage, according to an analysis by the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, a congressional advisory board.

In August, China reportedly tested a new Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV) that could deploy an EMP, demonstrating its incredibly advanced space capability and leaving experts fearing it could destabilize the United States.

U.S. intelligence services were allegedly caught by surprise by the event in August and the HGVs performance, The Financial Times reported.

That poses a real threat of possibly being able to win a war with a single blow by means of an EMP attack, Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security said on Tuesday. Moreover  they dont envision employing an EMP by itself. It would be used in conjunction with cyberattacks and physical sabotage, and non-nuclear EMP.

This is regarded by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran as potentially the most decisive military revolution in history, Pry said. By attacking the technological Achilles heel of a nation like the United States, you could bring us to our knees and not even have to do battle with the Marines or the Navy or the Air Force, and win a war in 24 hours with a single blowa combined EMP cyberattack.

Former President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 26 2019 to harden Americas critical infrastructure against EMP attacks. A key part of the executive order was the section on implementation, titled, Strengthening critical infrastructure to withstand the effects of EMPs which instructed that concrete action be taken to harden Americas critical infrastructure.

However, since that executive order was issued, the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have done nothing very little in the way of protecting the national electric grid or other critical infrastructures of which 330 million Americans are dependant upon.

As recently as May of this year, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called for enhanced measures to be taken to protect the electric grid from threats of EMP disruptions, nuclear weapons, and geomagnetic disturbances GMD such as solar storms, noting that the recent Colonial Pipeline cyberattack and ensuing shutdown had exposed existential vulnerabilities in the U.S. fuel and electrical grid.

We are very vulnerable, Johnson said while calling for further investment to shore up grid resiliency. Were spending all these trillions of dollars in infrastructure, let us spend a couple of billion and pre-purchase backup, large power transformers in case theres an EMP or a GMD issue with our electrical grid.

The executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security on Tuesday cited federal bureaucracy and other factors as to why little has been done to bolster protections of the U.S. electrical grid.

We do know how to protect against it. Its not a technological problem. Its a political problem, Pry said.

Experts also pointed to North Korea, which it said does not need cutting-edge military capabilities to be able to inflict serious and long-lasting damage to the U.S. through EMP technology.

There is no need for precision. North Korea doesnt need to have a very good ballistic missile in order to precisely deploy and detonate the weapon, said Plamen Doynov, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and chief technology officer at the company EMP Shield.

There are active protection measures that will ground the pulse as it strikes the electric system of a vehicle, for example. The good news is those technologies are out there, they exist, said David Winks, managing director at AcquSight, a leading cyber, physical, and electromagnetic resilience firm. I think it would be a good use of some of this infrastructure money to start investing in this.

From The Epoch Times
The researchers have some theories. If early humans could have moved out of Africa much earlier, they would have faced stiff competition from other early human species; the north was a Neanderthal stronghold, and much of East Asia was likely populated by another extinct human lineage, the Denisovans. The models also suggest that dry periods often followed the favorable windows, which could have isolated any populations undertaking an exodus. But the authors also note that even if times were good and wet, humans may not have taken advantage of these periods to migrate out.

The model had to make several assumptions, including that the southern strait would always have been crossable by humans and that those people might have had the boat technology to make the crossing. The model breaks down the geography of the region to a grid with a resolution with half a degree latitude and longitude, or around 30 miles. This approach inevitably ignores the mosaic of vegetation and topography that exists on the ground.

Dr. Tierney, the paleoclimatologist, said the new papers climate models were too simple to predict what climate change was like hundreds of thousands of years ago. She also questioned some of the rules of the model, such as humans only being able to migrate alongside a minimum level of rainfall. I guess it makes sense to make that assumption, Dr. Tierney said. On the other hand, the Nile River is always there. They could move out that way almost any time.

Similarly, Emily Beverly, an earth scientist at the University of Houston who was not involved with the research, said the authors did not consider the existence of freshwater springs that could have served as a source of potable water for migrating humans during dry periods.

On the other hand, Dr. Potts, the paleoanthropologist, noted that the minimum level of rainfall in the model would have been far too low to allow hunter-gatherers to successfully disperse out of Africa. Dr. Potts pointed to previous research suggesting that early humans could only have dispersed in the continent when the mean average rainfall was more than 3.9 inches per year, and typically dispersed when there was at least 10 inches of rain. The more interesting research question, in Dr. Potts eyes, is what dispersal paths would have been available in these windows of more abundant rainfall.

Perhaps the largest question still remains unanswered. More and more evidence suggests we did this multiple times, Dr. Beverly said. The question Im always left with is, Why?

Abdullah Alsharekh, an archaeologist at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who was not involved with the research, said he appreciated the papers examination of the prehistoric Arabian climate. The last couple of decades have shown that many of our questions about out-of-Africa models can be greatly enhanced by more on-the-ground research in Arabia, Dr. Alsharekh wrote in an email. What lies beneath those sandy deserts?
Indonesia, where cases of the coronavirus surged last month, will gradually ease restrictions in the capital, Jakarta, and elsewhere as reports of new cases decline.

Restaurants, malls and places of worship are set to reopen on Tuesday on the densely populated island of Java, which includes Jakarta and has a population of about 140 million, and Bali, a popular resort island, and other regions.

Places of worship and restaurants will be allowed to operate at 25 percent of their capacity, while shopping centers can stay open until 8 p.m. at up to 50 percent of their capacity, said President Joko Widodo.

In Indonesias most recent outbreak, cases peaked in mid-July but have since continued to fall, Mr. Widodo said. They are now down by 78 percent, he said at a virtual news briefing on Monday, adding that there were now more people recovering from the virus than were being diagnosed with it.
An advanced H.I.V. vaccine trial in Africa has been shut down after data showed the shots offered only limited protection against the virus, researchers announced on Tuesday.

The vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, is one in a long line found to offer little defense against H.I.V., one of medicines most intractable adversaries. One candidate vaccine even increased the risk of infection.

Another trial was halted last year in South Africa after a different experimental vaccine failed to offer sufficient protection. Some 1.5 million people were infected with H.I.V. worldwide in 2020, and 38 million are living with the infection.

Scientists were dismayed by the most recent failure.

I should be used to it by now, but youre never used to it  you still put your heart and soul into it, said Dr. Glenda Gray, the principal investigator of the trial and chair of the South African Medical Research Council. Dr. Gray has been working to develop an H.I.V. vaccine for more than 15 years.
Roughly 308 million pieces of personal protective equipment bought by the Dutch government, including masks, goggles and gloves, were rejected for use in hospitals, a spokesman for the Dutch health ministry said.

As of last week, the government had rejected about 30 million masks it had in stock.

The rejected equipment will mostly be sold outside the European market, the spokesman said. If its not possible to sell or donate the items, they will be processed sustainably, he added.

The government said it was still calculating the financial consequences. According to De Volkskrant, the Dutch newspaper that first reported the figure, the estimated cost of the rejected items is more than 300 million euros (about $348 million).

The consortium that bought the equipment on behalf of the government worked with many different information systems, according to the health ministry, so the status of the products wasnt always clear.
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For Times journalists who cover food and cooking, the holiday season can be one of the busiest and most demanding times of the year. When they are not writing about food, flexing their culinary skills in the test kitchen, developing recipes or trying out new dishes, they still make time to celebrate with their families  and level-up their own Thanksgiving spreads. Below, three Times journalists, Priya Krishna, a reporter for the Food section; Eric Kim, a cooking writer for the Food section and NYT Cooking; and Genevieve Ko, a senior editor for the Food section and NYT Cooking, share how they prepare for, and spend, the holiday.

What are your Thanksgiving traditions?

PRIYA KRISHNA: For as long as I can remember, we have treated Thanksgiving like a big family gathering, where we have a mostly Indian feast. My mom makes all of her greatest hits: kaddu, matar paneer, chole and, interestingly enough, cranberry sauce (we treat it like a chutney). My fiance makes pies for dessert, and my mom makes shrikhand.

Since Thanksgiving is the one time a year my cousins are all together, we always celebrate Bhai Dooj that day  its a Hindu celebration of siblings (it was Nov. 6 this year). We feed each other sweets and exchange gifts. Its always one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving Day.

Are there any nonfood-related special Thanksgiving traditions you have?

ERIC KIM: I go hard on the Thanksgiving specials of old Nickelodeon shows like Hey Arnold!, Rugrats and As Told by Ginger. When I was growing up in the 90s, the childrens programming on that network had such incredible storytelling. But Im also a nostalgic person and love reliving those touchstones of holiday television.
Theres an object in the Museum of Modern Arts retrospective of the Swiss polymath Sophie Taeuber-Arp thats so covetable I wanted to squeeze it.

It dates from 1922, and takes the form of triangles that lock together into an allover pattern of blue and pink, brown and olive. Interrupting these abstract forms are five red birds, flattened and simplified into icons of a new age. Their wings are jazzily misaligned. Their napes are festooned with triangular plumage as consistent as the teeth of a comb.

This isnt a painting. Its a pillow: something beautiful and practical, something new for the eyes but fit for the head.
Other venues throughout the continent, where the pace of cancellations and restrictions has been accelerating since last month, might not be in such a secure position. Latvia was one of the first countries to impose new restrictions on cultural life, when it ordered performance venues shut from late October as part of a national lockdown. Since then many other countries and regions have imposed new, if varied, restrictions. This month, the Netherlands went into a partial lockdown that let performances continue in front of seated audiences but forced other venues such as bars and restaurants to close by 8 p.m. Austria initially introduced a lockdown for unvaccinated people that included barring them from attending cultural events, before announcing a nationwide lockdown days later.

Some venues that remain open in Europe are putting in place extra safety measures, even without government mandates. In Berlin, performance venues are allowed to operate at full capacity, as long as attendees show proof that they are vaccinated, recovered or provide a negative test, and wear a mask. But Sarah Boehler, a spokeswoman for the Sophiensaele, a theater in the city, said her venue would also require a negative test in addition to either proof of vaccination or recovery. The theater expected that city officials would require such a measure in a week or two anyway, she said, adding it was better to get ahead of the curve.

There is one place that looks unlikely to see new restrictions on cultural life: Britain, where governing lawmakers have spoken since July of the need to live with the virus. New coronavirus cases have averaged around 40,000 a day for the past month, and one of the governments leading scientific advisers this week said the country was almost at herd immunity.

In England, theater and opera goers are not required to wear masks, or show proof of vaccination. Instead, each venue can decide its own requirements. Many West End theaters ask for proof of vaccination, and most encourage spectators to wear masks, but enforcement varies.

This month, a revival of Cabaret, starring Eddie Redmayne at the Playhouse Theater, went further than other London shows by requiring attendees to show a negative test result to gain entry. The Ambassador Theater Group, which owns the venue, said in a statement that the intimacy of the production, in which the audience sits close to the actors, was behind the decision. But no other theaters have appeared to follow its lead.

The composer and theater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber on Tuesday told the BBC he would be happy to mandate masks and proof of vaccination at the six theaters he owns in London. If that was what was necessary to keep our theaters open without social distancing, I think thats a very small price to pay, he said.
Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president at the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, said in a statement the Biden administration is sending mixed signals by releasing emergency oil reserves and then proposing to raise costs for the industry. It suggests the administration has no clear roadmap for the future of federal leasing, he said.

Meanwhile, environmentalists said they were concerned that the Biden administration was backtracking on a central climate pledge.

Brett Hartl, director of government affairs for the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, called the 18-page report a massive betrayal of the president on climate change.

Mr. Hartl said environmental groups had expected the agency to review the fossil fuel leasing program, taking into account the environmental harms of drilling at the local level as well its contribution to the global climate crisis. He said the report, which barely mentioned climate change, isnt worth the paper it was written on.

As a candidate, Mr. Biden promised to stop issuing new leases for drilling on public lands. And by the way, no more drilling on federal lands, period. Period, period, period, Mr. Biden told voters in New Hampshire in February 2020.

This month, he appeared at a global climate summit meeting in Glasgow to urge other world leaders to take bold action to cut emissions from oil, gas and coal. Mr. Biden has pledged to cut United States greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is a former environmental activist and former member of Congress who had a campaign website that included this quote from her: We need to act fast to counteract climate change and keep fossil fuels in the ground.

But last week, the Biden administration offered up to 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for drilling leases  the largest sale since 2017. The administration was legally obligated to hold the lease sales after Republican attorneys general from 13 states successfully overturned a suspension on sales that Mr. Biden had tried to impose. Shell, BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil offered $192 million for the rights to drill in the area offered by the government.
Around the same time, researchers in South Africa stumbled across Omicron in a cluster of cases in the province of Gauteng. As of Friday, they have listed 58 Omicron samples on the variant database. But at a news conference on Thursday, Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Centre for Epidemic Response & Innovation in South Africa, said that close to two or three hundred genetic sequences of Omicron cases would be released in the next few days.

The W.H.O. called for increased surveillance of the variant and laboratory experiments to better understand its biology.

This variant did surprise us, Dr. de Oliveira said at the news conference. But the full significance is still uncertain.

Dr. de Oliveira and his colleagues asked the W.H.O. to hold an emergency meeting about the variant on Friday for two reasons: the mutations in Omicron and what appears to be an alarming spread in South Africa.

The researchers found more than 30 mutations on a protein, called spike, on the surface of the coronavirus. The spike protein is the chief target of antibodies that the immune system produces to fight a Covid-19 infection. So many mutations raised concerns that Omicrons spike might be able to evade antibodies produced by either a previous infection or a vaccine.

Dr. de Oliveira and his colleagues determined a quick way to gauge how quickly Omicron was spreading in South Africa. Although sequencing the entire genome of a virus is slow, the scientists figured out how to identify Omicron with a standard nasal swab test known as P.C.R.

The tests are fast because they look for just two of the coronaviruss 29 genes  the spike gene and another gene called nucleocapsid. Thanks to its new mutations, Omicron does not test positive for the spike gene. So researchers could simply look for samples that tested positive for nucleocapsid, but negative for spike.
The only way to stop the heavy bleeding is to end the pregnancy and contract the uterus, Dr. Moayedi said. Time is of the essence. Every OB-GYN has cared for someone who has died from a hemorrhage, she said. If someone is hemorrhaging while miscarrying, how long do I have to wait?

Even if the mothers life is saved, Dr. Moayedi added, she could require an emergency hysterectomy, or removal of the uterus, which would leave her infertile.

Other complications that occur when a woman is carrying twins or multiples can be resolved by a selective reduction, or abortion, of one of the fetuses so that the other has a better chance to live. Not doing so can, in some circumstances, kill all of the fetuses. Selective reductions are forbidden under the new state law.

In other cases, a pregnant womans medical needs may conflict with those of her fetus.

Just a few months before the Texas legislature passed the new law, Dr. Robert Gunby Jr., an obstetrician in Dallas, was caring for a pregnant newlywed who suddenly started losing weight. She was diagnosed with an aggressive lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system.

An oncologist urged the woman to start treatment immediately, but the chemotherapy regimen would have been toxic to the fetus.

First she said, I cant, I want this baby so badly, Dr. Gunby recalled. But it was the only choice they had to save this young woman. She eventually agreed, and the treatment was begun as soon as an abortion was performed.

Dr. Palmer, the obstetrician in Fort Worth, said that one of her patients was trying to get pregnant after the new law went into effect, and she had consensual sex with her partner.
Rasmussen, whose other documentaries include 2012s Searching for Bill, is acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with telling another persons story. Amin is not his protagonists real name; at his friends request, Flee keeps Amins true identity hidden, even as the film tells a deeply intimate story in arresting detail.

Over the last year, the documentary has garnered a slew of awards, including at Sundance Film Festival, and now looks like it might be an Oscar contender. Opening in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 3, the film has had so much positive attention in its native Denmark  a European country that has taken a comparatively hard line on refugees in recent years  that there are hopes that it may change the debate on migration.

Rasmussen, now 40, has known he wanted to tell the story of Amins flight from Afghanistan for nearly two decades, even though he only vaguely knew what his friend went through. The two met when they were both 15, and Rasmussen noticed Amin on the train to school. As he recounts in the film, Rasmussen was drawn to the Afghans stylish clothing (In rural Denmark, he said, people did not commit to fashion,) and from there the two struck up a friendship.

One of Rasmussens grandmothers was the daughter of Russian-Jewish refugees and had to flee Nazi Germany, which may also explain why the two 15-year-olds recognized something in each other.

When they were both in their 20s, Rasmussen asked Amin if he could make an audio documentary about his story, but the latter said he wasnt ready. By 2014, he was. Even then, their arrangement was tentative, and they explored whether Amin felt safe recounting his history for the first time and, if so, whether Rasmussen could find an effective way of telling it. To start, he drew upon a technique he had learned in radio, asking Amin, with his eyes closed, to recount a story in the present tense.
Mark Toias film is set during the pivotal moment when the creature escapes its maker  in this case, when military robots acquire the ability to think for themselves, go rogue and decide to kill everything in sight.

Three computer nerds run what they think is a navigation test involving four mechanical soldiers being airdropped into a jungle in the Golden Triangle. They dont have a problem with black ops involving secret weapons until things go haywire, and Monsters of Man is quite good at describing the techies hubris and utter lack of morals, as well as their terminal naivete: What did they think they were building, exactly? Not that the trios handlers are any better.

The films ruthlessness in killing off almost every character, including women and children, may feel exploitative, but there is honesty in showing the full range of casualties caused by American weaponry. If you thought drone attacks were bad, wait until you see what autonomous robots that were built to kill are capable of.
People were, like, shocked, Mr. Durr said. Theyd say, Nobodys ever been here.

Mr. Durr said he hoped to keep his job as a truck driver for the Raymour & Flanigan furniture chain, and the health insurance it provides, even after he is sworn in as a senator, a part-time position that pays $49,000. Lawmakers who took office after 2010 are not eligible for health coverage.

He rides a 2012 Harley-Davidson motorcycle, spoils his three pit bulls  I call them my fur babies  and, with his five siblings, takes care of his mother, a recent widow who lives next door.

Before joining the furniture company, he worked in construction and said he often held multiple jobs, including making pastries for Dunkin Donuts and working in a farm supply store. During two growing seasons, he drove trucks for East Coast Sod and Seed.

He was on time, said Andy Mottel, the manager of the Pilesgrove, N.J., farm, which transports sod across the country and provides the field grass for Yankee Stadium. He worked every day. He has that strong voice  very knowledgeable about sports.

Mr. Durr completed his G.E.D. through Gloucester City High School, and he has made no secret of his unease with his sudden stardom. (I feel like Im about to throw up, he said the day Mr. Sweeney conceded.) He will be a member of the minority party in the State House, making it unlikely he will have significant power to steer or stonewall legislation.

When ticking off his legislative priorities, he mentions goals like bringing jobs here, bringing businesses here, and he is the first to say he has a lot to learn about how Trenton works. If its an issue that concerns New Jersey citizens, Im going fight for it, he said.

It was his fourth campaign for public office. He ran for State Assembly as an independent in 2017 and as a Republican in 2019, and he ran last year for Logan Township council.
Its not for lack of trying, said Lt. William OToole, who heads the Bronx homicide squad. Were not getting a lot of community help.

My colleague Ali Watkins writes that the jump in unsolved cases hit the Bronx especially hard after the pandemic closed in and shootings climbed to their highest levels in 15 years. OToole said the clearance rate in the Bronx is around 62 percent. He also said that 17 murder suspects have been identified and that warrants have been issued for them.

But, he said, Its harder with the pandemic.

That is cold comfort for Marisol Sanchez. Her son, JayQuan Lewis, was known as J.J. and had planned to start nursing school in September. He was shot and killed in a bodega in August. The police identified a suspect within hours but did not release a photograph for fear of scaring him out of New York, Sanchez said.

I have a strong feeling theyre going to find him soon, Sanchez said more than a month ago.

She is still waiting.

[Murders Increased During the Pandemic. Did They Also Get Harder to Solve?]

The challenge for the police is particularly difficult in cases involving gangs or drugs, which the police believe may have figured in the shooting. The killer might have mistaken Lewis  who had avoided street life  for someone else. There was no indication that Lewis and the gunman knew each other.
The increase in shootings, thats got to have a negative impact on clearance rates, said Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Their caseload literally doubled overnight. The odds are never great. Thats the unfortunate truth.

The challenge is particularly acute for gang- and drug-related homicides, which the police believe may have been an impetus for Mr. Lewiss killing, with his killer possibly mistaking him for another man.

The dynamics that play out with gang and drug homicides are in neighborhoods that typically dont have very good relationships with law enforcement, so they question whether theyre able to trust the police with sharing information they might have, said Anthony Braga, a criminology professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

In the Bronx, Lieutenant OToole said, officers have noticed much more reluctance when speaking to the community, a phenomenon he attributes to the states discovery laws.

Its not for lack of trying, Lieutenant OToole said of the rate of unsolved homicides. Were not getting a lot of community help.

For Ms. Sanchez, much of that rings hollow. Her son was not known by the police to affiliate with any gang or drug activity. His shooting was caught clearly on video. And the man who pulled the trigger was not wearing a mask. The gunmans face, fully visible on video footage, has haunted her.

In the weeks after Mr. Lewis died, Ms. Sanchez and her husband, Joseph Trinidad, were patient. The police said they identified a suspect within hours, but they did not want to release his picture, for fear of scaring him out of New York, Ms. Sanchez said. As the months have dragged on, she and her husband have grown frustrated at the lack of progress.
The most significant Madisonian fact is that majority rule is both a good idea and an inevitable one: Public opinion both ought to and will win out in a republic. But, crucially, it will do so ultimately, not immediately. One original purpose of the Senates six-year terms was to give its members time between elections to resist public opinion. The different electoral clocks for representatives, presidents and senators require that public opinion cohere to prevail.

In 1791, with the young Constitution in operation and nascent partisan alliances appearing, Madison wrote in a newspaper essay that the government owed deference to public opinion only when that opinion was fixed rather than fluctuating: This distinction, if kept in view, would prevent or decide many debates on the respect due from the government to the sentiments of the people.

It is difficult to identify a case in American history of sustained, broad public opinion that did not ultimately manifest itself in public policy. Americans have been thwarted or delayed with respect to vague ideas like expanding access to health care. But they have also disagreed profoundly and deeply about what form those ideas should concretely take. When Americans have settled into an enduring consensus on particulars, they have almost always prevailed.

One way proponents of particular policies encourage consensus is by appealing to public opinion. But according to Madison, the constitutional system judges majorities on their durability. A nearly $2 trillion bill that fundamentally alters relations between the government and the governed  even if in constructive and needed ways  should demonstrate broad and enduring support. A tied Senate and nearly tied House, acting in a space of months, cannot demonstrate that support on Madisonian terms.

Democrats should not be overly faulted for failing to attract Republican support. At least since Democrats took the House in 2018, and arguably for longer, Republicans have been dogmatically uncooperative and uninterested in legislating.

But omnibus bills that throw every possible priority into a single measure and their overuse make bipartisan support nearly impossible. Madison may have predicted the future of factions poorly. But his assumption was that coalitions would shift from issue to issue. A stand-alone bill on any one Democratic priority might well receive votes from across the aisle, as the recent $1 trillion infrastructure bill did. One reason for that bipartisan support is that isolating issues raises the cost of opposing them.

In addition, the fact that one of the countrys two major political parties refuses to budge and  the decisive fact  feels no pressure from its constituents to do so is evidence that the Madisonian tests of durability and fixity have not been met. If majorities of the American people truly support the Democratic approach to social policy, the partys candidates should be able to make that case on the campaign trail. The fact that they are trying to beat the clock instead suggests they know their support is fragile. Fragility is a poor foundation for major legislation.
Tens of millions of Americans have received genetic tests illuminating their risk of disease, and a majority of adults in the United States say they would be interested in getting tested. When we each turned 20, we sought genetic testing to learn whether we had inherited our mothers BRCA mutation, which significantly increases the risk of breast, ovarian and other cancers. We each had a 50 percent chance of inheriting it, but our fates diverged: One of us, Emma, has the mutation, and the other, Leah, does not.

The results of this genetic coin toss mean that Leah is financially well protected by her health insurance, while Emma and countless other people who have a high-risk genetic mutation are not. Its an inequity that the United States should rectify through state and federal legislation.

The Affordable Care Act requires most private health insurers to cover, at no cost to the patient, genetic testing for people at high risk of having certain harmful mutations. But more than a decade after the passage of the bill, people with genetic mutations remain unprotected in two important ways.

First, insurers dont have to cover genetic testing for all harmful mutations. Private insurers are required to cover genetic testing only for BRCA mutations in high-risk women. (Both of our tests were covered.) They do not have to cover testing for other common genetic conditions, like Lynch syndrome, the most common cause of hereditary colon cancer. Its unfair to require coverage for only a small subset of patients with high-risk mutations when scientists know of many others and continue to discover new ones.
Image Credit... Matthew Monteith for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re Living My Life Again, by Katharine Esty (Opinion guest essay, Sunday Review, Nov. 21):

Dr. Esty, who is 87, put her social life on hold for most of the pandemic, but now she goes out often, plans to attend parties and has been to several restaurants.

Although I, too, am elderly  88  my life is different. I havent received any invitations to parties and havent been inside a restaurant for over a year. I, too, had a boyfriend, but he died a few years ago. We went to restaurants together  so enjoyable!  and did a lot of traveling, some of it quite adventurous, but those years are the stuff of nostalgia, not present-day reality.

I think that Dr. Esty could be a little more humble about the vicissitudes of aging. Yes, of course we should all try to make the best of our situations in life, but illness can stop us dead  or almost dead  in our tracks. She seems a bit judgmental toward her fellow elders who succumb to fatigue, anxiety and creaky joints. She, on the other hand, pulls herself up by her bootstraps and lives every day to the fullest.

To give her credit, she wants to set a good example. Fair enough. But lets bear in mind that getting old sometimes seems like a conspiracy against our intentions  no matter how deeply held  to stay strong and master every challenge.
In a July report, the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military found that many of those who reported sexual violence regretted doing so. The backlash often compounds the trauma of the actual assault.

Worse still, some service members attempt suicide after speaking up and seeking help. Studies show that the perception of betrayal by the military bureaucracy in the aftermath of sexual assault is associated with severe depression and self-inflicted violence. Women who served in the military are at 2.5 times the risk for suicide compared to their counterparts who did not.

According to the investigation into her death, Corporal Vassas tried reporting her sexual assaults several times. But the reporting process was perilous. During her initial training, she said that she had been forcibly kissed by another Marine. But when investigators reminded her that having a relationship with another trainee was prohibited, she withdrew her complaint.

While stationed in California, Corporal Vassas told two of her childhood friends that an officer had interrupted another Marine pushing her up against the wall of his room and taking her pants off without her consent, after both had been drinking. She was disciplined over this incident because she was not supposed to be in the barracks for men.

The inquiry into her death suggests that the officer who reprimanded Corporal Vassas ignored the assault and that a military investigator believed she may have been lying about the incident to get out of trouble for being in the wrong barracks.

But her medical record tells a different story. Her heightened depression and anxiety can be traced back to late 2018 and were likely due to the stress induced by the sexual assault in the barracks, according to a behavioral health assessment. It was also around this time that Corporal Vassas started voicing suicidal ideations to her friends, including one text message that read, I cant live with this pain.

But in February 2019, she was given a clean bill of health and cleared to deploy to Japan. There, Corporal Vassas may have been sexually assaulted yet again, according to Marines in her unit.
That was huge for him, said Ms. Headen, who received a bachelors degree in studio art from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and works as a talent strategy manager for the Hendrick Automotive Group in Charlotte.

I fell in love with his style, added Ms. Headen, who at the time was married and raising two young boys. I was like OK, Im going to get one of those paintings one day.

In 2002, she did just that, commissioning a painting by Mr. Hernandez through Hidell Brooks, an art gallery in Charlotte, as a Fathers Day gift for her then husband. (Titled Inhook, it was completed in 2003.)

Ms. Headen followed her order with her very first call to Mr. Hernandez, with whom she confirmed shipping details before learning that he is a history buff who has drawn inspiration from the lives of children who grew up during the Holocaust, as well as those who struggled through the Great Depression, especially in the ghettos of the Bronx where his grandparents lived.

An Atlanta native, Mr. Hernandez attended Georgia Tech before leaving college to pursue a career in painting. His works, mostly of children during the Holocaust and Great Depression, are currently on display at numerous art galleries, including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Bronx Museum of the Arts.
Name: Brandon Kyle Goodman

Age: 34

Hometown: New York City

Now lives: In a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood with his husband, Matthew Raymond-Goodman, and their dog, Korey.

Claim to fame: Mr. Goodman is an actor and writer best known for Big Mouth, an adult animated sitcom on Netflix about preteens surviving puberty. He is the voice of Walter, a queer lovebug.

Mr. Goodman is also a Black and queer activist who hosts a weekly podcast, Black Folx, which features conversations about diverse Black voices. Being a nonbinary gay Black person in Hollywood is an uphill battle he said. As a storyteller, I, too, want the chance to play with all the colors in the crayon box of humanity instead of being sidelined as a trope.
The American Museum of Natural History raised about $3 million at its annual fall gala on Nov. 18, with 450 guests dining under the big blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life. As usual, there was a large contingent of Saturday Night Live cast members. (Lorne Michaels, the shows longtime producer, sits on the museums board.) And New York Public Radio held its annual gala on Nov. 16 at the Plaza Hotel; the Radiolab podcast, now in its 20th year, was honored.
Ms. Crews, 39, did not respond to an interview request.

Officer Crews has maintained she did not intend to shoot Ashley Hall, her lawyer, Travis Noble, said in a statement. It was an accident. The restorative justice approach taken by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office was the best outcome for all involved.

Mr. Bell, the St. Louis County prosecutor, said that the case presented a unique set of facts that made it an ideal opportunity for restorative justice mediation. He emphasized Ms. Crewss immediate apology after she fired a bullet into Ms. Halls back, and Ms. Halls disclosure to him that she did not wish to see Ms. Crews go to jail.

Soon after the shooting, Mr. Bell contacted the restorative justice program in Washington, D.C., which the citys attorney general, Karl A. Racine, established in 2017. Seema Gajwani, who leads the program, agreed to facilitate the moderation between Ms. Hall and Ms. Crews.

This is an example accomplishing the ideal, which is healing and justice, Mr. Bell said in an interview. The trauma that individuals have to deal with during the legal process often does not address that healing, that type of accountability, and its not designed to.

Ms. Gajwani said in an interview that the criminal justice system leaves little room for people to have the agency to resolve things themselves and to have a chance to speak. She said she has often been surprised by how frequently victims opt for restorative justice when it is available, instead of a trial.

Washingtons restorative justice program has conducted more than 150 mediations, according to Mr. Racines office, which said that an internal analysis of cases involving juvenile offenders indicated that the process reduces recidivism.

Restorative justice programs are proliferating across the country, and not just in major metropolitan areas, said Alissa Marque Heydari, deputy director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The frustrating thing, Mr. Pennington said, is we will never know how much we lost.

Welcome to the sometimes-sketchy world of online campaign fund-raising, where misdirection and misleading everyday Americans  often older Americans  to maximize clicks and cash is increasingly a dark art form.

Imitating others and mimicking official correspondence with postage-paid mailers is an age-old trick that marketers have used since long before the internet. The tactic has been adapted and updated for the digital era  and appears to be accelerating in prevalence in the political sphere.

At stake can be millions of dollars in an era when mass online political donating is in vogue in both parties. Copycatting Mr. ORourkes brand surged in popularity recently, but on the Republican side, mimicking the brand of former President Donald J. Trump has been common for months.

In some cases, established organizations are simply capitalizing on the days big news or the politician of the moment to gin up excitement among their own supporters with some verbal sleight-of-hand. In others, political action committees with anodyne names are raising funds in the name of a popular politician that they have no affiliation with at all. Mr. Pennington described such groups as leeches and scam PACs.

Where the money goes from there can be murky, though big payments to the operatives and consulting firms that operate those PACs have drawn increasing scrutiny from political colleagues, regulators and law enforcement alike.
But the Saudis are more interested, according to four people briefed on their continuing negotiations. The kingdoms $450 billion Public Investment Fund is negotiating with Mr. Kushner over what could prove to be a sizable investment in his new firm, two of those people said.

In a brief phone call, Mr. Kushner declined to discuss his new firm, Affinity Partners, and it is not clear which other investors he has spoken to so far inside or outside the United States. According to a person familiar with the firms plans, Mr. Kushner hopes to raise an amount in the low billions of dollars by early next year.

But his inquiries to Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds have raised questions about the ethics  or at least the optics  of seeking to raise large sums from officials he had dealt with on behalf of the U.S. government as recently as January, especially given the possibility of Mr. Trump running for president in 2024.

Mr. Kushners business experience is largely limited to the time he spent running his familys real estate company. His best-known deal was the purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, for $1.8 billion in 2007, which became a financial albatross when the recession hit soon after. He was also the owner and publisher of The New York Observer for a decade, until his father-in-law became president.

During the Trump administration, Mr. Kushner developed a particularly close rapport with Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He played a leading role in the White House in defending Prince Mohammed after U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that he had directed the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post, who had criticized of the kingdoms rulers.
Health officials in the United States were consulting with South African scientists Friday morning, according to a person familiar with the calls, but it was unclear whether the Biden administration would impose travel restrictions.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Bidens top medical adviser on the coronavirus, told CNN that the new variant appeared to be spreading rapidly, but that the United States must find out whether existing vaccines are effective against it before considering a travel ban.

Right now, were getting the material together with our South African colleagues to get a situation where you could actually directly test it, Dr. Fauci said. So right now, youre talking about sort of like a red flag that this might be an issue  but we dont know.

Even with travel restrictions, the new variant will inevitably reach the United States, said Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota who advised Mr. Biden during his transition.
JOHANNESBURG  As the United States and European countries close their borders over fears over the recently detected coronavirus variant, many South Africans say they feel as if they are being punished for alerting global health authorities.

Hours after South African scientists announced the existence of a new variant that they said displayed a big jump in evolution, Britain banned travelers from southern African nations. Other European nations and the United States quickly followed suit.

I do apologize that people took a very radical decision, said Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform and the scientist who announced the new variant on Thursday.

Fresh from a virtual meeting with global health leaders, including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Bidens top medical adviser on the coronavirus, Mr. Oliveira told journalists he believed that international solidarity would be in favor of South Africas decision to publicize its findings.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Dozens of people have been killed and their villages burned in inter-communal violence in Sudans West Darfur state, the United Nations said, worsening the state of crisis that has troubled the region for years.

The violence comes as Sudans leaders are working through their own crisis, one that is likely to distract them from Darfurs mounting problems.

Sudans effort at a democratic transition is faltering, with thousands of demonstrators flooding the streets on Thursday to denounce the militarys deal with the civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. After almost a month under house arrest following a coup, Mr. Hamdok signed a new power-sharing agreement with the military in a bid to end a bloody standoff and restore the democratic process.

In Darfur, at least 43 people were killed and 46 villages burned and looted after conflict erupted last week in the Jebel Moon area between Arab herders and farmers from the Misseriya Jebel tribe, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
PARIS  Protesters fired live ammunition at journalists and the police on Thursday night on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, injuring dozens of officers, one of them seriously, a spokesman for the French government said.

As in Guadeloupe, another French island to the north, the protests against Martiniques coronavirus protocols  which require vaccinations for health care workers and a health pass to enter most public venues  have been exacerbated by long-running frustrations and anger over economic inequality with the mainland. The poverty rate in Martinique is 29.8 percent, almost twice the national level in France.

The mix of old grievances and new anger over Covid-19 rules has made the unrest particularly volatile.

These extremely serious acts call for unanimous and unambiguous condemnation, the French prime minister, Jean Castex, said in a tweet on Friday in response to the violent protests in Martiniques largest city, Fort-de-France.
TOKYO  Jakucho Setouchi, a Buddhist priest and feminist author who wrote frankly about sex, entertained audiences with her insouciant wit and rendered one of Japans greatest classic works into a readable best seller, died on Nov. 9 in Kyoto, Japan. She was 99.

Her private secretary, Manaho Seo, said the cause was heart failure.

Ms. Setouchi, whom some critics called Womb Writer because of her controversial novels about sex and family, flouted expectations for women throughout her lifetime. She left her first husband and young child to have an affair with a younger man, drank alcohol and ate meat even after becoming a Buddhist priest, and talked publicly about the importance of sexual freedom, for women in particular.

I think its good to be free, she told The New York Times in 1999, and to have sex with anyone.

Into her 90s, she continued to write and dispense advice to visitors to the temple she opened in Kyoto in 1974. She had almost 300,000 followers on Instagram.

Ms. Setouchi wrote more than 400 novels  fictional versions of her own love affairs and stories of rebellious women from history. Some critics labeled her works pornographic, a characterization she rejected.
Image New pandemic-related travel restrictions will go into effect Monday. Credit... David Zalubowski/Associated Press

President Biden will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other African countries to try to contain a troubling new variant of the coronavirus, senior administration officials said on Friday, though they said it would be impossible to prevent it from entering the United States.

Starting on Monday, the administration will prohibit travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi from coming to the United States, the officials said.

The travel ban will not apply to American citizens or lawful permanent residents, officials said. But they will need to show a negative coronavirus test before coming to the United States.

Mr. Biden made the decision after he was briefed by advisers including Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, who said in an interview Friday that the variant appeared to be spreading rapidly and that he and other health officials in the United States were consulting with South African scientists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in a statement late Friday that no cases of the new variant had been identified in the United States.

The White House announced the decision after the World Health Organization said the newly detected version of the virus, labeled Omicron, was a variant of concern, a category for dangerous variants that may spread quickly, cause severe disease or decrease the effectiveness of vaccines or treatments.

Ive decided that were going to be cautious, Mr. Biden told reporters in Nantucket. We dont know a lot about the variant except that it is a great concern and seems to spread rapidly.

By imposing the travel restrictions, the administration will not stop the virus from coming to the United States. But it can give health officials and pharmaceutical companies time to determine whether the current vaccines work against the new variant  and if not, to create new vaccines that do.

Its going to buy us some time, Dr. Fauci said. Its not going to be possible to keep this infection out of the country. The question is: Can you slow it down?

Dr. Fauci said the new variant has about 30 mutations, and roughly 10 of them are on a part of the virus that is associated with transmissibility and immune protection. That suggests the virus may be more transmissible and may escape the current vaccines to an extent yet to be determined.

He said there had been some breakthrough infections among those who had recovered from the Delta variant, and among those who were vaccinated.

But at the same time, he said, scientists do not know the severity of the infections caused by the new variant. It is entirely possible that it spreads more quickly but causes less severe disease.

You dont want to say dont worry, and you dont want to say youve got to worry yourself sick, because were gathering information rapidly, he said, adding, Even though the numbers are still small, the doubling time is pretty rapid and the slope of the increase is really rather sharp.

Biden administration officials said they were continuing to work with health officials in other countries to learn more about the variant.

Restricting travel is going to slow its coming, not stop it from coming, said Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, chair of the department of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania and an adviser to the president during his transition. The fact that its coming here is inevitable. The environment in which it comes may not be inevitable. We can alter the environment.

Mr. Biden said on Friday that the rise of the Omicron variant was another reason for vaccinated Americans to get boosters and unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated  a point Dr. Fauci echoed. And Mr. Biden said the development should push the international community to donate more vaccines to nations suffering from a lack of access or poor vaccination rates.

Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota who also advised Mr. Biden during his transition, said the administration had little choice on implementing the travel ban.

But Dr. Osterholm said it could take time before scientists know if the current vaccines are effective against the variant, and how transmissible it is. One way to figure that out is through laboratory studies, which will take several weeks, he said. Another way is to follow breakthrough cases in people who are already vaccinated, which could take months.
Sharbat Gula, who became an international symbol of war-torn Afghanistan after her portrait at a refugee camp was published on the cover of National Geographic magazine in 1985, was evacuated to Rome after her country fell to the Taliban, the Italian government said Thursday.

Ever since the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in August, nonprofit organizations had appealed for help in evacuating Ms. Gula, the Italian government said in a statement.

The prime ministers office has brought about and organized her transfer to Italy, the statement said. It did not say when she arrived, and the foreign ministry later said it did not know whether she would remain in Italy or go elsewhere.

Ms. Gula, now in her late 40s and the mother of several children, was believed to be 12 when Steve McCurry photographed her, with a piercing, green-eyed stare, in 1984 in a refugee camp in Pakistan. He did not learn her name until 2002, when he found her in the mountains of Afghanistan and was able to verify her identity.
MOSCOW  In the days before his death in a mine explosion in Russias coal-rich Kuzbass region, Boris Piyalkin lamented that the safety standards in his workplace were inadequate.

He sat and cried, and was just scared, said Anzhelika Piyalkina, the daughter-in-law of Mr. Piyalkin, who had spent three decades working as a miner but increasingly feared the conditions in which he was being asked to work.

Mr. Piyalkin, who was 55 years old, was one of 46 miners and six rescuers killed Thursday by the explosion at the Listvyazhnaya mine in Belovo, about 2,200 miles east of Moscow and two hours south of Kemerovo. The accident occurred after a ventilation shaft began filling with gas while 285 people were underground, according to officials.

Mr. Piyalkins wife, Inna Piyalkina, in a video widely circulated in Russian media, said he had reported that the methane levels at the mine were going through the roof. She added, My husband came home from work every day and said it wouldnt end well.
ERBIL, Iraq  Iraq repatriated a second wave of more than 600 migrants from Belarus on Friday after they gave up, at least for now, on a disastrous attempt to try to reach the European Union via its eastern borders.

Two Iraqi Airways charter flights landed before dawn in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, then went on to the national capital, Baghdad. At the Erbil airport, a few dozen relatives waited quietly for their family members to emerge, then rushed forward to embrace them tearfully.

One of the returning migrants, Shaho Omar, 27, said he and his friends had been trying to reach Germany and then go on to Britain. But they abandoned their plans after hearing that at least 27 migrants died on Wednesday in a failed attempt to cross the English Channel from France to Britain aboard a flimsy inflatable boat.

What happened to them could have happened to us  that shocked us, he said, adding that rough treatment by the Belarus border police and the free flight home offered by Iraqi authorities had persuaded him and others to leave.
Finland is Europes largest producer of fox fur, but undercover investigations have repeatedly shown that arctic fox farms engage in dubious practices, such as fattening the animals until they become deformed, just to increase their fur yield.

Despite a concentrated effort by PETA and many high-profile celebrities to deter the general public from buying natural animal fur, the fur trade has been booming. Around 100 million animals are killed for their fur every year, and the industry is worth tens of billions of dollars. While China is by far the worlds largest fur producer, thanks in great part to the lack of concrete animal welfare legislation, Finland is the largest fur producer in Europe, and the conditions in its animal farms are worse than you can probably imagine. Millions of arctic foxes are kept in tiny metal cages with no bedding, very little light, and are stuffed with food until they become deformed so that more fur can be harvested from them.

Photo: Oikeutta elaimille/Facebook

Finnish animal rights group Oikeutta elaimille (Justice for Animals) first shocked the world in 2016, when it released a series of photos showing arctic foxes so obese they could barely move around in their tiny metal cages. The so-called monster foxes reportedly weighed up to 40 pounds, five times their weight in the wild, and exhibited unusual behavior, such as pacing back and forth in their enclosures.

They do it because it releases endorphins [stress-relieving brain chemicals]. It is distressing to see, Kati Pulli, a vet and a director of the Finnish Federation for Animal Welfare Associations, told Mail Online.

Sadly, it doesnt surprise me as I have visited fur farms and we saw some as big as these, Ms. Pulli added. Typical health problems include bent legs, which may be the result of being overweight and lack of exercise. The folds of skin on their body might cause skin inflammation and their eyelids may become loose. They may have red or pink eyes because of infections, which are contagious.

The cages that the arctic foxes are kept in at some of these farms measure only 0.8 square meters, barely enough for the animals to turn around in, and only feature a stick for them to bite on. There is nowhere for them to dig, a behavior that comes naturally for foxes in the wild, so they are constantly stressed.

In 2017 fur producers promised to stop breeding oversized animals to increase the volume of fur, but a recent investigation by Mirror Online journalist Nada Farhoud revealed that arctic foxes are still being overfed. The photos are not as shocking as those released five years ago, but they are still heartbreaking to look at.

This distressed Arctic fox is missing an ear. Others pace incessantly and have pulled out their overgrown fur  signs of psychological distress, reported. They have deformed feet, diseased eyes, and some of them are so obese they are what is known as monster foxes'.

Each year, between one and two million foxes are raised on around 750 fur farms in Finland. Their nightmarish lives are usually short, as they are electrocuted and then skinned at just eight months of age.

Unfortunately, with fur products as popular as they are in todays luxury fashion industry, there is little anyone can do to stop or end the abuse of arctic foxes in Finland and other farms around the world. The only viable solution would be to switch to sustainable artificial fur.
In what can be described as one of the weirdest accidents of the year, a Filipino man was seriously hurt by a crocodile after climbing down into a pool to take a selfie with it, thinking it was just a realistic plastic model.

68-year-old Nehemias Chipada was visiting the Amaya View amusement park in Cagayan de Oro City, the Philippines, on November 10 when he spotted what he thought was a life-like model of a crocodile. It looked eerily realistic, so the Filipino man, who was celebrating his birthday with his family at the amusement park, climbed down to take a selfie with the cold-blooded reptile and even tapped it on the head. The thought that the 12-meter model could actually be a real crocodile never crossed his mind, at least until he got dangerously close to it and the reptile sank its teeth into his left arm

Photo: Shelly Collins/Unsplash

Shocking footage that has since gone viral on social media shows Nehemias screaming and trying to pull his arm out of the crocodiles mouth as it attempts to pull him deeper into the pool. He was eventually able to break free from the crocodiles vice-like jaws before it could rip his arm off, but he did sustain terrible injuries that required medical attention.

A nurse on duty at the resort administered first aid to the 68-year-old before an ambulance rushed him to the hospital where he underwent multiple surgeries. According to sources at the hospital, the man sustained fractured bones and eight wounds on his arm and thigh that required stitching and had a crocodile fang lodged in his flesh.

There were no advisories warning us not to enter the enclosure, Nehemias daughter, Mercy Joy Chipada, said. Because if there were, we would never have gone there.

The amusement park agreed to cover the costs of Nehemias treatment, but a spokesperson denied that they had been negligent in preventing the terrible accident, claiming that the area where the crocodile attack occurred was actually off-limits.

We deny the allegation that we have been negligent, Amaya View COO Candy Unabia said. They said they thought the crocodile was also artificial, but that area is actually restricted. There are signages and constant reminders from our tour guides.

Yesterday, the Philppine News Agency reported that Nehemias Chipada and his family had decided not to press charges against the amusement park, as the two parties have come to an understanding.
Two hundred and fifty nine patients are waiting on trolleys across twenty three Irish hospitals this morning.

According to the INMO Trolley Watch, 200 patients are waiting in emergency departments, while 59 are in wards elsewhere in the hospitals.

Letterkenny University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick are the worst affected, with 45 and 36 people waiting respectively.

Twenty one patients are reported to be under the age of sixteen, with seventeen patients waiting in the emergency room at Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin and four at Temple Street.

Just nine hospitals nationwide are free from overcrowding, with two in Dublin including the National Children's Hospital in Tallaght, as well as hospitals in Cavan, Bantry, Ennis, Nenagh, Drogheda and Tipperary.

One hundred and seventy seven people were waiting on trolleys at the same time last year. University Hospital Limerick was noted as the most affected with 34 people waiting, followed by Sligo and Cork University Hospitals with 24 patients waiting in each.

Thirteen hospitals were free from overcrowding on this day in 2020.
UN Human Rights, Education Above All Foundation and Silatech have partnered on a strategic project to promote and protect the rights of young people, especially those in vulnerable situations such as conflict, violence and insecurity.

Young people are the present, not the future, said UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif. Across the world, they are exercising their rights to shape the decisions that affect their lives and societies, to access quality education, decent work and healthcare, to freely express their opinions and peacefully assemble without fear of harassment, intimidation or reprisals.

It is a crucial responsibility of us all as a global community to empower youth, and pay special attention to the most marginalized who are living in situations of conflict and insecurity, said the CEO of the Education Above All Foundation, Fahad Al-Sulaiti. Empowerment and respecting the agency of youth means that they must be treated as equal partners working with global leaders. Inclusive and quality learning opportunities are integral to provide the knowledge and skills that are essential for driving progress and achieving positive change.

Through the project, the three partners will work jointly to create learning resources with the participation of young people themselves, through a Youth Advisory Board and a series of regional consultations, to ensure their ownership of the whole process. Once developed, the resources will be used in a series of capacity-building workshops for youth peacebuilders and advocates globally, providing them with the crucial building blocks to better understand and claim their rights. Young people will then return with their newfound knowledge and skills sharing what they have learned, thereby creating a ripple effect that reaches the most marginalized members of the community.

The CEO of Silatech, Hassan Al-Mulla, said, I believe in the potential of young people to foster and precipitate change in the world. We are delighted to collaborate with and support our strategic partners UN Human Rights and the Education Above All Foundation in this project. We aim to provide youth living in marginalized communities, particularly those affected by conflict and violence, with the entrepreneurial capacity to catalyse positive and equitable societal changes and to sustain the livelihoods of marginalized youth by contributing to the construction of a better future for all.

Promoting equitable, peaceful and prosperous societies with and for youth

According to field research and workshops conducted by the Education Above All Foundation, marginalized grassroots communities affected by conflict and insecurity urgently need quality learning materials and knowledge of human rights, advocacy, and sustainable peacebuilding.

Aryemo-Esther Ambrose, a 24-year-old living in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Uganda became a youth peacemaker in 2017 after a series of trainings with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative, a strategic partner of Education Above All. As a peacemaker, she now conducts community dialogues and capacity building workshops on human rights and peacebuilding for members of her community.

The main challenges that youth face today are a lack of access to quality education because of cost, leading to a lack of employment opportunities, as well as limited access to information on human rights including sexual and reproductive health and rights, Ambrose said.

I am excited the project will bring youth together and empower them through building their capacity on fundamental human rights and giving them life skills to become resilient, productive and peaceful, positively contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, she added. The initiative will go a long way to inspire young people to promote sustainable peace among youth and in the community. This is a great initiative; it will strengthen the skills, knowledge and understanding of young people to confidently stand up and advocate for better actions that are youth-focused in our community.

Multiple barriers to youth rights: conflict, violence and COVID-19

Last year, the Global Survey on Youth and COVID-19 showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the rights of young people, in particular those relating to their social, cultural and economic integration.

According to the International Labour Organization, prior to the outbreak, around one in five of the worlds youth were not in employment, education, or training, and youth unemployment rates were about three times higher than the rest of the working population. With the economic fall-out of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, young workers have faced yet another terrible blow, especially those employed in the informal economy in low-paid, precarious jobs.

Areej Al Masry is a young human rights defender who lived the horrors of the civil war in her home country, Syria. When she fled the conflict, Al Masry had the opportunity for educational and economic empowerment and now she is at the forefront of advocating for the rights of young Syrian refugees, so they can all enjoy their human rights, without discrimination. She said the ongoing conflicts and instability in the Middle East have caused young people numerous challenges, including an uncertain and unsafe living environment that lacks human dignity and the opportunity to continue their education.

Although, many of these young people hold respectable degrees in different fields, most of them are not able to join the labour market, she said. Refugees, those who are under temporary protection and those who hold no legal status in the host communities face the same difficulties. And because of the minimal efforts devoted to the integration process in some countries, they are more exposed to prejudice, unfairness, and social rejection.

I hope that this project will help youth, particularly those who have fled their home countries during conflict, find a better life opportunity where their rights can be met, Al Masry continued. Empowering these young people and giving them opportunities to continue their education and to work will help them to be self-reliant and create their future, contributing to building sustainable peace in the long run.

Technology and innovation will play a significant role in this project, especially to reach the most marginalized communities among us. Technology undoubtedly continues to play a far greater role in the reach and development of young men and women, continues Al-Mulla. In particular, those living in vulnerable economic environments where young people comprise the majority of the population who are seeking to work, learn, upskill, innovate, and take advantage of the accessibility offered by emerging technologies to develop their skills and attain competitive employment opportunities.

UN Human Rights has been working alongside young people to promote and protect their rights, Al-Nashif said. Our partnership with Silatech and Education Above All will enhance our joint commitments to working with young people and particularly those in vulnerable situations, to co-create resources that will enhance their human rights knowledge and advocacy skills, and ultimately empower them to stand up for their human rights.

The tripartite partnership is a timely opportunity to take concrete action based on our belief in the power of youth: to harness their extraordinary passion, drive and commitment to building more equitable, peaceful and prosperous societies for all, said Al-Sulaiti.

26 November 2021
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Government negotiations are taking place to deploy Defence Force and police personnel to the Solomon Islands.

The Office of PNG Prime Minister James Marape confirmed with NBC News last night that Mr Marape received the request from Mr Sogavare for PNG to send assistance to maintain law and order in Honiara.

The Office of the Police Minister also told NBC News last night that it's still finalizing negotiations.

Chief of PNG Defence Force Major-General Gilbert Toropo told NBC News that at this stage, the army would send one person to carry out an assessment.

The Government will soon announce what level of regional security cooperation PNG will provide to support the MSG member nation.

PNG was part of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands or RAMSI in 2003 after an ethnic conflict.

Source: NBC News





Next: Samoa Supreme Court quiet on sixth woman MP
Russias crime rate is in line with that of other developed countries, and in some cases lower than the U.S. Tourist-prone areas have enough police and security cameras to keep serious crime low. You may encounter pickpockets in the larger population centers and tourist destinations, so keep a close eye on your passport and other valuables. Political turmoil can make some areas riskier. The Ukrainian border, the North Caucasus, Abkhazia 
Life In Media: A new magazine-platform for the fields of communications and lifestyle 25/11/2021: Greece, Athens, 11/2021 : Life In Media magazine-platform launched a year ago during the quarantine and it is a new project regarding the fields of communications and lifestyle. It is an innovative platform which includes many features and content. It is based in Athens, Greece. It was nominated in the 13th University Competition of Entrepreneurship & 
Kinobi, a career SaaS preparation platform based in Singapore, with operations across Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand, has signed MOUs with 51 universities across Asia within a month to support career centers with tools and analytics to engage students in career readiness and track student outcomes. This is a form of Kinobis commitment to helping students across Asia to prepare their careers to the fullest and get jobs they 
On June 12, 2019, my wife Susan and I board our plane in Rome, Italy to take us home to the USA. We settle into a nine-hour discussion of all we have experienced during three weeks in Rome.

As our plane lands and taxis the crisscrossing concrete of JFK, my cellphone, suddenly erupts in ringing, in tones and in buzzing.

A quick glance at my phone display after the jet is resting in its JFK gate causes my heart to stick in my throat. The Warden of Florida State Prison, Floridas execution prison, is trying to reach me.

Yes, Brother Dale, his assistant recognizes my voice without any self-introduction. He is in a meeting but asked me to put you through when you called back.

After a few more clicks and chirps, both the Warden and prison chaplain are on the line.

Brother Dale, the Warden begins, we hope you had a good trip, but its time to get back to work.

One of your spiritual advisees has had his death warrant signed by the Governor. He has asked for you as his deathwatch spiritual advisor and his execution witness. Will you do it? Yes or no?

Yes. When do you need me to report to the death house?

The downstairs level of Q Wing at FSP  the cells, execution witness room, and execution chamber  is called the death house.

Report to the death house tomorrow morning. Can you be here by 9am?

Yes, sir. Our flight from JFK gets into Jacksonville late tonight. So, we have already booked a room for tonight at my Jacksonville residence.

The Assistant Warden breaks into the telephone discussion with some levity at my expense. Is your Jacksonville residence the motel I drove you to last August when you faceplanted in the death house from the high heat and humidity?

Yes, sir. Its the same motel that I always stay at when Im in the iron triangle.

The Iron Triangle is a longstanding nickname for the cluster of maximum-security prisons sitting outside Raiford and Starke, Florida.

Florida State Prison or FSP has almost 1,400 solitary cells and the death house.

Union Correctional Institution or UCI is right next door on the other side of the county line. It holds Floridas death row and another 1,200 solitary cells.

There is no air-conditioning in solitary confinement or on death row or  until this year  in the death house. People always ask me, How hot is it?

I answer with humor, As hot as I imagine hell to be, but with higher humidity!

The more accurate answer is that inside these prisons the summer thermal index, which measures the combined effect of heat and humidity on the human body, can well hit 150 degrees Fahrenheit in August and early September.

Then, last year in August, I spent four hours at cell front in the death house with a condemned inmate. It was the height of the summer heat and humidity.

Despite my efforts to hydrate, I face-planted. Passed out cold, with my face hitting the fifty-years old concrete floor.

The chaplain took me in a wheelchair to the front of the prison and called my wife in Tallahassee. The Assistant Warden then drove me in my car to my motel in Jacksonville. Susan immediately left her work in Tallahassee to drive to Jacksonville. She would follow me home to Tallahassee the next morning on Interstate 10. Over 200 miles each way.

I have heard that the State has now installed a window air-conditioner in the death house for deathwatch. That should keep me from passing out and embarrassing myself again.

On the morning of June 13, 2019, I report to the death house at FSP. The inside walk from the front door of the prison to the death house is over a quarter mile.

In the course of that quarter mile today, I pass several dozen officers. Almost everyone wishes me a good morning and then, tongue-in-cheek, thanks me for getting air-conditioning in the death house. The latter is not about gratitude.

They are letting me know that everyone has heard about my faceplant in the heat and humidity in the death house last year. That is the reason the state has installed a window airconditioner in the death house. That is the very same heat and humidity that the officers work in and the inmates live in, day in and day out.

In a good-natured response to their feigned concern for my delicate constitution, I smile and laugh, You are welcome. Sir.

If one has thin skin, The Iron Triangle is not the place to look for a job.

By the end of August 2019, the man whose warrant was signed in June has been executed. No one is expecting another warrant anytime soon. And then it happens.

The Chaplain at FSP calls me at UCI next door where I am handling inmate counseling appointments.

Brother Dale, we just got us another death warrant. Hes one of your guys. He has already been moved to the death house.

Oh my, no one was expecting that so soon, Chaplain. Who is it?

It is James Dailey, and he has asked for you as his deathwatch spiritual advisor and execution witness. Will you do it?

The condemned inmates name has left me in stunned silence. I stumble over my words trying to process the shock. James Dailey, the Air Force Veteran of Korea and Vietnam?

Yeah, James Dailey, the Chaplain is speaking softly and respectfully. I know you just finished an execution, Brother Dale, and if you need a break, we can have him ask someone else.

No, sir. I have been seeing Jim in pastoral counseling for over 20 years. I can do it, and I will do it. When do I need to come over?

How about this afternoon when you finish up at UCI.

When I arrive to the FSP chapel later that day, the Chaplain and I go through the required paperwork and recitation of the strict rules governing death watch. Then he gives me the name and phone number for Jims ex-wife, Mary Kay.

I will call Mary Kay tonight from my motel room and drive home to Tallahassee in the morning. Susan and I will have the weekend to turn over my laundry and replenish supplies. I will drive back to my Jacksonville Residence on Sunday and start deathwatch with Jim and Mary Kay on Monday morning.

At 8am, Monday morning, I present myself to the security station at the front gate of FSP. The security search of my clothes and possessions is extremely thorough. That is to be expected on deathwatch.

Once security has cleared me for entry, I am escorted to the noncontact visiting park. A long room with a wall down the middle. This dividing wall has a ledge running from one end to the other. The ledge forms a small shelf on each side of the wall where one can set food or drink items, or legal papers or a Bible.

The wall is made of solid material from the ledge down to the floor. From the ledge to the ceiling, the wall consists of bullet-proof, reinforced Plexiglass.

This room could hold sixty visitors. Today is a death watch visit. There will only be Jim and Mary Kay and me. And the officers on both sides of the wall, of course.

Mary Kay will arrive about 11:00am and will join Jim and me in process. Meantime, Jim and I can catch up.

So, were you expecting a warrant?

Absolutely, not, Jim shakes his head. I had no idea it was coming now.

Dont you still have appeals to be heard?

Yeah! Major issues still waiting in the courts! Jim shakes his head in disappointment at the U.S. justice system that he had been willing to defend with his life years ago. From start to finish this trial has been a total fiasco!

Im so sorry, Jim. You gave us so many years of service in the Air Force in Asia. I cannot believe this is how we treat our Vets!

Believe it! he laughs, This and worse.

Weve been meeting pastorally for over 20 years, Jim, but I didnt expect this.

Me neither, Brother Dale, and I still have a ton of issues in the courts.

Well, I think we need to treat this as a spiritual battle and make full use of the weapons Jesus gave us.

Now youre talking, Jims index finger makes a check-off motion that I assume harkens back to his days as Air Force ground crew in Korea and Vietnam.

But before we can start, a loud metallic clang interrupts our discussion. Two officers are releasing the hall door to allow Mary Kay to join us. Many of the families I have met in this room on deathwatch try very hard to keep things light and optimistic to appear strong for their loved one who is scheduled to be killed.

Mary Kay enters with a smile, while focusing with razor sharp intensity upon Jim through the glass. She places her hand on the glass partition. Jim responds with a feeling laden smile as he places his hand on the glass opposite hers. For the briefest instant their hands are immediately opposite each other on the glass. The intensity of the moment defies words.

Then Mary Kay drops her arms to her sides as her gaze slides to me. Well, Brother Dale, its good to finally meet you. Ive been hearing about you and your wife Susan for a very longtime.

Im so glad to finally meet the lady who has been present for Jim through this whole mess.

Mary Kay responds without pause, Harder for Jim than for me.

Dont believe it, Brother Dale. Jim shrugs off her compliment. Shes been an angel of hope and mercy for me.

Well, youre both heroes in my book. I pause for a moment of deep connection, with my right hand on the glass opposite Jims hand, my left hand on Mary Kays shoulder. I dont know if they told you Mary Kay, but spiritual advisors are not allowed any contact with the inmates family until the death warrant is signed.

Security! All three of us simultaneously mouth the same word.

What would we do without security? Jim laughs.

Ill say this much, Jim. I know what you would do without security. You would do exactly the same thing you would do if 100 officers were present.

You do know my guy, Mary Kay smiles. He does the right thing whether he is alone or surrounded by security.

I know its true, Mary Kay. Jims discipline is from inside, not from outside.

So, what am I doing on Florida death row for almost 30 years?

Jim, what are you doing here indeed!

In the most recent Florida Supreme Court decision on this case in September of 2021, six of the seven Florida justices used procedural gimmicks to avoid making any politically tough decisions or applying any scrutiny to the conduct of the State.

They did not ask: how did the State put a Veteran of 12 years of military service in Asia on death row without any forensic evidence against him?

The crime was horrible. The victim a fourteen-year-old girl named Shelly Boggio. Her nude body was found in Indian Rock Beach in Pinellas County, Florida. She had been stabbed over and over, strangled, and drowned.

Jim Daily rented a bedroom in the same house where Jack Pearcy lived. Pearcy, the original suspect, was tried, convicted of first-degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison.

Evidently, the State wanted a death sentence on somebody for this brutal murder. Whether there was evidence or not. They sent detectives to the jail, left newspaper articles out in day rooms  articles that suggested Jim might be involved in the poor girls murder.

Sure enough, several inmates from the jail came forward claiming that Jim had confessed his guilt to them. All of them sought favorable treatment in their own cases in exchange for their court testimony against Jim.

In the times before Jesus Christ, there was a biblical death penalty from the Scriptures. Many southern Christians argue that fact to support the U.S. death penalty. But even over two millennia ago, that biblical death penalty prohibited testimony from being given in capital cases in exchange for deals or favors. Six of our seven Florida Supreme Court Justices ignored that wisdom. Only one was horrified.

In the recent September 2021 decision in Jims case, Justice Labarga filed a scathing dissent.

In this case, there was no forensic evidence linking Dailey to Boggios murder, and a significant component of the States case was the testimony of three inmates who were housed in the same jail as Dailey while he awaited trial  and given the lack of forensic evidence, this testimony was likely essential to the jurys finding of guilt. 

Daileys conviction and sentence of death exist under a cloud of unreliable inmate testimony. 

Ironically, Pearcy, who was convicted by a jury of the murder of Shelly Boggio and who thereafter confessed to the murder and stated that Dailey was not involved, received a life sentence, while Dailey, convicted in no small part due to the testimony of three inmates and without substantial independent evidence, is facing the death penalty.

While finality in judicial proceedings is important to the function of the judicial branch, that interest can never overwhelm the imperative that the death penalty not be wrongly imposed.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, masterpiece of theology and philosophy, tells us that the execution of an innocent man is intrinsically evil.

Jim, what are you doing on Florida Death Row indeed!

Dale S. Recinella
Due to the presence of numerous faithful, the General Audience, on Wednesday 24 November, took place in two distinct moments: in the Vatican Basilica and then in the Paul vi Hall. The following is a translation of the Popes greeting to the groups he met in the Basilica.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning!

I am pleased to welcome you in this Basilica, and to address a warm welcome to every one of you.

I greet the Vincentian Family throughout Italy who has promoted the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal pilgrimage to all the regions of Italy, together with the dioceses and parishes. In these months of the pandemic, your mission has brought hope, making many experience Gods mercy. I am thinking in particular of lonely people, of the sick in hospitals, of those living in prisons, in reception centres and on the existential peripheries. Thank you, because you have borne witness to the style of the outbound Church that reaches out to all, starting with the excluded and the marginalised. Continue along this path and open yourselves ever more to the action of the Holy Spirit, who gives you the strength to boldly proclaim the novelty of the Gospel.

I greet the pilgrims of the John Paul ii Association of Bisceglie. Dear friends, imitate the example of this Holy Pontiff and make the effort to understand and welcome Gods love, the wellspring of and reason for our true joy. In communion with your parish priests, proclaim Christ with your life, in your families and in every environment.

Lastly, my greeting goes to the Italian Association of Victims of Violence. Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you for your work of assistance and support to those who have suffered mistreatment and who live in distress and discomfort. Violence is ugly; it is ugly; a violent attitude is very ugly. With your important work, you contribute to building a more just and supportive society. May your example inspire renewed effort on the part of all, so that the victims of violence may be protected and their suffering be taken into account and heard.

And thank you to all of you for this visit! Right here in the Basilica, this is beautiful I impart my heartfelt Blessing to you all, which I extend to your families and your communities. I now invite you to pray together to Our Lady, who is present here. Hail Mary 
NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP)  President Joe Biden on Thursday wished Americans a happy and closer-to-normal Thanksgiving, the second celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, in remarks welcoming the resumption of holiday traditions by millions of U.S. families  including his own.

As we give thanks for what we have, we also keep in our hearts those who have been lost and those who have lost so much, the president said in a videotaped greeting recorded with first lady Jill Biden at the White House before their trip to Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the holiday.

On the island, the Bidens visited the Coast Guard station at Brant Point to meet with personnel there and virtually with U.S. service members from around the world. Im not joking when I say Im thankful for these guys, the president said when asked what he was thankful for, referring to the Coast Guard members standing ramrod straight before him on the grounds as he departed.

Reporters were kept out of the room for Bidens virtual remarks, apparently because of tight space in the building. Well-wishers waved and cheered as Biden's motorcade navigated the island's narrow paved and cobblestone streets to and from the Coast Guard compound.

Biden, whose late son Beau was a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, said he has watched U.S. service members in action around the world, from the South China Sea and Iraq and Afghanistan to South America. He said when foreigners wonder what America is, they don't see us here, meaning civilians. They see them, he said of members of the Coast Guard and the other branches of the U.S. military. It makes me proud.

From Nantucket, the Bidens also called in to the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, briefly bantering on air with NBC broadcaster Al Roker. Shut out a year ago, spectators again lined the route in Manhattan as some 8,000 participants joined the parade. Parade employees and volunteers had to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear masks.

The extended first family went traditional for their Thanksgiving menu: roasted turkey, stuffing using a grandmother's recipe and other fixings. Dessert was three kinds of pie, and  in no surprise to those who followed Biden in and out of ice cream shops on the campaign trail  chocolate chip ice cream.

Biden and his wife started spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket since before they were married in 1977 because they were looking for a way out of choosing whose family to spend it with. They did not visit in 2015 following Beau's death earlier that year from brain cancer at age 46, or in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put the kibosh on big family gatherings.

Biden instead dined at home in Delaware last year with just his wife, daughter Ashley and her husband.

But this year, the president joined the millions of Americans who are celebrating the holiday with big groups of loved ones. Biden's entire family flew up with him Tuesday night on Air Force One to resume the Thanksgiving tradition: his wife; son Hunter and his wife, Melissa and their toddler son Beau; daughter Ashley; and grandchildren Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie and young Hunter, as well as Naomi's fiance, Peter Neal.

The president has credited the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines with helping ease the return of family gatherings this holiday season, although a resurgent virus has fueled an increase in new infections in the U.S. The president and first lady both have had their full vaccine dose, and a booster.

Naomi Biden and her fiance rode bicycles along on a local path just before her grandfather's SUV departed the secluded home where the family is staying. The sprawling compound is owned by David Rubenstein, a billionaire philanthropist and co-founder of the Carlyle Group private equity firm.

Biden's visit, his first as president, is markedly different from his previous holidays here when he was a U.S. senator and later vice president. Then, he might have been seen walking around downtown.

Biden lost much of his freedom to move around on his own when he became president and now travels with a large group of security personnel, White House and other officials, and journalists. His every public move is closely watched by the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement.

Jill Biden was heard telling the Coast Guard members she would see them again Friday night at Nantucket's annual Christmas tree lighting, another Biden tradition.

We're all going together, she said of her family. The tree lighting ceremony is where Beau Biden proposed to his wife, Hallie, in 2001. They were wed on the island the following year.

Biden is expected to return to the White House on Sunday.

___

Associated Press writer Calvin Woodward in Washington contributed to this report.
Chippewa Nature Center (CNC) will welcome visitors to the Nature Art Show & Sale Dec. 3 and 4. Artists will showcase their works in painting, woodcarving, photography, jewelry, sculpture, baskets, pottery and more. The show starts Friday, Dec. 3 with a Member Presale from 6 to 9 p.m. with light refreshments and a silent auction closing that evening. Memberships may be purchased before or at the event. The show is open to the public with free admission on Saturday, Dec. 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be a silent auction closing at 3 p.m. on Saturday (bidders need not be present to win). Face masks are required in the visitor center.

Artists at this years Nature Art Show & Sale include: Bowls & More - wood bowls and ornaments, Sue Collins - hand woven baskets, Mike Ford - realistic wildlife carvings, Kabscapes - photography and childrens books, Kathy Woods Booth Photography - Michigan photography, Ken Kueffner Studio - drawings and paintings, Fred Kinne - realistic carved fish, The Lavender Fleece - soap, pottery and wool items, Markell Multi-Mediums - watercolor and acrylic paintings and notecards, Midland Fiber Arts Guild - fiber arts, Natural Expressions by Ruth Phelps Rushlow - baskets and wool, Smiles by Garlynn Photography, Synthia Marsh Jewelry, The Artzy Mama - jewelry, Nature Niche - metal art, Whitestone Images - photograhy, John M Roberts Wildlife Artist - acrylic, Laura Stockwell - watercolor
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Andrew Mullin.

Sunday, Nov. 21

11:23 p.m.  A deputy conducted a routine property check in Jerome Township and a 37-year-old male was found sleeping in his vehicle. The male was subsequently arrested for an outstanding warrant out of Midland County's 75th District Court. The male was transported to the Midland County Jail without incident.

11:11 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Lee Township neighborhood for a shots fired complaint. The deputies spoke with a 35-year-old Lee Township man who was target shooting. No crime was committed.

10:41 p.m.  A 57-year-old Jerome Township female reported her 78-year-old mother assaulted her. The deputy also explained the mental health petition process to the mother. A report was forwarded to the prosecutors office for review.

8:12 p.m.  A deputy watched U.S.-10 in an attempt to locate a suspect vehicle from an incident that occurred in Clare County. The vehicle was not located.

7:20 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and Clover Lane.

7:02 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Eastman Avenue and Clover Lane.

5:11 p.m.  Officers responded to an assault on Wellness Drive.

1:14 p.m.  Officers responded to a two-vehicle crash in the area of North Saginaw Road and Eastlawn Drive.

11:17 a.m.  Officers responded to a hit-and-run crash on Eastlawn Drive.

9:45 a.m.  Deputies were sent to check on children at a residence where the car and residence door were open, and children were seen with no adults. A deputy checked on the children, who appeared fine and had woken up prior to the parents. While there, it was found that a 23-year-old Midland man had an outstanding warrant out of Caro, Michigan. The man was lodged at the Midland County Jail without incident.

7:32 a.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of North Saginaw and Stark roads.

4:13 p.m.  Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area West U.S. 10 and the Ashman Street Overpass.

3:19 a.m.  A 19-year-old male was cited following a traffic stop in Lincoln Township. A report was forwarded to the prosecutors office.
Federal support was approved this week to help relieve doctors and nurses in two hospitals in Michigan.

Announced on Wednesday, the federal government is sending two teams of 22 medical personnel each to relieve doctors and nurses at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn and Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids.

Im grateful that the federal government has granted our request to provide much-needed relief to the health care personnel who have remained on the frontlines of this pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. Right now, our doctors and nurses are reporting the vast majority of their patients are unvaccinated or have not yet received a booster dose.

The relief teams consist of registered nurses, doctors and respiratory therapists, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. They will work with these Michigan hospitals for a period of 30 days, which may be extended.

The virus has exhausted our teams and resulted in unprecedented staffing challenges at Beaumont Health and health systems across the state, Beaumont Health CEO John Fox said in a statement.

Michigan hospitals have seen unexpected strain due to a spike in COVID-19 patients, the majority of whom are currently unvaccinated. From Oct. 7-Nov. 5, 76,201 out of 105,043 cases were among the unvaccinated, according to MDHHS.

Hospitals throughout the state have initiated special protocol to keep up with the increased demand. Munson hospital, which services northern Michigan, and Spectrum Health, which services Western Michigan, have both declared Pandemic Response Level Red. This means that the hospitals are prioritizing COVID-19 care and transmission mitigation efforts.

On behalf of our physicians, team members and patients we are grateful for the Department of Defense medical team and appreciate support from state and federal levels as we take every measure to care for our community, Tina Freese Decker, president and CEO of Spectrum Health, said in a statement. Working together we can address this urgent public health crisis, relieve the strain on our teams and continue to provide high quality care.

According to the MDHHS, over 20% of current hospital patients throughout the state are COVID positive.
With the holidays fast approaching, several toy collection events for families in need are launching this week. One that kicked off on Friday with an expansion to multiple cities statewide is called Stuff-a-Truck.

It is run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and is set to run until Dec. 11.

Photo provided/Michigan DNR

If youre out shopping over the next few weeks, consider donating to a Stuff-a-Truck holiday toy collection.

Stuff-a-Truck is a holiday collection of new, packaged toys, intending to collect as many toys as it takes to fill the back of a DNR patrol truck. All toys are donated to locals to ensure more children have gifts to open on Christmas Day. DNR conservation officers ask that the donated toys be in original packaging and free of holiday wrapping and decorations.

Photo provided/Michigan DNR

You can find a toy collection site near you below.

"Were excited to see this important community event continue to expand throughout the state," said Chief Gary Hagler, DNR law enforcement division, in a press release. "We hope that local communities will support this program and our officers by donating new, packaged toys at one of the several event locations, and taking the time to meet their local conservation officers."

This year, conservation officers will collect toys at the following Stuff-a-truck events:

DNR Outdoor Adventure Center, 1801 Atwater St., Detroit (toys will be collected curbside and donated to the Detroit Police Departments Sergeant Santa program). Friday, Nov. 26, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

(toys will be collected curbside and donated to the Detroit Police Departments Sergeant Santa program). Jays Sporting Goods, 8800 S. Clare Ave., Clare (toys will be donated to the Clare Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, noon-4 p.m.

(toys will be donated to the Clare Toys for Tots). Jays Sporting Goods, 1151 S. Otsego Ave., Gaylord (toys will be donated to the Gaylord Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, noon-4 p.m.

(toys will be donated to the Gaylord Toys for Tots). Cabelas, 45959 Towne Center Blvd., Chesterfield (toys will be donated to Southeast Michigan Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

(toys will be donated to Southeast Michigan Toys for Tots). Cabelas, 110 Cabela Blvd. East, Dundee (toys will be donated to Southeast Michigan Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

(toys will be donated to Southeast Michigan Toys for Tots). Sportsmans Warehouse, 3500 Marketplace Circle Drive, Traverse City (toys will be donated to the Traverse City Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

(toys will be donated to the Traverse City Toys for Tots). Cabelas, 5202 Bay Road, Saginaw (toys will be donated to the Saginaw Toys for Tots). Saturday, Dec. 11, noon-4 p.m.

(toys will be donated to the Saginaw Toys for Tots). Walmart, 1879 East Sherman Blvd., Muskegon (toys will be donated to the local Salvation Army). Saturday, Dec. 11, noon-5 p.m.

(toys will be donated to the local Salvation Army).

If youre in the Detroit or Plainwell area, you can also donate toys at one of the following drop-off locations:

Belle Isle Park main office, located at 99 Pleasure Drive, Detroit, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (available until Dec. 4).

DNR Customer Service Center, located at 1801 Atwater St., Detroit, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (available until Dec. 4).

DNR Customer Service Center, located at 621 North 10th St., Plainwell, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (available Nov. 30-Dec. 9).

The Stuff-a-Truck program originally started in Detroit on Belle Isle in 2019, with all toys donated to the Detroit Police Departments Sergeant Santa program. In 2020, Detroit-based conservation officers collected and delivered more than 330 toys to Detroit children, and the program expanded to partner with Jays Sporting Goods to add locations in Clare and Gaylord.
A Midland couple recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of a store they opened to help the local artist community.

Great Gifts, Arts, Antiques, and Handmades, owned and operated by Angie Klapish-Widmer and her husband, Andy Widmer, marked one year in business on Nov. 21 by announcing some in-store changes that are designed to further help artists and crafters move their products more efficiently and cost-effectively.

And the growing business has more artisans work to sell than they did originally. Great Gifts launched with 65 vendors and now feature works from 100 local artisans. Their creations range from small craft items to high-end artistic pieces.

There is something for everyone, in every price range, said Angie Klapish-Widmer. We have flipped the script completely in the store on how we are managing space.

Initially vendors had a particular space they were assigned and were responsible for managing it. The way it was set up in a COVID-19-directed traffic flow, once a customer walked by vendors wares that was it. Now, with store staff managing everything, there is more room for additional vendors and their products are able to be spread out throughout the store.

We do all the dirty work, so to speak, said Klapish-Widmer. This completely different concept is working extremely well. The idea is to allow our vendors do what they do best: express themselves creatively and artistically without worrying about all of the other things involved in getting their work out there.

This includes:

Doing all the set-up in shop.

Cataloguing of items for sale on the showroom floor.

Photographing of all items for the online store.

Managing sales in shop.

Shipping of online sales.

Handling of all the paperwork.

A lot of our artisans are not computer savvy, explains Klapish-Widmer. They know they have to use social media to advertise but arent necessarily fond of it. We do our best to market and advertise our artists and crafters online on social media, through digital marketing, on the radio, in print, and any other way or format we can find to assist them with making sales throughout the United States.

The company has a Facebook and Instagram page.

We do a Facebook Live show every Tuesday at 6 p.m. to showcase new vendors, she said.

The inspiration for creating Great Gifts, Arts, Antiques, and Handmades came in 2020 when We realized local artists and crafters would not have holiday shows to sell their work after already missing shows all spring and summer of 2020 due to COVID, said Klapish-Widmer. "We wanted to give them a continual outlet for the sale of their items year-round.

All items in store are Michigan handmade or repurposed items, made by Great Lakes Bay Region artists and crafters. Since Great Gifts changed its format, theyve reduced vendor fees as well. Each artist and crafter pays a monthly participation fee with a small portion from each sale helping to fund the purchase of boxes, advertising and other essentials.

According to Klapish-Widmer, the couple is not in it for the money. Neither of them draw a paycheck, preferring to invest any money they can back into the store.

Both of us have full-time jobs, she said. We saw a need and wanted to help the community. We didnt need a paycheck. Originally the plan was for just Andy and me to work here. Were open seven days a week and just couldnt keep up with everything.

In stepped Angies mother, Sherry Klapish. Stir-crazy because COVID concerns had her stuck at home, the energetic 75-year-old Klapish was itching to get out of the house to help out at the store some. Her role has turned into much more than that.

Its turned into a full-time job for her, marveled Angie. We couldnt do it without her. Shes probably our hardest and most conscientious worker. Shes here every day. Mom makes sure everyones items are photographed to show off the best way possible in our online store and stocks the online store daily with new items. We have the best shop staff ever and Mom is an instrumental part of it.

Artists have been drawn to the new store, in part, because its expensive and a hassle to travel to art and craft shows all over the place. A permanent place to display and sell their wares locally is appealing.

A lot of them are not crazy about packing all their stuff and hauling it to places all over the state, Angie said. For a two-day site, youre talking about paying $200, $300, even $500 with no guarantee your effort would pay off. Our fees are minimal.

Great Gifts makes sure they are continually bringing in new items, often coinciding with the holidays and changing seasons. The sheer volume and variety of products that are available are far too numerous to list here. But suffice to say if you can think of something you want, chances are pretty good youll find it at Great Gifts.

Home Decor, furniture, centerpieces, paintings, lamps, jewelry, masks, holiday decorations and wine gift bags are but a few examples.

We are a year-round art show in one place, said Angie. In warmer months, we have outdoor arts and craft shows. Our purpose is to be a place for local artists and crafters to show and sell their work on a continual basis, with minimal effort, other than creating.

The shop is located at 600 Cambridge St., Suite 2, Midland, next to Dive & Glide Scuba. Visit their online store at www.MyGreatGiftShop.com
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  A state-affiliated broadcaster on Friday purportedly showed Ethiopias Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister on the battlefront of the countrys yearlong war against Tigray forces, four days after he announced he would direct the army from there.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in military uniform, claimed that the war is being conducted with a high level of success and referred to locations on the border between the countrys Amhara and Afar regions, which neighbor Tigray.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war that erupted in November 2020 between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray forces who had long dominated the national government before Abiy took office in 2018. The government declared a state of emergency this month as Tigray fighters moved closer to the capital, Addis Ababa, and the United States and others have told their citizens to leave immediately.

Foreign media have been barred from Tigray for much of the war, with communications links severed.

Late Thursday, Ethiopias government issued an order seeking to restrict media reporting of the war, forbidding the sharing of non-official information on military-related movements, battlefront results and situations.

The statement, which applies to everyone in the country, also warns that supporting the (rival Tigray forces) directly or indirectly in the name of freedom speech should cease immediately. And it strongly warned against calls for the formation of a transitional government.

Security forces will take measures against violators, it said, but didn't elaborate.

Abiy was awarded the Nobel in 2019 after announcing sweeping political reforms to the repressive government and restoring relations with neighboring Eritrea after years of conflict. His government has since allowed Eritrean soldiers to enter Tigray and fight alongside Ethiopian ones.
One step into Tri-City Furniture, an Auburn mainstay since 1957, and its abundantly clear that the family-run business has plenty of inventory for Small Business Saturday and beyond.

Everywhere you look you can find quality, American-made furniture. It may take a bit longer if you want a custom piece, but the selection they have in-store provides people plenty of options to upgrade, in a timely manner, their living space.

We have lots of furniture, said Kathy Kilbourn, who alongside her husband, Lee Kilbourn, is a second-generation family owner of the iconic business in the heart of downtown Auburn. Come get it. Or get it delivered. We have everything. Special orders are still available. They just take a little longer.

The main showroom is jammed with recliners, accent chairs, sofas and other furniture. Serta mattresses and even more sofas can be found upstairs. The couple make a concerted effort to buy from American manufacturers whenever they can, resisting the urge to flood their space with cheaper imported furniture.

We believe that American manufacturers create far superior products, explained Kathy Kilbourn.

That deeply-rooted belief began with the stores founder, the late Ronald Fahrner, Kathy Kilbourns father. Its a business model that worked well back in the day and continues to be a successful formula for Tri-City Furniture. As their reputation has grown, so has the geographic area they serve.

Were still growing, said Kathy Kilbourn. Were doing deliveries six days a week all over the state. Weve been to Harbor Springs, Kalamazoo and Bedford Township. We had a woman come in Monday to try a lift chair. Shes coming in from Davison to pick it up.

The Kilbourns consider themselves lifestyle consultants because they do much more than sell furniture. They routinely do home visits that allows them to measure specific rooms and design floor plans to provide clients with different ideas to enhance their space. They also do a lot of commercial work.

Ive decorated over 70 assisted living centers, Kilbourn said. Im currently doing a project in Punta Gorda, Florida. I dont see demand slowing. We redo offices, meeting rooms and also redesign structures in public spaces such as churches.

Lee Kilbourn said the pandemic helped spark demand for furniture. Its virtually impossible for manufacturers, challenged by labor shortages and COVID-19 related issues, to keep up.

People were quarantining and wearing out their furniture at home, said Lee Kilbourn. They started looking more closely at their living spaces and wanted to make improvements. If were going to be in lockdown, lets make our home as comfortable as possible. Home improvement projects became a way to be productive and help people deal with the stress and anxiety brought on by COVID.

Lets say an American manufacturer was getting 100 orders a week, said Kathy Kilbourn. Now they are getting 900 orders a day. Less people and fewer components are slowing them down.

Tri-City Furniture getting in front of the global supply chain issue means customers can find better deals on what they have in stock. Prices are going up, so If youre going to buy, buy sooner rather than later, advises Kathy Kilbourn. If you buy now, you have the advantage of paying last years prices. We have products coming in daily at great prices.

Tri City Furniture has solid wood furniture made by American manufacturers as well as Amish bedroom pieces, dining room sets and accent pieces. True to form, the store carries Serta Mattresses, a leading mattress manufacturer headquartered in Michigan.

Serta is top notch, said Kathy Kilbourn. We work with leading manufacturers in America. That helps us find just what our customers are looking for. We pay attention to every detail: size, color, depth and fabric. We arent interested in selling a piece of furniture that doesnt suit your room or body.

Tri-City Furniture has hired two new employees this year to help keep up with demand for their home furnishings. Americans arent necessarily noted for their patience, but the Kilbourns feel people are beginning to understand the supply chain issues and labor challenges that are causing so many disruptions across the business landscape.

Its been kind of a perfect storm of circumstances, said Lee Kilbourn.

People, not machines, build furniture, said Kathy Kilbourn. When manufacturers lose employees to higher-paying jobs, thats a major setback. It takes six months to teach someone how to sew, cut a frame and upholster. Its a skilled job.

If you buy furniture from us, you know you are supporting American workers and getting a quality product, said Kathy Kilbourn.
GENEVA (AP)  An advisory panel of the World Health Organization on Friday classified a worrying new COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa as a highly transmissible virus of concern, naming it Omicron under its Greek letter system.

The U.N. health agency also said early evidence on the variant, until now known by the technical term B.1.1.529, has shown an increased risk of reinfection compared to other highly transmissible variants, indicating that people who contracted COVID-19 and recovered could be more subject to catching it again with Omicron. The WHO suggested that the variant could pose greater risks than the delta variant, which was first detected in India and has been causing ravages worldwide.

The WHO announcement marks the first time in months that it has classified a COVID-19 variant as the highly-transmissible variant of concern. The classification also applies to delta, which has become the worlds most prevalent variant. It comes amid a surge in cases of delta in Europe in particular, and at a time when many countries had eased lockdown measures and travel restrictions.

Health officials are closely monitoring to see if current tools  for testing, treatment and vaccination  are affected by the omicron variant. But the outside advisers said current PCR tests continue to detect it.

The findings from the 25-member technical advisory group on the evolution of COVID-19, following a special session after the variant cropped up in recent weeks, mark the most intense international scrutiny of the variant brought to light by scientists in South Africa. They said it was behind a recent spike in the countrys most populous province.

Health officials are unsure where omicron actually arose, but has now been seen in travelers from southern Africa to Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

Variants of concern, which include alpha, beta and delta, have shown to spread more easily, cause more serious disease, or dent the effectiveness of vaccines and other COVID-fighting tools. Theyre more worrying than the so-called variants of interest  like mu and lambda  that have affected aspects like transmissibility and severity of the disease but aren't as transmissible.

The advisory group faced spiraling worries about the variant, as stock markets plunged and the European Union announced a pause to flights to and from southern Africa, just as it sought to lay out the real threat that it might pose even as uncertainties and a lack of complete data about it remain in its early phase.

We understand that people are concerned, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead on COVID-19, in a video statement provided by the agency. The good thing is that we have a monitoring system around the world to detect these variants.

She noted that omicron has a large number of mutations, and has said it will take weeks before scientists can assess its possible effect on vaccines, for example.

___

Aniruddha Ghosal contributed to this report from New Delhi.
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - Kenya's ministry of health has called for increased vigilance at all airports and increased screening following the discovery of a new coronavirus variant
Photo: (Photo : DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

A North Carolina mom who had her baby born onboard a Delta Airlines flight 1804 reunited with the first responders who helped her welcome her first child safely into the world.

Liliana Castaneda Avilia from North Carolina agreed to meet with the first responders of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department for Thanksgiving so she could express her gratitude again for their assistance during baby Analia's delivery.

Avilia was aboard the Delta Airlines flight from Mexico to North Carolina on November 14 when she started experiencing contractions. Fortunately, a nurse was also on the flight who led her to the back of the plane and told her to try not to push as the pilots steered to the next airport three hours away in Atlanta.

Read Also: Michigan Restrictive Laws on Babies Born via Surrogacy Forces Parents to Adopt Own Childre

Her Baby Wasn't Due Until December

Avilia was surprised when her water broke midway through the flight because her due date was not until December 23. She was coming from a visit to her family in Mexico and was going back to North Carolina knowing that she had enough time to prepare for the baby's birth.

On the ground at the Atlanta airport, the first responders waiting for the Delta Airlines plane noticed that it was "coming in exceedingly fast," so they prepared for the emergency. Juanetta Nash, however, told Today that they were still nervous despite knowing what to do.

As soon as the plane landed, the first responders got on the back of the aircraft, where the mom was waiting, along with her husband, Edgar Acevedo.

"Once she did deliver, one of the flight attendants got on the microphone and she was able to say, 'Hey we have a baby girl,' and everybody started clapping," Nash shared.

Meet our newest baby on board On Nov. 14, Liliana began having contractions and baby began her initial descent into the world mid-flight. Once they landed, #ATLAirports @AtlantaFireRescue helped deliver Analia. Congrats and welcome to the newest member of our ATL flight club. pic.twitter.com/LWfyXGdwBz  Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) November 24, 2021

Dad Was Nervous and Worried

Acevedo said that he was nervous and apprehensive for his wife during the whole ordeal because her labor pains were excruciating. However, he's also glad and grateful that his wife and new baby girl were both doing fine after the delivery because they had expert help from the first responders.

Marlo Blas of the Atlanta Fire Rescue's Aviation EMS team told WSBTV that it's not often that they deal with happy moments, such as an emergency birth, so this was a gratifying experience.

Only about 50 births on a plane, or one in 26 million passengers, have been recorded worldwide, per Simple Flying. Airlines have a policy against allowing pregnant women to fly if their due date is within 30 days to minimize the risks. However, if they need to be on a plane, they must show a doctor's clearance.

Most of the unexpected births, such as this particular baby on a plane, have been premature. Airlines generally train the flight crew for first aid and other medical emergencies, except birth assistance. In this case, the crew has to inform personnel on the ground or carry out a flight diversion.

Related Article: Florida Mom Has 3 Daughters Born on the Same Date 3 Years Apart
Photo: (Photo : Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Parents of kids in some New York City schools complain that their children continue to have school lunches outdoors despite the colder temperatures. Though the policy was enforced in late August to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the parents have grown concerned over their kids catching other illnesses because of the cold.

One mom told the New York Post that she has heard no plans to bring the kids indoors for their school lunches at Park Slope Elementary School. Officials continue to ask parents to let their children bring Fresh Direct bags as seating pads outdoors.

Another mom of a fourth-grader wondered when New York City schools would act and change the policy as the temperature dropped. She also pointed out that teachers and other school staff members do not eat outside while the students eat outdoors.

Read Also: Parents Sneak Air Quality Monitors in Their Kids' Backpacks to Check Classroom Ventilation

A 30F Weather

According to Fox News, New York City's weather dropped to 30F in the week before Thanksgiving. The city's temperature varies throughout the year from an ideal 85F degrees in the spring or summer to a cold 28F degrees during the winter months. On some days, a 50F temperature could already be chilly and uncomfortable outdoors without a proper jacket or protection from cold weather.

However, a representative from the state's Department of Education said that the kids could opt to stay indoors for lunch if they are not comfortable outside. Some parents said they didn't know that the children had the choice, and the only time kids were allowed to eat indoors was during rainy weather.

The Department of Education representative said they would have to remind school officials to update the policy on school lunches and accommodate a child or a family requesting some changes.

COVID Spike Among the Kids

Meanwhile, despite the city's efforts to vaccinate school kids between the ages of five to 11, COVID cases among the children have had an uptick by 32 percent in the first two weeks of November. Dr. Rebekah Diamond of the Columbia Children's Hospital said that one factor contributing to the increase in cases is the easing off of restrictions in many establishments, including schools. The vaccination rate for children under 11 years old is also lower than the number of vaccinated adults.

Surveys show that at least three in 10 parents say they will not vaccinate their younger kids since the age group contract mild cases of COVID anyway. However, Diamond said that this is not always the case since younger children are affected by the virus that has remained in the hospital for a long time. Children with COVID-19 could also be at risk of developing myocarditis.

To encourage more parents to vaccinate their kids, members of the New York City council approved a bill allowing a four-hour leave for moms and dads. The time allows the parents to bring their kids to the vaccine center, even during a busy work schedule.

Related Article: COVID Safety: Parents, Teachers Want Outdoor School Lunches to Lower Risk of Virus Spread
On Tuesday, Patently Apple posted a report titled "Italy's Antitrust Authority has fined Apple US$225 Million for Anti-Competitive cooperation with Amazon in the sale of Apple & Beats Products." Today, Apple was hit with yet another fine.

The Italian Competition Authority (Italian: Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, AGCM) is the Competition regulator in Italy. A press release from their office dated today states that "The Authority found two violations of the Consumer Code, one for lack of information and another for aggressive practices regarding the acquisition and use of consumer data."

The Competition and Market Authority closed two investigations against Google Ireland Ltd. and Apple Distribution International Ltd., sanctioning both of 10 million euros, that is, for the maximum allowed according to current legislation. The Antitrust Authority has ascertained for each company two violations of the Consumer Code, one for lack of information and another for aggressive practices related to the acquisition and use of consumer data for commercial purposes.

Google bases its economic activity on the offer of a wide range of products and services connected to the Internet - which include technologies for online advertising, search tools, cloud computing, software and hardware - also based on user profiling and carried out thanks to their data.

Apple collects, profiles and uses user data for commercial purposes through the use of its devices and services. Therefore, even without proceeding to any transfer of data to third parties, Apple directly exploits the economic value through a promotional activity to increase the sale of its products and / or those of third parties through its commercial platforms App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books.

In these contexts, the Authority has found that there is a consumption relationship between users and the two operators, even in the absence of a monetary outlay, the consideration for which is represented by the data they transfer using the services of Google and Apple.

The Authority found that both Google and Apple did not provide clear and immediate information on the acquisition and use of user data for commercial purposes.

In particular, Google, both in the account creation phase, which is essential for the use of all the services offered, and during the use of the services themselves, omits relevant information that the consumer needs to consciously decide to accept that the Company collects and uses their personal information for commercial purposes.

Apple, both in the phase of creating the Apple ID and on the occasion of accessing the Apple Stores (App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books), does not immediately and explicitly provide the user with any indication on the collection and use of your data for commercial purposes, emphasizing only that data collection is necessary to improve the consumer experience and use of services.

With the second practice, the Authority found that the two companies implemented an aggressive practice. In particular, in the account creation phase, Google pre-sets the user's acceptance of the transfer and / or use of their data for commercial purposes. This pre-activation allows the transfer and use of data by Google, once they are generated, without the need for other steps in which the user can from time to time confirm or change the choice pre-set by the 'agency.

In the case of Apple, however, the promotional activity is based on a method of acquiring consent to the use of user data for commercial purposes without providing the consumer with the possibility of a prior and express choice on sharing their data. This acquisition architecture, prepared by Apple, does not make it possible to exercise one's will on the use of one's data for commercial purposes. Therefore, the consumer is conditioned in the choice of consumption and undergoes the transfer of personal information, which Apple can dispose of for its own promotional purposes carried out in different ways.
KGL Foundation has launched a partnership deal with Achievers Ghana in Nima. The partnership, which was kick-started with the renovation of the Achievers Community Learning Centre, also in Nima, was attended by community leaders, parents and pupils of the Centre.



Speaking at the launch event, the CEO of KGL Foundation, Mr. Elliot Dadey, said girls have the same right to education as boys.

I was raised by strong Ghanaian women, and they instilled in me the crucial values of respect, compassion and a strong work ethic. If you educate a man, you are educating an individual, but if you educate a woman, you are educating a nation. And Achievers Ghana truly embodies that statement. Before me, I see the leading future engineers, surgeons, artists and scholars of this country. And it is our collective duty to safeguard that future, he said.



The Director of the Centre, Mr. Amadu Mohammed, lauded KGL Foundation for the partnership saying, the introduction of KGL Foundation and the refurbishment of the Learning Centre will help in reaching as many girls as they can. There are so many girls in the community who we would love to get into contact with to assist them in reaching their life goals and with this partnership, Achievers Ghana can get this done.



The renovation included refurbishment of the classroom block, new desktops, Wi-Fi connection, replacement of wooden windows, provision of chairs and tables for pupils, tiling, among others.



Established in 2011, the Community Centre was established out of the need to help salvage the plight of the girl-child in Islamic communities. Hundreds of girls have benefited from this initiative, acquiring oratory and leadership skills; moving on to higher educational levels and giving back to the society and Centre that once trained them.



Mr. Dadey concluded saying the partnership with Achievers Ghana is part of the Foundations commitment to assisting local grassroots organizations whose contribution to society reflect the key areas of focus the Foundation aims to tackle in society; of which girl-child education is central to.



The KGL Foundation is a corporate social responsibility initiative set up on behalf of the KGL Group. The Foundation focuses on youth empowerment, arts & culture and health & sports. Their approach is to collaborate, innovate and empower all local grassroots organizers working in these areas, ensuring they have the resources to improve and safeguard their own societies.





Source: Emmanuel Atiemo || [email protected]









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The Womens Commission of the University Students' Association of Ghana (USAG) and female student leaders from member institutions were privileged to meet Hon. Francisca Oteng Mensah on Tuesday, 16th November, 2021.



This visit comes as part of a series of engagements outlined by the office of the Womens Commissioner to have female student leaders from across the country interact with some inspiring women in various sectors ranging from politics, business, humanitarian services et. al. in an attempt to have them share in the experiences of these women and build their individual capacities in rendering the best of leadership possible.



We commended her for her service to the state as the youngest Member of Parliament in the history of the 4th Republic, former National Youth Authority Board chairman and currently the chairperson for the Gender and Children committee in parliament.



We drew her attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment, assault and violence on our campuses and the nonexistence of laws in Ghana on the subject matter as well as in our various institutions. We also informed her of our preparedness to support policies drawn to handle matters in that regard.



Hon Oteng Mensah assured us of the Gender committees readiness to liaise with female student leaders in all its endeavors channeled at championing the female agenda.



She went on to encourage us to take opportunities as and when they come and to work at remaining consistent in our efforts of being impactful.









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The Acting Controller and Accountant-General, Kwasi Kwaning-Bosompem, has allayed fears of teachers over a publication about reported deductions in their November salaries.



Mr Kwaning-Bosompem indicated that the deductions are as a result of an agreement reached between the Ghana Education Service (GES) and various teacher unions.



The Ghana Education Service officially wrote to request for the deduction of 30% of the cost of laptops supplied to teachers under the One-Teacher-One-Laptop programme amounting to 509.55ghc, the Controller and Accountant-General stated in a press release on Thursday, November 25.



The 70% of the cost of the laptop is being borne by the government of Ghana.



He further indicated that GES also wrote for a deduction of GH100 as Teacher Licensing Fee.



These deductions, per the letters we received were as a result of agreements between the Ghana Education Service and the various teacher unions.



The Controller and Accountant-General will NOT unilaterally effect deductions from salaries without the necessary authorisation.



Mr Kwaning-Bosompem assured all government employees that they will paid what is legitimately due them.

Source: 3 news









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The Greece Government on Thursday donated 150,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 to Ghana.



The donation was to compliment Ghanas efforts in the fight against the pandemic and attain herd immunity.



Mr Nikolaos Dendias, Greece Foreign Minister, who presented the vaccines, said until COVID-19 management resources were shared at the global level, the world might not be able to keep the pandemic under control.



He urged the government of Ghana to ensure that the vaccines were put to good use.



Mr Kwabla Boadu Oku Afari, Chief Director, Ministry of Health, thanked the Greece government for its support to Ghana.



We are also putting in much efforts to ensure that more people get vaccinated in order to attain herd immunity, and these vaccines will add up to the stock that we have already, he said.



Mr Afari called on Ghanaians to vaccinate at the various centres to saying, there are enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone; we all need to get vaccinated to protect ourselves and avoid vaccine wastage.



Medical experts say vaccines teach the immune system how to create antibodies that protect diseases infections. Vaccines also protect individuals, communities, and entire population.





Source: GNA









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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A hospital patient will become the first person in the world to have a 3D-printed prosthetic eye.



Steve Verze, from Hackney, east London, will receive the eye on Thursday at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.



It is hoped the eye will be more realistic than a traditional acrylic prosthetic eye.



It will also cut the time it takes for patients to be fitted with their prosthetics in half, from six weeks to three.



"I've needed a prosthetic since I was 20, and I've always felt self-conscious about it," said Mr Verze, who is in his 40s.



'Looks fantastic'



"When I leave my home I often take a second glance in the mirror, and I've not liked what I've seen.



"This new eye looks fantastic and, being based on 3D digital printing technology, it's only going to be better and better."



For a traditional prosthetic a patient has to undergo a two-hour session to mould their eye socket, before the prosthesis is fitted and then painted.



The 3D printed prosthetic should reduce the manufacturing process to two to three weeks, with the initial appointment taking just half an hour, according to the hospital.

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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Two executives of Zoomlion Ghana Limited were honoured at this years Womens Choice Awards Africa 2021.



They were the Managing Director of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs Gloria Opoku Anti, who was awarded the Shero in Environmental Safety and Sanitation, and the Group Financial Controller of Zoomlion, Mrs Adokarley Okpoti-Paulo, who was also emerged as the Institutional Finance Personality of the year.



The awards was the third edition of the prestigious Womens Choice Awards Africa, which celebrates women who are championing nobel causes and setting remarkable paces across this continent.



Organised by Global Ovations, the Women Choice Awards reward excellence in a range of fields. The awards use rigorous methodology to compile and shortlist, and a combination of public and board-voting to select a winner.



The event was themed: The Progressive Portrayal of Women  its Impact on National and Organisational Development.



The Event Director, Gideon Raji of Womens Choice Awards Africa, in a speech said the awards is a c-level high-impact, women empowerment and leadership awards designed by Global Ovations Ltd.



He said at Womens Choice Awards Africa, they translate the collective voice of women into a highly objective and consistent methodology.



He continued that the awards also allows women to choose with confidence, knowing that other women and men across Africa would highly recommend it to their family and friends.



With the women of Africa at heart and Africas future in mind, Global Ovations Limited decided to come up with this award to honour women and men who passionately advocate the empowerment of girls and women and others who get inspired from the works and services provided to empower women in their decision making to be a catalyst for creative solutions that foster ongoing success in life, career and in business, he added.



The Managing Director of Zoomlion, Gloria Anti, with awarded with the Shero in Environmental Safety and Sanitation award.



Mrs Anti is a highly motivated and an ambitious business executive with twenty-one (21) years working experience in administration, human resource management & development, corporate governance and business management.



Prior to her current position, which is by dint of hard work and due diligence, Mrs Anti was the Deputy Managing Director which she rose from the position of Director of Human Resource and Administration in the same company.



She joined Zoomlion Ghana Limited in 2010 as the Human Resource Manager with oversight responsibilities over the companys human resources and other subsidiaries within the Jospong Group of Companies.



Preceding this, she was the Human Resource Manager at J.A. Plant Pool Ghana Limited, also a subsidiary of the Jospong Group.



Mrs. Anti has developed enormous working experience in human capital management & development through her academic training and working relationship with Adecco Recruitment Solutions, Cardiff-UK, Promasidor Ghana Limited and more importantly, the Jospong Group of Companies (JGC) which cannot be overemphasised.



Her expertise is but not limited to strategic decision making, strategic human resource management and planning and indeed she is a self-assured team player.



Over the years, Mrs. Anti has played such roles as setting policy direction of Zoomlion and formulating and executing corporate strategies to attain exceptional shareholder values, been responsible for revenue generation as well as the executive control and management of the company.



The Group Financial Controller of Zoomlion Ghana Limited, Mrs. Adokarley Okpoti-Paulo, was also awarded with the Institutional Finance Personality of the Year award.



She is a top level career executive with over 30 years hands-on experience and blessed with a record of accomplishments in managing company finances.



Mrs. Okpoti-Paulo had her education at the University of Professional Studies (formally IPS), Central University College and the University of Ghana Business School where she studied Bachelor of Science in Administration (Accounting) and Executive Masters of Business Administration (Finance) respectively.



A Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana, Mrs. Okpoti-Paulo cut her professional notch with Pricewater Coopers and Deloitte & Touche where she served as Audit Personnel in both places.



She has also worked in key finance positions in companies such as Boskalis International BV, Masai Developers Limited (1992-1999), EA Group Limited (2000-2004), Mechanical Lloyd Company Limited, Accra Service Branch (2005- 2013).



Mrs. Okpoti-Paulo joined Subah Infosolutions as General Manager Finance in February 2013, and rose to become the Finance Director of Subah Holding Company Limited, which has six (6) local subsidiaries with two international businesses.

In August 2018 she was transferred to Zoomlion as the Finance Director to double up as the Group Financial Controller of the Environment and Sanitation Group, overseeing the finances of over 32 companies.



Aside from serving on a number of boards, she is an executive member of the Association of Women Accountants for several years, and an immediate past member of the Admissions Committee Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA) Ghana.



She has excellent human relations and the capacity to adjust quickly to new developments and environments. Mrs. Okpoti-Paulo has a high sense of responsibility and trustworthiness.



She is married to a Reverend Minister of the Restoration Community Chapel at Ogbojo and has four boys.



Adokarley loves the Lord dearly, likes singing, cooking, working smart, leading in the ministry of helping and counselling. Adokarley enjoys mentoring, impacting and improving on peoples lives.



Other awardees at the event were; Helene Wessie-Guiness Ghana MD, Patricia Obo-Nai-Vodafone Ghana CEO, Rosy Fynn-Mastercard Foundation Country Head, Oheneyere Gifty Anti, Professor Elsie Kaufmann and others



Zoomlion Ghana Limited is a wholly Ghanaian-owned company that focuses on delivering total waste management solutions. The company provides integrated waste management solutions from waste collection, through haulage, transfer, and sorting to recycling and disposal.

It is a member of the Environmental Services Providers Association (ESPA) of Ghana and a silver member of the International Solid Waste Management Association (ISWMA, USA).



Zoomlion was established as a waste management business in Ghana in April 2006, under the Companies Act 1963, Act 179.



Its key mandate is to help deal with the countrys waste menace by providing highly skilled persons across the country to manage this waste.



The company started with few workers but has grown over the past 15 years.



It is part of 45 companies of the Jospong Group but has 23 sister companies that work together with her to build synergies to provide total waste management solutions.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana









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An Accra High Court has been forced to adjourn the trial of Founder and Chief Executive Officer of defunct Capital Bank, William Ato Essien, after the court was informed the accused person is suffering from a sleep disorder.



Mr. Essien was expected to continue his examination-in-chief after opening his defence on November 4, 2021, in the trial in which he and two others have been accused of stealing money from the defunct bank.



But the court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor, a Court of Appeal judge siting as an additional High Court judge indicated that he had received a letter from one Dr. Rex Kwame Bonsu of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital indicating that Ato Essien was suffering from obstructive sleep disorder (Apnea).



He said the letter also indicated that the accused persons blood pressure is also fluctuating. Although Justice Kyei Baffuor was sympathetic with Mr. Essien, he said the situation is not enough excuse for the accused person to absent himself from the trial.



The court also expressed concern about the snail pace approach adopted by Mr. Essien in his defence and subsequently ordered all the accused persons to file their witness statements as well as statements of witnesses they intend to call before December 7, 2021.



The case was adjourned to December 9.



Trial



Ato Essien alongside the defunct banks former Managing Director, Fitzgerald Odonkor as well as Tetteh Nettey, a former Managing Director of MC Management Service owned by Mr. Essien have been charged with 23 counts of conspiracy, stealing and money laundering.



The three (3) are alleged to have misappropriated a total of GH620 million liquidity support given to the private bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), to enable it to service its maturing debts.



The accused persons, according to the prosecution, opened various bank accounts with Capital Bank through which the GH620 million BoG liquidity support was transferred, while others were carried in jute bags, popularly known as Ghana Must Go, to Ato Essien.

Source: Daily Guide









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A supporter of former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, Dela Coffie believes that some elements in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are obstructing him due to his yet-to-be-announced presidential bid.



A statement issued by Dela Coffie on Thursday, November 25 accused persons close to former President John Dramani Mahama of orchestrating this hindrance.



Dr. Duffuor is officially not in any contest and yet his public appearances are causing fear and panic among the followers of Mahama.



These guys appear convinced of Dr. Duffours value in their own commentaries but they are not smart enough to realize that the whole Unibank saga was a political witch hunt which is not even flying in the court of law.



That leads to the threshold question of why these Mahama henchmen are so coy and reticent about a man armed with just good intentions and have answers capable of remedying a damnable NDC that has almost lost its bearing under Mahama?"



Again, what makes them think they can take down a man whose credentials are as tall as a giant? I mean, in comparative terms, can JMs credentials measure up to that of Dr. Duffour? Regarding the state of NDC, how can the opposition to Duffuor say he is too old and cant win when a young and agile Mahama has lost two general elections?



Below is the full statement



Its time for the NDC to rethink and reshape perceptions



Ive had a pretty interesting night online, just checking out reactions on the poster released for Dr. Kwabena Duffours intended GHANAIAN DREAM economic lecture under the auspices of the Institute of Fiscal Studies on the 29th of November 2021.



One of the more vociferous Mahama frontmen showed himself in his true colours by questioning Dr. Duffuors competence. He claims Dr. Duffuor oversaw the mismanagement of depositors' funds leading to the collapse of Unibank.



Another comment  from a moderate this time  calls Duffour the foulest of expletives and claims hes too old to lead the party like the NDC.



Oh yes, the cult followers of Mahama have ramped up their attacks on Dr. Duffuor simply because he has chosen to organize a lecture and to speak to matters of national concern.



Ridiculous spectacle, huh?



Frankly, Im enjoying the snarling from these guys who just cant take the beating Dr. Duffuors recent outings are inflicting upon their sense of entitlement and preening self-regard.



Indeed, Im getting the distinct impression that the imminent announcement by Dr. Duffuor of his presidential bid is driving the Mahama camp over the edge.



Hes officially not in any contest and yet his public appearances are causing fear and panic among the followers of Mahama.



These guys appear convinced of Dr. Duffours value in their own commentaries but they are not smart enough to realise that the whole Unibank saga was a political witch hunt that is not even flying in the court of law.



That leads to the threshold question of why these Mahama henchmen are so coy and reticent about a man armed with just good intentions and have answers capable of remedying a damnable NDC that has almost lost its bearing under Mahama?



Again, what makes them think they can take down a man whose credentials are as tall as a giant? I mean, in comparative terms, can JMs credentials measure up to that of Dr. Duffour? Regarding the state of NDC, how can the opposition to Duffuor say he is too old and cant win when a young and agile Mahama has lost two general elections?



Isnt it as obvious to these guys as it is to me that Mahama has failed to prove himself as a leader and that hes out of the question and reckoning for the presidency?



The man has been president, and he led the NDC from the government into opposition.



Does he have any redeeming qualities to offer anything new? No, I cannot think of anything. This is why its of no use sidetracking some of the best brains in the NDC all in an attempt to impose Mahama on the party.



My point is, its all very well saying Duffour is old and will probably not win against Mahama, maybe he will not, but what is certain is that those seeking to oppose his presidential bid have actually lost two elections on the trot and show no signs of improving, so why not take a gamble and try something different?



The NDC members who three years from now would be licking their wounds and asking themselves what went wrong must instead ask themselves that question now while theres still some time to do something about it.



So clearly, for the good of the NDC, those elements obstructing Dr. Duffuor should decide whether they want to continue with the sniping, the bitching, and quibbling over minutiae  which seems to be their favourite pastime.



Admittedly, there is a serious problem within the NDC. If you were being kind, you would call it blind unquestioning loyalty or, kinder still, the ostrich mentality. Those of us who arent sucked in by the cult of Mahama need to do all we can to fight it.



And in all this, I think an element of waking up and smelling the coffee would appear to be in order for those who ought to know better. In the meantime, Im hanging on to the slim hope that when, eventually, people wake up to the grim reality of the NDC situation, it wont be late in the day.



We cant be faced with an open goal and yet be doing everything possible to score an own goal.





Source: 3 news









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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Ningo Prampram lawmaker, Samuel Nartey George has narrated how he and some of his colleague Minority Members of Parliament escaped deadly highway robbery attack on Wednesday November 24.



According to him, the incident occurred when they were travelling to Sampa on the invitation of the Omanhene.



The robbers who took advantage of the cover of darkness, held several commuters and passengers hostage and robbed their victims.



We were on our way to Sampa and around Mankraso, we run into highway robbers who had blocked the road and were robbing.



Ningo-Prampram MP, Samuel Nartey George, Ho West MP Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah and South Dayi MP Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor were on their way to an official engagement, chanced on the robbery.

The sound of the engines from the powerful vehicles were not enough to dispel the robbers who opened fire on the MPs.

The security detail of the lawmakers sensing danger also returned fire.









Thankful to the Almighty God for His deliverance and protection. We do not not deserve such love but still He loves us.



Still, we move.  pic.twitter.com/AhnD4rObSE



 Sam 'Dzata' George (@samgeorgegh) November 25, 2021

Source: twitter/3news.com









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West African Director of Samaritan Strategy and a lecturer at Pentecost University, Dr. Christopher Ampadu, has cautioned the Members of Parliament against engaging in partisan politics when addressing national issues.



Dr. Christopher Ampadu was discussing the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy presented by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo' Thursday morning.



In his view, the budget must be well explained to Ghanaians for them to understand but the government's Communication Directorate is doing less with public education on the budget.



He also wondered why the Members of Parliament, because they want to project their political parties' interests, throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians.



Dr. Ampadu advised the Parliamentarians to stop propagandizing national issues and be truthful to the people of Ghana, stressing "one day, one day, you will account to God".



To him, "it's so insulting to us, the public" that "a politician or MP . . . knowing the truth but because of dirty politics, don't tell us the truth".



"This selfish politics hasn't helped Ghana up till now. I strongly believe we shouldn't entertain it. We have to address it for us to know that Ghanaians, at least, have respect within the domain of Africa and the world," he emphasized.



He urged the MPs to ''love this country and the people we claim to serve''.







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.

Featured Video
Beverley von Zielonka is the new head of Unisus School, enrolment at which she hopes to increase from its current level of about 150 students.
What brand of fork is on your current primary mountain bike?



Fox: 44.11%

Rock Shox: 41.10%

Marzocchi: 2.53%

DVO: 2.34%

SR Suntour: 2.07%

Manitou: 1.70%

Other: 1.14%

Ohlins: 0.82%

Cane Creek: 0.81%

MRP: 0.67%

X Fusion: 0.61%

Cannondale: 0.49%

EXT: 0.31%

Formula: 0.27%

Specialized: 0.23%

BOS: 0.19%

DT Swiss: 0.14%

RST: 0.14%

Trust Performance: 0.08%

Intend: 0.06%

DNM: 0.05%

Magura: 0.05%

Wren: 0.03%

Maverick: 0.02%

Scott: 0.02%



What brand of shock are you using on your current primary mountain bike?



Fox: 46.47%

Rockshox: 31.49%

Other: 8.61%

DVO: 2.82%

Cane Creek: 2.81%

Push Industries: 1.12%

EXT: 1.11%

Ohlins: 1.07%

Marzocchi: 0.91%

X Fusion: 0.83%

SR Suntour: 0.72%

Manitou: 0.52%

Specialized: 0.31%

Avalanche: 0.20%

MRP: 0.20%

DT Swiss: 0.15%

BOS: 0.12%

Elka / MRP: 0.11%

DNM: 0.09%

RST: 0.07%

Diverse: 0.05%

Intend: 0.05%

Fast: 0.04%

Curnutt: 0.03%

Foes: 0.03%

DSP: 0.02%

Kindshock: 0.02%

Magura: 0.02%





Which brand of drivetrain do you currently ride on your primary mountain bike?



SRAM: 54.65%

Shimano: 41.73%

Other: 3.62%

Which model of drivetrain do you currently ride on your primary mountain bike?



Shimano XT: 21.20%

SRAM GX Eagle: 13.12%

SRAM GX: 10.04%

Shimano SLX: 8.41%

Shimano XTR: 5.91%

SRAM X01 Eagle: 5.77%

Shimano Other: 4.64%

SRAM X01: 4.06%

SRAM Eagle: 4.02%

SRAM NX Eagle: 3.39%

SRAM NX: 2.05%

SRAM X01 Eagle AXS: 1.84%

SRAM XX1: 1.66%

SRAM GX Eagle AXS: 1.65%

Other: 1.65%

SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS: 1.56%

SRAM X0: 1.35%

SRAM SX Eagle: 0.95%

Single speed: 0.88%

Box Components: 0.80%

Shimano Saint: 0.65%

SRAM X9: 0.64%

SRAM GX DH: 0.53%

Shimano Zee: 0.47%

SRAM X01 DH: 0.46%

SRAM X1: 0.44%

SRAM other: 0.38%

SRAM X7: 0.26%

Shimano XT Di2: 0.25%

SRAM EX1: 0.24%

Pinion Gearbox: 0.23%

Shimano XTR Di2: 0.20%

SRAM X5: 0.14%

SRAM XX: 0.09%

Nuvinci hub transmission: 0.03%

Rohloff hub transmission: 0.03%

SRAM X3: 0.02%



What wheelset are you currently using on your primary mountain bike? (Top 50)



DT Swiss: 17.34%

Other: 8.80%

Stan's No Tubes: 6.27%

Specialized / Roval: 5.82%

Bontrager: 5.65%

Race Face: 4.99%

WTB: 4.68%

Industry 9: 4.23%

Custom - handbuilt: 3.77%

e*thirteen: 3.67%

Giant: 2.69%

Ibis: 2.68%

We Are One Components: 2.67%

Hope: 2.57%

Santa Cruz / Reserve: 2.45%

Mavic: 2.36%

Spank: 2.28%

Sun Ringle: 1.48%

Shimano: 1.38%

Enve: 1.25%

Hunt: 1.09%

Nobl: 1.08%

Syncros: 1.03%

Nukeproof: 0.89%

Alex / A-Class: 0.83%

Light Bicycle: 0.83%

Reynolds: 0.80%

Crankbrothers: 0.74%

Newmen: 0.70%

SRAM: 0.56%

Easton: 0.50%

Nox: 0.38%

Zipp: 0.37%

Halo: 0.32%

Nextie: 0.19%

Novatec: 0.19%

Formula: 0.18%

FSA: 0.16%

Fulcrum: 0.16%

NS Bikes: 0.15%

American Classic: 0.13%

Acros: 0.12%

Mercury Wheels: 0.12%

Syntace: 0.12%

Superstar: 0.11%

Alpha: 0.10%

Atomik Carbon: 0.09%

Azonic: 0.09%

Velocity: 0.09%

Box Components: 0.08%



Which brand(s) of tires do you currently use on your primary mountain bike?



Maxxis: 69.99%

Schwalbe: 14.79%

Specialized: 8.30%

Michelin: 5.15%

Continental: 5.04%

Bontrager: 4.82%

WTB: 4.14%

Vittoria: 3.55%

Kenda: 2.66%

Other: 1.22%

e*thirteen: 1.19%

Onza: 0.78%

Hutchinson: 0.73%

Vee: 0.62%

Teravail: 0.57%

45 North: 0.46%

Goodyear: 0.43%

Mavic: 0.42%

Panaracer: 0.37%

Pirelli: 0.31%

DMR: 0.22%

Versus: 0.20%

CST: 0.19%

Terrene Tires: 0.17%

Tioga: 0.10%

Halo: 0.06%

Ritchey: 0.06%

Duro: 0.02%

Pacenti: 0.02%

Rubena: 0.02%





Do you run tubes or tubeless on your primary mountain bike?



Tubes: 14.3%

Tubeless: 82.75%

One Tubeless & One Tube: 2.95%



Do have tire inserts or plan on purchasing them in the next year?



Yes: 32.3%

No: 67.70%



What brand of brakes are you currently using on your primary mountain bike?



Shimano: 45.91%

Avid / SRAM: 36.83%

Magura: 5.16%

Hope: 4.22%

TRP: 2.12%

Hayes: 1.51%

Tektro: 1.51%

Formula: 1.37%

Other: 0.85%

Trickstuff: 0.19%

Clarks: 0.08%

Atomlab: 0.04%

Box Components: 0.04%

Brake Force One: 0.04%

Cane Creek: 0.04%

Promax: 0.04%

Bengal: 0.02%

Dia Tech: 0.01%

FSA: 0.01%





Do you primarily ride flat or clip-in pedals?



Flats: 53.86%

Clip-in: 37.06%

Both equally: 9.08%



What brand of clip-in pedals do you currently use?



Shimano: 60.34%

Crankbrothers: 23.01%

Time: 6.38%

HT: 2.93%

Nukeproof: 2.00%

Other: 1.26%

Look: 1.20%

Xpedo: 0.63%

DMR: 0.51%

Funn: 0.47%

Speedplay: 0.42%

Ritchey: 0.29%

Mavic: 0.19%

Wellgo: 0.17%

Azonic: 0.13%

Bebop: 0.05%

Powerplay: 0.01%



What brand of flat pedals do you currently use? (Top 50 brands)



OneUp Components: 14.82%

Race Face: 11.9%

Crankbrothers: 11.46%

DMR: 9.17%

Deity: 7.43%

Other: 6.66%

Nukeproof: 5.15%

Chromag: 5.04%

Shimano: 3.62%

Burgtec: 2.59%

Kona: 2.39%

Spank: 2.33%

HT: 1.98%

Bontrager: 1.45%

Hope: 1.36%

Specialized: 1.06%

Pedaling Innovation: 0.95%

Wellgo: 0.86%

Canfield: 0.81%

ANVL: 0.72%

Superstar: 0.72%

Blackspire: 0.49%

On-One: 0.47%

VP Components: 0.47%

Xpedo: 0.45%

Funn: 0.42%

Straitline: 0.38%

Sixpack: 0.32%

Azonic: 0.30%

Tenet: 0.25%

Yoshimura: 0.23%

NS Bikes: 0.20%

NC-17: 0.19%

NRG: 0.18%

Reverse Components: 0.18%

Atomlab: 0.17%

45nrth: 0.16%

Alpha: 0.15%

Answer: 0.15%

Dartmoor: 0.14%

Forte: 0.14%

WTB: 0.14%

Tag Metals: 0.13%

e*thirteen: 0.12%

Kore: 0.12%

Acros: 0.11%

Fire Eye: 0.11%

Odyssey: 0.11%

Truvativ: 0.11%

Syntace: 0.10%



Which brand of handlebar are you currently using on your primary mountain bike? (Top 50 brands)



Race Face: 16.69%

Other: 13.50%

Renthal: 8.77%

OneUp Components: 7.69%

Deity: 4.83%

Specialized: 4.83%

Bontrager: 4.82%

Chromag: 4.72%

Spank: 3.31%

Nukeproof: 2.96%

Enve: 2.54%

Giant: 2.27%

Santa Cruz: 2.16%

Easton: 1.81%

Syncros: 1.59%

Burgtec: 1.58%

Truvativ: 1.42%

PNW: 1.23%

Kona: 1.04%

ANVL: 0.85%

SQ Labs: 0.80%

FSA: 0.68%

Funn: 0.68%

Answer: 0.59%

Ritchey: 0.59%

Salsa: 0.58%

Thomson: 0.53%

Sixpack: 0.44%

Pro: 0.42%

Kore: 0.40%

Joystick: 0.38%

We Are One Composites: 0.36%

WTB: 0.36%

Syntace: 0.34%

Pro Taper: 0.33%

Acros: 0.31%

e*thirteen: 0.30%

Hope: 0.26%

Crank Brothers: 0.24%

3T: 0.22%

DMR: 0.21%

Newmen: 0.20%

Azonic: 0.17%

NS Bikes: 0.17%

Box Components: 0.16%

Niner: 0.16%

Reverse Components: 0.16%

Tag Metals: 0.16%

Fasst: 0.15%

Atomlab: 0.12%



What is the bar width of your current primary mountain bike?



Less than 700mm: 1.71%

700mm: 1.20%

710mm: 1%

720mm: 3.14%

730mm: 1.17%

740mm: 3.72%

750mm: 3.96%

760mm: 15.38%

770mm: 6.50%

780mm: 32.85%

790mm: 2.65%

800mm: 18.57%

810mm: 0.87%

Over 810mm: 0.87%

I don't know: 5.89%



Which brand of grips are you currently using on your primary mountain bike? (Top 50 brands)



ODI: 16.72%

Ergon: 15.42%

DMR: 7.26%

Other: 7.10%

Deity: 6.46%

Race Face: 4.26%

ESI: 4.24%

PNW: 3.39%

Lizard Skin: 3.34%

Specialized: 2.97%

Chromag: 2.78%

Bontrager: 2.46%

Sensus: 2.01%

OneUp Components: 1.84%

Oury: 1.66%

Santa Cruz: 1.55%

Revolution Suspension: 1.45%

Renthal: 1.28%

Burgtec: 1.26%

Giant: 0.98%

Nukeproof: 0.95%

Wolf Tooth: 0.90%

Syncros: 0.66%

Kona: 0.59%

Fabric: 0.55%

Pivot: 0.52%

SRAM: 0.51%

SQ Labs: 0.48%

Crank Brothers: 0.46%

WTB: 0.46%

Troy lee Designs: 0.41%

SDG: 0.36%

Easton: 0.31%

Evil: 0.31%

Spank: 0.28%

Yeti: 0.24%

Ritchey: 0.22%

Supacaz: 0.22%

Cannondale: 0.21%

Answer: 0.17%

Funn: 0.17%

3T: 0.16%

ATI: 0.16%

Hope: 0.16%

Shimano: 0.16%

Sixpack: 0.14%

Acros: 0.13%

Azonic: 0.13%

Box Components: 0.13%

Cult: 0.13%



Do you use a dropper post on your primary mountain bike?



Yes: 88.07%

No: 11.93%



Which brand of dropper are you currently using on your primary mountain bike?



RockShox: 15.81%

Fox: 14.29%

OneUp Components: 11.42%

KS: 9.41%

PNW: 4.33%

Other: 4.04%

X Fusion: 3.61%

Race Face: 2.99%

Specialized: 2.83%

Giant: 2.66%

Crankbrothers: 2.16%

e*thirteen: 1.62%

SDG: 1.01%

Thomson: 0.95%

Gravity Dropper: 0.59%

Magura: 0.41%

DVO: 0.26

Vecnum: 0.24%

Marzocchi: 0.23%

Yep Components: 0.20%

FSA: 0.19%

Tag Metals: 0.15%

DNM: 0.13%

Nukeproof: 0.13%

Easton: 0.11%

DSP: 0.07%

Maverick: 0.07%





What percentage of your maintenance or repairs do you have done at your local bike shop?



I do all of my own repairs: 34.33%

Less than 25% of the time: 35.70%

25-49% of the time: 11.78%

50-74% of the time: 8.96%

75-99% of the time: 6.87%

100% of the time: 2.35%



Is there a bike part that you can't get that you currently want or need?



Yes: 41.68%

No: 58.32%



What bike part can't you currently get that you want or need?



Cassette: 23.55%

Chain: 23.55%

Tires: 22.85%

Complete Bike: 21.82%

Derailleur: 21.22%

Brakes: 19.56%

Wheels / wheel parts: 19.27%

Fork: 15.86%

Brake Pads: 14.66%

Other: 13.65%

Dropper post: 12.08%

Frame: 11.32%

Cranks: 11.09%

Shock: 10.94%

Apparel: 8.72%

Saddle: 7.93%

Grips: 7.89%

Handlebar: 6.82%

Stem: 4.77%

Tubes: 2.31%

Tire sealant: 1.90%

Derailleur cable: 1.50%



We expected a two-horse race between Fox and RockShox when it comes to suspension and they're totally dominant in the fork market. If you include Marzochhi as part of the Fox umbrella, the next biggest brand outside of those two is DVO with 2.34%.Fox's domination of the suspension market continues when it comes to the shocks on your bikes as well. Here, they account for nearly 50% of all rear suspension among our respondents with RockShox still second on nearly a third of bikes. DVO remains the best of the rest with 'Other' responses mainly coming from hardtail riders. We also asked about riders' air vs coil preferences and riders that prefer air out number those that prefer coil by more than 2 to 1.Once again there's a duopoly in drivetrain manufacturers and this time it's between SRAM and Shimano. As we expected this, we split the drivetrains down into specific models and this allows us to see Shimano XT at the top of the tree followed by a pair of SRAM GX options. Mechanical drivetrains still rule the roost with the highest placed electronic option being the SRAM X01 Eagle AXS drivetrain with just under 2% of the vote share. Box Components come in top of the other brands but are on less than 1% of bikes in the survey. We also asked which aftermarket brands you had added to your drivetrains and Absolute Black came out on top followed by OneUp and Wolf Tooth.Wheels are the first area we see a large spread of brands all featuring with decent slices of the pie. DT Swiss is the most popular but is still on less than one fifth of the respondent's bikes. Just 14 wheels had to be registered for a brand to make the top 50.When it comes to tires, Maxxis is clearly the most popular brand with more than two-thirds of responses. Schwalbe is the next most popular followed by Specialized.Nearly everyone is now running tubeless but only a third of respondents are choosing to use tire inserts. We wonder if it's the cost, weight or added faff that's putting the rest off.As it finishes off the groupset, it's no surprise to see Shimano and SRAM also dominating when it comes to brakes. They don't seem to have as much of a stranglehold as they do on the drivetrain though with Magura having nearly 1,000 responses and Hope more than 750.The eternal debate between clips and flats continues to rage and it looks like flats have the edge among our audience. Clearly Pinkbike readers are somewhat good looking and ride foot out, flat out.It's not a huge surprise to see Shimano and its legendary SPD system dominate the clipless rankings but things are spread a bit more evenly among the flat pedal brands. OneUp Components is the most popular but Race Face and Crankbrothers also secure more than 10% of the vote each. Just 11 pairs of pedals had to be recorded to make it into the top 50.RaceFace is the only brand to feature on the bikes of more than 10% of bikes, which is no surprise as it's a popular OEM option. This is also an area where brands will often spec an in-house bar and this shows in our results too with Specialized, Giant and Santa Cruz, some of the most popular frame brands, featuring highly. 20 bars needed to be registered in the survey to feature in the Top 50.Grips are one of the first things that tend to get swapped out on any bike so this is a category where we could be seeing what a mountain biker chooses to run rather than what a product manager specs on a bike. ODI and Ergon are closely matched at the top of the table with DMR coming in as best of the rest.Nearly all of us now have dropper posts on our bikes now and we're assuming those that don't are mainly running downhill or dirt jump bikes as our primary bikes. We imagine that RockShox was once dominant in this market with the Reverb but it looks like there's a far broader spread of brands now providing droppers on bikes. RockShox is still top of the tree but Fox and OneUp aren't far behind.The bike industry shortages have been well-publicized but they are currently affecting less than half of you. The most difficult items to source seem to be drivetrains parts as cassettes, chains and derailleurs all feature highly in our survey. Other wear items such as tires and brake pads are also high on the list. More than a fifth of you are also struggling to get a complete bike at the moment so it seems bike brands are struggling to get stock as much as the rest of us are struggling to get replacements and spares. Hopefully, these numbers will have decreased when we repeat the survey next year.So there you have it, our Specialized Enduro from yesterday's article can be specced with your most popular parts for what sounds like a pretty sweet build. Maybe if we can get our hands on all these parts we'll get the Most Pinkbike Bike built up and put it through its paces. Watch this space for that but in the mean time we'll do the full data dump shortly so you can dig into the numbers yourselves.
Simon Lorenzi repeats Off the Wagon Low 8C+ in Val Bavona, Switzerland

26.11.2021 by by Planetmountain

Belgian rock climber Simon Lorenzi has repeated Off the Wagon Low 8C+ in Val Bavona, Switzerland. His is only the fifth ascent after Shawn Raboutou, James Webb, Daniel Woods and Giuliano Cameroni.

Belgiums Simon Lorenzi has made the third ascent of Off the Wagon Low, the 8C+ in Val Bavona, Switzerland, freed by Shawn Raboutou in 2018 and repeated by Jimmy Webb, Daniel Woods and Giuliano Cameroni.



Lorenzi explained he became "obsessed" with the line after Raboutous first ascent and after two days of effort in 2019, he returned this autumn for a few trips. As soon as he stuck the characteristic big move from the stand start he started working the lower section and, on his last session last month, he discovered some new micro beta which suddenly meant that he stood a 50 - 50 chance on what previously was a far lower percentage crux move. Galvanised by this breakthrough he made the 9-hour trip from his home in Belgium to Sonlerto two days ago and, after a three-hour battle and more than 20 attempts, the 24-year-old finally sent the problem.

In February this year Lorenzi made headline news with the first ascent of Soudain seul, the sit start to Big Island at Fontainebleau he graded 9A. That difficulty didnt stick for long as Nico Pelorson repeated the line in April suggesting 8C+ and indicating that it nevertheless remains one of the best and hardest in the forest.



Lorenzi thanks: SCARPA, Petzl, Adeps, Patagonia
Breaking News: EPT Prague Postponed

November 26, 2021 Calum Grant

EPT Prague, scheduled to run December 8-19 in King's Casino at the Hilton Prague, has been postponed into the next year. The decision was made by PokerStars due to recent restrictions put in place by the Czech Republic government. The restrictions were put into place again due to growing coronavirus concerns in the country, which is facing a rapidly rising number of cases similar to more European countries.

The European Poker Tour (EPT) event, which was due to start on Wednesday, December 8, will now go ahead at a later date when it is safe to do so. PokerStars declared they must follow the guidance of the government and put the safety of its staff and players as a top priority.

Details regarding players refunds can be found on the PokerStars blog, which released the statement.

@Franchi2b Hello Pierre-Jean. We are currently reviewing the ongoing situation in the Czech Republic and will be fo https://t.co/d3nO573abb  PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE)

The announcement came just a few hours after PokerStars LIVE tweeted they were reviewing the ongoing situation.

Czech Republic Government Announces State of Emergency

On Thursday, November 25 the Czech Republic government announced a State of Emergency due to the growing number of coronavirus cases in the country. It was reported that there were over 25,000 new cases on Wednesday, November 24.

This follows similar patterns and comes off the back of bordering nations, Austria and Slovakia, imposing their own lockdowns.

Cultural, sporting and educational events have been imposed with an 1,000 person cap while restaurants and bars will be operating under a 10 p.m. curfew.

EPT Prague 2019: Mikalai Pobal Makes History; Becomes Second EPT Two-Time Champion

Postponement Marks Two Years Without EPT

It was only towards the of September 2021 that PokerStars confirmed that the European Poker Tour would be returning to Prague after a two year hiatus. Fans of the long-running poker series will have to wait a little longer for their favorite series to return, with both 2020 and 2021 remaining void of any stops.

EPT Prague was scheduled to host several events with the main attractions being the 1,100 EPT National, 5,300 EPT Main Event and 10,300 EPT High Roller.

EPT Prague History

EPT Prague has a rich and storied history dating back to December 2007. Since then, the festival has grown to be one of the most popular stops on the European Poker Tour.

Mikalai Pobal wins the 2019 EPT Prague Main Event
Greece's Garnelis Georgios (630,000) topped the end of day chip counts in Day 1c of Event #5: 550 No-Limit Hold'em COLOSSUS which played out at King's Resort, Rozvadov. The starting flight, which wrapped up after 18 levels of play had just 38 of the 363 entries bagging and tagging for Day 2.

Andreas Kuecuekkaplan (542,000) and Israel's Yosef Levi (542,000) round of the top three stacks advancing to the next stage of the event. Kuecuekkaplan knocked out Gudmundur Sigurjonsson with a turned full house.

The latter asked Kuecuekkaplan if he was slowrolling him as he took his time to call when the Icelandic player moved all-in.

Notable names who were who fell at the first hurdler include Krzysztof Dulowski, Ali Sameeian, Peter Da and WSOP bracelet winner Sebastian Langrock.

Liverpool's Daniel Myers fell late on in the night after moving all-in with top two pair, but found himself behind the flopped straight made by Volodymyr Siekhov. Despite not making Day 2, he secured a cash prize of 983.

Top 10 Day 1c Chip Counts

Rank Name Country Chip Count 1 Garnelis Georgios Greece 630,000 2 Andreas Kuecuekkaplan Germany 542,000 3 Yosef Levi Israel 521,000 4 Tobias Boettcher Germany 499,000 5 Stylianos Kollatos Greece 490,000 6 Volodymyr Siekhov Ukraine 467,000 7 Riadh Farhat France 431,000 8 Darko Svesko Serbia 407,000 9 Ciro Fasono Italy 350,000 10 Georgios Koliofotis Germany 327,000

With the recent government announcements in the Czech Republic, there will only be four total flights for this event. Starting tomorrow, there will only be one flight per day with a 1,000 player cap, starting at 10 a.m. each day. Day 2 players will also be returning at 10 a.m. and playing down to a final table, which will then be carried out on Day 3.

Event #5: 550 NLH COLOSSUS Schedule

DATE DAY START TIME (CET) PLAY CONCLUDES Total Entries Advancing Thursday, November 25 Day 1b 12 p.m. After Level 18 427 43 Thursday, November 25 Day 1c 6 p.m. After Level 18 363 38 Friday, November 26 Day 1d 10 a.m. After Level 18 - - Saturday, November 27 Day 1f 10 a.m. After Level 18 - - Sunday, November 28 Day 2 2 p.m. 9 Players Remain - - Monday, November 29 Day 3 1 p.m. End of Event

The PokerNews live reporting team will be here to cover all of the tournaments throughout the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe so keep it locked here for all of the live updates.
There have been two starting flights to Event #5: 550 No-Limit Hold'em COLOSSUS that were completed yesterday and today will see Day 1d take place, starting at 10 a.m. local time. This will be the only flight taking place today due to the recent government restrictions and the cap has been increased to 1,000 entries.

The opening starting flights attracted a total of 790 entries, 427 on Day 1b and 363 on Day 1c respectively, with 81 players qualified for Day 2 already. Garnelis Georgios has bagged up the largest stack thus far, accumulating a whopping stack of 630,000 chips on Day 1c. Merijn van Rooij finished Day 1b as the chip leader with 545,000 and was joined by Antonello Ferraiuolo (481,000) who already captured his first WSOP gold bracelet at this year's series.

Event #5: 550 NLH COLOSSUS Schedule

DATE DAY START TIME (CET) PLAY CONCLUDES Total Entries Advancing Thursday, November 25 Day 1b 12 p.m. After Level 18 427 43 Thursday, November 25 Day 1c 6 p.m. After Level 18 363 38 Friday, November 26 Day 1d 10 a.m. After Level 18 - - Saturday, November 27 Day 1f 10 a.m. After Level 18 - - Sunday, November 28 Day 2 2 p.m. 9 Players Remain - - Monday, November 29 Day 3 1 p.m. End of Event

The decision was made late yesterday evening to move this event to a 10 a.m. start time with the recent Czech government restrictions coming into place. With only one starting flight per day, the cap was increased to 1,000 entries per flight, the last starting flight taking place tomorrow. Each flight will still play a full 18 levels of 30-minute intervals.

A starting stack will get you 25,000 chips with the blinds beginning at 100/100 and a 100 big blind ante. There will be one re-entry permitted per starting flight, and if you do not bag chips, you are allowed to many in multiple flights. There will also be a 15-minute break after every four levels and a 30-minute dinner break after level eight. Late registration will remain open for 12 levels.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates throughout this and every other WSOP Europe event.
On November 23, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian denounced Lithuania over its handling of the refugee crisis. Thousands of North African and Middle Eastern migrants and refugees have amassed at the Belarusian border with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, seeking to reach European Union.

A reporter from Chinas Hubei Daily Media Group asked Zhao to comment on, in the reporter's words, the violent repression of refugees by soldiers and police in the Lithuanian border area.

The reporter claimed that Lithuanian security forces had reportedly attacked refugee children with teargas at the Belarus border, while inside Lithuania refugees were suffering from scabies at packed and unsanitary detention facilities.



Zhao, citing recent reports, described Lithuanias treatment of the refugees as brutal, adding that unfair treatment of women and children had been especially outrageous.



Lithuanian soldiers and police went so far as to attack refugee children with teargas in addition to dog bites on refugees, Zhao said. We strongly call on the Lithuanian government to abide by international law immediately stop violent repression, protect the refugees' basic human rights, and responsibly respond to the legitimate concerns of the international community.

Zhaos statement on Lithuanias role in the current border crisis is partially true. While Lithuanian personnel have reportedly committed rights abuses, some claims -- for example, that Lithuanian soldiers attacked children with teargas  have not been substantiated. Zhao also failed to acknowledge that Lithuanian authorities have tried to improve living conditions at detention facilities.



Moreover, Zhao said nothing about Belarus role in instigating the border crisis. His statement also came as China downgraded relations with Lithuania over its decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office.

Still, Lithuania has been implicated in the mistreatment of migrants and refugees.



On November 9, Lithuanias parliament declared a state of emergency on the border with Belarus, and troops were deployed there. The state of emergency authorizes border guards to use "mental coercion" and "proportional physical violence to keep migrants from entering Lithuania, Reuters reported.



On November 17, Ruslan Trad, an award-winning journalist who has extensively covered refugee issues, tweeted out a video purportedly showing Lithuanian border guards using dogs against refugees.

In that video, a dog can be seen biting a man who is on the ground in a sleeping bag.

On July 3, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that the Lithuanian State Border Security Service fired tear gas and warning shots while detaining a group of migrants. There were no reports that children were among the migrants in that incident.

Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported on November 3 that officers at a center where refugees are being kept in the town of Pabrade, near Lithuanias capital Vilnius, used tear gas to quell unrest. The State Border Guard Service claimed none of the asylum seekers needed medical attention after the incident. No reports mentioned that children were present during that incident.

In their comments about the plight of refugees and migrants seeking to enter Lithuania, Zhao and the Hubei Daily Media Groups may have been relying on reports by Lithuanian state and civil society watchdogs. State-funded media have detailed the plight of refugees and migrants in Lithuania, and government officials have acknowledged the problem. That sharply contrasts with how Beijing handles accusations of rights abuses in China.



In October, the Ombudsmens Office of Lithuanias parliament published a report stating that refugees at the facilities faced inhuman and degrading treatment.



The report noted that migrants, including minors, were kept in tents and other makeshift accommodations that were sometimes damp and inadequately heated, and lacked proper access to medical care and medicine. Hygienic and/or private bathrooms and shower facilities were also unavailable. There was also a lack of hot food and water.

The report by the Ombudsmens Office of the Lithuanias parliament was provided to the European Court of Human Rights, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and the European Councils Commissioner for Human Rights, among others.



Earlier, in July, Lithuanias Red Cross had issued a report citing gross violations of human rights and EU laws in migrant centers, LRT reported.



The Red Cross documented cases of scabies and other dermatological diseases. It also reported that 10 unaccompanied minors and a pregnant woman were sheltered in a hangar with single males.

The head of Lithuanias State Border Guard Service chief, Rustamas Liubajevas, conceded they had not been able to provide the refugees with a very high quality of accommodation, LRT reported.



We are trying to solve these questions by dedicating additional resources from our reserves, additional funding so that we are able to ensure at least basic conditions, LRT quoted Liubajevas as saying. "Definitely, the criticism from the Red Cross and other non-governmental organizations is very important. However, we live in extreme conditions.

Those efforts appear to have borne fruit.

In October, Kristina Meide, the head of the Lithuanian Red Cross, said conditions at the facilities had changed dramatically.



"We overcame the initial crisis as a country: the migrants got a roof over their heads, warm food, a dry bed, Meide told Estonia-based Baltic News Service.

Lithuania has also been accused of discrimination. State Border Guard Service chief Liubajevas recently told the New York Times that Belarusians caught entering Lithuania illegally are allowed to stay and request asylum. However, since August, Lithuania has denied entry to 7,000 migrants from the Middle East and North Africa.

Chinas allegations that Lithuania has mistreated migrants and refugees coincided with Lithuanias decision to let Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory, open a representative office.



Following that decision, China expelled Lithuanias ambassador and withdrew its own ambassador from Lithuania.

Chinas Foreign Ministry accused Lithuania of undermining Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Thus, Chinas focus on Lithuania appears to be politically motivated, since outside monitors have documented that Belarus and Poland have been responsible for the gravest abuses of migrants and refugees.



On October 24, New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report that accused Belarusian border guards of violence, abuse, theft, and extortion against migrants and refugees. That report noted that at the time it was written, 13 deaths had been recorded, mainly on the Polish side, among migrants being pushed from Poland into Belarus.

Polish security forces also used tear gas and water cannons against migrants, some of whom threw stones and other objects.

The European Commission in October accused Belarus of luring thousands of migrants to the border by falsely suggesting they would be able to enter the European Union.

The EU accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of manufacturing the border crisis in retaliation for sanctions imposed on his regime after it cracked down on those protesting the August 2020 presidential elections, which observers say were neither free nor fair.



Belarus has denied that accusation.



Human Rights Watch found that Belarus and Poland share responsibility for this human crisis.
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Dow futures plunged more than 800 points last night. Why? Because of a new covid variant that apparently originated in South Africa. The New York Post reports:

The World Health Organization has scheduled a special meeting Friday to discuss a worrying new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa that appears to be rapidly mutating. The so-called B.1.1.529 variant appears to have a high number of mutations  about 30  in its spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people, scientists have warned.

It appears doubtful that existing vaccines will be effective against the South African variant:

B.1.1.529 has a spike protein that is drastically different to the one in the original bug that the vaccines are based on, according to the UK Health Security Agency, which is raising some concern about how current jabs will perform against it. South Africas Department of Health also said during a briefing Thursday that the variant contains several mutations associated with increased antibody resistance, which may reduce the effectiveness of current vaccines.

I believe that new vaccines are in development that focus on a broader range of covid characteristics (if I am phrasing that correctly) and therefore may be more effective against the South African and other future variants.

All of this was 100% predictable. Viruses mutate. The history of vaccines against coronaviruses has not been a happy one. If there is one thing we should be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend, it is that covid is not a more deadly disease. It seems obvious that we are going to be living with it indefinitely.

My own prediction is that covid will soon occupy the biological niche that in recent history has been taken up by what we call influenza, and also perhaps some of the niche occupied by the common cold. In another few years, things will have returned to normal, in that each winter some of us will contract respiratory viruses, and tens of thousands (mostly elderly and already weak) will die. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we not treat every new covid mutation in hysterical fashion, blighting our peoples lives, needlessly devastating our economy, and above all abusing our children. Such cures are worse than the disease.
Glenn Loury is a voice of reason in the madhouse of higher education. He speaks with a powerful voice that is all the more powerful for its modulation. Peter Robinson sat down with him at FOX News in New York City to record an installment of his Uncommon Knowledge series last month, although it was just posted online this week. Here are the show notes:

Professor Glenn Loury is in social sciences and economics at Brown University and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Prior to that, he became a tenured professor of economics at Harvard at the age of 33. How he got from there to here is an inspiring and fascinating story of hard work and accomplishment that is explored in great detail in this interview. Professor Loury also explains the crucial role his parents and his extended family played in his education and his opinions. Now, in his 70s Loury has become a leading spokesman on the right, often speaking out against woke culture prevalent on many campuses and other institutions. He also explains his radical (for an academic institution, at least) reading list and syllabus for the courses he teaches at Brown and how an undergraduate student/teaching assistant inspired Professor Loury to create a course intended to liberate his students from the groupthink that is far too prevalent at most universities.

There is much more that could be said to supplement or qualify or endorse Professor Lourys views, but I cant think of a better use of time over the long holiday weekend than taking in this much needed dose of common sense and civilized sensibility (and passing it on). In the course of the conversation Peter quotes from Thomas Sowells recent column High stakes in Virginia. You may also want to take that in if you havent already.
The Actors Guild of Nigeria is set to enforce holidays and no-shoot days for its members.

The guild, in a communique, issued at its annual congress held in Enugu, on Thursday, says the holiday is geared towards improving the welfare of its members.

The AGN President, Emeka Rollas, who shared a copy of the communique with PREMIUM TIMES, said the directive will take effect in March 2022.

Mr Rollas said Nigerian actors would observe compulsory holidays at least once a week to rest and replenish the lost energy.

He said, Following a medical survey by the Guild, it was discovered that Nigerian actors work round the clock without any leave, holiday or rest day which results to many actors being overstressed and falling sick at the same time, therefore: Effective from 1st March, 2022, Actors shall observe HOLIDAY on every Sunday to rest and replenish the lost energy.

Mr Rollas said, Sundays or Fridays (as maybe appropriately applicable in the different zones) are to be observed as no-shoot days.

He added that every last Thursday of the month remains a half-day shoot for AGN state general meetings nationwide.

Foreign artistes

The communique also addressed the continued influx of foreign artists into Nollywood.

It stated that all foreign actors must obtain immigration permits that entitle foreigners to work in Nigeria and then obtain work permits from the guild before they would be allowed to work in the country.

It read: No foreigner should be allowed on any film set without necessary work permits from the appropriate regulatory authorities, i.e., Nigeria Immigration Service.

According to the guild, actors from countries with no visa requirements must obtain a residence permit before they would be allowed to feature in any production in the country.

Professional misconduct

The guild also frowned at repeated reports of professional misconduct amongst actors. It noted that some actors collect money without completing their projects.

It also cautioned some of its members who were fond of collecting monies without completing projects, thereby delaying productions.

Those whom the guild found guilty of this unprofessional act are Uju Okolie, Flash Boy, Luchy Donald, Queeneth Hilbert and Jerry Williams. The Congress gave these actors the grace of November to finish all pending projects.

However, the guild also commended Mike Ezuruonye and Mike Godson, for maintaining a high level of professional ethos as they dont indulge in engaging in more than one job at a particular period of time.

The guild also stated that from March 2021, artists are not allowed to engage in any production without a contract that stipulates 14-working days.

AGN National Executives and States excos from across the 36 States of Nigeria attended the congress.

AGN is an umbrella union that regulates and represents the affairs of film actors in Nigeria.
Saif al-Islam at the electoral commissions office in Sabha  Libyan High National Electoral Commission

Its almost 10 years to the day since the streets of Tripoli rang out to a rally of celebratory gunfire by Zintani militiamen. After several false sightings, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi, had been captured in the south of Libya.

Now, after six years of being held by tribal militias and in defiance of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, he has declared his intention to run for president. Libyas election commission may derail his move with a ban on Mr Gaddafi and 24 other candidates from standing. This could, however, be overturned on appeal.

The man once considered a reformer was indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity  particularly his alleged role in the brutal crackdown by Libyan state security on protesters ahead of the 2011 uprising.

Gaddafi Jnrs presidential ambitions seem to be another example of a leader thumbing his nose at the ICC. But does anyone care? The fact that the ICC has not responded officially to Mr Gaddafis carefully choreographed announcement, preceded by hints in a New York Times interview of his presidential ambitions, is telling.

Mr Gaddafi is also not the only man eyeing the presidency despite charges hanging over him. Warlord and former head of the Libyan national army, General Khalifa Haftar, faces both civil and criminal charges. These include committing or presiding over acts of torture during the 2016 Benghazi siege. Like Mr Gaddafi, who was sentenced to death in absentia, he is also wanted by Libyas domestic courts, which Libya analysts say is far more likely to influence voters than the ICC indictments.

Many commentators consider Mr Gaddafis (for now) thwarted bid for the presidency to be symbolic and even a sinister reminder of the violent legacy associated with the Gaddafi dynasty. But what does it say about the state of international justice?

The audacious move by the younger Gaddafi is a reminder of Uhuru Kenyattas case at the ICC. He bid for the Kenyan presidency in 2013 while charged by the international court with five counts of crimes against humanity, following the post-election violence that ripped Kenya apart in 2007/8. The charges were subsequently withdrawn in 2015.

But unlike Mr Gaddafi, Mr Kenyatta was not the subject of an arrest warrant and cooperated with the ICC just enough to avoid censure. And while Kenya is a signatory to the Rome Statute and must work with the court, Libya has not signed up  and has barely hidden its disdain for the ICC.

The country was one of only two situations the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referred to the ICC under UNSC Resolution 1970 in 2011. The other was Darfur in Sudan. At the time, Libyas allies said the UNSC was encroaching on the countrys sovereignty. Still, the resolution passed  driven by the responsibility to protect principle and fears of a humanitarian crisis. The assumption that the ICC could deter future atrocities or influence Libyas conflict has not come to pass.

In one of her final acts as chief prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda warned the UNSC that the failure to execute arrest warrants was blocking efforts to ensure justice for the victims of serious crimes perpetrated during a decade of conflict and strife. She said her office continued to receive reports of disappearances in Libya and arbitrary detention, murder, torture and sexual and gender-based violence.

The fact that in 10 years not a single person in Libya has been prosecuted by the ICC is scary, says author and international justice scholar Mark Kersten, a senior consultant at the Wayamo Foundation. While he concedes the ICC has no relevance for most people in Libya, he sees an opportunity for the court to pivot.

In his view, charges issued by the ICC should not raise expectations of immediate action. Instead, Mr Kersten says these should be seen as placeholders for potential justice  but justice that requires a constellation of actors to come together. Put simply, the ICC needs to matter domestically for it to have influence.

The pledge by political rivals of Sudans Omar al-Bashir that the former leader will be handed over to the ICC is perhaps an example of this. Whether political opportunism or realpolitik, it underscores Mr Kerstens point.

The relationship between the ICC and the domestic context mattered in Kenya. In 2013, opposition to the ICC became an election campaign issue for Kenyatta, as he sought to galvanise support against a neocolonial court. An active civil society and truth commission helped keep the alleged crimes the ICC was pursuing in the public domain. That pressure  despite the eventual collapse of the Kenyan cases  arguably led to numerous domestic cases through Kenyas civil courts.

In Libya, the situation is different, argues Mr Kersten. Once the civil war ended, so did the pressure to pursue atrocity crimes. Civil society just does not have the same voice inside Libya and the pressure for accountability had largely come from outside.

The Libyan and Kenyan experiences offer a lesson to the ICC  to better frame the courts function as a driver of deterrence. The ICCs primary role is to provide justice and accountability, even if it results in domestic courts pursuing cases, such as with Gaddafis former spy chief Abdallah al-Senussi.

Despite Mr al-Senussi being indicted by the ICC, he was tried by a Libyan court. Both he and Gaddafi were sentenced to death. Mr Al-Senussi is still in jail following a trial that drew criticism that due process was not followed.

The ICC may have to exercise some strategic patience and fine-tune its messaging. Its prosecutors know that the court does not exist in a political vacuum. Only if it suits domestic agendas, as seen in Sudan, will the ICC recover some strength, symbolically rise from the ashes and find favour among those committed to international justice.

Karen Allen, Consultant, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Pretoria

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).
After Leebart Olalekan waited for months to hear from her husband, she suspected the worst, and she was right.

Isiaka Dauda, the corporal she married seven years earlier, was declared dead last March, becoming another of Nigerias frontline fallen heroes fighting to stave off the insurgency of extremist groups in northern Nigeria.

If he was sturdy in physique, his appetite for justice was even firmer, his wife said. This was why he joined the army in 2009.

Born in Cote DIvoire, the polyglot moved to Nigeria in 2004 before clinching a higher diploma from the Nigerian Army College of Environmental Science and Technology, Makurdi (NACEST).

The 32-year-old father of a six-year-old daughter was conscripted for an operation in Maiduguri but never returned.

For Leebart, his wife, life came crumbling at her feet.

War against terror

What began as a crisis in some parts of Borno, Nigerias decade-long war against Boko Haram and Islamic States West Africa Province terrorists has spawned one of the worlds worst humanitarian crises in the northern part of the country with millions of people dependent on aid while the war shows no sign of slowing.

Frontline casualties were estimated to be over 35,000 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). But the full human cost of the war is much greater, the UNDP said.

When the indirect consequences of the conflict, like damage to agriculture, water, trade, food and healthcare were factored in, the toll estimated by the UNDP reached 350,000 and around three million displaced persons.

The spokesperson of the defence headquarters, Wap Maigida, faulted the UNDP figure but could not provide the militarys official frontline casualties. He declined further comments when he was called on November 22, four days after the first call. His colleague in the army, Onyema Nwachukwu, declined comments too.

Having remarried with a year old daughter, Leebart, a graduate of Kwara State College of Nursing and Midwifery, said she is lucky as she has been able to turn things around for herself.

I would say I am lucky to have turned things around for myself, she cut a happy figure as she spoke, adjusting her niqob (veil) for the umpteenth time.

The 30-year-old Ibadan-based nurse with over 10 years experience runs a pharmaceutical shop at the Olodo area of Ibadan, where she also offers medical and trado-medical consultancy, the latter, a skill she learnt from her new husband, Ismail.

Even though she is still expecting the third tranche of her former husbands entitlement, she has moved on. On average, she rakes in about N150,000 weekly. The same cannot, however, be said of other widows of fallen servicemen.

Empowering widows with marketable skills and giving them opportunities to be productive is better than giving them gifts and palliatives, Grace Okeke, a project coordinator with Asake Foundation, a non-profit aid donor, said.

Sullen hope

Meeting a stranger in a bank hall and entrusting her to make deposits on your behalf is a risk most would rather not take, but that was how Peter Onyema stole Blessing Ayakus heart in 2011.

Pressed by time, Mr Onyema had to dash out of the bank that afternoon, but he had not fulfilled his obligation there.

That was where Ms Ayaku came in, someone he had only met less than 30 minutes earlier. They exchanged contacts and kept in touch. The embers of love were kindled, and it has continued to glow since then  even in death.

Marrying Mr Onyema, the man who sponsored her education through the University of Uyo, on December 29, 2011, was Ms Ayakus new years gift.

She was camping for the compulsory National Youth Service scheme in Akwa Ibom in August 2017 when a bombshell dropped: her husband was missing in action, a military designation for someone whose whereabouts are unknown, but whose death is not confirmed.

Fearing the worst, the 34-year-old mother of one rushed home and when she had further details she passed out.

Her husband, 42, a corporal at the time, who joined the army in 1997, was ambushed while leading troops providing cover for an oil company on a mission to fix an oil well in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

This happened barely two months before he would be promoted to the rank of sergeant. Months later, he was declared dead.

Before that, the assailants had attacked Mr Onyemas outpost, but under his lead, the unit foiled the attack, killing five of the attackers believed to be cultists.

Ms Ayaku believes the attack was a reprisal from Greenlanders, a notorious mafia-styled street gang that sprung out of the armed militant groups engaged in criminal acts of violence and voodoo in Port Harcourt and Emohua local government areas of River State, where over 100 cult groups operate, according to SBM Intelligence, a research firm.

Between 2007 and 2020, SBM said no less than 639 persons were killed in gang violence in Rivers, a grossly conservative figure, about 73 per cent of which were recorded between 2015 and 2020.

Since her husbands death, Ms Ayaku has been solely responsible for the care of her only son, Remaliah, 6, and two stepchildren, Rachel, 21, and Jotham, 16.

Making ends meet

Because she was unemployed, parenting the children alone was overwhelming. Her only source of livelihood was the N19,800 monthly stipend she received as a corps member.

Weeks later, her husbands ATM card with her expired. She complained to the bank but was denied access due to privacy.

Lagos-based banker, Sheriff Hamzah, said it is not possible to transfer the account of a deceased unless there is a will or an administrative letter with two signatories, issued by a court after presenting a death certificate. Ms Ayaku had none.

Ennui crept in and she occasionally had seized breathing, taking her in and out of the hospital and dealing a great blow to her mental health.

Pushed to the wall, her two stepchildren were sent to the street to hawk tiger nuts drinks, a sweet, milk-like beverage.

If this was all she was to contend with, then it probably would have made light of her worries. Nothing prepared her for the ordeal she would face in seeking to know who killed her husband.

With the mission of turning waste to wealth and improving the welfare of troops, the Nigerian Army, in 2008, renamed the Army Welfare Holdings Limited (AWHL) to Nigerian Army Welfare Limited/Guarantee (NAWL/G).

The company coordinates the activities of the hitherto independent subsidiaries like the Nigerian Army Post Exchange (NAPEX), Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), Nigerian Army Small-Scale Drug Manufacturing Unit (NASDMU), Post Service Housing Development (PHD), Post-Service Homes Savings and Loans (PHL), and Nigerian Army Welfare Insurance Scheme (NAWIS).

Through NAWIS, Ms Ayaku was paid N150,000 and later, N250,000 as burial allowances.

The allowances should ordinarily offset her urgent financial needs, but no. As she could not take her mind off knowing how her husband died, she decided she would stop at nothing to know, even if it takes using her last kobo.

Her resolve was understandable. Solate, the fond name she called her man, showed her unrestrained love. The labour of her son, Remaliah, took about three days, but her man was with her all through, she said. He shared her pain, cried with her as she laboured and kept cheering her on.

When she was discharged, the man cooked for her, did all the home chores and bought her a new Gionee M2 phone and a beautiful dress to say thank you.

Solate is like a light to my life. He loved good things. He wanted me to go far, she sobbed.

For several months, I was relying on God. Everything became so hard that even to feed the children was something else, she said with a pause, before heaving a heavy sigh which soon gave way to light sobs. The silence in the air hung for a few more minutes. The emotion that followed was too tender for further interview.

Finding the dead

Mr Onyema was declared dead by the army after about one and a half years of his disappearance, and life has been difficult since then, the Onyema widow said.

Having repeatedly asked the army for months for details about her husbands death, she was given no tangible information as the army said its findings were confidential.

The names of the people that went for the operation were not given. The company itself where the attack happened did not send any condolences or take any responsibility, she said.

Teniola Tayo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an African think-tank, said it is important that the loved ones of fallen soldiers are informed about the conditions around their passing, provided that this was the wish of the soldier.

Tired of asking, Ms Ayaku began to sniff around. Then she met Lucky, whom she said was a cultist and had contact with the Greenlanders gang.

But Lucky wanted money. At first, she parted with N150,000. Then she transferred another N200,000 to him.

Lucky told her her husband was lured with the kidnap of an expatriate of the oil company. With him on the mission to rescue the victim, before he could get there, he was captured, hogtied and shot.

They (the army) couldnt find his corpse, she said. It was like a set-up.

Even though there was no way she could authenticate Luckys claim, she trusted him and did not feel she was scammed. She has since lost contact with him.

Months later, she was paid her husbands death benefit amounting to about N3.5 million, one she used to purchase an uncompleted building in Kaduna, but she continues to stay in the barrack in Akwa-Ibom.

At the brink of dropping out of school

Now in her third year studying medicine and surgery at a university in Uganda, Halimah Jafaru, 23, pays $6,500 per session as tuition, an amount that would take her father, Jafaru Musa, with his rank as a master warrant officer (MWO), his entire salary for over three years to meet.

Ordinarily, she only became a student of the school because of the goodwill of her uncle who took her and her cousins to the East African country due to incessant academic strike back home. But that goodwill ended last year after the uncle died.

The responsibility was handed back to Mr Jafaru, who joined the army in 1990. This March, he too died of cardiac arrest after he was rushed to the hospital from work at Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja.

Now, Halimahs mother, Aisha Jafaru, 40, who sells petty goods, has to rally to keep her daughter in school. But with no fixed income source, her daughter is on the brink of dropping out.

The death of her husband also meant footing the bills of her two children at Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, were hers.

The school fee of Khadijah, 17, a sophomore studying basic medical laboratory science, has been upped to N1.03 million from N830,000 last year. During this interview in October, Khadijah said she had been at home for weeks. Her brother, Abdulrahman, 20, a fresher studying computer science, pays N680,000 per session.

For now, Mrs Jafarus blushes are being saved by her other children who attend Command Secondary School, Suleja, where they pay much less: Yahuza, 11, in JSS 2 and Hauwa, 13, in SS1.

Although the army has paid her husbands burial allowance, it is barely enough to meet basic home needs like food, and she is on borrowed time at Mogadishu barrack where she has lived for 15 years.

Once her husbands death benefit is paid, she will have to leave the barrack and search for her own home with her five children.

That would mean a marriage that began at the Presidential Villa 23 years ago  her husband served directly under late military dictator Sani Abacha in the Villa, while she worked as a cook in the same place  is about to be thrown into the doldrums of homelessness.

If we can see a job, we will overcome depression. We can do any job. Even if it is home and dry cleaning, we can do it, she pleaded on behalf of two of her widowed friends.

Rahamatu Ahmed, 38, told PREMIUM TIMES that since death ended her 27-year-marriage with Ahmed Nasiru, 51, last June, fending for their seven children and keeping them in school has been a tall order.

The little the Ahmeds had was expended on Mr Ahmeds medical tests and bills after he was diagnosed with gastro liver cancer. Last years nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 slowed the MWOs access to treatment. It ended his life. The eldest of his children is now at the brink of dropping out of college.

Conservative cultural practice and imbalance in economic opportunities often mean women have to depend on men to meet basic needs. At the demise of the man, the pangs of hardship bit.

When these financial support systems are down, the widows can barely provide for themselves and their children, and that accounts for the many out-of-school children from widowed families, Ms Okeke said.

Some survivors of deceased servicemen said payment of entitlements can be slow to arrive, making it difficult for them to offset urgent financial needs.

But even when the money does arrive, it goes into basics and is hardly ever invested. For a woman that had not worked all her life or without any specific skill, it is back to square one.

Andrea Kwen, a legal practitioner and womens rights advocate, believes the institutionalised albatross of inequality is both systemic and cultural and is fueled by religion.

She said whatever became of the widows of soldiers is a reflection of the quality of the welfare servicemen themselves accessed while in service as well as the life choices of the servicemen.

It is a cultural problem and now it has been institutionalised, and this is the problem with inequality, Ms Kwen said. When you place culture side-by-side with religion, you have a very deadly combination.

Some servicemen take high-risk behaviours and make shoddy retirement plans which drain their funds. This leaves their widows at the risk of being often bullied and disinherited, she noted.

Unlike Mmes Jafaru and Ahmed, a 46-year-old mother of six, Halimah Musa, has to share her husbands entitlement with her co-wife and mother-in-law.

The kunu and water she sold before her husband of 32 years, Musa Wakala, died of pneumonia last June aged 52 can barely keep her family afloat.

Now, her son, Mansur, 26, studying microbiology at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS); Abdulrahman, 24, studying veterinary medicine in a school in Zamfara, the same state in which her twin, Hassan and Hussainah, 21, are studying nursing, have returned home due to school fee. Khadijah, 17, had just gained admission to study microbiology in UDUS, but it is uncertain she will resume due to finance.

Ms Kwen said the widows should be taught self-reliance as this would open their eyes to the possibilities within them. She added that rather than just financial support, the military should design a sustainability plan for widows, build their capacity and teach them to be financially independent.

Mr Maigida of the defence headquarters said the armed forces cater for the education of the children of its deceased members not studying abroad, from elementary to the university.

Those who are at the brink of dropping out, it is either they were not documented or the armed forces are not aware, he said. But all the women interviewed said their children were well documented.

Worth of a servicemans life

While Mr Maigida promised to get back, Mr Nwachukwu of the army declined to comment on the death benefit benchmark for deceased personnels survivors.

But judging by the total death benefits Ms Ayaku was paid, the survivors of a sergeant  the fourth highest rank among enlisted personnel  get around N4 million (about $7,000).

By law, in the U.S., the survivors of servicemen get a tax-free death gratuity of $100,000. Theres also, generally, a $400,000 life insurance payment. The payouts differ among higher-ranked officers and enlisted personnel.

The widows of the fallen South African soldiers killed in the battle of Bangui in the Central African Republic in 2013 received R200,000 ($13,000) each. But veterans described the benefit as ridiculous and laughable as it should not be less than R2-million ($130,000).

Fallen South African servicemens beneficiaries may also qualify for four types of benefits: a one-off pension; SA national defence force (SANDF) group life insurance scheme benefit; SANDF group life insurance scheme funeral benefit; and SA army foundation fund benefit, defence minister, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, once said.

The welfare of military widows is directly linked to the morale of our soldiers. Taking adequate care of the wives of those who have fallen sends a signal to our entire defence staff that their sacrifice will not be in vain as far as their families are concerned, Ms Tayo of ISS said.

Their families have needs, and their sacrifice shouldnt lead to an interruption in their childrens education, or the impoverishing of their households. This is the only way other Nigerians can have a higher regard for the call of defending this nation  something that is very challenging in these current times.

As an annual ritual in Nigerias budgetary cycle, in accordance with the remuneration for the Former Presidents Act, billions of naira are allocated as entitlements, severance allowances and other perquisites to the nations former leaders, dead or alive.

The nation has budgeted over N68.8 billion in five years for its former leaders, including chiefs of defence staff, service chiefs, generals, colonels and army warrant officers.

Heavily criticised, the gratuity for some state governors is even more humongous.

Paying the ultimate price in the defence of the country does not come with such rewards.

Officer-soldier dichotomy

Would these widows allow their children to join the military? They were all consistent with their responses: No. Their reasons ranged from allegations of discrimination to poor working conditions. Some, however, said they would give their consent if their children join as commissioned officers.

The personnel of the Nigerian military, like anywhere else, are made up of commissioned officers and enlisted personnel (called soldiers by the army; ratings by the navy; and airmen/women by the airforce). The former cadre usually have specialised training and come into the service with higher educational qualifications.

During the colonial era, blacks attained rating ranks while whites were officers, a relationship characterised by morbid rights abuse.

Three ratings echoed similar opinions as all five widows interviewed. They said while western countries have renegotiated the working relationship between officers and ratings, Nigeria is stuck in the discriminatory practices of the colonial era.

Even a rating that became an officer is likely to be discriminated against by some group of officers, one leading seaman said.

There is clear discrimination against the ratings. The ratings are seen as tools.

Three officers disagreed. They said it is carriage, not discrimination.

A frontline lieutenant in Maiduguri described the officer-soldier relationship as one between kings and their subject. You cannot compare them, he said.

A Lagos-based flying officer said for this reason, the highest (ranked) rating is junior to the least (ranked) officer and paid less.

Another lieutenant based in Keffi said ratings take more physical jobs because they are meant to be followers, taking orders from their officers who are their leaders.

The segregation runs deeper. Personnel from opposite cadres cannot marry one another while in service, two personnel said.

An October 18 signal from the naval headquarters seen by this reporter warned officers against fraternising with soldiers, ratings or airmen because it ridicules standing tradition. Defaulters risk being sanctioned severely.

This is true according to section 80 of the Armed Forces Act which says any officer who fraternises with a soldier, rating or an aircraftman is liable to a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Again Messrs Maigida and Nwachukwu did not return calls and text messages placed to them to ask about these rules.

Ms Kwen said transparent internal accountability mechanisms are key to earning public trust and how citizens perceive the lead experience of servicemen.

Support for this story was provided by the Media and Gender Project of Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism #CREATESAFESPACES
The UK government has imposed temporary travel restrictions on six African countries following the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in South Africa.

A new variant of the coronavirus, B.1.1.529, was discovered in South Africa three days ago and 59 cases have been confirmed in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana.

Although the variant is yet to be detected in the UK, it has gone ahead to announce that travelers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, and Eswatini, will not be allowed into their shores from 12:00 GMT Friday (1 p.m. Nigerian time).

According to Sajid Javid, the UK health secretary, the UK Health Security Agency is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but were taking precautions now.

From noon tomorrow, November 26, six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.

Experts have said that the B.1.1.529 variant could be the most lethal and worrying yet. This is because of its awful spike mutation profile, which scientists fear could help it evade immunity. Early reports suggest it is capable of reducing vaccine efficiency to just 30 per cent.

The first indications we have of this variant are that it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and that the vaccines we currently have may be less effective, Mr Javid said.

According to him, British scientists are very concerned by this variant.

We will ask anyone arriving from these countries from 4 a.m. on Sunday to quarantine themselves in hotels, Mr Javid said, adding that those arriving before that date will have to self-isolate and do two PCR tests on the second and eighth day of their confinement.

And if someone has arrived from these countries in the last ten days, we will ask them to do PCR tests, he added.

The WHO will hold a special meeting following the emergence of this new variant.

PREMIUM TIMES will be speaking to scientists in South Africa to get more insights on the new variant.
EU, Israel and Singapore have imposed travel restriction on South Africa following the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant in the country.

This is coming hours after the UK imposed travel restrictions on six African countries including South Africa.

A new variant of the coronavirus, B.1.1.529, was discovered in South Africa three days ago and 59 cases have been confirmed in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the EU Commission, tweeted Friday that the @EU_Commission will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529.

Also, German health minister Jens Spahn tweeted Friday morning that Germany will, among other things, declare South Africa a virus variant area.

He said effective tonight, airlines from South Africa will only be allowed to carry Germans to Germany, while there will be 14 days quarantine for all those arriving, including those already vaccinated.

We remain cautious when entering the country. The newly discovered variant #B11529 worries us, so we act proactively and early here. The last thing we need now is an introduced new variant causing even more problems, he said.

Israel will also be stopping entry from the countries, as well as Mozambique. Returning Israelis will be required to quarantine.

Israel also identified a case of a Covid-19 variant with a large number of mutations first detected in South Africa, the health ministry said Friday.

The variant discovered in southern African states has been identified in Israel, the health ministry said, adding that it was recorded in a person who returned from Malawi, with two more cases of people returning from abroad placed in quarantine.

Similarly, Singapore will from Sunday restrict travels from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

All non-Singaporeans and people without permanent residency in the city-state who have recent travel history to the seven countries will be barred from entering or transiting through Singapore, the health ministry said.

Singapore currently has no cases of the new variant, but officials are seeking to take the necessary precautions to reduce the risks of it spreading to the country, the ministry said.

India issues public health alert

The Indian health ministry has issued an alert for the new variant. It has, however, not suspended travel from southern Africa, according to India Today.

This variant is reported to have a significantly high number of mutations, and thus, has serious public health implications for the country, in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.

As a result, all international travellers coming to India from at-risk countries must be subjected to rigorous screening and testing, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Japan has followed a similar path, opting to tighten its border controls for visitors from southern Africa.

Most African countries including Nigeria have yet to impose travel restrictions on South Africa or any of the southern African countries.

What experts are saying

Experts have said that the B.1.1.529 variant could be the most lethal and worrying yet. This is because of its awful spike mutation profile, which scientists fear could help it evade immunity. Early reports suggest it is capable of reducing vaccine efficiency to just 30 percent.

According to the WHO COVID-19 technical lead Maria Kerkhove, it would still take a few weeks to determine whether it should be identified as a variant of interest or a variant of concern.

Everybody thats out there needs to understand that the more this virus circulates, the more opportunities the virus has to change, the more mutations we will see, Ms Kerkhove said.
The Kaduna State Government has announced the restoration of telecommunications services that were earlier suspended in some part of the state.

The government had, on September 30, shut down the networks towards checking the activities of bandits.

Kaduna had joined fellow Northwest states like Zamfara and Sokoto, who had earlier taken the same measure to curb banditry and rising insecurity.

The states Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, announced the restoration of the network services while addressing journalists on Friday.

Mr Aruwan said the state government has contacted the relevant federal agencies to effect the immediate restoration of telecommunication services which were suspended in some local government areas.

Below is the full statement from the state government.

My dear colleagues:

I am here to inform you that the Kaduna State Government has contacted the relevant federal agencies to effect the immediate restoration of telecommunication services which were suspended in some local government areas.

Security agencies had requested the shutdown in October 2021, among other measures, to assist ongoing operations against armed bandits and other criminals. The security agencies have now notified the government that telecoms services can be restored.

Along with the other measures in the security containment order, the telecoms shutdown had helped the security agencies to achieve some results, which the security forces will reel out soon. The prolonged application of this measure was always out of the question, due to its impact on the legitimate activities of citizens and businesses.

Residents are advised that the restoration of full services in the affected areas may unfold over a few days, as the service providers mobilise to power and boost their transmission systems accordingly.

The Kaduna State Government regrets the inconveniences residents of the affected LGAs may have encountered as a result of the shutdown. The state government wishes to commend the sacrifices made by residents while this temporary measure lasted.

Notwithstanding, the government wishes to reiterate that the other measures announced as part of the security containment orders remain in force. These include the prohibition of motorcycles all over the state, the ban on weekly markets, transportation of cattle, and the prohibition of sale of fuel in jerrycans in specified local government areas.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday declared the activities of bandits groups as acts of terrorism.

The verdict strengthens the call on the federal government to declare bandits ravaging the North-western and the North-central regions as terrorists.

Mohammed Abubakar, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation, had filed an ex-parte application seeking to proscribe the grisly activities of bandits who have been waging a relentless war against ordinary Nigerians in the North-west and North-central States.

The bandits have been vicious in kidnapping and killing their captives across Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Benue and Sokoto states.

While moving the application on Thursday, Mr Abubakar informed the court that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the proscription of bandits as terrorists.

In his ruling, the judge, Taiwo Taiwo, specifically held that the activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Taadda bandit groups constitute acts of terrorism.

According to court documents, the federal government based its decision on security reports, which confirmed that the bandits were responsible for the killings, abductions, rapes, kidnappings, in northern Nigeria.

The government further blamed the group for the growing cases of banditry, incessant kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and on commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria, particularly in the North-west and North-central states in Nigeria being carried out by Yan Bindiga and Yan Taadda groups and other groups associated with or engaged in the same or similar activities as Yan Bindiga and Yan Taadda groups in Nigeria.

The activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Taadda groups and other similar groups constitute acts of terrorism that can lead to a breakdown of public order and safety and is a threat to national security and the corporate existence of Nigeria, the government said.

Ruling

In the ruling, the judge declared the activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Taadda group and other similar groups in any part of the country as acts of terrorism and illegality.

The court proscribed the activities of the group as well as other similar groups in any part of Nigeria, either in groups or as individuals by whatever names they are called.

In its ruling, the court restrained any person or group of persons from participating in any manner whatsoever, in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intention or otherwise of the Yan Bindiga group and the Yan Taadda group under any other name or platform however called or described.

Mr Taiwo equally directed the Nigerian government to publish the proscription order in the official gazette and two national newspapers.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES reported on Thursday how bandits asked the family of an abducted police officer to pay a N200 million ransom for his quick release because they have to leave telecommunications service area.

The police personnel, Sambo Hosea, was kidnapped alongside many other travellers on Sunday on the Kaduna-Abuja highway.

He was the police orderly to Sagir Hamida, a former governorship aspirant in Zamfara State who was killed by the bandits in the incident.

The bandits subsequently demanded the N200 million ransom from Mr Hoseas family.

In a telephone interview with the family on Wednesday, the outlaws said they were leaving the location where they could access service and urged for timely payment of the ransom.

When tthe relatives of the abducted police officer responded that they had raised N2 million, the kidnappers gave them six hours to hand over the amount they demanded.

An assistant to the deceased politician, Ibrahim Musa, confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES.

This is only one of many cases Nigerians battle with daily.

Parts of North-western states of Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto, have had telecommunications networks shut down due to intractable attacks by rampaging bandits.
The police have confirmed the death of 10 persons in an attack Friday morning by yet unidentified assailants in Teegbe village of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Many people were also injured and at least 30 houses burnt in the attack, per a statement by the police.

Governor Simon Lalong, while decrying the violence, vowed that those involved would be identified and brought to justice.

According to a statement by his media aide, the governor commiserated with the families of those killed and other victims, assuring them that justice would be served over the matter.

He also directed the state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Peace Building Agency (PBA) to immediately visit the area and assess the level of damage.

Earlier on Wednesday, two farmers had been killed in Ancha village in Miango District of Irigwe Chiefdom in the same Bassa Local Government Area.

The assailants in the latest incident overran Teegbe in the early hours of Friday, per Davidson Malison, the spokesperson of Irigwe Development Association (IDA), who spoke to reporters in Jos, the state capital

The police spokesperson in the state, Ubah Ogaba, said, On 26/11/2021 at about 0130hrs, the Command received a report of an attack by yet to be identified gunmen at Teegbe Village of Bassa LGA of the State.

Upon receipt of the report, the Commissioner of Police, Plateau State Command, Bartholomew Onyeka, immediately drafted a tactical team of the Command to the scene to avert a further attack.

Unfortunately, 10 persons were killed and about 30 houses set ablaze by the attackers.

The Commissioner of Police further led other Senior Officers of the Command to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment and to console with the victims of the attack.

The CP has directed that discreet investigation be carried out and assured the community of his readiness to fish out the perpetrators of this barbaric act., the statement said
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has renewed its commitment to reproductive health, womens rights and provision of secure environment for adolescent girls in Nigeria.

This was the message of the global agencys executive director, Natalia Kanem, when she arrived the country on a visit on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the UNFPAs regional communication advisor, Jacob Eben, noted that Ms Kanem will be in the country until November 28, adding that during the period, she would express the agencys support and commitment for the sexual and reproductive health rights of women, girls, and young people in Nigeria and the West and Central Africa region.

Today, UNFPA is looking after the reproductive health of countless women, girls, boys and men, everyone across this beautiful country. My message is simple; we need to assure that our adolescent girls grow up secured, that her community is at peace, and that she has the life-saving that she needs to navigate a dangerous world if there is ignorance, Ms Kanem said.

The statement further noted that Ms Kanen would also shed light on the achievements, progress and challenges in implementing UNFPAs mandate in Nigeria and the region, particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The visit versus ICPD

Ms Kanems visit comes two years after the highly successful 2019 Nairobi Summit on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)+25, where member states recommitted to accelerate the promise of achieving the Plan of Action of the International Population on Development, 25 years after the landmark agreement in Cairo, Egypt.

More activities

The Executive Director would also visit the health care workers at the UN Severe Acute Respiratory Isolation and Treatment Centre (SARI) in Abuja, and attend the STEAM Flagship graduation event.

STEAM flagship is an entrepreneurship programme for gender-based violence survivors.

They will also launch the media premiere of a drama series on Gender-based Violence on November 25 as part of the 16 Days Activism commemoration.

Also, she is to meet and engage with young people from the University of Benin, Edo State, to exchange views and ideas.
Over 4000 cases of sexual violence were documented in Kano in the last five years by a civil society organisation working in the state, the WARAKA Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC).

The Chairperson of Kano State Chapter of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Huwaila Ibrahim, disclosed this on Thursday at a press conference held as part of 16 days of activism for the elimination of gender-based violence in the state.

The organisation organised the event in collaboration with the GBV Response Team, Free Legal Aid Service Providers, and also in partnership with the Rule of Law and Anti Corruption (RoLAC) programme.

Since inception, the centre has recorded over 4000 and still counting cases of sexual violence mostly against young children below the age of 13 years.

With its growing population which has made Kano State cosmopolitan, thereby increasing the tendencies of exposing the most vulnerable members of the society comprising of women and girls at risk of being abused.

For example, Dala LGA, which is the most populous in the state, in recent times has recorded a high rate of incidences of violence against women and children, especially rape cases.

This is closely followed by Kumbotso, Nasarawa, Tarauni and other metropolitan LGAs in the state, she stated.

READ ALSO: EU to support Nigeria in establishing SGBV courts

On the challenges in the fight against sexual violence, the committee chairperson said silence and stigma have worsened the situation.

She called on the state government to establish special courts for sexual violence cases to enhance the fight against the crime.

Yet for far too long, impunity, silence, stigma, have allowed violence against women to escalate to pandemic proportions.

I will like to use this opportunity to call on the administration of Kano State government under the leadership of Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to establish special courts to handle SGBV cases she stated.

Annually, the global community every November 25 marks the International Day for the elimination of Violence against Women and Girls.
When journalistic instinct made Pelu Awofeso bring out his phone to film the harassment of a motorist by officials of a Lagos State task force, what he got himself was assault.

Mr Awofeso said the incident happened before the traffic light junction by Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja on Tuesday when he was headed to the library.

A winner of the CNN/Multichoice African Journalists Awards for tourism reporting, Mr Awofeso said he was making a transaction by a Point of Sale (POS) when the officials, including police officers, numbering about eight, got out from a danfo bus and tried to forcefully remove the key from a private car.

The motorist resisted and their exchanges lasted for about 20 minutes. Happening around 11 a.m. when snarl-up had gained traction, the exchanges made it worse.

I noticed another motorist pull up beside the driver in trouble with the police and he refused to proceed saying he wouldnt until the innocent man was let go, Mr Awofeso, also the author of Nine Degrees North, a book he published last year, recalled.

Shortly Lagosians started to gather around the scene, wanting to know why the man was being forced to get down from his car and dispossessed of his keys.

Jolted by the kerfuffle, the journalist brought out his phone to film. Before he could, the gun-toting officials whose name tags were concealed approached him, roughened him up, seized his phone and threatened to take him to custody, he said.

I resisted as much as I could, with the public also supporting me. All the policemen carried guns. Curiously, I noticed that they all didnt have name tags, or it was deliberately covered up, Mr Awofeso told PREMIUM TIMES.

When I made it clear that I was a journalist and had every right to do my job, one of the senior officers threatened to have his subordinates bundle me into the bus, take me to the station, detain me and nothing would happen, he added.

As all this was going on, there was a patient bleeding profusely in a vehicle, apparently headed to LASUTH just minutes down the road. His minders said he needed emergency medical attention. They were caught up in the unnecessary traffic caused by the unnecessary arrest by the task force.

Thankfully, (there was) no damage to my phone. And no injuries on my person. They backed down on arresting the driver after much public outcry.

To quote them: Driver, oya you can go? Unfortunately, the driver couldnt, because the key couldnt fit into the ignition. It had been damaged. Onlookers helped him push the car off the driveway.

Section 24 of the Nigerian constitution obligates citizens to assist law enforcement agencies in the performance of their duties.

Human rights activist Femi Falana had told Punch Newspaper that while on duty, public officials like policemen have no right to privacy.. so you can be videoed or photographed if you are committing a crime.

At least four other senior lawyers told the newspaper it was legal to film security operatives while on duty.

In reality, however, citizens who do this, including journalists, have been subject to assault and torture with some being shot or jailed without trial.

Shaken a bit after the police officers retreated, Mr Awofeso said he has soon waved the assault off, but his experience mirrors the fate many Nigerians face regularly.

The spokesperson of the Lagos task force, Gbadeyanka Raheem, said he was busy when he was reached for comments. Likewise, Lagos police spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu, did not return calls made to his telephone.

The incessant assaults and extortion was part of the reasons young Nigerians hit the street last year October under the motif #EndSARS, a massive movement that demanded accountability from the police.

The highhandedness by police personnel has persisted nonetheless.
The #EndSARS panel investigating cases of police brutality in Abuja, on Thursday, asked the police legal team to produce police officers named in connection to the death of Dul Kate Maxwell, a sergeant, who allegedly died mysteriously in custody in 2019.

The officers of interest, according to the panel, include the Divisional Police Officer of Denton Police Division, Lagos State, the officer in charge of the defunct Special Ant-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State, and the second in command of the Lagos State SARS.

The Suleiman Galadima-led #EndSARS panel in Abuja ordered that the legal team should either produce the officers on December 1 or provide relevant information about the mysterious death of the deceased.

Extra-judicial Killing

The incident occurred in February 2019, according to Mr Maxwells uncle, Ndam Tokbe, who testified before the panel on Thursday.

Mr Tokbe said he received a call from a station officer of ABJ Railway police station, Ebute Metta, telling him that his brother had been arrested and taken to Denton Police station in Ebute Metta, Lagos State.

I took permission from work and hurried to ABJ Railway police station. On getting there, the officers there told me my brother had been arrested the previous day, Mr Tokbe said.

He said he was told by Mr Maxwells colleagues at ABJ Railway police station that his nephew worked overnight and was on his way home in the morning when a motorcyclist hit him.

An altercation, Mr Tokbe said, ensued, with Mr Maxwell threatening to arrest the motorcyclist for allegedly riding on the wrong lane.

During the altercation, the motorcyclist raised the alarm and calling Mr Maxwell an armed robber, the witness said, adding that the noise got the attention of the passers-by.

According to Mr Tokbe, his nephew denied the armed robbery allegation and identified himself as a police officer to the crowd of passers-by, to no avail.

He was arrested and then taken to Denton Police Division, the witness said.

I later went to Denton Police Division with a friend and officers from ABJ Railway station to secure Sergeant Maxwells bail. We discovered that Sergeant Maxwell has been transferred to SARS office in Ikeja.

On getting to SARS office in Ikeja, my friend and I were denied access to Sergeant Maxwell. But his colleagues from ABJ Railway police station were allowed to see him, Mr Tokbe added.

Mr Tokbe said the police officers from ABJ Railway police division told him afterwards that Mr Maxwell had been tortured and was not in a good condition. He added that all their appeals for his release on bail for treatment were rejected.

We retired home that day to come back the next day as it was already getting late, Mr. Tokbe said.

He said when they got to the SARS office the following day, they were told that Mr Maxwell was dead and that his body had been deposited at the mortuary in Yaba Mainland hospital.

He testified further that he was told that the case had been transferred to Panti police station for further investigation.

After asking to see Mr Maxwells body to confirm his identity, Mr Tokbe said he was taken to the mortuary at Yaba.

We saw Sergeant Maxwell. All his body was bruised. One of his eyes was open and red. When we asked that the corpse be released for burial, the officers from Panti said Sergeant Maxwell was an armed robber and that the corpse would be buried by the government and not released to the family, Mr Tokbe said.

At Panti police station, Mr Tokbe said he was asked to pay some amount of money for investigation and embalmment of the corpse. He said he told them if the government wanted to bury him, then they should do the embalmment.

He said since 2019, when the incident occurred, the corpse had not been released to the family.

Others speak

Mr Maxwells sister, Maryam Maxwell, also testified on Thursday, confirming Mr Tokbes testimony.

While speaking Daniel Dashe, who is also the counsel for the complainants family, said Mr Maxwell left behind a wife and two children.

The lawyer tendered some documents, pictures and the identity card of Mr Maxwell and were all admitted as exhibits.

Petition

In the petitioner signed by Mr Dashe, the family alleged that Mr Maxwells body had been buried along with other unclaimed corpse.

The family demanded in their petition that all the officers involved in the alleged killing be fished out and brought to justice.

They also asked for compensation and apology.

SARS was proscribed in October 2019 following the nationwide #EndSARS protests against the rogue police unit and cases of police brutality in general.

#EndSARS panels were set up in 28 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in the aftermath of the protest to investigate the complaints of rights violation by the police, as well as recommend compensation for deserving victims and sanctions or prosecution for erring police officers
The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, challenging the forfeiture of her $40million worth of jewellery to the federal government.

The appellate court, on Friday, held that there was no substance in Mrs Alison-Maduekes application to overturn the lower courts order.

It affirmed the 2019 judgment of Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court which forfeited the jewellery following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The appellate court gave its judgment in an appeal filed by Mrs Alison-Madueke.

On July 5, 2019, the EFCC secured an order of the high court temporarily forfeiting the items to the federal government.

According to the schedule attached to the application, the jewellery, categorised into 33 sets, include 419 expensive bangles; 315 expensive rings; 304 expensive earrings; 267 expensive necklaces; 189 expensive wristwatches; 174 expensive necklaces and earrings; 78 expensive bracelets; 77 expensive brooches; and 74 expensive pendants.

The items were seized from the former ministers premises, at No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, Asokoro, Abuja.

Justice Oweibo on July 19, 2019, granted the EFCCs motion for final forfeiture of the jewellery.

The judge held that the former minister failed to show cause why the jewellery should not be forfeited to the federal government.

In his application for the final forfeiture order, EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, had told the judge that the items were reasonably suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of unlawful activities of the former minister.

An investigator with the commission, Rufai Zaki, in an affidavit before the court insisted that the jewellery were beyond the former ministers known and provable lawful income.

The investigator further said that findings by the EFCC showed that she started acquiring the jewellery in 2012, two years after she was appointed Minister.

The investigator also said that the EFCC was in possession of the details of the bank account through which Mrs Alison-Madueke received her salary as a minister.

The respondent did not utilise her salary or any part of her legitimate income to acquire the assets sought to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, Mr Zaki said.

He said a damning intelligence report received by the Commission led to the search of the former ministers house at No. 10 Fredrick Chiluba Close, Asokoro, Abuja.

The former minister, who has remained in the United Kingdom since 2015, challenged the seizure of the jewellery from her premises by the EFCC.

According to an affidavit filed on her behalf by her counsel, Awa Kalu (SAN), Mrs Alison-Madueke alleged that the EFCC violated her fundamental right to own property and to appropriate them at her discretion, under sections 43 and 44 of the constitution.

She also accused the anti-graft agency of entering her apartment illegally and taking the items without any court order.
The Africa Centre for Disease Control (CDC) says it strongly discourages the imposition of a travel ban on people originating from countries that have reported the new variant of Covid-19.

According to the African disease control agency, over the duration of this pandemic, we have observed that imposing bans on travellers from countries where a new variant is reported has not yielded a meaningful outcome.

It advised that implementing Public Health and Social Measures (PHSM) should be prioritised, adding that vaccines remain a key tool to prevent severe cases and deaths from COVID-19 infection.

Africa CDC strongly recommends the implementation of public health and social measures (PHSM), including mask-wearing, physical distancing, and hand washing, as crucial to limit the transmission of COVID-19 regardless of the emergence of new COVID-19 variants.

It advised national health authorities to reinforce PHSM implementation and accelerate immunisation of their populations, prioritising high-risk groups, ahead of upcoming new waves of Covid-19 infections.

Public health laboratories and researchers should closely monitor the rate of S gene dropout results. Timely genomic surveillance should be reinforced through coordination with national and regional pathogen genomics laboratories, the statement read.

Africa CDC said it will, through the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative, support this coordination on the continent, adding that member states should notify Africa CDC immediately if they identify any new SARS-CoV-2 variant.

Africa CDC will continue to monitor the situation and provide further guidance to Member States and the public as more information becomes available about the B.1.1.529 variant.

PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier that many non-African countries including the UK, Israel and the European Union have imposed travel restrictions on South Africa and other southern African countries where the new variant has been detected.

Most African countries including Nigeria have yet to impose any travel restrictions.

What is known about the new variant- B.1.1.529

On November 25, 2021, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa announced the detection of a new variant of the SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, following genomic sequencing. This variant is currently labelled as lineage B.1.1.529.

The emergence of this new variant coincides with a sudden increase in cases in the Gauteng province over recent days and is accordingly being closely monitored by the health authorities in South Africa.

It was detected in 77 samples collected between November 12 and 20 from Gauteng province in South Africa, four samples from Botswana and one sample in Hong Kong.

The B.1.1.529 variant displays multiple mutations across the virus genome, including more than 30 in the region which encodes the spike protein responsible for virus entry into host cells.

Some of the mutations have been detected in previous variants, such as Alpha and Delta, and have been associated with increased transmissibility and immune evasion.

Many of the other identified mutations are not yet well characterised and have not been identified in other currently circulating variants.

More investigations are underway to determine the possible impact of these mutations on the capacity of the virus to transmit more efficiently, to impact vaccine effectiveness and evade immune response, and/or to cause more severe or milder disease.
Bandits have reportedly chased residents out of Yan Buki village in Zurmi local government area of Zamfara State.

Seven persons were also reportedly killed and others kidnapped during the attack on the village Thursday afternoon.

Speaking to BBC Hausa as monitored by Premium Times, an unnamed resident said the bandits stormed the village some minutes at midday.

They came around 12 p.m. and started shooting sporadically. When they came into the village, some of them continued shooting while others started a house to house search. They brought out about 50 women and children who were hiding in their houses and took them into the bush, he said.

He added that the bandits also set ablaze shops and foodstuff in traditional silos.

After they left, we counted seven corpses including my own brother, Abdullahi. He was shot in my presence. They dragged him out of his house and shot him in the back and in the neck, the source added.

READ ALSO:

The resident, who said the remaining residents of the community have all left, said he had reached Gusau, the state capital.

Premium Times is yet to authenticate the claims of this resident.

The police spokesperson in the state, Mohammed Shehu, did not respond to BBC Hausa or an SMS from Premium Times seeking his comments on the attack.

Zurmi is one of the local government areas in the front line of banditry in Zamfara State.

It shares boundaries with Jibia, Batsari and the dreaded Rugu forest in Katsina State and has boundaries with Shinkafi in Zamfara.

Communities under the area have been witnessing attacks by bandits.
The police on Friday arraigned Osakwe Azubuike for allegedly defaming Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation.

Mr Azubuike was arraigned before a Magistrates Court in Karu, Abuja.

The police earlier on November 5, arraigned Mr Fani-Kayodes estranged wife, Precious Chikwendu and her sister, Prisca, over allegations bordering on forgery of court documents, conspiracy and defamation.

Ms Chikwendu is also charged alongside one of Mr Fani-Kayodes domestic workers, Emmanuel Anakan, and five others, in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the police.

At Fridays proceedings, Elizabeth Woni, Mr Azubuike who is the 4th defendant in the suit, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read to him before the court.

Arguments over bail application

In a tense court atmosphere, the prosecutor, John Ijagbemi, urged the court to set a date for trial while praying that Mr Azubuike be remanded in prison custody.

But lawyer to Mr Azubuike, Emeka Uchegbulam, countered the prosecution.

Citing section 158 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), the defence lawyer said Mr Azubuike was ready and willing to be present in court for his trial.

My client was only informed by the police on the phone today (Friday) for his arraignment, and he immediately came to court, Mr Uchegbulam told the court.

The lawyer further argued that his client had no criminal record, adding, If granted bail, the defendant will not jump bail.

This court has the power to exercise its discretion for bail in favour of the defendant. We urge your Worship to grant the defendant bail in liberal terms, Mr Uchegbulam prayed the court.

However, the police prosecutor, Mr Ijagbemi, expressed fears that the defendant (Mr Azubuike) might interfere with criminal justice system.

Investigation into the matter is ongoing. Therefore, releasing 4th defendant might jeopardise the investigation as well as undermine the functioning of the entire criminal justice system process, Mr Ijagbemi told the court.

We urge the court to refuse the bail application, the prosecutor said.

Ruling

In a bench ruling, the magistrate held that the granting or denial of bail was at the discretion of the court.

Ms Woni, thereafter, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N2 million.

The defendant is admitted to bail in the sum of N2 million and a surety in like sum, the magistrate held.

She further held that the surety must be resident in Abuja, with a verifiable means of livelihood.

The magistrate warned the police against what she termed piecemeal arraignment of the defendants.

The prosecution should ensure that the three remaining defendants are brought to court for arraignment, Ms Woni told Mr Ijagbemi.

According to the prosecution, Anthonia Uchenna Oko Emmanuel and Daniel Gona are at large.

The suit was adjourned till January 21, 2022 for mention and trial.

Background story

Ms Chikwendu and Mr Fani-Kayode have been locked in a legal battle over the custody of their four sons since they split last year.

She has levelled series of allegations against Mr Fani-Kayode in series of filings in the suit which she had instituted to obtain an order to compel her ex-husband to yield custody of their children to her.

Her lawyers alleged in one of her filings in her suit pending before the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, that Mr Fani-Kayode beat her up on several occasions even while she was pregnant.

In an aspect of the case pending at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, she accused Mr Fani-Kayode of lacking the capacity to look after the children, and expressed worries that the former minister was entrusting the boys in the care of nannies and his girlfriends.

She is demanding from Mr Fani-Kayode a monthly payment of N3.5 million for the upkeep of their four sons.

Mr Fani-Kayode has denied his ex-wifes allegations.
The United States has issued a travel restriction on eight Southern African countries following the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in the region.

This comes shortly after WHOs designation and naming of the new variant as Omicron.

Acting on advice from Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Biden administration will restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

Officials, who are still learning more about the variant, said the policy was implemented out of an abundance of caution given by the World Health Organisation.

Over a dozen countries have taken a position on the emergence of the new variant, Omicron.

The emergence of the variant, first detected in South Africa, prompted some countries to impose travel restrictions on at least six Southern African nations.

Some of the countries that have imposed restrictions are the UK, Israel, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and the EU.

Starting Monday, Dubai will restrict travellers from seven African countries including South Africa  according to Emirates, citing the countrys Covid-19 Command and Control Centre.

The Philippines has suspended inbound flights effective immediately from South Africa and six other countries due to concerns over the new variant, according to the presidential office. Travellers, including Filipino nationals, coming from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique have been banned until December 15.

Guatemala announced it would be implementing restrictions on travellers coming from Southern Africa. During a media briefing Friday, President Alejandro Giammattei said that, although not many travellers came from those countries, they still had to be careful.

According to the Switzerland government statement published Friday, all flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are forbidden from 8 p.m. local time for an indefinite period.

Special government permits will be issued to repatriate Swiss citizens and residents. All people entering Switzerland from this region  as well as Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium  must present a negative Covid-19 test and quarantine for 10 days.

Greece will allow only essential travel from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zambia and Malawi, the countrys health ministry said Friday in a statement.

Travellers will have to obtain a special permit from the local Greek embassies and diplomatic missions to travel, the ministry said, adding that on arrival they will be tested and put in quarantine hotels for 10 days, after which they will be tested again.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Africa CDC discouraged the imposition of a travel ban on people originating from countries that have reported the new variant of Covid-19.

Omicron has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other Variants of Concern.

WHO advised people to continue to adhere to proven public health and social measures such as wearing well-fitting masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, improving the ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and getting vaccinated.

It also advised countries to enhance surveillance and sequencing efforts to better understand circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants as well as submit complete genome sequences and associated metadata to a publicly available database, such as GISAID.
The conversations drew a road map for a more secure future in the Sahel. Scholars of the region and their institutions must take the initiative of utilising geopolitical analysis that places strategic considerations in the hands of Africans rather than France, United States and Russia. The median age in the Sahel is 19, while many of the political leaders are old men. Governance must bring in inclusive practices that place the youth, women and marginalised groups in the centre of the state project.

This week, I was in Niamey for a conference structured around a series of conversations about crisis management and seeking a positive future for this tough part of the world. The meeting was organised by Club du Sahel and my favourite research centre in Niger, LASDEL. The facilitators were Mahaman Tidjani Alou, Niagele Bagayoko and Gilles Yabi, all excellent researchers on the Sahel and its troubles. My strongest memories are from the discussions on the side-lines  over lunch or dinner on the terrace of the Grand Hotel, overlooking the River Niger. As the crisis deepens in Burkina Faso, can President Rock Kabore survive the onslaught of the Jihadists and the strong wave of militarist mobilisation against him? In neighbouring Mali, will Assimi Goitre survive the massive anger of the French against him for daring to pivot from French to Russian control of the struggle against the insurgency? The historical trajectory is known: Dare to oppose French imperialism and get rewarded with a coup detat. But then, this time, arent the French cornered by the massive opposition of the Malian, indeed the Sahelian people, against Frenchs suspected romance, without proof, with the Jihadists? The most vexatious of the side talks is maybe why the Russians and their Wagner mercenaries are moving in for the kill  the massive abundance of mineral resources in the Sahel, rather than ending terrorism.

A word on what the Sahel is. In geography, it is clearly defined as the area of Africa lying between 12N and 20N. This area shares two climatic characteristics: One rainy season per year and August as the month of the highest precipitation. It is an arid stretch on the southern flank of the Sahara Desert. Geographically, the area covers all or part of 12 countries, from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea: Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Politically, the Sahel in real terms is defined as five countries  Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad. Dear reader, there is no price for discovering that France is central to the persistence of this definition and the keeping out of the other seven countries in inter-regional organisations of the Sahel. There were so many sighs within us as we debated France and its Sahel, while contemplating the slow-moving waters of the River Niger.

There are multiple crises affecting the Sahel today. There is massive insecurity and loss of the monopoly of violence by state actors. The Sahel is noted for its dramatic climate emergency, with whether extremes that are threatening agricultural production, access to water and food sufficiency. The population of the Sahel is doubling within each generation, initiating a demographic time bomb that has produced a youth bulge that is at the centre of violent youth agency. The economy is largely informal and economic crisis has deepened over the recent past.

The Sahel is rich in gold and many other minerals that the developed world is eyeing. Much of the geopolitical considerations operate around this material consideration. For the people, however, the daily reality is poverty and precarity. The resilience of the people is high but new issues are impacting on social processes. One is drugs, which is really affecting the behaviour of the youth.

There is equally a crisis of governance that has broken the trust between governments and the people. The state is seen more as a problem than a provider of security and welfare for the people. The budgets of Sahelian countries are used mainly to pay for civil services that add little value to the lives of people, thereby creating a crisis of legitimacy. Ok yes, this is not just the reality of the Sahel but of the entire continent.

The Sahel is rich in gold and many other minerals that the developed world is eyeing. Much of the geopolitical considerations operate around this material consideration. For the people, however, the daily reality is poverty and precarity. The resilience of the people is high but new issues are impacting on social processes. One is drugs, which is really affecting the behaviour of the youth. The second one is urbanisation, as the majority of the populations has now moved to urban centres. The result is a breakdown of social cohesion.

It is therefore not surprising that the Sahel is known today for its multiple conflicts. The most persistent that is reported in the media is the jihadist attacks. Alongside these, there are the irredentists who want out of the state as it is currently constituted and defined. The military in many of the Sahelian countries are also very active on the scene, moving in and out of power, as the power dynamics in the zone changes. For Chad, for example, the political history of the past four decades has been one of the processions of military strongmen. Criminal actors have also been very active, working in the domains of the circulation of illicit drugs, gun running and trafficking in persons. What is missing are actors seeking to provide protection to the people. Corruption is rife within the military institution and rather than fight the bad guys, the thoughts of the actors are often centred around their pockets.

In much of the Sahel today, discussions about the future are changing. Noting the failure of the state to smash the terrorists and traffickers, there is a lot of conversations on negotiating with them and seeking a modus vivendi. It was Mauritania that showed the path in this direction. In 2011, the government negotiated with the terrorists and made an accord with them.

In much of the Sahel today, discussions about the future are changing. Noting the failure of the state to smash the terrorists and traffickers, there is a lot of conversations on negotiating with them and seeking a modus vivendi. It was Mauritania that showed the path in this direction. In 2011, the government negotiated with the terrorists and made an accord with them. The terrorists are not to engage in attacks within the national territory. In compensation, some of them would be absorbed within state structures, the system of the Islamic education cursus would be recognised and their graduates employed by government, and Islamic law, specifically the Maliki school of law, would be accepted by both sides in the adjudication of cases. Since the accord, there has been no terrorist attack within Mauritania, while the other countries of the area have been suffering massively, especially in the three-fronters zone between Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. It is therefore not surprising that other Sahelian countries are contemplating the path of negotiations. There is also a push to accept Islamic religious leaders as legitimate interlocutors that could make a difference. In Mali, for example, Imam Dicko has proved his great capacity to impact on social, religious and political processes over the years. The possibilities are however structured within the context of traditional (and more peaceful African) Sufi Islam and the newer Salafist (and more violent) rendition of Islam. Navigating this labyrinth is no easy task.

The conversations drew a road map for a more secure future in the Sahel. Scholars of the region and their institutions must take the initiative of utilising geopolitical analysis that places strategic considerations in the hands of Africans rather than France, United States and Russia. The median age in the Sahel is 19, while many of the political leaders are old men. Governance must bring in inclusive practices that place the youth, women and marginalised groups in the centre of the state project. Within national contexts, policies are often drawn without consultations and local specificities are ignored, often causing policy failures and conflicts that endure. The Sahel, indeed Africa, must learn to open a new page that works for it.

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.
All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we repent to Him and seek refuge in Him from the evils of ourselves and our actions. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever is lead astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no deity that has the right to be worshipped except Allah, alone and with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Allah sent him before the Hour as a bearer of good tidings, a warner, a caller to Allah, by His permission, and a shining light. So he conveyed the Message and fulfilled his trust. And he sincerely advised the ummah and struggled for the sake of Allah truthfully, until death overtook him. So may Allah send His peace and blessings upon him, his family, Companions, and whoever follows them in goodness until the Day of Judgement. To Proceed:

Dear brothers and sisters! The last pillar of the Islamic faith in which every Muslim must believe is the concept of Al-Qadar, which closely translates to pre-decree, pre-ordainment, pre-destination, Divine decree, destiny or fate. When one believes in the tenet of Al-Qadar, which Ill translate as Divine Decree, he or she affirms that everything good or bad that happens in his or her life comes from Allah the Almighty; something He Willed to happen. Al-Qadar in Arabic, linguistically means to measure, to determine, to assess, to decide, to judge. In the context of Religion, the term translates to Divine determined measurements and sustenance for everyone and everything, in accordance with His Wisdom and Power. Allah states in his Book:

Indeed, all things We created with predestination. [Quran, 54:49]

Allah the Almighty, being All-Knowing and All-Wise, knows of what we have done in the past, what we are doing now, and what we will do  even before the time of our birth. After all, can Allah truly be Allah if He didnt know everything, including the future? Whereas mankind has the free will to make their own choices in life, everything that occurs in life occurs only with the Will and Power of Allah.

Respected servants of Allah! Al-Qadar comprises four components. The first component is the belief that Allah is All-Knowledgeable of and instigates all things and events  whether major or minor  at all times and places and regardless of their occurrence. The Almightys foreknowledge is infallible and complete. He Almighty says in the Noble Quran:

And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the Earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record. [Quran, 6:59]

The second component of Divine Decree is the belief that Allah has recorded everything from the beginning of time to the Day of Judgment, in a Tablet He has kept known as the Lauhul-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet). Eachs lifespan, amount of substance, deeds, happiness, calamity, tribulation, sorrow, and more is written and recorded in this Tablet. In fact, according to a narration of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), Allah, the Glorious, had recorded the measurements of all matters pertaining to His creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and earth:

Do you not know that Allah knows what is in the Heaven and Earth? Indeed, that is in a Record. Indeed that, for Allah, is easy. [Quran, 22:70]

The third component of Divine Decree is the belief that nothing can occur without the Will and Power of Allah, whether the event stems from the action of the Almighty or actions of humanity. Nothing Occurs Haphazardly; the Allah Almighty has planned everything.

And your Lord creates what He Wills and Chooses [Quran, 28:68]

A Muslim acknowledges that whatever has touched or afflicted him, was meant to afflict him, and could not have been avoided or prevented. And whatever has not reached or afflicted him, was not meant to touch or afflict him, and he can avoid nothing unless Allah has willed it. Our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him) narrated that:

Know, if all of humanity gathered to harm you, they could not harm you unless Allah had decreed. The Pen has been lifted, and the pages have dried.

The fourth and last component of Divine Decree is the belief that Allah is the Creator and Originator of all things. He Almighty says:

and has created each thing and determined it with [precise] determination. [Quran, 25:2]

Whereas Allah, the Merciful, has bestowed on every human being the free will to make his or her own decisions, that does not provide an excuse for one to sin or abandon the tasks and responsibilities they are obligated to do. The fact that Allah has predestined everything does not change the fact that human beings have the free will to choose their course of actions. Just because eachs choices are known to Allah beforehand, doesnt mean that they will not be held accountable on the Day of Judgment for their negligence, or the decisions they make and actions they take. Allah forces nothing upon anyone. Its also important to note that Allah will hold no one accountable for things out of their control, or for things they cannot do.

Allah is All-Just, All-Wise, and He tests humanity according to their strength, power and what their soul can bear. A Muslim acknowledges the fact that whatever difficulty they are facing will be made easy for them and that they will have a way to resolve it. Allah Almighty says:

Allah does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear. [Quran, 2:286]

A Muslim acknowledges that whatever befalls him or her, is in accordance with Allahs Will and Plan, whether or not they understand and accept this fact. A Muslim place his trust and reliance in Allah, as Allah brims with Wisdom in all matters. A Muslim affirms that Allah is All-Loving and loves His servants over ones parents do; and a Muslim affirms that whatever Allah does must have a good motive, so a believer always assumes good and does not lose faith.

Dear brothers and sisters! The topic of Divine Decree will never fully be understood and comprehended by humans, as this concept deals with the essence of Allahs Power and Will  which is beyond what our finite minds can comprehend.

A Muslim benefits from the act of learning, believing, and understanding in Divine Decree in several ways. Amongst the benefits is the peace of mind and contentment in the heart that a Muslim attains as he or she acknowledges that nothing happens without a purpose. A Muslim is confident that whatever afflicted him could not have escaped him, and whatever missed him could not have reached him, as Allah is in full control of all happenings and events, and he predestines everything. This recognition would help a believer endure difficulties and hardships. A believer would not grieve about what could have happened if things had taken a different course, and a believer would not worry about the future because he knows that the events of tomorrow are written and predetermined already.

As mentioned earlier, Al-Qadar is an Arabic word meaning Allahs predestination of measurements and sustenance of everything and everyone, according to His Knowledge and Wisdom. And it comprises the following aspects:

1. Knowledge: The belief that Allahs knowledge encompasses everything, every matter, major or minor, and the time frame of everything that happens in this universe. Allahs Knowledge encompasses all of His actions and actions taken by His servants.

2. Pre-Recording: The belief that Allah recorded everything in a Tablet that He kept with Himself, called Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet). Allah Almighty says:

Allah does not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear. [Quran, 22:70]

Abdullah Bin Amr Bin Al-As may Allah be pleased with him said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) say:

Allah recorded the measurement of all matters pertaining to creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and earth. [Muslim]

3. The Will of Allah: The belief that nothing, whether related to Allahs actions or actions taken by His servants, can occur without His permission. Allah Almighty says:

And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses [Quran, 28:68]

And He Almighty says:

And Allah does what He wills. [Quran, 14:27]

And He the Most High says:

It is He who forms you in the wombs however He wills [Quran, 3:6]

As for actions taken by His creation, Allah Almighty says:

And if Allah had willed, He could have given them power over you, and they would have fought you. [Quran, 4:90]

And He says:

And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent. [Quran, 6:137]

4. Creation: The belief that Allah created all creation, all what they possess of attributes, and all their actions. Allah Almighty says:

Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs. [Quran, 39:62]

And He says:

He has created each thing and determined it with [precise] determination. [Quran, 25:2]

Also, Prophet Ibrahim, may Allah exalt his mention, said to his people:

While Allah created you and that which you do? [Quran, 37:96]

Believing in Al-Qadar, as described above, does not mean that people have no power over the actions they choose to take. The Shariah (Islamic Law) as well as reality, confirm man has a will of his own:

As for the Shariah, Allah Says about ones own will:

So he who wills may take to his Lord a [way of] return [by obeying his commandments]. [Quran, 78:39]

And He Almighty says:

So come to your place of cultivation however you wish  [Quran, 2:223]

As for ones own power over his actions, Allah the Most High says:

So fear Allah as much as you are able and listen and obey [Quran, 64:16]

And He says:

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned [Quran, 2:286]

As for reality, every human knows that he has a power and a will of his own. He uses his power and will to indulge in or avoid actions of his choice. People distinguish between what they do by their own power and between what they have no power over, like shivering due to illness or the extreme cold. However, the power and will of mankind is under the control of Allahs Will and Power; Allah Almighty says:

For whoever wills among you to take a right course. And you do not will except that Allah wills  Lord of the worlds. [Quran, 81:28-29]

The universe is Allahs property and nothing happens in His Kingdom without His Knowledge and Permission.

We believe that Allah does whatever He wills, and nothing occurs except by His will. Nothing is excluded from His will and decree. There is no occurrence in the creation that is outside of His will. And there is nothing that happens except by His control.

Respected brothers and sisters! Belief in Al-Qadar, as explained above, does not provide an excuse for mankind to sin or abandon what they are obligated to do. This excuse can be refuted by the following arguments:

1. Allah the Most High says:

Those who associated with Allah will say: If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers, nor would we have prohibited anything. Likewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say: Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying. [Quran, 6:148]

The disbelievers did not have a valid excuse when they said that what they did was according to Al-Qadar. If this excuse was valid, then why will Allah punish them for their sins?

2. Allah Almighty says:

[We sent] Messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument (or any excuse) against Allah after the Messengers. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise. [Quran, 4:165]

Sending the Messengers also took place according to Al-Qadar. This is why the disbelievers cannot use Al-Qadar as an excuse for not believing, because Al-Qadar provided them with the means to escape Allahs punishment by following His Messengers, may Allah exalt their mention.

3. Ali Ibn Abi Talib may Allah be pleased with him narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

The final destination, in Hell or Paradise, is already determined for each one of you. A man said: Should we depend on this fact, O Messenger of Allah? (Meaning, to abandon doing good deeds) He (Peace be upon him) said: No! Perform (good) deeds, because everyone will be helped (to go on the path that he chooses and reach his destiny). Then he read the verse: As for he who gives [in charity] and fears Allah. [Quran, 92:5]

4. Allah conveyed His commandments to His servants and did not require them to do what is beyond their capacity; He says:

So fear Allah as much as you are able [Quran, 64:16]

And He says:

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity [Quran, 2:286]

If the servant is forced to do whatever deeds he performs, then Allah would have required from him what is beyond his capacity, and this is a false belief. For this reason, Allah forgives sins that take place because of ignorance or forgetfulness.

5. Al-Qadar is a matter of Allahs Knowledge. No one can uncover his own Qadar except after it occurs. Ones intention to perform a deed precedes the action itself. He does not know what Al-Qadar holds for him. Therefore, Al-Qadar is not a valid excuse for sinning and abandoning the commandments of Allah.

6. One always seeks what is convenient for him. No one of sane mind would abandon what brings material benefit to him, saying that Al-Qadar forced him to take this course of action. Therefore, why would one use Al-Qadar as an excuse for abandoning what brings benefit to him in matters of religion and not do the same for matters of life?

7. If one of those who abandon the commandments of Allah and indulge in sinning comes under attack of his honour or possessions, would he accept the excuse of the attacker, if he says that he attacked him because it was his Qadar to attack him, and therefore he is not to be blamed? Indeed no!

Therefore, why does this person refuse Al-Qadar as an excuse for whoever attacked him, and at the same time use Al-Qadar as his excuse for abandoning Allahs rights on him?

It was reported that a man who was caught stealing was brought to Umar Ibn Al-Khattab may Allah be pleased with him who ordered that this mans hand be cut off. The man said:

Wait, O leader of the believers! I only stole because this was in the Qadar of Allah.

Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, replied:

And we are amputating your hand because it is in the Qadar of Allah.

Dear servants of Allah! When facing difficulties, our weak faith can sometimes drive us to question the fairness of it all. In this context, we should remind ourselves that believing in Al-Qadar (Allahs divine will and decree) is one of the pillars of Islamic faith (Iman). As the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

It means belief in Allah, His Angels, His revealed Noble Books, His Messengers, the Day of Judgment and to believe in Al-Qadar (the divine decree) both good and bad.

As part of that belief, we should, therefore, recognise that Allah does what He wills for reasons that are only known to Him. Any attempt to comprehend the wisdom of it all using our limited faculties, or to understand how our current situation fits in His overall plan can only lead us to erroneous conclusions resulting in increased frustrations.

We, as Muslims, should accept Allahs Decree both as it manifests itself around us and in our lives. It should be a relief to us that only Allah is the master of our destiny and we are only going to be tested about whether we reacted to what befalls as true believers and Mumins, i.e. being patient in adversity and grateful in prosperity.

All praises and thanks are due to Allah alone, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, blessings and salutations of Allah be upon our noble Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family, his Companions and his true and sincere followers.

Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.

This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Rabiuth-Thani 21, 1443 A.H. (November 26, 2021).
As Saraki fils resurrects in Ilorin, his supporters would miss those days his words were decrees, and his whims laws. But he isnt coming back to dictate and pick things on a platter. The political space has been democratised, and everyone has to toil to earn the peoples trust. Power isnt served ala carte, and thats the beauty of democracy.

The Otoge gladiators came to the arena to scheme for power, but it was as though they came for a burial. They came with daggers, shovels, caskets and cremation urns. It was electoral shellacking as burial rites. When the dust finally settled, the son of Oloye emerged from the rubble half-naked, panting. He was like a king without the crown, a peacock without its tail feathers.

That night at the INEC office in Adewole, I remember now the theatrics of a man  a Saraki loyalist  who staged a protest. He claimed the voting figures were too humiliating to be true; that the great Oloyes son couldnt have been left in the lurch by his beloved Ilorin people. His jeremiad was greeted with sardonic laughter, and he wobbled away from the scene humiliated. Ilorin was at the time on the cusp of history, and his was comic relief served at a most dramatic moment.

When the news finally filtered into town that Saraki lost at the polls, parts of Ilorin dissolved into tears of joy. In contrast, many who thronged to Ile Loke wept, especially those in whose heart Sarakis love burnt like wildfire. But across Agbooles within the emirate, folks could not keep their excitement in check, and little kids gyrated in unison. At Surulere, young men swept through the major roads with brooms, and along Agbo-Oba roads, some women danced across the streets, chanting songs of redemption. From Centre Igboro to Oja-Oba, there were carnivals of gongs, trumpets, Fura da nono and Dadakuada. It was a most emotional spectacle.

Yet, the Saraki drubbing was quite predictable, at least in the months leading to the 2019 general elections.

Whether one considered the grand humiliation at Lafiaji, or the justifiable anger of the Kwara North voting bloc in Ilesha-Baruba, or the annual ritual of stoning at the Eid praying ground in Ilorin, or the Offa robbery incident and its chaos of narratives, or the wicked tales that opposition figures peddled about Kwaras finances  a mixture of facts and fiction, to be sure  the telltale signs were potent enough.

But in the midst of the melee, many a court jester at Ile Loke created this air of invincibility around Oloyes crown prince. And since its a line between invincibility and megalomania, Saraki didnt care much to jump out of the lines. So he soldiered on with the battle for influence and power in Abuja, while the roof back home in Agbaji leaked. By the time he realised the leakage, what appeared a mere storm in a teacup had become a flood, with attendant thunderstorm and lightning. And like it is the case with flooding anyway, the Otoge revolt didnt only sweep away the son of Oloye, it did bury all of his disciples, from Kaiama through Omu-Aran. It was a disaster in the most unlikely of places, a tsunami in a desert.

And so the man who trounced his own father in a wrestling bout to emerge kingmaker and assume control of Kwaras oldest political dynasty, was dramatically toppled and chased out of the palace, mostly by those who made names in politics as disciples within the same dynasty. Cook Olododo. Muhammed Mustapha a.k.a MM. Professor Oba Abdulraheem. Yinka Aluko. Yahaya Seriki. Etc. It was conspiracy as revolt, a replay of events reminiscent of the dynastic curse, a la American political discourse.

In the United States, there is the myth of cursed dynasties. The Kennedy family, one of Americas most recognised, appears often prominently in this narrative. The Kennedy curse gained traction in U.S. media after the late U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy drove his car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick Island in 1969. He did survive, but his passenger in the car, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. He would later allude to some curse hanging over the Kennedys neck. The claim didnt come without an alibi, a precedent.

At the height of his glory, one potent weapon with which Bukola Sarakis traducers attacked him was his widely reported arrogance. For many who never met him, including this essayist, it was one narrative that found legitimacy in viral pictures of aides and politicians kneeling before him in embarrassingly obsequious manners. Add that to reports of obscene malfeances and alleged corruption and you have perhaps the most potent driver of the Otoge revolt.

Earlier, John F. Kennedy, widely ranked alongside Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln, was shot dead by Harvey Lee Oswald on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade drove through Dallas, Texas. Later in 2012, Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was found dead at her New York home. Her death again brought to the fore the myth of cursed dynasties.

The Sarakis arent the Kennedys. Yet between both families, there is similarity in dynastic power, and then there is the myth of a curse  which became a footnote in Kwara political discourse sometime in 2011.

In the days leading to the end of Bukola Sarakis eight-year reign as governor, Saraki pere, the late Waziri of Ilorin, threw his weight behind Gbemi Saraki, Bukolas sister, who wanted to be governor. Saraki fils, Bukola, kicked against Oloyes choice and threw his weight behind AbdulFatah Ahmed, a long-time friend and ally. Since it was Ilorin, the hub of Islamic renaissance, that dictated where the power pendulum swung; the idea of a female governor did not quite resonate with many. But Saraki pere and allies would not relent, and the name Ruqoyat took prominence over Gbemi in the campaign rhetoric. From Agbaji through Isale-Koto, muslim clerics invoked the legend of Bilikisu, the Queen of Sheba, wielding it as a justification for Gbemis suitability for the guber throne. Saraki fils, bent on preventing his sisters entry into the Ahmadu Bello Way government house, became a revolutionary. He would not have any such dynastic obscenity as legacy. But Bukky was only being a revolutionary without the conscience of revolt, a Mandela as caricature. In any case he had his way, AbdulFatah Ahmed won, and Saraki pere got some shellacking from Saraki fils at the ballot by proxy.

In the end, the child became the father of the man.

But some near-apocryphal accounts of electioneering events in alcohol joints and newspaper stands in Ilorin claimed that in the heat of the moment, pere cursed fils, and when his ordeals began as Senate president in 2018, many made allusion to the curse. In any case, before Saraki pere died in 2012, father and son reconciled. So theirs was a relationship buried in complexity, ala George W. Bush and his presidential father, George H. W. Bush. And like author Doug Wead said of the relationship between those two products of an American dynasty, the Sarakis relationship wasnt just quite as complex, It was both love and a bit of a rivalry.

Its a testament to the complexity of their relationship that as Saraki fils now stages a comeback in Ilorin, he seems to be re-inventing himself as pere: Outgoing, humble, genuinely compassionate, and open to all. If this is another theatrical gymnastic, time would tell.

At the height of his glory, one potent weapon with which Bukola Sarakis traducers attacked him was his widely reported arrogance. For many who never met him, including this essayist, it was one narrative that found legitimacy in viral pictures of aides and politicians kneeling before him in embarrassingly obsequious manners. Add that to reports of obscene malfeances and alleged corruption and you have perhaps the most potent driver of the Otoge revolt. Since he got his comeuppance at the polls in 2019, there has been a conscious attempt to redefine these things. Of course when critics invoke the spirit of Societe Generale (SGB), his admirers would point in the direction of Ilorin Airport, Kwara State University (KWASU), Post-office overhead bridge, Shonga farms, etc. What many, critics and admirers alike, would however agree with is that the man with boyish mien is quite brilliant. And although its debatable if he does allow such talents to fly without being tele-guided, his followers are often quick to point out that he is also a builder of talents, and in that context, they rightly point in the direction of people like the brilliant and charismatic Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.

This democratisation of power, for me, is the biggest take-away from the Otoge revolt. If properly owned by the people, and nurtured quite well, it should mark the final transition of power to the most important office in a democracy: the office of the citizen. And Kwarans would be the better for it, if only they realise and consolidate on the power they now (seem to) own.

Weeks ago, Saraki was quoted to have claimed that the Otoge revolt was fuelled only by propaganda. He was right and wrong. Politics is largely about propaganda and subterfuge, and the Otoge revolt was no exception. What he failed to realise, however, was that he and his disciples gave life to the propaganda with their actions and inactions. People would believe anything in a society where fiscal obscenity lies side-by-side mass poverty. Its the number one lesson he ought to have learnt, if he indeed learnt any from the nightmare of 2019.

Since Saraki was humbled, the Otoge crowd itself has crumbled. Its the curse of revolution that its often an all-comers affair. Revolutions, including those so-called, attract the opportunists and the principled, the conscienceless and the altruistic, the parasites and the hypocrites. But time is the most potent of filters.

The Otoge revolt, flawed as it is, isnt without its merit though, the most plausible being the democratisation of power and transfer of this to the people. Today in Kwara, the power dynamics is relatively complex, quite unlike in the past when it was unidirectional, domiciled only in Ile Loke.

In the power mix, there is Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and those solidly behind him, for his modest efforts in fixing roads and rebuilding schools and equipping hospitals and providing jobs for the hoi polloi, warts and all. There are those who claim the governor is a Machiavelli, bent only on consolidating powers. They are the Lai Mohammeds of this world, and since politics is about power and influence, they arent also without their justification. Then there are pacifists and emerging power brokers whose community development efforts now endear them to many people, like the Yakubu Gobirs and Yahaya Serikis and the Saliu Mustaphas.

As Saraki fils resurrects in Ilorin, his supporters would miss those days his words were decrees, and his whims laws. But he isnt coming back to dictate and pick things on a platter. The political space has been democratised, and everyone has to toil to earn the peoples trust. Power isnt served ala carte, and thats the beauty of democracy.

This democratisation of power, for me, is the biggest take-away from the Otoge revolt. If properly owned by the people, and nurtured quite well, it should mark the final transition of power to the most important office in a democracy: the office of the citizen. And Kwarans would be the better for it, if only they realise and consolidate on the power they now (seem to) own.

Olawoyin Oladeinde tweets via @ola_deinde
the rallies were peaceful and carnival-like, and the elections so transparent that as I write, there have been no disputes or protests on its outcome. In a sense, although the elections excluded the presidential, they were nevertheless, a referendum on the Maduro presidency.

It is not difficult to understand why Venezuelans aspire to be peaceful, pacifist and committed to nature. They have an enchanting country blessed by nature. They seem to have it all: An inviting nature, spell-binding mountains, irresistible forests, calm-looking-seas, a patch of desert, enormous natural resources and a fine weather.

Countries like these, as testified to by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are like sugar that must attract ants. The powerful and the greedy will not leave such countries in peace. It is usually a situation of a house owner refusing to allow floods sweep away his home.

The capital, Caracas, and the adjoining areas are beautifully carved into a sleepy valley watched over by partner mountains and forests. Last Friday, November 19, I went over 2,500 feet up the mountain, of course not on foot, but by cable car. The area is called Waraira Repano. At the top, the misty mountain rapidly descends to kiss the Caribbean Sea. It is a resort with eateries, relaxation spots and the Hotel Humboldt built in 1956.

The elections I had gone to observe, which had 70,244 candidates, was therapeutic; it was the first time in five years the country has come together or agreed on a single issue. The last half decade had witnessed bitter disputes, including on the re-election of President Nicholas Maduro in 2018.

The opposition had gained majority seats and the power-drunk Senate president, backed by powerful countries led by the United States, had, in vain, declared himself president. Also in the period, there was an attempt to assassinate President Maduro, an attempted coup, a failed invasion, and open opposition calls for sanctions against the country.

The success of the Sunday, November 21 elections was not the number of seats won or lost, but the fact that all parties and groups participated in the elections. So, in a sense, the elections were an assertion of Venezuelas sovereignty; the right of Venezuelans to self-determination and to decide who governs them.

It was also unique that from the reports of foreign observers across the country, including 70 of us from Africa, the rallies were peaceful and carnival-like, and the elections so transparent that as I write, there have been no disputes or protests on its outcome. In a sense, although the elections excluded the presidential, they were nevertheless, a referendum on the Maduro presidency.

In my pre-election analysis, I had thought the ruling Socialist United Party of Venezuela (PSUV) would have an easy victory. This was partly because while it did direct primaries and presented a single candidate for each position, the opposition had become less united and presented multiple candidates.

the politics of election observation played out. The Maduro government, confident of its electoral strength and the transparent electronic voting and collation process, was anxious to attract international observers. But it was not a straight forward process; not a few in the world were afraid of American displeasure, should they participate in such a process.

The party also made a song of its social programmes, such as building 3,800,000 housing units, which it had distributed free. But the elections, with 41.80 per cent voter turnout and 50 per cent women candidates, were not without their surprises.

For instance, while the PSUV won 20 of the 23 three gubernatorial seats, it sustained quite some loses in the mayoral elections. This meant that community matters and the personality of individual candidates were decisive issues.

The PSUV won Tachira State, which it had lost to the opposition, but lost the strategic state of Zulea, the biggest in the country. It also lost its traditional stronghold of Cojedes; the first time in 20 years, since the Hugo Chavez revolution. This may be an indication that it had become complacent in that state, or presented an unpopular candidate. However, it won Caracas.

Also, the politics of election observation played out. The Maduro government, confident of its electoral strength and the transparent electronic voting and collation process, was anxious to attract international observers. But it was not a straight forward process; not a few in the world were afraid of American displeasure, should they participate in such a process.

Some institutions, including from Nigeria, tactically declined. But one of the most ridiculous excuses was by the African Union (AU). Its Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki, wrote that the AU could not accept the invitation because it does not monitor elections outside Africa.

In this instance, the AU suffered institutional memory loss. It must have forgotten that just in 2018, it sent a delegation, led by Ambassador Arikana Chambori-Qqua, to monitor the elections in the same Venezuela.

Also, some observers might have been discouraged by poor flight connections mainly due to American sanctions. For example, those of us from Nigeria spent an average of two days getting to Caracas. There was in fact a Nigerian observer who had to fly from Abuja to Lagos, then to Turkey, Mexico and Cuba to get to Caracas.

Venezuelans have a lot to learn from the world, just as we also should learn from them, but will the powerful allow or tolerate such a process? Todays world is intolerant of pacifists.

A direct flight from Istanbul to Caracas alone takes 10.40 hours; it is a 10,069-kilometre distance. Ordinarily, Nigeria is less than seven hours by flight to Caracas; Dakar, five hours and Cape Verde, four hours.

An institution that sent a large delegation to this weeks elections was the European Union. It presented its official report at a press conference on Monday. In the absence of the AU, the African delegates got together to present a common report. Professor Philip Afaha of the University of Abuja, who presented the African report, affirmed that the elections were peaceful, transparent and credible.

He added: Current events in the world have shown that democracy is not perfect anywhere. Powerful countries, especially those of the global North, must always show restraint and encourage developing countries to nurture their democracies in line with their domestic realities and aspirations. The Venezuelan people have spoken through this election and the world must respect their views and dignity.

Venezuelans are primarily Catholics, with a very strong attachment to the Church. Hence, I was curious why elections would hold on a Sunday. I was told that many are self-employed who have to work through the week, but go to church and rest on Sundays.

So that they may not sustain needless economic losses in the name of elections, these are held on Sundays, more so when Catholic mass is usually short and the electorate can easily combine attending mass and participating in elections. In contrast, Nigeria will not dare hold elections on a Friday, when Muslims attend Jumat or on Sunday, when Christians go to church.

I also witnessed Venezuelans taking their under-aged children to political rallies and polling stations. It is a good way of bringing up children to understand their civic duties. But in Nigeria, due to fears of violence, it would be unthinkable for parents to take their children to such places.

Venezuelans have a lot to learn from the world, just as we also should learn from them, but will the powerful allow or tolerate such a process? Todays world is intolerant of pacifists.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
Jointly initiated by the innovation and entrepreneurship centers of Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) and the Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), the competition involves nearly 150 high-quality startups worldwide in a variety of fields such as medical and health care technology, agricultural technology, advanced manufacturing, and new consumption technology. Participating entrepreneurs and investors come from regions in Europe, North America, and the greater China area. After a series of competitive pitching sessions over the last year, ten startups made it to the final round.

The first prize went to MAGIC WEAVER "3D Digital Human Engine". Shenzhen-based startups BionicM and QYSEA won second prize with their "IoT-based Intelligent Electric Prosthetic Robots" and "Underwater Robots". "R&D and Industrialization of Modular Intelligent Combined Mobile Cold Storage" from CIMC Cold Chain, "Power Exoskeleton to Consumer" from Enhanced Robotics, "Non-invasive Liver Fibrosis Precision Digital Diagnosis" from Precision MedCare, "Optical Active Alignment System" from AIT-PRIME and "Self-healing Concrete" from MIMICRETE, won the third prize. "The Breast Pumping Massage Bra" from Lilu won the Outstanding Startup Award.

Consisting of well-recognized scholars, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs, the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Advisory Board of PHBS was also established and held its first meeting. According to PHBS Dean Hai Wen, the advisory board will further strengthen the connection and cooperation with renowned innovative enterprises, venture capital institutions, and experts and scholars in innovation and entrepreneurship. It aims to promote the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area by facilitating the growth of innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises, enhancing talent cultivation, and conducting related research.

The following Greater Bay Area Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Forum featured keynote speeches given by renowned entrepreneurs and investors, who shared their insights into investment, entrepreneurship, technology and innovation. In the future, PHBS and CJBS are committed to further strengthening this collaboration, integrating resources of first-tier investment institutions and industry leaders, as well as creating an ecosystem that engages in cooperation, empowerment, and cultivation of innovation and entrepreneurship.

https://english.phbs.pku.edu.cn/2021/news_1123/2993.html

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696896/The_finalists.jpg

SOURCE Peking University HSBC Business School
SHANGHAI and HONG KONG, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Antengene Corporation Limited ("Antengene", SEHK: 6996.HK), a leading innovative global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class and/or best-in-class therapeutics in hematology and oncology, today announced that according to the latest semi-annual review results of the world's leading index company MSCI, Antengene has been included in the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes - MSCI China Index constituent stocks. Relevant adjustments will be made after the market closes on November 30, 2021.

Being selected as a constituent of the MSCI Global Small Cap Indexes - MSCI China Index marks yet another inclusion by a leading global index following those by the Hong Kong Composite Index (HSCI) and FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS), reflecting the global capital markets' recognition of Antengene's growth prospects and its leadership position in the healthcare industry. These inclusions will help elevate Antengene's visibility among global investors and further diversify the Company's investor base.

About Antengene

Antengene Corporation Limited ("Antengene", SEHK: 6996.HK) is a leading clinical-stage R&D- driven global biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative first-in-class/best-in-class therapeutic medicines for oncology and other life-threatening diseases. Driven by its vision of "Treating Patients Beyond Borders", Antengene aims to provide the most advanced anti-cancer drugs to patients in the Asia Pacific Region and around the world. Since initiating operations in 2017, Antengene has obtained 19 investigational new drug (IND) approvals in the US and in Asia, submitted 6 new drug applications (NDAs) in multiple Asia Pacific markets, with the NDA for selinexor/ATG-010 in South Korea already approved through a priority review process. Leveraging partnerships as well as in-house drug discovery, Antengene has built a broad and expanding pipeline of 15 clinical and pre-clinical assets. The Company has global rights on 10 programs and Asia Pacific rights, including the Greater China region, on 5 programs.

For more information, please contact:

Investor Contacts:

Donald Lung

E-mail: [email protected]

PR Contacts:

Peter Qian

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Antengene Corporation Limited
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Automotive Infotainment Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product Type (Heads-up Display, Navigation Unit, Display Unit), by Fit Type, by Vehicle Type, by Region, and Segment Forecasts, 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global automotive infotainment market size is expected to reach USD 12.57 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 8.7% from 2021 to 2028.

The increasing demand for autonomous vehicle technology, automotive cockpit electronics, and advanced safety features such as advanced driver assistance systems is anticipated to drive the growth. The growing demand for enhanced in-vehicle experience and shifting consumer buying behavior and the worldwide expansion of the luxury and premium car segments are also likely to fuel the growth of the market.

The growing number of millennials opting for small and medium-sized cars is expected to boost the growth of the market growth. Furthermore, consumers are inclined to buy these cars, compared to premium cars, owing to their cost-effectiveness. In addition to this, the introduction of medium-sized SUVs has further encouraged the market growth as consumers can buy a bigger-sized vehicle at a lower cost.

Automotive infotainment technology is expected to gain significant demand as major automotive components and solution providers are engaging in developing complete automotive infotainment solutions. For instance, in May 2021, BMW AG announced iDrive 8, the latest infotainment system for its vehicles. The new iDrive 8 provides enhanced voice-recognition software and a massive touchscreen with multiple new features. It will be initially debuted on the new electric i4 sedan and iX SUV.

The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based infotainment systems is also expected to contribute to the market growth. However, the market is characterized by a negligible regulatory framework regarding product manufacturing, resulting in counterfeit and low-quality products. Such negative trends are expected to hinder the market growth.

Emerging economies such as China and India are expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the market for automotive infotainment. The development is characterized by the increase in the adoption of mid-sized cars, which enables automotive companies to offer infotainment products for this car segment.

Automotive Infotainment Market Report Highlights

The head-up display segment is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of around 10% over the forecast period owing to the integration of augmented reality for enhanced safety and driving experience

The OF fitted segment dominated the market in 2020 and is anticipated to generate over USD 9.6 billion by 2028 owing to the benefits such as easier servicing and maintenance

by 2028 owing to the benefits such as easier servicing and maintenance The passenger car segment accounted for the largest revenue share of around 80% of the overall market in 2020. The increasing demand for connected car features in passenger vehicles and the onset of autonomous vehicles are expected to drive the growth of this segment

Asia Pacific accounted for the largest market share in 2020. The regional market growth can be attributed to the increased production and sales of passenger vehicles in the region

Key Topics Covered:

Market Variables, Trends, and Scope

Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping

Automotive Infotainment Market - Value Chain Analysis

Automotive Infotainment Market Dynamics

Automotive Infotainment Industry Analysis - PESTLE

Automotive Infotainment Industry Analysis - Porter's Five Forces

Automotive Infotainment Market: Product Type Estimates & Trend Analysis

Product Type Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

Market Size & Forecasts and Trends Analysis, 2016 - 2028 (USD Billion, Units)

Automotive Infotainment Market: Fit Type Estimates & Trend Analysis

Fit Type Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

Market Size & Forecasts and Trends Analysis, 2016 - 2028 (USD Billion, Units)

Automotive Infotainment Market: Vehicle Type Estimates & Trend Analysis

Vehicle Type Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

Market Size & Forecasts and Trends Analysis, 2016 - 2028 (USD Billion, Units)

Automotive Infotainment Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis

Regional Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2020 & 2028

Market Size & Forecasts and Trends Analysis, 2016 - 2028 (USD Billion, Units)

Competitive Landscape

Key Company Analysis, 2020

Alpine Electronics

Clarion Co., Ltd.

Continental AG

Delphi Automotive PLC

Denso Corporation

Harman International

JVC KENWOOD Corporation

Panasonic Corporation

Pioneer Corporation

Visteon Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/pqws75

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

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U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Patient Engagement Solutions Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global patient engagement solutions market exhibited strong growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 13% during 2021-2026. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Patient engagement solutions refer to a system that combines patient activation with interventions that are designed to improve health outcomes and provide better patient care at lower costs. These solutions also enable healthcare institutions to establish communication with their patients by using an online portal. Patient engagement solutions utilize technologies, such as portal and automated messaging, while ensuring patient satisfaction, safety and service quality. With the growing prevalence of chronic diseases in recent years, especially among the geriatric population, there has been increased adoption of patient engagement solutions worldwide.



The global patient engagement solutions market is primarily driven by the increasing awareness regarding mobile health among people. Mobile health, or electronic health, platforms provide patients with helpful information at every interaction, send periodic healthcare tips, create trigger-based appointments or prescription refill reminders and offer post-diagnosis notes. Apart from this, governments of various countries are providing incentives to digitally transform healthcare services and enhance patient engagement, which is also propelling the market growth.

For instance, the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) established the Patient and Caregiver Connection program in 2018, which aimed to foster engagements with patients and caregivers throughout the entire process of evaluation and surveillance of medical devices. Besides this, with the growing technological advancements, companies are investing in innovative cloud or web-based patient-centric engagement solutions that help improve the patient healthcare experience by lowering the cost of health plans and creating more efficient operations by changing payment technology, models and regulations.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being AdvancedMD (Global Payments Inc.), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., Athenahealth Inc., Cerner Corporation, EMMI Solutions LLC (Wolters Kluwer N.V.), Epic Systems Corporation, GetWellNetwork Inc., Lincor Solutions Limited, McKesson Corporation, Medecision Inc. (Health Care Service Corporation), Orion Health Ltd. and Phytel Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation).



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global patient engagement solutions market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global patient engagement solutions market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the therapeutic area?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the delivery type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global patient engagement solutions market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Patient Engagement Solutions Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Therapeutic Area

6.1 Chronic Diseases

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Key Segments

6.1.2.1 Obesity

6.1.2.2 Diabetes

6.1.2.3 Cardiovascular

6.1.2.4 Others

6.1.3 Market Forecast

6.2 Fitness

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Women's Health

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Mental Health

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Others

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Application

7.1 Social Management

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Health Management

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Home Healthcare Management

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Financial Health Management

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by End User

8.1 Payers

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Providers

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Others

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Component

9.1 Software

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Services

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 Hardware

9.3.1 Market Trends

9.3.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Delivery Type

10.1 Web-based/Cloud-based

10.1.1 Market Trends

10.1.2 Market Forecast

10.2 On-premises

10.2.1 Market Trends

10.2.2 Market Forecast



11 Market Breakup by Region



12 SWOT Analysis

13 Value Chain Analysis



14 Porters Five Forces Analysis

15 Price Analysis



16 Competitive Landscape

16.1 Market Structure

16.2 Key Players

16.3 Profiles of Key Players

16.3.1 AdvancedMD (Global Payments Inc.)

16.3.1.1 Company Overview

16.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.2 Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.

16.3.2.1 Company Overview

16.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.2.3 Financials

16.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.3 Athenahealth Inc.

16.3.3.1 Company Overview

16.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.4 Cerner Corporation

16.3.4.1 Company Overview

16.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.4.3 Financials

16.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.5 EMMI Solutions LLC (Wolters Kluwer N.V.)

16.3.5.1 Company Overview

16.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.6 Epic Systems Corporation

16.3.6.1 Company Overview

16.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.6.3 SWOT Analysis

16.3.7 GetWellNetwork Inc.

16.3.7.1 Company Overview

16.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.8 Lincor Solutions Limited

16.3.8.1 Company Overview

16.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.9 McKesson Corporation

16.3.9.1 Company Overview

16.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.9.3 Financials

16.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.10 Medecision Inc.

16.3.10.1 Company Overview

16.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.11 Orion Health Ltd

16.3.11.1 Company Overview

16.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.12 Phytel Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)

16.3.12.1 Company Overview

16.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qlw6a1

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


In recent years, Taiwanese startups have achieved excellent performance in the global market. Taiwan and Japan have similar cultures and good relations, and Japan has become Taiwan startups' top choice when it comes to market expansion, of making initial presence overseas. Therefore this year, Startup Island TAIWAN teamed up with #AsiaRocks and held two Japan market entry panels. In the first session, startup support organizations from four cities in Japan were invited to share the soft landing resources they provide to foreign startups. In the second session, three of the NEXT BIG: CoolBitX, iKala, and Pinkoi were invited to share their experiences and thoughts, actual problems encountered and advice, and the do's and don'ts on expanding into Japan.

COO of CoolBitX Yi-Ling Yeh came from an investment background. She shared from her dual role and identity that CoolBitX first observed blockchain regulations to be the most complete in Japan, then successfully secured SBI's Investment with their technology and further seized the opportunity for SBI to cooperate with their stock exchange. They got off to a good start in Japan because the investment from a major Japanese venture capital firm backed their credibility in the local market. Yeh suggests that the most important part to establishing connections with Japanese is to be able to speak Japanese. Keynes Cheng, Co-founder and COO of iKala shared that when they first headed to Japan, they hired consultants to do business development in Japan from time to time, but found that it was inefficient. Japanese value partner commitments the most and it is recommended to have an office in Japan first before approaching any opportunities. Having a local office can build trust relatively quickly. Pinkoi's Global Brand Communications Manager Abby Chiu used "company websites" as an example. Many Taiwanese companies think that they can expand to the Japanese market by simply translating their Chinese website into Japanese, but the grammar and context might not be the most accurate, leading to a lack of trust by Japanese.

Amanda Liu, the Head of Management Office at Startup Island TAIWAN said that the three NEXT BIG at different stages are using different strategies to face the international market, and that Startup Island TAIWAN hopes to make Taiwan startups' exploration of the international market easier, and to accelerate market expansions by learning from those with extensive experiences. For replay, please refer to Startup Island TAIWAN's YouTube channel and follow the brand's social media to get the latest updates.

SOURCE Startup Island TAIWAN
GUANGZHOU, China, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Onion Global Limited ("Onion Global", the "Group" or the "Company") (NYSE: OG), a next-generation lifestyle brand platform that incubates, markets and distributes the world's fresh, fashionable and future brands to young people in China and across Asia, today announced that its 2021 Double 11 Shopping Festival "Imagination Season" ("Shopping Festival") concluded flawlessly with over 4,000 brands participated in the campaign. The Shopping Festival started on November 8, 2021 and ended on November 16, 2021.

Highlights from the 2021 Double 11 Shopping Festival "Imagination Season"

4,342 brands participated in the Shopping Festival this year, of which 29 were private label brands.

GMV of private label brands and strategic brands as a percentage of total GMV increased to 45.4% this year from 37.8% of last year.

17 brands surpassed RMB 1 m illion in GMV during the festival.

illion in GMV during the festival. The O'Mall platform sourced more than 524,000 SKUs from 43 countries/regions.

The top five foreign countries selling to China through our cross-border platforms in order by GMV: Australia , South Korea , United States , Japan and Germany .

Mr. Cong (Kenny) Li, Founder and CEO of Onion Global, commented, "The Shopping Festival is one of our top three S-level shopping campaigns during the year. By leveraging our extensive analysis of local market data, deep consumer insights, and advanced supply chain, we can optimize the operations for private label brands and strategic brands to personalize the entire customer experience. We are witnessing the rise of China's new consumption economy and constantly analyzing how to effectively meet the growing demands of Chinese consumers. We can identify the latest fashion trends and help upgrade consumer lifestyles, which also drives new nationwide users onto our platform. The new record GMV milestone for our private label brands and strategic brands during the festival speaks to our success from strategically pivoting to focus more on private label brands and strategic brands. Looking ahead, Onion Global will continue to lead the evolution towards the future new consumption economy and lifestyle and drive our topline growth."

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, the Company's forecasts, general observation of the industry and business outlook, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expects," "anticipates," "target," "aim," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "potential," "estimates" "continue," "is/are likely to," or other similar statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Onion Global's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and Onion Global does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

About Onion Global Limited

Onion Global Limited (NYSE: OG) is a next-generation lifestyle brand platform that incubates, markets and distributes the world's fresh, fashionable and future brands, which we refer to as "3F brands," to young people in China and across Asia. The Company's mission is to be the dream factory of lifestyle brands for young people. The Company's platform offering an integrated solution to develop, market and distribute new and inspiring branded products, thereby reshaping the lifestyle shopping and consumer culture in China. Onion Global Limited has been listed on New York Stock Exchange since May 2021.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.msyc.com/.

Investor Relations Contact

In China:

Onion Global Ltd.

Investor Relations

E-mail: [email protected]

Christensen

Mr. Eric Yuan

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +86-10-5900-1548

In United States:

Christensen

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

E-mail: [email protected]

Tel: +1-480-614-3004

SOURCE Onion Global Limited

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Gaotu Techedu Inc. f/k/a GSX Techedu Inc. (NYSE: GOTU, GSX) between March 22, 2021 and March 29, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important December 20, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Gaotu securities during the Class Period 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 Gaotu class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2182.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 December 20, 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. Many of these firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. 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, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ("Goldman Sachs") and Morgan Stanley sold a large amount of Gaotu American Depository Shares (ADSs) during the Class Period while in possession of material non-public information about Archegos Capital Management (at the time a family office with $10 billion under management) and its need to fully liquidate its position in Gaotu because of margin call pressure. As a result of these sales, the defendants in the case, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, avoided billions in losses combined.

To join the Gaotu class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2182.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

www.rosenlegal.com


BOSTON, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "At last, we'll be together in-person again!" proclaimed Jewish National Fund-USA's (JNF-USA) President, Dr. Sol Lizerbram. As the U.S. emerges from nearly two years of home isolation, Zoom calls, shaky Wi-Fi connections, and the ever-present "you're on mute," the organization's ambassadors (lay leaders) and professionals are excited to announce that the 2022 Jewish National Fund-USA National Conference will take place in the home of the American Revolution and one of JNF-USA's strongest thriving communities  Boston.

The future leaders of American Jewry pose for a photo at Jewish National Fund-USA's 2019 National Conference Journalist and broadcaster, Michal Divon, addresses Jewish National Fund-USA's National Conference

By this time next year, JNF-USA's partners (donors) will come together to cheer, sing, and celebrate their support for the land and people of Israel at the premier philanthropy for Israel's largest-ever in-person event in over two years.

"We are thrilled to host the first post-pandemic National Conference in our beautiful city on November 4-6, 2022," said Risa Aronson, national co-conference chair and JNF-USA president of the Boston board of directors. "From Be'er Sheva to Boston, Kiryat Shmona to Kansas City, JNF-USA's supporters from around the world will come together in support of the land and people of Israel and Jewish people everywhere after all this time. It will be an incredible experience you won't want to miss!"

Those looking to be inspired, energized, and enthralled about everything JNF-USA is achieving in the Negev and Galilee will be nothing short of impressed with the lineup of global thought leaders, innovators, and representatives from the organization's many philanthropic investments in Israel who will take part in panels, keynote speeches, and interactive discussions throughout the three-day riveting weekend at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport that showcases JNF-USA's visionary work and addresses key issues.

"We have so much to look forward to in 2022, and this conference will be the centerpiece of the calendar," added National Conference Co-Chair and JNF-USA National Treasurer, Michael Blank. "Come visit the Athens of America, the Cradle of Liberty, Beantown, the City of Champions. We promise you an exciting, informative, special time as we highlight the best of JNF-USA. Commit now, reserve your spot, and take advantage of the early bird discount rate for conference-goers who register by December 31, 2021, for what will be our biggest and best national conference ever."

To register for the conference, visit jnf.org/nc.

Questions?

For general conference questions, email [email protected] .

. For questions related to booking rooms outside the conference dates or to upgrade your room, please contact the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport at 617-476-6664.

Local New England residents can also contact Sara Hefez, Jewish National Fund-USA Executive Director, New England and the Capital District at 617-423-0999 x811 or [email protected].

About Jewish National Fund-USA

JNF-USA is the leading philanthropic organization for Israel that supports critical environmental and nation-building activities in Israel's north and south. Through its One Billion Dollar Roadmap for the Next Decade, JNF-USA is developing new communities in the Galilee and Negev, connecting the next generation to Israel, and creating infrastructure and programs that support ecology, individuals with special needs, and heritage site preservation. Learn more at jnf.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Jennifer Milton

212-879-9305 x 875

[email protected]

SOURCE Jewish National Fund-USA
LUXEMBOURG, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ardagh Group S.A. ("Ardagh") announces that it has agreed to acquire Consol Holdings Proprietary Limited ("Consol"), the leading producer of glass packaging on the African continent, for an equity value of ZAR10.1 billion ($635 million).

Headquartered in Johannesburg, and founded in 1946, Consol is the market leader in South Africa, operating four well-invested glass production facilities. It serves a broad range of leading international, regional and domestic customers, principally in the beer, wine, spirits, food and non-alcoholic beverage sectors.

In the year to June 30, 2021, Consol reported consolidated revenues of ZAR9.0 billion ($566 million). South Africa represented approximately 90% of revenues, with the balance represented by smaller production facilities in Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

Glass consumption in Consol's markets is projected to continue to increase, driven by long-term trends, including population growth, rising income levels and shifts to premium one-way sustainable glass packaging.

The enterprise value of the transaction represents a multiple of approximately 6.6 times LTM Adjusted EBITDA to September 30, 2021. Ardagh expects to finance the acquisition through a combination of its own cash resources and the assumption of ZAR5.7 billion ($358 million) existing net debt at Consol.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals that are expected to be obtained in the second quarter of 2022.

Ardagh Chairman, Paul Coulson, commented

"We are very pleased to expand our European and North America presence in glass packaging into Africa with the acquisition of Consol, a high-quality business, led by an excellent management team. Consol is a market leader in the region, with great relationships across a diversified domestic and multinational customer base. Virtually all of Consol's multinational customers are also customers of Ardagh. We look forward to welcoming Consol to the Ardagh family and to investing in the long-term growth of the African market, driven by consumer trends and rising sustainability awareness."

Bruce MacRobert, Chairman of Consol, remarked that

"The Consol team has built a great business, with an established reputation for delivering quality products to a growing customer base. Ardagh's long-term presence in, and commitment to, glass packaging, makes it the ideal owner to continue this progress."

Citigroup acted as exclusive financial adviser to Ardagh, and Barclays acted as exclusive financial adviser to Consol.

About Ardagh Group

Ardagh Group is a global supplier of infinitely recyclable metal and glass packaging for brand owners around the world. Ardagh operates 57 metal and glass production facilities in 12 countries, employing more than 16,000 people with sales of approximately $7bn. Ardagh Group is among the world's largest beverage packaging companies and, following completion of the Consol acquisition, Ardagh will have significant manufacturing operations on four continents.

About Consol Holdings

Consol Holdings is the holding company for Consol Glass South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Juniper Glass in Ethiopia and has been producing glass packaging for over 75 years. Consol is the leading glass packaging manufacturer in sub-Saharan Africa by manufacturing capacity.

SOURCE Ardagh Group S.A.
The "Play Texas Hold'em With No Deposit, Win 1 BTC '' was held during the period of AEX 8th anniversary. This event was free for all users to participate in and without any additional costs. In addition, the top 300 users will be rewarded with a ranking; those who play more than 3 games a day and more than 20 games in total will be rewarded with the corresponding prize pool.

A week of AEX Texas Hold'em Game attracted crypto enthusiasts from 126 countries and regions, with a cumulative total of over 200,000 participants and a peak of 98,000 online users. The number of daily visits and registrations on the AEX Exchange reached a record high, with the most significant increase in users from Turkey, Vietnam and Thailand.

On November 23rd, the reward channel was opened, all players with more than 3,000 game points can go to the AEX Official Website to collect their points.

AEX is a long-established exchange founded in 2013, advocating "Safe Investment and Stable Value-added", and has deposited many veteran users in the industry. After launching its global strategy in 2021, AEX is rapidly penetrating into niche markets to provide more regional users with more convenient, high-quality and secure crypto asset services.

Event website: https://www.aex.com/page/texas.html#/?from=qc5530

SOURCE AEX exchange
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Asia-Pacific Self Storage Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Asia-Pacific Self Storage Market is expected to register a CAGR of 13.12 % over the forecast period (2021 - 2026).

The market is facing its own transition rate since business is growing at different rates in different countries. This is based on parameters such as ownership/property type, land rate, investment models.

The main driving factor for the market is the increasing trend of storing personal belongings outside the house. This is because of a growing affluent population, changing lifestyle and business practices. Commercial usage of self-storage is increasing due to rise in e-commerce especially in China and India .

and . The industry suffers from lack of awareness. Customers need to be taught the difference between self-storage and warehousing or other more traditional storage methods. Availability of space to build is also a major challenge concerning the vendors. Due to the increasing population, the vendors have no other option rather than to convert existing facilities into self-storage space.

Key Market Trends



"Business" Use Cases to Witness Tremendous Growth

Heavy usage of mobile phones for shopping along with the emerging trend of mobile payment is driving the demand for storage of e-commerce goods. Constant evolution within the e-commerce space and encouragement from the government has given the industry a big boost.

The concept of self-storage is prominent among young, online shop owners who need flexible solutions to manage inventory.

According to Rakuten Marketing, retail sales in Australia exceeded USD 300 billion in 2018. There is a high preference for offline shopping also in this region due to the high shipping costs in online shopping.

exceeded in 2018. There is a high preference for offline shopping also in this region due to the high shipping costs in online shopping. China accounts for the major market share when it comes to e-commerce. This is also due to rapid population growth. In 2017, a Hong Kong -based fund announced a USD 28 million investment in China Mini Storage (CMS), one of the pioneers of mini self-storage operators on the mainland.

-based fund announced a investment in (CMS), one of the pioneers of mini self-storage operators on the mainland. CMS has set up 20 lockers in Beijing , mainly in co-working spaces. Orange Self Storage (OSS) opened its first facility in 2018 in Karnataka India. It initially focused on commercial spaces and now has expanded to malls and hotels.

Thailand to Dominate the Market

The major driving force for the market is evolving demographics, changing living patterns, and urbanization. According to United Nations, half of Thailand's population now lives in urban areas.

population now lives in urban areas. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region is home to the majority of Thailand's urban population and generates more than half of the nation's GDP. It is also home to most of the country's self-storage operators, with some located in areas such as Phuket and Pattaya.

urban population and generates more than half of the nation's GDP. It is also home to most of the country's self-storage operators, with some located in areas such as and Pattaya. The demand has long been driven by residential demand since average unit sizes have dropped down by half since 2004.

However, the demand is also being caused by non-residential side by entrepreneurs and SMEs who are looking for flexible storage solutions for e-commerce businesses. As per Google, Thailand is currently Southeast Asia's second largest e-commerce market and is expected to grow by more than four times through 2025.

Competitive Landscape



The market for self-storage in Asia-Pacific is fragmented due to presence of vendors in countries such as Japan, Singapore, Singapore and Malaysia. Emerging countries including India account for a meager market share.

July 2019 - Self Storage ( India ) announced launch of its latest facility, located in Noida. The facility offers seven sizes of private storage units that range from a compact 50 sq.ft., to a spacious 220 sq.ft.; meeting personal and corporate storage needs.

- Self Storage ( ) announced launch of its latest facility, located in Noida. The facility offers seven sizes of private storage units that range from a compact 50 sq.ft., to a spacious 220 sq.ft.; meeting personal and corporate storage needs. July 2019 - Blackstone sold its Hong Kong self storage business to Hanison Construction for USD 94 million . The acquisition provides Hanison with 3 additional properties used by the storage business.

- Blackstone sold its self storage business to Hanison Construction for . The acquisition provides Hanison with 3 additional properties used by the storage business. December 2018 - Thailand -based i-Store self storage partnered with Thai Movers Ltd to increase the "integrated moving and storage" service business. The collaboration achieves to gain 200 new customers by the end of 2019.

Companies Mentioned

Mandarin Self Storage

Storefriendly

CubeSmart LP

Quraz Ltd.

OSS Okinawa Self Storage

Locker & Lock Pte Ltd

UD Self Storage

Extra Space Asia Corporate

Extra Space Asia Corporate

Storage King Pty Ltd

Key Topics Covered:

MARKET DYNAMICS

Market Overview

Introduction to Market Drivers and Restraints

Rising Consumerism and Population Density is Driving the Market Growth

Market Drivers

Lack of Available Space to Build the Facilities is a Challenging Factor for the Market

Market Restraints

Industry Attractiveness - Porter's Five Force Analysis

Threat of New Entrants

Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Threat of Substitute Products

Intensity of Competitive Rivalry

MARKET SEGMENTATION

By End-user

Personal

Business

Country

Japan

China

Hongkong & Taiwan

Australia & New Zealand

& Singapore

Malaysia

Thailand

Others

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/azvyof

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AskGrowers , a website that keeps the cannabis community informed of the ever-growing selection of annabis products and the stories behind the people innovating the space, has launched a new interview project on its website, "Native American Tribes Create Financial Empires in Booming Cannabis Industry" . As more states defy federal authorities with legal marijuana, Native American tribes have been big winners as well as unsung heroes in advancing the industry.

The interview project is part of AskGrower's mission to recognize diversity in the cannabis industry. Highlights from the article include the following:

A capital investment manager from Portland, Oregon , is behind more than a dozen tribal cannabis success stories in the U.S.

, is behind more than a dozen tribal cannabis success stories in the U.S. Profits from the NuWu Cannabis Marketplace support the medical and educational expenses of the tribe's members and future business investments.

The positive impact goes beyond just the tribes to providers and cultivators.

AskGrowers spoke to several leaders in the cannabis community including, Curtis Anderson, chairman of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe and head of NuWu Cannabis Marketplace, Kevin Clock, President at Cascade Strategic Investments and Jillian Nelson, Vice President of Operations at Evergreen Organix.

"One of our missions at AskGrowers has always been to inform our readers about the unsung heroes who are innovating the cannabis space," says Igor Dunaevsky, Managing Partner, AskGrowers. "Through interview projects like this one in honor of National Native American Heritage Month, we can educate cannabis consumers about the different choices and people working in the field."

"We believe it is important that our readers learn more about the people who are often underrepresented in the media and how important they are to our industry," says Irene Stepanenko, AskGrowers, CEO. "We'll be expanding this type of coverage in 2022."

To learn more, visit www.askgrowers.com.

Contact

Karen Laverty

[email protected]

781.697.0514

About AskGrowers

AskGrowers.com is a cannabis resource portal specializing in the gathering and providing of detailed brand and product information from legal cannabis businesses across the United States. Operating entirely online, AskGrowers offers in-depth product reviews and brand profiles designed to keep consumers well-informed and confident of their online cannabis purchases. Founded in New York in 2019, AskGrowers operates offices in New York and Ukraine, and focuses on states with either legal, recreational or medical programs.

SOURCE AskGrowers
The automotive technologies market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will decelerate during the forecast period. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The automotive technologies market report covers the following areas:

Automotive Technologies Market 2021-2025: Segmentation

Component

Hardware



Software



Services

Geography

APAC



Europe



North America



MEA



South America

Download a Free Sample to learn about the contribution of each segment of the market

Automotive Technologies Market 2021-2025: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources.

The rising adoption of ADAS features in vehicles, the increasing adoption of electronics-based driving comfort and safety systems, and intervention of innovative technologies for advanced UI will offer immense growth opportunities. However, lack of standard protocols, lack of connected infrastructure, and delay in luxury of ongoing updates and amendments will challenge the growth of the market participants.

Automotive Technologies Market 2021-2025: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the automotive technologies market, including Continental AG, DENSO Corp., HELLA GmbH and Co. KGaA, Intel Corp., NVIDIA Corp., NXP Semiconductors NV, Renesas Electronics Corp., Robert Bosch GmbH, Xilinx Inc., and ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research report on the automotive technologies market is designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Subscribe to our "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 3000 that enables you to download 3 reports/year and view 3 reports/month.

Automotive Technologies Market 2021-2025: Regional Analysis

Technavio offers an up-to-date analysis of the geographical composition of the market as well as competitive intelligence and regional opportunities for vendors. Based on our research, APAC is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. The region will account for 53% of the market's growth. China, Japan, and South Korea (Republic of Korea) are the key countries for the automotive technologies market in the region. APAC has been recording a significant growth rate. Hence, it is expected to offer several growth opportunities to market vendors during the forecast period. The increasing adoption of electronics-based driving comfort and safety systems will drive the automotive technologies market growth in APAC.

Automotive Technologies Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025

Detailed information on factors that will assist automotive technologies market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the automotive technologies market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the automotive technologies market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of automotive technologies market vendors

Related Reports:

Automotive Occupant Sensing System Market: The automotive occupant sensing system market has been segmented by type (passenger cars, heavy commercial, and light commercial) and geography (APAC, Europe , North America , South America , and MEA). Download Free Sample Report

The automotive occupant sensing system market has been segmented by type (passenger cars, heavy commercial, and light commercial) and geography (APAC, , , , and MEA). Automotive Seat Belt Sensor Market: The automotive seat belt sensor market has been segmented by application (passenger cars and commercial vehicles) and geography ( Europe , APAC, North America , South America , and MEA). Download Free Sample Report

Automotive Technologies Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Decelerate at a CAGR of 11.04% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 134.06 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 15.60 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 53% Key consumer countries China, US, Germany, Japan, and South Korea (Republic of Korea) Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Continental AG, DENSO Corp., HELLA GmbH and Co. KGaA, Intel Corp., NVIDIA Corp., NXP Semiconductors NV, Renesas Electronics Corp., Robert Bosch GmbH, Xilinx Inc., and ZF Friedrichshafen AG Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, market growth inducers and obstacles, fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK,, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) (NYSE: BMO) announced today that it will implement a 1-for-20 reverse split of its outstanding MicroSectors FANG+ Index -3X Inverse Leveraged ETNs due January 8, 2038 (the "ETNs"), expected to be effective as of December 6, 2021.

The table below indicates the ETNs that will be subject to the reverse split, their trading symbol, their current CUSIP number, and the CUSIP number that they will receive after giving effect to the reverse split:

ETNs

Ticker Symbol

Current CUSIP /

New CUSIP MicroSectors FANG+ Index -3X Inverse Leveraged

ETNs due January 8, 2038

FNGD

063679666 /

06367V204

The reverse split will be effective at the open of trading on December 6, 2021. Each ETN will begin trading on the NYSE Arca on a reverse split-adjusted basis on that date. Holders of an ETN who purchased that ETN prior to December 6, 2021 will receive one reverse split-adjusted ETN for every 20 pre-reverse split ETNs.

In addition, investors that hold a number of ETNs that are not evenly divisible by 20 will receive a cash payment for any fractional ETNs remaining (the "partials"). The cash amount due on any partials will be determined on December 13, 2021 and will equal, for each remaining ETN, its closing indicative value on that date. Bank of Montreal will pay these amounts on or about December 16, 2021.

The closing indicative value of each ETN on December 3, 2021 will be multiplied by 20 to determine the reverse split-adjusted closing indicative value. Following the reverse split, the ETNs will have a new CUSIP, as set forth above, but will continue to trade under their current ticker symbol.

The reverse split will affect the trading denominations of the ETNs, but it will not have any effect on the aggregate principal amount of the ETNs, except that the aggregate principal amount will be reduced by the corresponding aggregate amount of any cash payments for the "partials."

Illustration of a Reverse Split

The following table shows the effect of the 1-for-20 reverse split on the hypothetical closing indicative value of the ETNs. The closing indicative value of an ETN is not the same as its principal amount (currently, $500) or the trading price of that ETN.





Number of

ETNs

Hypothetical

Closing Indicative

Value

Aggregate Closing

Indicative Value













Pre-Reverse Split

100,000

$10.00

$1,000,000













1-for-20 Post-Reverse Split

5,000

$200.00

$1,000,000

None of the other exchange traded notes issued by Bank of Montreal are affected by this announcement.

The ETNs are senior, unsecured obligations of Bank of Montreal.

Investment suitability must be determined individually for each investor, and the ETNs may not be suitable for all investors. This information is not intended to provide and should not be relied upon as providing accounting, legal, regulatory or tax advice. Investors should consult with their own financial advisors as to these matters.

The leveraged ETNs discussed in this press release are intended to be daily trading tools for sophisticated investors to manage daily trading risks as part of an overall diversified portfolio. They are designed to achieve their stated investment objectives on a daily basis. The returns on the ETNs over longer periods of time can, and most likely will, differ significantly from the return on a direct short investment in the index underlying those ETNs.

Bank of Montreal, the issuer of the ETNs, has filed a registration statement (including a pricing supplement, prospectus supplement and prospectus) with the SEC regarding the ETNs discussed in this press release. Please read those documents and the other documents relating to the ETNs that Bank of Montreal has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Bank of Montreal and the ETNs. These documents may be obtained without cost by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, Bank of Montreal, and any agent or dealer that participated in the offerings of the ETNs, will arrange to send the applicable pricing supplement, the prospectus supplement and the prospectus if so requested by calling toll-free at 1-877-369-5412.

About REX Shares

Founded in 2015, REX Shares ("REX") is an independent provider of exchange traded products based in Fairfield, Connecticut. As ETP architects, the REX team creates investment vehicles that solve for a range of specific challenges in investor portfolios. The firm is rooted in decades of structuring and building inventive exchange-traded product solutions.

For more information, please visit www.microsectors.com

Follow REX on Twitter @msectors

REX Media Contacts: [email protected]

About BMO Financial Group

Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $971 billion as of July 31, 2021, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

BMO Media Contact: Kelly Hechler, [email protected], (416) 867-3996

Bank of Montreal ETNs: [email protected], +1-877-369-5412

Internet: www.bmo.com

SOURCE BMO Financial Group

Related Links

www.bmo.com


TORONTO, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Even as virtual medicine services become more readily available within medical clinics, there will always be those patients who are unsure about whether or not they should explore such a treatment option.

This will happen because patients are either totally unaware of virtual medicine and how it works. Or, they will have a loose idea about it, but would still feel far more comfortable seeing their doctor in-person at the clinic.

Dr. Richard Tytus, Co-Founder of Banty Inc.

No matter where a patient stands on the matter, it is important to provide even the most skeptical with enough information to help them realize how great virtual doctor's appointments could be for them.

Dr. Richard Tytus, Co-Founder and Medical Director of virtual medicine solution Banty Inc. , has encountered patients initially weary about meeting with their doctor online. He's found that bringing up the following points can change a patient's perspective for the better:

The virtual medicine solution being used: Perhaps the biggest key to getting a patient comfortable with the video conference service used by a clinic is for it to be explained to them. This explanation shouldn't be too complicated, as it will only lead to more hesitation from the patient. Next, patients should be provided with a link to the virtual medicine platform's official website. This will allow them to do further research and get a better understanding about the new appointment option being offered to them

Perhaps the biggest key to getting a patient comfortable with the video conference service used by a clinic is for it to be explained to them. This explanation shouldn't be too complicated, as it will only lead to more hesitation from the patient. Next, patients should be provided with a link to the virtual medicine platform's official website. This will allow them to do further research and get a better understanding about the new appointment option being offered to them Benefits of remote appointments: A major selling feature for virtual medicine solutions is just how beneficial they can be for patients. Seeing a doctor online means no longer having to travel a great distance for an appointment, or having to sit in a crowded waiting room where germs can spread. Beyond that, the best virtual medicine solutions out there do an excellent job protecting patient privacy, meaning sensitive information discussed in an appointment does not leak out

A major selling feature for virtual medicine solutions is just how beneficial they can be for patients. Seeing a doctor online means no longer having to travel a great distance for an appointment, or having to sit in a crowded waiting room where germs can spread. Beyond that, the best virtual medicine solutions out there do an excellent job protecting patient privacy, meaning sensitive information discussed in an appointment does not leak out A personal touch still exists: Even if the doctor is not in the same physical room as a patient, the personal touch of a medical appointment doesn't have to dissipate. Virtual medicine solutions like Banty Medical offer users a high-definition audio and video experience, plus the ability to adjust the bandwidth of the call just in case someone participating in it has a bad Internet connection. Having these features in place allows patients and doctors to interact as they always would, just in a slightly different setting

"It is not unusual for doctors to encounter skeptical patients when the topic of virtual medicine appointments comes up. In fact, it should be expected," adds Dr. Tytus. "As such, it is always in a doctor's best interest to combat these concerns with a strong series of points that shows patients how amazing it can be to have a video call with their physician."

Banty.com's video call service offers all subscribers a custom, permanent URL(i.e., Banty.com/MyMeeting ); a secure, end-to-end encrypted meeting space; excellent video quality; unlimited meetings each month; and straightforward scheduling tools.

Banty has a number of solutions that are meant to make it easy to meet with those who matter most to you. (Watch the 'Banty Is Easy' video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhmVdwrR_w8&t=10s )

Today, everyone has a mobile number and an email address. In the near future, everyone will have a Banty room address: Banty.com/YourName

About Banty

Founded in 2020, Banty offers exceptional video conferencing solutions for Businesses , Enterprise , Medical Practices , Virtual Events , and Personal use . Banty video conferencing is easy to use and ultra-secure. The platform provides users with a dedicated Banty.com URL , accessible via any desktop browser or through iOS and Android mobile apps.

In order to receive government approval to become a verified medical platform, Banty was upgraded to meet new cyber security standards, making it one of the most secure platforms available. Each day, the Banty team goes above and beyond to ensure the platform remains one of the most secure and innovative virtual meeting solutions in the world.

For more information, please visit Banty.org/solutions , or follow Banty on social media to learn more about the latest platform innovations: LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube , Instagram .

Contact:

Scott Wilson

289-259-8059

[email protected]

SOURCE Banty Inc.
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Chile Freight and Logistics Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Chile has one of the most stable and free-market economies in Latin America. Although logistics in Chile is still on a path to development, import, and export operations from the country have increased in the last few years.

The country's perfect geographic location offers great potential to countries like Europe, Asia and South, and Central America to connect by air, sea, or land.

The country has also been investing heavily in infrastructural improvement in the country. The Chilean government recently invested in the new railway investment program in 2020, and also launched a USD 7 billion road infrastructure plan in 2019 to build nearly 17,000km of roads across the country as well as USD 2.4 billion economic stimulus agenda in June 2019 to accelerate public works and revive the country's economy.

E-commerce is also witnessing growth in Chile and is expected to expand from the current rate of 10% annual rate from 2017-2020 and reach EUR 2.5 billion by 2020. This is also providing great opportunities for logistics operators to offer e-commerce logistics services to brands, marketplaces, and e-tailers to optimizes and incorporates fulfillment and distribution.

Key Market TrendsRising Investments in Railway Network Expansion in Chile

Chile ranked 70th out of 103 for the quality of its railroad infrastructure in 2019 as per the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report and the county also reached 61st position for the efficiency of its train services.

In order to foster the development of a comprehensive logistics network in the country, expansion of ports in Chile require enhanced railway connections to connect the ports with the main manufacturing, production, and consumption centers, which lie inland in the country.

The Chilean Government has invested nearly USD 5 billion in 2020 in one of the largest railway development plans in the country named "Chile on Rails" which is aimed at doubling rail freight volumes to over 21 million tons a year by 2027 and triple the passenger numbers. The project will include 27 infrastructure and security projects in order to boost passenger and cargo services throughout the country and its completion is expected by 2027.

According to the Ministry of Transport, financing for these projects has already been secured, with 44% of total funding being directed to projects in the Santiago region while the remaining 56% will be directed to projects in regions outside Santiago. Among the most important projects are the Santiago-Melipilla Melitren railway the Santiago-Batuco-Tiltil commuter rail line; and the Merval Quillota-La Calera extension.

Growing Air Cargo Transport in the Country

The air transport sector makes a major contribution to the Chilean economy. The tons of air cargo transported per kilometer fell by nearly 3.3% in 2019 compared to 2018, while the capacity, measured in tons of cargo per kilometer available increased by 2.1% in 2019. However, in 2020 the exports witnessed an increase and it was reported that in January 2020 nearly 36,238 tons of cargo were transported on national and international flights, registering growth on nearly 12.7% compared to the same period in 2019.

There is an increase in exports for fruits like red cherries from Chile to other countries like China which is providing increased opportunities to air cargo providers to enhance their offerings suitable for perishable cargo needs. China accounted for nearly 90% of the Chilean cherry exports in 2019 with exports reaching nearly 210,000 tons in the 4th quarter of 2019.

Competitive Landscape

The Chile Freight and Logistics market is competitive and fragmented with the presence of many local as well as international players. The country is considered to have great potential for both European and Spanish logistics providers and there are multiple benefits for other countries to develop their business operations in Chile as well.

Companies Mentioned

Agility Logistics

Agunsa Logistics

Alfa Logistics

Andes Logistics de Chile

Bertling Logistics S.A

Bollore Logistics Chile S.A

Ceva Logistics

CH Robinson Worldwide Chile

Coexco Chile

DB Schenker Chile

DHL

DSV Air and Sea S.A

EIT Logistica S.A

EuroTrans Chile

Taylor Logistics Chile

TNT Express ( Chile )

) Vanguard Logistics Chile

Key Topics Covered:

MARKET DYNAMICS & INSIGHTS

Market Overview

Market Drivers

Market Restraints

Opportunities

Industry Value Chain Analysis

Porters 5 Force Analysis

Insights on Technological Trends in the Market

Insights on Ecommerce Industry

Government Regulations and Initiatives

Brief on Freight Rates

Impact of COVID 19 on the market

MARKET SEGMENTATION

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/58y8o0

.Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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At the activity, Italian captain Diego Benedetto with the CEA introduced the preparations that a captain shall do before piloting a flight, shared his stories of flying in China, and sent his wishes to the Gen-Zers.

Head flight attendant Hu Anlun with the CEA, who once lived and studied in Italy, made a presentation of airplane etiquette in the prep-room of the CEA headquarters in Shanghai. She also displayed the comfy environment and shared her stories of studying in Italy.

"My job takes me on a global tour, and that is the most attractive part about it," Hu said, adding that her job vividly presents her the colors and brilliance of the world.

Benedetto told the Gen-Zers that his love for the profession started when he was a child. He felt the call of the profession when seeing photos of pilots in uniforms at home in his childhood, he told the students. The man said it's lucky for him to have become a pilot today.

Benedetto encouraged the Chinese and Italian students to turn what they have learned into a motivation for their further progress.

During the past 10 years, the CEA has maintained sound cooperation with Rome's Convitto Nazionale "Vittorio Emanuele II" (Italian boarding school) and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, actively joining China-Italy exchanges in culture, art and education. The company has injected new vitality into the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=408865

Caption: Chinese and Italian Gen-Zers had a close look at each other at an online exchange activity held by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) on Nov. 24.

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=408869

Caption: Chinese and Italian Gen-Zers had a close look at each other at an online exchange activity held by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) on Nov. 24.

SOURCE China Eastern Airlines
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EB5 BRICS announced today its scheduled travel to India, Dubai and Singapore to meet with families who are interested in immigrating to the United States via the EB-5 Investor Visa Program. The trip, scheduled for November 24th through January 21st, 2022, will include India , UAE and Singapore .

Vivek Tandon, EB5 BRICS Founder and CEO EB5 BRICS announced today its scheduled travel to India, Dubai and Singapore to meet with families who are interested in immigrating to the United States via the EB-5 Investor Visa Program.

"After a gap of nearly two years we are ready to hit the road again and will be conducting one-on-one in-person meetings to discuss EB-5 immigration and investment options," said Vivek Tandon, EB5 BRICS Founder and CEO. "Our team is fully vaccinated (incl. booster shot) and will follow all local Covid-19 safety protocols. We are looking forward to meeting with our current clients to discuss the changes to the program, as well as meet with and answer questions for individuals in India who are interested in learning more about immigration to the U.S. through an Investor Visa." Tandon, an EB-5 investment banker and attorney, will make the trip on behalf of EB5 BRICS.

Through the EB-5 program, investors have a direct route to permanent residency in the U.S. for themselves, spouse and children under 21 by making an investment in a project that creates jobs. The minimum investment with a direct investment is that of the U.S. $500,000 (The program is up for review by congress in December 2021, the investment amount may be increased above $500k.).

The investor and their family will profit from the ability to live, work, and retire in the United States, as well as the ability to attend college or university at resident rates and enjoy all of the benefits of permanent residency in the United States.

Read More

please contact Vivek Tandon , see Countries we serve

About EB5 BRICS:

EB5 BRICS offers foreign investors the opportunity and instruments to gain permanent residency in the United States. Their team of experts partners with Regional Centers, business and tax law experts, and real estate and business management professionals to help clients achieve their goals of investment-based immigration to the United States.

Dubai - Nov. 24-25

- Mumbai - Dec. 1-2

- Pune - Dec. 3

- Bangalore - Dec. 4-5

- Chennai - Dec. 6

- Hyderabad - Dec. 7-8

- Delhi - Dec. 9-10

- Singapore - Jan. 17-21

See latest schedule here

If you'd like to meet and discuss EB-5 immigration and EB-5 investments including Current Direct EB-5 opportunities and Regional Center EB-5 Projects (subject to program reauthorization), fill out the form.

See our Sitemap

See other EB5 Visa News from 2020 and 2019

Media Contact:

Vivek Tandon, Esq

EB5 BRICS, LLC

8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800

Beverly Hills, CA 90211

213.344.5941

https://www.eb5brics.com

Securities offered through Sequence Financial Specialists LLC (Member FINRA / SIPC ). EB5 BRICS, LLC is not a broker-dealer, does not offer securities and is not registered with FINRA or any other securities-regulating organizations. The CEO of EB5 BRICS is registered with Sequence. EB5 BRICS is not affiliated with Sequence. Information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient. You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

Sequence Financial Specialists LLC professionals are committed to acting in our retail client's best interest. For important information on Regulation Best Interest, including Form CRS and other disclosures, please visit our website at www.sequencefinancialspecialists.com .

SOURCE EB5 BRICS LLC
Procurement E-Commerce Logistics Procurement report explains key category management objectives that should form the base for sourcing strategy, including:

Top-line growth

Scalability of inputs

Green initiatives

Category innovations

Supply base rationalization

Demand forecasting and governance

Minimalization of ad hoc purchases

Adherence to regulatory nuances

Cost savings

Customer retention

Reduction of TCO

Supply assurance

Sign Up for a Sample Procurement E-Commerce Logistics Procurement Market Report: www.spendedge.com/report/e-commerce-logistics-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

This report evaluates suppliers based on provision for applicable insurance policy, real-time analysis, pipeline software solutions, and conduct pipeline surveys. In addition, suppliers are also shortlisted based on business needs, technical specifications, operational requirements, security compliance, regulatory mandates, legal requirements, quality control, change management procedures, pricing models, penalty clauses, SLA nuances, acceptance criteria, and evaluation criteria.

Related Reports on Professional Services Include:

Asset Recovery Services - Forecast and Analysis: The asset recovery services will grow at a CAGR of 9.49% during 2021-2025. Asia Asset Recovery Pte Ltd., TES-Amm Singapore Pte Ltd., and Iron Mountain Inc. are among the prominent suppliers in asset recovery services market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. Vulnerability Management Sourcing and Procurement Report: Vulnerability Management Procurement Market, prices will increase by 4%-6% during the forecast period and suppliers will have a Moderate bargaining power in this market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. Celebrity Talent Management Services - Sourcing and Procurement Intelligence Report: This report offers key advisory and intelligence to help buyers identify and shortlist the most suitable suppliers for their celebrity talent management services requirements. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report.

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
According to a November 2021 survey fielded by the American Association of Endodontists (AAE)  the 7,334-member-strong organization that represents root canal specialists known as endodontists who save natural teeth and relieve tooth pain  81% of American adults wish they had taken better care of their natural teeth. More than half (55%) wish their parent(s) had instilled better oral hygiene habits when they were younger, and 43% admit that tooth pain or oral health issues negatively affects their productivity or ability to focus.

If you crack your tooth this holiday season or experience dental pain, see an endodontist right away! Visit aae.org.

Oral health involves more than just keeping those pearly whites looking their best. Maintaining good oral health could be an important factor in living your life to the fullest. Poor dental health can lead to overall health issues and can negatively impact mood, confidence, ability to carry out daily tasks, your social life, AND your love life. In fact, more than a quarter (26%) of Americans feel others would find them more attractive and about 1 in 6 (16%) feel they would have a more active dating life if they took better care of their teeth.

The future is bright with hope! While 39% of American adults plan to avoid sweets this holiday season to avoid painful teeth or tooth issues, 76% intend to prioritize their oral health in 2022. And they're not just thinking of themselves, as nearly 7 in 10 (69%) Americans would consider giving a toothbrush (electric or manual) to someone they know for the holidays.

Looking ahead to 2022, 60% of Americans plan to make a New Year's resolution relating to oral health. The most popular oral health-related resolutions are:

66% plan to brush or floss their teeth more often

56% plan to drink fewer sugary drinks, cut back on candy/sweets, or reduce coffee or tea consumption

36% want to improve the appearance of their teeth

19% will resolve to quit or reduce teeth grinding

If you are due for an oral care appointment, schedule one as soon as possible. If you're already in pain, chip a tooth at a holiday party, or are presented with the option to extract an infected tooth at your cleaning appointment, get a second opinion from an endodontist. Endodontists have advanced training, specialized techniques, and superior technologies to give you the highest quality care with the best result: saving your natural teeth!

AAE President Dr. Alan S. Law adds, "Major tooth pain can strike at any time or place, and it's critically important that patients seek treatment from a skilled dental specialist right away when this happens. AAE's recently improved online directory can help patients more easily connect with an endodontist in their area when they need relief from tooth pain, to save their natural teeth via root canal treatment, or to receive immediate care for other dental-related emergencies. Endodontists often have more availability than general dentists, so our directory site is an address the public can really count on!"

The American Association of Endodontists commissioned Atomik Research (a division of 4media group) to conduct an online survey of 1,004 American adults. The makeup of the sample is statistically representative of the U.S. population based on the national census data regarding gender, age, and geographical regions. The margin of error for the overall sample (N=1,004) fell within +/- 3 percentage points with a confidence interval of 95 percent. Fieldwork took place between October 14-18, 2021. Atomik Research is an independent market research agency.

About the American Association of Endodontists

The AAE is headquartered in Chicago and represents more than 7,000 members worldwide. Endodontics is one of 12 dental specialties formally recognized by the American Dental Association. The AAE, founded in 1943, is dedicated to excellence in the art and science of endodontics and to the highest standard of patient care. The Association inspires its members to pursue professional advancement and personal fulfillment through education, research, advocacy, leadership, communication and service. For more information about the AAE, visit the Association's website at aae.org. For more patient-focused information, visit aae.org/patients.

For More Information:

Kim FitzSimmons, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, [email protected]

Elisabeth Lisican, Integrated Communications Manager, [email protected]

Michael Dobrow, Integrated Communications Specialist, [email protected]

SOURCE American Association of Endodontists (AAE)
Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation on pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Get a free sample report for more information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Advertising Production Services market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Advertising Production Services pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfil their category objectives.

For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/advertising-production-services-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. During the forecast period, the market expects a change of 4%-5%.

Identify favorable opportunities in Advertising Production Services TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

SpendEdge presents a detailed picture of this procurement market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our Advertising Production Services market procurement report covers the following areas:

Some of the top Advertising Production Services suppliers listed in this report:

This Advertising Production Services procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

RSA Films

Partizan

Phenomena Company Ltd

To get instant access to over 1000 market-ready procurement intelligence reports without any additional costs or commitment.

Subscribe Now for Free

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

Get instant access to download 5 reports every month and view 1200 full reports. With every purchase, we also offer complimentary research add-ons and Covid-19 impact assessments  Purchase Now!

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contacts

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Automotive Radar Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global automotive radar market exhibited moderate growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7% during 2021-2026.



The global automotive radar market is primarily driven by the growing incidences of road accidents that have necessitated safety features in automobiles for safer mobility. Governments across the world are also implementing stringent regulations and initiatives to develop vehicle safety systems.

Besides this, the growing trend of autonomous vehicles and the electrification of vehicles have escalated the demand for automotive radars. They offer adaptive cruise control and are critical components of the autonomous driving assistance systems (ADAS). Moreover, technological advancements in the automotive sector, such as the development of high-performance compact radars at low manufacturing costs, are providing a positive impact on the market growth.



Key Market Segmentation

The report provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global automotive radar market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2021-2026. The report has categorized the market based on region, range, vehicle type and application.



Breakup by Range

Long Range

Medium and Short Range

Breakup by Vehicle Type

Passenger Cars

Commercial Vehicles

Breakup by Application

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)

Blind Spot Detection (BSD)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Intelligent Park Assist

Others

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being:

Analog Devices Inc.

Aptiv plc

Autoliv Inc.

Continental AG

Denso Corporation

HELLA GmbH & Co. KGaA

Infineon Technologies AG

NXP Semiconductors

Robert Bosch GmbH

Texas Instruments Incorporated

Valeo

ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Key Questions Answered in the Report

How has the global automotive radar market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global automotive radar market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the range?

What is the breakup of the market based on the vehicle type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global automotive radar market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/yf9f7p

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Wafer Level Packaging Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global wafer level packaging market experienced strong growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 11% during 2021-2026.

The wafer-level packaging (WLP) refers to a packaging solution used for adding a protective layer of electronic connections and integrated circuits (ICs). It is used for devices, such as microphones, pressure sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes, capacitors, resistors and transistors. Some of the commonly used WLP integration types include fan-out (FO), fan-in (FI), flip-chip, 3D FOWLP. These solutions are used at the wafer-level of the device, instead of dicing the wafer into the individual die and packaging them. This offers various benefits, such as a reduction in the size of the wafer chips, streamlining of the manufacturing processes and improvements in chip functionalities. The ultrathin wafers also provide improved heat dissipation and performance, form factor reduction and minimal power consumption.

Significant growth in the electronics industry across the globe represents one of the key factors creating a positive outlook on the market growth. Furthermore, the increasing requirement for more compact and faster consumer electronics is also driving the market growth. This has also enhanced the overall demand for cost-effective and high-performance packaging solutions for enhanced mechanical protection, structural support and extended battery life of the devices. Additionally, various technological advancements, such as the integration of connected devices with the Internet of Things (IoT), are acting as other growth-inducing factors.

For instance, WLP is widely used for the manufacturing of radar systems in self-driving automobiles. It is also used in the healthcare sector for the production of various wearable devices. Other factors, including increasing circuit miniaturization in microelectronic devices, along with extensive research and development (R&D) activities, are anticipated to drive the market further.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Amkor Technology Inc., China Wafer Level CSP Co. Ltd., Chipbond Technology Corporation, Deca Technologies Inc. (Infineon Technologies AG), Fujitsu Limited, IQE PLC, JCET Group Co. Ltd., Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd. (Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc.), Tokyo Electron Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global wafer level packaging market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global wafer level packaging market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the packaging type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end use industry?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global wafer level packaging market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Wafer Level Packaging Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Packaging Technology

6.1 3D TSV WLP

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 2.5D TSV WLP

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 WLCSP

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

6.4 Nano WLP

6.4.1 Market Trends

6.4.2 Market Forecast

6.5 Others

6.5.1 Market Trends

6.5.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by End Use Industry

7.1 Aerospace and Defense

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Consumer Electronics

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 IT & Telecommunication

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast

7.4 Healthcare

7.4.1 Market Trends

7.4.2 Market Forecast

7.5 Automotive

7.5.1 Market Trends

7.5.2 Market Forecast

7.6 Others

7.6.1 Market Trends

7.6.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Region



9 SWOT Analysis



10 Value Chain Analysis



11 Porters Five Forces Analysis



12 Price Analysis



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Market Structure

13.2 Key Players

13.3 Profiles of Key Players

13.3.1 Amkor Technology Inc.

13.3.1.1 Company Overview

13.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.1.3 Financials

13.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

13.3.2 China Wafer Level CSP Co. Ltd.

13.3.2.1 Company Overview

13.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.2.3 SWOT Analysis

13.3.3 Chipbond Technology Corporation

13.3.3.1 Company Overview

13.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.3.3 SWOT Analysis

13.3.4 Deca Technologies Inc. (Infineon Technologies AG)

13.3.4.1 Company Overview

13.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.5 Fujitsu Limited

13.3.5.1 Company Overview

13.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.5.3 Financials

13.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

13.3.6 IQE PLC

13.3.6.1 Company Overview

13.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.6.3 SWOT Analysis

13.3.7 JCET Group Co. Ltd.

13.3.7.1 Company Overview

13.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.7.3 SWOT Analysis

13.3.8 Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd. (Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc.)

13.3.8.1 Company Overview

13.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.8.3 Financials

13.3.9 Tokyo Electron Ltd.

13.3.9.1 Company Overview

13.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.9.3 Financials

13.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

13.3.10 Toshiba Corporation

13.3.10.1 Company Overview

13.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

13.3.10.3 Financials

13.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/dv534h

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Water Desalination Equipment Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Reverse Osmosis (RO), Multi-stage Flash (MSF) Distillation), By Source, By Application, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global water desalination equipment market size is expected to reach USD 22.79 billion by 2028. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2020 to 2028.

Increasing water scarcity, depletion in freshwater reserves, and fast-paced advancements in desalination technologies are anticipated to have a positive impact on the market growth.



Deteriorating environmental factors, such as fluctuating weather patterns, rising pollution, and deforestation, have resulted in water scarcity and drought-like scenarios across the globe. The governments of various countries are investing in the development of desalination facilities to combat this situation, which is expected to drive the market.



The rising adoption of renewable energy to desalinate water is gaining traction in the market as the conventional systems require a considerable amount of energy to function, making them expensive and impracticable for usage in underdeveloped countries. Such developments are expected to drive the demand for water desalination equipment over the forecast period.



Key players such as Veolia and Suez have subsidiary companies that are benefited from the international presence of parent companies. Many companies are also investing in outsourcing R&D facilities in developing economies that can be used to expand their geographical presence and reduce the overall production costs by sourcing raw materials from the regional market.



Water Desalination Equipment Market Report Highlights

The reverse osmosis technology segment accounted for over 55% share of the global revenue in 2020 on account of its inexpensive installation cost, ease of processing, capacity to treat various types of feed water, and minimal usage of chemicals

The municipal application segment accounted for more than 50% share of the global revenue in 2020 owing to the growing urban population, coupled with the expanding megacities that are putting a strain on the available water sources, thereby augmenting the market growth

The seawater source segment is projected to expand at the fastest CAGR from 2020 to 2028 owing to the increasing scarcity of water for domestic and industrial use, which is expected to be a key driver in augmenting the demand for seawater desalination

The Middle East and Africa accounted for over 40% share of the global revenue in 2020. This is attributed to the scarcity of water resources in the region, which is likely to create a strong demand for water desalination equipment over the forecast period

and accounted for over 40% share of the global revenue in 2020. This is attributed to the scarcity of water resources in the region, which is likely to create a strong demand for water desalination equipment over the forecast period In July 2020 , Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) started the construction of the largest water desalination plant in the world at Al Taweelah Power and Water complex, which is slated to be completed by 2022

Companies Profiled

Acciona S.A.

Aquatech International LLC

Biwater Holdings Limited

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction

Genesis Water Technologies

Guangzhou Kangyang Seawater Desalination Equipment Co., Ltd. (Kysearo)

Ide Technologies

Suez

Veolia

Xylem

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/7cf1r

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Zeolites Market by Type (Natural, Synthetic), Function (Ion-Exchange, Catalyst, Molecular Sieve), Synthetic Zeolites Application (Detergents, Absorbent, Catalysts), Natural Zeolites Application, and Region - Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global zeolites market size is estimated to be USD 12.1 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 14.1 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 3.1% between 2021 and 2026.

Increasing demand for zeolites as catalysts in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) applications in oil & gas and petroleum industry is driving the growth of this market.

Zeolites are inorganic materials that are widely used in the chemical industry as catalysts or adsorbents. They are also known as molecular sieves as zeolites can selectively sort molecules using the size exclusion process. Earlier, zeolites were considered porous aluminosilicates with a very high affinity toward cations. Zeolites can either be macroporous, mesoporous, or microporous, depending on the framework of the structural rings. Due to their excellent adsorption, cation-exchange, dehydration-rehydration, and catalysis properties, zeolites are used for wastewater treatment, air purification, and soil treatment.

Natural Zeolites are expected to dominate the zeolites market during 2021-2026

By type, natural zeolite segment is projected to lead the market. This is majorly due to the growing demand for natural zeolites in various applications such as construction & building materials, soil remediation, animal feed and wastewater treatment among others.

Catalyst is expected to dominate the zeolites market, by function, during the forecast period

Based on function, catalyst segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall zeolites market, in terms of value, in 2020. Zeolites are the most important inorganic material used in the production of oil & gas in the petrochemical and oil refining industries. They are routinely used as catalysts in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydrocarbon cracking (HC) applications. Zeolite catalysts have the advantage of removing hydrogen from alkanes at the acidic sites or reaction sites.

Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the zeolites market during 2021-2026

Asia Pacific dominated the global zeolites market in 2020. It is majorly due to the increase in demand for zeolites from major countries such as China, Japan, and India. China is the largest market for zeolites market in Asia Pacific. Surging demand for transportation fuels is driving the market for refinery catalysts in the Asia Pacific region.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Zeolites Market

4.2 Zeolites Market, by Function

4.3 Zeolites Market, by Region

4.4 Asia-Pacific: Zeolites Market by Type and Country

5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Rising Demand for Synthetic Zeolites from the Detergent Industry

5.2.1.2 Growing Demand for Natural Zeolites from Agriculture Sector

5.2.1.3 Significant Usage of Zeolites for Catalytic Cracking in Petroleum Industry

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 High Selectivity Leads to Lower Exploitation of Zeolites for Various Applications

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Rising Demand for Adsorbents

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Toxic Nature of Synthetic Zeolites

5.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3.1 Threat of New Entrants

5.3.2 Threat of Substitutes

5.3.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

5.3.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers

5.3.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry

5.4 Technology Analysis/Manufacturing Process

5.5 Supply Chain Analysis

5.6 Ecosystem/Market Map of Zeolites

5.7 Trade Analysis

5.8 Pricing Trends of Zeolites

5.9 Regulatory Landscape

5.9.1 Regulations on Detergents

5.10 Patent Analysis

6 COVID-19 Impact on Zeolites Market

6.1 Introduction

6.1.1 COVID-19 Impact on Lives and Livelihood

6.1.1.1 Economic Outlook by International Monetary Fund (Imf)

6.1.1.2 Stimulus Package by G-20 Countries

6.1.2 Impact of COVID-19 on Zeolites Market

6.1.2.1 Introduction

6.1.2.2 Impact on Raw Materials

6.1.2.3 Impact on End-Use Industry

6.1.2.3.1 Medical Industry

6.1.2.3.2 Building & Construction Industry

6.1.3 Impact of COVID-19 on Zeolites Market Manufacturers

7 Zeolites Market, by Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Natural Zeolites

7.2.1 Increasing Demand from Agriculture Sector Driving the Growth

7.3 Synthetic Zeolites

7.3.1 Growing Demand for Synthetic Zeolites in Detergent

8 Zeolites Market, by Function

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Ion-Exchange

8.2.1 Growing Wastewater Treatment Industry Propelling Growth of Zeolites in Ion-Exchange Applications

8.3 Molecular Sieve

8.3.1 High Demand for Zeolite a and Type X Faujasites as Commercial Adsorbents/Molecular Sieves

8.4 Catalyst

8.4.1 Increasing Demand for Zeolites as Catalysts in Fcc Applications in Oil & Gas and Petroleum Industry

9 Synthetic Zeolites Market, by Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Detergents

9.2.1 Rising Awareness About Increasing Level of Soluble Phosphorus in Municipal Wastewater Promoting Growth

9.3 Absorbent/Desiccant

9.3.1 Rising Demand from Industrial Gas Drying Application Aiding Growth of this Segment

9.4 Catalysts

9.4.1 APAC is Largest Market for Synthetic Zeolites in Catalysts Application

9.5 Others

10 Natural Zeolites Market, by Application

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Construction & Building Materials

10.2.1 Natural Zeolites Offer Improved Strength and Stability to Concrete and Cement

10.3 Animal Feed

10.3.1 Rising Awareness Regarding Benefits of Using Natural Zeolites in Animal Feed Aiding the Growth

10.4 Wastewater Treatment

10.4.1 Excellent Absorbency of Natural Zeolites Makes Them Suitable to be Used as Catalysts

10.5 Soil Remediation

10.5.1 Natural Zeolites Widely Used in Soil Remediation due to Their Excellent Ion-Exchange Properties

10.6 Others

11 Zeolites Market, by Framework

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Linde Type A

11.3 Faujasite

11.4 Mfi

12 Zeolites Market, by Pore Size

12.1 Introduction

12.2 3 A -7 A

12.3 7 A -10 A

13 Zeolites Market, by Region

14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Key Players' Strategies

14.2 Revenue Analysis

14.3 Market Share Analysis

14.3.1 Basf Se

14.3.2 Albemarle Corporation

14.3.3 Honeywell International Inc.

14.3.4 Clariant

14.3.5 Arkema

14.3.6 W. R. Grace & Co.

14.4 Company Evaluation Quadrant

14.4.1 Star

14.4.2 Pervasive

14.4.3 Emerging Leader

14.4.4 Participant

14.5 Competitive Leadership Mapping of SME, 2020

14.5.1 Progressive Companies

14.5.2 Responsive Companies

14.5.3 Starting Blocks

14.5.4 Dynamic Companies

14.6 Competitive Scenario

15 Company Profiles

15.1 Basf Se

15.2 Albemarle Corporation

15.3 Honeywell International Inc.

15.4 Clariant

15.5 Arkema

15.6 W. R. Grace & Co.

15.7 Huiying Chemical Industry(Xiamen) Co., Ltd.

15.8 Tosoh Corporation

15.9 Union Showa Kk

15.10 Zeochem Ag

15.11 Knt Group

15.12 Zeolyst International

15.13 Chemiewerk Bad Kostritz GmbH

15.14 Nalco India

15.15 Pq

15.16 Other Companies

15.16.1 Ningbo Jiahe New Materials Technology Co., Ltd

15.16.2 Sorbead India

15.16.3 Dalian Haixin Chemical Co., Ltd.

15.16.4 Gujarat Credo Mineral Industries Ltd (Gcmil)

15.16.5 Gujarat Multi Gas Base Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. (Gmgbc)

15.16.6 Iqe Group

15.16.7 Eurecat

15.16.8 Fujian Anten Chemical Co. Ltd

15.16.9 Manek Group

15.16.10 Gordes Zeolite

16 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lh3gok

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CLEARWATER, Fla., Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HRTG) ("Heritage" or the "Company"), a super-regional property and casualty insurance holding company, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Slide, a startup InsurTech P&C carrier led by Bruce Lucas, Heritage's former Chairman and CEO, providing it with enhanced technological capabilities and allowing it to participate in the InsurTech sector's upside.

Partnership provides Heritage with the opportunity to:

Leverage Slide's InsurTech capabilities to improve underwriting and rating decisions.

Further capitalize on strong agency relationships by generating commission income on policies that don't meet Heritage's underwriting criteria (e.g., due to geographic concentration).

Participate in the InsurTech sector without potentially significant capital requirements to develop similar capabilities internally.

Based on current publicly traded InsurTech valuations, potential to generate a meaningful capital gain, which, if realized, could provide additional funds for share buybacks or debt retirement.

Terms of the partnership

Heritage will receive:

Approximately 6% equity stake in Slide, an InsurTech P&C carrier with an estimated $250 million post-money valuation, and warrants allowing it to purchase an additional equity interest at Slide's pre-money valuation.

post-money valuation, and warrants allowing it to purchase an additional equity interest at Slide's pre-money valuation. Perpetual, royalty free license to certain aspects of Slide's software.

Heritage will:

Transfer ownership of Pawtucket , a dormant P&C carrier licensed in Rhode Island .

, a dormant P&C carrier licensed in . Transfer ownership of First Access Insurance Group, a Florida -licensed MGA with minimal earnings.

-licensed MGA with minimal earnings. Provide access to historical claims and underwriting data.

Ernie Garateix, Heritage's CEO, said, "We're excited to partner with Slide and our former colleague on this win-win opportunity. We believe this partnership will significantly accelerate development of our InsurTech capabilities, while providing us with an equity stake in an impressive startup that is developing cutting edge technology."

Financial information, including material announcements about Heritage, is routinely posted on investors.heritagepci.com.

About Heritage

Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc. is a super-regional property and casualty insurance holding company. Through its insurance subsidiaries and a large network of experienced agents, the Company writes approximately $1.2 billion of gross personal and commercial residential premiums across its multi-state footprint.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those discussed herein. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," "or "continue" or the other negative variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the opportunities provided to Heritage through the transaction with Slide, including whether Heritage will be able to leverage Slide's InsurTech capabilities to improve underwriting and rating decisions, further capitalize on strong agency relationships, participate in the InsurTech sector with minimal capital outlays, generate a capital gain allowing for share buybacks or debt retirement and whether Slide's InsurTech technology will be completed or delivered to Heritage when expected, and whether the transaction or relationship with Slide will accelerate Heritage's development of InsurTech capabilities. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ from those expressed or implied herein include, the matters described from time to time by the Company in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 9, 2021. Risks also include Slide's inability to develop the expected InsurTech technology or to be successful in growing its business or the value of Heritage's equity stake in Slide is less than expected. The Company undertakes no obligations to update, change or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, additional or subsequent developments or otherwise.

Investor Contact:

Arash Soleimani, CFA, CPA

Executive Vice President

727.871.0206

[email protected]

SOURCE Heritage Insurance Holdings, Inc.
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The world's largest modeling, simulation and training conference is back in person as I/ITSEC returns to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Nov. 29-Dec. 3, the National Training and Simulation Association announces.

The 2021 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference will welcome thousands from around the world to look closely at "Innovating and Accelerating Training: Adapting to an Unexpected Future," this year's show theme. The Navy and Marine Corps are the featured services, with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday offering opening-day keynote addresses.

"We are excited and confident to return to Florida," said James Robb, president and CEO of NTSA, which hosts I/ITSEC. "It is important to bring together, in person, this highly engaged community to share ideas, network and learn from each other." I understand concerns some folks have with the COVID-19 situation. We are tracking cases closely, and case rates are falling quickly in the Orlando area. As infection rates decrease and health protections are in place, the time is here to gather again and strengthen these technologies."

NTSA, an affiliate of the National Defense Industrial Association of Arlington, Virginia, has COVID-19 attendance policy and recent mask updates in place for I/ITSEC. It also will offer COVID-19 testing at the convention center. Details to schedule a testing appointment are available on the I/ITSEC website. If needed upon arrival in Orlando, local COVID-19 Testing Facilities are also available.

Be among the more than 10,000 attendees expected from government, academia, corporations and the military who will explore cyber and big-data analysis and study critical national security issues through special events and dozens of professional papers and presentations. About 400 exhibitors of cutting-edge virtual technologies and applications also are expected at this year's conference. Among I/ITSEC's highlights over four days are peer-reviewed paper presentations, tutorials, special events, a congressional caucus, professional workshops, a serious games competition and STEM events for teachers and secondary students.

Press registration for is free for I/ITSEC. The media center is room 210E at the Orange County Convention Center. .

SOURCE I/ITSEC
The 4-month assessment process culminated with recognising the most innovative companies in a number of fintech and allied fields from 800+ applications. The assessment framework was developed and managed by Deloitte, and Perfios felicitated the winners. Over 40 industry leaders were part of the eminent Jury and 50+ Speakers shared their valuable insights.

Past winners of IFTA include well-known names like Simpl, Capital Float, ZestMoney and Valocity Global, and have cumulatively raised over USD 3 billion in funding till date.



Winner at IFTA 2021 Fintech Startup of the Year Stockal Fintech Rising Stars (Runners-up to Fintech Startup of the Year) BukuWarung, AccuraScan, Money View Fintech Scaleup of the Year IDfy Fintech Leader of the Year Ravi Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO, Upstox Woman Leader in Fintech Aarti Ramakrishnan, Co-Founder and COO, Crayon Data Most Innovative Fintech Product Pine Labs Best Fintech Consumer Lender Paisabazaar Best Fintech Business Lender InCred Best International Fintech in India MODIFI Best FinTech Ecosystem Partner Grameen Impact Ventures Most Innovative Bank of the Year IDFC FIRST Bank Financial Inclusion Initiative of the Year Jai Kisan Excellence in Payments Mswipe Technologies Best Use of AI in Fintech Marsview.ai Most Innovative Blockchain or Crypto Product Whrrl Best Innovation in RegTech Signzy Best Innovation in Wealth Management Stockal Best Technology Company for Fintech Solutions Zeta Most Innovative Neo Bank Open Financial Technologies Excellence in InsureTech Digit Insurance

The list of winners is available at: www.indiafintech.com

Enablers for fintech growth

Fintech's growing importance can be seen from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's participation in the upcoming fintech InFinity Forum organized by IFSCA and launch of Tamil Nadu's FinTech Policy by Chief Minister Shri M K Stalin. Mr. Sandip Shah, Head- IFSC Dept, GIFT City informed the IFTA audience that GIFT City is the only location today in India that has been recognised and notified as an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

Ms. Pooja Kulkarni, IAS, MD and CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu elaborated on the multifarious initiatives being taken under the Fintech Policy for fintech companies including a Fintech Governing Council under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Industries, development of a Fintech City with built-up space of 1 million sq.ft in Chennai, Neo-TIDEL Parks in Tier II and III cities, power infrastructure, connectivity, cybersecurity, disaster recovery centre at Trichy, funding avenues and reduced compliance burden.

Drivers of fintech growth in India

Companies including PayU, CashRich, Perfios, Huobi Global, KUDOS Finance, TransUnion CIBIL and Miami Fintech came together to power discussions on the opportunities for upcoming technologies, challenges and way forward to capitalise on the next 2-3 years. Mr. Jitendra Gupta, Founder and CEO, Jupiter and Advisory Committee Member of India FinTech Forum noted, "The India Stack has been game changing alongside Aadhaar. Government initiatives and regulatory sandbox for fintechs have been very helpful. Availability of capital in a vibrant ecosystem is one of the key drivers of fintech growth."

Fintech companies in India are riding the global innovation wave despite the pandemic. This is supported by the number of unicorns in India that are fintech companies. Mr. Rajesh Kumar, MD and CEO, TransUnion CIBIL had a very positive outlook for growth of fintech companies, and said, "This is a dynamically evolving ecosystem where collaboration, competition and convergence exist in equal measures. Fintech sector players must take into consideration a very strong focus on data security norms, privacy laws and strong governance framework in their quest for growth."

Upcoming innovation in global payments

Ms. Praveena Rai, COO, NPCI, noted that global payment systems were traditionally offered by large monolith institutions with payment infrastructure in various countries but now we have popular country-specific payment systems also. There is a need to look at how these payment systems can start operating together so that a network of payment systems can get created. The recently announced plan from the RBI and MAS to link UPI and Singapore's PayNow will be useful. She pointed out, "There is a need to look at those payment solutions that can operate in an offline manner." Global payments is likely to be a very significant revenue pool for fintech companies, given the current high cost of international transactions, and potential to bring more efficiency, transparency, and speed to the same. Mr. Mohit Gopal, SVP at PayU cautioned that vanilla payment products tend to have very low margins, so it is important to find other products to get those margins.

Mr. Vincent Lau, MD - International Operations, Huobi Global spoke about recent global trends such as NFT, gaming and metaverse, and how cryptocurrencies could allow unbanked people to earn, invest and transact.

Mr. Ramgopal Subramani, COO, Perfios noted that India FinTech Forum's IFTA continues to be one event where you get to know not only what is happening in India but also globally. He said that it was inspiring to know that the future is bright in the hands of the startups that presented their fintech innovation.

Mr. Sougata Basu, Founder, CashRich and Executive Committee Member of India FinTech Forum, said, "IFTA 2021 gave us an opportunity to see some amazing innovation done by fintech firms during the year in spite of the challenges caused by the pandemic. Several fintech companies have created solutions for true financial inclusion using the power of technology."

About India FinTech Forum: India FinTech Awards (IFTA) is organised by India Fintech Forum, a non-profit initiative that offers a platform for fintech companies to collaborate and voice their opinions on the relevant policy issues. More than 2000 fintech companies and over 25000 individuals who are members of this forum, are dedicated to enhancing the ecosystem to ensure that India leads the global fintech innovation wave. Website Link: www.indiafintech.com

Media contact:

[email protected]

+91 91379 29779

SOURCE India FinTech Forum
DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Baby Pacifier Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global baby pacifier market exhibited moderate growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 5% during 2021-2026.



Baby pacifiers, also known as dummies, teethers and soothers, are rubber or plastic objects that are used to comfort and entertain babies and stop them from crying. They are made of soft, natural, and flexible materials like rubber, latex and silicone. However, silicone pacifiers are considered more durable than the ones made of latex. They are used as an effective means to calm babies during the first few months after birth when they are fussy, colic, or have a habit of suckling. Baby pacifiers are also recommended by doctors to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). They are also considered as a transitional object that helps children relieve stress and adjust to new situations.



Baby Pacifier Market Trends:

The global baby pacifier market is primarily driven by the increasing global birth rate. This has resulted in the growing demand for various baby accessories such as baby pacifiers that offer temporary distraction, help babies fall asleep and ease discomfort during flights. The rapidly changing lifestyle and rising disposable income of individuals are also propelling the market growth. Furthermore, manufacturers are introducing innovative products that cater to the target customer. For instance, Smilo (Momma Goose Inc.), a US-based company, has launched a new line of baby pacifiers that are sized according to the baby's age and expand in the mouth for optimum support. They are also developing pacifiers that reduce the intake of air by toddlers to prevent a gassy stomach.

Competitive Landscape:



The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Angelcare USA LLC, Baby Shusher LLC, Doddle & Co, Handi-Craft Company, Koninklijke Philips N.V, Mam Babyartikel Gmbh, Mayborn Group Limited (Shanghai Fuxin Fine Chemical Co. Ltd.), Natursutten ApS, Newell Brands Inc., Pigeon Corporation and The Natural Baby Company LLC.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global baby pacifier market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global baby pacifier market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the size?

What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global baby pacifier market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Baby Pacifier Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Single-piece Baby Pacifier

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Multiple-piece Baby Pacifier

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Size

7.1 Small

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Medium

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Large

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel

8.1 Online

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Offline

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region



10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 Angelcare USA LLC

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2 Baby Shusher LLC

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3 Doddle & Co

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.4 Handi-Craft Company

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 Koninklijke Philips N.V

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5.3 Financials

14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.6 Mam Babyartikel Gmbh

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 Mayborn Group Limited (Shanghai Fuxin Fine Chemical Co. Ltd.)

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.8 Natursutten ApS

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Newell Brands Inc.

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9.3 Financials

14.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.10 Pigeon Corporation

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10.3 Financials

14.3.11 The Natural Baby Company LLC

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/5wf5ni

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Process Spectroscopy Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global process spectroscopy market exhibited moderate growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 7% during 2021-2026. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use industries. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Process spectroscopy is a specialized technique used for analyzing the interaction between light, electromagnetic radiation and matter. Process spectroscopy uses various devices, such as benchtop, micro, portable and hyphenated spectroscopes, amplifiers, signal processors, display units and microscopes. They are commonly used for Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Near-Infrared (NIR). Process spectroscopy involves splitting the radiation into a spectrum of its wavelengths to study electrons, protons and ions, and the generated collision energy. As a result, it finds extensive applications across various industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biological research and electronics.



Significant growth in the pharmaceutical industry is one of the key factors creating a positive outlook for the market. Drug manufacturers use process spectroscopes to evaluate the material porosity of a substance for quality control and to examine the state of the formulations. Moreover, the increasing demand for process analyzers across industries is providing a thrust to the market growth. Process spectroscopes are widely used in bioreactors, slipstreams, reaction vessels and large volumetric probes for drug manufacturing and water and wastewater treatment.

In line with this, the technique is also gaining immense preference among the masses for analyzing, monitoring and controlling various manufacturing processes and identifying defects in product materials. Other factors, including the widespread adoption of spectroscopic techniques in the forensic sector for the identification of organic compounds and substances at crime scenes, along with extensive research and development (R&D) activities, are anticipated to drive the market toward growth.



Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being ABB Ltd, Agilent Technologies Inc., Bruker Corporation, Buchi Labortechnik AG, Danaher Corporation, Foss A/S, Horiba Ltd., Kett Electric Laboratory, Sartorius AG, Shimadzu Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.



Key Questions Answered in This Report:

How has the global process spectroscopy market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global process spectroscopy market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the technology?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global process spectroscopy market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Process Spectroscopy Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Technology

6.1 Molecular Spectroscopy

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Mass Spectroscopy

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Atomic Spectroscopy

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Component

7.1 Hardware

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Software

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Application

8.1 Polymer

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Oil and Gas

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Pharmaceuticals

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Food and Agriculture

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 Chemicals

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 Water and Wastewater

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast

8.7 Others

8.7.1 Market Trends

8.7.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Region

10 SWOT Analysis



11 Value Chain Analysis



12 Porters Five Forces Analysis



13 Price Analysis



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 ABB Ltd

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.2 Agilent Technologies Inc.

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2.3 Financials

14.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.3 Bruker Corporation

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.4 Buchi Labortechnik AG

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 Danaher Corporation

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5.3 Financials

14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.6 Foss A/S

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 Horiba Ltd.

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7.3 Financials

14.3.8 Kett Electric Laboratory

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9 Sartorius AG

14.3.9.1 Company Overview

14.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.9.3 Financials

14.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.10 Shimadzu Corporation

14.3.10.1 Company Overview

14.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.10.3 Financials

14.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.11 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

14.3.11.1 Company Overview

14.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.11.3 Financials

14.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.12 Yokogawa Electric Corporation

14.3.12.1 Company Overview

14.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.12.3 Financials

14.3.12.4 SWOT Analysis

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ltv0lg

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com


LOS ANGELES, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Oak Street Health, Inc. ("Oak Street" or "the Company") (NYSE: OSH) for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Oak Street held a Q3 update on November 8, 2021, during which it revealed that it is the subject of a DOJ investigation. The federal investigation is to determine if the Company violated the False Claims Act. The Company admitted that the authorities have requested documents and information on the Company providing free transportation to federal healthcare beneficiaries as well as its relationships to third-party marketing agents. Based on this news, shares of Oak Street dropped by about 20% on November 9, 2021.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at [email protected].

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.

310-301-3335

[email protected]

www.schallfirm.com

SOURCE The Schall Law Firm
Massey's career in the creative arts spans 30 years and numerous genres. He is recognized worldwide for his art activism, including as being a voice for the homeless in the US.

As an undergraduate, Massey was the lead fashion designer for Team USA and Quintana Roo, notable brands carried in high end department stores. While at UCLA as a sociology major, Massey developed an interest in sculpture and honed his skills in the medium. He was recognized as the only non-fine arts major and finalist for UCLA's juried fine art competition. This experience was pivotal in his career and solidified his decision to further pursue sculpting while also refining his artistic visionexploring the intersections of art and social relevance.

Massey went on to earn his MFA from Columbia University, with an emphasis on public art. While enrolled at Columbia, Massey was commissioned to create a 20-foot sculpture for a building in Washington DC, entitled Corporate Ladder. The piece stirred up great controversy and served as Massey's first real foray into the space of public art and public perception.

Later, Massey would go on to write his first children's picture book, Milton, which is a story of imagination and creativity. After being invited to share his book with pediatric patients, Massey created Portraits of Hope, a non-profit program serving individuals facing socioeconomic, medical, or physical challenges. Portraits of Hope provides opportunities for the general public to participate in its large-scale public art and civic projects to increase awareness of social issues while revitalizing and visually transforming public spaces.

Throughout the early 2000s, Massey continued to introduce audiences across the globe to provocative artwork tackling social issues such as ethnic and gender inequities, American education, modern life, public transportation, immigration, violence and crime, terrorism, and civic engagement. His work has also been featured across New York, New Orleans, and Los Angeles , among other cities, as a solution to beautify public spaces scarred by natural disasters and neglect.

In 2019, Massey began his public exhibition In the Image, a sculpture in Santa Monica depicting a 7-foot-tall homeless man created to increase the discourse and action on homelessness in America. In an expansion of this project, Massey has plans to provide thousands of colorful art tents to homeless individuals if community and government leaders do not begin to significantly reduce the numbers of homeless on the streets.

Massey's upcoming projects include continuing his work with Portraits of Hope and planning for a large-scale civic and public art water-borne project.

"I'm looking forward to teaming with The Minter's Collective as a way not only to open a new window into my art and the social issues I care deeply about but also to be at the forefront of a new artistic revolution in the digital age," said Massey.

The Minter's Collective partners with artists like Massey to grow their audiences and monetize their craft through digital art and NFTs. The Collective leads artists through NFT basics such as the minting process, marketing, and more.

"We are honored to welcome Ed Massey to The Minters Collective," said Alex Chompff, CEO of The Minters Collective. "Ed is a recognizable name in the art scene both for his innovative approaches to his craft and the way he uses his art for social change. The Minters Collective is excited to help Ed monetize his work while also bringing his art to new audiences across the globe."

To learn more about The Minters Collective, visit https://www.minters.art/ .

CONTACT: Adrian Kennedy

PHONE: (323) 283-9511

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE The Minters Collective

Related Links

https://www.minters.art


SHANGHAI, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LITB) ("LightInTheBox" or the "Company"), a cross-border e-commerce company that delivers products directly to consumers around the world, today announced that it will release its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2021 before the open of U.S. markets on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

LightInTheBox's management will hold a conference call to discuss the results at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on December 2, 2021 (9:00 p.m. Beijing Time on the same day).

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, operator assisted conference calls are not available at the moment. All participants wishing to attend the call must preregister online before they can receive the dial-in numbers.

Preregistration Information

Participants can register for the conference call by navigating to http://apac.directeventreg.com/registration/event/5878276. Once preregistration has been complete, participants will receive dial-in numbers, an event passcode, and a unique registrant ID.

To join the conference, simply dial the number in the calendar invite you receive after preregistering, enter the event passcode followed by your unique registrant ID, and you will be joined to the conference instantly.

A telephone replay will be available two hours after the conclusion of the conference call through December 9, 2021. The dial-in details are:

US/Canada: +1-855-452-5696 Hong Kong: 800-963-117 International: +61-2-8199-0299 Passcode: 5878276

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's Investor Relations website at http://ir.lightinthebox.com.

About LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd.

LightInTheBox is a cross-border e-commerce platform that delivers products directly to consumers around the world. The Company offers customers a convenient way to shop for a wide selection of products at attractive prices through its www.lightinthebox.com, www.miniinthebox.com, www.ezbuy.sg and other websites and mobile applications, which are available in 25 major languages and cover more than 140 countries.

For more information, please visit www.lightinthebox.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Christensen

Ms. Xiaoyan Su

Tel: +86 (10) 5900 1548

Email: [email protected]

OR

Christensen

Ms. Linda Bergkamp

Phone: +1-480-614-3004

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE LightInTheBox Holding Co., Ltd.

Related Links

http://ir.lightinthebox.com/


DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Europe Carbon Fiber Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis by Raw Material and End Use Industry" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The European carbon fiber market is expected to grow from US$ 721.82 million in 2019 to US$ 1,504.51 million by 2027; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2020 to 2027.

The escalating usage of carbon fiber in the wind energy industry is bolstering the growth of the market in Europe. Growing demand for renewable resources has led to a surge in the installation for wind farms, with large tracts of land and coastal areas devoted to the operation of wind turbines.

Wind turbine manufacturers strive to produce more efficient and longer blades. Advanced composite materials such as carbon fiber are becoming a major part of the construction of wind turbines, specifically the blades. According to the studies conducted by companies operating in the market, the longer the blades on a turbine, the more energy it generates.

Carbon fibers play a crucial role in the wind energy industry. Large blades are typically designed for stiffness and deflection, rather than taking material strength into consideration. Carbon fibers, if used in the turbines, enable high stiffness characteristic that reduces blade deflection, allowing a larger tower diameter for a given blade-to-tower clearance. Carbon fibers are added in the spar cap, which is the backbone of the blade. These fibers are also considered an effective alternative to the glass fibers used in wind turbines, as they make the blades thinner, stiffer, and lighter.

Furthermore, they have relatively low damage tolerance, compressive strength, and ultimate strain. Thus, carbon fiber has come up as an impactful technology for turbine manufacturers such as Vestas Wind Systems A/S and Gamesa Technology Corp. These companies use carbon fiber in select structural parts of the blades. Lighter blades require less robust turbine and tower components, and hence, the cascading cost savings justify the additional cost of carbon.

The rising demands from the automotive and aerospace applications are among the other factors expected to positively influence the demand for carbon fiber in Europe during the forecast period.



In Europe, currently, the UK and Russia are the hardest-hit countries due to the COVID-19 outbreak pandemic. It is suffering an economic hit due to the lack of revenues generated from various industries, as the country recorded the highest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases followed by France, Spain, Italy, and Germany. Many member states have implemented drastic measures and travel restrictions, including partially closing their borders. These measures are impacting the growth of the European carbon fiber market.



The European carbon fiber market is segmented on the basis of raw material, end-use industry, and country. Based on raw material, the market is bifurcated into PAN and Pitch. In 2019, the PAN segment held a larger market share. Based on end-user industry, the European carbon fiber market is segmented into automotive, aerospace and defense, construction, sporting goods, wind energy, and others. The market for the aerospace and defense segment is expected to grow fastest during the forecast period.



The overall European carbon fiber market size has been derived using both primary and secondary sources. To begin the research process, exhaustive secondary research has been conducted using internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the market.

The process also serves the purpose of obtaining an overview and forecast for the European carbon fiber market with respect to all the segments pertaining to the region. Also, multiple primary interviews have been conducted with industry participants and commentators to validate the data, as well as to gain more analytical insights into the topic.

Reasons to Buy

Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies.

The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the European carbon fiber market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long-term strategies.

Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.

Scrutinize in-depth the market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.

Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.

Key Topics Covered:

Europe Carbon Fiber Market - Key Industry Dynamics

Key Market Drivers

Surge in demands from automotive and aerospace applications

Escalating usage of carbon fiber in wind energy industry

Key Market Restraints

Increase in costs and other disadvantages associated with carbon fibers

Key Market Opportunities

Escalating usage of carbon fiber in the sporting goods industry

Key Future Trends

Rise in use of carbon in 3D printing

Impact Analysis

Carbon Fiber - Europe Market Analysis

Europe Carbon Fiber Market Analysis - by Raw Material

Europe Carbon Fiber Market Analysis - By End-Use Industry

Country Analysis Of Europe Carbon Fiber Market

Overview - Impact of COVID-19

Europe : Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic

Industry Landscape

Merger & Acquisition

Product news

Investment Scenario

Company Profiles

Key Facts

Business Description

Products and Services

Financial Overview

SWOT Analysis

Key Developments

Companies Mentioned

DowAksa

Formosa Plastic Corporation

Hexcel Corporation

Hyosung Corporation

Kureha Corporation

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

SGL Carbon

Solvay

Teijin Limited

Toray Industries,Inc

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/k2yqqc

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets
BEIJING, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Home to some of the highest mountains in the worldincluding the legendary Mount Everestthe vast Himalayan-Tibetan plateau is often referred to as the "Roof of the World". This plateau is one of the most representative instances of intercontinental collision. Geophysicists have long believed that it is the ideal playground to study and untangle continental convergence, and thus plate tectonics. To that effect, scholars have been conducting seismic tests in the area since the 1950s.

Chinese scientists discover important clues regarding climate diversity in Southeast Asia, through analyses of deep seismic reflection profile of Tibetan Plateau

Now, Chinese scholars have published a study in Earth Science Frontiers, describing the structure of the crust under the Himalayan-Tibetan plateau, as well as the deep behaviors underlying the ongoing India-Eurasia collision. "The Himalayan-Tibetan plateau can be considered a sort of Rosetta Stone to unlocking the mysteries of continent-continent collision. The area can be regarded as the natural laboratory to investigate the phenomenon," says Professor Gao Rui of the Sun Yat-sen University, first author of the study.

The study utilizes a method called deep seismic reflection profiling to determine the fine architecture within the Tibetan Plateau. The technique involves sending artificially generated sound waves into the ground, where they meet different objects and structures which bounce back a portion of the sound waves. These sound waves are then detected and recorded on the surface and processed to develop a visual of the underground structure. The enormous size of the Tibetan Plateau, its height, and its inclement weather conditions are all factors that have contributed to the scale and difficulty of this daunting task.

Chinese scholars studied the Tibetan Plateau using deep seismic reflection profiling for over 20 years, overcoming several technical difficulties and bottlenecks to access the lowermost layer of the crust and the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or Moho.

Their discoveries can be summarized in four points. First, the Indian crust is experiencing northward subduction while its lower layers are varying in their thickness. Second, the subducting front of the Indian crust is in deep contact with the lower crust and the mantle 'suture' of the Eurasian plate. Third, a crustal-scale vertical collision occurred between two regions of the Plateau, the Tethyan Himalayas and the Lhasa terrane. Finally, the Eurasian plate is subducting in a southward direction under the Qilian Mountains, resulting in a northward advancement of the Qilian crust.

Of their findings, Prof. Gao says, "What makes the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau so unique? Our study has the answers to that question. It also makes an enormous contribution to our understanding of the construction of continental orogenic range-basin systems."

The results of the study are sure to bring 'seismic' change in our understanding of the Earth's crust!

Reference

Title of original paper: Deep seismic reflection evidence on the deep processes of tectonic construction of the Tibetan Plateau

Journal : Earth Science Frontiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.13745/j.esf.sf.2021.8.10

Media contact:

Xiaolong Wang

[email protected]

1-352-226-2702

SOURCE Earth Science Frontiers
NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- AXP Energy Limited (ASX: AXP, OTC US: AUNXF), ('AXP', 'Company') announces its assessment of Reserves and Contingent Resources as at 1 October 2021. The Reserves and Resources below are net to AXP unless stated otherwise. They include, for the first time, the Reserves and Resources gained with the acquisitions of Appalachian Basin asset (MHP) and the new Illinois Basin asset (Trey Exploration).

2P Reserves of 6.37 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) comprised of 1.06 million barrels of oil (MMbbl), 24.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas and 1.17 million barrels NGL; substantially up from 0.124 MMboe;

2C Contingent Resources of 211.95 million barrels of oil equivalent, up from 192.93 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Reserves

AXP's 2P Reserves at 1 October 2021 are assessed to be 6.371 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) compared with the previously reported figure of 0.124 MMboe (which included only the previous Denver-Julesburg Basin asset in Colorado and a portion the Illinois Basin asset, being the Kentucky Exploration asset). Therefore, the main contribution to the significant movement in 2P was the acquisition of the Appalachian Basin asset, which closed on 26 February 2021, and the acquisition of the Illinois Basin asset, which closed 1 October, 2021.

RESERVE CATEGORY OIL

[MMbbl1] GAS

[Bcf2] NGL

[MMbbl1] TOTAL3

[MMboe4] Proved (1P) 0.71 22.58 1.04 5.52 Probable 0.35 2.12 0.13 0.86 Proved + Probable (2P) 1.06 24.70 1.17 6.37 Possible 0.50 10.81 0.39 2.69 Proved + Probable + Possible (3P) 1.56 35.51 1.56 9.06

1. MMbbl means one million barrels;

2. Bcf means one billion standard cubic feet;

3. Totals may not exactly reflect arithmetic addition due to rounding;

4. MMboe means one million barrels of oil equivalent. Gas is converted at 6 Mcf to 1 boe and at 5 Mcf to 1 boe in the Denver-

Julesburg Basin (due to the high calorific value of this gas).

The above totals represent an aggregation of the assessed Reserves for the Company's 3 producing areas. A more detailed breakdown of the above by producing area is provided in Appendix 1.

Contingent Resources

AXP's 2C Contingent Resources at 1 October 2021 are assessed to be 211.95 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), compared with the previously reported figure of 192.93 MMboe. Again, the main contribution to the significant increase was the acquisition of the Appalachian Basin asset (MHP), which closed on 26 February 2021, and the acquisition of the Illinois Basin asset (Trey Exploration), which closed 1 October, 2021.

CONTINGENT RESOURCE CATEGORY OIL

[MMbbl1] GAS

[Bcf2] NGL

[MMbbl1] TOTAL3

[MMboe4] Low Estimate (1C) 46.82 507.16 2.28 149.02 Mid Estimate (2C) 68.32 713.99 3.70 211.95 High Estimate (3C) 96.55 1,041.92 9.25 306.27

1. MMbbl means one million barrels;

2. Bcf means one billion standard cubic feet;

3. Totals may not exactly reflect arithmetic addition due to rounding;

4. MMboe means one million barrels of oil equivalent. Gas is converted at 6 Mcf to 1 boe and at 5 Mcf to 1 boe in the Denver-

Julesburg Basin (due to the high calorific value of this gas).

The above totals represent an aggregation of the assessed Contingent Resources for the AXP's 3 producing areas. A detailed breakdown by producing area is provided in Appendix 2.

AXP Commentary

The Company is encouraged by the Reserves and Contingent Resources brought in under the 2 recent acquisitions, as they substantially underpin the Company's value. As AXP has only owned the Appalachian Basin and the majority of the Illinois Basin's acreage for a short period of time, the Reserves are based on production and plans in respect of current productive formations only.

Planned drilling, well production enhancements by workovers and stimulation, and the implementation of a comprehensive field development plan (incorporating evaluations of certain Contingent Resources based on the results of the drilling and production enhancements) may see Contingent Resources moved to Reserves in time.

The Company will be hosting a Webinar on Wednesday, 1 December at 10:30am AEDT to provide further details on the latest reserves and resources assessment. Please use the following link to sign up:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6361063313588632331

Qualified Petroleum Reserves and Resources Evaluator Statement

The above petroleum reserve and resource information has been prepared under the supervision of Mr. Russell Hamilton (Vice President and General Manager of AXP Energy, Inc - US) by independent experts Wright & Company, Inc, Brentwood, Tennessee (for Appalachian Basin and Illinois Basin) and Gustavson Associates, LLC, Boulder, Colorado (for Denver-Julesburg Basin and the contribution to Illinois Basin of AXP's Kentucky Exploration asset). Mr. Hamilton is a licensed professional geologist in the state of Tennessee (license number 5624) and has been employed by AXP Energy, Inc, Kentucky, since 2005 including in the position of Senior Geologist. Mr Hamilton has also held positions at the Kentucky State Department of Mines and Minerals (Oil & Gas Conservation) as an Oil & Gas Inspector and Hinkle Environmental as an Environmental Scientist and Project Geologist. He holds a Bachelor of Geology from the Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky and has over 20 years' experience in the Appalachian and Illinois Basins' hydrocarbon geology.

Notes on Calculation of Reserves & Contingent Resources

As required by The VALMIN Code, 2015 Edition (VALMIN), the independent expert's reports were prepared in accordance with the definitions and guidelines of the Petroleum Resources Management System, revised June 2018 ("PRMS"), issued by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and sponsored (among others) by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the World Petroleum Council (WPC), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers (SPEE). The estimates of reserves and resources contained in the independent experts' reports were determined by accepted industry methods as determined by the PRMS and the Standards Pertaining to the Estimating and Auditing of Oil and Gas Reserves Information (revised 2019)  in accordance with VALMIN 2015. The independent experts also reviewed certain properties that may have contingent or prospective resources as defined in the PRMS.

Reserves and Contingent Resources reports are prepared using deterministic and probabilistic methods. The Reserves and Contingent Resources estimate methodologies incorporate a range of uncertainty relating to each of the key reservoir input parameters to predict the likely range of outcomes.

Under PRMS (2018), Reserves are those quantities of petroleum anticipated to be commercially recoverable by application of development projects to known accumulations from a given date forward under defined conditions. Reserves must further satisfy four criteria: they must be discovered, recoverable, commercial, and remaining (as of the evaluation date) based on the development project(s) applied. Reserves are further categorized in accordance with the level of certainty associated with the estimates and may be sub-classified based on project maturity and/or characterized by development and production status.

Categorization of Reserves according to the level of certainty associated with them is prescribed as follows:

Proved or 1P Reserves are those quantities of Petroleum that, by analysis of geoscience and engineering data, can be estimated with reasonable certainty to be commercially recoverable from known reservoirs and under defined technical and commercial conditions.

Probable Reserves are those additional Reserves which analysis of geoscience and engineering data indicate are less likely to be recovered than Proved Reserves but more certain to be recovered than Possible Reserves. It is equally likely that actual remaining quantities recovered will be greater than or less than the sum of the estimated Proved plus Probable Reserves (2P).

Possible Reserves are those additional reserves that analysis of geoscience and engineering data suggest are less likely to be recoverable than Probable Reserves. The total quantities ultimately recovered from the project have a low probability to exceed the sum of Proved plus Probable plus Possible (3P).

Contingent Resources are those quantities of petroleum estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from known accumulations, by the application of development project(s) not currently considered to be commercial owing to one or more contingencies. Contingent Resources have an associated chance of development. Contingent Resources may include, for example, projects for which there are currently no viable markets, or where commercial recovery is dependent on technology under development, or where evaluation of the accumulation is insufficient to clearly assess commerciality.

Contingent Resources are further categorized in accordance with the range of uncertainty associated with the estimates and should be subclassified based on project maturity and/or economic status and have denotations such as 1C (low risk), 2C (same technical confidence as probable reserves but not commercially matured to reserves), and 3C (same technical confidence as possible reserves, but not commercially matured to reserves).

AXP has identified several potential upside projects that target deeper horizons known to be productive, but have not been exploited at this time. These were assessed and the estimate gross reserves potential and assigned to the 1C, 2C, or 3C category based on available data, risk of development, and geologic control.

Project and field totals are aggregated by arithmetic summation by category. Aggregated 1P and 1C estimates may therefore be conservative, and aggregated 3P and 3C estimates may be optimistic due to the effects of arithmetic summation.

This announcement has been authorised by the Board of AXP Energy Limited.

ABOUT AXP ENERGY LIMITED

AXP ENERGY Limited (ASX: AXP) (formerly Fremont Petroleum Corporation Limited) is an oil & gas production and development company with operations in Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. AXP's focus is to aggressively grow daily production by improving current asset performance and opportunistically acquiring onshore USA oil & gas assets with the following characteristics: producing conventional oil & gas wells; production that can be enhanced through low-cost field operations and workovers; leases which are held by production and which do not require ongoing drilling commitments; and economies of scale which can be achieved by acquiring and carrying out similar enhancement strategies on contiguous or nearby fields with similar characteristics.

DISCLAIMER

This announcement contains or may contain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of1933 and Section 21B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward looking statements." Forward looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. Forward looking statements in this action may be identified through the use of words such as "expects", "will," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," or statements indicating certain actions "may," "could," or "might" occur. Hydrocarbon production rates fluctuate over time due to reservoir pressures, depletion, down time for maintenance and other factors. The Company does not represent that quoted hydrocarbon production rates will continue indefinitely.

APPENDIX 1

RESERVE CATEGORY OIL

[MMbbl1] GAS

[Bcf2] NGL

[MMbbl1] TOTAL3

[MMboe4] Proved







Appalachian Basin 0.478 22.581 1.041 5.282 Illinois Basin 0.181 - - 0.181 Denver-Julesburg Basin 0.053 - - 0.053 Total Proved (1P) 0.711 22.581 1.041 5.516 Probable







Appalachian Basin 0.110 1.390 0.050 0.392 Illinois Basin 0.196 - - 0.196 Denver-Julesburg Basin 0.042 0.730 0.079 0.268 Proved + Probable (2P) 1.060 24.700 1.171 6.371 Possible







Appalachian Basin 0.252 10.806 0.386 2.439 Illinois Basin 0.246 - - 0.246 Denver-Julesburg Basin - - - - Proved + Probable + Possible (3P) 1.558 35.507 1.556 9.056

1. MMbbl means one million barrels;

2. Bcf means one billion standard cubic feet;

3. Totals may not exactly reflect arithmetic addition due to rounding;

4. MMboe means one million barrels of oil equivalent. Gas is converted at 6 Mcf to 1 boe and at 5 Mcf to 1 boe in the Denver-

Julesburg Basin (due to the high calorific value of this gas).

APPENDIX 2

CONTINGENT RESOURCE CATEGORY OIL

[MMbbl1] GAS

[Bcf2] NGL

[MMbbl1] TOTAL3

[MMboe4] Low Estimate







Appalachian Basin 0.118 45.488 2.283 9.982 Illinois Basin 0.200 - - 0.200 Denver-Julesburg Basin 46.500 461.670 - 138.834 Total 1C 46.818 507.158 2.283 149.016 Mid Estimate







Appalachian Basin 0.627 86.055 3.699 18.668 Illinois Basin 0.355 - - 0.355 Denver-Julesburg Basin 67.340 627.930 - 192.926 Total 2C 68.322 713.985 3.699 211.949 High Estimate







Appalachian Basin 1.284 237.359 9.247 50.091 Illinois Basin 0.457 - - 0.457 Denver-Julesburg Basin 94.810 804.560 - 255.722 Total 3C 96.551 1,041.919 9.247 306.270

1. MMbbl means one million barrels;

2. Bcf means one billion standard cubic feet;

3. Totals may not exactly reflect arithmetic addition due to rounding;

4. MMboe means one million barrels of oil equivalent. Gas is converted at 6 Mcf to 1 boe and at 5 Mcf to 1 boe in the Denver-

Julesburg Basin (due to the high calorific value of this gas).

SOURCE AXP Energy Limited
Through the transaction, one of the largest in the sector this year, the consortium becomes the leading shareholder in the global oncology pharmaceutical company Lotus Pharmaceutical ("Lotus", TWSE ticker: 1795), and the sole shareholder in Alvogen Malta Holding Ltd., the owner of the fast-growing global business to business (B2B) pharmaceutical company Adalvo.

AEMH is currently owned by Alvogen Lux Holdings Sarl ("Alvogen"). Key shareholders in Alvogen include CVC Capital Partners and Temasek Holdings of Singapore, as well as Aztiq. Alvogen will remain a leading shareholder in the generic pharmaceutical company Alvogen US, including specialty pharma company Almatica, as well as the second largest shareholder in global biosimilars company Alvotech.

The members of the consortium bring impressive and complementary leadership and expertise. Robert Wessman has over the last six years successfully led the transformation of Lotus from a small local Taiwanese company into a leading generic ora oncology company. Innobic's parent company PTT Group is Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate, with extensive commercial and business networks across the fast-growing ASEAN countries.

Aztiq's founder and chairman, Robert Wessman, will continue to serve as chairman of the board of both Lotus and Adalvo.

This consortium's unique market knowledge along with strong support from shareholders will provide Lotus and Adalvo with a competitive advantage in a thriving industry, enabling them to extend their leadership globally. Both companies share the mission of making high-quality medicines accessible to patients around the world, and with the expertise and resources that will be readily available to them, they will accelerate progress towards this goal. From oral oncology to research innovation in over-the-counter products, Lotus and Adalvo will together pave the way for greater global access to first-class treatments and medication.

Robert Wessman, chairman and CEO of Alvogen and founder of Aztiq, commented: "I am very proud to have witnessed the maturation of both Lotus and Adalvo. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the existing shareholders for their great support in the transformation of both Lotus and Adalvo, and at the same time to welcome our new partner Innobic as we look forward to carrying out the essential work of expanding access to medicines to more people who need them. With our vast collective expertise, and the comprehensive geographic networks and solid market intelligence in ASEAN brought by innobic and PTT, I believe that Lotus and Adalvo will have a compelling competitive advantage, enabling both enterprises to support one another and advance their global leadership in their sectors."

Dr. Buranin Rattanasombat, senior executive vice president, innovation and new ventures, PTT and chairman of Innobic (Asia), commented: "This partnership will accelerate our goal and enable Innobic to leap into being a fully integrated pharmaceutical company. By being the major shareholder in Lotus Pharmaceutical jointly with Aztiq, Innobic will have access to the capability of operating a full suite of pharmaceutical business with a primary focus on generic in many key disease areas, specially oncology and neurological disease. This investment, together with the global networks of Adalvo,will strengthen access to high quality medicines in region and is a major milestone for our life sciences business and its mission to advance public health and the pharmaceutical industry in Thailand and the region."

Tomas Ekman, Director of the Board, Alvogen Lux, commented: "After 7 years as the lead shareholder of Lotus and the broader Asian business, Alvogen concluded that now is the right time to monetize our investment and letting Aztiq and Innobic continue the journey Lotus is on. Both Adalvo and Lotus will continue to collaborate closely with the Alvogen group of companies. Today's announcement is consistent with Alvogen's strategic focus and we intend to deploy the proceeds from the transaction in line with our capital allocation priorities to maximize shareholder value."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About Aztiq

Aztiq is a long-term healthcare investor focused on pharmaceuticals, led by Alvogen founder and chairman Robert Wessman . Going forward, Aztiq will be acting as a specialized pharmaceutical fund advisor and manager investing in various pharmaceutical assets.

. Going forward, Aztiq will be acting as a specialized pharmaceutical fund advisor and manager investing in various pharmaceutical assets. Aztiq's shareholder base consists of individual investors as well as major international investment funds among whose largest assets are pharmaceuticals companies Alvogen, Alvotech, Lotus, Almatica, Almaject and Adalvo.

Established in 2009, Aztiq was founded on the principle that everyone should have the right to medicine, regardless of their financial means.

Relevant history

Alvogen acquired a majority stake in Lotus in 2014 and since then Lotus has evolved into a next-generation pharmaceuticals company focused on global oncology, with direct market access in more than 10 countries in Asia and a portfolio with global into more than 130 markets.

and a portfolio with global into more than 130 markets. Since 2018, Alvogen has evolved Adalvo from an in-house B2B platform into a separate business unit focusing on global markets. Adalvo has rapidly achieved remarkable growth, with over 500 transactions and a world-class portfolio of 60 differentiated medicines. It is currently one of the fastest growing B2B pharmaceutical company globally, serving partners and patients in over 100 markets around the world.

SOURCE Aztiq Fjarfestingar ehf
GOTTINGEN, Germany, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

The Group will expand its capacities for production, innovation, and storage at its French facilities in Aubagne, Cergy and Lourdes in order to meet the strong demand of the biopharmaceutical industry

The site in Aubagne, Sartorius' headquarters in France , will receive the major part of this investment to build new cleanrooms and R&D laboratories

, will receive the major part of this investment to build new cleanrooms and R&D laboratories Sartorius will create up to 400 new jobs on permanent employment contracts between 2021 and 2025 at its four French sites

A growth plan on an unprecedented scale

At the end of December 2020, Sartorius employed almost 1,100 people on permanent contracts in France across four different sites in Aubagne, Cergy, Dourdan and Lourdes. By investing a total of 100 million euros between 2021 and 2025, Sartorius plans to expand and upgrade the Aubagne, Cergy and Lourdes facilities in the following project activities:

Create additional cleanroom space of 4,000 square meters on top of the existing 5,000 square meters

Deploy new R&D laboratories covering close to 2,000 square meters to strengthen the company's innovation capacity

Upgrade company logistics platforms and build over 10,000 square meters of warehouse facilities and storage depots

Digitalize and automate equipment to increase capacity and competitive advantage

Agnes Pannier-Runacher, French Minister Delegate for Industry, said: "With this development plan, Sartorius is a concrete example of what we would like to see for our healthcare industry. Our goal is to be able to produce strategic medical products and devices in our country in the event of a crisis, yet also invest in the future and be at the forefront of tomorrow's biotherapies. This is how we will protect our citizens and make France the most innovative nation in Europe in terms of the healthcare industry."

This investment will enable the company to further boost performance and become even more innovative as well as to meet the growing demand of the market. In this context, Sartorius is striving to accelerate and significantly expand the capacity of its sites in France.

"We see our biopharmaceutical customers entering a new phase characterized by a high pace of innovation, substantial investments in their operations, and increasing demands on us as their suppliers. We are supporting their efforts, significantly adding capacity and increasing the speed of delivery," commented Luc Burgard, Managing Director of Sartorius Stedim FMT and Head of Operations of the Bioprocess Solutions Division at Sartorius. "The investments in our French facilities will strengthen our industrial capabilities in this country and secure the long-term future of our operations here."

Sartorius in France plans to create up to 400 new jobs between 2021 and 2025

To support its growth ambitions, Sartorius will create up to 400 new permanent-employment positions at the four French sites between 2021 and 2025. The Group plans to attract new talent in Operations, such as production managers, machine operators, continuous improvement managers; Product Development staff, including engineers, data analysts; and Marketing personnel. Moreover, Sartorius will support its teams in helping them acquire new, cutting-edge skills, particularly in automation and digitalization of the equipment they use in their workflows.

"Sartorius is making a strong commitment with this investment and is bolstering its position as a leading partner of the biopharmaceutical industry and life science research in France," said Olivier Guitard, Managing Director of Sartorius Stedim FMT and Head of Controlling of the Bioprocess Solutions Division at Sartorius.

A profile of Sartorius

The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group's Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In fiscal 2020, the company earned sales revenue of some 2.34 billion euros. At the end of 2020, nearly 11,000 people were employed at the Group's approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe.

About Sartorius Stedim Biotech

Sartorius Stedim Biotech is a leading international partner of the biopharmaceutical industry. As a total solutions provider, the company helps its customers to manufacture biotech medications safely, rapidly and economically. Headquartered in Aubagne, France, Sartorius Stedim Biotech is quoted on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris. With its own manufacturing and R&D sites in Europe, North America and Asia and an international network of sales companies, Sartorius Stedim Biotech has a global reach. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions of complementary technologies. In 2020, the company employed more than 7,500 people, and earned sales revenue of 1,910 million euros.

Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and LinkedIn.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1696516/Sartorius_Logo.jpg

Press contact:

Agence RP by C&O

Oceanne Trovo, [email protected], +33 (0)6 84 99 74 65

Coralie Jolly, [email protected], +33 (0)6 85 91 09 38

SOURCE Sartorius AG
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Seadrill Limited ("Seadrill" or "the Company") (OSE:SDRL) (OTCPK:SDRLF) announces today that it has secured two contracts with Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. ("Petrobras") for the West Carina and West Tellus rigs for work on the Buzios field offshore Brazil. Both contracts have been signed on a 3-year fixed-term basis, with expected commencement in September 2022. Total contract value for the two contracts is approximately $549m (inclusive of mobilization revenue and additional services).

Seadrill's Chief Executive Officer, Stuart Jackson, commented: "We are delighted to continue our long association with Petrobras with the award of two 3-year firm contracts for the West Carina and West Tellus on the Buzios field. Brazil is a strategically important market for the offshore sector and I am pleased that Seadrill will continue to play an increasingly significant role in the coming years."

About Seadrill

Seadrill is a leading offshore drilling contractor utilizing advanced technology to unlock oil and gas resources for clients across harsh and benign locations across the globe. Seadrill's high quality, technologically advanced fleet spans all asset classes allowing its experienced crews to conduct its operations from shallow to ultra-deep-water environments. The Company owns and/or operates 36 rigs, which includes drillships, jack-ups and semi-submersibles.

Seadrill is listed on the Oslo Brs and OTC Pink markets. For more information, visit https://www.seadrill.com/.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes forward looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business, the markets in which it operates and its restructuring efforts. These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's regulatory filings and periodical reporting. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward looking statement.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

CONTACT:

For further information, please contact:

Media questions should be directed to:

Sara Dunne

Director of Communications

[email protected]

+ 1 281 630 7064

Analyst questions should be directed to:

Hawthorn Advisors

[email protected]

+44 (0) 203 7454960

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/18925/3461157/1501942.pdf Seadrill Limited Announces Contract Awards totalling $549m for the West Tellus and West Carina in Brazil

SOURCE Seadrill Limited
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Hoegh LNG Partners LP ("Hoegh LNG" or the "Partnership") (NYSE: HMLP) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and docketed under 21-cv-19613, is on behalf of persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded Partnership securities between April 3, 2020 and July 27, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Plaintiff seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").

If you are a shareholder who purchased Hoegh LNG securities during the Class Period, you have until December 27, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

The Partnership was formed by Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd., a leading floating liquefied natural gas ("LNG") service provider. The Partnership's purported strategy is to own, operate, and acquire floating storage and regasification units ("FSRUs") and associated LNG infrastructure assets under long-term charters. The Partnership has interests in five FSRUs, including the PGN FSRU Lampung based in Indonesia. Through agreements and business structures briefly described below, the Partnership has a 100% economic interest in the PGN FSRU Lampung.

The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Partnership was facing issues with the PGN FSRU Lampung charter; (2) as a result, the PGN FSRU Lampung charterer would state that it would commence arbitration to declare the charter null and void, and/or to terminate the charter, and/or seek damages; (3) the Partnership would need to find alternative refinancing for its PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility; (4) the PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility matured in September 2021, not October 2021 as previously stated; (5) the Partnership would be forced to accept less favorable refinancing terms with regards to the PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility; (6) Hoegh LNG would not extend the revolving credit line to the Partnership past its maturation date; (7) Hoegh LNG would reveal that it "will have very limited capacity to extend any additional advances to the Partnership beyond what is currently drawn under the facility"; (8) as a result of the foregoing, the Partnership would essentially end distributions to common units holders; (9) the COVID-19 pandemic was not the sole or root cause of the Partnership's issues in Indonesia, in 2019, before the pandemic, there were already a very low amount of demand in Indonesia for the Partnership's gas; (10) the auditing, tax, nor maintenance of PGN FSRU Lampung were not the sole or root cause(s) of the Partnership's issues in Indonesia; and (11) as a result, Defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On July 27, 2021, the Partnership issued a press release which announced that: (i) the Partnership had reduced its quarterly cash distribution to $0.01 per common unit, down from a distribution of $0.44 per common unit in the first quarter of 2021; (ii) the refinancing of the PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility, which had been scheduled to close by the end of the second quarter of 2021, was not yet completed due to the failure by the charterer of the PGN FSRU Lampung to consent to and countersign certain customary documents related to the new credit facility; (iii) the PGN FSRU Lampung charterer stated that it will commence arbitration to declare the charter null and void, and/or to terminate the charter, and/or seek damages in relation to the operations of the vessel and its charter; (iv) the revolving credit line of $85 million from Hoegh LNG will not be extended when it matures on January 1, 2023; and (v) Hoegh LNG will have very limited capacity to extend any additional advances to the Partnership beyond what is currently drawn under the facility.

On this news, the Partnership's common unit price fell $11.57 per common unit, or 64%, to close at $6.30 per common unit on July 28, 2021, on unusually heavy trading volume, damaging investors.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Amplify Energy Corp. ("Amplify" or the "Company") (NYSE: AMPY). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Amplify and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On October 4, 2021, Amplify issued a press release announcing a large oil spill in Southern California. Specifically, the press release stated that "on Saturday, October 2, 2021, Beta Offshore (a subsidiary of Amplify Energy) first observed and notified the US Coast Guard of an oil sheen approximately four (4) miles off the coast in Southern California and initiated its Oil Spill Prevention and Response Plan. The Company has sent a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to investigate and attempt to confirm source of the release. As a precautionary measure, all of the Company's production and pipeline operations at the Beta Field have been shut down." On this news, Amplify's stock price fell sharply during intraday trading on October 4, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

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NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Bakkt Holdings, Inc. ("Bakkt" or the "Company") (NYSE: BKKT). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Bakkt and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On November 22, 2021, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Bakkt disclosed that the Company's management "has re-evaluated the application of ASC 480-10-S99-3A to the accounting classification of the Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0001 (the "Class A Ordinary Shares") of VPC Acquisition Impact Holdings ("VIH") . . . which were issued in connection with VIH's initial public offering (the "IPO"), and has identified errors in the historical financial statements of VIH . . . related to the misclassification (the "Misclassification") of the Class A Ordinary Share" and "has determined that it is appropriate to restate certain of VIH's condensed consolidated financial statements[.]"

On this news, Bakkt's stock price fell $2.65 per share, or 13.47%, to close at $17.02 per share on November 22, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Desktop Metal, Inc. ("Desktop Metal" or the "Company") (NYSE: DM). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Desktop Metal and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On November 8, 2021, Desktop Metal announced an independent investigation resulting from an internal whistleblower complaint concerning the Company's EnvisionTec subsidiary. On this news, Desktop Metal's stock price fell $0.39 per share, or 4.24%, to close at $8.81 per share on November 9, 2021. Then, on November 15, 2021, the Chief Executive Officer of EnvisionTec resigned, and Desktop Metal disclosed compliance issues with shipments from EnvisionTec resulting in Food and Drug Administration regulatory activity.

On this news, Desktop Metal's stock price fell $1.19 per share, or 14.84%, to close at $6.83 per share on November 16, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Peak Fintech Group Inc. ("Peak" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: PKKFF). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Peak and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On October 4, 2021, market researcher Grizzly Research published a report alleging discrepancies in Peak's business practices. The report alleged, in relevant part, that: (1) Peak's acquisition of Heartbeat, a Chinese insurance product management and brokerage platform, was mired in suspicious dealings, in which Peak paid a company that was not the registered owner of Heartbeat; (2) the actual registered owner of Heartbeat reported zero revenues in 2019 and 2020; (3) Peak's statements regarding Heartbeat's growth since 2020 were not substantiated by basic facts, including the fact that Heartbeat's website did not go live until 5 days after Peak's acquisition; (4) there was evidence that Peak inflated its reported revenue by up to 112% in recent fiscal years; (5) the CEO of Peak Group China was previously associated with several companies listed on government blacklists in China.

On this news, Peak's stock price fell $1.31 per share, or 17.4%, to close at $6.19 per share on October 4, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP

Related Links

www.pomerantzlaw.com


NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against ON24, Inc. ("ON24" or the "Company") (NYSE: ONTF) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-08744, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired ON24 securities: under Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 ("Securities Act") against (i) ON24, Inc. ("ON24" or the "Company") and (ii) certain of the Company's senior executives and directors who signed the Registration Statement, effective February 2, 2021, issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering (the "IPO" or the "Offering"). Plaintiffs allege that the Registration Statement and Prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Documents"), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 8, 2021 and February 4, 2021, respectively, including all amendments thereto, contained materially incorrect or misleading statements and/or omitted material information that was required by law to be disclosed. Defendants are each strictly liable for such misstatements and omissions therefrom (subject only to their ability to establish a "due diligence" affirmative defense) and as so liable in their capacities as signers of the Registration Statement and/or as an issuer, statutory seller, and/or offeror of the shares sold pursuant to the Offering.

If you are a shareholder who purchased ON24 common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents issued in connection with the Company's IPO and ON24 securities during the Class Period, you have until January 3, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

ON24 purports to be a leading, cloud-based digital experience platform that enables businesses to convert customer engagement into revenue through interactive webinar experiences, virtual event experiences, and multimedia content experiences.

The complaint alleges that, the Offering Documents' representations were materially inaccurate, misleading, and/or incomplete because they failed to disclose, inter alia, that the surge in COVID-19 customers ON24 observed in the lead up to the IPO consisted of a significant number that did not fit ON24's traditional customer profile and, as a result, were significantly less likely to renew their contracts.

On August 10, 2021, after the markets closed and in connection with announcing the Company's second quarter 2021 financial results, ON24 offered guidance for the remainder of the year. Specifically, ON24 guided to revenue of no more than $48.5 million in Q3 and $204.5 million for fiscal year 2021, missing analyst consensus by $2.7 million and $4.5 million, respectively.

During the Company's analyst call held that same day, Defendant Sharat Sharan, President and Chief Executive Officer of ON24, admitted that ON24 "experienced higher-than-expected churn and down-sell from customers [it] signed up in the second quarter of last year during the peak of COVID." (Emphasis added.) He then added, "this higher churn was primarily in the first-time renewal cohort, customers who signed [] [one]-year contracts last year and who were up for renewal."

Analysts at Piper Sandler & Co. ("Piper Sandler"), which rated ON24 as "overweight" in its August 11, 2021 report, likewise noted how the Company's second quarter results were "clearly more negative than [it] had anticipated," expressing concern over the fact that ON24's ARR had "stalled," due to "renewal downsizing and churn."

Piper Sandler also noted how the "combination of renewal downsizing and higher SMB churn was accentuated by a material reduction in the 2H outlook for professional services."

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity LLC ("Canaccord Genuity") also downgraded ON24 to hold on August 11, 2021 as a result of "the COVID tourist depart[ures]" ON24 observed during the quarter. (Emphasis added.) In its report, which was titled, "COVID renewals take a bite out of growth; ONTF in the penalty box, downgrade to HOLD,"

On this news, ON24's stock declined nearly 31%, falling from $32.31 per share on August 10, 2021 to close at $22.31 per share on August 11, 2021.

By the commencement of this action, ON24's stock traded as low as $18.66 per share, a nearly 63% decline from the $50 per share IPO price.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindcurrent , the employee performance platform built on wellbeing, announced their 2021 selection for Mindcurrent Award winners. Nine individuals and one midsize company were selected for their commitment to physical, mental, and social health across their teams.

2021 Mindcurrent Award (PRNewsfoto/Mindcurrent Inc.)

Leveraging data for sleep, nutrition, movement, and behavioral feedback, Mindcurrent provides daily support for remote employees. Over the past year, award winners demonstrated persistence through personal and professional adversity, with notable growth in self-awareness, focus, motivation, and emotional intelligence.

"The team at Showcare has shown extraordinary resilience, compassion, and authenticity as they navigated the devastating economic effects of the pandemic across the events industry. Their growth, guidance, and leadership for their customers is built on extraordinary teamwork," said Mindcurrent CEO Sourabh Kothari.

"Mindcurrent has been an extraordinary partner for us, supporting the mental health and motivation of our remote team. Their anonymized employee wellness insights have helped us understand when team members are stressed and how we can help them. With Mindcurrent, our team is able to prioritize their mental health, better support one another, and ultimately feel more connected," said Showcare President Amilie Parent.

Seven women and two men across North America and Europe won individual 2021 Mindcurrent Awards . Winners included software engineers, sales professionals, and customer success team members.

"Some of these individuals have overcome great adversity and personal loss in the past year with remarkable resilience. Their commitment to their physical, mental, and social health is exemplary, and has benefitted their families and teams tremendously. These are the people that keep their teams together, define their company's culture, and support their communities," said Mindcurrent Chief Psychology Officer Dr. Drew Brazier.

About Mindcurrent

Mindcurrent Inc. delivers daily performance tips to remote employees at midsize companies via Slack and Microsoft Teams. Leveraging performance and behavioral psychology, each tip provides personalized recommendations to improve each employee's physical, mental, and social health. The company's proprietary algorithm is built on data from teams across 40 countries, analyzing potential causes for employee burnout and dissatisfaction. Employee engagement rates for Mindcurrent's customers are three times higher than the industry average, providing insights for leaders to offer specific benefits that maximize employee satisfaction and team performance. To learn more, visit https://www.mindcurrent.io .

About Showcare

As the human-centric event experts, Showcare specializes in helping event professionals elevate the impact and engagement of their virtual, in-person and hybrid events. They offer a year-round community platform and event management, event design, registration, housing, lead retrieval, marketing, and sponsorship services. To learn more, visit https://www.showcare.com .

Contacts

For Mindcurrent:

Sourabh Kothari

(415) 418 0195

[email protected]

For Showcare:

Melissa Mercadante

[email protected]

SOURCE Mindcurrent Inc.
Market Dynamics

Factors such as increase in volume of data will be crucial in driving the growth of the market. But, the cyber attacks will restrict the market growth. This storage management software market analysis report also provides detailed information on other upcoming trends that will have a far-reaching effect on the market growth.

Company Profiles

The storage management software market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. The storage management software market report provides complete insights on key vendors including Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Data Dynamics Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Hitachi Ltd., HP Inc., Huawei Investment and Holding Co. Ltd., International Business Machines Corp., NetApp Inc., and Oracle Corp.

Few Companies with Key Offerings

Broadcom Inc. - The company is involved in offering solutions that support the broadest range of storage platforms including IBM, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, and many more.

The company is involved in offering solutions that support the broadest range of storage platforms including IBM, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, and many more. Cisco Systems Inc.- The company is involved in offering solutions scale from terabytes to petabytes and ensures compatibility and validation.

The company is involved in offering solutions scale from terabytes to petabytes and ensures compatibility and validation. Data Dynamics Inc - The company is involved in offering unified unstructured data management platforms that secures the data and enables compliance.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive scenario provided in the storage management software market report analyzes, evaluates, and positions companies based on various performance indicators. Some of the factors considered for this analysis include the financial performance of companies over the past few years, growth strategies, product innovations, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.

Market Segmentation

By Deployment, the market is classified as On-premise and Cloud-based. The storage management software market share growth by the on-premise segment has been significant.

has been significant. By Geography, the market is classified as North America , APAC, Europe , MEA, and South America . APAC will have the largest share of the market.

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Storage Management Software Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 10.09% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 10.64 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 9.54 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 40% Key consumer countries US, China, Canada, Japan, and UK Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Data Dynamics Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Hitachi Ltd., HP Inc., Huawei Investment and Holding Co. Ltd., International Business Machines Corp., NetApp Inc., and Oracle Corp. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio

Related Links

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VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. ("TAG Oil" or the "Company", (TSXV: TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF) is pleased to report the filing of its second quarter results for the interim period ending September 30, 2021. A copy of TAG Oil's financial statements and management discussion and analysis for its most recently completed interim period are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on the Company's website (https://tagoil.com/investors/financial-reports/).

Highlights over the period include that the Company had C$15.2 million (June 30, 2021: C$15.6 million) in cash and cash equivalents and C$15.6 million (June 30, 2021: C$16.3 million) in working capital. The Company has no debt and continues to manage its costs and allocate the necessary resources towards its business development efforts to maximize value for its shareholders.

TAG Oil is continuing to pursue several acquisition projects in Egypt and explore other strategic opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. Further information on these efforts will be provided by the Company in due course.

The Company also reports that its upcoming annual general meeting of its shareholders (the "Meeting") will be virtually held on December 2, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (PST). For further information on the Meeting, a copy of the Meeting materials are available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on TAG Oil's website (https://tagoil.com/investors/financial-reports/).

About TAG Oil Ltd.

TAG Oil (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian based international oil and gas exploration company with a focus on opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements with regard to the Company's operations and potential strategic opportunities. These statements address future events and conditions and are reliant on assumptions made by the Company's management, and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, and the assumptions underlying the forward-looking information, actual results could differ from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required by applicable law.

SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.

Related Links

www.tagoil.com


DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "U.S. Biochar Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Pyrolysis, Gasification), By Application (Agriculture, Animal Feed, Health & Beauty Products), By State, And Segment Forecasts, 2021-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The U.S. biochar market size is expected to reach USD 433.4 million by 2028. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 16.8% from 2021 to 2028. The market is majorly driven by rising demand for biochar in agricultural applications because of its ability to maintain soil stability and water holding capacity for a long duration due to the high amount of carbon content, which improves the productivity of crops, organic chemicals, and other major application industries.



The market for biochar in the U.S. is still in the nascent stage. The product is expected to gain significance for increasing agricultural productivity and crop yield in the near future. In addition, growing consumer awareness in the U.S. regarding the benefits of organic food is expected to propel the product demand owing to its ability to enhance soil fertility and plant growth.



Biochar is anticipated to witness increased penetration in livestock farming on account of its ability to provide essential nutrients for the health of livestock. Increasing intake of meat in North America is contributing to the expansion of livestock and poultry farming, thereby propelling the demand.



The market is characterized by the presence of a mix of small and medium-scale producers with regional expansion aspirations. This scenario is expected to change over the forecast period owing to the rising demand for organic food and the consequent expansion of organic farming.



A rising population is expected to boost food production, which, in turn, is anticipated to have a positive impact on the growth of the market given the ability of this charcoal-like substance to increase crop yield. However, farmers are still unaware of the long-term benefits of biochar in agriculture. The product is yet to gain full acceptance in the agriculture sector. However, various factors such as the growing demand for organic farming and the rising usage of biochar as a feed additive are anticipated to propel the U.S. market growth.

U.S. Biochar Market Report Highlights

In terms of volume, pyrolysis was the largest technology segment and accounted for 82.5% of the total share in 2020 owing to its high-quality product and large production quantity

As of 2020, agriculture accounted for the highest revenue share of over 89.0% because of the ability of product ability to improve soil fertility and water holding capacity

As of 2020, California accounted for the highest revenue share of 19.3% due to the growing agricultural sector in the country

accounted for the highest revenue share of 19.3% due to the growing agricultural sector in the country Regional players are focusing on integrating themselves throughout the different stages of the value chain to increase their profit margins and reduce dependency on raw material suppliers

The biochar industry being in the nascent stage is projected to have significant opportunities for development. The major focus of the manufacturers is to increase awareness regarding the product

Companies Mentioned

Black Owl Biochar

Karr

Aries Clean Energy LLC

Pacific Biochar Benefit Corporation

Biocharworks

Zeropoint Clean Tech, Inc.

Advance Renewable Technology International (Arti)

Soil Reef LLC (The Biochar Company)

Avello Bioenergy

Oregon Biochar Solutions

New England Biochar

Chargrow Usa Llc

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Research Scope And Methodology

1.1 Market Definition & Segment Scope

1.2 Research Methodology

1.3 Research Scope And Assumptions

1.4 List Of Data Sources



Chapter 2 Executive Summary

2.1 Market Outlook

2.2 Competitive Insights



Chapter 3 U.S. Biochar Market Variables & Trends

3.1 Market Lineage Outlook

3.1.1 North America Biochar Industry Outlook

3.1.2 U.S. Biochar Market Outlook

3.2 Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3 Value Chain Analysis

3.3.1 Raw Material Trends

3.3.1.1 Wood

3.3.1.2 Crop Residue

3.3.2 Manufacturing Trends

3.3.2.1 Pyrolysis

3.3.2.2 Gasification

3.3.2.3 Recent Developments

3.3.3 Distribution Channel Analysis

3.4 Price Trend Analysis

3.4.1 Price Dynamics

3.4.2 Future Outlook

3.5 Regulatory Framework

3.5.1 Labeling Policies

3.5.2 Grant For Beetle Killed Trees

3.5.3 Biomass Tariff Analysis

3.5.4 Grants & Policies For Biochar In the U.S.

3.6 Market Dynamics

3.6.1 Market Drivers

3.6.1.1 Rising Need For Soil Remediation

3.6.1.2 Ascending Demand For Organic Food

3.6.2 Market Restraints

3.6.2.1 Financial Barriers

3.6.2.2 Lack Of Awareness Among End Users

3.6.3 Industry Challenges

3.7 Industry Analysis Tools



Chapter 4 U.S. Biochar Market: Technology Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1 Technology Market Introduction

4.1.1 Pyrolysis

4.1.2 Gasification

4.1.3 Other Technologies



Chapter 5 U.S. Biochar Market: Application Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1 Application Market Introduction

5.1.1 Agriculture

5.1.2 Animal Feed

5.1.3 Health & Beauty Products

5.1.4 Other Applications



Chapter 6 Biochar Market: State Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1 State Market Introduction

6.2 U.S. Biochar Market Estimates & Forecasts, By State

6.2.1 California

6.2.2 Texas

6.2.3 Kansas

6.2.4 Oklahoma

6.2.5 Idaho

6.2.6 Arizona

6.2.7 Other States



Chapter 7 Competitive Landscape

7.1 Recent Developments By Key Market Participants

7.2 Vendor Landscape

7.2.1 List Of Manufacturers

7.2.2 List Of Agricultural Product Retailers

7.3 Key Customers

7.4 Competitive Scenario



Chapter 8 Company Profiles



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/by28qj

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "United States Telecom Market Outlook, 2021 - Mobile, Broadband Telecommunications Infrastructure, Trends, Operators and Covid Recovery to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

United States telecom market is one of the fast-growing industries with strong growth opportunities for companies operating in the industry.

Leading telecom operators are focusing on investing in infrastructure upgrades and offering value-added services to generate more revenues from the telecommunications industry.



The COVID-19 had a varied impact on different segments of telecommunications. Subscriber volume almost stalled during the period while revenues from multiple segments flourished. On the other hand, business revenues declined significantly and ARPU values fluctuated significantly.

The outlook for recovery remains optimistic, in particular, in mobile and fixed broadband sectors during 2021 and 2022. The report presents detailed insights into the impact of the COVID pandemic on the telecom industry and forecasts the market size across multiple recovery scenarios.



The market dynamics in the United States telecom sector are detailed in the report including key near-term and long-term trends set to define the market outlook.

Further, drivers, restraints, and potential growth opportunities in the United States telecommunications market are also analyzed. To gain insights into the different industry factors impacting the market, the report analyzes the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, threat of new entrants and substitutes, and the competitive rivalry in the industry through the five forces analysis chapter.



Detailed insights into the emergence of United States fixed-line market, United States mobile market, United States broadband markets are provided in the report, with historical data from 2016 to 2020 and over the forecast period from 2021 to 2028. Subscriber count and penetration rate are forecast across each of these segments in the United States telecom industry.



The prospects of investing in the United States telecom market are provided and compared with other countries in the region. These countries are compared on the telecom score and country score.



United States telecom infrastructure is also detailed in the report, providing information on the national network, international network connectivity, next-generation connectivity, and others. Further, the regulatory overview of the country including the regulatory body, spectrum and licensing details, and other government initiatives are analyzed.



On the vendor landscape front, leading United States telecom operators are analyzed, including details of their major strategies, key focus areas, market shares, SWOT profiles, and financial analysis are included in the report.



Reasons to Buy

Gain a quick overview of United States telecom industry megatrends

telecom industry megatrends Identify the leading strategies and plans of key telecom companies

Compare the prospects of United States telecommunications market with other markets

telecommunications market with other markets Understand the recent technological developments

Plan your strategies through clear understanding of strengths, restraints, opportunities and threats

Prepare supply and demand forecasts of different telecommunication services

Understand competitive intelligence through detailed business profiles



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y0c2qq

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "The US and European Electronic Monitoring Market: Size & Forecast with Impact Analysis of COVID-19 (2021-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The US and European electronic monitoring market increased significantly during the years 2016-2020 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years i.e. 2021-2025 tremendously.

The electronic monitoring market is expected to increase due to the high cost of incarceration and detention, growing migrant / asylum seeker populations, increasing digital enablement, growing globalization, increasing cybercrimes, technological advancements and government policies supporting the market. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as false alarms and costly electronic home monitoring.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the US and European electronic monitoring market. Since the onset of the pandemic, governments have been facing the dilemma of reducing jail populations to avoid the spread of disease, while still keeping the community safe.

The report provides an in depth analysis of the US and European electronic monitoring market by value, by segment, etc. The report also provides a detailed analysis of the COVID-19 impact on the electronic monitoring market.

The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall electronic monitoring market has also been forecasted for the period 2021-2025, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.

The US and European electronic monitoring market is fragmented with many major market players operating worldwide. The key players of the electronic monitoring market are G4S Plc., Big Technologies, Track Group and Satellite Tracking of People (Securus Technologies, Inc.) are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.

Key Topics Covered:

The US Electronic Monitoring Market: An Analysis

European Electronic Monitoring Market: An Analysis

COVID-19 Impact on Electronic Monitoring Market

Impact of COVID-19 on Prison Occupancy Levels and Incarceration Rates

Impact of COVID-19 on Crime Rates

Market Dynamics

Growth Drivers

High Cost of Incarceration and Detention

Growing Migrant / Asylum Seeker Population

Increasing Digital Enablement

Growing Globalization

Technological Advancements

Increasing Cybercrimes

Governments Policies Supporting the Market

Challenges

False Alarms

Costly Electronic Home Monitoring

Market Trends

M2M Platform

Partnerships among Major Players

The US and European Electronic Monitoring Market Players: A Service Comparison

Company Profiles

G4S Plc.

Big Technologies

Tack Group

Satellite Tracking of People (Securus Technologies, Inc.)

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/u6dleg

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

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Q3-2021 revenue growth driven by Wishpond's expanded sales team, new product introductions and the Company's acquisitions.

Wishpond returned to Adjusted EBITDA positive in Q3-2021.

The Company now exceeds $16M in annualized revenue run-rate

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Wishpond Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: WISH) (OTCQX: WPNDF) (the "Company" or "Wishpond"), a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions, announces it has filed its interim consolidated financial statements (the "Interim Financial Statements") and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for Q3-2021, representing the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021. Copies of the Interim Financial Statements and MD&A are available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

"Third quarter 2021 was an outstanding quarter for Wishpond which demonstrated that our organic and inorganic growth strategy is working," commented Ali Tajskandar, Wishpond's Chairman and CEO. "Wishpond's revenue in Q3 increased by 90% YoY driven by the success of our expanded sales team, new product introductions and the acquisitions of Invigo, PersistIQ and Brax. We are also very pleased to return to positive Adjusted EBITDA in the third quarter of 2021. In the first half of the year, we made investments in our product development and sales teams, which are now paying off for the Company, as we are now exceeding $16M in annualized revenue run-rate."

Ali Tajskandar adds, "The Invigo, PersistIQ and Brax acquisitions have broadened our product portfolio and proven to be accretive to Wishpond's financial profile. We are beginning to witness the synergistic benefits of our acquisitions through cross selling the Company's products and services across the different parts of the growing organization. We continue to have a robust pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities and a strong balance sheet with an undrawn credit facility providing the Company with ample cash to continue to execute on our inorganic growth strategy."

Third Quarter 2021 Financial Highlights:

Wishpond achieved record quarterly revenue of $3,976,965 during Q3-2021, an increase of 90% compared to revenue of $2,095,933 generated in Q3-2020. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by higher organic growth from the Company's incremental investment in its sales team and inorganic growth from the positive contribution of its acquisitions. Wishpond generated 73% of its revenue in the United States , where the Company's growth remained remarkably strong with 104% year-over-year revenue growth in the US market.

during Q3-2021, an increase of 90% compared to revenue of generated in Q3-2020. The increase in revenue was primarily driven by higher organic growth from the Company's incremental investment in its sales team and inorganic growth from the positive contribution of its acquisitions. Wishpond generated 73% of its revenue in , where the Company's growth remained remarkably strong with 104% year-over-year revenue growth in the US market. Wishpond achieved Gross profit (1) of $2,760,709 , representing an 82% increase from Q3-2020, driven by an increase in overall revenue. Wishpond achieved a Gross margin (1) percentage of 69% during Q3-2021, compared to 72% during Q3-2020. The Gross margin (1) achieved for Q3-2021 was within the historical range of 65% to 70%.

of , representing an 82% increase from Q3-2020, driven by an increase in overall revenue. Wishpond achieved a Gross margin percentage of 69% during Q3-2021, compared to 72% during Q3-2020. The Gross margin achieved for Q3-2021 was within the historical range of 65% to 70%. During Q3-2021, Wishpond had Adjusted EBITDA (1) of $204,322 compared to Adjusted EBITDA (1) of $175,653 in Q3-2020. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA is attributable to an increase in revenue from Wishpond and it's newly acquired subsidiaries, Invigo, PersistIQ, and Brax.

of compared to Adjusted EBITDA of in Q3-2020. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA is attributable to an increase in revenue from Wishpond and it's newly acquired subsidiaries, Invigo, PersistIQ, and Brax. As at September 30, 2021 , Wishpond had $7,758,720 in cash and no long-term debt.

, Wishpond had in cash and no long-term debt. As of September 30, 2021 , the Company had 51,835,687 common shares issued and outstanding.

Third Quarter 2021 Business Highlights:

On September 29, 2021 , the Company entered into a new credit facility agreement with National Bank of Canada's Technology and Innovation Banking Group for a $6 million dollar secured revolving operating line. The credit facility remains undrawn as of today's date.

, the Company entered into a new credit facility agreement with National Bank of Technology and Innovation Banking Group for a secured revolving operating line. The credit facility remains undrawn as of today's date. On August 31, 2021 , the Company completed the acquisition of certain assets and specific liabilities of AtlasMind Inc., doing business as Brax.io (" Brax "). Brax is a rapidly growing and profitable Software-as-a-Service business that offers a robust advertising platform for the management of a company's digital ads across multiple sources and is expected to be immediately accretive to Wishpond.

, the Company completed the acquisition of certain assets and specific liabilities of AtlasMind Inc., doing business as Brax.io (" "). Brax is a rapidly growing and profitable Software-as-a-Service business that offers a robust advertising platform for the management of a company's digital ads across multiple sources and is expected to be immediately accretive to Wishpond. On July 14, 2021 , the Company announced that the Depository Trust Company ("DTC") has made Wishpond common shares eligible for electronic deposit at DTC. The Company believes that the opportunity to clear and settle trades in its common shares on the OTCQX should provide a more seamless experience for its U.S. shareholders.

Events Subsequent to September 30, 2021:

On October 21, 2021 , Wishpond launched its new integration of Zoom with Wishpond Appointments, and the availability of the Wishpond Zoom App in the Zoom App Marketplace. Wishpond Appointments now connects seamlessly with Zoom allowing Wishpond's customers to easily create virtual meetings for their next business call, customer meeting, or consultation.

Normal Course Issuer Bid:

On June 7, 2021 , the TSX Venture Exchange accepted a notice of the Company's intention to commence a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") for its common shares. The board of directors of the Company believes that the recent market prices of the Company's common shares (the "Shares") do not properly reflect the underlying value of such Shares, and that the purchase of the Shares would be a desirable use of corporate funds in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. During the three months ended September 30, 2021 , the Company purchased 63,500 common shares under the NCIB for cancellation, for aggregate consideration of $81,282 . Since approval of the NCIB on June 7, 2021 , to November 16, 2021 , the Company has purchased a total of 126,400 common shares for cancellation at an average trade price of $1.24 per share.

Outlook:

Wishpond is on track to achieve strong revenue growth in Q4-2021 driven by increased capacity in the Company's sales team, positive contribution from its acquisitions and new product related revenues. The investments made in the first half of the year in expanding Wishpond's sales and product development teams are already beginning to have a beneficial effect on the Company's financial performance. As such the Company expects to achieve positive Adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the year. In addition, Wishpond has developed a robust pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities that are expected to add revenue and EBITDA growth as well as expand the Company's product and market capabilities.

Selected Financial Highlights:

The tables below set out selected financial information relating to Wishpond and should be read in conjunction with Wishpond's annual consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, and MD&A for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and September 30, 2020, copies of which can be found under Wishpond's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.



Three-

months

ended

September

30, 2021

$ Three-

months

ended

June 30,

2021

$ Three-

months

ended

September

30, 2020

$ Nine-

months

ended

September

30, 2021

$ Nine-

months

ended

September

30, 2020

$ Revenue 3,976,965 3,226,877 2,095,933 10,094,422 5,627,247 Gross profit 2,760,709 2,238,143 1,519,047 6,795,788 3,773,624 Gross margin 69% 69% 72% 67% 67% Adjusted EBITDA(1) 204,322 (320,027) 175,653 (434,484) 373,751 Net increase(decrease) in

cash during the period (2,306,673) (1,142,712) 416,212 453,174 994,820 Cash - end of the period 7,758,720 10,065,393 1,264,356 7,758,720 1,264,356

Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA



Three-

months

ended

September

30, 2021

$ Three-

months

ended

June 30,

2021

$ Three-

months

ended

September

30, 2020

$ Nine-

months

ended

September

30, 2021

$ Nine-

months

ended

September

30, 2020

$ Income (Loss) before

income taxes (1,281,849) (1,517,758) 88,081 (3,994,376) (55,298) Depreciation and

amortization 228,459 199,919 97,648 587,479 288,671 Interest expense 1,442 2,520 6,461 7,546 21,116 EBITDA (1,051,948) (1,315,319) 192,190 (3,399,351) 254,489 Stock based compensation

expense 589,266 573,610 23,220 1,724,819 82,703 Remeasurement of

contingent consideration

liability2 458,605 234,933 - 693,538 - Other expenses (income) 141,883 71,524 (5,912) 258,583 48,017 Acquisition related expenses - 53,953 - 160,203 - Earn-out remuneration3 43,528 52,266 - 95,794 - Foreign currency losses

(gains) 22,988 9,006 (33,845) 31,930 (11,458) Adjusted EBITDA 204,322 (320,027) 175,653 (434,484) 373,751

Footnotes:

1 EBITDA, EBITDA margin, adjusted EBITDA, monthly recurring revenue, annualized run rate, gross profit and gross margin are not financial measures recognized by generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other entities. See "Cautionary Statements - Non-GAAP Financial Measures". 2 The PersistIQ Earn Out Payments constituted consideration for the business combination as defined by IFRS 3 Business Combinations and is to be recorded as a contingent consideration liability. The contingent consideration liability will be remeasured to fair value at each reporting date, until such time as the earn-out period is over, with changes to fair value included in the consolidated statements of loss and comprehensive loss. 3 The Invigo Earn Out Payments constituted remuneration as defined by IFRS 3 Business Combinations and will be recorded as non-operating expense on the consolidated statement of loss and comprehensive loss.

On Behalf of the Board of Wishpond

"Ali Tajskandar"

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

About Wishpond Technologies Ltd.

Based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Wishpond is a provider of marketing-focused online business solutions. Wishpond's vision is to become the leading provider of digital marketing solutions that empower entrepreneurs to achieve success online. The Company offers an "all-in-one" marketing suite that provides companies with marketing, promotion, lead generation, and sales conversion capabilities from one integrated platform. Wishpond replaces entire marketing functions in an easy-to-use product, for a fraction of the cost. Wishpond serves over 3,000 customers who are primarily small-to-medium size businesses (SMBs) in a wide variety of industries. The Company has developed cutting-edge marketing technology solutions and continues to add new features and applications with great velocity. The Company employs a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business model where substantially all the Company's revenue is subscription-based recurring revenue which provides excellent revenue predictability and cash flow visibility. Wishpond is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker "WISH". For further information, visit: www.wishpond.com.

Cautionary Statements - Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In this press release, Wishpond has used the following terms ("Non-GAAP Financial Measures") that are not defined by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), but are used by management to evaluate the performance of Wishpond and its business: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA"), gross profit and gross margin. These measures may also be used by investors, financial institutions and credit rating agencies to assess Wishpond's performance and ability to service debt. Non-GAAP Financial Measures do not have standardized meanings prescribed by GAAP and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Securities regulations require that Non-GAAP Financial Measures are clearly defined, qualified and reconciled to their most comparable GAAP financial measures. Except as otherwise indicated, these Non-GAAP Financial Measures are calculated and disclosed on a consistent basis from period to period. Specific items may only be relevant in certain periods. See the disclosure under the heading "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in Wishpond's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for a discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures and certain reconciliations to GAAP financial measures. The intent of Non-GAAP Financial Measures is to provide additional useful information to investors and analysts, and the measures do not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. The measures should not, therefore, be considered in isolation or used in substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Other issuers may calculate Non-GAAP Financial Measures differently. Non-GAAP Financial Measures are identified and defined as follows:

Gross profit and Gross margin: The Company defines " gross profit " as revenue less cost of sales and " gross margin " as gross profit as a percentage of revenue. Gross profit and gross margin should not be construed as an alternative for revenue or net loss determined in accordance with IFRS. The Company believes that gross profit and gross margin are meaningful metrics in assessing the Company's financial performance and operational efficiency.

and The Company defines " " as revenue less cost of sales and " " as gross profit as a percentage of revenue. Gross profit and gross margin should not be construed as an alternative for revenue or net loss determined in accordance with IFRS. The Company believes that gross profit and gross margin are meaningful metrics in assessing the Company's financial performance and operational efficiency. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA: EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as alternatives to net earnings, cash flow from operating activities or other measures of financial results determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of Wishpond's performance. The Company defines " Adjusted EBITDA" as EBITDA less foreign currency losses (gains), net other expenditures (income), and stock-based compensation. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from operations which the Company can use to fund working capital requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments and fund future growth initiatives.

and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as alternatives to net earnings, cash flow from operating activities or other measures of financial results determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of Wishpond's performance. The Company defines " as EBITDA less foreign currency losses (gains), net other expenditures (income), and stock-based compensation. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a meaningful financial metric as it measures cash generated from operations which the Company can use to fund working capital requirements, service future interest and principal debt repayments and fund future growth initiatives. EBITDA margins : EBITDA margin is a profitability ratio that measures earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, as a percentage of total revenue.

: EBITDA margin is a profitability ratio that measures earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, as a percentage of total revenue. Monthly recurring revenue: Normalized measure of predictable monthly revenue.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements that are not reported financial results or other historical information are forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding the Company, its subsidiaries and the industries in which they operate, including statements about, among other things, expectations, beliefs, plans, future operations, origination of additional targets in which the Company may hold an interest and acquisition opportunities for the Company, business and acquisition strategies, opportunities, objectives, prospects, assumptions, including those related to trends and prospects, and future events and performance. Sentences and phrases containing or modified by words such as "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "intend", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targets", "projects", "is designed to", "strategy", "should", "believe", "contemplate" and similar expressions, and the negative of such expressions, are not historical facts and are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking statements have been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control, including, but not limited to, the risk factors discussed in the continuous disclosure materials of the Company which are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Wishpond Technologies Ltd.
XPENG has been expanding its local presence in Norway as a key initiative in its long-term international strategy. Together with its local partner XBI, XPENG has established 17 local sales outlets and 21 service outlets in Norway. The Norwegian launch of the XPENG P7 and P7 Wing special edition in October marks another significant development of its product portfolio in Norway following the launch of the G3.

"We have invested significant efforts in the establishment of XPENG in the Norwegian market. The top ranking today is a strong testimony of the recognition of our product competitiveness and the increasing appeal of XPENG to customers in Norway," says Christian Hem, Sales Director of XPENG Norway. "We are committed to optimizing customer experience and building our local presence with a long-term perspective."

XPENG is witnessing increasing visibility in the European market, presenting the sixth-generation flying car of HT Aero, XPENG's affiliate Urban Air Mobility company, at European Rotors 2021, the rotorcraft industry event, in Cologne, Germany this month.

Follow us:

XPeng Twitter

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About XPENG

XPeng is a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets Smart EVs that appeal to the large and growing base of technology-savvy middle-class consumers in China. Its mission is to drive Smart EV transformation with technology and data, shaping the mobility experience of the future. In order to optimize its customers' mobility experience, XPENG develops in-house its full-stack autonomous driving technology and in-car intelligent operating system, as well as core vehicle systems including powertrain and the electrification / electronic architecture. XPENG is headquartered in Guangzhou, China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Silicon Valley and San Diego. The Company's Smart EVs are manufactured at its plant in Zhaoqing, located in Guangdong province. For more information, please visit https://en.xiaopeng.com.

SOURCE XPENG
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Targeting those who talk about dividing India, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that the country had witnessed a major stumble at the time of partition and it cannot be forgotten, so it will not be repeated now.

Launching a book - "Vibhajankaleen Bharat Ke Sakshi" (The Witness of Partition India) - written by Krishnanand Sagar in Noida, the Sangh chief said that this is India of 2021, not 1947. Once the country has been divided and now it will not be divided again.

Bhagwat also advocated for the 'Akhand Bharat' (united India). He termed the partition is an unforgettable event and asserted that the pain of division will only end when the partition would be revoked.

He said that what was broken will have to be united again.

Bhagwat said that a conspiracy was hatched for the partition of India, which continues even today. Partition took place for peace but even after that, there were riots in the country, he asserted.

He said that the identity of India is Hindu, so what is the harm in accepting it.

Speaking on 'Ghar Wapsi', the Sangh chief said that if anyone wants to return to their forefathers' home, we will welcome them, but if they don't want to come, it doesn't matter.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Brazzaville, Nov 26 : Only some 27 per cent of health workers in Africa have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, leaving the bulk of the workforce on the frontlines against the pandemic unprotected, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

"The majority of Africa's health workers are still missing out on vaccines and remain dangerously exposed to severe Covid-19 infection," Xinhua news agency quoted Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa as saying on Thursday.

Africa's shortage of health workers is acute and profound, as 16 countries in the region have less than one health worker per 1,000 population, said the WHO Regional office for Africa.

To date, more than 227 million vaccine doses have been administered in Africa. In 39 countries which provided data, about 3.9 million doses have been given to health workers.

"With a new surge in cases looming over Africa following the end-of-year festive season, countries must urgently speed up the rollout of vaccines to health care workers," said Moeti.

As of Thursday afternoon, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Africa had reached 8,614,525, with 222,254 deaths and 8,060,459 recoveries, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Prayagraj, Nov 26 : The three accused in the Mahant Narendra Giri death case had circulated an objectionable audio, defaming the seer and putting him under immense mental and psychological trauma due to which he ended his life.

In its 19-page chargesheet filed in the Mahant Narendra Giri death case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that accused Anand Giri, Adya Tiwari and Sandeep Tiwari were guilty of abetment to suicide.

A video recorded by Mahant before his death has been treated as dying declaration by the CBI, while the report of the seven-page suicide note sent for forensic and handwriting analysis is awaited.

On September 20, Mahant Narendra Giri, president of Akhil Bhartiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP), was found dead at the Baghambari Gaddi in Prayagraj.

The chargesheet states that on May 26, a truce was struck between Anand and the Mahant in Lucknow but it did not work out.

Mahant Narendra Giri became head of the Baghambari Mutt in 2004 and Anand became his disciple in 2005. Differences cropped up between them when Anand formed 'Ganga Sena' and held a camp without Mahant's permission.

On January 7, 2010, Mahant named Swami Balbir Giri as his successor but on August 29, 2011, nominated Anand in a fresh will.

The Mahant again changed his will on June 4, 2020, nominating Balbir as his successor and saying Anand had started visiting foreign countries and raised a separate entity.

Mahant had said in his will that Anand was involved in 'anti-religious' activities and also wrote about expelling the latter for his misdeeds.

The CBI probe stated that Anand requested Mahant Ravindra Puri of Niranjani Akhara to play interlocutor and get his expulsion revoked.

On May 23, Ravindra made a call to Mahant which was recorded by Anand.

During the chat, Anand threatened the Mahant saying he is in possession of many objectionable audios and videos.

On September 11, Narendra Giri asked his disciples about 'sulphas' and its impact on the body. On September 19, he asked another disciple to bring a nylon rope.

The CBI chargesheet mentions that Mahant was seen taking the nylon rope inside the guest room and next day told his disciples that Anand was going to release edited videos showing him in objectionable position with a woman.

The CBI mentions that the video found in the Mahant's phone reflected he was under grave trauma due to the conspiracy.
Mathura : , Nov 26 (IANS) The Mathura rape victim, who was gang-raped in a moving car, tried to commit suicide by consuming poison.

She was admitted to a private hospital on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested Tejveer, the main accused in the gang-rape and the car used in the incident has also been recovered. The accused Tejveer is being questioned.

It may be recalled that the accused and his three other accomplices had allegedly gang-raped a woman, who was returning home after appearing for the Uttar Pradesh police sub-inspector recruitment exam.

The main accused was a Facebook friend of the woman and had offered her a lift.

After committing the crime, the accused left the victim on the highway and fled.

The police, which scanned CCTV cameras and initiated electronic surveillance, traced the main accused and arrested him on Thursday. The police also recovered the car used in the incident.

According to the victim's family members, the police have changed the case of alleged gang-rape to a case of rape by one person which upset the victim.

Agra Range Inspector General (IG) Nachiketa Jha and Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Gaurav Grover reached the hospital on Thursday night and took the statement of the victim, assuring her of justice.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh State Human Rights Commission has directed Mathura's Senior Superintendent of Police to get the matter investigated by a jurisdictional level officer and submit a report within 24 hours.
Panaji, Nov 26 : Assembly elections dates are yet to be announced in Goa, but the people of the coastal state, already appear to have emerged as winners thus far.

With opposition parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Trinamool Congress making a flurry of pre-promises, the BJP-led coalition government in the state appears to be spending the fag-end of its tenure rushing to hastily implement schemes which mirror populist promises made by the opposition parties.

This competition between the ruling BJP and aspiring opposition parties like AAP, has also led to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal to refer to each other as 'copycats' and 'duplicates'.

After the AAP made a promise to provide free power to the tune of 300 units to domestic households in the state in August, the BJP-led coalition government in Goa had subsequently announced 16,000 free litres of water in every household, a scheme which has already been implemented since.

Earlier this month, Kejriwal announced a free pilgrimage scheme for Goa's senior citizens, soon after which Sawant revived a scheme -- formerly announced in his budget speech -- 'Mukhyamantri Devdarshan Scheme'.

While Kejriwal's pilgrimage scheme assured senior citizens a free trip to the Ram temple at Ayodhya, Ajmer Sharif and Vellankani, Sawant's pilgrimage scheme provides a fully financed journey to the Sai baba temple at Shirdi and Vellankani in Tamil Nadu.

The Goa government was also forced to up and hasten its drive for filling up of 10,000 government vacancies after Kejriwal promised to offer one job per family, as well as an unemployment allowance, if the party comes to power in 2022.

Trinamool Congress, led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, which is keen to make a splash in the 2022 Goa polls also made a slew of freebies, especially to those involved in the fisheries sector. Banerjee's key promises include a Rs. 4,000 monthly allowance for those working in the sector, increase in the existing fuel subsidy by 2.5 times, etc.

The Congress has so far steered clear of announcing any freebies in the run up to the 2022 state Assembly polls. "Our party does not believe in pre-poll 'jumlas'," Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat said.
Paris, Nov 26 : French fishermen will on Friday block three ports and the Channel Tunnel to stop exports to the UK and demand that London accelerate the delivery of fishing licenses, the National Committee for Maritime Fisheries and Marine Aquaculture (CRPMEM) in Paris said.

The committee said that the aim of the action is to defend the fishermen's "just and legitimate demands" and to prevent the UK from obstructing future negotiations, reports Xinhua news agency.

The CRPMEM said it regretted that despite months of negotiations, London and Jersey still refuse to issue the fishing licenses legitimately expected by French professionals under the trade and cooperation agreement concluded between the UK and the European Union (EU) on December 24, 2020.

"The situation has become untenable for our fishermen, whom the current uncertainty places in a very fragile position," it stressed.

According to the committee, Friday's action is meant to be "symbolic and non-violent".

If the fishermen's demands were ignored, they will turn this "warning shot" into other types of action, the committee warned the UK government.

"We don't want handouts, we just want our licenses back. The UK must abide by the post-Brexit deal," Gerard Romiti, president of the CRPMEM, was quoted by local media as saying.

Brexit has deprived several French fishermen of the right to operate in UK territorial waters.

The UK has agreed to grant fishing licenses to boats that can prove past fishing activity in its waters, but too few such licenses have been delivered, according to the French fishermen.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Indias leading industrialist and philanthropist, Anil Agarwal, Chairman of the Vedanta Group, one of the worlds biggest Oil & Gas and Metals companies, has been bestowed with the Philanthropy Award at the Asian Business Awards 2021 for his outstanding contribution towards humanitarianism initiatives centering on healthcare, education, sanitation, skill development and sustainable livelihood.

His philanthropic pursuits have been an inspiration across the globe for his charitable foundation, the Anil Agarwal Foundation, which has created an exemplary social impact in rural India with Vedanta's multiple care initiatives. These initiatives, including Swatch Goan Abhiyaan, Nand Ghar, have touched upon over 4.23 crore lives helping them better their quality of life. To bring in sustainable and inclusive growth integrated with social-economic development, the group spent over Rs 331 crore in the year 2020-21.

The Asian Business Award, now in its 23rd year, is hosted every year by Eastern Eye, Britain's biggest selling English language Asian newspaper. The award is known for celebrating Asian entrepreneurship and business success, wherein the winners are honoured at the annual gathering of the UK's wealthiest and most successful businessmen and women. This year's esteemed assemblage, held on November 19 in London, recognised Agarwal for his exceptional contribution towards empowering underprivileged communities. His universal mission of giving back to society has made him a living inspiration for many across the globe.

Sharing his thoughts concerning his recent accolade, Agarwal said: "I am extremely humbled to receive this award. It has further energised me to uphold my commitment towards sustainably strengthening the rural communities of the country. I take pride in living up to my 'Giving Pledge' as this year Vedanta, under its social initiatives, has spent Rs 331 crore and has vowed to spend Rs 5000 crore more. Philanthropy has given more meaning to my life, and I draw immense satisfaction in giving back to society." Anil Agarwal Foundation CEO, Bhaskar Chatterjee, expressed great joy over international acknowledgement of Agarwal's efforts and the honourable distinction.

Chatterjee said: "We are extremely humbled and honoured to receive this award. We have always been committed to uplifting society and creating a more egalitarian social structure where basic necessities of life are accessible to all. The Anil Agarwal Foundation was set up to facilitate sustainable and inclusive growth to protect and provide for our communities. Such a prestigious award has boosted our spirit to continue our efforts towards serving society and motivates us to do more and better." It is not the first time his philanthropic vision gained traction, as he was also featured in the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2020. The list ranked him among the top five philanthropists in the country. In the pandemic-marred year of 2020, Agarwal's contribution towards humanitarian initiatives rose by 90 per cent compared to the previous year. In order to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 contagion, the foundation launched a Rs 5,000 crore social impact program called 'Covid Mukt Villages' to help the rural communities build a robust healthcare infrastructure. Last year alone, Vedanta contributed more than the government-mandated 2 per cent towards corporate social responsibility. The group outdoes itself every year with its transformation work at the grassroots level.

One of Vedanta's flagship initiatives, 'Swasth Gaon Abhiyaan', provides end-to-end healthcare services across 1,000 villages in 12 states, improving the lives of over 2 million people. Besides, the foundation also continues to significantly scale up its state-of-art Anganwadi project called 'Nand Ghar'. With the key focus on women empowerment and child development, the foundation is operating 2400-plus Nand Ghars across the nation. These aim to recreate anganwadis, powered with technology, especially to surpass the pandemic-induced challenges, by establishing e-learning for children along with providing nutritional meals and healthcare at their doorsteps. Vaccination being the most important shield against the virus, Vedanta rolled out a mega vaccination drive covering 1.2 lakh employees, their families and business partners. Under the guiding light of Agarwal, the foundation continues to work towards creating a better world by elevating the quality of life of various communities.

Agarwal, staying true to his philanthropic commitment, took the 'Giving Plege', in March this year and vowed to give 75 per cent of his wealth towards the socio-economic welfare of the rural communities. The Giving Pledge is a movement comprising global philanthropists wherein the world's big-hearts commit to donating the majority of their wealth towards philanthropic programs and charitable causes.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Growing up in Sikkim, he had never learned to read Gurumukhi as a young man. The coming of age happened when he was pursuing graduate studies in the US and a series of "fortuitous encounters" with Sikhs inspired him to learn about his faith. And proof that faith can move mountains is evident from his book "The Story of the Sikhs - 1469-1708", a comprehensive account of the ten Gurus that intricately weaves in accounts from the Guru Granth Sahib, the Dasam Granth and epic Braj poetry.

"The lives, teachings and writings of the Gurus and the divine wisdom enshrined in the Guru Grant Sahib together represent a unity of thought that is remarkable, but often misunderstood," writer, podcaster, commentator Sarbpreet Singh told IANS in an interview from his home in Massachusetts, adding the book "is a distillation of what I learned during my own journey as a young Sikh trying to understand and engage with his identity".

"I left India to pursue graduate studies in the US as a young man and through a fortuitous series of encounters with Sikhs who inspired me, I was motivated to learn about my faith. This budding interest in the history of Sikhism was accompanied by a deep immersion in Gurmat Sangeet or Sikh sacred music.

"Over the years, I started teaching both Sikh History and Gurmat Sangeet to young children in New Jersey and Boston and my interest deepened," he added.

"The Story of the Sikhs" (Penguin) first saw life as a podcast that he launched in an attempt to engage young Sikhs and inspire them to connect with their faith, "as I had as a young man. The success of the podcast, in particular the response of young people all over the world, motivated me to write the book", Sarbpreet Singh said.

Considerable research has gone into the book "Having grown up in Sikkim, I never learned to read Gurmukhi as a young man; hence my first engagement with Sikh history was through authors who had written books in English," he added.

The very first work he read was J.D. Cunningham's "History of the Sikhs", which gave him an insight into the struggles of the Gurus as well as Sikhs in the 18th century as well as the sacrifices that went into the formation and preservation of Sikh identity. He went on to read Max Arthur Macuauliffe's opus, "The Sikh Religion", which was written from a very traditional perspective, followed by Sardar Khushwant Singh's two volume history.

"As the years passed, I taught myself Gurmukhi which gave me the opportunity to read multiple works by the Sikh writer, savant and mystic, Bhai Vir Singh which opened up a new world for me. Through Bhai Vir Singh's books such as 'Guru Nanak Chamatkar', 'Ashth Guru Chmatkar' and 'Sri Kalgidhar Chamatkar', I was introduced to the early Janamsakhi (biographical) accounts of Guru Nanak and the beautiful Braj poetry of Kavi Santokh Singh in his work 'The Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth," the author elaborated.

Using Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha's encyclopedia, "The Mahan Kosh", as well as Braj dictionaries published during the British Raj, he was then able to engage with a host of other writings such as 'The Gurbilas Patshahi Chevin', 'The Gurbilas Patshahi Dasvin' of Koer Singh and the 'Sri Gur Sobha' of Senapati, one of the celebrated court poets of Guru Gobind Singh.

"The Gurbilas literature with its soaring literature and tales of heroism gave me a deeper appreciation of the times that the Sikh faith lived through and its struggles with the later Mughal Emperors who had abandoned the liberal ways of Akbar The Great. For the sections of the book that deal with the life of Guru Gobind Singh, I delved into the Dasam Granth as well as into research by scholars such as Dr. Trilochan Singh and Dr. D.P. Ashtha," Sarbpreet Singh said.

He also engaged with the writings of Bhai Nand Lal, another of Guru Gobind Singh's beloved court poets, who composed beautiful ghazals in Farsi addressed to his master and diligently documented the code of conduct that had been created for the Sikh nation.

"Poetry from a variety of sources played an important part in the creation of this book, which is replete with excerpts in translation. Selections from The Guru Granth Sahib, The Dasam Granth, The writings of Bhai Gurdas, Guru Arjan's scribe, and Bhai Nand Lal, The Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, The Gurbilas texts and the haunting marsiye or elegiac poems (of mourning) of Allah Yar Khan Jogi have been included in the book in translation," the author pointed out.

How did he come to adopt the storytelling style rather than that of a historian for this book? "Having taught history to reluctant teenagers for several years, I have always had an appreciation for how difficult it is for young people in particular, to engage with history. There are many wonderful books that have been written about the Sikh faith; many have been written by scholars and are intended to serve as text books or reference material.

"I wanted to create a work, which, while deeply researched was engaging and accessible. There is precedent for this type of writing; I have greatly enjoyed the historical writings of William Dalrymple and Manu Pillai; I find their work to be extremely engaging and truly a joy to read," Sarbpreet Singh explained.

Thus, his is a very "personal" book in that it focuses on those aspects of Sikh history that appealed to him and inspired him. "Hence, it was natural for me to approach it as a storyteller rather than as a student of history," he said.

What is the common thread running through the 10 Gurus, as also the Guru Granth Sahib, that makes the religion so appealing? "The lives, teachings and writings of the Gurus and the divine wisdom enshrined in the Guru Grant Sahib together represent a unity of thought that is remarkable, but often misunderstood. The world has over time, dichotomized Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh by focusing on the former's spirituality and the latter's valour.

"Within the Sikh tradition, this unity is clearly understood and is echoed in writings as diverse as the Var of Satta And Balwand, which appears in the Guru Granth Sahib and the Sri Gur Sobha of Senapati. This dichotomy, which has been reinforced by popular artistic representations of the Gurus, as well as what I would call 'lazy scholarship', does a great disservice to the faith" the author maintained.

Guru Gobind Singh, he asserts, was no less spiritual than Guru Nanak and the evidence is clear if one reads his compositions such as the Jaap Sahib. SImilarly Guru Nanak was every bit as militant as Guru Gobind Singh and as concerned about issues of justice.

"He was equally committed to the opposition of tyranny in all forms. The evidence lies in his collection of hymns known as Babarvani, enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, which is an excoriation of the tyranny of Babar as he subjected the inhabitants of Northern India to violence as he was establishing his rule," Sarbpreet Singh pointed out.

To that extent, while there are already endowed Chairs of Sikh Studies at several prominent US universities, he would "personally be inspired more by a Chair that focused on the Sikh traditions of Seva or Service and the Sikh commitment to fighting injustice and the Sikh embrace of inclusion as reflected in Guru Nanak's broad worldview. I would posit that the world needs this in a time when divisions seem to be deepening and cynical demagogues who benefit from them are ascendant in almost every nation".

What next? What's his next project? "I am presently working on a few different things", and some of these projects are close to fruition:

A fictionalised retelling of the life of the Sufi Shah Hussain in the form of a novel that is a celebration of his magnificent poetry and his unconventional life

A collection of short fiction that traces the fortunes of the early Punjabi diaspora in North America

Volume 2 of the Story of the Sikhs, which covers the turbulent years of the 18th century when the Mughal Empire was collapsing and northern India was reeling from repeated invasions by Ahmad Shah Abdali, creating an opportunity for the Sikhs to seize political power." This is Sarbpreet Singh's third book after "Night of the Restless Spirits" on the aftermath of the events of 1984, and "The Camel Merchant of Philadelphia" on the cosmopolitan court of the "Lion of Punjab", Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Thus, there is much to look forward to when Volume 2 of the present book appears.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Fifteen more countries have recognised India's Covid-19 vaccination certificate, taking the total number of such nations that have approved India's vaccine certificate to 21, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates continues! Fifteen more recognitions for India's vaccination certificate," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet.

"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates with India: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palestine, Philippines, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine," MEA said in a statement.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare said earlier that nearly 100 countries have agreed to the mutual acceptance of vaccination certificates of India's Covid-19 vaccines and the vaccination process.

The Minister in an event on Thursday said, "Mutual recognition of vaccinations increases ease of travel for tourism and business thereby boosting economic recovery the world so desperately needs,".

Highlighting how India helped other countries throughout the Pandemic, he said, "Being the Pharmacy of the World, India has generously supplied HCQ tablets and other medical equipment to 27 countries. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, 6.63 crore doses were sent to 95 countries".

Explaining India's strategy of curbing Covid pandemic, he said that six vaccines are approved in India, of which two are indigenously developed. Near 1.2 billion doses have been administered with 82 per cent Indians receiving at least one dose and 44 per cent being fully vaccinated.

"India is willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin to all the countries", said Union Health Minister in a meeting with the ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean nations on Thursday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, detected in South Africa is mainly affecting people in the under 25 age group, among whom the vaccination rate against the virus is only 26 per cent, according to health officials.

Professor Anne von Gottberg from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said the variant had been detected in about 100 genomes so far.

Regarding the affected group, South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla said: "They are at great risk," Times Live reported.

KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp) genome sequencer Professor Tulio de Oliveira said the new variant "is concerning for predicted immune-evasion and transmissibility".

Twenty-two positive cases of the variant have been recorded in the country following genomic sequencing collaborations between the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, and private laboratories. In addition, other NGS-SA laboratories are confirming more cases as sequencing results come out.

"It is not surprising that a new variant has been detected in South Africa," comments Professor Adrian Puren, NICD Acting Executive Director.

"Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be. Developments are occurring at a rapid pace and the public has our assurance that we will keep them up to date." Confirmed cases is increasing quickly, particularly in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo.

Michelle Groome, Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response at the NICD, said that provincial health authorities remain on high alert and are prioritising the sequencing of Covid-19 positive samples.

The South African news outlet reported that with Gauteng emerging as the epicentre of the fourth wave of the pandemic once again, it's no surprise that the province has recorded the most number of infections from the B.1.1.529 variant.

While Johannesburg and Tshwane were both considered hotspots for the previous waves, for now focus is on the capital. Areas such as Pretoria West, Atteridgeville, Centurion, Hatfield, and Soshanguve identified as a cause for concern.

"This variant surprised us... It has a big jump on evolution," said Professor de Oliveira, News 24 reported.

South Africa has a large collaborative genomic surveillance network, which involves detecting and researching variants and controlling outbreaks.

Krisp is the principal investigative institute of this network.

De Oliveira added it had many more mutations than scientists expected, especially after a severe third wave, which was driven by the Delta variant.

"Many of the mutations are of concern for immune evasion and transmissibility. We can see the variant potentially spreading very fast... We do expect, unfortunately, to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks." Around 90 per cent of the cases linked to this variant were from Gauteng, he added, the report added.

The team is generating data from other provinces.

Another scientist pointed out there were early signs from diagnostic lab tests this variant might already be present in many of the other provinces, although he cautioned this was based on a much smaller number of positive PCR tests.

"The cases are not rising to the same extent in the other provinces, but it gives us concern that this variant might be circulating quite widely in the country," said Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases expert involved in surveillance for Covid-19 variants.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Los Angeles, Nov 26 : Two more "smash-and-grab" robberies hit upscale department stores in California, adding to a series of similar crimes in the US state.

In a statement on Thursday, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said that at least five people went inside an open Nordstrom store in the city's Canoga Park neighbourhood on Wednesday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.

The attack happened at around 6.45 p.m. when a group of five suspects burst into the store and ran out with items that included about seven to eight expensive purses worth an estimated $25,000.

The intruders used bear spray on a security guard during the robbery and left the scene by car.

Also on Wednesday, police said at least four people stole $20,000 worth of merchandise from an Apple store in Santa Rosa, located about 95 kim north of San Francisco.

The Santa Rosa Police Department said the incident happened in front of customers and staff at noon, with four robbers who were described as young males between the ages of 14 and 18 years old involved.

These incidents are the latest similar burglaries targeting high-end stores in the Golden State, in which several thieves ransacked a store and fled by cars.

On November 20, a mob of about 80 people stormed a Nordstrom department store with weapons in Walnut Creek, 35 km east of San Francisco.

Three suspects were arrested on Wednesday and charged with multiple felonies, including robbery, burglary, organised retail theft, conspiracy, and receiving stolen property.

On Monday, at least 18 people broke into a Nordstrom department store in Los Angeles and stole thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

The LAPD said three suspects had been arrested.

In response to a recent increase in organised retail theft activities across the state, state Governor Gavin Newsom directed the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to increase their presence near major retail sites and announced a proposed increase in the 2022 to 2023 state budget to combat retail theft.

"The level of organised retail theft we are seeing is simply unacceptable... Businesses and customers should feel safe while doing their holiday shopping.

"As a small business owner myself, I am resolved to holding these criminals accountable and protecting our local businesses." Newsom added.
Toronto, Nov 26 : A new study has found that the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the mental health of older people living in the community.

Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), the researchers found that 43 per cent of adults aged 50 or older experienced moderate or high levels of depressive symptoms at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"These findings suggest the negative mental health impacts of the pandemic persist and may worsen over time and underscores the need for tailored interventions to address pandemic stressors and alleviate their impact on the mental health of older adults," said researcher Parminder Raina from McMaster University.

For the study, published in the journal Nature Aging, the team used telephone and web survey data to examine how health-related factors and social determinants such as income and social participation, impacted the prevalence of depressive symptoms during the initial lockdown starting March 2020 and after re-opening following the first wave of Covid-19 in Canada.

Caregiving responsibilities, separation from family, family conflict and loneliness were associated with a greater likelihood of moderate or high levels of depressive symptoms that got worse over time.

Women were also more likely to have higher odds of depressive symptoms during the pandemic compared to men, and a greater number of women reported separation from family, increased time caregiving as well as barriers to caregiving.

Overall, older adults had twice the odds of depressive symptoms during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic. But those with lower income and poorer health, either due to pre-existing health conditions or health concerns reported during the pandemic, experienced a greater impact.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : A Delhi court on Friday refused bail to a man accused of entering the Information Bureau (IB) office in a car impersonating as a newly-recruited IPS officer saying the accused may flee justice if released on bail.

Metropolitan Magistrate Manu Shree dismissed Pradeep Sharma's bail application while considering the seriousness of the allegations and the facts at the initial stage, saying the accused may try to influence witnesses or tamper with the evidence if enlarged on bail.

The accused had entered the IB House in an Innova car which had an imitated logo of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Various fake documents have been found from the car, including a seal of the Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block and he was arrested on November 17.

Advocate Manoranjan Kumar, who appeared for the accused, sought bail on the ground that cheating charges are not made against him and the rest charges are not severe in nature.

Public prosecutor Ankit Srivastava opposed the bail saying that the accused had committed a serious offence by entering into the premises of a secret government agency by impersonating and pretending himself as an IPS Officer and using the fake stamps of government - ministries like Home and Defence.

Accordingly, the Court denied bail to the accused.
Lucknow, Nov 26 : The Uttar Pradesh government has sounded an alert against the new variant of Covid-19 virus, which has been reported in Botswana (three cases), South Africa (six cases) and Hong Kong (one case).

An official note on the matter issued by additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, said that the Covid-19 variant B.1.1529 (commonly being referred to as 'Botswana' variant) is reported to have significantly high number of mutations and thus has a serious public health implication for the country in view of the recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel.

Citing recommendations from the Union health ministry, the officials dubbed the variant as a major threat to public health in the state and advised screening of all international travellers for the pandemic virus.

In addition to this, the health officials have been asked to undertake regular genome sequencing of the samples collected from the foreign returnees.

Meanwhile, the health officials also urged people of the state to adhere to the Covid-19 prevention protocol and get vaccinated at the earliest.

The proportion of fully vaccinated persons in the state crossed the 30 per cent-mark with more than 16.69 lakh vaccinations on Thursday.

It showed that the total number of doses administered in the state is 15.52 crore.

In terms of people, nearly 10.87 crore have taken both the doses while 4.64 crore are fully vaccinated. Considering the target of 15.04 crore persons in Uttar Pradesh, the proportion of fully vaccinated persons are 30.8 per cent.

Six new cases of the Covid-19 virus had been detected from the state in the past 24 hours while seven had recovered. The state is left with 91 active cases.
Tokyo, Nov 26 : Japan's cabinet is set to approve a record 36 trillion yen ($314 billion) supplementary budget for fiscal 2021 on Friday to fund the government's latest economic stimulus.

The first extra budget for the current fiscal year from April requires new national bond issuance worth 22.1 trillion yen, which might hurt Japan's fiscal health, reports Xinhua news agency.

Japan's total new debt issuance for fiscal 2021 will exceed 65 trillion yen, which is smaller than the amount in the previous fiscal year when the government compiled three extra budgets totalling about 73 trillion yen to curb the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Japanese government also plans to use 6.1 trillion yen, which was carried over from the fiscal 2020 budget.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said his administration aims to pass the supplementary budget in an extraordinary parliamentary session to be held next month.

Under the extra budget, 18.6 trillion yen will be used for measures to fight the virus and relax the economic impact of the pandemic, including 1.7 trillion yen to increase funds for the government's unemployment insurance system amid growing payment for allowances to furloughed workers.

To restart the "Go To Travel" program, a government subsidized amount of 268.5 billion yen will be used to promote domestic tourism. The program was suspended nationwide last December due to a resurgence of the Covid-19 infections.

A week ago, the cabinet approved the government's new economic package, worth about 78.9 trillion yen including private funds.
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday called upon people to rededicate to the cause of upholding ideals, rights and values enshrined in the Indian Constitution and strive to create a strong, secure, prosperous and self-reliant India.

Addressing the Constitution Day programme at Raj Bhawan, she conveyed greetings to the citizens on Constitution Day and paid tributes to Father of the Indian Constitution Dr B.R. Ambedkar and members of the Constituent Assembly.

"I express my reverence and gratitude to the Father of the Indian Constitution Bharat Ratna Dr B.R. Ambedkar for making our Constitution a reality," she said.

She also paid tributes to all members of the Constituent Assembly for their immense contributions and pointed out that they discussed and debated thousands of amendments to the previous draft.

"By celebrating Constitution Day, we are paying rich tributes to the memory and contribution of members of the Constituent Assembly," she said and described the Constitution as the main force for the unity, integrity and unique diversity of the country.

"For more than seven decades, despite many challenges, the Indian Constitution proved to be supreme in ensuring the country's rock solid democratic foundation," the Governor said.

She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet for their decision to initiate celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day in 2015. She noted that the day marks a major milestone in the journey and evolution of the country as a sovereign power.

Stating that the country is still in the midst of a Covid-19 pandemic, the Governor appealed to all citizens to take vaccines.

"Please be careful. We have not got rid of Corona yet. Follow all precautions like wearing a mask, washing hands and maintaining social distance," physician-turned politician Soundararajan said.

The Governor said people were still hesitant to take vaccines. "I am worried about the people who are not taking a second dose of vaccination. If you are not taking the second dose, the first dose is useless," she said.

The Governor mentioned the argument that despite vaccination, one may get Covid. "You may get it even after vaccination but it will be a mild infection like a common cold," she said.

She claimed that a survey has shown that 99 per cent people admitted in ICU were non-immunised.

Chief Justice of Telangana High Court Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said that November 26 every year is celebrated as Constitution Day to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India and to highlight the importance of the Constitution and the ideas of Ambedkar.

He said the system of life, livelihood and culture of every citizen of India is governed by the Constitution. He noted that the working of the Constitution also rests with the bar and judiciary in the larger measure.

He observed that technology can not substitute for knowledge and wisdom of judges but it helps in improving the judicial system.

"It is the duty of every citizen to contribute to the efficient and improved working of the Constitution and the institutions created under it. Let us resolve to rededicate ourselves to preserve and protect supremacy of the Constitution and rule of law," he added.

State ministers K. T. Rama Rao, Prashanth Reddy, Satyavathi Rathore, judges of the High Court and senior officials attended the event.
Khartoum, Nov 26 : At least 43 people were killed and 46 villages were burned and looted during a conflict between Arab nomads and farmers from the Misseriya Jebel tribe in West Darfur's Jebel Moon locality, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan (OCHA) said.

According to the OCHA, the conflict broke out on November 17, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Initial reports indicate that at least 43 people have been killed, 46 villages have been burned and looted, and an unknown number of people were injured due to ongoing fighting.

"Several people are reportedly missing, including children," the Office noted.

Sudan's Darfur region has witnessed a civil war since 2003 during the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted on April 11, 2019.

The transitional government in Sudan sought to end the armed conflict in the Darfur region through an agreement reached on October 3, 2020, but some armed groups are yet to sign the agreement.

An estimated 66,500 people live in Jebel Moon locality, and more than 43,000 are people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the 2021 Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview.

Over 13,300 people of Jebel Moon are in crisis and above levels of food security between October and December 2021, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.

Security allowing, an inter-agency assessment will take place between November 29 and December 2 to determine the needs and type of response required, the OCHA added.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Some analysts have pointed to the existence of a specific, formally organised wing of ISI, namely the 'S' or security wing, which is directly responsible for the relationship with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jerusalem Post reported.

While the support and direction offered LeT by serving officers of the ISI appears confirmed in the Mumbai attacks of 26/11, debate remains as to the extent to which ISI as a whole, and therefore the Pakistani state itself, should be seen as backing the group, or whether the situation depicted by George Headley and Zabiuddin Ansari shows the existence of an element within ISI supportive of the terror group. There is not necessarily a simple dividing line in this regard, the report said.

The line taken by the Pakistani authorities, when pressured by the US to investigate the issue and presented with clear evidence of ISI operatives' involvement, has been that "rogue operatives" within ISI were responsible, it added.

Ultimately, the issue of whether elements within the ISI, or the ISI itself planned, assisted and directed the Mumbai attacks remains an unresolved one, with coherent points made on both sides of the debate.

"But either way, the picture is grave. If the latter is the case, then Pakistan is a state sponsor of terror. If the former, then the Pakistani state is unable to account for terror supporting activities which led to the deaths of hundreds of people, undertaken by serving officers in a premier state institution," the report said.

But while the direct responsibility of LeT terrorists is not in doubt, solid evidence has emerged that this organisation did not act alone. Rather, a close relationship between the group and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence organisation, or elements within that organisation was maintained before, during and subsequent to the attacks. The ISI is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, the report said.

"According to Steve Coll, a US journalist specialising in Pakistan's links with terror groups, the digital trail suggested that the individuals directing the attacks from Mumbai were serving operatives of the ISI. Coll notes in his book Directorate S that western officials confronted Pakistan with the relevant intercepts. No systematic investigation followed," the report said.

The direct responsibility of the Sunni Islamist LeT group for the Mumbai killings is not in doubt. The captured gunman, Ajmal Kasab, admitted his membership of this organisation, and described in detail the process in which he and his colleagues had trained in Pakistan, and set out for the attacks from Karachi, the capital of Pakistan's Sindh province.

An Indian investigation confirmed LeT's responsibility for the attacks. Subsequent pressure from the US and United Nations on Pakistan led to the arrest of a number of LeT members on Pakistani soil. In 2009, Pakistan released the results of its own investigation, also confirming the organization's responsibility for the attacks, the report added.

Kasab, in his interrogation by the Indian authorities and to FBI officials, confirmed that the Mumbai operation was directed from Karachi, using telephone and Internet communication.

David Coleman Headley (born Daood Gilani), a Pakistani and US citizen charged and convicted in 2009 in a US court of carrying out surveillance for LeT prior to the attacks, offered additional extensive details of the group's links with the ISI.

According to Headley's testimony, serving ISI officers assisted in the funding and planning for the attacks. One of the officers named by Headley, referred to by him as "Major Iqbal", directed and funded the attacks, and personally selected the targets. Headley was, according to his own testimony, dispatched on five reconnaissance missions into Mumbai by Iqbal, in order to select the targets subsequently attacked by LeT in November, 2008.

According to Headley, incidentally, Iqbal specifically chose the Nariman Chabad House as a target because he claimed that it was a front for the Mossad. Headley further revealed that subsequent to the attacks, Iqbal tried to set in motion an LeT attack on the offices of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, which had published pictures of Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, the report said.

In addition to the details regarding Major Iqbal, David Headley gave a number of names of serving ISI officers engaged in offering assistance to LeT. These names included Major Sameer Ali, who Headley said recruited him, and Sajid Mir.

Headley's claims regarding the ISI role in the attacks were later independently confirmed by an additional LeT operative, Zabiuddin Ansari. This individual was an Indian citizen. He fled to Pakistan in 2006, and was extradited from Saudi Arabia to India in 2012.

Ansari testified that the weapons and ammunition used in the attack had been provided by ISI. Ansari further confirmed that ISI officials were present in the LeT's Karachi control room during the three days of the attack. Ansari, in India and independently of David Headley's account, named Major Sameer Ali as one of the officers present. Ansari claimed that he had himself been tasked by Ali with teaching a number of simple Hindi phrases to the Pakistani participants in the attacks, to enable them to make statements to Indian media during the course of the attacks and subsequent siege, the report said.

The strategic relationship and partnership between Israel and India has grown exponentially since 2008. The Mumbai attacks nevertheless continue to symbolise a certain commonality which remains at the core of relations. "Both India and Israel are non-Muslim countries, located respectively on the eastern and the western boundaries of the Islamic world's heartland. Both are therefore required to grapple with the fallout from the ongoing, often catastrophic encounter of much of that world with modernity, and its resultant challenges," the report said.

Partly or fully collapsed states, whose territory and institutions come to form incubators for violent paramilitary groups are one symptom of this larger malaise. The results of this reality were made starkly manifest in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. There have been ample subsequent examples, up to and including the very recent past. The growing cooperation and solidarity between New Delhi and Jerusalem is not only a function of shared tragedy. The memory of the Mumbai attacks, nevertheless, and the circumstances which spawned them are likely to remain a significant pillar in the broader structure of the relationship between Israel and India, the report added.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Patna, Nov 26 : The Special Vigilance Unit (SVU) in Bihar conducted raids at the properties of state Mines and Geology Minister Janak Ram's OSD and his relatives in several districts on Friday morning, an official said.

He added that the raids are currently underway at residences and offices in Patna, Katihar and Araria districts. Sleuths of the SVU have detected several big ticket transactions.

The unit has registered an FIR against Janak Ram's OSD Mritunjay Kumar, his brother Dhananjay Kumar and his girlfriend Ratna Chaterjee under section 13(1B), 13(2) and 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and 120B of the IPC on November 25 in Patna's vigilance police station.

As per the letter issued from the office of Nayyar Hasnain Khan, ADGP of SVU, the search warrant was issued against them by the Special Vigilance Court, Patna, on Thursday.

The vigilance team recovered several documents of properties in Delhi, Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal. Besides, sleuths have also recovered Rs 15 lakh cash from the house of Ratna Chaterjee in Araria district.

Earlier, Delhi police had arrested Bablu Kumar Arya, personal secretary of Janak Ram, on corruption charges.
November 26 : Its been 13 years since the terror attacks took place in Mumbai in 2008. On the 13th anniversary of the deadly terror attack that left 174 people dead and more than 300 injured, the country remembered the bravehearts. Bollywood celebs also remembered the bravehearts and paid tribute to them.

Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Nagma among others took to their social media accounts to remember the brave hearts and others who lost their lives in the terror attacks. Akshay Kumar tweeted, Its been 13 years since the horrific #MumbaiTerrorAttack. Remembering all those who lost their lives and loved ones. My heartfelt tribute to all the brave hearts who sacrificed their lives safeguarding our city.

Its been 13 years since the horrific #MumbaiTerrorAttack. Remembering all those who lost their lives and loved ones. My heartfelt tribute to all the bravehearts who sacrificed their lives safeguarding our city   Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) November 26, 2021

Armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades, the terrorists had attacked civilians at numerous sites in Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, the Leopold Cafe, a couple of hospitals, a theatre and other places.

Remembering the victims, Anil Kapoor also took to Twitter and wrote, 13 years later, we havent forgotten the martyrs who saved lives by sacrificing their own in the 26/11 attacksin their memory, lets vow to be better than terror.

13 years later, we haven't forgotten the martyrs who saved lives by sacrificing their own in the 26/11 attacks...in their memory, let's vow to be better than terror   Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) November 26, 2021

Former actor and politician Nagma tweeted, Today being the 26/11 we salute the martyrs of the #MumbaiTerrorAttacks on the 13th anniversary they gave up their lives to protect lives of the citizens in mumbai and our brave-hearts fought the terrorist .We salute their valour.

Today being the 26/11 we salute the martyrs of the #MumbaiTerrorAttacks on the 13th anniversary they gave up their lives to protect lives of the citizens in mumbai and our brave-hearts fought the terrorist .We salute their valour.  Nagma (@nagma_morarji) November 25, 2021

On this day in 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan had attacked civilians at several locations in Mumbai. The whole world had condemned the attacks. At that time, not only the common people but also Bollywood celebs had expressed grief and strongly condemned the attacks.
Canberra, Nov 26 : Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will send letters to citizens urging them to book their coronavirus booster vaccines as soon as possible, as the country is still battling the third wave of the pandemic.

In the letter to every Australian home, Morrison said booster shots were the key to keeping Australia open and avoiding a deadly fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Thanks to the high vaccination rates, we are now reopening, our economy is strongly re-emerging, and people can get back to seeing family, travelling and living a more normal life," he wrote.

"An important part of this process is ensuring that every person in Australia has access to vaccine boosters to help maintain the best possible defence against serious illness or death," said Morrison.

"Everyone in Australia is encouraged to take up the vaccine boosters to make sure we can keep each and every one of us safe." Every Australian aged 18 and over is eligible for a booster vaccine six months after their second jab.

Australia on Friday reported more than 1,600 new locally-acquired coronavirus infections and seven deaths.

Till date, 92 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over have received one Covid-19 vaccine dose and 86 per cent were fully inoculated.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Friday confirmed Australian authorities are working with the World Health Organization to investigate a new variant that was found in South Africa.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Nov 26 : India's first celebrity makeup brand by actor Katrina Kaif, Kay Beauty, in partnership with Nykaa, completes two glorious years. A passion project close to Katrina's heart, the brand was consciously created to resonate with real women and men everywhere.

As a true reflection of an inclusive brand curating products for everyone, Kay Beauty bridges the gap between high glamour and care, encouraging beauty to be enjoyed without guilt. #MakeupThatKares, is a makeup collection where each product has specific 'care' ingredients to nourish the skin, while at the same time delivering a long wear, high performance finish. As part of its second anniversary celebrations, the brand brings its core message to life through a photo and video series featuring real people and reiterating its belief that ItsKayToBeYou! True to the brand, this special series focuses on the beauty that lies within diversity and inclusivity, featuring people from different walks of life such as Tarun Panwar, Zoya Thomas Lobo, Anah Shaikh, Lasya Kahli Singh, Atasi Sindal, Ketaki Pimplekhare, and Prarthana Jagan along with Katrina Kaif.

"Kay Beauty is nothing short of a dream come true. Today, I proudly look back to the time when it all came alive, and to this journey that would have been incomplete without my beloved Kay Community. Kay Beauty proudly stands for inclusivity, a value that shines through all our campaigns and products. It has always urged people to accept their imperfections and insecurities with a positive approach. It has been a wonderful two years and we have grown every step of the way. It will always be our endeavour to spread the message, 'ItsKayTwoBeYou' -- inspiring women to celebrate themselves. I am so proud of what we have achieved so far and I'm truly excited for the journey ahead."

IANSlife caught up with the Bollywood star to get her thoughts on the anniversary celebrations and the future of the brand:

Q: From model, to actor, to entrepreneur -- which part of the journey has been the most challenging and fulfilling?

A: To me, challenges are fulfilling! And so, every part of my journey has been, both, challenging as well as fulfilling. I've loved every minute of being an actor and I'm learning new things along my entrepreneurial journey every day. These are exciting times for me!

Q: What led you to invest in Kay beauty and are you happy with the returns?

A: Two things were my primary motivators to invest in Kay Beauty. One, beauty is a space I have always wanted to explore. Two I am constantly striving to bridge the gap between affordability and aspiration for the Indian woman. Nykaa is a brand that echoes my sentiments and the synergy between us was on-point! I am thrilled with the popularity that Kay Beauty has seen over the last two years. Thank you for all the love and always remember... it's kay to be you!

Q: How important is it for women to support and enable each other?

A: I strongly believe that amazing things happen when women support, empower and enable each other to be the best version of themselves. Empowered women empower women. And the more we empower each other, the more empowered women there are in the world!

Q: The beauty industry is driven by self-worth... do you agree and why?

A: Fashion and beauty, to me, have always been about self-expression. The world will be a better and kinder place if we all embrace our own unique sense of individuality and celebrate ourselves. Having said that, the definition of beauty in society has evolved. We have come a long way from changing who we are to fit a boxed-in mould of beauty standards, to embracing what truly makes you beautiful in your own unique way. I think it's great that the beauty industry is promoting the concept of self-love and self-worth. It is definitely the need of the hour!

Q: Your favourite Kay Beauty products?

A: My favourite Kay Beauty products include the Kay Beauty Kajals and Kay Beauty Lipsticks.

Q: Nykaa just launched its IPO, it is a proud moment, what are your thoughts?

A: My association with Nykaa has given me a platform to help bring my dream alive while also giving wings to millions of women across the country and for that, I'm ever grateful. The IPO will only power the brand, even more, to make more dreams come true. I am extremely happy and proud that the brand has launched its IPO.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

-- Syndicated from IANS
Wellington, Nov 26 : The New Zealand Police and all New Zealand Defence Force staff have become the new groups required to be vaccinated in preparation for the transition to the new Covid-19 Protection Framework on December 3.

First doses of the vaccine for workers in these organisations are required by January 17, 2022, and second doses by March 1, 2022, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood said on Friday.

These groups are added to the list of sectors covered by vaccination, which includes Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) and border work, healthcare, education and prisons.

Vaccine requirements have been extended to include constabulary, recruits and authorized officers of New Zealand Police, and the armed forces and civilian staff of the New Zealand Defense Force, Wood said in a statement.

"Vaccine mandates are very strong legal requirements that have to be carefully considered based on a clear assessment about how justifiable they are," he said, adding that a simple vaccination assessment tool will be available for businesses in mid-December to help streamline the process.

New Zealand reported 173 new Delta variant cases of Covid-19 in the community on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country's current community outbreak to 7,832.

To date, 92 per cent of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 85 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 26 : After waging a war to get her newborn child back, which was given in adoption by a group, former Students' Federation of India (SFI) leader Anupama on Friday said her protest will resume and continue till all the wrongdoers, are brought before the law.

On December 10, the International Human Rights Day, she along with her support team will stage a protest before the State Secretariat.

She said there are quite a few people who have played a role in this and it includes, the police, a notary, officials attached to the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCWC) and the Child Welfare Committee.

"A copy of the report prepared by senior IAS official T.V. Anupama has to be given to me, as I am now being told that it was not what was reported in the media, which pinpoints the wrongdoers. Till date even after everything has surfaced, even the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is yet to utter a word. I will continue till the wrongdoers are punished," said Anupama, while speaking to the media, here.

It was four days after she delivered her baby boy in October last year, her parents forcibly took it away and then two state-backed agencies, KSCCWC and the CWC allowed the giving of her child to adoptive parents in Andhra Pradesh.

It was after a huge media blitz, which began last month, action started the distraught mother's pleas. The local family court, which was to have formalised the adoption, stayed the process and the baby was brought from Andhra Pradesh and given to Anupama and Ajith, early this week.

With the top officials at these two agencies all close to the CPI-M leaders, so far there has been no action against them and surprisingly on Thursday a top Kerala CPI-M leader in the state capital -- Anavoor Nagappan staunchly -- defended the two officials. He said till date there has been nothing against them and they have done no wrong.

The Congress-led Opposition led by V.D. Satheesan slammed Vijayan and other top leaders of the CPI-M and alleged that they had a role in the "missing baby" case and accused them of "child trafficking" and not adoption.

The fight to get her child back swung in Anupama's way as the DNA test result came positive on Tuesday, after the baby was brought here from Andhra Pradesh on Sunday night. And the very next day, the baby boy was handed over to the biological parents, marking the first phase of her war against the Vijayan government.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana on Friday urged lawyers to protect the institution from motivated and targeted attacks and to not shy away from standing up for what is right, and against what is wrong.

The Chief Justice made the remarks while addressing a Constitution Day celebration organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association.

"I want to tell all of you, that you must assist judges and the institution. We are all ultimately part of one large family. Protect the institution from motivated and targeted attacks. Do not shy away from standing up for what is right, and against what is wrong," the CJI said.

Justice Ramana said as people with intimate knowledge of the Constitution and the laws, it is the lawyers' responsibility to educate the rest of the citizenry about the role that they play in society.

"The history, present and the future of this nation lie on your shoulders. This is a heavy, if not the heaviest, burden to bear. This profession is called a noble profession for a reason. It demands expertise, experience, and commitment, like any other profession. But in addition to the above, it also requires integrity, knowledge of social issues, social responsibility, and civic virtue. You must be leaders and mentors in society." Justice Ramana asked the lawyers to actively take up pro bono cases and be worthy of the confidence reposed in them by the public.

He expressed happiness at being part of the legal community, which has given so much to the freedom struggle and played such an integral role in the drafting of the Constitution. "None can forget the contributions of lawyers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B.R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Patel and Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, whose dedication and sacrifices for the cause of the people are legendary. All of us here are successors of that glorious legacy." He said the Constitution of today, built upon the foundations laid by the framers, is a richer and more complex document than what it was when it was adopted in 1949, and it is a result of the dialogue that took place both inside and outside the court room, resulting in novel and unique interpretations.

"Perhaps, the most important feature of the Indian Constitution is the fact that it provides a framework for debate. It is through such debate and discussion that the nation ultimately progresses, evolves, and achieves higher levels of welfare for the people. The most direct and visible players in this process are of course, the lawyers and judges of this country," the CJI added.
Bengaluru, Nov 26 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is facing yet another challenge of defending his government on major allegations of forcing contractors to pay off 40 per cent kickbacks, has ordered a comprehensive probe into the matter.

The matter has become complicated as the complaint has also reached the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) close on the heels of sensational allegations on the Bitcoin scandal finding their way to the said office.

Karnataka Contractors' Association has shot off a letter to the PMO alleging that they are being "tortured" by politicians and bureaucrats for 40 per cent kickbacks in all major projects of various government departments.

A delegation of the Congress leaders led by state President D.K. Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah met Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Thursday and demanded for invoking the President's Rule in the state alleging rampant corruption.

The delegation also cited the letter shot off to the PMO office with 40 per cent kickback allegations by the Contractors' Association and previous charges levelled against the ruling BJP by Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister K.S. Eshwarappa during the present government and BJP MLA Basavanagouda Patil Yatnal during the tenure of B.S. Yediyurappa.

"Two committees headed by retired Judges would be constituted to scrutinise the tender estimates and conditions in accordance with the decision taken by the state cabinet, Chief Minister Bommai said.

"The Chief Secretary has been instructed to take appropriate action if any irregularities have been committed in the tender process. I have instructed for special scrutiny into the tenders which have been finalised after I assumed office as the Chief Minister," he stated.

"I have ordered for bringing a system that generates the bills automatically based on the work executed by the contractors and the seniority. Tenders should be completed within the set timeframe as any delay gives scope for suspicion," he said.

Any irregularities in the tender process would come out during the scrutiny. Though the recent letter written by the contractors to the Prime Minister in this regard does not contain any specific information, a probe has been ordered to ensure transparency, Bommai said.

According to sources, the PMO has sought an inquiry into the allegations and the inquiry is being ordered as per the instructions from the Central government.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The Delhi Police have busted a gang dealing in illegal weapons and arrested four criminals in this connection, an official said here on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Benita Mary Jaiker said the Narcotics Squad staff, South District, kept a strict vigil on the movement of public vehicles and set up checkpoints regularly at strategic locations.

On November 18, they received information about a person involved in supplying illegal firearms. "More details about the person were obtained by the police from social media platforms," the official said.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of the accused near a primary school, Rajpur Khurd, the police team laid a trap and apprehended two people identified as Pawan and Ankit.

On searching, two pistols including one country-made with five live cartridges, were recovered from their possession.

On sustained interrogation, the duo disclosed that they had purchased the arms and ammunition from a person named Raju. At their instance, Raju and another person, identified as Manish, were also arrested.

At the instance of both Raju and Manish, one revolver and one long barrel gun with four live cartridges and a motorcycle used in transporting the weapons were recovered.

The official said that during interrogation, it was revealed that the recovered weapons were brought from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to sell them in Delhi-NCR at high rates.

"Further investigation is underway," the official added.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : India's first specialist automobile and automotive fine arts auction house, Historic Auctions Private Ltd., founded by renowned collectors, connoisseurs and automotive historians of international repute, is hosting a preview for their inaugural auction of Collectible Automobiles and Automotive Art, at the Museo Camera, Gurugram.

There will be a display of 9 out of the 20 select, collectible cars from the auction. Cars at the preview include:-

A 1959 Cadillac Sedan de Ville in "Cadillac Pink" -- made famous by Hollywood. This car is recognisable for its distinctive, tall tailfins with dual bullet taillights.

A 1958 MG A-1500 sportscar from the era when aerodynamics started playing an important role and is the first production streamlined body from the MG stables.

A rare, 1958 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser, which is the vehicle that lay the founding stone for the current Land Cruiser -- a Japanese Icon.

A Fiat 500C "Topolino"; Topolino translates from Italian literally as "little mouse", and came to be affectionately known as 'Mickey Mouse'.

A single owner, original 1982 Mercedes-Benz 200 will also be on display, which will be auctioned in aid of the CKS Foundation. Known as the W123, one of the most successful Mercedes ever, selling 2.7 million units.

A preservation class, 1934 Cadillac 355 -- D 7 Passenger Imperial Sedan. It is a rarity to be able to own a preservation class car that is unrestored, untouched, and unaltered since it was manufactured.

An extremely original, 1958 Mercedes Benz 180 Ponton in an unrestored, "Barn Find" condition waiting to come back to life for the new owner.

A 1924 Austin 7, famously known as the "Baby Austin", it was for its time one of the smallest and most economical cars available, making it extremely popular.

A 1948 Chrysler Windsor, a luxury sedan from the Chrysler Corporation, one of the "Big Three" automobile manufacturers from the US.

The preview will also celebrate Swarnim Vijay Varsh, commemorating 50 years of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war by taking up a charitable cause. An ex-Indian army Mahindra Jeep CJ-3B unrestored project will be auctioned, with the entire proceeds donated to an Army Veterans welfare group.

Paintings by renowned filmmaker and artist, Raja Muzzafar Ali's signature style of ethereal abstractions, celebrates the beauty of classic cars like the Delage, Delahaye, Bentley, Duesenberg, the Isotta Fraschini, and Rolls Royce among others. "For me and many others like me, a car is a toy. Every time I see a car, a certain playfulness awakens within me. The Automobile is the greatest cult the human race has discovered for itself, both in war and peace" commented the artist. Proceeds from the sale of the paintings are pledged to the Kotwara Welfare Trust.

Attended by collectors, members of erstwhile royal families and connoisseurs of art, the preview will be the first in a series of events planned by Historic Auctions, both online and offline that will celebrate collectible cars and the cultural ecosystem that thrives around them.

"Events like Pebble Beach that promote historic Indian cars in the global arena and world-class events like the Cartier Travel with Style Concours and the 21 Gun Salute that take place in India, raise awareness concerning classic cars, and the joy and prestige associated with the hobby. Historic Auctions was born out of the need of the enthusiast, for a reliable and transparent platform to indulge their passion," shares HH Rana Manvendra Singh Barwani, Chairman, Historic Auctions.

With 150 years of collective experience, Historic Auctions will host online and live auctions, private sales, curate collections and provide vehicle appraisals, and will in due course also launch an exclusive online store, with special products for automobile and motorcycle enthusiasts. Historic Auctions will provide an organised and transparent experience for new and existing automotive enthusiasts.

The event begins with a VIP preview with HH Maharaja Gaj Singhji II of Marwar-Jodhpur as the Chief Guest along with other eminent personalities who will grace the occasion.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Travel is back in a big way and consumers are excited to make up for lost holidays over the past two years. With a steady rise in vaccination coverage across geographies, combined with the easing of restrictions across regions, travellers have embraced the spirit of travel wholeheartedly, especially during holidays and festive long weekends in India, the US, the UK and Europe.

As per OYO's booking analysis, consumers across the world are increasingly opting for short-haul destinations and making last-minute bookings over planned trips. Across Europe, summer travel saw the highest bounce back in demand. Whereas, Americans travelled the most during the Labor Day long weekend of September 4 - 6, 2021. Closer to home, in India, the long weekends of Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra ranked as the topmost holidays for travellers in 2021.

India is a land of diversities. This means many elaborate festivals and holidays. In India, some of the most popular holidays for travellers took place in the second half of this year, starting with Janmashtami in August, followed by Ganesh Chaturthi and Dussehra which saw a spike in bookings. This optimism around travel can be attributed to higher vaccination coverage and the opening up of several states for tourism in comparison to early 2021.

Indian travellers preferred spending their holidays across the country's beautiful tourist destinations such as Jaipur, Goa, Visakhapatnam, Kochi and Udaipur during the festive season. Interestingly, short-haul destinations continue to be the go-to option for travellers across the country over long weekends. Some of the top short-haul destinations are Lonavala, Pondicherry, Shimla, Mysore. All of these destinations sit close to mainstream cities of Mumbai, Chennai, Chandigarh, Delhi and Bangalore, indicating that city folks are looking for respite closer to home.

The long weekend of Dussehra saw a hike in demand, with an increase in trips to nearby destinations for a quick break. In India, last-minute bookings continue to be on the rise. Not surprisingly, Indians travel to destinations known for their festive cheer. During a festival, the preference for destinations well-known to celebrate the festival with great vigor witnessed a spike in bookings. For instance, during Ganesh Chaturthi, locals preferred going on short-haul trips to locations like Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Lonavala, and Mumbai. The most recent long weekend of Guru Nanak Jayanti saw the majority of bookings for Varanasi, Jaipur, Goa, Puri and Alibaug.

Top holidays in India/Most booked destinations
Chennai, Nov 26 : The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has commenced safety audit under its 'Gender Lab' project with the first phase of the audit being conducted at Tondiarpet division.

According to GCC officials, the draft of the report is ready but the final report will need little more inputs.

The safety audit is being conducted under the auspices of the 'Gender Lab' set up as part of the Chennai City Partnership with assistance and support from World Bank. The lab, according to the officials, is aimed at providing the safety of women in public places as well as public transport gender inclusive. Policy experts of gender studies and infrastructure experts are part of the Gender Lab project piloted by the Chennai Corporation.

The lab is also aimed at improving city infrastructure and make it inclusive and safe for women and children. The Gender Lab will work towards spreading awareness among government departments, build capacities, strengthening policies, and help improve the lives of women commuters in the city.

The initiative is aimed at improving the transport of women and to make the policymakers aware as to where the money should go for improving the commuting standards of women. The Gender Lab studies what difficulties a woman face while she is travelling in a bus, the problem she faces while travelling in metro, and how these problems could be changed.

Specific needs of women will be taken care of during infrastructure planning based on the inputs from Gender Labs and the initiative would ensure that women's safety is prime while policies of infrastructure are evolved.

The Greater Chennai Corporation is also planning to hire three consultants who are experts in gender analysis, urban development, and public policy under the auspices of Gender Lab.
Chennai, Nov 26 : MGC Leelavathi, niece of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and matinee idol late MG Ramachandran (MGR) who donated her kidney to him after he was admitted to a Brooklyn hospital over renal failure, has passed away in Chennai.

She was 72 and is survived by two daughters. She is the daughter of MGR's elder brother, M.G. Chakrapani.

Leelavathi, who was married to a medical doctor Raveendranath, was living in Chelakkara in Thrissur district of Kerala when MGR was shifted to the US after he had renal failure. She rushed to Chennai and expressed her willingness to donate her kidney to the Chief Minister and the surgery was done in Brooklyn in United States of America.

MGR passed away on December 24, 1987 in Chennai.

Her brother MGC Rajendran, while speaking to mediapersons here on Friday said: "Leelavathi was not well and was admitted to hospital but her condition improved and she returned home. However, again her condition worsened and she passed away on Thursday night." She was living in Chennai since 1989. Her other brother MGC Sukumar had acted in a few movies. Her brother Rajendran's son, MCR Praveen joined BJP, and she along with the family had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in 2017.
London, Nov 26 : Amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant, a number of countries, including the UK, Israel, Italy and Singapore have moved to restrict travel from South Africa and other countries in the region.

In the past, governments have taken days, weeks or months to issue travel restrictions in response to new variants, The New York Times reported on Friday.

This time, restrictions came within hours after the South African authorities identified a concerning new coronavirus variant with mutations -- and hours before health officials from the country were scheduled to discuss the variant with the World Health Organisation (WHO), it added.

The UK and Israel announced bans on flights from South Africa and several neighbouring countries on Thursday, citing the threat of the new variant.

The UK's flight ban applies to six countries -- South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- and begins on Friday.

"More data is needed but we are taking precautions now," UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Twitter.

The governments of Italy, Malta and Singapore announced on Friday that they would impose similar restrictions, the report said.

"Our scientists are at work to study the new B.1.1.529 variant," Italy's Health Minister, Roberto Speranza, said in a statement, using the variant's scientific name.

European Union's executive arm President Ursula von der Leyen also said in a Twitter post on Friday that it would propose restricting air travel to European countries from southern Africa because of concerns about the variant.

In the past two days, scientists detected the variant after observing an increase in infections in South Africa's economic hub surrounding Johannesburg. So far only a few dozen cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel, and Botswana.

In a statement posted on Friday on a government website, South Africa said it would urge the UK to reconsider its travel restrictions.

"The UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed, as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps," the statement reads.

In December last year, South Africa was the first nation to report the appearance of the Beta variant, which has now spread to nearly 70 countries.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, Nov 26 : The dastardly terror attack on star hotels like the Oberoi Trident, Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai in which several guests and staffs lost their lives has changed the security scenario in the hospitality industry, hoteliers said.

After the 26/11 attacks, hotels have resorted to visible and invisible security measures for guests as well as for the staff -- own and outsourced, they said.

"The hotel industry did a paradigm shift post the 26/11 when for the first time the principles of hospitality did not apply including the first impression. Guests and staff had to go through strict security hurdles like car checks, body scans and luggage scans to enter the hotels," Vikram Cotah, CEO, GRT Hotels and Resorts, told IANS.

The GRT group owns and operates a chain of hotels and resorts.

"Though they (hotel guests) were used to it to fly airlines it was something new for the customer in hotels. This changed the way people looked at hotels. But this decade, the focus has shifted to cleanliness and sanitation including physical distancing and contactless services which is another shift for a close contact industry," he added.

Soon after the 26/11 attacks, star hotels had installed X-ray machines to scan the baggage and security personnel also did physical scans with handheld devices.

"Bigger hotels were investing in X-ray machines, under chassis scanning machines and pole detectors," Cotah added.

In Chennai, Courtyard by Marriott also had sniffer dogs.

"Access controls have been installed at critical places. For instance in the lifts only staying guests can go to the floors where staying rooms are located. Similarly, access controls are there for drinking water sources and other critical areas," a General Manager of a five star hotel told IANS preferring anonymity.

"The level of security measures depends on the hotel's star status and its profile. High profile hotels will have higher security measures as terrorists normally would attack such properties," another hotelier told IANS.

While there are government norms whereby details of guests from certain countries have to be notified to the law enforcement agencies, some hotel properties do not accept walkin guests from some countries.

"Guests from countries that are known to support terrorists or where drug cartels flourish are generally not allowed to stay in our property unless they come under a corporate account. Walkin guests from those countries are not allowed in the property," a head of a star hotel told IANS preferring anonymity.

Further, hotels also resorted to securing a government identification card while allowing a guest to stay in their property.

"No government id, no room to stay is the policy. Securing a copy of the government identification card is made even at restaurants from some guests," the hotelier added.

Post 26/11 hiring of hotel staff, outsourced personnel and also vendors have become stringent.

"Background checks of recruits have become more stringent. Further, anyone with an employment record in Pakistan/Bangladesh or a travel record to Pakistan/Bangladesh are checked more thoroughly," a hotelier told IANS.

"While hiring we carry out third party checks on the potential candidate. Crisis management has taken more importance. Mock drills for safety measures for terror attacks are now added to fire safety mock drills,a Rahul Nama, General Manager, Mercure Chennai Sriperumbudur, told IANS.

Nama, who was heading the HomeTel property in Mumbai when the 26/11 terror happened recalled: "On hearing the attack, we closed the hotel gates and adviced the guests not to go out. Those who wanted to come to the property were advised against it. The hotel security personnel were asked to be extra vigilant." While background checks on recruits are done, such strict scrutiny is not done in the case of vendors.

The hotels go by reference given and no great background checks on the vendors are currently being done. While hotels have uniformed personnel at the gate to bow and welcome a guest, professional security personnel in coloured clothes are not employed as it adds up to the cost, a hotelier said.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
November 26 : The Bombay High Court rejected an anticipatory bail application filed by Shilpa Shettys husband Raj Kundra in connection with an FIR registered against him for allegedly distributing pornographic videos. Along with the businessmans, the High court also rejected the anticipatory bail applications of actors Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra on Thursday in the 2020 cyber cell porn film racket case.

Justice Nitin Sambre had reserved the order on Raj Kundra's plea seeking protection from arrest. The FIR has named Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey as co-accused.

Kundras lawyer told High Court that he was not connected to content creation, publication or transmission of alleged illegal videos, and that Sherlyn Chopra and Poonam Pandey had given full consent to shoot the videos.

In July this year, Raj Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai police in another case where he was accused of making and distributing porn films through an app. He was granted bail in September.

Rejecting the anticipatory bail plea of six people, including, Raj Kundra, Poonam Pandey and Sherlyn Chopra, Justice N W Sambre, however, granted an extension on their interim protection for four weeks for any further legal action.

Raj Kundra was booked under Sections 292, 293 (sale of obscene material) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) under the Information Technology Act and provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.

Meanwhile, Raj Kundra was spotted at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday afternoon along with his wife Shilpa Shetty. In a video shared by a paparazzo account, Shilpa and Raj were seen getting down from their car at the airport but they entered the airport separately. Raj was seen hiding his face in a black hoodie, rushing towards the gate pulling a small suitcase.

After the video surfaced on social media, users trolled Raj Kundra for hiding his face. "Aisa kam mat kro jiske liye muh chupana pade," wrote a user. "Aise kaam karte raho jisse ki najar bhi na Mila sako," another user commented sarcastically. "Shameless people tab hi to muh chupa raha hai aur ese dekho kaya smile kar rahi," wrote yet another user. "why is he hiding his face .. when behind the camera directing the movie tab sharam nahi a rahi thi," asked a user.
Kabul, Nov 26 : Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid has said talks between Taliban and the US would resume in Qatar's capital Doha.

"The officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would resume talks and continue the talks with US representatives in line with the Doha agreement and the talks could be helpful," Afghanistan state-run media agency quoted Mujahid as saying.

The talks would help renew commitments, remove concerns and efforts would continue for the release of Afghanistan's frozen money, he added.

In the meantime, Afghanistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said a ranking Kabul delegation led by acting Foreign Minister Mawlavi Amir Khan Muttaqi will stay in Doha from November 27 to 29 to talk with the US delegation, Xinhua news agency reported.

Matters pertaining mutual interests, including releasing frozen assets, humanitarian assistance, reopening the US embassy in Afghanistan, would be discussed in the talks, local media reported.
November 26 : Arjun Rampal is celebrating his 49th birthday today. On his special day, his partner Gabriella Demetriades shared a video on Instagram, and wished him.

The video featured a number of fun moments of the actor, which was set to Elvis Presleys song Burning Love. The video also featured his son Arik Rampal. Arjun can also be seen with Gabriella and his daughters Mahikaa and Myra Rampal. Sharing the video, Gabriella Demetriades wrote, Happy birthday @rampal72 thank you for lighting up our lives, there really is no one quite like you. You surprise me everyday, keep being the lion that you are.

Gabriella also shared on her Instagram stories a series of pictures with Arjun and wrote, Happy b day baby @rampal72.

Arjun Rampal and Gabriella Demetriades have been dating for quite some years now. They have a 2-year-old son, Arik. Earlier, in an interview, Arjun had revealed that he met Gabriella through some common friends.

Arjun Rampal made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romantic comedy Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat in 2001. For his performance in Rock On, he had garnered several awards including the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2006, he launched his production company, Chasing Ganesha Films, and produced I See You. For the biopic Daddy in 2017, Arjun had also penned the screenplay.

Recently, the actor has started shooting for Abbas Mustans Three Monkeys, the Hindi adaptation of Netflix popular series Money Heist. Arjun plays the lead role, the Professor. Arjun also has The Rapist, Dhaakad, The Battle of Bhima Koregaon, Hari Hara Veera Mallu and Nastik in the pipeline.
Addis Ababa, Nov 26 : The Ethiopian government has urged the US and some organisations to stop spreading false information regarding the country's current situation.

The Ethiopian government has warned the US Embassy in Addis Ababa and other organisations against their continued practice of spreading false information, state media quoted Minister of Communication Service, Kebede Desisa as saying.

This came a day after the US Embassy in Ethiopia issued a caution to its citizens residing in Ethiopia over possible terror attacks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, the US government repeatedly warned its citizens to leave the east African country over the expanding conflict there.

The conflict, which erupted in November 2020 in Ethiopia's northernmost Tigray region between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, has over the past months spread across neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions as forces loyal to the TPLF have advanced southward.

This prompted huge popular mobilisation in the regions as well as other states in the country to fight back the TPLF's expansion.

Earlier in December, the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives ratified a six-month state of emergency rule to contain the TPLF's advancement and ensure the country's peace and security.
Nagpur, Nov 26 : The December 10 contest for Member of Legislative Council (MLC) from local bodies constituency in Nagpur has grown interesting with the Congress-led alliance springing a surprise by fielding a four-term BJP corporator with a RSS background against the BJP candidate.

The BJP nominee is Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who rose from a party worker to Energy Minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government, while his assets saw a phenomenal growth of 375 per cent since 2014. In 2014, his affidavit, filed with his nomination, showed his assets amounted to Rs 7,60,240, including moveable assets of Rs 66,27,740, but they have now risen to Rs 37,73,96,296 in 2021, according to his affidavit filed along with nomination papers.

Dr Ravindra 'Chotu' Bhoyar, a staunch swayayamsevak for over three decades, a four-term BJP Corporator and former Deputy Mayor, is the Congress candidate.

On the last day of withdrawal on Friday, Congress dummy candidate Praful Guddhe Patil and Independent candidate Suresh Revatkar withdrew their nominations while another Independent Umesh Deshmukh remained in the fray, leaving Bawankule and Bhoyar as the main contenders.

The move by Bhoyar to ditch them and join Congress has taken the Sangh Parivar by surprise.

Bawankule, who was denied an Assembly ticket at the eleventh hour in the 2019 polls, is eying a comeback to the legislature. Close to both Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Fadnavis, Bawankule is an OBC face and even though rejected ticket has been on forefront on OBC reservation.

Belonging to a dedicated RSS family, Bhoyar is a practising homeopath while his maternal uncle Dr Vilas Dangre is close to RSS hierarchy. He was reportedly annoyed with BJP leadership over lack of opportunity for growth in the cadre. His total assets are valued at over Rs 4 crore.

Maharashtra Congress leaders including state chief Nana Patole, and Ministers Sunil Kedar and Nitin Raut are understood to have played a key role in convincing Bhoyar to switch over to the Congress.
Chandigarh, Nov 26 : Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday lashed out at Congress secretary in-charge of Punjab, Harish Chaudhary, over his baseless accusations of being hand in glove with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, when he was the Chief Minister.

Amarinder Singh said in a statement here that although he owed no explanation to "an out of job legislator who has been sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in murder case of Kamlesh Prajapat, in Barmer, and inquiry for which has been handed over to the CBI by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Ghelot", he still wanted to set the record straight.

"Had I had any understanding with the Prime Minister or the BJP when I was the Chief Minister, I would not have supported the farmers' agitation and demanded repealing of the agriculture laws and passed law in the Vidhan Sabha against these", Amarinder clarified.

He said as the Chief Minister and Home Minister of Punjab, he was supposed to meet the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister and so were his ministers who would meet their central counterparts.

"Even your new CM has met the PM and the Home Minister, and from your senseless logic then he should also be having an understanding with the BJP and waiting to be sacked", he taunted Chaudhary.

Amarinder Singh said it was for the first time that a party in-charge had made the state as his permanent abode.

"I have worked with 14 party in-charges like Pranab Mukherjee, Mohsina Kidwai, Janaradhan Dwivedi to name a few, and they would rarely interfere, leave aside visiting or settling down in Punjab", he recalled, while pointing out, "a party in-charge is not supposed to settle down in the state he is assigned but to facilitate interaction and feedback to the high command".

But, he added, here is a man, who has been sacked from the government for being named as an accused in a murder case in his home state, and is enjoying "Chief Ministerial power and privileges in Punjab, turning the Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi into a rubber stamp, by dictating terms to him".

He said Chaudhary has even been attending the Cabinet and other meetings of officers, which is illegal and unconstitutional.

The former Chief Minister questioned the legality of his getting a ministerial bungalow in Chandigarh and the entire Punjab Bhavan at his disposal, from where he commands and dictates orders to the Chief Minister, other ministers and the officers.

"Who is paying for his expenses?", he asked.
Chennai, Nov 26 : Tamil Nadu Agricultural Department has implemented a rationing system for sale of tomatoes in Coimbatore to prevent bulk purchases at Uzhavar Sandhais or farmers' markets.

According to the agricultural department, an individual consumer can buy a maximum of 2 kg of tomatoes while 5 kg can be bought for functions by producing invitations for the function to the concerned officers at the Uzhavur Sandhais.

Coimbatore has seven Uzhavur Sandhais and the arrival of tomatoes to these Sandhais has been affected following heavy rains in many parts of the state.

Manager of Coimbatore East Sandhai, Jayakumar N while speaking to IANS said: "Generally all the seven sandhais of Coimbatore put together get 20-25 tonnes per day but now after the rains, it has come down to 12-15 tonnes per day. This has prompted the department to implement the rationing system of 2 kg per individual and 5 kg for functions Tomato farmers also said that heavy rains have led to difficulty in transportation of the product and hence the local buying agents are not paying the farmers properly.

Periyasamy, a tomato farmer at Valparai told IANS: "I am worried as I have more than 20 boxes of tomato with me. A buying agent has offered me Rs 550 per box. 1 box has 15 kg of tomatoes and I have readily agreed to sell the product as I can't wait any longer even though I know this is a loss for me." Farmer association leader K. Murugesan said: "A Heavy rains have affected the tomato farmers in large numbers as we are not able to sell the product due to transport constraints, bad and broken roads and hence we have to sell tomatoes at the rates fixed by middlemen. This is affecting us as most of the farmers have taken loans and cultivated the product. Agricultural department has asked us to sell the products at Uzhavar Sandhai and they have promised good money. We are yet to decide on that."
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Hearings in the US Senate in 2009 on the lessons learnt from the 26/11 Mumbai attacks had clearly spelt out the nexus between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The Senate hearings, which had inputs from intelligence officials, FBI and NYPD, had in detail discussed the LeT as the perpetrator of the ghastly Mumbai attacks.

The hearings testified that LeT was founded by three individuals, one of whom was supposedly a mentor to Osama bin Laden.

"But it became very quickly tied to ISI because its motivations and its world view were very compatible with the leadership of the ISI at that time," they said.

"From the very beginning, LeT was one of the principal beneficiaries of the Pakistani intelligence service's generosity, because of its very strong commitment to jihad, which was seen by the ISI as being particularly valuable in Pakistan's ongoing conflict with India," it was said.

LeT's objectives, however, have always transcended South Asia.

"If you look at the LeT website, if you listen to the remarks made by Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the LeT, and read its numerous publications, there are recurrent references to both Israel and the US as being co-joined targets of LeT objectives in addition to India, and there is frequent reference to the Zionist-Hindu-Crusader axis, which seems to animate a great deal of LeT's antipathy to liberal democracy, which it sees as being implacably opposed to Islam," the testimonies added.

At that time, Indian intelligence services had assessed that LeT maintains a terrorist presence in at least 21 countries worldwide, and this terrorist presence takes a variety of forms, everything from liaison and networking to the facilitation of terrorist acts by third parties, fundraising, procurement of weapons and explosives, recruitment of volunteers for suicide missions, creation of sleeper cells, including in the US, and actual armed conflict.

US officials had testified that of all the terrorist groups that are present in South Asia today, LeT represents a threat to regional and global security second only to al-Qaeda. This is because of its ideology.

Its ideology is shaped by the Ahl al-Hadith school of Saudi Wahhabism and its objectives are focused on creating a universal Islamic Caliphate, essentially through means of preaching and jihad, and both these instruments are seen as co-equal in LeT's world view.

A very distinctive element of LeT's objective is what it calls the recovery of lost Muslim lands, i.e., lands that were once governed by Muslim rulers, but which have since passed to other political dispensations, officials said.

The objective of creating this universal Islamic Caliphate has made LeT a very close collaborator of al-Qaeda and it has collaborated with the al-Qaeda in Afghanistan since at least 1987.

Its objective of recovering lost Muslim lands has pushed LeT into a variety of theatres outside South Asia.

"We have identified LeT presence in areas as diverse as Palestine, Spain, Chechnya, Kosovo and Eritrea," the officials had said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Jerusalem, Nov 26 : The Israeli Ministry of Health on Friday reported the first case of the new heavily mutated Covid-19 variant known as B.1.1.529 that was detected in South Africa and other countries.

The strain was discovered in a genomic sequencing test that took an Israeli who returned from Malawi, the Ministry said.

There is also a suspicion of more cases of infection with the strain, of two Israelis who also returned from abroad, it added.

The Ministry said it waits for the results of their sequencing tests, and until then, the two are staying in quarantine.

The three Israelis have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in the past, it added.

It said the epidemiologic investigation is underway to detect more cases of the new strain, Xinhua news agency reported.

On Thursday night, Israel announced a ban on entry of travellers from seven African countries following the detection of the variant in South Africa.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz thus decided to list South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia and Eswatini as "red countries."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Los Angeles, Nov 26 : Hollywood star Will Smith once showed his grandmother one of Jada Pinkett Smiths intimate scenes just before she was due to meet his family and his wife still doesn't think it was funny 27 years later.

He said: "She was going to meet my family for the first time. I was raised in a very religious household and my grandmother Gigi is all the way down with Jesus. Gigi didn't know who Jada was, so I put on a movie of hers and worked out that by the time Jada arrived my grandmother would be watching the love scene." Smith found the interaction between Jada and his grandma hilarious, but has failed to convince the 'Girls Trip' star that it was funny, even 27 years later, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Speaking during an appearance on the 'Graham Norton Show', Will shared: "When she walked in, my grandmother was in the middle of the scene and she looked up and said to Jada, 'When I was growing up people didn't have to take their clothes off to make a movie.' "Jada took me aside and said, 'Why would you do that?' I said, 'I promise you it's funny, maybe not now, but one day this is going to provide us with years of joy.' We have been together for 27 years and she literally hasn't chuckled once!" Meanwhile, the 53-year-old actor recently said he feels as though he's "failed every woman" he's interacted with.

He said: "I want to tell the truth. I want to let people have it. I've carried, most of life, the sense of failing every woman I interact with. I haven't talked about that publicly."
Tripoli, Nov 26 : A group of 158 illegal migrants departed voluntarily from Libya to their home country Nigeria, said the International Organization for Migration.

"Onboard the flight were 105 women and 53 men. There were 17 migrants with medical conditions. The migrants received health-checks and counseling services, as well as protection screening from relevant IOM units," the UN agency added.

"On arrival in Nigeria, the returning migrants are eligible for reintegration assistance to help them build a brighter future," it said.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. It has turned into a preferred point of departure for illegal migrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to european shores, Xinhua news agency reported.

So far this year, more than 30,000 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya, according to the agency.
Kochi, Nov 26 : Income Tax officials on Friday raided the offices of three leading Kerala film producers.

The sleuths are finding out all the details of film producers Antony Perambavoor, Anto Joseph and Liston Stephen from their office here.

The IT officials belong to the TDS wing of the Kochi office and sources in the know of things said they are inspecting the details of the recent releases of these producers through the OTT platforms.

Perambavoor is currently the biggest producer in the state and is mostly associated in producing blockbusters with superstar Mohanlal and speculation was that he has managed to sell his mega film "Marakkar - Lion of Arabia" for Rs 70 crore under OTT.

Joseph is more or less the closest aide of superstar Mammootty.

The raids at the offices of these three producers are continuing.
Kanpur, Nov 26 : Shreyas Iyer struck a hundred on debut to prop up India but a five-wicket haul by Tim Southee followed by half-centuries by openers Will Young and Tom Latham helped New Zealand sit on top at the end of day two of the first Test at the Green Park Stadium here on Friday. After India were bowled out for 345, New Zealand were 129/0 in 57 overs at stumps, trailing the hosts by 216 runs.

When India resumed the day at 258/4, many wouldn't have given a chance to Southee becoming the wrecker-in-chief, especially after he had walked off the field in the second session on Day One due to a groin complaint. But Southee shined in a magnificent bowling display of 11 overs to steal the thunder from Iyer's maiden Test hundred.

Things didn't start well for Southee, who had an lbw appeal rejected in his opening over against Ravindra Jadeja. But in his next over, Southee broke the 121-run stand between Iyer and Jadeja as the latter chopped onto his stumps with no feet movement, departing without adding to his overnight score.

Iyer, on the other hand, began where he left off on Day One, caressing two boundaries off Kyle Jamieson's first over of the day.

Iyer continued to do well against Jamieson, getting boundaries through a thick edge between slip and wide gully fielder followed by an elegant cover drive. The 26-year-old reached his maiden Test century with two runs through point off Jamieson in the 92nd over, becoming the 16th Indian batter (tenth at home) to score a century on Test debut. He also became the second Indian batter after Gundappa Viswanath (against Australia in 1969) to score a Test hundred on debut in Kanpur.

Southee continued to run through the Indian batting order, as Wriddhiman Saha nicked behind to keeper Tom Blundell in the 93rd over. Ravichandran Ashwin stalled his rhythm briefly by taking consecutive boundaries off him. Post drinks break, Southee had his third wicket of the day as Iyer chipped a drive away from the body to cover. He then completed his second five-wicket haul in India by getting one to seam away from Axar Patel, drawing him into a poke and nicked behind to the keeper.

Ashwin continued his counter-attack, taking a boundary each off Southee and Jamieson. He, along with Umesh Yadav, ensured tha' India didn't lose any more wickets before lunch.

After the break, Ashwin was bowled by Ajaz Patel, beaten by a ball turning sharply from outside leg-stump. Patel got his second wicket of the match by trapping Ishant Sharma plumb lbw. Sharma took the review but replays showed the ball hitting top of middle and leg stump, completing a comeback by New Zealand, picking the last six wickets for 87 runs.

After skittling out India for a total below 350, New Zealand had to show some fight with the bat, duly fulfilled by Latham and Young. It was a steady yet nervy start for the duo, surviving the opening spells from Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma though there were a few close brushes. Latham survived an lbw appeal off Sharma in the third over but DRS showed an inside edge on to the pads.

Young started to get a move on by striking two boundaries off Yadav in two overs. He also swept Ravichandran Ashwin comfortably over square leg. Six overs later, he was unafraid in using his feet while driving down the ground off Ashwin. Young managed to loft a drive over mid-off before going to tea with a copybook drive through covers off Axar Patel.

Post-tea, Young started to grow into the aggressor while Latham was happy holding fort from the other end. Young reached his half-century with a thick outer edge rolling past gully off Umesh Yadav in 28th over. He continued to take runs off Yadav, smashing consecutive boundaries through square of the wicket on off-side while using his feet impressively against the spinners.

Latham swept Ravindra Jadeja over mid-wicket in the 39th over, bringing the century of the opening partnership. The desperation for a wicket was such that India took a DRS against Young on an lbw decision despite the ball clearly going down leg.

Post drinks break, the ball did a lot for the Indian spinners but not enough to get a breakthrough. Ashwin had Latham caught behind in the 56th over but the opener got to reverse the decision on inside edge. By the time stumps were drawn, New Zealand made it their day, thanks to their openers' abilities to soak the pressure and be rock-solid along with Southee outplaying the Indian batters through his mastery of swing.

Brief scores: India 345 all out in 111.1 overs (Shreyas Iyer 105, Shubman Gill 52, Ravindra Jadeja 50, Tim Southee 5/69, Kyle Jamieson 3/85) against New Zealand 129/0 in 57 overs (Will Young 75 not out, Tom Latham 50 not out) IANS

nr/bsk
Bengaluru, Nov 26 : The Karnataka Police have arrested five Bangladeshi nationals residing illegally -- in the outskirts of Bengaluru, on Friday.

Joint Commissioner Sandeep Patil said the operation was carried out by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and other agencies.

A case has been registered under the Foreigners Act, and further investigation is on.

Following the arrests, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that illegal immigrants are dangerous and they pose threat to the security of the country.

Jananendra said all police stations have been directed to detect illegal immigrants and arrest them.

"Our CCB officers have arrested five illegal Bangladesh nationals. The government is taking special interest in dealing with the issue of illegal immigrants," he said.

He further stated that, a direction has been given to all police stations to detect illegal immigrants and conduct special inquiries.A The immigrants have arrived as coffee plantation workers and construction labourers. "We will get the facts out from them as to how many have sneaked into our state," he said.

The illegal immigrants have got Aadhar cards, ration cards and they have availed the benefits reserved for the poor people of the state.

"We will track those people who are bringing them into our country. We will deal strictly with those forces," the Home Minister said.
Chennai, Nov 26 : An Indian Navy officer drowned off Chennai's Kovalam beach after going for a swim and his body was retrieved on Friday, police said.

Lt Commander J.R. Suresh, 36, who was posted at New Delhi, had come to his father-in-law's residence in Chennai, went to a private resort on the Kovalam beach along with his family on Thursday.

As he went into the sea in the evening for a swim, a huge wave came and the family members panicked and alerted him but he could not swim back to the shore and was carried away, police said.

Fishermen at the beach immediately jumped into the sea on hearing the cries of the family but could not rescue him. The body was finally retrieved by Navy divers on Friday.
Davanagere, Nov 26 : Terming the opposition Congress' letter to Governor Tavar Chand Gehlot demanding the dismissal of the BJP government as ridiculous, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that, "considering the Congress party's special interest about the percentage in tenders of civil works, tenders approved during their regime too would be subjected to a probe." Speaking to mediapersons after participating in the 'Constitution Day' celebrations in Davanagere he said, "the letter to the Governor reflects the percentage culture that prevailed during the previous Congress regime towards the contractors." "It is the Congress leaders who are the creators of a percentage culture. It is Congressmen who have been increasing it (percentage) periodically. The whispered conversation between two Congress leaders which was captured by visual media recently has blown the lid off the Congress' percentage culture. It is ridiculous that the same people have now lodged a complaint with the Governor," he said.

Referring to the reported letter written by the contractors to the PMO which triggered the row, Bommai said the letter had no details nor mentioned any specific cases. It was a general letter. "But still we have ordered a probe. Since Congress is showing keen interest in the percentage issue the tenders approved during their tenure too would be probed." Replying to a question on whether Lakhan Jarkiholi will withdraw his nomination for the Legislative Council polls, the Chief Minister said, "I have spoken to Lakhan Jarkiholi and conveyed a clear message asking him to extend full support to our official candidate. Lakhan will take a final call about it after discussing it." Meanwhile, a survey to estimate the crop losses in each district is underway. Paddy and jowar crops in north Karnataka and ragi, paddy and vegetables in south Karnataka have been badly hit by the rain and floods. The Finance Secretary has been instructed to release the crop compensation within 24 hours of uploading the survey reports in Parihara App, Bommai said.

The state would submit a memorandum to the Centre seeking financial assistance for flood relief after compiling a comprehensive report on the losses, Bommai added.

Referring to the ongoing Anti-Corruption Bureau raids on officers of various departments in the state the Chief Minister said the ACB is conducting massive raids as it has been given a free hand. The corrupt would be exposed and punished. "Our intention in this regard is very clear."
Kolkata, Nov 26 : With the Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC) election round the corner, it is almost certain that the Trinamool Congress -- following the 'One Man One Post' rule, might not give ticket to the outgoing Mayor and Deputy Mayor -- Firhad Hakim and Atin Ghosh, respectively, making way for the next generation candidates to take the responsibility of the party in the corporation.

"It is time to bring the second generation of party leaders to the fore. It should start from the corporation and municipality elections. In that case, giving ticket to Firhad Hakim's daughter Priyadarshini instead of him will not be unexpected," a senior Trinamool Congress leader said.

"In the same way, instead of a few senior leaders who have different responsibilities in the party, we are thinking of giving tickets to the younger generation so they can work energetically for the improvement of the city. But everything depends on the decision of our leader," the leader added.

Not only Hakim or Ghosh, but by strictly implementing the policy, the party might disallow several others from getting tickets this time.

According to party insiders, two former Mayor-in-Council Debashis Kumar and Debabrata Majumdar might not get tickets because they have already become MLA.

Similarly, two former councillors - Mala Roy and Shantanu Sen might be left behind because the former has become Lok Sabha MP and the latter has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha.

The top leadership of Trinamool Congress who are meeting today at Chief minister's residence in Kalighat might discuss the possible candidates and finalise the list.

Apart from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and party national secretary Abhishek Banerjee, poll strategist Prashant Kishor will also be present in the meeting.

There are strong indications within the party that the former BJP union minister who joined Trinamool Congress might become the mayoral candidate and the face of the party in the forthcoming polls. Though there has been no official confirmation about this but according to party insiders Babul Supriyo is 'most favourite' among the candidates for the post because he is preferred by Trinamool Congress All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee who is the main decision maker in the party at present.

Mamata Banerjee is likely to finalise the list of candidates on Friday.

It is expected that the party might announce the name of the candidates any time.

The last day for nomination is December 1.
New Delhi, Nov 26: As social media is abuzz with various hashtags relating to the Mumbai terror attacks that took place on this day in 2008, there are enough indications to suggest that illegal money may have trickled in larger quantum into India and South Asia through hawala channels in the last few months amid the Covid 19 pandemic.

Besides, the nebulous political framework in India's neighbourhood along with the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) step to add Turkey along with the already existing Pakistan in its grey list is a wake-up call, security agency sources said. Hashtags NeverForgetNeverForgive, MumbaiTerrorAttacks among others were trending as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Tributes to those who lost their lives in the gruesome 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai." The international anti money laundering watchdog, FATF's decision to place Turkey in its grey list only signifies Istanbul's failure or deliberate inability to check terror financing. The country's proximity to Pakistan, Syria and Lebanon has also raised concerns for the global community.

Just Security, an online forum for analysis of national security and foreign policy in a recent report said that due to economic sanctions against the Taliban and the limited financial connectivity in Afghanistan, the hawala system is currently serving as the primary financial lifeline for the country. This system is also extensively used for doing trade with Pakistan.

The US and the international community must tighten mechanisms related to monitoring of anti-money laundering activities and countering financing of terrorism in and around Afghanistan especially as terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network have close associations with the Taliban.

"Terror activities need substantial resources and therefore financing is a critical area to monitor. The 26/11 Mumbai terror attack was well-planned and could not have been possible without transfer of large sums of money into sleeper cells in the country, particularly in Maharashtra," BK Singh, Retired Joint CP (Commissioner) Crime, Delhi Police told India Narrative.

In the wake of heightened terror threats, experts said that coastal security especially on the Karachi and Mumbai belt has to be fortified further.

According to the European Foundation for South Asian Studies, continued efforts towards understanding the changing terrorism landscape, including from an organizational perspective, remains key to maintaining the efficiency of ongoing counter-terrorism efforts and keeping the threat at bay.

Recently, Bangladesh authorities indicated that the incidents of violence against minorities in the South Asian nation and the attacks on Durga Puja pandals were the handiwork Pakistan supported radical group Jamaat-e-Islami. Not just that. Violence had also erupted in the country during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in March. Even then, the Bangladesh authorities said that the incidents were due to groups that had support from Pakistan.

The FATF has already warned that terror outfits "continue to pose a serious threat to international stability, security and peace." FATF also noted that since 2020, both ISIL and Al Qaeda have increasingly turned to new payment technologies to raise, move and deploy funds.

"As a result, the use of virtual assets by terrorists remains a risk. In addition, the risk emanating from expansion of affiliates of ISIL and Al Qaeda has been increasing over the past years," the terror financing watchdog said.

ISIL, for example, has about $25-50 million in reserves. These funds help the group to sustain some activities and to seek a potential resurgence.

Singh added that state governments across the country need to work in sync to prevent any major or minor terror attacks. "Tracking suspicious transactions will be critical," he said.

"Vigilance is important amid the rapidly changing situation and now with FATF placing Turkey in the grey list, India needs to further increase co-ordinations among state governments and security authorities," Singh said.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/
Panaji, Nov 26 : The Goa Congress on Friday lashed out at BJP national president JP Nadda for his call on Thursday to party workers to woo away a section of the population in Goa from the path of adharma (non-righteousness) to dharma (righteousness).

Addressing a press conference here, state Congress president Girish Chodankar said that Nadda had insulted Goans by saying they are a people who believe in adharma.

"We condemn this statement. The people of Goa were never on the path of adharma and will never be. The people of Goa have been reared on peace and joy and have followed the path of religion.

"They have always gone on the righteous path. We do not need the BJP to tell the people of Goa that BJP will guide them to take them on the righteous path," Chodankar said.

"If anyone has gone on the path of adharma in Goa, it is the BJP. The BJP claims that it is a party with a difference, it is a party of principles, values. This is a lie told to the people of Goa and then followed the path of adharma," the state Congress president said.

On Thursday, Nadda while addressing party workers at meeting in the Chief Minister's constituency at Amona, had said: "But Mahabharat and Ramayana also tell us that in every age, where there are those who are working for good, there are some who work for adharma." We have to work to bring them on the path of dharma.

"Dharma as in what is right and good for society, what is the code of conduct, what is good for everyone".

Chodankar said that the ruling BJP had followed the path of adharma to form a government in the coastal state in 2017.

"BJP has always followed the path of adharma, not dharma, while capturing power. The dharma marg (path) says follow the verdict of the people... The marg of adharma is to go against the people. In 2017, the BJP went against the mandate of the people which was for the Congress. The BJP went against dharma and formed a government by following the path of adharma by spending money and power," Chodankar said.
Mumbai, Nov 26 : Actress Sonali Sudan, who was also seen in the movie 'Jalebi', will now be part of a web series 'Just Married'. She will be featuring along with Shivam Sharma and Mayank Mishra. Sonali says she accepted this offer because of its storyline and her character in the show.

Sonali shares: "When this show came to me, I instantly said yes because the script was really entertaining. We loved shooting it as well. Watch the show to see how I react when I get to know that my brother and my boyfriend have a different chemistry all together. I'm playing the protagonist in the show whose name is Neha and she is a college going girl." According to her the show has all the elements that will be enjoyable to watch. "The show has a lot of comedy. People are going to enjoy it thoroughly." Mayank Mishra, who is playing the role of 'Veeru', adds about his shooting experience with co-actor Shivam Sharma. "Me and Shivam, who played my friend Jai in the show, met for the first time on set and became very good friends while shooting and that chemistry you will see in 'Just Married'. I used to tease him when he dressed like a married woman." Written by Vivek Khatri, 'Just Married' also features Sonal Palan, Milind Joshi, Kalyani Jha and Raj Singh. The comedy family drama streams on WOW originals.
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday paid tributes to bravehearts who fought against terrorists during the Mumbai terror attacks 13 years ago.

The Hyderabad MP took to Twitter to pay his tributes on 26/11 anniversary.

"Heartfelt tributes to our bravehearts who fought against terrorists during the attacks on Mumbai on 26.11.2008," wrote Owaisi.

Earlier, the president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also tweeted on Constitution Day. He said the Constitution of India has given tools to defeat injustice.

"On November 26, 1949, our elders adopted Indian Constitution. The Constitution is a documentation of dreams that our elders saw for us. It replaced rule by men with rule of law. For the first time, a formal text not only protected us from state excesses, but also from majoritarianism," wrote the Lok Sabha member.

"This constitutional promise has been betrayed often. Especially when it pertained to Muslims, Dalits or Adivasis. But it's still worth fighting for. For communities that've been historically excluded from access to power, Constitution gives us tools to defeat injustice," he added.
Prayagraj : , Nov 26 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday met the family members of Phool Chand Pasi, who, along with his wife, daughter and son, had been slain on Thursday.

The family members told Priyanka Gandhi that the police were delaying action in the matter, adding that some influential people of the village were behind the gruesome crime.

Later, talking to mediapersons, Priyanka said that the incident was yet another example of the deplorable law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.

"The poor and the weaker sections of society are being victimised under this government, and today is Constitution Day. In this fight for justice, me and my party will stand by the family and support them in whichever way we can," she said.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : With eyes on Dalits' votes in the forthcoming assembly elections, the BJP is all set to highlight the Opposition's decision to boycott 'Constitution Day Celebration' in the poll-bound states, saying Congress continues to insult Baba Saheb Dr. BR Ambedkar's legacy.

Dalits constitute above 20 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, around 32 per cent in Punjab and 18 per cent of Uttarakhand population.

The Dalit community will play an important role in the assembly polls and all the political parties are putting their best efforts to woo them.

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore told IANS that the Congress party never liked Dr. Ambedkar.

The saffron party said that boycotting the 'Constitution Day Celebration' is yet another instance of insulting institutions, insulting the Constitution and insulting Dr. Ambedkar.

"Opposing the Constitution Day is like opposing the Constitution and it shows they have no faith in the Constitution. Its not about Dalit, it is about all the citizen and such act of boycotting Constitution Day celebration shows the Congress has no faith in the Constitution because they never followed it," Kishore said.

The minister claims that knowing the reality of the Congress party, people rejected them and will continue to reject them in the future.

Kishore said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would request the people to seek explanation from the Congress and other opposition parties.

"We will take this irresponsible behaviour of Congress and other opposition parties among people in the coming months. We request the people to ask why these opposition parties including the Congress opposed Constitution Day celebration or why they did not like Dr. Ambedkar," he said.

About 14 opposition parties including the Congress announced to boycott the Constitution Day programme at the Central Hall of the Parliament. The function was addressed by the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and the Lok Sabha Speaker.

A senior party leader pointed out that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi opposed the idea when aconstitution day celebration' was announced in 2015.

"On other occasions too, Rahul Gandhi has not refrained from making tasteless wisecracks on the same," a senior BJP leader said.
Patna, Nov 26 : While Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar made government and private sector employees take an oath to observe the liquor ban, RJD state president Jagadanand Singh declared Nitish Kumar a "Paltimar" (U-turn) leader.

Nitish Kumar had taken an oath in the Bihar Vidhan Sabha that he would never go with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said "Mitti Mein Mil Jaunga Par BJP Ke Saath Nahi Jaunga" (I will bite the dust but not go with the BJP). Now, what happened to that oath? He again went with the BJP to retain power. His oath has no value" Singh said.

"Nitish Kumar is doing drama by organizing a mass oath-taking ceremony. He had already taken an oath in 2016 when the liquor ban was imposed in Bihar. What is the need for taking the oath again and again?" he asked.

"The liquor ban has completely failed in Bihar. He is also the home minister of the state but the police are unable to prevent liquor ban violation cases in rural and urban areas of the state," Singh said.

Chirag Paswan, the president of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), slammed Nitish Kumar for forcing protectors of liquor mafias and operators to take oath on Friday.

"Bihar has become completely ruined and hollow during the Nitish Kumar government in the last 16 years. Liquor ban has completely failed in Bihar, still he is stubborn about it," Paswan said.
Chennai, Nov 26 : Tamil Nadu witnessed heavy to very heavy rainsfall on Friday, leaving areas in several districts inundated.

As many as 21 districts have declared holidays for educational institutions.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of further heavy rains in several parts of the state including Chennai for the next 4-5 days.

The IMD predicted that a cyclonic circulation lies over the Comorin area and adjoining Sri Lanka coasts, and strong northeasterly winds are prevailing over Tamil Nadu coast and south coastal Andhra Pradesh at lower levels, and under their influence, heavy rain will be lashing Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep for the next 4-5 days.

Squally wind, around 60kmph, is likely over Comorin area, Gulf of Mannar and along and offsSouth Tamil Nadu coast and adjoining Southwest Bay of Bengal on Friday and Saturday.

Weather Department also warned that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in Chennai and Nagapattinam districts as well as in delta districts of the state. The IMD also predicted that the entire Tamil Nadu coast will get heavy rains.

State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister K.K.S.S.R Ramachandran said: "Heavy rains are predicted by the IMD and other weather agencies and two companies of National Disaster Response Force are kept ready at Chengalpattu and one in Kancheepuram." The Revenue and Disaster Management Department has geared up for all eventualities based on the warning from the Met Department and IMD, he told media persons.

Police, in a statement, said that all the district police superintendents were given directives from the police headquarters on the possibilities of heavy rains. Fire and Rescue personnel are also gearing up for any eventuality.
Tokyo, Nov 26 : Japan will tighten restrictions on travellers from six African countries after the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa, the government's top spokesman said on Friday.

Starting Saturday, travellers who have recently been to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa or Zimbabwe will be requested for a 10-day quarantine period in a government-designated facility upon their arrivals, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced at a press conference.

After leaving the government-designated facility, travellers will also need to spend four more days in quarantine at home to ensure they are not infected. The earlier rule allowed them to spend all 14 days at home, Xinhua news agency reported.

The decision was made amid increasing concerns over the spread of a Covid-19 variant known as B.1.1.529, which infectious disease experts warn could be more contagious than previous strains or reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines.

Matsuno said the Japanese government decided to designate the variant as one that requires special responses and would proactively respond if the variant spreads.
Panaji, Nov 26 : Two days after Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced imminent auctioning of "seven to eight" mining blocks in Goa, several green NGOs have written to the Central government, to blacklist mining companies linked to illegal mining and have violated other central government economic laws from participating in the auction.

"Misappropriation of the shared inheritance of mineral wealth, anyone convicted for illegal mining should be disqualified under a variety of laws, including the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and The Economic Offences (Inapplicability of Limitation) Act, 1974," Goa-based NGOs, namely Goa Foundation, Common Cause, Mineral Inheritors Rights' Association among others, have pleaded in their letter to the Union Minister for Mines Prahlad Joshi and the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The letter has also said that companies involved in illegal mining should be blacklisted and not be allowed to participate in any mining related activity.

"With the rise of illegal miners in the country, there are no adequate mechanisms to hold them accountable and undertake stringent actions such as blacklisting them from any mining activity.

"Any violation whether it is economic, environmental, or social by the entity must be a good enough reason to disqualify the miners on the basis of questionable integrity and they should be prevented from managing our shared inheritance of mineral wealth," the letter said.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said that national banker State Bank of India had been roped in to facilitate the auction of "six to eight" iron ore mining blocks by December 15.

The decision comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in the state has been criticised for belated efforts to restart the mining industry ahead of Athe state assembly polls, which are scheduled to be held in early 2022.

Sawant had also said that the Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, a Central government concern had been appointed for exploration of the nearly 90 mining leases in the state for mineral prospects.

The auctioning of the iron ore mineral blocks will be carried out under the aegis of the newly formed Goa Mineral Development Corporation.

The Corporation was formed by the Goa government earlier this year, with the Chief Minister as the ex-officio chairman and will have top officials including Secretaries in-charge of Finance, Mines and Environment as members.

The Corporation will also include a lawyer nominated by the state government, two experienced chartered accountants and a government nominated geologist.
Mumbai, Nov 26 : As the nation remembers for the 13th time in as many years the unsuspecting civilians gunned down by Pakistani terrorists and the martyrs in uniform, here's a summary of the films and web series that presented their sides of the story that shook India for three nightmarish days.

FILMS The Attacks of 26/11: This Ram Gopal Varma directorial sequentially presents a comprehensive account of what happened on the fateful night. It's in fact the only piece of Indian mainstream cinema to chronicle the attacks. From the planning, transit and execution of the attacks to the terrorists being neutralised and Ajmal Kasab, the only perpetrator to be caught alive, the movie presents a disturbing account of what went down and show how the administration eventually got the situation under control.

The 2013 film has Nana Patekar playing the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Rakesh Maria, and follows a non-linear approach to storytelling as the officer recounts the events during an official inquiry.

Varma had earlier told IANS: "Never in the history of the world were there more terrifying attacks than those that happened on 9/11 in New York. But in the sheer audacity of their execution, I felt the attack on Mumbai was far more shocking." Taj Mahal: The French-Belgian thriller-drama, directed by Nicolas Saada and released in 2015, presents the story as it unfolds from the perspective of a victim -- a young girl who comes with her parents to Mumbai after her father gets posted to Maximum City. The family chooses to stay in the Taj Mahal Palace until their accommodation is set up. As destiny takes an unexpected turn, the girl gets trapped inside the hotel while her parents are out for dinner. Owing to its storytelling and narrative, the film was also screened at the Venice Film Festival.

One Less God: Lliam Worthington's 2017 movie recasts the horror of the attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel from the points of view of the perpetrators and the hotel guests who were held hostage at gunpoint. Based though the film is on true events, the two perspectives are fictionalised.

Hotel Mumbai: The 2018 action thriller directed by the Australian filmmaker Anthony Maras narrates the story of courage of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel's staff who pushed their line of duty of serving guests by helping with the rescue operations and stood with them through thick and thin. The film, which stars Dev Patel, Anupam Kher, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi and Jason Isaacs, is based on the documentary titled 'Surviving Mumbai'.

Talking about the film, Maras told IANS: "It all started when I saw 'Surviving Mumbai'. We got very easy access to the transcripts and access to the people who have lived through it. We spent a great deal of time just listening to them and focusing on their stories. We met them in person or via video calls just to know what it was to live through such an experience." Maras and his co-writer John Collee had rock-solid source material at their disposal in the form of interviews, documents from Kasab's trial, victim statements, and transcripts of satellite communications between the terrorists and their handlers provided by the police and trhe local authorities.

WEB SERIES State of Siege - 26/11: The Zee5 eight-episode series is based on the authoritative book 'Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11' by journalist Sandeep Unnithan. Directed by Matthew Leutwyler and Prashant Singh, the series stars Arjan Bajwa, Arjun Bijlani, Jyoti Gauba, Vivek Dahiya, Tara Alisha Berry and Mukul Dev.

What separates 'State of Siege - 26/11' from its counterparts is that it tells the story through the lens of NSG commandos, who took over control of the situation from Mumbai Police on November 27 and neutralised the terrorists by November 29, thereby restoring free civilian movement and bailing out the city from the clutches of the gunmen.

Mumbai Diaries 26/11: More recently, we had the Prime Video series 'Mumbai Diaries 26/11' directed by Nikkhil Advani. The eight-episode series features an ensemble of Mohit Raina, Konkona Sen Sharma, Prakash Belawadi, Sonali Kulkarni, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Satyajeet Dubey, and follows the story of medical professionals as they managed the huge influx of victims during the attack and provided them with treatment despite the crumbling healthcare infrastructure.

Explaining what made him tell their story, Advani told IANS: "I have always been a huge fan of shows like 'ER', 'Chicago Hope' and 'Code Black'. There's inherent drama in the act of saving lives and then you get to explore the lives of the unsung heroes, namely, the doctors and nurses." Describing the strength and resilience of the medics, Advani said: "When I asked the doctors and nurses we interviewed during our research about what they did differently on those three days, they looked at me incredulously and said, 'We turned up for work.' It made me think that actually these medical professionals and first responders, who work under incredible pressure in government hospitals, really do the most courageous work almost every single day." DOCUMENTARIES

Terror In Mumbai: This HBO documentary takes into account the multiple perspectives on the administrative shortcomings and security failures. Written by CNN's Fareed Zakaria, 'Terror In Mumbai' is one of the best documentaries to piece together the story with eyewitness interviews, surveillance videos and intercepted call exchanges between the ten terrorists and their controllers in Pakistan.

Mumbai Massacre: An episode of the widely acclaimed docu-series 'Seconds From Disaster', a US-UK co-production directed by Stan Griffin, it uncovers the security failures that allowed the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to kill at will. The episode features accounts of the survivors who narrate their experiences and recount what unfolded on one of those long, dark and horrific nights of Mumbai.

OTHER FILMS Surviving Mumbai: A Victoria Midwinter Pitt directorial broadcast in 2009, 'Surviving Mumbai' is a television movie that follows the narrative style of documentary and tells the story from the perspective of the survivors, who recount how they battled the odds and controlled their nerves in a fiercely demanding situation just to be able to stay alive and make it to the other end of what seemed like an interminable rabbit hole.

Shahid: The 2012 biographical drama directed by Hansal Mehta is based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi. Starring Rajkummar Rao, the film takes into account the case of Faheem Ansari, who was accused for his involvement in the 26/11 attacks, but was later acquitted of all charges because of lack of evidence. Faheem was Azmi's last case before he was gunned down by assailants.

Embrace: The 15-minute short film, made in 2014 by Los Angeles-based Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla, tells the story of an American couple who come to Mumbai for a vacation but are trapped in Taj Mahal Palace following the terrorist attacks. The couple holds the fort as they watch their friends being massacred. When all hope is lost and they realise that help won't be coming their way, they make a life-altering decision in order to reunite with their son whom they left behind in their homeland.

Phantom: Kabir Khan 2015 movie follows the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. It features Saif Ali Khan as an ex-serviceman, who is pressed into service by R&AW to seek vengeance on the men who planned, coordinated and executed the attacks.
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : Life has never been the same for Shahnawaz Noorjahan and her family, after that fateful night of November 26, 2008 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).

She was waiting at the station along with her husband, their daughter who had married only six months ago, their son and grand-daughter after missing a train back home to Nizamabad.

They had gone to Mumbai to offer a thanksgiving prayer at the Haji Ali Dargah for Ameena Begum's marriage. As fate would have it, they missed Devagiri Express and had no option but to wait at the station for the next available train.

Around 9.20 p.m. when they were all settled down like many other waiting passengers, sounds of gunshots sent panic in the station and people were seen running helter-skelter.

Ameena Begum (20) was among 58 victims of two Pakistani terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, who was later captured alive and sentenced to death in 2012.

Noorjahan's husband Abdul Rasheed, who was then 55, suffered bullet injuries on his hand and back. The injuries left him bed-ridden and finally led to his death in 2011.

She was lucky to escape with splinter injuries along with a son and granddaughter.

"My father was the sole breadwinner for the family. He was an auto-rickshaw driver and also used to work in a factory manufacturing cement pipes. His thumb was severed due to bullet injury and he could never recover," Sheikh Anees told IANS from Nizamabad.

Noorjahan's health also took a toll due to the shock over the killing of her daughter before her eyes and later the death of her husband. "She developed blood pressure and diabetes and whenever she remembers that fateful night, she goes into depression. We don't remind her anything about that tragedy," said Anees, an auto-rickshaw driver.

He said the family not only lost two members but also suffered psychological trauma and slipped into financial problems.

Anees feels that things could have been better for the family if a member was provided a government job.

Two other families from Telangana had lost their loved ones in the terror attacks that had rocked India's financial capital.

Vijay Rao Bhanja (47), chief executive chef at Taj Hotel, was killed in the attack on the famous star hotel. According to his family, he was trapped in the kitchen on the first floor of the hotel.

After hearing about the terror attack, they had called him over his mobile phone and he informed them that he is safe along with others in the kitchen.

Later, they received the shocking news from his friends that he was shot dead by terrorists when he was helping his colleagues to get out of the kitchen.

Vijay's family suffered another blow nine months later when his wife Fareeda, who was working with visually challenged children in Mumbai, died in her sleep due to cardiac arrest.

Another person from Hyderabad who lost his life in 26/11 attacks was Lakshmi Narayana Haridwarilal Goel (57). The lawyer was killed when an IED exploded in the taxi he was travelling in near Vile Parle. He was returning to a relative's house in Mumbai after missing the train to Hyderabad from CST.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Under the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna, the first batch of pilgrims to Kartarpur Sahib would depart on January 5 and the first train for Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi would depart on January 7 next year, the Delhi government said in a statement on Friday.

"The Delhi Government has decided to add two more routes in addition to the existing 13 yatra routes namely Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi and Delhi-Kartarpur Sahib-Delhi under its Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra scheme. The devotees would be provided berths in AC-III tier trains on Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi route whereas for Kartarpur Sahib, the devotees would be given seats in Deluxe 2x2 AC buses. The first batch of Yatris to Kartarpur Sahib would depart on January 5, 2022, and the first train for Delhi-Velankanni-Delhi would depart on January 7, 2022," the statement read.

Revenue Minister Kailash Gahlot reviewed the preparedness of the Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojna in a high level meeting on Friday.

The 15,000 applicants who had applied for the yatra under the scheme in 2019 but could not avail the facility due to the Covid pandemic would receive SMS informing them about the option of amending their applications for choosing Delhi-Ayodhya-Delhi route and also uploading fully vaccinated certificates on the e-district portal. The Delhi Government will also provide doctors and paramedical staff to accompany the Yatris in all trains and buses under the scheme.

The Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana, under which the senior citizens of Delhi can go on pilgrimages at government expense, could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. A meeting to review the preparedness to resume the yatra was earlier held under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Gahlot on September 30, wherein IRCTC informed that the trains can be made available for the Yatra only after October 15.

Recently with the approval of the cabinet of the Delhi Government, one additional route namely New Delhi-Ayodhya-New Delhi was added to the list of routes under the scheme. Now, with the addition of two more routes, the total number of routes under the scheme has reached 15.

Under the scheme, the Delhi Government offers free travel packages for pilgrimage to senior citizens from the national capital. A total of 1,100 residents per assembly constituency can avail this facility in a year subject to the cap of total 77,000 Yatris per year.

Since its formal launch, a total of 35,080 beneficiaries have travelled under the scheme, the Delhi government has claimed.
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K. Kavitha and five other candidates of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) were Friday declared elected unanimously to the Legislative Council from local authorities' constituencies.

Elections for the remaining six seats of the Council will be held on December 10. Local bodies' representatives are eligible to cast their votes in these constituencies. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 14.

Six candidates of TRS received certificates of election from respective returning officers on Friday. They were declared elected as all the candidates who had filed nominations against them withdrew from the contest. Friday was the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

Kavitha was elected from Nizamabad constituency. The others who were elected to upper house of the state legislature are Patnam Mahender Reddy, Shambipur Raju (both from Rangareddy district), Pochampally Srinivas Reddy (Warangal), Kasireddy Narayana Reddy and Kuchumalla Damodar Reddy(both from Mahabubnagar district).

Kavitha has been re-elected for a second term from Nizamabad. She received the certificate of election from the returning officer and Nizamabad Collector C. Narayan Reddy.

Minister Prashant Reddy , RTC Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan Reddy, MLAs and MLCs from Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts were present when Kavitha received the certificate. TRS leaders and workers organised celebrations over Kavitha's victory.

She was elected with a huge majority to the Legislative Council from the same constituency in October last year. The election was held to fill the vacancy caused by the disqualification of a legislator after he switched loyalties to the Congress before the 2018 Assembly elections.

Kavitha was sent to Legislative Council after she suffered a shock defeat in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. She was elected to Lok Sabha from Nizamabad in 2014.

Meanwhile, elections have become inevitable in six other constituencies. In Adilabad, TRS candidate Dande Vittal is facing an independent candidate. For two MLC seats in Karimnagar district, 10 candidates including the ruling party's L. Ramana, and Bhanuprasad Rao are in fray.

In Medak district, TRS candidate Madhava Reddy is locked in a contest with Congress' Nirmala and independent candidate Malla Reddy. In Khammam, Tata Madhu of the ruling party, Congress candidate R. Nageshwar Rao and two independents are in fray. In Nalgonda, TRS candidate Koti Reddy is facing opposition from four independent candidates.
Chennai, Nov 26 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has assured women and girls that he will protect them like a father, adding his government will give prime importance to the safety of women and girl students in workplaces and educational institutions, respectively.

In a statement on Friday, Stalin said: "I will protect you not only as Chief Minister but like a father." The Chief Minister's statement has come a day after International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women was observed across the world.

The UN said: "To raise awareness, this year's theme is 'Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!' Orange is our colour to represent a brighter future free of violence against women and girls. Be part of the orange movement!" Stalin has called upon the educational institutions and firms not to cover up the complaints and the incidents of sexual offences against women and girl children.

He also asked the authorities to act properly and responsibly, apart from urging the victims of sexual assault not to take any extreme steps but to fight and bring the perpetrators before the law.

"The government will take action against whoever exploits women sexually and give utmost importance to protect children and women," Stalin said.

He said that the government has set a target to put an end to the crime against women and children.

Stalin said the administrators of educational institutions and firms should take appropriate action on complaints.

He also called upon the teachers and heads of educational institutions not to cover up any incidents of sexual assault against children to 'protect the reputation' of the institution.

The Chief Minister appealed to the sexual assault survivors to contact the helpline '1098'.
Chennai, Nov 26 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Friday expressed hope of turning the state into a global centre for information technology (IT) owing to his government's policies.

Inaugurating the 20th edition of CII Connect 2021 here, he assured that the government will consult the industry and solve all those issues that hinders industrial growth.

The CII Connect 2021 is an International Conference & Exhibition on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with the Tamil Nadu government, the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu, the Union Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and the Software Technology Parks of India.

Stalin hoped the IT sector would contribute towards the state's economy reaching $1 trillion.

He said with the growth of the industrial sector and urbanisation, the government is focussed on infrastructure development and is implementing projects like metro rail expansion, setting up of new airports, and building road networks.

According to him, the government is carrying out various reform measures to enable ease of doing business through a single window clearance system.

He said all the local bodies in the state will be connected through broadband connectivity and the government wishes the presence of IT in all spheres of activity like agriculture, and industry.

According to Stalin, the state leads in the data centre segment and has come out with a new policy for that sector.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The Enforcement Directorate has carried out a search operation at the premises of a Punjab-based cable businessman under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

According to an official statement, the ED raids on Thursday were carried out in Ludhiana, Mohali, Chandigarh and Nawanshahr at the residential plot of Surinder Pal Singh, who is a former Chief Engineer of the Punjab Mandi Board and Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The main business premises of his company M/s Jhujhar Construction and Travels Pvt. Ltd and M/s Fastway Transmission Pvt Ltd were also searched. During the searches, a large number of incriminating documents, digital devices, Rs 10.30 lakhs in Indian currency, and foreign currency equivalent to USD 4000 were seized. A total of 5 lockers and FDRs totalling Rs 6.70 crore have also been frozen by the ED.

The ED initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered and a charge-sheet filed by the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab against Surinder Pal Singh, and others. In the FIR it was alleged that Singh misused his official position and allotted multi-crore projects to his favoured firms/companies, thereby ensuring illegal monetary gains for himself, his family members and to the companies/firms/entities to which the illegal favours were extended by him.

The ED investigation revealed that the modus operandi adopted by Singh was to set up companies in the name of his family members and his close associates.

He used the bank accounts of these companies for depositing the bribes received by him. These proceeds of crime were then moved amongst the bank accounts of these companies in an attempt to launder them. It was also found that a part of these proceeds from the companies owned and controlled by Surinder Pal Singh and his family members were connected to Gurdeep Singh Jhujhar --owner of Jhujhar Transport group and Fastway group.

Further investigation is in progress, the ED said.
Kolkata, Nov 26 : Senior Trinamool Congress leader and MP Sougata Roy's comment -- the party will not support the use of violence or muscle power during the coming civic poll or any other local body election -- has triggered a political controversy.

The political parties including the BJP took Roy's remarks as a conscious effort to fool the people again.

While the BJP accused the party of admitting that they used force and muscle power during the previous panchayat and municipal elections, the Congress and the CPI-M said that it would never percolate to the ground level and the party would resort to violence again.

Speaking to the media, Roy said: ''It is a conscious decision by the party that we will not support the use of violence or muscle power during the coming civic poll or any other local body election." "If someone from the party violates this decision he/she will be doing so at his or her own responsibility and TMC might also withdraw his/her candidature," he said.

"The party will not accept the use of violence and muscle power by its candidates during the upcoming civic polls in West Bengal. This has been a conscious decision made by the party and the party will take strong action against anyone who goes against." The TMC had to pay a ''heavy price'' for violence during the 2018 panchayat polls as it had sent out a wrong message about the party, he said.

''We had to pay a heavy price (in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls) for it. For us, the 2024 Lok Sabha poll is more important than these local body elections,'' he added.

Roy's comment, however, stirred the hornet's nest with the Opposition accusing the party of resorting to violence during the election.

Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said: "This only proves how elections were conducted during the TMC regime. This proves that allegations of looting of votes, violence are completely true.

"Now they are telling all these things because they have understood the people will reject them. This is another effort to fool the people," he added.

West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury welcomed Roy's statement but wondered whether it would percolate to the ground level of the TMC.

''Roy is a gentleman. But I doubt whether what he said is the official stand of his party as its top leaders might have something different in their minds,'' he added.

CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty said: "The comment proves that what we were telling so long is very much true. They have now admitted it. Do you think that the people will trust them? They have lost all trust of the people. Now they are trying to save their face before civic polls."
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The Bhind police in Madhya Pradesh said a statement on Friday that during their investigation into the supply of ganja through the Amazon e-commerce portal, it was found that besides Babu Tex, the earlier company which was supplying ganja on the Amazon e-commerce portal , six more companies were registered on Amazon, which were supplying 2 kg pack of ganja under the guise of 'Stevia dry leaves' to the same purchasers to whom Babu Tex supplied the banned substance.

The Bhind police, whcih is investigating the entire matter, had last week made the executive directors of Amazon Seller Services Limited accused under Section 38 of the NDPS Act.

In Visakhapatnam , the police had recently arrested the main culprit, Shri Niwas Rao, with two pick-up boys of Amazon, and an Amazon van driver, Venkateshwar Rao, and seized 48 kg ganja, a statement issued by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) had said.

CAIT had said that the reports of sale of ganja through the e-portal of Amazon were a big shock and an eye opener that to earn profit, these companies can do anything or everything, including sale of prohibited items.
Chennai, Nov 26 : Commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd said on Friday that its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vipin Sondhi, has decided to quit owing to personal reasons.

According to Ashok Leyland, Sondhi's resignation will be effective from December 31, 2021.

The company board has requested Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja to step in as Executive Chairman with immediate effect for business continuity.

The board will meet shortly to decide on the further course of action for identifying the next MD & CEO, the company said.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : After predicting that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra will fall by March next year, Union Minister for MSMEs Narayan Rane clarified that he only repeated what BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said.

On Friday, Rane told IANS: "I only said what Chandrakant Patil said -- that it would happen... nothing else. Whatever was discussed can be discussed but I only repeated what Patil said... and wish it would happen." During his visit to Jaipur, Rane said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will come to power in Maharashtra by March next year. After Rane's comment, speculations started doing rounds in political circles and it was fuelled by the presence of former Maharashtra Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis in the national capital.

Sources said that Fadnavis met Union Home Minister, and BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh.

In Jaipur, Rane had said: "Soon there will be a BJP government in Maharashtra by March. You will see a change. Some secrets are guarded while forming the government and it cannot be made public. If it comes out in public, the change of government in the state may be delayed by a month or two." "The MVA government, a coalition of three parties -- the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena -- has failed. In such a scenario, the return of BJP is evident. Whether the government falls or some parties break away from the coalition is part of the details which cannot be discussed," he said.

Downplaying Rane's comment, a senior BJP leader termed it as his personal observation and said that March is still far away.

"Rane may have plans, but it was not discussed in the party. It is his personal observation. The MVA government will fall over its own differences. Rest are mere speculations," a senior party leader said.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The Punjab problem of the Congress is far from over as state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is against his own government on various issues and now the party is concerned about non-Sikh votes in the state.

With former Punjab President Sunil Jakhar being upset about being denied the Chief Minister's post, now the party is reaching out to these leaders. Rana KP, speaker of the Punjab Assembly, recently met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Party in-charge of the state Harish Chaudhary has reached out to Jakhar but sources say he was unable to pacify him and it is likely that Sonia Gandhi may have to intervene in the state's issues. Sources close to Sunil Jakhar confirmed the meeting on Tuesday evening.

However, the sources said he did not have any issue with the Punjab in-charge Harish Chaudhary. If there is any issue, it must be between Sidhu and Channi about who will be the CM after the state elections.

Jakhar was once considered the top choice for Chief Minister but lost the race in the last lap when the issue of a Sikh as Chief Minister was raked up by senior leader Ambika Soni.

The Congress is also wary of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh who may be eyeing the rebels in the party. Amarinder on Friday attacked Harish Chaudhary over allegations the latter made against him. Amarinder Singh said in a statement that although he owed no explanation to "an out of job legislator who has been sacked as a minister in Rajasthan for being named as an accused in the murder case of Kamlesh Prajapat, in Barmer, and inquiry for which has been handed over to the CBI by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot", he still wanted to set the record straight.

The Congress is now fighting a dual battle in the state as after Amarinder Singh's exit, a still unhappy Sidhu is continuously questioning his own government and taking credit on behalf of the government, thus escalating the infighting in the state apparatus.

Sidhu has been courting controversy often and recently he referred to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as his 'elder brother' -- a repeat of 2018 when he visited Pakistan for the swearing-in of the latter and hugged the Pakistan army chief there.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Supreme Court Bar Association President and senior advocate Vikas Singh on Friday suggested a legislation to regulate the collegium system to facilitate the appointment of judges to the high courts and to the Supreme Court.

In his address at the inaugural ceremony of the Constitution Day celebration organised by the Registry of the Supreme Court, he said: "I am of the opinion that a suitable legislation in the form of a Bill to regulate the Collegium system can be brought within the said limitation which will facilitate the appointment of judges to the High Courts as well as to the Supreme Court." He added the Bill should provide a permanent secretariat, both at the high court and Supreme Court level, to assist them in the matter of appointment of judges as the members of the collegiums both at the Supreme Court as well as the high courts.

"The Collegium will determine the eligibility for appointment to the higher judiciary and the Secretariat would constantly update the list of persons who qualify as per the said eligibility. The said legislation will ensure that even members of the Supreme Court Bar Association who are so far neglected from consideration are regularly considered for elevation," he said at the event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and the judges of the Supreme Court.

Singh said he had already drafted such a Bill, in his individual capacity, and had given it to the Law Minister.

He said that a parliamentary law to provide for a right of intra court appeal in the Supreme Court in matters of determination of rights under Article 32 will provide an opportunity for correcting any errors that may have crept in the original judgments of the Supreme Court under the constitutional provision.

"Many a times judgments under Article 32 transgress into the domain of the executive. Providing for intra court appeal will ensure the constitutional guarantee of proper justice and will also help in maintaining the discipline of separation of powers," he said.

Singh also strongly spoke against criminalisation of politics. "Our experience in the recent past has been that persons with criminal background are getting elected to the Parliament and the percentage of such people which was 24 per cent in 2004 has progressively increased to 43 per cent to 2019. A situation has come now that persons who are alleged to have broken the law are in fact making laws," he said.

He called for persons charge sheeted in heinous crimes should be debarred from contesting elections and persons convicted should also be debarred for life from contesting an election, by making appropriate amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1951. "If a person holding public office cannot be reinstated after conviction, there is no justification for a legislator to be eligible as such," he said.
Mumbai, Nov 26 : A massive foreign fund outflow triggered by the panic among the investors over the new Covid-19 variant found in southern Africa plunged the key equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- deep into the red on Friday.

The fall of about 1,687 points in Sensex and 509 points in Nifty50 was triggered by FIIs' selling, which occurred after the 'B.1.1529' strain of Covid-19 was identified in South Africa, and later detected in Botswana and Hong Kong.

The new strain is reported to contain up to 30 identified mutations. It is said to be a more transmissible variant of Covid-19.

Notably, the FIIs sold Rs 5,785.83 crore on the BSE, the NSE and the MSEI in the capital market segment during the day's trade.

And not just in India, but FIIs also sold in Asian and European markets with falls up to 2.5-3 per cent.

"On the domestic front, broad-based sell off was witnessed as investors dumped the Covid-sensitive stocks while focus was shifted towards the pharma sector amid growing concerns over the new variant with higher mutations," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

According to Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities: "Stock markets nosedived across the globe on Friday, heading for their largest weekly drop in almost two months after a new Coronavirus variant sparked concerns.

"The scare sent investors scurrying to the safety of bonds, the yen and the Swiss franc. One view is that due to the thin liquidity levels in trading in Asia as a consequence of holidays in thwe US, the reaction does appear to be outsized." Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "The domestic market has corrected 9 per cent from its peak as weak global cues, persistent selling by FIIs and premium valuation has made the investors cautious.

"Going ahead, the market is likely to continue being under pressure till clarity emerges as to how dangerous this new Covid variant can be." In such a scenario, Khemka cited that it is wise to grab the opportunity and invest in stocks that are backed by strong fundamentals and sound management.

"Blue chip stocks, which act as safe havens for the investors, provide a good entry point at lower levels to invest from a long-term perspective. Also, one can look for defensive sector stocks." On an overall basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensex fell a massive 1,687 points or 2.87 per cent to 57,107 points from its previous close on Friday.

Similarly, the broader 50-scrip Nifty closed the day at 17,026 points, down by 509 points or 2.91 per cent from its previous close.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Colombo, Nov 26 : Visiting United Nations Assistant Secretary General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Khaled Khiari on Friday emphasised the importance of inclusive governance, greater civic engagement, and the need to protect the rights of all Sri Lankans.

The ASG who oversees the regional work of the UN's Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs - Department of Peace Operations made this remarks aty concluding his visit to Sri Lanka.

During his visit from November 23, Khiari met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Foreign Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and representatives of opposition, Tamil and Muslim political parties, civil society, religious leaders, among others.

"I appreciated hearing from a broad range of voices in Sri Lanka about past and current challenges and opportunities and welcomed the cooperation between the UN and Sri Lanka on peace and development.

"I also reiterated our commitment to supporting Sri Lanka's implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including SDG 16, which highlights how sustainable peace and development are intimately linked with access to justice for all and accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels," he said.

Meanwhile, during the meeting with Khiari, Peiris outlined the recent progress made in domestic processes in relation to reconciliation and human rights, including the proposed revisions to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and reiterated the government's commitment to achieving tangible progress.

Khiari's visit to Sri Lanka was a follow-up to the bilateral meeting President Rajapaksa had with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September.

Sri Lanka is facing allegations of human rights violations during its three decade long civil war ended in 2009 with the defeat of the separatist Tamil Tigers and a surge of civilian deaths. In March this year, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet received a mandate to collect evidence of crimes during the country's long civil war.

Again in September, the UN Human Rights Chief stated that she was looking forward to "concrete actions" from the Sri Lankan government on its promises, while urging members of the UN Human Rights Council to continue paying "close attention" to the island nation, whose rights record remains in international focus after a decade since its civil war ended.

Bachelet was also referring to Sri Lanka's draconian terrorism law, the Prevention of Terrorism Act and prolonged detention of human rights activists.
Hyderabad, Nov 26 : The horror of the bloodbath and mayhem at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) on that fateful night of November 26, 2008 is still fresh in the mind of Noorjahan Begum.

The horrific scenes of her newly-wed daughter succumbing to the bullets of terrorists and her husband lying injured in the pool of blood continue to haunt her.

Noorjahan, now 56, told IANS from her home town Nizamabad over phone that she was waiting at the station along with her husband, their daughter who had married only six months ago, their son and granddaughter after missing a train back home to Nizamabad.

They had gone to Mumbai to offer a thanksgiving prayer at the Haji Ali Dargah for Amina Begum's marriage. As fate would have it, they missed Devagiri Express and had no option to wait at the station for the next available train.

Around 9.20 p.m., when they were all settled down like many other waiting passengers, sounds of gunshots sent panic in the station and people were seen running helter-skelter.

Amina Begum (20) was among 58 victims of two Pakistani terrorists including Ajmal Kasab, who was later captured alive and sentenced to death in 2012.

"The attackers suddenly appeared there and started firing indiscriminately. Even before I could realize what was happening, my daughter and husband were lying on the ground," recalled Noorjahan, who escaped with splinter injuries along with a son and granddaughter.

"My daughter who was a bride of just six months was lying dead in the pool of blood with a bullet piercing through her neck," said Noorjahan crying inconsolably.

"There was blood all around. Blood was oozing out from my forehead and my feet were soaked in blood spilled on the ground. There was also heavy smoke," she said, recounting the horror.

Noorjahan's husband Abdul Rasheed suffered bullet injuries on his hand, thigh and foot. The injuries left him handicapped and bed-ridden and finally led to his death in 2011.

"My father was the sole breadwinner for the family. He was an auto-rickshaw driver and also used to work in a factory manufacturing cement pipes. His thumb was severed due to bullet injury and he could never recover," Sheikh Anees told IANS.

Noorjahan's health also took a toll due to the shock over the killing of her daughter before her eyes and later the death of her husband.

"She developed blood pressure and diabetes and whenever she remembers that fateful night, she goes into depression. We don't remind her anything about that tragedy," said Anees, an auto-rickshaw driver.

He said the family not only lost two members but also suffered psychological trauma and slipped into financial problems.

Noorjahan lamented that the family did not receive help though the government had assured them that a job will be provided. "I have multiple health problems and all my children are doing menial jobs for survival," she said.

Anees feels that things could have been better for the family if a member was provided a government job.

Two other families from Telangana had lost their loved ones in the terror attacks that had rocked India's financial capital.

Vijay Rao Bhanja (47), chief executive chef at Taj Hotel, was killed in the attack on the famous star hotel. According to his family, he was trapped in the kitchen on the first floor of the hotel.

After hearing about the terror attack, they had called him over his mobile phone and he informed them that he is safe along with others in the kitchen.

Later, they received the shocking news from his friends that he was shot dead by terrorists when he was helping his colleagues to get out of the kitchen.

Vijay's family suffered another blow nine months later when his wife Fareeda, who was working with visually challenged children in Mumbai, died in sleep due to cardiac arrest.

Another person from Hyderabad who lost his life in 26/11 attacks was Lakshmi Narayana Haridwarilal Goel (57).

The lawyer was killed when an IED exploded in the taxi he was travelling in near Vile Parle. He was returning to a relative's house in Mumbai after missing the train to Hyderabad from CST.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Rashtriya Janta Dal President Lalu Prasad was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences emergency ward on Friday evening after complaining of fever and drowsiness.

An AIIMS doctor said that the veteran politician is down with fever and drowsiness, but his condition doesn't look serious as of now. Sources said that he has tested negative for dengue, malaria, and typhoid, but has been kept under the doctors' close observation.

The ailing RJD chief is currently out on bail.

The 73-year-old former Bihar Chief Minister and Union Minister took everyone by surprise when he drove his jeep for a short distance in Patna on Wednesday morning, and shared the video on social media.
Mumbai, Nov 26 : In a shocking claim, a former Mumbai Police officer has accused the ex-DIG of the Anti Terrorist Squad, Param Bir Singh, of allegedly taking a phone recovered from Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes 13 years ago.

Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police Shamsherkhan Pathan met and submitted a letter on July 26 to Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale and demanded that Singh should be booked under terror charges for his 'anti-national act'.

Pathan told mediapersons on Friday, after Param Bir Singh reached Mumbai, that in November 26-29, 2008, he was a Senior Inspector at Pydhonie Police Station and Singh was the DIG-ATS.

After the terror strikes, Singh had allegedly pocketed a mobile phone recovered from Kasab, the sole terrorist caught alive, and till date that device -- which could be a crucial piece of evidence -- has not come on the police records.

"I have requested the CoP Nagrale to order a probe into the affair, where is the mobile, why it was not handed over to the 26/11 investigation team and book Singh under terror charges for destroying a vital piece of evidence," Pathan said.

On why he was raking up the issue after 13 years, Pathan said that since he was not directly concerned with the matter, he recollected it only after Singh levelled allegations of corruption against former home minister Anil Deshmukh in March and then himself faced extortion and graft charges.

"I spoke with N. R. Mali, the then Senior Inspector of Police with D. B. Marg Police Station, who also confirmed that the mobile was handed over by a constable identified as 'Kamble' to Singh, but it has not come on the police records till now. This is a very serious matter," Pathan contended.

Slamming the ex-ATS DIG for allegedly being "a known corrupt officer who has the blessings of the Bharatiya Janata Party", Pathan said that later when a police officer was sent by the probe team to collect it, Singh was livid and refused to hand over the device,. Instead he shouted and asked the officer to get out.

"Knowing his record, Singh may have used the contacts in the phone for extortion purposes or sold it to the ISI to destroy the evidence in the device," Pathan alleged.

Though legal officials also say that there was no such mobile on the records, Kasab was tried, found guilty, convicted and finally sent to the gallows nine years ago on November 21, 2012 inside the Yerawada Central Jail, Pune.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) on Friday resumed exporting Covishield vaccine doses to COVAX, a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines.

The first vaccine consignment left Pune on Friday for distribution to low and middle-income countries via the COVAX mechanism. SII's supply of doses via COVAX is expected to increase substantially into Q1, 2022, said a statement from SII.

The resumption of exports is linked to SII surpassing its original target to produce 1 billion doses of Covidshield by the end of this year. SII has reached this milestone ahead of time via rapid expansion of production capacity at its site in Pune, the statement said.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India, said, "I want to thank our workforce for their superhuman efforts in achieving this major milestone, with 1 billion doses of Covidshield now produced by SII. We started to invest at-risk in Covid-19 vaccine production back in March 2020, and our colleagues have worked tirelessly ever since to get these life-saving doses to the people.

"It's a huge moment to begin exports again, for us, our partners at COVAX and the low and middle-income countries we support. The world has largely depended on the low-cost, high-quality pharmaceuticals and vaccines that India has traditionally exported, so we are delighted to support the global vaccination effort once more." "The resumption of supplies from SII is an important development for COVAX as it enters its busiest period yet for shipping vaccines to the participating economies. While COVAX's portfolio is now much more diversified than it was earlier this year when we received our first SII deliveries, Covishield remains an important product, which has the potential to help us protect hundreds of millions of people in the months ahead," Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the vaccine alliance which leads the COVAX facility, said.

In a key development, the Government of India earlier this week gave its nod to export the Covid vaccine to COVAX. Accoring to a source, the government has allowed SII to export 50 lakh Covishield doses under the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine programme to Nepal, Tajikistan and Mozambique, official sources said.

In addition to these three countries, SII will also export Covishield to Bangladesh under COVAX.

According to the source, the Union government has allowed the commercial export of both vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - in view of sufficient stock of the vaccines available with the states and Union Territories, and also with the manufacturers.

As on Friday morning, over 20.70 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.

COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO. India stopped vaccine exports in April this year amid the second wave of the pandemic in order to vaccinate its own population first.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Thirteen years have gone by since Mumbai was rocked by the worst ever terror attack witnessed by India on November 26, 2008. Since then, the management of coastal (and maritime) security in the country has undergone a paradigm shift.

Broadly, the coastal security construct after '26/11' has been based on a whole-of-government approach. This includes allocation of coastal security responsibilities to maritime security agencies and setting up of institutional mechanisms for policy and operational coordination among all the stakeholders across multiple levels of governance.

"Major initiatives, focused on capacity augmentation and capability development of maritime security agencies and developing Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA), have been undertaken. Community engagement has also emerged as an area of renewed thrust," said a senior government officer.

In accordance with the Cabinet Committee on Security directives of 2009, the Indian Navy is designated as the authority responsible for overall maritime security, which includes coastal security and offshore security, and existing Naval Commander in Chiefs are designated as Commander in Chiefs for coastal defence.

Indian Navy is to be assisted by the Coast Guard, state marine police and other Central and state agencies for coastal defence. The Indian Coast Guard is additionally designated as the authority responsible for coastal security in territorial waters, including areas to be patrolled by the coastal police.

The Marine Police have been made responsible for patrolling of waters up to 12 nm (nautical miles), which is currently limited to 5 nm till the capability and capacity enhancement of the forces.

A number of steps have been taken to strengthen coastal and maritime security, which involves active participation by all the stakeholders, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Shipping/DG Shipping, Department of Fisheries, and the Registrar General of India.

These steps are reviewed regularly at the highest level by the Cabinet Secretary through meetings of the National Committee on Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS). For monitoring at the working level, a steering committee and a sub-committee for review of coastal security are also functional, which meet frequently.

Indian Navy-Coast Guard Joint SOPs The Indian Navy-Coast Guard joint SOPs for coastal security have also stabilised over the last 13 years and are reviewed regularly as part of coastal security exercises. They have proved their value in both exercises and some actual contingencies.

Setting up of four joint operation centres at Mumbai, Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Port Blair have significantly contributed towards improving inter-agency coordination for coastal security. This mechanism enables execution of centralised command and control in times of need.

The joint operation centres and respective operation centres of various agencies are also being regularly exercised through coastal security exercises, which have contributed towards improving inter-agency coordination manifold.

To further enhance the coordination among national and state agencies, a pan-India, multi-agency biennial coastal defence exercise -- 'Sea Vigil' -- was conceptualised and implemented in January 2019.

The second edition of this exercise was coordinated by the Indian Navy, which was conducted in January 2021. This exercise has proven to be very beneficial to undertake assessment of the national maritime security construct.

Maritime Domain Awareness Generation of accurate Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) has been a focus area after the 26/11 attacks. Some of the major initiatives have been the establishment of the Coastal Security Network, the National Automatic Identification System (NAIS) chain and the National Command Control Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network.

The Coastal Security Network (CSN) project, comprising 46 radar stations, has been established by the Coast Guard for electronic surveillance. Phase II of the project, comprising 38 additional static radar stations, eight Mobile Surveillance Systems (MSS), and integration of Vessel Traffic Management Systems (VTMS) for the Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat is in progress. When fully implemented, the project will double the radar coverage along the Indian coastlines.

Presently, based on the licence issued by the Department of Defence Production, BEL has set up similar Coastal Surveillance Radar Systems (CSRS) in some friendly foreign countries also. Thus, the indigenous capabilities developed for coastal security have not only contributed towards strengthening coastal security in India, but also expanded the defence industrial base and facilitated the implementation of the SAGAR vision.

The National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) network interconnecting 51 Indian Navy and Coast Guard stations along the coast has been established.

Feed from the Coastal Surveillance Network (CSN), National Automatic Identification System (NAIS) chain, Long Range Identification and Tracking System (LRIT) system, Space-based AIS (S-AIS), Merchant Shipping Information System (MSIS), World Registry of Shipping (WRS) and Vessel and Air Traffic Management System (VATMS) are fused at the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram.

In order to implement a mechanism for having comprehensive maritime domain awareness (MDA) available over a network, the Indian Navy is pursuing the National Maritime Domain Awareness Project (NMDA).

The project envisages bringing together all maritime surveillance sensors and databases, such as those of fisheries and ports, under a single umbrella. The NC3I network will provide the backbone for the entire project with Indian Navy's information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), which is being planned to be developed into the Nation Maritime Domain Awareness Centre.

The MDA project has been approved by the Defence Minister and is under active consideration of the government.

Awareness drives, to sensitise the fishing and coastal community about threats from the sea, are conducted regularly by the Indian Navy in conjunction with the Coast Guard and state agencies. These have borne fruit and regular inputs related to maritime security are being received from the populace and fishing community.

The Navy has also been conducting training for BSF, CISF marine wing and state Marine Police personnel in specialised areas of sea-faring such as seamanship, navigation and boat-handling.

Assistance has also been rendered for conceptualisation, site survey, devising of training curriculum and setting up of National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) at Dwarka, Gujarat.

Coastal Mapping Coastal mapping has also been undertaken by the states towards improving awareness about the coastal areas.

ISRO in collaboration with the West Bengal state police has also developed a coastal information system with the dual aims of creating a digital database, and creating a framework for the visualisation and analysis of coastal geospatial data.

Such customised systems and other innovative coastal security and fisheries management initiatives are being progressed by other coastal states also, with an aim to enhance maritime domain awareness and also to better manage the fishermen community for their safety and security at sea.

Considering the large number of fishing vessels, the absence of a tracking system complicates the identification problem for security agencies.

Accordingly, one of the areas of focus has been the development of a suitable system for tracking of smaller vessels, which are not mandated to be fitted with the automatic identification system.

Satellite-based Transponder Systems After successful proof-of-concept trials by the Indian Navy and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of a satellite-based tracking system using GSAT-6 satellite, and subsequent successful field trials, close to 5,000 mechanised boats in Tamil Nadu are been progressively fitted with the indigenously developed satellite-based transponder systems.

This marks the culmination of a long process of development of an indigenous solution to address the gaps in domain awareness.

"The Centre and the coastal state governments are also examining implementation of similar, commercially available systems," said the officer.

Considering the fact that India has close to three lakh fishing boats of various types, there is a need to implement the tracking systems on a pan-Indian basis on a fast-track basis.

Other measures taken by various stakeholders towards greater monitoring, control, regulation and enhancing the safety of the fishing activity include uniform registration of boats and licensing for fishing using the ReALCraft portal developed by the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DADF); issuance of biometric identity cards to the fishermen, abd National Population Register (NPR) cards to coastal communities; and regulation of fishing traffic at the fishing harbours in ports.

(Sumit Kumar Singh can be reached at sumit.k@ians)
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Had the Supreme Court not intervened, the perpetrators of Lakhmipur Kheri violence would not have even been arrested, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said during the special single-day Assembly session on Friday.

"The farmers of the country had to face such difficult times at the hands of their own elected government after the latter passed the three farm laws without their consent. Those in power used every measure to suppress the protesting farmers. They hurled abuses at them, called them anti-national, Khalistani, and agenst of Pakistan and China.

"They did not even spare our farmers' lives, and an SUV even ran over the protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. If not for the Supreme Court, the perpetrators of the heinous crime would not have arrested till now," Kejriwal said on the floor of the House.

"I still do not understand what is the reason behind the Centre shielding those who crushed the farmers under their car," he added.

Congratulating the farmers and referring to the 1907 Punjab unrest, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, "This is probably the longest struggle against injustice that has took place in the history of humanity. Before 2020, Indian farmers had led a similar struggle against the then British government. It continued for eight months, while the present protest against one's own government has surpassed even that duration and is continued for 12 months now. I want to congratulate the farmers for peacefully winning this battle. It is a victory of democracy." He further congratulated the farmers of Punjab for leading the protest, and the women for standing alongside the men in all circumstances.

Drawing parallel to the 2011 anti-corruption movement that paved way for his entry into politics, Kejriwal said, "When we received information that farmers from Punjab and Haryana are marching towards Delhi, the Centre wanted us to turn the stadia into jails, but we did not listen to them as we knew that if the protest was allowed inside the stadis, it will die down. Delhi government did its best to help the farmers in every possible way, be it in terms of arrangements or supporting them." Taking a dig at BJP, Kejriwal said, "Since the day the BJP came to power, it has tried to stifle everyone. Even their party members agree with us on this. They too are pained by all this. However, they have been ordered from above that the level of post they will be assigned will depend on how louder they can shout." "BJP is a such a shameless party that when the Centre introduced the three farm laws in the Parliament, it called it a 'masterstroke'. And when they announced to repeal them, even then they hailed the move as 'masterstroke'," he added.
Panaji, Nov 26 : Police in Goa on Friday arrested one Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Chennai, for driving car at the popular Morjim beach in North Goa on Thursday.

The arrest was made a day after a video of the accused person driving a rented car -- GA-03-W-4387 -- on the beach went viral.

The Morjim beach is also home to a nesting site of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.

"We have filed a First Information Report under sections 279, 336 of the Indian Penal Code and the accused was placed under arrest on Friday," a police officer said.

The rented car has also been seized by the police.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Assemblies, rallies, marches, and chakka jams, etc across various states were held to mark the one-year completion of the farmers' agitation that prompted the government to withdraw the three contentious farm bills.

Along with the nationwide protests held in solidarity with the trade unions, not only organisations of students and youth, women, civil society, and other unions came together in the support of the farmers, but numerous international organisations lent their support and solidarity to the movement by holding events outside India too, a release from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said.

SKM is the consortium of 40-odd farmers' organisations that spearheaded the farmers' agitation since last one year when the Parliament had passed those three laws vehemently opposed by the farmers.

"On November 26, 2021 our struggle completes one year. This day marks 12 long months of the farmers' struggle, with numerous victories, which seemed unlikely, and even impossible, but were achieved with a will and determination to continue to fight for the unfulfilled demands of the farmers. The farm movement stands as a testimony to the will of the common people to fight against an unrelenting government, and for a long time, will be remembered as an example of peaceful satyagraha inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian freedom movement," the statement said.

"The day was marked with programmes at the Delhi morchas, state capitals and the district headquarters. Various trade unions, student and youth organisations, women's organisations, civil society organisations, and other unions came together in support of the nation's annadatas," it said, adding, "Large assemblies were held at Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur morchas, which were attended by SKM leaders." Lakhs of farmers came together in support of the farm movement at the programs held in various states such as Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Telangana, Odisha among other states.

Numerous international organisations lent their support and solidarity to the movement, it said. "India's farmers have inspired the world with their resilience. They have shown us what a united struggle of the working class and the peasantry can achieve even in the face of all adversities. Over the last year, this protest has stitched alliances with workers unions and other social movements and issued inspiring messages of solidarity, communal harmony, and unity among rural societies," said the letter of support by the international farmers' organization La Via Campesina.

The farm movement was also endorsed by over two dozen international organisations.

The farmers celebrated their victory in the form of the Prime Minister's announcement for the repeal of the three anti-farmer laws, while raising the still-pending demands of the farm movement.

The SKM, in its letter to the Prime Minister on November 21, had raised six demands, namely, legal guarantee of MSP for all produce based on C2+50 per cent formula; withdrawal of draft Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020/2021; removal of the penal provisions on farmers in the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act 2021; withdrawal of false cases against the farmers over the course of the movement' dismissal and arrest of Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni, and compensation and rehabilitation to the families of the martyrs of the farm movement and allocation of land to build a memorial in their memory at Singhu morcha, the release said.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : The first European case of the new ultra-infectious and vaccine-resistant Botswana variant has been confirmed in Belgium, with experts in the UK warning that it could be there already, the Daily Mail reported.

Passengers flying to the Netherlands from South Africa were barred from getting off the plane on Friday as the continent tightened its borders in an attempt to shut out the strain, which scientists have described as the 'worst variant ever'.

Yet, British arrivals from the variant's epicentre, Johannesburg, were left to mingle with hundreds of other passengers as they flew into Heathrow on the last flights out of Africa before the red list was re-imposed at midday. Passengers revealed they were not tested or questioned about their travel history, the report said.

In a sombre statement to MPs in the House of Commons on Friday morning, the UK Health Secretary said the new B.1.1.529 strain -- which has been spotted in Europe -- posed a 'substantial risk to public health' and described its ultra-transmissibility and vaccine-dodging abilities as of 'huge international concern'.

Adam Finn, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), had earlier raised the prospect of lockdown curbs being reintroduced, warning that people must be braced for a 'change in restrictions' if the variant spreads to the UK, the report added.

Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor to the UK's Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), warned that it is 'possible' that the strain has already entered Britain.

She said "people are arriving every day" to the UK from Belgium, South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel, where the variant has been officially detected.

Around 10,000 people have arrived from South Africa alone in the last two weeks since the strain was first detected, the report added.
New Delhi, Nov 26 : Protests are being staged at Amazon buildings in the UK, the US and Europe on Black Friday, the BBC reported.

The shopping sales day is among Amazon's busiest all year. An international coalition of unions, equality and environmental groups called 'Make Amazon Pay' is staging a day of action, the report said.

The movement is demanding Amazon to make changes to its business, including improved pay, an end to employee surveillance, and union engagement.

In an unrelated separate protest, the 'Extinction Rebellion' environmental group has blocked the entrances to Amazon distribution centres in the UK, the report added.

The Make Amazon Pay coalition is not affiliated to the Extinction Rebellion group, but also has environmental groups such as Greenpeace among its members.

"Amazon takes too much and gives back too little," it claims -- backed by trade unions, grassroots campaigns and non-profit-making organisations in individual countries.

Owen Espley from the 'War on Want' campaign group, said: "Amazon is abusing its dominance across online retail, cloud services, and logistics, to create unfair competition that is driving down standards for everyone. Amazon workers face unsafe conditions, constant surveillance and are treated like robots. It's time for Amazon to pay fair wages, fair taxes, and for its impact on the planet." The GMB union also released figures on Friday that it said showed ambulance callouts to Amazon warehouses increased by nearly 50 per cent in the run-up to Black Friday -- something it blames on staff rushing to hit "crushing targets", the report added.

It filed 'Freedom of Information' requests with four ambulance trusts near 'major Amazon sites'. It said the data shows that over five years, November had the most ambulance visits.

Amazon said such claims were "using incomplete information that's without context and designed to intentionally mislead".

"We know we're not perfect and are continuing to get better every day, but the fact is that Amazon has 40% fewer injuries on average compared to other transportation and warehousing businesses in the UK," a spokesperson said.

It claimed the "vast majority" of ambulance visits to its buildings were for pre-existing conditions.

Mick Rix from the GMB Union said: "This company is a pandemic profiteer that can afford to do better. It's time for Amazon to sit down with its workers' union GMB and make Amazon a great, safe place to work," as per the report.
Jaipur, Nov 26 : The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Manoj Mukund Naravane, on Friday concluded his two-day visit to an exercise location in Jaisalmer.

During his visit, the Army chief reviewed Exercise Dakshin Shakti, which was conducted by the Southern Command of Indian Army with an aim to ensure integrated application of forces in multi-domain operations and uphold the nation's military aims over the entire spectrum of conflict.

During the past one week, units and formations of the Indian Army practiced tactical and operational manoeuvres involving its infantry, mechanised formations and airborne troops in a fluid battlefield environment, operationalising future technologies.

This was effected by exploiting versatile and indigenous airborne platforms such as Advanced Light Helicopter (Weapon System Integrated), Swarm Drones and enmeshing Artificial Intelligence to provide a cohesive operational and intelligence picture amalgamated within the Intelligence, Surveillance and Recce (ISR) architecture.

A formidable display of the same, including Special Heliborne Operations, Swarm Drones and ALH Manoeuvres and coordinated action by ground troops were also practiced.

The Army chief commended the Southern Command for fielding and exploiting the capabilities of indigenous equipment inducted as part of the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.

He also emphasised the need to constantly evolve tactics, techniques and procedures to fight 'future wars', as well as capability enhancement in manned and unmanned systems.

The COAS complimented all the participants for the high state of readiness and operational preparedness and exhorted them to continue their vigil for the security of the nation.
Kolkata, Nov 26 : The West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Friday moved the division bench of Calcutta High Court challenging the single bench order to withhold the salaries of 542 Group D employees, who were allegedly recruited after the cancellation of the concerned panel.

The matter is likely to be heard on Monday.

The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had asked the School Service Commission to withhold the salaries of 542 employees, who were allegedly recruited after the cancellation of the panel. Gangopadhyay was hearing a petition regarding alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group D employees in the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE).

The commission said that the court didn't even allow it to file an affidavit in the matter, which prompted it to move the division bench. The commission had pleaded for hearing on Friday, but the division bench said that the hearing of this case will be taken up on Monday.

Earlier, the single bench of Gangopadhyay had ordered for a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities, following which the state government, the commission and the WBBSE moved the division bench against the order. The division bench stayed the inquiry till the completion of the hearing. That hearing is also scheduled on Monday.

In 2016, the state had recommended the recruitment of about 13,000 fourth class staff in different schools of the state, and accordingly the WBSSC conducted examinations and interviews periodically and a panel was formed.

The term of that panel ended in 2019. There was widespread allegation that the commission made lots of irregular recruitments - not less than 500 - even after the expiry of the panel. There were allegations that recruitments were made from the regional office of the commission.

A case was filed in the high court against the appointments of 25 of them, and it came up for hearing in the single bench of Justice Gangopadhyay on Tuesday.

Initially, the judge thought that there was confusion in the recommendation of those appointments.

"Enough is enough," he had told the commission.

"This means that the commission has no control over the regional office. I do not want another scandal," Gangopadhyay had said.
Noida, Nov 26 : Two miscreants opened fire at a police officer in Greater Noida on Friday afternoon.

The policeman suffered injuries below his knee and was admitted to the Yatharth Hospital in Greater Noida, where his condition is stated to be stable.

The incident occurred when Ankur Chaudhary, posted as the in-charge of Bilaspur police station in Greater Noida, was out on routine inspection in his area.

When the police team was patrolling the area, they spotted two bike-borne criminals and signalled them to stop, but the miscreants did not pay heed to their calls.

As they tried to flee, the police team began chasing them. "Shortly after the chase began, the miscreants opened fire, wounding the said policeman below the knee," a police officer said.

"He is out of danger now," he added.

The police have initiated a combing operation in the area to nab the miscreants.
Guwahati/Aizawl/New Delhi, Nov 26 : The Chief Ministers of Assam and Mizoram met in New Delhi on Friday in presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the ways and means to resolve their border issues amicably.

A top Assam government official in Guwahati said that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Mizoram counterpart Zoramthanga, after the discussion in presence of Shah, decided that both the states would constitute committees for resolving the border disputes through discussions.

According to the official, the meeting also decided that the two Chief Ministers would also hold talks from time to time to take forward the efforts to a logical conclusion and a lasting solution of the long-pending border disputes along their 164.6 km borders.

Thanking the Home Minister, Sarma tweeted: "Heartening to share that, I along with HCM Mizoram Sri Zoramthanga met Hon HM Sri Amit Shah this evening in New Delhi. We reaffirmed our resolve to maintain peace and tranquility at our borders." Before Friday's meeting, the two Chief Ministers during a dinner meeting in New Delhi's Assam Bhavan on Thursday also discussed various bilateral issues.

The inter-state border is shared by three districts of southern Assam -- Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj and three districts of northern Mizoram -- Kolasib, Mamit and Aizawl.

After the July 26 violent clash, several incidents including few bomb explosions took place in the trouble-torn bordering areas. After the July 26 violence, the central forces have been manning the bordering areas of the two states and the security forces of Assam and Mizoram are deployed deep inside their territories. The worst-ever violence along the Assam-Mizoram border on July 26 left six Assam Police personnel dead and nearly 100 civilians and security personnel of the two neighbouring states injured.

The trouble between the states is due to conflicting interpretations of their territorial position. While Mizoram says the boundary line is the one laid down in the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1875, Assam backs the 1933 demarcation.
Bengaluru, Nov 26 : Karnataka police have busted a racket allegedly run by Chinese nationals, who gave loans at exorbitant rates and harassed and humiliated the customers for 'violation' of laws, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil, said on Friday.

The investigation revealed that these Chinese nationals opened bank accounts in the name of Indian nationals, carried out fraudulent transactions and transferred crores of rupees from these accounts to China.

The arrested persons have been identified as Kamaraj More (25), an HR executive, and Darshan Chouhan (21), a team lead. A hunt is on to nab the Chinese nationals, who ran the racket in the name of Licorise Technology Pvt Ltd, located at Marathahalli in Bengaluru.

According to the police, the financial firm allegedly run by the Chinese nationals gave loans to the public and later harassed them by charging exorbitant processing fees and interests.

The accused allegedly insulted the borrowers by sharing their loan details with their friends.

The office was raided on Wednesday, and further investigations revealed that Chinese nationals were running the firm, which had developed money lending mobile applications such as 'Cash Master' and 'Krazy Rupees'.

The firm had entered into an agreement with non-banking finance companies and was lending money to people through the apps.

They charged an exorbitant processing fee and once the loan was disbursed, the staff started making phone and internet calls to the borrowers, pestering them to pay the interest on a weekly basis at exorbitant rates.

The Chinese nationals had also collected documents such as Aadhaar and PAN cards from the staff and had registered 5-6 companies in their names.

As many as 52 companies were registered and accounts were opened in private banks. The interest paid by the borrowers was credited to these accounts. As per the preliminary investigation, crores of rupees have been sent to China through online transfers from these accounts, the police added.

To draw investments to the bogus companies, the accused had allegedly targeted north Indians and had lured them with higher returns.

"Even these investments were transferred to their bank accounts. While two persons have been arrested and 83 computers seized, efforts are on to nab the absconding Chinese nationals," the police said.

A case has been registered at the Marathahalli police station under the relevant sections of the law.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 26 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday said that it is his dream that nobody from the state should be forced to go outside for better medical treatment.

Addressing the platinum jubilee celebration of Sriram Chandra Bhanj (SCB) Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, through video conferencing, the Chief Minister said: "We shall provide the best in SCB. For 75 years, the SCB has supported us -- now it is our turn to give it back." He said that the number of lives saved by this institution and its alumni is unmatched. The service rendered to humanity by SCB is unparalleled and particularly to the people of Odisha, he said.

"Hence it is my dream to see SCB transforming into an AIIMS Plus institution -- to have cutting edge technology in medical services - to provide the best that modern medical science can provide," said the Chief Minister, adding, the people of Odisha deserve this.

Patnaik said Odisha is known today for many glorious achievements. But, there was a time when Odisha was not so well known. Even in those times - a beacon of excellence - the hospital stood out - known for its professionalism for quality and affordable health care both for the rich and the poor, for the commitment of the doctors.

He further said that the alumni of SCB have been the ambassadors of Odisha in every corner of the world - from Manhattan to Tokyo -- Odia doctors from SCB have carried the ethos of selfless service across the country and the world.

Speaking about the recently launched Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojna, he said that it provides health assurance to 96 lakh families across the state.

"Setting up eight new government medical colleges, our response to the Covid challenge... show my government's firm commitment to transform the health care in Odisha," he said.

Stating the SCB shall play a key role in this transformation, he proclaimed that it shall take its place as one of the top institutions of the country in medical care and health education.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 26 : A man in Thiruvanthapuram was arrested for allegedly attacking his wife and children, after she backed out of donating her kidney to help him settle his debts, police said on Friday.

The incident was reported from Vizhinjam, near the famed Kovalam beach in the state capital city, when Sajan suddenly turned angry after his wife's change of mind.

Sajan was having a debt of Rs 4 lakh and to clear the debts, it was agreed that his wife will donate one of her kidney to a resident in Malappuram district for which she would be given Rs 9 lakh.

In Kerala, there are agents who roam around searching for a donor and depending on the need, kidneys are sold to those who require it urgently. And once the deal is done, the donor then has to undergo a series of tests and Sajan's wife had undergone them.

But her subsequent change of mind left Sajan fuming and he turned violent.

Unwilling to stand it, she approached the police and a case was registered against Sajan and he was later arrested.
New Delhi , 27 Nov : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has said that "it is not possible" to make a law on MSP (Minimum Support Prices).

Talking to the media after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday, the Haryana Chief Minister, citing the opinion of experts, said that it is "not possible to make a law on MSP as doing so will put pressure on the government to buy all the crops, which is not possible".

The remark is being considered as a "major statement" as despite the government's announcement of repealing the three agricultural laws, the strike and agitation of farmers' organisations is still going on.

Farmers' organisations are demanding the Union government to make a law on MSP.

Manohar Lal said that the Prime Minister was worried that the farmers need to go back. He said that the announcement to repeal the laws has "sent a good message" and farmers will "definitely return to their homes" after the law is withdrawn during the winter session of the Parliament.

The Haryana Chief Minister said that many other issues including pollution, stubble burning, cleanliness, 'Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao' were discussed with the Prime Minister. During the meeting, the Manohar Lal also extended an invitation to the Prime Minister for the Gita Mahotsav and also urged him to lay the foundation stone for the Orbiter Rail Corridor.

Reacting to the opposition's allegations regarding an alleged scam in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC), the Chief Minister said that there is "no need to shot in the dark, if the opposition has any solid information, then give it to us, we will bring it under investigation".
Amman, Nov 27 : Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets in downtown Amman, protesting the recent signing of declaration of intent for an energy-water project with the UAE and Israel.

The protesters called on the government to repeal the cooperation deal as well as the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, urging the government to seek other water supply sources, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the same day, similar demonstrations were witnessed in several other Jordanian cities, where protesters said the cooperation would harm the kingdom's sovereignty.

Jordan's Ministry of Water and Irrigation revealed on Tuesday (November 23) the declaration of intent, noting that it requires negotiating the feasibility of the establishment of a renewable energy project in Jordan to be implemented by a UAE company, in addition to a water desalination project to supply Jordan with 200 million cubic meters of water from the Mediterranean.
Throughout the early years of the emergence of the Temecula Valley wine Country, Joe was the leader and mentor to so many of us, said Phil Baily, owner and winemaker of Baily Winery, and President of the TVWA Board of Directors.

Joe was not only the founder and original winemaker of Hart Winery, the oldest continuously-owned-and-operated winery in Temecula Valley, he also paved the way for a movement toward the production of quality wine in the region, serving as a mentor for those who would follow in his footsteps in Temecula and beyond. Joe was 89 years old.

Joe and his wife Nancy fell in love with Temecula Valley in the 1970s, not long after the first commercial vineyard was planted in the region. Realizing the Mediterranean climate and soils of Temecula Valley were ideal for growing premium wine grapes, the couple, along with their three sons, purchased some land, planted grapes, and finally opened Hart Winery in 1980. Today, the award-winning winery produces about 4000 cases of wine at the hands of Joes sons Jim and Mike, who have preserved their fathers uncompromising commitment to small-production, hands-on quality winemaking.

He was an inspiration from the day we first met in July of 1985, said longtime friend Jon McPherson, who is the winemaker at South Coast Winery and Carter Estate Winery in Temecula Valley. His approach to wine and winemaking was classical, clean, and low intervention. He was someone who understood the terroir of Temecula and how to coax those flavors from the grapes into the wine.

A native Southern Californian, Joe majored in Political Science and International Relations at San Diego State University. He was drafted into the Army not long after graduation and fell in love with wine  despite hailing from a non-drinking family  while stationed in Germany and traveling throughout Europe. He later obtained his teaching credential and spent years as a junior high school social studies teacher  a profession he claims he likely would have continued had it not been for his love of wine. He was also a research technician for Scripps Institute of Oceanography, working on research ships all over the Pacific.

My dad was so much more than a winemaker, said Jim. He was a hiker, a backpacker, a fly fisherman, a lover of wild places He was a pilot  he used to fly his single-engine Cessna and land on the beaches of Baja to camp. He owned a restored Alfa Romeo Guilietta Spider Veloce because he loved fast cars. He was always reading, always learning; he was a lifelong proud liberal Democrat, and a former teacher whose students loved and always remembered him.

Jim tells a touching story of his fathers teaching days to show just how loved he was.

A former student named Richard had polio and walked with a pronounced limp. The kids all teased him and picked on him. My dad asked Richard to leave the classroom one day. He then talked to all the kids about picking on Richard, and asked how it would make them feel. I guess it helped. Fifty years later, Richard saw my dad and stopped to tell him how much my dad had helped him  that hed changed his life.

Joe was one of our founding members and a genuine Temecula Valley Wine Country pioneer, said Krista Chaich, Executive Director of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association (TVWA), on the board of which Joe served for many years. He always stayed true to his vision of quality winemaking and passed this legacy on to his sons. He championed our wine country and was very generous with his support of his fellow winemakers. Joe was a wonderful man and will be missed tremendously.

Countless winemakers in Temecula Valley credit much of their winemaking education, not to mention the success of the region, which in 2019 was named one of the top 10 wine travel destinations in the world by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, to Joe. Throughout the early years of the emergence of the Temecula Valley wine Country, Joe was the leader and mentor to so many of us, said Phil Baily, owner and winemaker of Baily Winery, and President of the TVWA Board of Directors. Through his judging at countless wine competitions, he gained the respect of winemakers throughout the State. Quite frankly, he was the face of Temecula for over 30 years. We will miss him dearly.

He was a man of the vine, continued Jon. I always liked to have Joe taste my wines as we never pulled punches with one another on our critiques. We pushed one another to be better. Joe was thoughtful and philosophical to the end. I shared so many vintages with him I would have liked to have shared one more. What a delightful human. I will miss you, Giuseppe Corazon See you on the trailhead to Italy Pass.

ABOUT TEMECULA VALLEY WINE COUNTRY

Located within a 60-minute drive from San Diego, Orange County, and Palm Springs, and within 90 minutes of Los Angeles, Temecula Valley is widely recognized as Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country. The popular wine destination is southern Californias largest wine producing region by volume.

The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association (TVWA) is a 501 (c) 6 nonprofit regional organization. The TVWA (TemeculaWines.org) is dedicated to promoting the making and growing of quality wine and wine grapes in the Temecula Valley A.V.A. (American Viticulture Area).

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Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the lawsuit against Specialty Minerals Inc., 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 Specialty Minerals Inc. 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 Specialty Minerals Inc. is currently pending in the San Bernardino County Superior Court, Case No. CIVSB2127693. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

The complaint alleges Specialty Minerals Inc. failed to pay employees for all the time they were under Defendant's control. This, allegedly, includes the time Plaintiff and other Aggrieved Employees had to submit to mandatory temperature checks and symptom questionnaires for COVID-19 screening prior to clocking in for the day. To the extent that the time worked off the clock did not qualify for overtime premium payment, Defendant allegedly failed to pay minimum wages for the time worked off-the-clock.

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 Specialty Minerals Inc., 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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Samuel Mann headshot Arlene Feinblatt, a New York State Psychologist who worked with Dr. John E. Sarno, professor, author and innovative leader in the field of Mind-body Medicine, commented: Dr. Samuel Mann is one of the few MDs who has always administered care with the total human being in mind.

Dr. Samuel Mann, a physician, researcher and prominent hypertension specialist from New York Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell Medical College announces the planned release of his newest book Hidden Within Us. A Radical New Understanding of the Mind-Body Connection". The book highlights a different understanding of the link between our emotions and our physical health and how this view can lead to new treatment solutions.

Dr. Manns book aims to convey to patients, physicians and psychologists the powerful, yet rarely considered link between emotions that are hidden from our awareness, often related to a history of trauma, abuse or overwhelming stress, and many inadequately explained chronic medical conditions such as hypertension, chronic fatigue syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, migraine, autoimmune diseases, and possibly many others.

In his new book Dr. Mann lays out compelling evidence and case histories that vividly convey to readers how the repression of potentially overwhelming emotions is an almost completely overlooked key component of both our emotional resilience as well as the mind/body connection. More importantly, he highlights how this understanding can empower readers to seek healing pathways or pharmacologic approaches that would have not been considered.

Dr. Mann comments: My findings demonstrate the long-lasting effects on our physical health of emotions that are hidden from our awareness, and offer an explanation for many patients who are suffering from commonly encountered medical conditions whose cause has remained an enigma. I am confident that many readers will see themselves in the book and that the book will trigger insights that can either lead to rapid improvement or to more effective choices in their treatment. It will offer a fascinating read, and open the door to readers, physicians and psychologists to a radically different understanding of the mind-body connection, and its important treatment implications.

Arlene Feinblatt, a New York State Psychologist who worked with Dr. John E. Sarno, professor, author and innovative leader in the field of Mind-body Medicine, commented: Dr. Samuel Mann is one of the few MDs who has always administered care with the total human being in mind. He is acutely aware of the psychological factors affecting medical conditions and the interactions of mind and body on the health of the individual. This book reflects his expert medical perspective about the mind/body connection and its ramifications for health and well being. It is a joy to read particularly with the case histories included which clarify his unique insights.

The book will be available on Amazon in February 2022. To pre-order and sign up for Dr Samuel Manns upcoming talk, visit https://www.drsamuelmann.com. Trends, insights and scientific studies are showcased on his social media channels.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuelmannmd/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samuelmannmd/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-j-mann-m-d-409a2532/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamuelMannMD

ABOUT DR. SAMUEL MANN

Dr. Mann is a physician, researcher, and author specializing in the management of hypertension. He is a Professor of Clinical Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital / Weill Cornell Medical College. He is a leading authority on the medical management of hypertension and can provide a new understanding of the mind/body connection that is relevant to hypertension and many other common, inadequately explained chronic medical conditions. He has released two pioneering, well-reviewed books on these topics: Healing Hypertension. A Revolutionary New Approach (Wiley, 1999) and Hypertension and You: Old Drugs, New Drugs, and the Right Drugs for your High Blood Pressure, which can be found on Amazon.
Increasing online exposure is critical for brands that want to expand their reach and attract more customers. So many companies offer fantastic products or services but overlook their advertising strategy, which is arguably the most important part.

Online advertising is here to stay, as the internet has proved to be a conducive medium for digitally marketing products and services to consumers. Without enough online exposure, however, businesses will have a tougher time trying to sell their products or services. Jamin Mootz, the CEO of Houston digital marketing firm Actual SEO Media, Inc., provides tips for businesses trying to grow their online exposure and explains why visibility is critical for attracting customers on the internet.



Why Catering to Online Consumers is Better for Business

Cultivating a stronger online presence should be a major goal for all modern brands. In the era of convenience and instant gratification, the internet serves as the perfect way for consumers to do all their shopping without even leaving their homes. With so many people onlinewhether it's to buy things, learn, or be entertainedcompanies that want to flourish must adapt their marketing strategies for an increasingly digital audience.

How Brands Can Increase their Exposure Online

Unlike traditional marketing methods like newspaper ads, billboards, and TV commercials, online marketing allows brands to target consumers more accurately and on a wider scale. By honing their digital marketing approaches, businesses can learn more about their audiences and grow their customer bases exponentially. Below are a few ways that companies can grow their online exposure and attract more attention.

1. Prioritize SEO

Search Engine Optimization should be a priority for all businesses with an online presence. Ranking higher in Google's search results increases visibility to consumers, and brands can implement various strategies to make their websites more attractive to Google's algorithm. Common SEO strategies include pay-per-click marketing, writing engaging content like blogs or articles, and researching what keywords consumers are typing into Google.

2. Know the Audience

Brands should always have a clear idea of who they're marketing to. Knowing about customers' demographics, habits, and interests can help companies fine-tune the way they market to those people. Furthermore, catering to a niche audience with more specific interests is more effective than trying to sell products to a broad range of consumers who have varying interests.

3. Utilize Analytic Data to Better Understand Customers

Brands who'd like to develop a clearer picture of their customer base can benefit from using analytics tools. Google Analytics is one such tool that can give companies greater insight into who is visiting their websites. Studying analytic data can provide more information about site visitors' demographic information, locations, interests, and behavior. In turn, brands can use this data to determine which aspects of their digital marketing strategies could be developed further in order to grow their online presence.

The internet has forced businesses to rethink how they attract their customers, but there are ways to adapt and even flourish amid ever-changing conditions. With some close observation and mindful, realistic strategies, brands can adapt to the needs of modern consumers and achieve remarkable growth online.

As a leading SEO company in Houston, Texas, Actual SEO Media, Inc. helps its clients maintain their brands and expand their online presence. Using Search Engine Optimization and other digital marketing techniques, Actual SEO Media, Inc. empowers its clients to maximize their scope of recognition on the internet. For more information, contact the company's office at (832) 834 - 0661, follow them on LinkedIn or Facebook, or email them at info@actualseomedia.com.
Customers looking for the recently announced New Range Rover SUV near San Antonio can pre-order it at their nearest Land Rover Boerne dealership.

Land Rover unveiled the New Range Rover globally last month. Touted as the most desirable Range Rover ever created, the new luxury SUV brings a futuristic design and an ultra-luxurious interior with cutting-edge technology. It will go on sale in early 2022. However, enthusiasts and buyers in San Antonio and nearby cities and towns who cannot wait to get their hands on the New Range Rover can pre-order it at the Land Rover Boerne dealership in Boerne, TX.

The exclusive Land Rover dealership in the region has started a pre-order page on its website to allow customers the opportunity to be the first to experience the New Range Rover. Interested customers can join the pre-order waitlist for the New Range Rover by visiting the pre-order page on the Land Rover Boerne dealership website.

The New Range Rover, also known as the 2022 Range Rover, is the most futuristic-looking Range Rover model. Featuring a reductive nature of design, the New Range Rover is free from any superfluous detail, resulting in a breathtaking modern design that is still unmistakable of the iconic Range Rover.

Like every other Range Rover, the New Range Rover comes in standard wheelbase and long-wheelbase variants, along with a new long wheelbase with a seven-seat body style. It also offers a plethora of bespoke customization options to let customers make their new Range Rover tailor-made to their liking.

The New Range Rover comes with innovative features like Power-Assisted Doors and 'hot stone' massage seats to offer a truly luxurious travel experience. The well-appointed interior is crafted out of the finest curated materials and the most intuitive technology. The updated Pivi Pro infotainment system features a newly designed interface and a curved 'floating glass' 13.1-inch touchscreen with haptic controls.

Under the hood, the New Range Rover lineup features Land Rover's most advanced powertrains yet, including a mild-hybrid (MHEV), a V8, and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) option.

The New Range Rover lineup consists of five trim levels: Range Rover SE, Range Rover HSE, Range Rover Autobiography, Range Rover First Edition, and the bespoke Range Rover SV.

Those interested in learning more about the New Range Rover lineup can visit the Land Rover Boerne dealership website at http://www.landroverboerne.com. Customers can also contact the dealership at 830-428-2241 or visit the dealership showroom in person.

The Land Rover Boerne dealership showroom is located at 32120 IH-10 West, Boerne, TX.
2022 Toyota Tacoma cruising through a mountain terrain

Customers looking for an affordable and powerful truck will be delighted with the arrival of the 2022 Toyota Tacoma at Roberts Toyota. The best-in-class mid-size pickup truck Tacoma has been running for sixteen years now. The 2022 Trail Edition adds certain important modifications that make it the perfect travel partner for Tacoma owners who want to get outside and discover.

Space and energy are two ways to increase truck bed adaptability. Gear may be stored securely in the bed whether in transportation or when the vehicle is not in use. The driver's side storage features insulation and hence can function as a cooler. A 120V power outlet is also included in the Trail edition's bed, providing additional power alternatives for whatever requirements the driver may have.

The drivers will also have access to some cutting-edge technology. An 8-inch touchscreen display, six speakers, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and front and rear USB ports are among the features.

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma comes standard with a number of driver-assist features. Star Safety System, Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 (TSS), a Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection, Road Sign Assist, Lane Departure Alert with Steering Assist are among the features available.

Interested residents of the area who wish to learn more about the 2022 Toyota Tacoma, now available at Roberts Toyota, can do so by visiting http://www.robertstoyota.com. Customers who have more questions can speak to someone from the dealership by calling on (931) 388-3006. Finally, those who would like to have a personal experience can drive down to 1027 Nashville Highway, Columbia, Tennessee from 8 a.m.  8 p.m. through Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.  6 p.m. on Saturday.
Our massive Black Friday promotional sale offers customers the best deal sitewide including Delta 8, Delta 10, THC-O, HHC, and hemp-derived Delta 9

Smilyn Wellness announces huge sitewide Black Friday sale. The top CBD and Delta 8 brand is offering 50 percent off sale with code BLACK50. Dont miss out on this super sale.

Our massive promotional sale offers customers the best deal sitewide including Delta 8, Delta 10, THC-O, HHC, and hemp-derived Delta 9, stated Brett Weiss, CEO and Co-Founder of Smilyn Wellness.

It has been a rough couple of years adjusting to a new way of living during the pandemic, but despite the struggles, our Smilyn customers stayed loyal. They never wavered in their support, and we just want to express our utmost gratitude with the biggest sale of the year, Weiss added.

Friday Blowout Sale 

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is one of the largest deal-shopping events of the year. Every major retailer offers big discounts  and Smilyn Wellness in no exception.

Today is the best opportunity to score BIG on the Smilyn Wellness collection of products. The Smilyn product line includes CBD tinctures, gummies, soft gels, roll-ons, salve, and CBD pet products. HHC disposable vapes pens join the lineup of crave-worthy Delta 8, THC-O, and Delta 10 disposable vapes  along with Delta 8 tinctures, gummies, shots, concentrates, chocolates, and pop rocks.

HHC Disposable Products 

Among the wave of hemp-derived cannabinoids including Delta 8, Delta 10, and THC-O  HHC is the new kid on the block  and the most powerful. HHC (Hexahydrocannabinol) disposable pens are made of HHC and terpenes. The rare and exotic new hemp-derived cannabinoid introduces euphoric feelings which can be hugely beneficial for many users.

Available flavors: Peach Crescendo, Super Glue, Slurricane, Candy Land, Mimosa, and Cherry Blossom.

Smilyn Wellness is a lifestyle brand  a lifestyle that promotes longevity for every person (and every pet). Shop now -- 50 percent discount with code BLACK50.

About Smilyn Wellness

Smilyn Wellness in California is a CBD-wellness brand simplifying the benefits of premium hemp extract. We exist to revolutionize. We exist not only to help individuals look and feel amazing -- but also smile throughout the adventures of life. Combining scientific data with health-based knowledge, Smilyn offers a portfolio of hemp-derived CBD and Delta 8 products that are trustworthy, tasty, and geared toward an active new-age lifestyle.

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SPS Jean-Baptiste Leos, marketing director for banking products at SPS declares: With our new GoGreen S-LAM range, we make sure card vendors can answer all market requirements while keeping the industrial advantages of SPS inductive coupling process.

Citizens worldwide are becoming more eco-conscious and are willing to align their purchase decisions with their values. This goes through a change of habits on many levels, including having a fresh look at the cards they want to see in their wallet. Everyone is getting increasingly concerned with ones ecological footprint, the pollution triggered by plastic waste and, more globally, by environmental issues. It is anticipated that by 2025, around 25% of dual interface card bodies will be manufactured with eco-friendly materials.

Supporting citizens in matching their behavior with their values, SPS is introducing GoGreen S-LAM, its series of new card materials, which reduce the dissemination of toxic components into the environment. Included into its global portfolio, SPS proposes a full set of components and options to support its customers in manufacturing the most suitable, qualified and certified, sustainable solutions. Made from recycled sources, these materials will be able to degrade without dispersing chlore-based harmful chemicals while, at the same time, allowing an easy integration with existing manufacturing tools and methods already in use by card vendors.

Thanks to these new recycled and chloride-free plastic materials proposed by SPS, card manufacturers will be able to expand their offer and adapt to the demand of issuers willing to propose multiple options to their cardholders. This way, card issuers can propose eco-friendly cards in addition to their existing offer that already includes standard cards and high-end cards such as metal cards and customized modules and S-Lam. This extensive offer opens options for the marketing teams of financial institutions as it is now evident that consumers are not only demanding ecological efforts from corporations but are also ready to accept higher prices for environmentally-friendly products and services.

SPS new GoGreen S-LAM portfolio of eco-friendly materials includes the following from strategic suppliers:



Recycled PVC GoGreen rPVC (Recycled PVC), which contains a minimum of 99% of recycled industrial plastic, leading to a carbon footprint reduction of about 48%. With GoGreen rPVC, the card manufacturing process remains similar to classical PVC,

Chloride free PETG (Glycol Polyethylene Terephthalate) and rPETG (Recycled PETG), which contain no chlore-based harmful chemicals, leading to a faster degradability and almost infinite recyclability. These materials bring a carbon footprint reduction of 10% for PETG and of 67% for rPETG. With GoGreen PETG and rPETG, the card manufacturing process remains unchanged compared to traditional cards.

Thanks to these new materials, card manufacturers that use the SPS inductive coupling manufacturing process are in the best position to answer to their customer requirements and propose them cards that will keep the same qualities of reliability, durability and cost-effectiveness as the ones made in legacy materials while being a lot more eco-friendly.

Jean-Baptiste Leos, marketing director for banking products at SPS declares: We are happy to be always more in line with society concerns and demands and, at the same time, to keep on delivering the best-in-class products to card manufacturers. With our new GoGreen S-LAM range, we make sure card vendors can answer all market requirements while keeping the industrial advantages of SPS inductive coupling process.

SPS new recycled and chloride-free materials allow the same series of SPS specific security features as other card materials. With these new materials, it is easy to manufacture metallic or non-metallic foil artworks, non-standard card formats, M2D (Mark on Module Design) and CAI (Customized Antenna Image) cards.

SPS new rPVC, PETG and rPETG products, part of the GoGreen S-LAM range, are already available for volume orders from SPS.

About SPS

With the SPS brand, IN Groupe opens its secure components technology to all card and document manufacturers. SPS is specialized in the design, manufacturing and sale of contactless solutions dedicated to ID cards, e-passport and dual interface banking cards. Headquartered in Rousset, France, with a subsidiary in Singapore, SPS employs 250 people. The company specializes in contactless and dual-interface products, with a recognized micro packaging expertise. SPS has filed over 120 patents supporting its exclusive technologies. More information at http://www.s-p-s.com

SPS is part of the IN Groupe.

A partner of the French government for close to 500 years, IN Groupe offers identity solutions and secure digital services, at the leading edge of technology and integrating electronics and biometrics.

From components to services and from documents to interoperable systems, IN Groupe is a global specialist in identity and secure digital services. The institution plays a daily role in facilitating everyone's life: helping states exercise their sovereignty, citizens protect their identity and businesses preserve their integrity.

Whatever the issue, IN Groupe, a company for digital sovereignty, contributes to asserting a fundamental right for everyone: the right to be you.

Based in Paris, the IN Groupe has two production centers and employs more than 1000 employees, of which over a third is dedicated to technology development.

Follow us on: http://www.ingroupe.com
transcosmos certifies as a 2021 Nagasaki City DANJYO IKIIKI KIGYO transcosmos considers that the BPO Center Nagasaki and BPO Center Nagasaki Chuo have been recognized with the award because both centers consider people as their assets, value them, and always ensure and maintain a great workplace for their people.

transcosmos inc. is proud to announce that its BPO Center Nagasaki and BPO Center Nagasaki Chuo, the two centers in Nagasaki city have been certified as a winner of the 2021 Nagasaki City DANJYO IKIIKI KIGYO Award  the Gender-Inclusive, Fulfilling Workplace Award  by Nagasaki city. With this award program, Nagasaki city certifies and awards companies that work on and deliver results in creating a great place to work for all, an initiative which the city is promoting, such as creating a gender-inclusive workplace where everyone can play an active role, promoting a work-life-balance, and implementing systems that are considerate of expectant mothers and new parents.

Under its corporate slogan, Global Digital Transformation Partner, transcosmos believes that it is people, its human assets that enable the company to continuously create added value that drives its business expansion. Under that belief, transcosmos aims to create a workplace where each and every one of its employees can all unleash their full potential and feel rewarded when contributing to its businesses. transcosmos considers that the BPO Center Nagasaki and BPO Center Nagasaki Chuo have been recognized with the award because both centers consider people as their assets, value them, and always ensure and maintain a great workplace for their people. transcosmos will continue to actively carry out initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion, thereby always providing a great place to work for its people.

"We have chosen transcosmos as one of the winners of the Nagasaki City DANJYO IKIIKI Award  the Gender-Inclusive, Fulfilling Workplace Award- for the company's efforts in creating a great workplace for all," Tomihisa Taue, the mayor of Nagasaki city said. "transcosmos has been making a significant contribution to our local economy in many ways including the opening of the BPO Center Nagasaki in 2016 followed by the BPO Center Nagasaki Chuo in 2020. The company has also been employing our local citizens here in Nagasaki, and we expect the award will further ensure securing talent. We wish your continued success as a model workplace where all of your employees actively fulfill their respective roles."



transcosmos Contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

(https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/company/sustainability/sdgs.html)

Guided by our fundamental management philosophy that client satisfaction is the true value of our company and that the growth of each of our employees creates the value that shapes our future, we at transcosmos strive to contribute to the achievement of SDGs through responsible corporate activities and businesses that hinge on people&technology.

transcosmos acknowledges the importance of analyzing and understanding the risks and opportunities inherent in the 17 SDGs and the management strategies related to each of these goals from the perspective of our sustainable growth. Toward this end, we have established the transcosmos SDGs Committee, which is specifically designed for aligning our business and management resources with our SDG initiatives, setting targets prioritizing social issues of particular significance, and confirming the progress on a regular basis. With the aim of raising awareness and permeating our SDG initiatives, the committee runs various SDG-driven activities both internally and externally including SDGs training courses for our employees (e-learning), internal workshop with the selected members from each function, and more.

*transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries.

*Other company names and product or service names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies.

About transcosmos inc.

transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 171 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce Services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services to consumers in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. Visit us here https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/
2022 Native American $1 Coin Reverse

The United States Mint (Mint) today officially announced the design for the 2022 Native American $1 Coin. The 2022 Native American $1 Coin will commemorate Ely S. Parker, a U.S. Army officer, engineer, and tribal diplomat, who served as military secretary to Ulysses S. Grant during the U.S. Civil War. When Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Virginia, on the morning of April 9, 1865, Parker rendered the formal surrender documents in his own hand.

Designed by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Designer Paul C. Balan and sculpted by United States Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna, the reverse (tails) design features Parker, depicted in Army uniform, with a quill pen and book, along with a likeness of his graceful signature, as symbols of his experience as an expert communicator. The inscriptions TONAWANDA SENECA and HA-SA-NO-AN-DA recognize his tribe and the name given to him at birth. Additional inscriptions include UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and $1.

The obverse (heads) of the 2022 Native American $1 Coin will continue to feature the central figure Sacagawea carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste, by sculptor Glenna Goodacre. Inscriptions are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST. The year, mint mark, and E PLURIBUS UNUM are incused on the edge of the coin.

Click here to view line art of the 2022 Native American $1 Coin design.

The Native American $1 Coin Program is authorized by Public Law 110-82 to recognize the important contributions made by Native American tribes and individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. The public law mandates a new reverse design with an image emblematic of one important Native American or Native American contribution each year.

About the United States Mint

Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nations sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:



Visit https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/native-american-dollar-coins to learn more about the Native American $1 Coin Program.

Visit http://www.usmint.gov/about for information about the United States Mint.

Visit and subscribe to the United States Mints YouTube channel to view videos about the United States Mint.

Visit catalog.usmint.gov/email-signup to subscribe to United States Mint electronic product notifications, news releases, and public statements.

Sign up for RSS Feeds from the United States Mint and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

United States Mint  Connecting America through Coins
Retailers have recognized that consumer convenience, efficient and consistent fulfilment, and their brand reach are the core key factors critical to e-commerce success. Optimizing the last mile experience is an opportunity for businesses to open new models to drive customer engagement and sales. A leading provider of automated e-commerce order pickup, return and order processing solutions in North America, Bell and Howells new BH QuickCollect Solutions are revolutionizing e-commerce fulfillment operations with robotic automation. The autonomous fulfilment solution has already been deployed in over 1,800 locations by grocery stores, retailers, and pharmacies looking to optimize e-commerce fulfillment with an automated remote pickup solution.

The way the autonomous store in a box offering from Bell and Howell works is this: first, shoppers place their orders; next, an associate loads those orders into the QuickCollect GO! POD; in the third and final step, shoppers pick up their orders by entering a unique code specific to their order into the QuickCollect GO! POD. This seamless transference allows for associates to load multiple orders in seconds, while the internal automation gives shoppers a way to retrieve their orders quickly and efficiently. The lack of associate engagement outside of the initial order loading frees up store employees for other tasks outside of fulfilment.

In addition to its last mile fulfilment capabilities servicing a variety of industries, the QuickCollect GO! POD also can act as an intelligence hub for partner pickups within local delivery geographies. The store in a box center has the option to provide multiple, customizable pickup-portal configurations, making it possible to expand capacity for high-volume simultaneous processing across multiple participating partners. By using patent-pending, next-generation automation, and intelligent software the robotic e-commerce order pickup solution eliminates the need for labor-intensive order touchpoints. Bell and Howells solution addresses growing retail and online ordering challenges around labor shortage and costs, inefficiencies along the shopper journey and pickup experience, as well as helps defray the high cost of last mile delivery. The QuickCollect GO! POD reduces complexity and cost for partner merchants, while allowing shoppers unprecedented convenience.

Alongside more retail-focused pickup options, Bell and Howard has also introduced a grocery-specific refrigerated food locker BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) solution. The QuickCollect GL is a smart grocery locker system that enables grocers to remotely configure column temperatures by degrees, from heated to frozen and anywhere in between. As e-commerce goes mainstream for more goods across the shopper journey, robotic and convenient solutions like the QuickCollect suite of autonomous pickup solutions will increasingly scale. BOPIS convenience will become more commonplace, enabling new business models including drive-up automated pickup at remote sites, as well as 24/7 automated pickup without added retail or grocer store hours or a need to increase staff headcount or hours.

+++

This article originally appeared in the PSFK report, Optimizing Last Mile CX.
In The Murders of Moises Ville: The Rise and Fall of the Jerusalem of South America (Restless, Feb.), journalist Sinay probes 22 murders of Jewish immigrants to Argentina living in the community of Moises Ville, allegedly committed by gauchos between 1889 and 1906.

Given the passage of time and the loss of so many records, were you able to identify any of the killers?

Only three by namegaucho Jose Maria Rios, who stabbed Gershom Gerchunoff to death in 1892, when Rios tried to kidnap Gerchunoffs daughter; another gaucho, Coria, a well-known bandit; and a policeman, Golpe Ramos, who in 1906 murdered Miriam Aliksenitzer, probably in the course of a rape. The history of the criminals is hiddenthe state and the press of that time werent interested in recording the names of these murderers, who were mostly illiterate, and who, therefore, didnt represent themselves through their own writings.

What sources were you able to tap?

I turned to history books, newspapers, and magazines of the time in Yiddish, Hebrew, and Spanish; official immigration records; economic reports; books and letters from the communitys pioneers; and stories that were passed down from generation to generation, which many times silenced the horror of what happened.

Was anti-Semitism a factor in the murders?

No, most of the crimes were robberies with murder. I think it was rather xenophobia. There were a lot of crimes in the rural areas, and there were a lot of immigrants from Europe. At that time, the Argentinian economy was being modernized, gauchos were being forced to become farm laborers without their former nomadic freedoms, which impacted their way of life, so, I think that fueled their anger against the immigrants.

Did your research find anything at odds with what your great-grandfather wrote about the murders in an article after WWII?

I would say that the most jarring thing in my great-grandfather Mijl Hacohen Sinays text is the monstrous description of some cases. An example: he wrote that Gerchunoffs body had been missing and that, when found, he already looked bitten and eaten by birds of prey or field animals; in such a way that only his bones were buried. But actually the corpse was never lost from sightGerchunoff was stabbed in front of many people. My hypothesis is that he exaggerated some facts, intentionally or not, because of imagery so present in the 1940s of the Jewish body emaciated, dead, crushed. Recounting those crimes was also a way of speaking about a present in which the immense crime of WWII cast its shadow over everything.
The future may be gray, but its incredibly bright, predicts Bradley Schurman in The Super Age (Harper Business, Jan. 2022), which examines the changing demographics of the global population. By 2050, one in six people worldwide will be over 65 years old, and the author, founder, and CEO of consulting firm the Super Age sees plenty of opportunity to serve them. He spoke with PW about the ways in which businesses and lawmakers can adapt to this societal shift and support a rapidly growing demographic.

What was the inspiration for this book?

When I was in college, my grandparents entered a long-term care retirement community outside of Pittsburgh. As I drove back and forth from D.C., I noticed that the population at the rest stops became progressively older, whiter, and poorer. I started seeing more and more people my grandparents age working there, and working hard jobsfood service, janitorial. I got interested in population change and demographic aging and thought about what it meant for us as a society.

What does this demographic shift look like?

Population aging is the convergence of two megatrends: declining birth rates and increased longevity. Historically, weve had a lot of children at the bottom, many of whom didnt survivebefore the Second Industrial Revolution, barely half of children made it to the age of 18and very few older people. Through improvements in medications, vaccinations, and food safety, and by moving children out of factories and into schools, many more children are surviving into adulthood and from there into old age. Population pyramids are now rectangular blocks. Extended longevity doesnt add years to the end of life; it bulks up the middle.

How can businesses adjust?

We cant treat this population as a monolith; they have incredible buying power, but within the picture theres also a lot of poverty. With that said, two-thirds of all new cars are purchased by people over the age of 50, and affluent boomers are focused on experiencethey want to live life to the fullest, and theyll be an essential component in travel when that comes back post-Covid. They have disposable income to spend, and they want to be considered part of the pack, if not ahead of the pack. Any medical device thats designed such that it feels or looks medical or supportive is typically pushed away; they like the gamification of connected devices around health, such as Pelotons and Applestheres a real gift to being able to measure your own EKG, insulin, and so on. Businesses have to get away from the focus on only the 1834 crowd, or theyre going to get passed over.

What can lawmakers do to prepare for this shift?

Theyll need to make some critical investments in infrastructure. Mobility is key, and boomers are now concentrated in rural communities and communities without good transportation networks. We need to consider how we build cities, and how we get around in them. We need a 5G network for automated cars to really work. We have train systems, but we dont yet know how to transport people to the station platform. We need both an improved physical infrastructure and a regulatory environment that embraces new technologies. Homes need to be built differently so that people can age at home. We need to rethink the social welfare system and promote older workers as a real resource.

Back to the main feature
When I sold my 15th novel, The Enlightenment Project, and my publicist asked for a list of people I could ask for blurbs, I faltered. I explained that my husband had been quite ill, and that I had been out of the loop for a whilethat anyone I asked would likely say, Lynn who?

My publicist persisted. Tell me who you know. I mentioned that Wendell Berry, the great poet and writer, had been my teacher and my mentor. Perfect, she said. Ask him.

So I did. I sent a typed letter, reminding Wendell rather shyly who I was. I addressed him as Dr. Berry, and apologized for the audacity of my request. Three days later I received a responsehandwritten on a sheet of yellow legal pad, in pencil. Wendell has been known to write on a feed sack, but I believe such surfaces are reserved for poetry.

I sat at my desk, dog at my feet, and read the letter, my hand shaking, just a little, as a slow smile of joy spread across my face. Wendell began by telling me that what I called audacity, he remembered as your good sense and a vivid spiritedness, that I saw in you when you were a student and remember very well. But I quit writing blurbs a long time ago, just because I didnt have the time to make honest work of it. I am not sorry I quit, but Im sorry to say no to you.

He said that he hoped I was all right, and to please stop calling him Dr. Berry, as he was my old friend, Wendell. He sent me a signed copy of his book of essays, Why I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer, and I read it right there at my desk, happy just to hear his voice in his work, remembering when I had stormed the University of Kentucky, a 16-year-old freshman, seeking out every writing class offered.

I landed in Wendells office to get the requisite permission to take his writing class, and found him sitting sideways at his desk, looking out the window. I am five feet tall. With him sitting down, we were pretty much on a level.

He was concerned with all the writing classes I was taking. He advised me to wait. If I did not turn in good work, I would flunk his class, no matter how hard I tried. It was the results that counted.

Writing is what I do, I told him. He grinned and signed my card. We could write about anything we wanted, he said, so long as we wrote it well. I wrote fantasy, supernatural stories; I wrote about my great-grandmother, who gave me her name. He taught me how to write specifically, with clarity, how to structure the flow of a scene. When stream of consciousness was all the rage, and I put it into a scene, Wendell told me it was nonsense and I turned my back on literary fads forever. I learned that work that came easily might garner high praise, while work I labored over might not. This taught me the folly of writing with onerous pretension, and the wisdom of writing honestly and straight from the heart.

Once graduated and published, I would see Wendell at events for Kentucky authors. I read from Satans Lambs, my novel about a fearless female private investigator in the South who takes on a satanic cult. He read poetry. I was welcomed into the pack of old-school literary writers, not allowed to hover shyly around the edges.

I wrote Wendell a letter of thanks for the signed book and his swift response, on my own favorite lined note paper, in the bold purple ink of my favorite fountain pen. I thanked him for the essays, told him that I still wrote my novels by hand through a sort of instinct, and appreciated that his essay on art and the body told me why. I told him that I was a widow now, and that my beloved was somehow gone, and somehow here. That I was writing a new novel, by hand of course. I told him I was okay. That I hoped he was, too.

I got another letter, which brought words of comfort and wisdom to my grief, and ended this way: And I do know why you write your first drafts by hand. I wish you well. Your friend, Wendell.

Sometimes in life you dont get what you want. Sometimes you get something better. I might not have landed a blurb, but asking for one gave me the opportunity, and a reason, to be back in touch with the teacher who encouraged and inspired me, who taught me what really mattersand still does.

Lynn Hightower is the author of the Sonora Blair and Lena Padget detective series, among other books. Severn House will publish The Enlightenment Project in March 2022.
In a filing this week, the Internet Archive rejected accusations that it is stonewalling discovery in a closely watched lawsuit over the scanning and digital lending of print library books.

The IA response comes after the publishers accused the IA in a November 19 letter of seeking to run out the clock on discovery. But IA lawyers told the court that they are complying with or have already complied with all of the publishers requests. Furthermore, IA lawyers point out that there is already a conference scheduled to discuss two ongoing disputes involving IA discovery requestsa not so subtle suggestion that the publishers complaint is an attempt at gamesmanship.

As Your Honor is aware, currently pending and set for conference on December 2, 2021 are the Internet Archives two letter-motions regarding Plaintiffs and the Association of American Publishers failure to produce documents, the IA letter reads. While Plaintiffs may be eager to portray the Internet Archive as also refusing to produce relevant documents, there is no basis for Plaintiffs assertion that the

Internet Archive is stonewalling. Plaintiffs requests are for documents that the Internet Archive has either already provided to Plaintiffs, or that the Internet Archive is working diligently to collect and provide with no need for this Courts intervention.

In their October 29 motion, IA attorneys told the court that the AAP and the plaintiff publishers are improperly invoking a range of legal privilege to withhold internal communications and other documents from discovery.

In their complaint, lawyers for the publishers accused the IA of stonewalling discovery by allegedly withholding requested documents until "toward the end" of the discovery period. The current schedule has fact discovery set to close by December 17.

The high profile copyright infringement lawsuit was first filed in June of 2020 by Hachette, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House, and coordinated by the AAP. It alleges that the Internet Archives program to scan and lend print editions of library books under an untested legal theory known as controlled digital lending is copyright infringement on a massive scale. IA lawyers counter that its program respects copyright and is protected by fair use.
DEAL OF THE WEEK

Little, Brown Plucks Harriss Rose Ben George at Little, Brown bought world English rights to Nathan Harriss sophomore novel, The Rose of Jericho. Harris published his debut, The Sweetness of Water, with LB in June, and it went on to become longlisted for the Booker Prize, an Oprah Book Club pick, and a New York Times bestseller. The publisher said the new novel is a sweeping saga following siblings Coleman and June three years after they have been freed from slavery. It opens in 1868, a few years after The Sweetness of Water concludes, as the siblings former owner has fled Louisiana for Mexico, with June in tow, on a quixotic mission to form a colony with other Confederate rebels intent on re-creating the antebellum lifestyle to which they were accustomed. The Rose of Jericho is based loosely on historical records, and the fact that some Confederate supporters fled to Mexico after the Civil War. Emily Forland of Brandt & Hochman represented Harris.

Morrow Goes Big on Moning Trilogy

Morrows May Chen acquired U.S., Canadian, and open market rights to three books by bestselling romance and urban fantasy author Karen Marie Moning in a seven-figure deal. Stacy Testa at Writers House represented Moning. The books will make up a new trilogy, the Watch Hill, that the publisher said is Lives of the Mayfair Witches meets Mexican Gothic, with a dash of True Blood for good measure. Book one, scheduled for winter 2023, follows a 24-year-old woman who, in order to receive an unexpected inheritance from a distant relative, must live alone in a large, ominous Louisiana manor. Morrow noted that Monings Highlander and Fever series have combined to sell roughly nine million English-language copies.

Rowley Does Double at Putnam

Steven Rowley (Lily and the Octopus) sold two novels to Sally Kim at Putnam in a North American rights agreement. The first, The Celebrants, is set for 2023 and, Putnam said, follows a group of close college friends who, after the suicide of one of their own, form a pact to periodically reunite to throw living funerals for each other to remind themselves life is worth living. However, when a member of the group receives bracing medical news, the friends are forced to confront secrets from the past and weigh their now-middle-aged lives against the idealistic dreams of their youth. Rob Weisbach at Rob Weisbach Creative Management represented Rowley.

Viking Buys George Floyd Bio

Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa sold North American rights to a biography of George Floyd to Viking executive editor Ibrahim Ahmad. My Name Is George Floyd, set for May 2022, was acquired from Karen Brailsford and Todd Shuster at Aevitas Creative Management. Viking said the book will reveal how systemic racism shaped George Floyds life and legacyfrom his familys roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina to ongoing inequality in housing, education, healthcare, criminal justice, and policingtelling the singular story of how one mans tragic experience brought about a global movement of change. Samuels is a national political reporter and Olorunnipa is a political and investigative reporter at the Post.

Castillo Sells Two to HarperOne

For HarperOne, Tara Parsons preempted North American rights to two books, in English and Spanish, by Ana Castillo. (The English-language editions will be published by the HarperVia imprint, while the Spanish-language titles will be published by HarperCollins Espanol.) The first is a story collection, Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home, and the second is a dystopian novel titled Isabel 2121. The collection, Parsons explained, is about the secrets that are kept within households, the behaviors born of patriarchal privilege, and the women they impact the most. The novel is loosely based on string theory and recounts the tale of a woman who exists simultaneously in the time of the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century and in the year 2121. Castillo (So Far from God) was represented by Johanna Castillo at Writers House.

Knopf Nabs Swedish Award Winner

John Freeman at Knopf bought world English rights to Linnea Axelssons novel Aednan. The novel in verse won the prestigious August Prize in Axelssons native Sweden in 2018. Set for a U.S. release in fall 2022, Aednan, Knopf said, follows two Indigenous Sami families in northern Sweden, whose fate mirrors Sami history from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. Bonnier rights agent Johanna Lindborg handled the sale.

Tyson Gets Cosmic at Holt

Holts Tim Duggan bought North American rights to Neil deGrasse Tysons Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization. Tyson, a bestselling author and director of the American Museum of Natural Historys Hayden Planetarium, was represented by Betsy Lerner at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. He said Starry Messenger is about how a cosmic perspective in our collective thinking can save us from ourselves. Holt added that in the book, which is set for fall 2022, Tyson reveals how nearly every thought, opinion, and outlook we have on world affairs can be enriched by knowledge of our place on Earth and in the universe.

Berkley Lights Feehans Fire

Brian Feehan, son of the bestselling author Christine Feehan, sold world rights to two books to Cindy Hwang at Berkley. The publisher said the first, Harmony of Fire, will launch a paranormal romance series about ancient beings filled with powerful magic, and the Etherealists, rare humans born with magic and a target for the otherworldly beings who wish to take it. Steve Axelrod at the Axelrod Agency represented Feehan. Harmony of Fire is slated for summer 2022.

Plantinga Takes It Easy at Grand Central

For Grand Central Publishing, Wes Miller preempted world rights to Adam Plantingas debut thriller, Nothing Like Easy. Plantinga, a sergeant in the San Francisco Police Department, was represented by Caitlin Blasdell at Liza Dawson Associates. The publisher said the book, set for 2024, is about a Detroit cop forced into early retirement who crosses paths with a corrupt small-town sheriff and finds the system he once represented turned against him.
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Amid global travel restrictions and under a new parent company, Lonely Planet spent 2021 retooling. Digital media platform Red Ventures acquired Lonely Planet from NC2 Media in December 2020, leaving many in the industry wondering how Lonely Planets print program and other content offerings would fare.

Known for its pocket-size destination guides and phrasebooks, Lonely Planet already had expanded its digital presence in the adult market while continuing to publish Lonely Planet Kids titles and coffee-table volumes. When the pandemic grounded national and international travel, we had to make some tough decisions, said publisher Piers Pickard, who has been with Lonely Planet since 2006. We became a much smaller company.

Pickard acknowledged that the pandemic led to a difficult period and called the Red Ventures acquisition lucky: I want to underline how incredibly fortunate weve been to be acquired as a travel publisher in this once-in-a-century event, he noted.

A sign of Lonely Planets new direction came in October, when Red Ventures announced the appointment of Nitya Chambers as the companys senior v-p of content and executive editor. Chambers, a former v-p of digital content at CNN, moved to Lonely Planet after working on a variety of franchises, including CNN Travel and Parts Unknown.

Chambers said she brings a mindset of content as utility. Lonely Planets service content is highly tactical, highly inspirational, she added. We intend to superserve Lonely Planets customers by building content strengths for our modern digital landscape.

An example is HealthHub, a partnership between Lonely Planet and another Red Ventures property, Healthline Media. HealthHub, a web-only resource for travel planning, gives health and safety guidance on border restrictions, Covid-testing rules, and mask mandates. The free online directory presently covers 20 countries, and will help and empower travelers as they reengage with exploring the world respectfully and safely, Chambers said. While there is no HealthHub print component, we are always thinking about how to create topical connections in our print products to news-based content, she noted.

We are taking what Lonely Planet has done so well with its books for 48-odd years and giving people that same experience in a digital format, Pickard said. He also promised strong engagement with the print format. We had a few months off and we didnt publish any guides. The world is opening back up, and since September, weve moved to publishing international guides again.

As part of the strategy Lonely Planet will re-release its top 200 bestselling guidebooks through 2022. In addition, on November 30, it will publish the $50 The Travel Book (fourth edition) as well as The Armchair Explorer, a paperback celebrating the popular books, movies, and music of 120 countries.

On top of that, we will launch a new series, the Experience Guides, in March, Pickard said. They are slightly bigger than our pocket guides, and shorter than our loose-bound guidesthey come in at 240260 pages. They offer selective recommendations from broadcast journalists, podcasters, and other writers 100% local to the sites they cover.

The Experience Guides will direct readers to authentic local experiences, such as a decommissioned railway turned arts venue in Paris. We wanted to have surprises in there, because there is so much travel content around, Pickard explained.

Despite the advantages digital applications can bring to travel, in some situations the book is better, Pickard said. Were really looking for un-googleable experiences. Books carry your memories, your emotions, your identity.

Chambers added, For me, its really thinking about meeting the moment for our consumers. As Piers said, books are an emotional touchpoint and serve a specific purpose. Piers and I are very close collaborators, thinking about what that future looks like together.

Pickard said, 2023 will be our 50th birthday, and we are very focused on that already. Were really excited. As travel comes back, its going to feel like a blank slate.

Nathalie op de Beeck is a writer, educator, and picture book enthusiast in the Pacific Northwest.
Since announcing the launch of its inaugural hardcover list in January, Anchor has unveiled the four titlesthree of which are debut novelsthat make up that list. At a virtual event earlier in the fall, Suzanne Herz, publisher of Vintage and Anchor, said that the spring 2022 list largely comprises thrillers and mysteriesgenres that have not traditionally been covered by Anchor, which is the oldest trade paperback publisher in the U.S.

Expanding our paperback publishing program with a carefully curated hardcover list is a very exciting opportunity, Herz told PW. In addition to thrillers and mysteries, the list will also focus on psychological suspense, commercial fiction, and popular and voicey nonfiction.

As was previously announced, Edward Kastenmeier will lead the new program as v-p and editorial director of Anchor Books hardcovers. A 30-year veteran of Vintage and Anchor, Kastenmeier has edited and published books by authors including James Ellroy, Lars Kepler, Alexander McCall Smith, and Jo Nesb. He has also overseen the Vintage Crime/Black Lizard publishing program.

Ive long felt that there was a certain type of upmarket commercial fiction that was significantly underrepresented in the Vintage/Anchor group, Kastenmeier said. With the 2019 arrival of Herz, who publishes John Grisham and Dan Brown, Kastenmeier felt the timing was right to launch a line focused on mysteries, thrillers, and psychological suspense.

Anchor Hardcovers plans to publish six to eight titles per year as part of a highly curated list that Kastenmeier expects to grow over time. To date, the line has acquired more than a dozen titles, including mysteries, thrillers, and what he called bighearted fiction. There are also plans to publish voice-driven nonfiction titles in the near future.

At the September 28 event, Kastenmeier, along with editors Caitlin Landuyt and Anna Kaufman, who assisted in building the hardcover list, discussed each forthcoming title at length.

The lists lead title, slated for February 1, is Brendan Slocumbs debut novel The Violin Conspiracy. A mystery set in the cutthroat world of classical music, The Violin Conspiracy was the first book added to Anchors hardcover list. Slocumb has since been signed to a two-book deal, and Sony has obtained the screen rights to the novel, with The Hate U Give director George Tillman Jr. attached.

Set for June 2022, is Taylor Hahns debut novel, The Lifestyle, a rom-com about swingers that Landuyt described as the most fun retelling of Emma since Clueless. The Lifestyle has also been optioned for film and television.

Tyrell Johnsons The Lost Kings, a character-driven psychological thriller, is set for August 2022. Johnsons debut novel, The Wolves of Winter, was released by Scribner in January 2018.

Rounding out the inaugural list is Amy McCullochs debut thriller, Breathless. Slated for May 2022, Breathless tells of a young woman who summits Nepals Mt. Manaslu, one of the tallest mountains in the world. McCulloch herself is the youngest Canadian woman to summit Manaslu. Anchor will also publish her second novel.

Perhaps the most exciting part, Kastenmeier said, is that, since the group hasnt been publishing much in this space, there is plenty of room for us to carve out a new niche that doesnt compete with our existing programs.

Correction: This piece initially misspelled Amy McCulloch's surname.
In France, The Unknown of the Seine by Guillaume Musso, about a woman who seemingly returns from the dead, was the #1 title in late October. Musso is Frances most popular author, with more than 28 million copies sold in more than 40 languages, according to research firm GFK. His books are published in English by Little, Brown. Agnes Ledigs romance The Tiny Queen took the second slot.

Prolific thriller writer Sebastian Fitzek regularly tops German fiction bestseller lists, and hes done so again in late October with Playlist, about an investigation into the disappearance of a teenager that seeks clues in her music playlists. More and more of Fitzeks titles have been appearing in English lately, published by Head of Zeus. Antje Ravik Strubels The Blue Woman, about a young woman recovering from being raped, won the 2021 German Book Prize, the countrys top fiction award, and was at #2.

It Italy, J.K. Rowlings childrens book The Christmas Pig was the bestselling book overall in late October, topping the combined bestseller list. Romance writer Sveva Casati Modignanis latest, Love Works Miracles, was at #2. Though Modignanis books have been published in 20 countries and sold more than 12 million copies, according to news service anaa.it, her works have yet to be translated into English.

Among nonfiction titles that originated in the U.S., only Renegades by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen hit high on international lists, appearing at #3 in Germany.
The inaugural Diverse Film Fund from Together TV was launched in March 2021 and commissioned the production of five short documentaries to celebrate Black British lives today. Each of the selected filmmakers received a production fee of 10,000 to support the production of their films on this theme. The project not only endorsed the emerging British filmmakers financially but provided a production training series of webinars with industry experts, a mentor for each director and creative collaboration throughout the journey.The initiative has been championed by Together TV's chair and founder, Caroline Diehl MBE and by Together TV Trustee and ITV commissioning editor, Satmohan Panesar. The aim was to be able to elevate diverse original content on Together TV, which perfectly aligns with the ethos of the channel to inspire positive social change.Each of the documentaries explores a very different aspect of the theme and were chosen to reflect the diverse scope of black British lives today. The Beyonce Experience (pictured) by Blaise Singh follows the story of Aaron Carty, who gave up a career as a police officer to live his dream of becoming a positive role model for the Black queer community as a Beyonce drag act.Superheroes Wear Hoodies shines a light on a group of black youths who helped feed their local community during the pandemic, proving that superheroes do wear hoodies, while Alexandra Genovas Our Land tells the story of two black food growers from London, as they try to realise their dreams of carving their own path in the predominantly white agricultural industry.The Black Equestrian offers the story of three black British women in Equestrianism chronicle their journey into Polo, Show Jumping and Dressage, highlighting the ups and downs faced by people of colour, while Barry the Beekeeper takes a look at how the pandemic has affected Jamaican-born beekeeper Barry, who has been the heart of his local Liverpudlian community for over two decades.Commenting on the commission, Skys director of programmes, UK & Ireland, Jamie Morris said: The five films which have come from Together TVs Diverse Film Fund represent a great editorial fit for our ambitions for Sky Documentaries to be the home of authentic and diverse storytelling . We value our long-standing relationship with Together TV and hope to continue working together for many years to come.
Terry McAuliffe sank his Virginia gubernatorial bid with his condescension toward parents, typified in his claim that experts, not parents, were the only ones qualified to choose school curricula.

I love Billy and Jack McAuliffe, my parents, but they should not have been picking my math and science book, McAuliffe told NBCs Meet the Press. We have experts who actually do that.

McAuliffes response was not only tone-deaf  given the grassroots parent revolt against curricula chosen by experts  but it also ignored the reality that millions of homeschool parents in Virginia and across the country are picking curricula for their kids, with outstanding academic results.

In Virginia, the number of homeschooled students in 202021 rose to nearly 60,000, from a little more than 38,000 the year before. Curriculum was a big factor in this growth, and not just because of the highly publicized fights over critical race theory.

Before the election, a local ABC-TV affiliate interviewed Virginia parent Tera Thomas, who said that her kids were falling behind in fundamental skills and were having trouble getting through a one-size-fits-all curriculum in a public school. Her childrens teachers were unable to address their individual needs. Like many other parents over the past year or so, Thomas decided to homeschool.

The Census Bureau reports that from spring to fall of 2020, the proportion of homeschooling households more than doubled, from 5 percent to 11 percent, with the proportion of African-American households choosing to homeschool skyrocketing fivefold, from 3 percent to 16 percent.

Steven Duvall, research director for the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, says that the number of homeschooled children nationwide could be upwards of 8 million. Parents of these homeschooled children are choosing the curriculum that best fits their kids learning needs.

Take, for example, Demetria Zinga, who has been cited as one of the countrys top black homeschool bloggers and YouTubers. Zinga notes that homeschooling allows parents to choose and discard a curriculum depending on whether it is working for their child. So, she says, we might try something for a season and then realize thats not necessarily our style and then try something different.

Her oldest daughter, Nyomi, learned best with a more structured program, so Zinga chose Classical Conversations, a curriculum that emphasizes skills of recitation, logical thinking, and persuasive rhetoric. Nyomi said that the curriculum required lots of reading and writing, but it was helpful to make me a better writer. She graduated from the Classical Conversations program with honors.

By contrast, Zingas younger daughter, Zoe, is artsy, theatrical, and entrepreneurial, so she used a different program for her.

To meet the varying demands of homeschool parents like Zinga, hundreds of curriculum choices are now in the marketplace. Parents also have tools to make informed decisions as to what will work best for their children.

For instance, homeschoolers have long relied on curriculum expert Cathy Duffy and her website for reviews of materials. Her book 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum is a much-used guide for homeschool parents.

In addition, homeschool academies at charter schools stock a wide array of curricula from which parents can choose. Alicia Carter, head of a homeschool academy at Natomas Charter School in Sacramento, says that parents can also request a curriculum not stocked at the academy. As long as it meets certain requirements, she says, then we order it and sometimes we add it to the selection for everyone.

With a curriculum better suited for their needs, homeschooled children generally do better academically than their public school peers. According to Heritage Foundation education director Lindsey Burke, most research shows homeschoolers largely outperforming their non-homeschooled counterparts.

So who is the expert when it comes to curriculum? It is not Terry McAuliffes experts, but the parents at whom he scoffed. And thats why America is seeing a homeschool boom.
Seth Meyers announced on Friday's edition of Late Night that he and his lawyer wife, Alexi, have welcomed a baby girl.

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Meyers welcomed his own family as guests on the the program and they discussed Thanksgiving traditions and for what they are grateful.

He also showed a video of his pre-school-age sons Axel and Ashe dressed as turkeys, running around their home and yelling, "Gobble, gobble," and "Happy Thanksgiving!"

At the end of the video, they sat on a couch and pull down a turkey decoration to reveal a baby girl, staged to look like a cooked turkey. They both kiss her on the cheeks.

"We had another one, you guys!" Meyers told the audience. "Ten weeks ago, my wife gave birth to a baby girl."

Meyers and his wife -- who have been married since 2013 -- named their youngest child Adelaide after the comedian's maternal grandmother.
Athens, GA (30605)

Today

Periods of rain. High 72F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly this evening. Low 39F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
As the COVID-19 delta variant continues to spread across the nation, questions about booster shots, hospitalizations, and vaccine hesitancy leave many frustrated. As part of The Red & Blacks health news coverage, we are publishing weekly reports on news relating to COVID-19 and its recent statistics.

Major updates

COVID-19 cases decreased at the University of Georgia compared to last week, according to the universitys reporting system. UGA reported 23 new cases over the week of Nov. 15-21 compared to the 29 last week. The surveillance testing positivity rate decreased this week to 0%, with no positive cases being detected through surveillance testing.

According to The Hill, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said on Sunday that as the winter season approaches, an increase in COVID-19 infections is expected. He urged people to get vaccinated.

Due to fewer people wearing masks, respiratory illnesses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus have been spreading across the nation.

The deadline for covered University of Georgia employees to be vaccinated has been extended to Jan. 4, 2022, from the previous deadline of Dec. 8, 2021, according to an ArchNews email sent on Thursday. The new deadline was announced by the White House on Thursday.

This extension will give UGA's covered contractor employees additional time to get vaccinated. Some covered contractor employees have been alerted, according to the ArchNews email, while others are still being identified and notified.

Appointments can be scheduled here. Due to vaccination status being verified on-site, individuals should bring their original vaccine card to the appointment.

Employees covered by this policy include those who work on or in connection with a federal contract, or who work in a covered contractor workplace.

Georgias hospitals have about 22% of their intensive care unit beds left for sick patients. From Nov. 7-13, nearly all of COVID-19 cases in the southeastern U.S. were delta variant cases, according to the CDC.

The majority of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

Data breakdown: University of Georgia

The university conducted 599 surveillance tests during the week of Nov. 15.

Of the total positive cases this week, seven of them belonged to employees and 22 belonged to students.

There were four positive tests at the University Health Center. There were zero positive tests through UGA surveillance testing, four positive tests from UGA community members reporting from testing sites in Athens, and 15 positive tests from UGA community members reporting from other testing sites.

Students that test positive for COVID-19 off-campus are required to report it through DawgCheck, UGAs monitoring tool. Because students may have tested positive off-campus and not reported it, the actual number of COVID-19 cases in the UGA community may be higher.

For the week of Nov. 8-14, the UHC administered 408 vaccines, a significant decrease from the 537 administered last week. Cumulatively, the UHC has administered 30,624 vaccines.

Students and faculty may book a vaccine appointment through the UHC Vaccine Portal or get vaccinated at any University System of Georgia school. Students may also get tested for COVID-19 at the UHC with walk-in appointments.

Data breakdown: Athens-Clarke County

From Nov. 19-24, the county reported 52 new confirmed cases, compared to the exact same number of cases from Nov. 13-18, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. The countys seven-day average positivity rate was 4.6%. The World Health Organization recommends communities maintain a positivity rate below 5%.

This week, ACC reported zero confirmed COVID-19 deaths.

According to the Georgia Geospatial Information Office, the number of current hospitalizations in Region E  which includes ACC and several surrounding counties  decreased slightly last week. On Nov. 24, there were 26 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, compared to 35 on Nov. 17.

According to the Georgia DPH, about 46% of the county is fully vaccinated.

Data breakdown: Georgia

Statewide, the weekly rate of new confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased.

According to the DPH, Georgia reported 6,673 confirmed COVID-19 cases between Nov. 19-24. This is an increase of about 480 from the 6,189 cases between Nov. 13-18. The states seven-day average positivity rate on Nov. 24 was 3.7%.

The number of confirmed deaths in the state decreased. Georgia recorded 143 confirmed COVID-19 deaths between Nov. 19-24, compared to the 161 between Nov. 13-18.

According to the DPH, almost 5.3 million Georgians have been fully vaccinated, or about 51% of the state. In comparison, the U.S. has a current full vaccination rate of 58%. Approximately 6 million Georgians, or 58% of the state, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Currently, the CDC says Clarke Countys level of community transmission is moderate.

The CDC has also released guidelines advising vaccinated individuals to still wear masks when in public, indoor settings.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain likely. High around 55F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Cloudy. Periods of rain early. Low 36F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
DENVER (AP)  Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota called Friday for House leaders to take appropriate action" against Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert for using anti-Muslim language in describing a recent encounter she had with Omar at the U.S. Capitol.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders demanded Boebert retract her comments.

According to a video clip posted by a Twitter account called PatriotTakes, Boebert made the remarks this holiday break. In it, she says she and a staffer were taking a Capitol elevator when she saw an alarmed Capitol police officer running toward them. She said she turned to her left and spotted Omar standing beside them.

Well, she doesnt have a backpack. We should be fine, Boebert recalled saying, drawing laughs from her audience. And I said, Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.

Omar publicly urged Pelosi and GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to discipline Boebert.

Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter," Omar tweeted.  @GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress."

Boebert has become a partisan lightning rod during her first term in Congress, insisting on her right to bring a gun onto the floor of the House, voting to overturn President Joe Bidens victory and maintaining a fiery presence on social media in which she insists Biden and Democrats are leading the country to socialism.

Pelosi and other top House Democrats called on Boebert in a statement later Friday to fully retract these comments and refrain from making similar ones going forward." They also demanded that Republican leaders to address this priority with the Congresswoman and to finally take real action to confront racism."

Omar said Thursday that Boebert had fabricated the story.

Fact, this buffoon looks down when she sees me at the Capitol, this whole story is made up, Omar tweeted. Sad she thinks bigotry gets her clout.

Boebert tweeted earlier Friday that I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction."

The offices of McCarthy didn't immediately respond to email and telephone requests for comment late Friday. Telephone calls and emails seeking comment from Boebert and Omar also werent immediately returned.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Boeberts remarks in a statement urging McCarthy and other Republican leaders to repudiate Boeberts remarks.

It said Boeberts allusion to a backpack is an Islamophobic smear that all Muslims are terrorists, as well as her use of the term jihad squad.

Omar and Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib sometimes refer to themselves as the squad.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin said the talks he hosted in southern Russia Friday with the leaders of regional rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan were constructive and produced a series of agreements on key issues.

The meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Sochi lasted about three hours and marked the first anniversary of a Moscow-brokered peace deal that ended fighting in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In remarks after the meeting, Putin said the three leaders reached agreement on a whole range of issues which he considers key.

Both Aliyev and Pashinyan echoed Putins positive assessment. The Azerbaijani president said the conversation was open and genuine, and the Armenian prime minister called it positive.

Putin also held two separate bilateral meetings with Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday, before and after the three-way talks.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-old dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

The Azerbaijani military routed the Armenian forces in 44 days of fierce fighting in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaim all the regions controlled by Armenian forces outside the separatist region.

Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal.

The peace agreement was celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan but was seen as a betrayal by the opposition in Armenia. Pashinyan defended it as the only way to prevent the Armenian forces from losing control over the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The 2020 deal envisaged a transport corridor via Armenia that would link Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan region  a plan resented by the Armenian opposition, which also fears that Armenian interests could be compromised by the planned demarcation of the border.

Opening the meeting with Pashinyan and Aliyev on Friday, Putin said that Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia achieved a lot in a year that passed since the peace deal was signed. There is no large-scale fighting, some 53,000 refugees have returned to their homes, and Russian peacekeepers have been ensuring safety of the Nagorno-Karabakh residents, he said.

In their opening remarks, both Aliyev and Pashinyan said they were prepared to start the work on delimitation and demarcation of the border.

Pashinyan, however, noted that the situation on the border and in Nagorno-Karabakh is not as stable as one would want it to be and said that dozens of people on both sides died in clashes over the past year. He called the situation on the border a crisis.

Our assessment is that Azerbaijani forces have made an incursion into the sovereign territory of Armenia, he said.

Armenias prime minister also said the issue of prisoners of war, hostages and other persons held in captivity remained unresolved.

Aliyev, in turn, said that Azerbaijani authorities have publicly offered to start working out a proper peace treaty with Armenia to put an end to the confrontation, to recognize each others territorial integrity, sovereignty and live as neighbors in the future, (or) learn to live as neighbors all over again.

He also said Friday that Azerbaijan has handed over more than 100 prisoners of war to Armenia since last years fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

After the meeting, Putin said that the three leaders agreed to create, before the end of the year, mechanisms for delimitation and demarcation of the border between the two countries.

They also discussed unblocking of the transport corridors, which includes both the railways and the roads, and made significant progress on unspecified humanitarian issues, Putin said.
Speaking at the Republic India Economic Summit, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari talked about his dream project of making a road network from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Responding to Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami's question, Gadkari added that his dream project also includes the green expressway projects. The Union Minister spoke on infrastructure projects that will change India.

Nitin Gadkari on "Kashmir to Kanyakumari" project:

"A 4-tunnel project is already going on between Manali to Ladakh, then the planning is to go from Ladakh to Srinagar. Later, the road will lead to Jammu which will further go to DelhiAmritsarKatra Expressway. After this, the planning is to reach Mumbai and before Mumbai Surat will come where a new highway project is already going on. After Mumbai, the road will lead to Chennai, Bangalore. So this is a Kashmir to Kanyakumari project which will start from Srinagar, Leh-Ladakh and take you to Chennai, Kanyakumari in a less than 100 kmph speed. The project will be ready in next two years," explained Nitin Gadkari.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on his dream project

Gadkari promises J&K LG to make J&K at par with Switzerland

Speaking further at the Republic summit and infrastructure development in India, Nitin Gadkari revealed that he was recently in Jammu and told LG Manoj Sinha that the Ministry will work towards making J&K at par with Switzerland.

Nitin Gadkari hails Indian ideas:

While speaking on recent ideas that were fascinating, the Union Minister talked about Hero Group's e-bicycle idea:

"I inaugurated one of their plans in Ludhiana and they have done a very good job, see we Indians are very good at this, these people have taken a big research institute in London of product designing and taking bicycles of the world they have made such a beautiful bicycle. Now, this bicycle will work and I believe that in coming times 50% of the world's e-bicycle market will be India's," mentioned Nitin Gadkari.

"The way we are progressing we are the fastest growing economy and our import will be less and export will increase people will get jobs and our growth rate will increase," added the Union Minister.

Watch Republic India Economic Summit live here:

Image: Republic
A new set of data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Gaia satellite suggested that the galaxies nearby the Milky Way are newcomers to the universe and not satellites as earlier thought. Our galaxy, the Milky Way is surrounded by many dwarf galaxies which orbit it and were thought to be satellite galaxies that accompanied ours for billions of years. In simpler terms, a new study shows that these dwarf galaxies are not as old as scientists thought and have not yet been trapped under the Milky Way's influence. A galaxy is termed dwarf when it comprises stars in numbers between 1,000 to several billion.

Data from @ESAGaia is re-writing the history of our galaxy!



What had traditionally been thought of as satellite galaxies to the Milky Way are now revealed to be mostly newcomers to our corner of space https://t.co/pX0pZvz2GU #ESAGaia #Gaia #ExploreFarther pic.twitter.com/PB4xZf1W1k  ESA Science (@esascience) November 24, 2021

Scientists mapped 40 dwarf galaxies around the Milky Way

Scientists confirmed the aforementioned theory by computing the motion of 40 dwarf galaxies that are revolving around the Milky Way. According to the ESA, astronomer Francois Hammer, and his colleagues from China and parts of Europe calculated the movement of the galaxies by computing velocities, orbital energy and the angular (rotational) momentum of each galaxy. The results revealed that each of the galaxies was moving too fast as compared to other giant stars and star clusters.

This means that their speeds are too much to orbit the Milky Way yet because their orbital energy and angular momentum would have been destroyed if that was the case. Further elaborating the same, ESA quoted Francois as saying "The Milky Way is a big galaxy, so its tidal force is simply gigantic and it's very easy to destroy a dwarf galaxy after maybe one or two passages". Our galaxy also has a reputation of being a cannibal as it has consumed many dwarf galaxies in its past such as the Gaia-Enceladus, which was destroyed 8-10 billion years ago or the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy 4-5 billion years ago.

Talking about the new findings, Timo Prusti, Gaia Project Scientist said as per ESA, "Thanks in large part to Gaia, it is now obvious that the history of the Milky Way is far more storied than astronomers had previously understood. By investigating these tantalising clues, we hope to further tease out the fascinating chapters in our galaxys past". Launched in December 2013, ESA's Gaia is a star surveyor which has been assigned a job to create a three-dimensional map of over a thousand million stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond.

Image: ESA
Contradicting the US' claims that American nationals had been detained in Ethiopia and that the US State Department was in constant touch with Ethiopian authorities to discuss securing access to those people, Ethiopia's ambassador to the US, Fitsum Arega, said that there had been no targeted arrests in the nation, Sputnik reported.

The Russian media outlet quoted Arega as saying that if any nationals of the United States are detained, it is for lawful reasons. He also said that the claim that the US is aware of arrests of US nationals appears to be hypothetical and part of a bigger disinformation campaign towards Ethiopia. He urged Americans in Ethiopia to leave the country as soon as possible before the problem worsens.

'Biden administration will not dispatch military planes for evacuation': Ethiopian envoy

The envoy further stated that there is heightened awareness of security concerns under a state of emergency in Ethiopia and active steps are being taken to prevent terrorist threats. Arega added that anyone suspected of criminal activities by materially, or otherwise, assisting terrorists are being investigated under the state of emergency laws, Sputnik reported. He also announced that if commercial flight alternatives are unavailable, the US Embassy in Ethiopia will be unable to assist Americans wishing to leave the country, and the Biden administration will not dispatch military planes to conduct evacuation operations. Arega stated that the US continues to engage diplomatically with Ethiopia's government and other regional allies.

UN Secretary-General urges for an immediate end to hostilities in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian parliament announced a six-month state of emergency across the country earlier this month to safeguard the population from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (PFLT) rebels who are moving closer to Addis Ababa, the country's capital, according to Sputnik. Several nations began removing their diplomatic missions from Ethiopia as a result of this.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged for an immediate end to hostilities in Ethiopia. Guterres, who is in Colombia stated that the peace process in Colombia encourages him to make an urgent appeal to the people in Ethiopia's conflict for an unconditional and immediate ceasefire to preserve the country.

(Image: @fitsumaregaa/Twitter/AP)
Investigators with Gambia's Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission delivered a final report to the president Thursday in Banjul, identifying and recommending for prosecution those most responsible for crimes and human rights abuses committed during the 22-year rule of former President Yahya Jammeh.

Upon receiving the report, President Adama Barrow promised that "justice will be done."

He has six months to release a paper on how to implement the recommendations submitted by the commission.

Following his election in 2016, Barrow vowed to right the wrongs of the past, especially widespread abuses under previous leader Jammeh.

The commission was mandated to establish an impartial historical record of abuses committed from July 1994 to January 2017, when Jammeh fled into exile after losing elections.

More than two years of hearings that led to this report attempted to unearth and record the human rights abuses and horrors that occurred in the shadow of Jammeh's rule.

Its submission comes just before Gambias 2 million people are set to vote in presidential elections on December 4, in which Barrow is running for re-election against five other candidates.

After submitting the report, Commission chair Lamin J. Sise said that the individuals involved in perpetrating the violations and abuses must be held accountable for their crimes and their names are mentioned expressly in the relevant sections of the report.

He added the commission found the abuses resulted in the deaths of 240 to 250 Gambians and non-Gambians in the hands of (the) state or its agents.

Sise did not mention the names of those who the commission has recommended for prosecution, however, there is little doubt that Jammeh is among those named, according to experts.

Sheriff Kijera, head of the Gambia Victims Center welcomed the report, adding families and victims expect justice and reparation.

The commission that was set up years ago is not meant to prosecute, but only to hold hearings that outline the crimes and recommend prosecution. The report, however, will not be made immediately public.

Jammeh, who seized power in 1994 in a bloodless coup, was voted out of office in 2016 after opposition parties created a coalition with Barrow as the main candidate.

After initially agreeing to step down, he resisted and a six-week crisis saw West African military forces ready to stage a military intervention.

Jammeh was forced into exile and fled to Equatorial Guinea aboard a plane with his family and many belongings.

The 56-year-old still garners a lot of support in the tiny West African nation, despite the abuses that took place under his rule.

IMAGE: AP

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South Africa, which has already been facing the burnt of the COVID-19, has again been hit with another highly contagious variant that has promoted several countries to either shut their travel routes or implement robust restrictions. According to a report by the Associated Press, the scientists of South Africa have identified a new version of the Coronavirus called B.1.1529. With the detection of the new variant in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province, the World Health Organisation also sent a delegation of experts to collab with the scientists to fasten the action needed to curb the spread of the infection.

Here is the list of countries that have either implemented tough restrictions or banned the entry:

United Kingdom

As the UK hospitals are already facing an overwhelming situation due to the recent spike, British health secretary Sajid Javid announced to suspend all flights from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Germany

Health Minister Jens Spahn, who has been serving as Federal Minister of Health in the fourth cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has announced to ban most travel from South African nations. Besides, he also said that German nationals have to undergo testing and mandatory quarantine, irrespective of their vaccination status.

Italy

Meanwhile, in Italy, the government has announced a strict restriction on the entry of those who visited Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia or Swaziland in the past two weeks.

France

A day after France announced that COVID-19 booster shots will be made available to all adults, Health minister Olivier Veran also stated that the country has been suspending all flights coming from southern Africa for the next two days. However, he added the suspension could further be extended based on the assessment of the health department.

The Czech Republic

It has been announced that those citizens who spent more than 12 hours in the past 14 days in the southern African region would not be allowed entry into the country, DW reported.

Israel

One of the worlds most vaccinated countries, announced on Friday, that it has detected the countrys first case of the new variant in a traveller who returned from Malawi. Subsequently, it has imposed a travel ban covering most of the African continent on Friday.

Singapore & Malaysia

Those who have recently travelled to the seven southern African countries will not be allowed to enter the country, reported DW. Those who are permitted to enter must quarantine, health officials in both countries said.

India

Though India has not decided on any travel restrictions yet, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "This variant is described to have a significantly high number of variations, and thus, has severe public health implications for the country, in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel. As a result, all foreign passengers coming to New Delhi from "at-risk" countries must be subjected to rigorous screening and testing, the ministry has instructed."

New COVID variant detected in travellers from Hong Kong and Botswana

While speaking to AP, an official from the WHO said that the researchers are investigating the source of the virus that leads to the recent spike in the country. In addition, they revealed that the first case of a new COVID variant was detected in South Africa and has also been detected in travellers from Hong Kong and Botswana. It is worth mentioning that the country has reported nearly 200 cases of Coronavirus in the past two weeks ago. However, with the newly detected variant, the cases in South African nations went to 2,465. Notably, the difference of nearly 2,400 cases was reported within three days.

Speaking before the EU announcement, Dr Michael Ryan, the head of emergencies at the WHO said that "its really important that there are no knee-jerk responses." Weve seen in the past, the minute theres any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel. Its really important that we remain open, and stay focused, Ryan said. However, this time, the countries that had one of the worst experiences of COVID-19 due to delta variant were very quick to take action against the highly contagious virus.

IMAGE: Pixabay/Representative
Thousands of Sudanese took to the streets on Thursday in the capital of Khartoum, renewing their demand for a fully civilian government and denouncing the country's military rulers who were behind the October coup.

Since the takeover, protesters have repeatedly taken to the streets in some of the largest demonstrations in the past years.

Sudanese security forces have cracked down on the rallies and have killed more than 40 protesters so far, according to activist groups.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Doctors Committee, which is part of the pro-democracy movement, said that 17 people were killed in clashes between Arab and non-Arab tribes in the restive province of West Darfur last week.

The tribal violence is unrelated to the anti-coup protests.

Thursday's demonstrations followed the military's signing of a power-sharing deal with the prime minister, after he was released from house arrest and reinstated by the generals as head of government.

The agreement came almost a month after the generals orchestrated the coup that deposed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and detained dozens of politicians and activists.

Hamdoks reinstatement was the biggest concession made by the military since its October 25 coup but leaves the countrys transition to democracy mired in crisis.

Sudans key pro-democracy groups and political parties have dismissed the deal as falling short of their demands for a fully civilian rule.

Sudan has been struggling with its transition to a democratic government since the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019, following a mass uprising against three decades of his rule.

Protesters marched Thursday through Khartoum, beating drums and waving Sudanese flags.

Many chanted: The people want to bring down the regime and Woe to the military.

The Sudanese Professionals Association, the group that spearheaded the uprising that culminated in al-Bashir's ouster, had called for the rallies and vowed to carry on with protests until the corrupt military junta is brought down and prosecuted for their crimes."

Similar protests were held elsewhere in Sudan, including in the provinces of Kassala, North Darfur, West Kordofan and Northern Sudan.

Activists circulated videos on social media showing tear gas being fired at protesters.

There was no immediate word of any injuries.

The deal that Hamdok signed with the military on Sunday envisions an independent, technocratic Cabinet to be led by the prime minister until new elections are held.

However, the government would still remain under military oversight though Hamdok claimed he will have the power to appoint ministers.

The agreement has angered Sudans pro-democracy movement, which accuses Hamdok of allowing himself to serve as a fig leaf for continued military rule.

The deal also stipulates that all political detainees arrested following the October 25 coup be released.

So far, several ministers and politicians have been freed.

The number of those still in detention remains unknown.

IMAGE: AP

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China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong on Friday emphasized Beijing's intention to open up the so-called Greater Bay Area to foreign investment.

The office held a day-long event to try to promote overseas business interest in the initiative, which leverages Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong province together.

Liu Guangyuan, the Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China was committed to "inclusive and balanced" globalisation.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the Greater Bay Area initiative was the territory's "best entry point" towards greater integration with China.

Lam also conditions had been met for the border between Hong Kong and mainland China to be reopened in a "graduate and orderly manner".

Hong Kong authorities have been pushing for mainland China to allow quarantine-free travel between them.

The city has one of the strictest quarantine policies in the world, with travelers returning from abroad having to serve up to 21 days of quarantine in government-designated hotels.

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In what is being termed as a headache for the global supply chain, trade vessels in the Chinese waters have been shrinking, owing to deepening geopolitical spat between Beijing and the rest of the world, CNNs Laura He writes in an opinion piece, cited by ANI on Thursday, Nov. 25. Laying down concerns about China's growing isolation with the rest of the West, He says that the disappearance of the Chinese ships, which undoubtedly obstructs the global supply chain and are a victim of the mistrust of the foreign influence, is a huge setback for foreign trade and the global economy.

This significant drop off in the Chinese shipping traffic was first noted towards the end of October, when Beijing enacted its data protection law, which took effect on November 1. The law was designed to protect the personal data of the Chinese and boost data security in China. The Personal Information Protection Law unravelled a comprehensive framework that regulated how Chinese firms -- both inside and outside China, were given the extraterritorial jurisdiction by Xi Jinpings Chinese Communist Party government, including the cross-border transfer of data.

China's Personal Information Protection Law, and missing trade ships data explained

According to CNNs analysts, the data companies are able to track down the foreign ships worldwide owing to a technology termed as Automatic Identification System, or AIS that acts as a transceiver reflecting information related to the vessels in the sea such as  ships position, speed, course and its name via a high-frequency radio to determine the vessels location. If, in case, the vessels sail out of range, this task is accomplished via a satellite that helps exchange such information. That's not happening in the world's second-largest economy, a critical player in global trade, He wrote, referring to the Chinese vessels. Further, she adds, that about 90% of trade ships from China over the last three weeks have disappeared, and there have been no signals recorded from its vessels, according to data from the global shipping data provider VesselsValue.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, told CNN Business that Beijings coastlines constructed in accordance with the rules transcribed in the international treaties have been shut down, ANI reported. It added that all AIS technology has been operating normally but shipping providers were losing access to data. The reason is not yet understood. Chinas State Council Office did not respond to the query about the unexplainable trend about Chinese vessels missing from global waters. Even as Chinas Personal Information Protection Law does not mention the ships, Laura He writes that the Chinese data providers may be blocking the vessel information as a precaution, as explained by AIS Networks team leader Anastassis Touris to CNN. The firm deals in ship tracking information.
Saudi Arabia has announced that it will revoke an entry ban on expats from six countries, including India and Pakistan from December 1. It is to mention that the ban was introduced to mitigate transmission of COVID-19. As per an official directive issued by the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry, fully vaccinated travellers from India, Pakistan, Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt, and Indonesia will be allowed to enter the Kingdom without having to undergo 14 days of institutional quarantine that was deemed mandatory before. However, the expatriates must spend five days in quarantine in Saudi regardless of their vaccination status outside Kingdom borders, the Arab News reported, quoting the MOI statement.

The ban was introduced earlier this year to curb the spread of the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. Saudi Arabia suspended direct flights from Lebanon, the UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Britain, the US, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Japan and Indonesia. Although, diplomats, medical staff, and the families of both the categories were permitted to visit and leave the Kingdom as required.

The travel ban by Saudi Arabia was implemented on March 14, 2020, just two days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The restrictions announced later extended to any traveller who transited through any of the 20 countries in the last 14 days before flying to the Kingdom. Entry to Saudi by land, air and sea resumed on January 3, 2021.

New rules to enter Saudi Arabia

As per the new directives, the travellers to Saudi Arabia can enter without having to undergo 14-days quarantine in a third country, Saudi Gazette reported. A source close to the ministry told the publication that it is of utmost importance that the expatriates adhered to the precautionary measures and preventive protocols undertaken to stem the spread of the virus.

The measures, however, are subject to constant evaluation and subsequent changes based on the advisory of the Kingdom's Health experts. "All the procedures and measures are subject to continuous evaluation by the competent health authorities in the Kingdom, according to the developments in the epidemiological situation globally, Saudi Gazette reported, quoting the source. The MOI statement also emphasised that all inbound travellers must undergo mandatory health checkups to ensure they are free from contamination from the virus before entering Saudi, Arab News reported.

(Image: AP/PIXABAY)
Deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties in Syria, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, claimed that the militants of the Nusra Front terrorist group stocked vessels with toxic substances in order to plan provocations, news agency Sputnik reported on Friday. Also, the Rear Admiral accused Syrian troops of using chemical weapons.

"The Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Warring Parties obtained reports that militants of the Nusra Front terrorist group (Hayat Tahrir Ash-Sham, banned in Russia) have collected vessels with poisonous substances in an underground shelter near the city of Sarmada, Idlib province," Sputnik quoted Kulit as saying.

According to him, the rebels intended to plan incitements in order to blame the Syrian government troops for utilising chemical weapons against civilians. Further, Kulit said this was not the first time when such reports were revealed by the Russian agency. As per him, several records were earlier reported in which members of the terrorist organisation deliver rockets with toxic agents, as well as plan efforts to stage a chemical attack with the help of the White Helmets, reported Sputnik.

Earlier, on November 11, he said the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist group shelled Syrias Idlib de-escalation zone nine times. According to ANI, Kulit informed that out of the nine attacks, five were also recorded in the province of Aleppo. He went on to say that one Syrian serviceman was wounded in machine-gun fire at government troops positions by terrorists in the province of Aleppo.

Jabhat al-Nusra's crackdown in Syria

Last month, the Syrian fighters bombed Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist positions in Idlib, according to Mehr news agency. Syrian officials reportedly stated that Syrian army fighter jets heavily targeted Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist positions in southern Idlib. In these attacks, weapons depots of Jabhat al-Nusra were targeted. Russian military fighter jets also targeted Jabhat al-Nusra positions.

The terrorists of Jabhat al-Nusra suffered a lot of losses in the attacks, according to the report. It is to mention that the Russian Defence Ministrys Center for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides and Control over the Management of Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic was established in February 2016. Its task includes the signing of agreements on illegal armed groups and individual settlements joining the regime of cessation of hostilities. It also coordinates the delivery of humanitarian aid.

(Image: AP)
In a major revelation, a Bulgarian official said that the recent bus fire accident was a "human error" and denied the involvement of any terror outfit in the deadly accident. Citing deputy chief prosecutor and head of Bulgaria national investigation service, Borislav Sarafov, the Associated Press said the accident killed at least 44 people, including 12 children on Tuesday. He noted that a total of 52 passengers were travelling in the bus, mostly nationals of North Macedonia, but all were not lucky enough to save themselves from the inevitable mishap. As per the report, one of four who was killed in the accident was returning from a trip to Istanbul.

Further, he revealed that the bus caught fire after it hit a highway guardrail in western Bulgaria, caught fire and was reduced to a charred shell. Officials said the passengers were trapped as both exits were blocked.

Speaking at a press conference in Bulgarias national capital, Sarafov said that for the time being 'the leading version (of events) is human error.' "The guard rail on the motorway where the accident happened is dangerous and is among the main causes for the crash, he said. He added that investigators are examining whether the poor organization of highway traffic such as lane marking, lack of proper signs and reflectors could have contributed to the crash," said the head of Bulgaria national investigation service.

Bus crash was deadliest in history of country: Bulgarian official

According to Borislav Sarafov, the driver tried his best to stop the bus but accidentally hit the guard rail. Citing the reason behind the accident, lead investigator Marian Marinov said it was "dark and raining".

"Witnesses have said that immediately after the first hit fire broke out and the bus was quickly filled with smoke. No one could exit from the front door because of the strong fire there. All gathered in front of the second door in the middle of the bus, but it was blocked by the guard rail," he said. Marinov said that the bus crash was one of the deadliest incidents in the history of Bulgaria and added victims were identified after collecting the DNA samples.

Further, he maintained that the victims died of suffocation from fire smoke and not from the impact of the crash. While speaking in front of the prosecutor, one of the survivors who broke the window and managed to save his life said among the travellers, eight of them successfully escaped the accident. Meanwhile, the authorities took the accident very seriously and revoked the license for the travel company that organized the trip, Bulgaria national investigator told during the press conference. Also, the government suspended two customs officers as they allowed the bus to pass the border without a vehicle license.

(With inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)
Canada on Thursday became the worlds first country to grant full approval for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for adults 18 years. Health Canada gave full approval to the pharmaceutical companys single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first nation worldwide to fully authorize the jab. The Canadian body cited initial data from a clinical study that shows J&J is 85% effective in preventing severe COVID-19 infection.

This decision was based on scientific evidence, including initial data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study," J&J informed in a press statement, Thursday. The study conducted by the J&J was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in individuals 18 years of age and older to evaluate the safety and efficacy of J&J's vaccine candidate in protecting against both moderate and severe COVID-19 disease.

"Today marks the first major regulatory approval for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and an important moment to recognize the dedication of everyone involved in our COVID-19 vaccine development, our partners, the regulators and clinical study participants," Johnson & Johnson's vice chairman of the executive committee and chief scientific officer Paul Stoffels, M.D. said in a statement.

India's COVAXIN approved by Canada, travellers can enter from Nov. 30

Canada has reported close to 2,563 infections on average each day, and has administered 60,101,058 doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far, CTV reported. Health Canada authorised Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 and booster dose for all adults aged 18 years. In a key development, travellers who have been vaccinated with India's Bharat Biotech Covaxin have been given a green signal to enter Canada from November 30. The Canadian government announced that they will now accept travellers vaccinated with three additional COVID-19 vaccines approved for use by the World Health Organization (WHO). Travellers fully vaccinated with Sinovac and Sinopharm will also be allowed by the Canadian authorities to travel to Canada from November 30.
International Criminal Court appeals judges have cut by two years the sentence of an Islamic radical who pleaded guilty to overseeing the destruction of historic mausoleums in the Malian desert city of Timbuktu, the court announced Thursday.

Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi, a former teacher, was sentenced to nine years in 2016 for the war crime of intentionally attacking buildings of a religious and historical character. He pleaded guilty and expressed remorse for his role in the destruction of nine mausoleums and a mosque door by pickax-wielding rebels in June and July of 2012.

He is now set to complete his sentence on Sept. 18, 2022.

In a heavily redacted decision, the panel of judges cited as a reason for cutting his sentence Al Mahdi's continued cooperation with prosecutors at the court after his conviction.

Mali had opposed any reduction, arguing that the people of Mali as a whole and the people of Timbuktu have not fully healed from the wounds caused by the misdeeds he committed, according to court papers.

Al Mahdi's conviction was the first at the global court for destruction of religious buildings or historic monuments, and the first guilty verdict delivered against a Muslim extremist.

Al-Qaida-linked rebels occupied the fabled Saharan city of Timbuktu in 2012 and enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law under which they destroyed the historic mud-brick tombs they considered idolatrous. Al Mahdi was leader of one of the morality brigades set up by Timbuktus new rulers.

ICC prosecutors said Al Mahdi was a member of Ansar Eddine, an Islamic extremist group with links to al-Qaida that held power in northern Mali in 2012. The militants were driven out after nearly a year by French forces, which arrested Al Mahdi in 2014 in neighboring Niger.

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26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack: Netizens Pay Tribute To Martyrs On 13th Anniversary

It has been 13 years since the deadly 26/11 Mumbai terror attack that shook the conscience of the entire nation and left scars and painful reminders of the day. On the same day years back, India's financial capital, Mumbai witnessed major terrorist attacks on some famous places across the city which resulted in the death of several innocent people along with brave officers who sacrificed their lives to protect the people.

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New COVID-19 Heavily Mutated Variant B.1.1.529 Emerges In South Africa; Raises Concern

A new heavily mutated variant of the novel COVID-19 has been detected in South Africa which has turned a major "cause for concern for the virologists. The B.1.1.529 variant being described as the "awful spike mutation profile has now been found in several confirmed cases of the coronavirus in South Africa where the Beta variant was detected. This new dangerous variant has an "extremely high" number of mutations and scientists are now skeptical about how effective the vaccines will be against it, according to several reports. It has been found that the highly contagious variant B.1.1.529 is at the moment confined to just one province in South Africa, however, the UK on Thursday was quick to place South Africa on the red travel list.

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Owaisi Scoffs At 'B-team' Allegations From SP, BJP, Congress: 'Decide Whose Agent I Am'

Scoffing at the various 'B-team' allegations, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday, urged all political parties to decide whose agent he was. Addressing a rally in Jaunpur, Owaisi pointed out that as all parties were accusing him of being someone's B-team, he was a Laila with multiple Majnus. Owaisi has announced that AIMIM will contest on 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh polls.

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Rakesh Tikait Calls Owaisi An 'unbridled Bull'; Urges Hyderabad Citizens To Keep Him Tied

Lashing out at AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday, BKU leader Rakesh Tikait urged Hyderabad citizens to control their 'raging bull', while addressing a farmers' meeting in Hyderabad. Alleging that Owaisi was only helping BJP, he told that he must be restricted to Hyderabad and Telangana. Owaisi has announced that AIMIM will contest on 100 seats in Uttar Pradesh polls.

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Congress' Meghalaya In-charge On Defections: 'Personal Ambitions Trumped Party Ideology'

Breaking his silence on the defection of 12 Congress MLAs to TMC, AICC Meghalaya in-charge Manish Chatrath claimed that these leaders had valued personal ambition over party ideology. Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Congress leader revealed that he had rushed to Shillong after being apprised of this development. Stressing the need to strengthen the party in the constituencies of the aforesaid legislators, he exuded confidence in the party's preparations for the next Assembly election in 2023.

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Narayan Rane Sets March Deadline For MVA Govt To Fall; Refuses To Talk On Unwell Thackeray

Setting yet another deadline for the 'fall' of the Maharashtra govt, Union Minister Narayan Rane on Thursday, claimed that the coalition will fall by March 2022. Stating that some things are meant to be kept secret, he claimed that he will not talk more about it as CM Uddhav Thackeray was unwell. The 61-year-old Shiv Sena Supremo recently underwent minor surgery for his spine and is recuperating at home.

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COVID-19: MEA Says 15 More Countries Recognise India's Vaccination Certificate

At least 15 more countries have recognised India's COVID-19 vaccination certificate, as the Union government continues to push the efforts for the world beneficiaries to recognise its inoculation campaign. In a Twitter post on Nov. 25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that along with the 110 countries that have agreed to mutual recognition of vaccination certificates, nearly 15 more nations have officially recognised Indias vaccine certificates, which would now make travel for the fully vaccinated people with Covishield or Covaxin easier.

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Param Bir Singh Seeks Cancellation Of 'proclaimed Offender' Status After Joining Probe

In a big development, Param Bir Singh has sought the cancellation of the November 17 court order declaring him a 'proclaimed offender' in connection with an extortion case. On November 17, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate SB Bhajipale had passed this order against him, Vinay Singh and Riyaz Bhati on the FIR registered at the Goregaon Police Station on builder-cum-hotelier Bimal Agrawal. Basically, he alleged that the accused persons extorted Rs.9 lakh from him for not conducting a raid on two bars and restaurants and forced him to buy two smartphones worth around Rs.2.92 lakh for them.

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UK Concerned Over New COVID Strain With 30 Mutations Adds 6 African Countries To Red List

The United Kingdom has announced a temporary ban on flights from six African countries after a new COVID strain was detected with more than 30 mutations. The six African countries - South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini - will be been moved to the red list on Friday, with air travel temporarily suspended to prevent the virus from spreading, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Tuesday. The development comes as Variant B.1.1.t29 was declared "the worst one we've seen so far" by an expert at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), as per BBC.

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Jaishankar's Veiled Dig At Pak: Bringing Bilateral Issues Into SCO In Violation Of Norms

External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar onn Thursday, 25 November, took a veiled dig at Pakistan for making repeated attempts to "deliberately" bring bilateral issues into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The EAM mentioned that such attempts violate the well-established norms of the SCO Charter, adding that it was "unfortunate" to see such "counterproductive" acts, which must be condemned. Speaking at the 20th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government yesterday, Jaishankar highlighted that India considers the SCO as an important regional group to promote cooperation in various fields based on universally recognised international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency and equality, as per a statement issued by the MEA.

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Turkmenistans autocratic president has put his only son in charge of the Central Asian nation's energy sector, further expanding his clout in a move seen as laying the foundations for a political dynasty.

Speaking at a meeting with officials, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told his son, Serdar, whom he previously appointed deputy prime minister in charge of economic and financial issues, to also oversee the energy complex, the government daily Neutral Turkmenistan reported Thursday.

Berdymukhamedov, 64, presides over the government and doesnt have a prime minister, meaning that his 40-year-old son answers directly to him.

The presidents son, who had previously served as a regional governor, a Cabinet minister and held other senior positions, is widely viewed as being groomed to succeed his father, who has established a pervasive cult of personality since becoming Turkmenistans leader in 2006.

Turkmenistans economy is overwhelmingly dependent on exports of its vast natural gas reserves.

China is the main export market for Turkmen gas, and the country ships smaller amounts to Russia. The Central Asian nation also has been working to build a pipeline that would pump gas to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Berdymukhamedov instructed his son to intensify efforts to sign more gas export contracts.

IMAGE: AP

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A Vietnamese worker has lost her life after receiving China's Vero Cell COVID-19 vaccine shot in Thanh Hoa. It comes just two days after it was reported that in Thanh Hoa two people died after receiving the same vaccine, on 24 November. As per the reports of Vietnamese publication VnExpress, a 30-year-old lady was among a large group of workers at the Kim Viet Shoe Company in Nong Cong District who received the Vero Cell vaccine on Tuesday.

Following their inoculations, many women reported side effects, five of whom were serious enough to be classified as cases of anaphylactic shock, according to the VnExpress. Those five were transported to nearby hospitals, but three of them died on Wednesday. The central province's Department of Health declared the death of two people on Wednesday, 24 November, while the Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control revealed the death of the third person on Thursday.

Thanh Hoa General Hospital treating nine people with side effects

Nong Cong District authorities stated that the majority of those who experienced side effects as a result of the shots were between the ages of 25 and 30, according to the Phnom Penh Post. The Thanh Hoa General Hospital is still treating nine people with negative effects. People were vaccinated with the Vero Cell vaccine in Nong Cong District and other Thanh Hoa locales on Tuesday.

The provincial Department of Health has ordered health specialists to investigate the cause and report back to the Ministry of Health for more information. Manufactured by China's Sinopharm, the Vero Cell vaccine was licenced in Vietnam for emergency use in June.

11.7 lakh COVID-19 infections have been documented in Vietnam

Vietnam reported 12,450 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. They were spread over 59 cities and provinces. To date, 11.7 lakh COVID-19 infections have been documented in Vietnam. On Thursday, 5,627 COVID-19 patients recovered completely, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients who have entirely recovered to 942,888 in Vietnam. COVID-19 deaths have increased by 164. Vietnam has given out 114.7 million COVID-19 vaccination shots so far. In total, 39 of the 63 cities and provinces have fully vaccinated 50% of their citizens over the age of 18.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI
The UKs health authorities have confirmed that a new and most significant variant of COVID-19 is officially under investigation in the country as the government on Friday added six countries to its travel ban red list from southern Africa, where B.1.1.529 strain was first identified.

The latest variant is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far. First identified in South Africa at the start of this week, the strain has already spread to neighbouring countries, including Botswana, where it has been reportedly detected in fully vaccinated people.

The UK has applied travel restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia starting Friday, as the government reiterated that no cases of the new mutation had been detected in the UK so far.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the variant includes a large number of spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other parts of the viral genome which could potentially be more transmissible and evasive to vaccine immunity.

This is the most significant variant we have encountered to date and urgent research is underway to learn more about its transmissibility, severity and vaccine-susceptibility, said Dr Jenny Harries, UKHSA Chief Executive.

The results of these investigations will determine what public health actions may limit the impact of B.1.1.529. This is a clear reminder to everyone that this pandemic is not over, and we all have a responsibility to do what we can to limit transmission and reduce the infection rate and prevent the emergence of new variants, she said.

The UKHSA said B.1.1.529 has potentially biologically significant mutations which may change the behaviour of the virus with regards to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility, and therefore more investigation is required.

As part of our close surveillance of variants across the world, we have become aware of the spread of a new potentially concerning variant, which UKHSA has designated a variant under investigation, said UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

We are taking precautionary action to protect public health and the progress of our vaccine rollout at a critical moment as we enter winter, and we are monitoring the situation closely, he said, adding that some experts fear it may turn out to be more highly transmissible than the Delta variant  currently the predominant COVID variant in the UK.

The new variant is believed to have as many as 50 spike mutations. Spike proteins are what viruses use to get into human cells, and some vaccines work by training the body to recognise the spikes and neutralise them. Mutations on the spike in a virus could therefore prove problematic in containing its spread.

From midday on Friday, non-UK and Irish residents who have been in the six African countries in the previous 10 days will be refused entry into England. A temporary ban on commercial and private planes travelling from the six countries will also come into force at midday on Friday until Sunday to reduce the risk of importing the new variant under investigation while hotel quarantine is stood up.

Were taking this early precautionary action now to protect the progress made across the country, and will continue to keep a close eye on the situation as we continue into the winter, said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

The European Union (EU) has also followed suit with similar action and European countries also put their action plans in place against the new variant.

The EU Commission will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, tweeted on Friday.

The first genomes of the new variant were uploaded to the GISAID, a global science database, on November 22. Genomes have now been uploaded from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong  with a total of 59 cases reported  but the extent of spread is not yet determined.

Meanwhile, Israel reported its first case of the new COVID-19 variant in a vaccinated traveller who returned from Malawi, the Associated Press reported.

The traveller and two other suspected cases have been placed in isolation.

In South Africa, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said "there has been more of an exponential rise" in cases over the last four or five days. Until recently, the country had been reporting about 200 confirmed cases per day  but this has rapidly increased over the past week, hitting 2,465 cases on Thursday.

World Health Organisation (WHO) experts are meeting on Friday to assess the variant, which has been classed a variant under monitoring earlier this week. If it is upgraded to a variant of concern, it could be given a name from the Greek alphabet, following Alpha and Delta strains.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
On Thursday, the UK defence ministry announced that the United Kingdom is committed to increasing its military presence around the world under the Future Soldier plan. The modernization plan of the Future Soldier stated that more Army personnel will be deployed more frequently around the world. The increased advanced deployment will strengthen the ability to predict crisis.

It will prevent conflict by assuring allies and partners while deterring adversaries. During the next ten years, the UK defence ministry plans to invest an additional 8.6 billion pounds in military equipment. For the same time span, this brings the total investment to 41.3 billion pounds.

The British Army would have over 100,000 personnel by 2025

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stated that Future Soldier strengthens the goal outlined in the Defence Command Paper of transforming the Army into a more flexible, cohesive, lethal, expeditionary force. He further stated that they have backed up this generational effort with a further 8.6 billion in Army equipment, bringing the total investment to 41.3 billion. According to predictions from the Ministry of Defence, the British Army would have over 100,000 personnel by 2025, with 73,000 regular soldiers and 30,000 reservists.

A new Ranger Regiment, which will go into operation on December 1, 2021, is one of the most significant improvements. The regiment will regularly deploy alongside partner troops throughout the world to counter extremist organisations and hostile state threats as part of the Army Special Operations Brigade. Wallace also said that their Army will operate around the world and will be able to tackle a variety of threats ranging from cyber warfare to battlefield conflict.

The Conservatives promised to return 20,000 British troops to the UK from Germany by 2020

On the other hand, Under the 1.8 billion Army Basing initiative, the Conservatives promised to return all 20,000 British troops to the UK from Germany by 2020. But, due to rising Russian tensions, it was shelved, according to Mirror. However, tanks, fighting vehicles, and other equipment will be returned to the country. Since the end of World War II, British troops have been stationed in Germany. During the Cold War, troop numbers were increased, but once the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, signalling the end of the standoff with Moscow, troop levels were reduced.

(Inputs from ANI)

Image: AP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accepted the invitation of US President Joe Biden to participate virtually at the 'Summit for Democracies,' on December 9 & 10, where the leaders from across 110 countries will be marking their presence, including many of USAs western allies.

PM Modi accepts Biden's invitation

The meeting will primarily address challenges of democratic decline. Leaders will also address how to safeguard freedom and rights. The meeting will take place just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi on December 6.

"The virtual Summit, to take place on December 9 and 10, will galvanise commitments and initiatives across three principal themes: defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights," said the statement issued by the White House.

The Biden administration has come under fire for the list of countries it has selected for the summit. The administration's pick of nations is becoming a source of contention, with many people wondering why some countries were left out while others were included.

Iraq and Taiwan were both invited to the Summit by US President Joe Biden, which is a source of conflict for China, which does not recognise Taiwan as an independent entity. Moreover, China has not received an invitation from US.

Turkey, like America, is a NATO member, however, it is not on the list of participants. Israel and Iraq are set to participate in the online conference, which will take place on December 9-10.

According to the State Department's website, traditional US Arab allies Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are not invited. Although Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has been attacked for his authoritarian tendency and was a staunch backer of Donald Trump, Biden has invited him.

Despite ongoing tensions with the European Union over its human rights record, Poland was invited to the summit. Hungary, led by Viktor Orban, a staunch nationalist, was not invited. Some African countries on the list are the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, and Niger.

With Agencies Inputs

Image: PTI
The US on Wednesday, Nov. 24 blacklisted twenty-seven foreign entities and individuals including from China and Pakistan, adding them to the Military End-User (MEU) list for engaging in activities that are a threat to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. Sixteen entities and individuals operating in China and Pakistan were blacklisted based on their contributions to Pakistans unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program. It is to mention that one entity based in Russia was also banned.

The US highlighted the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and banned at least 8 trade entities referencing to their efforts in developing the Chinese military's quantum computing that can decode the US governments communications and make the US military's jets and submarines vulnerable to attacks.

The Commerce Department barred the US firms from exporting quantum computing technology to the Chinese to avert the decryption of sensitive information. Quantum computing technology can crack conventional encryption and the US has been leading a program to develop post-quantum cryptography to safeguard the sensitive communications from being intercepted.

Global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement released by US commerce department on Nov. 24. Todays actions will help prevent the diversion of US technologies to the PRCs and Russias military advancement and activities of non-proliferation concern like Pakistans unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program, she continued.

Furthermore, Raimondo stressed that US Department of Commerce is committed to effectively using export controls to protect our national security.

Attempt to acquire US origin items that support military application

Eight entities based in the PRC are being added to the list as part of the Department of Commerces efforts to prevent United States emerging technologies from being used by China, the department noted, also announcing a ban on some foreign entities based in Japan, and Singapore. Such emerging quantum military computing technology that supports counter-stealth and counter-submarine applications, ability to break encryption or develop unbreakable encryption poses grave threat on the national security, the US Department of Commerce warned.

PRC-based technology entities support the military modernization of the Peoples Liberation Army and attempt to acquire US origin-items in support of military applications, it asserted.

The US ban will restrict exports to PRC producers of electronics that support the Peoples Liberation Armys military modernization efforts. An affiliate of Conrad Technology Limited, a Chinese entity added to the Entity List in 2019, was banned as it has been allegedly involved in sales of technology from the US and other Western nations to Irans military and space programs, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Chinas PRC government and defense industry. US' BIS also added Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology to the MEU list. The move will now make it impossible for US companies to sell technologies to the listed companies in China, Pakistan, Russia majorly among other countries.
The ASEM virtual summit presses the junta to accept an ASEAN envoy as it pledged in April.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R on screen) speaking as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (L on screen) and government officials listen at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) via video conference in Phnom Penh, Nov. 25, 2021.

Leaders from some 50 Asian and European countries called on Myanmar Friday to return to the democratic transition that was halted by a military coup, release arbitrarily detained prisoners, and accept a Southeast Asian envoy to mediate the 10-month-old political crisis.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations member Myanmar did not attend the two-day virtual Asia-Europe Meeting -- the third time the ASEAN had sidelined junta leader Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing over the violence and repression in the wake of the Feb. 1 overthrow of the countrys elected government.

Leaders expressed deep concerns on the situation in Myanmar and affirmed their strong support for ASEANs efforts to de-escalate the crisis, the group said in a statement after the meeting, hosted by Cambodia, the 2022 ASEAN chair.

They called on all parties concerned in Myanmar to engage in peaceful dialogue, immediately cease violence in Myanmar and exercise utmost restraint; and called Myanmar for the early release of all those arbitrarily detained, including foreigners, and return to the path of democratic transition, national reconciliation and sustainable development, said the statement.

The sticking point  which also kept Myanmar out of an ASEAN-China special summit this week and the ten-member blocs leaders meeting in Brunei last month -- was the military regimes failure to honor a pledge made last April to allow an ASEAN special envoy to meet deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and lawmakers ousted in Februarys coup.

Fridays statement said the ASEM leaders urged Myanmar to facilitate the visit of the ASEAN Special Envoy to meet all parties concerned.

Asked about the sub of Min Aung Hlaing by ASEAN, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, the junta spokesman told RFA: Our stand is clear that if the one who truly and rightfully represents the nation is not allowed to attend, we wont attend it,

If there were objections regarding the one who represents the nation, or he were not allow to attend, or it treats us with downgraded status, we have no reason to attend, he added.

The civilian death toll since the military takeover is nearly 1,300 while more than 7,000 people remained detained, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Hundreds of thousands are internally displaced in the country of 54 million people, amid food shortages and the coronavirus pandemic.

Myanmar military junta leader Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing attends the IX Moscow conference on International Security in Moscow, June 23, 2021. Credit: AFP South China Sea

The Asian and European leaders, making the 25th year of the grouping, did not specifically refer to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, but stated a shared commitment to maintaining peace, stability and ensuring maritime security and safety, to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded economic activities at sea.

The summit statement, which did not mention China, urged nations to act in full compliance with international law, in particular the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in the interest of all.

At a leaders retreat Friday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte brought up the issue of the South China Sea for the second time in a week.

He did not mention China or Beijing by name, but his comments came after he publicly rebuked China at an ASEAN-China meeting on Monday for Chinese coast guard ships firing a water cannon on Filipino supply boats in the South China Sea.

ASEAM leaders renewed commitment to open and inclusive multilateralism and the rule of law as exactly what we need in this time of profound change and uncertainty, Duterte said.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Asia-Pacific. Ours is a region that is full of promise but fraught with potential flashpoints. These include disputes in one of the worlds most important sea lanes of communication, a statement issued by the presidents office quoted him as saying.

There can be no other acceptable basis for a just maritime order but the law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the law of the sea, he said.

ASEAN members Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam  as well as Taiwan  all claim parts of the South China Sea but China cites historical rights to almost 90 percent of the sea despite rejection by international law.

Reported by RFA's Myanmar Service and by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
China's internet regulator has ordered the operators of a major ride-hailing app, Didi Chuxing, to delist from the New York Stock Exchange, in an ongoing government crackdown on the country's technology sector, international media reports said on .



The Cyberspace Administration has ordered Didi Global Inc to devise a plan to delist, out of concerns the company could "leak sensitive data," Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.



The move, which could take the form of a privatization or a second listing in Hong Kong prior to delisting in New York, is non-negotiable if Didi wants to relaunch its apps inside China, the report said.



The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in , a move that was immediately followed by a request from the Cyberspace Administration to take down 25 of its apps from stores inside China, citing national security concerns.



The Reuters report, which came after a similar report from Bloomberg, said this was because Didi had pushed ahead with the listing in spite of "requests" from regulators not to.



The reports about Didi come amid an ongoing crackdown on powerful technology companies by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).



Leftist opinion writer Sima Nan has posted several times to social media in recent days, accusing computer-makers Lenovo Group of "selling off state-owned assets cheap," saying the company's foreign employees make it a national security risk.



Trading in Chinese ride hailing firm Didi Chuxing, which is facing orders to delist from the New York Stock Exchange in an ongoing government crackdown on China's technology sector, in file photo. Credit: Reuters Comprehensive public dissatisfaction

Citing only data in the public domain, Sima said the Chinese Academy of Sciences sold 29 percent of its shares in Lenovo parent Legend Holdings to Oceanwide Holdings for 1.29 billion yuan less than the current market price.



He said 14 of Lenovo's 27 senior executives are foreign nationals, and accused the company of being indebted to the tune of 100 billion yuan and of being insolvent.



Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the nationalistic Global Times tabloid, said Sima's allegations -- made in seven videos posted to social media platforms -- were a reflection of the "comprehensive" public dissatisfaction with Lenovo in recent years.



"Instead of making real efforts to scientific and technological innovation after original accumulation, it gradually withdrew from the front line of national scientific and technological progress, and made fewer contributions to China's core competitiveness," Hu wrote in a commentary on the paper's website.



He said Lenovo's transformation from state-owned enterprise under the Chinese Academy of Sciences to a joint stock company was a product of an earlier "era."



"Lenovo has strived to become the world's largest personal computer vendor by unit sales," Hu said. "The situation was far from dire, but the public is within reason to be disappointed."



He cautioned against a political "movement" against private companies, however.



Guided by the CCP

Current affairs commentator Jin Zhongbing said Sima was highly unlikely to have made his claims without the backing of someone powerful in the CCP hierarchy.



"I think he came forward to do this with the tacit approval of someone higher up," Jin told RFA. "It's a part of [the CCP's program of] public opinion guidance."



Li Guangman, columnist and former editor of the trade publication Central China Electric Power, says the crackdown is part of the "profound revolution" he wrote about in an ideological essay in .



Li, whose essay on Xi Jinping's move away from the pro-market policies of the past four decades propelled him to instant fame in China, has also approved of plans to eradicate "capitalists" from China's news and other media content.



Acciording to the essay, the CCP has launched a "profound revolution" with its crackdown on celebrity culture, billionaires, and the private sector generally, citing Beijing's blocking of Ant Financial's initial public offering (IPO) in New York in late 2020, as well as an ongoing probe into the business operations of Didi Chuxing.



"It represents a return to the original aims of the CCP ... and to the essence of socialism. This revolution will wash all of the dirt away," Li wrote at the time.



The ban on private sector investment in the media would also ensure that there is no way for a "cultural elite" to control public opinion, or for foreign venture capital to gain a foothold in the sector, Li wrote of the media ban.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Pu Wenqing, the mother of jailed rights activist Huang Qi, has appealed to the authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan to allow her a last meeting with her son as she nears the end of her life.



"Lately I have been suffering from dizziness, headache, instability, and pain in my back and lungs," Pu said in a recent video statement.



"[I want to meet with Huang Qi, but] it has been in vain; they are all passing the buck," she said. "All of the people in the petitioning community have distanced themselves from me, and don't basically have anything to do with me any more."



"The people who have come to visit me, the ones who did care, have now been deprived of their freedom," Pu said. "I would like to thank the authorities for sending people to take care of me during the past few days."



Pu has had no news of Huang for more than a year, and could die from lung cancer and heart failure at any time, rights activist Wang Jing told RFA on .



"Pu Wenqing is now in the advanced stages of lung cancer," Wang said. "Breathing is very painful ... she has taken painkillers, but she is still in pain."



Wang said Pu last had contact with the outside world on Nov. 5, 2021.



"Pu Wenqing has always wanted to meet with Huang Qi, but this has never been allowed," Wang said. "Bazhong Prison has made it very difficult for her, and she hasn't been allowed a meeting with him yet."



12-year sentence

Retired Guizhou University professor Huang Chun said via WeChat that she was the one who spoke with Pu on Nov. 5, adding that Pu's chief concern is that she will never see Huang again.



A court in the southwestern province of Sichuan handed down a 12-year jail term to Huang, a veteran rights activist and founder of the Tianwang rights website, on , 2019.



Huang was sentenced by the Mianyang Intermediate People's Court to 12 years' imprisonment, after it found him guilty of "leaking state secrets overseas."



Huang's lawyers and Pu have said all along that the case against Huang was a miscarriage of justice, even allowing for the traditionally harsh treatment of dissidents in China.



Huang, 57, has been identified by Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as one of 10 citizen journalists in danger of dying in detention.



He has repeatedly denied the charges made against him and has refused to "confess."



Huang's Tianwang website had a strong track record of highlighting petitions and complaints against official wrongdoing, and injustices meted out to the most vulnerable in society, including forced evictees, parents of children who died in the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and other peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.



Until her illness progressed, Pu had been a vocal campaigner for Huang's release on urgent medical grounds, and says the charges against him are politically motivated, with no evidence to back them up.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The international policing agency Interpol has elected a top Chinese public security official to its executive committee in the face of widespread criticism from international parliamentarians and rights groups.



Interpol elected top ministry of public security official Hu Binchen serve for a four-year term on the committee, although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been known to abuse the Interpol "red notice" arrest warrant system to track down peaceful critics of the regime far beyond China's borders, something that is forbidden under Interpol's charter.



The move came despite an open letter from 50 members of the International Inter-Parliamentary Coalition on China Policy (IPAC) warning that countries that abuse the Interpol system shouldn't be given prominent leadership roles in the agency.



Citing the cases of Uyghur activists Dolkun Isa, who was subject to a Chinese Red notice for almost 20 years before it was deleted in 2018, and Idris Hasan, who now faces extradition to China after being arrested in Morocco in July, on the basis of a now-deleted Chinese Red Notice, the lawmakers highlighted "long-standing concerns about China using leadership positions to gain influence in the organization, which in the past has damaged its reputation and reportedly threatened its political neutrality."



"The candidacy of Hu Binchen is particularly worrying, as he has been known as the right-hand man of Meng Hongwei during his Presidency," the lawmakers said in a letter to Interpol before the election.



Meng "disappeared" in 2018 while in post as Interpol president, only to turn up in CCP disciplinary detention. He is currently serving a 13-and-a-half-year jail term after pleading guilty to "bribery."



"Hu Binchens candidacy and persona is exemplary of Chinas attempts to abuse multilateral institutions for its own repressive interests," the letter from the 50 IPAC members said.



The Safeguard Defenders rights group said Hu is particularly ill-suited to work at Interpol due to his previous role as international liaison for China's vast network of electronic surveillance systems, known domestically as Skynet and as Fox Hunt in its international form.



"Via Fox Hunt, the ministry of public security is engaged in chasing alleged fugitives outside of China ... and in illegal field operations in other countries, where ... teams are sent to intimidate and harass ethnic Chinese to force them to return to China "voluntarily", and is also known to engage directly in kidnapping operations outside of China," the group said.



"Voluntary" returns are also secured by targeting the target's family back in China, it said.



Since its launch in 2014, Fox Hunt claims to have forced 9,000 people to return to face criminal charges in China, of whom only a few hundred used the formal extradition system, it said.



Faced with mounting criticism of its use of Red Notices, China has stopped making its Red Notice requests public.



It warned that China is also increasingly using its own and the Hong Kong national security law as a basis to issue warrants.



"In , an official stated that being in favour of Taiwan independence constitutes a crime, and that its culprits, including those living outside [China], will be criminally liable for life in the People's Republic of China," Safeguard Defenders said in a Nov. 15 report on China's use of Interpol.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
The day after Kyrgyzstan conducted parliamentary elections on October 5, 2020, crowds poured into the streets and squares of the capital, Bishkek.

They protested corruption in the vote that produced a parliament dominated by government supporters.

But many also protested the system that failed to act against the abuses that were obvious during the campaign and on election day.

What many wanted -- particularly younger people -- on that day was something new, a clear departure from the same people carrying out politics as usual in Kyrgyzstan.

One Year Later

The elections on November 28 will be a rerun of the failed 2020 parliamentary elections, which were annulled by the Central Election Commission (BShK) on October 6.

By that time the government had already fallen and shortly thereafter, on October 15, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov resigned.

With the mandate of the parliamentary deputies due to expire on October 28, the BShK on October 17 proposed new parliamentary elections be conducted on December 20, 2020.

Instead, there have been elections in 2021 for president, local elections, a vote on whether to have a referendum to change the system of government (which was approved), and then the actual referendum on changing the constitution and taking Kyrgyzstan from a presidential-parliamentary to a purely presidential form of government.

And now Kyrgyzstan is finally going to vote for new deputies to replace the deputies who have stayed in parliament for more than a year after their terms officially expired and who approved many significant and sometimes controversial changes during that year.

What Is Parliament Now?

The adoption of a new constitution this year changed the structure and powers of parliament.

The number of seats in parliament will be reduced from the current 120 to 90, and in the upcoming elections 54 of those seats will be elected by party lists and 36 in single-mandate districts.

A "kuriltai," or people's council, was given official status and powers parallel to the parliament. This body can, for example, propose legislation.

The president has been given sweeping powers and can, among other things, appoint cabinet members, appoint or dismiss the prosecutor-general and judges, initiate laws and referendums, and strip parliamentary deputies of their immunity.

But parliament does remain a forum for politicians with an eye looking toward the future to maintain their public exposure.

There have been three revolutions in Kyrgyzstan since 2005 and the fortunes of Kyrgyzstan's leading political figures have changed many times.

Current President Sadyr Japarov is a perfect example. He was a deputy from 2007 to 2010, winning a seat as a candidate from the pro-presidential party Ak Jol, and was also a top official in the anti-corruption agency at that time.

Then-President Kurmanbek Bakiev was overthrown in April 2010, during Kyrgyzstan's second revolution.

Japarov was elected as deputy again in 2010 when he ran as a candidate from the Ata-Jurt party, but then he was arrested as he tried to storm the parliament building in October 2012. He was later tried and convicted of attempting to overthrow the government.

Japarov was released after a few months, but shortly later was accused of involvement in the attempted kidnapping of an official in the northeastern Issyk-Kul Province.

Japarov fled Kyrgyzstan, finally returning in 2017, whereupon he was arrested, tried, and convicted of attempted kidnapping and sentenced to 11 1/2 years in prison.

And he was in a jail cell when the unrest started after the October 2020 parliamentary elections. Released from prison during the chaos of the uprising last year, Japarov was later elected president. He has now been in charge of the country since he accepted Jeenbekov's resignation.

The lesson of Japarov is nothing new in Kyrgyzstan. Other politicians have gone from parliament to prison to top positions in the government -- not necessarily always in that order -- as the case of former President Almazbek Atambaev shows.

Parliamentary elections are also important because there are always some deputies who use their positions to criticize government decisions.

And despite the president's new ability to strip lawmakers of their immunity, there will most likely still be some deputies who will publicly challenge some of Japarov's moves, and this gives voice to at least some public grievances and serves to check presidential authority.

Much Seems Too Familiar

In the 2020 parliamentary elections there were 16 parties competing. In these elections, there will be 21 parties competing, eight of which took part in the 2020 elections.

The Birimdik and Mekenim Kyrgyzstan parties, which won 46 and 45 seats, respectively, in the 2020 elections, will not be on the ballot this time.

The other pro-government party, the Kyrgyzstan party, won 16 seats in the last parliamentary elections and is on the ballot again, teaming up with the Ata-Jurt party.

Ata-Jurt was once headed by Kamchybek Tashiev, currently the chief of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK) and a longtime friend of Japarov. Ata-Jurt won the most seats in the 2010 elections (28) and the second-most seats (28) in the 2015 elections when it joined forces with the Respublika party.

Ata-Jurt did not participate in the 2020 elections, but some of its members joined other parties to run in those elections. Former members of Birimdik and Mekenim Kyrgyzstan have done the same for the upcoming elections.

Also running as a candidate from the Ata-Jurt Kyrgyzstan party is Bakyt Torobaev, who is still the leader of the Onuguu-Progress party, formed in 2012, which is not taking part in the upcoming elections.

For those who last year were calling for lustration, the names of many candidates trying to win seats in the next elections must look frustratingly familiar.

Former speaker of parliament and Ata-Meken leader Omurbek Tekebaev is running for a seat again, as is the former head of the Communist Party, Iskhak Masaliev, who ran as a candidate from Onuguu-Progress in 2015 and is running as a Butun Kyrgyzstan party candidate this time.

Butun Kyrgyzstan was the only opposition party to win seats in the 2020 elections and its leader, three-time presidential candidate Adakhan Madumarov, is running.

Another former speaker of parliament and onetime member of the Ata-Jurt party, Akhmatbek Keldibekov, is running as a candidate from the Azattyk party.

Current lawmaker Iskender Matraimov, brother of suspected underworld figure Raimbek Matraimov, is running in voting district No. 9 in the southern Kara-Suu district for a seat once held by his brother Tilek.

The list of retread politicians goes on and on.

It should also be noted that young politician Janarbek Akaev, 34, is a candidate in the Alyans party, which joins together the Bir Bol, Liberal Democratic Party, and Fair Kyrgyzstan parties. And entrepreneur Tilek Toktogaziev, 30, is a candidate in the Ata-Meken party. They are a few of the handful of candidates in their 30s who are participating.

For the many women who were hoping the ousting of the government in October 2020 would lead to more equal representation in a future government, the upcoming elections do not look promising.

Current legislation stipulates that at least 30 percent of the deputies must be women. But in practice that has not been the case.

The Bishkek Feminists group wrote in October 2020 that since roughly half the population is women, half the seats in parliament should go to women. That seems unlikely to happen in the upcoming elections, as only 377 of the 1,046 candidates competing are women.

When the revolution of October 2020 was hijacked by Japarov's supporters, the hopes of many young protesters -- and many women -- who were on the streets on October 5 and the days that followed were pushed aside.

These upcoming elections seem unable to do anything to fulfill the demands of a year ago. And that is dangerous, especially when the Japarov government is treading water at best, as there is little that could be called improvement in Kyrgyzstan since Japarov came to power.

Yet there are many signs of strain: from the struggling economy to the decrepit health-care system during the pandemic and security concerns along the border with Tajikistan and from Afghanistan.

Despite all of that, Japarov reportedly remains popular.
A journalist who has worked for RFE/RL as a freelancer has been detained in Minsk, his wife said, amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media by the regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Andrey Kuznechyk went out for a bike ride on November 25, before returning shortly accompanied by four men garbed in civilian dress, Alesya Rak told RFE/RL.

The four, who did not present any identification, then searched their apartment, Rak said, only avoiding the rooms of their two young children.

"They took all the electronic equipment and Andrey's phone; my mobile phone, my tablet, and money," she added.

Kuznechyk was then led away by the group of four, who did not give any reason for his detention.

"Andrey was ordered to get dressed and to go with them. He was not allowed to take anything with him, only a spare pair of pants. They said that they were taking him away for a short while, for a couple of days," Kuznechyk's wife said.

Crisis In Belarus Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka ramps up pressure on NGOs and independent media as part of a brutal crackdown against protesters and the opposition following an August 2020 election widely considered fraudulent.

Protests erupted in Belarus last year after Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the winner of a presidential election that opponents and the West say was rigged.

The West has refused to recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate leader of Belarus. The Belarusian strongman is now reliant more than ever on Russia, which analysts say is using his weakened position to strengthen its hold over its smaller neighbor.

Tens of thousands of people were detained and human rights activists say more than 800 people are now in jail as political prisoners.

Independent media and opposition social media channels have been targeted as well.

"The regime of Alyaksandr Lukashenka continues its effort to crush all independent media in Belarus," RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said of Kuznechyk's detention.

"Andrey was kidnapped by agents of the regime for nothing more than being a journalist. The regime also targeted one of our social media accounts, attempting to cut off more channels of information for the Belarusian people. Andrey should be released immediately and allowed to return to his wife and young children. He has committed no crime."

The website of RFE/RL's Belarus Service has been blocked within Belarus since August 21, 2020, weeks after the disputed August 3 presidential election.

The accreditation of all locally based journalists working for foreign media, including RFE/RL, were annulled by the Belarusian authorities in October 2020.

Ihar Losik, a popular blogger and RFE/RL consultant, was detained on June 25, 2020, and accused of using his popular Telegram channel to "prepare to disrupt public order."

Losik is now on trial in a closed-door hearing.

Six months after the arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich, charges of "extremism" are increasingly being used against Belarusian independent media, Reporters Without Borders said on November 23.

Pratasevich and his Russian girlfriend, Sofia Sapega, were detained in May when Belarus scrambled a military jet to escort their Athens-to-Vilnius flight to land in Minsk because of a bomb threat that proved to be false.

Many countries called Belarus's actions a "state hijacking."

A day after his arrest on May 23, Pratasevich appeared with his face swollen in a video broadcast by Belarusian TV, admitting to his involvement in organizing "mass rioting."

Pratasevich faces charges of being behind protests that followed the August 2020 disputed election, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

He was a key administrator of the Telegram channel Nexta-Live, which like other social media channels was widely used during the street protests against Lukashenka last year both to coordinate demonstrations and share footage of the violent police crackdown.

Six months after his detention, Pratasevich is under house arrest at a secret location. His mother is allowed to take him food and his mail, but she has signed a confidentiality pledge.

The most recent official comment on Pratasevich's case was on September 12 when, speaking on state-owned STV, the head of the Minsk Investigative Committee said the criminal investigation into the case would be completed in October.

He added that the case  which he said also concerned Nexta founder Stepan Putylo, 1863x.com news website founder Eduard Palchys, and "anarchist movements" -- already consisted of "more than 600 volumes of documents." There has been no further official word since then.

Pratasevich, who had to wait four more days to see his lawyer, delivered additional seemingly forced confessions in several more public appearances, including one in an ONT television interview in which he professed unconditional respect for Lukashenka, who -- he said -- had "balls of steel." He remained in prison for just over a month before being transferred to house arrest.



"The physical and psychological pressure to which Raman Pratasevich has been subjected for the past six month constitutes inhuman treatment and even torture," said Jeanne Cavelier, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "We call for his immediate release and the release of the 30 other journalists and media workers arbitrarily imprisoned in Belarus."
Around 600 Iraqis stranded for weeks on the Belarus-Poland border have returned home, local media report.

Hundreds of Iraqis, most of them Kurds, returned home last week on the first repatriation flight from Belarus, where thousands of migrants have camped in freezing temperatures during a standoff between Belarus and the European Union.

Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf said that 617 citizens were being voluntarily repatriated on two Iraqi Airways flights from the Belarusian capital, Minsk, the official Iraqi news agency reported on November 25.

Both planes later landed on November 26 in Irbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, multiple media reported, including Kurdistan 24.

On November 18, a total of 431 migrants returned on an Iraqi Airways plane from Minsk. The plane stopped first in Irbil before flying on to Baghdad.

The EU accuses Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying in mostly Middle Eastern migrants and funneling them to the borders of member states Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania to retaliate for sanctions the bloc imposed over a sweeping crackdown following last year's disputed presidential election.

Brussels has accused Minsk of an "inhuman, gangster-style approach" to the crisis at the border, where at least 11 migrants have died in recent months.

In response, Poland has bolstered its border to prevent a surge of migrants, seeking to push them back in a policy criticized by human rights groups.

Warsaw says groups of migrants are still continuing to illegally cross the border from Belarus, and has warned against interpreting recent moves by Minsk to repatriate some of the migrants as a de-escalation of the crisis on the EU's eastern frontier.

Meanwhile, the EU is readying a fifth package of sanctions against Belarus for mounting a "hybrid attack" using migrants against the bloc and has been in contact with Iraq and other countries about repatriating the migrants.

In a BBC interview, Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, denied inviting migrants to Belarus in order to provoke a border crisis.

"I told them I'm not going to detain migrants on the border, hold them at the border, and if they keep coming from now on I still won't stop them, because they're not coming to my country, they're going to yours," he told the BBC.

With reporting by AFP and Kurdistan 24
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Security forces in the Iranian city of Isfahan used tear gas on farmers who have been protesting against water shortages. Video posted on social media on November 26 showed riot police charging the protesters amid a water crisis in the country.
For the past two years, Mahboobeh Ramezani has been grieving the loss of her son while calling for justice over his death at the hands of Iran's security forces.

Pejman Gholipur was shot and killed during a November 17, 2019, protest in Tehran triggered by a sudden rise in the price of gasoline. He was 18. Ramezani has kept her son's bloody clothes as evidence that he was murdered.

Gholipur was among thousands of citizens who joined the protests in more than 100 Iranian cities and towns prompted by the government's sudden decision to increase gas prices. The protests quickly turned political, with many chanting against the Iranian clerical establishment and its leaders.

The government responded with lethal force, according to Amnesty International, which recorded 324 deaths of protesters and bystanders, including children. The London-based rights group believes the real number of those killed is even higher.

Among them was Gholipur, who was reportedly shot in the heart. His family found his body in a hospital hours after he left home to join the demonstrations.

"My son's bloody clothes are in a box. They'd removed them in the hospital. There were holes in them," Ramezani testified online last week during a tribunal in London that heard evidence from her and other witnesses about the crackdown on the 2019 protests.

"We want justice. Hear our cries," Ramezani said. "Tell us who killed our children.... We lost our loved ones in our own homeland," she told the international people's tribunal formed by NGOs to assess whether actions by Iran's clerical establishment constituted "crimes against humanity." The tribunal, which does not have any legal bearing, is expected to release a report next year.

Ramezani is among the grieving mothers of those killed in the November 2019 protests who have been speaking out about the killings and demanding that the authorities bring those responsible to justice. Many have reportedly faced state intimidation and pressure. But they have refused to be silenced.

"I wished I were dead many times so I could be with Pejman, but I decided to be strong to shout louder on the path of seeking justice," she told RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a recent interview. "As long as I breathe, I will not forget [my son's killing] for a second."

In a video sent to Radio Farda, Ramezani is seen wailing at her son's grave on the second anniversary of his killing. "I miss you," she says, sobbing. "It's been two years that I have been calling my son's name."

Ramezani and other grieving mothers have called on others to speak out against injustice while vowing to never give up the fight. "We've gathered here to tell the whole world that we won't forgive and we won't forget," a group of grieving mothers dressed in black said in a video posted on social media last week.

They have been raising their plight in online videos and interviews with Persian-language media based outside the country despite an atmosphere of fear and reported attempts by Iran's authorities to prevent such families from holding memorials for their loved ones.

Speaking at the London tribunal last week, Nahid Shirpisheh, whose 27-year-old son Pouya Bakhtiari was killed in the 2019 crackdown, said the authorities had pressured her family for speaking out.

"We've been threatened and arrested. [My son's] father is currently in jail," she said, referring to Bakhtiari's father, Manuchehr Bakhtiari, who in July was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of "acting against national security."

The families of other victims of the crackdown have reportedly also faced pressure.

In a video sent to Radio Farda, the relatives of slain protester Hamid Damvar said they recently held a memorial ceremony under the watchful eyes of security forces. "They were watching us and taking photos and videos at the grave of Hamid Damvar," a woman in the video said of the event honoring the second anniversary of Damvar's death.

Radio Farda received videos of similar tributes to other slain protesters, including 21-year Arsham Ebrahimi, who was shot dead in the city of Isfahan. His relatives have said that he got caught up in a demonstration by accident. His mother said that two years after his killing, she is still seeking answers.

Amnesty International has said that the security forces' use of lethal force during the crackdown was "unlawful."

"In almost all protests that took place between 15 and 19 November, there is no evidence that people were in possession of firearms or that they posed an imminent threat to life that would have warranted the use of lethal force, according to extensive research, including video analysis, conducted by Amnesty International," the rights group said in a report last week.

Iranian authorities have not held anyone to account for the killings. Last year, an Iranian lawmaker put the number of dead at the protests at 230. The authorities have said that over 350 banks and 140 government sites were set on fire during the violence.

In June 2020, Iran suspended the execution of three men arrested in the protests following a massive social-media campaign joined by many Iranians -- including ordinary citizens as well as intellectuals, former politicians, and prominent artists.

One of the three, Ami Hossein Moradi, was released in October on bail, while a lawyer representing the case expressed hope that his two other clients, Saeed Tamjidi and Mohammad Rajabi, would also be released within months.
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) has announced the arrest of 15 suspects in an alleged coup plot, just two days before elections in the country's fourth major vote in a little over a year.

The UKMK said the alleged plotters included lawmakers in the Jogorku Kenesh, the unicameral legislature, and former high-ranking officials but did not identify any suspects.

It said pretrial proceedings had already been instituted under articles of the Criminal Code relating to violent efforts to overturn the government.

The Prosecutor-General's Office has set up an interagency group to investigate the case.

Street protests have sparked government ousters three times in the past two decades, including after a vote last year that swept the current president, Sadyr Japarov, to power.

National parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 28 to repeat the October 2020 vote.

Japarov has since organized a presidential election and a concurrent referendum on changing the constitution to grant more power to the presidency.

A spokesman for the intelligence service, Kumushbek Shabdanov, said the suspects had recruited about 1,000 people and were preparing for a postelection riot.

Officials said mass riots were part of the plan and that a search turned up weapons, ammunition, and drugs.

RFE/RL has learned that Green Party candidate Beknazar Kupeshov is among those detained early on November 26.

One of the purported detainees named by local media, Nurbek Kalekeev, had recently become a vocal critic of the government on social media over an ongoing coal shortage.

In August, the Interior Ministry said it had tapped the phones of dozens of politicians and their relatives, civil society activists, and human rights activists earlier this year as part of an investigation into violence in October 2020.

The list of politicians and civil-society activists arrested and charged under the current administration with attempting to seize power through force includes former Interior Minister Kursan Asanov, whose trial began last month.
When ethnic Uzbek activist and rights defender Azimjon Askarov was arrested after the interethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in June 2010, there were questions about the motives for charging Askarov with serious crimes connected to that violence.

Later, many more questions arose about the trial process, which saw Askarov convicted, as well as his treatment in prison amid reports of his deteriorating health.

July 25 marked one year since Askarovs death in prison.

Attempts to exonerate Askarov posthumously have so far failed. But a Kyrgyz court on July 27 did overturn a decision that had halted an investigation into whether prison authorities were negligent in providing health-care treatment to Askarov.

On this week's Majlis podcast, RFE/RL media-relations manager Muhammad Tahir moderates a discussion about Askarovs case and also the recent passing of a controversial new Kyrgyz bill that lawmakers say is aimed at stopping the spread of fake news online but which activists say is merely an attempt to muzzle free speech.

This week's guests are, from Bishkek, Syinat Sultanalieva, a Central Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch who focuses on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; and, from Prague, Bruce Pannier, the author of RFE/RL's Qishloq Ovozi blog.

Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes or on Google Podcasts.
The former Soviet republic of Moldova has come up with a novel approach to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 350,000 and killed almost 9,000 there.

Heath officials are using shock tactics, black humor, and pop music to try to scare people who aren't vaccinated or simply not worried about the virus. One of the videos as part of the recent campaign tells viewers: "Don't worry. We have the biggest cemetery in Europe."

The unusual government public-awareness campaign, sponsored by the World Health Organization, aims to promote vaccination against the backdrop of rampant disinformation and vaccine skepticism, which is common across Eastern Europe.

Officials hope that humor and pop will make more people decide to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

The video that has grabbed most attention is a 1:05-minute film that mixes comedy with the macabre. Popular Moldovan actor Emilian Cretu, who has almost 500,000 followers on Instagram, stars as a medic, a patient, and an undertaker.

In his different roles, he tells viewers, "You don't have to worry" about the virus, although it's clearly a lesson in reverse psychology.

"More than 7,000 Moldovans have died of COVID-19. There are new, much more contagious and aggressive strains, but you don't have to worry," he starts off, wearing a ginger wig and sipping from a bone-china cup, which he firmly places on a saucer. A gravedigger then appears with a shovel at the top of a huge, recently dug grave.

"Classic arguments don't work anymore, people are no longer receptive, they are weary. There was the idea that we should get out of our comfort zone," Valeriu Pasa, a civic activist and member of the Watchdog think tank, told RFE/RL.

"Black humor is part of our region, it's about laughing and crying about a situation. The video matches the mentality of this region," Pasa explained. "It makes you think. You laugh and then you get scared."

Coronavirus has hit hard the impoverished country of 3.1 million, which lies between Ukraine and EU member Romania.

Since it officially began its vaccination campaign on March 2, Moldova has had to rely on vaccine donations from Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and China. It has also received tens of thousands of vaccines through COVAX, an international program that helps less developed countries obtain them more cheaply.

As of November 24, some 8,915 people have died of COVID-19 in Moldova and there have been a total of 359,401 cases of the coronavirus, according to data from the Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.

Some 1.6 million shots have been administered with 919,000 people receiving two doses, the government website reported on November 23.

Around 35 percent of Moldova's population was vaccinated, according to November 23 figures from Our World in Data. Commentors say the percentage is actually much higher, as more than 1 million Moldovans live and work abroad, sending remittances home, and have been vaccinated in their countries of residence.

"I think more than 50 percent of the population is actually vaccinated, as we have more than 1 million Moldovans living abroad," Pasa said. "I can't say the vaccine rate has exploded, but there is a rhythm and [actor] Emilian Cretu is popular with the public."

Another Moldovan pro-vaccine clip, which was done in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO), is a parody of a popular Romanian pop song, These Two Words. Romanian group Taxi gave their permission for their song to be used in the campaign, Radu Sarbei, who directed the video, told RFE/RL. The tune is the same, but the new catchy lyrics call on people to get a COVID-19 jab.

In the clip, titled Together We'll Stop The Pandemic, a young man sings about being "a bit scared," but still goes to get an anti-COVID shot. He sings that he doesn't understand why people "believe in conspiracy theories." The clip then shows him sitting on the grass with a group of friends before finally getting a shot. The song's refrain is "I got vaccinated."

"We treat serious subjects with humor. It's an easy way for people to understand," Sarbei told RFE/RL. "We care about the vaccine campaign and this is our message."

Another clip makes fun of some aspects of the pandemic, showing social distancing, how to wear a face mask, and get a vaccine. It is also presented by popular actor Cretu, who appears dressed in drag washing his hands at a sink in the middle of the park. He's told by a man on a park bench to keep his distance and then a medical assistant appears with a medical trolley and gives the protagonist a vaccine.

The Moldovan Health Ministry, which endorsed the WHO-funded campaign, declined to comment when reached by RFE/RL.

Whatever It Takes

Despite its relatively low vaccination rate, Moldova has a multipronged vaccine strategy. According to the government information website, people can get jabs at 115 vaccine centers in Moldova proper and the breakaway Transdniester region.

Another efficient, if less imaginative way to promote vaccines is through the country's pharmacies. Some 150,000 people visit pharmacies every day and they are the most visited medical points in the country, particularly in rural areas.

There are leaflets and stickers in every pharmacy and pharmacists discuss the vaccines with customers, an initiative supported by the Health Ministry, the WHO, and the Association of Pharmacists.

"Being at the forefront of communication with patients, pharmacists can provide people with scientifically proven information, helping to increase the acceptability of the vaccine, and increase the vaccination rate among the population," said Zinaida Bezverhni, a medical doctor and state secretary.

But it's the humor that is staying in people's minds. "We want to go directly to the public, to the young and the old," said video director Sarbei. "Other campaigns are more serious. We have the same aim. This is a serious subject and we want to reach everyone."

He adds, "Of course there has been a dose of hate, but it's from the same people who don't understand the situation we are in."
U.S. and NATO officials have issued fresh warnings of the possible consequences of any new Russian aggression against neighboring Ukraine, with Washington suggesting that "all options are on the table" if the alliance is forced to respond to an escalation by Moscow.

Later, U.S. President Joe Biden said in response to a reporter's question that "in all probability" he would speak directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin or Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in an effort to defuse tensions in the region.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on November 26 that Russia had assembled combat-ready troops, tanks, and heavy military equipment near its border with Ukraine and cautioned Moscow that any force against its neighbor would incur "costs."

Reports of a Russian buildup of more than 90,000 troops recently prompted the United States and Germany to reiterate their support for Ukrainian independence and territorial integrity.

"If Russia uses force against Ukraine that will have costs, that would have consequences," Stoltenberg said in Brussels.

Moscow has denied direct involvement in Kyiv's seven-year war with separatists in eastern Ukraine despite overwhelming evidence of Russian troop and other assistance. It has downplayed the recent reports of its troop movements as an internal matter.

"This is the second time this year that Russia has amassed a large and unusual concentration of forces in the region," Stoltenberg said in an allusion to a purported buildup in the spring that eased soon after a summit between Putin and Biden in June.

Russia this week launched military drills in the Black Sea region near Ukraine.

Earlier on November 26, Zelenskiy said his country was prepared for any Russian escalation and alleged that unidentified Russians and Ukrainians were plotting to overthrow his government next week.

Russia has recently stepped up its involvement in an ongoing feud between Alyaksandr Lukashenka and the West since a highly criticized Belarusian presidential election in 2020.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO's 29 other foreign ministers are scheduled to gather in Latvia on November 30, with Russia's activities high on the agenda.

Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are both expected to attend an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting on December 2-3.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried said on November 26 that a key focus of Blinken's European trip next week would be how to respond to challenges including Russia and Belarus.

"As you can appreciate, all options are on the table and there's a toolkit that includes a whole range of options," Donfried told reporters.

"It's now for the alliance to decide what are the next moves that NATO wants to take," she said of the NATO and OSCE gatherings.

"Next week, we will talk about our assessment of what's happening on Russia's border with Ukraine and we will begin that conversations of what are the options that are on the table and what it is that NATO as an alliance would like to do together."

With reporting by Reuters and AP
The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have expressed a willingness toward progress on border delimitation and improving economic and transport links after Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted trilateral talks in Sochi.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, and Putin began their three-hour meeting on November 26 by saying that "a lot has been done" since last year's Moscow-brokered cease-fire ended 44 days of intense fighting over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby districts.

A deadly flareup last week has rekindled fears of a return to large-scale violence.

In a statement after their talks, all three pledged "to take steps to increase the level of stability and security on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and to work towards the creation of a bilateral commission on the delimitation of the state border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia with its subsequent demarcation with the consultative assistance of the Russian Federation at the request of the parties."

They also vowed "to intensify joint efforts aimed at the earliest possible resolution" of commitments from the past year on resuming economic and transport links in their Caucasus region.

Moscow said it would lend "all necessary assistance" toward "normalizing relations" between the longtime foes and "creating an atmosphere of trust" between their peoples and "building good-neighborly relations in the region."

Putin said that Russian, Armenian, and Azerbaijani deputy prime ministers would meet in Moscow next week "to summarize some results and announce the decisions that we have coordinated today."

Aliyev expressed hope that the Sochi talks could lead a "more secure and predictable" situation in the Caucasus.

Today we had a very detailed and I would say frank conversation on issues of border delimitation and demarcation and unblocking of transport arteries," Aliyev said.

"We openly discussed our plans, we openly discussed issues that cause concern with both sides. The most important thing is that the decisions that weve made in the issue of settling disputes, differences will contribute to a more secure and predictable situation in the South Caucasus."

Aliyev said that "in Azerbaijan we feel like turning over the page of many years of confrontation with Armenia and begin a stage of normal interaction," adding, "I think our meeting will lead to good results that wont make us wait for too long."

Pashinian described the meeting as "very positive."

"This wasn't a meeting to hide problems," the Armenian prime minister said. "I think that we can expect concrete results if we manage to build on the dynamics of our talks."

The intense conflict last year ended with Azerbaijan in control of major swaths of territory in and around the breakaway Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh that had been under ethnic Armenian control since a bloody war in the 1990s.
Another associate of jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny is going into exile amid an ongoing crackdown against the defunct organizations associated with the Kremlin critic that were labeled extremist earlier this year.



Sergei Boiko is a member of the Novosibirsk city council and former head of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in the Siberian city until a court labeled it extremist this year, effectively outlawing it.



Boiko wrote on Twitter on November 25 that he and his family would not return to Russia from a business trip, saying that he had information that he would be arrested.

He said that he decided not to return from an unspecified country after the arrest of the former chief of Navalny's support group in Ufa, Lilia Chanysheva, earlier this month.



Earlier this week, the chief of Navalny's network of regional campaign groups in St. Petersburg also said that she had left Russia for an unspecified country. Irina Fatyanova said that she decided to leave Russia after the arrest of Chanysheva.



Navalny has been in prison since February, while several of his associates, many of whom have fled Russia, have been charged with establishing an extremist group.
Rescuers have found a survivor after an explosion at a mine in Siberia left at least 51 dead in what appears to have been Russia's deadliest mine accident in more than a decade.

The man pulled out of the mine shaft was a rescuer who had been presumed dead, reports said.

Sergei Tsivilyov, governor of the Kemerovo region where the mine is located, said on the messaging app Telegram that the survivor had been hospitalized.

A total of 51 people are now presumed dead after the explosion early on November 25 at the Listvyazhnaya mine in southwestern Siberia. A total of 285 miners were in the shaft at the time of the explosion.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said hundreds of miners were successfully evacuated from the mine after the blast in a shaft that is about 250 meters deep.

Hours after a methane-gas explosion and fire filled the mine with toxic fumes on November 25, rescuers were forced to halt the search because of a buildup of methane and carbon-monoxide gas from the fire.

Regional officials have declared three days of mourning and Russias Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the fire over violations of safety regulations that led to deaths. It said the mine director and two senior managers were detained.

Another criminal probe was launched on November 26 into the alleged negligence of state officials that inspected the mine earlier this month.

The Investigative Committee later said two inspectors who allegedly issued a certificate without checking the facility would be charged and taken into custody.

Inspections at the mine in 2020 and 2021 reportedly uncovered dozens of safety violations at the mine, some of them serious.

The mine is owned by SDS-Ugol, one of Russia's largest coal companies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on November 25 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had extended his condolences to the families of the miners who lost their lives.

"The president instructed the regional governor [Tsivilyov] and acting Emergency Situations Minister Aleksandr Chupriyan to arrange assistance for the injured and make every possible effort to continue the rescue operation," Peskov said.

It appears to have been the deadliest mine accident in Russia since 2010, when two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at the Raspadskaya mine in the same Kemerovo region.

In 2016, 36 miners were killed in a series of methane explosions in a coal mine in Russia's far north. In the wake of the incident, authorities analyzed the safety of the country's 58 coal mines and declared 20 of them potentially unsafe.

The Listvyazhnaya mine, which was opened in 2003, wasn't on the list at the time, according to media reports.

But TASS reports that in 2021 an audit of the regional department of Rostekhnadzor revealed nearly 140 violations in the operation of the Listvyazhnaya mine. Violations were identified in ventilation systems and fire response.

According to Siberia.Realities, watchdog Rostekhnadzor identified 18 serious safety violations at the facility.

With reporting from AFP, dpa, and AP
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine's intelligence service has uncovered plans to stage a coup involving people from Russia that was due to occur next week.

Zelenskiy did not give full details of the plot nor did he accuse the Kremlin of direct involvement in his comments at a press conference in Kyiv on November 26.

The Kremlin swiftly denied any role in any coup plot.

At the press conference involving journalists from Ukraine and abroad, Zelenskiy also said Ukraine was ready for any escalation from Russia amid recent reports of Russian troops massing in Russia's western regions and in illegally occupied Crimea.

Media outlets including The New York Times and Bloomberg have quoted U.S. officials as warning that Russia might attack this winter, with some saying a potential invasion could be "on a scale far greater" than in 2014, when Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

On the coup allegations, Zelenskiy said he had "certain audio recordings" in which plans for carrying out such a plot on December 1 or 2 were being discussed between unspecified people from Ukraine and Russia.

He said they mentioned Rinat Akhmetov, the Ukrainian billionaire, who didn't personally take part in the conversation, according to Zelenskiy.

Zelenskiy stressed he didn't believe the billionaire would get involved in the plot, as it would be a "fatal mistake" for him to take part in the "war" against the president.

"I believe this is a setup of Rinat Akhmetov," Zelenskiy said.

Akhmetov issued a statement on Telegram calling Zelenskiy's claims "an absolute lie" and saying that he was "outraged."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegation of Russia being involved in the planned coup attempt.

"We never do things like that," Peskov said.

Akhmetov owns Ukraine's largest private power utility, DTEK, plus multiple businesses in eastern Ukraine, including steel and iron-ore producers, a bank, insurers, and a television channel.

In his other comments on November 26, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine was in full control of its borders and was ready for any escalation with Russia.

"There is a threat today that there will be war tomorrow," Zelensky told the press conference. "We are entirely prepared for an escalation."

Zelenskiy also said his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, would soon be contacting representatives of Russia about the standoff between the two countries. Separately, Yermak said he would be contacting Dmitry Kozak, President Vladimir Putin's deputy chief of staff.

U.S. intelligence officials and senior figures in Ukraine's military have suggested that as many as 92,000 Russian troops are massed to the north and east of Ukraine -- many in the area around Yelnya, near Russias border with its ally Belarus -- and in Crimea, the peninsula that lies south of mainland Ukraine.

Amid Russias build-up, CNN this week quoted sources in U.S. President Joe Biden's administration as saying it was considering sending military advisers and new equipment including weapons to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington had "real concerns" about the Russian military moves and a possible new offensive, which he warned would be a "serious mistake."

Moscow, which also massed thousands of troops along its border with Ukraine last spring, has dismissed talk of a potential Russian invasion as "groundless."

With reporting by AFP and Reuters
What are your thoughts on the recent trend of Japanese investors investing in Vietnams mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market?

Masataka Sam Yoshida, head of the Cross-border Division of RECOF Corporation and CEO of RECOF Vietnam Co., Ltd

In the first half of 2021, in which 13 transactions were announced, Vietnam ranked fourth among all nations in which Japanese companies invested, after the United States, Singapore, and the United Kingdom only. In the previous year, Vietnam ranked sixth with 23 transactions announced.

The largest transactions in the past two years happened to be in the financial sector, with key deals including Sumitomo Life Insurance increasing its stake in Bao Viet Holdings, and SMBC Consumer Finance investing in FE Credit. There have also been a few major transactions in the real estate sector, but activities have been less active than in previous years.

Under the constraints of the pandemic for more than a year and half, some Japanese investors we know have become impatient and have started considering new investments. This summers difficulties with COVID-19 in Vietnam was untimely, but we do hope the situation will remain under control before too long.

Generally speaking, the value of transactions in Vietnam is increasing in line with the growth of the economy, and Japanese companies have become more confident in investing larger amounts.

What impact has the pandemic had on Vietnams M&A market?

Travel restrictions have had a serious impact on cross-border M&A activities, especially for new investors in Vietnam. Japanese investors emphasise the importance of meeting owners and management teams, as well as seeing assets such as factories, offices, and shops before making investments, especially when they invest in Vietnam for the first time.

According to our analysis, the majority of the transactions in 2020 and 2021 were made by major Japanese corporations with Vietnamese offices or by Japanese companies with previous experience of acquiring Vietnamese companies in the past. In every case, the negotiation process took much longer than usual due to the obstacles imposed by the pandemic.

M&A deals in industrial zones and logistics enterprises have increased sharply. What are the factors that fuel this trend?

Firstly, it goes without saying that these markets in Vietnam have considerable future growth potential. As US-China trade tensions escalated, the trend of manufacturing shifting away from China to Southeast Asia has benefited the region, and the pandemic has indeed accelerated this trend. Within the region, Vietnam outperforms many other economies not only by its geographical location but also on key macroeconomic indicators such as consistently high economic growth, competitive labour costs, favourable tax incentives, stable political climate, and the booming e-commerce sector. The participation of Vietnam in several free trade agreements and the fast rise of foreign direct investment into the country are further indicators of its attractiveness to do business with.

A number of tech giants and multinational manufacturers have announced expansions or planned relocations to Vietnam, which would result in greater demand for industrial space and logistics activities. The Japanese government even decided to allocate part of its pandemic stimulus package for manufacturers to shift production out of China to other countries, and many of them selected Vietnam. M&As have always been a popular business strategy for companies looking to expand into new markets. It is even more popular in Vietnam where local players who have access to large land banks are generally restricted by their limited access to capital and technology, while foreign counterparts can offer capital, technology, and more added-value services in warehousing and logistics.

What other areas have seen an uptick in M&A transactions recently, and what is the significance of this shift?

Deals have endured a particularly sharp decline recently given the great deal of business environment uncertainty and travel restrictions. Yet Vietnam was still expected to remain one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. Deals that have been held together during this time have demonstrated investor belief in the long-term potential of Vietnam.

Technology, healthcare, and financial services were relatively active areas among dealmakers. The pandemic accelerated particular demand for digital services and the underlying technology that help societies and businesses function digitally. Thus, a buy over build philosophy has been a preferred approach by everyone from tech giants to smaller groups in order to quickly adjust. In addition, we have seen growing momentum in the expansion of fintech and e-commerce sectors. As consumer behaviour changes, a number of startups in digital payment and e-commerce are understood to be raising million-dollar funding rounds from numerous global investors.

The pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors have also been attractive to investors, especially in sub-segments such as personal protective equipment. Finally, manufacturing has also been growing and active thanks to multinational companies shifting their manufacturing base from China, but this has mainly still been favoured in terms of greenfield investment rather than M&A.
Chinh and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida had assigned relevant agencies to study the resumption of direct flights between both countries, Vietnam's government news portal reported, citing the Vietnamese PM as he wrapped up his four-day visit to Japan.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transport had sought government approval to resume flights in January to 15 countries and territories that have high Covid-19 vaccination rates, including Japan.

With an increasing vaccination rate, Vietnam reopened its door to foreign tourists this month, allowing in fully vaccinated travelers on package tours.

Japan was the third largest market source for Vietnamese tourism, after China and South Korea. In 2019, the year before the onset of Covid-19, Vietnam had received 952,000 Japanese tourists, a year-on-year rise of 15 percent.

Japan had 1.72 million foreign workers in October 2020, according to government data. Vietnamese account for the largest foreign worker population in Japan at around 440,000 people, or nearly 26 percent.

Vietnam closed its doors to foreign tourists and grounded international flights in March last year, allowing only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts, investors and highly-skilled workers to enter.


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Dealing with someone who keeps asking for money isnt easy, particularly if they are a close family member or friend. Its hard to say that you wont help out, especially if you know that there struggling. But the constant requests can get tiresome, leaving you frustrated and annoyed. Thankfully, there is a way to deal with someone who keeps asking for money without having to be outright rude. Heres how to do it.

Offer a Straightforward No

If someone keeps asking you for money and you dont want to provide any, dont be ambiguous about your decision. If you arent abundantly clear, the person may think that a bit more prodding will change your mind, causing them to continue to ask, hoping that youll give in to the request.

Make sure that you explicitly say no when you respond. You can make it apologetic or soften your reply, such as by saying, Im sorry, but, no, I cant give you money, as long as no is part of the equation.

Additionally, avoid phrases like right now or at the moment. Adding those in makes it seem like you cant give them money today but might be able to do so later. Since you want to be definitive, make sure you dont hedge when you respond.

Point Them to Financial Resources

Numerous requests for money suggest that the person may have issues handling their finances. By directly them to the right resources, they may be able to get critical support that gets them onto the right track.

A reputable credit counseling agency could be a solid choice. Along with offering guidance and assistance with activities like budgeting, some credit counseling agencies can also help work with lenders to create payment plans to eliminate debt more quickly.

For financial emergencies, pointing the person to local government social services organizations may be wise, particularly if they are low-income. They may qualify for food or medical assistance, for example, allowing them to make ends meet with greater ease.

Local non-profits may also be able to lend emergency assistance. Some religious or community-oriented organizations can provide support, so they are worth exploring.

Offer Something Other Than Cash

If youre inclined to help but cant give them money, its okay to offer something else. For example, if they say that theyre having trouble buying food, you could check your pantry for items you can spare and give them instead of money. You could also offer to cook a few extra portions of upcoming, freezer-friendly meals and provide those.

Consider the reason behind their request for money. If you dont want to offer cash but can provide support in that area, then its okay to use that as an alternative solution.

Additionally, you could also offer to help them tackle their finances. If budgeting or side hustles are your strength, see if theyd like some guidance. You could also assist them with arranging a garage sale or listing items for sale online, letting them bring in some cash quickly. That way, you can potentially resolve the issue purely through services instead of with money.

Arrange an Exchange

If your primary concern is giving cash as a gift or loan, then consider using another approach. For example, you could offer to pay the person for their assistance in an area that aligns with their expertise or skills.

Even something simple like having them run an errand or mow your lawn for money is worth considering. That way, they have to earn whats provided, altering the overall paradigm and turning it into an exchange instead of a gift or loan.

Have you had to deal with someone who keeps asking for money? If so, how did you go about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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(Photo : Rudy and Peter Skitterians on Pixabay) The United Kingdom government recently announced it has suspended flights from six southern African countries in the midst of fears over the new COVID-19 variant described as a super mutant strain.

The United Kingdom government recently announced it had suspended flights from six southern African countries in the midst of fears over the new COVID-19 variant described as a "super mutant" strain.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the new variant is the "worst we've seen so far." In connection to the occurrence of the new COVID-19 variant, flights specifically from South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Botswana will be suspended starting midday of Friday, and all six nations will be included in the red list, Mail Online reported.

The health secretary called the new variant, which was initially identified in South Africa, B.1.1.529. It maybe more infectious compared to the Delta strain. He also said the vaccines that people currently have "may be less effective."

He said the scientists are deeply worried about this variant. He also added that he is concerned that is one of the reasons the government has taken immediate action.

ALSO READ: Shocking Maps Reveal Spread of Delta Variant in Only a Week





Significant Number of Mutations

According to Javid, from what they know about this point, and again, there is a need for them to learn more and test the live virus, there is a considerable number of mutations, as mentioned in a CNBC report, probably twice the number of mutations seen in the Delta.

That would then suggest that it may well be more contagious, and the present vaccines may well be less effective.

Asked what the condition would mean for the UK for the coming weeks, with the Christmas season approaching, Javid said, the government has got plans in place. There are contingency plans too, which they call "Plan B," a similar report from The World News said.

The recent announcement though is about a new strain from South Africa. It has been specifically detected in Botswana and South Africa, and this is about being watchful and taking action.

The 'Worst' Strain Ever

Scientists in the UK sounded the alarm Thursday evening over the so-called "worst strain" ever, which they say, has the potential to escape immunity build-up by vaccination or previous infection.

While no cases of the new variant have been detected in Britain, officials expressed concern over a quick rise in cases in South Africa. The UK Health Security Agency experts have been advising ministers on the issue.

According to a similar Yahoo! News report, the strain has not yet been provided with the title, "variant of concern," in the UK, although one senior expert from UKHSA said, it is the "worst variant seen so far."

A senior scientist added that one of their major worries is the virus spike protein, which is radically different from the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan variant. Thus, there is a great concern about the effectiveness of the vaccine on the new strain.

Detection of the New Variant

The new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong. According to South African scientists, it has quite an extraordinary constellation of mutations, upwards of 30, twice that of the delta variant, which is alarming as they could help it escape the immune response of the body and make it more infectious.

Imperial College London virologist Dr. Tom Peacock said the strain could be of real concern due to its "horrific spike profile."

South African authorities have cautioned it had already spread through Johannesburg and could have made it to all places of the country.

One hundred cases of the new variant have been confirmed in South Africa, although it has been found in Botswana, where it was originally detected, as well as in Hong Kong.

Report about the new COVID-19 variant is shown on ABC News's YouTube video below:

RELATED ARTICLE: COVID-19 Delta Variant: More Dangerous New Mutations Possible, Unvaccinated People at Risk

Check out more news and information on COVID-19 in Science Times.
Investigators have linked a group of 30 to 40 suspects to two break-ins Sunday night at different outposts of a luxury consignment chain  one in Larkspur and the other in Palo Alto. The groups burglaries came during a weekend that saw multiple mass retail crime across the Bay Area.

The groups night of burglary appears to have begun in Larkspur, where about 40 people arrived at the RealReal store in the Marin Country Mart shopping center around 9:13 p.m. and smashed the front window to gain access to the closed store, Central Marin police said in a statement.

A security guard employed by the store called police, but by the time officers arrived less than three minutes later, police said, the suspects had already left, having cost the store about $250,000 in lost merchandise and damage, officials said.

Police say they believe that the same group arrived about two hours later at the RealReal store in downtown Palo Alto in about 20 cars and tried to break in. Again, a security guard called police and officers arrived as the suspects were leaving, Palo Alto police said in a statement.

The suspects had smashed the glass front door but were not able to get inside the store. The security guard told police the suspects were men and women wearing face coverings, officials said.

Officers were able to stop one of the cars involved, which had its headlights turned off and no license plates, in Menlo Park. Inside the car, officers found a hammer and at least $15,000 worth of new clothing still on hangers, allegedly stolen from the RealReal store in Larkspur earlier in the night, officials said.

The two people in the car, Keyonni Marie Jones, 20, of Richmond and Kevyonna Barnes, 21, of Vallejo, were arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of attempted commercial burglary and conspiracy, which are both felonies, officials said.

Central Marin and Palo Alto police are working together to investigate Sundays retail crimes, officials said.

With shoppers expected to swarm stores and shopping centers on Black Friday, law enforcement agencies around the region have stepped up patrols and surveillance in high-traffic areas, hoping to protect shoppers and property and looking to avoid a repeat of the weekends burglaries.

We stand united in denouncing the recent violent, theft-related offenses throughout the Bay Area, the Marin County Police Chiefs Association said in a statement Tuesday. Marin County leaders in law enforcement stand committed to the tireless and determined investigations of these crimes, coupled with the relentless prosecution of such felonious activity.

San Francisco saw a handful of high-end stores such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Yves Saint Laurent get burglarized over the weekend, as well as multiple cannabis dispensaries and a Walgreens. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin filed felony charges against all nine suspects who had been arrested by Tuesday, saying, These brazen acts will not be tolerated in San Francisco.

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.

Shoppers and retailers in Union Square, which was hit particularly hard by the weekends mass retail theft events, can expect a heavier police presence in the area starting Friday and continuing through the end of the year. Mayor London Breed said the stepped-up security was meant to give visitors and residents peace of mind during the busy shopping season.

In Oakland, where large groups of thieves broke into several stores over the weekend and on Monday, police are bolstering patrols by adding tactical teams to respond to sideshows, armed caravans and other illegal activities.

San Jose police on Wednesday arrested two men who allegedly stole more than $4,000 worth of perfume and cologne from Macys stores in the Valley Fair mall and and the Oakridge mall. Dwayne Huntley, 19, of Hayward and Raheem Lewis, 22, of Antioch were booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of grand theft and burglary, San Jose police said in a statement.

The message is simple, San Jose police said in a tweet. We will not tolerate it, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you. Stay out of San Jose. Together we will combat organized retail robbery and theft.

Andy Picon is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon
As families and friends gather for the holidays, concern for a winter surge grows and a new coronavirus variant called omicron emerges, its no coincidence that public health officials and federal and local leaders made the big push last week to expand COVID-19 vaccine boosters for all adults

But as more people get additional shots, a big question lurks in the background: How long will those boosters last?

Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Sunday on ABC that the hope is boosters will offer long-lasting protection so additional doses arent needed.

We would hope, and this is something that we're looking at very carefully, that that third shot with the mRNA not only boosts you way up, but increases the durability so that you will not necessarily need it every six months or a year, he said, referring to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which use the same messenger RNA platform. We're hoping it pushes it out more.

But right now, the longevity of booster doses is unknown, and finding out will take some time.

We know very little about how long boosters last, Julie Parsonnet, a Stanford expert in epidemiology and population health, told The Chronicle in an email. The hope is that further vaccinations will be unnecessary, but we dont have any evidence yet to support that hope.

The U.S. is still early in its boosting campaign, so we need time to be able to tell how long-lived immunity will be after the third dose, said Nadia Roan, an investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco who studies vaccine-induced immunology, in an email.

In mid-August, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for a third vaccine dose for immunocompromised individuals, and in late September, did the same for elderly people and others at high-risk for severe infection.

Roan said theres a chance that all we need is three doses, but it's also possible that repeated COVID vaccine boosting could become a regular thing, like the annual flu vaccine.

Parsonnet said another concern is whether coronavirus variants arise that escape vaccine immunity.

Given what we know about coronaviruses more generally, however, I suspect we may need occasional revaccination, she said.

What we know is that boosted individuals are more protected from overall breakthrough infection than non-boosted vaccinated individuals, Roan said.

Right now, we know that vaccinating at six months is safe and effective, she said. We also know that the vaccines wane a bit over this time period. That is the reason this timing was chosen.

Israels booster rollout offers lessons, showing that third shots were effective early on, according to Parsonnet. The country, which uses the Pfizer vaccine, approved boosters for older people in late July, and began offering them to everyone 16 and older at the end of August.

Given the date of onset of third dosing, well see six-month efficacy rates sometime in the late winter, she said, adding that information about waning antibody levels might come sooner. Those efficacy rates will start to inform whether further shots will be needed.

She said she doesnt expect any helpful information about Moderna and Johnson & Johnson boosters, which rolled out later, until next summer. But if the data looks promising, researchers will then examine numbers at the nine-month and one-year marks.

Another big question is the dosing intervals, which Parsonnet said is an even tougher challenge.

In the past, there was no rush to vaccinate everyone, so we had the luxury of trying out multiple strategies, she said. But with COVID, weve needed to push forward quickly. It may take years to know what the optimal dosing intervals are.

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.

She said well first find out the right dosing of the third shot, since people will get the shots at different intervals: Some may get them right at six months after their second dose, and others will wait longer.

Roan said she doesnt think waiting six months or eight months should make a significant difference, because the memory immunity cells (called B and T cells) have already been formed.

What the third dose will do is to reawaken those memory cells, and get them to expand in numbers, and in the case of B cells, start producing antibodies again, she explained. The elevation in antibody levels after the boosting provides a robust first line of defense against breakthrough infection.

The antibodies wont stay at high levels forever, but the memory immune cells will be more long-lasting, which is important in providing protection against severe COVID-19, she said. This is why despite waning immunity after the second vaccine dose, the vaccine continues to provide strong protection against hospitalizations and death.

Roan said boosters are likely most beneficial to immunocompromised individuals who didnt mount an antibody response to the first two doses of mRNA vaccine, and were able to elicit some antibodies after a third dose.

However, Parsonnet said, some immunocompromised people may never respond to vaccines no matter how many doses they receive, citing reports that have shown only half of immunocompromised individuals have responded to third doses. So its important that all adults get an additional vaccine dose in order to protect everyone, said Parsonnet.

We are seeing enough breakthrough infections  a small proportion of which are serious  in the general population that boosting everyone will both prevent serious illness in the vaccinated and, perhaps even more importantly, limit transmission to those who dont respond effectively to vaccines.

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang
Dozens of people waited in line Thursday outside Oaklands Two Star Market, a grocery store and restaurant, in anticipation of a free Thanksgiving meal, clothes and massages.

The annual Thanksgiving dinner, provided by the owners of the market and volunteer, attracted people from the neighborhood and throughout the city. Two Star Market in Oaklands Dimond District has hosted the Thanksgiving meal for 19 years. Farouq Alawdi, the markets co-owner, said the community event is inspired by his Yemeni familys tradition of breaking bread during Ramadan.

It stems from that, Alwadi said, adding that he cooked 100 turkeys and the event will feed more than 1,000 people.

The event drew Mayor Libby Schaaf and former Mayor Jean Quan, who said she brought her homemade brussel sprouts for people to try. Schaaf, who lives near the market, said she has attended every year since she was a council member and plans to walk home after the event.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Hey Oakland, do we have a lot to be grateful for this year? Schaaf said to the crowd as people nodded their heads, their mouths full of turkey and cranberry sauce.

The mayor stays busy around this time of year. On Tuesday, she helped out at the distribution of 3,500 boxed Thanksgiving meals to needy people in Oakland at the citys annual Community Day of Thanks.

More than a dozen volunteers served residents with BBQ turkey, jerk chicken, Middle Eastern rice, cornbread dressing and slices of pumpkin and pecan pie. Recruits from two of the Oakland Police Departments academies helped cook and set up the event.

A volunteer offered free massages, while bags of clothing were available to people who attended the event. A bouncy castle was set up in the parking lot for children to play in. And a DJ played music by Lauryn Hill, Notorious B.I.G and the Oakland hip hop duo, Luniz.

Robert Wallace, 29, lives in the neighborhood and said he looks forward to the event because of the food. He said he hoped there would be macaroni and cheese. And there was.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Its good food, Wallace said standing in line. Macaroni and cheese, turkey and stuffing  those are necessary. Im sure theyll have good dessert.

Wallaces feeling about the feed were echoed by 75-year-old Rod Gillead, who has attended the event for five years.

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.

Its good, always good, Gillead said as he sat down to eat a plateful of turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes.

For 76-year-old Harold Murrey, the meal is a chance to be with others. Murrey, who walked over to the meal from his home, lives alone.

Its a chance to get out and meet some people and be around some people and enjoy some good food, Murrey said.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
During the first week of staff training at buzzy new Oakland restaurant Daytrip, the owners wanted to talk about money.

They divulged the pay of every staff member, as well as their own. They discussed their stance on tipping, choosing to instill a 20% service charge that would get distributed evenly to all hourly employees. They talked about benefits and how theyd pay for them.

This level of transparency is abnormal in the restaurant industry, several employees said. But for a restaurant that only opened in October, its already paying off.

Most restaurants in the Bay Area are struggling to hire employees due to a nationwide labor shortage, sometimes having to temporarily shutter if one person calls in sick. Many new operations faced lengthy delays in opening because they couldnt hire enough staff. Yet Daytrip received more applications than it could handle in just one week. Workers said they could sense even in the restaurants job postings that it was going to be a different workplace, one that pursued equity, work-life balance and employee empowerment.

Daytrip, where a disco ball sets the mood and fermented ingredients dominate the flavors, is certainly not the only restaurant in the Bay Area to pursue these goals. Oaklands Mockingbird, for example, recently reopened after a pandemic slumber with an equal tip pool and significantly higher pay for staff, starting at $25 per hour. Its probably no coincidence that Mockingbird faced no challenges in staffing up, either.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

These monetary and culture changes represent an evolution in the industry that workers hope to see more widely.

I grew up in a time when I went to work three hours early off the clock, said sous-chef Doula Makao-Scheid, who started cooking professionally in 2006. Back then, he said, chefs angrily throwing plates in kitchens was common. Now people are realizing you dont have to kill yourself to have a passion and a career and some semblance of a normal life.

Owners Stella Dennig and Finn Stern started Daytrip with a political mission. Stern grew up in Washington, D.C., where politics is everything, and wrote a thesis on farmworker sovereignty. He moved to California to work for an agricultural legislative organization but burned out quickly, deciding there are other ways to drive change.

We think food-system change is absolutely fundamental toward building an equitable, sustainable future, he said. The big goal is to make the food system we believe in cool and fun.

That means supporting farmers they believe are working in an environmentally friendly way while emphasizing vegetables instead of meat on the menu. But they werent immediately sure about many of the other challenges: telling customers to tip versus implementing an automatic service charge; what a living wage realistically is in the Bay Area; what an ideal benefits package looks like; or how to pay for all of these things without turning into an expensive restaurant reserved for the rich.

What is a starting point that is both possible and good to people? Dennig said. We need to make sure we dont tank our business in three months, but we want to start from a place that feels challenging.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

They sought advice from restaurants they admired, like Oakland-born Arab bakery Reems, San Francisco classic Zuni Cafe, Oakland bar Redfield Cider and San Franciscos acclaimed Liholiho Yacht Club. Reems, for example, is building a curriculum for restaurants to convert into cooperative structures, while Zuni made headlines for getting rid of tipping earlier this year.

They landed on a base pay of $16 to $18 per hour, slightly higher than Oaklands minimum wage of $14.36. (Dennig said shes not proud of that figure and hopes to raise it.) Instead of traditional tipping, which benefits servers and bartenders at the expense of cooks and dishwashers, Daytrip instilled a 20% service fee, which gets distributed equally to all hourly employees based on how much they work. So far, thats resulted in an average starting pay of $31 per hour, according to Dennig.

Theres this extraordinary lack of fundamental dignity to the way work is treated in this industry, said Justine Hwang, who serves at Daytrip and has worked in restaurants for 14 years. We have to live in the world that we live in, and I think the service fee and being transparent is the best we can do.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Meanwhile, the sous-chef is earning an annual salary of $75,000, while the wine director is making $60,000 with the expectation that shell earn at least $10,000 more from the tip pool  otherwise, the owners agreed to fill in the gap. Dennig and Stern, meanwhile, aim to pay themselves $40,000 each.

Full-time employees also get health care, funded by raising menu prices by 5%.

Traditionally, restaurants price out menu items  say, a $24 pumpkin miso pasta  with an equation in mind: 30% goes into food costs, 30% goes into paying employees and 30% goes into overhead like rent. That rarely works out perfectly, leaving restaurants with notoriously slim profit margins of 3% to 5%.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

With higher labor costs, Daytrips seats need to be consistently full in order for the business to survive. Its packed for now, riding the high that comes with a splashy new restaurant, but what happens when the buzz dies down?

Thats super scary, Stern said.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Menu prices must be relatively high to afford these workplace benefits, and its a delicate balance. A piece of bubbly focaccia costs $8. If the owners need to raise prices, they could alienate diners in their neighborhood. The median income in Oakland is about $73,000, according to census data.

If the crowds die down, Stern and Dennig plan to look at alternative revenue streams, such as expanding into brunch, adding grab-and-go options, extending hours for the retail wine shop and catering.

Workers said they appreciate knowing these factors and wish more restaurants would be transparent about money. For some, it builds trust and deters favoritism. For others, it offers a window into the realities of operating a business that employees usually dont get.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

I think a lot of traditional structures are inadvertently  or intentionally  gatekeeping by keeping numbers behind closed doors. Theres a lot of room for accountability that isnt met, said server Delia Sie, who came to Daytrip after six years in wine. In this structure, that conversation is wide open.

While Daytrip is still a traditional restaurant in terms of ownership, employees said they feel like their input is valued in a way that they havent experienced at other businesses. (All 18 employees names are also printed on the menu.) They suggested purchasing certain tools for the kitchen and actually got them. They decided against the owners original plan of having diners order off of QR codes. Even in wine director Jenny Eagletons first interview, she challenged Dennigs initial goal of specifically carrying wines made by women and people of color.

I said, I love that you want to have a political wine list, but I think framing it through the lens of identity undercuts your politics, said Eagleton, who instead describes her chosen wines as community-oriented. The way that conversation shook out gave me so much confidence in continuing to have challenging conversations.

Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @janellebitker
San Francisco was a few days into sheltering in place in March 2020 when Dr. Maya Petersen got a surprising and urgent request: Health officials wanted to know whether she could put together a model that would help them forecast what was shaping up to be a horrifying pandemic.

Petersen, an epidemiologist at UC Berkeleys School of Public Health who had been studying HIV for more than a decade, immediately thought no, surely there must be someone better suited to the job. I dont know anything about COVID, she recalled thinking. And then, of course, she realized: No one knew anything about COVID-19.

So she said yes. And almost overnight, Petersen and her statistician husband, working in the Bernal Heights home where they were holed up with their children like everyone else in the city, built a disease model that would guide some of the most critical decisions in San Franciscos pandemic response.

Their first assignment was trying to predict whether the city had enacted its shelter-in-place order early enough to avoid the deadly tragedy that was playing out in New York City at the time.

Our best take from the model was that San Francisco had acted soon enough, Petersen said in a recent interview. But I remember tearing my hair out and thinking, I hope this isnt wrong.

Disease modeling has played a vital, if at times rudimentary, role in the coronavirus pandemic. Its application has also been somewhat unprecedented  never before have models been used so consistently, and at such a local level, to inform crisis policy.

Infectious disease models are computer simulations built to mimic the spread of a pathogen through a population. At the most basic level, they use the reproductive value of a virus  a model itself, that predicts how infectious it is  to determine how it might spread through a city based on its population size. But models can quickly become quite complex as scientists take into account population demographics and human behavior.

Traditionally, disease models have been used for everything from helping hospitals anticipate how many intensive care beds they might need for the flu season to anticipating the long-term impacts of a new HIV treatment.

But in the COVID pandemic, models became powerful tools for helping health officials make difficult policy decisions  such as reinstating shelter-in-place orders for last winters surge, or bringing back mask mandates this summer  as well communicating their reasoning to the public.

We have not been as reliant on models in the past, said Dr. George Rutherford, a UCSF infectious disease expert. I think this pandemic may be one of the best examples of the utility of modeling that Ive seen.

Models, though sometimes painted as tools similar to a weather forecast, arent meant to predict the future  theyre engineered to help scientists and policymakers understand possible outcomes, to play out the what-if scenarios. The models often are applied on a national level, which can render them somewhat less useful, Rutherford said, because there are just too many variables.

State or local models may be better able to accurately demonstrate the possible outcomes of a response  to anticipate, for example, how many people might wind up in intensive care in a month if residents stop wearing masks indoors or if vaccination rates climb another 5 percentage points.

Petersens team  consisting of a dozen or so scientists, mostly from UC Berkeley and UCSF  made its model open-source, so its accessible online to any city, county or state that wants to apply it locally. Not every county, Petersen acknowledged, has access to bespoke modeling like San Francisco, which pays for the consulting.

The team now does modeling for 46 California counties and provides daily reports to them that look about a month into the future. Anyone can track the UC model, along with half a dozen others, on the state website calcat.covid19.ca.gov; Petersens team is called LEMMA, for Local Epidemic Modeling for Management and Action.

Weve been living in an environment of great uncertainty for the last 18 months. The model provides a substantial light into what the plausible scenarios are, so we can make our best judgment of how to move forward, said Dr. Grant Colfax, head of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

He said he looks at the reproductive value generated by Petersens team daily  its been hovering around 1, which means the pandemic is neither growing nor diminishing  and regularly consults the county reports, along with a handful of other models that arent generated locally. The most famous nationally is generated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a group affiliated with the University of Washington in Seattle.

But having a local model is key to acting quickly, Colfax said. Our planning and response is very short, and thats incredibly important when a rapid response matters, he said. This is literally a matter of, in some cases, hours or days before we respond to something.

Petersen is quick to point out that the model doesnt form policy. Its one of the pieces of information at the table for the citys leadership to consider when theyre weighing the pros and cons of taking action, she said.

Before the pandemic, Petersen wouldnt have called herself an expert in infectious disease modeling. Her background is multidisciplinary by training, starting back in her undergraduate years at Stanford University when she had a hard time committing to a major and finally landed on premed. She got a doctorate from UC Berkeley in biostatistics  a field related to epidemiology that uses data to interpret human disease  followed by a medical degree from UCSF.

Then I decided Id been in grad school for 10 years, and it was probably time to get a job, she said with a laugh. She joined the faculty at UC Berkeley and focused on HIV, particularly strategies for ending the epidemic in East Africa. That put her in close contact with UCSF researchers doing similar work, who would later recommend her to San Francisco public health authorities for COVID disease modeling.

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Petersens husband, Joshua Schwab, joined her team at UC Berkeley about a decade ago, as a research programmer. Before that assignment, he started off with financial modeling, helping people develop investment portfolios or allocate money to retirement plans. Then he taught high school math in East Oakland for a few years.

He went to work with his wife after their first child was born and he wanted more stability. He helped with the statistical analysis on the HIV projects. When the pandemic arrived, Schwab, like his wife, wasnt convinced they were the right team to take on disease modeling. But it just seemed like an all-hands-on-deck situation, Schwab said.

Their first COVID model was built on a relatively simple premise that takes into account the number of susceptible people in a population and how quickly a virus is believed to spread. Schwab built the computer system in about 24 hours.

We were just trying to predict how many people were going to end up in the hospital, he said.

As the pandemic dragged on, Petersen was able to collect more complete data and add nuance to the model with what scientists were learning about the virus and how human behavior  such as mask wearing and social distancing  could tamp down transmission.

Vaccines added further complexity to the model, and then it had to be revised again to account for more transmissible variants, especially delta. In October, Petersen began incorporating waning immunity into the model and looking at various outcomes based on booster uptake. The model  which showed a potential spike in COVID hospitalizations if boosters werent widely deployed  helped persuade San Francisco health officials to expand eligibility to almost all residents.

Just like pretty much everyone in the city  or the world, for that matter  Petersen said shes eager to put the pandemic behind her and go back to her day job in HIV research.

Honestly, pre-delta, I thought we were going to be done. Well roll out the vaccines and go back to our day jobs. But no, she said. At the same time, I think its empowering to have tools that help you understand where you are and where youre maybe going. And modeling has been that.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: eallday@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @erinallday
PRAGUE (AP)  Coronavirus infections in the Czech Republic soared to a new record high, reaching almost 26,000 daily cases, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

The daily tally hit 25,864 on Tuesday, about 3,000 more than the previous record registered on Friday.

The countrys infection rate has risen to 1,061 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, almost twice as many as two weeks ago.

As infections soar, the government has been considering mandatory vaccination for certain groups of people, including the elderly, medical and military personnel and police officers.

Just over 58% of the Czech population has been fully vaccinated.

Another proposal under consideration is shortening the time between a second shot and a booster from six to five months.

The government is expected to announce its plan soon, possibly next week.

The latest surge has hit the country at a time of political transition following a parliamentary election in October.

Some of the proposals and measures imposed by the outgoing government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis are opposed by a coalition of five parties that agreed to form a new government.

The new coalition strictly rejects any mandatory vaccination. Vlastimil Valek, the candidate to be the new health minister, said on Wednesday that its not a solution, it only further divides the society.

President Milos Zeman was set to appoint the leader of the new coalition, Petr Fiala, the prime minister-designate, on Friday but its not clear when the president might swear in his government.

Some new restrictions targeting the unvaccinated already took effect Monday. Most unvaccinated people are no longer allowed to show negative coronavirus tests in order to attend public events, go to bars and restaurants, visit hairdressers, museums and similar facilities or use hotels. Only people who are vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 will remain eligible.

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The new coalition said it wants to return to allowing negative tests to act as a pass for those venues and activities.

Overall, the nation of 10.7 million has registered over 2 million cases of COVID-19 and 32,408 deaths.

___

Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
CALAIS, France (AP)  The already fractious relationship between France and Britain spiralled further downward into anger and incomprehension Friday, with the two erstwhile European partners at loggerheads about how to stop migrants from embarking on dangerous crossings of the English Channel that killed at least 27 people in a sinking this week.

Even as the British government insisted that the two countries remain close friends and partners, their words, acts and disputes over migration, fishing and how to rebuild a working relationship in the wake of Britains exit from the EU increasingly suggested otherwise.

President Emmanuel Macron scolded Prime Minister Boris Johnson for making public a letter that the British leader sent to the French leader on Thursday. Most notably, Johnson proposed that France take back migrants who illegally cross the Channel from French to British shores. Macron's spokesman quickly and summarily dismissed the idea, and the French president made his displeasure clear that Johnson posted the letter  addressed Dear Emmanuel  on Twitter.

I am surprised by methods when they are not serious," Macron said on a visit to Italy. You dont communicate from a leader to another on these matters via tweets and letters that are made public. We are not whistleblowers.

Come on, come on, Macron added.

The letter and France's response were the latest crossing of swords between two nations with a storied history of break-ups, make-ups and, not infrequently, of revelling in rubbing each up in the wrong way. The economic, political, social and psychological earthquake of Britain's divorce from the EU has made cross-Channel cooperation harder still, and further complicated the long love-hate relationship between Paris and London.

Even in the wake of the deadliest migration accident to date in the Channel, Macron and Johnson appeared increasingly to be talking past each other  or, in Paris' case, barely willing to talk at all. Macrons government spokesman, Gabriel Attal, said Johnson's point-person on immigration, Home Secretary Priti Patel, was no longer welcome at a meeting Sunday of European ministers wholl explore ways to crack down on migrant-smuggling networks.

Attal described Johnson's letter as fundamentally mediocre and totally uncalled-for in its manner. Suggesting British duplicity, Attal also said it doesnt correspond at all with discussions that Johnson and Macron had Wednesday after the sinking of an inflatable craft laden with migrants off the northern French coast.

We are sick of double-speak, Attal said.

And he dismissed Johnson's proposal that France take back migrants who cross illegally to British shores as clearly not what we need to solve this problem.

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are risking the perilous journey from France, hoping to win asylum or find better opportunities in Britain. More than 23,000 people have already entered the U.K. on largely unseaworthy small boats this year, up from 8,500 in 2020 and just 300 in 2018, according to data compiled by the British Parliament.

In London, Johnson's spokesman Jamie Davies said the prime minister had no regrets about tweeting the letter "written in the spirit of partnership and cooperation.

He expressed hope for a French U-turn on the decision to un-invite Patel to Sundays ministerial meeting on the migration crisis, saying: Friends and neighbors need to work together to address this global challenge collectively, and we have been clear that we need to do more.

A French judicial investigation into Wednesdays sinking has been turned over to Paris-based prosecutors who specialize in complex cases of organized crime. The prosecutors' office said it wouldn't comment on whether investigators are making progress on identifying victims' nationalities or causes of the tragedy.

A French fisherman who said he was first to spot and raise the alarm about bodies in the water on Friday described the scene as a horror movie. Karl Maquinghen said he is haunted by the thought that people might still be alive had he and his shipmates reached them sooner.

"To see so many bodies like that, next to us. Children. I dont know how to explain it. Horrific, Maquinghen said, voice cracking with emotion, in comments broadcast by French coastal radio Delta FM.

The sight of them like that, heads in the water, will stick with us, he said. We tell ourselves: Had we got there five or ten minutes earlier, we could perhaps have saved them.' We can't sleep."

While the sinking has brought long-simmering French-British tensions to a head, it's not their only issue of discord.

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Adding to the climate of tension: French fishing crews on Friday briefly blocked French ports, ferry traffic across the English Channel and the freight entrance to the undersea Eurotunnel. The aim of the protest over post-Brexit fishing licenses was to disrupt flows of Britain-bound goods and travelers and signal that greater disturbance could follow amid the Christmas shopping rush.

The British have access to the European market, while we do not have access to British waters. This is not normal, the British government must respect the agreement," Olivier Lepretre, president of the regional fishing committee, said in the port of Calais.

He described the blockades as a warning shot."

Calais  a major jump-off point for migrants aiming to reach Britain  is also where ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and EU officials will meet on Sunday.

Without the British minister.

The ministers will work seriously to resolve a serious matter with people who are serious, Macron said. "Afterwards, we will see with the British how to act effectively, if they decide to be serious.

___

Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Also contributing were Pan Pylas and Jill Lawless in London, Oleg Cetinic in Calais and Thomas Adamson in Paris.
BRUSSELS (AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia Friday that any attempt to invade Ukraine would have costs, as concern mounts about a Russian military buildup near its former Soviet neighbors borders.

Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops near their common border following massive war games in western Russia earlier this year. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said units of the Russian 41st army remain near Yelnya, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the border.

Moscow denies that its planning any invasion and refuses to provide details about troop movements on its own territory.

If Russia uses force against Ukraine that will have costs, that would have consequences, Stoltenberg said, ahead of a meeting of the 30-nation military organizations foreign ministers in Latvia Nov. 30-Dec. 1, where Russias activities will be high on the agenda. He did not say what those costs would be.

This is the second time this year that Russia has amassed a large and unusual concentration of forces in the region, Stoltenberg told reporters. He said it includes tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, and electronic warfare systems, as well as combat-ready troops.

This military buildup is unprovoked and unexplained. It raises tensions and it risks miscalculations, Stoltenberg said. He conceded that there is no certainty about the intentions of Russia but said that this is a military buildup by a country that has invaded Ukraine before.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 after the countrys Moscow-friendly president was driven from power by mass protests. Weeks later, Russia threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency that broke out in Ukraines east.

Ukraine and the West accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to back the rebels. Moscow denied that, saying that Russians who joined the separatists were volunteers. More than 14,000 people have died in the fighting that devastated Ukraines eastern industrial heartland known as Donbas.

A 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany helped end large-scale battles, but efforts to reach a political settlement have failed and sporadic skirmishes have continued along the tense line of contact.

NATO would not be able to provide Ukraine with any substantial military support in time to make a difference against Russian forces, so economic measures like Western sanctions are more likely to be used to inflict a financial cost on Moscow.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday alleged that his countrys intelligence service has uncovered plans for a Russia-backed coup detat in Ukraine next week, something which the Russian government denied.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Friday spoke with the head of the Presidential Administration in Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. The two discussed their shared concerns about ongoing Russian military activities near Ukraines border and agreed that all sides should pursue diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions, National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.

Mr. Sullivan underscored the United States unwavering commitment to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, the statement read.

___

Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed to this report.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Poland's resistance to introducing new lockdowns and restrictions amid skyrocketing COVID-19 infections and deaths is drawing criticism from the country's medical professionals and is bucking a growing European embrace of limits on the unvaccinated.

The populist right-wing government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki appears unwilling to enact measures that would anger voters and deal another blow to an economy struggling with high inflation. In Western Europe, where the vaccination rates are markedly higher than Polands 53%, restrictions have recently led to protests and rioting.

We certainly know at the moment that restrictions are not an effective means of limiting the growth of the pandemic, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said on Thursday, when 497 new deaths were recorded in Poland.

It is an idea sharply disputed by many doctors in Poland, who have been calling for the government to act.

In recent weeks, the rise in infections has prompted authorities to re-activate temporary hospitals that were shut months ago. Thousands of schoolkids have recently been quarantined or begun remote learning amid outbreaks.

On Friday, there were 421 more deaths reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,784 since Monday  a level last seen in the spring when the central European region was a global virus hot spot.

Meanwhile, 26,735 new infections were reported on Friday, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to nearly 3.5 million infections and over 82,000 deaths in the nation of 38 million people.

Across Europe, governments are ordering new restrictions in hopes of putting the breaks on surging infections. Austria has gone the furthest with a nationwide lockdown that began on Monday and will be followed by restrictions on the unvaccinated.

By contrast, the Polish government has only urged citizens to get vaccinated and has made mask-wearing in public compulsory.

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The deputy health minister, Waldemar Kraska, said last week that more restrictions are pointless because Poles are predisposed to rejecting them. "We have a gene of opposition in us," he said.

Niedzielski, the health minister, has said the government would consider additional restrictions in mid December if infection numbers don't decline by then. He said that would be a black scenario, and it all depends on the efficiency of hospitals.

Poland faces the rising infections as a worrying new variant of the coronavirus has emerged in South Africa, while the start of immunizing kids aged 5-11  which should help raise immunity in the population  is still weeks away.

Michal Dworczyk, the governments vaccination chief, said the government doesn't plan to make vaccinations mandatory and that more educational campaigns wouldn't help much given that everyone knows about vaccinations" already.

Dworczyk said at this stage, a sharp increase in the number of vaccinations can only be influenced by fear.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin said the talks he hosted in southern Russia Friday with the leaders of regional rivals Armenia and Azerbaijan were constructive and produced a series of agreements on key issues.

The meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Sochi lasted about three hours and marked the first anniversary of a Moscow-brokered peace deal that ended fighting in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In remarks after the meeting, Putin said the three leaders reached agreement on a whole range of issues which he considers key.

Both Aliyev and Pashinyan echoed Putins positive assessment. The Azerbaijani president said the conversation was open and genuine, and the Armenian prime minister called it positive.

Putin also held two separate bilateral meetings with Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday, before and after the three-way talks.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-old dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

The Azerbaijani military routed the Armenian forces in 44 days of fierce fighting in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh and reclaim all the regions controlled by Armenian forces outside the separatist region.

Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal.

The peace agreement was celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan but was seen as a betrayal by the opposition in Armenia. Pashinyan defended it as the only way to prevent the Armenian forces from losing control over the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The 2020 deal envisaged a transport corridor via Armenia that would link Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan region  a plan resented by the Armenian opposition, which also fears that Armenian interests could be compromised by the planned demarcation of the border.

Opening the meeting with Pashinyan and Aliyev on Friday, Putin said that Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia achieved a lot in a year that passed since the peace deal was signed. There is no large-scale fighting, some 53,000 refugees have returned to their homes, and Russian peacekeepers have been ensuring safety of the Nagorno-Karabakh residents, he said.

In their opening remarks, both Aliyev and Pashinyan said they were prepared to start the work on delimitation and demarcation of the border.

Pashinyan, however, noted that the situation on the border and in Nagorno-Karabakh is not as stable as one would want it to be and said that dozens of people on both sides died in clashes over the past year. He called the situation on the border a crisis.

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Our assessment is that Azerbaijani forces have made an incursion into the sovereign territory of Armenia, he said.

Armenias prime minister also said the issue of prisoners of war, hostages and other persons held in captivity remained unresolved.

Aliyev, in turn, said that Azerbaijani authorities have publicly offered to start working out a proper peace treaty with Armenia to put an end to the confrontation, to recognize each others territorial integrity, sovereignty and live as neighbors in the future, (or) learn to live as neighbors all over again.

He also said Friday that Azerbaijan has handed over more than 100 prisoners of war to Armenia since last years fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.

After the meeting, Putin said that the three leaders agreed to create, before the end of the year, mechanisms for delimitation and demarcation of the border between the two countries.

They also discussed unblocking of the transport corridors, which includes both the railways and the roads, and made significant progress on unspecified humanitarian issues, Putin said.
The telephone is such an integral part of modern life that its easy to forget that for years after Alexander Graham Bell patented it in 1876, it was regarded as little more than a toy. That was certainly the case in San Francisco, and there was good reason for the publics skepticism: The development of telephone service here was accompanied by more than its share of wrong numbers and dropped connections. The story of San Franciscos early telephone system is a little-known and fascinating chapter in the annals of communication in a city famous as an innovator in the field.

The citys first electrical communication system used the telephones precursor, the telegraph, and it was created in response to San Franciscos famous fog. During the Gold Rush, knowing what ships were arriving at the Golden Gate was valuable information for merchants, so in 1850, two entrepreneurs established a lookout station atop a downtown hill the Spanish had called Loma Alta. From here they relayed information by semaphore to the merchants exchanges in the Financial District. A year later, to get the information even earlier, they erected a second lookout station at Point Lobos, known as the outer station, which relayed the information visually to the inner station atop Loma Alta, via a system of semaphores and signals. This system worked well on clear days, but when it was foggy the semaphores were invisible. So in 1853, the two men constructed an 8-mile-long telegraph line from the outer station to the inner station, which subsequently became known as Telegraph Hill.

As the young city grew and businesses were established further away from the small area around Montgomery Street, businessmen and professionals increasingly needed a fast communication system. They turned to an innovative telegraph system run by a firm called the American District Telegraph Company. As described in A Historical Review of the San Francisco Exchange, a 1927 book published by the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, this company, which started in 1874, maintained a telegraphic call box system, similar to the messenger call boxes still in use. The boxes were installed in offices of the principal business firms and professional men in the city. A subscriber could, by simply pressing the proper button on a dial, flash his need to the central office where the signal would be recorded on a tape. One of a large force of messenger boys employed by the telegraph company would be dispatched immediately to call the cab, policeman, doctor or other party desired to the address where services were required. The tape the signal was recorded on was similar to stock ticker tape, invented in 1867.

The citys first telephone appeared in 1876, the same year Bell patented his invention. It was an experimental line rigged up between Meiggs Wharf off North Beach and the Merchants Exchange building in the Financial District. The next year, the first practical telephone line was installed for Frederick Marriott, an English banker and editor who was not only the earliest adopter of the telephone on the West Coast, but a visionary promoter of air travel. (In 1869, Marriotts prototype unmanned airship Avitor Hermes Junior successfully circled a field near Tanforan  the first American flight of a powered and steerable aircraft.) The line connected Marriotts home at Lombard and Jones streets and his newspaper office on Merchant Street.

The citys first telephone company was called the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, which also owned the American District Telegraph Company. In 1877, the company installed its first switchboard in its office at 222 Sansome St. There were only 18 telephones in the system. The switchboard was a crude contraption consisting of two boards each holding a row of brass clips, into which an operator inserted brass plugs joined with a piece of cotton-covered wire to make a connection between subscribers lines. Making a phone call was no easy matter. There was no way for customers to call the operator, so to make a call they first had to send a telegraph to the District Telegraph office, which was located in the same room as the telephone switchboard. As with the call-box system, the telegraphic message was recorded on a tape and passed on to the switchboard operator, who would then connect the customer to the desired line.

The Gold and Stock Telegraph Company soon changed its name to the American Speaking Telephone Company, and acquired a rival, the National Bell Telephone Company. This rival company rigged up a string of bells, one above each line, which would ring when a call came in. But the bells sounded so similar in tone that the operators had trouble identifying which line was calling. They solved this problem by suspending a cork from the tapper of each bell, using an 18-inch string. When a call came in, the line could be identified by the bobbing of the cork.

After a few years of intense competition, much of which involved wrangling over patents, the American Speaking Telephone Company and the National Bell Company consolidated in 1880, becoming the Pacific Bell Telephone Company. But the new company still had to resolve a peculiar customer-service problem. As the Historical Review notes, Up to a time shortly after the consolidation of the two companies, switchboards were operated by boys in their teens. Amicable relations between the telephone company and its patrons were repeatedly jeopardized by the proneness of these young fellows to use unseemly language. Their customary Hello, hello, what do you want? and Are you through? Well, why dont you hang up? did not strike company officials as being quite the proper way to talk to customers. Attempts to impress upon the boys the necessity of being polite proved futile, and they were eventually transferred to other jobs, women being substituted in their places.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

Despite the teenage boys dubious track record, Pacific Bell continued to employ them as night operators for several more years, believing that women would not want to work nights. But one night the companys vice president, responding to numerous customer complaints about poor service, made an unannounced tour of inspection and found the boys curled up on the floor next to their switchboards, snoring away. The boys were discharged and women were employed for night work, the Review notes, adding, Since that time telephone operating rooms have been considered to be as peculiarly a part of feminine domain as the home.

San Franciscos nascent telephone industry was out of its diapers, but it would have to overcome many obstacles before it would become a practical means of mass communication. The next Portals will tell the story of those trials and tribulations, from the romantic years when two-man long line patrols lived a nomadic-like existence tracking down breaks in long distance lines, to inexpensive one-way kitchen telephones aimed at housewives who it was hoped would then order full-service phones, to the first pay phones, which unscrupulous customers could cheat by rubbing a comb over the coin box.

Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco. His most recent book is Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages Through the Unknown City. All the material in Portals of the Past is original for The San Francisco Chronicle. To read earlier Portals of the Past, go to sfchronicle.com/portals.
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Police in Larkspur and Palo Alto believe the same group of 30-40 suspects ransacked consignment shops in both towns.

The first incident occurred at The RealReal luxury consignment store in Larkspur's Marin County Mart. Shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday, a security guard at the shopping center called police to report dozens of people were smashing the windows of the consignment store in order to grab merchandise. Although police arrived within a few minutes, the suspects were already gone.
Just days before a string of high-end robberies targeting Union Square rattled the Bay Area, an apparent burglary at a San Francisco cannabis dispensary was seemingly not stopped by police at the scene.

The San Francisco Department of Police Accountability is now investigating the incident, multiple media outlets report, which took place in the early hours of Nov. 16 at Basa, just a block away from Alamo Square Park.

According to video footage obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC Bay Area, a police car flashed its lights on an alleged getaway car. (SFGATE and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another.)

Over the span of the 2-minute recording, at least 45 seconds of footage show the two cars  the suspects' and the police officers  parked just meters away from each other.

A suspect, leaving the dispensary with a bag in tow, runs into the vehicle and plops the goods into the back seat, dropping some wares into the street as the car rushes to perform a three-point turn and flee the scene.

Moments after, police officers can be seen strolling just past where the alleged escape vehicle was parked into the dispensary. SFPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.

Anisa Alazraie, the owners daughter, told NBC Bay Area that the burglars made off with thousands of dollars in goods.

She told the Chronicle that officers had every opportunity to intervene and stop this crime from happening. It is unclear what, if any, repercussions the officers involved will face.

The burglary  and the apparent officer inaction  is another flashpoint in the blitz of retail and property theft in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the country and comes as San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is up for recall next year.

Representatives for the San Francisco Police Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE.
Ever thought the perfectly crisp chocolate-chip cookies at Trader Joe's tasted a lot like the ones from Tate's Bake Shop? And that the packaging is, huh, remarkably similar?

Maybe that's because the well-known brand bakes the cookies for the national supermarket chain.

Or, maybe not.

See, Trader Joe's doesn't have a factory where it makes its own products. Instead, the privately held grocery chain based in Monrovia, Calif., sources items from companies specializing in generic products, and, in some cases, from well-known brands. Then they slap on the Trader Joe's label.

"There are companies out there that make only store-brand products," says Phil Lempert, the grocery-retailing expert who calls himself the Supermarket Guru. "It's not as if we can assume Skippy peanut butter is making the Trader Joe's peanut butter. It could be, or it could not be."

In an effort to get customers to develop loyalty to its own brand, Trader Joe's is incredibly secretive and closely guards the source of some of its signature products. Lempert says this is industry practice with all major grocery stores, whether Whole Foods or Safeway, which both have their own lines of generics.

Similarly, the big brands don't want consumers to have this information, because Trader Joe's sells its products at discounted prices. If you were, say, Frito-Lay and quietly baking Trader Joe's pita chips, you wouldn't want people to know the TJ's generic is the same as your Stacy's pita chips that cost more. (We're not saying Frito-Lay makes Trader Joe's pita chips, but that said, they do taste incredibly similar to the Stacy's brand.)

Blair Heagerty / SFGate

"It's really nobody's business," says Lempert. "It's a retailer working with a manufacturer to produce a product with the best quality they can at the best price they can, and they hold those relationships near and dear."

Lempert adds that even if a brand name is making a generic product, they're very often using a different recipe than the products sold in other stores.

Trader Joe's can keep its prices down because it doesn't spend big marketing dollars on advertising beyond its own Fearless Flyer, nor does it have a complex coupon program. And buying directly from manufacturers keeps costs low as you're cutting out the middleman.

Consumers are all about trying to guesstimate Trader Joe's brand relationships based on packaging, ingredient lists and taste. Is Naked making Trader Joe's mango juice? Is Stonyfield providing the yogurt smoothies? Is Trader Joe's buying its canned tomatoes from Muir Glenn?

Blair Heagerty / SFGate

We reached out to Trader Joe's to ask whether they could answer any of these questions, and not surprisingly, they said they couldn't comment. "As a privately held company, we do not discuss our business strategy, financials or our suppliers," the company wrote in a statement.

We also contacted a few of the big brands most likely to be working with Trader Joe's, and all of them said they couldn't discuss the matter, save Annie's, which said the widely held assumption that its company is making TJ's mac 'n' cheese is false.

"We only label our products as Annie's," a statement from the company reads.

To see more rumored Trader Joe's manufacturers, scroll down. This story originally ran in 2019, so prices may vary.

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Blair Heagerty / SFGate

Blair Heagerty / SFGate

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Blair Heagerty / SFGate

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Blair Heagerty / SFGate

Blair Heagerty / SFGate

Blair Heagerty / SFGate
Editor's note: This story was updated Nov. 29 at 9 a.m. to correct that artist Aileen Barr designed the Lincoln Park Steps and Riley Doty helped with installation.

Im going to tile till I drop, said Riley Doty on a recent weekday as he sat among the Lincoln Park Steps.

Doty wasnt making a joke about a current project hes working on  the 74-year-old San Francisco tile setter just has no plans for retirement. It was an overcast day in the Outer Richmond, but the splashes of color  deep blues and greens and oranges and yellows  offered a refreshing buoyancy to the scene. The setting was made all the more significant by the fact that Doty helped tile the steps in 2014. The steps were designed by artist Aileen Barr and co-tiled by Phylece Snyder.

Now a hotspot for joggers seeking to elevate heart rates, skateboarders searching out their next great shred and Instagrammers looking for that quintessential San Francisco photo, the Lincoln Park Steps took about five months and $500,000 to complete (that price tag includes not just the tiling, but the railing and various repairs and maintenance).

Charles Russo/SFGATE

The colorful steps were hardly Dotys first rodeo. Hes worked as a tile setter in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1978. What brought him to the bay? You can probably guess: tile.

Doty grew up in Pennsylvania but lived in New York for much of his 20s, where he finished a degree in psychology and worked various odd jobs.

After finishing college, I was determined, he said. I just hated the privilege and I decided that whatever I did, it was going to have nothing to do with a college degree.

Doty said he was drawn to tile for a multitude of reasons. He loves its earthiness, its durability, that it will remain long after hes gone.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

Its this unfading, luminous, potentially beautiful material, he said. You can just do so many things with it.

He also loves its potential for transformation. Before Doty helped with the Lincoln Park Steps, he said the space was pretty dumpy. Polychrome tiles brought it back to life, and the steps teemed with it during a recent visit. One Chihuahua chased a ball up and down the multicolor stairs. A jogger parked his motorcycle to run to the top and back again. And schoolchildren from the neighboring Katherine Delmar Burke School lolled about waiting for after-school pickups.

Tile, in other words, has made the Lincoln Park Steps a San Francisco destination.

California has long been a haven for stunning tile projects, from the art deco towers in Long Beach to the tiled facades of North Berkeley homes.

In the Bay Area, after the 1906 earthquake and fire, tile became a way for San Francisco artisans to differentiate many of the boilerplate homes that sprung up shortly after. An ancient art, tiling really exploded in America in the 1920s, Doty said, when color became the flavor du jour. Before then, youd typically only find tile in bathrooms and kitchens, and it was white, white, white, Doty said.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

The dam burst in the 20s. It was color galore. It was just like there was this pent up desire for color in that time, he said.

Much of the inspiration for the tile explosion in the U.S. came from the Arts and Crafts movement, which emerged in the late 19th century and saw a new devotion to the decorative arts, as well as Moorish and Spanish influences.

By 1978, when 31-year-old Doty began tile setting, the styles, trends and process had changed time and time over, as it continues to do today. But the basic process remains the same: lay down your mortar, place the tiles and grout them.

Doty has a particular appreciation for vintage tiles. At one point, before downsizing to his current home in Oakland, Doty had amassed a collection of hundreds. The most he ever paid for a single tile was $1,000, for a piece created by 19th century artist E.T. Hurley.

It was an art piece, unlike anything Ive ever seen, Doty recalled. It came in a frame for hanging like an art piece.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

Doty finds his tiles largely from scrounging, he said. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, for example, Doty said he was able to salvage tile from destroyed buildings in the Marina and around the city. These days, most tile collectors do so online or through antique stores.

Doty doesnt necessarily have a favorite project hes worked on, having tiled hundreds and hundreds of buildings around the Bay Area over the past 40 years. But he did specifically cite a series of fireplaces he worked on with local artist Michelle Nelson, which dazzle in their simplicity and pops of color. Hes also particularly proud of the work hes created with Artistic License, a group of artisans devoted to educating the public and its members about historic architectural restoration and newly interpreted period design, according to its website.

The trends and methods in tile setting ebb and flow with the years, but Doty plans to continue doing his work until he cant any longer. With age, Doty said hes had to adjust some of his practice, but it hasnt slowed the tile setter and his work-weary hands down.

For Doty, its all about the tiles.

The tiles themselves have so much fluidity in terms of what they can do and say, he said. And they're absolutely eternal.
HEREFORD, Pa. (AP)  A 10-year-old boy was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day while he was with someone who was target shooting in southeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said.

The shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. near the child's home in Hereford, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said Friday. The boy was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead there a short timer later.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Unidentified assailants opened fire outside a city hall in the northern Mexico border state of Sonora Thursday, killing two men and a woman.

The attack took place outside the city hall in the Gulf of California port of Guaymas. The state prosecutors office urged residents to avoid the downtown area. Police, marines and National Guard units responded to the attack.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP)  Thirty-five Afghan refugees are now in Vermont, state officials said.

The families and individuals who were among those airlifted out of Afghanistan with U.S. forces in August are living with host families, mynbc5 reported Wednesday.

Many are still worried about the safety of relatives left behind in Afghanistan, which is now controlled by the Taliban.

Vermont is expected to have about 225 Afghan refugees by early next year. They will be settling primarily in Chittenden, Windham and Rutland counties, officials said.
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Alert: Israeli Health Ministry says new coronavirus variant detected in traveler who returned from Malawi
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  The Mississippi Court of Appeals has upheld the 2020 conviction of a former pastor on statutory rape and sexual battery involving two 14-year-old girls.

The Rev. Troy Anthony Piccaluga, 52, was convicted March 5, 2020, on the charges and sentenced by Circuit Judge Toni Walker Terrett to 50 years in prison.

Piccaluga appealed the verdict, claiming the trial judge erred by denying his motion to suppress a portion of his recorded interview with law enforcement, by allowing repeated instances of improper prosecutorial comment, by allowing the use of a transcript of a recorded telephone call and by permitting a lay witness to give improper opinion testimony.

The judges, in a ruling dated Tuesday, found no reversible error and affirmed the verdict, The Vicksburg Post reported.

We appreciate the ruling of the court, District Attorney Ricky Smith said. We had two young victims who were victimized by Piccaluga and had to wait until today to make sure that the case was finally concluded. They can rest easy now that the case has been affirmed by the court.

Piccaluga is serving his sentence at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility in Meridian. His scheduled release date is in September 2069.

Piccaluga, then 48 and former pastor of the Eagle Lake and Redwood United Methodist churches, was arrested March 30, 2018, at his home by Warren County sheriffs deputies after an investigation into a complaint about a girl between the ages of 14 and 16 having a sexual relationship with an older man. The second victim was discovered during the initial investigation and he was charged with two counts of statutory rape and one count of sexual battery.

At the trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on one of the rape counts.
ON THE RIO MADEIRA, Brazil (AP)  Hundreds of barges of illegal miners dredging for gold were navigating along the Madeira River in the Brazilian Amazon on Friday, and researchers said they posed a threat of pollution  including toxic mercury  for the broader environment.

The barges were spotted this week by the municipality of Autazes, some 120 kilometers (70 miles) from Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.

Smaller gatherings of barges are common along rivers in the region, but the latest collection drew international attention this week when Greenpeace and news media published images of several rows of rafts.

Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao announced an imminent police operation in the area, prompting the miners to depart early Friday and head elsewhere along the river.

Miner Thiago Bitencourt Gomes, wearing just a pair of shorts and some flip flops, told The Associated Press on Friday that about 400 barges  some 3,000 people  congregated in the area after one miner found gold there and alerted the others.

Here everybody knows each other. Were all friends, were all related, said the 28-year-old whose father, uncles, aunts and cousins were also part of the contingent.

The wood-walled rafts, some equipped with satellite internet and air conditioning units, were tied together, forming rows of houses on the wide and muddy Madeira River, a large tributary that flows into the vast Amazon downstream from Manaus. Miners and their families live, eat and work on the barges, some accompanied by their dogs and other pets.

We know that in the law, were illegal. But we all need to provide for our families, Gomes said, adding that the miners had repeatedly called on politicians to legalize their activity  in vain.

Another miner said a barge collected about 60 grams of gold  worth roughly $3,500 if pure  over 40 hours of work. Workers often took turns to work 24 hours a day.

Environmentalists are alarmed by the fact miners use mercury to separate gold from the sediment they suck from the river bottom and the process gives off toxic vapors as well as spilling some into the river.

Once in the river, it falls to the bottom and enters the food chain, contaminating fish, shrimp, turtles and other marine life as far as 500 kilometers (about 300 miles) downstream, said Paulo Basta, a researchers at the government's Fiocruz science center

Basta said there is strong evidence of mercury contamination linked to cognitive problems, alteration of senses and hypertension, and he noted that the miners themselves have high risks of exposure.

He takes the mercury in his hand, or puts it inside his bag. It leaks, drops on his leg and he gets contaminated through the skin. But the most serious form of contamination is by inhaling mercury vapor, which gets into the lungs, Basta said.

Miners told the AP they didn't release mercury, which is expensive, into the water but try to recover and reuse it.

Federal prosecutors in Amazonas state called Wednesday for federal and state authorities to coordinate a response and dismantle the illegal settlement within 30 days.

Federal police responded with a brief statement saying they were aware of the situation and evaluating options.

Miners told the AP on Friday that no authorities had come into contact with them. But fearing an operation, they left Autazes and continued along the river. The barges, pushed along by powerboats, headed off in different directions.

While local media reported tensions between the miners and residents of Autazes, journalists at the scene saw many locals taking advantage of the arrival of hundreds of visitors by selling food, electronics, diesel, clothes and even perfume.

Mining as a whole has become a sensitive issue, especially since President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office in January 2019 vowing to expand development in the Amazon region and to legalize some types of now-banned mining operations.

It is one of several factors driving deforestation, which began an upward trend in 2014 and has accelerated under Bolsonaro, whose father once worked as a wildcat miner.

___

Diane Jeantet reported from Rio de Janeiro.
BOISE, Idaho (AP)  The city of Boise is looking to expand its geothermal heating system by 40% as part of a goal to become carbon neutral by 2050.

The city pumps 250 gallons (946 liters) of geothermal water to 96 buildings through 21 miles of pipes (34 kilometers). The water has a temperature of 177 degrees Fahrenheit (80 degrees centigrade).

City officials said that the geothermal heat supplies about 2% of the citys energy resources.

Geothermal really provides that clean energy alternative, said Climate Action Manager Steve Hubble, the Idaho Statesman reported Thursday.

The heated water comes from a river of geothermally heated water flowing under the nearby foothills. Experts say the water is heated by the Idaho Batholith, a massive igneous intrusion of granite producing heat through decay of isotopes like uranium, thorium, and potassium.

Boise Geothermal Program Manager Jon Gunnerson said a large fault line runs through the Boise foothills and helps bring the water near the surface. The hot water is pumped from city-owned wells in the foothills to buildings, and then returned to the aquifer.

City officials said they want to expand the use of the geothermal water by 5 million gallons (18.9 million liters) a year until reaching 355 million gallons (1.6 billion liters).

Gunnerson said anyone interested in switching to geothermal should contact his office. The city says the rate is competitive with natural gas prices.

Its kind of one of those hometown assets that (Boiseans are) really proud of, Hubble said.

Boise residents have been using geothermal heat for about 130 years, and there are four geothermal networks in the city. Besides the city's system, there's a private system heating homes on Warm Springs Avenue, another the state owns that heats the Statehouse and other state-owned buildings, and a fourth operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for its facilities in Boise.

Besides the Statehouse, City Hall and the Ada County Courthouse are also heated with geothermal water.

Eleven buildings at Boise State University are heated with the geothermal water as well. That's the farthest point from the wells in the city's system.

The water cools the farther it gets from the wells, officials said, limiting how far the hot water can be used.

Its really going to be the downtown core and within an arms reach in each direction, Gunnerson said.

Boise spokesman Colin Hickman said wells have plenty of capacity, and there are no plans for new production wells.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  Private donors' new pledge to match $500,000 in contributions for a $1 million-expansion at a Lake Tahoe wildlife rescue center is bringing smiles back to staff and volunteers, who have been on an emotional rollercoaster since a bear cub being treated for severe wildfire burns made a much-publicized escape this summer.

The Lake Tahoe Wildlife Center has been making repairs directed by California regulators since Tamarack  named after the wildfire that blazed across more than 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) in the Sierra and severely burned the cub's paws  tunneled under an electric fence and fled back to the wild.

It was the first escape in the 45-year-history of the center in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Two days later, volunteers spotted and photographed a cub clinging to a tree 40 feet (12 meters) up in a nearby forest. They became convinced it was the 6-month-old escapee, decided to leave him alone and now believe hes doing just fine.

The contribution the Bentley Foundation and MH Buckeye announced this week may just be the happy ending theyve been looking for.

Weve turned the corner, center spokesman Greg Erfani told The Associated Press. As of Wednesday, they were only $180,000 short of the $1.05 million needed to begin construction in the spring and finish by the end of 2022.

Its going to build the first animal hospital in the Lake Tahoe area, he said.

The center has continued to rescue smaller animals and recently released seven rehabilitated coyote pups. But it's been prohibited from accepting big game including bears since the California Department of Fish and Wildlife declared in October that it had to make improvements to its enclosures and fencing.

Upon completion, CDFW will perform a site inspection and evaluate (the center's) request to renew its agreement to temporarily possess and rehabilitate injured and orphaned black bear cubs," department spokesman Peter Tira said in an email to AP on Wednesday.

Erfani said supply-chain challenges have delayed immediate repairs but the center should be fully up and running by next month, bears and all.

The expansion includes the hospital with two large recovery rooms, surgery and X-ray areas, individual care buildings for different species and a small dormitory for staff providing round-the-clock care  all at the place young Tamarack briefly called home.

The tale of his rescue-turned-escape began July 26 when a homeowner in Markleeville, California, spotted the cub crawling on his knees because his paws were so badly burned.

Photos of the bandaged black bear at the rescue center flooded social media and drew mention in international news coverage of the devastating fire that forced thousands of evacuations.

Tamarack was sort of the first 'feel good story that came out of the fire. It was all destruction and heartbreak, and then theres this little guy that had survived, Erfani said this week. Then, of course, that little stinker was not going to be caged. He just wanted out.

The center announced his escape Aug. 3, warning anyone who spotted him to stay away and report sightings to wildlife officials.

Another flurry of publicity followed, less flattering than before.

We got lambasted on social media. People were being nasty, Erfani recalled. It was very emotional for us because we had connections with him. A lot of people were really upset.

Meanwhile, the center was doing everything it could to corral the cub, even sending up heat-seeking drones sometimes used to find lost hikers, Erfani said. We spent a lot of time and money trying to find him. Our fear was that he wouldnt be able to survive, so we didnt give up.

It paid off with the sighting of the cub clinging to the tree.

We could tell he had all the same markings. But he appeared safe, and once released into the wild, we dont bring them back, he said.

He wasn't happy being contained, pacing a lot. So, when we got him to a point where he could climb, thats all he really needed. Once he got that defense ... his instincts kick in.

Tamarack wasnt like older bears who  because of issues including drought-driven food shortages  abandon the woods to rummage through garbage and sometimes break into Lake Tahoe homes.

They become urban bears," Erfani said. "Until the fire, (Tamarack) was from the backcountry, out in the wild. He never saw a house, never saw a car.

We like to believe hes out there now in the wild, living the bears life.
WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP)  One of the Jersey Shore's most popular boardwalks is undergoing repairs designed to better prepare it for next year's summer crowds.

Wildwood has begun repairing several blocks of its wooden walkway, as famous for the motorized tram cars that carry people up and down it as for the gigantic expanses of sand that stretch to the ocean.

The first $4 million of what could eventually be a $30 million to $40 million project is being done solely with state funds included in this year's budget.

The walkway is particularly popular with tourists from Philadelphia and its suburbs.

The boardwalk is over 100 years old, and all we've ever done is patch jobs that need to be done for health and safety issues, said Mayor Pete Byron. There never really was a plan. We couldn't afford the $80 million it would have taken to do a total rebuild.

Engineers examined the concrete substructure of the walkway and determined that not all of it was in bad shape, Byron said.

An examination of the boardwalk's underbelly by local and state officials in 2019 found some spots where concrete crumbled to the touch.

But the overall assessment of the substructure cleared the way for less expensive plans to repair the sections most in need of work, the mayor said.

It's like having a '64 Chevy: You can buy a brand new engine for it for $15,000, or you could spend $5,000 on a rebuilt engine that will run just as well, he said.

Work started last week on a three-block section. Eventually, 20 of the boardwalk's 26 blocks will be refurbished, a process that could take five years, with work done in the offseason to avoid interfering with tourist season.

The mayor said there has been talk of possibly collaborating with neighboring North Wildwood to repair about 10 blocks of the walkway in that municipality, but no firm plans have been made.

Wildwood will apply for grants and explore numerous funding sources for future boardwalk repair. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat like Byron, vetoed $56 million in special funding for Wildwood boardwalk repairs in 2019, voicing doubts about its constitutionality.

A proposal to reclassify the boardwalk as a roadway to make it eligible for transportation funding also went nowhere.

As part of the work, the concrete strips on which Wildwood's legendary tram cars would rise are being removed. Bicyclists sometimes got their tires caught in gaps where the concrete edge met the boardwalk wood.

The rebuilt boardwalk's surface will be entirely made of wood, but the tram cars will continue to operate as usual.

___

Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
Climate activists blockaded Amazon warehouses in three European countries on Friday, part of a global effort to pressure the ecommerce giant on one of its busiest days of the year to improve working conditions and end business practices that hurt the environment.

Members of Extinction Rebellion targeted 13 Amazon fulfilment centers in the United Kingdom with the aim of disrupting 50% of the company's deliveries on Black Friday, which marks the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. They staged similar protests in Germany and the Netherlands.

The action is intended to draw attention to Amazons exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices, disregard for workers rights in the name of company profits, as well as the wastefulness of Black Friday, the group said. It vowed to remain at the scene

At least 30 people were arrested at multiple U.K. locations, with some held on suspicion of aggravated trespass or public nuisance, police forces said.

Extinction Rebellion and dozens of other activist groups in the U.S. and around the world are organizing a day of global protests and strikes on Friday against Amazon to demand the company provide better working conditions, commit to operating sustainably, and pay its fair share of tax.

In the U.S., labor activists planned a small protest at Amazon's fulfilment center on Staten Island, New York.

Activists in the U.K. blocked the entrance to Amazon's warehouse in Tilbury, just east of London, with an effigy of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sitting on top of a rocket.

At Amazon's distribution center in Dunfermline, Scotland, about 20 Extinction Rebellion members strung banners across the entrance road that said Make Amazon Pay and locked themselves together, stopping trucks from entering and some from leaving.

Amazon did not directly address the protests in response to a request for comment, but said the company takes its responsibilities very seriously.

That includes our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2040  10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement  providing excellent pay and benefits in a safe and modern work environment, and supporting the tens of thousands of British small businesses who sell on our store, the company said.

Extinction Rebellion activists also blocked an Amazon logistics center in the central German town of Bad Hersfeld by erecting a makeshift bamboo scaffold that they used to suspend themselves in the air. Authorities later removed them with the help of a fire department ladder truck, according to video posted on the groups German Facebook page.

The group staged a similar protest at an Amazon facility at Amsterdam's Schipol airport.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  Several members of New Mexico's congressional delegation are urging the U.S. Forest Service to again allow a decades-old foot race that goes through a wilderness area and up into mountains overlooking Albuquerque.

A letter by Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan and Rep. Melanie Stansbury asks the agency to reverse its 2020 decision that the La Luz Trail Race wouldn't be permitted under the Cibola National Forest's draft land and resource management plan.
SEATTLE (AP)  New state data shows school systems in Washington still have not recovered their enrollment losses from pandemic.

The Seattle Times reports that between October 2019 and October 2020, 39,000 fewer students enrolled in public school, about a 3.5% drop. The numbers werent distributed evenly across grades  the most pronounced losses were among younger students; the number of kindergarten students plummeted by 14%. By this fall, the states enrollment had only grown by a thousand students.

The drop in enrollment is bad news for public schools financially. Collectively, school districts will lose about $500 million in state funding in the next budget, according to state Superintendent Chris Reykdal.

He has already signaled that he will ask state lawmakers to hold funds steady for the districts, which receive dollars based on the size of their rosters.

Districts have been tallying up the damage. Seattle is down 3,400 students since 2019. This year, the district estimates it will operate with $28 million less in funding, according to a recent Seattle School Board presentation. There is potential for some of those students to return during the second semester of the year now that the vaccine is available for children ages 5 through 11, the presentation said.

For the short term, money from the pandemic federal stimulus packages aimed at schools should exceed the money lost by enrollment declines in most school districts, according to an analysis from Georgetown Universitys Edunomics Lab.

At the same time, the states home-schooled population has ballooned, nearly doubling in size during the first full school year of the pandemic, 2020-21.

Home-schooled students grew from 21,000 to 40,000 students between 2019 and 2020.

There isnt a count yet available for home-schooled kids this school year, but Jen Garrison Stuber, advocacy chair for the Washington Homeschool Organization, says she expects the number to hold steady.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Ethiopias government has issued a new order aiming to restrict media reporting of the countrys yearlong war, prohibiting the sharing of non-official information on military-related movements, battlefront results and situations.

The statement released late Thursday, which applies to everyone in the country, also warns that supporting the (rival Tigray forces) directly or indirectly in the name of freedom of speech should cease immediately. And it strongly warned against calls for the formation of a transitional government.

Security forces will take measures against violators, it said, but didn't elaborate.

Ethiopias government this month declared a state of emergency as fighters from the countrys northern Tigray region, in collaboration with fighters with the Oromo Liberation Army, approached the capital, Addis Ababa. The United States and other governments have been urging their citizens to leave immediately.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war that erupted in November 2020 between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray forces who had long dominated the national government before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. Foreign media have been barred from Tigray for much of the war, with communications links severed, and both local and foreign journalists have been intimidated and harassed.

In his latest attempt to rally all able Ethiopians to fight what he now calls an existential war, the 45-year-old prime minister this week announced that he would go to the battlefront to direct the army, a dramatic move two years after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mediation efforts by the U.S. and African Union in pursuit of a cease-fire and talks have made little apparent progress. The war in which witnesses have described gang-rapes, mass expulsions and deliberate starvation has seen atrocities committed by all sides, though Ethiopian forces and their allies from neighboring Eritrea have been blamed for most of the abuses.

The war has created a huge humanitarian crisis in Africas second most populous country, with some 6 million people in the Tigray region under a months-long government blockade. Many in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions remain beyond the reach of aid as the Tigray forces fight their way toward Ethiopias capital. They say they are pressuring the government to lift the blockade but also have warned they want Abiy out, by force if needed.

Today, 9.4 million people are living their worst nightmare in northern Ethiopia, World Food Program spokesman Tomson Phiri told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

The United Nations agency also said 35 aid trucks had arrived in the Tigray capital, the first such aid to arrive in the region since Oct. 18, when Ethiopias military resumed airstrikes against the regional capital. Some 100 aid trucks are needed each day to meet the urgent needs in Tigray, the U.N. has said.
NEW HAVEN, Conn (AP)  A former New Haven police officer has become the first officer in Connecticut to be permanently barred from law enforcement for general misconduct under the state's 2020 police accountability law that was passed in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis.

Gary Gamarra, who resigned in December 2020 after being accused of coercing two women to have sex, had his certification revoked last week by the Police Officer Standards and Training Council, effectively prohibiting him from serving as an officer anywhere in Connecticut.

Karen Boisvert, administrator of the Connecticut Police Academy, confirmed to the New Haven Register that Gamarra is the first officer to be decertified under the "general misconduct provision of Connecticut's law. She declined to rule out the possibility that his certification could have been stripped under the council's previous authority, which was limited to when an officer is convicted of a felony, lied during the initial certification process or engaged in other specific violations.

Under the new law, the council is allowed to decertify an officer if they've used excessive force or committed an act that undermines public confidence in law enforcement.

A message was left seeking comment with Gamarra's attorney.

Three other decertifications due to felony convictions have also been issued in 2021. They include former Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez, who was sentenced in April to one year and one day in prison for rigging the hiring process that led to his appointment in 2018. Under the new police accountability law, Gamarra, Perez and the other officers are also prevented from working as private security guards.

The New Haven Police Department launched two internal affairs investigations, conducted in 2019 and 2020, after the executive director of the Sex Workers and Allies Network shared allegations from two women that an officer later identified as Gamarra had solicited sexual acts from them and how they felt pressured to perform the acts.

According to internal affairs reports, Gamarra had initially denied having sexual contact with the women but later said the encounters were consensual. His attorney, Norm Pattis, has previously said that Gamarra resigned under duress after the case became a public controversy.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The Solomon Islands decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Australian police, troops and diplomats are helping local police restore peace and order while trying to keep out of the domestic political dispute.

Here's a look at some of the reasons behind the turmoil:

ETHNIC TENSIONS OPEN OLD WOUNDS

The Solomon Islands are famous as a battleground of World War II, the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal named after the country largest island where the restive capital Honiara is located.

It was then known as the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and became the Solomon Islands before independence in 1978. The South Pacific nation of 700,000 people  mostly Melanesian but also Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese and European  is, like neighboring Australia and New Zealand, a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II the head of state.

A migration of settlers from Malaita, the countrys second biggest island and most populous province, to the economic opportunities on Guadalcanal and Honiara stoked ethnic tensions and eventually unrest.

In the late 1990s, native Guadalcanal islanders, known as Guales, launched a campaign of violence and intimidation to drive the Malaitans off the island. The Malaita Eagle Force militia was formed to protect them in a conflict that led the government to declare a four-month state of emergency in 1999.

Australia and New Zealand rejected the governments request for help. With the police force ethnically divided, law and order on Guadalcanal collapsed.

In 2000, the Malaita Eagle Force kidnapped Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufaalu, a Malaitan, because they did not consider he was doing enough for the Malaitans cause.

Ulufaalu resigned in exchange for his freedom, and the current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare began the first of his four stints as the unstable nations leader.

WHAT'S CHINA'S ROLE IN THE CURRENT UNREST?

China has provided another cause for the community to divide, with the government supporting Beijing and the Malatian leaders supporting Taiwan.

The self-ruled island of Taiwan split from mainland China after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims it as part of its territory and has persuaded all but 15 countries, most of them small and poor in Africa and Latin America, to switch recognition to the mainland.

But experts say the unrest on the Solomon Islands is driven by the same underlying causes that have undermined the social fabric for decades: inter-island and ethnic tensions, a perceived lack of sharing of resources between Guadalcanal and Malaita, widespread poverty and high youth unemployment.

Geopolitical tensions have been the spark but not the major driver, said Jonathan Pryke, Pacific Islands program director at the Lowy Institute international policy think tank.

Im sure there is some degree of affection for Taiwan in Malaita, but its also another way for Malaitans to express their frustration at the national government, he added.

Pryke said it was too soon to judge whether the Solomons would benefit financially from their 2019 switch in diplomatic relations to Beijing.

While Beijings financial inducements to cut ties with Taiwan have not yet borne fruit, the Solomons had closed its borders throughout the pandemic, which limited Chinese engagement.

Resentment against Chinese business people is longstanding on the Solomons and resulted in much of Honiaras Chinatown being burned in 2006, and again this week.

The Chinese communities are vulnerable in the Solomon Islands because they dont have the traditional support base, Pryke said. "They dont have the tribes the families that would would given them some extra degree of cultural isolation from this sort of unrest.

HOW DID AUSTRALIA BECOME INVOLVED?

Australia and the Solomons signed their first bilateral security treaty in 2017. It provides a legal basis for the rapid deployment of Australian police, troops and associated civilians in the event of a major security challenge.

Australian police were in the air aboard a military transport plane within hours of Sogavare invoking the treaty on Thursday.

Australia had led a force of Pacific Islands police and troops under the Regional Assurance Mission to Solomon Islands, or RAMSI, from 2003 to 2017. It included 2,300 police and troops from 17 nations, invited by the Solomons government. The deployment successfully ended the conflict that killed 200 people.

In the five years of ethic and civil unrest before RAMSI arrived, the Solomons was close to becoming a failed state.

The bilateral treaty acknowledges that underlying causes of the unrest remained and posed development challenges.

The Solomon Islands will need ongoing support to retain the gains made under RAMSI and to help build long-term stability and enduring growth, the Australian government said in 2017.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  A community group is urging officials in Madison to back off on plans to shut down a homeless encampment in a city park.

City officials have posted notices that camping wont be allowed in Reindahl Park on Madison's east side after Dec. 6 and all tents, structures and belongings must be removed from the park by Dec. 9. The encampment has seen more than 70 people at times and has been declared unsanitary, unhealthy and unsafe after a number of attacks and overdoses, a stabbing nd a shooting.
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP)  An unidentified gunman opened fire on a bus carrying teenagers in western Kosovo Friday, killing three people and injuring another, police and media reports said.

Fadil Gashi, police spokesman in the nearby city of Peja, said the bus came under attack in Gllogjan, 90 kilometers (55 miles) west of the capital Pristina at about 1800 GMT. The driver died immediately and three teenagers were taken to a hospital where two of them died.

Besnik Ibraj, of the hospital emergency unit in Peja, said the third teenager was injured and in stable condition, according to the Koha newspapers website.

Veton Elshani, deputy police head in Peja, said one masked gunman fired a Kalashnikov automatic rifle at the bus, which was transporting eight teenagers.

Gashi did not provide a motive of the attack, saying it was too early in the investigation.

There is no reason to believe it was a terrorist act," Elshani later said.

Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla cut short his visit to neighboring Albania and headed to Gllogjan.

President Vjosa Osmani called the attack shocking and urged law enforcement officials to find the perpetrators as quickly as possible.

The attack against the bus with students is a blow to our public order and security. Citizen security is a priority and we shall not withdraw in fulfilling such a mission, she wrote in her Facebook page.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said police had mobilized in full capacity to investigate such a grave crime and bring justice.

Kosovo and Albania Cabinets held a joint meeting earlier Friday.

Lives taken in Kosovo by the bullets of a wild act deserving extreme punishment from justice have saddened us all, neighboring Albanian counterpart Edi Rama tweeted.

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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Nearly $1 billion meant to cover back rent for New Yorkers who suffered economic hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic still hasn't made it into the hands of tenants six months after the program launched.

That's led to exasperation, especially as the state warned that the $2.4 billion set aside for rent relief would likely not cover new applicants and mostly closed applications.

The hold up, state officials say, is partly linked to missing paperwork. About 82,000 applications for rental aid submitted by tenants through September are still incomplete. About a third of those unfinished and provisionally approved applications date back to June, according to state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance spokesperson Anthony Farmer.

One issue is that the state is having trouble matching applications submitted by tenants with the landlords who own the property. Some tenants didn't provide contact information for landlords or mistakenly provided phone numbers for property management companies rather than owners, which is an issue because the program is designed to send funds to landlords directly.

Farmer said the state hopes to someday release payments for two-thirds of the 82,000 applications that are matched with landlords who need to submit additional documentation. Farmer didnt provide a timeline of when that could happen.

The remaining third of applications are further stuck in limbo because theyre either not matched with a landlord or because a landlord hasnt created an account on the online application portal, he said.

Meanwhile, some landlords say they've been having trouble getting needed information from tenants, or from the state.

Brooklyn landlord Sharon Redhead said six tenants owe her about $50,000 in back rent and one of them didnt provide her with an application number needed for state paperwork. She did get a computer-generated message from the states assistance agency that included the number, but Redhead said part of that message was gibberish and shes been unable to decipher it.

I cant link that tenant's application because I dont have the application number, and OTDA is not able to help, said Redhead, referring to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Because of the delays, Redhead said, landlords and tenants are in this predicament and tenants will be further in debt because the program took so long.

Farmer said the state has expanded outreach to landlords based on contact information provided by tenants, and is trying to find new contact information for non-responsive landlords. He said the agency has enough workers to process applications: 1,750 staff, including 1,400 contractors and 100 state employees reassigned from other agencies.

Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents the residential housing industry, said his group will be working with the administration to help track down landlords, including in instances where opaque limited liability companies own buildings.

Were not sure why theyre not moving the money out as quickly as they should be, he said.

Not all delays are due to bureaucratic hurdles. Some landlords dont want to participate in the program because, if they do, they are prohibited from evicting the covered tenant for one year.

Brooklyn landlord Cynthia Brooks said she doesn't want to keep a squatter who she said damaged her property, failed to pay rent, caused a roach infestation and banged on the door of her other tenant.

Still, Strasburg said he thinks it's rare for a landlord to outright refuse to accept checks: They want the money, he said. They havent seen payments for close to two years.

New York only releases payments once a landlord cooperates and provides contact information. Under program rules, the state has to try to collect required documents for 180 days before giving up and reallocating the funds. Other states send money directly to the tenant, or reject applications more quickly when it is impossible to reach landlords.

Farmer said the state won't reallocate funds in December.

New Yorks online-only application portal  overseen by vendor Guidehouse  also faced a string of glitches this summer. At times, the portal erased applications and made it impossible to upload documents, according to The Associated Press interviews with dozens of tenants and community groups helping with applications.

Theres seems to be a technical problem with the application process that has caused a lot of problems and slows everything down, Ellen Davidson, staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society, said.

Farmer, of the state assistance agency, said that the state is addressing technical issues promptly and as they arrive.

These issues have not resulted in any widespread delays of aid being issued to tenants, nor has the agency ever indicated as such, he said.

Farmer said the state's sent out over 15,000 notices warning property owners they wont receive payments without submitting needed documentation.

Farmer didn't say how many landlords have refused to participate.

But he said 43% of 27,300 incomplete applications from June, haven't been matched with a landlord.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, who took office in August, is now seeking a billion more dollars in federal rental aid to supplement what the state has already allocated.

Some advocacy groups representing landlords and tenants have also urged her to reopen the rent relief application process, saying more than a quarter of a million applicants shows the need for help has far outstripped what the state has given out so far.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP)  For many Hondurans, Sundays election will be about stripping power from a party whose successive administrations are widely seen as having deepened corruption and driven tens of thousands to flee the country, many toward the United States.

Expelling President Juan Orlando Hernandez's National Party after 12 years is more important to them than who takes power when it's gone. The animosity toward Hernandez is such that for several years, migrants walking out of Honduras have chanted Get out J.O.H.! referring to his initials.

Complaints against Hernandez and his party are multiple. An already difficult life has gotten even harder for many. Honduras was hit by two devastating hurricanes in 2020. The pandemic raised unemployment to 10.9% last year, according to the National Statistics Institute. The economy shrank by 9%, according to the World Bank. And street gangs rule swaths of territory through terror.

Hernandez has also become a national embarrassment. U.S. federal prosecutors in New York have accused him of running a narco state and fueling his own political rise with drug money. Hernandez has denied it all and has not been formally charged, but that could change once he leaves office.

And many believe Hernandez isn't legitimately their president. A friendly court sidestepped the constitutional ban on reelection and Hernandez won a 2017 contest filled with irregularities that nonetheless was quickly recognized by the Trump administration.

So the National Party's candidate in Sunday's election, Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, has faced significant headwinds as Hernandezs chosen successor.

Honduran prosecutors also accuse him of diverting more than $1 million in public funds to personal use, but the Supreme Court has put the case on hold until a sort comptroller court investigates.

Try as he might, Asfura hasnt been able to shake Hernandezs stigma. At a recent rally in Tegucigalpa, Asfura pleaded, I am different.

The National Party's strength is its ability to distribute benefits and mobilize voters, including some 200,000 government employees, and Asfura is still in the race. Whichever of the 14 candidates gets the most votes Sunday wins; there is no runoff.

Polls give Xiomara Castro the best chance of beating Asfura. This is Castros third try. She lost to Hernandez in his first run and then dropped out in 2017 when she joined the coalition backing television personality Salvador Nasralla, who this year dropped out to back her.

The 62-year-old candidate of the leftist Liberty and Refoundation party is the wife of former President Jose Manuel Zelaya, who had aggravated both the U.S. and Honduran establishments by building close ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He was ousted by the military in a coup in 2009. Officials justified his ouster by alleging he planned to violate the same constitutional ban on reelection that Hernandez later ignored.

He too has faced corruption allegations. When a Honduran drug trafficker was sentenced to life in prison in the United States in 2019, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said he had paid millions in bribes to government officials, including $2 million to Zelaya, an accusation Zelaya denied.

Castro's campaign has focused on the need to remove the existing power structure, and tying Asfura to Hernandez at every opportunity.

They call Honduras a narco state because of this mafia that governs us and because of which they also say were the most corrupt country in Latin America, Castro said at a recent campaign event. This is the moment to say enough of the misery, the poverty and the exclusion that our country experiences now.

For years, the U.S. relationship with Honduras has been governed by Honduras willingness to cooperate in the war on drugs as a key transshipment point for cocaine headed north and in helping to stem migration?. But U.S. prosecutors have shown that while the government was assisting in interdiction, its politicians were benefitting from drug proceeds and helping protect other shipments, most notably in the case of former lawmaker Juan Antonio Tony Hernandez, the presidents brother, who was sentenced to life in prison in the United States.

The Biden administration has continued to struggle with Central American migrants arriving at the Southwest border, many of them from Honduras. Vice President Kamala Harris has said corruption in the region as one of the key problems driving that movement.

According to the Vanderbilt Universitys Americas Barometer Pulse of Democracy 2021 report released this month, more than half of the those polled in the nation of 9.3 million expressed a desire to live or work abroad  30 percentage points higher than in 2004.

In addition to president, Hondurans will elect a new congress and their representatives for the Central American Parliament.

Luis Vasquez, a 43-year-old systems technician in Tegucigalpa, said he was underwhelmed by all of the candidates.

There isnt an option of proposals that we can trust; its just more of the same, he said. But he was sure his vote would not go to the National Party, because of the high level of corruption it has shown.

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Sherman reported from Mexico City.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A shooting at an Indianapolis apartment complex killed a man early Friday, giving the city a record-tying 245 homicides so far this year with five weeks still remaining in 2021, police said.

Officers responding to a report of a person shot found the man unresponsive outside of an apartment just after 1:45 a.m. on the city's northwest side.

The man suffered injuries consistent with a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene, Officer Genae Cook of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department told The Indianapolis Star

His death marked the 245th homicide in Indianapolis in 2021, tying last years record, and ending a more than weeklong streak where there were no homicides in the city.

Its disappointing and frustrating that you get there with this much time left in the year, Indianapolis police Chief Randal Taylor told WRTV-TV.

The city saw between 172 and 179 for three consecutive years before experiencing a sharp jump in homicides at the end of 2020.

Taylor said the killings have been fueled by disputes over drugs, gangs and people upset with random slights that often arise from social media posts.

Nationally, homicides increased by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020, based on FBI data.

Mayor Joe Hogsett said his administration is trying to address rising gun violence with programs targeting poverty, while boosting the police force and other more direct crime-fighting efforts.

I think over time, theyre going to make a real difference," he said.
URBANDALE, Iowa (AP)  An Iowa hospital says it is implementing procedures to ensure it doesn't repeat a mistake made last weekend, when more than 100 children were given the wrong dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

MercyOne said in a statement that the children under age 12 at a mass vaccination event on Saturday in Urbandale should have received the prescribed 10-microgram dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Instead, they received 20 micrograms, still less than the adult dosage of 30 micrograms.
ROME (AP)  Italian Premier Mario Draghi said that a bilateral treaty signed on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen bilateral cooperation would in turn strengthen the European Union, including such areas as defense, aerospace and technology.

The treaty deepens cooperation in crucial sectors, from security to justice, from research to industry, Draghi told a press conference.

That includes spending to create a true European defense" that Draghi said obviously is complementary to NATO" and doesn't substitute the alliance.

To be sovereign, Europe needs to know how to defend its borders. We need to create a real defense,'' he said.

Draghi also cited the intent to strengthen investments in such key sectors as semiconductors, as the global supply chain is hard hit by shortages from Asia, as well as in more sustainable energy sources, as countries seek to slow the pace of global warming.

The two countries also signed an agreement on space launchers that will increase European competitiveness, consolidating Italian-French cooperation for future Ariane 6 and Vega 6 launchers, according to a separate statement.

Macron said the agreement does not substitute France's longtime friendship with Germany, which has been considered key to economic prosperity and security in postwar Europe. But he said the two friendships are different.

"In France, we say that when things get complicated with Germany, we turn toward Italy,'' Macron said.

Among the treaty's provisions is the creation of a Franco-Italian civil service and operation center to support law enforcement. In addition, a minister from one country will attend a Cabinet meeting of the other every three months.

Beyond consolidating bilateral relations, the agreement intends to encourage and accelerate the process of European integration, Draghi said.

Macron also met with Pope Francis at the Vatican for an hour, and gave him two biographies of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of Francis Jesuit order, the Vatican said.

Macron's office, which noted the audience was only scheduled for 30 minutes, said the two men discussed the need to ensure vaccine distribution to all, climate change, migration and the situation in Lebanon, among other topics.

The talks pointed to a true convergence of views both on global challenges and on regional crises threatening to destabilize the rest of the world," the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
ESTANCIA, N.M. (AP)  Mayor Nathan Dial said a recently approved rule requiring people to be legally armed to attend an Estancia Town Council meeting is just a way of sending notice that the town is not going to let the state dictate what it can and cannot do.

Rural New Mexico is just tired of being pushed around, Dial told the Albuquerque Journal as he sat in town hall with a snub nose .357 on his hip. This is not just about the Second Amendment. This is about all civil liberties.

But Morrow Hall, one of the two Estancia Board of Trustee members who voted against the rule, said its just a stunt, a staged event, the mayors reaction to a ban on bringing deadly weapons into the state Capitol building.

I told the mayor, I cant support your rule. Its crazy, Hall said last week. He said, I know its crazy. But its also crazy I cant carry a gun into the Roundhouse. 

Hall said he doesnt understand why anyone would need to bear arms in the Roundhouse.

To me, that means going in to fight, he said. I dont know who you would fight at the Roundhouse that you would need a firearm.

But Dial said the term legally armed doesnt necessarily mean a weapon and could be defined as armed with knowledge.

The state ban on weapons in the Capitol building goes into effect Dec. 6. The Estancia rule requiring people to be legally armed to attend meetings goes into effect Dec. 7.

Nov. 30 is the deadline the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico has set for Estancia to rescind the rule or get sued for constitutional and statutory violations.

This new rule put forth by the Town of Estancia unequivocally violates the First Amendment, reads a letter sent by ACLU New Mexico to Dial and the towns Board of Trustees. The law will deter community members from attending town council meetings to petition their local government, thus creating a chilling effect on the exercise of their fundamental rights under the First Amendment.

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Not unanimous

Estancias four-person Board of Trustees split 2-2 on the legally armed rule. Dial broke the tie with his affirmative vote.

The rule reads: In order to attend an Estancia Town Council meeting, one must be legally Armed. By entering this meeting, you acknowledge that you are prepared to defend yourself and beliefs with what you believe is necessary to do so. (This definition is at the discretion of the Executive Branch.)

Any and all Religious, Medical or Ethical exceptions will be honored without question.

Dial said he never intended for the rule to keep people from exercising their right to attend public meetings.

I dont want anyone to be afraid to show up, he said. If they dont want to carry a firearm thats their constitutional right.

The mayor said the rule is intended only to make clear that the town has no intention of enacting a ban on weapons at public meetings as the state has done at the Capitol.

The mayors contention that legally armed could include knowledge doesnt wash for Maria Martinez Sanchez, deputy legal director for ACLU New Mexico. She said no one could be expected to interpret the rules wording that way, and that ACLU will sue if the rule is not rescinded by Nov. 30.

They need more specificity in order for people to know if they are violating the rule, Sanchez said.

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Cautious about government

Estancia, the Torrance County seat, is about 52 miles southeast of Albuquerque and 17 miles south of Moriarty. Dial, 52, said the population, not including the inmates at the Torrance County Detention Facility, is about 1,200. The detention center is the towns major employer.

Strung out along N.M. 41, which serves as the towns main street, are a couple of dollar stores, a food truck, a couple of service station/convenience stores, an auto store, a hardware store and a restaurant. Other buildings appear empty or in disuse. A cafe closed just a few weeks ago.

Dial grew up in Estancia and graduated from Estancia High in 1986. He is retired from the Army, having served about 25 years with the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve, including stints on active duty. He has served in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Central America.

He was recently elected to his second term as mayor, a job that pays him $650 a month after taxes.

There is no doubt he is a staunch advocate for Second Amendment rights. He pushed a measure declaring Estancia a Second Amendment sanctuary town, and in January 2019, he showed up at the state Capitol wearing a sidearm to test a new rule banning weapons of all kinds during joint sessions of the House and Senate.

Bitty Lutrick, 63, who grew up in Estancia, supports Dials stance against state government.

I like the mayor because he is not one to sheepishly back down to government regulations if they infringe on our individual liberties, Lutrick said as she took a break from work at The Front Porch, the food truck business she started here six months ago. I just feel we need to be cautious about what we let the government do. Im not afraid of my fellow citizens, but Im cautious about the government.

Estancia native Cruzita Zamora, 38, feels the same way about Dial.

I think he has our best interests at heart, said Zamora, who is preparing to open an apothecary, soapery and gifts business in Estancia. I do feel people tend to view guns differently in the city than we do out here. In the city, its about crime. Out here its an everyday thing. We have them for hunting and for self-protection from whatever we need self-protecting for. I carry guns for snakes.

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Waste of time

Tom Kennedy, 47, lives just north of Estancia. He is a lecturer in biology at the University of New Mexico and moved to Torrance County to get away from Albuquerques crime. He visits Estancia several times a week to take his young daughters to the town park or to watch birds.

He admits he sees things differently than most of his neighbors in this rural part of the state.

I have guns, but I dont carry them, he said. There is no need to carry a gun unless you are hunting an elk. It seems to me people out here are more interested in Second Amendment rights than in water needs, funding schools and fixing roads. If the mayor is talking about legally armed being about knowledge, then I dont think he is legally armed.

Board of Trustee member Hall, 73, a former Estancia mayor, was just reelected to his third term on the panel.

Essentially, the rule is meaningless, he said. It has nothing to do with Estancia except that man (Dial) lives here. Its a waste of a lot of peoples time. I just hope it doesnt end up costing us money.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  A Wisconsin police lieutenant has resigned after being recorded engaging in sexual activity with a woman in a police car that belonged to the Madison Police Department.

The department announced the resignation of Lt. Reginald Patterson Wednesday as it concluded an investigation into the incident, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. A bystander in September had caught Patterson on camera with the woman in the back of a squad car that was parked outside of a Madison Farm and Fleet store.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  A jury in North Carolina has convicted a man of charges arising from an argument with his ex-girlfriend in which he shot at her car and rammed it while she was at a police station.

In February 2019, when the woman drove off with her four children, Kendrick Piggie chased her for 30 minutes, ramming her car, brandishing a gun and threatening to kill her, prosecutors said. The woman drove to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department division station and informed officers that Piggie had hit her car and had a gun, The Charlotte Observer reported.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  A Lincoln man has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for shooting into three homes in January.

The Lincoln Journal Star reported Friday that Dontaiven Drappeaux had pleaded no contest to attempted unlawful discharge of a firearm. Ballistics tests tied his gun to the shootings.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  A raging fire gutted a textile business in a large commercial building south of downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. It was the second fire at the site this week.

The fire was reported just before 8 p.m. and flames were burning through the roof when firefighters arrived, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
PHOENIX (AP)  A murder charge has been dismissed for a California divorce lawyer in the suburban Phoenix shooting death of his stepdaughters husband nearly 11 years ago.

Prosecutors cited the interest of justice as their reason for seeking the dismissal of the murder charge against Robert Fischer, whose jury conviction was overturned by a judge in the December 2010 death of 49-year-old Norman Lee Radder.

No specifics were offered in court records on what prompted the dismissal request, which was approved on Oct. 21. Its unclear whether prosecutors will seek a murder charge against Fischer again.

Fischer was at Radders home in Queen Creek, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) east of downtown Phoenix, when Radder died from a single shot from Fischers handgun into Radders right eye after a night of drinking.

Fischers attorneys suggested Radder was suicidal, saying he was experiencing financial and marital difficulties.

Authorities contend Radders death was staged as a suicide and that Fischer, who worked previously as a former police officer, had used his law enforcement training and knowledge as an attorney to try to cover up the crime.

Fischer was convicted of murder in 2013 in Radders death.

Two months later, the judge overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial. The judge concluded the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence, that there was no fingerprint or DNA evidence showing Fischer fired the gun that killed Lee and that a detectives theory that Fischer had manipulated Radders body and staged the scene lacked credibility.

While Fischer said he went to bed in another room and later discovered Radder on the floor after hearing a popping sound, the judge said experts believe Fischer was present when the gun was fired based on blood on his pajamas. Still, the judge noted that being present and untruthful wasnt enough to support a conviction.

The Arizona Court of Appeals later reinstated the conviction. It found the trial judge abused her discretion in ordering a new trial and disregarded the incriminating nature of Fischers claim that he was in another room when the shooting occurred.

But the Arizona Supreme Court later threw out the lower appellate court decision and ordered a new trial, concluding there was substantial evidence to support the trial judges decision to overturn the verdict. The high court also said the Court of Appeals reweighed the case's evidence, when it should have simply determined if the evidence supported the lower court's ruling. In 2018, Fischer was indicted again on a murder charge in Radders death, leading to the case that was recently dismissed.

The Maricopa County Attorneys Office, which prosecuted Fischer, didnt immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

Fischer didnt return voice messages left at his law office in Orange County, California. His attorney, Michael Jones, also didnt return a phone call seeking comment on the dismissal.

The surprising dismissal  which doesnt prohibit prosecutors from bringing a murder charge against Fischer in the future  came six weeks after a different judge had dealt a loss to Fischer. The judge rejected Fischers arguments that the attempt to retry him should be dismissed because it would violate his protections against double jeopardy.
BRUSSELS (AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia Friday that any attempt to invade Ukraine would have costs, as concern mounts about a Russian military buildup near its former Soviet neighbors borders.

Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops near their common border following massive war games in western Russia earlier this year. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said units of the Russian 41st army remain near Yelnya, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the border.

Moscow denies that its planning any invasion and refuses to provide details about troop movements on its own territory.

If Russia uses force against Ukraine that will have costs, that would have consequences, Stoltenberg said, ahead of a meeting of the 30-nation military organizations foreign ministers in Latvia Nov. 30-Dec. 1, where Russias activities will be high on the agenda. He did not say what those costs would be.

This is the second time this year that Russia has amassed a large and unusual concentration of forces in the region, Stoltenberg told reporters. He said it includes tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, and electronic warfare systems, as well as combat-ready troops.

This military buildup is unprovoked and unexplained. It raises tensions and it risks miscalculations, Stoltenberg said. He conceded that there is no certainty about the intentions of Russia but said that this is a military buildup by a country that has invaded Ukraine before.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 after the countrys Moscow-friendly president was driven from power by mass protests. Weeks later, Russia threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency that broke out in Ukraines east.

Ukraine and the West accused Russia of sending its troops and weapons to back the rebels. Moscow denied that, saying that Russians who joined the separatists were volunteers. More than 14,000 people have died in the fighting that devastated Ukraines eastern industrial heartland known as Donbas.

A 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany helped end large-scale battles, but efforts to reach a political settlement have failed and sporadic skirmishes have continued along the tense line of contact.

NATO would not be able to provide Ukraine with any substantial military support in time to make a difference against Russian forces, so economic measures like Western sanctions are more likely to be used to inflict a financial cost on Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday alleged that his countrys intelligence service has uncovered plans for a Russia-backed coup detat in Ukraine next week, something which the Russian government denied.

U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Friday spoke with the head of the Presidential Administration in Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. The two discussed their shared concerns about ongoing Russian military activities near Ukraines border and agreed that all sides should pursue diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions, National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement.

Mr. Sullivan underscored the United States unwavering commitment to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, the statement read.

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Samuel Petrequin in Brussels contributed to this report.
RENIO, Nev. (AP)  Authorities say a hit-and-run suspect was hospitalized after being shot and wounded by a Nevada State Police trooper in an area between Reno and Carson City.

The State Police said the incident occurred Wednesday when a trooper encountered the suspect who was walking under an Interstate 580 overpass following a two-vehicle crash.
PARIS (AP)  The archbishop of Paris has offered to step down after admitting to having had an ambiguous relationship with a woman in 2012, the archdiocese said.

Archbishop Michel Aupetit, who has led the Paris church since 2018, sent a letter to Pope Francis offering to resign following a report in Le Point magazine. There was no indication if or when Francis might act on it; he has refused to accept similar offers from other prelates caught up in scandal.

In an article published this week, Le Point said Aupetit had a consensual, intimate relationship with a woman. The report relied on several anonymous sources who said they had seen a 2012 e-mail Aupetit sent by mistake to his secretary.

Aupetit denied being the author of the email and told Le Point that he didn't have intimate and sexual relations with the woman.

Roman Catholic prelates take vows of chastity. At the time of the alleged relationship, Aupetit was a priest in the archdiocese of Paris; he was made an auxiliary bishop of Paris in 2013 and was installed as Paris archbishop in January 2018.

In an interview Friday with Catholic radio Notre Dame, Aupetit denounced the virulent Le Point article.

Those who knew me at the time and who shared my daily life would certainly tell that I was not living a double life, as the article suggests, he said. I recognize, as I have said before, that I poorly handled the situation with a person who was in contact many times with me.

Calling it a mistake, he said he decided not to see the woman any more after speaking with Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the then-Paris archbishop, at the beginning of 2012.

In comments to La Croix newspaper published Friday, Aupetit said that he did not use the word resignation in his letter to Francis, which he said would mean that he was abandoning his function. He said he instead put the decision in the hands of the pope.

He is the latest Catholic bishop to do so. The former archbishop of Lyon, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, offered to resign in 2019 after a French court convicted him of failing to report a pedophile priest. Francis refused to accept the resignation pending the outcome of Barbarins appeal, though he accepted it the following year, by which time Barbarin had been acquitted.

More recently, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising, offered to resign over the Catholic Churchs catastrophic mishandling of clergy sexual abuse cases.

Francis refused to accept it and Marx remains in office.

Only the pope can hire or fire bishops, or accept their resignations. At 70, Aupetit is five years shy of the normal retirement age for bishops.
GOODLAND, Ind. (AP)  Human remains have been found in a house in northwest Indiana that caught fire after a man officers were trying to take into custody fled inside the residence, police said.

The Newton County Sheriffs Department said the department is awaiting DNA test results to positively identify the remains found Thursday in a burned home in the town of Goodland.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A 5-year-old child was killed late Thursday by a 13-year-old who shot a gun at a home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park.

The Brooklyn Park Police Department said the 13-year-old boy was handlings the gun as he and several other youths were making a social media video. After a preliminary investigation, the investigators believed the 13-year-old accidentally shot the boy.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  Police in Sioux Falls, South Dakota are looking for a suspect who was left empty-handed after an armed robbery attempt early Friday.

Sioux Falls Police Sgt. Sean Kooistra said the suspect used a handgun to demand money from a store clerk, but after the clerk refused, the robber fled the store on foot. Kooistra said that police do not advise people to refuse demands from armed robbers.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Appellate arguments over a lawsuit challenging South Carolinas abortion law have been pushed into the new year.

Oral arguments in the case had originally been planned for next month, but the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rescheduled them for the last week in January, according to an order from the court. Earlier this week, attorneys for the state also requested that the case be heard toward the end of that week, due to a scheduling conflict.

Planned Parenthood is suing South Carolina to over the measure, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster earlier this year and requires doctors to perform ultrasounds to check for a so-called fetal heartbeat. If cardiac activity  which can typically be detected about six weeks into pregnancy  is detected, the abortion can only be performed if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, or if the mothers life is in danger.

Opponents have argued many women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks. And, they argue, with such an early deadline, the law gives women little time to consider whether to have an abortion.

Medical experts say the cardiac activity is not an actual heartbeat but rather an initial flutter of electric activity within cells in an embryo. They say the heart doesnt begin to form until the fetus is at least nine weeks old, and they decry efforts to promote abortion bans by relying on medical inaccuracies.

The 4th Circuit had originally planned to hear the case the week of Dec. 6. That's a week after the U.S. Supreme Court hears a challenge to Mississippi's new abortion law. South Carolina's law has been blocked, pending the outcome of that legal challenge.

Mississippi wants the high court to uphold its ban on most abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, telling the court it should overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a womans right to an abortion, and the 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey that prevents states from banning abortion before viability.

South Carolina is among a dozen states awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on Texas' abortion law  the most restrictive in the nation  which bans abortions as early as six weeks and has no exceptions for rape or incest.

Its unique enforcement mechanism also allows anyone  even someone outside Texas  to sue an abortion provider, or anyone else who may have helped someone get an abortion after the limit, and seek financial damages of up to $10,000 per defendant.

In July, 20 mostly Republican-led states went on record in support of South Carolinas law, arguing that a federal judge was wrong to pause the entire measure instead of just the provision being challenged. Several months later, 20 Democratic attorneys general voiced support for the legal challenge to South Carolinas law, arguing that the restrictive measure could harm their states by taxing resources if women cross borders to seek care.

___

Meg Kinnard can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  The police union in St. Paul, Minnesota is suing the city in an effort to halt a mandate that requires city employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced the requirement for nearly 4,000 workers last month, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. But the St. Paul Police Federation has resisted, suggesting that unvaccinated employees be allowed to continue working if they wear masks and take regular tests for the virus. It filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the Minnesota court system.
NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP)  A man eating Thanksgiving dinner inside a home in the Philadelphia suburbs was killed by a stray bullet that pierced a window, authorities said.

The victim, Edilberto Miguel Palaez Moctezuma, 25, was shot in the torso just before 9:30 p.m., Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a press release issued Friday. He was flown to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

No one in the home was involved in the argument outside that apparently sparked the shooting, prosecutors said. The suspected gunman remains at large.

Suspect Kevon Clarke, 19, of Norristown, fired several shots in the area during a dispute with relatives over liquor that had gone missing from a gathering earlier in the day, officials said. He is named in a warrant charging him with first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and weapons offenses.

Steele described the victim as an innocent man who wasnt safe even in the confines of his own home.

Mr. Palaez Moctezuma was murdered while eating Thanksgiving dinner inside his home, and to be clear, he and his family were not involved in the dispute," he said in the release.

Police said that surveillance videos and an analysis of the bullet hole helped them determine that the bullet had came from Clarkes location. They also hope to speak with two other men seen running from the scene.

A phone number for Clarke could not be found on Friday.
By Victoria Franco

Bay City News Foundation

San Joaquin County Public Health Services officials say the county has COVID-19 vaccine booster shots available for anyone who is eligible.

According to public health officials, the county has administered nearly 60,000 booster shots so far.

People must be 18 years or older to get the booster shot and must have a certain amount of time between their vaccine shot and booster shot.

People who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine can get a booster shot if it's been at least six months from the second dose and people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can get their booster shot two months after their initial vaccine.

"We are taking a household approach here in San Joaquin County to protect everyone from severe illness from COVID-19," said San Joaquin County Health Officer Maggie Park. "As COVID-19 has evolved, so has our understanding of how best to protect everyone and that now includes the added immunity from boosters.

Booster shot appointments and walk-in clinics can be found at https://myturn.ca.gov/.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
A middle school in El Cerrito has been the target of various vandalism incidents this month, including windows shot and race-based messages written on the school's concrete, police said.

The vandalism has been reported since Nov. 15 at Korematsu Middle School, with at least 14 windows reported damaged by a BB gun or sling shot on the campus on Donal Avenue.

El Cerrito police said some of the vandalism has included race-based messages directed toward Black people, and that suspects stole the letter "L" from a sign in front of the school. The overall damage from the vandalism to the school is estimated to be at least $16,000, police said.

South San Francisco's Community Learning Center is being renamed to honor a former high school history teacher who also served the community as mayor and as a state assemblyman.

The South San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the facility at 520 Tamarack Lane in remembrance of Gene Mullin.

City leaders are moving forward with the process of identifying a location to place a sign with the facility's new name.

The renaming proposal was the subject of four previous public meetings, including a citizens advisory committee discussion Oct. 20, according to Valerie Sommer, director of the South San Francisco Public Library. Sommer first brought the proposal for renaming to the school board in July.

The city of Berkeley is offering free subscriptions to two mental health smartphone apps and is encouraging residents to sign up to develop healthy habits and help address any depression or substance abuse issues.

The subscriptions for myStrength and Headspace are available for anyone 13 and up who lives, works or attends school in Berkeley.

The myStrength app uses clinical models like cognitive behavioral therapy for people with depression, anxiety or other problems, while Headspace offers meditation and mindfulness exercises.

People can find out how to access the free subscriptions by visiting https://helpathandca.org/berkeley/.

San Joaquin County Public Health Services officials say the county has COVID-19 vaccine booster shots available for anyone who is eligible.

According to public health officials, the county has administered nearly 60,000 booster shots so far.

People must be 18 years or older to get the booster shot and must have a certain amount of time between their vaccine shot and booster shot.

People who received a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine can get a booster shot if it's been at least six months from the second dose and people who got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can get their booster shot two months after their initial vaccine.

The National Weather Service forecast for Friday for the greater San Francisco Bay Area calls for a sunny day with highs in the mid 60s and north winds of about 5 miles per hour. For Friday night, it will be mostly clear with lows in the mid 40s with light winds.

For Saturday, the forecast is for highs in the high 60s and north winds of around 5 miles per hour.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
I have a friend, born and raised on a Sausalito houseboat, a longtime San Francisco journalist turned criminal investigator, who knows the Bay Area better than I could ever hope to. For a while now, during the pandemic, hes been taking a day hike each Sunday. Its his designated time for wandering off on this or that trail, for eyeing the boundaries of our imperfect metropolis  a place surrounded by nature so spectacular it sometimes overshadows the city itself. So when Im searching for a specific kind of local hike, I dont ask Google or AllTrails, I ask Uncle Joanie.

But whatever Jonahs Bay Area credentials, hes not a mind-reader. When I asked him for the perfect day-after-Thanksgiving hike, he looked at me  not for the first time in our many-year friendship  like I might be one oar short of a pair. What, he wanted to know, makes that hike different from any other?

Freda Moon

I had a whole Goldilocks-style checklist in mind: I wanted a hike that was both hard and easy, neither too long nor too short; one that got us out of the city, but wasnt too much of a drive. I wanted somewhere new-to-me that wasnt crowded. Ultimately, I wanted a hike that delivered some kind of a plot twist or payoff, something to shake us from our post-feasting drowsiness and after-holiday letdown  a hike that was more than a walk, more than exercise. And it wouldnt hurt if that hike had a place nearby to grab a drink after.

Put a ring on it

Freda Moon

When we pulled up to the Phyllis Ellman trailhead, Jonah was already there, sitting on his back bumper in cowboy boots and a vest, a Northern California outfit if ever there was one. My husband, Tim, razzed him about his getup in that way of friends-who-are-family. Unlike so many Bay Area parks on a Sunday like this  a cloudless, 70-degree Northern California November day  the Paradise Cove entrance to Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve had, at most, a dozen cars parked at its trailhead.

To get there from our East Bay boat-home, wed crossed the San Rafael-Richmond bridge, gotten off I-580 at Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, passed the Larkspur ferry terminal and the Corte Madera mall and, before the kids could ask how long wed be in the car, wed arrived  a traffic-free half-hour cruise from chomping on breakfast burritos to setting off on our muddy way.

Freda Moon

Thats how the four of us  me, my husband Tim and our kids, who are an adventurous six and a very enthusiastic three  found ourselves following Jonah up, and up, and up a slippery mudslide of a trail along a mossy, rocky, gurgling creek, through chaparral and gnarled fortresses of scrub oak, to the open pastures of the former Reed Ranch. The property once belonged to John Thomas Reed, who the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Societys newsletter describes as possibly the first Irishman to permanently locate on the Pacific coast, and the first English-speaking resident of Marin County.

The ranch was operational until the 1960s, though it had been divided into smaller and smaller parcels as it was passed down from generation to generation and sold off for suburban development. What remains at Ring Mountain is 387 acres, miles of trail and fire roads climbing from the Bay to the ridges and branching out in all directions.

Freda Moon

From Paradise Cove, our pack of five took the Loop Trail, a narrow path lined with tufts of grass, bright from the most recent storm. It was surprisingly wet considering that rain was days ago now  a landscape of trickling streams, ferns and moss, lichen-painted rocks and odd little wooden bridges.

It reminds me of Scotland somehow, said Jonah.

Then, a few breaths later, on a ridge overlooking Paradise Coves most notable, and notorious, structure: Its the best view of San Quentin youll get anywhere.

And both were true.

Freda Moon

The big reveal

From the San Rafael side of the preserve, our hike  to the backbone of the Tiburon Peninsula  was just over half a mile. While it was maybe a 40-minute trek, it was steep enough for me to break a sweat, to find myself catching my breath now and then.

There were moments of wonder along the way: a stairway of rock through a tunnel of trees, a blizzard of cotton-like drift seeds, fortresses of old oak that Jonah called the Queens of the Hill, carved and misshapen and dripping with character. One grew out of a rock ledge, which Roxie and Felix scurried onto, hamming it up in their castle. Another had a dinner-plate-sized hole in its trunk that had filled with water, turning it into a tiny pond, where the kids fished with sticks.

Freda Moon

At the top, the trail opened into a meadow and Ring Mountains Turtle Rock, and an aptly named boulder, maybe 20-feet-tall, rose before us. It looked like a massively oversized turtle on a rock, a terrapin basking in the sun. We scaled it from the side, pushing my three-year-old up the smooth surface and plopping him in the center, a safe spot to shovel salami and cheese and leftover Halloween candy into his mouth along with the rest of us. We picnicked atop the rock, a 360-degree view across Richardson Bay to Sausalito and the Golden Gate, the Bay Bridge and Treasure Island, and the San Francisco skyline, a toy-sized city in the distance.

Freda Moon

The entire hike was maybe two hours. The way the various parks and trails on Tiburon Peninsula are interconnected, we could have walked all the way to the towns shore  or, in reverse, arrived by ferry from the city and hiked to Ring Mountain from there, but that was too ambitious of an outing for this, the platonic ideal of a post-Thanksgiving Bay Area day. So instead we hopped in our cars and drove the 15 minutes to Tiburons immaculate downtown, a place where the houses on the hill are the size of hotels and nearly every car is a Tesla, Porsche, Jaguar or Benz.

We chased our hike, per my Goldilocks wish, with drinks on the above-the-water deck at Sams, a century-old fish shack that is no longer remotely shack-like. That hike, and that spicy Bloody Mary, proved the perfect antidote for post-holiday blues. Once again, our faith in Uncle Joanie had paid off.

Freda Moon

Freda Moon

Freda Moon

Freda Moon

Freda Moon

Freda Moon
Ann Patchett is the author of seven novels--her most recent, The Dutch House, was a 2020 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize--and three nonfiction works, including her forthcoming collection These Precious Days (Harper, reviewed below). The title takes its name from the essay about Patchett's friendship with Sooki Raphael, who stayed with the author while undergoing treatment for a recurrence of pancreatic cancer. Patchett lives with her husband, Karl VanDevender, and their dog, Sparky, in Nashville, Tenn., where Parnassus, the bookstore she cofounded, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

At a recent bookseller conference, you said you were finding essays easier to write during the pandemic than fiction. Could you expand a bit on that?

Part of it was size, and part of it was content. My fiction seemed frivolous. How could I say, "I'm going to make something up" with all this going on?

Do essays come to you in a flash, or do they evolve slowly? Or does it vary, depending on the subject?

Up until the pandemic--it might be true--I had never written an essay that hadn't been commissioned. It always came from an external place. My piece "Tavia" is different in the book from the essay that appeared in Real Simple. The editors said you can write anything you want, and I said I wanted to write a celebrity profile of my childhood best friend.

During the pandemic, I wrote long pieces completely for myself. I learned that from Liz Gilbert: every now and then write something just for yourself. When you're all finished, then you decide where to place it. I wrote "Three Fathers" because Kate [DiCamillo] had just lost her father and was going to write about it. I'd been wanting to write about my father for a long time, so we did it together.

For the title essay ["These Precious Days"], I told Sooki I wanted to write about our time together, just for myself. I told her, "When I'm done, you can read it. It will belong to the two of us." It turned out to be 60 pages long. It wasn't a book, and it wasn't an essay. It was some massive thing in between.

How do you decide the sequence of the essays?

I print everything out, put it in piles, then move them around. I suppose I could have just printed out the first page, but I printed out the whole essay. I'd see one and think "this doesn't fit," then I'd take it out. I hadn't written them to have those obvious connections, but why wouldn't they? I have one set of eyes, one set of ears. As I gave the book to different people, I asked them to say which is the weak sister. There were essays I wrote to fill the gap left by removing another essay.

Do you think becoming a bookseller has changed your writing in any way?

Becoming a bookseller changed me as a reader, and I'm sure it's changed me as a writer.

Now I only read galleys, five months ahead of pub date. I miss my old reading life. Parnassus is celebrating its 10th anniversary. I am hounded by what I need to read. Yesterday, I read The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, an old book [by Elisabeth Tova Bailey], published by Algonquin. It's a book of snail observations, and it's pandemically perfect. The author is sick, and her friend gives her a plant and a wild snail. By the end of the book, there are 118 snails. They're hermaphrodites.

Did you start your novel The Dutch House with the image of the house? With one particular character, Maeve? Danny?

It started with Maeve and Danny's mother. It started with the idea of not wanting to be rich. I grew up being raised by nuns; if you were a good person, you'd be poor. In every religion, holiness requires poverty. All the "stuff" impeded your spirituality. I thought of this after the 2016 election. These poor kids who grew up in this fabulous house.

These Precious Days predominantly explores mortality and the fragility of life. Yet each essay is infused with a sense of humor and gratitude. How do you do that?

Michael, the oncologist [from "These Precious Days"], lives across the street from us. People always asked [about Sooki], "How's she doing?" Michael was incredibly helpful to me. I sent him the Harper's piece [where "These Precious Days" first published]. He asked me, "How can you do that? Be that open, that forthcoming?" I answered, "That's not how I write, that's who I am." In a novel, it's so much more about how I write. In an essay, it's who I am. If there are points weaving in and out, it's because I'm looking at the world through my eyes, noting them over and over.

Your essay "What the American Academy of Arts and Letters Taught Me About Death" perhaps best synthesizes the theme of this book: "The math in this room was inescapable--two hundred fifty seats at the table, and no one gets to stay."

I wrote that essay a year before the pandemic started. It didn't work. Maile [Meloy], a genius in all matters, figured it out. There was a lot more about John Updike--the kissing and not kissing commentary--and she said, "It seems like he's taking away from your happy moment. He comes across as creepy." He wasn't, but I took that part out. Now there's one sentence about Updike.

Originally, "These Precious Days" was the last essay. On a Friday night, I started it from a plural "we" present tense. I sent it to Patty, Sooki's best friend--and now my friend, too--and I said, "Read this and tell me if I can send it to Sooki." Patty read it aloud to Sooki without having read it first. Sooki died two hours later.

Do you believe in a larger unseen plan? If you hadn't picked up the galley for Tom Hanks's Uncommon Type and provided a quote, you would never have met Sooki, who was his assistant.

I don't believe in predestination. It has to apply to everything. I don't think you can take happy things and not bad things. There are moments when I show up and I'm brave and I trust my instincts. There are moments when I don't and I'm not brave and I don't trust.

Probably in so many of these galleys, I could make a connection and reap rewards. No one has time and energy all the time. With Sooki, I knew she was going to die; she didn't. I said, "Hey, I'll help. Come here." I knew I was up for it. That doesn't mean I'm always up for it. It's about the wonders and rewards of taking a chance. --Jennifer M. Brown, senior editor
"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates continues! Fifteen more recognitions for India's vaccination certificate," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a tweet.

New Delhi, Nov 26 (IANS) Fifteen more countries have recognised India's Covid-19 vaccination certificate, taking the total number of such nations that have approved India's vaccine certificate to 21, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

"Mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certificates with India: Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palestine, Philippines, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine," MEA said in a statement.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare said earlier that nearly 100 countries have agreed to the mutual acceptance of vaccination certificates of India's Covid-19 vaccines and the vaccination process.

The Minister in an event on Thursday said, "Mutual recognition of vaccinations increases ease of travel for tourism and business thereby boosting economic recovery the world so desperately needs,".

Highlighting how India helped other countries throughout the Pandemic, he said, "Being the Pharmacy of the World, India has generously supplied HCQ tablets and other medical equipment to 27 countries. Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, 6.63 crore doses were sent to 95 countries".

Explaining India's strategy of curbing Covid pandemic, he said that six vaccines are approved in India, of which two are indigenously developed. Near 1.2 billion doses have been administered with 82 per cent Indians receiving at least one dose and 44 per cent being fully vaccinated.

"India is willing to supply Covishield and Covaxin to all the countries", said Union Health Minister in a meeting with the ambassadors of Latin American and Caribbean nations on Thursday.

--IANS

avr/dpb
In the past, governments have taken days, weeks or months to issue travel restrictions in response to new variants, The New York Times reported on Friday.

London, Nov 26 (IANS) Amid warnings over a new coronavirus variant, a number of countries, including the UK, Israel, Italy and Singapore have moved to restrict travel from South Africa and other countries in the region.

This time, restrictions came within hours after the South African authorities identified a concerning new coronavirus variant with mutations -- and hours before health officials from the country were scheduled to discuss the variant with the World Health Organisation (WHO), it added.

The UK and Israel announced bans on flights from South Africa and several neighbouring countries on Thursday, citing the threat of the new variant.

The UK's flight ban applies to six countries -- South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe -- and begins on Friday.

"More data is needed but we are taking precautions now," UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Twitter.

The governments of Italy, Malta and Singapore announced on Friday that they would impose similar restrictions, the report said.

"Our scientists are at work to study the new B.1.1.529 variant," Italy's Health Minister, Roberto Speranza, said in a statement, using the variant's scientific name.

European Union's executive arm President Ursula von der Leyen also said in a Twitter post on Friday that it would propose restricting air travel to European countries from southern Africa because of concerns about the variant.

In the past two days, scientists detected the variant after observing an increase in infections in South Africa's economic hub surrounding Johannesburg. So far only a few dozen cases have been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, Israel, and Botswana.

In a statement posted on Friday on a government website, South Africa said it would urge the UK to reconsider its travel restrictions.

"The UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed, as even the World Health Organisation is yet to advise on the next steps," the statement reads.

In December last year, South Africa was the first nation to report the appearance of the Beta variant, which has now spread to nearly 70 countries.

--IANS

vc/vd
FILMS The Attacks of 26/11: This Ram Gopal Varma directorial sequentially presents a comprehensive account of what happened on the fateful night. It's in fact the only piece of Indian mainstream cinema to chronicle the attacks. From the planning, transit and execution of the attacks to the terrorists being neutralised and Ajmal Kasab, the only perpetrator to be caught alive, the movie presents a disturbing account of what went down and show how the administration eventually got the situation under control.

The 2013 film has Nana Patekar playing the former Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Rakesh Maria, and follows a non-linear approach to storytelling as the officer recounts the events during an official inquiry.

Varma had earlier told IANS: "Never in the history of the world were there more terrifying attacks than those that happened on 9/11 in New York. But in the sheer audacity of their execution, I felt the attack on Mumbai was far more shocking."

Taj Mahal: The French-Belgian thriller-drama, directed by Nicolas Saada and released in 2015, presents the story as it unfolds from the perspective of a victim -- a young girl who comes with her parents to Mumbai after her father gets posted to Maximum City. The family chooses to stay in the Taj Mahal Palace until their accommodation is set up. As destiny takes an unexpected turn, the girl gets trapped inside the hotel while her parents are out for dinner. Owing to its storytelling and narrative, the film was also screened at the Venice Film Festival.

One Less God: Lliam Worthington's 2017 movie recasts the horror of the attacks on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel from the points of view of the perpetrators and the hotel guests who were held hostage at gunpoint. Based though the film is on true events, the two perspectives are fictionalised.

Hotel Mumbai: The 2018 action thriller directed by the Australian filmmaker Anthony Maras narrates the story of courage of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel's staff who pushed their line of duty of serving guests by helping with the rescue operations and stood with them through thick and thin. The film, which stars Dev Patel, Anupam Kher, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi and Jason Isaacs, is based on the documentary titled 'Surviving Mumbai'.

Talking about the film, Maras told IANS: "It all started when I saw 'Surviving Mumbai'. We got very easy access to the transcripts and access to the people who have lived through it. We spent a great deal of time just listening to them and focusing on their stories. We met them in person or via video calls just to know what it was to live through such an experience."

Maras and his co-writer John Collee had rock-solid source material at their disposal in the form of interviews, documents from Kasab's trial, victim statements, and transcripts of satellite communications between the terrorists and their handlers provided by the police and trhe local authorities.

WEB SERIES

State of Siege - 26/11: The Zee5 eight-episode series is based on the authoritative book 'Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11' by journalist Sandeep Unnithan. Directed by Matthew Leutwyler and Prashant Singh, the series stars Arjan Bajwa, Arjun Bijlani, Jyoti Gauba, Vivek Dahiya, Tara Alisha Berry and Mukul Dev.

What separates 'State of Siege - 26/11' from its counterparts is that it tells the story through the lens of NSG commandos, who took over control of the situation from Mumbai Police on November 27 and neutralised the terrorists by November 29, thereby restoring free civilian movement and bailing out the city from the clutches of the gunmen.

Mumbai Diaries 26/11: More recently, we had the Prime Video series 'Mumbai Diaries 26/11' directed by Nikkhil Advani. The eight-episode series features an ensemble of Mohit Raina, Konkona Sen Sharma, Prakash Belawadi, Sonali Kulkarni, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Satyajeet Dubey, and follows the story of medical professionals as they managed the huge influx of victims during the attack and provided them with treatment despite the crumbling healthcare infrastructure.

Explaining what made him tell their story, Advani told IANS: "I have always been a huge fan of shows like 'ER', 'Chicago Hope' and 'Code Black'. There's inherent drama in the act of saving lives and then you get to explore the lives of the unsung heroes, namely, the doctors and nurses."

Describing the strength and resilience of the medics, Advani said: "When I asked the doctors and nurses we interviewed during our research about what they did differently on those three days, they looked at me incredulously and said, 'We turned up for work.' It made me think that actually these medical professionals and first responders, who work under incredible pressure in government hospitals, really do the most courageous work almost every single day."

DOCUMENTARIES

Terror In Mumbai: This HBO documentary takes into account the multiple perspectives on the administrative shortcomings and security failures. Written by CNN's Fareed Zakaria, 'Terror In Mumbai' is one of the best documentaries to piece together the story with eyewitness interviews, surveillance videos and intercepted call exchanges between the ten terrorists and their controllers in Pakistan.

Mumbai Massacre: An episode of the widely acclaimed docu-series 'Seconds From Disaster', a US-UK co-production directed by Stan Griffin, it uncovers the security failures that allowed the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists to kill at will. The episode features accounts of the survivors who narrate their experiences and recount what unfolded on one of those long, dark and horrific nights of Mumbai.

OTHER FILMS

Surviving Mumbai: A Victoria Midwinter Pitt directorial broadcast in 2009, 'Surviving Mumbai' is a television movie that follows the narrative style of documentary and tells the story from the perspective of the survivors, who recount how they battled the odds and controlled their nerves in a fiercely demanding situation just to be able to stay alive and make it to the other end of what seemed like an interminable rabbit hole.

Shahid: The 2012 biographical drama directed by Hansal Mehta is based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi. Starring Rajkummar Rao, the film takes into account the case of Faheem Ansari, who was accused for his involvement in the 26/11 attacks, but was later acquitted of all charges because of lack of evidence. Faheem was Azmi's last case before he was gunned down by assailants.

Embrace: The 15-minute short film, made in 2014 by Los Angeles-based Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla, tells the story of an American couple who come to Mumbai for a vacation but are trapped in Taj Mahal Palace following the terrorist attacks. The couple holds the fort as they watch their friends being massacred. When all hope is lost and they realise that help won't be coming their way, they make a life-altering decision in order to reunite with their son whom they left behind in their homeland.

Phantom: Kabir Khan 2015 movie follows the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks. It features Saif Ali Khan as an ex-serviceman, who is pressed into service by R&AW to seek vengeance on the men who planned, coordinated and executed the attacks.

--IANS

aa/srb
Australia is missing the mark on converting buildings to a zero-carbon, electric-driving future as the rollout of charging infrastructure and sale of electric vehicles ramps-up globally.

A triennial review of the National Construction Code is likely to introduce a 25 per cent capacity for electric vehicle charging in apartments and buildings when the Code is updated next year.

The cost of retrofitting a building could be up to five times the cost of deploying car chargers during initial construction. Credit:Steven Siewert

The current standard has no requirement for servicing EVs in buildings, but the proposed change may not be enough to cope with demand and will require expensive retrofitting by property owners later, climate and electric vehicle groups claim.

Margot Delafoulhouze, cities expert at research body ClimateWorks, said buildings constructed today will still be standing in 2050, but the countrys passenger vehicle fleet is expected to transition to fully electric vehicles well before that time.
She recalls one day there were two identical procedures booked with quite similar body shapes, one patient paid $16,500 and the other paid $30,000. The national regulator AHPRA is under the spotlight in a parliamentary inquiry headed by Greens senator Janet Rice, who earlier this week announced a four-month extension to the inquiry to accommodate hearings and investigate allegations about cosmetic surgery following a media expose by The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and ABCs Four Corners. Following the Four Corners and Age revelations, we decided we needed more time to further consider AHPRAs regulation of cosmetic surgery; whether there was more that they could and should have done to have prevented these appalling outcomes, Senator Rice said. Given AHPRA are responsible for regulating our health system, its clear something needs to change to ensure these disastrous outcomes wont happen in the future. Our inquiry is an important oversight of AHPRA, especially considering they arent required to appear at Senate Estimates. The national regulator AHPRA is under the spotlight in a parliamentary inquiry headed by Greens senator Janet Rice. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

AHPRA is largely funded by the medical industry through fees and according to many experts, it needs more teeth and far more public accountability. Put simply, it is a national scheme, but it is run by each state, which means the Federal Government has little control over it. The state governments also have limited control, as one expert said, as a lot of its operations occur outside their respective borders. That goes a long way to explain how the cosmetic surgery industry has been able to grow unchecked into a multi-billion dollar sector. Experts, including consumer research advocates Michael Fraser and Maddison Johnstone, say the use of social media by certain practitioners has been a big driver of the growth. In a submission to Parliament they wrote they had been researching the industry for months. Of the accounts they viewed, the use of social media by cosmetic surgeons couldnt be defined as educational. Many of the videos are graphic with both gore and almost naked, or in some cases, fully naked and uncensored female patients. The doctors are all men, and they are doing thousands of procedures. Even the title cosmetic surgeon is problematic as it can be used by doctors without them being registered as a specialist surgeon and without them completing Australian Medical Council-accredited surgical training. This anomaly means doctors with a basic medical degree, or GPs or dermatologists, can call themselves cosmetic surgeons, even though they arent registered specialist surgeons, who receive at least eight to 12 years of postgraduate surgical training.

Adding to this is the lack of oversight of outpatient facilities or registered day surgeries. In Australia, state health departments are in charge of checking whether cosmetic surgery clinics are complying with regulations. In Victoria, the Department of Health gives registered day procedure hospitals six to eight weeks advance warning of an audit. Registered day procedure hospitals must also comply with safety and quality standards, with inspections booked weeks in advance. This gives clinics plenty of time to get things in order. In the US, physicians operating in a day facility must be able to show they have held unrestricted hospital privileges in their specialty at an accredited and/or licensed acute care hospital. Only surgical procedures included in those hospital privileges may be performed within the accredited facility. David Gardner, a lawyer who specialises in medical regulation after spending years at AHPRA as a senior manager of teams of investigators, highlighted serious flaws in the regulatory system, in a submission to parliament. Gardner left AHPRA in 2018 and sued for constructive dismissal believing he was managed out for raising too many concerns. His action is resolved but his quest for reform remains.

Issues he raises include the slow pace of dealing with complaints. Relatively simple matters stretch into years with no apparent reason, he said. There is no significant reason or motivation for AHPRA or the boards to resolve matters quickly. It is not required by the law and there is no penalty for taking a long time (or reward for timely completion). Loading Gardner also raises the issue of splintering between the various state and national regulators, which results in systemic issues falling between the cracks. The submissions made to the inquiry make one thing clear, the cosmetic surgery sector has exploited the weak regulation, hurting patients along the way. Patients were given a general anaesthetic then abandoned halfway through a procedure, Nixon wrote in his submission.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Heather B. Swanns studio in West Hobart is the kind of space artists dream of, vast enough to accommodate big ideas. A former mechanics institute, built in 1891, its ceilings are 5.5 metres high. Swann bought the place 26 years ago, when properties in Hobart were going for a song. The studio, which links to her house in the renovated supper hall, is one of the reasons she has returned to live on the island where she was born almost 60 years ago. In Melbourne thered be 12 artists in a space like this, and theyd be paying $100 a week each, she says. Heather B Swann inside her studio, with one of her Ledas. Theyre not afraid and theyre not embarrassed, she says. Credit:Matthew Newton Swann has the studio all to herself and the immense sculptures she is making for her upcoming exhibition at the TarraWarra Museum of Art. The Tasmanian spring has been unrelentingly wet and cold and on the day we meet in late October, the gloom intensifies the force of her mysterious creatures. In one corner, an enormous black swan with a long sinewy neck reaches almost three metres high. The bird sidles menacingly next to a sculpture of a naked girl who stands rod-straight and is nearly as tall. The girls arm is studded with eyes, amulets shielding her from the hovering swan. At another end of the room a large swan with a red leather beak and a back of seductively ruffled silk peers at another naked girl who has her back to a rock. This girl is Janus-faced: she has eyes in the back of her head keeping watch against harm. Two years ago, when TarraWarra curator Anthony Fitzpatrick called Swann and asked her whether she would be interested in making an exhibition responding to the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan, she instantly said yes. Fitzpatrick wanted to show Swanns work alongside that of Sidney Nolan, in a major exhibition of Nolans works from 1955 to 1966. Swann had been part of a group exhibition at TarraWarra in 2014 called Solitaire, and her sculptures had made an impression, particularly one that evoked Nolans haunting 1954 painting Mrs Fraser.

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Nolan was a keen explorer of myths, of both the classical type and the sort that a nation tells about itself. He is best known for his Ned Kelly paintings, but he also made a powerful series about Leda and the Swan. Nolan was hardly alone in his fascination with the myth. Leda and the Swan has been the subject of artists, poets and writers through the ages, famously depicted by Renaissance greats such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Correggio, and Tintoretto. Heather B Swann, The Staggering Girl, 2019. Credit:Courtesy of the artist and STATION, Melbourne and Sydney The myth has various tellings, but in essence its the story of the Greek god Zeus who, disguised as a swan, seduces Leda, the wife of the king of Sparta, and impregnates her, resulting in the birth of Helen, who grows up to be the most beautiful woman in Greece and unwittingly sparks the Trojan War. Artists depictions of the myth have tended towards the sexually charged; in da Vincis portrayal, Leda coyly smiles as she strokes the swans neck, the bird pressed against her shapely naked flank. Michelangelos rendition is highly eroticised, with a statuesque Leda, naked again, swooning as a swan slides between her legs, a composition that Rubens borrowed for his version of the myth. In these portrayals, Leda is complicit or hesitant, she submits to the swan, overcome by desire rather than aggression. Feminist critics have argued that in beautifying the myth, male artists have excused that at its core the story is about rape. Nolan, for his part, did not beautify the myth. His paintings are ambiguous and disturbing; in some Leda is bloodied, the swan vicious. Theres little erotic about them and in his catalogue essay Fitzpatrick draws a continuum between the series and Nolans Gallipoli paintings. Heather B Swann, Nemesis, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and STATION, Melbourne and Sydney. Credit:Peter Whyte But for a contemporary artist, the challenge remains  what, if anything, does the myth have to say to our times? Swann approached the challenge in her typically meticulous way, drawing, reading and thinking. She returned to her favourite scholars, foremost Robert Calasso and his book The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988), which reinterprets Greek myths, retelling the stories over and over, unravelling their many potential meanings.

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Influential too was Mary Beards Women & Power: A Manifesto (2017), in which the famed English historian explores how hostility towards womens voices in the public sphere has its roots in the classical world. Drawing on these and other literary and historical references, Swann formulated her response. I suddenly realised, its just a myth  and I dont need to change it. I have to deal with the myth as it is, but I can look at it in a different way, so instead of making the sculpture of the supposedly seductive moment or the violent moment, I can make a sculpture of another part of the myth which is intangible, who knows when it is, before or after. I dont have to focus in on the same thing that all of the mostly men have been concentrating on  and, by doing that, I can honour girls.  Swanns three standing Leda figures are poised and guarded. Like animals that freeze to evade predators, their immobile stance is a form of defence. It is also a reference to the art of ancient Greece. A menacing swan sidles up to Leda in Swanns Hobart studio. Credit:Matthew Newton During a research trip to Athens in October 2019, Swann spent days looking at sculptures at the National Archeological Museum. She was profoundly inspired by Greek sculpture from the Archaic period, which predominantly features kouroi, large-scale standing figures of young male nudes, and korai, female figures who are less tall than their male counterparts and who are always clothed. Swann has borrowed the pillar-like posture of the korai for her Ledas, but has intentionally presented them naked. Theyre not afraid and theyre not embarrassed, Swann says. In the Archaic figures, all the men are naked and all the women are dressed, so I wanted to turn that on its head. Originally trained as a printmaker, Swann has, during almost 30 years as an artist, worked in a variety of media and delights in experimenting with new material and forms. She sews, sculpts, carves, casts, draws, paints and builds. Live performance is also often part of her work. Swanns Ledas are made from laminated and shaped plywood. More intricate elements, such as a belly button, or the intimate folds of skin, are created with modelling clay or papier-mache. The sculptures are then coated with layers of binder infused with marble dust, until they take on the sheen of marble. Finally, they are varnished.

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Swann is also a maker of worlds: her drawings and sculptures are placed in such a way as to create an immersive experience. At TarraWarra, she has planned a nature scene, with sculptures and drawings suggestive of a threatening landscape, featuring a rock, a waterfall, and an infestation of prickly pear. On a table in her studio, she begins to unfold a huge 12-panel ink drawing, more than four metres wide and almost five metres high, that she has made for one of the gallery walls. Its a monstrously large image of a prickly pear that has echoes of a prowling man. Heather B. Swann, Nail, 2021. Courtesy of the artist and STATION, Melbourne and Sydney. Credit:Peter Whyte While Swann was in Athens, an idea for another small sculpture arose by chance. One night, taking the combs from her long silver hair, she put two together and the convex shape they formed reminded her of the mythical vagina dentata. And I thought, Im going to make one in glass, Swann says. In the finished piece, two glass combs tied together hang from a steel hook. A white wooden hand that glitters with a circle of brass beads hangs from the end of another hook. On closer inspection, the beads are the heads of nails that have been hammered into the hand. Titled Tooth and Nail, the sculpture is a reference to the expression to fight tooth and nail. Swann holds her small sculpture Tooth and Nail. Tooth and nail is the thing that has been my guiding principle all the way through, Swann says. If am wounded, I will wound, its a generational thing, a big picture, a small picture, a relationship thing.

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To get to Kurnell peninsula where the Gweagal people gathered for thousands of years, local woman Noeleen Timbery has to pass Endeavour High School and drive on roads named after Captain Cook, Daniel Solander and Sir Joseph Banks.

Until recently, there was little recognition at Kurnell near Kamay National Park that the site had been home to the Gweagal people for thousands of years. They still live in the area. Credit:

Until recently, Ms Timbery, the chairperson of the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council, was greeted with a sign: Welcome to Kurnell: The Birthplace of Modern Australia.

There was not a lot of acknowledgement of what was there before, she said. The narrative was all about the blokes who landed in 1770. For us, it is a different story. It is the story of this site from the view from the shore.

Now that different story of the most contested place in Australian history  where Lieutenant James Cook and the HMB Endeavour landed on April 29, 1770  will be told at a new visitor centre designed by award-winning Sydney architects Neeson Murcutt + Neille.
The Federal Circuit Court has appealed to the public for information on the whereabouts of a 17-month-old toddler removed from his grandmothers care in April.

The parents of Hoang Vinh Le, born in June 2020, allegedly took the child from Canberra and subsequently told authorities they gave him to a woman they met at a Sydney coffee shop and paid $200 in May.

Police and the courts have appealed for the information on the whereabouts of baby Hoang Vinh Le.

A court order is in force requiring the child to live with his grandmother. His parents, Hoang Thanh Le and Lyn Kim Do, were found and questioned by the authorities in May, but the authorities have not been able to find the child.

Authorities have not been able to locate or identify the woman the parents said had received the child, the Federal Circuit Court and Family Court of Australia said in a statement on Friday.
Until five months ago, Katherine O'Regan was being paid to promote Sydney as an attractive, liveable city.

Then she quit, packed up and left town, joining thousands of other Sydneysiders ditching the city for the quiet life.

Katherine ORegan says she doesnt miss much after swapping Sydney for Lake Macquarie. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Ms O'Regan, the former head of the Sydney Business Chamber, is among those growing increasingly concerned about Sydney's liveability and affordability.

As a "self-classified urbanite", she surprised herself by accepting a job on the Central Coast, initially rationalising the decision by telling herself she'd only be away from Sydney a couple of days a week.
On a night around the time he killed his girlfriend Cheryl Ardler, Dennis French was seen burning items of clothing in a bin on a western Sydney nature reserve.

Over the flames and smoke, he shouted: Come and get your shit, slut.

Early on December 12, 2012, the couple had been seen arguing on the same reserve near their home in Cranebrook. French pushed Ms Ardler to the ground. She attempted to flee, but he caught her and punched her several times. He also stabbed her in the face with a fork. An ambulance was called, but she wouldnt go to hospital or speak to police. The 41-year-old was never seen again.

Dennis French has been sentenced to 10 years jail for the manslaughter of Cheryl Ardler.

French, who told a houseguest Ms Ardler took off and updated his Facebook profile picture three days later to single and ready to mingle and free as a f---ing bird, was finally jailed on Friday for killing Ms Ardler and disposing of her body.
Arts and social sciences academics at Sydney University are furious about a plan to refashion the facultys departments as disciplines, with many saying they have never seen such anger in decades at the institution.

Sixty senior faculty members, including more than 20 chairs of departments  including history, philosophy and English  and almost 30 professors within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, or FASS, have written to the universitys administration to express their alarm.

It is the first major skirmish between university management and academics under the rule of new vice-chancellor, Mark Scott.

Sydney Universitys vice-chancellor Mark Scott. Credit:James Brickwood

Chair of Archaeology Annie Clarke said it would be more than a name change.
YouTube personality Jordan Shanks will likely be called to give evidence in the defamation case brought by former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro against Google, a court has heard.

Mr Barilaro sued Mr Shanks in the Federal Court this year, alleging he was defamed by videos titled bruz and Secret Dictatorship published on the Friendlyjordies YouTube channel. He also sued Google, which owns YouTube.

Jordan Shanks (right) is likely to give evidence in the John Barilaro defamation case.

Earlier this month, the case against Mr Shanks was settled, with Mr Shanks issuing an apology through his barrister and agreeing to edit both videos. However, the case against Google remains ongoing.

On Friday, Mr Barilaros barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, told the Federal Court she had received correspondence that Google reserves the right to call Mr Shanks in the case.
The mandate for all health workers to get vaccinated wont stop anti-vax staff from launching unfair dismissal or discrimination cases against their employers if they are sacked, a legal expert warns.

All employees in public and private healthcare are subject to the Queensland governments vaccine mandate, and those who remain unjabbed by December 15 cannot legally continue to work.

Hundreds of anti-vax protesters marched through Brisbane CBD on November 17. Credit:Matt Dennien

NB Lawyers director Jonathan Mamaril, who specialises in employment law, said unvaccinated health workers had already, and would continue to, launch unfair dismissal, discrimination or human right cases against their employers over the jab rules.

It [the vaccine mandate] basically adds a really good shield for employers to defend against a claim [from unvaccinated employees], but it doesnt mean that claims arent going to come  they are, and they will, he said.
Now a sensible centrist, Lambie worries that the right fringe is growing. She doesnt hold One Nations senators in very high regard. But she doesnt demonise the partys followers, nor the followers of the wider right-wing populist movement. They have good cause to be angry. People are disgruntled. I have people in my ear all the time. They are sick of it. They are sick of all the rorting, sick of pissing money up against the wall. Politics has got worse. People dont like whats happening to our country. Theres no accountability, there are no repercussions. Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the division when Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote against the government. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer She nominates three examples of Morrison government ministers who were engulfed in controversy and left or lost their posts, but were later appointed to other ministry positions: Christian Porter, Linda Reynolds and Bridget McKenzie. People here, she says, gesturing at Parliament House, are untouchable. The people are onto em, its in their face, and theyre sick of it. The beginning of a solution is a national anti-corruption commission, says Lambie: People are screaming at me, put in the political police, put in ICAC. Meaning a federal version of the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption or similar body. Lambie is a strong supporter of the integrity commission bill drafted by the independent MP Helen Haines.

Thats whats killing Scott Morrison, he cant even see it, says the leader of the Jacqui Lambie Network. Its true that, in opinion polls, an extraordinarily high proportion, between 70 and 90 per cent of Australians, consistently support the idea of a federal anti-corruption commission. Every Australian state and territory has one. Only the federal government, the biggest of all, does not. The Prime Minister has said he will propose the governments own version. Lambie scoffs at this: Thats not an ICAC, thats a feather duster. Jacqui Lambie supports calls for a federal corruption watchdog. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Its true that the earlier draft of the governments integrity commission was roundly dismissed as toothless, unable to investigate members of Parliament, for instance. In that form, the governments version is a dead letter. Opposed by Labor, the Greens and most crossbenchers including Lambie, it will never pass the Senate. While Lambie calls for the political police, Morrison wants it to have no power over politicians. Still, Morrison made an election promise to create a national integrity commission. If he were interested in negotiating to create one, he had an opportunity this week when the Haines bill was presented to the House for debate.

The government said no, even to a debate. But one of Morrisons MPs dissented. Another woman from Tasmania, Bridget Archer, the member for Bass, crossed the floor of the House to vote in favour of debating the Haines bill on Thursday. In doing so, she voted against the government of which she is a member. We shouldnt be afraid to have the debate, Archer told the House. We have to get the adults in the room and find the common ground, she told me later, and thats the only way people will trust whatever we come up with. Why not use the Helen Haines bill as the starting point? Independent Helen Haines supports Liberal MP Bridget Archer after she crossed the floor on Thursday. Credit:Dominc Lorrimer Most of the MPs present agreed with her and the House voted to debate the Haines bill by 66 votes to 64. But a procedural rule requires an absolute majority, 76 votes in the 151-seat House. So nothing happened. Except that Archer was criticised by fellow Liberals who told her she was in the wrong party. Says Archer: I dont think so. One of the reasons I was attracted to join the Liberal Party was that we all have the right to cross the floor, unlike Labors stricter rules. I dont think this is any sort of revelation.

And then she was invited to the Prime Ministers office where Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne awaited. Morrison told reporters on Friday that it was a friendly meeting: I wanted to ensure that she was being supported. Loading Archer saw it a little differently: I wasnt invited into the meeting necessarily to enquire about my welfare. I was invited to explain my actions. It was a frank and robust conversation about a whole range of things. Including the year weve had and the fact that I havent felt supported through the year. Theres pretty broad support for a federal integrity commission and I should be able to represent my constituents. Its what were here for. So is there any chance that Australia could get a national anti-corruption body from this Parliament, before Morrison asks the Governor-General to prorogue it for the election due by May 21 next year? Morrison is still on the record promising to bring a bill to the Parliament. Archer points out that the PM probably made his view clear in question time yesterday. He did give the strong impression that he wasnt interested in any compromise. He said the NSW ICACs treatment of former premier Gladys Berejiklian was a disgrace.

Im not going to have a kangaroo court taken into this Parliament, said Morrison. These matters should be looking at criminal conduct, not who your boyfriend is. Of course, its a false binary. The Federal Parliament doesnt have a simple choice between a NSW-style ICAC or the Morrison feather-duster alternative. It could take the best features of the eight different integrity commissions already operating in Australia and reject the worst, as it sees fit. But that would require real negotiations across the aisle. Loading Morrison seems more intent on protecting politicians from scrutiny than on delivering a meaningful anti-corruption commission. If he wont deliver, the task would pass to the next government. It would be an essential beginning of restoring public trust, but more would still be required. Lambie says that the worst thing about the lockdowns is that people have spent too much time on social media and got fed all this crap, all this disinformation, and it needs to be fixed. And shes surely right. The Morrison government has shown that it can successfully demand change from the big US tech companies. Their platforms lead people to ever-greater extremes. More reform is needed.
Loading This disguises the fact that many who have taken to the street are rational, law-abiding people, angry at lockdowns, concerned at the erosion of civil liberties and tired of feeling their views dont matter. Police say far-right extremists have infiltrated the protest movement, but the term infiltration implies a level of sophistication well beyond most of these numb-nuts. They are more like wasps at a picnic who swarm in uninvited to grab what they can. Or drunken uncles at a wedding that take to the crowded dance floor to perform hamstring-busting jigs to Nutbush City Limits. The far-right interlopers hope to harness and divert legitimate anger towards their extremist views. Like internet scammers, most people will see them for what they are: opportunistic scum.

Sadly, a few (and it only takes one) will be sucked in. These so-called lone-wolf offenders are actually lone sheep desperately looking for a herd. This masthead has reported that a chap called Imre Pelyva has been charged with incitement to manufacture explosives. In an encrypted message, he allegedly asked: Are we allowed to take firearms to the protest? One suspects Pelyva will never be a contestant on Hard Quiz (special subject: Hermann Goerings art collection).

He is alleged to have written: Someone need [sic] to shoot Mr Dan f--- in the head with a .50 cal[ibre] explosive tip! Just to make sure hes [sic] gone for life! Counter-terrorism police have confirmed they are conducting a series of investigations into suspected neo-Nazis who see the protest pool as a place to fish for recruits.If any are charged, one imagines they will avail themselves of their rights to a fair hearing in open court, a privilege not extended to millions of people killed by the regimes they seek to replicate. Gallows at a protest in Melbourne, 2021 style. Credit:Twitter There is a world of difference between yelling slogans and uttering threats. One is a legitimate activity and the other a criminal offence. There is a world of difference between anger and hate. How does anyone within handshaking distance of rational thought think their cause can be furthered by bringing gallows to a demonstration or issuing death threats to politicians?

Displaying nooses outside Parliament doesnt impress anyone. Yet more than 50 years ago, some protesters did carry nooses to make a legitimate point. It was at the Ronald Ryan anti-hanging rally. Those demonstrations were passionate, respectful and lawful. While the demonstrators failed to save Ryan, they were certainly influential in making sure he was the last person in Australia executed by the state. Gallows at a protest in Melbourne, 1967 style. In the days before coffee culture there was always icy poles. Credit:The Age Peaceful protester Mahatma Gandhi built a nation. Rabid rancid ranter Benito Mussolini destroyed one (and was strung up in the process). Mussolini once said: Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hand and an infinite scorn in our hearts.

Gandhi said: An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. So who got the chocolates? Nearly 100 years ago, the chief commissioner of the day, Tom Blamey, was much less tolerant of those who took to the streets to make a point. Indeed, his response was borderline psychotic. In 1928, when dockworkers not unreasonably held protests to complain about the use of scab labour, he advised his troops to hit over the head those exercising their democratic rights. His mounted branch didnt need to be told twice, many arming themselves with axe handles to play Whack-A-Dockie.

Blamey was a former senior army officer who had served at Gallipoli. He would return to the military when his police career went guts-up and would become the only Australian-born Field Marshal. Dockworker Allan Whittaker was another Gallipoli survivor but unlike Blamey, he was not given a second chance. Having survived battles with the Turks, he was shot dead by police during the protest on Princes Pier. Time for a cuppa: Police take a break before crushing protests by dockworkers on Princes Pier in 1928. Credit:Age archive Not that this seemed to bother No Blamey who within hours said, I have no hesitation in saying that the action of the officer in charge was fully justified, conveniently ignoring that an autopsy showed he was shot in the neck while looking away. It took 50 years for mass protests to be recognised as legitimate, although some old-school cops had to be dragged kicking and screaming to that point of view  which is ironic because they often liked to drag protesters kicking and screaming into paddy wagons.

None more so than legendary hard man Keith Plattfuss, a Valour Award winner who thought compromise was a fancy Swedish aftershave. In 1970, then an inspector, he was in charge of police at a small demonstration and charge he did, ordering his team to disperse the riff-raff with a show of force. The Puss was no wuss, later declaring: They got some baton today, and they will get a lot more in the future. A police inquiry condemned his statement and tactics. The Melbourne Town Hall engulfed by Vietnam moratorium supporters in 1971. The public mood changed and the police had to move with it. Protests were no longer the domain of the desperate but embraced by many who wished to see constructive change.

Soon more than 100,000 people massed in Melbourne in the famous anti-war Moratorium Marches. In 1972, chief commissioner Reg Jackson said: In a democratic society, the right to stage peaceful protest is accepted. He told police they should ignore minor offences to keep down the temperature of the situation. Demonstrations became more mainstream, with even police marching as part of a pay rise campaign. (Their chant was Ello, Ello, What Have We Here, Then.) Dotted through thousands of protests there have always been violent ones, such as the 2000 World Economic Forum lockdown that resulted in running battles and police baton charges. A few years ago, the rules of engagement changed again. The ultra-right and ultra-left decided they could exercise their democratic rights to protest while the other side could not. This meant when the right rallied, the left would turn up to sabotage. Invariably, this resulted in ugly melees like a giant rugby maul (without deodorant) leaving police to pick up the pieces.

Neither side acknowledges they feed their enemies cause. Without the violence, these small and frankly pathetic gatherings would be ignored. It was the violence the media covered, unwittingly providing the oxygen the crackpots craved. (Another example of the lack of thinking from some in the crowd: They make and wave placards in the hope they will end up on the telly and then abuse and assault reporters who try to interview them.) In response, police went off and bought a heap of riot gear including 15 pepper ball guns (each with a 173-round capacity), flash-bang grenades and capsicum bombs unleashed earlier this year on anti-lockdown protesters. That followed general duties police getting bashed at a Richmond protest while riot police sitting around the corner were not deployed.
The sight of chaos in Parliament never helps a government when voters expect prime ministers to lead a unified team.

Scott Morrison took a hammering this week when at least seven members of his own side turned against him in votes on the floor of Parliament, while a handful of others pushed back on his signature policy on religious freedom.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison during the division when Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote against the government. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

But the Prime Minister will have good reason to thank some of his renegade Liberals and Nationals if he is lucky enough to win the next election.

Why? Because some of the rogue MPs are likely to hold their seats by standing up for what they believe rather than following the Morrison line.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Liberal Party members are running in the upcoming council elections as independents and under the banner of community tickets, with no mention on their websites or promotional material that they hold Liberal Party membership. The NSW Liberal Party does not endorse candidates in some council areas, including North Sydney, Kiama and Shoalhaven. Local Liberals who wish to run for office in those councils are not allowed, under Liberal Party rules and the NSW Electoral Act, to use Liberal Party branding, even if they openly identify as Liberals. Elle Prevost, a first-time candidate who is running as an independent for North Sydney council, said she was a proud Liberal party member. North Sydney candidate Elle Prevost. Credit:ellefornorthsydney.com I am a Liberal, but we are not endorsed in the North Sydney area, she said. Maybe its me being naive, but because I am not endorsed by the Liberal Party, my understanding is Im an independent. Ms Prevosts ticket is called Team Elle. Its website announces her as an Independent for North Sydney council and her Liberal Party membership is not mentioned. The membership is disclosed in Ms Prevosts candidate nomination form, filed under a subheading in a PDF document on the NSW Electoral Commission website.

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This is a really Liberal area, so I should be screaming it from the rooftops because it would win me more votes, she said. Retired naval officer Mark Croxford is a member of the executive of the NSW Liberal Party, and a Liberal Party member. But his connection to the Liberal Party is not mentioned on the promotional materials for his run at the Kiama council in the upcoming elections on December 4. Mark Croxford is standing for election in the Kiama LGA elections. Credit:Janie Barrett Mr Croxford is at the top of the Your Community Candidates ticket, which pledges to form a council free from party political agendas. The groups website urges voters not to risk a council influenced by party politics and says that party politics has no place in local government. Mr Croxfords bio on the Your Community Candidates website lists his background as a lobbyist and a senior ministerial adviser in the Howard government, but not his position as a country representative on the NSW Liberal Party executive, or his party membership. The membership is declared on his nomination form on the Electoral Commission website. I hide in the open, Mr Croxford said. I am in the Liberal Party for the purpose of federal and state politics. I personally dont believe there is any room for party politics in local politics.

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He said he always discloses his Liberal Party roots when he is speaking to constituents. I am happy to say I am a Liberal member but as a councillor I want to be a representative of my community, he said. The Declaration of Independents Local Government, created by the Voices of North Sydney group, has been signed by 56 candidates in the Lane Cove, North Sydney, Willoughby, Hunters Hill and Georges River councils. Rod Simpson, the co-convener of the Voices of North Sydney group, says the intention of the declaration is to get some transparency into local government. Its asking people what their political status is and whether they have been [a member of a political party] in the past and whether they have made political donations or been a staffer, says Mr Simpson, who is a former environment commissioner with the Greater Sydney Commission. Its really hard for people to untangle this and we are just trying to bring it up to the surface and make it easy for people to see what on earth is going on. The Declarations stated intention is to differentiate community-minded independents from independents who are affiliated with political parties. A community minded independent is defined as a candidate who is not currently a member of a political party, and will vote as an individual.

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At the Shoalhaven Council, Serena Copley is billed as an independent on the ballot form, but the NSW Electoral Commission records show she is also a Liberal Party member. Serena Copley is a candidate for Shoalhaven City Council. Credit:Facebook/Serena Copley for Shoalhaven City Council The same goes for the other candidates on her ticket, Fred Campbell, Leonard White and Francoise Sikora. Ms Copleys team is called A Fresh Approach and does not mention any connection with the Liberal Party in its promotional materials. Council candidates Fred Campbell OAM and Leonard White. Credit:Facebook/Serena Copley for Shoalhaven City Council Loading In response to questions from The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Copley said she had been a member of the Shoalhaven community for more than 30 years.

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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Honiara is on fire, the local high school has been looted, rioters have torched a timber company and protesters have vandalised dozens of Chinese-owned businesses. Australian troops and federal police have just landed in the Solomon Islands after a request for assistance from its Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare. Sogavare is standing firm against the growing unrest, accusing political rivals of sowing dissent and amplifying anti-Chinese sentiment while downplaying the entrenched economic problems behind the countrys latest crisis. Im not going to bow down to anyone, Sogavare said on Friday. The government is intact. We are going to defend democracy. So, whats the cause of the conflict? What do China and Taiwan have to do with it? And why is Australia involved? Whats behind the conflict? The combination of ethnic and regional tensions between Honiara, the capital, and Malaita, its most populous province, were compounded by the economic impact of COVID-19.

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Seven of every 10 Solomon Islands residents are aged under 30, there are limited jobs, and industries including logging and tourism have struggled to gain a foothold after years of civil unrest. Loading Young people are taking their frustrations out on a government they believe has been captured by vested foreign interests and failed to deliver social services. The inequality between the political elite and the majority of citizens is growing wider. It is already a situation that is delicate on any given day. When you see someone mobilised, even if the intention is for it to be peaceful, people get nervous. At some point during the course of events on Wednesday, the protests became something different, said Mihai Sora, a research fellow at the Lowy Institute and former Australian diplomat to the Solomon Islands. Buildings burn in Honiara, the Solomon Islands capital. Credit:AFP The country is still grappling with the legacy of the tensions period between 1998 and 2003, where murders, lawlessness, widespread extortion, and ineffective policing saw ethnic militias rise on the two main islands  Guadalcanal, where Honiara is located, and Malaita. The tensions resulted in prolonged cultural conflict and, eventually, an intervention by the Australian Defence Forces in 2003 through the RAMSI (Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands) which extended until 2017. The political class in Guadalcanal and supporters of the Premier of Malaita, Daniel Suidani, remain central to the conflict. But it has spread more widely to other parts of the community where people are frustrated with the governments economic policies.

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It marks an inflection point. You now see a more heterogeneous crowd of people, says Sora. Sogavare has dismissed the local concerns. The Prime Minister claims the tensions are the result of his political rival Suidani fuelling anti-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sentiment after the Solomon Islands switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the Peoples Republic of China in 2019. Thats the only issue, Sogavare told the ABC on Friday. They are discouraging the Solomon Islands to enter into diplomatic relations and to comply with international law and UN resolutions. People walk through the looted streets of Chinatown in Honiara on November 26. Credit:AP So, what are China and Taiwans role in the conflict? The Solomon Islands became one of the last countries to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019. The decision, which Sogavares government argued would result in greater economic aid from China and investment in infrastructure projects, also fuelled resentment in the community after MPs were allegedly offered hundreds of thousands of dollars by China in return for their support. China regards democratic Taiwan as a province of the mainland. A condition of establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing is the severing of all ties with Taipei. Australia and all other Western governments have had diplomatic relations with Beijing over Taipei for five decades.

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But in Honiara, the sudden shift after decades of links with Taiwan became a proxy for a broader dispute over the level of mainland Chinese investment in the struggling economy and the political class benefiting from it. This, in turn, resulted in attacks on Chinese businesses this week, some of which have no political ties to either Taiwan or China. Some of these families have been in Honiara for generations, says Sora. Typically, what we see is that the local Chinese community is an easy target. Even if theres really no conclusive links to Beijing or to China, they are targeted in an opportunistic way. It is another factor that contributes to the fragility of the peace on any given day. Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow at the Asia-Pacific program at international affairs think tank Chatham House, said there was another factor at play in the highly religious country. It is often presented as this financial thing, she says. But actually, in the context of the Solomons, for a lot of people because theyre very religious, it is a moral thing. They take Communism at its word and see it as an aggressively atheist system. Suidani, the Malaita Premier, has also latched onto the geopolitical element of the conflict as a means of burnishing his national leadership credentials. The pro-Taiwan local premier travelled to Taipei to receive treatment for a suspected brain tumour in June, triggering a strong rebuke from the Chinese embassy in Honiara. Suidani has since said he will refuse any Chinese investment in his province of 200,000 people and accused the CCP of foreign interference after pro-Sogavare MPs moved a vote of no-confidence in his government in his local legislature. The switch from Taiwan to China was a trigger, says Anna Powles, an expert in Pacific defence and security studies at Massey University in New Zealand. This really fit into local dynamics in Malaita. It has a longstanding secessionist movement and this very much fed into it.

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International intervention has, to date, only made matters worse. Washington gave a $US25 million aid package directly to the Malaita government, circumventing the central government and the processes they would normally have to go through, says Powles. It was incredibly destabilising. Australian Federal Police personnel board an RAAF C-130 Hercules bound for the Solomon Islands, at RAAF Fairbairn in Canberra on Friday November 26, 2021. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Why is Australia involved? In 2017, Australia and the Solomon Islands signed an treaty that allowed the Solomon Islands to request intervention from Australian armed forces and the Australian Federal Police in the event of civil unrest. Sogavare on Thursday issued this request to Australia as the situation spiralled beyond the control of local police. On Friday, 43 ADF troops from the Armys 3rd Brigade, 6th Brigade and 17th Brigade departed Townsville for Honiara. Twenty-three AFP officers left on Thursday with a further 50 further expected to deploy in coming days to support security at critical infrastructure. Lisa Sharland, an adjunct senior fellow at the Stimson Centres Protecting Civilians in Conflict Program, said the treaty gave Australian forces the same powers as local police.

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Chinatown has now been badly affected and also the industrial area in Honiara, that has also been affected, she said. Sogavare declared a lockdown on Wednesday after about 1000 people gathered in protest in the capital, Honiara, demanding his resignation over a host of domestic issues. Australian Federal Police Special Operations members are escorted across the tarmac to a Royal Australian Air Force jet for their flight to the Solomon Islands on Thursday. Credit:Defence/AP It was not immediately clear what triggered the outburst of protests, but tensions between the government and the leadership of the most populous island of Malaita have been simmering for some time. The premier of Malaita has been outspokenly critical of Sogavares 2019 decision to cut the countrys diplomatic ties with Taiwan, switching its diplomatic allegiance to China instead, accusing him of getting too close to Beijing.

Loading The province has also complained it has been unfairly deprived of government investment. The protesters on Wednesday breached the National Parliament building and burned the thatched roof of a nearby building, the government said. They also set fire to a police station and other buildings. They were intent on destroying our nation and ... the trust that was slowly building among our people, the government said in a statement.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the deployment includes a detachment of 23 federal police officers and up to 50 more to provide security at critical infrastructure sites, as well as 43 defence force personnel, a patrol boat and at least five diplomats. The first personnel left Australia on Thursday with more going on Friday, and the deployment was expected to last for a few weeks, Morrison said. Our purpose here is to provide stability and security, he said. Morrison said Sogavare requested assistance from Australia amid the violence under a bilateral security treaty. It is not the Australian governments intention in any way to intervene in the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands. That is for them to resolve, he said.

Loading Our presence there does not indicate any position on the internal issues of the Solomon Islands, Morrison added. The Solomon Islands, about 1500 kilometres northeast of Australia, were the scene of bloody fighting during World War II. After it was captured by the Japanese, US Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal in August 1942 to open a campaign to wrest back control. They were successful, though fighting in and around the Solomon Islands continued through the end of the war. Australia led an international police and military force called the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands that restored peace in the country after bloody ethnic violence from 2003 until 2017.

Loading After the outbreak of the current protests, Sogavare ordered the capital locked down from 7pm Wednesday through 7pm on Friday after saying he had witnessed another sad and unfortunate event aimed at bringing a democratically elected government down. I had honestly thought that we had gone past the darkest days in the history of our country, he said. However, todays events are a painful reminder that we have a long way to go. Despite an announcement from the Solomon Islands police force that they would be conducting increased patrols through Honiara amid the lockdown, protesters again took to the streets Thursday. Local media reported that many of the protesters were from Malaita, whose premier, Daniel Suidani, has been at odds with Sogavare since his decision to cut ties with Taiwan.

China expressed serious concern about attacks on some Chinese citizens and institutions, without providing details. We believe that under the leadership of Prime Minister Sogavare, the Solomon Islands government can restore social order and stability as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing in Beijing. He said that economic and other cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations has benefited both sides. Any attempts to undermine the normal development of China-Solomon relations are futile, he said. Suidani said he was not responsible for the violence in Honiara, but told the Solomon Star News that he agreed with the calls for Sogavare to resign. Over the last 20 years Mannaseh Sogavare has been in power, the plight of Solomon Islanders has worsened whilst at the same time foreigners have reaped the best of the countrys resources, Suidani was quoted as saying. People are not blind to this and do not want to be cheated anymore.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday, November 18, the Council of Ministers held a fruitful consultation meeting with the Committee for Civil Servants Unions (CCSU) and its members of the Windward Island Civil Servants Union (WICSU/PSU), Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU), and Algemene Bond van Overheid en Overige Personeel (ABVO) union as well as a representative of NAPB. The meeting, which was chaired by CCSU Chair Mr. Rafael Boasman, served as an opportunity for the membership to be updated on the Constitutional Courts verdict which confirmed governments position surrounding the three temporary national ordinances and pose their questions concerning this. The three temporary national ordinances were issued by the government on July 1, 2020, to cut the employment benefits of civil servants, (semi) public sector workers, and political authorities. This was one of the austerity measures imposed by the government of the Netherlands in exchange for COVID-19 liquidity support.

During the meeting, all parties also aimed to collectively establish the possibilities and effective steps for moving forward. As such, possible actions that the government can take in relation to the implementation of the temporary ordinances which were ratified on November 23rd, with retroactive effect on July 1, 2020, were aptly discussed.

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs stated, Momentarily, governments financial standing still requires liquidity support for St. Maarten moving forward in order for the monthly obligations to be met. Due to the fact that the government of St. Maarten is complying with the measures, liquidity will continue. However, apart from the cost-cutting measures already taken by government, such as the reduction in mobile data usage, travel expenses, and gas bons, we continue to seek and assess ways in which we can eliminate unnecessary expenditures so that public funds are used efficiently rendering the best results possible for the people of St. Maarten.

Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion stated, I look forward to furthering discussions with the union representatives as well as the reviews of the action points that were established during the meeting. Moving forward, it was agreed that the CCSU membership will meet with the Council of Ministers every six months to receive updates concerning governments financial status in addition to the agreed quarterly meetings. In order to accomplish this, government will implement indicators necessary to determine the countrys financial progress. The CCSU membership will also be able to meet with respective Ministers individually in regard to matters needing to be addressed where the temporary national ordinances are concerned. The most positive outcome of this unique situation is the fact that both parties can come to the table, sit and discuss, CCSU Chair Boasman remarked.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Last week Friday I was made aware that my client, a 30-year-old mentally challenged individual who has had multiple run-ins with the law already, had been transferred from the Point Blanche prison to the cells of the Philipsburg police station. My client has lacked the proper guidance in his life and as such seems to by paying the price.

Per my understanding, the client was recently in a brawl with other inmates. Rightfully so, this act warrants the need to impose disciplinary measures on all parties involved but as would be expected, at the Pointe Blanche prison. Contrary to this, the client was taken from Point Blanche to Philipsburg without legal basis and against his will. From writing, it would be alleged that the transfer had taken its course because the detainee had given his consent. The latter is completely false. In addition to this and in consideration of the clients mental health challenges, the client would instead need to receive psychological attention. This form of care is something that is lacking in the Sint Maarten prison system, and as such is not offered.

While I understood that the safety of my client cannot be guaranteed at the Pointe Blanche prison at the moment, it is against the law and also a violation of article 3 ECHR which states that No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment', to keep my client detained in a police holding cell. In this aspect, the Government of Sint Maarten is failing the mentally challenged. It is no secret that my client needs a certain level of help that Sint Maarten cannot offer.

In view of the unlawful detention of my client at the Philipsburg police station, I have requested that my client be transferred back to Point Blanche or to be transferred elsewhere within the Dutch Kingdom. This request has not been answered to date. Based on the aforementioned, I had no other option than to file for an injunction to assist in determining the necessary interim measures as cases such as these must be handled with a sense of urgency.

Ultimately, we cannot continue to make the same mistakes continuously. If we were to knock on the door of the ECHR, they would reiterate the fact that the detention is unlawful. Have we not learned our lesson based on the numerous rulings regarding similar situations? The detention system here on Sint Maarten is still seriously lacking and out-of-the-box solutions should be identified sooner rather than later. Solutions such as housing prisoners with psychological complaints elsewhere within the Kingdom such as the Netherlands or Bonaire for instance should be explored more often. This alternative is one that to date is not considered enough in our system and the handling of these matters is unfortunately dragged on/out for far too long. Why does the order of the day have to continue to be that we only jump into action when it is too late?
Grand Case:--- November 23rd marked the 36th anniversary of the very first guests staying at a Grand Case classic, the Les Alizes guesthouse. To mark the occasion, the builder and manager of the hotel, Pastor Eugene Hodge, shared some sweet memories and his vision of the future.

Pastor Hodge has fond memories of his guests, Now that we celebrate in our 36 years anniversary, we just want to thank our supporters over the years that have been there for us. We had up to 25 and 30 years of repeated guests, and families that were here 30 years nonstop every year.

His secret? You must love what you do and by loving what you're doing, giving service, and in return, you get your benefits. If you're going in a business, yes, you're going to make money, but if you are only going in to make money, then you're wasting time.

One innovation made by Pastor Hodge was a Managers Walk he would take with guests as a healthy alternative to happy hour, I don't give them manager cocktail because I going to give them Coca-Cola. So instead, I give them a manager's walk. Therefore, we go all of these different areas. Well walk and whoever walked there first, we named it after them. What was exciting was one would come down for instance from New York and he would say, "I want you to do the same thing you do for Marshall. So we would do Marshalls walk.

Over time, the hotel received formal recognition, too, One of the best things that could have happened was when four years ago, January 2017, when the French Saint Martin Tourist Office give us the lifetime award, the guesthouse Les Alizes. That was an exciting moment. We also got memories from Discover Magazine, when we were featured in front page.

Another reason for celebration on this anniversary is the transition of the management hotel to sons Mikey and Johnny and grandson Angelo. It is a plan that has been in the works since they were kids. According to Pastor Hodge, Actually, when they were here schooling I would have them always involved. We have stuff by the road to bring down. You've got to help bring it down after school in the afternoon. Sunday's, Saturday's you have to be here working.

The plan to pass on the hotel got even more serious about twenty years ago when Pastor Hodge chose to put the business in his childrens names, Since 1998, the 19th of September, I had Les Alizes removed out of my name and gone into the children name. It was a long view range plan but it was just a matter of when they would be willing to accept it you know. I remember when the lawyer said to me, he said, "Now, they can fire you but you can't fire them." I say okay. That was it. I was so blessed. I lived 23 years with it and they still didn't fire me that I leaving. You see, I'm a good worker!

The next generation is preparing to reopen Les Alizes after putting the finishing touches on post-Irma repairs and improvements. Hopefully the new team is ready to guide Les Alizes through another 36 years. Meanwhile, Pastor Hodge will still be here, focusing on his ministry and developing a community center at his church.
SABA:--- A delegation of the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders paid a visit to Saba on Thursday, November 25. A meeting was held with Island Governor Jonathan Johnson to discuss, among other things, the nomination of Saban candidates for a Royal Decoration.

PHILIPSBURG:--- It has been a while since a Saban was awarded a Royal Decoration. No Royal Decorations were awarded to a local person after 2015. In that year, two Sabans received a Royal Decoration for their contribution of exceptional value to the community.

Every year, the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders receives some 6,000 nominations for a Royal Decoration, mainly from the Netherlands, but also from the Dutch Caribbean islands. About 5,000 of these are honored, of which some 3,000 are bestowed during the annual so-called Lintjesregen on the occasion of the Kings birthday. The Chancery of the Netherlands Orders gives advice in the process of awarding the Royal Decorations.

Recognition

Member of the Chancellor of the Netherlands Orders Peter van der Velden said it was important to also give recognition to those persons in the Dutch Caribbean who contribute in an excellent way to the local communities. People are doing good work with very limited means, he said.

In particular, on Saba, more people should be recognized for their good work with a Royal Decoration. We are sure that there are people who deserve this. It is a pity if people dont get rewarded for the good work that they do. We had a very good meeting with the Island Governor and we talked about how the Chancery can assist in accomplishing this, said Van der Velden.

Submit nominations

Island Governor Johnson said that the Public Entity Saba will be working on the internal process to submit nominations for a Royal Decoration. The Chancery of the Netherlands Orders visited Saba for the last time in 2014.

Director of the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders Martine van Grieken and Head of the Department of Advice and Decorations Mischa Vos, who was part of the visiting delegation, pointed out that everyone can come forward with a candidate who in their opinion deserves a Royal Decoration. The three-member delegation of the Chancery will also visit St. Eustatius and St. Maarten.

The Chancery of the Netherlands Orders works behind the scenes to make sure that everything goes smoothly in the process of awarding Royal Decorations. The Chancery of the Netherlands Orders assists the Netherlands Civil Honors Advisory Committee and the Military Order of William Advisory Committee, which are independent bodies that advise the Dutch Government on the Dutch Honors System.
Every year, small businesses around the country celebrate "Small Business Saturday" the day after Black Friday. This day started as an American Express campaign in 2010 and was official co-sponsed by U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) a year after.

Like last year, Connecticut's small businesses are hoping to continue through the challenging times that the COVID-19 have brought.

Before COVID, most of my business was at craft shows from early summer into mid-December. Last year, the month of December brought in about 40 percent of my income and Im expecting the same this year, said Meb Boden of Mebs Kitchenwares in South Woodstock told Hearst Connecticut Media. I see the holidays as a great time to support our local and small businesses, especially handmade artisan ventures.

A 2020 nation-wide American Express survey found that 97 percent of shoppers recognized the positive impact they can make by shopping small and 85 percent of them reported they also encouraged friends and family.

These local small business owners are our fellow community members who have really hung in there through a very challenging period. We hope that everyone will support the local small business community for all of their holiday shopping needs this year, Middlesex Chamber Vice President Jeff Pugliese told Hearst Connecticut Media. They need us now more than ever.

Here is what you need to know about Small Business Saturday in Connecticut.

RELATED: 'They need us now more than ever': Shop local during Small Business Saturday in Middletown

How do I participate in Small Business Saturday?

Buying from local businesses in your area is the best way to participate in Small Business Saturday. However, people can participate in the "Shop Small" campaign all year long by visiting small shops or restaurants.

To find participating businesses, visit the American Express small businesses' map.

What is considered to be a small business?

While it can vary between industries, the SBA categorizes small businesses by the amount of revenue and the number of employees of the business. The revenue ranges from $1 million to $40 million and the company size from 100 to 1,5000 employees.

In order for a business to be considered "small" it has to make less revenue than corporations or regular-sized businesses, according to the American Society for Quality.

What is "Shop Small"?

"Shop Small" is a nationwide all-year movement to celebrate small businesses organized by American Express and SBA.

Which Connecticut businesses participate in Small Business Saturday?

Local business owners around the state are offering special prices For example, more than a dozen of shops, restaurants and services are participating in "Shop Small Stratford" where they are offering discounts. Windsor's small businesses are also offering discounts such as 20 percent off in holiday ornaments. New Haven and Middlesex are offering free popcorn to shoppers. Additionally, local chambers of commerce such as the Fairfield and Stamford's are promoting small businesses on their social media pages.

To find more local businesses near your city, visit the Shop Small map.

RELATED: Made in CT: 10 local spots to shop on Small Business Saturday

Can I only participate in Small Business Saturday in person?

No, people can also participate in Small Business Saturday online.

RELATED: 7 Connecticut Etsy shops where you can shop local
I recently traveled to the hill near the intersection of Main Street and Snake Meadow Hill Road in Sterling. Following advice Id read online, I turned onto Main Street and drove my car to the first telephone pole and stopped at the bottom of a hill with a slight upward incline. I put my car in neutral and took my foot off the brake.

My description of what happened next does not do it justice.

Instead of rolling backward down the hill in accordance with the laws of physics as I understand them, my car started moving up the hill, gaining speed as it went. Id read this would happen, but I wasnt prepared for just how unsettling and strange it was. Not satisfied with the first attempt, I turned my car around and did it again, then again. Each time my car rolled up the hill with surprising speed. After my third trip up this strange hill, I got out and took the only rounded object I could find in my car, an unopened seltzer can. I put it on the ground sideways and watched, dumbfounded, as it started to roll up the hill.

The true story of the 'Witch of Gravity Hill'

Sterlings Gravity Hill, on a quiet, rural, residential stretch of Main Street, has long been recognized as a place where cars and other objects roll up instead of down hill, or seem to, at least. According to local Connecticut lore, the phenomenon is caused by the anger of a long-dead witch named Margaret Henry. Theres a nearby town road named for Henry, but according to tradition it is this section of Main Street where she actually lived, and where her anger at trespassers causes her to reach from beyond the grave to bend the rules of gravity to her will as she pushes cars off her property.

The truth is, while Henry was a real woman who lived in the area in the late 1700s, she didnt live near the section of Main Street known as Gravity Hill, and she was most assuredly not a witch. In fact, no one ever accused her of practicing witchcraft, and in the historical record she is remembered for her kindness. She took care of the poor and also took in foster children, says Megan McGory-Gleason, president of the Sterling Historical Society.

Henrys home was located just over the town line in Killingly, but her land crossed into Sterling. She was known for her charity in both towns. I have no idea where the story that she was a witch actually came from, McGory-Gleason says. I grew up in Sterling and, of course, heard the stories and there are some real doozies: she was burned at the stake in the 1600s, her house is haunted.

None of these stories hold water  or in this case, fire.

Why this kind woman who cared for those in need became associated with witchcraft isnt clear. The earliest mention I have heard of the Margaret Henry witch story was a newspaper article published in 1978 in the Plainfield High School student newspaper, McGory-Gleason says.

I found an earlier reference in the Norwich Bulletin in 1914 in a section of the paper devoted to printing short submissions written by children. There was once an old woman who lived in a hut in the woods between Danielson and Sterling, wrote Eric Gilbert, a 10-year-old from Danielson. She had a peculiar name which was Margaret Henry. Everybody called her a witch, though she really wasnt.

Young Eric described how the day after a black cat was beaten, Henry was too bruised to get out of bed, leading local residents to conclude she was the cat. He also wrote about how, many years later, people would pick huckleberries near the ruins of her house and attribute any spooky occurrences to her.

In general, 10-year-olds might not be the best historical sources, but Eric was certainly a capable writer, and if Henrys house really was left in ruin, that might explain the rise of the legends around her, as stories rise out of ruins as surely as dust.

Gravity Hills 'power' explained

Gravity hills, also known as magnetic hills, are not unique to Sterling. Similarly eerie hills exist at many spots across the country, and Connecticut is actually home to a second gravity hill in Trumbull on Exit 7 off Route 25 North. As in Sterling, these hills are often associated with local legends and myths, but in reality they are optical illusions. The surrounding area makes it look like you are going uphill when in fact you are going downhill (altitude measurements confirm this). The illusion is usually caused by an obstructed horizon, which makes it difficult to judge a hills slope because you dont get a reliable point of reference.

If you get out and walk the Sterling hill, you can feel in your legs that you are going downhill despite what your eyes are telling you. (I didnt walk around the hill enough to notice this myself).

Experiencing Sterlings Gravity Hill is something of a rite of passage for town residents. Its one of those things that everyone does in high school when they get their first cars and want to show their friends who might not be from town, or parents do it with their kids, McGory-Gleason says. It is an optical illusion but Im not sure exactly how its so good at being so convincing.

You can say that again. Descriptions, videos and photos dont do it justice. It is one of the strangest sites Ive seen in Connecticut and undeniably eerie. Check it out next time youre in the area. But if you want to honor the memory of Margaret Henry, dont talk about witchcraft, instead donate to charities that help the poor.
A conservative Connecticut senator said he did not sign on to a letter from nearly 190 Republican state lawmakers from around the country, calling for a nationwide audit of the 2020 presidential vote that could lead to a possible move to overturn the election in the U.S. House of Representatives.

State Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, whose district includes Cheshire, Prospect, Southington and part of Waterbury, said in a statement that he never agreed to add his name to the public memo organized by state Sen. Wendy Rogers, of Arizona. The document, dated Nov. 23, portrays erroneous claims about fraud in the presidential election. There is no constitutional procedure for overturning the election.

I have not signed this letter, said Sampson, a member of the General Assembly since 2011 who is also the top Republican on the committee that oversees Connecticut election legislation. In late October, I had my legislative assistant contact Sen. Rogers in response to inquiries from several constituents suggesting I should sign on. We followed up by email to Sen. Rogers asking her to provide us with a copy of the letter, her justification for requiring an audit of all 50 states, and any evidence she had collected in support of that effort.

Sampson said Rogers replied that nearly 200 others had signed the letter and to reply by email if he wanted to be included.

There were no answers to my questions and no evidence provided, so I chose not to, he said, adding that, year after year, I have proposed legislation for audits, for photo identification, for signature verification, and for improving our election system so that the results are something every person regardless of their political party can and will trust.

Rogerss office in the Arizona state legislature did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Sampson charged there was fraud in the states 2020 balloting, but he did not file a complaint. It was later found that a photo of an outdoor ballot box, portrayed as overflowing with ballots, was taken days after the August primary in West Haven.

This year, the State Elections Enforcement Commission has rejected dozens of fraud allegations.

It is true that our state has significant election integrity issues, particularly with mail-in voting  which I have detailed in hours of senate debate, but they are different from the issues in Arizona and around the country, Sampson said. I appreciate Senator Rogers' efforts to draw attention to election integrity. However, I find it improper to call for the decertification of any election without first providing proof.

Attempts to overturn the presidential election vote were rejected by federal judges throughout the nation. The controversy culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection in the United States Capitol with more than 700 arrests.

President Joe Biden won the election with 306 electoral votes to Donald Trumps 232. Biden won the popular vote with 81.2 million ballots to Trumps 74.2 million.

We call on each state to decertify its electors where it has been shown the elections were certified prematurely and inaccurately, the Rogers statement said.

This is our historic obligation to restore the election integrity of the vote as the bedrock of our constitutional republic, said the statement, which includes the names of 189 state lawmakers, including 13 from Arizona, where a post-election audit found even more votes for Biden. The only other Northeastern lawmakers in the list are three state senators from Maine.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP)  The man charged with killing someone in South Carolina this week had wounded the same victim in a shootout at a North Carolina mall earlier this year, investigators said.

A 911 caller reported finding a man on the ground early Tuesday on a street in Rock Hill. police said.
BANGKOK (AP)  One of Thailands major fast food chains has been promoting its Crazy Happy Pizza this month, an under-the-radar product topped with a cannabis leaf. Its legal but wont get you high.

Veterans of the backpacker trail, familiar with the legendary pizza parlors of neighboring Cambodias capital Phnom Penh that offer powerful marijuana as an optional condiment, might feel downright cheated.

Of course, they cannot get high, Panusak Suensatboon, general manager of The Pizza Company, said in an interview this week. Its just a marketing campaign. and you can taste the cannabis and then if you have enough, you maybe get a bit sleepy.

The Crazy Happy Pizza is a mashup of toppings evoking the flavors of Thailands famous Tom Yum Gai soup along with a deep-fried cannabis leaf on top. Cannabis is also infused into the cheese crust and there's chopped cannabis in the dipping sauce. A 9-inch pie costs 499 baht (about $15). Customers preferring a do-it-yourself variety can choose their own toppings, with a 100 baht ($3) surcharge for two or three cannabis leaves.

The cannabis plant has been used for two major purposes: as hemp for making rope and clothing, and as an intoxicating drug, known as pot, ganja and dagga.

In recent years, a kind of middle-ground product has emerged: cannabidiol, or CBD, a chemical found in cannabis that can be processed into what is touted as a cure-all medicine. CBD can be separated out from tetrahydrocannabinol -- THC -- the chemical in cannabis that produces marijuanas high.

CBD has legitimized products made with cannabis, drawing on the mystique of marijuana without flouting the law or raising major health questions. Its become a boom industry, especially in the United States.

Recreational marijuana is still illegal in Thailand, and can earn you a fine and time in jail, even though drug laws have been liberalized in the past few years. Cannabis is regulated for medicinal use, and individuals are allowed to grow a small number of plants for their own consumption.

Thailand last December became the first country in Southeast Asia to remove specific parts and extracts of cannabis from its controlled narcotics list, and in February this year allowed them to be used in foods and beverages. The amount of THC in the CBD product must not exceed 0.2% of its total weight, virtually eliminating the possibility of getting high.

Cannabis products even before being decriminalized had become a cottage industry in Thailand, but their adoption by The Pizza Company -- operated by Minor Food Group, a subsidiary of the Stock Exchange of Thailand-listed Minor International -- boosts them into the commercial big-time.

Crazy Happy Pizza has been available at all of The Pizza Companys branches in Thailand, but sales have been lackluster, according to Panusak. It has faced several handicaps -- it cannot legally be advertised or sold to anyone under the age of 12. He estimates that when the company ends its sales promotion on Tuesday, it will have to throw away about a fifth of the cannabis leaves it acquired.

I dont think the market is ready for cannabis products yet. We knew this since the beginning," said Panusak. We only wanted to be the first mover to launch something new and innovative in the market. He cited durian pizza, incorporating the exotic and pricey tropical Asian fruit known for its pungent smell, as another example of his companys innovations.

We try to get some new ingredients, anything that is in trend, and we use it and we want people to talk about it, he said.

Associate professor Wilert Puriwat, dean of Bangkoks Chulalongkorn Business School, believes that using cannabis for marketing can be effective in an initial stage, but business owners need strategies to make it work in the long run.

In general, people who try it will not expect to get high, he said. They just want to keep themselves trendy and take photos to post on their social media to show they have tried something that was once illegal."

He said cannabis has an emotional value that builds on a products core value. When people walk into your restaurant, they should come for your food and service, not for cannabis.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu underscored at the 13th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Summit the importance of health cooperation among member states, including by strengthening cooperation on vaccines, the Foreign Ministry informs in a release.

Bogdan Aurescu expressed Romania's interest for a more active involvement in the region, amid strengthening economic, interpersonal and political ties between Europe and Asia, but also within the framework provided by the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, with focus on Romania's favorite areas of expertise such as cyber security, disaster management, the law of the sea and the combat of climate change, strengthening resilience.

The Foreign Minister emphasized the common approaches to key security challenges in Europe and Asia, highlighting ASEM's potential to provide a platform for identifying diplomatic solutions thereto.

In this context, the Romanian top diplomat expressed concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation in Myanmar in the recent months, which affects citizens and the possibilities of providing humanitarian assistance, as well as the peaceful settlement process, in compliance with the rule of law.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu represented Romania on Thursday and Friday at the 13th Asia-Europe Summit which was organized via video conference by Cambodia, which currently holds the rotating ASEM Presidency.
The National Liberal Party (PNL) Chairman Florin Citu declared that the renegotiation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is not possible and announced that on Thursday he signed, as interim Minister of European Investments and Projects, the last document.

"It is not possible. Only in 2023 can we make small adjustments, but if we look at the progress on certain chapters and if the progress is not the desired one, then we can discuss, but very little, with the Commission. Any discussion about PNRR, about renegotiation would mean taking everything from scratch and it would mean losing money, just today we signed the last document to receive the 1.8 billion euros and Romania cannot afford taking it from scratch. [This money] I think it will come in the following weeks, they should enter the accounts in Romania," Citu said on Thursday evening on TVR1 when asked about the Social Democratic Party (PSD) idea of renegotiating PNRR.

He pointed out that the money from PNRR is used for the implementation of the projects, specifying that the money from PNRR does not go towards the increase of pensions.

Citu stated that he is "both happy and calm" that PNL has the Ministry of European Investments and Projects.

"It is about 80 billion euros coming by 2028, which will be channeled to the Ministry of European Investments and Projects and so I am confident that the money will go exactly to the projects for which it was intended and this money will not be wasted," he said.

On the other hand, the PNL chairman spoke about the budget revision that was made by the new Minister of Finance, arguing that some expenses should not be made at present.

"We have seen the budget revision. We keep the deficit above 7%. We have seen that some amounts are allocated in the Reserve Fund, some other amounts are allocated somehow, we have not seen in detail, we have only seen what has been presented on the decision-making transparency side," Citu mentioned, informeaza Agerpres.
Dozens of Bucharesters gathered on Friday evening in the University Square to witness the city lighting switch-on for the winter holidays.

"We opened today the 14th Bucharest Christmas Market. It's a fairytale fair organized in the city center by the Bucharest City Hall through Creart. Our Christmas tree is made of wood, we promote sustainability, it's ecological, reusable and features a magical light display," Creart PR Cristina Lixandru told AGERPRES.

She also mentioned that starting with December 17, Santa Claus will also be present at the Christmas Fair.

"I'm sure that the little ones are looking forward to meeting Santa Claus. He will arrive at the fair with his elves on December 17 and will be there to meet with the kids until December 24," Lixandru said.

She reminds that access to the fair is open only for people who present the green COVID certificate, based on an entrance ticket.

"According to the legislation in force, access is allowed to persons who present the green certificate proving that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, or that they have recovered from the disease (children under the age of 12 are exempt from this requirement), the protective mask is mandatory, except for children under five years of age," Lixandru specified.

The Christmas tree set up in the center of the fair is 15 meters high.
The government adopted on Friday this year's second budget rectification, maintaining the deficit target of 7.13 pct of GDP, announced the Minister of Finance, Adrian Caciu.

"The rectification of the state budget has been adopted, we maintained the deficit target of 7.13 pct of GDP. We provided the necessary resources for this year, until December 31, and we managed to find a solution to unblock the critical situation at CEC Bank," said the minister.

He recalled that CEC Bank has been looking for the solution for two years so that, after the share capital increase in 2019, it could comply with the rule requested by the European Commission to be able to have the necessary exposure and guarantees to enter the lending market.

"As a result, we have established that we will grant a loan of 1.4 billion lei to CEC Bank for several purposes. Firstly, the Romanian state will immediately receive 900 million lei in dividends. Secondly, this banking company and the other banks will support us in implementing the government program because it contains not only money from the state budget, but also European funds and we need co-financing, so that the beneficiaries of European funds have a place from where to get loans that are targeted at the implementation of the public policy programs that the Government will adopt in the next period. As far as I am concerned, this was a key moment. From this moment on, from the point of view of CEC Bank, we no longer have a risk on the banking system," the government official maintained.

According to Caciu, having to reallocate money for pensions and salaries from other budgets at the end of the year has been a structural mistake, one that will not happen again the following year.

"Today's rectification shows us some structural shortcomings in the way the budget projections are made in Romania, because we end up in the last month of the year having to allocate additional amounts for pensions and salaries, but the saddest thing is that we have to take money from European-funded projects, from investments, not because you have to take money from somewhere, but because those investments only existed on paper in a budget. This is a lesson I am quickly learning myself, and so is the Government and which we must not repeat in 2022," the minister gave assurances.

According to a press release of the Ministry of Finance, the deficit of the general consolidated budget, in absolute amount, calculated according to the national methodology (cash), increases to 84.905 billion lei, while standing at 7.13 pct of GDP.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu received on Friday Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-Khuraiji, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with whom he had an exchange of views on current issues on the regional and international agenda, a press release of the Foreign Affairs Minister (MAE) sent to AGERPRES informs.

According to the cited source, Deputy Minister Al-Khuraiji, on a visit to Bucharest, expressed appreciation for Romania's involvement and traditionally constructive role in resolving conflicts in the Middle East and in identifying political solutions to ensure security and sustainable stability in the region.

The Saudi Deputy Minister Al-Khuraiji and Secretary of State for Global Affairs and Diplomatic Strategies Cornel Feruta also held a round of bilateral political and diplomatic consultations. Discussions focused on the current state and prospects for the development of bilateral cooperation, as well as on international issues of interest to both parties.

In this context, Romania's interest in contributing with smart solutions experts was pointed out in the context of the Saudi NEOM initiative, a revolutionary project that aims to build a city of the future, with the prospect of becoming the largest regional "smart city". The senior Saudi official drew the attention of the Secretary of State for Global Affairs to Riyadh's candidacy for hosting EXPO 2030, in which context the two sides expressed satisfaction with the multilateral cooperation and mutual support for each other's candidacy within the UN.

The dialogue on the regional level focused on developments in Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and the Middle East Peace Process, the two officials welcoming, in context, the moving forward of the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council dialogue, in which Romania plays an active role, shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
PNL (National Liberal Party) chair Florin Citu on Thursday evening stated that the Government with PSD (Social Democratic Party) and UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians of Romania) is a compromise solution and underscored that the Liberals will oppose any populist measure.

"(...) What is important to know is that all my Liberal colleagues and the Liberal electorate, we in this government as always, as we did last time, we will defend the Liberal principles, we are the ones who will oppose any populist measure. You should know that in the last government I also opposed some populist measures, I even opposed Ludovic Orban, when he was in government, because of some populist measures, during the election year, we also opposed those from USR (Save Romania Union), which had all kinds of populist measures, and we will continue to oppose all kinds of populist measures. (...) This is the role of PNL, to be a guardian and to ensure that the rights of citizens will not be affected - and we know what happened in the PSD government in 2017 -2019 - but the economy will not suffer this time either," Citu told TVR1 national television broadcaster.

According to him, previous criticisms of PSD were aimed at the measures proposed by the Social Democrats.

He claimed that it was not appropriate to take the floor at the plenary session in which the investiture vote for the Government was given, explaining that the PNL's opinion was voiced by Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca. Citu reiterated that the speech of the PSD leader that aimed at the last two years of government was a political one.

Asked why he preferred a formula with PSD, and not with USR, Citu answered: "It's not what we preferred. This was the solution that worked".

He also maintained that USR did not want to come to power.

Citu said that a Government with PSD and UDMR can function and showed that his great disappointment is that PNL does not have the Ministry of Finance.

"A prime minister without the Ministry of Finance will have a hard life," he said.

The Liberal leader said that President Klaus Iohannis told them to find a solution for the government, and not what configuration the government should have.

He also stated that there are no problems in his relationship with the head of state, but that he always had different opinions from him. Citu also stated that he has a very good relationship with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

Florin Citu admitted that there is a tense situation in the PNL, but claimed that this is the case in all parties. He also said that he does not feel that his position as PNL chair is threatened, Agerpres informs.
On Friday, at the ceremony where Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca handed over the mandate of Minister of Defence to Vasile Dincu, he stated that the moment marked his separation from his "second family."

"Today I am leaving the institution that has been the second family for me and for all those who are here in the hall today. And I think that not only me, each of you can say that you've spent more and more time inside this family than with families at home," the head of government confessed.

He talked about the importance of people. "I can tell you that I have always had people in mind, because the technique can be acquired, it can be prepared, it can be kept operational, but this does not happen by itself, it happens through effort, through professionalism, through the dedication of the people, through their enthusiasm," Ciuca also mentioned
The provisions of the roadmap regarding the priority domains for cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Moldova were the main topics of discussion between Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and his counterpart in Chisinau, Natalia Gavrilita.

"I had today a phone call with the Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Natalia Gavrilita. We discussed about the provisions of the roadmap regarding the priority domains for cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, signed on November 23, 2021. I conveyed the openness and availability of Romania for the Republic of Moldova, to be followed, in the coming period, by the establishment of an official visit," wrote Nicolae Ciuca, on his Facebook page.
The National Bank of Romania will put into circulation a banknote featuring Ecaterina Teodoroiu, hero of the Romanian Unification War (WWI). It is the first legal tender banknote that features a female personality. The institution wants to promote the major role played by women in Romanian history and society.

The banknote with a face value of Lei 20 will be put into circulation through the regional branches of the National Bank of Romania in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Craiova, Iasi and Timisoara, when making cash payments to credit institutions/the State Treasury.

The new banknote will be presented to the public in a press conference on Friday, 26 November, by the Governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mr. Mugur Isarescu.

The first woman to be featured on a banknote issued by the National Bank of Romania was Maria, Queen of Greater Romania, whose face is next to King Ferdinand the Unifiers face on the anniversary banknote issued for the Centennial of Romanias Unification (1918-2018). The banknote was not put into monetary circulation and it was issued in a limited series of 10,000 copies.

This banknote was issued for the Centennial of Romanias Unification (1918-2018). It features King Ferdinand the Unifier and Queen Marie of Romania. Photo: National Bank of Romania

Who was Ecaterina Teodoroiu

Sublieutenant Ecaterina Teodoroiu, the first woman who became a combating officer of the Romanian army, heroically fell in the battle of la Marasesti, while leading her platoon, on August 22, 1917.

She was the third of a Gorj county family with eight children. She volunteered to fight in the army after she lost three brothers in World War I, the third dying right in her arms while she was a charity nurse.

At that moment, she changes the nurse clothes with her brothers military effects, recounts Ioana Morus, daughter-in-law of Ecaterina Teodoroius youngest sister.

Ecaterina Teodoroiu wearing scout uniform, which explains the presence of the badge of the Romanian Scouts on the banknote. In this photo, she is still wearing the plaits cut after her brothers death. Her hair is displayed in her memorial house in Tg. Jiu. Photo: Facebook / Liga Studentilor  LS Iasi via Daniel Siegfriedsohn

Ecaterina Teodoroiu was repeatedly and gravely wounded, last time to both legs. She returned to fight, although she did not need to, in the summer of 1917. The German attack in which she lost her life was defeated by the Romanians.

In 1921, her body was moved into a dedicated memorial built in front of the Targu Jiu Cathedral, with national funerals. Her coffin was made of cannons captured from the enemy and the memorial was made by famous Romanian sculptor Milita Petrascu.

The woman heros resting place in the city of TTargu Jiurgu  a memorial sculpted by Romanian avant-garde artist Milita Petrascu.

Description of the 20-Lei banknote

The banknote with a face value of lei 20 is printed on polymer substrate, with a mix of flat and raised printing techniques, 136 x 77 mm in size and with the predominant colour olive green.

The obverse of the banknote shows the following representative graphical elements:

the portrait of Ecaterina Teodoroiu, her birth and death years (1894-1917);

a floral element depicting a bouquet of crocuses (Crocus flavus);

in the background, the central area features a badge of the Romanian Scouts.

the face value in figures and letters, 20 LEI DOUAZECI printed horizontally;

the signatures of the Governor and the Chief Cashier;

the coat of arms of Romania;

the name of the issuing central bank BANCA NATIONALA A ROMANIEI;

a stylised depiction of the infantry insignia  where the hero served;

the NBR logo in a medallion;

on the right, vertically, the face value in letters DOUAZECI LEI, the circulation date 1 decembrie 2021, the face value in figures 20.

The reverse of the banknote features a graphic composition showing:

a depiction of the winged figure of Victory on the Victory Medal;

an image of the Marasesti Mausoleum and, behind the Mausoleum, a lily flower;

the face value in letters and figures;

the name of the issuing central bank BANCA NATIONALA A ROMANIEI;

the NBR logo printed at the top right and bottom left in a rectangle;

the text FALSIFICAREA ACESTOR BILETE SE PEDEPSESTE CONFORM LEGILOR (Forgery is punished according to the law);

the serial number printed in black ink with same-size fonts on the left side, vertically, and in red ink, with fonts of ascending height on the top right side, horizontally.

To protect against forgery, the banknote includes a series of security features, some for the public, others traceable only when using special equipment, intended for employees in the banking system.
Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 23, 2021) - NEO Battery Materials Ltd. (TSXV: NBM) (OTCQB: NBMFF) ("NEO" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has appointed Dr. Byeong-Su Kim to the Scientific Advisory Board. His research and expertise are with polymer materials with an emphasis on lithium-ion battery binder technologies, synthesis of functional polyethers and polymeric therapeutics, and smart hybrid nanomaterials.

Dr. Kim retains a total of 162 publications with over a total of 10,000 citations and possesses over 30 patents which include robust binder technologies for lithium-ion battery electrodes. His outstanding research in polymer materials has led him to receive the Excellent Mid-Career Polymer Research Award through the Polymer Society of Korea in 2019 and was elected as a Fellow of Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) in 2017.

The binder is an essential component when manufacturing silicon anodes as the binder holds the electrode material together with the copper current foil. Utilizing robust binder technologies with characteristics such as a high elastic modulus can help contain and control the volume expansion of silicon, resulting in lower probabilities of particle pulverization and a cracking anode.

Mr. Spencer Huh, President and CEO of NEO, expressed, "We are glad to have Dr. Byeong-Su Kim on the Scientific Advisory Board. All components in terms of technology and intellectual capacity are being shaped out, and we are more than confident to commercialize NEO's Si Anode Materials through our proprietary one-pot nanocoating technology. The Company is ultimately targeting a pure 100% silicon anode for the use in high power electric vehicle applications; hence, we regard implementing excellent binder technologies as a crucial aspect in our materials."

Dr. Kim is a Professor of Chemistry at Yonsei University of South Korea in which he currently leads the Soft and Hybrid Nanomaterials Lab. Dr. Kim has received his Ph.D. in Polymer/Material Chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 2007 and was a postdoctoral research associate at MIT under the supervision of Dr. Paula T. Hammond. Prior to joining Yonsei University, Dr. Kim was an associate professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST).

About NEO Battery Materials Ltd.

NEO Battery Materials Ltd. is a Vancouver-based company focused on battery metals and materials. NEO has a focus on producing silicon anodes materials through its proprietary single-step nanocoating process, which provides improvements in capacity and efficiency over lithium-ion batteries using graphite in their anode materials. The Company intends to become a silicon anode active materials supplier to the electric vehicle industry. For more information, please visit the Company's website at: https://www.neobatterymaterials.com/.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Spencer Huh

President and CEO

604-697-2408

shuh@neobatterymaterials.com

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will", "plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, fluctuating commodity prices, the effectiveness and feasibility of technologies which have not yet been tested or proven on a commercial scale, competitive risks and the availability of financing, as described in more detail in our recent securities filings available at/www.sedar.com. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and we caution against placing undue reliance thereon. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/104830
SHANGHAI, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese and Italian Gen-Zers had a close look at each other at an online exchange activity held by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) on Nov. 24.

The exchange activity, titled CEAir On Air, was joined by over 40 zoomers, as well as their teachers, from China's Nankai University and Italy's Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies. Together with CEA staff members, they shared their experiences of living in China and working at the CEA.

At the activity, Italian captain Diego Benedetto with the CEA introduced the preparations that a captain shall do before piloting a flight, shared his stories of flying in China, and sent his wishes to the Gen-Zers.

Head flight attendant Hu Anlun with the CEA, who once lived and studied in Italy, made a presentation of airplane etiquette in the prep-room of the CEA headquarters in Shanghai. She also displayed the comfy environment and shared her stories of studying in Italy.

"My job takes me on a global tour, and that is the most attractive part about it," Hu said, adding that her job vividly presents her the colors and brilliance of the world.

Benedetto told the Gen-Zers that his love for the profession started when he was a child. He felt the call of the profession when seeing photos of pilots in uniforms at home in his childhood, he told the students. The man said it's lucky for him to have become a pilot today.

Benedetto encouraged the Chinese and Italian students to turn what they have learned into a motivation for their further progress.

During the past 10 years, the CEA has maintained sound cooperation with Rome's Convitto Nazionale "Vittorio Emanuele II" (Italian boarding school) and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, actively joining China-Italy exchanges in culture, art and education. The company has injected new vitality into the cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Image Attachments Links:

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=408865

Caption: Chinese and Italian Gen-Zers had a close look at each other at an online exchange activity held by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) on Nov. 24.

Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=408869

Caption: Chinese and Italian Gen-Zers had a close look at each other at an online exchange activity held by China Eastern Airlines (CEA) on Nov. 24.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/china-eastern-airlines-holds-online-exchange-between-chinese-italian-gen-zers-301432372.html

SOURCE China Eastern Airlines
DALLAS, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrity, one of the leading independent distributors of life, health and wealth products, today announced the donation of $100,000 to purchase new toys and stuffed animals for Children's Health, the leading pediatric health care system in North Texas.

Joined by his family and a team of employees, Integrity Co-Founder and CEO, Bryan W. Adams delivered more than 3,000 new stuffed animals and toys to Children's Health. The toy donation marks the end of the company's "Integrity Gives Back" toy drive, which was inspired by Adams' nine-year-old son Asher, a recent Children's Health patient. The initial goal of the drive was 500 toys, but more than 3,000 toys were donated by Integrity employees and Managing Partners. Adams surprised Children's Health when he announced Integrity will boost the 3,000 toys donated through the company toy drive with a donation of $100,000 which will facilitate the purchase of as many as 50,000 toys.

"My son was a patient at Children's Health during a time when their choice of stuffed animals was extremely limited and this inspired my family and I to rally our employees to have a toy drive. One of Integrity's core values is service  seeing us come together to support such a worthy cause and surpass our initial goal of 500 toys to bring in 3,000 toys makes me feel so proud of our Integrity family," said Bryan W. Adams, Integrity's Co-Founder and CEO. "Children's Health means so much to me and my family and this Thanksgiving week was the perfect time to say thank you and give back. I hope these toys can bring joy to their patients this holiday season and throughout the year!"

New stuffed animals and toys are given to patients year-round to help comfort them after procedures and surgeries, and to celebrate key milestones like end-of-treatment events.

"The more than 3,000 toys and generous monetary donation presented to Children's Health by the Adams family and employees of Integrity is nothing short of inspiring," said Brent Christopher, President of Children's Medical Center Foundation. "Their support is a wonderful example of paying it forward and will bring many smiles to patients' faces during this holiday season."

"Being in the hospital can be tough on kids, I've seen these toy donations bring a moment of joy to my own daughter," shared Shane VanLoon, Managing Partner at Integrity. "We call ourselves an Integrity family, and it's moments like these that make me so proud to be part of this company. We put our core value of service into action every day. Seeing the team come together for such an important cause is truly an inspiration."

Join Integrity in supporting the mission of Children's Health, to make life better for children, by providing needed donations of stuffed animals, toys and books. For more information, or to make a donation, visit www.integritygivesback.org.

About Integrity Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their health, wealth and legacy with a commitment to meet them wherever they are  in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its distribution network of agencies, brokerages and RIAs throughout the nation. Integrity's almost 5,500 employees work with agents and advisors across the country. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/integrity-announces-donation-of-100-000-to-purchase-toys-for-childrens-health-to-comfort-young-patients-301432477.html

SOURCE Integrity Marketing Group, LLC
(U.S. Army)

Army investigators have offered up to $1,000 for anyone able to provide information to help identify a body found eight months ago in a publicly accessible portion of Fort Bliss, Texas.

Investigators determined the remains were of a 30- to 40-year-old Hispanic or Latino man who likely was last seen or heard from between 2017 and 2019, according to Army Criminal Investigation Division, or CID.

The skeletal remains were found in March in the Castner Range, Hondo Pass area on Fort Bliss, in the vicinity of a Border Patrol Station in northeast El Paso. The area is near the base of the Franklin Mountains, accessible to the public and about 12 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border.

A person walking a dog saw the remains and notified local law enforcement, who then contacted the Fort Bliss Provost Marshals Office, according to base officials.

The deceased man is believed to have been between 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 6 feet, according to CID. He was possibly wearing Black Oakley sunglasses, a blue Under Armor jacket, white shirt, blue denim pants, a black knee brace, gray sweatshirt, a blue Crunch Fitness bag, and white and gray Wolverine socks.

There was no indication that the remains had been buried, according to Fort Bliss.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Fort Bliss CID Office at 915-568-1700 or www.cid.army.mil/report-a-crime.html .
A Greek UH-1H Huey provides security during a training drill Nov. 24, 2021, with Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets in Athens. The U.S. recently donated Mark V special operations boats to Greek forces. (Molly Collins/U.S. Army)

STUTTGART, Germany  Navy SEALs and Green Berets operated alongside their Greek counterparts this week in Athens, where watercraft recently donated by the U.S. to an elite Greek unit were on display.

I have been so impressed to see not only the growth in the U.S.  Greece Special Forces partnership but also the way the Hellenic Special Forces are working across a wide region, Geoffrey Pyatt, U.S. ambassador to Greece, said in a statement Wednesday after a joint training event in the Greek capital.

For the U.S., finding ways to step up military cooperation with Greece has been a priority over the past couple of years as units increase rotations to the region.

The U.S. recently donated four Mark V special operations craft to Greece. The high-speed patrol vessels, once used by SEALs but now withdrawn from service, originally cost a total of about $21 million, Pyatt said. They were given to Greece under the U.S.s excess defense articles program.

U.S. and Greek special operations forces maneuver during drills near Athens, Nov. 24, 2021. Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets were among the troops taking part in the exercises, which utilized U.S. vessels recently donated to Greek special warfare units. (Molly Collins/U.S. Army)

On Wednesday, U.S. Special Operations Command Europe troops patrolled off the coast of Athens to showcase the capabilities of the donated boats.

The drills were aimed at demonstrating how conventional and special operations units can coordinate for rapid response missions across the Mediterranean region, according to SOCEUR. A Greek UH-1H Huey also joined in the drills.

In October, the United States updated its defense agreement with Greece that allowed for greater access to Greek military bases in the eastern Mediterranean, where Russia has expanded naval operations and maintains air and naval bases in nearby Syria.

The U.S. Navy has maintained a decadeslong presence at Souda Bay in Crete, but the Army and Air Force have begun to play larger roles in the country, with rotational forces moving through military sites in Alexandroupoli, Larissa and Stefanovikio.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, after signing the new defense cooperation deal with Greece last month, said the plan would enable U.S. forces to train from an expanded array of bases indefinitely.
Buy Photo Construction work continued at the site of a new runway into Oura Bay at the Marine Corps' Camp Schwab on Jan. 19, 2019. (Carlos M. Vazquez II/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki declined to approve design changes Thursday for a runway being built on the islands northeast coast to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Tamaki, not surprisingly, denied the application filed in April 2020. He wrote the Japanese government to say the seafloor at the site may be unstable and requires further investigation, along with other environmental concerns.

The seabed in Oura Bay in Henoko, where land is being reclaimed for the runway, is softer than builders anticipated. The prefecture has also raised concerns over endangered species of coral nearby.

There are many people of Okinawa and of Japan who are anxious, furious and sad to see the government using iron fists and forcing the reclamation work without providing a sufficient explanation, Tamaki said at a press conference Thursday. We have repeatedly expressed to the government that relocation (of MCAS Futenma) to Henoko would not lead to an immediate removal of danger.

This is Tamakis latest bid to halt a project that he campaigned on stopping. His efforts have largely been overruled by the Japanese courts and Cabinet-level authorities.

On Thursday, Tamaki said uncertainty over construction safety would cast a pall over the project long after its completion.

His administration has been examining the seafloor issue carefully since it received the application for construction changes there, a prefectural spokesman from the Seashore Disaster Prevention Division told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. The administration also opened the application up to public comment.

We received about 18,000 public opinions; we had to check those as well, the spokesman said. Government spokespeople in Japan typically speak to the media on condition of anonymity as a condition of their employment.

The prefecture also submitted 452 questions to the Okinawa Defense Bureau, which represents Japans Ministry of Defense on the island, the spokesman said.

Tamaki has vowed since his election in September 2018 to do anything in his power to halt the project. He campaigned on moving Marine air operations entirely outside the prefecture.

The defense bureau will investigate Tamakis reasons for the disapproval, a spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. He declined to comment on the bureaus plans to contest the governors decision.

The bureau will likely file an administrative challenge with the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation under the Administrative Appeal Act since the courts have already said the project could proceed, a prefectural spokesman with the Henoko Base Construction Countermeasures Division told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday.

In the meantime, work will continue in the unaffected portions of the construction zone, the defense bureau spokesman said. Tamaki on Thursday said that continuing work on any part of the project is virtually meaningless. He said he believes his latest denial effectively killed the project.

There is no prospect of completing the entire project, Tamaki said Thursday. Okinawa Defense Bureau should stop not only the work related to this design change, but all the landfill work.

Tamakis last effort to derail the project came in July when he withdrew a permit for coral transplantation. That was later overturned by Japans Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The fight to relocate Marine air operations from a central urban area on Okinawa to the rural northern coast at Camp Schwab began over 25 years ago. Work finally began in 2017 but has been beset by legal and administrative challenges by successive governors.

Cost overruns and delays have pushed the completion date past 2014 to 2030 and the cost from $2.2 billion to at least $8.7 billion.
A U.S. Marine Corps Chief Drill Instructor with Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, leads warm-ups at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Nov. 23, 2021. (Grace J. Kindred/U.S. Marine Corps)

SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service)  When Marine Brig. Gen. William Pendleton raised the first American flag 100 years ago at what would eventually become the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, the city was still a small border town with a population of around 75,000. The Navy had previously established an air field on North Island, but the citys destiny as a military and defense hub was still uncertain.

It was the advocacy of Pendleton, city leaders and Rep. William Kettner that put San Diego on the path to being the city it is today, said Ellen Guillemette, a historian at the depots museum.

Kettner recognized San Diego would not be able to develop itself, Guillemette said. He felt the best way to get San Diego on the map and get federal money here was to get military bases. He realized that San Diego could serve as a hub for the military and that would provide a big influx of federal dollars.

Kettner also foresaw the many industries a military presence would bring to the region.

He knew it would invite other growth industries along with it, Guillemette said. He was really visionary in that.

Today, MCRD San Diego serves as the Corps West Coast boot camp, training recruits from all areas west of the Mississippi. Its also the services Western recruiting headquarters.

Recruits spend 13 weeks at boot camp  most of it in San Diego, though a few weeks are spent training at Camp Pendleton. Marines who trained at the depot went on to fight in some of the most storied battles in American history, including Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, and in its most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among the challenges San Diego faced at the start, especially stacked up against its better-established competition to the north in San Francisco and Los Angeles, was geography. With a shallow harbor and surrounded by mountains, city leaders knew theyd have trouble attracting private investment, said Karl Zingheim, a historian at the USS Midway Museum.

We have a harbor to nowhere since were cut off by concentric rings of mountains, Zingheim said. If anybodys going to make the harbor deeper, its going to have to be the federal government.

Marines had been housed in temporary camps at North Island previously as San Diego became a jumping-off point for the Corps, then based near San Francisco, after the Mexican revolution of 1910 and other interventions in Central America. A Marine regiment, led by Pendleton, was later assigned to the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park in 1915.

That year, San Diego voters overwhelmingly approved the transfer of tidelands then called Dutch Flats to the Marine Corps, according to a history of the base published by its museum in 1997.

Construction was delayed by World War I. In 1919, after the flats were dredged, officials broke ground on the new base and, on Dec. 1, 1921, Pendleton and his Marines moved in.

The administration building, barracks and arcade were designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by architect Bertram Goodhue, who also was responsible for El Prado in Balboa Park as well as the building that now houses the Museum of Us.

The base began as an advanced expeditionary base for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which was formed by Pendleton as a sort of special regiment in San Diego, Guillemette said. But the new San Diego Marine bases role as an operational base was quickly supplanted by another need of the Corps: a boot camp.

In 1923, Marine recruit training was moved from a Vallejo, Calif., Navy base to San Diego. And although it was the first base purpose-built for the Corps, Guillemette said, a brief power struggle with local Navy officials delayed it from officially belonging to the Corps for another two years.

In 1924, the Marines officially took ownership of the base and it was renamed Marine Corps Base San Diego.

The establishment of the base came at a time when other military facilities were being established in the region. Naval Base San Diego was established as a destroyer base in February 1922  just a few months after the Marine base opened. In 1923, the Navy opened its own boot camp next door to the depot.

Things picked up in the mid-1920s, Zingheim said, when the Navy recognized its next big naval adversary was the Japanese and it started shifting focus to the Pacific. Three early aircraft carriers  the Langley, the Lexington and the Saratoga  were moved to San Diego.

But it was the attack on Pearl Harbor that led to the city becoming the metropolis it is today.

It was really a boomtown in San Diego after Pearl Harbor, Zingheim said. With all those people, we needed the infrastructure to keep up. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt accelerated plans to divert water from the Colorado River, and the power grid, to here.

World War II saw the establishment of Camp Pendleton, north of Oceanside, which gave the Marines room to maneuver after their old training terrain in Mission Valley and elsewhere was swallowed up by the growing city.

The recruit depot also surged during the war. The Marines installed several quonset huts to house all its recruits, buildings that stood throughout the wars in Korea and Vietnam until the current barracks were built in the 1970s.

Zingheim said the depot is a survivor, since many military facilities were closed as cities grew around them.

One such base, Camp Matthews, served as the rifle and gun range for recruits in San Diego. Camp Matthews, which occupied a large swath of land northeast of La Jolla, was eventually turned over to the University of California in the 1960s. The Marines moved their ranges to Camp Pendleton. What once was Camp Matthews is now UC San Diego, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, parts of University City and Interstate 5.

The Navy consolidated its recruit training bases in the 1990s, closing its San Diego and Orlando boot camps in favor of just one in Great Lakes, Ill. Its former San Diego boot camp is now the site of Liberty Station.

Its remarkable the Marines were able to retain the base, Zingheim said, adding that since the depot buttresses the airport, theres been pressure to find a way to expand the airport.

The base continues to make history. In 2021, the first female Marine recruits completed boot camp at the depot. Until then, women were exclusively trained at the Corps East Coast depot at Parris Island, S.C.

The MCRD Command Museum is opening an exhibit to mark its centennial, Guillemette said, but the ongoing pandemic has limited how much it can do. A Marine Corps spokesman said the base does open to the public for its recruit graduations and that people can visit the museum on those days.

A Naval Base San Diego spokesperson said the base is planning a year-round celebration of its centennial beginning in the spring of next year.

2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Visit sandiegouniontribune.com .

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Marines of Support Battalion make their way across the back trail of the three-mile course during the log race at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. (U.S. Marine Corps)
A still image from the U.S. Marine Corps' new recruiting commercial "Full Circle" released Nov. 11, 2021. The video shows the journey from one Marine generation to the next. (Gregory Boyd/U.S. Marine Corps)

A one-minute video released on Veterans Day is part of a new push to inspire not only would-be Marines, but also those who have already served, as the Corps looks for ways to bring more veterans back to active duty.

The recruiting spot, titled Full Circle, is the first part of a Marine Corps Recruiting Command campaign called Operation Semper Fi. Lt. Col. Rob Dolan, the commands director of advertising, said it is designed to rekindle the enthusiasm of our Marine veteran population for our Corps.

The new ad begins at a small town parade where a young man watches a formation of Marines pass. It then follows that man through his military career and into civilian life, where he continues to serve his community.

The spot ends with the same man at another parade, this time older and grayer, before the camera pans to a young woman with a gleam in her eye as she watches Marines march past.

Part of the campaigns goal is to revitalize the pride and purpose of being a Marine for those veterans whose guidance matters in the lives of the younger generation, Dolan said in an email this week.

A still image from the U.S. Marine Corps' new recruiting commercial "Full Circle" released Nov. 11, 2021. The video shows the journey from one Marine generation to the next. (Gregory Boyd/U.S. Marine Corps)

The day before the video was released is traditionally when countless Marine veterans mark the services birthday at events or in social media posts, where they harken back to their time in the service.

Keeping those veterans in the know about the service helps keep that spirit alive, building a relationship that leads prospects to join up, Dolan said. Officials are now looking to attend more veterans organization meetings and host more veterans at recruiting events, he added.

A new landing page on Marines.com is also in the works to help veterans connect with their local recruiting stations, Dolan said. The new recruiting video is intended to show prospective Marines and their parents that even just one enlistment  can lead to a life of significance and that Marines are a breed apart, he said.

The campaign also launched just days after Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger released his plan for redesigning the services personnel system to focus less on recruiting fresh bodies and more on retaining mature Marines, to include bringing more veterans back into the fold.

Berger called for new options for those whove left active duty to return at their former rank or, if theyve gained critical career experience in the civilian world, possibly at a much higher grade.

I can envision a Marine who left active duty as a captain or corporal rejoining our ranks as a lieutenant colonel or gunnery sergeant, respectively, after spending 5-7 years working in a cyber or IT field where the service currently lacks capacity, Berger wrote in the plan, called Talent Management 2030.

The Corps has the highest turnover in the military, releasing 75% of Marines after their first enlistment each year, many of whom are targeted by recruiters from other services like the Army National Guard. The Corps hopes to change that.

If we do our job right, theyll never go to the Army or the National Guard to begin with, said Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm, head of the services recruiting command, at a media event Monday, the Marine Corps Times reported.

Dolan said the new ad wasnt myopically focused on recruiting veterans back to the Marine Corps, but the recruiting command is definitely interested in engaging Marine veterans with a desire to return to service.
A Ginowan city, Japan, spokesman provided a photograph of a container that reportedly fell from a Marine Corps tiltrotor aircraft Nov. 23, 2021. (Ginowan City)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  Okinawas governor expressed strong doubts about U.S. military aircraft safety this week after local officials said a Marines metal water bottle fell from a MV-22 Osprey in flight Tuesday and landed in a residential area.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:45 p.m. and involved a tilt-rotor aircraft assigned to 1st Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, a spokesman from the Okinawa Defense Bureau, which represents Japans Ministry of Defense on the island, said by phone on Friday.

No injuries or property damage were reported, the spokesman said. Some government officials in Japan customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

Aircraft-related accidents could lead to serious damage to peoples lives and properties, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said at a press conference Wednesday. I cannot help having strong doubts about the U.S. militarys safety management system.

Details about the incident were scant this week. Tamaki said at a series of press conferences that the water bottle was made of metal and had fallen in an undisclosed residential area. The news site Nippon.com reported Wednesday that a damaged stainless steel bottle 12 by 6 inches was found near the entrance of a private house.

A spokesman for Ginowan citys Military Base Affairs Department sent Stars and Stripes a picture of the bottle by email Friday. The photo depicts a crushed, can-like object bearing two Marine Corps squadron logo decals.

The III Marine Expeditionary Force and 1st Marine Aircraft Wing did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment on Friday, a holiday for the U.S. military.

The defense bureau conveyed its regret over the incident to the Marine Corps, asked officials to identify the cause and to take effective preventative measures in the future, the bureau spokesman said. The defense bureau was told the Marines are investigating the incident and all Futenma flight crews have been instructed to follow procedures to secure equipment.

This kind of incident could lead to great damage to people or property as well as to cause anxiety of the nearby residents, the bureau spokesman said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno uttered similar sentiments at a press conference on Wednesday.

Ginowan Mayor Masanori Matsukawa lodged a complaint Wednesday with the defense bureau.

I cannot help but feel strong anger that another accident happened, Matsukawa wrote in his letter, which was posted on the city website.

A similar incident involving the tilt-rotor aircraft occurred on Aug. 12 when an Osprey returned from night training and the crew reported a missing panel and piece of fairing.

Tamaki said at the time he was infuriated by the incident and called for an immediate halt to flight operations at the U.S. base. The Marine Corps declined to do so.

Matthew M. Burke Mari Higa
The guided-missile destroyer USS Howard, left, is replenished by the New Zealand oiler HMNZS Aotearoa on Nov. 23, 2021. (Justin Asuncion/US Navy)

A U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer arrived Friday in Wellington, New Zealand, a rare visit by an American warship to the nuclear-free nation that has closed its borders to most of the world during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Navy statement described the visit by the USS Howard as an indication of the depth of the relationship between New Zealand and the U.S. The Navy embargoed its statement until the Howard, an Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer based at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, had arrived Down Under.

The U.S. Navy along with its network of alliances and partners plays a key role in the security of global trade routes and freedom of navigation and maintaining global access for our Navy is central to that role, Task Force 71, Destroyer Squadron 15, said in the statement.

New Zealand froze most port calls by U.S. Navy ships in 1985. The U.S. the following year suspended its ANZUS treaty obligations to New Zealand, which had declared itself nuclear-free.

The declaration meant no port-calls for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers or submarines or warships that might be carrying nuclear weapons.

In September, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said nuclear-powered submarines that Australia will acquire under AUKUS, the new defense pact between Australia the United Kingdom and the U.S., wont be welcome in her countrys waters.

The Howards visit is the first by a U.S. warship to the country since the guided-missile destroyer USS Sampson headed south in 2016. During that trip the Sampson helped New Zealand authorities respond to a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that struck the countrys South Island.

The Howard is in New Zealand for a standard port visit and to consult on cooperative exercises, according to the Navys statement.

Sailors have taken measures to mitigate and operate amid the coronavirus epidemic and will be granted liberty in Wellington, the statement said.

The U.S. sailors are visiting the South Pacific nation before many of its own citizens, who have been left stranded overseas by pandemic border restrictions that are scheduled to end early next year.

Im excited to be immersed in and experience a different culture as well as explore this beautiful country, one of the Howards crew, Ensign Kathryn Cole, said Thursday in an email to Stars and Stripes.

On its way to Wellington the Howard was replenished at sea by the Royal New Zealand Navys HMNZS Aotearoa replenishment oiler, Cmdr. Travis Montplaisir, the Howards commander, said Thursday in an email to Stars and Stripes.

Were sharper and more focused thanks to events like this that bring us in close cooperation with New Zealand, allowing for greater collective capability across a variety of maritime operations, he said.

The Howards crew is excited to visit New Zealand and proud to represent the U.S. Navy as they build their relationship and deepen friendship in the country, Montplaisir said.

The Howard will take part in a range of activities with the New Zealand Defence force, including training, the statement said.

As the Royal New Zealand Navy celebrates their 80th anniversary this year, were pleased to help them mark the occasion and look forward to a successful visit that ensures continued opportunities for cooperation, Montplaisir said.
Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, incoming commander of Carrier Strike Group 11, speaks at a change of command at Naval Station Everett, Wash., April 30, 2021. Carrier Strike Group 11, the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, recently returned from a more than 10 month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleets. (Elliot Schaudt/U.S. Navy)

NAVAL STATION EVERETT, Wash. (Tribune News Service)  Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney is a native of Marylands Eastern Shore who, as a boy, took to the Chesapeake Bay in a boat called the Striper Swiper to angle for rockfish.

Earlier this year, he arrived for his first tour of duty in the Puget Sound region to command Carrier Strike Group 11, a force of aircraft and ships spread across bases stretching from Washingtons Whidbey Island to San Diego.

The strike groups fighter jets, electronic warfare Growlers, helicopters, destroyers, cruiser and carrier are mainstays of the U.S. Navy. They help to sustain the intensive pace of the Navys global operations, which last year included a pandemic deployment of the strike group  led by the flagship USS Nimitz  to the Pacific, the Middle East and off the coast of East Africa, that kept crew away from families for more than 11 months.

Next year, the strike group is expected to head back out to sea on a new mission. Sweeney says he does not know yet where the strike group will go, though he has some idea of a departure date, which is not publicly announced in advance.

Who knows, maybe they call me tomorrow and say go faster ... that would be great, Sweeney said.

Sweeney commands the strike group at a time of renewed great-power competition, which was accentuated earlier this year when China set out models shaped like U.S. aircraft carriers for target practice in the desert, according to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute.

The Defense Department spends billions annually to expand and modernize a fleet facing the challenges of a 21st century in which China now commands the worlds largest fleet of battle-force ships.

There also is an urgent need to maintain aging ships, such as the nuclear-powered Nimitz, and fully staff them with trained officers and enlisted personnel. The risks of falling short in these tasks were starkly demonstrated in 2017.

That year, the Navy had four serious accidents, including two collisions at sea resulting in the deaths of 17 sailors and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to ships. An internal Navy review cited crew overwork and fatigue, as well as training deficiencies, as contributing factors.

Earlier this year, a report by the Government Accountability Office found the Navy still routinely assigns fewer crew members to ships than its workload studies have determined are needed to safely operate. That study also included surveys indicating most deployed sailors still do not receive adequate sleep.

Sweeney was involved with some of the investigations into the rash of accidents.

He served as a Navy liaison officer to two families of the 10 sailors who died on Aug. 21, 2017, when the USS John S. McCain collided with a tanker in a congested stretch of water east of the Strait of Malacca. The Navy inquiry put much of the blame on leaders oversight, and poor training that led to crew mistakes, while a National Transportation Safety Board investigation also cited a touch-screen navigation system that increased the potential for operator errors.

More recently, Sweeney led a Navy command investigation into the sinking of an amphibious assault vehicle on July 30, 2020, killing nine service members as they were returning to the USS Somerset from a training exercise off San Clemente Island in California. That investigation, along with separate inquiries by the Marine Corps, cited poor maintenance and inadequate training as two of the causes.

Sweeney said his heart is saturated with grief over the loss of life.

In preparing for strike group exercises, he said, while you want to push hard, during trainings, safety needs to be a priority, so sailors dont get hurt.

In discussions with the strike groups warfare commander, he checks if vessels are properly manned and whether the crew is prepared to head to sea so he can assess readiness and weigh the risk to his force and the mission.

The Navy has a massive presence in the Puget Sound region with a payroll including more than 25,000 military personnel and more than 20,000 civilians. In addition to Everett, there is Naval Base Kitsap, Naval Magazine Indian Island and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, according to a 2020 Navy presentation.

Their presence is not without controversy. And it has only intensified in recent years amid a 33-aircraft expansion of the EA-18G Growler fleet based at Whidbey Island.

Operations at a field near Coupeville is nearly quadrupling, and critics have blasted the Navy for disregarding public health and wildlife impacts from the noise of Growler jets. In 2019, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit, alleging a Navy environmental review failed to fully measure the impacts of the expansion, and that it violated federal law.

Sweeney, whose strike group includes Growler squadrons, said he could not comment on the pending litigation. He is well aware of the aircraft noise since hes had them basically land on my head while he was berthed in quarters below an aircraft carrier landing strip.

Were not going to fix the sound of the Growler. But are we actually listening? Are we actually trying to mitigate it? ... I know we are, Sweeney said.

Sweeney took over command of the strike group on April 30 less than two months after the Nimitz returned from the overseas deployment that began in the spring of 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and required periods of isolation without traditional shore leave, masking and social distancing.

He was offered base housing, but chose to live with his wife and two sons in Kirkland. His uniformed presence, including visits to grocery stores, he says, has caught some by surprise.

They say Thanks for your service, but why are you here? Sweeney said.

While he commutes to the Everett base, his flagship vessel, the Nimitz, is undergoing months of maintenance work in Bremerton.

The nuclear-powered Nimitz, commissioned in 1975 and named after World War II Pacific fleet commander Adm. Chester Nimitz, is the oldest in its class of aircraft carriers. It carries squadrons of fighter jets that in a single day of 95 sorties can unleash some 750,000 pounds of bombs on targets, according to a 2018 Congressional Budget of Office report.

The Nimitz is expected to retire later this decade as a new generation of Ford-class aircraft carriers are built. The first of these Ford-class vessels have joined the Navy fleet after they were commissioned in 2017.

But the billions of dollars invested in the new ships comes amid an ongoing debate about the future of carriers and their potential vulnerability to anti-ship missiles that could sink them.

The 2018 congressional budget analysis questioned the cost effectiveness of any large investments into building such carriers, if they could not effectively defend against advancing technology.

But the analysis also noted a stop to building Ford-class carriers could hamper the Navys fighting ability, as aircraft carriers have been a centerpiece of operations dating back to World War II.

But that 20th-century conflict also demonstrated the vulnerability of Navy ships.

The Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor caught the Navy unprepared and struck a severe blow to the Pacific fleet in an action that spurred the U.S. entry into the war.

On Tuesday, as the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor approaches, Sweeney journeyed across Puget Sound bearing a stark reminder of that day.

Prior to an all-hands meeting with sailors, Sweeney presented Nimitz commanding officer Capt. Craig Sicola with a framed metal piece of the sunken USS Arizona, which as it went down took the lives of 1,177 crew aboard the Pearl Harbor-based ship.

The relic will now reside with the Nimitz as a remembrance of that dark day. With it is a plaque, inscribed with words from Adm. Nimitz, who was called to take over the Pacific fleet in the aftermath of the attack: To them we have a solemn obligation.

(c)2021 The Seattle Times

Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com
The USS Arleigh Burke transits the Bosporus near Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 25, 2021. The destroyer entered the Black Sea, where the Navy said it will operate alongside NATO allies and partners in the region. (Yoruk Isik/Twitter)

NAPLES, Italy  Another U.S. warship has sailed into the Black Sea, again drawing intense Kremlin scrutiny amid continued concerns about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The destroyer USS Arleigh Burke entered the sea via the Bosporus Strait on Thursday for a routine patrol in support of NATO allies and partners, U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement.

A Russian troop buildup near its shared border with Ukraine is stoking fears that Moscow could be planning to invade and annex more Ukrainian territory, as it did the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Most of the international community does not recognize Russias claim to Crimea.

Now, more than ever, we stand firmly alongside our NATO allies and partners in the Black Sea region, said Cmdr. Patrick Chapman, commanding officer of USS Arleigh Burke.

The USS Arleigh Burke transits the Bosporus near Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 25, 2021. The destroyer entered the Black Sea, where the Navy said it will operate alongside NATO allies and partners in the region. (Yoruk Isik/Twitter)

Russia, which frequently bristles at U.S. ships coming into the Black Sea, described the patrols as destabilizing and provocative. Its military was monitoring the Arleigh Burkes movements, the Russian state news agency TASS reported Thursday.

Arleigh Burkes patrol in the Black Sea follows that of the destroyer USS Porter, which left earlier this month after more than two weeks in the region. The command ship USS Mount Whitney also departed mid-month after spending about 11 days in the Black Sea participating in exercises with Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Ukraine.

Both ships drew significant Russian attention and commentary, although the Kremlin likely knew about U.S. intentions at least two weeks before the Navy entered the sea. Warships of non-Black Sea countries that intend to transit via the straits connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea are required to give at least 15 days notice to Turkey.

The 1936 Montreux Convention regarding regulating movements through the straits also limits the number of such warships in the Black Sea any given time.

Alison Bath Alison Bath reports on the U.S. Navy, including U.S. 6th Fleet, in Europe and Africa. She has reported for a variety of publications in Montana, Nevada and Louisiana, and served as editor of newspapers in Louisiana, Oregon and Washington.
Buy Photo The Christmas market in Kaiserslautern, Germany, seen Nov. 24, 2021, is a big attraction for Americans in the area. The CDC has moved Germany to its highest-risk category for travel, even if vaccinated. (Heather Benit/Stars and Stripes)

The countries were given a Level 4 warning, which means the CDC is recommending that Americans avoid traveling there, even if vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved Denmark and Germany to its highest-risk category for travel as Europe continues to grapple with rising numbers of infections and deaths, leading some countries to reintroduce lockdowns and other restrictions they not long ago considered things of the past.

The countries were given a Level 4 warning, which means the CDC is recommending that Americans avoid traveling there, even if vaccinated. They join other European destinations on the Level 4 list, including some that were added recently - Hungary, Iceland, the Czech Republic and Guernsey last week - and others that have been on the list for months, such as Britain.

Countries and territories in this group have an infection incidence rate of more than 500 new cases per 100,000 people over the past 28 days (or, in places with fewer than 100,000 residents, more than 500 cases cumulatively over the past 28 days).

The move came the same day Austria went into a national lockdown over soaring case numbers. The lockdown is expected to last 20 days, but will be reevaluated at 10.

The State Department also moved Denmark and Germany to its own Level 4: Do Not Travel list Monday, along with Iraq and Burundi. The State Department warnings include other threats in addition to coronavirus, such as terrorism, civil unrest, crime and natural disasters.

In the past seven days, daily reported cases of infection have increased by 24 percent in Germany and by 14 percent in Denmark, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. Both countries populations are highly vaccinated: 78.1 percent of people have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Denmark and 70.6 percent in Germany.

The World Health Organization recently declared Europe the latest epicenter of the pandemic as cases spike, raising concerns about the resumption of mass travel.
Buy Photo (Ben Bloker/Stars and Stripes)

Baumholder, Germany, October 2006: A solder on a staircase at the back of the Good Samaritan Chapel reflects upon the loss of Staff Sgt. Jose Lanzarin and Pfc. Shane Austin during a memorial ceremony. Lanzarin and Austin were killed in action during combat patrols almost a week apart in the Tameem district of Ramadi, Iraq. Lanzarin was from the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, and Austin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment.
The filmmakers say Disney had to sign off on featuring a dozen main characters in the new animated movie Encanto, centering on the Madrigal family. (Disney)

Lin-Manuel Miranda, wearing his heart on his fall sweater sleeve, pauses to admit a musical fear. He had penned seven songs for his newest movie, Disneys Encanto, but still needed to create that staple of so many musicals: the lead character introducing a driving desire through tune.

The song Im always going to write last is our heros I Want song, just because its intimidating to write that for Disney, Miranda says during a recent Zoom call, beaming in front of a blue screen. You know its going out there on a playlist with Out There from Hunchback (of Notre Dame) and Reflection from Mulan. Its just a scary place to be.

Yet Encanto director Jared Bush knows that if there were an I Want song about Miranda himself, the lyrics would be reveal a central truth: He wants to be challenged.

How Miranda unlocked this lyrical puzzle for Mirabel, the lead teenager in the Colombian-set Encanto (now in theaters), involves cross-cultural perception and shared sense of invention  qualities that have made Miranda a continual go-to talent for Disney.

He is hyper-collaborative  that is one of his greatest skill sets, says Bush, a veteran of such Disney hits as Zootopia. For someone as accomplished and acclaimed as Lin-Manuel is, he is a sponge for new ideas.

Those skills allow Miranda to take to Disney Animation characters and songcraft like, well, a Donald Duck to water. Writing for animated films is like writing for the theater on steroids, he says. Your collaborators include hundreds of animators. That give-and-take between my music and their visuals is really thrilling.

Mirandas creativity also thrives on having multiple projects at once, including his new Netflix directorial debut, Tick, Tick ... Boom! But hes been an especially big presence on Disney-banner titles in recent years, including performing in Mary Poppins Returns and contributing music for the Star Wars universe. Disney produced the 2020 film adaptation of his Broadway smash Hamilton, and Miranda is teaming with Disney legend Alan Menken for the music on the live-action The Little Mermaid due out in 2023.

But it was while working together on Disneys 2016 animated hit Moana  which yielded Mirandas Oscar-nominated How Far Ill Go  that the composer vocalized an I Want wish to screenwriter Bush, who recalls: He told me he wanted to write the definitive Latin America Disney musical.

Soon the two were talking with Bushs Zootopia collaborator and fellow brass musician Byron Howard, who would also become a writer-director on Encanto (as would Charise Castro Smith). They shared the experience of coming from large extended families. Out of that grew an Encanto story that spotlights a dozen main characters  unheard of in Disney animation, says Bush.

Miranda knew the deal with Disney: Putting forth such a sprawling familia put some of the characters in narrative peril. The storytelling process isnt kind to families, Miranda says with a laugh. Exhibit A: The title heroine in Moana originally had eight brothers  but as her narrative necessitated streamlining, those brothers went away.

Early on during Encanto, the filmmakers internally screened some footage before it had music. The studio feedback came in: This could be tough to pull off. Were the filmmakers sure they didnt want to trim the tale to, say, five main characters? Instead, Lin said, I think its 12, and heres the opening song to prove how thats possible,  Bush recalls.

Miranda notes that he wrote that opener, The Family Madrigal, even before Encanto had a second or third act. At the center of that song is Mirabel, a girl searching for her purpose in a home brimming with magical realism. Miranda, deeply steeped in the Disney songbook, looked to a musical of his youth: I was really inspired by Belle from Beauty and the Beast, with that opening number that just lays out the town.

The upbeat number introduces each member of the Madrigals largely through Mirabels eyes, underscoring how family dynamics play out. In so many ways, thats really what the movie is about: Being able to see your family more fully and allowing your family to grow and change  not freezing them in the roles you think they ought to play.

The composer also drew inspiration from Team Encantos research trip to Colombia several years earlier  an early step that Bush calls rare for a Disney songwriter.

One day, Miranda, his father and his fellow filmmakers gathered in the Andes and reveled in the rhythms of a mini-concert. Colombian performers serenaded them with regional songs. The visitors enchantment  their sense of encanto  was complete.

About two years later, Miranda was trying to write that crucial tune for Mirabel, who is voiced by Stephanie Beatriz. Her want is to have a power like everyone else in her gifted familia. But how to underscore that message through melody? The filmmakers reflected on how those musicians in the small mountain town of Barichara strummed guitars and the regions 12-string tiple in a waltz time signature. What if Miranda wrote Mirabels big number, Waiting on a Miracle, in that same time - unlike his seven other Encanto songs?

Shes in a different rhythmic universe than the rest of her family, and that was really from the Colombian music we were hearing, Miranda says. That let me go to a 3/4 space and then I wrote it very quickly  so honestly, the research specificity is what takes it to the next level.

Other Encanto songs spotlight Mirabels siblings: What Else Can I Do? tells the story of sister Isabela (Diane Guerrero) and her power with blooming flora; Surface Pressure shows how for sister Luisa (Jessica Darrow), possessing immense strength can be a burden.

Miranda cannot help but infuse such numbers with personal connections. For the former, his wife reminded him that he had a resident expert in his life: a former neighbor who specializes in Latin American botany. For the latter, he acknowledges a sibling who is 6 years older: She takes on way more responsibility than I do  I was very aware that I was the baby brother who got away with everything - so Surface Pressure is very much a love letter to my sister.

Miranda also picked up on the films motif of butterflies and transformation to create the folk-like Dos Oruguitas (sung by Sebastian Yatra)  the first tune he has ever written beginning to end in Spanish. The goal was: Write a song that feels like its always existed, says Miranda, noting: Its my wifes favorite song Ive ever written.

Miranda says he reveled in his deep dive into Colombian music, which for someone who has roots in Puerto Rico and Mexico, he says, is like going to your cousins house.

Bush appreciates why Disney continues to bring Miranda aboard its projects. He writes songs that you just want to keep listening to, says the director, adding: He can create an earworm that somehow isnt annoying. And the more you listen to lyrics, the more you appreciate their layered meanings.

How best to describe Miranda then? Bush considers it: Hes a unicorn.
Van Kleef, a distillery established in 1842, is the last one in The Hague. Today, its also a museum and tasting room, where owner Fleur Kruyt leads tastings. (Liza Weisstuch/For The Washington Post)

The ferry ride from Rotterdam to Dordrecht is only an hour long, but it seems to take you centuries away. Boat seems the most appropriate way to travel to the oldest city in Holland, which thrived for centuries thanks to its location at the intersection of three rivers. Wood, grains and genever - a traditional Dutch spirit flavored with juniper - were among the goods local merchants shipped out to the rest of the world. In the 1870s, some of the genever was made by Simon Rutte, whose distillery still stands, seven generations later, in a square about a 15-minute walk from the harbor along winding cobblestone streets.

From the outside of this modest three-story building, you'd never imagine the extent of what goes on in what you might call the flavor factory inside. In the tasting room, adorned with vintage family photos, there are about two dozen dark-glass spritz bottles, each labeled hazelnoot, Kaffir lime, oranje-bloesem and an assortment of other fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers and spices. They're the aromas of the individual distillates that are blended to craft various genevers, such as Old Simon, the founder's recipe involving roasted hazelnuts and almonds, cinnamon, mace and celery.

"It's the broadest category in the world," said Myriam Hendrickx, master distiller and former food scientist, of genever. "You have all elements from gin in terms of having flavors from so many botanicals, and all the variables in whiskey, grain-wise and aging-wise. Plus you can age it or not."

Downstairs in the vintage-style store, the shelves are lined with hundreds of bottles, a kaleidoscopic assortment of liqueurs, gins and all kinds of genevers: wood-aged varieties, single oat, single malt. Genever is often explained as the predecessor of gin, and it is, but to describe it as such is to understate it, as I found out on visits to distilleries and bars throughout the Netherlands this past summer. (Though the Dutch traditionally write "jenever," "genever" is typically the U.S. spelling.)

I had gone there on a quest to learn about the spirit, which played a huge role at the dawn of cocktail culture in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century. In fact, it was the original spirit in many classic cocktails we know today as gin-based, such as the Collins. Genever is traditionally distilled from grains, like whiskey, to make a malt wine, which is then redistilled with botanicals, including jeneverbes, or juniper berries. It's distinguished by a maltiness that calls to mind a gentle Irish whiskey. In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company was thriving, establishing the Netherlands as an influential commercial force. Genever production grew around England - sort of. Local distillers stripped down the process, infusing the botanicals into less costly neutral spirit. Gone was the maltiness, here to stay was juniper flavor in high definition.

It was hardly only America that clamored for the stuff. Experts estimate that, at points between 1850 and 1880, 1 million liters of genever were exported from the Netherlands each week. Around 1880, it went into free fall with the widespread use of the column still, a more efficient piece of equipment that allowed for cheaper production and much lighter flavors than spirit made in a pot still, which was common until then. If you had cash, you didn't want cheap stuff. Its reputation spiraled.

These are all things I learned at the Jenever Museum in Schiedam, the country's historic genever capital, located a short drive from Rotterdam in a former distillery across from a canal that feeds directly into the Atlantic. A century-plus ago, distilleries lined the street. Barrels were rolled directly onto the ships and sent off to the rest of the world. The museum is jampacked with vintage advertising posters, antique bottles, miniature models of distilleries and paraphernalia, including mid-century decanters shaped like traditionally dressed Dutch matrons, sassy vixens and Uncle Sam.

I should note here that genever is a complex spirit category. In 2008, the European Union granted it protected geographical indication, the same standard as Champagne and cognac. It established genever as a product that can be made only in Holland, Belgium and small regions of France and Germany. Today, E.U. law defines several styles of genever, including jonge (young) and oude (old). Dutch law further defines korenwijn, which can omit juniper altogether. Here's where it can get tricky: Jonge and oude aren't indications of age, but of recipe. Oude, the Old World style, has to contain at least 15% malt wine but can contain more, while jonge, a newer style, can contain no more than 15% malt wine but often contains less. All genever must have some measure of juniper. It can be aged, but that's not a requirement. Today, an estimated 98% of genever sold is jonge. But traditional styles are making a comeback as smaller distilleries emerge.

At the museum's tasting room, I met Rutger Vismans, whose passion is so evangelical that I actually considered renouncing all other spirits forever. Or at least for the rest of my time in the Netherlands.

"I really love genever - I love the smell, the flavor, the historic part," said Rutger, head distiller at the museum, as he poured me a sample of Old Schiedam, the house expression, made with 100% malt wine and no botanicals other than juniper. He distills on-site with a team of five volunteers - local retired men, an avuncular crew of nostalgic hobbyists. He led me through the distillery, which smelled of fresh-baked sourdough, and invited me to meet him in Haarlem, just under an hour from Rotterdam by train, where he works as distiller for Jopen, a brewery where the owners know a thing or two about vintage drinks. Jopen is known for reviving lost styles of Dutch beer with recipes unearthed from city archives. And he makes his own brand, Rudy's. Like I said: passionate.

By the late 1800s, Schiedam had multiple windmills dedicated to milling grains for the citys many distilleries. There are seven mills in Schiedam today. (Liza Weisstuch/For The Washington Post)

The museum encompasses the Walvisch, or the Whale, a faithful reconstruction of a centuries-old windmill that burned in 1996. It's one of seven mills in Schiedam today, where once there were 24 making flour for distillers and bakers. From the upper deck, stories above, it became clear just how thoughtfully the city was designed around the industry. In its heyday, Schiedam had about 400 distilleries. It was known as Zwart Nazareth, or Black Nazareth, because of the canopy of black smoke from all the production. No building in the densely packed streetscape is higher than 2 1/2 stories, so nothing interferes with the wind powering the mills' blades.

"Want to see it in action?" one of the millers shouted. He locked the gears and proceeded to scramble, super-hero-like, up the wood lattice of one of the blades to attach a heavy sail to the frame, which would catch the wind and turn the blades. He hauled the heavy ropes up and nimbly hooked it to the top of the frame. He scrambled halfway down and swung the rope like a lasso, unfurling the tarp and swiftly tying knots to secure it at the midpoint. Then he darted down to the base and fastened it into place there. Henk, a retired university professor of aeronautics who volunteers at the mill, watched approvingly.

"It's all the technology of motion and power," he told me, explaining how aeronautics was not all that different.

Genever distilleries proliferated in other cities, too, so I traveled to The Hague, a half-hour train ride from Rotterdam, to visit Van Kleef, one of van Gogh's watering holes, as legend has it. It sits on a narrow street, and its facade hasn't changed much since it opened in 1842. Today, it's a store, tasting room and museum. Much of the distilling happens off-site. Owner Fleur Kruyt, a convivial host, showed me The Hague's first phone book from 1883, where Van Kleef Distillery held a distinguished position of the first listing and the phone number "1." She explained "drankorgel," or drinking organ, the tradition of knocking on barrels to determine the volumes of their contents. And she poured me a flight of soft, cardamom-accented wheat genever, a spicier, musky rye variety, and a robust yet velvety five-year-old.

The next day I lit out to Haarlem, where I joined up again with Rutger at Jopenkerk, which is located in a former church on a main square. We tried a few Gospel genevers, including a caraway-accented, soft and citrusy barrel-aged Piet Honingh, distilled from Jopen beer, then strolled a few blocks to Bar Wigbolt, a genever-focused cocktail bar decked out with old-fashioned tan ceramic genever jugs. (Seek out van Gogh's more obscure paintings and you'll spot a few.) Bob van den Bree, an owner, presided over the bar. If we really want to get a sense of what genever does for a cocktail, he said, try a Happy Bob, made with Old Duff 100% malt wine genever, an Old World style produced entirely with malt wine, no neutral grain spirit. There were several strong-flavored ingredients in the drink - lemon juice, Campari, IPA syrup - yet the brawny maltiness popped through.

"A lot of people say, 'My grandfather drank genever, I don't like it,' " Bob lamented. "That's because they drink jonge genever. But as we see older styles introduced more, it's easier to explain to people why they should be proud of the heritage. It's working. Young people spend more for better products."

The Bols Distillery in Amsterdam was originally constructed in 1575. Its still a working distillery with a proeflokaa, or tasting pub, and a shop upstairs. (Liza Weisstuch/For The Washington Post)

I had one last stop on my circuit: a small urban outpost of Dutch giant Bols. The compact distillery on a narrow pedestrian street is the same location that Lucas Bols opened in 1575. He started as a liqueur maker and would later make genevers with exotic spices and herbs the Dutch East India Company brought to the city. Having been known throughout the 20th century for its liqueurs, Bols changed course in 2008 to focus on its genever-making tradition.

In this small facility, head distiller Monique ten Kortenaar redistills malt wine to make the individual botanical distillates that are blended with straight malt wine or grain spirit at a larger facility to fashion the genevers. She also makes a product independently. Otenba is a cross between gin and genever that highlights Asian botanicals, a nod to her grandfather, a perfumer who specialized in fragrances for the Far East market. (A tattoo of flowers in a vintage perfume bottle is another tribute to him.) She designed the spirit to pique curiosity of younger drinkers who think of genever as too fuddy-duddy, she told me.

After we toured the distillery, which still boasts some of the building's 16th-century construction, we went up to the Victorian-accented proeflokaal, or tasting pub, where I was about to learn how the Dutch traditionally drink genever. It's called kopstootj, or "little head butt." The bartender pours genever into a tulip glass to the point of near-overflow. Then he presents a glass of beer.

"It's poured to a meniscus, because Dutch people want to get their money's worth. OK, put your hands behind your back," she instructed. "Now bend over, slurp the surface, then pick up the glass and drink the rest. And the beer."

If that doesn't call for Dutch courage, I don't know what does.

- - -

If you go

Where to eat

Bar Wigbolt

Smedestraat 41, Haarlem

barwigbolt.nl

011-31-23-202-5970

This stylish cocktail bar features a wide assortment of genevers, creative cocktails and a staff with a deep knowledge of the spirit and its history. Cocktails from about $10. Open Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 6:30 p.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday 5 p.m. to midnight.

Rutte Distillery

Vriesestraat 130, Dordrecht

rutte.com

011-31-78-613-4467

Since its founding in 1872, Rutte Distillery has made a vast assortment of genevers, liqueurs and gins, and it's known for its creative takes on traditional styles. Shop Monday to Saturday 9.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Distillery open to visitors for tours without reservations 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Bols Distillery/Wynand Fockink bar

Pijlsteeg 31, Amsterdam

011-31-20-639-2695

wynand-fockink.nl

First opened in 1575, this distillery produces the botanical distillates that are blended into Bols's genevers. The old-timey bar and store are operated by Wynand Fockink, a different brand. Tickets for tours and tastings can be purchased through Wynand Fockink. Tasting and tour tickets about $20 per person. Tours Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Bar and shop open daily 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

What to do

Jenever Museum

74-76 Lange Haven, Schiedam

jenevermuseum.nl

011-31-10-246-9676

A broad history of genever, from when the Dutch East India Company brought exotic spices to the Netherlands to today, is on view at this canal-side museum. Also features working distillery and tasting room. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance about $14 per person; tastings about $11 for three samples and about $22 for six.

Van Kleef

Lange Beestenmarkt 109, The Hague

museumvankleef.nl

011-31-70-345-2273

This compact distillery, established in 1842, is the last one in The Hague. Its museum features vintage equipment and a variety of historical documents, antique books and paraphernalia. Drinks from about $1 per tasting glass, cocktails about $12. Bites such as olives and cheese plates from about $2.80. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Ninety-minute tour with tasting session about $23 per person. Tours offered noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Information

holland.com/global/tourism.htm
Buy Photo The big wine barrels with detailed carvings are one of the highlights of a visit to the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture, located in the Uhlbach section of town. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)

Statistics are hard to come by, but it seems unlikely that any big German city drinks more wine per person than Stuttgart.

In a country renowned for its beer, Stuttgart, with its own municipal winery and surrounded by vineyards, is all about the grape.

But if some outsiders turn up their noses at the local trollinger or lemberger wines consumed in the region  and not many other places  Stuttgarters cant seem to get enough of the stuff.

To better appreciate the overlooked history of winemaking in Stuttgart, the place to go is the museum dedicated to celebrating it. In nearby Uhlbach, which is at the heart of area grape-growing, the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture puts you in touch with tradition.

The museum is quite small, and there isnt a ton to see. But for just 3 euros, its worthwhile for wine buffs and can be navigated in under an hour.

Buy Photo The Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture, in the citys Uhlbach section, takes visitors through the long history of winemaking in the area. The museum also has a tasting area with local wines. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)

Luckily, there are English explanations at exhibits to provide details. Wooden winemaking tools of generations past, such as grape pressers, are among the items displayed.

There also are interesting informational tidbits. Apparently, some historians believe that wine production, and the profits that came from it, was a reason Stuttgart become a home for medieval royalty.

It was possibly even more of a reason than the wealth brought by horse breeding and the stud farms from which Stuttgart got its name, according to the museum. The winemaking tradition in Stuttgart is believed to go back some 2,000 years, thanks to the Romans.

Massive wine barrels from more than 100 years ago, including one with a carving of Stuttgarts old city hall, also are showcased. There are explanations about soils in the area and how they contribute to the character of various vintages and the unique aspects of local wine.

Buy Photo In addition to history, the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture also spotlights contemporary vintners in the area. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)

Best of all, visitors can sample local offerings at the wine cafe on site.

While Im no expert, I would say that the wine that most comes to mind when thinking of Stuttgart is the red known as trollinger. It is Germanys fourth-most-planted red wine vine.

Virtually all trollinger production is in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, notes the Oxford Companion to Wine. Stuttgart is the state capital.

An astonishing statistic when one considers that virtually all of the resultant pale red is drunk by Wuerttembergers, the book says.

It was all the more reason on my recent visit to the wine museum to try the maligned yet locally cherished trollinger. My review: light and easy to drink and not a thing wrong with it if appreciated on its own terms.

But while bottles of local wine can be purchased for takeaway, I decided to leave empty-handed.

Buy Photo An old wine presser is among the artifacts at the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture, which tells the history of local winemaking. (John Vandiver/Stars and Stripes)

Address: 4 Uhlbacher Platz, Stuttgart

Hours: November to March, 2-6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; Sunday, 11 am.-6 p.m. April to October, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday.

Cost: Admission is 3 euros. The wines cost between 2.50 euros and 5 euros per glass.

Information: Phone: 0711-325718; Online: stuttgart-tourist.de/en/a-viniculture-museum-stuttgart
U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., makes an address at Quantico National Cemetery, Va., on May 28, 2021. (George R. Nudo/U.S. Marine Corps)

A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation traveled to Taiwan on Thursday to discuss U.S.-Taiwan relations, regional security, and other significant issues of mutual interest, the State Departments affiliate in the country said in a statement.

The delegation consisted of Democratic Reps. Mark Takano of California, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Colin Allred of Texas, Sara Jacobs of California and Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. Slotkin and Jacobs are members of the House Armed Services Committee; the remaining lawmakers serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

No additional details of the discussions were immediately released by the lawmakers or the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy in Taipei. The U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan as a country and instead has a close, informal relationship that includes defense assurances in the event of a military conflict.

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, tweeted Thursday night that her office received a blunt message from the Chinese embassy telling me to call off the trip.

But just as with other stops, were here to learn about the region and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to our hosts, the Taiwanese, Slotkin continued on Twitter. Im looking forward to an informative trip.

The congressional delegation earlier in the week traveled to Okinawa, Japan, and met with U.S. troops and their commanders. On Thursday they served U.S. troops stationed in South Korea a Thanksgiving meal.

Takano, during the delegations trip to South Korea, told Stars and Stripes in an interview Thursday that U.S. forces stationed in the country were pivotal due to a sense of heightened stakes.

The stakes have always been high here in Korea with an aggressive and erratic North Korea, Takano said. But I think the fact that these service members are also positioned so closely to the Taiwan Straits, we cant help but feel  that these particular service members face heightened stakes.

The unannounced trip follows a separate congressional delegation that traveled to Taiwan earlier this month. Following that trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned that it gravely violates the one-China principle, Beijings claim that it has sovereignty over Taiwan and its 24 million residents.

We ask the U.S. side to immediately stop all forms of official interactions with Taiwan and avoid sending wrong signals to the Taiwan independence separatist forces, lest it should seriously undermine China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Wang said in a statement to reporters Nov. 10.

The White House this week invited Taiwan to a virtual Summit for Democracy in December to advance an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.

President Joe Bidens invitation to Taiwan sparked backlash from Beijing, whose spokesman alleged the U.S. was only using democracy as a cover and tool to advance its geo-strategic goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, and serve its selfish agenda of maintaining hegemony.

Those offering platform to Taiwan independence forces will find themselves in an awkward place, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said to reporters Thursday. Those playing with fire with Taiwan independence forces will end up getting burned.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned the presence of a Chinese spy ship off Australias coast showed there was a very serious situation in the Indo-Pacific, as tensions between the two countries show no sign of waning.

The Dongdaio-class vessel had been detected circling Australias coast in August and September for three weeks, collecting intelligence from military installations, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

They were keeping a close eye on us and we were keeping a close eye on them, Morrison told reporters in Adelaide on Friday. They have every right to be there under international maritime law, just like we have every right to be in the South China Sea and other free, liberal democracies have every right to have freedom of movement.

Australia, a close ally of the U.S., has seen its relations with China nosedive under Morrisons watch, with sanctions and reprisals implemented on exports ranging from coal and wine to lobsters, and ministerial ties in a deep freeze. In September, Australia joined a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the U.S. and U.K. that will allow it to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, a move that has further agitated Beijing.

Morrison said his government was dealing with these very significant security issues and the economic challenges that we have. We are seeing that at large in the South Pacific even now in the Solomons.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Australia was unethical in hyping up the China threat because its not based on facts, at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Friday. Australia will only end up hurting itself, he added.

In a separate speech in Canberra on Friday, Defence Minister Peter Dutton warned that every major city in Australia is within range of Chinas missiles. In recent weeks he said it would be inevitable for the country to be involved in a war between the U.S. and China over an invasion of Taiwan.

The world would be foolish to repeat the mistakes of the 1930s, Dutton said, making a comparison to the start of World War II with the perceived threat of China. We live in times of high tension but the region is not on an inevitable path to conflict.
Health care workers care for a COVID-19 patient in the ICU ward at the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, on Jan. 12, 2021. (Andreas Gebert/Bloomberg)

German health authorities warned that the current wave of COVID-19 cases may swamp the nations health care system if residents dont act quickly to reduce their contacts.

The military is starting the transfer of intensive-care patients within the country from areas whose hospital capacity is the most strained, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.

An initial airlift will transport 10 patients from Memmingen in Bavaria to Muenster/Osnabrueck with an A310 Airbus/MedEvac on Friday. In total, three German Air Force planes are at the ready.

We need to stop this wave now, Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a press conference on Friday. Otherwise we will experience the thing we always wanted to prevent: the health system becoming overwhelmed.

Germany, whose COVID vaccine program has lagged neighbors such as France and Spain, now faces a double pandemic punch. Many of its hospitals are staggering under a rising wave of COVID cases, even as it joins the European Union in moving quickly to limit travel from southern Africa over concerns about a new variant that has arisen there.

Daily cases in Germany have repeatedly hit records this month. Deaths have risen too, although they remain below the levels seen last winter.

Without specifically calling for a lockdown, authorities are urging a return to the basics of social distancing in trying to throttle the current wave of cases.

We need a massive reduction in contacts, immediately, said Lothar Wieler, president of the Robert Koch Institute. Were standing at a crossroads. We have a choice. We can take the path that ends in chaos and disaster, he said.

Wieler still held out the possibility of a peaceful Christmas if people make different choices.

Spahn called for a meeting of regional leaders in coming days, which would be necessary in order to move toward a lockdown.

Doctors say it will be increasingly necessary to make tough decisions about which patients should get priority. The countrys DIVI association of intensive-care and emergency medicine has issued an updated set of ethical recommendations on how to prioritize hospital resources.

While the body isnt recommending that sick patients be sorted according to their vaccination status, its clear that people who are vaccinated generally have a much better chance of survival, Uwe Janssens, a head doctor at the St. Antonius Hospital in Eschweiler, said in a press briefing.

When hospitals are overwhelmed, doctors should prioritize resources for patients they think have the highest chances of survival, taking into account the seriousness of their sickness, whether they have other illnesses, and their overall health status, Janssens said.

Vaccines have picked up speed in recent days, with the highest daily inoculations seen since mid-July. Still, some 14.6 million German adults have yet to be fully inoculated, according to the health ministry  including 3.4 million people ages 60 and up who are often at the greatest risk if they catch the virus.

The panel pleaded with politicians to support doctors who are left making life or death decisions. Janssens lamented the fact that so many weeks have passed in Germany with too little action to stop COVIDs spread. He called on Germanys politicians to take bold actions now to prevent the situation in German hospitals from deteriorating further.

Meanwhile, starting on Friday night, only German citizens will be allowed to fly back from South Africa. A 14-day quarantine will be mandatory even for fully vaccinated travelers.
U.S. Army National Guard soldiers with 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, take a break during an exercise at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, Nov. 8, 2021. Poland recently called for more NATO troops to be sent to the alliance's eastern flank. (Jacob Bradford/U.S. Army)

STUTTGART, Germany  Poland has urged NATO to send reinforcements east over concerns about Russias military buildup near Ukraine, which is expected to be the focus of high-level alliance talks in Latvia next week that will include U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

President Andrzej Duda said Thursday at NATO headquarters in Brussels that a beefed up military presence along NATOs eastern flank is needed given concerns over Russians intentions in the region.

This cautiousness and vigilance from NATO, which is responsible for the military security of the allies, is necessary, Duda told reporters after a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Duda said NATOs boosted presence could be demonstrated through strengthening its air policing role and border surveillance capabilities in the east, along with the deployment of additional units to the region. He also said that strengthening of the readiness of NATO units already deployed in Poland and the Baltic states should be considered.

It is also our request that the readiness of the alliance be increased, that the strategic cautiousness be increased and especially the monitoring of that situation along the eastern flank of NATO, he said.

The request comes as Poland contends with a crisis on its border with Belarus, a close ally of Russias.

For weeks, thousands of migrants have been involved in a standoff at the border as they try to gain entry to Poland. Similar events have occurred along Belarus borders with allies Lithuania and Latvia, where NATO foreign ministers will meet for talks Tuesday.

Allies have accused the government of Belarus, which faces a range of economic sanctions by the European Union, of orchestrating the border crisis.

Meanwhile, Russias military buildup outside eastern Ukraine has stoked fears that Moscow is planning for a large-scale invasion of that country.

For NATO, both issues will be atop the agenda when foreign ministers meet in Riga for two days of talks.

Stoltenberg emphasized that allies already have a significant presence in the region. While NATO has long conducted air policing missions over the Baltics, since 2017 it has also stationed battle groups in all three Baltic states and Poland to guard against potential Russian aggression.

In Poland, the U.S. Army is responsible for leading a multinational contingent that operates some 50 miles from the countrys border with the Russian military exclave of Kaliningrad.

There is also a lot of NATO in Poland ... so Poland stands with NATO, and NATO stands with Poland, Stoltenberg said.

John Vandiver John covers U.S. military activities across Europe and Africa. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, he previously worked for newspapers in New Jersey, North Carolina and Maryland. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.
MIAMI (Tribune News Service)  A 35-year-old man missing from his familys home in the Florida Keys remained unaccounted for Thursday, and the U.S. Coast Guard said theres no sign of the boat that he regularly skippered off Sugarloaf Key.

Jason Heath was scheduled to drive up to New Jersey to join his family there this Thanksgiving week, but his father reported him missing on Tuesday. Heaths car was still in the driveway of the familys waterfront Sugarloaf home when police arrived, dogs barking inside, lights on, an open container of yogurt on the kitchen counter and food still in a pressure cooker turned on, according to a report from the Monroe County Sheriffs Office.

But the blue 25-foot Panga center-console powerboat was missing from the dock. A neighbor across the canal reported seeing it there Monday night, but not Tuesday morning.

Heaths father, already in New Jersey, spoke to his son around noon Monday. Heath didnt mention any plans for taking the boat out, though he did regularly use it, according to the police report.

With the boat missing and the car there, authorities launched a water search Wednesday for Heath and the Panga  on the assumption that Heath left on the vessel at some point Monday or early Tuesday.

Nobody saw him actually getting on the boat and leaving, said Petty Officer Jose Hernandez, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Heaths wallet was still in the house, but his phone was gone. His father had tried to call him but the calls went straight to voicemail. Police said they were unable to track the phones location.

On Thursday, the agency reported searches by the Coast Guard, Monroe County Sheriffs Office, and Florida Fish and Wildlife came up empty overnight. Hernandez said the search continues.



Visit miamiherald.com.



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Betty Grebenschikoff, left, 91, reuniting with Ana Maria Wahrenberg, 91, in Florida. The women went shopping, shared meals and talked for days. (Courtesy of Betty Grebenschikoff)

For 82 years, Betty Grebenschikoff believed her best friend from Germany was dead. But just a few weeks ago, there she was in the flesh, standing in a St. Petersburg, Fla., hotel room.

The last time Grebenschikoff saw Ana Maria Wahrenberg was in the spring of 1939, when they were 9 years old. They shared a tearful hug in a Berlin schoolyard before their families were forced to flee the country and the Nazis on the cusp of World War II.

They both thought that would be their final hug. But on Nov. 5, after more than eight decades apart, the two women  now 91 years old  embraced once again.

It felt like coming home, Grebenschikoff said.

It was very emotional, echoed Wahrenberg. It was like we were never separated.

The story of their fated friendship, and the series of fluke events that recently brought them back together, was chronicled in the international news media, including in The Washington Post, earlier this year.

The Holocaust survivors had searched for each other for years, scouring databases and seeking information from anyone who might know something. They had no luck, mainly because both women changed their names later in life.

She was always on my mind, Grebenschikoff said.

It wasnt until an indexer from USC Shoah Foundation  a nonprofit organization founded by Steven Spielberg, which produces and preserves audiovisual testimony of Holocaust survivors  noticed similarities in their testimonies and ultimately linked the women together.

Grebenschikoff, on a ship from Germany to Shanghai in 1939. (Courtesy of Jennifer Grebenschik)

For the first time, Grebenschikoff  who was one of 20,000 European Jews to settle in Shanghai  got clarity on what happened to her long-lost childhood best friend: In November 1939, Wahrenberg and her family fled to Santiago, Chile, where she still lives today.

In a reunion facilitated by the Shoah Foundation, as well as the Florida Holocaust Museum and the Interactive Jewish Museum of Chile, the two women and their families reconnected last November on a Zoom call. Talking in their native German, they vowed to meet in person, and one year later, they finally did.

As they hugged for the first time in 82 years, Grebenschikoff said, we just had this feeling, like we really belonged together.

The original plan was to meet in Florida, where Grebenschikoff lives, for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, in September, but the pandemic postponed their in-person reunion. By November, though, Wahrenberg felt more comfortable traveling and booked the trip with her son and his wife.

Grebenschikoff went to meet Wahrenberg at her hotel room, and it was as if we had seen each other yesterday, she said. It was so comfortable.

The feeling was mutual for Wahrenberg: It was very special that two people, after 82 years, still love one another.

The women, both of whom are widowed, spent four days glued at the hip. They went shopping, shared meals and, mostly, talked for hours  making up for lost time.

Were not the girls we used to be when we were 9, thats for sure, but we kept giggling like we were little kids, Grebenschikoff said. It was such a joy for both of us.

Plus, she added, we took care of a few bottles of champagne together, because, after all, this was something to celebrate.

Ana Maria Wahrenberg as a girl in Berlin in 1936. (Courtesy of the Jewish Interactive Museum of Chile)

They also exchanged sentimental gifts. Wahrenberg brought Grebenschikoff a Barbie doll wearing a Chilean costume, along with a framed photograph of herself and some jewelry, while Grebenschikoff gave Wahrenberg a small heart-shaped sculpture  which she also purchased a copy of for herself.

We both have the exact same thing now, Grebenschikoff said, adding that she keeps the doll and photo on display in her bedroom. Its something for her to remember me and for me to remember her.

Spending time together felt especially natural, the women said, because since last November, they have corresponded regularly over text message and on the phone.

Every Sunday for the past year, they have had a standing phone call date, during which they each sit on their respective patios and sip their morning coffee together.

Still, the phone calls didnt compare to their in-person gathering, they said.

For Grebenschikoff, her favorite part of their time together was simply being close to one another, and holding hands while we were walking, she said. It felt right.

The highlight for Wahrenberg was reminiscing about old times and introducing their families to each other over lunch.

Her daughter and my son are now friends, too, Wahrenberg said. Im very happy.

The reunion was also deeply moving for staff at the Shoah Foundation, as well as the other organizations that were instrumental in bringing the survivors together.

These two remarkable women being reconnected after losing each other is such a testament of hope, said Kori Street, senior director of programs and operations and deputy executive director of USC Shoah Foundation.

Watching their story unfold, she continued, has been such a treasure, particularly in a world where hope is hard to come by.

The Holocaust survivors agree. Their journey proves that good things can happen out of a bad experience, said Grebenschikoff, who plans to visit Wahrenberg in Santiago in the near future. It was the silver lining of all silver linings. It was the fulfillment of a dream.

Im very thankful that something like this could be, Wahrenberg added.

The two women, both of whom depend on canes to walk, have weathered war, strife and loss. At heart, though, they are still the same 9-year-old girls  who truly adore one another.

This is the way it was supposed to be, Grebenschikoff said.
Home from overseas just in time to welcome baby Leo to the world alongside my amazing and beautiful wife Carly, wrote Minnesota state Sen. Zach Duckworth on Twitter Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (Twitter)

(Tribune News Service)  Minnesota state Sen. Zach Duckworth appears to have had a blessed Thanksgiving.

The Lakeville Republican, who also serves as a major in the Minnesota Army National Guard, returned home from his deployment in the Middle East Wednesday afternoon. Less than 24 hours later, he wasnt just celebrating Thanksgiving, he and his wife Carly were holding their newborn son, Leo.

Leo, the couples third child, was born at 10:54 a.m. Thursday at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville.

A Thanksgiving to remember - home from overseas just in time to welcome baby Leo to the world alongside my amazing and beautiful wife Carly! So thankful for our amazing family, friends, and neighbors who have been

exceptionally supportive and helpful! pic.twitter.com/vA15afCYzj  Zach Duckworth (@ZachDuckworth) November 25, 2021

In a statement, Duckworth said:

Its truly a Thanksgiving to remember. To get back from overseas just in time to be present for my sons birth is a remarkable blessing. Im so thankful to my amazingly strong wife and supportive family, friends, and neighbors for their help, well wishes, and prayers. Were also very thankful for the expert and professional doctors, nurses, and staff at Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville. I also want to acknowledge my brothers and sisters in arms serving our country at home and abroad who often cant be present during important life events. We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.

Duckworth was allowed to return for the birth and volunteered to return to the Middle East immediately, but since his deployment was close to ending, he was released from active duty and can stay with his family, he said through a spokeswoman.

(c)2021 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.)

Visit the Pioneer Press at www.twincities.com
Sullivan, IN (47882)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. Temps nearly steady in the upper 30s. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 27F. Winds light and variable.
The workplace vaccination requirement is now being extended to include the New Zealand Police and the Defence Force.

In a statement released today, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood says the requirement has been extended to include the organisations in preparation for the transition to the new Covid-19 Protection Framework on December 3, 2021.

The additional vaccination requirements will cover sworn members, recruits and authorised officers of the New Zealand Police and all New Zealand Defence Force staff.

First doses of the vaccine for workers in these organisations are required by January 17, 2022, and second doses by March 1, 2022.

These groups are added to the list of sectors covered by vaccination, which includes MIQ and border work, healthcare, education, and prisons.

Wood says ministers have worked with Police and Defence Force leadership on this, and there is broad support for the decision.

So many of the individuals within these organisations have been essential to our Covid-19 response and are already fully vaccinated.

But we want to ensure that those who serve and protect our communities on a daily basis can do so without unintentionally spreading the virus.

There is already a high vaccination rate in the police - 92.2 per cent of all constabulary police staff have received at least one dose, and 86.5 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

Wood says it makes sense operationally to make it a requirement for the constabulary, recruits and authorised officers who have regular contact with members to be vaccinated.

He says this is about keeping police safe and the community safe.

The NZDF provide critical services to New Zealand, including assisting Police at regional borders, and supporting MBIE in resourcing MIQ facilities, says Defence Minister Peeni Henare.

It makes sense that they are included in the mandate and most of the NZDFs Regular Force are already vaccinated. Our defence forces can be deployed at any time to locations where they may come into contact with Covid-19. For example, the recent mission to Afghanistan saw our defence force personnel assisting in the evacuation of New Zealand visa holders, some of whom had Covid.

NZDF uniformed personnel are currently 98.4 per cent fully vaccinated and civilian staff are already 75 per cent fully vaccinated through the NZDF vaccination programme delivered earlier this year.

These rates do not include those who may have received vaccinations through the public health system.

While a number of other sectors have requested additional government vaccination requirements we are not progressing them at this time, says Wood.

Vaccine mandates are very strong legal requirements that have to be carefully considered based on a clear assessment about how justifiable they are.

An increasingly large proportion of the population is double-dosed with thousands more getting vaccinated every day, and the simple vaccination assessment tool that will be available for businesses in mid-December will help to streamline the process.

More information about the extended vaccine requirements:

These requirements are in addition to recent announcements about workplace vaccinations:

Vaccination will be required for all workers at businesses and services where customers need to show My Vaccine Passes. This applies to hospitality, events, gatherings, close contact businesses and gyms. Tertiary education, that takes place on-site, is also included at the Red level. To continue doing that work, workers need to have their first vaccination by the day that the Covid-19 Protection Framework comes into effect. They will need to be fully vaccinated by January 17, 2022.

Non-vaccinated employees doing work that requires vaccination (either under mandates or an employer requirement) will be given a new four-week paid notice period if their employment agreements are terminated. This gives these employees a final chance to get vaccinated before their employment agreements are terminated.

Employers will be required to provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated.

The full list of sectors covered by mandates are:
Three years of lower than average rainfall is threatening the Hauraki Plains water supply over the summer period.

The drought has impacted our reservoirs to the point where we have less water than we should at this time of year, says Adrian de Laborde, Group Manager Service Delivery.

We are on track for the lowest annual rainfall since 1993, even lower than the last two years.

During times of low water demand, the Kerepehi plant has enough water to supply the Plains, but during times of increased use both the Kerepehi and Waitakaruru water treatment plants are needed.

During this period, the Kerepehi plant supplies approximately three quarters of the demand with the Waitakaruru plant supplying the remaining quarter.

The two consented water sources used for the Waitakaruru plant, the Mangatarata Stream and a former quarry pit (filled by the Waitakaruru Stream), situated on Steen Road, Mangatarata, are both lower than average.

During increased summer demand this could lead to the Quarry Reservoir running out of water, before summer demand drops enough for the Kerepehi plant to supply the Plains alone.

The Reservoir quarry needs to be at 75 per cent capacity by the start of the summer period to prevent significant disruptions to the water supply to residential customers and the dairy sector during the summer months.

The dry conditions have played a big part in us not being able to fill the Quarry Reservoir which is one of the bigger raw water sources for the Waitakaruru plant. We are now looking at ways we can save water district wide, says de Laborde.

We need farmers to check their water lines and troughs for leaks, we need our residential properties to let us know of issues like pooling of water on footpaths. We still have a way to go with the reservoir at approximately 60 per cent capacity. We need to work together if we are going to make it through the summer with enough water.
East Coast iwi, Ngati Porou are urging holidaymakers to reconsider travelling to Tairawhiti over the summer period.

Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou chair Selwyn Parata, in a letter sent out last night, says there is a real threat of Covid-19 coming into the region which would overwhelm their underfunded health services.

"Our region's health services struggle to service our people as it is now, without the very real threat of Covid-19. It is not an exaggeration to say that health services will be overwhelmed when Covid-19 arrives in our region," says Parata.

"Ngati Porou people will be at the worst end of that struggle; some of us will become seriously ill and some of us may die," he says.

In Tairawhiti 74 per cent of eligible people are fully vaccinated.

Parata understands many people will travel to Tairawhiti for Christmas and New Years to reconnect with whanau and friends.

"Unfortunately, the hospitality and beauty of home during the holiday period masks a poor reality for our hau kaenga year-round," says Parata.

"The reality is that our region, and our people, have some of the worst health, wellbeing, and social statistics in Aotearoa. We also have one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates across all of Aotearoa's DHBs.

"There are many people working long hours, doing the best they can, to turn-around those statistics, but it will take time to reverse a situation caused by deep-seated and long standing inequities," he says.

Parata is urging those who do come to be fully vaccinated and return a negative Covid-19 test result before they travel to the region.

"I am asking you to think carefully about your plans for the holiday period. If you want to come home to Ngati Porou, please consider the health and wellbeing of your whanau back here.

"Please consider how you would feel if you brought Covid-19 on holiday with you. Please remember that our region's services will struggle to look after you and your whanau if you become unwell.

"Think about limiting your movements for a short time when you arrive in Te Tairawhiti. We will all be safer if you are able to do these things, and we would love to see you home, safely."

He says if you are unable to do these things, for whatever reason, please be less adventurous and consider staying where you are for the time being.

"We will gladly welcome you home again when the time is safe for all of us."

Access to the East Cape lighthouse will also be closed off to the public for the same reasons.
Andalucia is ready to start Covid jabbing the under-12s, as soon as the doses arrive The Junta's head said that although the vaccination of minors is voluntary, he hoped that parents of the youngsters would act responsibly to ensure the "maximum possible coverage

The president of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, announced this Friday (26 November) that children under 12 years of age will begin to be vaccinated against Covid as soon as Spains Ministry of Health tells us when these vaccines are going to arrive, and if there are any recommendations from the National Health Council.

Moreno was speaking during his visit to the see building work on new extension at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella.

"While waiting for their instructions, we are carrying out preparations so that when we have the vaccines, we can start administering them in the most comfortable way and with the minimum disruption to children or parents," Moreno added.

The President of the Junta said both the region's ministry of Education and the ministry of Health are studying the possibility of vaccinating children on school premises. They are all gathered there, and it would be better for the children when they see that they are not alone but with all their classmates. We are looking for the best solution.

Moreno said that although the vaccination of minors is voluntary, he hoped that parents of the youngsters would act responsibly to ensure the "maximum possible coverage.

Paediatricians have said that it is important to protect minors, so we are just waiting for the ministry to give the green light," he added.
Andalusian budget is rejected by regional MPs, heralding potential political instability This year's spending and revenue plan will simply be copied over into 2022 now

The 2022 budget plan for Andalucia, which had been approved by regional ministers, was thrown out by the Andalusian parliament this week.

Budgets should be approved by the end of the year and this year's spending and revenue plan will simply be copied over into 2022 now as the ruling centre-right PP-Ciudadanos coalition doesn't think it will get its plan through even if revised.

Regional government spending has one of the biggest impacts on people's lives and includes, among other areas, schools and universities, healthcare and much social care. No opposition party supported the budget plan after six and a half hours of debate.

Loss of support

Although the failure to get budget approval should not speed up the next regional elections, due in November 2022, it spells a period of uncertainty in regional politics as the Junta will be forced to go back to the Andalusian parliament more often for spending approval. Hard-right Vox, up to now a partner with the government, looks to have split away completely.

Business leaders are worried about any forthcoming instability. Malaga Chamber of Commerce head, Sergio Cubero, said, "the 'no' to the budget is very bad news for business owners."
Junta asks the region's top court to make 'Covid passport' mandatory to access health and social care centres Juanma Moreno said that he hopes that the court will approve the reasonable request so that it can be applied as soon as possible in order to protect against the coronavirus

The Junta de Andalucia has decided to ask the regions top court, the TSJA, to make it mandatory that Covid vaccination certificate must be presented to access health and social care centres (care homes for the elderly).

The president of the regional government, Juanma Moreno, speaking in Marbella, said that he hopes that the court will approve the request, since it is something reasonable, so that it can be applied as soon as possible in order to protect against the coronavirus.

The measure was agreed at the meeting held by the regions High Impact Public Health Alerts Advisory Council, better known as the committee of experts during a session held at the Palacio de San Telmo in Seville.

Juanma Moreno made it clear, during his visit to the extension works of the Costa del Sol Hospital, that "we are still in a pandemic" and has emphasised that the virus has not gone away, but continues to spread, causing hospital admissions and deaths.

Moreno added that he regretted that the central government has not created a common ruling about the Covid passport for the whole of Spain to avoid the disparity of judgements in all the regions.
The chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, appeared before the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee in London on Wednesday for a question and answer session which lasted almost an hour and a half. The chief minister was accompanied by the attorney general, Michael Llamas, and explained that normally they would have been joined by deputy chief minister Dr Joseph Garcia, but on this occasion he had remained in Gibraltar as acting chief minister during their 48-hour absence.

The committee wanted to know more about the ongoing negotiations regarding Gibraltar's future relationship with the EU and what the Gibraltar government hoped the results of the talks would be. They were also interested to know when a treaty between UK and the EU in this respect would be finalised, and they asked for further clarification of some of the proposals in the New Year's Eve agreement in principle of last year, which forms the framework for the negotiations, including plans for the EU agency Frontex to police the Schengen border.

The chief minister explained the problems which could occur at the border between Gibraltar and Spain now that Britain has left the European Union, and the temporary arrangements which are currently in force thanks to the agreement of the Spanish authorities to try to keep the border as free-flowing as possible while the negotiations with the EU take place. He also explained how the proposed Schengen border at Gibraltar airport and port would work, and that if agreement could be reached then Gibraltar would not be joining Schengen but would have a common travel area with Schengen.

He told the committee he believes it is possible toreach an agreement which is satisfactory to all parties by the end of the year, but that it would take longer to finalise the treaty. He declined, however, to disclose further details of the discussions, but stressed very strongly that Gibraltar's sovereignty, jurisdiction and control will never be compromised.
Gibraltar adds six countries to Covid Red List Passengers who have been in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa or Zimbabwe in the last ten days may not enter Gibraltar from today due to reports of a new and concerning variant of the virus

Gibraltar has just added six countries to its Covid Red List with immediate effect, in response to reports of a new Covid-19 variant of concern in those countries.

It means that nobody may enter Gibraltar if they have been in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa or Zimbabwe in the ten days before travelling to Gibraltar, unless they are in one of the exemption categories specified in the Technical Notice Covid-19  Testing and Self-isolation Requirements for Entry into Gibraltar.

The Minister for Civil Contingencies, Samantha Sacramento, says the Gibraltar government is continually monitoring the global situation and evidence regarding Covid-19 and will move quickly, on Public Health advice, to implement any necessary safeguards that are deemed appropriate and proportionate.

Passengers should continue to check travel guidance including before, during and after travel to keep to date with entry requirements and ensure compliance with the latest rules.
Joining together to call for an end to violence against women Thousands attended protests in Malaga and around Spain to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Thursday

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was marked on Thursday evening with a march in Malaga city centre, among other locations across Spain.

People came together, wearing and displaying purple as usual for 25 November, to call for a more equal society where all women can feel safe and supported.

Those gathering in Malaga were particularly vocal about zero tolerance for violence from men.

SHAY CONAGHAN

From January to September this year there were 3,434 reported cases of violence against women in Malaga province and 1,713 women in the province had police protection.

According to data from the central government representative in Malaga province, there were 2,405 calls to the special confidential 016 helpline in that period - the operators can take calls in several languages including Spansish and English.
Burning Brexit questions answered at meeting for British residents Mijas Council Foreigners' Department organised four speakers to present on life after Brexit at an event in La Cala de Mijas on Tuesday

Around 120 people got together at La Cala de Mijas town hall branch on Tuesday for a series of informative talks focused on the topic of life after Brexit.

Four speakers, organised by Mijas Foreigners' Department, covered a range of issues and provided answers to the questions posed by the audience.

Foreign Residents councillor, Arancha Lopez Lillo, introduced the presenters and said how happy she was "to see the auditorium full".

First on the agenda was Blevins Franks, a firm that provides specialist financial advice to foreign residents. Partner Paul Montague spoke about how the financial situation had changed for British people in Spain following the UK's exit from the EU.

Handling taxes for those resident in Spain, the loss of UK advisors and the latest on pensions were among the issues discussed.

Montague said, "The benefits of becoming a resident include no 90-day restrictions and you could pay less tax."

Reflecting on participating in the event, he said, "I enjoy helping people and getting the message out to expats who need guidance."

Next, the project manager of Support in Spain, Neil Hesketh, explained this not-for-profit, community information project.

The bilingual website makes it easy to find information and support for when things do not go to plan while in Spain, including a directory to help people find answers about topics such as healthcare access, available benefits, disability and bureaucracy.

Hesketh urged the audience to "have a plan for when things go wrong and be evangelists of good information in the community."

British Consul Charmaine Arbouin provided updates from the Consulate. She encouraged people to register as residents in Spain, and those who are already residents to gradually exchange their green documents for a TIE. She said that healthcare would largely continue as before Brexit.

Anne Hernandez of Brexpats in Spain answered questions about the issue of UK driving licences, which cease to be valid in Spain on 31 December for those resident over six months. She explained that unless a last minute deal is done, UK drivers have to swap their licence to a Spanish one by taking a test. Some pre-Brexit residents who registered their intention to swap last year still have a few weeks to change and skip a test, however.

Two Britons who had travelled from Alcala la Real in Jaen province, Katherine and Christopher Rogers, explained that they moved to Spain 16 months ago, earlier than expected, because of Brexit. Though they started their residency process as soon as they could, "Brexit still throws up problems, and it is very clear that we are low on the [Spanish] government's priority list."

Many of the attendees said that the presentations had been helpful. Rob from Velez-Malaga said, "The talks cleared up a few issues and gave me an action plan on the taxation side of things. It is also good to know that there is a support network out here."

Mirroring these sentiments was Lorell, who moved to Mijas in October. She said, "The talks helped amazingly, I am so glad I came. They made me feel much calmer and it is excellent to get immediate answers to my questions."
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Bibendum90949 Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,079 Thanked: 4,231 Times

Re: Skoda Laura Ambiente TDI MT - Ownership Experience. EDIT: Now sold Quote: Behemoth Originally Posted by After a long and happy 9 Years and 9 months of Ownership of our Skoda Laura TDI, we have sold our car to a friend of a BHPian based at Kerala - the car will now find a new home at Ernakulam. The new owner was quite happy with the condition and maintenance of the car. THE STORY OF HR 26 TO KL 07



Since the time i've started lurking on Team BHP and long before I became a member, Behemoth is a handle which i've come across many a times. More so after I bought a Laura MT in 2011. But never in my mind I thought we would meet one day and buy his beloved car for my close friend.



For the benefit of members reading this, let me write how Behemoth's HR registered car ended up with my friend in Kochi.



It was few months ago that I pinged him the first time and ever since we used to chat a bit on Laura. One day he happened to indicate that his car is nearing the 10 year mark and owing to NCR diesel ban, he will have to sell it. Knowing how well he has maintained the car, I was interested and recommended it to a close friend who has been planning to buy a German car since some time and he was very specific on Laura. But there was a little twist to the tale on two counts. Behemoth's family member outside NCR got keen in his car and he was gearing up to sell the car to him. But later the buyer changed his mind and wanted to buy a new car. This car was up for grabs again. In the interim, my friend ended up picking a VW Jetta TDI DSG. Even then, his dream of having a Laura has not quite died. I had opened a thread regarding this on his behalf.



https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sedan...man-sedan.html (Upgrade from a run-of-the-mill car to a premium German sedan)



Over couple of Whats App chats with Behemoth, the price was agreed upon and my friend paid an advance immediately. He earlier had shared few images of the car and my friend gave the free hand to me to do the decision making. We would've still bought the car even without seeing the car's picture. Eventually, we flew down to Delhi and picked up the car and drove down to Kochi.



The car I must say has been immaculately maintained. After having driven my Laura MT TDI for 190k kms, I almost know the car and it's behaviour like the back of my hands. Behemoth's car drove like a charm. There are zero rattles or squeaks. He was kind enough to do a thorough check of the car before handing it over to us. He also got the wheel balancing and alignment job carried out at his preferred Bosch FNG and kept the car ready. It helped us to save half a day too after i've missed my flight from Bangalore earlier in the day. My friend arrived from Kochi separately the same day morning. We later reached Behemoth's home and then drove to Bosch garage in his Jeep Compass. After picking up the car, we came back and had lunch at his home before we bid adieu. We could sense that he was parting it with a heavy heart but at the same time he took consolation from the fact it's going to be in another home that will take good care of his beloved car.



VAG TDI is a gem of an engine on many counts and it's frugality is well documented. And as we know, the best Skodas we got here in India were during that period long before the word localisation caught the fancy of VAG group. IIRC, the Laura's were CKD units and it shows in the build quality and the cars of that vintage still feels tight and feels almost new. We drove the car at a steady pace of 100 kmph thereabouts and as expected it returned 25-26 kmpl and at times more, so much so that with a full tank fill at Hyderabad, we managed to reach Kochi with still a quarter tank diesel left. I'll post some of the MID snaps for reference. The actual FE must be 0.75-1 kmpl less than MID figures. Couple of tankful to tankful calculations too showed 25 kmpl consistently. We were sedately driving all through the journey and well within legal speed limits. With me driving a larger part of the journey and the car handling well and feeling so nice and tight , I was firming up my mind to do a complete suspension overhaul on my Laura as soon as I reach Bangalore. The same was kept in abeyance since the onset of pandemic. This drive made my love even deeper for Laura. These are such brilliant and timeless cars and with the right care and attention can serve you well for years. They can still give the modern cars a run for it's money. The whole trip was uneventful with His grace and the car just lived up to the expectations. It seemed like just another drive for the car. The 2750 kms trip was like a piece of cake for it. We didn't feel any sort of fatigue though we drove only only during the day and was covering 600-700 kms a day. Towards the end of the journey, my friend who's not very keen at driving was not leaving the driver's seat at all. I knew by then that he has totally fallen for it. A non enthusiastic driver has turned into one during the course of the journey. After reaching my home in Bangalore, I made him drive my Laura too. He has driven it before too but this was a back to back drive. And he couldn't feel any difference with my 190k run car vs the 85k run car of his except for the deterioration in suspension performance. His impression on these cars has grown further since then and today he's a happy Laura owner and he plans to spruce up the ride with some thoughtful upgrades.



Few pictures clicked during the journey and also the car with KL07 regn plate.



At the India Gate which the car will never see again.







A quick shower enroute.





At a hotel in gurgaon.













At Agra.













Somewhere in MP.





MID showing the FE at various stages of the journey. At one point it even returned 33 kmpl, I wasn't surprised one bit.















My car and Behemoth's car together at my Blore home. They may have crossed their paths before at Aurangabad factory as both cars are of similar vintage











Finally at her new home with the new regn plate.





Request Mods not to close this thread. The new owner plan to apply for TEAM BHP membership. In the event of him failing to come onboard, I plan to keep this thread live with the updates on the car. Since the time i've started lurking on Team BHP and long before I became a member,is a handle which i've come across many a times. More so after I bought a Laura MT in 2011. But never in my mind I thought we would meet one day and buy his beloved car for my close friend.For the benefit of members reading this, let me write how Behemoth's HR registered car ended up with my friend in Kochi.It was few months ago that I pinged him the first time and ever since we used to chat a bit on Laura. One day he happened to indicate that his car is nearing the 10 year mark and owing to NCR diesel ban, he will have to sell it. Knowing how well he has maintained the car, I was interested and recommended it to a close friend who has been planning to buy a German car since some time and he was very specific on Laura. But there was a little twist to the tale on two counts. Behemoth's family member outside NCR got keen in his car and he was gearing up to sell the car to him. But later the buyer changed his mind and wanted to buy a new car. This car was up for grabs again. In the interim, my friend ended up picking a VW Jetta TDI DSG. Even then, his dream of having a Laura has not quite died. I had opened a thread regarding this on his behalf.Over couple of Whats App chats with Behemoth, the price was agreed upon and my friend paid an advance immediately. He earlier had shared few images of the car and my friend gave the free hand to me to do the decision making. We would've still bought the car even without seeing the car's picture. Eventually, we flew down to Delhi and picked up the car and drove down to Kochi.The car I must say has been immaculately maintained. After having driven my Laura MT TDI for 190k kms, I almost know the car and it's behaviour like the back of my hands. Behemoth's car drove like a charm. There are zero rattles or squeaks. He was kind enough to do a thorough check of the car before handing it over to us. He also got the wheel balancing and alignment job carried out at his preferred Bosch FNG and kept the car ready. It helped us to save half a day too after i've missed my flight from Bangalore earlier in the day. My friend arrived from Kochi separately the same day morning. We later reached Behemoth's home and then drove to Bosch garage in his Jeep Compass. After picking up the car, we came back and had lunch at his home before we bid adieu. We could sense that he was parting it with a heavy heart but at the same time he took consolation from the fact it's going to be in another home that will take good care of his beloved car.VAG TDI is a gem of an engine on many counts and it's frugality is well documented. And as we know, the best Skodas we got here in India were during that period long before the word localisation caught the fancy of VAG group. IIRC, the Laura's were CKD units and it shows in the build quality and the cars of that vintage still feels tight and feels almost new. We drove the car at a steady pace of 100 kmph thereabouts and as expected it returned 25-26 kmpl and at times more, so much so that with a full tank fill at Hyderabad, we managed to reach Kochi with still a quarter tank diesel left. I'll post some of the MID snaps for reference. The actual FE must be 0.75-1 kmpl less than MID figures. Couple of tankful to tankful calculations too showed 25 kmpl consistently. We were sedately driving all through the journey and well within legal speed limits. With me driving a larger part of the journey and the car handling well and feeling so nice and tight , I was firming up my mind to do a complete suspension overhaul on my Laura as soon as I reach Bangalore. The same was kept in abeyance since the onset of pandemic. This drive made my love even deeper for Laura. These are such brilliant and timeless cars and with the right care and attention can serve you well for years. They can still give the modern cars a run for it's money. The whole trip was uneventful with His grace and the car just lived up to the expectations. It seemed like just another drive for the car. The 2750 kms trip was like a piece of cake for it. We didn't feel any sort of fatigue though we drove only only during the day and was covering 600-700 kms a day. Towards the end of the journey, my friend who's not very keen at driving was not leaving the driver's seat at all. I knew by then that he has totally fallen for it. A non enthusiastic driver has turned into one during the course of the journey. After reaching my home in Bangalore, I made him drive my Laura too. He has driven it before too but this was a back to back drive. And he couldn't feel any difference with my 190k run car vs the 85k run car of his except for the deterioration in suspension performance. His impression on these cars has grown further since then and today he's a happy Laura owner and he plans to spruce up the ride with some thoughtful upgrades.Few pictures clicked during the journey and also the car with KL07 regn plate.At the India Gate which the car will never see again.A quick shower enroute.At a hotel in gurgaon.At Agra.Somewhere in MP.MID showing the FE at various stages of the journey. At one point it even returned 33 kmpl, I wasn't surprised one bit.My car and Behemoth's car together at my Blore home. They may have crossed their paths before at Aurangabad factory as both cars are of similar vintageFinally at her new home with the new regn plate.Request Mods not to close this thread. The new owner plan to apply for TEAM BHP membership. In the event of him failing to come onboard, I plan to keep this thread live with the updates on the car. Last edited by Aditya : 25th November 2021 at 18:21 . Reason: As requested
What just happened? Russia has launched an investigation into Netflix after the public commissioner for protecting families accused the streaming service of violating a "gay propaganda" law. The commissioner says Netflix breached a 2013 Russian law that bans the distribution of "propaganda on non-traditional sexual relations" among under 18s by hosting LGBT-themed content with age ratings of 16 years and older.

Reuters reports that the Moscow department of the Interior Ministry is now considering commissioner Olga Baranets' complaint. If found guilty of breaking Russia's law, Netflix could be fined up to 1 million roubles ($13,400) or face a temporary suspension of its service.

Russian daily newspaper Vedomosti reports that a Netflix source says the company checked its content earlier this month and found no LGBT content in its catalogue that was rated 16+. Engadget writes the paper also reported that officials may ban streaming services showing content that includes "non-traditional sexual relationships and sexual deviations."

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Russian gay propaganda law breached European treaty rules, violated the right to freedom of expression, and discriminated against LGBT people.

The move is the latest attempt from Russia to exert more control over the internet, especially when it comes to US entities. Authorities fined Google just under $82,000 earlier this year for failing to comply with demands to delete more than 26,000 instances of "prohibited" online content, and earlier this week demanded foreign companies set up local offices in the country by 2022 to comply with a law that was put into effect in July. It listed Apple, Google, Meta (Facebook), Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter among 13 firms that must create an official presence in Russia.
Why it matters: California-based tech giant Apple has filed a federal case against the company responsible for deploying spyware identified in a recent security incident. In September, the University of Toronto-based Citizen Lab identified an iPhone vulnerability exploited by a well-known cybersecurity/cyberwarfare company. The Pegasus developer claims that their software has helped to save thousands of lives worldwide and stopped numerous crimes but is yet to provide the data to back that claim.

The suit was filed against the NSO Group and parent company Q Cyber Technologies, neither of which are strangers to making security headlines. The Israeli-based company is responsible for developing and deploying Pegasus, a mobile spyware application capable of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, and tracking location on iOS and Android devices.

The suit is related to Apple's recent emergency updates, which were deployed after discovering a vulnerability in their iMessages application known as FORCEDENTRY. The exploit leverages an artifact known as CASCADEFAIL that prevents data and evidence from being completely deleted from a user's phone. According to Toronto's Citizen Lab, the vulnerability was attributed back to the NSO group after observing that the partial deletions only occurred in the presence of the Pegasus spyware.

According to Apple, NSO creates state-sponsored technologies used to conduct surveillance against users without alerting them that their data has been compromised. The lawsuit seeks to reclaim damages from the developer and prevent NSO from using any Apple-related products and services in the future. This injunction would help to prevent any further NSO spyware-related harm to Apple and iOS users. The lawsuit comes hot on the heels of a Ninth Circuit ruling that NSO and Q Cyber were not sovereign entities, thus making them vulnerable to a pending Facebook lawsuit.

Apple has pledged $10 million, in addition to any damages received from the suit, to continue funding cybersurveillance and advocacy groups such as the Citizen Lab and Amnesty Tech. These human rights organizations provide critical research and data that help to ensure freedom of expression and online privacy are not negatively impacted by digital espionage, various types of filtering, or any other technologies designed to affect an individual's online freedoms.

Image credit: Iphone lock screen by Youssef Sarhan
In context: It's not uncommon to see consumers using the default password of their devices, leaving themselves vulnerable to possible cyberattacks. To remediate this situation, the UK government passed a bill that will ban tech companies from using default passwords on their devices, among other requirements.

The UK government's Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill (PSTI) is divided into two parts. As the name implies, the first part comprises product security measures to protect consumers and companies from cyberattacks. The second part includes telecommunications infrastructure guidelines created to accelerate the installation, usage, and upgrading of such equipment.

The first part of the bill presents three requirements to achieve its objective: ban default passwords, require products to have a vulnerability disclosure policy, and transparency about how long the products will receive essential security updates.

The list of devices covered by the security requirements includes smartphones, connected consumer electronics and appliances, connected safety-relevant products and alarm systems, IoT hubs, smart home assistants, and home automation products. Oddly, the list doesn't include computers. Once accepted, the government will provide at least 12 months for manufacturers, importers, and distributors to adapt to the new legislation.

The telecommunications infrastructure measures aim to streamline the implementation of new gigabit-capable broadband and 5G networks. These rules will encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution instead of going for legal proceedings, allow operators to share and upgrade buried infrastructure components, and streamline the renewal process after agreements have expired.

The bill has yet to receive the Royal Assent, the last step before becoming an actual law. For now, we haven't heard of any other region enforcing similar legislation, but it wouldn't be surprising to see some follow the example. Google and Microsoft have already presented some of their own measures to increase user security. Google, for example, defaulted accounts to use two-step verification and improved password security on Chrome 88, while Microsoft added a passwordless option for its accounts.
(Photo : Panasonic ) This Rice Cooker Can Allow You to Mash Food Using Your Tongue Alone | How DeliSofter Works?

Two Panasonic engineers were able to create a specialized rice cooker that could not only cook food efficiently but could also soften food enough to be sliced using a potato chip.

This smart home product is designed for Japanese elders who have difficulty swallowing food. If your chewing strength for food is weak, this machine could be your go-to companion in the kitchen.

How DeliSofter Rice Cooker Works

According to a report by Japan Times, two women who are working on Panasonic have invented a food softening tool designed for those who have problems in masticating their consumables.

The Panasonic engineers collaborated with Gifmo for the selling of this rice cooker which could turn a chicken into a very soft food that even elders can eat easily. The process of softening the food requires placing it under extremely high temperatures that could reach 120 degrees Celsius.

Gifmo said that even though the machine makes the food more digestible than ever, it does not compromise the texture or the appearance of the food. Moreover, the company said that elders could now mash their food using their tongue only through this DeliSofter pot.

Japan has been exploring a lot of options to make living easier for the aged over the past years. The Delisofter rice cooker is only one of its most recent inventions that is created for the elders. Since the country has a huge number of adults over 65, it needs to adjust its technology to suit them.

Panasonic said that its food-focused venture with Gifco is expected to hit $1.7 billion (200 billion yen) in Japan by 2025. The food segment could soon extend to other countries in the future.

Related Article: 5 Smart Kitchen Appliances Everyone Should Have at Home

The Origin of DeliSofter

In another report from Bloomberg on Thursday, Nov. 25, the creation of DeliSofter started with Megumi Ogawa, a long-time Panasonic worker who has been struggling in taking care of her father in his final moments.

At that time, Ogawa was helping her father to consume his favorite meals despite having swallowing difficulty. With that, the only choice for her father would be the liquid meals that are frequently served for patients with eating disorders.

Ogawa said that she would spend $880 per month just to sustain his needs in eating. However, it changed when she and her colleague Tokie Mizuno partnered to develop a product that later became DeliSofter.

None of them have any idea what would be the outcome of the smart home rice cooker, but they shared similar reasons why it should be created. Mizuno, just like Ogawa, had problems taking care of her grandmother who was problematic in eating.

Panasonic requested Ogawa and Mizuno to return to their jobs as quality assurance officers, but instead, they settled on a voluntary project with Gifmo to make the creation of the DeliSofter rice cooker possible.

Masaru Morizane, the CEO of Gifmo considered DeliSofter to be the best product that they have encountered so far.

"Just as appliances like washing machines freed women from housework and allowed them to be more active in society, we won't stop until we liberate people from nursing care," Mizuno said.

In another report, Tech Times previously wrote a comparison article about Instant Pots and Rice Cooker. Learn more about how they differ in features, pricing, and other factors.

Read Also: Man Married Rice Cooker, Fell Out of Love, and Divorced It After 4 Days

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : John Lamparski/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 25: The Goku balloon is seen during the 95th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 25, 2021 in New York City. (Photo : Getty Images )

Thanksgiving Day NFTs are on the auction floor courtesy of Macy's, and people are bidding crazy amounts of money just for the chance to own them.

A total of 10 holiday graphics are being auctioned off, reports The Huffington Post. All of the NFTs are designed to portray the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in New York City, which has become almost synonymous with the holiday as a whole.

All the proceeds from the bidding on the non-fungible tokens will go to the Make-A-Wish foundation, with which Macy's has been in close partnership since 2003.

You can check out the auction on Macy's official website to see what the NFTs are all about. The bidding is scheduled to end on November 30th.

As of this writing, the Thanksgiving NFT with the most bids is the Happy Dragon Balloon Art, which features a--you guessed it--a green dragon. The current bid stands at a cool $310,000, with 10 people already having bid on it.

The second-most-bid-on Thanksgiving NFT is the Dachshund Balloon Art. Current bid stands at $41,000, with also 10 people on the list so far.

All of the non-fungible tokens celebrating the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade have dates on them. Each date is celebrates a decade of the parade, starting from the 1920s when it first launched.

Aside from the tokens, Macy's will also give away a total of 9,500 individual parade-inspired pieces of different levels of rarity on the actual Thanksgiving holiday, writes The Verge.

These pieces, however, will not be auctioned off and will instead be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. All proceeds earned from the sale of the aforementioned pieces will also go to Make-A-Wish foundation.

With this Thanksgiving Day announcement, Macy's is joining other big-name companies who have bought into the hype of non-fungible tokens, including Pringles and Taco Bell.

Read Also: 'The NFT Bay' Allows Anyone to Torrent Blockchain Worth Replicas into JPEGs

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade NFTs: Why Are They So Valuable?

Looking at the bid prices for all the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade NFTs, your head might start to spin. But that's just what these digital assets are these days. Under the right circumstances, they can be extremely valuable. But why?

The hype and value of non-fungible tokens lies in how they work.

According to BusinessUpside, these digital assets are considered valuable because their uniqueness and ownership can be verified at the drop of a hat. This gives NFTs the flexibility to be used for a wide variety of purposes, which can eventually lead to new, potentially lucrative business models.

Furthermore, non-fungible tokens can be considered valuable just because of how unique they are. While there's always a chance that a digital asset can be copied and pasted endlessly, the fact that these tokens are linked to blockchain technology is what makes them unique--and therefore, valuable.

The Most Valuable NFTs Ever Sold

A quick Google search will give you an idea of just how valuable NFTs can get. Spoiler alert: the most valuable Thanksgiving NFT from Macy's doesn't even come close.

While it could be hard to confirm an actual sale, experts argue that Cryptopunk #9998 is the most valuable non-fungible token ever sold--at least on paper. According to CNET, Cryptopunk sold for a whopping $530 million, or 124,457 Ether.

Another example is a digital artwork from an artist called Beeple (Mike Winkelmann in real life) sold for $69 million at a Christie's auction, writes The Verge.

Related Article: Top 10 NFT Games November 2021 on BSC Based on Active Users in the Last 24 Hours | MBOX, PEARL, and More!

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Image from Mika Baumeister on Unsplash) National Advertising Division Recommends T-Mobile be Banned from Calling Itself 'Most Reliable 5G Network'

The National Advertising Division or NAD is recommending that T-Mobile be banned from crowning itself in its advertisements the "most reliable 5G network." This claim was based on third-party firm tests that benchmark mobile services of different wireless providers.

T-Mobile Calls Itself the 'Most Reliable 5G Network'

According to the article by Fierce Wireless, from April 12 to September 26 this year, the company got over a billion samples from 200,000 5G users with data saying that with the data, saying that "T-Mobile has the most reliable network."

The NAD is a part of BBB or Better Business Bureau National Programs and is the advertising industry's self-regulatory organization. With that, it was AT&T that brought the matter to NAD's attention after T-Mobile aired two TV commercials and its internet advertising both claim that they are the "most reliable 5G network."

NAD Can Only Provide Recommendations

The NAD issues recommendations that aren't actually carrying the force of law. On that note, T-Mobile said that the company will appeal the ruling, which they are still legally allowed to do.

The data uses claims taken from handsets that use software seen in apps from Google Play Store to back its claims. The testing was broken down into two metrics, namely coverage and speed.

Mismatch of Testing Results and Claims

The NAD said they agreed that speed and coverage were important to consider, but it cannot support a reliability claim when it comes to 5G network reliability. To this, T-mobile replied, saying the NAD allows companies to use third-party "accolades" if it is based on legitimate testing and the companies ad does include basis and findings.

The NAD says that besides being the case, T-Mobile still has to make an inquiry. With that, the actual statement was that although the NAD permitted wireless providers to advertise their third-party network performance awards as long as they are qualified to do so, this doesn't mean they can do so "without further inquiry."

Read Also: Apple Stores and Online Product Sales Pulled from Turkey After Lira Currency Drops 15%

Data was Not a 'Good Fit' to Claim 'Most Reliable 5G Network'

According to the story by PhoneArena, the NAD says that they carefully review methodology for third-party awards to make sure the underlying claim has a reasonable basis.

AT&T argued that the metrics used to measure the results were not "appropriate" for assessing 5G network reliability. The carrier also said that RootMetrics provides "true reliable" metrics to measure reliability due to its better systems.

The NAD said that through T-Mobile calling itself the most reliable 5G network, the company is saying that subscribers are capable of accessing its 5G network and stay connected for whatever intended purpose they might have or to complete a task. The data, however, was not a "good fit" to help support the claims made by T-Mobile of it being the most reliable since the findings were from 5G and non-5G networks.

Related Article: Apple Shazam Can Now Identify Songs Better Due to Update for iOS Users

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) In this photo illustration of the litecoin, ripple and ethereum cryptocurrency 'altcoins' sit arranged for a photograph on April 25, 2018 in London, England. Cryptocurrency markets began to recover this month following a massive crash during the first quarter of 2018, seeing more than $550 billion wiped from the total market capitalisation. (Photo : Photo Illustration by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) In this photo illustration a visual representation of the digital currency Bitcoin sinks into water on August 15, 2018 in London, England. Most digital currencies including Bitcoin, (BTC) Ethereum, (ETH) Ripple (XRP) and Stella (XLM) have seen a dramatic fall in their prices throughout 2018 amid a 'mass sell-off'. In December 2017 the price of BTC hit $20,000 USD but has since fallen to around $6000 USD.

Crypto hackers are now undetectable after discovering a new malware installer called Babadeda. Experts said this new malicious tool allows blockchain thieves to breach Discord channels.

Related Article: Crypto Mining Hacks Target Google Cloud Accounts! Here's What the Company Recommends

Once they entered the platform, cybersecurity experts explained that they would start deploying malicious campaigns using Babadeda, allowing them to steal NFTs, DeFi, and other digital tokens.

They added that the new malware installer can evade antivirus solutions, which enable the hackers to enter the Discord channels without being detected.

Crypto Hackers Now Undetectable: How Does Babadeda Works?

According to HackersNews' latest report, the malware distribution attacks conducted by Babadeda began way back in May.

Also Read: UK Government Cracks Down on Thermostats, Routers, and More

"The malware installer has been used in a variety of recent campaigns to deliver information stealers, RATs, and even LockBit ransomware," said researchers at Morphisec, a security solution provider.

The new Babadeda malware installer works by encrypting malicious codes, making them harder to detect, which is why it is also called a "crypter."

Aside from this, it can also obfuscate and manipulate these codes. Morphisec experts added that hackers use this new tool to send decoy messages to their targeted Discord channels.

If you want to know more about the new malware installer, click this link here.

Do These if Your Crypto Tokens Were Stolen

Right now, hackers and other online attackers are eyeing blockchain consumers since the crypto industry is growing rapidly.

If also invested in cryptocurrencies, CNET provided some of the things you need to do if your tokens were stolen.

The first thing you need to do is contact your crypto company's customer service right away to take action in order to prevent losing tokens.

On the other hand, you also need to change your password right away to prevent further thefts.

In other news, J.R.R. Tolkien's Estate and WIPO closed their "Lord of the Rings" crypto project.On the other hand, crypto market manipulation is now being considered a punishable crime.

For more news updates about Babadeda and other security threats, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Image from Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash) 2,000 Uber Drivers in Brussels Could Lose Their Jobs Due to Court Ruling While Company Fined $336,000

2,000 Uber drivers may face unemployment because of the recent Brussel Appeal Court ruling, fining the ride-hailing service $336,000.

Uber Affected by 2015 Ban on Private and Professional Drivers Offering Taxi Services

According to a story by CNBC, Uber has just been ordered to spot its ride-hailing service in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The court initially ruled that a previous 2015 ban in place for private individuals offering taxi services should also be applied to professional drivers.

Uber took it to Twitter to announce that users will no longer be able to hail an Uber ride in the EU capital. The company also said that they are "disappointed" with regards to the court's decision to close their app in Brussels.

From this Friday, you won't be able to get an Uber ride in the EU capital 



We're disappointed with todays court decision to close our Brussels app which goes against the @EU_Commission digital and green ambitions. https://t.co/ZzTdg6pVfB https://t.co/sO5kFb6SMm  Uber EU Public Policy (@UberEUPolicy) November 24, 2021

Legal Battles Being Faced by Uber

Uber also announced that the decision directly goes against the European Commission's digital and green ambitions. To clarify, the European Commission is the acting executive arm of the European Union itself. Uber has long been fighting different legal battles stretching across Europe regarding how the company employs drivers and how they comply with taxi regulations. They said that although drivers enjoy the flexibility of being self-employed, other drivers say they are struggling to earn enough money through the app.

Petition to Save 2,000 Professional Drivers in the City

On top of struggles on earning money, some drivers also report missing out on employee benefits like annual leave and sick pay. Uber has asked the public to sign a petition to save 2,000 professional drivers using the service within the city. Delivery Hero, a food delivery app, co-founder, and CEO Niklas Oestberg, said that he is also criticizing this decision taking it to Twitter to voice his stand. Oestberg said that Europe's "anti-tech" stance is now hurting their own tech progress, pointing out Uber changed the taxi industry 10 years ago.

Europes anti-tech stances is only hurting our own tech progress. Uber disrupted the taxi industry 10 years ago and we still dont have a better solution than this? https://t.co/kJhcKRWGl4  Niklas Oestberg  (@niklasoestberg) November 25, 2021

Read Also: UK Government Cracks Down on Thermostats, Routers, and More

Drivers Blocked the Main Street Landing

Drivers directly blocked the main street landing from the European institutions located in the center of Brussels in order for them to protest. The mobility authority of Brussels advised drivers to avoid traveling throughout the city.

The Brussels government made an agreement on a proposal to change the region's taxi and private car industry. The authorities stated that they are now actively looking for a temporary solution for Uber despite none being formally announced.

Rudi Vervoort, the minister-president of Brussels, said that Uber has to guarantee quality service to new habits of users and customers. According to the article by Bloomberg, the court gave Uber a fine of $336,000. Two of the company's units are expected to pay over $169K each as it now backed a complaint by Taxis Verts, a taxi firm in Brussels.

Related Article: National Advertising Division Recommends T-Mobile be Banned from Calling Itself 'Most Reliable 5G Network'

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 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images) An illustration picture taken in London on December 18, 2020 shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone with an EU flag displayed in the background.

Apple and Google faced a hefty fine of $11 million (10 million euros) after the Italian authorities discovered that they were abusing user data without their consent. The tech giants have violated the Consumer Code in the country as a result.

Italy's Competition Authority Hits Apple, Google With Over 10 Million Fine

Read Also: China to Require Tencent to Submit Any Apps, Updates For Inspection as Part of 'Temporary Administrative Guidance'

According to a report by NDTV, the US-based tech companies received $11 million fine after Italy's antitrust watchdog found out that they violated the consumer regulation, which tackles using the user data for commercial purposes.

On Friday, Nov. 26, Italy said that the tech giants have been exploiting consumers' privacy by collecting their data without their consent. The authorities that these firms have been using them for promotional activities.

In a press release, the regulatory board said that Apple has been taking advantage of user data's "economic value" as it increases its product sales through App Store, iTunes Store, and other commercial platforms.

The Italian authorities further explained that Apple and Google did not clarify that the user data would be used commercially. No information is provided to the user before their data comes out.

In short, the Cupertino giant does not remind the users regarding the purpose of data collection. Instead, the iPhone maker would only say that it will utilize the data to improve the user's experience, setting aside the commercial purpose.

Related Article: Apple Stores and Online Product Sales Pulled from Turkey After Lira Currency Drops 15%

Apple Does Not Inform its Users About Their Data

In another report by Macrumors, if you stumble on the Apple App Store, you can see a screen that will show you more about the user data regardless of whether it will be used to personalize the user's experience or secure the company's services.

Italian authorities highlighted that Apple failed to acknowledge that their data would be directed to commercial undertaking.

Apple has been committed to improving users' data amid data leakage and data theft over the past years. The Cupertino firm said it would continue to tighten its privacy regulation to prevent fraud and meet its objectives.

In addition, Apple's privacy policy wrote that the company could only use the data given that the user grants his/her consent to the company. This is made to clarify any confusion concerning data sharing on the consumer's part.

Earlier this week, Italy's antitrust watchdog has hit Apple over its alleged unfair practices in competition with Amazon and Beats. The authorities probed that both Apple and Amazon have been restricting Beats product sales using third-party resellers, thus making it an anti-competitive action.

Later, the Cupertino giant paid a fine exceeding $150 million as a result.

Apple's Previous Violations

Amid the pandemic outbreak last year, the French consumer watchdog hit Apple with a $27 million fine over its deceptive marketing practice. At that time, the company fooled its customers about slowing down its old iPhones.

Just last month, Tech Times reported that the tech giant got slapped with another fine after the Singapore Tourism Board discovered that it violated the country's pandemic policy.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Defence Secretarys HoC Statement on Army Restructuring

HoC Oral Statement: Army Restructuring: Future Soldier

The Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ben Wallace) With permission, Mr Speaker, I will update the House on the details and implementation of the Army's future capabilities, structures and basing.

In March I came to the House to announce the outcome of the Defence Command Paper, part of our integrated review. I said that we must adapt to new threats, resist sentimentality, and match our ambitions to our resources if we are to field armed forces that remain relevant and credible for the challenges of the future. I also said that we owed it to our service personnel to ensure that we now turn that policy into reality and that the work to do so had only just begun.

The Army was tasked with undertaking the most significant modernisation in a generation and, after an intense period of planningfor which I am especially grateful to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, Brigadier Clark and the rest of the teamI can now announce to Parliament the details of its plans, entitled Future Soldier.

Let me begin by paying tribute to those soldiers, the brave men and women of the British Army. To me, they are the finest in the world. Yesterday, we witnessed soldiers, alongside colleagues from other services, parade outside Parliament. It was an opportunity to pay tribute to their extraordinary endeavours during Operation Pitting, helping to evacuate some 15,000 people in a matter of weeks, and to thank them for their service and sacrifice throughout the decades-long Afghan campaign. It was also a reminder that the Army that departed Afghanistan was a very different one from that of 2001. But the Army of the future must adapt even more radically if it is to adapt to the threats of the future. Let us be clear: those are proliferating threats, from increasing humanitarian crises, to ever more capable and determined violent extremism and the use of proxy forces, to the ever present spectre of great power competition.

To keep pace with the changing character of warfare, our Army must be forward-looking, adaptable and embracing of new ways of working as much as new weapons and technologies. Not only must it have the best force structure to counter an ever growing range of threats to the UK, our people and interests, but it must achieve our ambitions on schedule and in budget. Thanks to the Prime Minister's record settlement for defence announced at last year's spending review, we have been given the time and resources to undertake the generational modernisation that defence needs.

Far from being deprived of investment as some claim, we are injecting 41.3 billion into Army equipment and support this decade. That is 8.6 billion more than had been planned prior to the integrated review. We are using those funds to create a modern, innovative and digitised Army. Our future Army will be leaner but more productive, prioritising speed and readiness over mass mobilisation, but still over 100,000 strong, integrating regulars and reserves, as well as all the civil servants and partners from the private sector. As the Chief of the General Staff has said, it must be an Army that places a premium

not just on mass, but on critical mass; relevant, networked, deployable.

The Army will now be reorganised to operate on a continuous basis, fielding all the relevant capabilities for this era of constant competition, and persistently engaged around the globe, supporting our partners and deterring our adversaries. Crucially, it will also be an Army that is designed for genuine warfighting credibility, as an expeditionary fighting force that will be both deployable and lethal when called on to fight and win. Since the publication of the defence Command Paper, my officials have worked hard to finalise a reform programme to deliver our priorities at home and abroad. Our future soldiers will find that tomorrow's Army has six distinct elements.

First, it will be globally engaged, with more personnel deployed for more of the time, employed in a new network of regional hubs based on existing training locations in places such as Oman and Kenya.

Secondly, it will be a key contributor to NATO warfighting, capable of fielding a division throughout the decade, as we transition to the new capabilities for a fully modernised warfighting division by 2030.

Thirdly, it will be enhanced by state-of-the-art equipment, including upgraded tanks and digitally-networked armoured vehicles, as well as long-range precision strike, cyber and electromagnetic capabilities.

Fourthly, it will exploit innovation and experimentation to get ahead of the evolving threats. Not only will the Army share the 6.6 billion of defence's increased research and development investment, but next year both the new British Army battle lab and a dedicated unit, the Army trials and experimentation group, will be established to stay at the cutting edge.

Fifthly, it will have integration at its heart, bringing together regulars, reserves and civil servants to form a more productive force with warfighting and resilience at its heart and cross-Government working in its DNA.

Sixthly and finally, it will be an Army that benefits the whole of our Union, with an increased proportion of the Army based in each of the devolved nations and expenditure contributing to prosperity throughout the United Kingdom under our upcoming land industrial strategy.

I am pleased to report that we have already made substantial progress. When it comes to global engagement, we have formed the new Army special operations brigade, in which the new ranger regiments will sit; established the security force assistance brigade; and set up a NATO holding area in Sennelager, Germany. In terms of warfighting, we have reinforced NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, established new brigade combat teams and reinforced the Army's global response force.

Over the next five years, implementation will continue apace. At the end of this year, our new ranger regiment will reach initial operating capability. By mid-2022 our new deep recce strike brigade combat team will be established, and by Autumn next year two battalions of the Mercian Regiment will merge to form a new Boxer-mounted battalion in one of our armoured combat teams. The recapitalisation of major equipment is already under way. I am determined to do everything within our means to accelerate the introduction of Challenger 3 tanks, with an ambition for their delivery to units starting from 2025 onwards. Likewise, we are transitioning to Boxer armoured personnel carriers from the retiring Warrior, with units starting to receive their first vehicles from 2023.

We are resolving development issues with the troubled but, none the less, technically capable Ajax armoured reconnaissance vehicle. We are also upgrading the battle-proven Apache attack helicopters while investing in everything from long-range precision strike, ground-based air defence, uncrewed aerial systems, electronic warfare and tactical cyber. These cutting-edge capabilities will be wielded by the newly restructured brigade combat teamsself-sufficient tactical formations with their own combat support and logistics. They will include 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team and a new aviation brigade combat team, which together will form our global response force, providing defence's rapid response for crises overseas.

Let me now turn to our plans to streamline the Army force structures. For too long, historical infantry structures have inhibited our Army's transformation. We cannot afford to be slaves to sentiment when the threat has moved on. Today I can therefore confirm a major reorganisation under four new administrative divisions of infantry: the Queen's Division, the Union Division, the Light Division, and the Guards and Parachute Division. These divisions are designed to reflect historic ties, while balancing the numbers of battalions and unit roles, offering greater flexibility and opportunity to soldiers of all ranks.

As announced in March, these plans do not involve the deletion of any cap badges, further major unit changes or any military redundancies. Although we are significantly reducing the total number of Army personnel, we are not compromising our presence in and contribution to the devolved nations. The numbers will reduce slightly everywhere except Wales, but we are increasing the proportion of the Army based in each nation and investing millions in the defence industry and estate.

Northern Ireland will keep the same number of battalions, but host a greater proportion of the Army's workforce and gain an additional reserve company of the Royal Irish. Scotland will be home to more battalionsgoing from six to seven unitsand a greater proportion of the Army than today. We will be retaining Glencorse barracks and will grow in Kinloss and Leuchars, thanks to 355 million of investment in the Army estate.

Wales will see the return of the Welsh cavalrythe Queen's Dragoon Guardsto Caerwent barracks and a new reserve company of 3rd Battalion, the Royal Welsh to be established in north Wales. The retention of the Brecon barracks and the growth of Wrexham are just part of a 320 million investment in the Army estate in Wales.

I know that colleagues will be enthusiastic to learn the basing implications for their own constituencies. The full breakdown of the Army's new structure can be found on the Government website or by clicking on the link in the Dear colleague letter that will be distributed.

Our future Army will be as agile in the new domains of cyber and space as it is on the ground. It will contribute the most personnel of all the services to those enhanced information-age functions, such as the National Cyber Force and Defence Intelligence, which are so critical to our new integrated force. In practical terms, this amounts to an additional 500 regular personnel, taking the number from 72,500 to 73,000. Together with the more than 10,000 Army personnel who work in other parts of defence, we will now, as I said, have a figure of 73,000.

As I said back in March, the size and capabilities of our Army must be dictated by the threat. What we can show on paper or even muster on parade matters little if we cannot rely on those numbers when it counts, or deliver the relevant capabilities required. Unlike the purely financial or numerically driven reviews of the past, we have taken a positive, pragmatic approach, matching our size to the current security environment and the Government's current ambition.

Every single unit will be affected in some way by this change, and transformation on this scale requires radical change at the top of the Army. By 2025, the Army's headquarters will be reduced by 40% regular personnel, and reserves integration will be made more productive across the force. Notably, the covid pandemic underlined the need for resilience structures that can cope with crises on the home front, so a new reserve brigade based in York will ensure that we can provide forces at the point of need. Simultaneously, we will be strengthening our Army's institutional foundation across the United Kingdom by establishing regional points of command.

Our Army has always been defined by its people and their adaptive, resilient, determined and diverse qualities, so this review puts investment in human capital first. The more we use our people, the more we must make sure they are properly supported. That is why we will be modernising individuals' careers and family assistance, all of which will be consolidated in an Army people plan published early next year. Finally, in this more competitive age, we will ensure that equipping our people with the ability to understand, compete, and fight across all domains is firmly at the forefront of defence policy making.

This is an Army that we can remain proud of, not just for its historical achievements or the Top Trumps comparisons of numbers of tanks and people in its ranks, but because it is an honest force that is credible and relevant, relentlessly adapting to confront the threats to the nation and meet the challenges of the future, changing the way it operates as much as the equipment with which it does it, and evolving culturally as much as structurally to place our future soldier in the best possible position to compete in all domains, both old and new, to shape our world for the better. Like their forebears, I am certain they will grasp these opportunities with both hands. It is certainly an Army that I would have liked to serve in. I am certain that this modernisation programme will allow them to do just that and ensure the Army remains both relevant and credible, in support of our Prime Minister's vision for a global Britain that is a safer, stronger and more prosperous place. I commend this statement to the House.

The exchanges that followed can be found using the source link below.

Topics of discussion included:

the need for the Army to adapt to new threats (including climate change risks), weapons and technology, and Government action to support them in doing so

the balance of making the British Army efficient while remaining strong in number

an increased focus on innovation within the Army, including the new British Army battle lab and a dedicated unit

specific Army contributions to tackling cyber threats

lack of clarity on Army strategy and size provided by the update

the danger of cutting army numbers and scaling back provisions when the replacements are not ready

the Governments broken election promise not to cut army numbers

integrating the proposals with those of NATO countries

the impact of skills shortages and poor pay and conditions within the Army

problems within the Ministry of Defence procurement system

Source
The neighborhoods surrounding Baton Rouge's two sewage plants are filled with homes and apartments where kids play outside after school while parents keep a watchful eye nearby.

They also stink.

People living in both largely low-income neighborhoods complain of a frequent stench of human waste from the two plants: The North Wastewater Treatment Plant, just north of Southern University, and the South Wastewater Treatment Plant, along Gardere Lane.

Its always been a smell, but we just had to get used to it, said Stephanie Youngblood, 66, who has lived across the street from the north plant for more than a decade. Its not acceptable, but what the hell are we going to do about it?

Most Baton Rouge residents outside the two neighborhoods first learned about the sewage plants in September, when heavy rainfall caused 8.4 million gallons of sewage to spill from the south plant, flooding at least 30 apartment units.

The inundation marked the fifth time this year theres been a spill at the southern plant. A sixth spill came a few weeks later in October, bringing the total to nine since the beginning of 2020, according to state records.

+4 Sewage has spilled out of this Baton Rouge treatment plant 5 times this year, records show When untreated sewage poured from a treatment plant in southern East Baton Rouge Parish last week, flooding residential streets and homes, it 

The north facility has struggled with similar problems. There have been four documented sewage spills this year at the north plant, and there were nine in 2020, according to state records.

That adds up to at least 22 spills and overflows on the grounds of the two plants that handle the human waste for all of East Baton Rouge Parish.

The two neighborhoods  majority Black and low-income  bear the brunt of the near-monthly spills.

It smells horrible, said Donna Azeez, a 69-year-old who has lived across the street from the southern plant for 10 years. Sometimes you cant even sleep at night it smells so bad.

At blame for the spills is infrastructure in need of an upgrade, including aging sewer lines and pump stations, and excess stormwater that consistently overwhelms the sewage system during heavy rainfall, city-parish spokesman Mark Armstrong wrote in an email.

The north plant in 2018 saw several new storage tanks built on its grounds that are intended to store wastewater during heavy rainstorms. Significant upgrades were completed at the south plant in 2015 that increased the plants capacity and laid the groundwork for the addition of wastewater storage tanks, Armstrong said.

These storage and capacity expansions will help minimize future spills, but the reality is an overflow at a sewer plant is not a normal event with causes that extend well beyond plant storage or equipment, nor do we ever want to see an overflow at these plants, he wrote.

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The city-parish sewage system has been under scrutiny from state and federal regulators for decades.

In 1988, the plant and the city-parishs overall system entered into a consent decree, an agreement with federal regulators aimed at bringing out of compliance systems into compliance with federal laws.

The role that rain plays in the overflows is apparent. Many of the state-required incident reports credit stormwater for overwhelming storage tanks and inflows at both facilities.

An increase of excess rainfall events driven by climate change in combination with infrastructure that wasnt built to handle the increases in stormwater can have disastrous consequences.

The Sept. 29 spill at the southern plant occurred because of an equipment failure amid a 100-year rainfall at one of the facility's pumping stations. Untreated sewage and rainwater that should have been flowing into the facility instead backed into the surrounding area.

Plant improvements alone will never be enough, Armstrong wrote. It is crucial that we reduce the amount of stormwater or rainwater that enters our sewer collection system, which is designed to only carry wastewater. This is particularly important as we see more and more rainfall and heavy weather events.

The impacts of rainfall on the parish sewer system can also be observed through city-parish 3-1-1 data.

The evening of May 17, heavy rainfall flooded more than 1,000 homes in the southeast portion of the parish. The single-highest week for citizen reports of a residential sewer backup since the beginning of 2018 occurred the same week as the May flood, according to an Advocate analysis of the complaint-hotline data.

Sewer networks are not designed or intended to transport stormwater, but illegal tie-ins and damaged pipes on private property allow the water to infiltrate the system, Armstrong said.

We have completed and are continuing to invest in projects to more effectively handle our parishs wastewater , Armstrong wrote. However, this is a problem our city-parish cant fully address on our own. We need residents help to prevent harmful substances or flows from entering our sewer system, whether those are due to infiltration and inflow issues or putting items down the toilet or sink that cause sewer backups and damage our sewer infrastructure.

The cause of the issues may be system-wide, but the residents closest to the two plants have to deal with the smell and the occasional flood of untreated sewage.

All the sewage plants are around Black areas, said Olga Jackson, a 66-year-old who lives near the north plant. If theres going to be spills, they need to do something about it or remove it completely to a place where theres no people around.
Permitting fees for residential and commercial developments in East Baton Rouge Parish could be adjusted next year should the Metro Council adopt proposed changes from the city-parish's Department of Development.

Those modifications are tied to other restructuring within the department that involves the city-parish outsourcing permitting, inspections and site review for residential and commercial developments in 2022  which officials have said will expedite what has historically been sluggish processes.

"This fee proposal has been something the city-parish has been discussing with builders in East Baton Rouge Parish for many years," said Rachael Lambert, the city-parish's director of development. "The proposed fees are similar to other nearby jurisdictions, and will also reduce the department's burden on the General Fund, bringing the department closer to covering the operational costs of the Permitting and Inspection Office."

A faster, but more expensive, solution to sluggish Baton Rouge services? Outsourcing Plans to outsource more city-parish services next year are getting more "yes" votes from the Metro Council than opposition despite those contr

Metro Council will hold a public hearing and possibly vote on the new fee structure Dec. 8.

Thus far, the council hasn't raised any objections to the department's intentions to expand the scope of services it outsources to South Central Planning and Development Commission next year.

The move would cost taxpayers an additional $600,000 in 2022 should the Metro Council approve Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's $1 billion-plus proposed budget for next year.

SCPDC is a government entity that handles the site plan review and permitting processes for multiple parishes in the state.

Lambert said there are multiple vacancies in the department's technical permitting and plan review staff that, coupled with the permitting volume in the parish, prevents them from issuing permits or reviewing site plans quickly.

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Leaders with Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge have already come out in support of the changes underway for the Department of Development, saying the city-parish worked with them to improve the level of service which they say removes layers of "complexity" and frustration for their members.

"This is a positive step forward for builders in East Baton Rouge Parish," HBA/GBR Board Chair Brandon Ivey said in a statement. "The previous process can be burdensome and lead to frequent and significant delays adding time and money to the building process."

Karen Zito, the organization's president and chief executive officer, in a separate statement added said, "Allowing South Central Planning to manage all permits will positively impact timelines and give the parish the fiscal responsibility."

How Baton Rouge's budget would grow by $50M: Outsourcing, supplier diversity, retirement The East Baton Rouge Parish budget is set to grow by more than $50 million, or 5.2%, in 2022, with new efforts to improve permitting and maint

With the proposed changes to the fee schedule, Lambert said the city-parish currently charges a $60 flat fee for residential site plan review with building permit fees varying between $3 per $1,000 on projects less than $100,000 and $1,100 plus $1.50 per $1,000 for projects totaling more than $500,000.

On the commercial side, plan review fees are 4 cents per square foot with building permit fees falling within the same range as they do for residential.

The new fee schedule would combine site plan review and permitting fees for residential at 50 cents per square foot. Trade permits for residential developments would cost $125.

With commercial developments, site plan review would be $3 per $1,000 for projects under $500,000 and $1,500 plus 5 cents per $1,000 for ones more than $500,000. When it comes to building permit fees, the range would be $5 per $1,000 for projects less than $100,000 and as much as $2,100 plus $1.50 per $1,000 for projects costing more than $500,000.

"With the new permitting structure and fee proposal the city-parish will essentially get to keep these fees and then compensate SCPDC for access to their plan review staff," Lambert said. "The proposed changes will allow the department to elevate the level of service in other critical areas with staffing challenges."
Baton Rouge was shaken by three separate homicides in as many days during Thanksgiving week.

On Tuesday night, police say a 16-year-old shot two men in a residential neighborhood around Linwood and Chippewa streets, wounding one and killing the other: 29-year-old Baton Rouge resident Kendrick Gibson, who was gunned down a block from his home on Pimpernel Street.

The next morning, on Wednesday, an unnamed man's body was found shot to death on the sidewalk of North 24th Street.

1 dead in potentially robbery related shooting on Gayosa Street, Baton Rouge police say A 33-year-year-old man was shot to death outside an apartment complex on Gayosa Street early Thursday, Baton Rouge police say.

Then, at around 5 a.m. Thanksgiving morning, police say another man, 33-year-old Justin Henry, was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound outside his apartment at 1840 Gayosa St., a few blocks from Magnolia Cemetery.

Although the case remains unsolved, police say they believe the shooting stemmed from a robbery.

Residents of all three neighborhoods reacted with shock and disbelief at the killings.

"Over here, it's nice," said a resident of Pimpernel Street who asked to remain anonymous. "Nobody fights. Everybody knows each other on this block."

She said she was watching TV Tuesday night when she heard what sounded like two gunshots. But she said the disturbance wasn't followed by sirens.

Man found dead at North 24th and North streets; BRPD investigating as homicide A mans body found Wednesday morning by North 24th and North streets has prompted a homicide investigation, according to the Baton Rouge Polic

"Nothing happens around here," she reiterated, so she thought nothing of it.

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A woman who lives in the apartments where Justin Henry was killed said she awoke early in the morning to the sound of gunshots close to her window.

"I was scared," she said. "It woke me up."

It wasn't until later that she and her family learned the victim was the brother of one of their friends.

Now at 134 homicides since Jan. 1, Baton Rouge has well surpassed 2020's previous record of 114 killings with still more than a month left in 2021.

Some longtime residents around this week's shootings said the uptick is noticeable.

16-year-old fatally shoots a man and wounds another, Baton Rouge police say A 16-year-old shot a man to death and wounded another after a fight late Tuesday in a residential neighborhood at Linwood and Chippewa streets

As he examined a blood-soaked patch of grass along North 24th Street Wednesday where the unnamed shooting victim's body was found hours earlier, one man  who also asked to remain anonymous but identified himself as someone who's worked in the neighborhood for more than two decades  said he's watched the city change for the worse over the last several years.

"It's kind of scary," he said. "As soon as (kids) get old enough to go get a gun, that's the first thing they do. Me and my kids, we don't come out at night."

When the man arrived at his workplace early Wednesday, he said much of the street was flooded with police and crime scene tape.

He said the body lay just yards from an adjacent strip of businesses.

The violence, he said, "it's getting worse and worse."
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Every time a storm lashes Collaroy beach, residents worry it will be washed away.

This northern beaches coast  sufficiently famous to be included in the Beach Boys 1963 hit Surfin USA  is perhaps one of the states most studied coastal erosion sites. But with a La Nina event set to bring heavy rains, thunderstorms and strong swells this summer, its not just Collaroy Beach likely to see erosion.

The coastal strip was pummelled during a massive storm in 2016 that damaged homes and pulled a swimming pool into the ocean, costing homeowners and local government almost $25 million to fix. Another two big storms further eroded the sand dune in July 2020.

Since then, residents, council and the state government have been working to protect the properties and beach from storm surges, including building a seven-metre-tall concrete wall. Once completed, at least three-quarters of the wall will be covered by sand.
Our review will paint a picture of what it is like to work in Parliament House and make recommendations to ensure its a role model workplace, Jenkins says. Loading Our task was to write about politics without being political. I think weve achieved that. In some ways, Jenkins, 53, was an accidental lawyer. She was a good maths and science student at a time when very few girls became engineers. Medicine was also out. I remember doing an excursion and not feeling that good when I saw some blood, so that left me down to law. She had attended a single-sex girls secondary school. It wasnt until university that I was in these situations where I could see that the boys felt they had more rights to speak up and the girls were quiet. It had never occurred to me there would be a gender divide in that sort of experience. Jenkins did a double bachelor of arts and law degree, studying the subjects considered important at the time for the top-tier law firms (corporate law and tax law), and was offered a job at Herbert Smith Freehills three years into her five-year degree. Then she enrolled in discrimination law and feminist legal theory, a new subject offered at the University of Melbourne taught by Professor Jenny Morgan. I did it because I was interested in them rather than I thought I would be able to practice, she says.

This interest would prove prescient. In 1984, Susan Ryan, with whom Jenkins would later work at the Human Rights Commission, drove Australias first sex discrimination laws through Federal Parliament. At first sexual harassment cases tended to be focused on male-dominated blue-collar industries, Jenkins says, nudie calendars in tyre factories. But by the time she joined Herbert Smith Freehills in 1993, it was beginning to dawn on the finance sector that sexual harassment was also a white-collar issue. A watershed moment was in 1996 when Bankers Trust Australia apologised and settled a dispute out of court with a female employee on the Sydney Futures Exchange, who had complained male superiors called her a slut, talked about bending her over and asked for a head job. The sexist and sexual treatment was appalling, it was disgusting and it was printed in the newspaper, Jenkins says. Kishwars Spencer Gulf kingfish with green apple and pickled muntries at Tonka. Credit:Eddie Jim The Bankers Trust case, which received widespread media coverage, was a wake-up call for the finance industry. It realised the reputational damage could be huge and sexual harassment scandals could affect share prices. I remember the time Bankers Trust got a reputation that no one would want to work in the graduate intake, Jenkins says. I did a lot of work for a number of the banks who said, That could have been us.

Jenkins was only too familiar with the behaviour in banks and dealing rooms, and a culture that was often explained away as what happened when people were under pressure. But actually most of the cases that I got were not when they were frantically busy but when they were bored and theyd have farting competitions and they often targeted the women with sexual and sexist comments. Jenkins became involved in training and policy development and driving cultural change in organisations where there had been sexual harassment cases. My way of operating at Freehills was to say this has happened, what are you going to do to stop it happening again? Kate Jenkins as a young girl in the 1970s. In recent years she has thought a lot about the role of non-disclosure agreements, which as a lawyer she had routinely asked people who had been sexually harassed to sign when negotiating settlements. She says corporates had the view at the time that they were paying money in exchange for confidentiality. I was part of what we thought was how it should work, she says. Whereas Ive said now it shouldnt have been that. Jenkins now believes sexual harassment victims dont owe anyone silence, they are being paid because workplaces didnt do what they were supposed to do. The use of non-disclosure agreements was a particularly challenging issue for the Respect@Work inquiry. A lot of those things that I talked about in my career that we thought were the right things, that report says actually, no, doing non-disclosure agreements hasnt helped. Its made it worse.
It would have taken a lot for Bridget Archer, a moderate who holds the highly marginal Tasmanian seat of Bass, to make herself the story. Archer said outright what a number of her moderate colleagues were thinking when she criticised the government for not bringing forward its legislation for an integrity commission. Liberal MP Bridget Archer in discussion with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg after she crossed the floor during a division to suspend standing orders to allow debate on an integrity commission bill. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen I am a bit offended, in a way, that we are prioritising  in a rush, I might add  the Religious Discrimination Bill over an integrity commission, she said, in very frank remarks to The Guardian on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, she seconded a move in the House of Representatives by crossbencher Helen Haines to try to bring on for debate Hainess private members bill for an integrity commission. Archer wasnt arguing that bill was perfect but declared the issue needed to be talked about.

All crossbenchers and Archer voted in favour, and had the numbers. But the move failed because it did not have an absolute majority. Archer was later ushered into a meeting with the PM, Josh Frydenberg and Marise Payne. She was offered a pair for next week, but declined it. A fellow moderate said of Archers action: Its been asymmetrical warfare for too long  people on the right of the Coalition having had licence to speak out on their issues. Ironically, it was a moderate, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher, whod had the task of slapping down the Haines-Archer move. Fletcher told parliament the government stood ready to introduce legislation, which begged the question of why it hadnt done so. The governments suppression of the integrity debate (which it also did earlier this week in the Senate) was a pyrrhic victory.

It was a bad look: not only hadnt it brought in promised legislation, but it had also refused to allow a debate on an issue very many Australians rate highly. Forced onto the back foot over the matter, Morrison later took the unexpected tack of declaring the legislation was actually out there. Loading He was referring to the original model the then attorney-general, Christian Porter, released a year ago. That draft, widely criticised, has been the subject of consultations, with the aim of producing a revised bill. But whether the bill will be reworked is now in doubt. Morrisons spokesman said there was no final decision about making any revisions. Government sources said it was looking increasingly likely the legislation released last year would be that presented to parliament. This would make a nonsense of the consultations.

Morrison also launched a fresh sweeping attack on the NSW ICAC, saying, what was done to Gladys Berejiklian, the people of NSW know, was an absolute disgrace. Given the evidence against Berejiklian, and regardless of her continued popularity, reflected in new polling, this was a very dubious path to go down. Earlier this week, Morrison lectured the Coalition party room on the danger of division. His exhortation had little effect. Apart from the Archer revolt, negotiations by Morrison and Frydenberg with senators Rennick and Alex Antic  who were withholding their votes because they are agitated over state vaccine mandates  had only limited success. And there were other breakouts. Once, the political wisdom might have been that if Morrison were returned for another term hed be rewarded with unbridled authority  having achieved a second miracle. Equally or more likely, however, if his margin were again razor thin, he could be more constrained by a backbench starting to look at leadership succession, in the realisation the Coalitions good run couldnt last forever. If he found himself in minority government, his arm would be twisted on issues (such as an integrity commission) where his negotiating position would be weak. Morrison has only another week this year to endure his disorderly party room, but the issues backbenchers are concerned about will hang around.

The Religious Discrimination Bill will be a source of contention over the summer. On the integrity commission, the government is in a no-win position. If it doesnt introduce legislation, it will come under sustained criticism. If it does, the model will be an orphan. Meanwhile, the agitators on the right will continue their rage over state vaccine mandates, a big issue with the base in Queensland. Loading Looking towards 2022 and the election, Morrison could hardly be facing a more uncertain environment. He is seeking to surf on Australians post-lockdown new freedoms. But given whats happening in Europe, there is no guarantee Australia, especially as the international borders open, might not face a fourth wave of COVID-19 next year, despite very high vaccination levels. If that happened, some restrictions could be reimposed, which would undermine the freedom pitch.
While Scott Morrison was delivering his sincere 16-minute sermon on how religious belief needs a specific overriding Commonwealth protection, a question nagged.

If the Prime Minister cared as much as he appeared, so much that he would personally introduce this law to Parliament, why did it take him three years to do so? The pandemic did not stop all business. To pick a fight over religion on the eve of an election shows the priorities. Faith to the urgency of personal survival.

Scott Morrison puts the case for his religious discrimination bill on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Prime Minister was flanked, for his speech, by Josh Frydenberg and Barnaby Joyce. Frydenberg blinked back tears as Morrison lamented how his party deputy had needed personal security not because he is Treasurer but because he is a Jew. When he was busily trying to list all the religions he could think of until, finally, reaching and countless others, Morrison resembled The Simpsons Reverend Lovejoy ecumenically welcoming people of all faiths, Whether you be Christian, Jew, or ... miscellaneous. Morrison was there as the Christian, Frydenberg the Jew, and a good thing Joyce was there to represent the miscellaneous.

When he was finished, the PM sauntered among his colleagues shaking hands and soliciting congratulations. He has a gift for looking extremely pleased with himself, and in this address he had been at his most Morrisonian. Australia is the most successful country in the world at harmonising religion with liberal freedoms, he claimed, almost but not quite breaking into How good is Australia! He extolled the greatness of Sir Robert Menzies and how thankfully, Catholic-Protestant sectarianism is a thing of the past, omitting mention of how Menzies was even more thankful for that sectarianism, which split the Labor Party and kept Menzies in power through the 1950s and 1960s.
Emergency services crews have performed more than a dozen flood rescues and responded to nearly 600 calls for help, as heavy rains send water spilling from Sydneys main dam and spark major flooding across regional NSW.

As Sydney experienced scattered showers that were expected to ease on Sunday, the NSW Bureau of Meteorology issued 21 flood warnings, the vast bulk of which affected residents in the Central West region on Saturday.

Sydneys Warragamba Dam has spilled. Credit:Brook Mitchell

Residents of Eugowra have been told to prepare to evacuate, while the towns of Canowindra, Gunnedah, WeeWaa and Jemalong are experiencing major flooding.

The bureau said Mandagery Creek upstream of Eugowra, near Forbes, had peaked at 8.24 metres on Saturday morning. It was likely to reach around 9 metres on Saturday night, triggering major floods.
Our society is a multicultural liberal democracy. It is comprised of people from diverse cultural backgrounds, religions (and no religion) and races. These attributes are essential to the people we are. They define us. Our Australian-ness and humanity also bind us, as many threads woven together. Yet in the fabric of our society, one thread is seen as less important and given little to no recognition: the thread of religious belief, which is essential to the core and identity of so many among us.

As Prime Minister Scott Morrison said when introducing the Religious Discrimination Bill, our anti-discrimination laws play an essential role in protecting the liberty of our citizens and yet they do not provide for protection against religious discrimination.

Scott Morrison puts the case for his religious discrimination bill on Thursday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

At a Commonwealth and NSW level, there is generally no protection against religious discrimination. As a consequence, people of faith who are subjected to discrimination based on their religious belief or practices have little to no legal remedy. This includes in public places and workplaces.

In the above context, the introduction of this bill is significant. It extends protection to religious belief, something other attributes such as sex and race have enjoyed for many decades. This is all the more significant in states such as NSW and South Australia, where there are no protective laws against discrimination based on religious belief.
Victorias Department of Education and Training has been fined $200,000, with a conviction, for safety breaches at a school where a seven-year-old boy suffered a fatal head injury, in lapses a judge said were absolutely fraught with danger.

Jovan Talwar hit his head on the ground when his wheelchair rolled down a shoddy ramp at Warringa Park School in Hoppers Crossing on November 26, 2018. He was checked by the schools nurse and stayed for the rest of the day  with his parents approval  but his condition deteriorated over following days, and he died in hospital.

Warringa Park School in Hoppers Crossing. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

Jovan and other children were outside a classroom and at the top of a ramp with a student teacher while the class teacher and a teachers aide were inside with a misbehaving child. Amid the confusion, a girl holding the wheelchair inadvertently let go and it rolled down at speed, the County Court heard.

The department pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to ensure, as far as was reasonably practicable, that people other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health or safety.
Activists protesting the $16 billion Scarborough project took to the street outside Woodsides CBD office on Thursday, claiming the project was not safe for workers or the climate and could destroy Aboriginal heritage.

The stand against the biggest fossil fuel project currently proposed in the whole of Australia included a protester locking her arm in a concrete barrel at the buildings main entrance.

A protest was held outside the Woodside building in Perth on November 25, calling for the end of the Scarborough gas project.

Her actions echoed the protest held the day before at the Burrup Peninsula, in WAs Pilbara. There, protesters parked their Subaru Forrester and caravan across the two-lane Burrup Road near King Bay Road in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The vehicle blocked access to the only sealed road to the countrys biggest LNG hub which includes the Karratha Gas Plant, Yara Fertilisers, the Dampier Port and Woodsides Pluto LNG plant, which will be expanded under the plans to develop the Scarborough gas fields.
Its been a dramatic week in Parliament with seven Coalition MPs crossing the floor to vote against the government in protest against vaccination mandates and a lack of a federal corruption commission.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison stepped up his rhetoric against a federal corruption commission on Thursday after Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer backed an independent push to establish a national watchdog.

The Prime Minister also introduced the religious discrimination bill to Parliament on Thursday. That bill has highlighted divisions within the Coalition, with several moderate liberals urging the government to protect gay students and teachers.

Chief political correspondent David Crowe joined Rachel Clun in Canberra to discuss what happened in the second last week of Parliament for the year.
Historic reforms to grant terminally ill people the right to end their lives have cleared the NSW lower house on the last parliamentary sitting day of 2021.

The bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying passed its final vote in the lower house on Friday, by 52 votes to 32, triggering hugs and applause between members who voted with their conscience on the landmark reforms.

Alex Greenwich, member for Sydney, is joined by his supporters following the successful passage of the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill. Credit:AAP

MPs sat through to midnight on Thursday before resuming on Friday to consider more than 160 amendments to the bill. While 42 were accepted, all hostile amendments were convincingly voted down.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet allowed his MPs a conscience vote on the issue but personally opposed the bill, as did Labor leader Chris Minns. Both attended on Friday to vote against it.
Victorias Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has told a coronial inquest into 45 deaths at St Basils that fewer coronavirus cases would have spread through the aged care home if its managers had co-operated more readily with a health order to stand down staff last year.

Had he not ordered the entire St Basils workforce be stood down, Professor Sutton told the court on Friday there would likely have been substantially more infections and possibly deaths of residents at the aged care home last year.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton arrives at the Coroners Court on Friday morning. Credit:Justin McManus

But the Chief Health Officer conceded he never got an assurance from Canberra that its replacement workforce at the predominantly Greek-speaking home could adequately care for residents before ordering out all of its staff.

State Coroner John Cain is examining why so many died with coronavirus at the Fawkner home.
Canadas First Uber-Style Delivery Service, UniUni, is Set to Double Deliveries by the End of Next Year

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UniUni is pleased to announce their commitment to doubling shipping across Canada within the next year. This original uber-style delivery service made their mark by providing some of the most reliable, affordable, and timely shipping within higher density regions. They now plan to expand their services by building more delivery stations, and technology solutions.

UniUni has quickly developed into a nationwide delivery service within Canada. Filling a desperate need, the company has experienced rapid growth over the past two years, expanding from 5 employees to 100, with over 3000 independent drivers delivering over 50,000 parcels every day.

While UniUni is a delivery company, at the heart, they are a tech company providing solutions that improve the delivery ecosystem. UniUni is at the forefront of innovation by improving both internal and customer facing technology - such as new applications allowing users to see more accurate readings of their parcels status. They prioritize innovation over the chase to gain the most profit possible. This is why UniUni is reallocating 15% of revenue to tech innovation using algorithms and big data analysis.

UniUni will extend services to more provinces in Canada in the coming months. We have introduced automated sorting lines in our delivery stations to form a network in major cities. We are now capable of launching same-day delivery service at the most affordable prices and increase the parcel weight limit from 10 kilograms to 30 kilograms. Says founder & CEO of UniUni Peter Lu. We believe this will help local E-commerce businesses meet their customers needs.

The expansion of UniUni will benefit local businesses across Canada, as a more affordable and reliable shipping service will be widely available to them and their consumers. The growth of the company will also make more fair-paying jobs available to the independent contractor drivers and package handlers.

To learn more about UniUnis expansion plans as well as the mission of the company, reach out to the media contact below.

About The Brand

UniUni is Canadas nationwide delivery company that ensures your deliveries will be loved. Our technology-powered services seamlessly connect e-commerce applications to our delivery network which is continuing to expand. We offer the most reliable, cost-effective, and positive shipping experience for our customers while ensuring workers and drivers are being paid fairly. The company has rapidly grown within a few short years and continues to innovate their service model to be more efficient, reliable and sustainable.
NYPD officers respond to the scene of a shooting that left multiple people injured in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough on April 06, 2021 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

2 New York City Police Officers Shot in Bronx Gun Battle Expected to Make Full Recovery

Two New York City Police officers were shot during a gun battle that broke out in the Bronx on Wednesday evening but both are expected to make a full recovery, officials said.

The incident occurred near the corner of East 187th Street and Beaumont Avenue in the Belmont section just after 8 p.m, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said during a news conference Wednesday from St. Barnabas Hospital.

Shea noted that it was almost a year ago to the day when two police officers were shot in the 105th precinct.

We are very lucky tonight. If you think back, it was last New Years Eve exactly one year ago, when we had two officers shot in the 105th Precinct, and they were released the following day. It looks like were on that path again here tonight, said Shea.

Detailing Wednesdays shooting, Shea explained that officers were contacted by a member of the community who gave a pretty detailed description of an individual who had a firearm and they responded to the scene. When they approached the individual, a male, he said a few words before opening fire within seconds. The uniformed officers then returned fire.

Theyre walking up there, discussing tactically how they will approach, and they immediately encounter this individual whos sitting on the front stoop of the building, Shea said of the officers. Within seconds, they are in a gun battle.

A female police officer, who has been working with the force for approximately one year and is also a military veteran was immediately struck in the right arm by the gunman, Shea said. She was then shot a second time by the gunman. She has been identified as Alejandra Jacobs, 23, as per The New York Post.

She returns fire, we believe, five times, striking the assailant, Shea said, noting that the entire incident was captured on body camera footage.

Her partner, when they immediately approach the individual, before the shots are fired, gives verbal instructions to take his hands out of his pocket, and immediately the gun comes out and the shots start. Hes (the male officer) struggling with the individual, wrestling the individual to the ground, Shea said. The incident lasted roughly two to three seconds.

The male officer, Robert Holmes, an eight-year veteran of the force, was struck in his right armpit area and was taken to hospital.

The gunman, who Shea said had a record of previous arrests, was struck three times and was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital for emergency surgery. He is now out of surgery and officials believe he is going to survive. Officials have not identified him.

A firearm was recovered at the scene and was reported stolen in Georgia last year, according to Shea.

Extraordinary courage tonight. We looked at the video, we saw officers doing their job, protecting the people of this city with incredible bravery, said NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. And then, in the visit to their hospital room, two people of just extraordinary spirit. Officers who are in this work because they want to protect people, they want to save lives.

This is another example of a gun from out of state, comes into our city, and hurts a New Yorker. This is something weve got to deal with in a whole different way, the mayor added.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, NYPD said both officers are doing well and are expected to make a full recovery. Jacobs has been released from the hospital and is now at home with her family while Holmes remains in hospital.

Theres a lot to be thankful for this #Thanksgiving. Last night, a gunman fired on officers in the Bronx. Two were struck. Today, one hospitalized officer is going home just in time to be w/family for the holidaybut not before receiving a heros walk-out from her blue family, NYPD said alongside a video of the female officer leaving the hospital.
Victorian Housing Minister Richard Wynne speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on July 05, 2020. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

4th Victorian Labor MP to Call It Quits at Next Election

A fourth MP from Victorias Labor government will exit politics at the next election, which comes a day after three fellow MPs also announced their resignations.

Richard Wynne, the planning and housing minister and member for Richmond, published his statement on Facebook.

As the son of a waterside worker, it has been an honour to serve the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at a local, state, and national level, he said.

Im proud to be part of this socially progressive, reforming governmentbut I am focusing on the next 12 months.

Wynne was first elected in 1999 and has served under three premiers, John Brumby, Steve Bracks, and incumbent Daniel Andrews.

He was previously a councillor in the City of Melbourne and served briefly as lord mayor between 1990 to 1991.

Premier Daniel Andrews thanked Wynne for his service in a statement on Nov. 25.

In his inaugural speech in 1999, Richard described public housing as one of Melbournes most valuable social assetssomething to be preserved, expanded, replenished, he said.

Im sure he would have pinched himself then if youd have told him that years later, hed be at the helm of delivering the biggest social housing build Australia has ever seen, he added.

On a personal note, I owe Richard a debt of gratitude for his friendship and his frank and fearless advice over many years. I wish him, Svetlana, and their sons all the best for the future.

On Nov. 24, three Labor MPs called it quits, including Jill Hennessy, former state attorney-general and member for Altona, Danielle Green, the member for Yan Yean, and Dustin Halse, the member for Ringwood.

Read More 3 Victorian Labor MPs Announce Decision to Step Down at Next Election

Hennessy was earmarked as a potential successor to Premier Andrews.

Victorias next election is due on Nov. 26, 2022.

While the Labor government does hold 55 of the 88-seat Legislative Assembly, Premier Dan Andrews has had to weather several disruptions to his Cabinet over the past year.

In September 2020, Jenny Mikakos resigned as health minister and from Parliament immediately after the premier made comments contradicting her views on the handling of the states hotel quarantine system.

Meanwhile, ongoing investigations into branch-stacking in the Victorian ALP have seen several MPs resign from Cabinet while still remaining in Parliament, including Adem Somyurek, Marlene Kairouz, Robin Scott, and more recently, Luke Donnellan.
A Private Aircraft Is the Key to Ultimate Freedom, but Whats the Best Way to Own It?

Whenever the conversation turns to personal freedom, two things invariably come up: owning a yacht and having a luxurious jet or turboprop aircraft at your immediate disposal. But what are the realities of these dreams? The answer depends in large part on how you define own.

Just as luxury yachts are commonly owned by an LLC or corporation created for that purpose and then registered in a tax haven, so too are private aircraft more commonly owned by an entity rather than an individual. Even corporations typically opt to not take direct ownership for liability and tax reasons. Airlines do this as well; by some estimates, up to a third of all the aircraft operated by commercial airlines are leased.

If you want your name on the registration, consider whats involved. Outright ownership means youre responsible for the initial purchase plus ongoing maintenance and related expenses. A private jet can cost from about $4.5 million for a HondaJet capable of carrying four to five passengers on trips up to 1,223 nm (nautical miles) at speeds of 485 miles per hour, to $71.3 million for a Gulfstream G8000 that can accommodate eight or more passengers, depending on interior layout, on trips up to 7,000 nm at speeds of just under 500 miles per hour.

Pre-owned jet prices are pricey as well, typically starting at about $2 million, subject to the age, type, and condition of the aircraft.

Turboprop aircraft are another luxury private airplane option; a Beechcraft King Air selling for $7.9 million has room for up to 10 passengers with a range of 1,800 nm at speeds of 360 miles per hour. These smaller turboprop and jet aircraft dont require the long runways needed by a typical Delta or United airliner, meaning they can travel to many more destinations than commercial aviation.

Nothing trumps a private jet for the ultimate in luxurious stress-free travel. (Courtesy of Gulfstream Aerospace)

As can be the case with a yacht, the purchase price may end up being the least expensive aspect of ownership. Ongoing ownership costs include pilot and cabin crew salaries (owners may be able to fly the aircraft if they hold the required certifications and have permission from the insurer), aircraft insurance, landing and ramp fees, maintenance, fuel, and repairs.

Industry experts say operating costs for a private jet can be $500,000 to $1 million per year.

One way to defray these expenses is to make the aircraft available for charter. Many luxury yacht owners recognize the practicality of letting others use the yacht to help pay the bills whenever they dont need theirs; this works equally well for owners of in-demand private aircraft.

Alternatively, you dont need to own the plane in order to have 24/7 access to it. Alternatives to outright ownership include fractional ownership, a lease, or a charter. Just as is the case with a vehicle, a leased aircraft provides the benefits of ownership at a much lower upfront cost. Aircraft are usually dry leased, with the user responsible for pilots and cabin crew, fuel, airport fees, aircraft insurance, maintenance, and repairs. Leasing also prevents you from having to explain to a chief financial officer or significant other why there is a significantly depreciated asset on the balance sheet, or worse, one that turned out to be the wrong choice.

For these and other reasons, leasing is often a method that makes owning a private plane financially viable.

Fractional ownership plans allow multiple owners to share the aircraft. Each shareholder has access to the aircraft based on the size of their share; the larger the share, the more hours they can use the aircraft. A management company handles all owner-related details from hiring pilots to paying landing fees.

Chartering an aircraft is another ownership alternative. This is especially attractive for those who infrequently require the plane or need different aircraft for different trips. In a manner similar to chartering a yacht, a charter company will make all the arrangements to get you and your party to your destination and back.

A similar option offered by Delta Air Lines is its Wheels Up program: a fleet of aircraft ranging from turboprop-powered King Airs to Falcons, Gulfstreams, and similar larger private jets, available on an hourly basis. Users can specify the destination just as they would if it were their personal airplane, but upon arrival walk away without any overhanging financial obligations.

In the final analysis, only the individual can decide if the cost of individual or corporate ownership is viable. Those who travel frequently may be better off owning, while those whose schedules are not so crowded may decide to charter.

If money is no object, owning may be the best way to have complete control over all aspects of travel as well as having the outrageously fun opportunity of being able to say, I hear the canapes are fabulous this time of year in Cannes. Lets take my jet.
President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi depart following a meeting with the Democratic caucus at the US Capitol in Washington on Oct. 28, 2021. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

A Tax Gift to the Rich Divides Democrats

Commentary

President Joe Biden repeatedly said he would raise taxes only on the rich to pay for his Build Back Better plan, but now hes backing a tax break for millionaires and billionaires, contradicting his promises.

While the White House calls it a compromise to move the presidents agenda forward, this is a big deal, according to critics, as Biden and Democrats will likely face a messaging problem heading into the 2022 elections.

House Democrats on Nov. 19 passed Bidens nearly $2 trillion social and climate spending plan. The bill, called the Build Back Better Act, contains a wide variety of tax provisions, including an increased federal deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT.

The plan allows taxpayers to deduct up to $80,000 of state and local taxes against their federal income taxes, a sharp increase from the current $10,000 cap. This means many among the rich would pay lower federal income taxes than they currently pay.

President Donald Trumps 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limited individuals deduction for SALT payments to $10,000 per year. This cap on deductions, the studies show, has increased the tax bill for residents of high-tax states, especially those who earn more than $500,000.

Blue states with higher individual income and property tax rates, such as New York, New Jersey, and California, objected to the cap imposed under the 2017 tax overhaul, saying its unfair to their residents. Since the passage of tax reform, theyve tried various tax maneuvers to avoid the limitation.

Critics on both sides of the aisle, however, have for years said that eliminating or raising the SALT deduction cap would be a handout to the rich.

Under the House plan, roughly one-third of the tax benefits would go to the richest 1 percent and three-quarters would go to the richest 5 percent, according to an analysis by the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Another analysis, by the right-leaning Tax Foundation, found that the top 1 percent of earners would experience a 0.8 percent increase in after-tax income in 2022 due to a more generous SALT deduction.

The handout to the rich in the first few years would be much higher than the money spent on child tax credits, which is pretty unbelievable, says Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation.

The House bill would increase the cap to $80,000 from 2021 through 2030 and drop it back to $10,000 in 2031. Without changes, the current $10,000 limit is set to expire by the end of 2025. So the change proposed by the House would result in a tax cut for higher earners for 2021 through 2025, and a tax hike for 2026 through 2031, Watson said.

The SALT break in the first few years, however, will likely hit a Senate wall, as key senators have already voiced opposition. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) say that any SALT relief should benefit those earning less than $400,000 rather than the very wealthy.

Sanders criticized Democrats over their hypocrisy.

You cant be a political party that talks about demanding the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes and then end up with a bill that gives large tax breaks to many millionaires, Sanders wrote on Twitter on Nov. 18.

The hypocrisy is too strong. Its bad policy, its bad politics.

But this reform is especially important for lawmakers in high-tax states, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who vowed to eliminate the SALT cap forever.

It will be dead, gone, and buried, he said last year.

High tax states are losing residents and congressional seats as migration to low-tax states continues. California, for example, will lose one seat in Congress next year for the first time in state history. Goldman Sachs estimated that the SALT deduction cap may have lowered tax revenues in high-tax states by up to 1 percent due to tax revenue declines from emigration.

It remains to be seen who wins the SALT battle, but it has already become a divisive issue among Democrats.

Progressives have got a real messaging problem, said Jonathan Williams, chief economist at the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

Hence, theres going to be some heartburn on the Senate side, he said.

In addition, he said, many state legislators, particularly in low-tax states, feel strongly that any reform to repeal or increase the SALT cap amounts to a subsidy for high tax, high spend states.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Academics Breaking the COVID Spell

Commentary

The sphere of public education has been subject to the same psychosis that has afflicted other spheres of society since March 2020. Those in charge of this sphere havent addressed the problem by encouraging scholarly debate and the exercise of the academys critical function.

Taking their cue from forces outside the academy, and from irresponsible elements within it such as the notorious pandemic modeling of the Ferguson team at Imperial College London, they have instead contributed to the general dysfunction.

Nearly two years on, academic bureaucrats in disposable plastic masks (whatever happened to the righteous revolt against single-use plastics?) still solemnly swear that were facing the most serious health crisis since the Spanish flu. That the infection fatality rate isnt remotely like that of the Spanish flu isnt mentioned. That their masks are designed to screen large droplets or dust particles, not tiny viruses or proteins, goes unremarked. That the vaccines they tout are incapable of eradicating the virus, while quite capable of doing serious harm to alarming numbers of peopleincluding doctorsthey dont admit.

Nor do they point out that these vaccines arent, in fact, vaccines but novel genetic treatments with uncertain short- and long-term effects.

The academy, especially at the tertiary level, has largely failed the society its meant to serve. Heavily dependent on government funding, and to no small extent on pharmaceutical investments, it has put up almost no resistance to the quite deadly (pdf) coronavirus narrative or to government directives pursuant to that narrative. For the most part, it has merely echoed (where it hasnt helped engineer) the medias own talking points. Huge cracks in the narrative have been papered over. Students havent been taught to think critically about it or even to exercise a mild hermeneutic of suspicion.

Indeed, they have been shielded from those who do think critically.

The academy, moreover, has even taken to offering students, the great majority of whom arent naturally at risk from the virus, medical advice its not qualified to give, advice that in many places has morphed into a demand: Get vaccinated, as soon as possible and as often as necessary. Still worse, its standing by as pharmaceutical companiesthe same companies that invest in university chairs mandated to promote popular uptake of their productsconspire (pdf) with governments to seduce even the very young, whose risk is close to nil, into their lucrative experiment with a hybrid immune system that functions by genetic manipulation; in short, with immune systems that will be permanently dependent on those products.

This, quite manifestly, isnt a pandemic exit strategyeven if, as some contend, its for the elite an economic exit strategy. Ultimately, its an entrance strategy. Were poised now on the threshold of a brave new world in which the natural will give way to the artificial, democracy to technocracy, liberty to bio-surveillance and control. The constitutional principles on which we have hitherto relied will mean nothing.

The coronavirus crisis, in other words, is a convenient tool by which were being levered into position for a new normal, whose architects promise security in exchange for what a free person can only regard as slavery. Anyone who doubts this should begin paying closer attention. The essential facts are well documented and profoundly troubling.

Other tools are being forged to complete the job. Our world is being made to reel from crisis to crisis. But the trampling of rights, of reason, of truth, of conscience, of individual responsibility and choice, already is taking place. A culture of fear and coercion, a punitive culture, is being constructed inside the walls of academia itself, as of virtually every other societal institution. In the name of COVID, were witnessing forms of discrimination and exclusion never before seen except under totalitarian regimes.

We who believe in freedom can only find all this extremely disconcerting. Lockdowns destroy lives and livelihoods. Perpetual masking and other antisocial measures disturb psyches and limit learning. Vaccine passports produce apartheid, separating obedient sheep from disobedient goats. Inoculations, even when not violently compelled (as Austria now threatens) are a shallow and perverse condition for belonging. We stand at the door of a biodigital world in which belonging itself will become an impossibly thin, purely numerical notion.

Thats the very opposite of what the academy ought to be encouraging. What especially disturbs dissenting educators is the mistreatment of students, who have been fed half-truths or outright lies both by those who know theyre lies and by those who havent troubled themselves to find out. Forcing experimental medicines on young people, while hypocritically branding those who dare to question the coronavirus narrative as a deplorable mob spreading misinformation and disease, is itself the work of a mob. Likewise, the unjust discrimination and dismissals that directly harm dissenters by depriving them of what theyve earned and of their very capacity to earn.

People in the sphere of education who have seen or experienced such harms at first hand have begun banding together to demand change. Theyre thinking outside the box in which so many of their colleagues have sought a false security. Theyve important things to say and powerful recommendations to make. They wish to stand in solidarity with the many others who are urging such changes, especially those in the fields of medicine (pdf) and law, and with the tens of thousands of people from all walks of life who are marching in protest at the undemocratic transformation of our society. God help us, some say. Yes, God help us break the spell and effect renewal while theres still time!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is seen in a file photograph. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Prime Minister Sends Letters to Millions of Australians Encouraging COVID-19 Booster Shots

Letters will be sent to 11.3 million Australian homes before Christmas urging people to get COVID-19 booster shots, Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed.

Morrison said the booster program would be essential for the nation to avoid another round of virus infection.

Thanks to the high vaccination rates, we are now reopening. Our economy is strongly re-emerging, and people can get back to seeing family, travelling, and living a more normal life, the prime minister wrote in the letter.

An important part of this process is ensuring that every person in Australia has access to vaccine boosters to help maintain the best possible defence against serious illness or death.

Everyone in Australia is encouraged to take up the vaccine boosters to make sure we can keep each and every one of us safe.

The letter was co-signed by Health Minister Greg Hunt and Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly.

Over 151 million additional doses of Pfizer and AstraZeneca have been ordered. Fully vaccinated people can get boosters for free at GPs and pharmacists six months after taking their second doses.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at the Tooheys Brewery in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 18, 2021. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi)

Three hundred seventy thousand people have already received their booster shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Lieutenant-General John Frewen, the leader of Australias vaccine task force. In addition, over 500,000 people are now eligible for a third dose.

However, experts have said that healthy people do not need to rush for booster shots sooner than six months after their second dose.

I dont think we have to rush and get a third shot, potentially you might get more benefit if you wait a while, Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at the Australian National University, told 3AWs, Ross and Russel.

Winter is our next big risk, and we will be in a good position to give a boost, or a third shot, to those who need it before our next big risk.

The booster push comes as many European countries are forced back into lockdowns during the winter season, and a new COVID-19 variant named the Nu strain has been detected in South Africa.

What youre seeing over in Europe at the moment with a further wave, booster shots are very important. So we can keep rolling on, the Prime Minister told ABC Radio Adelaide on Friday.

Australia currently has 86 percent of the national population aged 16 or above fully vaccinated, with 91.9 percent having received their first shot.
The Apple logo is seen on the outside of Bill Graham Civic Auditorium before the start of an event in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2016. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

Apple Warns Thai Govt Critics of State-Sponsored Attacks on iPhones

At least six activists and researchers critical of Thailands government were issued an alert on Wednesday from Apple Inc that warned them that it believed their iPhones had been targeted by state-sponsored attackers.

Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist at Bangkoks Thammasat University, said he received two emails from Apple stating that it was believed that his iPhone and iCloud accounts had been targeted, along with a threat notification on his Apple account.

The alert from Apple warns: If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone. While its possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously.

Researcher Sarinee Achananuntakul and activist Yingcheep Atchanont of legal monitoring group iLaw shared via social media that they had received similar emails.

Thai rapper Dechathorn Bamrungmuang, popularly known as Hockhacker from the Rap Against Dictatorship group, also claimed to have received a similar alert from Apple and posted a screengrab of the message on his Facebook page.

Dechathorn, who faced charges of sedition in Thailand, said he was appalled by the hacking attempt.

At the time of writing, neither Apple nor Thailands Digital Ministry had made any comments on the matter.

Apple also sent alerts to a number of users in El Salvador, including 12 employees from El Faro, an online digital newspaper that has been critical of the government. Two leaders of civil society organizations and two opposition politicians also received the alerts, according to TechCrunch.

In Uganda, the party president of the conservative opposition Democratic Party, Norbert Mao, also received the warning from Apple.

When you wake up to a threat notification from @Apple that your iPhone is being targeted then you know that cyber terrorism from state sponsored cyber terrorists is real, Mao said via Twitter.

This studio photographic illustration shows a smartphone with the website of Israels NSO Group which features Pegasus spyware, on display in Paris on July 21, 2021. (Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images)

Pegasus Software

Apple had earlier sued NSO Group to seek a permanent injunction to ban the spyware maker from using any Apple product, stating its Pegasus software had been used to attack a small number of Apple users worldwide with malicious malware and spyware.

It was not immediately clear in Apples alerts whether the company believed the Thais were being targeted by Pegasus.

Internet security watchdog group Citizen Lab identified in 2018 a Pegasus spyware operator active within Thailand.

Reuters contributed to this article.
Pedestrians move along George Street in the CBD in Sydney, Australia, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Australia to Increase International Student Diversity in New Strategy

The Australian government will introduce a diversity index for international students in a bid to reduce any financial risk associated with focussing on one or two markets, while improving student experience, as part of a new 10-year strategy.

The majority of Australias international student market was from China and India in 2019 and 2020accounting for nearly 60 percent of international students.

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said some public universities had up to 80 percent of their international students from one country, which created financial risk and diminished the student experience.

We want to see our international student market flourish again, but we have to ensure that the Australian student experience is also prioritised, Tudge said.

This means that our public universities need to have a higher priority on diversity in their classrooms.

A report by the Australian Strategy for International Education 2021 to 2030 outlined the huge demand and opportunity in offshore course provision.

It is something the United Kingdom is already taking advantage of, with 58 percent of its international students studying off-shore compared to 20 percent in Australia.

We could potentially be educating 10 million students in this manner in a decade or two, supporting the development of our neighbours as well as providing a revenue source for our universities, Tudge said.

Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said attracting international students from new and emerging markets was essential for Australias international education sector to continue to thrive as one of the countrys strongest exports.

International education is our biggest services export earner and Australia is known globally for providing world-class education, Tehan said.

Students walk around the University of New South Wales campus in Sydney, Australia, on Dec. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

The Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia (ITECA), the peak body for independent tertiary education providers, welcomed the new strategy and acknowledged that the sectors past dependence on a small number of markets for overseas students is not sustainable.

Not only are they looking at new markets such as Latin America, they are also looking at new ways to support students, ITECA CEO Troy Williams said in a statement, adding that a growing number of ITECA members are working on opening campuses in offshore markets.

The strategy also outlined how the sector will achieve a better alignment between courses studied and skill shortages.

Independent providers support around 90 percent of international students in vocational training programs, so we strongly support initiatives flagged in the strategy to help our members better align their offerings to international students with the nations future skills needs, Williams said.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said the changes to visa settings will provide greater opportunities for international students to study in Australia.

I look forward to welcoming international students back to Australia very soon, enabling them to once again re-engage with our universities, schools, English Language and vocational education and training providers face-to-face, he said.
A mobile phone screen displays the icons for the social networking apps Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, taken in Manchester, England on March 22, 2018. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Australian Indigenous Community at Heart of Social Media Rumors Refute Claims

Two Aboriginal residents of Binjari and Rockhole, on the outskirts of Katherine, have posted on social media that claims circulating of forced vaccinations are untrue and that they are being treated with respect and dignity by authorities, NT News reported on Thursday.

This comes on the back of claims on Twitter earlier in the week that army personnel were forcing residents to get COVID-19 vaccinations and taking them to the Howard Springs facility against their will.

The social media stories were in response to the current vaccination drive in Aboriginal communities, as well as the Northern Territory government request for aid from the defence personnel to assist with distributing food, COVID-19 testing, compliance with lockdown rules and transporting close contacts to Howard Springs for quarantine.

In one video post, an Aboriginal man said he received a call from an elder in Robinson River who was crying after everyone in his community had been forcibly vaccinated.

These claims have also been refuted by the Australian Department of Defence (DOD), who confirmed in an email to The Epoch Times that the claims of army personnel force-vaccinating and detaining people are emphatically false.

Defence personnel currently supporting Northern Territory Government authorities cannot forcibly remove residents from their homes, forcibly vaccinate residents against their will nor forcibly prevent residents from filming or photographing events in public places, DOD said.

Their response also stated that Defence is supporting the Whole-of-Government response to COVID-19, providing support as requested by states and territories through Emergency Management Australia. This support primarily focuses on COVID-19 testing, supporting measures to slow the spread of the virus and the welfare of the community.

ADF personnel serve in a supporting role to State and Territory authorities and are not empowered or authorised to conduct any law enforcement activities, the department added.

Similarly, Binjari resident Evonne Booth said on social media that the posts saying things about Binjari communities and the lockdown are untrue, NT News reported.

If people wanna know whats happening talk to us and our families and our mob. The army and police are not removing anyone against their will. There is no children getting forcibly vaccinated, she said.

She added that parents are making decisions for their kids and everyone in the community is being treated with respect.

Suzie Andrews, a resident of Rockhole, also confirmed that none of those claims on social media are truthful.

No one is being forced and held down to get that vaccination. We are being looked after and have a voice to people that can answer our issues, she said. We can ask the police and they are doing their best.

In addition, Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service released a statement on behalf of residents from Binjari and Rockhole, saying the residents of those communities were hurt by the false comments being made about their situation.

We dont appreciate outside people making comments that are untrue. People on social media saying that our people are being mistreated need to realise their comments are hurting the very people they claim to care about, the statement said.

We have been treated with a lot of respect and appreciate all the support being given by these support personnel people.

Meanwhile, the community Rockhole began transitioning from a hard lockdown to a lockdown at midday on Thursday due to negative COVID-19 tests and wastewater results.

According to NT Health, residents are now permitted to leave home for five essential reasons: medical treatment, essential goods and services, work considered essential, one hour of exercise a day within a 5km radius of home, and to provide care and support to a family member or person who cannot support themselves.

However, the Binjari community will remain in a hard lockdown, meaning people can only leave home for medical treatment, in an emergency, or if required by law.

This comes as one new case was recorded on Thursday, a teenager from the Binjari community. He was a close contact of a previous case and has been in quarantine at the Howard Springs facility on the outskirts of Darwin.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the Northern Territory now stands at 50.
Members of the Canadian Forces build a temporary dike with sandbags behind houses on Clayburn Creek ahead of a rainfall warning Environment Canada has forecast for the region which is already affected by flooding, in Abbotsford, B.C., November 24, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

BC Reopens Major Section of Flood Damaged Trans Canada Highway in Fraser Valley

VICTORIAA major section of the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia that was under floodwater since last week reopened Thursday, easing traffic congestion and helping connect the Lower Mainland to the provinces Interior.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said the section of Highway 1 between Abbotsford and Chilliwack was cleared to reopen, which provides a vital artery from the Lower Mainland to the Interior via Highway 3 as work on other major damaged and closed road routes continues.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said officials are keeping close watch on the weather as a series of rainstorms are forecast to hit the province, with the worst precipitation expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Lana Popham said shes heard from berry and produce farmers who lost their crops in the floods, while some dairy and hog producers are being helped by food deliveries, at times by helicopters.

Fleming said the reopened section of the highway will not be subject to an essential travel order, but people were asked to use it only if necessary, adding that reduced speed limits will be in effect and slow going should be expected.

Weve had geotechnical engineering confirm that the road is safe for travel, he said at a news conference. This will provide a lot of congestion relief and mobility for the region.

Fleming said reopening the major traffic route through the Fraser Valley was welcome news, but motorists were urged to exercise patience and further closures could result if floodwaters return.

Work is underway to reopen the Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt to commercial traffic by late January, he said, and Highway 7 between Hope and Agassiz remains open but under travel restrictions.

A large section of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Fraser Canyon area remains closed due to mudslides and Highway 8, between Spences Bridge and Merritt, was severely damaged by flooding and is also closed.

Work is continuing around the clock on the Coquihalla Highway where five bridges collapsed or sustained serious damage and sections of the major four-lane route were washed out, said Fleming.

All told, about 20 sites have been badly damaged or washed away, he said. This is about 130 kilometres of the corridor that is affected. This is going to be a daunting task to get that highway back to being fully operational.

He said the ministry is confident, depending on the severity of coming winter storms, that enough temporary repairs can be completed on the Coquihalla to allow commercial traffic by late January, but some sections will be one lane in each direction and under reduced speed limits.

Meanwhile, the federal government and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority announced they are working together to address supply chain disruptions. A statement from the federal ministers of transport and emergency preparedness says the government is contributing up to $4.1 million to ease bottlenecks at Vancouver ports.

The congestion was caused by the aftermath of floods that severed all rail and road travel between Metro Vancouver and B.C.s Interior.

The statement says the plan, led by the port authority, will add container storage capacity by opening up an undeveloped 16-hectare parcel of industrial land in Richmond to hold empty containers.

Wind and rainfall warnings blanket most of the B.C. as the province continues its rebuild from the flood damage and prepares for more precipitation. B.C. can expect three rainfall events over the next few days, with a major storm forecast to hit the southern part of the province Tuesday, Farnworth said.

If you are in a flood-prone area, be prepared to evacuate if asked, he said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to be in B.C. Friday to visit areas affected by the flooding and meet with provincial, civic, and First Nation leaders.

Trudeaus schedule says he will be in the Abbotsford area and will also meet with members of the military, first responders and volunteers.

He is to be in Victoria later in the day to meet with Premier John Horgan.

The B.C. government has been making headway on its recovery, with supply chains stabilizing, gas shortages starting to ease and some evacuees allowed to return to their homes. Canadian Pacific Railway announced its first trains have arrived in Vancouver from Kamloops carrying grain and fuel.

Environment Canada says Howe Sound, as well as northern sections of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, were expected to receive up to 80 millimetres of rain by Friday morning. Southern sections of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley were forecast to receive up to 50 millimetres.

By Dirk Meissner
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, top center, Premier Li Keqiang, right, and NPC Chairman Li Zhanshu applaud during a speech at the second plenary session at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 8, 2021. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Beijings New Resolution Doesnt Bode Well for China

Commentary

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) recently approved a historical resolution that firmly established the unchallenged position of its leader, Xi Jinping. The lengthy resolution, the third in the Partys 100-year history, paves the ideological ground for Xi to seek a third and, perhaps, life term. It also laid out Xis view for the future in his so-called 10 principles that must be strictly followed.

The first and foremost principle is to uphold the CCPs power. The resolution stresses that the Partys leadership is comprehensive and holistic. Every state institution, government department, judicial and procuratorial organ, armed force, state and private enterprise, social and cultural group, grassroots organization, and so forth have to come under the leadership of the CCP.

This is reminiscent of the words of Mao Zedong, the founder of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC): Workers, peasants, students, businessmen, soldiers; east, west, south, north, and centralthe Party leads all.

Xis resolution also stresses that the leadership by the Party Central is the highest principle and that the practice of reporting to the Party Central must be enforced. In the CCPs vocabulary, Party Central, when used in this context, refers to Xi.

The second principle is the need to strengthen the bond between the Party and the people. The resolution emphasizes that any attempt to separate the CCP from the Chinese people, or to incite them to oppose each other will never succeed. This is an obvious rebuttal to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeos assertion that the CCP doesnt represent the Chinese peopleBeijing views this statement as an attempt to drive a wedge between the CCP and the people of China.

The third principle is on innovative Marxism. The resolution states that the great social changes in contemporary China are not  a template simply [modeled] on the ideas of classic Marxist writers, nor a reprint of socialist practice in other countries. The resolution states that Xis Thought was extolled as Marxism of the 21st century and a flawless combination of Marxism and the Chinese grandiose culture. Thus, insistence on theoretical innovation must mean insistence on Xis Thought, because its considered to be an innovative form of Marxism.

The fourth principle deals with self-reliance and independence.

We must insist that Chinas affairs must be decided and handled by the Chinese people, the resolution reads.

At a time when the CCP faces serious diplomatic rows with the West, Beijing wont yield to foreign pressures.

The fifth principle is adherence to the Chinese Road (or the China Model). This is a reiteration of Xis so-called four matters of confidence: confidence in the theory, path, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The sixth principle is having the world at heart. This refers to Xis formulation of the future world order enshrined in his political slogan of common destiny of mankind.

The seventh principle is on innovation and pioneering exploration, which is meant to break the foreign embargo of high-tech export to China.

The eighth principle is the spirit of daring to fight. The resolution calls on every Party member to be ready for pro-active combat, to carry forward the spirit of struggle, and enhance their ability to fight.

Its well-known that Xi gives a lot of emphasis to struggle. In a speech on Sept. 3, 2019, at the Party Central School (an institution that educates Chinas political elite), he mentioned the word struggle 58 times. In a similar occasion on March 1, he mentioned the same word 14 times.

From these two speeches, its clear that Xi wasnt referring to struggle in the military sense, but in the ideological realm. By insisting on ideological struggle, Xi deviated from the policy of Deng Xiaoping, the architect of Chinas reform and open-door policy. Deng paid no attention to empty ideological debates on whether a certain policy was capitalistic or socialistic in nature. His famous Cat Theoryblack cat or white cat, if it can catch mice, its a good catpushed aside ideological squabbles. This de-emphasis of ideological dogma enabled people to think out loud and try new ways of doing things, which vastly contributed to the countrys progress.

The resolution calls on every Party organization to firmly establish Marxism at the core of the system and states that they must guard the ideological battleground in a responsible and effective manner. Besides, they must be dared to struggle and to fight against all kinds of erroneous views. By insisting on struggle, Xi has brought back the divisive, empty ideological feuds that marked Maos time.

The ninth principle is on the United Front strategy, which the resolution claims is the CCPs important magic weapon to win over the enemy. Indeed, Mao had long stated that the CCP owed its rise to the United Front policy, which was a sure-win strategy.

The resolution stresses that to achieve the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, this strategy will be applied to different fronts: party, government, ethnic and religious groups, class relations, and overseas Chinese communities. Chinese people living abroad will be co-opted to help realize Xis China Dream through the United Front strategy.

The last principle is on permanent revolution, which is reminiscent of the continuous revolution theory of Mao. He justified launching the disastrous Cultural Revolution with the ultra-leftist theory of permanent or uninterrupted revolution.

Of these 10 principles, half of them imply a return to Maos era, such as the overarching position of the Party, emphasis on Marxism, ideological struggles, ceaseless revolution, and self-reliance and independence.

Moreover, Dengs reform and open-door policy werent mentioned in the principles. Since 1979, Deng put economic development as the core task of the CCP, and to achieve this, the country adhered to that reform and open-door policy. He even warned cadres in his 1992 Shenzhen tour that whoever doesnt want reform and open-door policy has to step down.

Thus, the omission of this policy signifies a departure from Deng.

The third historical resolution doesnt bode well for China, since it leans toward Mao-era policies. Communist China owed its rapid economic growth to Deng, while Mao brought disaster and economic poverty through his Cultural Revolutionthis is the path that Xi is laying out for the Chinese people.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
President Joe Biden hands out a challenge coin as he speaks with members of the Coast Guard at the United States Coast Guard Station Brant Point in Nantucket, Mass., on Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Biden Meets With Coast Guard Service Members on Thanksgiving

President Joe Biden on Thursday met with Coast Guard service members in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and also held a virtual call with U.S. service members from the six branches of the military, as part of his activities on Thanksgiving.

The president and first lady Jill Biden wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving prior to their trip to the island of Nantucket for the holiday.

As we give thanks for what we have, we also keep in our hearts those who have been lost and those who have lost so much, the president said in a videotaped greeting with the first lady by his side.

In Nantucket, at the Coast Guard Station Brant Point, the Bidens addressed service members from the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force.

Service members and their families sacrifice so much to protect our freedoms and the freedom of others around the globe. While we can never fully repay the debt we owe these heroes, @FLOTUS and I called today to say how thankful we are for all they do, Biden said on Twitter, with a photo of the two on the virtual call.

Service members and their families sacrifice so much to protect our freedoms and the freedom of others around the globe. While we can never fully repay the debt we owe these heroes, @FLOTUS and I called today to say how thankful we are for all they do. pic.twitter.com/iPO5BXHBBy  President Biden (@POTUS) November 25, 2021

Following the virtual meeting, the Bidens greeted about 20 Coast Guard service members outside, with the president wishing them a happy Thanksgiving holiday, handing out challenge coins, which are historically collectible pieces.

Im not joking when I say Im thankful for these guys, thankful to them, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, Biden said when asked what he was grateful for.

He said when foreigners wonder what America is, they dont see us here, meaning civilians. They see them, he said of members of the Coast Guard and the other branches of the U.S. military. It makes me proud.

The Bidens also briefly called in to NBCs live TV coverage of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. The 2021 parade in Manhattan had about 8,000 participants.

The Bidens started spending Thanksgiving in Nantucket since before they were married in 1977. They did not visit in 2015 following late son Beau Bidens death earlier that year, or in 2020, amid heavy restrictions due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

The couples family this year joined them in celebrating Thanksgiving, flying to the island with him late Tuesday on Air Force Oneson Hunter and his wife, Melissa, and their toddler son Beau; daughter Ashley; and grandchildren Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, and young Hunte, as well as Naomis fiance, Peter Neal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Canadian Senator Introduces Bill to Ban Imports From Chinas Xinjiang

A Canadian senator has introduced a bill to ban the importation of goods from Chinas Xinjiang region amid concerns of slave labour.

Sen. Leo Housakos on Nov. 24 introduced S-204, which would amend the Customs Tariff to prohibit the importation of goods manufactured or produced wholly or in part in Xinjiang, where China has been accused of widespread human rights atrocities against the Uyghur minority group.

This bill simplifies and strengthens the law, and is an opportunity for our government to take a stronger position and to send a strong message to the communist regime that we are serious in our commitment to fighting human rights abuses, amongst other egregious actions, Housakos told The Epoch Times.

Canada isnt doing enough to confront China on any file, much less slave labour.

The House of Commons passed a non-binding motion in February declaring that the Chinese regime is carrying out a genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims. The vote passed 266 to 0, with the Liberal cabinet abstaining from voting.

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), says the bill is important because other measures the federal government has taken to curb imports from the Xinjiang region havent gone far enough.

We have worked for a long time to take some action through legislation, because Canada did not take any actions, except to issue an advisory to the Canadian companies to exercise due diligence, said Tohti.

In January, Global Affairs Canada issued an advisory on doing business with Xinjiang-related entities, stating, Human rights violations in Xinjiang pose a number of risks that Canadian firms operating in and doing business with China should carefully consider.

Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng, Xinjiang region, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Without legislation in place to prohibit the importation of products from Xinjiang, Canada is a safe haven for goods made by Uyghur slave labour, Tohti says.

Morally, and lawfully, it is not acceptable, he said.

Tohti says he doesnt expect smooth sailing for the bill, however, because theres a strong pro-China lobby group in Canada.

Meanwhile, a case is before the federal court to have the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) impose a ban on all imports from the Xinjiang region, unless the importer can prove the products were not made by forced labour. The case was filed last February by the NGO Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need, with support from former MP and secretary of state David Kilgour. URAP was recently granted intervenor status in the case by the attorney general.

A provision under Canadian law already prohibits the import of any products sourced from forced labour regardless of the country of origin.

CBSA recently made its first interdiction under this law, which came into force in 2020 as part of the adoption of the North American free trade agreement (USMCA) in 2018. Sometime between Oct. 11 and Nov. 3, CBSA in Quebec intercepted a shipment of womens and childrens clothing originating from China, according to media reports.

CBSA told The Epoch Times there are difficulties in enforcing the prohibition.

Unlike most other inadmissible goods, there is no visual indicator for a border services officer to validate the labour standards by which a particular good was produced, said an agency spokesperson.

It takes research and coordination amongst all stakeholders to establish reliable and actionable sources of information to administer the prohibition.

Tohti is not satisfied with this approach, saying its not about how to track, its about the will to track. He adds that the United States has taken a more active approach, which he says has had some success.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has standing orders to detain shipments from specific companies or sectors that could be sourced from slave labour in Xinjiang, such as silica-based products from Hoshine Silicon Industry, cotton, and tomatoes.

In the summer of 2020, the CBP seized a shipment of products suspected of being made with human hair originating from Xinjiang worth over US$800,000.

Photo shows human hair products from China seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the port of New York/Newark on July 1, 2020. (CBP)

Two reports published this year by Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom tracked down slave labour used by the solar and cotton industries in China, with the goods fed through global supply chains. The Laundering Cotton report, released this month, says that a number of major brands such as Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Gap, and Canadas Lululemon could be using Xinjiang cotton obtained through intermediaries.

A CBC Marketplace investigation also recently revealed that some tomato products on the shelves of Canadian supermarkets originate from Xinjiang.

According to rights groups and different governments, Uyghurs are subjected to an array of human rights violations.

Global Affairs Canada states there are credible reports Uyghurs are subjected to mass arbitrary detention, forced mass arbitrary separation of children from their parents, suppression of religious and cultural practices, repressive targeting and surveillance measures, forced labour, forced sterilization, torture, and other forms of mistreatment.

With reporting by Donna Ho
A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin and small toy figures are placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken on Jan. 7, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Bitcoin Falls Into Bear Market as New COVID-19 Variant Spooks Markets

Bitcoin enters bear market territory as the cryptocurrency fell eight percent in the last 24 hours to trade at $54,176, reaching its lowest level since the first week of October amidst a market rout over a new heavily-mutated variant of COVID-19 emerging from South Africa.

When an asset declines 20 percent or more, it effectively enters the bear market. Bitcoin reached an all-time high of approximately $69,000 in early November. Accompanying the worlds most prolific digital currency, Ethereum fell nine percent based on data from Bloomberg, along with many other digital currencies, including the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index which declined four percent.

Other risk assets, like stocks and crude oil, also saw selloffs, driven by fears of a fourth wave in South Africa that could spread internationally. Haven assets like gold and U.S. Treasurys absorbed some of the outflows, driving up the spot gold price and pushing down bond yields.

Here is a mutation variant of serious concern, South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a media briefing on Tuesday. We were hopeful that we might have a longer break in between wavespossibly that it would hold off to late December or even next year January.

The new variant carries a reproduction number of two, which means each infected individual affects two others. The European Union is considering canceling all flights coming in from the region. Other than South Africa where cases have been confirmed, the new variant, yet to be named, has been detected in neighboring Botswana, Israel, Belgium, and Hong Kong.

The UK and Netherlands have banned flights from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and other bordering countries. The current vaccines may not be effective for the novel variant, reports BBC.

Bitcoin not providing much of a hedge, Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets.com, wrote in a note. Cryptocurrencies were considered by many investors to be a hedge against the general trends of financial markets, a digital gold. But, the price of real gold is holding steady, providing investors with a hedge against the recent volatility.

Bitcoin attained record highs after the first U.S. exchange-traded fund (etf) linked to Bitcoin futures launched last month. Ironically, yesterday afternoon crypto markets were starting to look pretty optimistic with hopes of a Santa Claus rally, Jonathan Cheesman, head of institutional sales at crypto exchange FTX, wrote in a note on Friday, reported Fortune. He said that it will be a nervous weekend for sure.

Other reasons cited for the crypto-fall are Chinas continuing regulatory crackdowns and new requirements related to tax reporting for digital assets in the United States. Crypto-bulls are, however, holding on to the belief that more institutions will come to recognize digital currencies leading to mainstream acceptance and usage. Bitcoin is up more than 80 percent this year.

This is a market reaction/correction within an uptrend, said Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia-Pacific at Luno Pte., to Fortune. He added that 20 percent pullbacks are common in a Bitcoin uptrend, while drops to sub-$50,000 could be concerning.

Investors have increasingly turned to the safety of bonds. U.S. Treasury yields are moving down sharply.
Bringing the Giving Back to Thanksgiving

The holidays have arrived. They rushed toward us with an expectation of getting noticed. Thanksgiving and Christmas melding together as consumerism reaches a feverish pitch as the weeks of November drift into December. Black Friday becomes Black Thanksgiving Night and soon there will no Thanksgiving pause before the madness begins.

I am thinking about this as I am flying to see my oldest daughter and son-in-law and new granddaughter. My daughters birthday is November 20th. We almost always celebrate her birthday and then our family joins for Thanksgiving Day. It is her favorite holiday. Mine too.

As our family has grown, so have the number of tables added to the end of our dining table to make room for young and old alike. It is a happy place for me, to see my children all gathered in one place. I am so thankful for their presence. The chatter of multiple conversations taking place at once is music to my ears. Yes, I am thankful.

Families build traditions around holidays and ours was no different. A few years ago, this same daughter lived in Finland. However, her boyfriend, now husband, is from Italy. During one Thanksgiving week, I flew to see her and celebrate with her both her birthday and our favorite holiday. In the beautiful Northern city of Bergamo, I met his family and fell in love. They are a big family with great love. Though I didnt speak Italian, nor did they speak English, it didnt keep us from sharing a wonderful time.

I appreciated the love that was expressed from my daughter and her new future family. I can only imagine the effort that went into that Thanksgiving meal. Unlike, the frozen turkeys that nearly tumble from the freezers in our grocery stores, a whole turkey is not that easy to find in this small city in November.

Dinner time arrived and the turkey was presented with lit candles as though it were a birthday cake and we delighted. A Thanksgiving tradition was started and to this day one son-in-law fries the turkey and the other presents it to the table with candles.

Yes, traditions are built as bonds are formed. One of my favorites we have adopted is a tradition once told to me by a woman that I met on a trip to Israel. It truly embodies the words Thanks and giving. Each member of the family is given a certain amount of dollars to give away. From the very young to the very old, each is given the opportunity to give that money to a ministry or organization that they believe impacts the community, the nation, or the world in a positive manner. At Christmas they share their giving strategy and its impact. It is giving at its best.

Giving traditions such as these teach the truth to even the very young that it is better to give than to receive. Giving to others indwells the giver with a unique joy that cannot be reproduced.

The stillness of Thanksgiving is followed by the frenetic motion of the pre-Christmas holiday shopping days: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and then the unexpected day arrives. It is called Giving Tuesdays.

What a refreshing day to follow in the spirit of Thanks-giving. In 2012, the genesis of Giving Tuesday took place at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. A simple idea of a day for doing good is now a global movement of giving generously. Hundreds of millions choose this day to experience the joy of giving.

In my own life, my husband and I have discovered that giving of our time and our money to charities both locally, nationally, and internationally has enriched our lives more than we could have imagined. We choose our goals for the upcoming year based upon what we can give away rather than what we can earn. We recently were taught by a couple from Houston, Tx whose business has grown exponentially and unexplainably by not only developing a giving goal, but a stretch giving goal. We are incorporating this stretch goal for our 2022. We dont do this to receive more in return, but rather increasing the excitement of joyful giving.

As you look forward to the holidays and your own traditions, may I encourage you to consider enjoying the giving in your Thanksgiving traditions? Use Giving Tuesday and the month of December to give and the holiday season will deliver the gifts of merry and bright to your heart.

If your family has a holiday tradition that you would like to share, please include in the comments. We would love to hear from you and yours.

Finally, there are many amazing charities to give to but if you want to join me in bringing food to those experiencing food poverty as a result of Covid 19, follow this link: Africa New Life Food Is Campaign.
Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin listens as her press secretary, Yolanda Joe, speaks during an interview at Conyears-Ervins office in City Hall in Chicago, on Nov. 21, 2019. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Chicago Mayors Administration to Pay $100,000 to Settle Whistleblower Claims by Former Treasurer Employees

By Gregory Pratt

From Chicago Tribune

CHICAGOChicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle whistleblower complaints by two city treasurer employees who alleged they were improperly fired, records obtained by the Chicago Tribune show.

Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin dismissed her chief of staff, Tiffany Harper, in late 2020, as well as three other workers, as part of what she called an office shake-up. Harper and Ashley Evans, the treasurers former chief impact officer, alleged that their firings violated the Illinois whistleblower act, federal laws, and a city ordinance, according to a copy of their settlement agreement with the city.

Lightfoots Law Department settled the case last month, records show. Harper and Evans will each get $41,000 while their attorney will get $18,000 shows.

The agreement between the workers and city officials stipulates that Harper and Evans must keep the agreement confidential.

If individuals other than Harpers and Evans attorneys, tax advisers, or immediate family members living in their homes ask about this matter, they will inform them only that the matter has been resolved, the agreement said.

Its not clear what Harper and Evans specifically allege happened. But in an email to Steve Berlin, executive director of the citys ethics board, Harper said she believes she and two other officials were let go without cause or reason.

I have no doubt that our terminations are related to our refusal to participate in the illegal and unethical conduct that we discussed with you earlier this fall, Harper wrote in the email, first reported on by the Tribune last year. As such, I would like to preserve my right to file a whistleblower complaint with the Board of Ethics as well as request steps for filing such a complaint.

Harper did not elaborate in her email about her allegations or identify who might be the subject of her complaint.

Harpers and Evans attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Neither did Conyears-Ervins spokeswoman.

Conyears-Ervin previously denied the general allegations in the email and said it isnt unusual to make staff changes.

A Law Department spokeswoman released a statement saying the city regularly evaluates both filed actions and threatened litigation in conjunction with the fiduciary duty to act in the citys best financial interest to resolve such matters.

Importantly, reaching a settlement is not an admission of liability and this is reflected in the terms of the actual agreement, the statement said.

Because the settlement is $100,000, it does not require City Council approval.

A former state representative, Conyears-Ervin was elected city treasurer in April 2019. In 2019, she clashed with Lightfoot over the administrations decision to stop providing the treasurer with a police security detail. In a contentious exchange of emails, Lightfoot stood by the decision to strip Conyears-Ervin of her detail.

2021 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Warships and fighter jets of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea on April 12, 2018. (Reuters)

Chinas Aggression Is Changing the Nature of Sovereignty

Kiribati in the Pacific Islands is an object lesson

News Analysis

Kiribati is dumping a 158,000-square-mile World Heritage marine reserve, the Pacific Islands Forum, and its friendship with Taiwan. Why? The archipelagic state is trading its sovereignty for Beijings fast cash.

The sovereignty of Kiribati, a nation of islands in the South Pacific between China and the United States, is being submerged not principally by the waves of global warming, as many fear, but by Beijings illiberal influence. Unlike the storms on a rising sea that build islands by successive layers of sand, Beijing is capturing Kiribati with waves of cash.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will not willingly return what it takes through purchase. So the citizens of Kiribati, and the rest of the world, must get much tougher, much more quickly, if we are to defend Kiribatis democracy and sovereignty. What applies to Kiribati, the canary in a coal mine, will eventually apply to the capitals of Europe and North America.

This article uses the case of Kiribati to argue for what to this authors knowledge is a philosophical first: support for an autocracy that seeks hegemony should void a countrys sovereignty. A similar approach should be taken to physical persons and corporations: support for hegemonic autocracy should be illegal and have criminal consequences.

Anyone who sells out democracy should go to prison, and any country that does the same will, one way or another, lose its sovereignty. Kiribati is an object lesson in this sad trend of contemporary international relations.

As preparation for breaking this new philosophical ground, consider these facts in the case of Kiribati.

The Case of Kiribati

On Nov. 11, exclusive reporting by 1News revealed documents that show the Kiribati government deregistering a World Heritage site that is a massive 158,000-square-mile marine reserve. The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) will now be exploited by not only illegal, but commercial, fishing.

China, which engages in massive amounts of illegal fishing globally, facilitated by fossil fuel subsidies of its fishing fleet, will likely benefit from not only the exploitation of the newly vulnerable and pristine fishing grounds, but from their military potential. Chinas PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and Navy (PLAN) could in particular use Kiribatis prime military basing because it is adjacent to U.S. waters, and strategically located midway between Australia and Hawaii.

According to documents obtained by 1News, Kiribatis cabinet informed PIPA that it would be deregistered. That confidential communication came in late October, and was only revealed publicly when New Zealands 1News discovered it this month.

Alex Gray, former U.S. National Security Council chief of staff and an expert on the Pacific Islands, responded to the news by saying that China is the worlds greatest ecological menace, from its devastating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing around the world, to its consistent undermining of global norms that protect delicate ecosystems like Antarctica and the deep seabed. The U.S. and its partners must confront Chinas attack on the ecology of the worlds most vulnerable places and not remain silent on this defining issue.

As Gray previously noted in The Diplomat, Beijings influence in the Pacific Islands is not only ecological, but political. The regime is inclined to exert leverage over these tiny islands, he wrote.

According to the 1News report by Barbara Dreaver, Theres deep concern that the move [to deregister the reserve] has been driven by China. PIPA is attractive to China not only for its fishing wealth but its strategically significant location near US military installations.

Defense analyst Anna Powles at Massey University in New Zealand told 1News that Kiribati has real strategic value to China if it could potentially develop some strategic infrastructure on Kanton Island which has commercial fishery usage but potential military usage as well.

Kanton Island was previously a U.S. and British military base, just 1,600 miles southwest of Hawaii. The United States used the tiny islandthen spelled Canton after an American whaling ship that wrecked on the atoll in 1854as an emergency air base and anti-ballistic missile tracking station.

In Violating Kiribatis Sovereignty, Beijing Breaks Chinas Promise of 1948

The United States voluntarily relinquished its military base on Kiribatis Kanton atoll due to American ideals of a world of independent sovereign democracies, found in part within the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The writing of that declaration was led by the United States and involved close participation from participants of France, Canada, nationalist China, and Lebanon. The formal drafting eventually enlarged to include Australia, Chile, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Nationalist China and the Soviet Union supported the declaration, which recognized democracy as a human right, arguably as part of the bargain that welcomed these autocracies into leadership positions of the international community.

Now Russia and communist China are going back on their word and rejecting this foundational United Nations document, on which other U.N. principles such as territorial integrity and non-interference that they sometimes support are predicated.

Beijing continues to grab the territory of its neighbors in Asia against international principles such as territorial integrity and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), and it flagrantly violates the 1948 declaration and international law against genocide.

Kiribati Would Make a Useful Chinese Military Base

On and around Kanton atoll and the other Pacific Islands, Beijing manifests its disregard for sovereignty through illegal fishing, the attempted bribing of entire democracies with millions of dollars in cash, and the use of Chinese funding for an upgraded airstrip that could be used by the PLAAF and PLAN as a convenient jumping-off spot for Hawaii.

The Chinese could use the Kiribati islands as it does its artificial islands in the South China Sea: as bases for missiles, bombers, jet fighters, submarines, and aircraft carriers. Kiribati extends Chinas military reach uncomfortably close to Honolulu, which hosts the U.S. military headquarters for all of Asia.

A Navy sailors aboard the USS Halsey salute the USS Utah Memorial in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 2016. (Marco Garcia/AP Photo)

For a few million dollars, Kiribati is thus cracking the status quo of superpower relations that kept the peace in the Pacific Islands since the last world war. The country is being penny wise and more than pound foolish, especially in its disrespect for democracy and turn toward China during Beijings practice of genocide, military aggression against neighbors Taiwan, India, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia, and Beijings growing hegemonic ambitions.

Notably, Kiribati spurned a 23-year friendship with Taiwan in 2019 in favor of Beijing. In exchange, it was promised a $66 million grant.

Does Kiribati really want to choose the wrong side of this new cold war that could well get hot?

Beijings Carrots and Sticks at Work in Kiribati

In a recent Diplomat article, Gray noted that China succeeded in prompting Kiribati to switch its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in a process that raised concerns about Chinas undue interference in Kiribatis political process.

Countries that have supported Taiwan, like Palau, pay the price. Beijing uses its power over Chinese citizens to wield illegal fishing and tourism bans against countries that support Taiwan.

Particularly vulnerable are Nauru, Tuvalu, and Kiribati, whose exceptionally small size and geographic isolation make them especially susceptible to outside coercion, wrote Gray.

Nauru and Tuvalu still recognize Taiwan, but Gray wrote that China is capable of marshaling enormous resources, in the form of both overt economic aid and covert influence, in order to secure its preferred outcomes in [these] small states with relatively opaque governing processes.

Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. has called Beijing a bully, and rightly so. Palaus population of 20,000 is less than two thousandths of a percent of Chinas 1.4 billion. This gives China the economic power to offer bribes to elected leaders, as it has in Africa and at the United Nations.

Stealing and offering bribes, thats just got to stop, illegal fishing has to stop, said Whipps after the Palauan police and U.S. Coast Guard stopped a Chinese vessel from illegal fishing in Palauan waters.

According to 1News, the Kiribati government admits that it is deregistering its World Heritage site for just $200 million annually in tuna fishing licenses. But it is unclear whether Kiribati will even get this, as the lost value of the marine reserve could outweigh the new licenses.

If so, that could indicate the attempted bribery of Kiribati leaders by Beijing. Some careful accounting should be done to check.

To add to international concern, Kiribati has signalled its intention to leave the Pacific Islands Forum where leaders work together for the good of the region, wrote Dreaver.

She quoted another New Zealand academic, Steven Ratuva of Canterbury University, as saying that the decision to leave the Pacific Forum means China will have more and more foothold and the more isolated Kiribati becomes the more they play straight into Chinas hands.

Gray explained: When the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] succeeds in forcing changes in diplomatic recognition in small developing states from Taipei to Beijing, as it did in Kiribati and Solomon Islands in 2019, it brings with it economic and political coercion. The Pacific Islands have not been an exception, and the PRCs diplomatic presence in Kiribati continues the pattern of using that presence to assert increased economic and diplomatic leverage over vulnerable states, to the benefit of Beijings regional agenda.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang inspect honor guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2019. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

The CCP Is Eroding the Sovereignty of States

Former Kiribati President Anote Tong told 1News that the cancellation of the marine reserve is a huge blow for conservation but I think its a much bigger blow to our credibility as a nation.

Hes right, and the implications are profound for not only Kiribati, but for the changing concept of sovereignty itself.

As Beijing seeks to achieve global hegemony, it seeks to break down the sovereignty of the worlds other 192 countries to the point of being a sovereignty in name only, according to Rush Doshi, author of The Long Game: Chinas Grand Strategy to Displace American Order. Beijing does this with carrots (grants or loans) or sticks (threats of invasion or denial of trade) to attempt coercion of countries into consistently following the CCPs diktat.

The strategy worked to tame most Chinese citizens, and now the CCP is applying the strategy globally to the leaders of countries, elected or not.

When countries come under Beijings sway, they are therefore de facto surrendering their sovereignty to Beijing and thus become part of Greater China, despite few admitting as much. When they retain their sovereignty in name, but follow orders from Beijing, this is a fake form of sovereignty, but one that is increasingly accepted as real. The notion of sovereignty is being eroded with insufficient concern by the public.

Beijings Pressure on Sovereignty Is a Threat to Democracy and Forces Democratic Counterpressure

To avoid this future of fake sovereigns under the control of Beijing, the rest of the world will have to act fast against Beijing and those that Beijing controls. Soon, not only China, but Greater China, including satellite countries and autonomous territories such as Kiribati, Hong Kong, and surprisingly the Philippines, could be treated as the adversary by countries that want to protect the international system of sovereign states.

Visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte troop the line before their one-on-one meeting at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila on Nov. 20, 2018. (Erik De Castro/Reuters)

As seen during the world wars, and the Cold War, choosing sides is the nature of superpower conflict over regional and global types of hegemony. Given Chinas greater economic strength relative to the former Soviet Union, the pressures during this current second cold war will be too great for most countries that want to remain neutral. They will be forced to choose sides, as they increasingly are. Diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and defense treaties with the United States, are currently the key public proofs of having chosen the side of democracy against dictatorship.

Beijings satellites, whose elites were captured typically through bribes and threats of one form or another, allow themselves to be driven by Beijings priorities, becoming part of Greater China. They thus lose their sovereignty and become adversaries to democracies and all other countries that value their sovereignty and the rule of law to be found in the international system.

The erosion of democracy globally, and the growth of Beijings hegemonic potential, is difficult for many to see because the loss of sovereignty to Beijing is gradual. But the effects are potentially catastrophic for the future of democracy everywhere.

The 17th-Century Sources of Sovereignty That Must Now Evolve

The more a democratic government is swayed by Beijings illiberal influence, the less democratic credibility it has, and the less power democracies have as a whole to protect the international system that dates to the 17th century Peace of Westphalia upon which the modern concept of sovereignty is based.

Democratic credibility is the core of sovereignty according to 17th-century philosophers like John Locke, whose political theories underpin the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

But without support for democracy, nations cannot really be considered sovereign and responsible members of the international system. An example is Vichy France, which was controlled by Nazi Germany. It was not considered a truly sovereign country and, therefore, the military invasion of France by democratic alliesincluding the United States and Britainwas considered legitimate.

The sovereign right of territorial integrity is limited to those countries that support the leadership of democracies and the gradual evolution of autocracies toward democracy, as evidenced by the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Any entity that allies itself with Beijing, which is a totalitarian and genocidal state, excludes itself from the responsible nations of the world and thus puts itself at risk of not only exploitation by Beijing, but of becoming part of Beijings belligerence and, therefore, part of the problem of its hegemonic ambitions. A state that is part of a totalitarian threat of hegemony voids its own sovereignty and loses its right to territorial integrity, as did Vichy France.

Democracies and autocracies alike, that ally with a totalitarian belligerent on its way to becoming hegemonic, are in violation of the spirit of the 1948 U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are no longer supporters of democracy, and lose their sovereignty through the violation of international law. Therefore, even democratic supporters of autocratic hegemony should no longer be considered democracies, but rather self-interested collections of individuals under illiberal influence.

A criminal gang that votes is still a criminal gang. A countrys illegal support of a belligerent autocracy makes that country itself a belligerent for an illegal cause and, therefore, excludes itself from the rights and privileges of sovereignty.

A Peaceful Preservation of Sovereignty for Kiribati and the World

Let us return to the example of Kiribati for clues about how to resolve the problem of autocratic hegemony peacefully.

If Kiribati returns to the democratic fold, it can be protected from totalitarianism and its hegemony, as can other countries that have allowed themselves to be overly influenced by Beijing. By adhering to the principle of democratic leadership of the international system, both autocracies and democracies can protect the international system of 1948 that guaranteed their sovereignty and territorial integrity, predicated on their following principles of human rights and a gradual evolution toward democracy.

As Grays article explained, for example, the United States can protect the democratic sovereignty of the Pacific Islands by extending protection to them. This protection is not American hegemony, but a temporary solution to Beijings attempts to extend its control in ever-larger circles on the map. Neither is the principle exclusive to the United States. It applies to French or German leadership of European countries, especially in Eastern Europe, that are resisting Russias regional hegemonic ambitions.

Pacific leaders pose for the 42nd Pacific Island Forum in Auckland, New Zealand, on September 2011. (Bradley Ambrose/AFP/Getty Images)

In the Pacific Islands, the United States achieves the protection of sovereignty in part through closer economic and political relations called Compacts of Free Association (COFAs).

As the leaders of countries with Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) with the United States, they can be confident in Washingtons legal guarantee of their sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the many economic and social benefits that accrue from such agreements, wrote Gray. In an era of Chinese economic pressure and aggressive influence campaigns, the Freely Associated States (as the COFA signatories are known) have significant protections unavailable to their Pacific Islands peers.

COFAs provide a pacific solution to the Pacific problem. According to Gray, the United States should extend versions of the COFA to the smallest states in the region.

This is absolutely correct.

And, I would add, COFAs should be non-negotiable if the country is already operating under Beijings illiberal influence. The sovereignty of these countries, having been crushed by Beijing, requires economic and military protection. For all the rest that have not yet lost their sovereignty, they will be a form of free association.

The success of the existing COFAs with the Freely Associated States in providing a bulwark against Chinese aggression offers a model that is appealing to the most vulnerable regional states, Gray wrote in support of their sovereignty and free association. In a post-colonial region that prides itself on hard-won sovereignty, the balance the COFAs strike between sovereignty and security has innate appeal.

A Tough Stand Against Beijings Allies Is Ultimately Democratic

After World War II, the founders of the United Nations hoped to create a world of free and sovereign democracies that needed no protection from the United States or any other country. Unfortunately, Beijing is ruining that vision through undermining sovereign democracies on a global scale.

The world, and especially America and the European Union as the only democratic entities strong enough to defeat Beijing, is thereby forced into a choice it does not want to make. Either allow the CCP to continue the erosion of democracy globally, and the reorientation of vulnerable capital cities toward Beijing, or draw a line and force democracies that are losing their sovereignty to Beijing to reverse course. It is an unfortunately illiberal solution to an illiberal choice made by weak democracies.

Wars to protect democracy involve illiberalities on both sides. As Beijing forces supporters of the international system of sovereign states and democracy closer to war, some solutions will necessarily, and unfortunately, involve economic and military force.

While that could be considered undemocratic, so is the loss of sovereignty to Beijing. And the loss of sovereignty to Beijing is more permanent, as the United Statesand, I would argue, the European Unionhave proven over the years that they respect and encourage the sovereignty of diverse states and nations, including those that are peaceful yet autocratic.

Rather than occupy and control Germany and Japan after World War II, for example, the United States provided development assistance for their economies and facilitated their democratic elections, sovereignty, and full membership in the international system.

Rather than oppose Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, both of which are autocratic, the United States since the 1980s has sought to guarantee their sovereignty in exchange for at the very least staying neutral in superpower conflicts with the Soviet Union (in the past) and China (today).

The United States and European Union cannot guarantee such sovereignty to countries, including democracies, that side with autocracies that seek global hegemony. The United States tries to achieve peace with these countries and, as a democracy, never seeks war; but when forced by a conflict that devolves into one between superpowers in which one or more are autocracies that seek global hegemony, the United States has and will be forced into defending itself and the concept of democracy more generally by treating the allies of totalitarian governments as was Vichy France.

To effectively confront China, countries that value their independence must also confront Chinas allies globally. If Kiribati or any other country falls under Beijings sway, either the United States and allies will begin to see them as having lost their sovereignty to Beijing, or they will be forced to resist Beijings tyranny with one hand tied behind their backs.

Allies of Beijing can therefore no longer be considered sovereign states. To do so would be to allow the gradual and permanent erosion of democracy and sovereign independence globally, and to allow the current international rule of law to devolve into chaos.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Chinas One-Child Army Suffers From Low Morale, Lack of Combat Experience

Part 2 of the 2-part series: US-China Troop Comparison

News Analysis

Chinas Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) is weakened by low morale and lack of combat experience. Good steel does not become nails, so goes the Chinese saying, which means good, talented people do not become soldiers.

The one-child policy, a cultural lack of respect for soldiers, poor pay, a deficiency of combat experience, and a need to protect the borders makes the PLA much less effective than the U.S. military.

Low Morale

Japanese and American military experts speculate the PLA troops suffer from low morale. This is partly due to the low status of soldiers in Chinese society. And also owing to the countrys long-standing one-child policy. More than 70 percent of PLA soldiers are the only children in their family, making the PLA the worlds leading one-child army. Chinese parents are more protective of their children, in general, than are American parents. Additionally, the Confucian culture puts tremendous pressure on an only-child to care for his/her parents.

The PLA is a conscript army. Those who join may be doing so against their will.

The U.S. army, by contrast, has been purely voluntary since 1972, with roughly 150,000 volunteers joining each year. In terms of education, 67 percent of U.S. soldiers have completed a high school diploma and/or some college; 8.9 percent hold an associates degree; 13.6 percent have a bachelors degree; and 8.3 percent have attained an advanced degree. As for salary, an infantry sergeant earns around $36,000 per year, while an officer earns about $83,400 per year, and an intelligence analyst can earn up to $71,000 per year. While many jobs in the U.S. forces do not pay as well as their civilian equivalents, the difference is not as dramatic as it is in the PLA.

Through 2019, a colonel in the PLA only earned about $24,000 per year, while his counterpart in the U.S. Army earned up to $124,000. Early this year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced a 40 percent increase in salary for the PLA. One colonel told the South China Morning Post that after the raise, he will earn just over $36,000 per year. A PLA recruit, who gets paid around $1,876 per year, will earn about $2,600 per year after the raise; while a U.S. Army private earns about $20,000 per year.

Higher salaries may be of some help in attracting talent, but they will also drive up the cost of maintaining the army. Under Xi Jinping, around 300,000 military personnel were removed.

Lack of Combat Experience

Another significant difference between the PLA and U.S. forces is that 2.77 million American military personnel have served in combat over the past 20 years. Since 1991 Desert Storm, the U.S. military has been in almost constant combat operations.

Chinas military, by contrast, doesnt have as much combat experience. A few examples include the following: the PLA defeated Tibet in 1959, a country about .21 percent the size of China; the Chinese troops were thwarted during their invasion of Vietnam in 1979; China fought a minor, naval skirmish with Vietnam in 1988; and the PLA engaged in brawls with Indian forces in the Galwan Valley in 2020.

U.S. Marines arrive in an amphibious assault vehicle during the amphibious landing exercises of the U.S.-Philippines war games promoting bilateral ties at a military camp in Zambales Province, Philippines, on April 11, 2019. (Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)

The last major battles the PLA took part in were against the United States, in the Korean War, which ended in 1953. And it is unlikely that many Korean War veterans are still serving in the PLA.

This lack of combat experience even shows during peacetime. In 2018, a Chinese submarine on a covert patrol in Japanese waters, near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, was detected by the Japanese Self-Defense Force. The submarine immediately surfaced, raising the Chinese flag. This confirmed to Japan, and the world, that a Chinese war boat had violated Japanese territory, leaving Beijing no plausible deniability.

The Japanese speculate the reason why the PLA boat surfaced so quickly was for fear of being attacked with depth charges. Under International law, the Japanese Maritime Self-defense Forces have the right to attack an unidentified submarine intruding in their waters. By raising the Chinese flag, the submarine averted being destroyed, but divulged their secret mission.

Not all of the PLAs 2.1 million active troops are available to deploy into combat with the United States. Two million of Chinas soldiers serving in the ground forces protect Chinas 14 borders. And roughly 80 percent of those troops, according to the U.S. Pentagon, lack equipment and ability to move about within China.

The CCP needs to maintain troops on its Afghanistan border to protect from possible terrorist incursions. China also needs to keep a large number of troops stationed on the Indian border. In the past, China fought two limited border wars with India and has recently fought several skirmishes. Additionally, India is part of the Quad, a U.S.-led defense pact designed to counter the Chinese regimes threats. So the CCP cannot take troops from that border.

The CCP has fought a war against Vietnam, and Vietnam is a U.S. allyso China cannot take troops from there. Although Pakistan is a relative client-state, the CCP still needs to keep troops on that border, because of the threat of terrorism. Russia is only a sometimes-ally, one that China has never trusted. Therefore, the troops on the border with Russia must remain. Furthermore, China shares maritime borders with Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan, all of whom are U.S. allies.

The United States, by contrast, has two largely undefended land borders, leaving the vast majority of its forces available for overseas deployment. Additionally, the U.S. troops are better educated, the officer corps have more command experience, and the U.S. military has more combat experience than the PLA.

Read part 1 here.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A view of Gediminas street in Vilnius, Lithuania, on May 19, 2018. (Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

Chinese Embassy in Lithuania Suspends Consular Services Amid Taiwan Row

BEIJINGThe Chinese embassy in Lithuania has temporarily suspended consular services until further notice for technical reasons, said a statement on the missions website on Thursday that was taken down shortly after publication.

The suspension came after the Chinese regime on Sunday downgraded its diplomatic ties with the Baltic State, expressing strong dissatisfaction at the opening of a de facto Lithuanian embassy in Taiwan.

The Chinese embassys statement was published at 13:36 GMT, a timestamp on its website showed, but had disappeared as of 14:00 GMT.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, despite the fact that Taiwan is a de facto independent country, with its own military, democratically-elected government, and constitution.

The CCP has stepped up pressure on countries to scale back or sever their relations with Taiwan, even non-official ones.

Lithuania has formal relations with China and not Taiwan but had angered Beijing earlier this year when it allowed the island to open an office in the country using the name Taiwan. The Chinese regime recalled its ambassador in August.

The Epoch Times contributed to this report.
A worker waits for arrivals at the COVID-19 testing centre in Terminal 3 at Pearson Airport in Toronto, on Feb. 3, 2021. The federal government has added fully vaccinated foreign nationals to the ranks of travellers who are once again welcome on Canadian soil. (The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)

Countries Move to Halt Travel From Southern Africa Over New COVID-19 Variant

Countries in Europe and Asia on Friday took swift action to halt travel from several African countries over a mutated COVID-19 strain that was blamed by officials for a rise in cases in South Africa.

Even though the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday cautioned against imposing travel restrictions on those countries regarding the so-called B.1.1.529 variant, the European Union announced it would propose stopping air travel from southern Africa.

It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively, and united, the chief of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a Twitter post on Friday. The 27-member bloc of nations should place the emergency brake on travel, she argued.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, implemented travel restrictions to and from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Lesotho, officials announced Friday.

In Japan, officials confirmed Friday that they would place a 10-day quarantine requirement on anyone traveling from southern Africa. They will also have to take a total of four COVID-19 tests during that timeframe.

The key to crisis management is to prepare for the worst, cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday, according to the Japan Times newspaper.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

In Hong Kong, local officials confirmed two cases of the new strain. Hong Kong health authorities confirmed that it would bar entry to non-residents who previously stayed in eight southern African countries within 21 days.

German officials said they are considering a ban on the region as soon as Friday night. Italian officials also announced a travel ban Friday.

A mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, on Oct. 21, 2021. (Denis Farrell/AP Photo)

The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, said German Health Minister Jens Spahn.

And Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced around the same time that his nation is on the verge of a state of emergency because of the new variant. It came after the Israeli Health Ministry said that an individual from Malawi tested positive for the new strain, according to local media reports.

As a result, Israel also expanded a travel ban on southern African countries Friday. Bennett said a few cases had been reported in Israel, including at least a person who had already received a vaccine booster shot.

Bennett, in public remarks, asserted that COVID-19 vaccines are still effective but qualified his statement by saying it might mean they are effective to a certain degree. Israel has a strict vaccine passport system, known as a green pass, that blocks unvaccinated people from entering a number of different businesses and venues.

As countries moved to restrict travel, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier confirmed the U.N. health agency is holding a closed-door meeting in Geneva. Participants met to designate the COVID-19 strain, known as B.1.1.529, as either a variant of concern or a variant of interest.

At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against, Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva, according to the Reuters news agency. The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing travel measures.

Regarding the strain, we dont know very much about this yet, Maria van Kerkhove, who works as an epidemiologist for WHO on COVID-19, said in public comments.

What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, she said. And the concern is when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves.
Death Toll From Yemen War Nears 377,000: UN

The war in Yemen will have cost roughly 377,000 lives by the end of 2021, with the vast majority of the casualties being children, according to a new report from the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP).

The Nov. 23 UNDP report comes as a coalition of lawmakers led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) moves to block the sale of about $650 million in arms to Saudi Arabia. The war in Yemen has been described as a proxy fight between the Iranian-backed Houthis and a Saudi-supported coalition of Arabs.

The report states that this conflict will have caused approximately 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021up from an estimated 233,000 deaths as of 2019. It cites the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which compiles its figures by combing through hundreds of local media reports and other sources.

These deaths are overwhelmingly made up of young children who are especially vulnerable to under and malnutrition, the report reads. In 2021, a Yemeni child under the age of 5 dies every nine minutes because of the conflict.

According to the report, nearly 60 percent of the deaths are due to issues associated with lack of access to food, water, and health care. The Saudis have blockaded Yemen since 2015 in an attempt to deprive the Houthis of resources.

The report also estimates that the war has cost Yemen at least $126 billion in potential gross domestic product growth since 2015, thrusting 15.6 million people into extreme poverty and 8.6 million people into undernutrition as a result.

If war in Yemen continues through 2030, we estimate that 1.3 million people will die as a result, with more than 70 percent of those deaths being from indirect causes, the report reads. Compared to a scenario without conflict, 22.2 million more people may potentially be forced into poverty and 9.2 million more people may also experience malnutrition. 

Earlier in November, the Biden administration approved the sale of $650 million in arms to the Saudis, including 280 air-to-air missiles and 596 missile launchers, as well as other weapons and associated training and support. The administration stated that the sale is for defensive weaponry, but others have suggested that the weapons can be used to support the Saudis starvation-inducing blockade of Yemen.

Supporters of continued U.S. support for the Saudis say that its necessary to counter Iranian influence in the region. The Obama administration reportedly began supporting Saudi Arabia in the war in 2015 to placate the Saudis over the Iran deal being negotiated at the time.

However, critics say that the war has been long, bloody, and indeterminate. Paul introduced a joint resolution in the Senate to block the sale on Nov. 18, calling for an end to U.S. support for the war.

A message needs to be sent to Saudi Arabia that we dont approve of their war with Yemen, Paul said when announcing the resolution. By participating in this sale, we would not only be rewarding reprehensible behavior, but also exacerbating a humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Paul was joined by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced a similar resolution in the House on Nov. 12.

The war in Yemen is a humanitarian tragedy, and U.S. participation in this war remains undeclared by Congress, Lee said on Nov. 18.

Lawmakers are also considering a provision in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would end U.S. support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the Yemen conflict. The House has approved this provision, and the NDAA is currently being considered by the Senate.

The drive to end U.S. involvement in the Yemen war has largely been steered by Democrats, with only 11 Republicans backing the House NDAA provision.

Along with Paul and Lees efforts in the Senate, the House NDAA provision was supported by conservative Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Fred Upton (R-Mich.).
Medics treat a patient infected with COVID-19, in the intensive care unit at Maastricht UMC+ Hospital in Maastricht, Netherlands, on Nov. 10, 2020. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters)

Dutch Government Plans Strong Measures to Curb COVID-19

AMSTERDAMThe Dutch government said on Thursday it would take strong measures to curb COVID-19 infections as hospitals scaled back other care to make way for COVID-19 patients.

About 85 percent of the adult Dutch population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but the Netherlands has averaged more than 20,000 new cases daily for the past week, passing peaks seen in previous waves.

That heavy measures will be needed is beyond doubt, Health Minister Hugo de Jonge told reporters in The Hague.

He acknowledged that measures taken at the start of November had not been sufficient. These included reintroducing the wearing of protective face masks in stores and a partial lockdown, with people encouraged to work from home and bars and restaurants closing at 8 p.m.

The tipping point is not going to happen by itself, he said, adding that the government has not made a final decision yet on what new measures will be necessary.

National broadcaster NOS reported that the countrys Outbreak Management Team (OMT) has advised the government to close restaurants, bars, and non-essential stores by 5 p.m. while allowing schools to remain open.

A government proposal, not yet policy, to restrict access to public places to people who have been vaccinated or have recently recovered from COVID-19 prompted three nights of rioting from last Friday and more than 170 people were arrested across the country.

The National Network for Critical Care said on Thursday all hospitals were being forced to postpone routine operations to free up beds for COVID-19 patients.

There are hospitals in several regions scaling back care, spokesperson Mariel Croon said. We are talking about care that requires a bed. That means a lot of operations are being cancelled.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals has reached levels not seen since early May, and experts warn they will run out of space in intensive care units by the end of the month if infection numbers continue to rise. Several Dutch COVID-19 patients were transferred to German hospitals this week.

Under the next phase of the crisis response plan, hospitals could also request the assistance of military personnel and students to help nurse patients.

The Netherlands has recorded more than 2.5 million cases and over 19,000 deaths since the pandemic started.
Earthquake Magnitude of 6.1 Shakes Burma-India Border Region

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck near the Burma-India border region around dawn on Friday, but there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 7.5 miles (12 km), and was about 87 miles (140 km) away from Aizawl in northeastern India, according to Indias National Center for Seismology.

Witness accounts gathered by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the tremor, which started after 5 a.m local time, was felt in Chittagong in Bangladesh and as far away as the east Indian city of Kolkata, some 280 miles (450.62 km) from Aizawl.

One of the testimonies gathered by EMSC was from an Indian person from Hnahthial some 52 miles (84 km) away from the epicenter.

Suddenly a tremor  and we were about to jump out of our bed! It stopped then. Luckily no loss and damage were recorded  Thank God, for protecting us, the person stated.

Another witness said the earthquake felt very strong in Chittagong, about 115 miles (184 km) west of the quakes epicenter.

Tremors were felt across states in northeastern India and other major urban areas in Bangladesh, according to EMSC and Indias earthquake monitoring agency.

EMSC pegged the temblors magnitude at 5.8, after having earlier given it a magnitude of 6.0.

Reuters contributed to this article.
TransAlta wind turbines are shown at a wind farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., on March 9, 2016. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh)

Energy Security Risks Wont Disappear With Change to Renewables: Expert

Clean energy technology has become the latest frontier for geoeconomic competition between China and the West, panel hears

Risks related to energy security wont become a thing of the past in the context of transitioning to renewables, they will merely be transferred to the sources and providers of the green energy technologies, says a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI).

What many people forget is that the risks to energy security do not disappear, said Jeff Kucharski, also an adjunct professor at at Royal Roads University in B.C.

Instead, they shift toward the resources and resource providers whose inputs are essential to producing the wind turbines, solar cells, batteries, fuel cells, low carbon fuels, and other green technologies that we will increasingly rely on for reliable and affordable electricity.



In short, energy transition will have many geopolitical implications and will reshape international energy relations.

Kucharski made the comments during a webinar on Nov. 24 that brought together a panel of energy experts to discuss what a transition to green energy will look like in reality, and the consequences for getting it wrong.

Jane Nakano, a senior fellow in the Energy Security and Climate Change Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., said clean energy technology has become the latest frontier for geoeconomic competition between China and the West.

Once upon a time, China was the worlds factory, sort of a supplier of these minerals and middles, but its no longer the case. China is starting to capture the higher end value of these clean energy supply chains or value chains, Nakano said.

In her March research paper titled The Geopolitics of Critical Minerals Supply Chains, Nakano found that China accounts for over 90 percent of global wafer manufacturing, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the global polysilicon manufacturing capacity, a key raw material for building solar panels.



When it comes to lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles, the majority of processing capacity for key components like cathodes, anodesthose things are under Chinese control, whether the factories are located in China or if its Chinese financed capacities in other parts of the world, Nakano said in the webinar.

She noted that the demand within China for the critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies has also been rising, which means theyre consuming much more of what they produce as opposed to exporting. This has put pressure on Western economies dependent on mineral imports to secure their critical minerals supply chains, she said.

Equally important is that China recognizes that its critical mineral supplies can serve as geopolitical leverage, Nakano said. She cited the example of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his then chief trade negotiator Liu He visiting the rare-earth processing facility in Jiangxi province during the height of the U.S.-China trade war in 2019.



It was widely seen as a signal from Beijing to Washington that China has a commanding position on something that the U.S. is woefully dependent on China for, she said.

Kucharski said despite the push for a transition to green energy, he foresees that the oil and gas sector will continue to play a major role in influencing energy security.

Like it or not, fossil fuels made up 83 percent of global primary energy consumption in 2020, so nations still rely on them to power up their economies and sustain economic growth, he said, adding that wind and solar, which are intermittent by nature, only made up 6 percent of the consumption.

We still need stable baseload energy sources to stabilize the electricity grid and back up renewables, he said. That means well need nuclear power as well as oil and gas with abatement technologies for several more decades.

Kucharski noted, however, that the majority of global oil and gas production is controlled by the state-owned national oil and gas companies of authoritarian regimes such as Russia, Iran, and Venezuela.

Some of these countries have weaponized their supply capabilities by threatening to slow or stop crucial supplies, manipulate prices, or exert political leverage over import dependent countries, he said.

Petra Dolata, associate professor at University of Calgary and an energy historian, said energy transition by governments has always been messy historically, noting that unintended consequences is a huge piece of energy transitions.

Even if governments have a certain vision that they want to put forward, the unintended consequences are possibly much, much bigger than anything that we can anticipate, she said.

Moderator Heather Exner-Pirot, an MLI fellow who works on strategy and research for pro-development indigenous groups in Western Canada, questioned whether countries are preparing adequately for the transition, which will involve retraining a large portion of the workforce.

Thats where the pain points are going to be, she said.

Were talking about billions of people not having enough energy, and then therefore not having enough food and not having enough shelter, and thats the just transition were facing and its going to be painful. I dont think people are prepared for how painful the energy transition is going to be.
Smoke rises from burning buildings during a protest in the capital of Honiara, Solomon Islands, on Nov. 25, 2021. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

Explainer: Is China to Blame for Solomon Islands Unrest?

The Solomon Islands decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime ministers resignation.

Australian police, troops, and diplomats are helping local police restore peace and order while trying to keep out of the domestic political dispute.

Heres a look at some of the reasons behind the turmoil:

Ethnic Tensions Open Old Wounds

The Solomon Islands are famous as a battleground of World War II, the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal named after the countrys largest island where the restive capital Honiara is located.

It was then known as the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and became the Solomon Islands before independence in 1978. The South Pacific nation of 700,000 peoplemostly Melanesian but also Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese, and Europeanis, like neighboring Australia and New Zealand, a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II the head of state.

A migration of settlers from Malaita, the countrys second-biggest island and most populous province, to the economic opportunities on Guadalcanal and Honiara stoked ethnic tensions and eventually unrest.

In the late 1990s, native Guadalcanal islanders, known as Guales, launched a campaign of violence and intimidation to drive the Malaitans off the island. The Malaita Eagle Force militia was formed to protect them in a conflict that led the government to declare a four-month state of emergency in 1999.

Australia and New Zealand rejected the governments request for help. With the police force ethnically divided, law and order on Guadalcanal collapsed.

In 2000, the Malaita Eagle Force kidnapped Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufaalu, a Malaitan, because they did not consider he was doing enough for the Malaitans cause.

Ulufaalu resigned in exchange for his freedom, and the current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare began the first of his four stints as the unstable nations leader.

Whats Chinas Role in the Current Unrest?

China has provided another cause for the community to divide, with the government supporting Beijing and the Malatian leaders supporting Taiwan.

The self-ruled island of Taiwan split from mainland China after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims it as part of its territory and has persuaded all but 15 countries, most of them small and poor in Africa and Latin America, to switch recognition to the mainland.

But experts say the unrest on the Solomon Islands is driven by the same underlying causes that have undermined the social fabric for decades: inter-island and ethnic tensions, a perceived lack of sharing of resources between Guadalcanal and Malaita, widespread poverty, and high youth unemployment.

Geopolitical tensions have been the spark but not the major driver, said Jonathan Pryke, Pacific Islands program director at the Lowy Institute international policy think tank.

Im sure there is some degree of affection for Taiwan in Malaita, but its also another way for Malaitans to express their frustration at the national government, he added.

Pryke said it was too soon to judge whether the Solomons would benefit financially from their 2019 switch in diplomatic relations to Beijing.

While Beijings financial inducements to cut ties with Taiwan have not yet borne fruit, the Solomons had closed its borders throughout the pandemic, which limited Chinese engagement.

Resentment against Chinese business people is longstanding on the Solomons and resulted in much of Honiaras Chinatown being burned in 2006, and again this week.

The Chinese communities are vulnerable in the Solomon Islands because they dont have the traditional support base, Pryke said. They dont have the tribes the families that would [have] given them some extra degree of cultural isolation from this sort of unrest.

How Did Australia Become Involved?

Australia and the Solomons signed their first bilateral security treaty in 2017. It provides a legal basis for the rapid deployment of Australian police, troops, and associated civilians in the event of a major security challenge.

Australian police were in the air aboard a military transport plane within hours of Sogavare invoking the treaty on Thursday.

Australia had led a force of Pacific Islands police and troops under the Regional Assurance Mission to the Solomon Islands, or RAMSI, from 2003 to 2017. It included 2,300 police and troops from 17 nations, invited by the Solomons government. The deployment successfully ended the conflict that killed 200 people.

In the five years of ethic and civil unrest before RAMSI arrived, the Solomons was close to becoming a failed state.

The bilateral treaty acknowledges that underlying causes of the unrest remained and posed development challenges.

The Solomon Islands will need ongoing support to retain the gains made under RAMSI and to help build long-term stability and enduring growth, the Australian government said in 2017.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at a Senate hearing in Washington, on May 11, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images)

Fauci: Not Clear If New COVID-19 Strain Can Evade Vaccines

White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci said U.S. scientists and other researchers are studying whether a newly discovered CCP virus variant can evade common vaccines, although he stressed that its not clear whether the new strain is currently spreading in the United States.

On Friday, European countries signaled they would close off travel to certain southern African nations, including South Africa, due to the emergence of the variant.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told CNN on Friday that officials dont know that for sure right now about whether the new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus strain has the ability to evade vaccines.

We want to find out, scientists to scientists, exactly what is going on, Fauci said. But its something that has emerged in South Africa and seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate, in the sense of when they do test positivity theyre seeing its a bit more widespread in South Africa than was originally felt a couple of days ago.

Japan, Israel, the UK, and Hong Kong also began issuing new travel curbs on Friday over the COVID-19 strain, which doesnt have a name yet and has only been identified as the B.1.1.529 variant. For example, UK officials said travel restrictions were placed on South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and Lesotho.

Meanwhile, the head of the European Commission, announced on Friday the 27-nation European Union is also strongly considering travel restrictions.

But amid the swath of new restrictions, World Health Organization officials warned that more information is needed before countries start implementing travel restrictions.

At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing travel measures.

On Friday, Lindmeier confirmed WHO is holding an emergency meeting on the variant and may possibly give it a name like Delta or Alpha.

When asked Friday about whether the variant is in the United States, Fauci replied that anything is possible, but added: We dont know that. Theres no indication that it is right now. It seemed to have been restricted.

There were some cases that originated in South Africa and that went to Botswana and people who traveled and found out they were infected and one that had gone, actually, to Hong Kong, he said, adding that the variant has seen a lot of travel.

And once you test it, youll know for sure whether or not it does or does not evade the antibodies that we make, for example against the virus through a vaccine or following convalescing after you get infected, Fauci said. When you get antibodies, do those antibodies protect you against this new virus?

The answer is we dont know right now, but were going to find out for sure.
Film Review: Defiance in the Kingdom of Fake News: A Mini-Look at a Major Horror

10min | 2021 | Documentary, Short

As censorship, both state-sponsored and within the private sphere, ratchets up to levels unimaginable in the past, many are seeking out alternative voices when it comes to cinema. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has in recent times steadily amped up both its purging of foreign influences and the muffling of its massive citizenry. Fortunately, in this age of decentralized digital media, its becoming harder and harder for totalitarian regimes to stifle important information about the human rights atrocities they commit.

Directed by Mathias Magnason (and co-written by Levi Browde, Jan Lokos, and Magnason), the 10-minute mini-documentary Defiance in the Kingdom of Fake News is one of many films benefiting from this free flow of information about human rights abuses.

The film opens with quite an impact as we see a young Chinese man, Lei Ming, awkwardly pacing back and forth in a room at an undisclosed location in Changchun, China, in 2003. As he holds on to the walls to keep himself from falling down, the narrator talks about how Ming received terrible injuries as a result of torture he sustained while incarcerated at a Chinese labor camp.

Ming, along with five other everyday Chinese citizensHou Mingkai, Liu Chengjun, Liang Zhenxing, Zhou Runjun, and Liu Haiboformed a small group that performed a successful broadcast interruption that sought to rectify the reputation of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a peaceful spiritual discipline thats twofold: It has calm, flowing exercises and meditation, and it teaches the building of its practitioners character.

Indeed, Falun Gong is a practice based on Buddhism that harkens back to the days of ancient China. As mentioned in my previous review of the docudrama Unsilenced, the practices core tenets are truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, hardly any of which its practitioners received at the hands of the CCP.

The film reveals that since the CCP took power in 1949, it has systematically demonized and wiped out traditional forms of Chinese culture and thought. As the leaders of the CCP took over nearly every aspect of life in China, its message becomes clearto replace Chinas ancient traditions with communism. We see many clips of Chinese state officials humiliating citizens and destroying ancient relics, such as statues of Buddha.

Back in the early 1990s, a man named Li Hongzhi founded Falun Gong. The practice became well-known, not only for its philosophical and spiritual principles but also for its health benefits. As it grew in popularity and swept throughout China, it reportedly had 100 million practitioners by the late 90s. Jiang Zemin, the leader of the CCP at the time (and later the head of state), considered Falun Gong to be dangerous to the CCP since it had gained so many adherents.

Massive oppression of Falun Gong began in earnest, which resulted in huge numbers of arrests. So many incarcerations were happening that criminals were being released to make room for Falun Gong practitioners. But this demonization by the state was largely ineffective on the general public since people considered Falun Gong practitioners to be virtuous and principled. The state would need another method.

In 2001, five Chinese citizens who were later purported by the state to be Falun Gong practitioners, self-immolated in Tiananmen Square. This horrific public event was recorded and made the rounds on Chinese national TV. As the film describes it, the state smeared Falun Gong by stating that the self-burnings were some type of bizarre religious suicide pact. Since the states media manipulation was so relentless and pervasive, many people began to shun Falun Gong.

In 2002, the aforementioned six ordinary Chinese citizens who had been training themselves to pull off their audacious broadcast interruption did just that. For a full 50 minutes, they hijacked the cable TV airwaves and revealed details about how the self-immolation event was one big lie to defame and vilify Falun Gong.

As a result, the authorities came down even harder on Falun Gong practitioners and eventually captured the brave souls, all Falun Gong practitioners, who later became known as the Airwave Six.

Defiance in the Kingdom of Fake News is a short and powerful documentary that punches above its weight. Its also a timely expose on the horrors of unbridled totalitarianism.

Defiance in the Kingdom of Fake News

Documentary

Director: Mathias Magnason

Running Time: 10 minutes

Release Date: 2021

Rated: 5 stars out of 5
A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution on Nov. 25, 2021. (Gareth Fuller/PA)

France Excludes UK From Migrant Crisis Meeting After PMs Unacceptable Letter

A meeting between Home Secretary Priti Patel and her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin has been dramatically cancelled following Boris Johnsons latest intervention in the channel crossing migrant crisis.

A public letter sent by the Prime Minister to President Emmanuel Macron was described as unacceptable by the French Interior Ministry which said Ms Patel was no longer invited to the meeting with other European ministers on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment from the Home Office.

In his letter, Mr Johnson said the two countries needed to go further and faster together to deal with the crisis, following the sinking of a boat on Wednesday with the loss of 27 lives.

He set out proposals for British border officials to begin patrols on the beaches of northern France as early as next week something Paris has long resisted.

Ms Patel had been due to visit Calais on Sunday for talks with Mr Darmanin and counterparts from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Mr Johnson had said he was ready to upgrade this meeting to a full summit of the countries concerned.

French media reported that the Interior Ministry statement said: We consider the British Prime Ministers public letter unacceptable and contrary to our discussions between counterparts.

Therefore, Priti Patel is no longer invited on Sunday to the inter-ministerial meeting whose format will be: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and European Commission.

The French move marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries which have already been strained by the migrant crisis in the Channel.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Mr Johnson had made the proposals in good faith and urged the French to reconsider their decision.

I dont think there is anything inflammatory to ask for close co-operation with our nearest neighbours, he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The proposal was made in good faith. I can assure our French friends of that and I hope that they will reconsider meeting up to discuss it.

Following the deaths on Wednesday, Mr Johnson irritated Paris by saying the incident showed efforts to stop migrants leaving havent been enough and there had been difficulties in getting the French to take action.

In his letter the Prime Minister set out a series of further proposals including joint patrols of French beaches and a bilateral returns agreement.

He said the agreement would be in Frances interest by breaking the business model of criminal gangs running the people-smuggling trade from Normandy.

Under Mr Johnsons proposals:

 Joint patrols would prevent more boats from leaving French beaches.

 Advanced technology such as sensors and radar would be deployed to track migrants and people-trafficking gangs.

 There would be joint or reciprocal maritime patrols in each others territorial waters and airborne surveillance by manned flights and drones.

 The work of the Joint Intelligence Cell would be improved with better real-time intelligence sharing to deliver more arrests and prosecutions on both sides of the Channel.

 There would be immediate work on a bilateral returns agreement with France, to allow migrants to be sent back across the Channel, alongside talks to establish a UK-EU returns agreement.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to see urgent progress on joint patrols by UK Border Force and French officers, or the joint deployment of private security contractors.

We are ready to begin such patrols from the start of next week and to scale up thereafter.

Writing on Twitter, he added: If those who reach this country were swiftly returned, the incentive for people to put their lives in the hands of traffickers would be significantly reduced.

This would be the single biggest step we could take together to reduce the draw to Northern France and break the business model of criminal gangs.

I am confident that by taking these steps and building on our existing cooperation we can address illegal migration and prevent more families from experiencing the devastating loss we saw yesterday.
France Rolls Out COVID-19 Booster Shots to All Adults

PARISFrance said on Thursday it would make COVID-19 booster shots available to all adults, toughen rules on wearing face masks and ramp up health pass checks as it seeks to curb a fifth wave of infections that risks undermining its economic recovery.

The number of infections is doubling every 11 days in France but officials said there was no need to follow Austrias example of reimposing a lockdown.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said anyone aged 18 or over would be eligible for booster shots and that the period between full vaccination and the booster jabs would be shortened to five months from six.

We still have our fate in our hands, Veran told a news conference, urging people to respect social distancing rules.

Booster shots are currently available only to over-65s and to those with underlying health issues.

By Sudip Kar-Gupta
Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns attend a sit-in solidarity rally against the Chinese Communist Partys rule of Tibet in the Indian capital city of New Delhi on Feb. 2, 2013. (Raveendran/AFP via Getty Images)

Free Tibet to Save South Asia

Commentary

Free Tibet has been a rallying cry since communist Chinas 1951 occupation of that nation, but more is at stake than reestablishing the sovereignty of Tibet or stopping Chinas human rights abuses.

The Tibetan landmass, despite its sparse population and remote resources, is one of the most geostrategic areas on the planet. As goes Tibet, so goes much of South Asia.

The 965,000-square-mile region of Tibeta land area six times the size of Californiaholds the headwaters for 10 major rivers that flow into 10 countries, most of which have disputes with China. Chinas control over those rivers gives it the ability to shun water-sharing treaties, exploit water to its neighbors economic detriment, blackmail its neighbors into acquiescing to Chinas whims, and, if need be, turn the rivers into weapons of war.

The Mekong River, one of the worlds largest, provides one example of how China exploits rivers to the detriment of others. Until 2010 and 2012, when China commissioned large hydro dams on the Mekong River north of its border with Thailand, the flow of water downstream of China was fairly predictable on the basis of upstream rainfall and snowmelt.

After these dams were commissioned, trouble grew in recent years, leading to the worst droughts in generations in some of the downstream countries. Water levels downstream from China along the ThailandLaos border were as much as 10 feet lower than normal, according to a U.S.-government-funded study conducted by Eyes on Earth, a research and consulting company. Downstream countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, saw their rice and sugar crops and fisheries devastated as the once-mighty Mekong River was, at times, reduced to a trickle.

General view of Mekong River, Ban Namprai village, Nong Khai Province, Thailand, on Oct. 8, 2019. (Panu Wongcha-um/Reuters)

China denied that its dams were responsible, blaming low levels of rainfall for the droughts. That claim was belied by satellite measurements indicating that the Upper Mekong region in Chinas Yunnan province actually enjoyed above-average combined rainfall and snowmelt during the May to October wet season.

While countries downstream of China suffered shortages, Chinas dam reservoirs were full. According to Eyes on Earth Chief Executive Alan Basist, China was not letting the water out during the wet season, even when the restriction of water from China has a severe impact on the drought experienced downstream.

Stimson Center analysts came to a similar conclusion: Chinas dams held back so much water that they entirely prevented the annual monsoon-driven rise in river level at Chiang Saen, Thailand. This has not happened since modern records have been kept.

With the exception of Vietnam, which fought a brief border war with China in 1979, none of the other countries in the southern Mekong region are militarily capable of standing up to China, which plans to add to its seven Mekong dams with another 20. Most countries downstream of Tibets other major headwaters are likewise militarily incapable, giving them little choice but to bend to Chinas terms in trade negotiations or other areas of contention. Over time, they could be relegated to vassal states.

Not so with India, which has the Brahmaputra River, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of Indias freshwater resources. The river flows from Tibets Himalayas through India, where it meets the Ganges River before flowing to the Bay of Bengal.

With hundreds of millions of Indians at risk, India wont be acquiescent if China carries through with its plans in the upper reaches of the Tibetan Brahmaputra for a series of hydro dams, one of which will have a capacity twice the size of the Three Gorges Dam, which is currently the worlds largest dam. China already has begun construction of three new major dams in the middle reaches of the Brahmaputra Riverin all, China plans on building 11 dams on the Brahmaputras mainstream and others on its main tributaries.

Indian fishermen paddle down the Brahmaputra River during sunset at Ujanbazar Ghat in Guwahati on June 25, 2015. (Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images)

China, which touts its damming of Tibets rivers as measures countering climate change, denies that its dam-building foreshadows any untoward intentions. But military analysts in both India and China recognize these dams potential to devastate India should hostilities break out between them and the untenable position in which they would place India.

To prevent the eventual capitulation of much, if not all, of South Asia to Chinese hegemony, the United States, Asian countries, and non-governmental organizations are issuing warnings of the looming dangers and attempting to muster diplomatic pressure to encourage China to relent.

Although many of the worlds major international waterways are subject to water-sharing agreements through either bilateral agreements or the U.N. Convention on Non-Navigable Use of International Watercourses, China has refused to participate in any of them, seeing no reason to give up the immense leverage it exerts over its neighbors by way of its exclusive control of Tibets rivers. Where China has entered into bilateral water agreementsto share data on river flows, for exampleit has failed to honor them.

Communist China has demonstrated that its impervious to international pressure to abide by an accepted rules-based order, whether the pressure has been directed at the enslavement of Uyghurs, the organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, or the takeover of Hong Kong or Tibet. Striving to convince China to enter into water-sharing negotiations with the many countries that depend on the Tibetan rivers amounts to participating in a charade.

Short of war, the only plausible approach to prevent China from becoming ever-more entrenched in South Asia is to rebuff Chinas malign policies at every turna death by a thousand cuts strategy. The West should aim to restore Tibets autonomy by ending its decades-long kowtowing over Tibet and making Chinas occupation of Tibet costly to the Communist Party in terms of its prestige, power, and pocketbook.

Western countries should recognize the sovereignty of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama should again be welcome at diplomatic gatherings, and the right of Tibetans to freely exercise their Buddhist faith should be demanded. Western companies such as Nike and Apple should be prohibited by law from contracting with Chinese suppliers that exploit slave labor. Sanctions should be placed on Chinese businesses and Chinese officials that harm Tibetans by preventing them from operating in the West and from enrolling their children in Western universities.

Wherever territorial disputes exist between China and its South Asian neighbors, the West must be muscular in response, in order to prevent China from continuing its policy of persistently and incrementally annexing lands claimed by others.

The rallying cry of Free Tibet should once again mean something. Otherwise, independence for the countries of South Asia may mean nothing.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Patricia Adams Follow Patricia Adams is an economist and the President of the Energy Probe Research Foundation and Probe International, an independent think tank in Canada and around the world. She is the publisher of internet news services Three Gorges Probe and Odious Debts Online and the author or editor of numerous books. Her books and articles have been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Bengali, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia. She can be reached at patriciaadams@probeinternational.org.
French fishermen block the 'Normandy Trader' boat at the entrance of the port of Saint-Malo as they started a day of protests to mark their anger over the issue of post-Brexit fishing licenses, in Saint-Malo, France, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

French Fishermen Disrupt UK Trade Routes Over Fishing Licence Row

CALAIS, FranceFrench fishermen temporarily blockaded the port of Calais and Channel Tunnel rail link in an effort to disrupt trade between Britain and the continent on Friday, escalating a row over licences to fish in British waters.

Fishing rights plagued Brexit talks for years due to their economic importance and political significance for both President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Britain and the EU agreed to set up a licensing system to grant fishing vessels access to each others waters but France says it has not been given the full number it is due, while Britain says only those lacking the correct documentation have not been granted.

Several trawlers manoeuvred inside the port to hold up the passage of two ferries operated by DFDS and P&O as they approached Calais earlier on Friday, a major entry point to the European market for British goods.

At the Channel Tunnel terminal in nearby Coquelles, trucks and cars quickly tailed back towards the highway after the fishermen erected barricades of burning wooden pallets and lit smoke canisters.

The fishermen manning the roadblocks said they wanted to see progress by Dec. 10.

If we dont get anywhere  believe me, the English will not have a magic Christmas. Well ruin the party, said Jean Michel Fournier, a fisherman from near Boulogne.

Britain says it is respecting the post-Brexit arrangements while France says Britain is not honouring its word.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Britains position on issuing fishing licences hadnt changed and London was monitoring the protests.

We look to the French authorities to ensure the free flow of traffic and trade to ensure the trade is not disrupted, he added.

France last week said it was still waiting for 150 licences from Britain and the Channel Islands. The dispute focuses on access to territorial water 612 miles from the coast.

Britain denies discriminating against French fishermen and says 98 percent of fishing licences have been granted to European Union boats since Brexit.

French fishermen block the Normandy Trader boat at the entrance of the port of Saint-Malo as they started a day of protests to mark their anger over the issue of post-Brexit fishing licenses, in Saint-Malo, France, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Stephane Mahe/Reuters)

That figure includes the roughly 1,700 licences issued to EU vessels to operate in more distant waters situated in the UKs exclusive economic zone, which extends 12200 nautical miles from the coast.

Brexit Fallout

DoverCalais is the shortest sea route between Britain and the EU and has been one of Britains main arteries for European trade since the Middle Ages. Before Brexit and the pandemic, 1.8 million trucks per year were routed through Calais.

Earlier in the day, fishermen blocked a small British cargo vessel outside the port of Saint-Malo. The Normandy Trader plies the short route between Jersey and France. France says Jersey, a British Crown Dependency, has also failed to issue licences due to its fishermen under a post-Brexit deal.

The negotiations continue and we want them to know that we will not be the forgotten consequence of Brexit, said fisherman Nicolas Descharles, who would normally operate in British waters every day through the autumn but has not received a permit.

In October, France briefly seized a British scallop dredger off its northern coast for allegedly operating without a legitimate permit, and both countries have this year sent patrol vessels to waters off Jersey.

By Layli Foroudi and Manuel Ausloos
A Delta Connection Embraer ERJ-175LR plane lands as a United Express Embraer ERJ-175LR plane waits to take off at LAX airport in Los Angeles, on Jan. 10, 2018. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

From Pilots to Ramp Agents: US Airlines Go All Out to Staff Up

CHICAGOFrom offering premium pay to hefty signing bonuses or poaching workers from other airlines, American carriers are scrambling to ramp up staffing for the holiday season and prevent disruptions that marred air travel this summer.

After reducing headcount by thousands during the depths of the pandemic, the industry is grappling with shortages of pilots, flight attendants, and customer service agents.

A Delta Air Lines spokesperson said the company had no furloughs or job losses related to the pandemic. However, the company did have about 18,000 staff departures last year in the form of retirements or voluntary separations.

With willing workers in short supply across the United States and companies frantically vying for them, carriers are being forced to spend more to attract talent.

The reality is that the hiring environment has changed as a result of the pandemic, American Airlines chief operating officer, David Seymour, told employees in a memo this month.

Piedmont Airlines, Americans subsidiary, is trying to lure pilots with a $180,000 bonus offer. United Airlines is offering a $5,000 signing bonus for a ramp agent position in Boston. Spirit Airlines has bumped up wages for its ramp agents by 30 percent. The ultra-low-cost carrier is offering a one-time graduation bonus of $1,250 and up to $4,500 a year in tuition reimbursement to flight attendants.

The rush to hire is driving up costs at a time when soaring jet fuel prices and higher airport charges are also squeezing profits.

Southwest Airlines wage expense as a percentage of revenue is up by 14 points this year versus 2019. There have been similar increases in salary costs at other carriers including United and American.

Yet headcount at U.S. scheduled air carriers in October was 14.3 percent below the pre-pandemic peak. By contrast, employment at restaurants and bars, struck equally hard by pandemic lockdowns, is just 6.4 percent below its peak before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Fading Allure

Industry experts attribute the sluggish recovery to the fading attraction of jobs with passenger airlines.

Wages for some entry-level airline jobs, particularly low-skilled ones, pale in comparison with those in other industries even as the work has become more challenging.

The situation is worse at regional carriers, which operate 43 percent of the flights of American, United, and Delta. These companies provide connectivity to low-density networks, but their pilots and crews are paid far less.

Even at the regional airlines that are subsidiaries of American and Delta, the wage gap is huge. For example, entry-level flight dispatchers at American earn more than twice the amount made by their counterparts at Piedmont Airlines. There is a similar gap between pay scales at Delta and its regional unit Endeavor Air.

Keturah Johnson, who heads the union for Piedmonts flight attendants, said a lot of workers have been forced to pick up a second job as the wages at the regional carrier are not high enough to cover living costs.

Piedmonts flight attendants last month voted to authorize a strike, demanding better pay and benefits.

We are fighting for a livable wage, said Johnson.

A Crisis Long in the Making

Analysts say the labor crisis was in the making long before COVID-19 hit the industry. They trace its genesis to a wave of bankruptcies and consolidations after the 9/11 attacks, which made carriers too cost-conscious and excessively focused on productivity.

As airlines slimmed down, they became more reliant on employees logging more hours.

The Association of Flight Attendants estimates the workload of flight attendants increased by at least 25 percent after 9/11.

The pandemic-induced plunge in air travel prompted the industry to double down on cost cuts, leaving it with the lowest headcount in more than three decades. Meanwhile, quarantine requirements or illness further depleted its resources.

COVID was the tipping point, said Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel consultancy Atmosphere Research Group. It ripped the protective layer of the airline industry and exposed many of its underlying challenges.

Airlines resumed hiring this spring as dipping COVID-19 cases brought passengers back. But the supply of new pilots is limited, and cargo carriers of Amazon.com Inc., United Parcel Service Inc., and FedEx Corp. are also vying for them.

Faye Malarkey Black, head of the Regional Airline Association, said the supply of new pilots fell 60 percent in 2020. This year, it is about 36 percent below pre-pandemic levels, she said.

Worries about a looming pilot shortage have dogged the industry for years. That did not stop carriers last year from pausing hiring and offering buyouts and retirement packages to thousands of aviators.

Perfect Storm of Mandates

COVID-19 vaccine mandates, a dearth of workers, and an expected rise in demand is poised to create a perfect storm that could derail air traffic in the coming months, two top Republican lawmakers warned aviation authorities in November.

President Joe Bidens vaccine mandate for federal employees will affect the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which helps control air traffic, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the primary means of security in airports.

In addition, mandates for airlines have already led to some firings and resignations, and could lead to more, Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), the top Republican on the Aviation Subcommittee, told FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson in a Nov. 8 letter (pdf).

Soaring Attrition Rate

Faced with a crunch, they are now heavily poaching from regional carriers.

SkyWest Inc., which operates flights for Delta, American, and United, last month said its attrition rate is running into double digits. To be sure, regional airlines have been losing pilots to major carriers for years. But Black said that trend is now on steroids.

United Airlines fired 232 unvaccinated employees in October.

Subodh Karnik, chief executive of Georgia-based ExpressJet Airlines, likened the demand for pilots to the frenzy in the U.S. housing market where houses are getting flooded with offers within days of their listing.

He said one-fifth of the pilots at regional airlines are getting snatched away by big passenger and cargo carriers even before they can complete their mandatory training.

Inadequate staffing runs the risk of causing operational meltdowns of the kind that have led to a spate of high-profile flight cancellations in recent months.

Carriers such as American and JetBlue are offering bonuses, higher pay, and other incentives to ensure they have enough workers for what is shaping up as the busiest holiday season in two years.

If the shortages persist, Karnik warned that major carriers could stop servicing less profitable routes.

United has decided to drop eight routes in the U.S. Midwest and South from its network. The airlines chief executive, Scott Kirby, told travel news industry website Skift last week that the cuts were the result of a pilot shortage.

We dont have enough pilots to fly all the airplanes, he said.

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

Epoch Times reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
Growing Food Scene Puts Punta Gorda on the Map

Given its name, I assumed the restaurant was a tribute to Ernest Hemingway.

That seemed like a reasonable assumption since so many bars and restaurants claim some connection to one of the greatest authors in the American literary canon. Think Havanas La Floridita, his eponymous bar at The Ritz in Paris, and Sloppy Joes in Key West.

But, as it turns out, the recently opened Hemingways Grille in the Florida city of Punta Gorda takes its name from another Hemingwaya considerably more obscure Hemingway. In this case, its John Hemingway, who captained a king crab boat that Massachusetts restaurateur Lars Vinjerud worked on in Alaska. Sadly, the waitress who served me a perfectly cooked filet mignon and a delightful South African Chenin blanc didnt know the backstory. Instead, I had to do some sleuthing on the internet.

The streets of Punta Gorda. (Dennis Lennox)

Charlotte Harbor. (Dennis Lennox)

Hemingways is joined by several other members in a fledgling food scene that has developed as the small city (population 19,471) and seat of surrounding Charlotte County transforms from overlooked to a destination in its own right.

Small-town quaintness in Punta Gorda. (Dennis Lennox)

Part of the catalyst was Hurricane Charley, which devastated this swath of southwest Florida along the Gulf of Mexico coast in 2004. As part of its recovery, Punta Gorda embraced small-town quaintness while also redeveloping downtown with an orientation toward its best asset: the waterfront at Charlotte Harbor. The other part of the reinvention has come from snowbirds, as seasonal inhabitants from colder northern states are called, and year-round retirees. This has given Punta Gorda the countrys second-oldest population.

The waterfront at Charlotte Harbor. (Dennis Lennox)

Demographics notwithstanding, I found the food to be much more than blue-plate specials aimed at customers of a certain age. And the best part? Getting a table for dinner is seldom difficult when the rush for seating is before 7 oclock.

Many of the visitors congregate in Fishermens Village, a marina that includes restaurants, shops, and accommodation with all-suite units. Here, both locals and visitors frequent Captains Table for unpretentious dining and million-dollar sunset views. On the floor below is Harpoon Harrys. This is the kind of place you go for a stiff drink, not a glass of wine.

A statue of Juan Ponce de Leon. The Spanish explorer landed in present-day Punta Gorda in 1513. (Dennis Lennox)

Back downtown on Marion Avenue, a block or two from Hemingways in a somewhat nondescript building across from a post office, is The Perfect Caper.

Fishermens Village features restaurants, shops, and accommodation. (Dennis Lennox)

First opened in 2002 by chef-owner Jeanie Roland, the upscale restaurant features French Asian fusion fare and a 26-bottle wine list with something for everyone. My only real complaint was the seating, as I had trouble getting comfortable in a booth with legroom tighter than the middle seat on a low-cost airline.

Gilchrist Park, Punta Gorda. (Khairil Azhar Junos/Shutterstock)

When You Go

Stay at the Four Points by Sheraton (Marriott.com), with its landmark tiki bar overlooking Charlotte Harbor. Somewhat oddly, hotel guests cant charge drinks or food from the bar to their room.

Eat at Hemingways Grille (HemingwaysGrille.com), Captains Table (TheCaptainsTable.com), The Perfect Caper (ThePerfectCaper.com), and the Village Fish Market (Village-Fish-Market.com). Reservations are generally recommended.

Allegiant Air and Sun Country fly to and from Punta Gorda Airport. For other carriers, the closest major airport is 40 miles away in Fort Myers.

Full trip planning resources are available through the Pure Florida website (PureFlorida.com).

The author was partially hosted by the Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach Visitor & Convention Bureau.
Have Pizza, Will Barter: The Irregular Story of Unregular Pizza

In the middle of the pandemic, Gabriele Lamonaca built a businessand human connectionsswapping over-the-top pies for homemade goods

What would you give for a fresh-baked pizza? For some people, anything from homemade cocktails to caviar to a night in a hotel penthouse, Gabriele Lamonaca discovered.

The 31-year-old Rome-born, New York City-based pizzaiolo is the creator of Unregular Pizza, a new pizzeria built on an age-old idea: bartering.

When the pandemic hit, putting Lamonaca out of a job and his dream of opening a pizzeria on hold, he turned to baking Roman-style pies in his apartment, perfecting his 72-hour-leavened doughkey to a light and airy crustand experimenting with toppings. At the suggestion of his marketing-pro girlfriend, he opened an Instagram account to share his creations. Soon, friends were asking: Do you deliver?

Reluctant to charge money, Lamonaca started swapping pies for his friends own homemade goods, and posting the exchanges on Instagram. In December 2020, when a stranger messaged him requesting to barter, he realized hed hit upon something bigger.

Lamonaca began taking three to four requests per week, biking to street-corner meetups with pizzas in tow. No two pies were the same. I wanted to experiment as much as I could, and get feedback from future customers, he said.

Bartered items started with food and drinks, but grew to include custom art, poetry, even horseback riding lessons. During those months of social isolation, everyone was really excited.  I could see the spark of joy they had when they did [the barter], Lamonaca said. Its not just an exchange of goods. Its really an experience, getting to know each other  and sharing what we can do best.

In March 2021, pizza chef Salvatore Gagliardo joined Lamonaca as a partner and investor, and in May, they opened a shop near Union Square, where they now sell by the slicefor cash, though they still do a few barters per week. Displays are packed with inventive loaded pies, including Lamonacas indulgent Burrapizzas, featuring a whole burrata on every slice.

Since their brick-and-mortar success, theyve been looking for ways to pay it forward to other small businesses. They frequently barter both goods and social media exposure and recently hosted a pop-up series inviting local makers to sell in their store.

Anyone can sign up to barter at UnregularPizza.com. Celebrity visits and partnerships have brought in bigger offersa Times Square billboard appearance, tickets and merch from the Metsbut everyone gets a fair chance, they say, as they work through the waitlist.

We just want something legal, Lamonaca said with a laugh, and something interesting.

It doesnt matter if youre a big company or just someone who has a passion for creating something at home. What wed like to see in people is the excitement to share what they create.

Meet the Chef

Name: Gabriele Lamonaca

Age: 31

Born in: Rome, Italy

Lives in: Harlem, New York City

Favorite pizza toppings: Burrata and anchovies

Off-limits on pizza: Cucumbers or pickles

Best barter: Sidewalk orchestra performance by children from the Special Music School

Dream barter: Stanley Tuccis negroni
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 17, 2021. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Kyiv Warns Russia That Any Attack on Ukraine Would Be Costly

KYIVUkraines foreign minister warned Russia on Thursday that an attack on his country would incur political, economic, and human losses and would be too costly.

Russia has been building up forces near its border with Ukraine, and Kyiv, the United States, and NATO have voiced concerns about a possible Russian attacka suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false.

We are not trying to guess what is in [Russian President Vladimir] Putins head, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told a televised briefing.

We are working to give him a clear understandinga new attack on Ukraine will be too costly, so it is better not to do it.

He said Kyivs main goal was to restrain Russia from further aggressive actions.

To do this, Moscow must clearly understand what political, economic, and human losses it will incur in the event of a new stage of aggression, Kuleba said.

The head of Ukraines military intelligence told the Military Times outlet this weekend that Russia had more than 92,000 troops massed around Ukraines borders and was preparing for an attack by the end of January or beginning of February.

Ukraine, which wants to join the NATO military alliance, received a large consignment of U.S. ammunition and Javelin missiles earlier this year, prompting criticism from Moscow.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian navy received two refitted former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats as a part of $2.5-billion package of assistance to Ukraine, and Kuleba said Ukraine could receive one another of the vessels.

Ukraines ties with Russia collapsed in 2014 after Moscow backed separatists who rose up in eastern Ukraine and took control of territory that Kyiv wants back. Kyiv says some 14,000 people have been killed in fighting since then.

Russia has not turned its back on talks with France, Germany, and Ukraine about how to implement a peace deal over eastern Ukraine, Maria Zakharova, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Thursday.

By Pavel Polityuk
Seif al-Islam Gadhafi speaks to the media at a press conference in a hotel in Tripoli, Libya, on Feb. 25, 2011. (Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Libya: Gadhafi Son Disqualified From Running for President

BENGHAZI, LibyaLibyas top electoral body on Wednesday disqualified the son and onetime heir apparent of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi from running for president in elections to be held next month, citing his previous convictions.

The name of Seif al-Islam Gadhafi appeared on a list of ineligible candidates issued by the countrys High National Elections Committee. He can appeal the decision in court in the coming days.

Seif al-Islam had been sentenced to death by a Tripoli court in 2015 for using violence against protesters in a 2011 uprising against his father, but that ruling has since been called into question by Libyas rival authorities. He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity related to the uprising.

Libya is set to hold the first round of presidential elections on Dec. 24, after years of U.N.-led attempts to usher in a more democratic future and end the countrys civil war. Adding to the concerns surrounding the election, the U.N.s top envoy for Libya submitted his resignation last week, though he said Wednesday he is prepared to stay on through the vote if needed.

Following the 2011 overthrow and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, oil-rich Libya spent most of the last decade split between rival governmentsone based in the capital, Tripoli, and the other in the eastern part of the country. Each side in the civil war has also had the support of mercenaries and foreign forces from Turkey, Russia and Syria and other regional powers.

The son of Libyas former dictator submitted his candidacy papers in the southern town of Sabha on Nov. 14. It was the first time in years that the 49-year-old, who earned a PhD at the London School of Economics, appeared in public.

He had been captured by fighters in the town of Zintan late in 2011, as the uprising ended his fathers rule after 40 years. Seif al-Islam was released in June 2017.

The announcement of his possible candidacy stirred controversy across the divided country, where a number of other high-profile candidates have also emerged in recent weeks. Among them are powerful military commander Khalifa Hifter and the countrys interim prime minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

The long-awaited vote still faces challenges, including unresolved issues over laws governing the elections, and occasional infighting 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.

Meanwhile, U.N. envoy Jan Kubis submitted his resignation last week, though it didnt become public until Tuesday.

The Geneva-based diplomat serves as both special envoy for Libya and head of the U.N. political mission in the country. He told the Security Council on Wednesday that he is leaving to facilitate a change he considers vital: moving the mission chiefs job to Tripoli to be on the ground at a high-stakes moment for Libya.

The idea divided the council during discussions in September. Western countries embraced it; Russia rejected it.

Kubis added that he was ready to continue as special envoy through the election, though he said the U.N. had accepted his resignation with a Dec. 10 effective date.

Asked about the discrepancy, U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq said the organization would continue to work with him while were seeking a successor.

The job was open for nearly a year before being filled by Kubis, a former Slovak foreign minister and U.N. official in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Security Council emphasized the importance of the upcoming election Wednesday, urging an inclusive and consultative electoral process, warning against violence and disinformation and calling for Libyans to accept the results of the vote.

Libyan Ambassador Taher El Sonni said his country appreciates all international initiatives with genuine intentions, but he said the councils members need to heed us, too and let Libyans lead their own way out of crisis.

You have a moral responsibility towards the developments in my country over the past 10 years, he told the group. Dont belittle us.

By Rami Musa
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis speaks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured) in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the State Department ahead of a meeting, in Washington, on Sept. 15, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/via Reuters)

Lithuania Urges Europe to Increase Indo-Pacific Ties in Face of Chinese Coercion

WASHINGTONLithuania will adapt to short-term economic pain dealt by China over its moves to enhance ties with Taiwan, foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, while urging Europe to brace against Beijings economic coercion by getting more involved in the Indo-Pacific.

The Chinese regime downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday over the Baltic countrys move to allow self-ruled Taiwan to open a de facto embassy there. Lithuania has formal relations with China and not Taiwan.

Beijing views democratically-governed Taiwan as a province, and Lithuanian officials say the Chinese regime has also sought to inflict pain such as cutting trade links in retaliation for its decision.

Landsbergis told Reuters in an interview in Washington that such losses would be short-lived as Lithuania was working to make its supply chains less dependent on China.

In the short term, it is painful for any country when your contracts are cut, Landsbergis said. But it is short term, because markets adapt. Companies adapt.

Landsbergis said the Chinese regime had not only cut links with Lithuanian companies, but had approached companies in third countries to press them not to do business with Lithuania.

So much of what we produce is partially produced with, or within, China. This is why we need to find ways to create supply chains and how to make them more resilient so they can withstand this coercion, the cutting of contracts, the secondary sanctions, Landsbergis said.

He said Lithuania would provide a model for countries on how to withstand such pressure, but European nations in particular should become more involved in the Indo-Pacific to enhance their economic security.

We have to understand that every country now is involved in the Indo-Pacific, Landsbergis said.

Some of our NATO allies are taking big responsibility in the region, offering security guarantees to countries, and that means that we also have to at least have an understanding of whats going on, or probably play some part in this, he said.

Landsbergis met earlier with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who according to a State Department statement, underscored ironclad U.S. solidarity with its NATO ally.

Sherman welcomed Lithuania, a country of about three million, expanding ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific.

Washington has sought to carve out more space for Taiwan in the international system, one of the main factors in increasingly sour relations with Beijing. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said last week that U.S. attempts to expand cooperation with its partners and allies in the region were causing the Chinese regime heartburn. Beijing described the moves as Cold War thinking.

By Michael Martina and Humeyra Pamuk
A family is seen on the banks of the Lachlan River as it begins to spill ahead of expected major flooding later tonight on November 16, 2021 in Forbes, Australia.(Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

More Heavy Rain and Flooding Expected Across NSW

A trough of low pressure over the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) is likely to bring continued heavy rainfall, with many regions expected to receive up to 50 millimetres on Friday, leading to renewed flooding.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), more flooding is expected, especially in the inland rivers and Hunter River regions, both of which have already been impacted by recent flooding.

This comes after heavy rain and saturated catchments have sparked major flooding in western NSW and the mid-north coast in recent weeks.

Major flooding is currently occurring around the town of Scone, with moderate rainfall across the upper Hunter River catchment on Thursday night into Friday morning.

The New England region is also experiencing different levels, with major flooding happening now at Wee Waa, and moderate flooding expected at Narrabri and Tamworth on Friday afternoon and Friday night respectively.

Gunnedah is also experiencing moderate flooding, but this may become more severe into the weekend.

A moderate flood warning has been issued for Bathurst, with significant rainfall over the Macquarie River catchment on Thursday night. The river level at Bathurst is expected to reach 4.5 metres at around 6 p.m. on Friday.

Further west, severe slow-moving thunderstorms are likely to generate heavy rainfall that may result in flash flooding, with towns including Dubbo, Parkes, and Wellington potentially affected.

Meanwhile, gale-force winds are expected along the Illawarra Coast from Friday through Saturday, with strong wind warnings for Sydney, and the rest of the states coast.

A hazardous surf warning is in place for Sydney and the NSW South Coast on Friday, and this will extend to the whole NSW coast on Saturday.

According to the SES, with meteorologists declaring a La Nina climate condition, NSW communities should be prepared for the increased risk of severe weather events this storm season.

BOM defines La Nina as increased rainfall across much of the country, with cooler daytime temperatures south of the tropics, but warmer overnight temperatures in the north. There is a shift in temperature extremes and a decreased risk of frost. Tropical cyclones become more frequent and the onset of monsoon is earlier.

Commissioner of NSW SES, Carlene York, said that communities right across NSW are likely to see adverse weather conditions for months to come, and that the SES had already been busy since the start of storm season.

Since Storm Season began (1 October 2021), our volunteers have responded to over 6,715 requests for assistance from the community, she said.

She stressed the importance of people being aware of their risks and that they should have a sense of urgency in being prepared.

Simple things like preparing an emergency evacuation kit can be incredibly useful and help you in the event you need to evacuate your home, she said.

Our website has a lot of useful information for anyone needing assistance to prepare or learn about their risks.
An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill called molnupiravir being developed by Merck & Co. Inc. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, is seen in this undated photo obtained by Reuters on May 17, 2021. (Merck & Co. Inc./Handout via Reuters)

New Analysis Shows Mercks COVID-19 Antiviral Treatment Has Lower Efficacy

A new analysis of clinical trial results shows that Mercks antiviral pill for treating COVID-19 is significantly less effective than previously reported in October, the company announced on Friday.

In the updated report, the drugmaker said its antiviral treatment drug, which is called molnupiravir, showed a 30 percent reduction in hospitalizations and deaths from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, based on data from 1,433 patients.

In the companys full analysis, one patient died in the molnupiravir group, and nine in the placebo group. The molnupiravir arm of the study had a hospitalization and death rate of 6.8 percent. The placebo group had a hospitalization and death rate of 9.7 percent.

In early October, the drugmaker announced in its interim analysis of a phase 3 trial studying the treatment that the pill is able to cut the risk of hospitalization or death in half for adults who were deemed at risk but not hospitalized.

Compared to the 14.1 percent of patients who received placebos, 7.3 percent of trial participants who received the drug were hospitalized through day 29, the company and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said at the time. Eight people died in the placebo group while nobody did in the group given molnupiravir.

The lower efficacy of Mercks drug could have big implications in terms of whether countries continue to buy the pill.

In mid-October, Merck and its partner sought authorization with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their oral antiviral medicine.

On Friday, the FDA posted its review of Mercks experimental COVID-19 pill ahead of a public meeting next week when outside experts will debate the drugs benefits and risks, The Associated Press reported. American health officials said the pill is effective, but they raised questions about its safety during pregnancy.

The FDA will ask its experts whether the drugs benefits outweigh its risks for various patient groups, including pregnant women.

Antiviral treatments, just like Pfizer Incs experimental drug called PAXLOVID, need to be given to patients as early as possible to be most effective, best within days of the onset of symptoms.

Paxlovid, a Pfizer COVID-19 pill, is seen manufactured in Ascoli, Italy, in this undated photo obtained by Reuters on Nov. 16, 2021. (Pfizer/Handout via Reuters)

Merck and Pfizers treatments are cheaper to produce and easier to administer than existing options such as antibody therapies from Regeneron and Eli Lilly, which are mostly administered as intravenous infusions.

U.S.-based Pfizer Inc. announced in early November its oral antiviral treatment significantly reduces the risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients. According to a company press release published on Nov. 5, the pill was found in a scheduled interim analysis to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from the CCP virus by 89 percent if the patient receives the drug in time.

President Joe Biden said at the time Pfizer released its analysis that the United States has already secured millions of doses of the experimental antiviral pill.

If authorized by the FDA we may soon have pills that treat the virus in those who become infected, Biden said. Weve already secured millions of doses. The therapy would be another tool in our toolbox to protect people from the worst outcomes of COVID.

Currently, the only COVID-19 antiviral treatment granted an emergency use authorization by the FDA is remdesivir, which is being sold under the brand name Veklury.

The treatment involves combining remdesivir with the anti-inflammatory oral drug baricitinib for patients 2 years of age or older who need supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), according to the FDA.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
New CCP Virus Variant Detected in South Africa Sparks Travel Bans by Israel, UK

10 Cases Confirmed to-Date

A new variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has been detected in South Africa, its health minister, Joe Phaahla, announced Thursday.

Scientists say the new variant is a concern because it has a high number of mutations and spreads rapidly among young people in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province, he said at an online press briefing.

Over the last four or five days, there has been more of an exponential rise [in new infections], he said of South Africas case numbers of the CCP virus.

A surge in cases, which appeared to be cluster outbreaks from student gatherings in Pretoria and Tshwane, prompted scientists to study the genomic sequencing and subsequently discover the new variant, Phaahla said.

Scientists in South Africa are now working to determine what percentage of the new cases have been caused by the new variant, identified as B.1.1.529.

10 Confirmed Cases to Date

To date, 10 cases of the new variant have been confirmed by genomic sequencing, with three cases in Botswana, where it was first detected; six cases in South Africa; and one case in Hong Kong, in a traveler from South Africa.

In the past week, daily new cases in South Africa rapidly increased from around over 200 to more than 1,200 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the number almost doubled to 2,465.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases did not attribute the latest resurgence to the new variant, but some leading local scientists suspect it is the cause.

Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be, the NICD said in a statement.

In response to news of the variant, Israel and the UK have since enacted travel bans from South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, and Eswatini.

Constellation of New Mutations

The new variant has a constellation of new mutations, said Tulio de Oliveira, from the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa. He added that the high number of mutations is a concern as it could make the virus capable of evading immunity.

This new variant has many, many more mutations, including more than 30 to the spike protein that affects transmissibility, he said. We can see that the variant is potentially spreading very fast. We do expect to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks.

People queue outside a COVID-19 vaccination centre in Cape Town, South Africa, Aug. 20, 2021.(Mike Hutchings/Reuters)

De Oliveira said that a team of scientists from seven South African universities is studying the variant. They have 100 whole genomes of it, he said.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were concerns the new variant may be more transmissible than the dominant delta strain, and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

The World Health Organizations technical working group on virus evolution is to meet Friday to discuss the new variant in an urgent sitting requested by South Africa. The group may decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Belgian Public Health and Social Affairs Minister Frank Vandenbroucke pictured during a press conference after a meeting of the consultative committee with ministers of the Federal government, the regional governments and the community governments in Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 26 2021. (Dirk Waem/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

New CCP Virus Variant Confirmed in Belgium, First Case in Europe

Belgium confirmed that a new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus variant has been detected in the country, according to health officials. It is the first known case of the new variant in Europe.

The variantwhich was first detected in South Africa and has been named B.1.1.529was identified in a tourist returning to Belgium from Egypt on Nov. 11, Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst said on Twitter. The person developed the first symptoms on Nov. 22, he added.

Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said the case was identified in a man in his thirties who was returning from a holiday trip in Egypt, local news agency VRT reported.

The unidentified man experienced mild symptoms from the variant. The B.1.1.529 variant is likely to be named Nu by World Health Organization experts on Friday. If the name gets approved, it would be the next available letter in the Greek naming system for COVID-19 variants.

We have one confirmed case of this variant, it is someone who came from abroad, this person has been tested on Nov. 22, he was not vaccinated and had no prior infection, so this case has been observed and confirmed, but I want to repeat that it is a suspicious variant, we dont know if its a very dangerous variant. That we do not know, says Vandenbroucke.

It is currently unclear where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in South Africa and has, besides Belgium, also been seen in travelers to Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel. South African scientists say the new variant is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Friday ordered a new set of measures as officials in the country report that CCP virus cases are again increasing. The new measures will include closing nightclubs for three weeks and restricting privately organized parties.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo takes part in a press conference after a meeting of the consultative committee with ministers of the Federal government, the regional governments and the community governments, in Brussels, on March 19, 2021. (Philip Reynaers/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

The bars, cafe, and restaurant sector will have additional measures and will have the obligation to shut down at 11 p.m., and maximum six persons per table, except if they are from the same family, De Croo announced. Nightclubs and dancing clubs will have to be completely closed, once again, and I know that it is a tough message.

The United Kingdom on Thursday said it was concerned by the newly identified variant and banned flights from six southern African countries. Israel has also imposed a travel ban on most African states.

In the United States, which recently lifted its ban on tourism from many locations globally, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, said he wants to see more data on the new variant before making further announcements.

American officials are expected to meet with South African officials on Friday to discuss the variant. There is currently no indication if the variant has arrived in the United States yet.

From NTD News
Police and workers wait for arrivals at the COVID-19 testing centre in Terminal 3 at Pearson Airport in Toronto on Feb. 3, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn)

New COVID-19 Variant: Canada Restricts Travel From Southern Africa

Canada is banning entry to foreign nationals who have travelled to southern Africa to prevent the spread of a new variant of concern discovered in the region.

The countries the ban applies to are South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Namibia.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a press conference on Nov. 26 that individuals who have arrived from these countries in the last 14 days will be asked to take a COVID-19 test and to quarantine until they receive a negative result.

Also, Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or those with a valid visa coming from the region will be tested on arrival and have to quarantine in a hotel until receiving a negative result. They will then be able to complete their self-isolation at home.

The latest measures are expected to remain in effect until Jan. 31.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said there are no direct flights to Canada from the concerned region, and individuals travelling with a layover will be required to be tested in the third country.

Global Affairs Canada will also issue an advisory to discourage non-essential travel to southern Africa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) wrote in a statement on Nov. 26 that in recent weeks, infections have increased steeply in South Africa, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant.

B.1.1.529 has been deemed a variant of concern by the WHO and given the name Omicron.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canadas chief public health officer, said in the press conference the variant hasnt yet been detected in Canada.

Although the epidemiological significance of this variant is still being assessed, it is considered unusual in that as a very high number of mutations in two key areas of the viruses spike protein, said Tam.

Since this could increase transmissibility as well as decrease the bodys defences, we are concerned about this new variant and closely monitoring the evolving situation, she said.

A number of other jurisdictions have also enacted restrictions on travellers from the region.

Israel banned arrivals from most African countries on Nov. 26. We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency, said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The United States will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region starting Nov. 29.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said the Commission would propose to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529.

The WHO cautioned against a knee-jerk reaction following a meeting of its experts in Geneva on Nov. 26.

At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against, spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a UN briefing in Geneva. The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing travel measures.

Lindmeier said it will take several weeks to assess the new variants transmissibility and the effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics against it.

The chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, criticized the travel restrictions imposed on her country, describing them as hasty and a storm in a teacup, reported PA Media.

From us as medical practitioners, we picked up, last week, the different clinical pictures, we looked at the advisory committees and so far what we have seen is very mild cases. [Im] not sure why we are all up in arms, Coetzee said.

We know there are a lot of mutations, but no-one can tell us at this stage if it means something or if it is just going to fade away. We just dont know.

Fears that the new variant could evade vaccines and lead to more restrictive measures sparked a panic in political circles as well in the economy, with markets crashing on Nov. 26.

With files from The Canadian Press and Reuters
Borislav Sarafov, head of the national investigation service, speaks during a press-conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Nov. 25, 2021. (Tsvetomir Petrov/AP Photo)

Official: Human Error Likeliest Cause of Bulgaria Bus Crash

SOFIA, BULGARIAHuman error is believed to be the most likely cause of the fiery bus crash in Bulgaria that killed 44 people, including 12 children, early Tuesday, a Bulgarian official said Thursday.

The bus, which officials said had 52 people on board, mostly nationals of North Macedonia, was one of four returning from a trip to Istanbul. Turkey. It hit a highway guardrail in western Bulgaria, caught fire, and was reduced to a charred shell. Officials said the passengers were trapped as both exits were blocked.

An investigation is underway into the cause of the accident, which has sent a shockwave of grief across the neighboring Balkan countries.

On Thursday, Borislav Sarafov, deputy chief prosecutor and head of Bulgarias national investigation service, ruled out a terrorist act, adding that investigators also established there had been no blast.

Speaking at a press conference in Sofia, Bulgarias capital, Sarafov said that for the time being the leading version (of events) is human error.

The guard rail on the motorway where the accident happened is dangerous and is among the main causes for the crash, he said. He added that investigators are examining whether poor organization of highway traffic such as lane marking, lack of proper signs and reflectors could have contributed to the crash.

Lead investigator Marian Marinov said the bus driver had tried to stop before hitting the guard rail, but instead drove into it, likely because it was dark and raining.

Witnesses have said that immediately after the first hit fire broke out and the bus was quickly filled with smoke, he said.

No one could exit from the front door because of the strong fire there. All gathered in front of the second door in the middle of the bus, but it was blocked by the guard rail, he said.

Sarafov said forensic investigators have so far found a total of 44 bodies, one fewer than the 45 officials initially reported. He called the discrepancy a mystery and added that investigators were trying to establish whether one passenger had moved to another of the buses or had survived the crash.

Seven people are known to have survivedfive citizens of North Macedonia, one Serb, and one Belgian. They were taken to Sofias Pirogov emergency hospital and are in stable condition.

One of them, who broke a window to escape the burning bus, testified to prosecutors that eight people had jumped out, said Siyka Mileva, spokesperson for the chief prosecutor.

Sarafov said Thursday that the victims died of suffocation from fire smoke and not from the impact of the crash. The official added that soot particles were found in their respiratory systems.

Bulgarian Interior Minister Boyko Rashkov told reporters at the crash site Tuesday that he had never seen something more horrifying. The bodies have to be identified by DNA testing.

Media in Bulgaria and North Macedonia have described it as the deadliest bus crash in both countries histories.

Authorities in North Macedonia have revoked the license for the travel company that organized the trip and banned its traveling operations. Also, two customs officers were suspended because they allowed the bus involved in the accident to pass the border without a vehicle license.

In North Macedonias capital of Skopje Wednesday, hundreds of elementary school pupils converged outside Ismail Qemali school to pay tribute to six classmates killed in the accident.

What happened was something no one would want(its a) big tragedy, Metush Memedi, a teacher from the school said. We have five children from one family. Two of them were in ninth grade, one in eighth grade, one in sixth, and one girl in second.

Visar Ganiu, mayor of the municipality of Chair in Skopje, said 16 of the crash victims hailed from his district.

I want to express condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of all those who lost their lives in the tragic accident, Ganiu said. We are hurting with them as well.

McGrath reported from Bucharest, Romania. Konstantin Testorides in Skopje, North Macedonia, contributed.

By Veselin Toshkov and Stephen McGrath
Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Okla., on April 21, 2020. (Drone Base/Reuters)

Oil Prices Drop to 2-month Lows as New COVID-19 Variant Puts Markets on Edge

Oil prices plunged more than 5 percent in early trading on Nov. 26, hitting a two-month low as the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant spooked investors, driving down risk assets like stocks and pushing up havens like gold and bonds.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 5.8 percent to $77.49 a barrel by 6:43 am New York time, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down around 6.0 percent, at $73.33 a barrel.

Crude prices could face additional pressure from the recently announced coordinated release of stockpiles from strategic national reserves in a number of countries, including the United States, in a bid to cool soaring energy costs.

Besides oil taking a tumble, overnight headlines about the new variant sent a broader wave of risk-off sentiment across markets, with major stock indexes falling in Asia and Europe, with investors pivoting towards the safety of havens like gold and bonds.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell over 12 basis points to 1.514 percent by 6:58 a.m. New York time, while the spot price for gold advanced 1.3 percent to $1,811.63 per ounce. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to prices.

This variant is a new risk for markets. We cant tell how far it can evade vaccines, said Takashi Hiroki, Chief Strategist at Monex, in Tokyo, Japan.

Not much is known of the new COVID-19 variant, detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong, but South African scientists say it has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to evade immune responses or make it more transmissible.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

News of the new variant prompted authorities in the European Union to seek to halt air travel from the southern African region.

The Commission will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Friday.

Britain temporarily banned flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Eswatini from Friday, and asked returning British travelers from those destinations to quarantine.

A technical group from the World Health Organization is to meet Friday to discuss the new variant in an urgent sitting requested by South Africa.

Mimi Nguyen Ly and Reuters contributed to this report.
Orange County Supervisors Choose Intriguing New Redistricting Map

Commentary

This week, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to change its boundaries by dramatically redistricting the five supervisorial districts. This process is required every ten years, after receiving the United States decennial census results, but rarely has it been so intriguing. All five supervisors should have voted for the final redistricting map, but it was a split vote.

Having enjoyed this exercise ten years ago when I served as a county supervisor, I can tell you that the customary strategy usually follows three overarching dictates.

The five districts should be roughly evenly populated. It is preferred that the smaller of the countys 34 cities stay intact. A couple of the larger cities, like Anaheim and Irvine, are difficult to contain in one supervisorial district. But it has worked well to have just one supervisor representing a city, versus two or more. Keeping communities of interest intact satisfies the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination.

Immigrants to this country tended to live in communities of those with similar backgrounds. For example, Norwegians tended to move to Minnesota. In our area, Boyle Heights once had a large Jewish community. In Orange County, as an immigrant from the Netherlands, I lived in what was once known as Dairyland, where Dutch and Portuguese immigrants owned large swaths of what are now the cities of Cypress and La Palma for their milking cows. When these cities were incorporated, there were probably more cows than people.

We see similar trends today with Little Saigon in Westminster and adjacent areas. Eventually, the second and third generations move on and assimilate with the rest of society. But, while we still have pockets of similar ethnicities, they should be recognized as communities of interest and not bifurcated.

Ten years ago, my colleagues expanded the Vietnamese community of interest by moving the upper half of the city of Fountain Valley from my Second District into the First District. To balance things out, the bottom half of Buena Park was moved into the Second. To explain the intrigue, because it split two of my cities, I was the only vote in opposition to the 2011 redistricting map.

The overall process resulted in minor changes to the districts compared to the 2021 approved redistricting map. This cycle, the supervisors dropped a bombshell on the table in the closing week with two proposed maps containing very dramatic adjustments. Purportedly, the new Second District favors the Latino community of interest with the suggested changes.

This cycles story comes with two interesting plots. The first new twist in the proposals was to change the numbers for two of the districts. The First District was changed to be identified as the Second District. And the Second District was changed to the First District.

Discussing this with other Orange County historians, we could not recall that this had ever been done before. But we also realized that the decennial maps from the countys founding in 1889 to today are not readily available.

Along with the switch, the second huge twist found one of the two final maps up for a vote proposing to include Costa Mesa in the new First District, which was Second District last week. This would mean that the current Second District Supervisor, Katrina Foley, would be in Supervisor Dos newly constituted First District. She could not rerun for reelection until 2024, when Do is termed out. This would have squeezed her out of her office for two years and probably permanently. I dont believe a manipulation like this has ever been proposed in the countys 132-year history. Fortunately, Foley dodged this bullet as the approved second map put Costa Mesa in the Fifth District.

Costa Mesa was in the Fabulous Fifth in the 1991 redistricting map, with the 2001 redistricting map moving it into the Second District. Consequently, Costa Mesa is back in the Fifth District. But this twist puts Foley into a new district. I believe this maneuver is also unprecedented.

Supervisor Foley now has two options. The obvious one is to run for reelection in the new Fifth District where she resides. The more difficult one is for her to leave her home base and move into the new Second District and rerun there.

Disrupting Foleys political life maybe be considered very creative, if that was the goal. And there is evidence that would lead one to speculate this may be the case, as two of the supervisors preferred the more radical of the two proposed maps.

With this intrigue, one should ask why was this done to a sitting supervisor? I believe the motives were not necessarily political. I would speculate they may have been personal.

Supervisor Foley is not the easiest elected official to work with, and her colleagues, on what is usually a historically collegial board, may have sent her a message.

As a resident of Orange County for more than six decades, I dont recall when redistricting came at a personal cost to a sitting supervisor. If possibly squeezing Foley out through the redistricting process was the intended goal, then it was a brilliant strategy. But its not the customary or appropriate method of dealing with a difficult colleague.

Lets hope the message is not lost on Foley and she modifies her management style.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Bill Gates speaks during All In WA: A Concert For COVID-19 Relief in Washington on June 24, 2020. (Getty Images/Getty Images for All In WA)

Predictions of Smallpox Return Are Nothing New

Recent comments by Bill Gates have stirred old fears, but how real is the risk?

COVID-19 is still the virus of the moment, but the emergence of a much older and more deadly virus is said to lurk just over the horizon.

This premonition comes from Microsoft founder turned vaccine-focused philanthropist Bill Gates. In a recent interview with Policy Exchange, Gates warned governments to prepare for bioterrorist attacks using smallpox. He urged the United States, the UK, and other nations to immediately begin investing billions in research and development to counter the impending threat.

You say, OK, what if a bioterrorist brought smallpox to 10 airports? You know, how would the world respond to that? There are naturally caused epidemics and bioterrorism-caused epidemics that could even be way worse than what we experienced today, Gates said.

Gatess preparedness plan envisions governments pouring money into a new World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Task Force to address this deadly scenario predicted to besiege humanity in the near future. Just days after Gatess announcement, vials labeled smallpox were found in a Merck laboratory in suburban Philadelphia.

The world is still struggling to recover from the economic devastation and death toll brought by COVID-19. So why smallpox and why now?

Smallpox is a contagious disease caused by the variola virus, with a reputation of being one of the most devastating diseases known to mankind. Symptoms include fever, severe fatigue, pain, and sometimes blindness. But the most characteristic sign is the red spots that sprout all over the body. The spots turn into fluid-filled blisters, which later develop into deep, pitted scars or pox marks. The disease has an infection record stretching back at least 3,000 years. And while most survived smallpox, it also claimed numerous lives.

In terms of modern health threats, however, smallpox is practically a forgotten relic. Although the disease is said to have killed 300 million in the 20th century alone, by the end of the century, it virtually disappeared.

Older generations may still sport a small scar on their shoulderthe unique signature of the smallpox vaccinebut immunization programs for this disease faded in the 1970s. By 1979, member states of the World Health Assembly declared the disease eradicated, and health experts concluded that the serious complications that the vaccine is known to cause outweighed the benefits in the absence of an actual outbreak.

According to the WHO, smallpox is the only disease ever to be declared eradicated, citing the accomplishment among the most notable and profound public health successes in history.

But ever since the disease made its exit, experts have feared that it would one day return, not as a force of nature, but as a weapon. Although the variola virus has appeared to have vanished in the wild, samples are kept in two labs, one at the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia, and another at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. The samples are kept for study, but the concern is they might fall into the wrong hands.

Dark Winter

Twenty years before Gates made his prediction, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies hosted an exercise known as Operation Dark Winter. The exercise was aimed at examining how officials might address the challenges posed by a weaponized smallpox attack on America.

The worrisome conclusions drawn from the Dark Winter exercise prompted a renewed interest in a smallpox vaccination program, at least briefly. Given that it had been decades since this vaccine had been administered to the public, it presumably left millions of Americans vulnerable to an attack. And experts argued that reviving the vaccine could effectively protect the population.

A report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security outlines the findings from the Dark Winter exercise. It explores the issues related to any biological attackthe threat of national security interests, the massive civilian casualties, the breakdown of essential institutions, civil disorder, loss of confidence in government, and reduced U.S. strategic flexibility abroadbut it also covered the concerns specific to a smallpox outbreak.

Smallpox, because of its high case-fatality rates and transmissibility, represents one of the most serious biological warfare threats to the civilian population, the report states. Aerosol release of smallpox virus disseminated among a relatively small population could result in a significant epidemic. Evidence suggests the infectious dose is very small.

We typically think of biological warfare as a relatively recent development, but smallpox was imagined as a weapon in the past. For example, during the French and Indian War (17541763), British general Lord Jeffrey Amherst wrote letters in which he proposed wiping out Native American enemies by offering them smallpox-infected blankets.

Historians dispute whether the plan was ever implemented, and if it was, question if it even worked. What is clear is that many Native Americans were killed by smallpox when Europeans arrived in the New World. With no immunity to Old World diseases, several tribes were decimated with exposure.

The Search for Risk-Free Immunity

For centuries, people observed that those who survived smallpox were rewarded with a special ability: immunity. This meant that if you got sick from it once and recovered, the disease couldnt touch you again. In the past, various methods were employed to take advantage of this ability, while minimizing the threat. Throughout Asia and Africa, people discovered a procedure that involved smearing some smallpox pus or powdered scabs into a fresh scrape on the skin. Ideally, the process would produce mild symptoms and smallpox immunity, but it could also be fatal and cause outbreaks.

In England, a notable variation on this procedure led to the invention of the first vaccine. According to legend, an orphan boy heard a milkmaid proclaim that her complexion would never be blemished by smallpox marks because of her exposure to the bovine variety of the disease, known as cowpox. That orphan grew up to become a country surgeon named Edward Jenner who was eager to test the milkmaids claim. In 1796, Jenner exposed a young boy to a cowpox lesion in hopes of stimulating smallpox immunity and his experiment proved a success. Jenner named his new invention a vaccine after the Latin word for cow: vacca.

This invention is often credited with the eradication of smallpox, but some suggest that improvements in hygiene and nutrition may have played an even greater role in ending the scourge. Whatever the case, even the most ardent fans of the smallpox vaccine admit the treatment comes with significant risk. One big reason the world didnt embrace a renewed vaccination program following the Dark Winter exercise was all the complications associated with the treatment, including serious infections of the brain and heart.

These problems are detailed in a 2003 article in the journal, Clinical Medicine and Research, titled Smallpox Vaccine: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Current evidence suggests net harm would result if smallpox vaccine were made available to the general public on a voluntary basis. Such a policy would pose a risk to both the vaccinees and their close contacts (who presumably have not consented to vaccinia exposure) with little or no benefit under many attack scenarios. If this complex public health decision is delegated to individual citizens, some individuals will be unable to weigh the risks and benefits for true informed consent, the article states.

Treatments Old and New

So what if a smallpox attack really does break out in the next few years? Another weak spot in our protection from an attack is that there hasnt been a recognized treatment for it.

Drugmakers, however, are already gearing up to fill the gap just in case.

In 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first drug to treat smallpox, named tecovirimat. In June 2021, the FDA approved another drug to treat the disease named brincidofovir. Both drugs were approved under the FDAs animal rule. Because of the ethical issues associated with infecting human subjects with smallpox to test the drugs, only animal trials were used to assess safety and effectiveness.

Another smallpox remedy not approved by the FDA comes from Native American medicine of the 1800s. The Micmac tribe of Nova Scotia in particular treated smallpox infections with a carnivorous pitcher plant known as Sarracenia pupurea. Herbert Miles, the assistant surgeon to the Royal Artillery, reported that during an outbreak, an old Indian woman treated the tribe with Sarracenia and was so successful as to cure every case.

In 1892, American botanist Charles Millspaugh described Sarracenia as the greatest remedy known for the dreadful scourge.

The remedy went largely forgotten for the next century. But in 2012, researchers at Arizona State University took a fresh look at the old remedy and conducted in vitro experiments with a Sarracenia extract. They found that it inhibited the replication of the variola virus.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, concluded that Sarracenia was the first effective inhibitor of poxvirus replication at the level of early viral transcription.
Trader Justin Flinn works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tue. Nov. 2, 2021. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)

Risk Assets Sink as New COVID-19 Variant Fears Spark Rush to Safe Havens

Overnight headlines about the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant in South Africa seem to have spooked investors, with a risk-off pulse sending global shares and U.S. stock futures tumbling, and safe-havens like U.S. Treasurys and gold benefiting from the outflows.

Asia stocks outside Japan slid over 2 percent, Europe and U.S. stock futures are down sharply, and crude oil prices fell over 5 percent.

People are reacting with the uncertainty about what this means. You shoot first and ask questions later when this sort of news erupts, said Ray Attrill, Head of FX Strategy at NAB in Sydney, Australia.

By around 4:30 a.m. New York time, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down around 2.5 percent, on course for its worst session in over a year, while UKs FTSE 100 dropped 3.3 percent, Germanys DAX fell around 3 percent and Frances CAC 40 shed 3.5 percent.

The risk-off sentiment saw investors pile into the perceived safety of U.S. Treasurys, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year down nearly 10 basis points. Bond yields move inversely to prices. The spot price of gold, a traditional haven asset, was up nearly one percent.

Known for their sharp price swings, cryptocurrencies tumbled, with Bitcoin down over 6 percent and Ethereum plunging around 10 percent.

Edward Curran (L) works with fellow traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 2, 2021. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)

While thin liquidity following Thursdays U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday likely exacerbated the price moves, theres little doubt that overnight headlines about the emergence of the new variant have taken markets by surprise.

Not much is known of the variant, detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong, but South African scientists say it has an unusual combination of mutations and may be able to evade immune responses or make it more transmissible.

This variant is a new risk for markets. We cant tell how far it can evade vaccines, said Takashi Hiroki, Chief Strategist at Monex, in Tokyo, Japan.

Following the news, authorities in the European Union are seeking to halt air travel from the southern African region. amid rising concern about a new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

The Commission will propose, in close coordination with Member States, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Friday.

She added that the executive Commission will recommend that all 27 EU member states implement the measure and hopes for the European Council to give the green light as soon as possible.

Britain temporarily banned flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Eswatini from Friday, and asked returning British travelers from those destinations to quarantine.

A technical group from the World Health Organization is to meet Friday to discuss the new variant in an urgent sitting requested by South Africa.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Mimi Nguyen Ly and Reuters contributed to this report.
An Apple logo hangs above the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City on July 21, 2015. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Robbers Hit California Apple Store, Make Off With $20,000 Worth Of Items

A San Francisco-area Apple store was targeted Wednesday by robbers and looters in broad daylight, resulting in thousands of dollars in losses.

Police in Santa Rosa, located approximately 50 miles from San Francisco, said the incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. local time, involving four black male suspects.

They said the brazen daytime burglary occurred in front of staff and customers, with thieves stealing $20,000 in goods from the store. They then fled the scene in a vehicle, officials said.

The Santa Rosa Police Department released photos of the suspects, who were described as four young, Black males between 14 and 18 years old and who were wearing mostly black clothing with masks covering their faces. No details about the vehicles released.

Earlier this week, thieves and looters targeted several other locations in the Bay Area, including a Louis Vuitton store, a Nordstrom, pharmacies, cannabis dispensaries, and a jewelry store. Looting incidents were also reported in Los Angeles, including a Nordstrom in the city.

The spate of robberies started Friday night, just hours after Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder charges. Protests were held across several U.S. cities, although police in Oakland and Walnut Creek have said the robberies are not connected with protests.

In response, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he authorized the creation of task forces to tackle the rise in such crimes.

I have no sympathy, no empathy whatsoever for people smashing and grabbing, stealing peoples items, creating havoc and terror on our streets, the governor told reporters earlier this week.

In Walnut Creek, upwards of 80 individuals targeted a Nordstrom location late last week, grabbing items before fleeing in waiting vehicles outside.

We want real accountability, we want people prosecuted, and we want people to feel safe this holiday season, Newsom remarked.

Several years ago, California passed Proposition 47, which reclassified felony theft under $950 as a misdemeanor. Some police groups have said that the law, as well as new bail reform rules, have led to a spike in crime nationwide.

As a Democrat, I believe in criminal justice reform. There are inequities in our system where we need to create a justice system for all, California Sen. Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat, told the Washington Examiner. However, we have gone too far. The state of California has been doing it wrong. It needs to change.

Anyone with information related to the theft should call the Santa Rosa Police Property Crimes Investigations at (707) 543-3575. Officials didnt provide other details about the theft.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki speak to the media after talks in Berlin, Germany on Nov. 25, 2021. (John MacDougall/Pool via Reuters)

Russian Aggression Against Ukraine Should Lead to EU Sanctions: Merkel

BERLINThe European Union must be prepared to enact more sanctions against Russia if the situation in and around eastern Ukraine or on the Belarus-Poland border escalates, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin with her Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki, the outgoing Chancellor said the EU had to be united on the issues of Belaruss weaponisation of migrants against Poland and Russias deployment of troops to near its border with Ukraine.

Any further aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine would carry a high price, Merkel said, adding that defusing the situation should always be the preferred option.

She later spoke by phone with Ukraines President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy. His office said the two had agreed on the need for a coordinated response to threats from Russia.

Both Russia and Ukraine staged military drills this week following weeks of rising tensions between Kyiv and Moscow, while thousands of migrants from the Middle East and other hotspots are stranded on the European Unions eastern border, in what the bloc says is a crisis engineered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Poland has deployed military and police to the border to prevent groups of migrants from crossing over from Belarus. Morawiecki said by doing so, Poland was protecting the EU and Germany from a big wave of migrants and said the bloc should consider further sanctions against Minsk.

The EU accuses Minsk of flying migrants into the country and pushing them across EU borders, a charge Lukashenko denies, in a bid to destabilize its western neighbours and the whole bloc.

While Merkel said she thought Poland was doing everything possible to avoid any further escalation on the border she raised concerns about the challenging conditions faced by the migrants on both sides, saying Germany wanted to see humane conditions for migrants.
A Russian MiG-35 multipurpose fighter jet flies during its presentation at the MiG plant in Lukhovitsy on Jan. 27, 2017. The jet is a further development of the MiG-29. (AFP/Getty Images)

Russian, Belarusian Fighter Jets Jointly Patrol Belarus Border

MOSCOWRussian and Belarusian fighter jets jointly patrolled Belarus border on Thursday, the Belarusian defence ministry said, in the latest sign of Moscows support for its ally in a standoff with the EU over migrants camped at the frontier with Poland.

The European Union has accused Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East and pushing them to cross into the bloc in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over President Alexander Lukashenkos crushing of protests against his disputed re-election last year. Belarus denies this.

Moscow has signaled its political and military support for Belarus, including by sending nuclear-capable strategic bombers to patrol Belarusian airspace two weeks ago.

By Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (L) waves at an upgraded U.S.-made F-16 V fighter as Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng looks on during a ceremony at the Chiayi Air Force in southern Taiwan on Nov. 18, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Second US Delegation Visits Taiwan in a Month, Defying Beijings Will

A U.S. Congressional delegation has kicked off a surprise one-day visit to Taiwanthe second visit from Washington to the self-ruled island this month.

Despite Beijings previous demand over a trip cancellation, The bipartisan delegation landed in Taipei on Nov. 25 and praised Taiwan as a force for good in the world while meeting its president.

Led by Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, the group with five lawmakers also includes Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy.

The bonds between us are more positive and productive than they have been for decades, Takano said during a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen at her office in Taipei on the morning of Nov. 26.

Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and has remained steadfast as the ties between us have deepened. Taiwan is a democratic success story, a reliable partner, and a force for good in the world, he added.

It is the second trip of U.S. congressmen to Taiwan this month and the third of this year.

A group of six Republican lawmakers visited the island on Nov. 9 and met Tsai and other senior officials, as Chinas military conducted a combat readiness patrol in the direction of the Taiwan Strait. Another delegation consisting of three senators visited the island in June to donate then-badly-needed vaccines.

Its a continuation of whats been going on for a very long time, Scott Simon, a co-holder of the Chair of Taiwan Studies at the University of Ottawa, told The Epoch Times.

Yet he said Chinas aggression toward Taiwan is a driving force for the international diplomatic recognition of the latter.

Taiwans premier Su Tseng-chang (C) with European Union parliamentarians in Taipei, Taiwan on Nov. 3, 2021. (Executive Yuan via AP)

In the past, many countries were afraid of offending China by having official and visible visits with ministers from Taiwan, and thats probably one of the most sensible ones of all.

The world now sees the need for symbolic gestures and some visible contacts in order to reveal to China an assertive backing of democracy and international rules, according to Simon.

The Nov. 25 visit came after the Biden administration invited Taipei to attend a U.S.-led democracy summit alongside 109 other governments next month, while Beijing is not on the guest list.

Defying Beijing

The latest visit appeared to be a previously unannounced leg of the U.S. delegation following a Thanksgiving trip to Japan and South Korea that began on Nov. 19, which has drawn fire from Beijing.

When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office received a blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call off the trip, Slotkin, who is part of the delegation, wrote on Twitter upon her arrival in Taiwan.

The Chinese Communist Party deems the island as its lost territory and calls Taiwan-related issues internal affairs, although it has not ruled Taiwan since it came into power in 1949.

Its wrong to call it reunification because they were never unified in the first place, said Simon.

Beijing has now stepped up military and political pressure on Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims and tensions between the two have risen to their highest level in decades.

Tsai wants to maintain mutually beneficial coexistence with its neighbors but vowed to defend Taiwan if attacked. The United States serves no formal diplomatic ties with the democratic island but is its most important international backer.

In terms of the regional situation you are paying attention to, Taiwan will continue to step up cooperation with the United States in order to uphold our shared values of freedom and democracy and to ensure peace and stability in the region, she told the visiting delegation on Nov. 26.

China firmly opposes official interaction between U.S. and Taiwan authorities, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Nov. 25.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has yet formally commented on the recent visit.

Donna Ho contributed to this report.
School children from local schools perform in the traditional nativity play hosted in a barn at Pennywell Farm Activity Centre near Buckfastleigh in Devon, England, on Dec. 11 2008. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Shapps Urges Schools to Let the Nativity Plays Play On Amid Cancellations Due to CCP Virus Fear

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday he believes Christmas events should resume this year after a number of schools cancelled their fairs and nativity plays.

There are other schools that will put on nativity plays, but decided not to let parents join the audience.

Asked whether or not the plays should be canceled due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, Shapps told LBC radio Let the nativity plays play on is my view.

The transport secretary said people in the UK did not go through two, now three rounds of vaccination and everything else to have to spend Christmas as they did last year.

So of course, steps will be taken, and no doubt to make them as safe as possible ventilation and the rest of it. These people should be able to get together, he said.

Downing Street later said its up to schools to decide on the matter, but the current government guidance doesnt have any restrictions on events.

We have set out our guidance to schools that states they can continue to hold events where visitors such as parents are on site, which includes things like school plays, Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesman said.

Our guidance is clear there is no limit on group size for these events either indoor or outdoor. But ultimately it is a matter for individual schools, he added.

Last year, parts of England spent Christmas in full lockdown, while people in other areas had only Christmas day to meet their families from up to two other households, due to the emergence of the alpha variant of the CCP virus.

The UK on Friday banned direct flights from six southern African countries as a precaution over a new variant of concern.

Ministers and scientists said the variants can potentially spread faster and evade immunity, but it will take weeks to test the hypothesis.

Asked why the UK government banned travel only one day after the variant was detected, comparing to the 22-day gap between the detection of the delta variant and the India travel ban, Shapps said the government had previously worked to the timescale of the World Health Organization.

The new variant was detected in two of the six African countries that the UK added to its red travel listSouth Africa and Botswana.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid told MPs on Friday the other four countriesEswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwewere included as a precaution.

Javid also confirmed that no restrictions are being reintroduced in England, but warned that if we need to go further, we will.

Belgium said on Friday that the new variant, currently identified as B.1.1.529, was found in the country in a man who returned to Belgium from his holiday in Egypt on Nov. 11.
Medical staff attend to a patient at the COVID-19 ICU unit of the hospital in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Nov. 23, 2021. (Martin Baumann/TASR via AP)

Slovakia Approves 2-Week Nationwide Lockdown as Virus Surges

BRATISLAVA, SlovakiaSlovakias government on Wednesday approved a two-week national lockdown amid a record surge of coronavirus infections.

Prime Minister Eduard Heger said the measures that take effect Thursday will target allboth unvaccinated and vaccinated.

Under the lockdown, people can leave their homes only for some specific reasons. These include buying essential goods in the nearest stores to their homes, traveling to work and school, or to get vaccinated, tested on the coronavirus, or for medical treatment.

Unvaccinated people will be required to get tested to go to work if they have not recovered from COVID-19. If working from home is not possible, people will need to have a document from their employers about where their workplace is with details on their working hours.

Walking a dog is allowed within 500 yards from peoples homes.

Heger called the measure inevitable. Its success will depend on every single citizen, he said.

Economy Minister Richard Sulik said his Freedom and Solidarity party, a member of the four-party ruling coalition, vetoed a proposal to close most schools. But it agreed that schoolchildren and students will be tested on a regular basis.

They will also be required to wear face coverings at schools.

Also, up to 1,000 service members a day will be helping the struggling health sector to deal with the pandemic, the government announced Wednesday.

The announcement came after Slovakia set another record for coronavirus infections.

The Health Ministry said daily infections surpassed 10,000 for the first time, with 10,315 testing positive on Tuesday. Thats over 1,000 more than the previous record registered Friday.

With 13,080 infections in the last seven days per 1 million people, the nation of 5.5 million is facing the worst surge in the world, according to Our World In Data.

The government was mulling a two- or three-week national lockdown that is supported by President Zuzana Caputova, who called it unavoidable. The details should be announced later Wednesday.

Were losing the battle against COVID, Caputova said Tuesday.

Jan Mikas, the governments top official leading the countrys response to the pandemic, said Wednesday the new restrictions should affect everyonethe unvaccinated and the vaccinated.

The only solution is to restrict movement, Mikas said.

On Monday, Slovakia already imposed new restrictions targeting the unvaccinated, who are banned from all nonessential stores and shopping malls. Theyre also not allowed to attend any public events or gatherings.

With 3,200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, which is well above the 3,000-bed level considered critical by Slovakias Health Ministry, the country might be forced to seek help from other European countries.

Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky said the capacity of hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients will be increased by 150 beds over the next two days. The ministry said almost 83 percent of the patients havent been fully vaccinated.

At 45.7 percent, Slovakias vaccination rate is one of the lowest in the European Union.

Overall, Slovakia has registered 631,738 virus cases with 14,056 deaths.
David Limbrick, Victorian Upper House Liberal MP speaking at the Standing against Daniel Andrews Belt & Road Signing rally held at the steps of Victoria Parliament on Dec. 15, 2019. (Grace You/Epoch Times)

State MP Vacates Seat for Tilt at Federal Senate With COVID-19 Lockdowns in His Sights

A former police officer, dance teacher, and state politician will be the latest additions to the Liberal Democrats bid for the Australian Senate.

Current Victorian state MP David Limbrick, along with recently resigned police officer Krystle Mitchell, and ballet schoolteacher, Caroline White, will be running on the Liberal Democrats Victorian Senate ticket at the next federal election due before May 2022.

The minor party has been steadily building up its team of candidates over the year, onboarding former Premier Campbell Newman in August to run in the Queensland race and former Liberal Party member John Ruddick to run in New South Wales.

The Liberal Democrats also sealed a preference deal agreement with the United Australia Party earlier this week.

Limbrick, who will vacate his seat in the upper house of the Victorian Parliament, said over the last 20 months, Victorians had woken up to the idea that they need to stand up for their rights.

One of the things that the Liberal Democrats has been able to do is weve been the party thats been able to prove that we always stand up for your rights, he said in a video posted on Facebook on Nov. 25.

We havent seen strong representation to stand up for rights in our federal Parliament, and so for that reason, Id like to announce today that my intention, along with my team, to run for the Senate in the next federal election.

Limbrick has long been a critic of the governments handling of the pandemic, which has seen the frequent use of hard lockdowns and public health directives to control outbreaks of the virus.

Mitchell, appearing alongside Limbrick in the video, publicly resigned from Victoria Police in October during a live-streamed interview due to concerns with the state governments enforcement of public health directives and the degrading relationship between police and the community.

Why a career in politics? Well, Ive been in service to the community, and its the best job that I know how to do, she said.

I think like a lot of people Ive waited for our federal leadership to step up, while our states eroding democracy and stripping the citizens of their basic liberties and freedoms, and it just didnt happen, she added, noting that it was these experiences that drove her to join the Liberal Democrats.

Meanwhile, White is the director of Two Shoes Dance Academy and has spoken out previously about the damage lockdowns and restrictions were causing her business.

As a small business owner and as a mother, I have a great deal of empathy for individuals that have experienced the devastation that the repeated lockdowns, the inhumane restrictions and mandates, and now the segregation of not only adults but also children within our society and the impact this everyday harassment is having on our day to day lives, she said.

The Liberal Democrats will nominate a replacement for Limbrick. Currently, the party holds two seats in the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament.
A Russian Emergency Ministry truck is parked at the Listvyazhnaya mine, right, near Belovo, in the Kemerovo region of southwestern Siberia, Russia on Nov. 26, 2021. (Sergei Gavrilenko/AP Photo)

Survivor Found in Coal Mine Accident in Russias Siberia

MOSCOWRescuers have found a survivor in a Siberian coal mine where dozens of miners are presumed dead after a devastating methane explosion, a top local official announced Friday.

Sergei Tsivilyov, governor of the Kemerovo region where the mine is located, said on the messaging app Telegram that the survivor was found in the Listvyazhnaya mine in southwestern Siberia, and he is being taken to the hospital.

Acting Emergency Minister Alexander Chupriyan said the man found in the mine was rescuer Alexander Zakovryashin who had been presumed dead. I can consider it a miracle, Chupriyan said.

Zakovryashin was conscious when rescuers found him and has been hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning of moderate severity, according to emergency officials.

The authorities had confirmed 14 fatalities on Thursday11 miners were found dead and three rescuers died later while searching for others who were trapped at a remote section of the mine. Six more bodies were recovered on Friday morning, and 31 people remain missing.

Gov. Tsivilyov said finding other survivors at this point was highly unlikely.

Hours after a methane gas explosion and fire filled the mine with toxic fumes on Thursday, rescuers were forced to halt the search because of a buildup of methane and carbon monoxide gas from the fire. A total of 239 people were rescued from the mine; 63 of them, as of Friday morning, have sought medical assistance, according to Kemerovo officials.

Kemerovo Governor Sergei Tsivilyov (C) speaks to the media in the Listvyazhnaya mine building, near Belovo, in the Kemerovo region of southwestern Siberia, Russia on Nov. 26, 2021. (Sergei Gavrilenko/AP Photo)

Authorities have put the death toll at 52 on Thursday evening, saying that there was no chance of finding any more survivors. Rescuing a survivor on Friday morning brings that down to 51.

It appears to be the deadliest mine accident in Russia since 2010, when two methane explosions and a fire killed 91 people at the Raspadskaya mine in the same Kemerovo region.

In 2016, 36 miners were killed in a series of methane explosions in a coal mine in Russias far north. In the wake of the incident, authorities analyzed the safety of the countrys 58 coal mines and declared 20 of them potentially unsafe. Media reports say the Listvyazhnaya mine wasnt among them, however in 2004 a methane explosion in the mine killed 13 people.

Russias top independent news site, Meduza, reported that this year authorities suspended the work of certain sections of the mine nine times.

Inspections of the mine carried out in April found over 100 violations, including breaches of fire safety rules.

Law enforcement officials also said Friday that miners had complained about the high level of methane in the mine.

Regional officials have declared three days of mourning. Russias Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into the fire over violations of safety regulations that led to deaths. It said the mine director and two senior managers were detained.

One more criminal probe was launched Friday into the alleged negligence of state officials that inspected the mine earlier this month, law enforcement officials have said.

By Dasha Litvinova
The New COVID-19 Variant From South Africa: What We Know So Far

South African scientists discovered a new variant of COVID-19 that they say might be behind the recent surge of infections in the country, resulting in panic across the world as countries fear the international spread of the highly mutated variation.

South Africa was experiencing a rate of 200 new daily confirmed cases until recently when the number suddenly spiked to 2,465 on Thursday. Scientists studied virus samples from the outbreakfound mostly concentrated in Gauteng the most populous province in the country and home to Johannesburgand discovered the new variant that the WHO named Omicron on Friday.

Here is a mutation variant of serious concern, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at a media briefing Thursday. Phaahla said that the latest variant was behind the exponential rise of cases, but experts are still trying to confirm it, as establishing an actual connection takes time.

Currently, there are no indications that the variant has arrived in the United States. Most of the cases are still concentrated in South Africa with others being reported in Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong, where the infection was identified in travelers coming from South Africa. Belgium reported its first case of the variant on Friday.

Many Mutations

South African scientist Tulio de Oliveira said in the Thursday media briefing that the Omicron variant has been discovered to have a unique constellation of greater than 30 mutations to its spike proteins, which is significantly higher than the delta variant. As spike proteins bind to infected cells, a high number of mutations can affect how easily the variant spreads among the population.

The variant, formerly known as B.1.1.529, contained a total of 50 mutations. It has 10 mutations on the ACE2 receptor, which enables the virus to infect human cells, compared to three for the Beta variant, and two for the Delta, according to de Oliveira.

Head of UK COVID-19 Genomics Consortium, Professor Sharon Peacock said to Reuters that this is a more transmissible variant, but a significant number of mutations detected are really unknown. She added that studies are rapidly being conducted in South Africa but theyre going to take several weeks to be completed.

Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said to AP that the variant looks like its spreading rapidly, even though its currently found only in parts of South Africa.

According to Prof. Richard Lessells, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, the latest variant carries similarities with Beta and Lambda variants, in that its susceptible to evade immunity.

All these things are what give us some concern that this variant might have not just enhanced transmissibilityso spread more efficientlybut might also be able to get around parts of the immune system and the protection we have in our immune system, Lessells said.

The infected cases have largely been found in young people. According to Phaahla, only about 25 percent in the age category 1834 are presently vaccinated in the country.

Similar to the Alpha variant, the last iteration could have originated in a single immune-compromised individual who could have genetically modified the virus when his or her body could not get rid of it in time.

Travel Restrictions

American officials, under the guidance of Dr. Anthony Fauci, are in talks with their South African counterparts to gauge the severity of the situation and find out more details regarding the variant. Whether the United States will impose travel restrictions is not yet clear.

Even if restrictions are imposed, viruses have a way of spreading and its only a matter of time before it reaches the shores of the country, said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, to The Associated Press.

We have demonstrated time and time again that if the variant shows up anywhere in the world, you can pretty much count on it being everywhere in the world, according to Osterholm.

Travelers from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) have to self-isolate for 10 days when they arrive in the UK. The European Union is considering banning all flights from southern Africa.

India has ordered testing and detailed screening of people coming in from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong. Japan has also restricted travel from southern African countries.

The World Health Organization has convened a meeting of experts to figure out the severity of the outbreak.

We dont know very much about this, yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves, said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on COVID-19, in a social-media chat Thursday, reported ABC News.

As there are only fewer than 100 full genome sequences of the variant, the effects of the existing vaccines cannot be determined. It will take a few weeks for us to understand what impact this variant has on any potential vaccines, for example, Van Kerkhove said.
Travellers walk through the arrivals area, as tighter rules for international travellers start, at Heathrow Airport, amid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, London, Britain, on Jan. 18, 2021. (Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

UK Adds 6 African Countries to Red Travel List Over New CCP Virus Variant

Direct flights from six countries in Southern Africa are temporarily banned from midday Friday over concerns of a new CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus variant, the UK government has announced.

South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zimbabwe will be on Englands red list from midday Friday, meaning only British or Irish citizens and residents will be allowed to enter England if they have been to one of these countries in the past ten days, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Thursday.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have also updated their lists following Javids announcement, while Wales uses the UK governments red list.

Arrivals from red list countries must enter managed hotel quarantine upon arrival, and take three CCP virus tests: within three days before arriving in the UK and on day 2 and day 8 after arriving. Children also have to enter managed quarantine, with under-11s exempt from one or all of the tests depending on their age.

Javid said the hotel quarantine rule will take effect from 4 a.m. on Sunday, and direct flights from the six countries will be banned from midday Friday until then.

Scotlands announcement says those arriving after 4 a.m. on Saturday must book into managed quarantine.

Those who will arrive before the cut-off time and have been to any of the six counties in the past 10 days are required to self-isolate for 10 days and take two tests on day 2 and day 8.

Javid also asked those who are already in the UK and have been to any of the six countries in the past 10 days to take a PCR test.

The travel ban came after a new CCP virus variant, identified as B.1.1.529, was detected in South Africa.

More investigation is required regarding the new variant, but Javid said early indications suggest it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant, and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it.

The government said the travel ban is precautionary as no cases of the new variant have been detected in the UK.

To date, 10 cases of the new variant have been confirmed by genomic sequencing, with three cases in Botswana, where it was first detected; six cases in South Africa; and one case in Hong Kong, in a traveler from South Africa.

Israel has also enacted travel bans from the six countries.

Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss during her speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, England, on Oct. 3, 2021. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

UK to Boost Investment in Lower Income Countries in Risk of Unsustainable Debt

The Chinese regimes Belt and Road Initiative is expected to meet some competition as the UK revamps a development finance institution to boost investment in the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

British Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Secretary Liz Truss said reliable and honest sources of finance from freedom-loving democracies are needed as too many countries are loading their balance sheets with unsustainable debt.

Truss on Thursday launched the British International Investment (BII), which will invest billions in infrastructure and technology in low and middle-income countries across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

It added that the body, previously known as the Commonwealth Development Corporation Group (CDC), will be a key part of the governments plans to mobilise up to 8 billion ($10.67 billion) a year of public and private sector investment in international projects by 2025.

This will include BII partnering with capital markets and sovereign wealth funds to scale up financing and help the private sector move in, the statement read.

BII will also help create markets for digital infrastructure, technology, and renewable energy, which can utilise UK expertise.

Truss said the new project will benefit Britain by creating jobs and opportunities for the British people, as well as helping grow economies across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean while drawing them closer to free-market democracies.

The BII is expected to prioritise infrastructure investment in low and middle-income countries, providing them with clean, honest, and reliable financing.

In an interview with Financial Times, the foreign secretary said the idea is about giving countries alternatives to falling into strings-attached debt from autocratic regimes and non-market economies.

We want to build a network of liberty around the world with our friends and partners. That involves closer economic partnerships. Its a positive agenda. Its not a confrontational agenda, she told the newspaper.

Ranil Dissanayake, a policy fellow at the Center for Global Development think-tank, said its a good thing to invest in developing countries, but questioned whether the size of the project can measure up to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The most valuable part of this idea is the concept of the UK acting as a catalyst to encourage private sector investment and drive down the cost of new technologies. It is through this that British innovation could indeed compete with the brute force financing methods of China, he told the Financial Times.

Diana Layfield Google president of EMEA partnerships was appointed as the new chair of the revamped finance institution.
A student walks toward Royce Hall on the campus of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 11, 2020. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

University of California Dumps SAT Test in Favor of Equity

Commentary

For decades the University of California (UC) relied upon SAT test, as well as grades, to admit the highest achieving students into Californias best universities. Such standardized tests are ubiquitous in society, used in primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as for obtaining a license for most professions, or simply to drive a car.

But the UC determined after much study that, as a group, whites and Asians score higher on the tests than black and brown communities (as the left calls them). It thus concluded that the test is inherently discriminatory and must be abandoned for the UC to achieve the goal of equity in its admission process.

The UC faculty, through the Academic Senate, oversees the admissions process. It explained: This decision, which is part of the ongoing effort by the university to advance educational opportunity and equity, was based on the view that these tests are biased because they systematically and unfairly reduce the likelihood that underrepresented and low-income high school students will be accepted to the university.

Yes, University professors, whom one would expect to be among Americas smartest people, concluded that a standardized test must be to blame for a communitys poor performance, rather than members of the community being less prepared. But the truth is, these professors are predominantly leftists, and this is the same flawed logic the left uses to argue that criminal laws are discriminatory when they are more often violated by a minority group.

The UC ignores the most obvious explanation for the poor performance. African Americans (only 5.8 percent of Californias population), are far more likely to have been raised in a single parent home. As Senator Barack Obama noted, children who grow up without a father are nine times more likely to drop out of school. Latinos (39 percent of Californias population) are far more likely to have been raised by recent, legal or illegal, immigrants with less education and English as their second language.

Further evidencing that it is not the test but the test-takers, the Academic Senate considered another test as a replacement. However, it determined that the so-called Smarter Balanced test resulted in the same discriminatory results!

The truth is, the professors know the test is fair, they just do not care about the qualifications of the applicants. All they care about is equity, i.e., that racial and ethnic groups are represented in equal proportion. This leftist thinking ignores the individual in favor of the group. It shows no concern for the underlying reasons children from these groups are not doing better on the test. And, it ignores that not everyone in these groups are underprivileged, e.g., LeBron James kids, and that not everyone in white and Asian communities are privileged.

Equity requires the end to Martin Luther Kings dream of equal treatment regardless of race. Equity requires that we look at race to ensure an equal outcome.

The left loves to play with language, just as George Orwell predicted. For instance, a transgender person did not have a sex change surgery, they had gender affirming surgery. Equity is simply a new word that sounds like equality but really is affirmative action. It is being used because affirmative action is widely unpopular and proven after many decades of use not to work. Indeed, it is not just unpopular; in California, it is illegal!

In 1996, Californians voted, 55 to 45 percent, to ban the use of affirmative action in admissions to state schools and in state employment. Just last year, Californians voted to maintain the ban by an even wider margin: 58 to 42 percent.

Yet, the UC believes as long as it calls it equity instead of affirmative action, it is free to practice it. It is quite stunning to see how blatantly the UC is violating state law and the will of the people. The Academic Senate states it must have an equitable admissions process because college degree attainment remains the most effective means of ensuring social mobility, and as a state public institution, the UC is obliged to create a student body that is representative of the demographic profile of California. The UC has an Office of Graduate, Undergraduate, and Equity Affairs, and the UC campuses each have a Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The UC is practicing precisely what Californians have twice voted to ban.

The natural progression of this demented thinking is to next get rid of the LSAT for law school, the MCAT for medical school, and the GMAT for business school. And then get rid of the bar exam for lawyers, the board exam for doctors, and the Series 7 exam for stockbrokers.

Californians did not vote for this. They voted for the UC to admit the best and brightest among us without regard to race, ethnicity, or gender. They did not vote for a social experiment by woke professors seeking to implement their own utopia of equity.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
L: The test fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea in an undated photo released by North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency on May 30, 2017. (STR/AFP/Getty Images); R: Effects of an electromagnetic pulse at 400 km above the Earth's surface. (NACLE2/Public Domain;Iantresman/CC BY 2.5)

US Vulnerable to Electromagnetic Attack From Adversaries Such as China, North Korea: Experts

Experts are warning that the United States is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack from adversaries such as China and North Korea, which could render the nation helpless and shut down basic components such as military communications, water delivery systems, food, and transport.

Speaking at a virtual forum hosted by the Universal Peace Federation on Tuesday, experts stressed that time is running out to invest in defending the country from such an attack and urged officials to take action.

While not deadly on its own, an EMP attack can ruin most electronics within a massive radius and could cripple the power grid, sending the country back into the 18th century and into a complete and long-lasting blackout. That could result in the eventual deaths of 90 percent of the U.S. population, experts from the congressional EMP Commission have warned.

Such a catastrophic scenario could be triggered by an EMP attack from China, which already harbors super EMPs that could create massive, deep damage, according to an analysis by the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, a congressional advisory board.

In August, China reportedly tested a new Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV) that could deploy an EMP, demonstrating its incredibly advanced space capability and leaving experts fearing it could destabilize the United States.

U.S. intelligence services were allegedly caught by surprise by the event in August and the HGVs performance, The Financial Times reported.

Military vehicles carrying hypersonic DF-17 missiles travel past Tiananmen Square during a military parade in Beijing, China, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

That poses a real threat of possibly being able to win a war with a single blow by means of an EMP attack, Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security said on Tuesday. Moreover  they dont envision employing an EMP by itself. It would be used in conjunction with cyberattacks and physical sabotage, and non-nuclear EMP.

This is regarded by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran as potentially the most decisive military revolution in history, Pry said. By attacking the technological Achilles heel of a nation like the United States, you could bring us to our knees and not even have to do battle with the Marines or the Navy or the Air Force, and win a war in 24 hours with a single blowa combined EMP cyberattack.

Former President Donald Trump issued an executive order on March 26 2019 to harden Americas critical infrastructure against EMP attacks. A key part of the executive order was the section on implementation, titled, Strengthening critical infrastructure to withstand the effects of EMPs which instructed that concrete action be taken to harden Americas critical infrastructure.

However, since that executive order was issued, the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have done nothing very little in the way of protecting the national electric grid or other critical infrastructures of which 330 million Americans are dependant upon.

As recently as May of this year, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called for enhanced measures to be taken to protect the electric grid from threats of EMP disruptions, nuclear weapons, and geomagnetic disturbances GMD such as solar storms, noting that the recent Colonial Pipeline cyberattack and ensuing shutdown had exposed existential vulnerabilities in the U.S. fuel and electrical grid.

We are very vulnerable, Johnson said while calling for further investment to shore up grid resiliency. Were spending all these trillions of dollars in infrastructure, let us spend a couple of billion and pre-purchase backup, large power transformers in case theres an EMP or a GMD issue with our electrical grid.

The executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security on Tuesday cited federal bureaucracy and other factors as to why little has been done to bolster protections of the U.S. electrical grid.

We do know how to protect against it. Its not a technological problem. Its a political problem, Pry said.

Experts also pointed to North Korea, which it said does not need cutting-edge military capabilities to be able to inflict serious and long-lasting damage to the U.S. through EMP technology.

There is no need for precision. North Korea doesnt need to have a very good ballistic missile in order to precisely deploy and detonate the weapon, said Plamen Doynov, a professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and chief technology officer at the company EMP Shield.

There are active protection measures that will ground the pulse as it strikes the electric system of a vehicle, for example. The good news is those technologies are out there, they exist, said David Winks, managing director at AcquSight, a leading cyber, physical, and electromagnetic resilience firm. I think it would be a good use of some of this infrastructure money to start investing in this.
Virtual Town Hall Reveals Climate Change Goals in California

Commentary

Events like the recent YouTube Town Hall held by state Sen. Josh Becker (D-San Mateo) for his constituents can be very revealing regarding climate change goals in California. It addressed the Glasgow Climate Summit, called COP-26, which he attended. He represents part of Silicon Valley and is vice chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change.

He brought up how his area of the state is greatly impacted by sea-level rise, smoke from wildfires, and drought. Stopping in Portugal on the way to COP 26, he said they have off-shore windmills for electric power, but he mainly wanted to talk about their wildfires, which are similar to Californias. Other countries impacted by the climate crisis already include Ghana and Australia, bringing us a shared sense of momentum and action.

He said the goal is getting to zero, the name of his Senate blog, meaning zero carbon use.

We have to remake every aspect of our climate. Every aspect, including transportation, building, building materials and agriculture. Thats why its the greatest challenge weve ever faced, but also the greatest opportunity that weve ever faced.

He said he went to COP 26 to show it can be done because California has reduced its emissions 20 percent, while growing our economy by 60 percent. But California still has to move much, much faster to both meet our goals, and to do what needs to get done for the rest of the world.

The problem is he doesnt mention that California has become so expensive that its population is going down because of high taxes and cost of living. In particular, the environmental regulations he touts have slowed housing construction, reducing affordability to just 24 percent of households in the third quarter of 2021.

People are escaping the environmental and other restrictions by moving to less restrictive states, such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee. Thats hardly an example for the country and the world. He pointed out Tesla was started in his district, not seeing the irony that CEO Elon Musk just announced it would be moving its headquarters to Texas.

On COP 26, he said the content, the connections, the hope were incredible, including taking the train and meeting such people as Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who long has been involved in these issues.

He said COP 26 accomplished a lot, but not more than we hoped. He sought real momentum, not just talk. He attacked the Trump administration for not showing up at similar conferences, apparently a reference to it withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, which President Biden since has rejoined.

Becker brought on two panelists who attended COP 26. First was Sweta Chakraborty, a behavior scientist who develops climate change strategies. She said the main takeaway from COP 26 was the 1.5-degree goal, of keeping the global temperature no more than 1.5 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial levels. Public and private actors must activate the goal. But emissions have to be reduced by 45 percent by the end of this decade. And at COP 26, more than 100 countries agreed to cut methane a potent greenhouse gas. It was pushed by the Biden administration, then China got behind it. China for the first time said it pledged to reduce methane.

Next came Aimee Christensen, CEO of Christensen Global Strategies, which works toward lower carbon use. She said everyone at Glasgow was agreed at a minimum net zero by 2050. What gave me hope was the near-term goals from the investors and the businesses who operate globally to ratchet up the process to get to net zero by 2050.

She praised Becker for his leadership in reducing greenhouse gases from the cement and steel industries. Governments need to put in place policies that help businesses and shareholders align their practices with the goals toward reducing emissions, she said. But whats needed is more California-style policies to support investors.

She said countries are concerned about the policies slowing growth, even though California has shown how the policies drive economic growth. That may be true for the digital elite in Beckers district. But for most Californians, an $800,000 median price for a house, caused greatly by the California Environmental Quality Act and other restrictive environmental policies, makes living here exceedingly difficult.

Christensen also mentioned how the U.S. and China are the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. So getting China on board with these agreements will advance GHG reductions.

But criticism of the commitments of both China and India was fast and fierce, beginning with COP 26 President Alok Sharma. He attacked both countries for pledging to phase down coal instead of phase out. He added, China and India will have to explain themselves and what they did to the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.

The Times of India also reported, Officials said India objected to the fact that only coal was mentioned and not oil and gas, which is primarily used by the developed countries.

Then theres a long Nov. 19 article in the Washington Post on Africas Rising Cities. It found, by 2100, Thirteen of the worlds 20 biggest urban areas will be in Africaup from just two todayas will more than a third of the worlds population.

And from April, this was in DW, In South Africa, power outages are not the exception but the rule. In the past, those power cuts often occurred in the cold winter, but today the lights also suddenly go out in the summer. The countrys power grid and power plants are outdated, and energy demand has increased.

Like South Africawhere around 90% of energy comes from coalother African countries have embarked on mining this raw material. Botswana, Tanzania, and Mozambique are among the leading countries.

The fact is the rest of the world isnt going to let itself starve or freeze to death to meet the ideological demands of the Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires who back Beckers politics. China just announced it is bolstering its nuclear arsenal. Nobody is going to tell them how many tons of coal to mine. India also has nuclear weapons.

Becker also misled his audience on such matters as global warming supposedly causing Californias wildfires, when the real causes are antiquated power lines that spark and ignite fires, a large number of new houses in or near forests, a failure to clear underbrush and the natural cycle of fires that has occurred for millennia.

Despite my questions about Beckers Town Hall, it was worthwhile for providing all Californians an insight into the thinking predominant in Silicon Valley.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A man races into the water to help rescue the driver of a car that went into the flooded Nooksack River in Ferndale, Wash. on Nov. 16, 2021. (Elaine Thompson/AP Photo)

Washington Faces Threat of More Heavy Rainfall and Floods Due to Atmospheric Rivers: NWS

An atmospheric river starting on Thanksgiving Day is threatening to once again bring heavy rainfall to the Pacific Northwest, just over a week after floods damaged Washington state, officials from the National Weather Service have warned.

In its Thursday weather bulletin, Forecasters at NWS said a new Atmospheric River containing rich subtropical Pacific moisture takes aim at the Pacific Northwest this evening.

A prolonged stretch of moderate-to-heavy rainfall combined with rapid snowmelt could lead to excess runoff. This may result in quickly rising creeks and streams, making localized flooding a possibility in parts of western Washington. Locally heavy rainfall is also possible in far northwestern Oregon, but the heaviest rainfall totals (1 to 3 inches) are most likely to occur in the Olympics and northern Cascades.

While the high pressure system building atop the Northwest on Friday will provide some temporary respite from the rainfall, another round of downpours is set to arrive late on Saturday.

This next Atmospheric River event is expected to produce an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain across the Olympics and northern Cascades beginning Saturday afternoon, with locally higher amounts possible. Given the recent periods of heavy rainfall, flooding and excessive runoff will undoubtedly be a concern once again, NWS said.

Washingtons Whatcom County officials have said that damages from flooding last week could reach as high as $50 million after rain drenched the county for three days and the Nooksack River surged over its banks Nov. 14, inundating the communities of Everson, Nooksack, and Sumas.

At a briefing Tuesday, officials said that the damages from the recent flooding are estimated at $15 million to $20 million for houses, tens of millions of dollars for public infrastructure, and up to $20 million for area business centers, The Bellingham Herald reports.

Meanwhile, damage assessments continued and would be added to losses in multiple other Western Washington counties including Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, Lewis, and King, which Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday declared as disaster areas.

The severe weather emergency order directs that the plans and procedures to the Washington State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan be implemented and federal aid be directed towards responding to recovery efforts.

In Canada, the storm system was due to hit some southwest B.C. areas where flood recovery efforts were still under way, with the Fraser Valley expecting up to 2 more inches of rain to fall by Friday morning, the government warned Thursday.

Freezing levels have risen to near mountain tops, and this may worsen recent flooding and impact vulnerable landscapes and infrastructure. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Dont approach washouts near rivers, creeks, and culverts, the government said.

Meanwhile, residents in Southern California are dealing with dry Santa Ana winds, NSW forecasters warned in its Thursday bulletin.

High Wind Warnings have been posted along the mountain ranges, as well as coastal regions. Widespread wind gusts of 35 to 60 mph are expected with damaging gusts up to 75 mph possible in the mountains and foothills, forecasters said.

In addition, dangerously low humidity levels support a hazardous environment for fire weather conditions. Red Flag Warnings and a Critical Risk for hazardous fire weather conditions, issued by the Storm Prediction Center, were issued for much of the Southern California mountains and adjacent foothills, NSW said. The Santa Ana wind event this afternoon should wind down to an extent by tonight, but an Elevated Risk for favorable fire weather conditions looks to persist into Black Friday.
President Joe Biden speaks during an announcement in Washington on Nov. 22, 2021. (Susan Walsh/AP Photo)

Biden Restricts Travel From 8 African Countries Over COVID-19 Variant

The United States will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other African countries on Monday, Nov. 29, in a bid to control the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.

A proclamation from President Joe Biden said travel will be curbed from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi in addition to South Africa.

American citizens and lawful permanent residents will still be allowed to enter the United States from those countries.

It is the policy of my administration to implement science-based public health measures, across all areas of the federal government, to act swiftly and aggressively to prevent further spread of the disease, Biden said, adding that the move was recommended by health officials.

Dr. Anthony Fauci was one of the officials who met with Biden before the proclamation was released, the president told reporters while on vacation in Massachusetts.

The restrictions will remain in place until Biden decides to terminate them.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday dubbed the new strain Omicron and described it as heavily mutated. The U.N. health agency said the variant may be able to re-infect individuals who were previously infected with COVID-19.

The European Union, Israel, the UK, Japan, and other countries announced Friday that similar travel restrictions will be placed on southern African nations.

In a statement, WHO said the variant, which was discovered in South Africa on Wednesday, has led to a rise of infections in the country.

The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant, said WHO in its statement. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant.

The U.N. health agency did not say whether common COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant, although the statement suggested that individuals should still receive the shot. Some scientists have said that due to the number of mutations, the strain may be able to penetrate through vaccines.

India, Turkey, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates also tightened travel curbs on Friday. But WHO officials said that travel restrictions may be premature.

Its really important that there are no knee-jerk responses here, said WHOs emergencies director Mike Ryan on Friday.

Officials in Belgium said the Omicron variant was discovered in the country, possibly the first confirmed case in the European Union so far.

Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told a news conference that the variant was found in an individual who had developed symptoms and tested positive on Nov. 22.

It is a suspicious variant. We do not know if it is a very dangerous variant, he told reporters.

Worries about the impact the variant might have, including government-mandated lockdowns, sent stock markets spiraling on Friday. Such concerns especially caused stocks of airlines and others in the travel sector, and oil to tumble.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A security guard blocks an exit as he directs people to scan a QR code to track their health status at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, following new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 25, 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters)

WHO Labels New COVID-19 Variant Omicron, Possible Increased Re-infection Risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said a new CCP virus variant first identified in southern African will now be dubbed Omicron and considered a variant of concern with a large number of mutations.

Early evidence, WHO said in a statement, suggests the COVID-19 strain, first identified as B.1.1.529, has a higher risk of reinfection compared to other variants such as Delta or the Alpha strain.

After it was first reported Wednesday in South Africa, the new strain of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has been found in Botswana, Israel, Belgium, and Israel.

The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant, said WHO in its statement. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant.

Further, the variant has a large number of mutations, WHO said, which suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other COVID-19 variants of concern.

The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant, according to WHO.

The U.N. health agency did not say whether common COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant, although the statement suggested that individuals should still receive the shot. Some scientists have said that due to the number of mutations, the strain may be able to penetrate through vaccines.

The United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, Kenya, and European countries have started to issue travel restrictions on southern African countries such as Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and others. Earlier, a WHO spokesman cautioned against quickly imposing travel restrictions until more data can be gathered.

A shopper, wearing a face mask, looks at a poster for a COVID-19 vaccination center installed inside a supermarket in Brussels, on Aug. 30, 2021. (Bart Biesemans/Reuters)

A mother receives her Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19 in Diepsloot Township near Johannesburg, Oct. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

The EU Commission presidential chief spokesman Eric Mamer confirmed Friday that European Union member states have agreed to bring rapid travel restrictions from seven countries including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Around the same time, South African officials decried the moves and claimed the EU and others are acting too quickly. Minister of Health Joe Phaahla said the measures are draconian and accused the countries of trying to find scapegoats.

Susan Hopkins, the chief UK medical adviser, told BBC radio that much is still not known about the strain.

If we look at those mutations, theres mutations that increase infectivity, mutations that evade the immune response both from vaccines and from natural immunity, mutations that cause increased transmissibility, she remarked. Its a highly complex mutation, theres also new ones that we have never seen before.

Worries about the impact the variant might have, including government-mandated lockdowns, sent stock markets spiraling on Friday. Such concerns especially caused stocks of airlines and others in the travel sector, and oil to tumble.

Amid the scramble to bar air travel to South Africa, reporters said they saw throngs of people trying to flee the country via two international airports in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

On Friday, White House pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN that no final decision has yet been made on whether to ban air travel to southern Africa, adding there is no indication that the Omicron variant is in the United States. He also said its not clear whether the strain is resistant to common vaccines.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment on whether the United States will impose restrictions on travel.
People wait to get vaccinated at a shopping mall, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Nov. 26, 2021. (Denis Farrell/AP Photo)

WHO Holding Emergency Meeting to Discuss New Heavily Mutated COVID-19 Strain

The World Health Organization (WHO) is holding a meeting Friday to discuss the rise of COVID-19 cases in southern Africa blamed on a new variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier confirmed the closed-door meeting in Geneva, saying that participants met to designate the COVID-19 strain, known as B.1.1.529, as either a variant of concern or interest.

Officials, he said, should take a risk-based and scientific approach amid countries moves to impose new travel restrictions on African countries. European Union countries and the United Kingdom this week reacted swiftly, setting up new travel curbs to South Africa and nearby countries.

At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against, Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva, Reuters reported. The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing travel measures.

It would take weeks to determine whether the new variant, which may receive a Greek alphabet letter designation like Delta or Alpha, is highly transmissible or not, Lindmeier said.

We dont know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves, said Maria van Kerkhove, who works as an epidemiologist for WHO on COVID-19.

But the new variant, she argued Thursday, is one to watch, I would say we have concern. But I think you would want us to have concern.

Concerns were prompted due to a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in South Africa that officials blamed on the variant. Joe Phaahla, South Africas minister of health, told the BBC that the strain appears to be highly transmissible among younger people.

This variant did surprise us, Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Center for South Africas Epidemic Response and Innovation, was quoted by the outlet as saying. It has a big jump on evolution [and] many more mutations that we expected.

Researchers cited by Nature magazine said the variant was discovered in the southern African nation of Botswana earlier in November.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid told reporters Thursday that the variant may be more transmissible than the Delta variant, adding that current vaccines may be less effective against the strain.

Other than a ban on travel to South Africa, the UK halted travel to Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, and Zimbabwe on Friday.
Yoga Instructor Stranded in Sierras for 48 Hours Uses Meditation to Survive in Freezing Temperatures

California yoga instructor and hiking enthusiast Jolly Bose had planned with two hiking friends to summit Mt. Givens in the Sierras on an 8-mile trip that should have taken just four hours to complete.

But when the ambitious hiker on Oct. 17 became separated from her companions, the trip turned into an over-48-hour struggle to survive in freezing temperaturesthis she did using an unshakable calm to adapt to the cold.

Bose, 43, from Palo Alto, says the first mistake leading to getting lost was leaving her portable cell phone battery at home by mistake. She and her two friends Ken and Dmitry set out for the peak at around 1 p.m. and soon summited Mt. Givens, where they snapped photos together. Satisfied, Dimitri turned back, while Ken ambitiously broke from the plan and decided to tackle nearby Mt. Ian Campbell.

Bose, despite not having downloaded the route map, opted to join Ken, altering her itinerarymistake two.

Ken, out of habit, sped ahead, and they became separated. Instead of forging ahead blindly, Bose turned south in search of an off-highway vehicle trail. As the evening grew darker, the temperature colder, Boses phone was unable to find data and started to die. Her headlamp began to dim in the cold by the time she reached the trail.

She couldnt turn back and risk getting lost in the night and so sought shelterwhich she found, very fortunately, in a small outdoor bathroom for off-roaders, where she crouched in the fetal position to keep warm. As shed crossed a creek and her feet were wet, it was miserably cold.

It was extremely cold, she told The Epoch Times. Being stranded alone in the wilderness, nobody there, I didnt have any fears.

Despite her serious situation, it was Boses calm mindset from her meditation training that helped her prevail.

Because I practice yoga and meditation, and your body responds to your thought, so what you tell your body, thats how your body should behave, she shared. To panic would have had the opposite effect.

Knowing that search-and-rescue patrols would be looking for her, Bose just had to be calmand keep moving in order to keep her temperature up. She also had to find an open space that was visible to planes and helicopters, which she heard overhead.

Using a broom from the bathroom, she rigged a flag with her red Jacket, and alternated between keeping warm inside and being visible outside, until a rescue helicopter finally spotted her and landed near Ershim Lakemore than 7 miles south of Mt. Givens.

When rescuers arrived, Bose was still able to walk to the helicopter on her own.

Jollys story is incredible, Tony Botti from the Fresno County Sheriffs Office told ABC. She shows how powerful the mind is.

Having recovered from the harrowing episode, Bose is undeterred from future hikes, and had already planned their next excursionwith more conscientious planning, this time.

We always have to prepare for the worst, she shared, which includes not relying on electronic systems and packing a paper map. County Sherriffs officials advise hikers not to stray from their itinerary once careful plans have been set.

Besides her dauntless spirit to continue, and mental fortitude in the face of adversity, Bose cited another factor at play during her ordeal:

The fact that I did not realize that I touched so many people and so many people love me and prayed for me, she said, speaking of family members and faith keeping her alive.

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
Sacred Heart University is taking a fresh look at Shakespeares classic play, Othello with actor and playwright Keith Hamilton Cobb.

From Nov. 29 through Dec. 10, the Untitled Othello Project, an ensemble of nine artists engaged in an in-depth, touring interrogation of the play, will begin a two-week theatre residency at Sacred Heart University to explore the question of the viability of producing Othello today.

When Cobb wrote his award-winning solo play, American Moor, in 2012, he was philosophizing whether William Shakespeares classic play Othello could be produced in todays America, given the structures of racism and misogyny it perpetuates.

The play examines what happens when a middle-aged Black man auditioning for the role of Othello must adhere to suggestions from a younger white artistic director who presumes to understand how to maximize a Black character for believability.

What happens in the course of the three-minute audition  he has an hour-and-a-half inner monologue that the audience is privy to, Cobb explained. This play spoke to the intersection of our lacking cultural dialogue in regards to race, and how affected by racial bias our American theatre is.

In the broadest sense, he noted, American Moor is about the African American male experience, as seen through the metaphor of The Bards famous work. After a successful run Off-Broadway and in theatres around the country in 2019, American Moor found new life during the pandemic when Cobb took his play and turned it into a book.

I turned my attention to publishing, and it has taken on a life in academia where its being taught all over the country, he said.

Courtesy of Sacred Heart University

Emily Bryan, a lecturer in the department of languages and literatures at Sacred Heart, called Cobb to see if he could bring American Moor to the campus, but instead, they came to something they both believed would be more valuable to the students.

The group isnt mounting a production, Cobb said. Instead, the collective will collaborate with Sacred Heart students on intensive table work, studying the characters, scenes, motivations and themes of "Othello." Sacred Heart student actors will also assume some of the roles.

Bryan and her department collaborated with Rachel Bauer of the department of media and performing arts and Charles Gillespie of the Catholic studies department to partner with Cobb to bring the residency to the university.

We feel like theatre is a way for us to have difficult conversations  conversations about identity, about how people relate to each other  in a really unique way, Bryan said. This is an exciting opportunity for us to do that. And what I think is so exciting is that our students get to be at the table, too.

Nina Wurtzel/ Contributed photo

One of the questions Cobb was often asked in post-show productions was whether he was ever going to play Othello, or perhaps direct it, and his answer was always no.

For reasons I delineate in the play, we do not have the wherewithal to see past our racial biases and the veil of our privileged perspectives to interrogate this play that would bring it to life in any relevant way, he said. You havent wanted to talk about my Othello for 50 years.

Realizing that the questions would keep coming, when the lockdown hit, he knew the only way hed ever be able to say yes to the question was to create a version of it that he felt was nominally playable to him. That led Cobb to create a take on "Othello" that could be done by a group of actors who could percolate with the material, and have no pressure to put on a performance, and see what they could find. Actors who would be paid for four to five months to make their art.

Its a chance to take the play to another level and present something that the audience has not seen, Cobb said.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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Posts falsely claim vaccinated American Airlines pilots died in flight

CLAIM: In two recent incidents during flights departing from the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines pilots died from myocarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

THE FACTS: These incidents didnt happen, a spokesperson for American Airlines confirmed in an email to The Associated Press. Thousands of social media users this week shared a fearmongering article that falsely claimed to provide evidence for why vaxxed pilots should not fly. The article shared two examples of incidents it said took place on American Airlines flights traveling from DFW to Fort Myers, Florida, and from DFW to Los Angeles. It claimed that one pilot experienced cardiac arrest in flight, and the other started convulsing and vomiting in flight, and both died before the planes landed. The article attributed both the deaths to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle that has very rarely been linked to the COVID-19 vaccines. It said both pilots had recently received their second COVID-19 vaccine doses. In a final claim attributed to an anonymous source, the article said there had been at least 12 non-fatal incidents involving pilots that had recently taken the jab. These claims are all false, American Airlines spokesperson Whitney Zastrow confirmed in an email to the AP. An internet search reveals the claims surfaced last month on RealRawNews, a website that includes a disclaimer that it contains humor, parody, and satire. A similar story circulating last month falsely claimed a Delta Airlines pilot who had recently been vaccinated died in flight. Both Delta Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed they were not aware of any incidents matching this description. Very rarely, teens and young adults given the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines have experienced the serious side effect of myocarditis. Its mostly in young men and teenage boys, and usually after the second dose. Even when individuals have developed myocarditis after receiving the vaccine, their condition has typically been mild and their recovery quick, the AP has reported.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report

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Priest in widely shared video collapsed, but did not die

CLAIM: A video shows a priest who has been vaccinated against COVID-19 suddenly dying during a livestream.

THE FACTS: The priest did collapse while performing a Mass, but he did not die, according to Facebook videos posted by the church in Acapulco, Mexico. The priest stood in front of his congregation the following day and later in the month, additional videos from the church showed. Social media posts falsely claimed that a minutelong video clip showed the priest abruptly dying from vaccine side effects while leading a religious service. The clip of the priest collapsing has circulated online since at least Sept. 3, and appeared in several Spanish-language news reports on Sept. 4. The church livestreams some of its religious services on its Facebook page. While the church, called Parroquia Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Reina de Mexico, does not appear to have a video on its page dating Sept. 3, it does have a video from Sept. 4, in which the same priest appears before his congregation. In the video, the priest addresses the congregation in Spanish, referring to yesterdays incident. He thanks God for the fact that he is standing, and says that on the recommendation of doctors, he will take a few days off to see what is going on with his health. Videos posted by the church later in September show the same priest standing before his congregation once again. It was not immediately clear whether the priest had been vaccinated for COVID-19. The church did not respond to an email requesting more information.

 Associated Press writers Ali Swenson in New York and Abril Mulato in Mexico City contributed this report.

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Pelosi didnt purchase $25 million mansion in Florida

CLAIM: Photo shows a $25 million home that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has purchased in Florida.

THE FACTS: Pelosis office said there is no such pending sale and the brokerage that listed the property also confirmed that the buyer is not the speaker. Various posts spreading widely on Facebook and Twitter falsely claimed to show a photo of a $25 million home in Florida that Pelosi purchased. The photo comes from a listing for an oceanfront, 10,000-square-foot property on South Beach Road on Jupiter Island. A spokesman for Pelosi refuted the claim and denied that she is considering moving to Florida. This information is inaccurate, Drew Hammill, Pelosis deputy chief of staff, said in an email to The Associated Press. Theres no such pending sale nor is the family looking or interested. Beth Bourque, owner of Southern Shore Properties, the brokerage that listed the property, said the house is under contract and confirmed the buyer is not Pelosi or her family. Its a rumor thats been floating around and its just gotten bigger and bigger, Bourque said. A representative for the person purchasing the property also told the AP that the buyer is not Pelosi, but someone who lives nearby. Nor, he added, is Pelosi buying another high-end home on South Beach Road that also recently sold. Shes totally unrelated to any of the buyers or any of the sellers, said Rob Thomson, owner of Waterfront Properties.

 Associated Press writer Angelo Fichera in Philadelphia contributed this report.

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Fox News wasnt banned from UK, contrary to false claims online

CLAIM: Fox News was banned from operating in the United Kingdom for promoting right-wing propaganda.

THE FACTS: U.K. regulators did not ban Fox News from operating in the region. Fox News voluntarily stopped broadcasting in the U.K. in 2017 after failing to cultivate a sufficient audience. Posts claiming that Fox News was banned from the U.K. for being propaganda have circulated widely on Twitter. But these claims are false, according to both Fox News and U.K. officials. Fox News former parent company, 21st Century Fox, announced in August 2017 that Fox News would stop broadcasting in the U.K. due to the channels low viewership there. A spokesperson for Fox News referred The Associated Press to a statement that 21st Century Fox released at the time. 21st Century Fox has since been acquired by Disney. Fox News is focused on the U.S. market and designed for a U.S. audience and, accordingly, it averages only a few thousand viewers across the day in the U.K., the statement reads. We have concluded that it is not in our commercial interest to continue providing Fox News in the U.K. Ofcom, the agency that regulates communications industries in the U.K., confirmed that Fox News was not banned from the region. Months after Fox News withdrew from the U.K., Ofcom determined in November 2017 that the channel had breached its impartiality rules earlier that year. Ofcom cited coverage from January 2017 of former President Donald Trumps ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries on the program Hannity, according to an agency bulletin. Tucker Carlson Tonight also violated the same rules while covering the May 2017 terrorist attack in Manchester, the agency ruled. Once again, though, that determination by the regulator was unrelated to Fox News pulling out of the region, which had happened earlier.

 Associated Press writer Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed this report

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Posts falsely conflate civil lawsuit with Ghislaine Maxwell criminal case

CLAIM: Recently unsealed court documents show a list of defendants, including some celebrities, named as co-conspirators in Ghislaine Maxwells criminal case.

THE FACTS: The list of defendants is not part of the ongoing criminal case against Maxwell. It comes from a since-dismissed civil lawsuit that is separate from Maxwells upcoming trial. Social media users are circulating a monthsold list of names and companies, falsely claiming they are co-conspirators in Maxwells criminal case as she prepares to face trial on charges she groomed underage victims to have unwanted sex with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, her former boyfriend. But the list originated in a separate civil lawsuit that was filed in August 2020 and dismissed as frivolous less than a month later. The dismissed civil case had named nearly 40 defendants, including Epstein, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kanye West, Disney and Universal Music Group. Maxwell was included as the 31st defendant on the list. The lead plaintiff alleged that over the course of 30 years, the defendants conspired to unlawfully surveil, drug and abduct them for sexual assault, sex trafficking, and other exploitative abuse and conspired to transact a purchase agreement to buy the plaintiff from their mother. U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton for the Southern District of New York dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that it did not have a legal or factual basis, and that the plaintiff, who did not appear to be an attorney, made claims on behalf of others, according to the dismissal order. Some social media users have circulated excerpts from the court documents, erroneously asserting that they were recently unsealed documents from Maxwells criminal case. But two different cases  the civil lawsuit and Maxwells criminal case  are being conflated. Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 after a grand jury indicted her on multiple federal charges. U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan is set to preside over Maxwells criminal trial in Manhattan federal court. Further, no such list of co-conspirators has been released in Maxwells case. And Nathan has made clear there will be no name-dropping at trial, saying only certain pages of an address book that investigators seized  showing a section naming the alleged victims  will come into evidence, according to previous reporting by the AP. The trial is expected to begin Nov. 29. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to her charges and denied wrongdoing. Epstein killed himself in a federal detention center in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

 Associated Press writer Sophia Tulp in Atlanta contributed this report.

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As COVID cases continue to mount in Connecticut, President Joe Biden on Friday announced plans to restrict travel to the U.S. from South Africa and seven other nations starting on Monday, amid heightened concerns over a new strain of the coronavirus.

The administration plans to restrict travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, CNN reported.

As we move forward, we will continue to be guided by what the science and my medical team advises, Biden said in a tweet. For now the best way to strengthen your protection if youre already vaccinated is to get a booster shot, immediately. For those not yet fully vaccinated: get vaccinated today.

The president also called for other nations to help in vaccinating the rest of the world. It is time for other countries to match Americas speed and generosity, the president said in a statement.

In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order that would allow public health officials to limit non-essential medical procedures in anticipation of a possible surge.

We've taken extraordinary action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and combat this pandemic. However, we continue to see warning signs of spikes this upcoming winter, and while the new Omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it's coming, Hochul said in a statement.

The World Health Organization on Friday classified the strain, known by the scientific name B.1.1.529, as a variant of concern alongside the widespread delta variant and three other strains. The WHO named the new strain Omicron, in keeping with its Greek alphabet naming convention.

The strain has so far not appeared in Connecticut, according to the latest report to the state Department of Public Health. That data, published Wednesday, showed all cases tested through genetic sequencing the past week were delta.

The organization said the variant shows a large number of mutations and may pose a greater risk of reinfection from the virus compared to other variants of concern.

The news comes as cases and hospitalizations are on the rise in Connecticut, leading many local public health experts to raise concerns about family gatherings over the holidays, even as many celebrated a more traditional Thanksgiving on Thursday. The state is now recording more than 750 new cases each day on average, public health data shows, and new hospital admissions are also on the rise after the surge fueled by the delta variant in the late summer.

The irony of this is that there is a variant that we should all really be worried about at this point, which is the delta [variant], said Dr. Ulysses Wu, chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare. Unfortunately not everybody has taken that one seriously.

He said for Connecticut residents the key takeaway should not be to sow fear or panic, but continue with public health measures like masking and getting vaccinated. If youre not boosted or vaccinated, please get vaccinated, get boosted, he said. He also advocated for people to wear masks indoors. The reality of this is we will continue to create variants until we get enough people vaccinated not just in Connecticut or the U.S. but the world, he added.

Connecticut recorded 1,900 new infections over the last two days, according to state figures released Friday (reporting was paused over the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday), with 3.61 positivity rate out of 52,595 tests. Hospitalizations for the virus remained flat with 300 patients currently admitted.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so far has not named the new strain a variant of concern.

Very little is known so far about the variant, said Nathan Grubaugh, head of the Yale School of Public Healths variant surveillance project, but in some provinces of South Africa it now makes up to 90 percent of cases. The concern here is that its growing faster than delta, and therefore could be more transmissible than delta, Grubaugh said Friday.

The strain also features several different mutations to its spike protein,he said, some of which are important to the bodys immune response to the virus either from antibody treatments, or from the vaccines.

Besides genomic sequencing, where researchers study the virus found in positive test kits to see what variants and lineages of the virus are circulating, Grubaugh said the new variant can also be detected through a particular PCR test for COVID-19. People who test for the virus will still receive an accurate positive or negative test result, but public health officials can use the data to get a sense if the variant is circulating faster than they would be able to through genomic sequencing.

I think the message is that... we have a very robust surveillance system in Connecticut and in our region through both sequencing and the PCR testing to detect it early, Grubaugh said. But once it does show up in the region, he said vaccines will still be our most powerful tool to prevent its spread.

Statewide a little less than 76 percent of those eligible to receive a vaccine - those over the age of 5 - are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. A little over 21 percent of those who are fully-vaccinated have received a booster shot or additional dose of the vaccine (the CDC data groups both additional shots together).

Its also unknown how well the variant will compete with delta in the U.S. and in Europe, both of which have seen a resurgence in infections, Grubaugh said. He noted the U.S. also has a higher vaccination rate than much of Africa. While he said the Biden administrations plan to restrict travel might buy some time, it wont prevent the variant from spreading.

But, I am concerned because this is the worst time to have a new, potentially more transmissible variant to be introduced with the holidays, the family gatherings it could provide the right environment it needs to take off, he added.

Wu, the Hartford HealthCare epidemiologist, expressed a similar attitude. The reality is were witnessing Darwinism at its finest, he said, pointing to how delta surpassed other major variants of the virus to become predominant. We need to see if [Omicron] will become the proverbial Hulk Hogan of variants.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.
NORWALK  State police said they arrested a 27-year-old man from New York Thursday afternoon, after the man allegedly jumped over a barrier into traffic on the Merritt Parkway.

During an ensuing fight, the two troopers at the scene were injured and used a Taser on the man before taking him into custody, according to state police. Both later were hospitalized as a result of their injuries.

State police said the incident began just before 2:30 p.m., when officers out of Troop G were called for a pedestrian walking on the Parkway between exits 40 and 41 in Norwalk. When troopers arrived they observed a white male crouched behind the concrete barrier in the right shoulder, state police said.

As the officers approached, the man allegedly jumped the barrier and ran across the northbound travel lanes into traffic, state police said. The officers got to the man in the left lane where a physical altercation ensued, state police said.

State police said the man continued to resist and a Taser was deployed in attempt to gain control of the male.

A driver passing by helped the troopers take the man into custody. State police said the two troopers, who were not identified sustained minor lacerations to theirs hands and facial areas.

They were taken to Norwalk hospital for treatment.

The 27-year-old man was also transported to the hospital for minor injuries, according to state police, before being processed on charges of illegal use of a highway by a pedestrian, interfering with an officer and two counts assault on a public safety officer.

He was held on $100,000 bond and was due to appear in Stamford Superior Court on Friday. It was not immediately clear whether he remained in custody following the scheduled court appearance.
GLEN CARBON - The Bridge Church decided to bless community members with a "Come to the Table" Thanksgiving Day feast Thursday, according to event coordinator Bobbie Aden.

The event was for those who did not want to be alone, did not want to cook or who had to work tomorrow and therefore did not want to travel far or work hard on a day off. Anyone was welcome to attend and there was no charge for dinner, although people were requested to RSVP so the church could plan ahead.

It was a whole-congregation event as several individuals in the church offered their time on Wednesday night and throughout Thursday helping to prepare the meal, set up tables, serve during the feast and clean up after. The members prepared enough food and space for around 60 people. With this being the first Thanksgiving feast event, they did not know what to expect.

The churchs outreach committee began planning for the feast after coming up with the idea during a brainstorming session. They were looking for more ways to get involved in the community.

We do want to reach out to the community and be a blessing to the community, said Assistant Pastor Mike Aden. The original Thanksgiving was a gathering of people in a community, so were following that tradition, and Christ invited people to the table so we want to be faithful in that example.

Aden, the event coordinator, said several families came together to help make the event happen and said it would be great to make it an annual tradition.

This has been a phenomenal help to the community, said visitor Matthew Butler, of Springfield, Illinois. He was among several individuals enjoying the food and company on Thursday.

The foods good, said Logan Schindler, son of Eric Schindler and member of The Bridge Church. The meal consisted of several traditional Thanksgiving foods including turkey, pies and leaf-shaped sugar cookies.

Eric Schindler shared that, as the first event of its kind, Thursdays feast served as a test to see how the event went. He called it the first annual, suggesting he shares Adens thoughts on making it a tradition.

Pastor Oliver Beans took part in the gathering prior to other Thanksgiving plans later in the afternoon. He said the turnout was roughly around what they expected and a little over half of those present were visitors to the church.

Beans shared others sentiments saying that he would not be surprised if this became an annual event.

I think its great, we had people rally around to help. It was a really cool team effort, Beans said. It is good to be able to provide a place for people to come to eat and be together.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesia has recovered significantly from a mid-year spike in coronavirus cases and deaths that was one of the worst in the region, but with its vaccination drive stalling due to logistical challenges and other issues, and with holidays approaching, experts and officials warn it could soon face another surge.

Indonesia started its vaccination rollout earlier than any other country in Southeast Asia on Jan. 13, and as infection and death rates soared in July and August, ramped up its program to more than 1 million shots per day.

But as the world's fourth most populous nation, it had a lot more work to do than most, and today is only 33% fully vaccinated and 16% partially, far behind its smaller neighbor Malaysia, which boasts 76% fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.

Most vaccines have been distributed in the more urban areas on the archipelago nation's biggest islands of Java and Bali, while many on smaller, more rural islands  where health care systems are often rudimentary and the population tends to be older  have not been reached, said Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist and academic adviser to the government.

As more people travel back to these areas over the holidays, there is a greater risk the virus will spread to those populations, some of which have been partially protected by their isolation, he said.

It will not be as bad as what we saw in July and August, but if we maybe look at the first wave, in January 2020, maybe it will be similar due to their vulnerability, he said.

Because Indonesia started early with its vaccination program, there's also more likelihood that the effectiveness is now waning, he said. Boosters are planned but probably will not begin until early 2022.

The government is urging people to avoid travel if they can and has increased restrictions in all provinces over Christmas and New Years, but some 20 million people are still expected to vacation on the popular islands of Java and Bali over the holidays.

Budiman said the country should accelerate the vaccination program now, while cases are down and health care systems are not overwhelmed.

Indonesia has reported more than 4.25 million cases and 143,000 deaths from COVID-19 among its 270 million people. At the peak of the last surge in July, it hit 56,757 cases per day as hospitals became overwhelmed by sick patients and ran out of beds and oxygen supplies.

With a poor record of testing and case reporting, many have questioned the official figures and the Health Ministry conceded this week that there have likely been about four times as many cases as officially listed.

A Health Ministry spokesperson, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, noted that one study of antibodies in Jakarta residents earlier this year suggested nearly 50% of people in the capital had been infected with COVID-19.

Budiman said his own research suggests that as many as 30-35% of the Indonesian population has had COVID-19  which may be a silver lining to the vaccination cloud, in that many would have developed a natural immunity to the virus.

But its still far from the threshold for herd immunity, and we know the immunity from both the vaccinations and the infections is waning, he said.

Beyond issues with distribution to remote areas, predominantly-Muslim Indonesia is facing increasing vaccine hesitancy from many over the belief that shots other than the Chinese-made Sinovac are not Halal," or permissible under Islamic law, even though the Indonesian Ulema Council, the highest Islamic body, has said any of the vaccines are allowed.

Safrizal Rahman, chief of the Indonesian Medical Association in the province of Aceh, on the northwest tip of Sumatra island, said officials need to reach out to local religious leaders to enlist their support in moving ahead with vaccines.

We need to make it a priority, because they are role models for society, he told The Associated Press.

Aceh currently only has about 35% of its people partially vaccinated, up from about 30% in September, and it faces increasing headwinds, including the growing proliferation of misinformation, he said.

Our education is still lacking compared with what people learn on social media, he said. Unfortunately what comes out on social media is a lot of hoaxes, but it is more influential in society than what is found in official sources.

It has not helped that the prominent voice of former Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari, who served time for a corruption conviction, has been one of those sources, advising against getting the vaccine citing fully-debunked conspiracy theories.

As the number of cases has fallen recently, the sense of urgency to be vaccinated has also dropped, and the World Health Organization has noted strong declines in the numbers of shots given for three weeks in a row, most recently an 11.3% drop from Nov. 15 to 21.

The government is trying to ramp things back up, and is acquiring 102 million vaccine doses in December through purchases and donations from other countries.

More cold storage is also being added, so that each province would have at least one facility equipped to hold large quantities.

Noting the recent resurgence of the virus spread in Europe, Indonesia's Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin urged people earlier this week not to be lulled into a false sense of security by the current low number of cases.

He stressed they should take whatever vaccine becomes available, noting that AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna have been shown to be more effective than the more popular Sinovac.

Don't worry, these vaccines have been proven safe, don't hesitate to get vaccinated immediately, he said.

Don't let what happened in Europe happen to us, he added.

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Rising reported from Bangkok.
DETROIT (AP)  The FBIs confirmation last week that it was looking at a spot near a New Jersey landfill as the possible burial site of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is the latest development in a search that began when he disappeared in 1975.

A number of theories have emerged about Hoffa since he was reported missing, though many of them have been tied to book releases. From serious to scurrilous, here are some of the best:

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Theory: Hoffa was killed on the orders of alleged New Jersey mob figure Anthony Tony Pro Provenzano. His body was ground up in little pieces, shipped to Florida and thrown into a swamp."

Who put it forth: Self-described mafia murderer Charles Allen, who served prison time with Hoffa and participated in the federal witness-protection program, told the story to a U.S. Senate committee in 1982.

Outcome: The FBI never found enough evidence to support the claim and questions were raised about Allen trying to sell the story to make money.

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Theory: Probably the most infamous had Hoffa buried under Section 107 of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Who put it forth: Self-described hit man Donald Tony the Greek Frankos in a 1989 Playboy magazine interview.

Outcome: The FBI found nothing to support the claim and didnt bother to show up when the stadium was demolished in 2010.

When that information came to our attention we batted it around, but we were all convinced in the end that this guy was not reliable, FBI agent Jim Kossler said then. We were able to prove to our mind that what he was telling us couldnt have happened because he either couldnt have been there or he was in jail at the time.

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Theory: Hoffa was abducted by either federal marshals or federal agents, driven to a nearby airport and dropped out of a plane, possibly into one of the Great Lakes that surround Michigan.

Who put it forth: Former Hoffa aide and strong-arm Joseph Franco in the 1987 book Hoffas Man.

Outcome: Other than Francos word, there was nothing to support his claim.

A Chicago Tribune review of the book put it this way: Former New York Times reporter Richard Hammer, who helped Franco with the book, candidly writes in the introduction that the stories have the ring of truth. Maybe, but they also reek of something else.

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Theory: Hoffa was killed by one-time ally Frank Sheeran at a Detroit house. Key parts of the narrative became the basis for the 2019 movie The Irishman."

Who put it forth: Sheeran.

Outcome: Bloomfield Township police ripped up floorboards at the house in 2004, but the FBI crime lab concluded that blood found on them was not Hoffas.

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Theory: New Jersey mob hit man Richard The Iceman Kuklinski killed Hoffa in Michigan, drove the body to a New Jersey junkyard, sealed it in a 50-gallon drum and set it on fire. He later dug up the body and put it in the trunk of a car that was sold as scrap metal.

Who put it forth: Kuklinski, who contended in his 2006 book, The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer, that he received $40,000 for the slaying.

Outcome: The former chief of organized crime investigations for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice told The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey, that he doubted the claim.

They took a body from Detroit, where they have one of the biggest lakes in the world, and drove it all the way back to New Jersey? Come on, Bob Buccino said.

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Theory: Hoffa was killed and his body was buried beneath a swimming pool in Bay Countys Hampton Township.

Who put it forth: Richard C. Powell, who used to live on the property and who was serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for a 1982 homicide in Saginaw County.

Outcome: Police used a backhoe to demolish the pool and dig beneath it in 2003, although no trace of Hoffa was found. At one point, police brought Powell to the scene handcuffed and shackled. Then-Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran told the Bay City (Michigan) Times that Powell didnt have any connection to Hoffa at all and that the convict just wanted a few moments of fame.

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Theory: Hoffas killers buried him beneath the 73-story Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

Who put it forth: Marvin Elkind, a self-described chauffeur and goon for mob bosses, in the 2011 book The Weasel: A Double Life in the Mob.

Outcome: The building, home to General Motors' headquarters, stands and the claim has never been taken seriously.

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Theory: Hoffa was buried in a makeshift grave beneath a concrete slab of a barn in Oakland Township about 25 miles north of Detroit.

Who put it forth: Reputed Mafia captain Tony Zerilli in the online Hoffa Found. Zerilli was in prison for organized crime when Hoffa disappeared, but he claimed he was informed about Hoffas whereabouts after his release.

Outcome: The FBI and police in 2013 spent two days digging at the site that no longer had the barn, but found nothing.

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Theory: Hoffas body was delivered to a Jersey City landfill in 1975, placed in a steel drum and buried about 100 yards away on state property that sits below an elevated highway.

Who put it forth: Journalist Dan Moldea, who has written extensively about the Hoffa saga, as a result of interviews with Frank Cappola. Cappola, who died in 2020, says his father owned the landfill and buried the body.

Outcome: To be determined. The FBI obtained a search warrant to do a site survey, which it completed last month and is analyzing the data. The agency hasn't said whether it removed anything from the site.

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This story was first published on Nov. 26. It was updated on Nov. 25 to correct that Michigan's Hampton Township is in Bay County, not Oakland County.
That release could not be found.
DSI Phuket conference ramps up anti-human trafficking efforts

PHUKET: Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Director-General Traiyarit Temhiwong yesterday (Nov 25) led a major conference in Phuket aimed at ramping up efforts to combat human trafficking into the country.



By The Phuket News

Friday 26 November 2021, 12:09PM

The major anti-human trafficking conference is being held in Phuket. Photo: PR Phuket

The major anti-human trafficking conference is being held in Phuket. Photo: PR Phuket

The major anti-human trafficking conference is being held in Phuket. Photo: PR Phuket

Joining the conference, held at Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach, were 135 representatives from major anti-crime agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Investigation for United States Homeland Security (HSI), Australian Border Force (ABF) immigration unit and the Office of the Diplomat of the Norwegian Police Service.

Representatives from international NGOs included ASEAN-ACT, Hanns Seidel, IOM Thailand, UNODC, the IJM Foundation, A21 Thailand Foundation, Ford Freedom International Foundation, Operation Underground Railroad, Alliance Anti-Trafic (AAT) and the Labour Protection Network (LPN).

Local enforcement was represented by officers from the Office of the Attorney-Generals, Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command (based in Phuket) and the Anti-Human Trafficking Division of the Royal Thai Police Immigration Bureau.

The three-day conference began on Wednesday and concludes today (Nov 24-26).

Mr Traiyarit said that the Thai government has given importance to the problem of human trafficking.

It has been raised on the national agenda that all sectors must help resolve. The Minister of Justice [Somsak Thepsutin] has ordered the agencies under his supervision that the prevention and suppression of human-trafficking offenses must be taken seriously and decisively.

The Department of Special Investigation therefore, together with government agencies and many international network partners, are holding this workshop to take lessons in the Prosecution of transnational crimes in human trafficking, he said.

The topics of the workshop included the development of a public policy process that leaves no person behind, paving the way for the implementation of an ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Mr Traiyarit explained.

Especially women and children, he said.

Other topics discussed among the major organisations included the investigation of human-trafficking cases in transnational crimes, and care and remedies for victims in human trafficking cases.

There will be integration of cooperation in the form of network partners of agencies in solving human-trafficking problems, to strengthen the guidelines for the prevention and suppression of human trafficking to be sustainable, which will lead to an effective level of human trafficking situation in the TIP Report, Mr Traiyarit said.

Thailand currently remains on the Tier 2 Watch List of the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report released by the US State Department in July.

The report noted, Corruption and official complicity facilitated trafficking and continued to impede anti-trafficking efforts. NGOs perceptions of corruption made them reluctant to work with the government or certain agencies in some cases. Some police may have purposely compromised investigations and failed to provide prosecutors sufficient evidence to prosecute trafficking cases. Some law enforcement officials were reluctant to investigate influential boat owners and captains, as well as other offenders who were or had connections to high-ranking government officials.

However, the DSI was singled out for its stance against human trafficking.

Observers reported DSI officers resisted intimidation by influential individuals connected to trafficking cases, the TIP report said.

Mr Traiyarit highlighted the attendance of Pol Gen Thammasak Wicharaya, Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister, and thanked him for his presentation on Developing the Potential of Officers Working in the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking.

The Department of Special Investigation absolutely gives importance to the prevention and suppression of human trafficking. It focuses on the suppression and prosecution of human trafficking offenders as a network of international organised crime, influential people, and government officials involved in human trafficking, he said.

In terms of protection, the DSI focus is on strengthening cooperation between government agencies and the private sector. in reporting incidents, reporting clues, or enhancing the body of knowledge to those involved to form a concrete partnership in the prevention of human trafficking offenses, he concluded.
Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Periods of rain. High 7C. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Windy with rain early. Becoming partly cloudy overnight. Low near -1C. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.
Late November is the time of year when Facebook is replete with two categories of posts.

The first categorys intended audience is all those Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving. The second category is directed at older Americans such as myself. It's a question that asks if we recall where we were and what we were doing on Nov. 22, 1963, when we learned that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Its a rhetorical question, of course. Everyone, except those who were very young children at the time or those who have slipped into senility, remembers very well indeed,

I was born on Dec. 8, 1953, so I was just a bit shy of 10 and a student at St. Marys Catholic School in Alton. Periodically, various classes were shown movies in the school cafeteria and Nov. 22 was one of those days. While I dont recall either the title or subject of the movie, I remember dutifully applauding with the other children when it concluded. The lights were turned back on -- and then all hell broke lose.

Sister Vincent de Paul, a nun who taught eighth grade in addition to serving as the school principal, suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs that were next to the portable movie screen. Yes, that was really her name. In those days, many nuns had masculine names, or even names that were part masculine and part feminine. For example, our seventh-grade teacher was a nun named Sister Stephen Maureen. As though to affirm the Stephen in her name, Stephen Maureen unintentionally sported a mustache that she apparently was forbidden to shave off.

So you had a good time! Sister Vincent de Paul's angry voice boomed across the entire cafeteria. Well, while you were enjoying yourselves, President Kennedy was shot!

I wasnt surprised by the fact that she was yelling at us. In those days, most teaching nuns typically communicated with their students by yelling. If there were some training manual for nuns who had been assigned to teach school, yelling at ones students surely was included as one of the most important directives.

I was rather puzzled, however, by her insinuation that we had done something wrong by enjoying ourselves. Hadnt the nuns themselves herded us from our classrooms to the cafeteria and told us to watch the movie? We had been obedient and done exactly what we had been told to do. Were we suppose to watch the movie but not enjoy it? Had I unintentionally committed a sin that I must confess the next time I utilized the sacrament of Penance?

My next clear memory of that day was praying for Kennedys recovery in St. Marys Church along with my classmates. Suddenly, our teacher spoke in a voice loud enough for all of us to hear, Children, President Kennedy has died. Pray for his soul and his family. The most vivid visual memory I have is seeing persons enter the church, make their way to the communion rail, kneel down and pray. One woman in particular sobbed uncontrollably.

My family was deeply saddened by JFKs murder. He had been our hero: not just the first Catholic president of the United States, but the first Irish Catholic president. Kennedy had succeeded where Al Smith had failed. Smith, the Irish Catholic governor of New York, had been the Democratic partys 1928 presidential candidate. He was trounced by Herbert Hoover, the GOP candidate, largely because of his Catholicism. During an era when the South voted solidly Democratic, even states such as Texas, Virginia and Tennessee voted for Hoover. Smiths rejection was made even more galling by the loss of his home state of New York.

Kennedys victory over Richard Nixon in 1960 ameliorated that long-ago humiliation. We identified with Kennedy, so his triumph was our triumph as well.

Yes, he came from a wealthy, powerful family, but his grandparents had journeyed from Ireland to the United States in the last century as had ours. That made John Kennedy one of us. When he died in Dallas on that terrible day, part of us died with him.
ALTON  A choir sang as people came in for Thanksgiving dinner Wednesday night at the Salvation Armys Alton Corps Community Center, as a long-standing tradition came back after a COVID-induced hiatus.

Abundant Life Church and the Salvation Army have partnered for 15 year to provide the dinner. Last year because of COVID it was served to go, but this year the dining room was full as people ate and talked.

The Rev. David Anderson, executive pastor at Abundant Life, said they had planned for up to 200 people.

Things are going great, he said at the start of dinner service. People are starting to arrive and we have an army of volunteers ready to serve. We love getting out in the community and meeting people, and doing whatever we can to be a blessing.

Anderson said they just did the math and this is the 15th year for the dinner.

He noted this year was very different from 2020 when, because of COVID, it was carry-out only and they had far fewer volunteers.

Last year there were only eight of us here, he said. As people pulled up we would package orders and they would take them home.

He also said the choir stayed home last year.

In addition to the dinner, this year's event also had a crafts table for the children and a coffee house downstairs.

We just love being a blessing to the community," he said. "Its a season of thanksgiving and we believe part of being thankful is giving to others, so this is one of our favorite nights.

The volunteers were kept busy.

Nancy Stewart, of Abundant Life Church, was one of the volunteer servers.

I used to go to church here (the Salvation Army) as well, she said. Its the service, and helping people, and making sure they have a Thanksgiving meal.

Rose Thomas was eating and trying to feed her grandson, 7-month-old Amir Smith.

I think its wonderful. Im a member of Abundant Life Church and weve been coming for the past 5 years, she said, adding she has been both a server and a diner.

This is something important for families to get together and just enjoy a good meal and be thankful for each other, Thomas added.

She was kept busy with her grandson, who was sometimes distracted by all the activity.

He is doing great; he loves the mashed potatoes, she said.

Salvation Army Capt. Cassy Grey, who arrived in Alton in July, said she had heard this is a very awesome and productive experience.

This is amazing, she said. Talk about the Body of Christ coming together to make sure we are loving on each other, sharing a meal, encouraging and being blessed.

She also appreciated that they were thinking outside the box with the coffee bar and crafts.

Were going to say, Thank you God for the awesome things' and were going to come together and be a family, she said.
BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union said on Friday that it will ease its restrictions on exporting COVID-19 vaccines.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, said that as of January it will no longer require vaccine producers to request special authorization to export outside the 27-nation bloc.

Earlier this year when vaccines were still in short supply, the EU introduced a mechanism to keep some of the jabs it secured from AstraZeneca, the Anglo-Swedish drug company, from being diverted elsewhere.

The export control system, aimed at making sure large drug companies would respect their contracts, was used by the EU in March, when a shipment of more than a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia was blocked from leaving.

When the dispute with AstraZeneca broke, the EU was lagging well behind the United States and other countries in COVID-19 vaccinations. According to Stella Kyriakides, the Commissioner for Health, the bloc has now vaccinated over 65% of the total EU population of some 450 million inhabitants.

The EU and AstraZeneca said in September that they reached a deal to end their legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the companys COVID-19 vaccines.

EU commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said the transparency of exports will be ensured by a new monitoring mechanism that will provide the commission with companies' vaccine export data.

Spinant noted that the EU is the biggest global provider of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 1.3 billion doses exported to more than 150 countries.

Amid a new significant uptick in infections in the EU, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said vaccinations need to be stepped up further.

We need to convince more people to get vaccinated," she said. The good news is that we have enough vaccine doses. By the end of this week, Europe will have delivered 1 billion doses to our member states."

___

Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli authorities appear to have put plans to build a large Jewish settlement at an abandoned airport in east Jerusalem on hold, at least for now, a rights group said Thursday.

Plans for the Atarot settlement called for building 9,000 housing units marketed to ultra-Orthodox Jews in an open area next to three densely populated Palestinian communities, one of which is behind Israel's controversial separation barrier.

Hagit Ofran of the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said a district planning committee meeting at which the project was expected to be approved has been cancelled, meaning the plan is off the table for now. A local committee had voted in support of it on Wednesday.

Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum said she was not aware of any move to shelve the project.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which Israel also seized in that war.

Israel views all of Jerusalem as its unified capital and says it needs to build housing to address the needs of a growing population.

The Palestinians view the continual expansion of Israeli settlements as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace, a position with wide international support.

The Biden administration has repeatedly criticized settlement construction, saying it hinders the eventual resumption of the peace process, but Israel has continued to advance settlement plans.

More than 200,000 Israeli settlers live in east Jerusalem and nearly 500,000 live in settlements scattered across the occupied West Bank. Israel's current prime minister, Naftali Bennett, is a strong supporter of settlements and is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

There have been no substantive peace talks in more than a decade.
While developing a rapid test that detects the coronavirus in someones saliva, Blink Science, a Florida-based startup, heard something startling: The Food and Drug Administration had more than 3,000 emergency use authorization applications and didnt have the resources to get through them.

We want to try to avoid the EUA quagmire, said Peb Hendrix, the startups vice president of operations. Its test is still in early development. On the advice of consultants, the company is weighing an alternative route through the FDA to the U.S. market.

Its just the way our government works, Hendrix said, which is a challenge for businesses that are anxious to get started and think theyve got something that can help.

The U.S. produced COVID-19 vaccines in record time, but, nearly two years into the pandemic, consumers have few options for cheap tests that quickly screen for infection, though they are widely available in Europe. Experts say the paucity of tests and their high prices undermine efforts in the U.S. to return to normal life.

Some experts say the FDAs approach to clearing rapid tests has been onerous and overly focused on exceptional accuracy to detect positive results, rather than on what would really benefit people en masse: speedy results. The main use of rapid tests is to screen people so they can safely attend work, school, meetings or gatherings. This screening can then be followed up with a more sensitive, lab-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for diagnosis.

The FDA has authorized just 12 over-the-counter options for rapid tests. But the problems go beyond that agency: The Biden administration recently put $3 billion toward boosting the supply of rapid tests, but public health and industry experts say the government didnt move quickly enough early in the pandemic to support development and manufacturing.

Should we have had an equivalent of Operation Warp Speed for testing? asked Mara Aspinall, a co-founder of life sciences fund BlueStone Venture Partners and a board member for OraSure Technologies, which received FDA authorization for an over-the-counter rapid test. Absolutely.  For too long, people thought of testing as an extra and not the core, and it needs to be thought of as the core.

During the pandemic, the FDA has received more than 4,500 emergency use authorization and related requests for COVID-19 tests, according to FDA spokesperson Jim McKinney. The agency says it is prioritizing reviews of at-home and point-of-care tests that can be produced in high volumes. Two recently authorized tests alone could boost availability by as much as 13 million tests a day, McKinney said, adding that it would efficiently review the submissions that will have the biggest impact on the nations testing needs.

In addition to the slow pace of approvals, manufacturing bottlenecks created by materials and labor shortages are keeping prices high. Prices of rapid tests range from $14 for a two-pack to well over $50 a test, far from affordable for regular use.

The FDA says it cant move more quickly as it balances ensuring that safe and useful devices reach the marketplace with the urgent need to deliver options for widespread daily testing.

The FDA carefully weighs the known and potential risks and  benefits of emergency use authorization for COVID-19 diagnostic tests based on sound science, McKinney said in response to questions. But he noted many submissions are incomplete or contain insufficient information.

Startups said navigating the ins and outs of this regulatory apparatus is daunting. E25Bio of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is developing a low-cost antigen test, which detects COVID-19 by identifying proteins called antigens. Since July 2020, the company has repeatedly adjusted its FDA application as the agency updates its recommendations. The requirement that test results be reported directly to federal health authorities has added to delays.

As a smaller company, we didnt have the capabilities to develop that technology at first, said Bobby Brooke Herrera, co-founder and chief science officer. E25Bio now has a mobile app that verifies results and sends the anonymized data to public health authorities.

Another speed bump: The FDA requires U.S. clinical trials, making the companys data from Latin America unusable.

Herrera hopes to sell the over-the-counter rapid test in the U.S. for less than $5, cheaper than anything currently on the market.

Hendrix said Blink Science is considering a different path to FDA approval. Known as de novo, it can be used to bring novel, low-risk medical devices to market. For now, he said, the company is likely to prioritize approval in developing countries where vaccination rates are much lower than in the U.S.

Steradian Technologies, which hopes to launch a 30-second breath test, says it was told by regulatory consultants and others who ran into snags in the EUA process that it might not be worth it because the agency is so backed up, according to Tra Tran, the companys director of development and clinical affairs. The FDAs regular approval process might be the best option.

We dont have the budget to spend on doing an EUA and then being told, Well, actually you wasted six months and hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said. Only certain people have the capital to be able to afford staying in this FDA regulatory process for forever.

The companies view

Several public health experts and people in the testing industry said that the Biden administrations recent moves will help supply but that meeting demand will take time.

Australian test-maker Ellume received $232 million in federal funds in February to boost U.S. manufacturing of its rapid at-home test, but the company says its new plant in Frederick, Maryland, wont start production until December. It could eventually manufacture 15 million tests a month.

The FDA authorized Ellumes over-the-counter COVID-19 test in December 2020, but the road has been rocky: The company recalled 2.2 million tests in the U.S. because of higher-than-acceptable false positive results, the FDA said, and the FDA warned that their use may cause serious adverse health consequences or death. All came from Ellumes Australian facility.

IHealth Labs, which received FDA authorization Nov. 5 for a test priced at $14 for a two-pack, says that by January it will be able to make 200 million tests a month.

OraSure aims to make 4 million COVID-19 tests a month by January and 8 million a month by June. It plans to scale up to 200 million COVID-19 tests annually  but not until 2024.

Scott Gleason, OraSures interim chief financial officer, said the company faces headwinds at its plant in Pennsylvanias Lehigh Valley. Were having some challenges with hiring enough people to work in our factories to meet the demand, he said. A two-pack has recently retailed between $14 and $24, and that price wont drop anytime soon, Gleason said.

Ellume has faced shortages of swabs, steel for its facility and electronics components for the tests.

The view from the FDA

The FDA has authorized more than 400 COVID-19 tests, including at-home options and those processed by a medical provider or a lab. The FDA is still getting more than 100 EUA submissions for COVID-19 tests per month, many from overseas. But, McKinney said, the vast majority are not for the type most needed now: tests for over-the-counter use.

The FDA may be reluctant to ease its scrutiny. The pandemics first-iteration rapid tests, like Abbott Laboratories ID Now, raised safety and accuracy concerns, and the FDA has sent warning letters to at least six companies selling bogus rapid tests and has issued numerous recalls. Separately, the agency put over 260 tests that detect COVID-19 antibodies on a do not use list.

If we did to antigen tests what happened with antibody tests, we would completely destroy the credibility of the test, said Aspinall, the venture capitalist. As frustrating as this is, I have to respect the FDA for ensuring that we continue to have quality tests.

The agencys review times for COVID-19 test EUA applications have improved, according to an assessment by consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Approvals were generally cleared faster than denials. As of March, the median time for the FDA to grant authorization was seven days and 38 days for denials. When the country isnt in a national emergency, getting through the FDAs reviews might take months or years.

Nonetheless, the bottlenecks are felt by Americans trying to keep their employees and families safe.

LabCentral  a biotech co-working facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was part of E25Bios testing study  requires participating startups to test workers twice a week. Thats a costly safety measure for a nonprofit, said Celina Chang, LabCentrals vice president, so it recently bought rapid tests from Germany for $1.50 each.

In order to test people twice a week on a regular basis for months on end, she said, we need it to be, just the same as anyone, affordable.



(KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.)



2021 Kaiser Health News. Visit khn.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
CHARIHO: Charihos girls and boys soccer teams both won Division II titles in dramatic fashion. The girls won in penalty kicks and the boys in the final two minutes of double overtime. The football team reached the D-III title game, as did the field hockey team. The girls volleyball team played in the D-II semifinals. Erin vonHousen was All-State in girls cross country.

STONINGTON: Stoningtons boys soccer team earned its second straight Class M state title, closing the season with 21 straight victories. The field hockey team lost in the Class S title game.

WESTERLY: Westerlys girls volleyball team reached the Division III semifinals, losing to eventual champion Scituate. The football team played in the D-II semifinals. The girls soccer team reached the D-III semifinals. Jake Serra and Kaya West were All-State in cross country.

WHEELER: Wheeler boys and girls soccer teams qualified for the Class S state tournament.

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BERLIN (AP)  The German military is making coronavirus shots compulsory for troops amid a growing debate in the country about whether to introduce a general vaccine mandate to counter rising infection and hospitalization rates.

The Defense Ministry on Tuesday confirmed a report in the German military blog Augen Geradeaus that officials and soldiers' representatives agreed late Monday to add the coronavirus shot to the list of vaccines soldiers must get. The measure still needs to be formally added to military regulations, the ministry said in a statement.

There were 1,215 reported active coronavirus cases as of Monday within the military and the ministry's civilian staff. Two soldiers have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The nationwide tally of newly confirmed cases rose by 45,326 in the past 24 hours, the country's disease control agency said Tuesday. A further 309 deaths from COVID-19 were also reported, taking the total toll since the start of the outbreak to 99,433.

On Monday, the U.S. State Department urged Americans not to travel to Germany because of rising case numbers, and to ensure they are fully vaccinated if they do.

Some German states have tightened rules for unvaccinated people in recent days and urged people who haven't done so yet to get the shot.

But a sizeable minority has resisted calls to do so, prompting a stark warning from the country's health minister about the consequences of not getting vaccinated.

"By the end of this winter pretty much everyone in Germany (...) will have been vaccinated, recovered or died, health minister Jens Spahn said Monday.

About 68% of Germany's population of 83 million has been fully vaccinated, far below the minimum threshold of 75% that the government is aiming for.

An association representing doctors in Berlin said Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines should be made compulsory for all  a step already taken in neighboring Austria.

The time has come for a vaccine mandate, KV Berlin said in a statement, adding that unvaccinated people should also be made to pay part of the cost of their treatment if they fall ill with COVID-19.

Some politicians in Germany, including the conservative state governors of Bavaria and Hesse, have backed the idea of compulsory vaccinations. But a spokesman for outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel made clear Monday that she will leave that thorny issue to the next federal government.

In a rare interview, Merkel's husband, Joachim Sauer, expressed surprise and upset that so many people remained opposed to the vaccine in Germany, blaming it on German laziness and anti-vaccine ideology that crosses all levels of education.

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Speaking to Italian daily La Repubblica, the 72-year-old chemist said it was "amazing that a third of the German population doesnt pay attention to science.

Asked how that could be explained, Sauer reportedly replied: In part by a certain laziness and complacency among the German people."

There has probably always been this attitude among some people, but it has never been so evident as in this period, La Repubblica quoted him as saying Tuesday. "And yet its precisely now that were living the great success of science.

Sauer was in Turin to receive a diploma as a new member of the Academy of Sciences.

___

Nicole Winfield contributed to this report from Rome.

___

Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
SARATOGA SPRINGS  Saratoga Spring Water, which dates to the 19th century in the Spa City, has been sold to a Connecticut investment firm.

Owner-operator Adam Madkour sold the company for an undisclosed sum to Blue Triton, which is owned by a pair of investment firms: One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co., according to a report in the Stamford Advocate.

We believe BlueTriton's leadership and resources will position SSWC's products for growth while enabling the company to continue producing the high-quality, premium products we are known for, Madkour said in a prepared statement regarding the sale.

We look forward to our partnership with BlueTriton, who shares our commitment, mission and long-held philosophy of service and corporate responsibility.

Madkour took over the company in 2001, having worked as an executive there since the 1990s. After acquiring it, Madkour worked to expand the market for their sparkling and non-sparkling water, capitalizing in part on the cachet of the Saratoga name and on their distinctive cobalt-blue glass bottles.

By 2010, the company was distributing its products in China and its sparkling water was served during a 2013 presidential inauguration event in Washington D.C,

Previous to Madkour, the company had been bought and sold several times and had been owned at one point by Anheuser-Busch, which sold the company to Evian Waters of France. In 2000 it was sold to a Connecticut investment firm, North Castle Partners and Madkour purchased the business the following year.

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New owner BlueTriton manages Poland Spring and other regional bottled-water brands, including Deer Park, Ozarka, Ice Mountain, Zephyrhills and Arrowhead, as well as the Pure Life and Splash lines.

Blue Triton was previously known as Nestle Waters North America. That company was sold over the summer to the new investment group, which led to the name change.

rkarlin@timesunion.com  518-454-5758  @RickKarlinTU
Holiday shopping is a little easier this year thanks to the legalization of recreational marijuana in New York. Not because you can get stoned to try to come up with gift ideas (though, sure, whatever floats your boat) but because chic cannabis gear can now be found at lots of regional home and smoke shops. Theres a perfect present out there for any of the pot smokers in your life, and at every price point.

Keep in mind that due to nuances in laws that have yet to be updated, cannabis gear is still being sold as for tobacco use only. Shop owners would prefer not to get in hot water for selling items considered drug paraphernalia. Still, if you know, you know.

Occasionally shoppers might pick up the $40 Sackville & Co. grinder at Berte in Beacon (500 Main St.) and ask if its for peppercorns. Shop founder Aimee deSimone just says, I feel like that would be really coarse. She sells a gold version  a great gift  and, depending on availability, might also have it in black or pink, too.

Courtesy Tabac & Company

Overall, beautiful cannabis items make up a tiny amount of whats on offer at Berte. But at Tabac & Company in Hudson, which launches online December 1, cannabis lifestyle items are the only things for sale. Owner Gabriel Hurtado envisions his online store, which he hopes to open as a physical space in late summer 2022, as a modern upgrade of the head shops he frequented in his youth.

Growing up as a gay kid in Pennsylvania, I used to run down to New Hope, he says. That town had a very welcoming head shop.It was a place I could feel more myself, he recalls.

Now that hes older, an inexpensive poor-quality pipe from a smoke shop isnt what he wants to have decorating his coffee table  or use. So he set about curating beautiful items he would happily leave out in the open from different companies that bring this designer aesthetic to products you want to display.

Courtesy Tabac & Company

He sells for tobacco use only gifts for any cannabis lover, from KLIP grinders ($150), to elegant Tsubota lighters ($45), to a variety of pipes.

Some pipes are very streamlined and elegant, others are very whimsical  they look like an ice cream cone with sprinkles on it, says Hurtado.

Berte carries ceramic pipes made by Michigan ceramicist Debbie Carlos that are as beautiful to display as they are great to use. The curl pipe [$68] and the knot pipe [$80]both just look like decorative objects, something fun you would see on a stack of books, but these are functional, says deSimone.

Theyre made of natural speckled clay with a white glaze and though looking at one might make you wonder how it works, it does well. I have used it personally, and I gave it to a friend. It smokes like a champ.

Courtesy Berte

Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter.

If a pipe feels too direct, opt for the ultimate holiday 2021 gift: anything weed adjacent, says DeSimone. At Tabac & Company, these include housewares like glass trays you could roll a joint on if you choose, vintage and mid-century ashtrays, artwork, or fun objects to occupy stoners and the creatively minded alike, like a Dr. Seuss coloring book, and jigsaw puzzles including a multi-colored 1,000-piece Christian Lacroix one ($25), and another of lips and billowing smoke by Jonathan Adler ($35).

At Berte, a $58 ceramic jar with a cork ball lid by Mamasun has whimsical clouds painted on it. Its a really fun stash jar. You could just put loose leaf tea in it if [marijuana] isnt your thing, she says. Its a beautiful and fun thing to add to your marijuana accessories.

Local artist Amy Dooley, owner of Studio 89 gallery in Highland (89 Vineyard Ave.), just created her first ceramic stash jars in time for this holiday season. The tops are made of reclaimed wood. These are my first lidded pieces. I am just embarking on this journey, she says.

A small jar is $30, a larger one is $50. People can purchase them online  just keep in mind shipping is slower than usual.

Dooley thinks of them as trinket jars.

Anything precious and special can go in these handmade one-of-a-kind jars. Like your favorite mug, you have your little place well loved by you to keep things well loved by you, says Dooley. Stash can mean anything. People stash all kinds of things.

Finally, looking for an inexpensive stocking stuffer? Berte has fun rolling papers from Zs Life. They come with filters and have a magnet closure, says deSimone. The papers themselves are made from flax but its the cases that really stand out. Buy one in copper ($8) or another that looks like leather ($10).
Thanksgiving movie quizzes? Theyve been done to death. Instead, lets talk turkey. Specifically, turkey and all the other fixings that make up the traditional (at least the Anglo-American traditions surrounding the day, that is) holiday meal.

Each movie mentioned below wont necessarily be Thanksgiving-related, but the titles will all include foods people usually consume on the third Thursday of every November  until they pass out on the couch (and yes, we know the whole tryptophan makes you sleepy thing is a myth).

SPOILER ALERT: We could not find any movie high-profile enough to feature any form of cranberries in the title. Ditto "stuffing."

1. This wildly underrated 1971 satire is the only feature film directed by TV legend Norman Lear, stars Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart and a cast of great, comedic character actors, and revolves around a town trying to win a huge cash prize by collectively giving up smoking. What is the title?

2. The 1988 cult classic horror film Pumpkinhead featured the film debut of what future host of Jeopardy?

3. In 1974s (now problematic) buddy action comedy Freebie and the Bean (green bean casserole, perhaps?) starring Alan Arkin and James Caan, theres a scene where characters discuss the film Lawrence of Arabia, which earned Peter OToole the first of his eight Oscar nominations. Six years later, Freebie director Richard Rush (who died earlier this year at 91) received his only two nominations and directed OToole to his sixth in what 1980 movie, whose title could refer back to the many, many car crashes and scenes of violence from Freebie?

4. What 2003 period piece co-starred Pittsfield, Mass., native Elizabeth Banks and was partially filmed at Saratoga Race Track?

5. Which of the following films was Oscar-nominated for its screenplay?

A. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

B. Hot Potato (1979)

C. The Hot Potato (2012)

D. One Potato, Two Potato (1964)

6. What 1984 horror film spawned the greatest number of sequels of any movie adapted from a Stephen King work?

7. The 2015 horror comedy Gravy, the directorial debut of Psych and A Million Little Things actor James Roday Rodriguez, involves costumed misfits who take the employees (including Tony winner Sutton Foster and Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe) of a Mexican cantina hostage. Its set on a different holiday than Thanksgiving. What one?

8. Cornbread, Earl and Me in 1975 was the theatrical film debut of 13-year-old Laurence Fishburne. The next year he lied about his age to get cast in what epic and epically troubled production, that wasnt finally released until 1979  after Fishburne had officially turned 18?

9. Sean Penn, the son of an Emmy-nominated director, won his second Oscar for 2009s Milk. What other star, the son of an Emmy-winning actor, was also nominated for the film?

10. Mena Suvari and John Cho co-starred in 1999s teen sex comedy, American Pie. That same year, they also appeared together in another much more critically acclaimed film with a very similar title. Name it.

ANSWERS

1. Cold Turkey

2. Mayim Bialik

3. The Stunt Man

4. Seabiscuit

5. D

6. Children of the Corn

7. Halloween

8. Apocalypse Now

9. Josh Brolin

10. American Beauty
ALBANY  The slayings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police sparked a year of activism and gave birth to a new phrase that entered the national lexicon:

Defund the police," a catchall term that broadly refers to taking funds from police departments and steering the money to alternative forms of public safety that dont require a law enforcement response, including mental health calls.

Racial justice activists have been unrelenting in their demands to reallocate funding over the past 18 months.

Yet as municipal spending plans fell into place this fall, even the region's most heavily Democratic cities have left police spending unchanged, including Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Saratoga Springs.

Cities are spending more than ever on their police departments, citing waves of retirements, rising crime, increasing equipment costs and the need to bolster community policing units, an outcome of the state-mandated reform process that ordered police departments to tweak operations based on community feedback.

The Albany Police Departments budget was $54.7 million in 2020, constituting 30 percent of total general fund allocations.

Police spending rose to $55 million the following year, and the 2022 budget adopted by lawmakers earlier this month boosted allocations to $56.4 million  a 2.4 percent increase.

Not only did spending increase, but Albany police invested in new programming, hiring a large group of telecommunication specialists and increasing the size of the departments motorcycle unit.

City Hall and Albany Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment to discuss the expenditures.

Police spending in Saratoga Springs was $9.2 million in 2020, or about 19 percent of total expenditures. Numbers dipped slightly the following year to $8.5 million but rose to $10.1 million in the 2022 spending plan, a 19 percent increase.

The increase is due to employee contract increases, state retirement cost contributions and health care benefits, as well as vehicle and equipment upgrades for the 71-member force, said city Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan.

In many places, the coronavirus crisis required extra police oversight, efforts and time but police forces have also benefited from federal COVID-19 relief monies.

There were no requests that would have shuttled police dollars to social services agencies, a key demand of activists.

Essentially, this would take a big shift in how we allocate revenue, Madigan said, noting the county is the government arm that receives funding for social services through the state and, sometimes, federal government.

While municipalities are spending more on their police departments, most experts agree that the defund slogan has also yielded a more team-oriented approach to emergency calls involving people struggling with mental illness or the homeless that police are sometimes ill-equipped to handle.

Its a trend echoed across the nation, including in Minneapolis where a police officer murdered George Floyd on camera as other officers stood by. Despite outrage over Floyd's killing, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have dismantled the Minnesota city's police department and replaced it with a new unit focusing on public health.

In Washington, the Biden administration has shown little desire to prioritize a nationwide agenda of police reforms.

The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this month its giving $139 million to police departments across the U.S. as part of a grant program to hire 1,000 new officers. Schenectady was among the cities who applied and is awaiting word if they will be receive money that will cover 15 new officers Police Chief Eric Clifford requested as part of the city's police reform process.

Troy and Schenectady fully funded their police departments

The Rev. Nicolle Harris, head of the Schenectady NAACP chapter, said defunding or reallocating of funds to programs would help everyone.

But we (community organizers) have been unable to articulate that because of the misunderstanding on both sides, Harris said.

Harris, pastor of Duryee Memorial AME Zion Church in Schenectady, said part of the challenge behind the call for deep-seated changes to the criminal justice system is that the defund and dismantle model would likely adversely impact safety.

The 2022 budget the Schenectady City Council adopted earlier this fall would spend nearly $2 million more than what the city spent on policing in 2020. That year, the city budgeted $19.9 million for its police department. There was a modest increase to $20.1 million in this year's spending plan before lawmakers settled on $22.8 million for next year.

Clifford called stripping money out of public safety to solve social problems short-sighted.

Residents of the most marginalized communities need services to prosper, he said.

They need safety and theyre going to call the police if they dont feel safe, Clifford said.

There's a direct link between the rise in the number of homeless calls the department has responded to over the years and the concentration of outpatient clinics located in Schenectady, Clifford said.

My point with this is that you say defund the police,' but if anything, youre going to have to fund these mental health counselors and probably give the police more funding to go with them to calls because those types of calls will last longer where the crisis worker will be on scene doing the assessment rather than the police officer going and getting the person and bringing them to a facility, Clifford said.

Clearly I dont like the words defund the police. However, to look at things from a positive perspective, that whole campaign has actually helped the police more than hurt them.

Its a sentiment echoed by Schenectadys police reform panel, where the majority of participants reaffirmed the need for policing for public safety, while at the same time endorsing incremental changes designed to make police more accountable.



Activists are disheartened at the rising costs.

I dont think its not without malice and I dont think its done with the best interest of the community, said Saratoga Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo. We say defund the police, and they say refund the police.

Part of the budgetary increase in Saratoga Springs is to bankroll four new officers, a move officials contend is designed to help stamp out a spike in downtown violence.

Each position carries a price tag of $53,941.00  not including benefits.

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Figuereo questions the overall impact in crime reduction, noting officers didnt prevent a brawl and a stabbing over Halloween weekend that injured four, crimes that remain unsolved.

There were a bunch of officers on that night, and not one officer was there to intervene, Figuereo said.

Figuereo called for funds to be boosted for homeless services, including increasing the number of Code Blue shelters designed to house people during freezing weather.

Were going to keep fighting for the reallocation of funds for community needs, community events and community boards, Figuereo said.

University at Albany professor Carmen Morano argued that part of the problem is that the defund movement "means many things to many people.

My concern is that those that are on the more conservative side have done a better job of co-opting the term to stymie the conversation, he said. "If were going to use the phrase, it has to be  I would like to think  within a broader context. ... I understand it and respect the call for it, but now what do we do, whats the transition?

Matthew Ingram, who also teaches at UAlbany and focuses on justice issues, said the term has a tendency to alienate potential allies and has allowed opponents of police reform to paint those advocating for reform as extremists.

I think we can talk about alternatives to policing or co-responder models or taking some of the extra things that weve asked police to do and put them in the hands of people who are better trained or perhaps more capable to do things with police acting as backup," said Ingram, a former probation officer and police officer in California who currently is a member of the Albany Community Police Review Board.

Ingram touted Albanys community-oriented policing initiative.

The way Im thinking about community-oriented policing is not so much putting more police out on the streets in close contact with the community but taking the community seriously as a partner in identifying problems and proposing solutions, he said.

Troy Assistant Chief Steven Barker said that the defund campaign has also forced police departments to refocus efforts to build back relationships with citizens, often in communities of color where the mistrust of law enforcement sometimes runs deep.

For the past few months, Barker said, Troy has deployed patrol officers in crime hotspots with solely communication in mind.

We sent them out with a whole command center, and said listen theres no enforcement here, go out and meet people, said Barker.

As far as spending, Troy budgeted $21.4 million for policing in 2021, an amount that includes the cost of health care and retirements. The budget proposal for 2022 increased police department spending to $22.8 million. Troy's City Council is expected to adopt Mayor Patrick Madden's proposed spending plan on Tuesday.

Back in Saratoga Springs, Madigan pointed to multiple partnerships with organizations aiding the homeless and said the city funds numerous nonprofits annually and a new grant program poised to launch next year will build upon those efforts.

Several cities have granted greater power and funding to civilian police oversight panels. Albany voters authorized giving the Community Police Review Board broader powers at the polls earlier this month, with lawmakers doubling funding from $246,000 to $560,000 annually, or 1 percent of annual police spending.

Saratoga Springs is in the process of forming an oversight panel, but its creation has been met with objection from activists, who have criticized the lack of subpoena power and the selection process for members, who will be appointed by the mayor.

Harris, the Schenectady pastor, said creating a safer community is not just in the hands of police but needs to revolve around affordable housing, adequate social services, mental health resources and good schools in order to to be prosperous.

I dont think that hiring more police has necessarily worked in the past and I dont think that its necessarily going to work right now, Harris said.

I think we need to look at the bigger picture of what is it that Schenectady or Albany or Troy, what resources do we need to make these communities safer, I think that we perhaps need to look outside of the police department at what would make us safer.
A Newark, New Jersey, police officer was charged with reckless vehicular homicide, prosecutors said on Wednesday, accusing the man of hitting a pedestrian with his personal car and briefly taking the body home, where he discussed with his mother what to do with it.

The officer, Louis Santiago of the Newark Police Department, was off duty when his Honda Accord drifted into the northbound shoulder of the Garden State Parkway around 3 a.m. on Nov. 1, the Essex County Prosecutors Office said in a news release issued Wednesday. His car struck Damian Z. Dymka, 29, a nurse from Bergen County.

Neither Santiago nor the passenger in his car, Albert Guzman, both 25, called 911 or rendered aid to Dymka, the prosecutors office said. Instead, Santiago drove away and returned to the scene multiple times before loading the victim into the Honda and driving to the home he shared with his parents in Bloomfield, New Jersey. The two men then discussed what to do with the body with Santiagos mother, Annette Santiago, 53, according to prosecutors.

There is an allegation that he went to his house and talked to his mother, but we cannot comment on that because we have seen no evidence of that to date, a lawyer for Santiago, Patrick Toscano Jr., said in an interview Thursday.

The prosecutors office said Santiago eventually returned to the scene. Santiagos father, Lt. Luis Santiago of the Newark Police Department, called 911 at some point to report that his son had been in an accident.

When the state police arrived, they found Dymkas body in the Hondas back seat. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 4 a.m., said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutors office, adding that he had died of blunt force trauma.

Louis Santiago was charged on Nov. 18, surrendered to the State Police on Tuesday and was arraigned the next day, according to Toscano. He said that Santiago had cooperated with the State Police.

In addition to vehicular homicide, Santiago faces charges including leaving the scene of a deadly accident, endangering an injured victim and two counts of official misconduct.

We believe he has been tremendously overcharged here, Toscano said. There is maybe probable cause for two or three charges, certainly not 12 or 13.

The Newark Police Department suspended Louis Santiago, his lawyer said.

Toscano said that, in the early hours of Nov. 1, Santiago had recently finished a shift and was driving to a friends home. Toscano said Dymka had been walking against traffic in a werewolf costume, adding that it was not clear why he was walking along the highway.

That day, the State Police took a blood sample from Santiago and released him, Toscano said, adding that he had not seen any evidence that his client had been drinking before the crash.

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The Newark Police Department on Thursday referred questions to the prosecutors office, which directed further questions to the State Police. A spokesman for the State Police did not immediately respond to questions about what took place in the weeks after Dymka died and before charges were filed.

Guzman and Annette Santiago were also arrested, charged and released on conditions, the prosecutors office said.

They each face charges including hindering apprehension and conspiracy to desecrate human remains and tamper with physical evidence.

Guzmans lawyer, Dennis Carletta, did not respond to emails or phone calls Thursday. Annette Santiago does not yet have a lawyer, Toscano said.

Carter, the spokeswoman for the prosecutors office, said that Luis Santiago had not been charged and that, as of Thursday, theres not a basis to file charges against him.

News of the charges was reported this week by the news site NJ.com and The New York Post.

Dymka was a nursing supervisor at the Preakness Healthcare Center in Wayne, New Jersey, according to the centers website. A GoFundMe page organized after his death said that he had been a nurse before and during the coronavirus pandemic.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
ALBANY  They were judges doing their jobs, which meant sentencing rapists, kidnappers and killers.

They are also women in Afghanistan.

And when the Taliban regained control of the country in August, the more than 270 female judges became potential targets to a regime that suppresses womens basic freedoms to work, attend school and leave their homes without a male relative.

Now, a world away in Albany, an effort is underway to safeguard the judges  courtesy of an idea launched by the newest woman on New Yorks highest court.

Associate Judge Madeline Singas, who joined the Court of Appeals on June 8, suggested to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore that something collaborative be done to assist their counterparts in Afghanistan. It led DiFiore to reach out to the National Center for State Courts and the Conference of Chief Justices to see what national judicial leaders could do, she explained.

The situation, DiFiore said in her most recent address, was extremely dire.

"Unable to leave Afghanistan, these women are now living in hiding, living under fear of death for having ruled against men in divorce and custody cases and for having sentenced hundreds of men to prison in cases involving assault, kidnapping, rape and murder of women  men who reportedly have now been released from prison by the Taliban, leaving these women judges in grave danger," DiFiore said.

Singas, the former Nassau County District Attorney, was appointed to the Court of Appeals in May by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. A child of Greek immigrants raised in Astoria, Queens, the career prosecutor came to Albany to fill the seat vacated by Associate Judge Leslie Stein, who retired.

The chief judge explained that with Singas leading the way, they drafted what is now known as the "Resolution In Support of Assisting the Resettlement of Afghanistans Women Judges and Other Vulnerable Justice System Refugees." It was submitted to the Department of State, expressing what DiFiore described as "unqualified support and solidarity for these courageous jurists and judicial officers who have risked their lives over the last 20 years to enforce the human rights of women and girls living in Afghanistan."

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The resolution asked state court systems across America to cooperate with the State Department to identify opportunities for Afghan women judges and justice system refugees in the U.S. It encouraged the National Center for State Courts to establish an Afghan Justice Sector Clearinghouse to facilitate the resettlement of the judges. Top judicial officers of every U.S. state and territory adopted it on Nov. 3.

"We hope and believe that the unqualified support of our nations chief justices will lend urgency and momentum to the efforts that are underway to assist at-risk Afghan women judges," DiFiore said. She lauded the New York State Bar Association for sponsoring a continuing legal education program attended by more than 200 attorneys to raise awareness  and get pro bono lawyers  to help the Afghan judges escape Afghanistan and settle in America.

"As we move forward, it is incumbent upon our entire legal community to assist these refugees and support their transition to appropriate law-related employment commensurate with their professional qualifications, skills and training," DiFiore said. "A most worthy effort, and the least that we can do for our international colleagues who risked everything to ensure equal justice and uphold the rule of law in Afghanistan. We will keep you informed of our progress  and thank you Judge Singas for taking the lead."
SCHENECTADY  A pair of proposed housing projects pending approval in Schenectady are poised to reshape their respective neighborhoods.

Developers aim to build a 60-unit apartment complex on Crane Street in the citys Mont Pleasant neighborhood after razing a cluster of blighted buildings.

The city has been working with Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority and the Capital Region Land Bank to demolish the structures, which are located in the heart of the neighborhoods business district, and stitch together nine parcels for the effort by DePaul Properties, the same developer that built Joseph L. Allen Apartments in Hamilton Hill.

Seven of the nine parcels are vacant lots, with two awaiting demolition work. A nearby laundromat will remain untouched.

DePaul representatives outlined their proposal for the $15 million project to the city Planning Commission earlier this month. Plans call for one three-story and one four-story building with 71 parking spaces designed to accommodate senior citizens and veterans. The proposed units are primarily one-bedroom and studio apartments.

Neighborhood leaders appeared generally supportive of the effort, but raised security and traffic concerns related to the proposed entrance on Pleasant Street, a quiet residential neighborhood.

We dont want it to be a project, said Mont Pleasant Neighborhood Association President Pat Smith. Were kind of hoping this will put a new spin on Crane Street and put a spin on our not-very-nice reputation.

The neighborhood has been the focus of significant revitalization efforts in recent years, including the construction of the Mont Pleasant Branch of the Schenectady County Public Library on the footprint of a violence-prone pizza parlor that was demolished in 2017 and the redevelopment of Orchard Park.

Developers said theyre attentive to security concerns and said they have more surveillance cameras than their counterparts. They also indicated they would perform a traffic study, and the project would mesh with the citys planned streetscape improvements designed to make the corridor more pedestrian- and bike-friendly.

We want this project to be one that is in line with what the city of Schenectady has envisioned for that intersection, said Daniel Brocht, senior project manager with LaBella, the engineering firm working on the effort.

Officials expect to formally present plans to the city Planning Commission in December.

Developers also outlined a proposal for a second apartment complex on lower Erie Boulevard.

David Stern Construction aims to convert four underutilized buildings into between 115 and 120 apartment units, a project that would dramatically reshape the corridor.

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One office building has lost most of its tenants.

The COVID-19 pandemic basically saw the entire building empty out, said Charlie Attar, construction director.

All four buildings will be restored and developers aim to renovate each of the facades to present a unified look, including a former GE research lab. Plans call for an existing two-story building to be increased to four stories.

For all intents and purposes, itll be a brand new four-story building, Attar said.

While the focus will be primarily residential, Attar said the developers may bring in some commercial tenants and are eyeing a co-working space or cafe.

The developers pitched the plan to the city Planning Commission to solicit early feedback before formally applying for site plan approval.

Unlike the proposed Crane Street effort, the developers will cater to families, with some units projected to be as large as 2,100 square-feet. Officials said they aim to be owner-operators and will not sell the properties once construction is completed.

Commissioners appeared supportive, but urged David Stern to prioritize green space and probe ways to shrink the expansive pavement space, which contains 300 parking spots, a number the developers said will be reduced to 240 under current plans.
BANGKOK (AP)  The United States and six other nations issued a joint statement Friday calling on the international community to suspend all assistance to Myanmar's military, and expressing grave concern over reports of human rights abuses by its security forces.

The statement comes as fears of an escalation of violence grow in the Southeast Asian nation, whose army is attempting to crush an increasingly active armed opposition movement seeking to end military rule.

We are concerned about allegations of weapons stockpiling and attacks by the military, including shelling and airstrikes, use of heavy weapons, and the deployment of thousands of troops accompanying what security forces assert are counter-terrorism operations, which are disproportionately impacting civilians, the statement said.

It said the rights violations include credible reports of sexual violence and torture, and highlighted the countrys northwest, where tens of thousands of people have been reported to have been displaced by government attacks.

The countries issuing the statement -- the U.S., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom -- already have embargoed arms sales to Myanmar, whose army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February. They also have instituted targeted diplomatic and economic sanctions meant to pressure the ruling generals behind the takeover.

Such measures, though hurting Myanmars economy, have done little to help restore democracy and peace. China and Russia are allies of the military-installed government, and as members of the U.N. Security Council, have effectively blocked concerted international action to isolate the generals. Beijing and Moscow are also the top suppliers of arms to Myanmar.

Fridays statement, released by the U.S. State Department, applauded a consensus declared earlier this month by the U.N. Security Council, which called for the immediate cessation of violence, protection of civilians, and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access. The consensus, issued as a press statement, has no binding power and falls short of the influence a formal resolution would carry.

Friday's seven-nation statement called on the international community to suspend all operational support to the military, and to cease the transfer of arms, materiel, dual-use equipment, and technical assistance to the military and its representatives.

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Myanmars crisis escalated quickly after Februarys military takeover, which sparked widespread non-violent pro-democracy demonstrations. Security forces used lethal force to put down the protests, killing almost 1,300 civilians, according to a tally kept by a political prisoner research organization.

The repression led the militarys opponents to take up arms, and U.N. experts have said the country now risks sliding into civil war.

Faced with increasing opposition in both the cities and the countryside, there is fear the military may launch an all-out offensive, especially as the annual rainy season comes to an end, allowing it to more easily maneuver.
ALBANY  Workers for the state Department of Motor Vehicles say the agency has stepped up efforts to prevent widespread cheating in an online driver's permit program that was implemented a year ago to allow individuals to take the tests during the pandemic.

The security improvements have included blocking individuals outside of New York from taking the online tests.

The Times Union reported two weeks ago that the state inspector general's office has been investigating widespread cheating in New York's driver permit program, much of it apparently fueled by a scheme to illicitly obtain driving credentials for undocumented immigrants, who may have used the licenses to establish residency and receive unemployment benefits under the state's newly established Excluded Worker Fund.

Many of the individuals suspected of exploiting the program to obtain pandemic-related state unemployment benefits may reside in other states or outside the country, according to a person briefed on the matter. That person said since the Times Union reported on the cheating earlier this month the number of online permits in Albany's state-run motor vehicle office had dropped sharply and that most of the online tests are being taken by 16 and 17 year olds, rather than adults from other states.

Spokesmen for the agency, citing security concerns, declined to detail how their agency is blocking individuals from taking the online tests from outside of New York, including in other countries.

"DMV requires a person be in New York state to take the online permit test," said Darren Boysen, a spokesman for the agency. "To ensure the continued safety and integrity of the system, and to help prevent future fraudulent activity, we cannot provide these specifics on the security measures. However, DMV remains committed to constantly improving all our security features while also providing convenient, modern and effective services for our customers."

Boysen said motor vehicle investigators had arrested 52 individuals over the past three months for "altered, stolen or fraudulent documents."

Investigators with the inspector general's office told motor vehicle workers in Albany last month that they suspected undocumented immigrants had been paying $3,000 or more to have someone take the online driver's permit tests for them, and were also using fraudulent residency documents and fake mailing addresses.

The law creating the Excluded Workers Fund was passed by the state Legislature in April, the result of a nearly yearlong effort to provide unemployment benefits for undocumented workers and others who did not previously qualify for state or federal pandemic unemployment benefits.

After the program launched on Aug. 1  with applications in 13 different languages  Gov. Kathy Hochul said that the state Department of Labor had received more than 90,000 applications the first month, and approved more than half of those by Sept. 3. Nearly 100,000 applicants were expected to receive payments of $15,600, while another 200,000 or so were supposed to receive payments of $3,200.

In early September, Hochul announced the state Department of Labor had approved the distribution of more than $850 million from the $2.1 billion fund. At that time, $250 million had been released and an additional $600 million was going to be distributed pending verification of those applications, the governor said.

In early October, advocates complained that too many New Yorkers were being frozen out of the program, and asked for it to be expanded. That same month, the labor department posted a notice on its website that the fund that had benefited "thousands of New Yorkers statewide" was "nearing exhaustion," and that no applications would be accepted after Oct. 8.

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It's unclear when the suspected fraud was detected, or whether the Department of Labor is involved in the inspector general's investigation. The labor department has not responded to questions about the matter.

Some DMV workers contend the alleged cheating was exacerbated by the state's Green Light Law, which went into effect in December 2019 and has allowed thousands of undocumented immigrants to obtain driver's licenses  something that more than a dozen other states also allow.

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had said the primary intention of the Green Light Law was to improve public safety by ensuring undocumented motorists are legally authorized to drive.

"From a state point of view, I want to make sure the people who are driving on our roads pass a driving test. It is a public safety issue," he said in a February 2020 interview.

But the Times Union reported Monday that many of the online tests were completed in only minutes, often with near-perfect scores, by individuals who investigators suspect had apparently cheated or had others take the tests for them.

In an effort to stem the cheating, DMV added a security feature to the tests in late October that required the person taking the online test to be photographed four times during the exam. That enabled DMV clerks to compare the images of the person who took the online test to the person standing before them.
ALBANY  On the eve of Thanksgiving, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a press release stating she was signing a bill amending New Yorks legislative redistricting process.

Conservatives seized on the late-afternoon announcement, asserting that the Democratic governor had buried a crucial bill and circumvented New York voters, who'd defeated a November constitutional amendment containing the same provision.

U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor in 2022, said in a statement on Wednesday that, "despite the people of New York voting a resounding 'no' earlier this month on a constitutional amendment, which would have allowed legislative majorities to redistrict, Kathy Hochul circumvented New York voters by signing into law legislation to do just that.

But Jeffrey M. Wice, a redistricting expert and adjunct professor at New York Law School, said the change simply clarifies an ambiguity in a 2014 constitutional amendment that was passed by voters, and which is governing a brand new redistricting process this year.

For the first time, lines during the once-a-decade process are to be drawn by a 10-member, bipartisan commission, and not necessarily by the majority parties in the state Legislature. But the 2014 constitutional amendment, Wice said, was unclear about what would occur if the 10 members gridlock, and fail to take any vote on proposed lines.

Indeed, when the 10-person commission released initial draft legislative and congressional lines in September, it released two competing sets of maps  one favored by Democrats, the other by Republicans  and did not take any vote. The commission now faces a January deadline to come to a consensus on a proposed plan, an outcome that's far from certain.

In her Wednesday message announcing the new law, Hochul wrote that the Democrat-sponsored bill served to clarify an oversight in the 2014 constitutional amendment.

Wice said that with the new law, the Legislature won't be "hamstrung by any questions of whether it could pick up redistricting if the commission doesn't vote on a plan."

The 10-member commission is supposed to overhaul New Yorks redistricting process by taking line-drawing out of the hands of the majority parties in Legislature, and putting it equally in the hands of the two major political parties. But if the commission deadlocks and can't get at least seven votes in favor of a plan  as currently appears likely  line-drawing would fall to state lawmakers. For the first time in decades, Democrats control both house of the Legislature, as well as the governors office, and lines drawn by a Democratic Legislature could further imperil the Republican Party in New York.

In November, legislative Democrats had put forth a proposed constitutional amendment, which would have substantially changed this years redistricting process as it was unfolding. But voters rejected the proposal.

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One of the more minor elements of Democrats November proposal had addressed the possibility of the commission failing to take a vote by required deadlines, and under that circumstance, would have allowed the process to move forward in the Legislature. Though the amendment failed, that element of the failed plan still became law on Wednesday.

Republicans and Conservatives touted the bill signing as an example of Hochul favoring a partisan takeover of the process by Democrats.

As millions of New Yorkers prepared for the Thanksgiving holiday Wednesday afternoon, Governor Kathy Hochul surreptitiously signed into law legislation that would overrule the will of New York voters by giving the Democrat-led State Legislature complete control over New Yorks redistricting process, said Conservative Party Chairman Gerald Kassar. The New York State Conservative Party will not allow Gov. Hochuls blatant politicization of redistricting to stand.

The new law could serve as a peg for Republicans and Conservatives to file litigation contesting lines drawn by legislative Democrats. Past litigation challenging lines drawn by the Legislature has usually failed, however, and in 2019, the U.S Supreme Court narrowly ruled that partisan gerrymandering of districts was a political question not reviewable by federal courts.

The bill Hochul signed was also meant to remove a roadblock to a timely redrawing of the lines amid tight deadlines: Candidate petitioning will likely begin late February or early March, and in June, primaries will be held for the state Legislature, statewide offices and congressional seats.
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Once again locals vote with their feet and another long suffering Kansas City institution suffers another setback . . .



Importantly . . .

Kansas City Public Schools still provide funding and maintain a limited amount of oversight BUT for the most part charter schools operate independently.

Here's a peek at the local preference for this model and what could be the beginning of the end for KCPS . . .



"Of the more than 26,500 K-12 students who attended either KCPS or a charter school within the districts boundaries near the end of September, a slight majority attends one of 20 charter schools."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .
Cash consequences work in the favor of this Kansas City dude who was wrongly convicted of a triple murder back in the 70s.



Here's peek at the donation progress that's still piling up cash . . .



In Missouri, only those exonerated through DNA testing are eligible for a $50 per day of post-conviction confinement, according to the Innocence Project. That was not the case for Strickland.



As of early Thursday afternoon, donations for Strickland had topped $910,000.



The fund was created over the summer with a goal of raising $7,500, which the fund says would amount to approximately $175 dollars for every year Strickland spent wrongfully convicted.



Thirty-six states and Washington, DC, have laws on the books that offer compensation for exonerees, according to the Innocence Project. The federal standard to compensate those who are wrongfully convicted is a minimum of $50,000 per year of incarceration, plus an additional amount for each year spent on death row.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Thousands of people have raised nearly $900K for a man who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit Thousands of people are raising money online for a Missouri man who served 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

GoFundMe account for Kevin Strickland raises over $1 million in two days KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) --- The State of Missouri is one of a few states that doesn't provide compensation for someone who was wrongfully convicted. That's not stopping the rest of the world from compensating Kevin Strickland. A GoFundMe account to help Strickland was set up Tuesday.

Developing . . .
This week the Kansas City Star published one of the most deceptive and misleading reports in its history.



After overwhelming push back the newspaper backed off their contention that advocates "had the votes" to "force out" the KCPD Chief . . . In fact, they didn't even dare to print the missive in today's issue.

For those trying to keep up . . .

The Kansas City Star published an anonymous rumor of a swing vote that would help terminate the Chief.

And right now . . .



After the dust settled our most kick-ass readers note that the newspaper tacitly admitted the error with this passage buried under a meaningless headline . . .



Reports regarding an anonymous source indicating my vote to terminate the Chief are untrue, Northland Police Board Dawn Cramer wrote. He has announced his intentions to retire in 2022. I am very appreciative of his service to the city and he has earned it. I never stated my support to terminate his contract and he has my full support until he retires.



Translation . . .

THE KANSAS CITY STAR LIED AND ATTEMPTED TO ADVANCE LONGSTANDING ACTIVIST RHETORIC AGAINST THE EMBATTLED KCPD CHIEF!!!

There have been demands for the Chief to go since the start of his tenure. They've all been unsuccessful. Again, we honestly didn't think he'd make it out of 2020 protests with his career intact.



However, this latest move against the KCPD Chief is even more insidious because it has corrupted the so-called Kansas City paper-of-record.



As far as tactics go . . . Let's define terms . . .



"A palace coup is a coup in which one faction within the ruling group displaces another faction within a ruling group. Palace coups are one of two major threats to dictators, the other being popular protests."

And so, in this environment and going forward it'll be hard to trust anything coming from the newspaper and IF the activists don't get an early retirement out of the Chief in the next police board meeting, then they will have diminished their credibility as well.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . .

New details about agreement regarding Chief Smith's retirement KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- KCTV5 News has learned new details about the agreement reached on Police Chief Rick Smith's retirement. Smith met with Mayor Lucas and the chair of the Police Commission Monday morning. A letter addressed to Chief Smith spells out the agreement that was reached.

Unsigned memo: KCPD Chief Rick Smith to retire in April, receive compensation through August KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An unsigned memo on behalf of the Kansas City, Missouri, Board of Police Commissioners outlines the details of Chief Rick Smith stepping down in 2022 . Penned by President Mark C. Tolbert, the memo said its purpose was to confirm the BOPC's conversation and agreement for the phased retirement of Smith.

Document shows there was a plan to have KC police chief leave early next year There are new details on the future of Kansas City police Chief Rick Smith. Smith said he will retire next year. But there was a plan to have him step down in the spring.A document obtained by KMBC 9 News shows there was a memo drawn up this week to have Smith retire early in 2022 and not later in the year.

You decide . . .
Hi ModernWanderers,

Where did you get your test in the end? Did you get a PCR or antigen test, and how much did it cost?

I will be travelling to Ghana soon and am curious about your experience.

Best,

Chris
The following is a release by the Elections and Boundaries Commission on the recount request
New accusations voiced by the Russian Foreign Ministry of alleged "offensive action" by Kyiv in Ukraines east may testify to the Kremlin preparing the next steps to escalate the situation in the zone of armed conflict.

Thats according to Deputy Foreign Minister Mykola Tochytskyi who spoke via video conference at the Third International Forum on Eastern Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"When a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman has just stated that Ukraine is advancing, attacking, or demonstrating its intention to attack in the east, we dont rule out that this is a kind of preparation for Russia's next steps (regarding the escalation)," Tochytskyi said.

He noted that given the amassing of about 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine's borders and the situation of the illegal migrants in Belarus, it is unlikely that Russia will participate in the Normandy format of talks or in the Minsk process on Donbas settlement

Most likely, the goal (of Russia - ed.) was and is to pursue aggression, the deputy foreign minister noted.

In this context, Tochytskyi stressed that it is very important for Ukraine in this situation that the collective West shows unity in its position on the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine, as well as regarding the fact that Russia must pay a specific cost if aggression continues.

According to the deputy minister, the EU's contribution to strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities could include various training missions for the Armed Forces, the country's participation in PESCO (European Defense Union), EU training missions, direct work in cyber centers, and countering disinformation.

"These are the elements that would help us become stronger in our fight against the aggressor in eastern Ukraine," Tochytskyi concluded.

As reported earlier, Russian Foreign Ministrys Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said today that the reports of the OSCE Mission allegedly suggest an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the settlements of Hranitne and Staromaryivka in Donbas.

On November 22, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine was not planning an offensive military operation in Donbas and remained committed to finding a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict. He also noted that the Russian side had increased the intensity of disinformation efforts, including false accusations claiming Ukraine was allegedly plotting a military offensive in Donbas.

On November 21, Ukraines military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov suggested Russia might dare to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in January-February next year.

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Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said this at a press conference on Thursday, November 25, Ukrinform reports.

"The Chancellor and the President of Ukraine discussed the security situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border and in eastern Ukraine. Chancellor Merkel underlined her support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity and stressed that undermining them would not be left without consequences," Seibert said.

Merkel and Zelensky agreed to advance efforts in the Normandy format to implement the Minsk agreements to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict.

The politicians also exchanged their views on the situation on the border between Belarus and the European Union and between Belarus and Ukraine, Seibert added.

Earlier on November 25, Merkel said at a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki that Berlin saw it as its task to do everything possible to prevent a new wave of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, predicted on November 21 that Russia could resort to a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in January or February next year.

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The National Security and Defense Council is currently seeing no threats of a large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian armed forces, although the situation may change.

Thats according to Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, who spoke at a panel show on 1+1 TV on Thursday, November 25, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We analyze and systematize everything. Theres no news for us, and I can repeat what I said last time. To date, we see no threats voiced by (military intelligence chief Kyrylo - ed.) Budanov as to January 15 (possible date of the Russian incursion - ed.). Whats happening today? There is no doubt that Putin has not removed from the agenda the issue of destroying our country. And this question arose not today, not yesterday  this is the question thats been standing since 2008," Danilov stressed, adding that recently the world has finally realized who has been attacking Ukraine.

According to the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, it is currently impossible to say unequivocally whether Russia will launch a full-out invasion, but Ukraine is ready to fight back.

"Is Ukraine ready? It is. Will there be a war? Today the question remains open, but we must be ready for it," Danilov said.

The top security official also noted that the Russian president has not given up his intention to return to the negotiating table with his U.S. counterpart.

"Putin is greatly seeking to sit down at the negotiating table with (Joe - ed.) Biden, preferably this year, and to settle that he will be ruling over here (in Ukraine - ed.). And now this hysteria, which is being fueled by Russia today, the back-and-forth movement of troops, the exercises, should all be seen in the context of what they have to agree on. What will happen if they dont agree? It is difficult to say how Putin will act," Danilov said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on November 21, Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, told Military Times that Russia had amassed more than 92,000 troops near Ukraine's borders and was preparing for an offensive that could begin in late January-early February 2022.

Earlier, The Washington Post, POLITICO, CNN, and western others reported on the Russian military buildup on the border with Ukraine.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European Council President Charles Michel discussed the security situation along Ukraine's borders in a phone call on Thursday, November 25, the President's Office has said.

According to the report, both parties discussed the security situation in the eastern part of Ukraine due to a build-up of Russian forces along Ukraine's borders.

Zelensky informed Michel about Ukraine's efforts aimed at achieving a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.

For his part, Michel announced the results of his conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on November 24. One of these results is the belief that "contacts between the Ukrainian and Russian sides with the participation of the EU could help de-escalate the situation."

The leaders of Ukraine and the EU agreed to continue to coordinate their positions on ways to resolve the conflict.

Both parties also discussed preparations for the Eastern Partnership summit, due to take place on December 15. Zelensky said the event should be productive in terms of taking into account the interests of Ukraine and the Association Trio.

Acting German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Zelensky on November 25 to discuss the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border.

Merkel and Zelensky agreed to advance efforts in the Normandy format to implement the Minsk agreements in order to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict.

op
The West can influence the situation and stop aggressive scenarios with strong political signals.

Thats according to Polands Deputy Foreign Minister Marcin Przydacz who spoke in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to the senior diplomat, Ukrainians can count on political support from Poland in the context of Russia's aggressive actions.

He said that all movements in and around Ukraine, military maneuvers, and destabilizing activity pursued by Russia are being watched with concern in Warsaw. In this regard, Poland coordinates its actions within the EU and NATO.

"I have the impression that today we can still influence the situation with strong political signals to change Russia's negative decisions or scenarios. It is important that not only Ukraine but also the West is ready to send this signal to Moscow and effectively counter any aggressive actions on the part of the Kremlin, Polands deputy foreign minister stressed.

Separately, Przydacz noted he did not consider the crisis on the border between Belarus and the EU an element of distraction from what is happening along Russias border with Ukraine.

"In my opinion, this is a well-coordinated operation targeting both Ukraine and the West. I hope that the West will react to this properly  as Poland is," said the Polish diplomat.

As reported earlier, Russia pulled a massive number of troops and military hardware to the borders with Ukraine.

At the same time, hundreds of migrants, mostly from the Middle East, have been trying to illegally cross into Poland from Belarus where they had arrived in large groups. Warsaw emphasizes that these are well-coordinated joint hybrid actions by Minsk and Moscow, aimed against Poland and the EU as a whole.

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The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border has deteriorated sharply in recent weeks as hundreds of migrants are trying daily to penetrate Polands border, breaking barbed wire barriers with the active support of Belarusian security forces.

Warsaw has blamed the Lukashenko regime and the Kremlin for engineering the crisis. At the same time, Poland is trying to build up broad international support and boost its border protection in the countrys east.

In an interview with an Ukrinform correspondent, Marcin Przydacz, Poland's deputy foreign minister in charge of Eastern policies, spoke about the situation at the border, the purpose of Russia's and Belarus' aggressive joint actions, and cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv in the context of these developments.

POLAND IS PREPARING FOR ANY POSSIBLE SCENARIOS

- Mr. Deputy Minister, how do you assess the current situation on the Polish-Belarusian border? Is Warsaw preparing for any harsher developments?

- The situation on the EU border with Belarus remains unstable. Every day and night we record attempts at the illegal border crossing. Were aware of thousands of migrants amassed in Belarus. They were deliberately brought there by the Lukashenko regime, they enjoy support of the Belarusian authorities. Their goal is to cross the border illegally, and this destabilizes the situation in the region. Poland will not change its policy on the issue, we will resolutely defend the EU's borders. Only in this way can we repel Lukashenko's desire for further aggressive steps. It is also the only way to stop the flow of more migrants who would choose to fly to Belarus from the Middle East or Africa. When they realize that the border cannot be crossed illegally, they may refuse to travel to Belarus and spare themselves of unnecessary trials. The border will be tightly protected, but were also preparing for any possible scenarios.

- Belarus and Russia are trying to blame Poland for the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. How will Poland react to this?

- We are dealing with a cynical game of authoritarian regimes that exploit ordinary people in their dirty politics, neglecting human rights. We need to work not only efficiently but also wisely. We have repeatedly tried to provide humanitarian assistance to those people by sending convoys of food, medications, tents, and clothing. However, the Lukashenko regime did not allow us crossing the border. In Geneva, I recently met with representatives of international charities and asked them to assist in obtaining this aid, and I hope this will eventually happen. But it should also be understood that the issue is being used by Belarusian and Russian media to spread misinformation, portraying Poland and the EU in a negative light.

KREMLINS GOALS - TESTING ALL COUNTRIES IN OUR REGION

- Does Warsaw also take into account the possible scenario of Belarus sending migrants southwards, that is, via Ukraine, to Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland?

- Lukashenko's hybrid operation is not only about revenge or a desire to push the EU to change its policies towards him. He got the "green light" from the Kremlin, and Moscow's goals for our region are completely different: its achieving further destabilization, affecting the security situation, and testing our capabilities, testing all countries in our region.

The initial aggressive action was on the Lithuanian and, in part, Latvian sections of the border, and now its Poland. Of course, in the future, it may be other countries, including Ukraine. We need to take into account whats happening around the borders of Ukraine. Ukrainian agencies brief us on the developments and we also learn more from the American partners. The instrumental approach to migration can also be applied to other hybrid operations, including that southern direction.

At the same time, it should be understood that Lukashenko himself is beginning to experience problems with migrants in his own country. He promised them the opportunity to cross the border, took money from them  because each migrant paid a considerable amount for such services  but they still remain in Belarus. Consequently, theyre growing frustrated. Theres also growing irritation on the part of Belarusian border guards, who are being pressured from above to get migrants across the border. These rising tensions may find a way out at other borders. Thats why we are in constant contact with the Ukrainian government and coordinating our actions ad hoc. A few days ago we had talks in the Lublin Triangle format. I spoke with my Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Tochytskyi and our Lithuanian partner. Warsaw is informing Kyiv of the possible threat.

- Poland and the Baltic countries insist on expanding sanctions against the Lukashenko regime for destabilizing the EU's eastern border. What are Warsaws proposals in this regard? Is Poland mulling a full shutdown of the Polish-Belarusian border, which would certainly hit Russia economically as well?

- At the EU level, a political decision was recently made on the fifth package of sanctions against Belarus. All 27 EU member states have decided they will not be blackmailed by the Belarusian autocrat, that a firm response to such aggressive actions is required. Therefore, the sanctions list was once again reviewed and confirmed. The Lukashenko regime will certainly feel these sanctions.

At the same time, as for the border issue, we have so far shut down two border crossings between Poland and Belarus. Their further operation is impossible for security reasons. If Belarus doesnt cease aggressive actions targeting the EU, there may be a need for further steps at the border and coordination with other countries in our region. Cooperation with EU member states and Ukraine, as a friendly country, is a must to defend ourselves against this hybrid attack.

MOSCOW PLAYING THEIR GAS CARD

- Is the current complicated situation a good moment for the German regulator to indefinitely suspend certification of Russias Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project?

- The situation has been getting worse in Europe, especially over the recent period. On the one hand, there is a hybrid operation going on at the border, and on the other  theres a buildup of Russian military presence around Ukraine, cyberattacks, the spread of misinformation from the east, as well as the precarious situation in the gas market. It is obvious to the naked eye that the Kremlin is now playing a gas card. Im concerned that Germany supports the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project. Over the past years, Ukraine and Poland have been declaring vocally that the pipe will become an instrument of geopolitical play. But there were also those who sought to convince us that this is a regular economic project. The pipeline hasnt even been put into operation yet, but Putin is already exploiting it. I hope Western Europe will understand the consequences of this game. A new government is being formed in Germany, and the Green Party will also be in power. Let's see how they react to Nord Stream 2. In addition, we have the latest U.S. decision to impose new sanctions on some participants in the project. All this helps to make it clear to our Western partners that the permission to implement the Nord Stream 2 project was a huge mistake.

- The United States recently said that the crisis on the Belarusian border was created to divert attention from something worse that may be plotted on the eastern border of Ukraine. It is about Russia possibly planning a large-scale military offensive in Ukraine. There are even some deadlines being voiced for the launch of their armed aggression, which is early next year. Does Warsaw agree with this assumption and how does it assess the likelihood of such a scenario?

- Ukrainians know they can count on political support from Poland in the context of Russia's aggressive action. We are observing with concern all movements in and around Ukraine, various military maneuvers, and destabilizing activity on the part of Russia. In this context, we coordinate our actions within the EU, NATO, we exchange information with our partners. I have the impression that today we can still influence the situation with strong political signals to change Russia's negative decisions or scenarios. It is important that not only Ukraine but also the West is ready to send this signal to Moscow and effectively counter any aggressive actions on the part of the Kremlin.

However, I wouldnt agree that the situation on the border between Belarus and the EU is a distraction. In my opinion, this is a well-coordinated operation targeting both Ukraine and the West. I hope that the West will react to this properly  as Poland is.

A CERTAIN FORCE IN THE EAST SEEKS TO PIT POLAND AGAINST UKRAINE

- Do you agree that one of the elements of this multi-layered destabilization is the attempt to worsen Ukrainian-Polish relations? In this regard, I am referring to the latest provocations: graffiti drawn on monuments of Jozef Pilsudski and the legionnaires in Krakow, as well as anti-Ukrainian posts by hacked profiles of high-profile Polish figures and media. What should the reaction be like?

- It is known that there is a force in the east that seeks to pit Poles against Ukrainians. It is no secret that Poland's good relations with Ukraine contribute to strong resistance to the aggressive intentions of its neighbors.

The strategy of division, manipulating emotions, especially on historical grounds, is quite well known and being actively promoted by our eastern neighbors. Our countries and ordinary people must be well aware of this and not succumb to provocations. We need to look at moments in history that unite us. At the same time, even in Ukraine, certain patriotic forces exploit in public domain such historical events that distance them from their Polish partners.

- Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki is currently touring European countries. Is a visit to Ukraine also on his schedule?

- Prime Minister Morawieckis efforts are now focused on negotiations with NATO and EU allies. That is why our talks in the region, for example with the Baltic countries, the Visegrad Group are being held in the first place; and then there will be visits to Western Europe. The key to these meetings is how we, the Western powers, can respond to these challenges and what decisions can we make in the near future, including on sanctions.

As for the talks with the Ukrainian side, President Duda recently spoke with President Zelensky. Im also aware that Prime Minister Morawiecki is in constant contact with Prime Minister Shmyhal. Therefore, contacts at the intergovernmental level are as good as at the diplomatic level. Recently, on Polands initiative, a special meeting was held with Minister Kuleba at the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Poland is trying to engage Ukraine in the European and Euro-Atlantic debate. At the same time, we count on Kyiv's cooperation in understanding Poland's vulnerable historical issues.

- Next year, Poland will chair the OSCE. What will be Warsaw's priorities from the perspective of the situation in Ukraine? Will they be adjusted given whats happening now in our part of Europe?

- We are constantly analyzing whats happening around us, adapting our strategy to these realities. In early January, in Vienna, the Polish foreign minister will deliver an important address on the occasion of the launch of our presidency, so he will also focus on our priorities. Whats happening now will also be reflected in the organizations future tasks. Weve already said that the issue of conflicts will be important in our plans for our work in the OSCE. It is not only about the frozen ones, but also about whats happening now in the region, including in Donbas and Transnistria. The work of the OSCE Mission in eastern Ukraine will be important in Poland's plans. However, we have an unstable situation and, as experts and analysts say, it could get even worse. Thats why we have a difficult task ahead of us, and the OSCE has an important role to play.

Yuriy Banakhevych, Warsaw

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Photos from PAP, MSZ
In Ukraine, more than 42% of the adult population has taken their first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19.

Thats according to the Ministry of Healths Facebook post, seen by Ukrinform.

"Already 42.4% of the adult population of Ukraine has received at least one vaccine shot for COVID-19. Some 34.2% of the adult population of Ukraine has undergone a full vaccination course against the coronavirus disease," the statement said.

The ministry stressed that, according to WHO recommendations, the rate of the vaccinated population across the world should reach 40% by the end of the year.

Since the launch of the vaccination campaign in Ukraine, a total of 13,164,651 people have been vaccinated, of which 10,610,359 have been fully immunized (received two doses), the report said.

A total of 23,775,008 vaccinations have been performed.

The ministry added that 88.2% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 last week were unvaccinated.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of November 26, a total of 3,400,340 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ukraine, including 15,936 in the past 24 hours.

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Sudanese refugee Osman helps carry fellow evacuee Hayat's young son as they arrive at Tripoli airport to board a UNHCR-chartered flight to Rome.  UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was heartened by the evacuation today of 93 asylum seekers to Italy from Libya, where they had been living in precarious situations with an uncertain future.

This group of evacuees, the first of 500 under a new mechanism for humanitarian admissions, includes children, women at risk, survivors of violence and torture, and people with serious medical conditions. Some were recently released from detention while others had been held in captivity by smuggling or trafficking networks.

We are pleased to see these evacuation flights become a reality and that the Libyan authorities have supported them. They are a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable asylum seekers. Conditions in Libya remain dire for many refugees, and we need the international communitys help to expand similar routes to safety, said UNHCRs Chief of Mission in Libya, Jean-Paul Cavalieri.

The asylum seekers left Tripoli on a UNHCR-chartered flight to Rome. In total, five such flights will be organized over one year. After their arrival, the evacuees will be able to apply for refugee status, which will give them access to safety and security.

The flights are organized under a new mechanism, combining emergency evacuations with the humanitarian corridors that have been established in Italy since 2016. In addition to funding from the Government of Italy, the scheme relies on the support of a coalition of faith-based organizations, which includes the Community of Saint Egidio, the Federation of Protestant Churches and the Waldensian Table.

We are grateful to Italy for making these life-saving evacuations possible for people in such a vulnerable situation. Italian institutions and civil society have once again demonstrated the value of working together to welcome and integrate refugees, said UNHCRs Representative for Italy, the Holy See and San Marino, Chiara Cardoletti.

This month, UNHCR was able to resume evacuations from Libya after more than a year, after the authorities lifted a ban on humanitarian flights. On 4 November, UNHCR evacuated 172 vulnerable asylum-seekers from Libya to Niger, where they receive support while waiting for solutions, as part of the UNHCR-supported Emergency Transit Mechanism.

Since 2017, UNHCR has evacuated or resettled 6,919 refugees and asylum seekers out of Libya, of which 967 were admitted to Italy.

For more information on this topic, please contact:
UNHCR staff assess the needs of indigenous Warao families from Venezuela living in informal settlements along the banks of a river in Guyana.  UNHCR/Diana Diaz

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, colleagues and I are worried about the difficult living conditions of indigenous Warao families from Venezuela who are settled in remote locations across Guyana. Increased humanitarian presence and timely support from the international community is needed to help the Government of Guyana respond to the needs of these communities.

Guyana is home to an estimated 24,500 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, including some 2,500 indigenous Warao. Some have settled in hard-to-reach areas near the Venezuelan border and others in or around the towns of Mabaruma and Port Kaituma. Since early 2020, some 250 Warao also found refuge in Anabisi in northern Guyana, where I am heading later today. More than half of this group are children.

Access to services for these communities is limited and the delivery of aid is impeded by remoteness, lack of transport infrastructure and distances. Assessments conducted in October and November among Warao refugee and migrant households indicate mounting needs, aggravated by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most Warao have only one meal a day or less. Lacking formal job opportunities, many of them mention resorting to begging, working odd jobs, often in exchange for food, selling handicrafts or depending on humanitarian assistance. Most families also do not have access to drinking water, relying instead on rivers for drinking, as well as bathing and defecation.

Last week, my UNHCR colleagues received reports that one Warao child from the Anabisi community died and several others were hospitalized, reportedly due to malnutrition and diseases related to poor sanitation conditions. Some have since been discharged.

UNHCR is on the ground, coordinating with the Government and humanitarian partners on how to best support the government-led response.

UNHCR is delivering food hampers, solar lamps, mosquito nets, water purification tablets provided by the Guyanese Civil Defense Commission, and other basic relief items to some 400 indigenous Warao from Venezuela living in northern Guyana, including in the Anabisi community.

Together with partners, since 2019, we have been distributing material assistance, providing shelter and support to access education services to refugees, migrants and members of the host communities in this region and across Guyana to help improve living conditions. UNHCR also provides counselling, interpretation services and facilitates their access to government services including health programmes and vaccination against COVID-19.

Across the region, UNHCR supports national efforts to provide adequate shelter and access to food, medical and educational services for indigenous populations from Venezuela. UNHCR also works with the indigenous communities to strengthen their leadership structures, preserve their identity, and protect their traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.

In the framework of the inter-agency response for refugees and migrants from Venezuela, UNHCR works across 17 countries to respond to the plight of five million refugees and migrants from Venezuela hosted in Latin America and the Caribbean, including indigenous communities.

The Refugee and Migrant Response Plan to meet the needs of the Venezuelan refugees and migrants and their host communities in these 17 countries is only 43.6 per cent funded to date. The 2022 appeal will be launched on 9 December.

END

B-roll video is available through the following link:

https://media.unhcr.org/Share/pj787f7rk6nd3t3835f477xkqqy2ofhc

For more information on this topic, please contact:
Dubai, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 26th Nov, 2021) With an incredible display of enthusiasm and determination, 146,000 people converged on Sheikh Zayed Road today to take part in Dubai Run 2021, the worlds largest run.

Presented by Mai Dubai, the event was held on the closing weekend of this years Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC), the citywide initiative of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, which aims to make Dubai the worlds fittest city.

Inspired by the vision of its leadership, Dubai is the only city in the world to offer its citizens, residents and visitors an entire month of all inclusive, free fitness events, including the Dubai Run, while also keeping the nation and its people safe and healthy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The citys superhighway, Sheikh Zayed Road, was transformed into a giant running track for Dubai Run, as participants of all ages and abilities ran and walked at their own pace on 5km and 10km routes.

As the sun rose, the city turned into a sea of blue as runners took to the streets in official Dubai Run t-shirts, supplied by Sun & Sand Sports, and kicked off the Run at the start line by the Museum of the Future. Passing some of Dubais instantly recognisable landmarks including Emirates Towers and Burj Khalifa, runners crossed the finishing line at Al Mustaqbal Street near Dubai World Trade Centre.

The first route, stretching 5km, attracted families, fun runners and walkers, while the 10km route was completed not just by recreational runners but by some of the worlds leading middle-distance runners, including a team of elite Kenyan runners who have been taking part in several DFC events and activities.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said: "As the Dubai Fitness Challenge reaches its closing weekend, it is inspiring to see the commitment of so many of our citizens, residents and visitors to their health and wellbeing. Running alongside 146,000 people who completed the Dubai Run today, I was moved by the strength of our community and seeing what we can achieve when we work together. By turning out in such numbers for Dubai Run, we have shown the world that this is one of the greatest cities to live in, work in and visit; a city with an unassailable spirit and ability to achieve. Im immensely proud of each and every individual, government agency, business and organisation that took part today, and in the Dubai Fitness Challenge. I would also like to thank the organisers, government agencies led by the Events Security Committee, partners and everyone who contributed to the success of Dubai Run  a truly remarkable event, and a day to remember.

"

Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals & Retail Establishment, said: "Dubai Run has become an annual display of our citys collective efforts to embrace a healthier lifestyle and it was incredible to see 146,000 people take part today. Watching our community come together for events like this is a sign of how far weve come as a city, as we continue to prioritise our health and wellbeing and show the world how much Dubai can achieve. On the penultimate day of Dubai Fitness Challenge, there is no better way to mark the closing weekend than seeing the happiness and determination on every one of the smiling faces of those who took part today. I would like to thank everyone who helped make today happen  the organisers, government agencies led by the Events Security Committee, partners and everyone who joined Dubai Run  it is something Ill never forget."

Saeed Hareb, Secretary General of Dubai sports Council, said: "Dubai Run is a simply phenomenal event. Today, 146,000 people from across our great city came together to show the world that in Dubai, we make living in a healthy and happy community our priority. People of all ages, abilities and nationalities took part today, running, walking and wheeling down Sheikh Zayed Road as it was transformed into a giant running track. It really is an event that has to be seen to be believed. All of us at Dubai Sports Council are honoured to be part of this iconic event, and I congratulate everyone who took part - you have done the city proud."

With just one day left in the annual Dubai Fitness Challenge, participants will still have the chance to take advantage of DFCs fun-filled event Calendar, featuring an array of activities for fitness and wellness enthusiasts that celebrate inclusivity and diversity. Designed to encourage residents and visitors to live an active lifestyle outdoors during the cooler weather, everyone can still enjoy the three free Fitness Villages across Expo 2020 Dubai, Kite Beach and Mushrif Park, the Fitness Hubs dotted across communities within Dubai as well as free fitness classes. For more information, visit www.dubaifitnesschallenge.com <http://www.dubaifitnesschallenge.com> .

Dubai Run is organised by Dubai Tourism and Dubai Sports Council; with presenting partner Mai Dubai; association partners Sun & Sand Sports, Etisalat, Fitbit and Emaar; Official partners Emirates Airline and Noon; government partners Events Security Committee, Dubai Police, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services and Roads & Transport Authority (RTA); and media and app partners Arabian Radio Network (ARN) and STEPPI.
Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Belarus's strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko told migrants on the border with Poland Friday that he would not try to stop them from reaching the European Union, urging Germany to take them in.

In footage released by state media, Lukashenko was shown visiting a centre near the Polish border hosting hundreds of migrants -- mainly Kurds from Iraq -- who travelled to Belarus in the hopes of reaching Europe.

Western governments accuse Lukashenko of luring the migrants to his country to spark a border crisis with the EU in revenge for sanctions, which he denies.

Lukashenko was shown walking among and talking to the migrants in the centre, then addressing them outside from a podium in a campaign-style speech.
(@FahadShabbir)

Santiago, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Chile on Thursday announced it would start vaccinating children aged three and up against the coronavirus, after successfully innoculating around 90 percent of its initial target population.

Children under the new rollout will receive the Chinese CoronaVac shot already used for kids aged six to 15, the Public Health Institute said.

For 16 to 18-year-olds, Chile uses the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

The decision to use different shots was based on studies with CoronaVac in China that showed the Chinese vaccine had a higher rate of adverse reactions in older children than in younger ones, the institute said.

Chile joins Venezuela, Colombia and neighbor Argentina in vaccinating children from age three.

Nicaragua and Cuba are vaccinating toddlers as young as two.

Younger children will also start getting vaccinated in Europe, where the EU's drug regulator on Thursday cleared the Pfizer/BioNTech shot for use in children aged five to 11.

Chile, with a population of 19 million, has so far vaccinated some 13.8 million people, over 90 percent of its target group of adults aged 18 and older.

Some 1.75 million people have contracted the virus in Chile, and 38,000 have died, according to official figures.
Havana, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Cuba on Thursday inaugurated a center to preserve the writings of its revolutionary hero Fidel Castro as part of commemorations marking the fifth anniversary of his death.

The Fidel Castro Ruz center in the capital Havana is the first and only Cuban building to carry his name.

A law passed a month after his death in 2016 bans the naming of institutions, squares, parks, roads or other public places after the former president and Communist Party leader.

Also banned, following Castro's wishes, is the erection of monuments, busts, statues or plaques in his name or image -- though this has not prevented the proliferation of murals and placards in honor of the late leader on the streets of Havana.

The only exceptions to the rule are made for institutions created solely for "the study and dissemination of his thinkings and work." A national hero for most Cubans, but a villain to the West, Castro fell ill in 2006 and handed power to his brother and fellow revolutionary fighter Raul.

Castro led the revolution that ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and is credited with creating Cuba's social welfare system, which provides healthcare and education for all.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who took over from Raul Castro in 2018, tweeted on Thursday that Fidel Castro's office at the seat of government, the Palace of the Revolution, "is as he left it on his last day there." "I try to imagine him in the midst of the hard battles of so many challenging years. It inspires me, it excites me. And I'm still fighting," the president said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a surprise visit to Havana Thursday for the center's inauguration, his first trip to Cuba since December 2019.

Maduro accompanied Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro at the ceremony, which was broadcast by state television and featured a play by a children's theater. No speeches were made during the inauguration.

Earlier Thursday, Maduro had praised Castro on Twitter as "a transcendental and unbreakable hero who knew how to guide the Cuban people in the midst of difficulties."
Berlin, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Germany and Italy on Friday joined Britain in banning most travel from South Africa as governments scramble to prevent the spread of a new Covid-19 variant with a large number of mutations.

In a sign of the growing alarm, the European Union on separately proposed prohibiting travel from southern Africa.

The EU's executive "will propose, in close coordination with member states, to activate the emergency brake to stop air travel from the southern African region due to the variant of concern B.1.1.529," EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen tweeted Friday.

Germany's new travel restrictions, starting Friday night, will affect South Africa and "probably neighbouring nations", Spahn said, with only German nationals allowed entry.

They must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival even if vaccinated.

"The last thing we need now is an introduced new variant that causes even more problems," Spahn said, with Germany in the grip of a ferocious fourth wave of the pandemic.

In Rome, the government on Friday announced it was banning entry to those who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia or Eswatini in the past fortnight.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza said scientists were studying the new B.1.1.529 variant, "and in the meantime, we will follow the path of maximum caution".

Britain announced that all flights from South Africa and its same neighbours would be prohibited starting 1200 GMT on Friday.

South Africa sharply condemned Britain's decision.

"Whilst South Africa respects the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, the UK's decision to temporarily ban South Africans from entering the UK seems to have been rushed as even the World Health Organization is yet to advise on the next steps," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Jerusalem, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Israel said Friday it was raising a "red flag" and imposing a series of emergency measures to protect its heavily vaccinated population after identifying a case of the new Covid-19 variant.

The health ministry said the new strain that was first detected by South Africa -- known as B.1.1.529 -- was discovered in a person who had arrived from Malawi.

Two more suspected cases have been detected in people returning from abroad, it said, adding that all three, who had been vaccinated, were placed in quarantine.

The government later announced another suspected case.

Scientists in South Africa said on Thursday that they had detected the new B.1.1.529 variant with at least 10 mutations, compared with two for Delta or three for Beta.

The strain was of "serious concern" and had been blamed for a surge in infections, the authorities in South Africa said.

It has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong among travellers from South Africa, as well as in Belgium.
Gramoteino, Russia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :A Siberian mining region began three days of mourning on Friday after officials said 52 people died in a coal mine accident and a rescue effort ended in tragedy.

Investigators have launched a series of probes into the disaster at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Keremovo region, the worst mining accident in Russia in more than a decade.

Officials said the mine had filled with smoke in the early hours of Thursday after an apparent gas explosion.

Fifty-two people were killed, the emergencies ministry said on Friday, including six rescuers who had been part of a search operation.

"This is a huge tragedy for the entire country and the Russian emergencies ministry," acting minister Alexander Chupriyan said in a statement.

"Rescuers, just like miners, did their duty to the end," he said, and their Names "will remain forever in our memory." The rescuers were to be given the Order of Courage -- one of Russia's top awards -- posthumously, the ministry said.

Chupriyan said in televised remarks on Friday that another person had been found alive. No more details were immediately available.

There were 285 people in the mine when it began to fill with smoke on Thursday and miners described a frantic scramble to evacuate.

"I might have lost consciousness," one worker told Rossiya 24 state television. "I don't know how much time passed." "I stretched out my hands, they couldn't find me on their own, because the visibility was bad," another said. "They grabbed me... I didn't understand who it was and where they were pulling me." - Safety violations - Officials said it appeared the accident had been caused by a methane explosion. The search and rescue operation launched on Thursday had to be called off after several hours because of fears of another blast.

Regional authorities said six bodies -- including those of three miners -- had been brought to the surface. Nearly 50 people were hospitalised.

The Investigative Committee, which probes major incidents, opened a criminal case and said three people had been detained including the 47-year-old director of the mine and his 59-year-old first deputy.

"During the initial investigation, it was established that the detainees violated industrial safety requirements," the committee said in a statement.

On Friday, investigators opened another probe against two officials of the local branch of state safety watchdog Rostekhnadzor, accusing them of failing to conduct proper inspections of the mine.

Nearly 50 people were hospitalised following the accident, regional authorities said.

The governor declared a three-day mourning period in the region beginning Friday.

On Thursday, residents of the village of Gramoteino next to the mine had gathered in snowfall and sub-zero temperatures outside the entrance to the facility, which was closed off with a boom gate, as ambulances passed in and out.

The Listvyazhnaya mine, near the town of Belovo, was set up in 1956 and is owned by the SDS-Ugol company based in the city of Kemerovo.

A methane blast in 2004 killed 13 people at the mine and another explosion at the site killed five people in 1981.

Mining accidents are fairly common in Russia and across the former Soviet Union as a result of poor safety standards, a lack of oversight of working conditions and ageing Soviet-era equipment.

One of the deadliest mining accidents in Russia in recent years occurred at the Raspadskaya mine in Siberia -- Russia's largest coal mine -- in the summer of 2010, killing 91 people and leaving more than 100 injured.

The incident was the result of a methane explosion when more than 300 miners were inside. A second explosion then trapped a group of rescuers.

In 2007, 110 people died after a gas explosion at the Ulyanovskaya mine, in the same region.

On top of the deadly accidents, activists have drawn attention to the environmental practices of mines in Russia, one of the world's largest mineral producers.
Honiara, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :Rioters torched buildings and looted the smouldering rubble of shops in the Solomon Islands' capital of Honiara Friday -- a third straight day of political violence as Australian peacekeeping troops rushed to secure critical infrastructure.

Thousands of people -- some brandishing axes and knives -- rampaged through the city's Chinatown, Point Cruz and business districts -- according to an AFP reporter on the scene.

In Chinatown, a large warehouse was set alight, causing an explosion that sent scores of people fleeing from the scene in panic.

There were also reports of a tabacco warehouse being set alight as smoke from previous days fires cast parts of the devastated city of 80,000 people in an acrid haze.

The small Pacific Island nation has been rocked by days of violent anti-government demonstrations.

The first of Australia's snap peacekeeping deployment arrived overnight, within hours of Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare appealing to neighbours for urgent help quelling the unrest that threatened to topple his government.

On Friday, Papua New Guinea sent a detachment of 34 peacekeepers to help staunch the violence.

Sogavare said the Solomons had been "brought to its knees" by the rioting but vowed to resist calls for his resignation.

The pro-Beijing leader claimed foreign powers opposed to his 2019 decision to switch the Solomons' diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China were behind the disturbances.

"Unfortunately it is influenced and encouraged by other powers... I don't want to name Names, we'll leave it there, we know who they are," he told Australia's public broadcaster.

Others blame pandemic-fuelled economic frustrations and a long-running rivalry between residents of the country's most populous island Malaita and the central government based on the island of Guadalcanal.

Canberra's Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said the Australian mission, comprised of about 100 police and military personnel, was intended to restore law and order.

"The situation is very volatile there. At the moment we know that the rioting has escalated over the last couple of days," she told Sky news, adding that the troops would secure critical infrastructure including Honiara's airport and port.

The archipelago nation of around 700,000 people has for decades been beset by ethnic and political tensions.

The latest bout of unrest began Wednesday when thousands of protesters besieged parliament, setting fire to an outbuilding and seeking to oust Sogavare.

It then descended into a violent free-for-all, as mobs of stick-wielding youths ignored a curfew and rampaged through the capital, stripping stores of goods and clashing with police.

By late Thursday thousands of looters openly defied police lockdown orders, running through the streets carrying boxes, crates and bulging sacks of goods as flames crackled around them and plumes of thick black smoke billowed high above the city.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian expressed "grave concern" and called on the Solomon Islands government "to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of Chinese citizens and organisations".

In the late 1990s Guadalcanal militants launched attacks on settlers, particularly targeting those from Malaita, and for five years unrest plagued the country.

The so-called "Tensions" only eased with the deployment of an Australian-led peacekeeping mission -- named the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.

Andrews said the latest Australian deployment was expected to last "a matter of weeks", unlike Canberra's previous peacekeeping mission, which ran from 2003 to 2017 and cost about US$2.2 billion.

"Our Primary goal is to restore law and public order, it is certainly not to intervene in any of the political matters that are happening at the moment," she said.

Malaita residents have long complained that their island is neglected by the central government, and divisions intensified when Sogavare recognised Beijing.

Malaita authorities opposed the move and defiantly maintained contact with the Taiwan authorities. As a result the province continues to receive outsized aid from Taipei and Washington.

The province's premier Daniel Suidani has accused Sogavare of being in Beijing's pocket, alleging he had "elevated the interest of foreigners above those of Solomon Islanders".

"People are not blind to this and do not want to be cheated anymore," he said.

Experts say geopolitical rivalry did not trigger the crisis directly, but it contributed .

"The actions of these great powers -- while they curry favour with individual political actors -- have a destabilising effect on what is already a fragile and vulnerable country," said Mihai Sora, an expert on the Pacific at Australia's Lowy Institute.""Then of course the contemporary context is one of extended economic hardship due to Covid restrictions, a Covid state of emergency," he told AFP.
At least 11 miners and three rescuers died Thursday and dozens were missing following an accident that saw a Siberian coal mine filled with smoke, regional authorities said

Gramoteino, Russia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2021 ) :At least 11 miners and three rescuers died Thursday and dozens were missing following an accident that saw a Siberian coal mine filled with smoke, regional authorities said.

Later in the day rescuers were forced to call off a search for the missing due to the threat of an explosion at the Listvyazhnaya mine.

The mine, near the town of Belovo in the Kemerovo mining region, filled with smoke in the early hours of Thursday with 285 people inside.

Most were able to evacuate, but 11 people died and another 35 were missing, said local governor Sergei Tsivilev.

"Thirty five people -- we know their Names -- are now underground, their location has not been established," Tsivilev said in televised remarks.

"Eleven people have died," he added.

Regional authorities said later Thursday that three rescue workers had died during the search operation and another three had gone missing.

"Three rescuers have been found dead, their bodies are being lifted to the surface," a representative of the regional authorities told AFP.

The official, who asked not to be named, said it is unlikely that the missing 35 miners have survived.

Earlier in the day residents of the village of Gramoteino next to the mine gathered in snowfall and sub-zero temperatures outside the entrance to the facility, which was closed off with a boom gate, as ambulances passed in and out.

There was no panic but the crowd was tense and refused to speak to journalists.

"This is a great tragedy," President Vladimir Putin said during talks with Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic in Sochi.

"Unfortunately, the situation is not getting any easier. And even rescuers are in danger." Local investigators said smoke spread across the mine at around 8:35 a.m. local time (0135 GMT) and that "a number of workers suffered smoke poisoning".

The Investigative Committee, which probes major cases, opened a criminal probe into the possible violation of safety regulations that led to deaths.

- 'High likelihood of explosion' - Tsivilev said in a video on messaging app Telegram that there was "no communication" with the trapped miners and that a search mission had been launched.

He later said the operation had to be called off due to a dangerous concentration of methane in the mine and the "high likelihood of an explosion".

"Work will resume as soon as the gas concentration decreases to a safe level," Tsivilev said.

Nearly 40 people were hospitalised, regional authorities said.

The governor declared a three-day mourning period in the region beginning Friday.
(@FahadShabbir)

MINSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2021) Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that the country hosts from 2,000 to 3,000 migrants in addition to the people who are currently in the logistics center near the Polish border.

"According to our calculations, on the territory of Belarus, in addition to this 2,000 in the camp, there are about 2-3,000 refugees from your countries.

But these are very approximate figures," Lukashenko told migrants at the logistics center, as quoted by the state-run Belta news agency.

Lukashenko also told migrants that Minsk will help them if they wish to return to their countries of origin but no one will be forced to leave.

The Belarusian president also called on Germans to accept refugees.

"Here, most of the people want to reunite their families, take these people to your place. This is a small burden for Germany. But the Poles are blocking all this," Lukashenko said.
War-hit Ethiopia has announced new rules against sharing information on battlefield outcomes in the war against Tigrayan rebels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists

Addis Ababa, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Nov, 2021 ) :War-hit Ethiopia has announced new rules against sharing information on battlefield outcomes in the war against Tigrayan rebels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government declared a nationwide state of emergency earlier this month as fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) advance towards the capital, the latest turn in a brutal year-long conflict.

International alarm is mounting about the escalating war in Africa's second most populous country, with anxious foreign governments urging their citizens to leave.

The new decree issued late Thursday said it was "forbidden to distribute in any communication systems any military movements, battlefield outcomes" that were not officially published by the government.

"Security forces will take necessary measures on those who have been found to violate" the order, it said in a possible warning to news outlets and social media accounts that have reported on rebel claims of territorial gains.

The government also barred residents from "using various types of media platforms to support directly or indirectly the terrorist group" -- a reference to the TPLF -- and warned of unspecified consequences for anyone who ignored the decree.

The state of emergency imposed on November 2 allows the authorities to conscript citizens who own weapons or suspend any media outlets believed to be "giving moral support directly or indirectly" to the TPLF.

The latest decree also bans anyone from calling "for a transitional government", days after a prominent opposition party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), issued a statement urging an end to the fighting and the establishment of an interim administration to facilitate dialogue.

"During the mandate of the interim administration, all parties will begin negotiations on the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government that shall last for 18 months. No major stakeholder shall be excluded from these negotiations," the OFC said Wednesday.

Ethiopia's war erupted in November 2020 when Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace prize, sent troops into the Tigray region to topple its ruling party, the TPLF.

He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on Federal army camps and promised a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray, including its capital Mekele.

Since then, the TPLF has pushed into neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, and this week it claimed to have seized a town just 220 kilometres (135 miles) from Addis Ababa.

On Wednesday state media reported that Abiy, a former lieutenant-colonel in the military, had arrived at the front line to lead a counter-offensive, handing over regular duties to his deputy.

The fighting has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions, according to UN estimates.
TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2021) The Japanese government will not change its plans to relocate the United States Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (MCAS Futenma) in Okinawa, as the current location poses a threat to the base, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Friday.

MCAS Futenma is considered the most dangerous airfield in the world due to its location next to residential buildings in the city of Ginowan in Okinawa. Its relocation implied filling up about 0.60 square miles of the coastal marine belt, which negatively affected coral reefs, prompting protests of the local population and environmentalists.

"From the perspective of maintaining the restrictive policy of the US-Japan alliance and the danger of the MCAS Futenma base airport, relocating the base to Henoko is the only solution.

This position is unalterable. We will continue our efforts to build trust with the local people, and simultaneously put efforts to implement the relocation as soon as possible," Matsuno said at a press conference in Tokyo.

On Thursday, Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki refused to approve the changed plan for the construction of a new base in Henoko. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said that his department would take a close look at the reasons behind the refusal and develop a plan of retaliatory measures.
(@imziishan)

The plane with the head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, on board, which was en route to China, was redirected to Moscow due to technical problems, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Friday

ZURICH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2021) The plane with the head of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Ignazio Cassis, on board, which was en route to China, was redirected to Moscow due to technical problems, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"Due to technical problems, the plane of the Federal Council (Swiss government), which was on its way to China with federal adviser Ignazio Cassis on board, was redirected to Moscow. It is being checked there whether a further trip to China is possible," the ministry wrote on Twitter.

Cassis was expected to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Saturday. The sides planned to discuss the development of bilateral relations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as current international events and human rights. In addition, Cassis planned to present the Swiss government's strategy for China.
South Africas Archbishop of Johannesburg, Buti Tlhagale, has told the countrys diocesan coordinators at a workshop to pray that God removes obstacles that hinder humans from welcoming those in need.

Vatican English Africa Service  Vatican City.

Archbishop Tlhagale, the Liaison Bishop for Migrants and Refugees at the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), observed that the movement of people across the world posed a pastoral challenge to the Church. He drew attention to the importance of prayer in any response to the migrants and refugee situation.

A love that is not selective

During his homily at a Mass that he celebrated for the diocesan coordinators, Archbishop Tlhagale urged prayer so that God removes the obstacles that hinder us from receiving others. Let us pray that God Almighty will give us the strength of will to do good to migrants and refugees  when we celebrate Advent, we hope that Christ will find us eager to welcome him. So, we pray that we too should be eager to welcome visitors, to welcome migrants and refugees in our community, said the Johannesburg prelate.

He added, We need to pray to God that he be generous in increasing our love. A love that is not selective. A love that accepts another human being. Now thats a tall order, easier said than done, he observed. Lastly, the Archbishop said there was the need, To pray that God removes obstacles that hinder us from receiving others, so to be able to accept those in need and who simply ask to be recognised as persons.

Dont wait for someone else to do something



The two-day workshop on the Pastoral Care for Migrants and Refugees also saw a presentation by Fr. Eduardo Gabriel, a Scalabrini priest from the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa (SIHMA). In his presentation, Fr Gabriel noted that sometimes we wait for someone else to do something for migrants and refugees instead of us being the ones to do something. He emphasised the importance of listening to migrants and refugees. To be able to help them with your hands, listen to them first, he said.

Parish contact persons for migrants and refugees

Sally Gandar, Head of Advocacy and Legal Advisor at the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town, spoke on the theme, Understanding Migration in South Africa and the Legal Framework of Migration in South Africa.

In part, the workshop was organised in response to the 2019 resolution of the Southern African Bishops, who called on parishes to appoint contact persons for migrants and refugees in their communities. Further, the workshop aimed to facilitate for the ongoing formation and training of those who commit themselves to the ministry of migrants and refugees.
Archive photo of the arrival of refugees at Rome Airport thanks to a humanitarian corridor (ANSA)

A delegation of volunteers and aid operators welcome a group of refugees at Romes international airport. The vulnerable men, women and children have been able to flee danger thanks to a Humanitarian Corridor that guarantees safe passage and legal entry into Italy.

By Linda Bordoni

Amongst the fifty refugees arriving in Rome on Friday, sixteen are children. They come from Niger, a vast and arid nation on the edge of the Sahara desert that continues to be plagued with political instability and increasing attacks by bandits on remote villages, schools, and seminaries.

According to the United Nations, Niger is one of the worlds least-developed nations, struggling in the wake of a series of coups, insurgencies, increasing droughts, and widespread poverty.

The humanitarian corridor bringing a few families to safety was organized by Italian Caritas in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Italian government, and the Italian Bishops Conference.

The refugees are welcomed, not only with the warmth of open-armed volunteers with smiles on their faces, but also with adequate housing facilities and the support of a process of integration. That means school for the children, Italian language classes for all, and help in putting in applying for work.

The Boeing 787 from Niamey to Rome was made available by the non-profit organization Solidaire, founded by Italo-Argentine pilot-turned-actor Enrique Pineyro, who has declared his mission to provide logistical support to humanitarian missions by ensuring the safe arrival of refugees.

Humanitarian Corridors: a model for civilization

The Humanitarian Corridors is a project promoted by the Community of SantEgidio in collaboration with the Federation of Evangelic Churches in Italy, the Waldensian Table, the Italian Episcopal Conference, and Caritas, as well as several French faith-based groups. It has become a concrete reality thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding signed with public authorities in Italy and France.

Pope Francis has reiterated his support for the project and called for it to become a model to be scaled up in order to protect the lives and dignity of migrants and refugees.

Since their first implementation in 2016, the Humanitarian Corridors have allowed for the safe arrival of hundreds of refugees, many of whom, have fled persecution and violence in Syria, Sudan, Central Africa, Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Cameroon, Yemen, and today Niger.
Protestors take to the streets in Khartoum, Sudan

Demonstrations took place in cities throughout Sudan on Friday, as protestors called for an end to military rule and the restoration of the civilian government.

By Nathan Morley

Nationwide protests have taken place in Sudan against the military takeover last month.

The past few weeks have been some of the most turbulent in Sudan's history - but this week marks a month since the military coup.

As thousands of people flocked to make their voices heard, protests expanded to many regions despite a compromise that was signed between the head of the army, Gen. Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan to reinstate Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

Protesters shouted anti-military slogans and criticized the agreement that was signed last week. They demanded the release of political detainees and an investigation into the killing of protesters.

Reports suggest security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters in several locations.

General al-Burhan seized power and detained Hamdok on October 25, but after international condemnation and mass protests, he reinstated the prime minister in a deal on Sunday.

Several civilian leaders who were arrested since the coup were released this week but key figures have remained in detention.
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The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that a large fleet of vessels operated by Chinese maritime militia have been patrolling the Spratly Islands for quite some time. These units reportedly work in tandem with or are funded by the Chinese government.

Since completing the construction of its artificial island outposts in the Spratly Islands in 2016, China has shifted its focus toward asserting control over peacetime activity across the South China Sea. A key component of this shift has been the expansion of Chinas maritime militiaa force of vessels ostensibly engaged in commercial fishing but which in fact operate alongside Chinese law enforcement and military to achieve Chinese political objectives in disputed waters, the report states.

Located in the South China Sea, the Spratly Islands are claimed by multiple nations, such as Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Communist China has been constantly working towards wresting control of the region by building artificial islands that have airstrips, sheltered ports, and other strategic military infrastructural components

According to the CSIS report, the origins of Chinese maritime militia can be traced back to the 1950s when communist China was implementing its coastal defense operations. After China took control of the Paracel Islands from Vietnam, the government has been supporting militia through fuel subsidies as well as subsidies for the construction and repair of vessels operating in the South China Sea.

Since then, the militia has continued to grow in size with continued support from Beijing. It plays a crucial part in the Chinese regimes agenda to expand its territorial and maritime claims. The militia force makes use of fishing vessels to threaten and terrorize other nations that are claiming their stake in the debated waters.

The CSIS report cites examples from the 2000s of the militias intimidating tactics against foreign entities whose interests crossed paths with Beijings agenda. Militia vessels have purposefully rammed into other foreign vessels, wreaked havoc on their sonar or exploration equipment, fired water cannons, and even thrown out garbage in their paths.

Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program and the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at CSIS, believes that the push to give the militia a more professional profile has strengthened ever since President Xi Jinping stepped into office.

The value of the militia is because it has a degree of deniability. Beijing can just claim that these are commercial actors, but remote sensing and photographic evidence can be combined to distinguish militia vessels from non-militia, Poling told Al Jazeera.

In March, 200 fishing boats suspected to be from the Chinese militia dotted the waters around the Whitsun Reef, ultimately resulting in a major diplomatic situation between communist China and the Philippines. Whitsun Reef is part of the Spratly Islands.

Hu Bo, director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies at Peking University, criticized the CSIS report. Although the militia has long been a traditional part of Chinas national defense, it has no major role in advancing government policies anymore, he insisted. Hyping up the maritime militia influence is the most ridiculous China threat theory, Hu said on social media.

However, Poling rejects such criticism, pointing to strong evidence that the maritime militia continues to play a critical role in Beijings overall plans.
On November 24, Yun Gongmin, the former secretary of the Communism Party Committee (CPC) of Erdos City, Inner Mongolia, and the Inner Mongolia provincial vice chairman, was accused of collecting more than 468.66 million yuan (US$73.39 million) through embezzlement and bribes.

On April 29, 2021, Yun Gongmin was investigated. According to sina.cn, Yun Gongmins case is the last trial of the four tigers involved in corruption in [the] coal industry in Inner Mongolia.

Before his case, the other three tigers, Bai Xiangqun, Xing Yun, and Yun Guangzhong, were sentenced to imprisonment or death with a reprieve. By corrupted means, Xing Yun and Yun Guangzhong collected 449 million yuan (US$70.31 million) and 94.32 million yuan (US$14.77 million) respectively.

Turned coal mines into a corruption chain

There is a coal mine under development near Hari Bulag temple site in Dongsheng District, Ordos city, Inner Mongolia, where the coal mine is mined in the name of a Fire Extinguishing Project.

According to sina.cn, in China, mining rights are taken usually by people with special connections in local political and business circles, who then subcontract or resell the rights. This is so-called Mine Trading, buying at a low price and selling at a high price.

It only costs a local businessman one or two hundred million yuan to get the coal mining rights. After two resales, it costs the outsider businessman about a billion yuan. Because of the enormous profits, officials get a vast dividend from the sale.

Because of the huge vested interest, digging coal mines and building power stations have become a landscape on a large scale on the Chinese prairie. The prairie gradually falls into the land of raging wind and sand.

Inner Mongolia is a large coal-producing province. The coal industry is considered the hardest-hit area by corruption. According to an insider, Yun Guangzhong was the mayor and party secretary of Ordos city for three years, and flourished the Fire Extinguishing Project under his watch.

Enriched themselves through coal mines, then bought powerful positions

According to an official who has worked in the coal industry, its common for one to get rich through coal mines then buy government positions with the profits. In the 1990s, I was a town-level cadre. Once I followed the bureau chief to meet Yun Gongmin. There was hearsay that he might be promoted to be the vice chairman of Inner Mongolia. Our bureau chief went to congratulate him. Yun Gongmin made a gesture of counting money and said, If you want to climb up, you have to use this.

It is said that a coal company once sponsored Yun Gongmin. After Yun rose up, when the local government levied the maintenance simple re-production fee, his company was given a discount of seven yuan less per ton of coal, which was a substantial figure in the 1990s. The concession was implemented for more than a decade before it was eventually repealed around 2010.

The CCP Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and State Supervision Commission website had published an article, saying that through enterprise restructuring and other ways, some leading cadres take the state-owned coal mines as of themselves, seizing huge profits.

According to a source in the coal industry for the key leaders in departments or sections, they took money gifts during major holidays, especially during the Chinese New Year season. As for occasions such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year, they would expect at least 50,000 yuan each time  this needed only if they had already had all the required documents and met all the compliances for a coal mining business. In reality, this is already hard to have, so you are bound to give them more gifts in money. As a senior person in the coal industry, gray expenses (bribes and other off-the-books expenses) usually account for 10 percent to 15 percent of all coal mining costs.

In November 2021, an article was published on the website of the Inner Mongolia Discipline Inspection Commission. The figures in the report show that since the campaign of Tracing Back for 20 years started, there have been a total of 736 cases and 1023 people involved in coal mine corruption, resulting in economic losses of 52.388 billion yuan (US$8.2 billion).

There have been a total of 736 cases and 1023 people involved in coal mine corruption(Image: Screenshot from the website of the Inner Mongolia Discipline Inspection Commission)

According to fawanghuihui.org, during his tenure as Secretary of the Taiyuan City Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Shanxi Provincial Committee, Yun Gongmin promoted persecution policies, controlled the judiciary system, dominated the personnel appointments and dismissals, and promoted some hitmen who persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, making the persecution in Shanxi even worse.

By the end of 2015, according to incomplete statistics from Minghui.org, more than 510 Falun Gong practitioners were kidnapped and detained in Taiyuan city, Shanxi Province, more than 80 were illegally sentenced to prison, more than 80 were illegally re-educated through labor, and more than 100 were sent to brainwashing classes for persecution. Among them, thirty-two dead, five disabled, and four in madness.
Children as young as five years old have begun receiving COVID-19 vaccines in Israel. The governments vaccination push comes as the threat of a new wave of infections looms over the country. Kids between five and 11 are being injected with the Pfizer vaccine. Over 62 percent of the countrys population has been fully vaccinated as of Nov. 23.

Beginning in June, Israel suffered the fourth wave of infection that started subsiding in September. But in recent weeks, the virus reproduction rate has shown signs of moving up, indicating a potential fifth wave hitting soon. The effective reproduction rate of COVID-19 has risen from 0.61 on Oct. 20 to 0.86 on Nov. 21.

Half of the confirmed cases in the country are said to be among kids younger than 11 years old. Out of the 9.4 million people living in Israel, children between the ages of five and 11 make up around 1.2 million. One in 3,400 kids who will contract COVID-19 is expected to develop Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a condition in which some parts of the body become susceptible to inflammation. Roughly one to two percent of kids who develop MIS-C end up dying.

In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned about a childrens wave of infections.

I call on all Israeli parents to come and have their children vaccinated. It is safe and it safeguards our children It is important to get vaccinated so that children dont get sick with corona and so that they wont infect their parents, the prime minister said, as he took his nine-year-old son to receive a jab.

Parents have mixed opinions about whether they intend to vaccinate their children or not. A recent poll conducted by Maccabi, a healthcare provider in Israel, found that only 41 percent of the parents of kids aged between five and 11 were interested in getting their children inoculated. Thirty-eight percent were adamant that they would not vaccinate their children while 21 percent were undecided.

The kids go to school, they (mix) with (other) kids, and they are doing a lot of social activities. We are very excited (to) vaccinate them and get (back) to normal life, Katy Bai Shalom, a mother of two children who recently got vaccinated, told Reuters.

Vaccinating children is a controversial topic since many have put forward strong arguments against it. According to statistician William Briggs, 524 kids have died in the U.S. due to COVID-19 between Jan. 2020 and Oct. 22, 2021.

Given that the population of the demographic is 73 million, the COVID-19 fatality rate among kids is just 0.000007. During the same period, 1,043 kids below the age of 17 died of pneumonia and 5,250 kids are estimated to have died from car crashes.

A report published in Nature magazine on Aug. 18 states that children tend to be more immune to the COVID-19 virus due to pre-activated antiviral innate immunity in the upper airways.

Primed virus sensing and a pre-activated innate immune response in children leads to efficient early production of IFNs in the infected airways, likely mediating substantial antiviral effects mirroring those observed in vitro in IFN-(pre)treated cells. Ultimately, this may lead to reduced virus replication and faster clearance in children. In fact, several studies already showed that children are much quicker in eliminating SARS-CoV-2 compared to adults, consistent with the concept that they shut down viral replication earlier, the report states.
Several Senate Democrats will oppose President Joe Bidens nomination of a far-left candidate to the crucial Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to reports.

Axios reported on Nov. 24 that three members of the Democrat side of the Senate told Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) of their opposition to the confirmation of controversy-laden Saule Omarova to the position. The article says the trio were joined in opposing her by another pair of Dems.

The names named are:

Jon Tester (D-MT)

Mark Warner (D-VA)

Krysten Sienma (D-AZ)

John Hickenlooper (D-CO)

Mark Kelly (D-AZ)

Offices for all five Senators declined to provide comment to Axios by the time of publication.

Wikipedia describes the OCC as a bureau nested within the U.S. Department of Treasury that serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and thrift institutions and the federally licensed branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States.

The OCC is a major player, which according to the article, Regulates and supervises about 1,200 national banks, federally-licensed savings associations, and federally-licensed branches of foreign banks in the United States, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total assets of all U.S. commercial banks.

Wikipedia also puts the OCC on the same plane as other financial regulatory agencies such as the FDIC and Federal Reserve.

In September, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fl) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) penned a letter to the OCC and its Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu voicing serious concerns arising from Chase Bank cancelling the credit cards of Gen. Michael Flynns wife because of so-called reputational risk.

The lawmakers said the move made the reputational risk classification a major concern because it could include the political views or histories of the banks customers.

If political views are considered a valid factor in a banks determination of reputational risk for the purposes of determining access to credit, the banking services of millions of Americans could be put in jeopardy.

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The letter also said that after Biden took office in January, the OCC halted the Fair Access to Financial Services (FAFS) rule, initiated under the previous administration, after a slew of Inauguration Day Executive Orders that unwound a variety of Donald Trump policies and imposed a regulatory freeze.

A Feb. 5 Legal Sidebar published by the Congressional Research Service summarized the FAFS in the following way, The Rule would generally prohibit national banks and federal savings associations with at least $100 billion in total assets from denying financial services to corporate entities, businesses, nonprofits, or individuals solely on a subjective basis and would set standards to impartially evaluate customer risk.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) speaks during Saule Omarovas nomination hearing to be the Comptroller of the Currency on November 18, 2021 in Washington. Axios reports that five Democrats are primed to bury Bidens far-left nominee because of concerns about her Marxist leanings and wishes to transform U.S. finance into a completely centralized system. (Image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Bidens OCC Comptroller nominee, Saule Omarova, a native of Kazakhstan, was called into question in October when the Washington Free Beacon revealed Omarova had scrubbed a paper titled Karl Marxs Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital written during her time at Moscow State University in 1989. Kazakhstan was a part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991.

However, the Marxist paper appeared on a version of her CV as recent as 2017. On Oct. 5, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, wrote to Omarova demanding a copy of the thesis.

The nominee did not acquiesce to the query.

Omarova, who currently works as a professor at Cornell Law School, further elaborated her ideological stance in an October of 2020 published a paper titled The Peoples Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy, which effectively combined Marxist redistribution of wealth with an outlook similar to globalist faction World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwabs Great Reset.

In the paper, Omarova discussed utilizing the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as a pretext to push forward the issuance of central bank digital currency and the provision of retail deposit accounts by central banks.

She described her ideas as offering a blueprint for a comprehensive restructuring of the central bank balance sheet as the basis for redesigning the core architecture of modern finance.

Focusing on the U.S. Federal Reserve System (the Fed), the Article outlines a series of structural reforms that would radically redefine the role of a central bank as the ultimate public platform for generating, modulating, and allocating financial resources in a democratic economythe Peoples Ledger, reads the Abstract.

Omarova stated that the pandemic had supposedly amplified recent calls to create free digital-dollar deposit accounts at the Federal Reserve for every American household and business. In her paper, this concept was coined with the name FedAccounts, which the nominee extols as represent[ing] an explicitly politicaland consciously progressivetake on the traditionally technocratic proposals to issue central bank digital currency.

For U.S. citizens, Individual FedAccounts would be opened automatically upon birth or naturalization. These accounts would also be credited automatically with regularly received federal benefits: social security payments, tax refunds, and all other disbursements that depend on ones citizenship status, she elaborated.

Bidens OCC nominee continued to sell the revolutionary theory that would see American finance become completely centralized, with a rose-colored tint: Offering deposit accounts to individuals and entities will enable the Fed to modulate the aggregate supply of money and credit by directly crediting and debiting the accounts of all participants in economic activity, without interposing intermediary-banks.

She framed the Federal Reserve having the ability to directly alter the sum of accounts based on central whims as an unconventional (by present standards) monetary policy.

Omarova further described the function as the ability to provide free money through a helicopter drop or QE for the people.

Breitbart News pointed out that the move would mean the end of community banking because community banks fund most of their assets with deposits, noting an FDIC report that found 84 percent of local banks are funded on deposits.

The outlet also noted this was of particular weight to the farming and small business sector, as the same report also noted that community banks held 36 percent of small business loans and 31 percent of farming debt.

Biden nominee Saule Omarova saying the quiet part out loud. On the oil, coal and gas industries:



"We want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change." pic.twitter.com/luMR2HEMK9  BidenNoms, A Project of AAF (@bidennoms) November 9, 2021

Omarova has expressed other left-wing economic views. In early November, she said that for certain troubled industries and firms that are in transitioning, primarily the coal, oil, and gas industries, a lot of the smaller players in that industry are going to probably go bankrupt in short order.

She added, At least we want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change, right?

Last week, during Senate confirmation hearings, Omarova was asked by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Will you pledge today not to repeat Operation Choke Point and politicize the banking industry by targeting socially suboptimal companies?

Omarova sidestepped the question, saying, I will make sure that the agency acts only within its legal mandate and performs its mission and does not create, does not step into the shoes of Congress and other policymakers who need to make the substantive decisions.

A 2014 opinion piece by William Isaac published in the Wall Street Journal described Operation Choke Point as a means of enforcing top-down control: The real goal of the program announced last yearor at the very least a desired collateral benefitis to target entire industries deemed undesirable by putting regulatory pressure on the banks that serve them

Isaac, who served as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., wrote: The government has gone after two dozen businesses including ammunition dealers, check-cashers, payday lenders, telemarketers, firearms and fireworks vendors, raffles, pharmaceutical sellers, surveillance-equipment firms and home-based charities.

The Justice Department and several regulators have pressured banks to close accounts with these businesseson a sweeping, industry-wide basiswithout any proof of wrongdoing. By choking off their access to bank services, the government is attempting to shut these industries down or drive them underground.
Botswana has said that the emerging B.1.1.529 variant, also known as Omicron, of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first detected in four fully vaccinated diplomats from an undisclosed country.

In a media release published by the countrys COVID-19 Task Force on the Government of Botswanas verified Twitter account on Nov. 25, the state noted that the strain was first discovered on Nov. 22 among travellers who tested SARS-COV-2 positive on routine pre-travel testing.

The preliminary report revealed that all the four had been completely vaccinated for COVID-19.

The government also stated that reports that the cases were associated with HIV positive individuals were false.

However, just one day later on Nov. 26, the Botswana government released a second press release published by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on Twitter, which severely contradicts the COVID-19 Task Forces timeline.

STATEMENT ON THE NEW COVID-19 VARIANT pic.twitter.com/ItmUi8H6j8  Botswana Government (@BWGovernment) November 26, 2021

This new virus was detected on four foreign nationals who had entered Botswana on the 7th November 2021, on a diplomatic mission. The quartet tested positive for COVID-19 on the 11th November 2021 as they were preparing to return.

Further genomic sequencing that was conducted on the samples confirmed the virus as B. 1.1.529 on 24 November 2021.

The release noted that the diplomats had since left the country and claimed that all contact traces associated with the four individuals had both tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 and displayed no symptoms.

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Botswana was reportedly the first country to identify the presence of the variant, with neighboring South Africa following. The mutation was also recently found in Hong Kong.

London-based virologist Tom Peacock of the Imperial Department of Infectious Disease appears to be one of the first to speak of the strain starting on Nov. 23 on Twitter and Github.

Tulio de Oliveira, Director of South Africas Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation, claimed the new Omicron variant now dominates all infections found since early November.

Because this variant (B.1.1.529) can be detected by a normal qPCR due to deletion at Spike position 69-70 (like Alpha), it will make it easy for the world to track it. We estimate that 90% of the cases in Gauteng (at least 1000 a day are this variant, due to qPCR proxy testing) pic.twitter.com/QFU7javFA9  Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) November 25, 2021

The Fred Hutch Bloom Lab theorized that the new variants extensive spike protein mutations would impact the efficacy of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody treatments such as Regeneron.

First, Nu variant has lot of antigenic change. Below are how mutations relate to escape averaged over 36 human antibodies. Many mutations at peak escape sites, especially E484, G446, K417, & Q493. This means even in polyclonal mix, lot of RBD antibodies will be affected. (2/n) pic.twitter.com/YjSifYojIL  Bloom Lab (@jbloom_lab) November 25, 2021

World responses to the new variant have been relatively extreme. While countries such as Canada and the United States implemented travel bans against several African countries, Belgium Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was quoted by Russian state propaganda outlet RT as sensationalizing the new variant as: You could say that this is Covid-21 instead of Covid-19: it is three times more infectious than the original virus, in comments at a press conference.

On Nov. 26, Belgium plunged itself into a new tier of pandemic measures, making working from home mandatory four days a week, expanding mask mandates, compulsory testing of students, an 11 p.m. curfew on restaurants, bars, and Christmas markets, the closure of nightclubs and concerts, and a prohibition on private parties, according to Politico.

The outlet says Belgium, a country of slightly more than 11.5 million citizens, has 669 COVID patients in the ICU.

On the other hand, according to the UKs Evening Standard, Chairman of the South African Medical Association, Angelique Coetzee called the imposition of travel bans a premature and hasty in comments to the BBC.

I would understand if it was two weeks later and we know much more about this viral infection that is going around, or this mutation, but for now, it is like a storm in a teacup.

She added,From us as medical practitioners, we picked up, last week, the different clinical pictures, we looked at the advisory committees and so far what we have seen is very mild cases. [Im] not sure why we are all up in arms.

We know there are a lot of mutations but no-one can tell us at this stage if it means something, or if it is just going to fade away. We just dont know.
The capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, has been sacked by arson, looting, and unrest after a protest calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare descended into violence.

Early reports came from Radio New Zealand on Nov. 24 that the protest was being led primarily by people from Malaita Province who said they were not being heard by the national government.

RNZ characterized the protests as a culmination of a host of issues that have caused division between people from Malaita and the federal government.

The article claimed the source of the consternation was a perceived lack of development within the province, with many large scale national projects promised over the years that have so far failed to get off the ground.

However, RNZ did mention a longrunning standoff between Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani who continues to rebel against the Sogavare administrations decision to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of the Chinese Communist Party in 2019.

Its with great regret we end diplomatic ties with #SolomonIslands. 36 years of cooperation & friendship were no match for #Disinformation, falsehoods & dollar diplomacy. #Taiwan remains undaunted & will continue as a force for good in the world. Read on: https://t.co/cFfakxtKOD.   Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan)  (@MOFA_Taiwan) September 16, 2019

The Solomon Islands are a chain of islands northeast of Australia. The country is home to almost 700,000 residents. The distance from Cairns in the state of Queensland to Honiara is approximately 1,750 kilometers, and the distance from Malaita to the capital is approximately 120 kilometers.

According to a CNN Wire article, the protest originated from the Prime Ministers lack of response to a citizen petition filed in August, which included demands for the government to respect the rights of self-determination of the Malaita people, to limit ties with China and to resume development projects in Malaita.

The outlet said the Islands federal police force estimated 2,000 to 3,000 protestors in attendance, with some starting fires, including of a grass hut building on Parliament grounds, and looting buildings.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele, Premier Li Keqiang and State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend a signing ceremony in Beijing in September of 2019 after Sogavare severed a 36-year relationship with Taiwan after being tempted by the Communist Partys benefits. (Image: THOMAS PETER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

In response, Sogavare deployed a 36-hour lockdown, denouncing the protest as another sad and unfortunate event aimed at bringing a democratically elected government down.

On Nov. 25, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced he would deploy Australian Federal Police and Australian Defense Force units to the islands after his office received a formal request under a bilateral security agreement for assistance from the Sogavare administration.

Australia said it will deploy more than 100 police and military personnel to the Solomon Islands as protesters in the Pacific nation defied a government-imposed lockdown and set fire to buildings in the capital Honiara for a second day https://t.co/RuYqDZcVWI pic.twitter.com/DEH0eEjlHZ  Reuters (@Reuters) November 25, 2021

In September of 2019, Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had terminated diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands after Sogavare, who took office in April of the same year, broke a 36-year alliance between the two countries in favor of benefits offered by Beijing.

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The Ministrys Press Release accused the CCP of once again resort[ing] to dollar diplomacy and false promises of large amounts of foreign assistance to buy off a small number of politicians, so as to ensure that the government of Solomon Islands adopted a resolution to terminate relations with Taiwan before Chinas National Day on October 1.

RNZ noted that just days after Sogavare had signed his pact with Beijing, Central Province Premier Stanley Manetiva agreed to lease the entire Tulagi Island to a mainland Chinese developer in a strategic cooperation agreement.

One month later, the federal Attorney General stepped in to terminate the agreement.

Rioters in the #Solomon Islands torched buildings in the capital of #Honiara, setting the citys #Chinatown ablaze. Anti-government protests broke out to demand the resignation of PM Manasseh Sogavare.#riots #HoniaraRiot #honiarariots pic.twitter.com/fOMvU6V7wS   Ifeng (@IFENG__official) November 26, 2021

September of 2019 reporting by CNN revealed that the country had agreed to allow China to construct a stadium in Honiara for the purposes of hosting the 2023 Pacific Games.

CNN also paraphrased Taiwans Foreign Minister, Wu Zhaoxie as saying in his understanding, China had promised around $500 million to the Sogavare administration.

The outlet also said that Taiwan had sent between $11 and $22 million annually to the Solomon Islands in foreign aid between 2011 and 2017, compared to the CCPs $39,000 over the same time frame.

Not to be deterred, Sogavare was quoted as telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that, To be honest, when it comes to economics and politics, Taiwan is completely useless to us slightly ahead of his decision.

Solomon Islands is under 36-hour lockdown after protests against restrictions turned violent pic.twitter.com/4xicXIS2dL  @d_essere fit 88 the returns (@dessere88) November 25, 2021

The administration had already generated heat for itself in the eyes of citizens when a Sept. 1, 2019 repatriation flight from Guangzhou to Honiara was revealed to have brought home only 23 residents out of 108 passengers.

The remainder were Chinese nationals, The bulk of them are Chinese Embassy staff, technical personnel and private contractors who were flying in to start the construction of sporting venues for the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, reported RNZ.

UK-based The Times said in an article that noted this weeks riots had targeted Chinese businesses, that China has since built a large embassy in the centre of the capital.

CNN Wire said that after Sogavare showed his devotion to the Communist Party, Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani immediately began to challenge the central government, announcing an independence referendum and vowing to refuse Chinese investment.

Not only did Suidani refuse Chinese investment, he accepted 50 tons of rice donated by Taiwan in June of 2020. Taiwan also sent face masks and other personal protective equipment.

Ranadi side, East Honiara.

Damaged to property continue to happen.



Please keep safe. pic.twitter.com/yRSSktOSVQ  The Solomon Islands Herald (@IslandsHerald) November 25, 2021

Both the Sogavare administration and the Chinese Embassy voiced their displeasure with the dissenting Premier.

In 2020, the United States under the Donald Trump administration disbursed a $20 million USD grant, primarily focused on Malaita.

This past June, Suidani incensed Sogavare, and his relationship with the CCP, further when he made a point of travelling to Taiwan for treatment of a suspected brain tumor.

According to Solomon Star News, when Suidani returned home in October, he was met with a heros welcome.

Earlier: #MFAET office looking down to Isaac Qoloni House and up at Parliament. Rioters stormed the back gates of Parliament building + burned a leaf hut on premises. Distressed that this is still how my good people of Malaita are choosing to air their grievances.#SolomonIslands pic.twitter.com/FudSde8oiC  June Rofeta (@june_rofeta) November 24, 2021

In a Nov. 26 article published by the ABC, Sogavare continued to spin rhetoric, claiming that Malaitans are fed with false and deliberate lies about the [Taiwan-to-Beijing] switch. The Prime Minister framed this as the only issue, and that the riots were being influenced and encouraged by other powers.

These very countries that are now influencing Malaita are the countries that dont want ties with the Peoples Republic of China and they are discouraging Solomon Islands to enter into diplomatic relations and to comply with international law and the United Nations resolution, said the Prime Minister.

I dont want to name names, well leave it there, we know who they are, he said.
Cameroonian officials say a suspected separatist attack on a school this week, which left four students and a teacher dead, has scared hundreds of teachers and students from going to school. Cameroon's military said it launched a search Thursday for the suspected rebels, who it says were disguised as government troops when they opened fire on the school.

Cameroon's ministry of secondary education said in a statement Friday several hundred students and teachers have not been to school in Ekondo Titi, an English-speaking western town, since the attack.

Thirty-nine-year-old driver Humphrey Ngum is among the parents who have withdrawn their children from schools in Ekondo Titi. Ngum says he is relocating his son to a school in Douala, a French-speaking commercial town due to insecurity in schools in the English-speaking western regions.

"In the university of Buea, there was a bomb that exploded where there were students and also in Bamenda a stray bullet killed at least a student that was coming back from school, so people should be very careful," said Ngum. "As a matter of fact, schooling in the North West and South West {regions} is dangerous, that is why you see people from these insecure regions in the schools that are in neighboring towns like Bafoussam and Douala."

Speaking by telephone from Douala, Ngum said in 2018, he escaped fighting between separatists and government troops in his home town Ekondo Titi and fled to Douala. He said he returned to Ekondo Titi in September when the government assured civilians of their safety and reopened some schools that were closed by separatist fighters in the English-speaking western regions.

The government reported this week that armed attacks on schools scare teachers and students. In Ekondo Titi three students and a 58-year-old French language teacher were shot dead. Another student died a day after he was rushed to a hospital in Buea, a nearby English-speaking town, to be treated for gunshot wounds. All the dead students were between 12 and 17 years of age. Seven students who were wounded are receiving treatment in hospitals in Buea.

The military said explosives were planted by fighters in the school.

Aboloa Timothe is the top government official in Ekondo Titi. He says enough security measures have been taken to protect schools, teachers and students from any further attack. Speaking via WhatsApp, Aboloa pleaded with parents to send their children to school and to the fleeing teachers to return.

"We have deployed our security forces to see if they can get {arrest} the authors of this barbaric act," said Aboloa. "I have had a crisis meeting with my defence and security staff. I have reassured the education stakeholders on the measures provided so that teaching activities should not be interrupted."

In a release on Thursday, the military accused separatists for the attack on the school at EkondoTiti . The military said more than 10 fighters led by Ten Kobo, a self-proclaimed separatist general, masterminded the attack.

Ten Kobo has on social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook, denied involvement in the attack. He said the military committed the atrocity and is blaming fighters to give separatists a bad name to the international community.

The military maintains that the attack was carried out by fighters.

The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA, says it is imperative for both separatist fighters and government troops to spare teachers and school children. Eyong Tarh is a CHRDA official. He says CHRDA is asking the government to investigate the incident impartially and effectively.

"Schools are a sacred area and schools should not be attacked for whatever reasons," said Tarh. "If they {military or separatists} are even pursuing somebody for having committed an offense or a crime and the person enters a school, for the fact that shooting that person will affect pupils or students, that action {hiding in a school}, should keep that person safe. Schools are sacred areas and they should be protected."

Cameroon says at least 11 attacks have been reported on schools in the English-speaking western regions within the past month. At least 10 children have died in the attacks.

The United Nations and International Rights groups have strongly condemned what they call merciless attacks on schools in Cameroon.
Facebook has been accused of blocking independent journalists in Cuba from sharing posts as opposition groups have called for protests to continue against the island's communist government.

The social media platform, whose parent company is now known as Meta, sends messages to journalists regularly, telling them that they cannot share messages, three different reporters told VOA. The journalists complain this prevents them from sharing information, which they say is crucial to their work.

It comes as Archipelago, an opposition group, attempted to stage a nationwide protest on November 15 even though the demonstration was prohibited by order of the Cuban government. Archipelago claimed that its supporters were unable to take to the streets because police and government supporters prevented them from leaving their homes.



Despite this, Archipelago called on protesters to continue their struggle by dressing in white, carrying white roses, creating personal videos and banging pots and pans until November 27.

The campaign coincides with the first anniversary of a demonstration in Cuba by hundreds of people protesting curbs on freedom of expression and the detention of artists and activists, in particular the Cuban rapper Denis Solis Gonzalez, which led to a rally outside the culture ministry.

The Cuban government has said that the November 15 demonstration was orchestrated by the U.S. government and failed because of a lack of popular support.

Independent journalists told VOA that their ability to report on events was hampered by being blocked at times from Facebook.

'No explanation'

Juan Manuel Moreno Borrego, who works for Comunitario Amanecer Habanero, an online news outlet that is not aligned with the Cuban government, has been effectively under house arrest along with his wife for months.

I cannot share messages on Facebook with people at times. I get a message saying that I was not permitted to do this, but there is no explanation. This is happening every two months or so, he told VOA by telephone from Havana. I am talking to you by WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook but it is autonomous. I think the government may have put pressure on Facebook to block us.

VOA contacted Meta for comment. Per our policies on spam, we restrict an individual's ability to repeatedly post the same content, which is what took place here, a spokesperson said in a written response. Any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate.

The platform strongly denied that Meta was restricting people's ability to post in groups because of pressure by a government. To the contrary, Meta said its apps give people an online voice.

Moreno said since the attempted demonstration by opposition groups on November 15, there are fewer police on the streets but the state pressure on independent journalists has not relented.

The state pressure has not been relaxed at all. It is less palpable but there are always people outside my house keeping watch, he said.

House arrest

Alberto Corzo, the director of the Cuban Institute for the Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP) on the island, has been under house arrest since thousands took to the streets in July in the largest demonstrations in decades.

ICLEP is an nongovernmental organization that has created a network of independent journalists in Cuba. Last week, police brought new charges against Corzo of public disorder, a crime that could bring a five-year prison term. He was accused of putting up posters that were critical of the Cuban government, an allegation he strongly denies.

This has been very tough for me and my family. I am stuck here at home waiting to hear the decision of the court, he told VOA from his home in Cuba's Matanzas province. I have had trouble with Facebook at times which stops me sharing posts to groups. Of course, this makes working more difficult but there are ways around it.

Like other Cuban journalists who work for independent media, Corzo uses social media to do his job. Corzo said he always deletes the links to the Facebook groups and his posts after he has sent them for security reasons.

Camila Acosta, a journalist who works for the Spanish daily newspaper ABC and Cubanet, a news website, has been under house arrest since she was detained after the street demonstrations.

I have been here in my house for four months or longer with people watching me from the corner of the block. I have to work from home. This is only possible because I can access social media, she said. At the start of the year, I was unable to get into Facebook. It blocked me. But I was able to restore access to it.

In an effort to ask the Cuban government about the treatment of independent journalists, VOA contacted the Cuban Embassy in Madrid and the International Press Center in Havana but did not receive a response.

Bruno Rodriguez, the Cuban foreign minister, said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that protests failed because of a lack of popular support.

The announced fall of the internet did not occur and there was no repression, no marches or militarization of the country, he tweeted later.

Analysts' view

The protest marches planned for November 15 would have coincided with the reopening of the country to tourism and schools after 20 months of lockdown because of the coronavirus epidemic. However, the Cuban government banned the marches because it was eager to avoid a repeat of the July protest, analysts have suggested.

The abuse of the reporting mechanism in social media as a means of censorship is extensive in many countries, and Cuba is one of them, Marianne Diaz Hernandez of Access Now, an international organization devoted to defending digital rights, told VOA.

Even though frequently the platform, in this case Facebook, may eventually restore their access after appeals, this is not always an option for many people since the appeal mechanism requires a level of access and comfort with technology and bureaucracy which can be out of reach for many people.

Diaz Hernandez added, In Cuba, even though access to the internet has opened up a bit in the past couple of years, it is still very expensive and not at all something which is available for everyone  which means that decisions like this take a larger toll for them than they would for other people in countries where access is more widely available.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.



An earlier version of this article provided the wrong first name of a journalist who works for Comunitario Amanecer Habanero and erroneously said he had twin sons.
War-hit Ethiopia has announced new rules against sharing information on battlefield outcomes in the war against Tigrayan rebels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government declared a nationwide state of emergency earlier this month as fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) advance towards the capital, the latest turn in a brutal year-long conflict.

International alarm is mounting about the escalating war in Africa's second most populous country, with anxious foreign governments urging their citizens to leave.

The new decree issued late Thursday said it was "forbidden to distribute in any communication systems any military movements, battlefield outcomes" that were not officially published by the government.

"Security forces will take necessary measures on those who have been found to violate" the order, it said in a possible warning to news outlets and social media accounts that have reported on rebel claims of territorial gains.

The government also barred residents from "using various types of media platforms to support directly or indirectly the terrorist group" -- a reference to the TPLF -- and warned of unspecified consequences for anyone who ignored the decree.

The state of emergency imposed on November 2 allows the authorities to conscript citizens who own weapons or suspend any media outlets believed to be "giving moral support directly or indirectly" to the TPLF.

The latest decree also bans anyone from calling "for a transitional government", days after a prominent opposition party, the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), issued a statement urging an end to the fighting and the establishment of an interim administration to facilitate dialogue.

"During the mandate of the interim administration, all parties will begin negotiations on the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government that shall last for 18 months. No major stakeholder shall be excluded from these negotiations," the OFC said Wednesday.

Ethiopia's war erupted in November 2020 when Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, sent troops into the Tigray region to topple its ruling party, the TPLF.

He said the move was in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps and promised a swift victory, but by late June the rebels had retaken most of Tigray, including its capital Mekele.

Since then, the TPLF has pushed into neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, and this week it claimed to have seized a town just 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Addis Ababa.

On Wednesday state media reported that Abiy, a former lieutenant-colonel in the military, had arrived at the front line to lead a counter-offensive, handing over regular duties to his deputy.

The fighting has killed thousands of people and driven hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions, according to U.N. estimates.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed Friday to "bury the enemy" in his first message from the battlefront, according to state media, as the U.N. warned the yearlong conflict has left millions short of food.

As Tigrayan rebels report major territorial gains, claiming this week to have seized a town 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Addis Ababa, international alarm over the escalating conflict has deepened, with foreign countries urging their citizens to leave.

State media reported Wednesday that Abiy, a former lieutenant colonel in the military, had arrived at the front line to lead a counteroffensive against the rebels, handing regular duties to his deputy.

In an interview shown Friday on the state-affiliated Oromia Broadcasting Corporation channel, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner said he was certain of achieving victory against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group.

"Until we bury the enemy  until Ethiopia's independence is confirmed, we won't reverse course," he said.

He added that the military had secured control of Kassagita and planned to recapture Chifra district and Burka town in Afar region, which neighbors Tigray, the TPLF's stronghold.

"The enemy doesn't have the standing to compete with us. We will win," he said.

The interview was broadcast hours after the government announced new rules Thursday against sharing information on battlefield outcomes that was not published by official channels, a move that could bring sanctions against journalists.

Hunger crisis

The war has exacted a huge humanitarian toll, with the U.N.'s World Food Program saying Friday that the number of people requiring food aid in the country's north had surged to more than 9 million.

Hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine as aid workers struggle to deliver urgently needed supplies to desperate populations in Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

The WFP said the situation had sharply deteriorated in recent months, with an estimated 9.4 million people facing hunger "as a direct result of ongoing conflict," compared with around 7 million in September.

"Amhara region - the front lines of the conflict in Ethiopia  has seen the largest jump in numbers with 3.7 million people now in urgent need of humanitarian aid," WFP said.

"Of the people across northern Ethiopia in need of assistance, more than 80% (7.8 million) of them are behind battle lines."

This week, aid workers were able to distribute food in the Amhara towns of Dessie and Kombolcha for the first time since they were captured by the TPLF nearly a month ago, the WFP said, adding that it was granted access to its warehouses only last week.

The risk of malnutrition has also increased across the three regions, with screening data showing rates between 16% and 28% for children, it said.

"Even more alarmingly, up to 50% of pregnant and breastfeeding women screened in Amhara and Tigray were also found to be malnourished."

Fighting has also damaged more than 500 health facilities in Amhara, the U.N.'s humanitarian agency OCHA said late Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken "expressed grave concern about worrying signs of military escalation" in Ethiopia during a telephone conversation with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday.

He also "emphasized the need to urgently move to negotiations" on the conflict, according to a statement from the State Department.

Airstrikes

As the war has dragged on, the government has stepped up its use of air power against the TPLF  one of the areas where it enjoys a military advantage.

On Friday the TPLF and a hospital official reported two airstrikes in Tigray's capital, Mekelle.

Dr. Hayelom Kebede, research director at Mekelle's Ayder Referral Hospital, told AFP the bombings occurred about 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) and 12:30 p.m., with the first one destroying two homes.

"Still waiting for the casualty report," he said.

Sources told AFP the first strike hit close to the house of a rebel commander and near a hill with an anti-aircraft machine gun.

Much of the conflict-affected zone is under a communications blackout and access for journalists is restricted, making battlefield claims difficult to verify.

Abiy's spokeswoman, Billene Seyoum, said she had no information about any drone strikes in Mekelle, which was recaptured by the rebels in June before they expanded into Amhara and Afar.

The war erupted in early November 2020 when Abiy deployed troops into Tigray, bringing to a head a long-simmering row with the TPLF, the region's ruling party.
European Union states have agreed to suspend travel from southern Africa after the detection of a new COVID-19 variant, the presidency of the EU said Friday.

A committee of health experts from all 27 EU states "agreed on the need to activate the emergency break & impose temporary restriction on all travel into EU from southern Africa," the Slovenian presidency of the EU said on Twitter.



Restrictions will apply to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said on Twitter.

An EU official said that EU governments have also been asked to discourage travel to those countries.

Each of the 27 EU countries is free to apply the new measures when it prefers. Some are already applying restrictions.

EU officials said that no decision had yet been made on other countries in other parts of the world where cases were detected, which include Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium, an EU country.

Global alarm

The new coronavirus variant, first detected in South Africa, has caused global alarm as researchers seek to find out if it is vaccine-resistant.

Marc Van Ranst, the virologist who detected the new variant in Belgium, told Reuters it was more likely the infected woman had contracted the variant in Belgium rather than while traveling outside Europe.

She had been in Egypt earlier in November but developed symptoms only 11 days after her return to Belgium. She is not vaccinated.

Switzerland imposed on Friday a requirement of 10-day quarantine and a negative test for travelers from Belgium, Israel and Hong Kong, in addition to travel bans on southern African countries.
Top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said Friday that a ban on flights from southern Africa was a possibility and the United States was rushing to gather data on the new COVID-19 variant.



No decision to halt flights had yet been made, he said. The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said White House officials were discussing potential travel restrictions on southern African countries. Those officials were expected to meet with agency officials Friday afternoon to make a recommendation, the newspaper said, without specifying which agency.



The White House referred to Fauci's earlier comments when asked about the report and declined further comment. Global authorities have reacted with alarm to the new variant, detected in South Africa, with the European Union and Britain among those tightening border controls as scientists seek to find out if the mutation is vaccine-resistant.



The World Health Organization (WHO), however, has cautioned against hasty measures and South Africa said a British ban on flights seemed rushed.



"There is always the possibility of doing what the UK has done, namely block travel from South Africa and related countries," Fauci said in an interview on CNN.



"That's certainly something you think about and get prepared to do. You're prepared to do everything you need to protect the American public. But you want to make sure there's a basis for doing that," he said.



"Obviously as soon as we find out more information we'll make a decision as quickly as we possibly can."



Fauci said U.S. scientists would speak with South African counterparts Friday about the new variant, called B.1.1.529, which has raised concern about its transmissibility and whether it might evade immune responses.



He added there was no indication the new variant was already in the United States.




France and Britain appealed Thursday for European assistance, promised stepped-up efforts to combat people-smuggling networks, and traded blame and barbs in the wake of this week's tragedy in the English Channel that again shone a light on the scale and complexity of Europe's migration problems.

At least 27 migrants drowned Wednesday after their inflatable dinghy capsized as they tried to cross the channel. It was the deadliest migration accident to date on the dangerous stretch of sea, a busy shipping lane crisscrossed by hulking freighters and frequently beset by treacherous weather, waves and currents.

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed to neighboring European countries to do more to stop illegal migration into France, saying that when migrants reach French shores with hopes of heading on to Britain, "it is already too late."

Macron said France was deploying army drones as part of new efforts to patrol its northern coastline and help rescue migrants at sea. But he also said that a greater collective effort was needed, referring to France as a "transit country" for Britain-bound migrants.

"We need to strengthen cooperation with Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, but also the British and the [European] Commission," he said on a visit to Croatia. "We need stronger European cooperation."

Ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain and EU officials will meet Sunday to discuss increasing efforts to crack down on migrant-smuggling networks, Macron's government announced.

They will convene in Calais, one of the French coastal towns where migrants gather, looking for ways to cross to the British coast, which is visible from France on clear days.

Macron described the dead in Wednesday's sinking as "victims of the worst system, that of smugglers and human traffickers."

Ever-increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are risking the perilous journey from France, hoping to win asylum or find better opportunities in Britain. The crossings have tripled this year, compared with 2020.

The French prosecutors office tasked with investigating the sinking said the dead included 17 men, seven women, and two boys and one girl thought to be teenagers. Magistrates were investigating potential charges of homicide, unintentional wounding, assisting illegal migration and criminal conspiracy, the prosecutors office said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said two survivors were treated for hypothermia; one is Iraqi and the other is Somali. He said authorities were working to determine the victims' nationalities.

Macron's government vowed to bring those responsible for the tragedy to justice, piling pressure on investigators. Darmanin announced the arrests of five alleged smugglers who he said were suspected of being linked to the sinking. The prosecutors office investigating the deaths confirmed five arrests since Wednesday but said they didn't appear to be linked to its probe.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Macron spoke after the tragedy and agreed "to keep all options on the table to stop these lethal crossings and break the business model of the criminal gangs behind them," Johnson's office said.

Macron advocated an immediate funding boost for the European Union's border agency, Frontex, according to his office.
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On Healthy Living this week, we delve into insomnia, a common sleep disorder. Dr. Kissah Mwambene, a Psychiatrist in Namibia, shares some tips on how to address the disorder. And in our Ecowatch segment, we look at how one school in Johannesburg is tackling hunger and unemployment since the Covid-19 pandemic began. These topics and more on the show this week.
A 17-month-old standoff between India and China in the Himalayan border region of Ladakh is imperiling the six-century-old Pashmina wool industry, which employs almost three-quarters of a million people, according to industry leaders.

Soldiers from the two countries stood eye to eye in the disputed region for more than a year after a June 2020 clash in the Galwan valley of eastern Ladakh that left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead, according to reports, and tensions remain high.

The dispute has cut off almost all access to pastureland around the area where Ladakhi nomads have long herded an estimated 250,000 Pashmina-producing Changthangi goats at altitudes above 4,200 meters.

The Indian army is not allowing the shepherds to go to the high altitudes for the grazing and hence it has affected the production of the wool, said Zakir Hussain Zaidi, a businessman based in Leh, the largest town in the union territory of Ladakh, who procures the wool directly from nomads.

Pashmina wool, the finest version of cashmere, is six times thinner than human hair and highly prized in the international market. While most of the worlds cashmere comes from Mongolia, an authenticated hand-embroidered Kashmiri Pashmina scarf can sell for several thousand dollars in the United States and Europe.

Pashmina exporter Abdul Hamid Punjabi, a former president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told VOA the border friction is just the latest problem to beset Pashmina fiber production.

Other factors include lockdowns due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and Indias abrupt move in 2019 to abrogate Article 370, which provided a degree of autonomy to the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir where much of the wool is processed. The move was accompanied by a massive security clampdown and prolonged curfew.

Both the lockdowns and the curfew have severely impacted all aspects of the Kashmiri economy, including the Pashmina sector, according to Sheikh Ashiq, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Sluggish global demand and poor quality control by some traders have also contributed to a decline in Pashmina sales, said Mahmood Ahmad Shah, director of Handicrafts and Handloom Kashmir. He told VOA that exports of the prized shawls have declined from $41 million in 2018-19 to just $23.16 million in 2020-21.

Mujtaba Kadri, founding director of the luxury international cashmere brand Me&K, blames the industrys decline in part on the low wages offered by manufacturers to weavers and artisans.

At an individual level I am trying my best and pay 50% more to my artisans compared to what others pay, said Kadri, who employs more than 300 women as spinners and runs programs for women to learn to work on spinning wheels known as charkhas.

Pashmina industry leaders responded to the mounting crisis last summer by founding the Kashmir Pashmina Organization to advocate for their interests. The president of the association, Mubashir Ahmad Shaw, told VOA that prices for raw Pashmina will rise because of the border friction, affecting the well-being of about 700,000 people who are associated with the trade.

The price of a kilogram of raw Pashmina has already risen from $37 to $47, according to Junaid Shahdhar, executive managing director at the Pashmina manufacturing and marketing company Phamb Fashions Pvt Ltd.



The industry problems are reverberating in Ladakh, where an estimated 1,600 to 1,700 nomadic families maintain a hardscrabble existence rearing the Changthangi goats that produce the precious fiber.

They are living a very hard life and their children dont want to continue with it, said Konchok Stanzin, a councilor representing a border constituency on the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.

Stanzin recently presented a list of demands to Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, requesting an allotment of land in the city of Leh for border residents who are finding life is no longer viable near the tense Line of Control that separates India from China.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the location of the town of Leh, which is in the union territory of Ladakh.
India, the worlds second most populous country, has reached a key demographic milestone as birth rates drop below replacement level, according to a government survey. That means, although Indias population is still on track to overtake Chinas sometime this decade, its growth has begun to slow.

That is welcome news for a country where a burgeoning population, around 1.38 billion at present, has long been seen as a hinderance to development and a huge strain on resources.

Indias National Family Health Survey, released this week, shows the country's 2019 to 2021 fertility rate dropped to 2.0. That is considered a key threshold for declining numbers -- countries where less than 2.1 children are born per woman indicate that a generation is not producing enough children to replace itself and marks the first key step in an eventual reduction in population.

Its taken the wind out of the misconception that Indias population is exploding and we need a two-child norm policy as proposed by some policymakers, says Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India. We are well towards stabilizing our population, so instead of blaming population for our ills, we have to accelerate the gains made and focus on investing in health, education and skills for young people.

Significant progress has been made in recent years to reduce fertility rates, according to researchers, it stood at 2.2 in 2015. They point to declining levels of poverty and improved family health services that helped increase the use of contraceptives in the country, including in its vast rural areas.

Experts says key contributors were an improvement in socio-economic conditions for millions over the last two decades, a higher age of marriage for many women and a shift toward urbanization  the urban fertility rate at 1.6 shows that women living in cities appear to be opting for smaller families.

It is a very good sign for a populous country like India, said Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, head of population policies at the Mumbai-based International Institute for Population Studies. It means that we no longer need to make an extra effort to lower the population, except in states where it is still relatively high. It does not need to be a priority concern.

Indias rapidly growing population has long posed a challenge  it has increased nearly four times since it gained independence in 1947, when it was home to about 350 million people.

Much of the population was added by lesser developed, poorer northern states with lower education levels, while southern states, where literacy levels improved more swiftly, slowed their population growth rates faster.

Although three populous northern Indian states, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, and two northeastern states, Meghalaya and Manipur, still have a higher birth rate compared to the rest of the country, they are also making progress, according to public health experts.

Seven years ago, the government began focusing on high fertility districts in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and worked with women. That really made an impact, says Muttreja. Also, I think girls and women have become much more aspirational and want to have fewer children. They want to invest in themselves and the children. The key going ahead will be womens education because that is undoubtedly the best contraceptive pill.

India has run a voluntary family welfare program for decades, but coercive methods aimed at curbing the population were used briefly in the 1970s when Prime Minister Indira Gandhis government carried out a controversial mass sterilization program.

In recent years, demographics have emerged as a polarizing issue with Hindu groups pointing to a higher birth rate among Muslims, the countrys largest minority.

Earlier this year, Indias largest states, Uttar Pradesh and Assam, both ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, unveiled controversial bills for curbing population growth. The proposed legislation would deny government jobs, promotions, subsidies and the right to contest local elections to anyone who has more than two children. Other states ruled by the BJP have said they were also mulling similar legislation to push for smaller families.

In an editorial, the Indian Express newspaper said the surveys recent findings were a resounding repudiation of politicians and policymakers who have, of late, been crying hoarse about population explosion.

There were some other positive results. India, where a deep-seated preference for boys has skewed the gender ratio at birth and led to concerns about its missing girls, now has 929 girls born for 1000 boys, up marginally from 919 five years ago.

The United Nations has forecast that India will edge past China by 2027, but if the lowered fertility rates persist, the date when India will become the worlds most populous nation could be delayed, according to demographers.
Kenya has not banned travel to southern Africa but its Ministry of Health says it will carefully screen people arriving from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong for the new COVID variant discovered in South Africa.

The Kenyan government directs passengers arriving from southern African countries to take the COVID test before being allowed into the country.



South Africa and Botswana have reported a new variant in their countries that scientists say is highly transmittable and vaccine resistant.



Kenyas Director General for Health Patrick Amoth told VOA his country is on high alert to combat the new variant.

"We are working to ensure that our surveillance system is top-notch and looking specifically at people coming from South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong to put them through a robust surveillance system," said Amoth. "We insist on having you fully vaccinated before you come to the country. And you also need to have a negative PCR test taken 96 hours before your arrival in the country.



This week, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta traveled to South Africa, where he signed deals to boost trade and economic cooperation between the two countries,



To combat the spread of the virus in the population, the East African nation launched a ten-day mass vaccination campaign Friday. Kenya has vaccinated at least 6.5 million people.



Amoth says they have enough vaccines to inoculate even more.

"Its part of the ongoing vaccination process and we wanted to scale up in view of the events that are happening in Europe and the rest of the world," said Amoth. "So to ensure we reach herd immunity and the entire population is protected and now we have more vaccines available we thought to be able to scale up so that we can be able to reach more people.

Amoth expressed confidence that more Kenyans will get vaccinated.

"For example, yesterday we vaccinated close to 111,000 people from the previous daily rate of about 50,000-60,000," said Amoth. "So Kenyans are enthusiastic to be able to take the vaccine and also now this emerging information we believe will sway the public opinion towards going for the vaccine instead of vaccine hesitancy.

Kenya has a policy of not providing government services to unvaccinated people as a way of encouraging them to get inoculated.

Kenya hopes to vaccinate 10 million people by the end of the year.
Aboubacar shared tea and sugary snacks with his colleagues gathered on a mat at a United Nations camp in battle-scarred Mali.

He speaks plainly but with a hint of irony about his transformation from a tour guide with 14 years of experience, until 2014 when he became a front-line military interpreter.

After the war upended his business, he sought work as a translator for the British contingent of the U.N.'s mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

"Before we were protecting the white tourists, but now it's the whites who protect us in the bush," he said with a smile.

There are dozens of others like him who work with the British blue helmets every day, speaking Tamasheq, Songhai or Arabic.

He pulled a scarf over his nose, donned dark glasses and became almost unrecognizable.

"It's very different from what we did before, but the goal is the same: to show the country to foreigners," said Aboubacar, an alias to protect him and his colleagues.

There were numerous tour guides in the region during the golden age of tourism in the 1990s and 2000s.

They took visitors to see the famed mosque at Djenne, the manuscripts of Timbuktu and to bathe in the Banfora waterfalls in Burkina Faso, among other places.

But they lost their livelihoods in the 2010s when separatist movements and jihadi groups unleashed a cycle of deadly violence that made the region, rich in heritage and natural beauty, too dangerous for tourists.

Most did not find other work.

From tourists to troops

After several years of unemployment, Aboubacar followed a friend's advice and used the English he learned guiding tourists to approach the U.N. He flew to their base at Gao, which is home to the peacekeepers as well as French forces.

Now he is an intermediary with the local population, dressed in a large army jacket and weaving in and out of the bush in armored vehicles.

He makes introductions, explains the armed foreigners' mandate and the significance of their U.N. blue helmets.

A day later, under a leafy tree offering the only shade around, Aboubacar's colleague Moussa approached armed men whose firearms permits the force wanted to check.

Jovial and tactile, he held the shoulders of one member of the armed group, giving the impression more of a gathering of old friends than a tense encounter colored by suspicion.

Essential to UNs job

Having the translators "is absolutely central for us to do our job," said Pierre Russell of the British Army Long Range Reconnaissance Group.

"We go out and speak to the local population and without their ability to communicate in up to five or six different languages we wouldn't be able to do our job."

The total number of interpreters working with foreign forces is unknown. The dozen who spoke to AFP described a translator corps several hundred in number.

Back at the U.N. base, there were lively discussions.

There is nostalgia for a simpler era, when "life was good" and whites came with cameras in hand.

There are some in Mali who have criticized the intervention of the U.N. and France in a country where the presence of foreign forces has previously proved controversial.

"Obviously we see things, but we keep our opinions to ourselves," Moussa said.

'Feed our families'

There is also fear that once the foreign forces leave, the Malian interpreters could face a similar fate to those who supported Western forces in Afghanistan and were suddenly left to their fate after the Taliban takeover.

In the Sahel, "either we resolve the problem and are congratulated  or the jihadists will still be there after the departure of the foreigners and we'll have to leave," Youssouf said, wistfully.

He now runs a small business employing interpreters who served with the British blue helmets.

The mood turns when the interpreters recount how some of their number have been accused of being traitors.

Some hide their work from their families, allowing them to believe they simply work in the U.N. camps as contractors like many other local people.

"We have to feed our families," Youssouf said.
At Americas southern border, pandemic-related restrictions continue to block most migrants from filing claims for asylum in the United States. New arrivals, including large numbers of children, have settled into border encampments and shelters hoping for a change in U.S. policy.



As the months drag on, one organization has marshaled former teachers among the tent dwellers to give daily classes for migrant children.



The Sidewalk School for Children Asylum Seekers started almost three years ago as a Texas couples effort to keep up with the humanitarian crisis on the border. This month it officially registered as a U.S. nonprofit organization and opened its largest school yet. Some 10 teachers are providing instruction to roughly 500 children in three massive tents erected in a squalid encampment a few blocks away from the bridge linking Reynosa, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, to Hidalgo, Texas.

Under one of those tents, 36-year-old Josue Herman Sanchez Mendoza spoke into a microphone in front of dozens of students, ages 10 to 17, who had gathered for a social science class. He talked about a set of virtues the students should embrace: honesty, patience, tolerance, respect, generosity and willpower.



If we dont practice our values, our lives will be more difficult, Sanchez told the students seated in rows atop foam mats on the ground.



Sanchez used to be an academic, an investigator at the Honduran Institute for Anthropology and History. Then he and his family, like his students and their parents, abandoned their homes and made a treacherous weeks-long journey to the U.S. border.

Sanchez said he paid various traffickers a total of $17,500 for his family of five to travel a month across Mexico. They hiked hidden jungle trails and congested roads. They stood for 72 hours in a jam-packed bus and rode 36 hours in a sweltering truck trailer with 40 other people and no bathroom. They waited five days in one hiding house and four days in another.



Its the kids who most suffer. As an adult I understand that Im a refugee, but a child doesnt, Sanchez said. A child just says, Im hungry, Im cold, I want to bathe. A parent feels impotent.



About a month after they left home, Sanchez and his family floated across the Rio Grande on inflatable rafts and scrambled to U.S. territory. U.S. Border Patrol found them and their group, processed them and drove them to the Hidalgo-Reynosa bridge in late September.



Since then Sanchez has lived in the camp, eating simple food provided by local churches and helping the Sidewalk School organize daily instruction, which began earlier this month. He now teaches social science classes every day.

The Sidewalk School came about in 2019 when Felicia Rangel and Victor Cavazos of Brownsville, Texas, started organizing short informal classes on a sidewalk near a camp in Matamoros, Mexico, 90 kilometers from Reynosa.



The project has since raised more than $300,000 in grant funding. It serves food every day at the camp in Reynosa, sponsors 11 portable bathrooms there and pays rent on about 20 apartments for vulnerable asylum seekers and office space across the street from the camp in Reynosa. It also runs four smaller school projects in the area.



Rangel, 45, said shes met four times with Biden administration officials, in person or by video call, to answer questions about the situation across the border. U.S. government funding for the project has been requested but has yet to materialize, Rangel said.



There are so many things we have to do every day just to keep people going, to keep alive their hope, she added.



For many people, hope was wearing thin in the camp as winter months approached and the U.S. showed no sign of relaxing a ban on processing migrant asylum petitions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Imposed by the former Trump administration, the policy, called Title 42, has continued under the Biden administration with an exception for unaccompanied minors.

The day after a cold rain had soaked the camp and forced classes to be canceled, Larisa Michel Flories kicked off her lower-level Spanish class by speaking into a bullhorn. A former staffer of a Honduras-based NGO that counsels children at risk of criminal involvement, she now lives in the border camp where hundreds of blankets and clothes hung to drip dry after the deluge.



How was yesterday? she asked her class cheerfully.



Bad, more than 50 kids shouted back.



But without the school and the rudimentary instruction it provides, the responses might have been worse.
Germany will have a new government next month after three parties agreed this week to form a coalition, ousting the ruling Christian Democrats, the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel. The new government faces an early test of foreign policy, as Russia has deployed tens of thousands of troops on Europe's eastern borders.

Members of the Social Democratic Pary, or SDP, which narrowly won the highest vote share in September's election, agreed to lead a coalition alongside the Green party and the Free Democrats. SDP leader Olaf Scholz, who will be Germany's next chancellor, pledged to strengthen Germany's existing alliances in a speech Wednesday.

"Our friendship with France, our partnership with the United States, and a commitment to peace and prosperity in the world are the pillars on which our foreign policy is based," Scholz said in Berlin.

That peace appears increasingly fragile on Europe's eastern borders. Russia has deployed around 90,000 troops alongside military hardware close to its border with Ukraine and continues to support separatist rebels in Ukraine's Donbass region.

On Thursday, Merkel warned of tougher sanctions.

"Any further aggression against the sovereignty of Ukraine would carry a high price. That's totally clear," she told reporters.

Support for Belarus

Russia is also supporting Belarus, which Europe accuses of manufacturing a migrant crisis on its border with Poland. So how will Germany's new government deal with these immediate security challenges?

Scholz has yet to detail his policy toward Russia. The 177-page coalition agreement restates strong German support for NATO as the basis of European security, noted Liana Fix, the program director for international affairs at the Korber-Stiftung analyst group in Berlin.

"Broadly, there's continuity, but what is interesting is that there's also quite a strong rhetoric when it comes to supporting civil society in Russia, and also quite a strong rhetoric when it comes to countering the autocratic challenge that is coming from Russia. And here you definitely see the footprint of the Green party which has entered the coalition," Fix told VOA.

Green party leader Annalena Baerbock will be Germany's next foreign minister. A first major decision will be to approve the opening of the completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, which critics fear could be used by the Kremlin to blackmail Europe. The U.S. recently tightened sanctions on Russian companies involved in its construction.

"The Greens, that were at the beginning actually opposed to Nord Stream 2, did not want to use their political capital to enforce a stop of Nord Stream 2 in the coalition treaty," Fix said.

What of the personal relationships? Merkel was raised in East Germany under communism and speaks fluent Russian. "This gave her special access to the Russian president," Fix told VOA. "Olaf Scholz doesn't have this background, but he's very much aware of the situation, where he always argued that 'might does not make right' and that this is one of the bases for his understanding of foreign policy and also of policy towards Russia."

'The world will change'

In his speech Wednesday after striking the coalition agreement, Scholz said Germany must be ready for a new world order.

"The world will change," he said. "It will become multipolar, which means there will be many strong countries and powers across the globe which will have influence on what happens in the future."

For now, much of the new government's focus will be on the soaring coronavirus infection rate at home. In Germany this week, COVID-19-related deaths surpassed 100,000 since the start of the pandemic, a grim milestone as the coalition prepares to take the reins of power in December.
A nighttime curfew entered into force in the Solomon Islands' restive capital of Honiara on Friday, after a third day of violence that saw the prime minister's home come under attack and swathes of the city reduced to smoldering ruins.

Police fired warning shots and tear gas to scatter rioters who marched on the house of embattled leader Manasseh Sogavare in the east of the usually sleepy seaside capital.

The mob set fire to at least one nearby building before being driven back towards the city center, AFP reporters witnessed.

Later, freshly arrived Australian police and soldiers moved to restore order, protecting critical infrastructure and providing a highly visible and heavily armed presence on the streets.

As rain fell in the early evening, local authorities moved to stamp out the embers of violence, declaring a night-time curfew in Honiara that will remain in force "until revoked."

Mobs had ignored an earlier 36-hour lockdown, with thousands of people -- some brandishing axes and knives -- roaming through the city's Chinatown, Point Cruz and business districts, according to AFP correspondents on the scene.

The explosion of violence is partly a result of frustrations with Sogavare's government and chronic unemployment -- made worse by a 2-year-old pandemic.

"Most people are barely getting one meal a day, there are no tourists and very little economic stimulus," Douglas Kelson, chief officer at St John Ambulance Service, told AFP.

"People do things they normally wouldn't when they are hungry," Kelson said, though he had seen very few injuries.

'Living in fear'

After three days of mayhem, large areas of the capital were charred by the flames even if the rioters ignited fewer blazes than on previous days.

The scorched-black shells of buildings lined one fire-scarred street and three incinerated trucks were left stranded in the road as young men walked past.

"We are living in fear," resident Josephine Teakeni told AFP.

"At the moment it is very hard... children will be missing out from schools, lots of mothers will be jobless."

Solomon Islands Red Cross Secretary-General Clement Manuri said Australian police had helped to disperse rioters armed with rocks outside his office.

Many of those in the streets lived in informal settlements near Chinatown and had been drinking alcohol, Manuri said.

In Chinatown itself, a large warehouse was set alight Friday, causing an explosion that sent scores of people fleeing from the scene in panic.

A tobacco warehouse was also torched as smoke from previous days' fires cast parts of the devastated city of 80,000 people in an acrid haze.

The overrun Royal Solomon Islands Police Force said they had made just two arrests, despite two police stations being among the many buildings burned.

'Brought to its knees'

The roughly 100 Australian peacekeepers arrived overnight, just hours after Sogavare begged neighbors for urgent help.

In a letter obtained by AFP, Sogavare told his Papua New Guinea counterpart James Marape that "certain elements" had "attempted to overthrow a democratically elected government" and called for peacekeepers to be sent for a "period of three to four weeks.

Papua New Guinea agreed to send 34 peacekeepers to help staunch the violence.

In an address to the nation Sogavare told citizens the Solomons had been "brought to its knees" by the rioting but vowed to resist calls for his resignation.

The pro-Beijing leader claimed foreign powers opposed to his 2019 decision to switch the Solomons' diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China were behind the disturbances.

Experts say the crisis has also been fueled by long-standing animosity between residents of the most populous island Malaita and the central government based on the island of Guadalcanal.

The archipelago nation of around 700,000 people has for decades endured ethnic and political tensions.

Malaita residents have long complained that their island is neglected by the central government, and divisions intensified when Sogavare recognized Beijing in 2019.

China's government on Friday condemned the violence and vowed to "safeguard the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and institutions.
Editor's note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.



UN Libya Envoy Resigns One Month Before Elections:



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted his Libya envoys resignation Tuesday, just a month before presidential and parliamentary elections are due to take place in that country. The U.N. Security Council threatened sanctions Wednesday against anyone who undermines the vote or instigates violence.



UN Security Council Threatens Sanctions Against Libya Election Spoilers





New COVID-19 Variant Raises Concerns:



The World Health Organizations technical working group meets Friday to discuss the emergence of a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa. Several countries have already suspended travel from South Africa and several neighboring nations over transmission fears.



South African Scientists Detect New Virus Variant; WHO to Assess It





Sudan PM Returns Under Controversial Deal:



Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was released from house arrest Tuesday following the October 25 military coup. In a deal agreed upon Sunday, he is to lead a government of technocrats in a power-sharing transition with the military. Thousands of citizens oppose the move and took to the streets Thursday.



Thousands Protest in Sudan Against Deal Between Prime Minister, Military



News in Brief:



U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres traveled to Colombia this week, where he participated Wednesday in commemorations marking the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Final Peace Agreement between the government of Colombia and the former FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). He met separately with President Ivan Duque, as well as with ex-FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, now president of the Comunes political party, as well as civil society representatives.



As the security situation in Ethiopia continues to deteriorate, the United Nations said Tuesday that out of an abundance of caution it is temporarily moving the dependents of its international staff out of the country. The U.N. has just over a thousand international personnel and dependents in the country. Staff will remain to carry out their work.



Some Good News:



The U.N. has been struggling for more than a month to get any aid into northern Ethiopias Tigray region where more than 5 million people are suffering under a de facto government blockade. On Wednesday, the U.N. said it was finally able to move nearly 40 aid-laden trucks into the region, as well as resume humanitarian air cargo flights that had been suspended due to air strikes last month. However, the U.N. says 500 trucks of aid supplies are needed weekly to meet needs in Tigray.



Quote of Note:



Violence against women is an existing global crisis that thrives on other crises. Conflict, climate-related natural disasters, food insecurity and human rights violations all contribute to women and girls living with a sense of danger, even in their own homes, neighborhoods, or communities. The COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated isolation and social distancing, enabled a second, shadow pandemic of violence against women and girls, where they often found themselves in lockdown with their abusers.



Sima Bahous, U.N. Women executive director on Thursday, launching the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.



What we are watching next week:



On Wednesday (December 1), the U.N. General Assemblys 9-member credentials committee will meet. This panel reviews and approves who represents nations at the world body. It will have two thorny credentials to review: Myanmars military junta wants to replace the previous democratically elected governments envoy with one of their own, and Afghanistans Taliban also seeks to do the same. Neither group has received international recognition as those countrys formal governments.
An expedition to find lost shipwrecks on Australias Great Barrier Reef begins Friday. The voyage is part of the Great Reef Census, one of the worlds largest marine citizen science projects.

Conservationists estimate there are up to 900 shipwrecks on the Great Barrier Reef, but only 150 have been found. Shallow water in some parts of the reef off northeastern Australia and the regions susceptibility to storms and cyclones have made seafaring perilous.

Volunteers discovered three shipwrecks last year while surveying the worlds largest coral system. The expedition, which ends Dec. 1, is returning to Five Reefs and the Great Detached Reef, remote regions that are rarely visited, to gather more data and hunt for other wrecks. Onboard the boat are conservationists, scientists and a marine archaeologist.

Andy Ridley, the chief executive of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, the organization that runs the survey, said last year's discovery was an unforgettable experience.

The first mate on the boat was floating over the top of a reef from one side to the other and noticed there were river stones in the water, and, you know, round stones on the top of a coral reef is unusual, he said. We realized it was ballast from an old ship. We discovered one of what we think is three 200-year-old wrecks on that particular reef in the far northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It was kind of one of the most exciting things Ive ever done in my entire life. It was like one of those kind of boyhood kind of dreams.

Scientists, tourists, divers and sailors are contributing to this years Great Reef Census.

They are taking thousands of pictures that will help document the health of a reef system that faces various threats, such as climate change, overfishing and pollution.

The images will be analyzed early next year by an international army of online volunteers who, in the past, have included children from Jakarta, Indonesia, a church group in Chicago, and citizen scientists from Colombia.

In 2020, its first year, the survey, which runs from early October to late December, collected 14,000 images.

The Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage Area. It stretches for 2,300 kilometers down northeastern Australia and is the size of Germany.

It comprises 3,000 individual reefs, is home to 10% of the worlds fish species and is the only living thing visible from space.
A new report warns that Australia's native wildlife is in the grip of an unprecedented alien attack. Experts at the national science agency, the CSIRO, are predicting that much of the countrys unique flora and fauna is in danger of disappearing by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

Nonnative species have invaded Australia and threaten to overrun indigenous plants and animals.

Invasive pests include European rabbits, which infest two-thirds of Australia, feral cats, pigs, foxes and cane toads.

Introduced species are endangering more than 80% of Australias threatened species.

A report, Fighting Plagues and Predators: Australias Path Towards a Pest and Weed-Free Future, highlights what researchers believe is a looming wave of new extinctions.

The study was compiled by the CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, a government agency.

Andy Sheppard, CSIRO's research director for biosecurity, said Australias colonization by the British more than 200 years ago has left a devastating environmental legacy.

Look, Australia, as a lot of post-British colonial countries suffered from a huge amount of introduction of exotic species early in their colonization histories, he said. You know, there were societies set up to deliberately introduce stuff so that the Europeans felt more at home. Australia just like New Zealand has suffered enormously as a result. Australia unfortunately has the worst record internationally for mammalian extinction, and that is largely to do with the activities of feral cats and feral foxes.

The report released Tuesday estimated the cost of the damage caused by invasive species in Australia  mostly weeds, feral cats, rabbits and fire ants  at about $18 billion dollars each year and growing.

The study said that urgent, decisive, coordinated action was needed to stop the spread of invasive species and protect Australias irreplaceable native animals and plants.

Traditionally, chemical baits and biological controls have been used to manage feral pest populations. The methods are controversial, and some animal welfare advocates have criticized them as inhumane.

Scientists in Australia are working on genetic pest control techniques. Testing is under way on mice, but a so-called working system could be up to five years away. One potential biocontrol involves disrupting the breeding cycles of rodents to limit their ability to reproduce.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday classified the B.1.1.529 variant detected in South Africa as a SARS-CoV-2 "variant of concern," saying it may spread more quickly than other forms.

Preliminary evidence suggested there is an increased risk of reinfection and there had been a "detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology," it said in a statement after a closed meeting of independent experts who reviewed the data.

Infections in South Africa had risen steeply in recent weeks, coinciding with detection of the variant now designated as omicron, WHO said.

"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other (variants of concern), it said.

Omicron is the fifth variant to carry such a designation. "This variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage," the WHO said.

Current PCR tests continue to successfully detect the variant, it said.

Earlier, the WHO cautioned countries against hastily imposing travel restrictions linked to the variant of COVID-19, saying they should take a "risk-based and scientific approach."

Global authorities reacted with alarm to the new variant detected in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as scientists sought to find out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant.

"At this point, implementing travel measures is being cautioned against," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. "The WHO recommends that countries continue to apply a risk-based and scientific approach when implementing travel measures."

It would take several weeks to determine the variant's transmissibility and the effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutics against it, he said, noting that 100 sequences of the variant have been reported so far.

People should continue to wear masks whenever possible, avoid large gatherings, ventilate rooms and maintain hand hygiene, Lindmeier added.

Mike Ryan, WHO's emergency director, praised South African public health institutions for picking up the signal of the new variant.

But he warned that while some countries had systems in place to do this, the situation elsewhere was often unclear.

"So, it's really important that there are no knee-jerk responses here. Especially with relation to South Africa," he said. "Because we've seen in the past, the minute that there is any mention of any kind of variation, then everyone is closing borders and restricting travel."
With the Northern Hemisphere heading into winter and COVID-19 cases on the rise across Europe and North America, political leaders from Washington to Brussels are struggling to persuade a pandemic-weary public to get vaccinated against the disease that has killed more than 5 million people and sickened hundreds of millions around the world.

In the United States, a high-profile push by President Joe Biden to force all businesses with more than 100 employees to require workers to get vaccinated or submit to regular testing is snarled in court challenges. Across Europe this week, protests, some violent, flared as various governments announced that they would implement stricter measures to combat the disease, including many that limit the ability of unvaccinated people to take an active part in public life.

Worldwide, countries have responded to the continued presence of COVID-19, now nearly two years after it was first detected, with a variety of measures, from blanket vaccine mandates for all eligible individuals to more targeted requirements for people at particular risk, like health care workers.

Plentiful vaccines, variable uptake

According to Johns Hopkins Universitys Coronavirus Resource Center, nearly 7.5 billion doses of vaccine have been administered since shots became available. Those doses have not been spread evenly around the world. The bulk of vaccines have been purchased by wealthy countries, like the United States and much of Europe.

That would seem to suggest that Europe and North America would be well protected from a winter surge of the virus, but even among countries where vaccines are plentiful, the percentage of the population that has chosen to get vaccinated against COVID-19 varies sharply.

According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, only 59.7% of the American public is fully vaccinated, compared with 76.9% in Canada and 50.4% in Mexico. In Europe, vaccine uptake varies widely, from 86.9% in Portugal to just 12.6% in Armenia.

In Central Europe, cases are spiking in Germany and Denmark, where the rates of vaccination are 68.1% and 76.4%, respectively. Both countries are well above the global average in the percentage of people vaccinated, indicating that the disease can still spread rapidly, even where vaccination rates are relatively high.

This has leaders around the world searching for ways to compel more people to get vaccinated, with varied success.

Different approaches to vaccination

A handful of countries  Indonesia, Micronesia, and Turkmenistan  have implemented blanket requirements that all adults receive a vaccination.

This week, Austria became the first European country to announce that vaccination will be compulsory, with a requirement that all adults be vaccinated by February. The announcement came as the government announced it would be enforcing a fourth national lockdown to reduce the spread of the virus, prompting protests across the country.

Many other countries have taken a less extensive approach, tying vaccination status to the ability to work and take part in public activities, including going to restaurants, concerts, and other events.

With other European countries announcing stricter limits on what the unvaccinated are able to do, as well as broader restrictions on public life in general, protests broke out this week in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Croatia, among other nations.

Many European countries have adopted a vaccine passport system that limits access to public venues to people who can show proof of vaccination or of recent recovery from COVID-19.

Government employees face requirements

Among the most common measures being taken around the globe is the requirement that government employees be vaccinated in order to remain in their jobs. In addition to the U.S., countries with a requirement that public sector workers be vaccinated include Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

Of those, many have added a mandate for private sector workers as a whole; others have limited the requirement to private sector workers who deal with customers.

Some countries, among them Denmark, France, Lebanon, Morocco, and the Netherlands, have limited mandates to health care workers but have implemented restrictions on the activities of the unvaccinated.

US vaccine resistance

In the United States, President Bidens attempt to require private businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccination or testing is in limbo. The proposal, which would take effect in January, would affect about 84 million U.S. workers, on top of existing mandates on health care workers, federal employees and contractors, and the U.S. military.

However, the push by the Democratic president has been met with pushback from Republican politicians across the country. Multiple Republican state attorneys general have filed lawsuits to stop the mandate from coming into force. A federal judge placed a stay on the mandate, preventing its enforcement.

The cases have been consolidated before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Cincinnati, where the Biden administration is requesting that the stay on the mandate be lifted.

Supreme Court-bound

Brian Dean Abramson, an adjunct professor of vaccine law at Florida International University and the author of the BloombergLaw/American Health Law Association treatise Vaccine, Vaccination, and Immunization Law, told VOA that the fate of the mandate remains unclear.

According to Abramson, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the bureau within the Labor Department that crafted the mandate, left itself open to a number of challenges. For example, it is claiming that the new mandate is necessary to protect workers from a dangerous disease, but simultaneously claiming that health care workers can continue to observe a standard put in place earlier this year that is considerably less stringent.

Regardless of its fate in the 6th Circuit, Abramson said, the case is probably headed for the highest court in the land.

What I do think is fairly inevitable, is that this will get to the U.S. Supreme Court rather quickly, he said. And I think we could see the Supreme Court receiving this, having some kind of expedited argument, and issuing a decision before the end of the year.
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NASA tests an asteroid-assaulting system to protect planet Earth. Plus, Japanese tourists ready for the trip of a lifetime, and a look at the historic, sky-darkening lunar eclipse. VOAs Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space
OTTAWA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Canada is closing its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven southern African nations to help stop the spread of a newly identified variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Friday.

The European Union, the United States and Britain are among those tightening border controls as researchers probe whether the mutation is vaccine resistant.

Duclos told reporters that Canada was acting quickly to protect the health of its citizens. The seven nations are: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Foreign citizens will be banned from Canada if they have been to the seven nations in the last 14 days.

Canadians returning to Canada will need to be tested before being allowed back in. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident who has been to the countries in question and is already back in Canada will have to take a COVID-19 test and then go into quarantine for 14 days.

Canada has seen no sign of the variant, named omicron, chief medical officer Theresa Tam told reporters. (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says nearly 80 people have been murdered this year in a detention camp in northeastern Syria holding the wives and children of Islamic State fighters. Camp authorities say the IS wives rule the al-Hol camp with violence.
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U.S. Army troops stationed at an Army base in South Korea celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday, complete with roast turkey and all the fixings, November 25, 2021. (Reuters)
Vice President Constantino Chiwenga says Zimbabweans should not panic following the outbreak of a new COVID-19 variant in neighboring South Africa and Botswana, which health experts have described as the worst the world has recorded since 2019.

Chiwenga told journalists in Harare that the country has activated health emergency systems to respond to the B.1.1.529 variant.

He said, With regard to the recent new COVID-19 variant being reported in the media, the country should not panic because we are very prepared. The ramping up of our vaccination program in the past month has seen a marked increase in the vaccination uptake. We remain focused on this very critical initiative that is designed to protect the nation from the negative impact of any new virus.

Britain has already temporarily suspended flights from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and Namibia fearing an outbreak of the latest COVID-19 variant.

According to the Associated Press, South African scientists have identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the countrys most populous province. It's unclear from where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in South Africa and has also been seen in travelers to Hong Kong and Botswana.

Health minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an exponential rise of cases in the last few days, although experts are still trying to determine if the new variant, named B.1.1.529 is actually responsible.

From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases rocket to more than 1,200 on Wednesday and to 2,465 a day later. Struggling to explain the sudden rise in cases, scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.

South African experts said there are no indications to date that the variant causes more severe or unusual disease and noted that as with other variants, some infected people don't have any symptoms.

It appears to have a high number of mutations  about 30  in the coronavirus spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people. VOA/AP
Harold J. DeBlieck age 64, of Osakis died on Sunday, December 5, 2021, at Alomere Hospital in Alexandria. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 10, 2021, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Osakis. Visitation will be held from 4-7 PM on Thursday, Dec
The trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery had vastly different outcomes. But coming just days apart, they laid bare a dangerous and long-running current in the fight for racial equality: The move by some white Americans to grab guns and take their own stand against perceptions of lawlessness, particularly by Black people.

The two cases, which ended with an acquittal for Rittenhouse last week and guilty verdicts for Arbery's killers on Wednesday, highlighted polarizing issues about gun and self-defense laws, and racial injustice.

They also forced the questions: Who or what is being protected? And from whom? Should peace of mind for white Americans come at the expense of the protection and safety of Black Americans?

So much of this issue about protection and safety is about the safety and the protection of whites or white property, said Carol Anderson, historian and professor of African American studies at Emory University. There is a hubris of whiteness. The sense that it is on me to put Black lives back into their proper place.

Arbery, a Black man, was chased and shot to death by white men suspicious of an outsider in their predominantly white Georgia neighborhood. In Wisconsin, while both Rittenhouse and the three men he shot were white, the encounter was triggered by the 17-year-olds decision to travel from his Illinois home to Kenosha and arm himself with an AR-15 rifle, bent on protecting local businesses from Black Lives Matter protesters.

The unmistakable connection: The idea that white men who perceive a problem should grab a gun and wade into trouble and then claim self-defense, said Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law.

This is a product of a gun culture. Its also a product of laws ... that give white men with guns the ability to create chaos and sometimes get away with it, said Waldman, author of The Second Amendment: A Biography.

The two coinciding trials highlighted deep racial rifts within American society, particularly following last years broad movement for racial justice that swept the country in the wake of George Floyds murder.

Both also came at the end of a year that began with an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which an overwhelmingly white crowd of supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged with the idea that the 2020 election was stolen from them, stormed the building in an effort to take ownership of the government.

The impetus for raiding the Capitol, Anderson said, was the unfounded claim that there was massive amounts of voter fraud in cities where there were sizable Black populations, the notion that Black folks voting is what stole the election.

Thats the thing about vigilantism, its that something precious to me, for me, for my community, is being stolen and its being stolen by the unworthy, by the undeserving, Anderson said.

White vigilantism signifies the need to keep the Black population, particularly the Black male population, under surveillance and under control, said writer Darryl Pinckney. It has evolved over time, but there is a long history in the U.S. of people taking the law into their own hands  and of white Americans using that as a pretext to violently enforce racial boundaries.

Pinckney pointed to vagrancy laws and Black Codes, passed after the Civil War, that aimed to control freed slaves. Laws that say, if you cant say where you live, you can be locked up and made to work on the chain gang for some time. During segregation, Black people were told they were in the wrong place. In the days of integration, it was a questioning of why Black people were in a particular place  a demand for proof that they belonged in order to put white people at ease.

Arberys death recalls the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, a Black teen, by a white Hispanic man patrolling his Florida subdivision against supposed criminals. For many Black Americans, that case served as a cautionary tale that just being Black could make them targets, said Angela Onwuachi-Willig, dean of Boston Universitys law school.

To Willig, there was a direct line between the killing of Martin and the notorious 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, a Black teen visiting Mississippi from Chicago who was brutally slain by a pair of white vigilantes convinced the 14-year-old had whistled at a white woman. And the Arbery case is yet another reminder of the lingering malice that may await Black Americans who dare to cross into areas regarded as white strongholds, she said.

Organized violence against Black people by ordinary white American citizens has a long history in the U.S. and was often perpetrated with either explicit or tacit approval from authorities, said Ashley Howard, an assistant professor of African American history at the University of Iowa. She pointed to slave patrols that set out to capture suspected fugitive slaves and lynching cases, where jailers would often step aside or provide keys to give mobs access to Black suspects.

Arbery's killers were operating under that kind of slave patrol code, which basically deputized all whites to have the power to question anybody Black about why are you here? What are you doing here? Anderson said.

During the civil rights movement, police would often turn a blind eye to white vigilantes coming to Black communities to put down protests, Howard said. The violence was fueled by a false perception that Black people were aggressing against whites.

Its this feeling that the world that they know is being attacked, Howard said of white vigilantes. It is being threatened and they need to literally pick up arms and defend it against the roving mobs or however they are being framed and understood.

While Rittenhouses victims were three white men, race stood at the heart of his case, too, given that he decided to take up arms in defense of property during a Black Lives Matter protest, and his victims were white men who were standing up for the equal treatment of Black Americans. Attacking the white allies of Black liberation has always been a part of the story, Pinckney said.

Elijah Lovejoy, a white abolitionist and newspaper editor, was fatally shot by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois, in 1837. His killers were found not guilty.

James Peck, a white activist during the civil rights movement, was deemed a race traitor by the KKK, brutally beaten to a bloody pulp during the Freedom Rides, as civil rights activist John Lewis described it.

Viola Liuzzo, a white civil rights activist who participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan members.

In todays context, following persistent pleas that Black lives matter and many white people heeding the call to join the movement, discomfort and fear around a loss of white identity or power are being stoked once again, and some feel increasingly emboldened to address it.

White identity has never been challenged to this degree or abandoned to this extent by other white people, Pinckney said. There is a real sense of betrayal, and thats part of the fear  this loss of status or the devaluation of personal whiteness.



Nasir is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/noreensnasir
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)  A jury ordered 17 white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay more than $26 million in damages Tuesday over the violence that erupted during the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

After a nearly monthlong civil trial, the jury in U.S. District Court deadlocked on two key claims but found the white nationalists liable on four other claims in the lawsuit filed by nine people who suffered physical or emotional injuries during the two days of demonstrations.

Attorney Roberta Kaplan said the plaintiffs' lawyers plan to refile the suit so a new jury can decide the two deadlocked claims. She called the amount of damages awarded from the other counts eye opening.

"That sends a loud message, Kaplan said.

The verdict, though mixed, is a rebuke to the white nationalist movement, particularly for the two dozen individuals and organizations accused in a federal lawsuit of orchestrating violence against African Americans, Jews and others in a meticulously planned conspiracy.

White nationalist leader Richard Spencer vowed to appeal, saying the entire theory of that verdict is fundamentally flawed.

He said plaintiffs attorneys made it clear before the trial that they wanted to use the case to bankrupt him and other defendants.

It was activism by means of lawsuits, and that is absolutely outrageous, he said. Im doing fine right now because I had kind of accepted in my heart the worst that could happen. I had hope, of course, but Im not terribly surprised or crestfallen.

Jurors were unable to reach unanimous verdicts on two pivotal claims based on a 150-year-old federal law passed after the Civil War to shield freed slaves from violence and protect their civil rights. The Ku Klux Klan Act contains a rarely used provision that allows private citizens to sue other citizens for civil rights violations.

Under those claims, the plaintiffs asked the jury to find that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to commit racially motivated violence and that they knew about the conspiracy but failed to stop it from being carried out. Jurors could not agree on those claims.

The jury did find the defendants liable under a Virginia state law conspiracy claim and awarded $11 million in damages to the plaintiffs under that claim. Jurors also found five of the main organizers of the rally liable under a claim that alleged they subjected two of the plaintiffs to intimidation, harassment or violence that was motivated by racial, religious or ethnic animosity. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $1.5 million in damages on that claim.

The final two claims were made against James Alex Fields Jr., an avowed Hitler admirer who intentionally drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. The jury found Fields, who is serving life in prison for murder and hate crimes, liable on an assault or battery claim and awarded six plaintiffs just under $6.8 million in damages. The jury awarded the same plaintiffs nearly $6.7 million on a claim that Fields intentionally inflicted emotional distress on them.

Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, said the verdict sends a very clear message that hate speech put into action has consequences.

The defendants were convicted with their own words that showed months of planning went into the rally. This was not a spontaneous event," said Bro, who was not a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Hundreds of white nationalists descended on Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally on Aug. 11 and 12, 2017, ostensibly to protest city plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. During a march on the University of Virginia campus, white nationalists chanted Jews will not replace us, surrounded counterprotesters and threw tiki torches at them.

Then-President Donald Trump touched off a political firestorm when he failed to immediately denounce the white nationalists, saying there were  very fine people on both sides. 

The lawsuit funded by Integrity First for America, a nonprofit civil rights organization formed in response to the violence in Charlottesville, accused some of the countrys most well-known white nationalists of plotting the violence, including Jason Kessler, the rallys main organizer; Spencer, who coined the term alt-right to describe a loosely connected band of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and others; and Christopher Cantwell, a white supremacist who became known as the crying Nazi for posting a tearful video when a warrant was issued for his arrest on assault charges for using pepper spray against counterdemonstrators.

Joshua Smith, an attorney for defendants Matthew Heimbach, Matthew Parrott and the far-right Traditionalist Worker Party, said he will ask the court to reduce the punitive damages awards against his clients under U.S. Supreme Court precedent that places limitations on how much larger punitive damages can be than compensatory damages. Smith described the verdict as a big win for his clients due to the relatively modest amount of compensatory damages awarded by the jury.

The trial featured emotional testimony from people struck by Fields car or who witnessed the attacks as well as plaintiffs who were beaten or subjected to racist taunts.

Melissa Blair, who was pushed out of the way as Fields car slammed into the crowd, described the horror of seeing her fiance bleeding on the sidewalk and later learning that her friend Heyer had been killed.

I was confused. I was scared. I was worried about all the people that were there. It was a complete terror scene. It was blood everywhere. I was terrified, said Blair, who became tearful during her testimony.

During their testimony, some of the defendants used racial epithets and defiantly expressed their support for white supremacy. They also blamed one another and the anti-fascist political movement known as antifa for the violence that erupted that weekend.

In closing arguments to the jury, the defendants and their lawyers tried to distance themselves from Fields and said the plaintiffs had not proved that they conspired to commit violence at the rally.

Before the trial, Judge Norman Moon issued default judgments against another seven defendants who refused to respond to the lawsuit. The court will decide damages against those defendants.



AP reporter Mike Kunzelman contributed from College Park, Maryland. AP reporter Sarah Rankin contributed from Richmond.



This story has been corrected to show that the damages total more than $26 million.
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India, Kolkata (528.7 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s : I was lying on the bed when it suddenly started shaking. The cupboard glasses were shaking as well. The bed especially, shook twice. | 16 users found this interesting.

Siliguri, Darjeeling, West Bengal (672.5 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex motion difficult to describe : At 5:14am i woke up as I felt my bed shaking vigorously and the glasses of windows trembling. Within few seconds it stopped but again after a second or two started and continued for another few seconds. My neighbors too felt the shock of the tremors and c | 12 users found this interesting.

Chittagong (181.9 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : I'm a heavy sleeper but the quake woke me up in an instant. It started strong and then died down to light shaking | 9 users found this interesting.

Fultuli (113.8 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Very shocked and wake up early in the morning and knowing for experience of earthquake.i felt fearful and prayer to God for save all the living beings. | 8 users found this interesting.

kalyani ,Nadia, West Bengal (520.1 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 10-15 s : Suddenly weak up due to shaking and the noise of the Almirah's key ring which was swinging and striking the Almirah. | 7 users found this interesting.

Chittagong (182.4 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : It was very fearing...I thought I was having dizziness but later the windows were moving, everything was moving for about a few seconds | 4 users found this interesting.

Rajshahi (530.9 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : was laying down, noticed bed moving and glass vibrating and making noise. | 5 users found this interesting.

Agartala (254.7 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : It was early morning, so we were all deep asleep. We woke up to the jerking bed and rattling sound of the windows only to see the fans and hanging lights swinging. It lasted for a few good seconds. I haven't felt such strong tremors here in the last few y | 3 users found this interesting.

Jalpaiguri (640.5 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : I was sleeping and suddendly heard our upstairs window shaking with little sound that made me wake up. And when I saw my roof fan it was moving. | 3 users found this interesting.

Kolkata,india (529.9 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : Woke me up from sleep by the swaying of the bed. | 4 users found this interesting. In durgapur I felt shaking around 5.20 am. Shaking sound was coming my almirah / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s

Aizawl, Mizoram (136.2 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : The wardrobe, dressing table and everything was shaking badly. I thought the glasses would break. | 4 users found this interesting.

Bandarban,Chittagong (150.4 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s : I was that time in bed,and felt like my bed was shaking too much and the whole building. I felt so dizzy even in the bed beacuse of too much shake and that was my first experience such a incredible earthquake in my entire life. | 2 users found this interesting.

Kolkata (536.3 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : I was sleeping and I felt all the windows and doors were shaking and also my bed was shaking as well. | 2 users found this interesting.

Karsiyang, Darjeeling, West Bengal (686.9 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Strong jolts in East-West direction. Light jolts sustained for at least 7 seconds after initial strong quakes | One user found this interesting.

Siliguri, West Bengal, India (675.7 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / very short : I was in a deep sleep, first starting with a light jerk than stop, than suddening again started with a strong vibration. | One user found this interesting.

Chandannagore,Hooghly,West Bengal (528.8 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : I was lying down on my bed when I felt like someone is shaking my bed.Then I realised it as a quake.It lasted for around 3-4 seconds. | One user found this interesting.

Siliguri, Darjeeling, West Bengal (673.8 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : I was sleeping, my bed was shaking, my building was shaking, I was about to run down stairs, but soon it was normal. | One user found this interesting.

Rajpur Sonarpur, South Twenty Four Parganas, West Bengal (530.1 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s : im sitting a chair and its shake me very little time and i feel dizziness that time and my hanging fan was swaying | One user found this interesting.

Sylhet divisions Moulvibazar santtibag area. (258.6 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / 2-5 s : After my morning Salah at fozar I lay on my Bed room. Them I feel 2-4 second sacking and my window South as someone's push and polling. | One user found this interesting.

Kolkata (533.7 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 2-5 s : I was about to fall asleep when I was strongly woken up as my bed started vibrating for a good 2-3secs & at the same time the crows outdoors started calling out at the same time | One user found this interesting.

Siliguri (676.5 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 15-20 s : Quake lasted for 15-20 seconds max. But main turmoil I felt for 10 seconds max. I was in deep sleep still experienced the quake | One user found this interesting. I also felt the same... / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 15-20 s

KOLKATA (529.3 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / simple rolling (tilting sideways along one direction) / 2-5 s : It was near about 5.18am Suddenly our house was shaking with noise.i got up and felt the movement on the bed. | One user found this interesting.

Bandel near Kolkata, India (527.3 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : It was pretty intense for me in experience as I sleep on mattress on floor, at around 05:16am on 26.11.21 in Bandel town near Kolkata I felt sudden sideways/horizontal swinging. It shook three times and faded graduly. | One user found this interesting.

Azimpur, Dhaka, Dhaka (338.4 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : I was at home and talking to my mom After perform the fazar prayer. Feels moving all things at home and hearing the vibration sound of door and window glass. | One user found this interesting.

Coxs Bazar, Chittagong (220 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : I was sleeping, deep sleep & suddenly I got a strong vibration. After I woke up, I was strongly shaking. | One user found this interesting.

near Tashigang (555.9 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : The tremor woke us from the sleep and it continued for around 7 seconds. We were in a second floor of the two story Bhutanese traditional house. The dogs began to bark and birds made distress call. | One user found this interesting.

Pakur (613 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : At the bed i just woke up and was going to sleep again but as i wanted to play a in mobile game i started the game application and then felt a sudden whole trembling bed ( no ghost or human can tremble a king size bed I'm in other than Earthquake) | One user found this interesting.

Asansol (678.7 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s : Suddenly a motion was felt by me as if someone was pushing my whole house and it starts to move in a horizontal direction. | One user found this interesting.

Lawngtlai, Mizoram, India (72.4 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex motion difficult to describe / 30-60 s : Felt like the house is going to collapse. Every person felt the shock from our state. | 3 users found this interesting.

near Siuri, Birbhum, West Bengal (629.6 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Very bad | 2 users found this interesting.

Diphu, Karbi Anglong, Assam (338.4 km N of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Terrified | 2 users found this interesting. My goodness I am so sorry! Please be Safe and know you are not alone! Blessings to Everyone in your Beautiful country! / Moderate shaking (MMI V)
In a way, storytelling is The Wheel of Times biggest storytelling problem.

The world Rafe Judkins has brought to the screen feels boundless, replete with different cultures and subcultures, sects and sub-sects, thousands upon thousands of years of history, of wars won and lost, kingdoms risen and fallen, songs and languages learned and forgotten and learned again. (Dip your toe in the book series wiki, I double-dog dare you  you might fall in and never come out again.) From an epic-fantasy perspective, this is an impressive feat.

However, from the perspective of a television drama, its almost an obstacle because virtually every new development requires someone to tell someone else a story about it. Every time a character sees another character praying, a conversation must ensue as to what the prayer means and to which deity or ancestor or metaphysical concept its directed. Each time a phrase from a lost language is uttered, someone has to explain what it means, who originally said it, and what context it was said. Each new enemy requires one of the heroes to tell one of the others what the enemy is and what its powers might be, and how best to defeat or defend against it. And so on, and so on, and so on, for 15 novels and however many seasons of those novels adaptations Amazon deigns to make.

In short, The Wheel of Time is a show thats almost all fantasy world-building, at least so far. If youre a mark for that sort of thing  as, frankly, I am  then hey, great! World-building out the wazoo!

If youre not into it, though, hoo boy, I can imagine this is quite a slog. For every recognizable moment of human connection  Rand struggling to communicate to his best friend Mat that he doesnt need to keep any secrets, Nynaeves raised-eyebrow reaction to the polyamorous lifestyle of some of the Aes Sedai  theres great gobs of exposition about the Way of the Leaf or the Song before the Breaking or the Kingdom of Minethrin or the will of the Amyrlin Seat or what have you.

To paraphrase I Think You Should Leave, suffice to say, The Wheel of Time is a lot.

In this weeks episode, at least, its a little less for Egwene and Perrin than it is for any of our other protagonists. Theyre traveling with the nomadic Tuathaan, or Tinkers, the shows Roma stand-ins. Egwene spends most of her time discussing spirituality and Tuathaan culture with Aram (Daryl McCormack), whos obviously smitten with her, but who finds her attachment to the far-away Rand just as obvious. Perrin, meanwhile, discusses the Tinkers pacifism with Arams grandmother Illa (Maria Doyle Kennedy). Its unclear if she knows more about his past than shes letting on when she asks him if his life has been better or worse since he first picked up an axe in anger  he accidentally killed his wife with one, after all  but either way, she leaves him with a lot to think about.

Rand and Mat and their gleeman companion Thom have a more eventful, and tragic, road ahead of them. Rand is plagued by nightmares and the sinking suspicion that something is very wrong with his friend. Thom goes so far as to suggest that Mat has begun channeling the One Power, which for all men is a direct road to madness. (More on that later.)

The trio winds up encountering a humble family of farmers or, yknow, whatever it is that humble families in fantasy worlds do. In exchange for mucking out their stables and, on Thoms part, maybe doing a little performance, theyre granted leave to sleep in the familys barn for the night. Mat makes the friendly acquaintance of the familys adorable daughter, who offers him both a loaf of bread and a little doll who, she says, wants to see the world.

Neither the doll nor the daughter gets the chance. Awakening from a nightmare in which Perrin pounds away at a dead body, Mat has a bloody hand, and the recurring figure of the dark man with flaming eyes seizes Egwene; Rand finds Mat inside the familys home, where all of them have been butchered. It appears as though Mat has been led there by the dagger he picked up in the cursed city from the second episode  a dagger that has clearly brought the curse along with it. It enables him to see the fade thats been following them; Thom stays behind to battle the creature, displaying incredible martial prowess as Rand and Mat speed away.

From both a dramatic and a worldbuilding perspective, the episodes real action centers on the Aes Sedai encampment where Moiraine, Lan, and Nynaeve find themselves. Moiraine is healed of her poisoned Trolloc wound by Kerene (Clare Perkins), an Aes Sedai whos on the brink of exhaustion. Why? She and her Aes Sedai sisters Liandrin and Alanna (Priyanka Bose) have been divvying up their time keeping their prisoner Logain (Alvaro Morte) subdued, a tall order as hes one of the most powerful male channelers theyve ever encountered.

This lends some credence to his claim that hes the Dragon Reborn, even though hes ten years too old by Moiraines reckoning. Liandrin wants to sever his magical connection, a process called gentling, right then and there; her sisters remind her that their orders are to bring such men back to the White Tower where their leader, the Amyrlin Seat, can judge him at trial.

While in the camp, Nynaeve, whos shown some talent at channeling herself, becomes closer to Lan, Moiraines warder. At first, this is just an alternative to hanging out with the insufferable Liandrin, but over a warm campfire and a morning prayer, Nynaeve comes to like Lan and the other warders, all of whom seem to have much more personality than appearances would admit. (In one of the shows most human moments so far, Lan complains to his fellow warder Stepin, played by Peter Franzen, that Moiraine is kind of a drag.) Its during these conversations that she discovers that the Aes Sedai are color-coded  green for warriors, red for inquisitors, blue for spies  and that the bond between some Aes Sedai and their warders is at least partially romantic in nature.

It nearly all goes to shit, though, when Logains army  recruited from the forces of the kingdom he conquered, who have since become his staunch allies  shows up to free him. It turns out hed largely been playing possum in anticipation of this precise moment, at which point he sends Liandrin and Kerene flying. Moiraine confronts him herself and attempts to persuade him that the voices in his head are not, as he claims, his past selves talking to him but are merely the first twinklings of insanity.

When Logain lashes out, Kerene shields her sisters at her own expense and dies for it. Stepin goes wild and attempts to kill Logain himself; Logain shatters his twin battle-axes and sends the shrapnel flying into basically everyone in the camp, slitting Lans throat in the process. Nynaeve is so upset that she unleashes a supernova of One Power magic, overwhelming Logain and healing Lan, Moiraine, and everyone else injured in the initial explosion. Liandrin and the rest of the Aes Sedai gentle Logain, a process likely to end in his death from despair in the future.

Is Nynaeve the Dragon Reborn, then? The episodes title seems to hint at it, as does Logains recognition that, in Moiraines words, his own power is just a candle compared to Nynaeves radiant sun. Then again, were told throughout the episode that an uncounted number of false Dragons have risen and fallen; theres no guarantee that Nynaeve isnt one of their number, whether or not she winds up claiming the title for her own.

Which brings us back to the shows surfeit of history lessons. In between the many stories told about its many cultures pasts, will we be given something new and present to latch onto?
Relations between France and Italy improve under Draghi.

Italy and France have strengthened their bilateral ties in an historic pact signed by Italian premier Mario Draghi and French president Emmanuel Macron in Rome on Friday.

The so-called Quirinale Treaty is hailed as the start of a new Franco-Italy axis as German chancellor exits the stage after 16 years of warm relations with French leaders.

The new pact will see high-level cooperation across a wide range of sectors including defence, trade, economy, migration, energy, technology, research and culture.

In addition, French and Italian ministers will attend each other's cabinet meetings once every quarter.

"The Treaty of Enhanced Cooperation we signed this morning marks a historic moment in relations between our two countries" - said Draghi - "France and Italy are further consolidating their diplomatic, commercial, political and cultural ties."

The move is seen as repairing a rift between the two countries after relations soured in 2018 under the then Italian government composed of the populist Movimento 5 Stelle and the far-right Lega.

However relations between France and Italy have been restored fully under the premiership of Draghi whose pro-European views are aligned with those of Macron.
Now, going private raises the question of price: Will investors get a fair deal for the shares they hold? There is a lot of wiggle-out room. The education companies, for example, can argue that their value is now nil since they are no longer allowed to make profit in China. Foreign investors also have to be careful about assuming they can claw back cash just because it appears on a companys balance sheets. A lot of money raised offshore is likely to have been transmitted to mainland China already  and getting U.S. dollars out of the country is an onerous proposition.
SF: The best effect of the post-infection vaccination in this study was seen if the dose was given within zero to four weeks after infection and the least impact was in those vaccinated eight to 12 weeks after an infection. But the group that had their vaccine soon after their infection had already mounted a strong enough immune reaction and may have had milder disease. So are we really seeing an effect of the vaccine or is there something about people who resolve their disease faster, or both?
Despite everything, might this somehow emerge in the coming weeks and months? Might the extremists, even now, tack toward moderation? To some degree, thats likely. There are reasons for hope. Between now and the runoff, Kast and Boric might each see advantage in softening their positions to appeal to the disenfranchised center. In office, hard realities would impose constraints on either man. Kast could find himself contained by a left-leaning constitution, a divided Congress and by constant protests on the street. Boric, meanwhile, would find his bolder plans hard to execute and impossible to fund. In office, compromise might look more appealing than it does when stirring passionate supporters to get out and vote.
Proponents say SMRs will be safer than earlier generations of nuclear power plants. The basic idea remains the same -- splitting atoms to release energy, a process known as nuclear fission, that heats water to produce steam that spins turbines to make electricity. About half of the SMR models under development use water as a coolant, as most currently operating reactors do. Explosions at Fukushima and at Three Mile Island in the U.S. in 1979 were caused by heat from exposed fuel rods splitting the hydrogen from the steam used to cool the reactor. Some SMR designs, by contrast, use molten salt and metals as coolants. SMR designs also integrate new kinds of fuel and backup emergency systems that should reduce the likelihood of meltdowns. On the other hand, smaller reactors would ideally be located closer to population centers, increasing the possible danger from an accident. And like their larger brethren, SMRs produce radioactive waste that must be stored safely for centuries.
Yet my description of the border is nonetheless accurate. I have walked the borders hallways and ridden its elevators. Earlier this month I flew from La Paz, on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, to Tijuana. Then I walked from the airport in Mexico across to the U.S. I was accompanied through this Cross Border Express, as its called, by Americans, Mexicans and a rolling battalion of luggage. By the time I was outside in the warm and open air, I had the keys to my rental car in hand and was heading for San Diego. The border, back inside the terminal, was already behind me.
Four days after DiDis IPO, Chinas cybersecurity regulator told app stores to remove the companys app, citing serious violations on the collection and usage of personal information. DiDis share price fell as much as 25% on the first trading day after Chinas crackdown. Shareholders sued the company, as well as its directors and underwriters, claiming DiDi failed to disclose talks it was having with Chinese authorities about its compliance with cybersecurity laws. In the wake of the DiDi episode, some companies shelved or delayed their U.S. IPO plans, according to reports, including health-care firm LinkDoc Technology Ltd., bike-sharing company Hello Inc. and audio-sharing platform Ximalaya Inc. Courier company J&T Express  which, though Indonesian, has several investors based in China and significant operations there  shifted its planned U.S. listing to Hong Kong, and other companies may follow.
School of Chocolate (Netflix) Eight professionals study the art of chocolate under a famed chocolatier, but only one of them can be the best in class.
If this family had a passel of cats and you were allergic to dander, you would have to make a similar choice. You would not ask them to get rid of their cats, but you would very sensibly have to keep your distance from the house.
Our priority remains on ensuring all of our staff are in compliance and to continue to encourage our families to have any eligible students vaccinated, D.C. Public Schools officials said in a statement. While we are pleased at the progress to date, we know we have more to do.
I left with mixed feelings, Mr. Sondheim recalled in 2010. I wanted to be asked to the party; I just didnt want to go. The fact was, and still is, that I enjoy writing music much more than lyrics and even though Saturday Night seemed as if it were dead in the water, I was planning other projects. I had the good sense to discuss all this with Oscar and it was he who persuaded me that if I was offered the job, I should leap at it. . . . Here was a chance to work with three of the most gifted and experienced men in music and theater. My desire to compose could be satisfied at any time.
But the panel concluded that Bahrains actions against Future Bank were not genuine regulatory measures aimed at addressing Future Banks illegal conduct, according to the copy of the decision seen by The Post. Rather, the closing of the bank amounted to an expropriation of the Iranian banks money, without due consideration of less-punitive measures, the panel said. The arbitrators appeared skeptical over whether U.S. and U.N. sanctions against Iran were binding in all cases on Bahraini bank regulators.
A gas leak in a Siberian coal mine killed at least 52 people on Thursday, Russian news agencies said, including six rescuers who were sent down to try to bring out dozens of men in what was one of Russias worst mining disasters since Soviet times.
In her Nov. 23 Tuesday Opinion column, The missing immigrant workers, Catherine Rampell provided a detailed account of how  and why  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been unable to reduce the backlog of employment authorization applications. And she offered some worthwhile suggestions to her own question, So what could the USCIS do, while it rebuilds its staff?
Either climate change is an urgent problem and is to be treated as such, or it is not. So far, politicians have given lip service to the former, but their actions suggest the latter.
Michael Nesmith of the Monkees at a news conference in New York in 1967. (AP)

The former Monkee, who died Friday, paired Texas twang with witty wordplay.
Chang and her boyfriend hid at a friends place for a little more than two hours before another friend picked them up and drove them home. Holed up at home on Friday, they could see fires as rioters burned cars and shops, targeting Western as well as Chinese businesses. Chang said many of her students who live in Chinatown had seen their parents businesses, such as import and export outfits, burned.
In a radio interview Thursday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also named Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as countries linked to trafficking networks. He added that one of the five people suspected of being involved in Wednesdays crossing attempt had bought boats in Germany. The five were among more than 1,500 smugglers the French government says it has caught in the region since the beginning of the year.
Even before the latest variant emerged, Europe was applying new lockdowns and travel restrictions for unvaccinated residents in an attempt to contain a surge in coronavirus cases. Reported deaths in Europe reached nearly 4,200 a day last week  twice the number since the end of September, according to the World Health Organization, which counts 53 countries as part of its European region. Covid-19 cases fueled by the delta variant have been surging in some U.S. states, too, including Michigan and Minnesota.
The reasons for the buildup are unclear, but U.S. and other officials say that it could be preparation for an invasion or an escalation in the seven-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine with anti-Kyiv insurgents, backed by Moscow, according to Western officials and independent researchers.
Under Russian safety rules, mines are supposed to stop work if methane concentrations get too high, but miners, declining to be named, told local media that work at the mine often continued. According to regulations, miners must be equipped with methane detectors, and mines must have effective ventilators and at least two exits.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size How on earth am I not one of the 33 million people that bought Alanis Morissettes confessional album Jagged Little Pill when it came out in 1995? Nominated for nine Grammys and winning four, including Album of the Year, it skyrocketed the seven-time Grammy winner to what she later said was PTSD-inducing fame at the age of 21, when fans regularly broke into her hotel room to leave notes. Twenty-five years later its still one of the Top 20 best-selling albums of all time, and has been re-released twice  as an acoustic re-recording on its 10th anniversary, and in 2015 as a 20th anniversary deluxe collectors edition. Its latest iteration is the Tony award-winning Jagged Little Pill: The Musical. Perhaps best-known for the immortal lyric, Would she go down on you in the theatre? (from the break-up anthem You Oughta Know), the original album addresses the perennial themes of unrequited love, growing up, ageism, sexism, perfectionism and loneliness head on. And, judging by all the recent comments on her YouTube channel from people who have been listening to her literally since they were children, the songs resonate as much as ever. Comments such as: I was 11 when this album came out. Im now 36, and it hits differently, but goddamn its so good! and Perfect still speaks to me so strongly, I use it as a guideline when talking to my own children, testify to its enduring impact. The New York Times journalist Jon Pareles live interview for the Times Talks podcast series includes a Q&A session where both women and men take the opportunity to thank Morissette for changing/saving/guiding their lives  including two sisters who discovered her when they were six. Alanis Morissette in 1996 at the height of the success of her album Jagged Little Pill. Credit:Mick Hutson/Getty Its easy to see how the album might have resonated with angsty teens, but children? And having now fallen under her spell for the first time in my 60s, I find her videos Ablaze (an ode to her children from her 2020 album Such Pretty Forks in the Road), and 2016s Souleye + Ever + Me + Love = Sweetness exquisitely affecting. Its as if her emotional authenticity chimes with yours, like an E string resonating with the plucking of an E string on another guitar across the room  a phenomenon known as sympathetic resonance. Loading Her music is so capacious, says the shows director, Tony award-winning Diane Paulus, on the eve of the opening of the Australian production. Alaniss emotional power is very theatrical and I just knew that energy, that kind of vulnerability and fearlessness, would be super visceral. And it is. When I saw it on Broadway last week, the audience was by turns crying, laughing and cheering, and leapt to a standing ovation mid-show at Lauren Pattens rendition of You Oughta Know  a response so frequent that extra minutes were allotted in the production to absorb it.

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But although the songs are informed by Morissettes life, this is not the Alanis Morissette story. Her only request was that it not be about her, says Oscar-winner Diablo Cody (Juno), who won the Tony for Best Book of a Musical for Jagged Little Pill in 2020. Director Diane Paulus, Alanis Morissette and writer Diablo Cody at the Jagged Little Pill Broadway premiere in 2019. [When the producers] ran the idea past me, I thought, well that sounds interesting, but the only way Id want to do it is if it wasnt a jukebox musical. It would have to be a story I could sink my hearts teeth into, says Morissette, speaking to me over the phone from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her husband, hip hop artist Mario Souleye Treadway, and their three children. Having immersed myself in all things Alanis for over a week in preparation for this interview, when we talk her voice feels like a warm bath after a hard day. Or a hug. There were several meetings with Pulitzer Prize-winners, but it didnt feel like a match until I met Diablo Cody, at which point I had a sense of what this could be and I got really excited. And then director Diane Paulus signed on and then choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and then I just thought, wow this is one plus one plus one equals 500. So I got really excited! Alanis Morissette and her rapper husband Mario Souleye Treadway on stage together in 2012. Credit:Getty Cody, a fan of the Canadian singer since her teens (She is an icon to me!) felt the same. Revisiting the album I thought Id be reminded of being a teenager and that would be the energy I brought, she says. But when I listened again I thought, oh, actually these songs feel super relevant and Im not getting a nostalgia vibe at all. Im getting a present day vibe, and it might be more political than Id expected. When I listened again I thought, oh, actually these songs feel super relevant ... it might be more political than Id expected. Writer Diablo Cody

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Evolving over the next several years against the backdrop of emerging Trumpism, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, and the public exposure of Harvey Weinstein, among other sexual predators, the show centres around a dysfunctional Connecticut family  Mary Jane, a controlling, opiate-addicted mother, her husband Steve, a porn-watching workaholic, and their adopted queer black daughter, Frankie, and picture-perfect birth son, Nick  whose lives implode when Nicks friend, Bella, gets drunk at a high school party and is raped while she is unconscious. Celia Rose Gooding (front left) and Lauren Patten in the original Broadway production of Jagged Little Pill. The show covers so many of todays hot button issues, including rape, the opioid crisis, sex and work addiction, trans racial adoption, gender identity, and more, that it was dubbed by The New York Times, the most woke musical since Hair. Its not every day we experience a rape on Broadway. That was one of the topics that I was very gently asked to not be part of the musical, says Morissette. And I said, Not a f---king chance! We have to put this in or Im not interested. Not only does she have personal experience, she adds: I dont think Ive actually met a woman who hasnt been subject to some version of it. Even the request for it not to be in the musical is in and of itself a form of erasure. But there was controversy when the show was accused by the trans and non-binary community of erasing references to the perceived non-binary identity of the teenage character Jo between the Boston try-outs of the show in 2018 and the Broadway production in 2019. Paulus and Cody say this was never the case  not least because Lauren Patten, the actress who originated the role in both productions and won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, is cisgender. Maggie McKenna and Emily Nkomo during rehearsals. Credit:David Boon Jo is a gender non-conforming teen on a journey with an unknown outcome, says Paulus. And Patten has said that she looks forward to the role being played in the future by actors across the gender spectrum. ( Muriels Wedding star Maggie McKenna, who identifies as a non-binary queer human, will play the role in Australia).

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The Australian cast of Jagged Little Pill, from left, Liam Head, Grace Miell, Tim Draxl, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Emily Nkomo, AYDAN and Maggie McKenna. Credit:Stuart Miller That characters and issues can develop and grow in real time is part of what Cody loves about Broadway. If youre doing TV and it flops, the pilot goes in the trash. This was like, OK, lets make it better, she says. The process made her fall back in love with writing. In Hollywood, its very hard to approach projects as art, because youre thinking about budget, about social media, about all these things that are not artistic, she says. In the theatre, its still very much alive and well, this mindset that were artists. It really felt like, hey, lets put on a show, in a way that I havent experienced in a very long time. Diablo Cody at the Tony Awards where she won Best Book of a Musical for Jagged Little Pill in 2020. Credit:CBS/Getty The inside-out approach is always the one that feels best, agrees Morissette, who famously creates songs from journal entries. We could go outside in, and think about what the demographic is, whats working in todays culture, fill in the blank, but the truth is, none of that matters to me. What matters is, is this getting us all excited? Do we jump out of bed wanting to continue to write? Part of what makes Morissette jump out of bed is her drive to heal others. From the very beginning she was like, This show is going to be a therapeutic exercise  for the actors, for us, for the audience says Cody. Were going for our own jugulars, says Morissette who, along with 20 per cent of the population, identifies as a Highly Sensitive Person, four per cent of whom are also, like her, Empaths [in the psychological theory coined by author and clinician Elaine Aron]. And the bar is held high. This isnt just an invitation for a quick gig. Its an invitation to be part of a movement towards wholeness, toward greater self-awareness and understanding and empathy. Natalie Bassingthwaighte and Emily Nkomo during rehearsals. Credit:David Boon Hearing Mary Jane sung by Steve and Perfect by Nick touches her profoundly. The post-trauma I have around misogyny and patriarchy, just hearing a man emote in that kind of way by singing those lyrics. Its jaw-dropping to me, says the singer, who confesses to invariably being a sobbing mess in the audience. And when we were doing it in Cambridge, I was thinking, god, we have to write a note on the bathroom door. We have to tell people that if it triggers something for them, there are resources and places for them to get support, because its a lot to walk out of a theatre with.

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The Australian cast of Jagged Little Pill in rehearsal. Credit:David Boon It is a lot, partly because the show covers so many  some say too many issues. But these issues are ubiquitous, she says. So any reticence on some peoples parts was merely, Can we take this on? And my answer was always yes! Morissettes bravery and willingness to take things on is striking. But as an artist on her own terms. Her response to the new HBO documentary, Jagged, which she has dismissed as salacious and full of implications and facts that are simply not true and a reductive take on a story much too nuanced for them to ever grasp or tell is an example of how she feels when the reins are taken out of her hands. These issues are ubiquitous. So any reticence on some peoples parts was merely Can we take this on? And my answer was always yes! Alanis Morissette Her own art reveals all there is to know about her to anyone who cares to really look. And there is plenty to see. Singer, songwriter, activist, writer, blogger, one-time advice columnist (for the British Guardian newspaper), producer, wife, mother, home schooler, podcaster and executive producer of an upcoming TV comedy about a 40-something, married with three kids rock star, famous for her youthful anthems of female rage. The title is Relatable  the perfect choice for a show inspired by (but not about, she says) a public figure so relatable that her website address is just her first name. Alanis Morissette in a one night only performance of her album Jagged Little Pill in New York in 2019. Credit:Kevin Mazur/Getty Meanwhile, she is promoting her latest album, Such Pretty Forks in the Road and looking forward to going back on tour, including rescheduled Australian dates in late 2022. Performing is like a prayer she says, speaking with evident relief about her recent post-Covid US tour. It was so great to be back and making a joyful noise with everybody. And with that, the very relatable Alanis Morissette, who agreed to doing this interview later than planned to accommodate my pre-existing therapy appointment, signals the end of the interview with the words, Thank you so much. Now Im going to go and snuggle my kids. Jagged Little Pill premieres at Theatre Royal Sydney from December 2 19 then opens at Comedy Theatre Melbourne from January 2nd. Tickets from jaggedmusical.com. The documentary, Jagged, premieres on Foxtel on Saturday November 27.

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A Perth man accused of stabbing a motorist in a road rage incident was allegedly

punched first but police claim his response was utterly disproportionate.

Christopher Atkinson allegedly stabbed another driver after the man merged in front of him on Tonkin Highway in Wattle Grove on Monday about 4.45pm. He has since been charged with reckless driving and grievous bodily harm.

The 45-year-old appeared at Midland Magistrates Court on Friday via video link from Hakea Prison and was granted bail.

During the hearing, Mr Atkinson  who had been in custody since his roadside arrest  broke down and cried when the court heard his ex-wife and children were reliant on him as the provider of the family.
London: The World Health Organisation has declared the new strain of COVID-19 that emerged in South Africa a variant of concern and named it Omicron, after the Greek letter.

WHOs Technical Advisory Group said Omicron had a large number of mutations that made it concerning, and that preliminary evidence suggested an increased risk of reinfection compared to the other variants of concern, including Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

Some countries have restricted flights from parts of southern Africa due to the emergence of the new COVID strain. Credit:Getty Images

The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa, the group said in a statement.

This variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage.
MANCHESTER  After the mother of a fourth-grader contacted Manchester school officials after finding a marijuana edible in her childs backpack, the superintendent is warning parents to stay vigilant.

Manchester Superintendent Matt Geary wrote a letter to parents on Nov. 22 alerting them to the incident, which he said illustrated how easily and even inadvertently children can be exposed to danger.

According to the letter, the mother told school officials she had discovered a small, wrapped honey packet in her childs backpack on Nov. 19. Her child said another student had given it to him at school.

The parent initially brushed it off but later noticed the word Pharma on the product. When she investigated further, she found it contained THC, Geary said.

We very much appreciate the parent reaching out to the school, Geary wrote in the letter. We investigated and learned that a parent who had purchased the packet legally for medical use had left it in the pocket of a jacket that was mistakenly worn to school by her child.

No children consumed the product, Geary said. But the story still serves as a cautionary tale, he said.

As you may know, adult use of cannabis is now legal in Connecticut and children, because of their small body size and weight, can be especially vulnerable to cannabis poisoning, Geary said.

He urged adults to keep any products containing cannabis in child-resistant containers and stored out of sight and reach from children.

Keeping children safe requires constant vigilance, and we all benefit from working together and looking out for one another, Geary said.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP)  Five U.S. lawmakers are in Taiwan on Friday in a surprise one-day visit, said the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy.

The lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and will meet with senior leaders on the island. No further details were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China have risen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruled since the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but China considers the island part of its own territory.

Just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan, tweeted Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina on Thursday night, using the island's unofficial name.

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif. and Mace are all part of the visiting delegation.

The trip comes just a few weeks after a group of six Republican lawmakers visited the island. That congressional delegation met with President Tsai Ing-wen, National Security Secretary General Wellington Koo and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, among others.

Its the third visit by U.S. lawmakers this year. In June, three members of Congress flew to Taiwan to donate badly needed vaccines at a time when the island was struggling to get enough.

The Biden administration has also invited Taiwan to a Summit for Democracy next month, a move that drew a sharp rebuke from China.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday, "What the U.S. did proves that the so-called democracy is just a pretext and tool for it to pursue geopolitical goals, suppress other countries, divide the world, serve its own interest and maintain its hegemony in the world.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Mainly cloudy, turning windy, and warm with record high temperatures possible. A few showers, mostly later in the day, but far from a washout..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, windy, and mild early with evening showers and perhaps even a thunderstorm, then clearing, brisk, and colder late.
Reading, PA (19601)

Today

Mainly cloudy, turning windy, and warm with record high temperatures possible. A few showers, mostly later in the day, but far from a washout..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, windy, and mild early with evening showers and perhaps even a thunderstorm, then clearing, brisk, and colder late.
West End venues are reaching out to audiences during tube strikes affecting the area.

With a variety of lines disrupted across the coming days, many ticketholders will have to find alternative means of travel for shows.

The Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines will be disrupted until 4.30am tomorrow, with further strike action also set to begin on Saturday.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, currently running at the Duke of York's Theatre in London, said in a statement: "Coming to our theatre over the next few days? There is likely to be disruption to transport due to London underground strikes.

"Please plan in advance and give yourself time for travel so we can ensure safe entry for customers and make all eTickets and Covid status checks."

A similar statement has been put out by all venues owned by ATG (who control the Duke of York's), while Nimax (who operate the Apollo, Duchess, Garrick, Lyric, Palace and Vaudeville Theatres) has confirmed that "All performances in our theatres are due to go ahead as scheduled."
Family oriented theatre productions that charm the grown ups as well as rambunctiously entertaining the kids are rare beasts indeed, a bit like the titular family of this wickedly entertaining new musical adapted by Julian Clary from his own children's books. The Bolds are a bunch of hyenas passing themselves off as a conventional two parents-two kids family in suburban Teddington.

This kooky, hilarious little show hits all the right notes and plenty of unexpected ones too. Clary and director Lee Lyford have created a crazy yet relatable world where giraffes can work as shelf stackers in the Richmond Waitrose ("it's the perfect job for them!"), a family car trip around a safari park culminates in an underground tunnel escape for an elderly hyena, a lonely school friend of the junior Bolds longs to join their unconventional tribe, characters whip out brass instruments and play like dreams, a baby monkey gets wheeled about in a pram, and a meddlesome, wall-banging neighbour harbours a bizarre secret of their own. There are also valuable, but never over-egged, messages about friendship, kindness and finding family in the most unexpected places, that crucially never talk down to a young audience.

Lyford repeatedly stages the apparently unstageable (the aforementioned escape, a crocodile attack mid-river, an onstage car, among many others) with wit and invention on a colourful, attractive set by James Button. Clary and Simon Wallace are responsible for the score, a boppy, catchy collection of numbers that take in Music Hall, pop, reggae and even swing, many of which would not sound out of place in way more grown-up musicals.

The cast are sublime, and multi-talented. David Ahmed, Amanda Gordon, Mae Munuo and Sam Swann make an adorable, high energy bunch of Bolds. There's also fabulous work from Sam Pay as an uber-camp neighbour, Jon Trenchard as a hyena on his last legs, and magnetic Charity Bedu-Addo in a variety of roles but particularly affecting as a sad child enchanted by her adopted furry family and with big Hollywood dreams.

Julian Clary contributes some hilariously disaffected voiceovers, and watching the enraptured reactions of the kids and their attendant adults is a joy in itself. So often with family shows, somebody gets bored as it's too sophisticated or too childish. That is unlikely to happen here: a couple of hours of unalloyed delight, a genuine Christmas cracker.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is headed for the stage, it has been announced.

Penned by Deborah Moggach, who has adapted the piece from her bestselling novel These Foolish Things (which in turn was transformed into an award-nominated film), the touring show is directed by Lucy Bailey.

Set to open on 30 August 2022 at the Richmond Theatre, the piece will then visit the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, Theatre Royal Brighton, Theatre Royal Glasgow, Theatre Royal Newcastle, Hall for Cornwall, Truro, Churchill Theatre Bromley, Theatre Royal Norwich, Curve in Leicester, The Lowry in Salford and the New Victoria Theatre in Woking before concluding at Theatre Royal Bath next December. Further dates in 2023 are to be announced, with plans also set for a West End season.

The piece follows a group of retirees that embark on a trip to India, transforming their lives in the process.

Moggach said today: "I'm so thrilled that my characters are stepping into a new life on the stage. They've been waiting impatiently for the curtain to rise, and none of them is getting any younger. So welcome again to the Marigold Hotel! We're assembling an amazing cast, so I hope they bring you plenty of laughs and some warm sparks of recognition."

Producer Simon Friend continues: "I have been a huge fan of Deborah Moggach's writing for years, so it's an honour to work with her on this exciting new adaptation of her beloved story, which I feel has always called out to be experienced as live theatre."

Cast and creatives are to be revealed, with the show going on general sale next week.
Program Officer, Rome, Italy

Organization: The World Bank

Country: Italy

City: Rome

Office: World Bank in Rome, Italy

Closing date: Friday, 10 December 2021

Program Officer

Job #: req13954

Organization: World Bank

Sector: Economics

Grade: GF

Term Duration: 2 years 0 months

Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment

Location: Rome,Italy

Required Language(s): English

Preferred Language(s): English

Closing Date: 12/10/2021 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC

Description

Background

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? Working at the World Bank Group provides a unique opportunity for you to help our clients solve their greatest development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty, increasing shared prosperity and promoting sustainable development. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide. We work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges.

For more information,

visit www.worldbank.org

In line with its overarching mission to reduce poverty, the World Bank is engaged in facilitating the production and use of household and agricultural survey data for evidence-based policymaking. To design and implement new programs in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda, governments and the global community will require more data, cheaper, and of better quality. Food security, agricultural development and sustainable use of natural resources are at the center of the 2030 Agenda.

In this context, the World Bank is working with international organizations and development partners in supporting countries in the production of more and better survey data by improving survey methods, supporting data collection and building analytical capacity to use data effectively in support of evidence-based policy-making.

Https://www.50x2030.org/ ("Data-Smart Agriculture") was officially launched at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018. It is the result of a coordinated effort of donors and development partners that have engaged, with the active involvement of low and middle-income participating countries, to a long-term commitment to improve agricultural and rural surveys in order to fill the agricultural data gaps in 50 L/LMICs by 2030.

By strengthening the capacity of national statistical systems to produce high-quality and timely agricultural data, the main objective of the Initiative is to achieve by 2030 sustainable data systems owned and operated by the Initiatives 50 partner countries. In particular, the 50x2030 Initiative aims at scaling up the use of integrated surveys on agriculture and will support countries towards the implementation of an integrated agricultural survey program tailored to the countrys needs, wishes, capacity, and potential for technical and financial take-over by the respective governments.

The Initiative is structured in three Implementation Components, each led by one Implementing Agency: Data production (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO), Methods and Tools Development (World Bank), and Data Use (the International Fund for Agricultural Development - IFAD). Other founding partners are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Governments of the USA, Australia, Germany and Italy.

The harmonization of the Initiatives activities is ensured through the services of a strong coordination mechanism, the Program Management Team, that is established in Rome, and managed by a Program Manager. The Program Management Team is tasked to implement the directives and vision of the Initiatives Partnership Council whose aim is to give strategic guidance to the successful achievement of the Initiatives objectives and scope.

Within this context, the World Bank is looking for a Program Officer with strong partnership management and organization skills to join the Program Management Team of the 50x2030 Initiative.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The Program Officer will work under the leadership and supervision of the Program Manager to:

Develop the 50x2030 Initiatives work plans, project documents, concept notes and operation manuals across the three Initiative components

Collaborate to the International Development Associations (IDA) resources mobilization.

Collaborate and coordinate with the Implementing Agencies, to ensure that workplans and budgets for the different components, including for country activities, are harmonized and well-coordinated

Establish strategic co-operative and collaborative relationships with initiatives stakeholders and partners and effectively manage relationships with them

Support the coordination and management of the Initiatives activities and staff together with the Program Manager and manage reporting, monitoring and evaluation requirements

Contribute to the negotiation and drafting of partnership agreements, project documents, Memoranda of Understanding, etc.

Contribute to the coordination of the country engagement and onboarding processes, including inception missions, negotiation of memoranda of agreement and project agreements with the partner governments, budgets and co-funding for the country programs consistent with Bank and implementing partner country frameworks and strategies

Ensure information relevant to the planning, implementation and monitoring of activities across implementation agencies, the Partnership Council, the participating countries, and the Program Management Team are shared and managed efficiently czlvtVu Dh7qKS

Contribute to the preparation of reports, analyses and reviews related to the implementation of the initiative, and support other planning and reporting activities of the Program Management Team

Perform other related duties as required

Selection Criteria

Masters degree in Economics, Political Science, International Relations, Development Management, or other related fields

At least five years of relevant experience in capacity development, program coordination, and strategic planning

Experience in working on statistical capacity development with developing countries, working within a multi-partner Secretariat highly desirable

Experience with World Bank operations and good knowledge of statistical capacity building projects.

Demonstrated ability to lead and manage complex relationships with partners, colleagues and content experts and contribute to strategy development.

Proven record of development and implementation of complex strategic plans

Proven ability to rapidly analyze diverse information from varied sources and to learn, adapt, and to be innovative as multi-partner engagement challenges arise.

Self-motivated, creative, with excellent organizational skills and proven ability to perform multiple tasks and to work in a multi-disciplinary team-oriented and dynamic environment.

Excellent interpersonal skills with a willingness to work in a team environment. Demonstrated skills in working in teams, delivering products and commitments, and working across boundaries.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

The World Bank Group offers comprehensive benefits, including a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave, as well as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories.

Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1637687470960
Programme Specialist, Various Locations

Organization: FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Country: Italy

City: Rome

Office: FAO Rome

Closing date: Saturday, 1 January 2022

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST - VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT : 2103057

Programme Specialist

Job Posting: 12/Nov/2021

Closure Date: 01/Jan/2022, 10:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit : NSAH

Job Type: Non-staff opportunities

Type of Requisition : Consultant / PSA (Personal Services Agreement)

Grade Level : N/A

Primary Location: Various Locations

Duration : Up to 11 months on a WAE basis (with possibility of renewal)

Post Number : N/A

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture.

Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply;

Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAOs values

FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting

The European Commission for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease (EuFMD) plays a significant role in the animal health part of FAOs programme to increase resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises (SO5).

The EuFMD has established a globally respected capacity for efficient delivery of training, in-country and online support to emergency preparedness, and Progressive Control Programmes is working in over 80 countries with and through the decentralized offices. Most recently, the HOLD-FAST strategy continues the focus upon Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) risk reduction but extends the scope of the preparedness and risk reduction activities to similar Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) which pose an immediate threat to the Member Nations (hereafter FAST is used for Foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases).

The EuFMD is an Article XIV body responsible to its Member States and donors to deliver an extensive work programme on FMD emergency preparedness, response and control, to its 39 Member Nations, to a further 20 European neighbourhood countries, and to other regions through its arrangement with FAO decentralized offices. It manages the largest capacity-building programme in animal health in FAO with over 10,000 trainees recently taking its training courses.

The programme involves a considerable number of virtual and face-to-face events, as well as courses for its professional staff and consultants.

Technical input as well as operational delivery are entirely managed by the Commission Secretariat.

Full details are available in the EuFMD work programme.

Reporting Lines

Programme Specialists, in close collaboration with the Programme Operations Manager, report directly to Communication Officer and Programme Implementation Manager and to the EuFMD Deputy Executive Secretary for functional and policy guidance.

Technical Focus

Support to delivery of donor-funded work programmes of the EuFMD Commission at global, regional, sub-regional and country level.

The EuFMD workplan develops in three Pillars: Pillar I - Improving preparedness for management of FMD and similar TADs (FAST disease) crises by Members and across

Europe as a whole.

Pillar II - Reduced risk to Members from the FAST disease (FMD and similar TADS) situation in the European neighbourhood.

Pillar III - Sustaining and enhancing progress in the roll out of the GF-TADs Global Strategy for control of FMD, and on increasing security in the supply of effective FMD vaccines.

The EuFMD provides virtual and face-to-face courses and events and, considering the level of the progression along the FMD Progressive Control Pathway (PCP), identifies specific needs in the regions and the opportunities of making the best use of national and international expertise to assess the effectiveness of Risk Based Strategic Plans (RBSP). These plans focus on improving disease risk information and assisting in the design, implementation and evaluation of risk based surveillance and risk based control measures.

Tasks and responsibilities

The consultant/PSA will provide support to the implementation of the EuFMD work programme at global, regional sub-regional and country level. This includes but it is not limited to the surge of support required for managing the changing priorities following disease emergencies and changes in programme decided by the Executive Committee and the major donors.

The key functions will be as following (tasks will be assigned according to the specific profile): Project Management:

Coordinate and/or provide operational support activities related, but not limited to:

project team formulation and delivery planning, liaise with relevant parties; ensure follow-up actions to ongoing projects;

budget and funding (programme/project preparation and submissions, progress reports, financial statements, etc.) and prepare related documents/reports (pledging, work programme, programme budget);

Provide support for virtual meetings and face-to-face missions formulation and planning related to the organization of the EuFMD events in FAO headquarters and in the field; ensure communication with FAO headquarters, decentralized and regional offices to inform them of EuFMD activities in good time;

Research, analyze and present information gathered from diverse sources including, but not limited to, feasibility studies, graphics and statistics using various tools to analyse EuFMD Projects;

Ensure follow-up actions by evaluating related economical and financial impact also monitoring and updating of the EuFMD project status in FAO Field Programme Management Information System (FPMIS). Financial reporting to be provided;

Contribute implementing the yearly plan for Procurement, Letters of Agreement and Framework agreements;

Provide support with the recruitment process of NSHR

Assist in internal processes and procedures improvements; Develop comprehensive documentation of virtual and face-to-face structure and operating procedures;

Perform other duties, if required.

Information and Logistics management:

Provide support in all EuFMD activities related to the organization and delivery of virtual, face-to-face or hybrid format events: such as build course pages for online courses (including preparation of material up to final upload onto the v-learning site and assist with trouble shooting) in direct liaison with international experts, maintain the database recording details of all participants trained and assist in dealing with general technical issues encountered while running a virtual event to ensure these activities are implemented in a relevant manner;

Research and implement innovative methodologies, digital tools, software and automated approaches related to program activities, resources performance tracking, and delivery of virtual events;

Provide support with the implementation of the EuFMD communication strategy and digitalization;

Collect data from different sectorial sources to provide statistics related to the three pillar Workplan in order to contribute generating the EuFMD newsletter and technical reports and support communication within the EuFMD team;;

Support the elaboration of EuFMD survey related to programme activities, including data analysis, statistics, reporting and recording system; cyjoMYJ Dh7qKS

Provide support with the Gender sensitive analysis and mainstreaming within EuFMD activities conducting desk research, reviewing collected data, suggesting and applying improvements.;

Assist in enacting environmental sustainability within EuFMD programme conducting desk research, reviewing collected data, suggesting and applying improvements.

Perform other duties, if required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Depending on the Profile: For Consultants:

University degree in economics, political science, social science, business administration, Information and computer science and Applications, communication or any other field relevant to the work of the Division;

At least one year of relevant work experience in any field related to the above mentioned tasks;

Working knowledge (Level C) of English or French and limited knowledge (Level B) of one of FAOs Official languages: Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Russian.

For PSAs:

High school diploma with Technical specialization (University Degree would be an asset) in economics, political science, social science, international relations, business administration, Information and computer technologies, communication or another field relevant to the work of the Division;

At least one year of relevant work experience in any field related to the above mentioned tasks;

Working knowledge (Level C) of English or French is required.

FAO Core Competencies

Results Focus

Teamwork

Communication

Building Effective Relationships

Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

Extent and relevance of experience in Access, Excel, Microsoft Teams "R", Survey Monkey, Adobe, Moodle and Python will be considered as an asset.

Selection Criteria

Relevant experience in one or more areas related to policy, planning, programming and administrative management in public or private sectors relating to programming, planning and technical co-operation in food and agriculture will be considered an asset;

Knowledge of additional languages will be considered an asset;

Familiarity with liaising with FAO HQ and decentralized offices as well as the knowledge of protocol procedures and use of TALEO will be considered an asset;

Ability to work accurately under pressure paying attention to details;

Independent and capacity to prioritize requested actions in order to meet all the deadlines.

Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

FAO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing)

Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list

Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

For more information, visit the FAO employment website

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the recruitment portal will be considered.

We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline

If you need help please contact: Careers@fao.org

Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1636739990457
AV Kitching grew up in Malaysia before moving to England as a young adult. She, her husband and young daughter recently settled in Portage la Prairie, where a new life has left her longing for a taste of home.

AV Kitching grew up in Malaysia before moving to England as a young adult. She, her husband and young daughter recently settled in Portage la Prairie, where a new life has left her longing for a taste of home.

My memories of my mother are inextricably linked with food. When I think of her I picture her hands methodically slicing onions into half-moon slivers. I can see her fingers deftly moving across a knob of ginger, transforming it into perfectly julienned strips. The image of the bottom of her palm smashing garlic with a cleaver, then tenderly picking apart the papery skin to reveal bruised cloves.

My mothers hands are brown and strong, her movements swift and economical as she turns from countertop to stove. She is a gifted cook. There is rarely need for a recipe. Instead she relies not just on her unerring tastebuds, but also the sound of things; the gurgle of a stew, the lazy plop of a bubble as it breaks through the surface of soup, not a simmer yet not yet a boil.

As a child I sat perched in the kitchen watching her build her masterpiece. Layer by layer she added, tasting as she went along, a slight nod indicating that yes, things are as they should be. A little smile at me as I opened my mouth wide so I too could taste. So I too could take part in her alchemy.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS AV Kitching prepares her mothers chicken stew at her home in Portage la Prairie.

It is these memories I reach for when the wind gusts outside my window and all I can see are drifts of white, a blanket of snow covering every inch of my lawn. Such an unfamiliar sight to me.

The summer I turned 18 was the last time I lived with my mother. That June I packed my bags and left the sweltering shores of Malaysia for the drizzly grey of London, England, a city I called home for 22 years. Until three months ago, when my Canadian husband and I packed up six years of a life together, cramming all we loved into four suitcases and two boxes, and flew some 5,000 kilometres with our daughter and our geriatric cat, to land in this country.

It was a hot August day when we arrived. The mercury rapidly rising and I  a woman born in the humid tropics  felt immediately at home. My skin drinking in the heat, quenching a primal desire for warmth I had forgotten lived in my bones.

Of course its a different picture now.

Supplied Kitchings mother Vijaya Arulampalam, her 23-month-old daughter Faith Kitching and her brother Arul Victor.

"Its meant to be -11 tonight," my husband tells me. He grins at my widening eyes as the enormity of that double-digit negative number sinks in.

Outside the wind whips furiously. Ice crystals scatter from the eaves of our house blowing their way inside the door. I lift my face up, feeling their pinpricks on my skin. A million tiny cuts closing up as swiftly as they open.

I shiver.

My mother, who hates the heat even though thats all shes known for most of her life, would love it here, I think. Picking up my phone, I start typing, then think better of it. I know what I need and I know where it is and I will find it and I will make myself feel less cold.

I will make myself feel more at home.

The year my daughter turned three, my mother started emailing me her secrets. Every day, waiting for me in my inbox, would be a methodical list of ingredients followed by numbered instructions, a step-by-step guide to recreating meals from my childhood. I welcomed the appearance of these unsolicited messages, a thread stretching across the oceans to link a mother to her daughter and her grandchild.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS AV Kitching lets her daughter, Faith, 5, taste test her mothers chicken stew

As the storm kicks up again I start to slice my onions, turning them into translucent half-moons. I crush the garlic  skin and all  and with the back of my knife, smear the cloves across the chopping board, scattering in a few grains of salt to create a paste. I scrape a teaspoon against an inch of ginger, carefully peeling the thin skin and then julienne into (almost) identical strips.

While the oil heats gently in the wok, I gather all my ingredients, placing them next to me so I can work fast to appease the sharp desire for warmth in the pit of my stomach. As the alliums hit the pan, the crackle and scents of my childhood fill the house, rousing my five-year-old, who comes traipsing into the kitchen, her face creased from sleep.

My cooking has woken her up.

"Im starving," she announces before pulling up a stool to watch me as I stir. I bend low to hear the gurgle of the stew, that lazy plop telling me it will be ready soon. Reaching out for my spoon, I dip in to check for seasoning.

She opens her mouth for a taste and suddenly I am home.

My mothers chicken stew

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Anucyia Victor Kitching prepares her mothers chicken stew.



30 ml (2 tbsp) ginger garlic paste (you can buy this in jars),

1.5-2 kg (3.3-4.5 lbs) chicken thighs, cubed

4 medium potatoes, cubed

3 carrots, cut into thick discs

250 g (8 oz) mushrooms

3 medium onions, chopped

2.5 cm (1 inch) ginger, julienned

5 cloves garlic, smashed

3 star anise and 1 stick cinnamon

45 ml (3 tbsp) oyster sauce

75 ml (5 tbsp) light soy sauce

15 ml (1 tbsp) thick, dark soy sauce

15 ml (1 tbsp) ground black pepper

15 ml (1 tbsp) Chinese cooking wine (optional)

30 ml (2 tbsp) cornflour +45 ml (3 tbsp) water

Salt to taste (start off with a pinch)

Marinate chicken in ginger-garlic paste for an hour.

Heat oil on medium, add star anise, cinnamon, ginger and onion. When fragrant, add garlic and chicken. Add a tiny pinch of salt and all of the ground pepper. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

Next, add potatoes and carrots and give it a good stir. Add enough water to cover the ingredients, cook for 20 mins. Add mushrooms, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Taste at this point before moving on to the next state.

Mix the three sauces and add to the pan, mix well. Simmer gently for 20 minutes till meat and vegetables are tender. Taste again. Add cooking wine, if using. Scoop some of the hot cooking liquid into a bowl, then add cornflour to it, stirring thoroughly to a smooth paste. Add paste to stew. Season to taste.

Serve with steamed rice and wilted greens.
OTTAWA - Members of Parliament are able to work from home again after passing a motion Thursday to resume hybrid sittings of the House of Commons.

The Centre Block of Parliament Hill is pictured in Ottawa on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

OTTAWA - Members of Parliament are able to work from home again after passing a motion Thursday to resume hybrid sittings of the House of Commons.

Liberals and New Democrats joined forces to pass the motion over the objections of Conservative and Bloc Quebecois MPs who had wanted to fully return to normal, in-person operations.

The motion gives MPs the option of participating virtually in proceedings, including votes and debates in the Commons and its committees, starting Friday and continuing until the House breaks for the summer in June.

It passed late Thursday by a vote of 180-140 after the NDP supported the Liberals in putting an end to two days of debate on the matter.

MPs first adopted the hybrid format a year ago, aimed at limiting the number of members in the Commons to avoid spreading COVID-19. But the all-party agreement to allow that format expired last June.

Since Parliament resumed Monday after a five-month hiatus, all but one of the country's 338 MPs have been in the Commons because there was no unanimous agreement to return to hybrid sittings.

The missing MP  Conservative Richard Lehoux  tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, two days after attending an in-person Tory caucus retreat.

Government House leader Mark Holland welcomed the return of the hybrid format, saying it will allow Lehoux and anyone else who falls ill or has to isolate due to exposure to the virus to continue working remotely.

In an interview after the vote, he said he hopes unvaccinated Conservative MPs also opt to work from home "and not cause an issue around public health."

"I still would like to know how many there are and I would like the assurance from the leader that he's not going to allow these unvaccinated individuals in the chamber."

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has said all his 118 MPs are either fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption. He has refused to say how many are exempt and Holland has questioned the statistical probability that multiple MPs would have valid medical reasons to not be immunized.

The motion specifies that MPs who choose to participate in person must be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption based on the limited exceptions spelled out by the Ontario health ministry and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Earlier Thursday, O'Toole accused the "Liberal-NDP coalition" of "shutting down" Parliament.

He argued that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his fellow Liberals were content to call an election and attend campaign events in September and to gather "with thousands of people" at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow a few weeks ago.

While they were willing to do those things "because it suited them," he said they are "today shutting down debate and limiting democratic accountability because it bothers them."

It is "hypocrisy of the highest order," O'Toole charged.

But Holland countered that there's a big difference between people choosing whether to attend events and requiring all MPs, regardless of their health circumstances, to be physically present in the Commons if they want to participate in proceedings.

"This is a very different situation. We have people flying in from every corner of the country, spending a week together, commingling in a very, very small space and then going back to every part of the country," he said.

Holland said he's heard from some MPs who are immunocompromised and are afraid to be in the chamber, particularly when the Conservatives refuse to say how many of their members are unvaccinated or whether those members are self-isolating after being exposed to Lehoux last week.

"That is absolutely unacceptable in a pandemic to put people who are in a vulnerable health circumstance, to force them to be in a situation where their health is at risk," he said.

During debate on the motion Thursday, Conservative and Bloc Quebecois MPs argued that virtual proceedings allow the government to avoid scrutiny. They noted that in the last session, cabinet ministers frequently didn't turn up in the Commons even though they were in their Parliament Hill offices.

Holland promised that a majority of ministers, including the prime minister, will be in the House in the future.

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New Democrat MP Laurel Collins spoke in the chamber while holding her seven-month-old daughter in her arms. She said travelling back and forth from her Victoria B.C., riding with an infant is never easy but it's "nerve-racking" during the pandemic.

Should her daughter catch a mild cold or have a teething fever, Collins said she wouldn't be allowed to board a plane with her. And should that prevent her from travelling to Ottawa, Collins said she'd be denied the right to participate in proceedings if there is no hybrid format.

"Women deserve the choice to participate," she told the Commons, adding that the chamber "was built by men, for men and we have a long way to go if we want equal access."

But Conservative MP Raquel Dancho countered that during the last session there was frequently only one Liberal MP in the chamber, the rest participating virtually.

"Not all the other ones had COVID or were having babies," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2021.
The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) has barred a former mortgage broker for life as well as any company he is an officer or director of, from being registered in any capacity under the Mortgage Brokers Act.

The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) has barred a former mortgage broker for life as well as any company he is an officer or director of, from being registered in any capacity under the Mortgage Brokers Act.

The registration of Thomas Harold Standing and Sigmar Mortgage Services Ltd. was originally suspended back in March based on the seriousness of the allegations arising from the Manitoba Securities Commission investigation carried out to that point.

(Derrick Sigmar of Lifestyles Real Estate Ltd., formerly of Sigmar Mackenzie Real Estate Services, is not connected in any way to this matter.)

Back in March the commission indicated that to delay suspension until after a hearing "would be prejudicial to the public interest."

In its Reasons for Decision that was released on Thursday, the commission noted that it accepted the settlement agreement without levying a fine because both Standing and Sigmar Mortgage Services have filed for bankruptcy and his victims have won a civil suit with judgment of more than $4.279 million.

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The commission noted that the proceedings had started before the bankruptcy was filed and it did not want to impair the victims chances of collecting on the judicial ruling.

"Had it not been for the assignments in bankruptcy by the respondents and our concern that their creditors are very likely to suffer significant losses as it is, we would have had no hesitation in rejecting a settlement agreement that did not include significant monetary penalties," said the MSCs Reasons for Decision.

The MSC has the power to levy fines up to $100,000 for an individual and $500,000 for a corporation.

The commission said that Standings misconduct "goes to the heart of the obligations of registrants under the Act"

The settlement agreement, that Standing agreed to, noted that he accepted money from clients for investment in mortgages but used the funds for other purposes; he discharged mortgages without the clients being repaid; he promised to repay a clients mortgage from a refinancing but failed to do so and only did so much later from other funds.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
There was plenty of frustration in the air at a conference on doing business with Nunavut early Thursday morning in Winnipeg.

There was plenty of frustration in the air at a conference on doing business with Nunavut early Thursday morning in Winnipeg.

The discomfort at the well-attended event organized by World Trade Centre Winnipeg was borne out of the fact that although Kivalliq, Nunavuts western region along the west coast of the Hudson Bay, is so close to Winnipeg and the people there have such a connection to Winnipeg and there is transportation infrastructure all the way to Churchill, much of the actual flow of goods does not emanate from here.

Leaders of air, rail and Kivalliq-based distribution companies all made the point that because shipments are full one way and empty on the way back, the costs of shipping to the North is always so high.

So even though the supply ship that comes from Montreal only stops two or three times per year in the Kivalliq communities, it is still cheaper for a company like EPLS (Eskimo Point Lumber Supply) Group of Companies, to send containers from Winnipeg to Montreal than it is to send them directly north.

Derrick Webster, the chief operating officer of EPSL, said he recently sent 300 containers to St. Catharines to the be shipped to Kivalliq.

"Trucking from Winnipeg to Montreal is cheaper than Winnipeg to Thompson," he said. "There is just so much traffic in that direction that we can broker a half truckload and there are lots of opportunities. There are only one or two companies going to Thompson. That is one of the biggest cost of using that channel. They have to pay their driver who might come back empty."

Gary Bell, the CEO of Calm Air, made the same point.

Calm Air flies to Rankin Inlet from Winnipeg twice a day with a 737, about half of which is dedicated for freight.

"The biggest thing we would love to see at some point in time is goods travelling in both directions," he said.

Calm Air flights to Rankin from Winnipeg are about the same distance as Winnipeg to Vancouver, but passenger loads to Rankin are about 50 per cent of what they are to Vancouver.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chuck Davidson (left), Colleen Smook, Todd Burns and Gerry Marques speak during a panel discussion at the World Trade Centre conference on trade with Nunavut at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

"But we have the same operating costs," he said. "We use the same amount of fuel, the same size flight crew."

Marc Cool, the COO of Arctic Gateway Group that now owns and operates the Hudson Bay Railway said the railway infrastructure has the capacity to haul 40-50 car trains. It is currently running trains with four or five cars.

Colleen Smook, the mayor of Thompson, said a key to opening up trade to both Nunavut and to northern Manitoba, is for government and industry to take the time to travel to the North.

"I think that is changing," she said. "Were not just looking for handouts, we want to partner with others."

For Derek Earl, vice-president of World Trade Centre Winnipeg, the reason to have such a conference now is to get companies in southern Manitoba planning for northern trade in preparation for infrastructure work that is in the planning stages for Nunavut.

There is plenty of housing construction going on throughout the region, lots of mineral exploration (as well as new mines near Rankin Inlet and Baffin Island) and the $1.6 billion Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link project is getting closer to becoming a reality.

Chuck Davidson, the CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, who has co-chaired a northern development initiative for the province, said whenever there are events about the north in Winnipeg, people from the north always travel south.

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"We have got to get the folks from the south to travel up there and see what is going on," he said.

Smook, who touted the fact that Thompson needs to raise just $15 million more for a $100 million airport development, said that over the next five years there is more than $130 million in federal and provincial spending promises.

Many of the participants spoke about the lack infrastructure in Kivalliq  there are no roads connecting the 25 communities in the region  the lack of economies of scale, training and education deficits and the realities of needing to plan shipments months in advance so as not to miss the next ship from Montreal.

A consensus exists for a need for some kind of regular re-supply network out of Churchill.

But for that to happen someone with vision  and deep pockets  will have to step forward.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
BERLIN (AP)  Germany's government refused to back calls Friday for a swift and sharp lockdown to curb the country's worsening coronavirus situation, which saw daily confirmed cases hit a new peak and is putting hospitals under severe strain.

Intensive care nurses treat patients severely ill with Covid-19 disease in the Corona intensive care unit at the University Hospital in Halle/Saale on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. The German air force Luftwaffe will begin assisting the transfer of intensive care patients from hospitals in Bavaria to northern German states.(Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)

BERLIN (AP)  Germany's government refused to back calls Friday for a swift and sharp lockdown to curb the country's worsening coronavirus situation, which saw daily confirmed cases hit a new peak and is putting hospitals under severe strain.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said contacts between people need to be sharply reduced, warning that the situation is dramatically serious, more serious than it's been at any point in the pandemic.

But he declined to say whether he would back blanket restrictions of the kind seen during previous stages of the pandemic, when schools, non-essential stores and other areas of public life were shuttered. Austria, faced with a similar surge in cases, this week ordered a ten-day lockdown for everybody, renewable for a further ten days.

A spokesman for outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel likewise refused to be drawn on whether she favored triggering the so-called emergency brake measures last used in April.

Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said there were political realities that need to be acknowledged," such as the new majority in parliament since Germany's election on Sept. 26 that Merkel's party narrowly lost. Her government's junior partner, the center-left Social Democrats, have negotiated to form a new government with two other parties.

A helicopter of the DRF Luftrettung brings a patient who is seriously ill with the coronavirus and the COVID-19 disease to the St. Bernward Hospital in Hildesheim, Germany, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. From Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony, Covid-19 patients are transport to hospitals in the north and west of Germany. (Julian Stratenschulte/dpa via AP)

The new government is expected to take over in early December, but the transition period  with Merkel as caretaker  has been blamed for paralyzing Germany's response to the pandemic.

The country's disease control agency said 76,414 more cases were reported in the past 24 hours, a new record. The Robert Koch Institute said Germany also had 357 new deaths from COVID-19, taking the total since the start of the outbreak to 100,476.

Responding to a newly discovered variant that's been spreading in South Africa, Spahn said airlines coming from there would only be able to transport German citizens. Travelers will need to go into quarantine for 14 days whether they are vaccinated or not, he said.

The last thing we need is to bring in a new variant that will cause even more problems, he said.

Spahn noted that Germany was having to organize large-scale transfers of patients within the country for the first time since the outbreak began in early 2020, including with help from the military.

The Defense Ministry said a Luftwaffe A310 medevac plane will fly seriously ill patients from the southern town of Memmingen to North Rhine-Westphalia state Friday afternoon.

Hospitals in southern and eastern regions of Germany have warned they are running out of intensive care beds because of the large numbers of seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

The governor of Saxony, the state with the highest per capita infection rate in Germany, called for a meeting of federal and state officials planned for Dec. 9 to be brought forward.

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Hesitancy will be punished, Michael Kretschmer told German media group RND.

We need to scale down public and economic life as much as possible and provide financial help to affected companies, he was quoted as saying.

In the meantime Germany is releasing 18 million doses of vaccine over a ten-day period to meet demand for boosters and first shots for people who haven't had any yet.

About 68.3% of the country's 83 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated, below the 75% minimum threshold eyed by the government.

___

Follow AP's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
GATINEAU, Que. - Rogers Communications Inc. used the last day of CRTC hearings reviewing its proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. to reject the criticism of its main rivals, while offering some concessions to independent producers and distributors.

GATINEAU, Que. - Rogers Communications Inc. used the last day of CRTC hearings reviewing its proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. to reject the criticism of its main rivals, while offering some concessions to independent producers and distributors.

Ted Woodhead, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Rogers, said Friday that Bell Canada parent BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. were speaking in self interest rather than the public interest when raising concerns about the size Rogers would reach if the deal goes through.

Brad Shaw Chairman, right to left, and CEO of Shaw Communications chats with Edward Rogers, Chairman of Rogers Communications, during a break at ther CRTC hearing on Monday November 22, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand

For decades, these two companies have consistently advocated for the notion of scale for themselves, but have now decided that scale is a bad thing when it comes to Rogers and Shaw.

Woodhead said the combined company would lead to stronger competition in Western Canada, and that there are more regulatory safeguards in place than there were in 2012 when the CRTC forced concessions from Bell before approving its purchase of Astral Media.

He noted Bell was also in talks to buy Shaw's assets, which would have seen BCE reach the same scale Rogers is seeking with the deal.

The two major competitors, along with other speakers during the week of hearings focused on the broadcast side of the merger, raised concerns that the combined Rogers-Shaw would wield too much influence in the market by controlling about 47 per cent of the English-language subscriber base.

Most independent producers and distributors did not outright oppose the deal, but instead asked for concessions and safeguards to maintain the status quo and give them more time to adapt to the rapidly changing broadcast world.

Several raised concerns that the assistance Rogers was offering them to move to the unregulated online space was an effort to push them off existing services, but the company said its funding offers for them to develop apps for internet-based TV was to help them adapt to existing market conditions, as already an estimated 40 to 50 per cent of Canadians have cut their cable subscriptions.

Many parties to this proceeding would prefer to ignore the reality of the now," said Woodhead.

Pam Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory at Rogers Cable, said Ethnic Channels Group's request for an effective guarantee that its revenue not go down for five years was "entirely unreasonable," but committed to increasing the minimum number of independent service to 45 from the 40 the company committed to at the start of the week.

She said Rogers would also subject the satellite relay service business it would acquire through Shaw to the same dispute resolution options available to conventional broadcasting, after some distributors raised concerns during the hearing about the threat of being dropped from the service.

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Intervenors during the week also raised concerns about Rogers' plan to divert an estimated $13 million that Shaw currently pays to Global News toward expanded western coverage for its own CityNews channels.

Critics said the change would likely mean less coverage for smaller markets as the CityNews expansion will be limited to Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg, while Rogers has also been vague on the benefits of the funding, including how many more journalists it would mean for the company.

Rogers on Friday said that the funding commitment was dependent on revenues that were on the decline, so the funding could go down, and said it would provide more details on its journalism plans in writing to the regulator.

While the hearings at the CRTC focused on the broadcasting aspects of the merger, issues such as mobile wireless services and internet providers will be reviewed by the Competition Bureau and by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B,TSX:SJR.B; TSX:BCE; TSX:T)
REGINA - A man accused of killing a Saskatchewan RCMP officer during a traffic stop now faces a first-degree murder charge.

REGINA - A man accused of killing a Saskatchewan RCMP officer during a traffic stop now faces a first-degree murder charge.

Alphonse Stanley Traverse, 42, of Winnipeg, was originally charged with manslaughter in the June 12 death of Const. Shelby Patton.

RCMP Const. Shelby Patton is shown in this undated handout photo. A man accused of killing a Saskatchewan RCMP officer is now facing a murder charge. Patton of the Indian Head Detachment was killed on June 12 after being hit by a pickup truck in Wolsely, Sask., during a traffic stop. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, RCMP *MANDATORY CREDIT*

RCMP have said the 26-year-old Mountie was hit by a vehicle in the town of Wolseley, east of Regina, after stopping a suspected stolen truck.

Marlene Velma Louise Pagee, 43, of Winnipeg, had also been charged with manslaughter in the case but it was downgraded Friday to being an accessory after the fact of murder.

Neither accused have had a bail hearing.

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A makeshift memorial is laid out beside the Indian Head RCMP detachment in Indian Head, Sask., on Sunday, June 13, 2021. A man accused of killing Const. Shelby Patton is now facing a murder charge. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kayle Neis

Defence lawyer Thomas Hines has requested a bail verification report for Pagee.

He told the court that a residence has been secured for her in Winnipeg at the Elizabeth Fry Society. A bail hearing date has not been set.

The Crown has not decided whether to consent to her release.

"We'll consider the bail report as itcomes,"Crown lawyer Adam Breker said.

Pagee is due back in court on Dec. 2. Traverse is to return on Dec. 20, when dates are expected to be set for a preliminary hearing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2021.
Phil Fontaine's trip to Rome to meet Pope Francis next month will be in stark contrast to his first visit to the Vatican in 2009, when he was national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Phil Fontaine's trip to Rome to meet Pope Francis next month will be in stark contrast to his first visit to the Vatican in 2009, when he was national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

"We were unsuccessful in securing an apology" from Pope Benedict XVI, said Fontaine, although he noted the Pope did express "deep regret."

The circumstances of the Dec. 14 to 21 visit "are so different," said Fontaine, a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba.

In 2009, there had been no Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, nor had the unmarked graves of children who died at residential schools been discovered.

Now, he said, "we already know the Pope is committed to visiting Canada," adding he hopes "the Holy Father will issue an apology" when he is here.

Fontaine spoke at a news conference hosted by the Assembly of First Nations Thursday. He has been named Manitoba's delegate, and co-lead, for the Dec. 20 visit by First Nations leaders with the Pope.

Thirteen First Nations members from across Canada will make the trip, which is being organized and paid for by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. In addition, delegates from the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Metis National Council will attend. Each group will have one hour with the Pope.

Fontaine noted it has been a long journey for him and other Indigenous people.

"We are going to Rome with great expectations," he said, noting he hopes the Pope will agree to issue an apology on Indigenous territory in Canada.

While an apology is important, Fontaine added the delegation is also focused on reparations, access to residential school records, continued searching for unmarked graves and practical efforts at reconciliation with Catholics in Canada.

"There are a number of issues," on the table, he said, noting they cant all be covered in the short time the delegation will meet with the Pope.

Norman Yakeleya, a regional chief from the Northwest Territories, who will be the delegation lead, said the visit "has been a long time in coming."

It will provide "a measure of dignity and respect" to survivors and their descendants, he said, adding an apology is "absolutely required to advance reconciliation and healing."

It is also important that such an apology take place "on our lands," he said.

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Although no locations for the papal visit have been announced, it was suggested the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C., where the first unmarked graves were found, might be an ideal place for him to visit.

"We are ground zero," said Kukpi7 Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation and the B.C. representative on the delegation. "It would be extra significant for him (the Pope) to visit this area."

No date has been set for the papal visit, although it was speculated that Sept. 30, 2022, the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, would be appropriate.

Rosalie LaBillois of Eel River Bar First Nation in New Brunswick, a young person and inter-generational survivor, said the visit is especially meaningful since she will get to "do what my grandfather never got to do  speak his truth."

To the best of her ability, LaBillois wants to "represent the youth perspective," to the Pope, and come home with a message that Indigenous youth can be "proud of where we come from we have a voice."

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Disbarred lawyer Paul Hesse is being sued by the Law Society of Manitoba for $2.4 million the law society paid to clients Hesse cheated.

Disbarred lawyer Paul Hesse is being sued by the Law Society of Manitoba for $2.4 million the law society paid to clients Hesse cheated.

The sum, plus interest, represents money Hesse collected from 15 clients for alleged immigration services, says a statement of claim filed last week.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Disbarred lawyer Paul Hesse is being sued by the Law Society of Manitoba for $2.4 million the law society paid to clients Hesse cheated.

The law society repaid the money from a reimbursement fund it maintains to compensate clients who have suffered "misappropriation or conversion" of their money by a law society member.

"The conduct of the defendant was reprehensible, high-handed, scandalous and egregious," the law society alleges in its statement of claim.

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Hesse, a former president of the provincial Liberal party, was disbarred last year after a law society disciplinary panel found he had defrauded 27 clients out of $6.5 million over the course of three years, beginning in 2016.

Hesse lied to his clients, stole from them and convinced them to invest in a company owned by his former partner without disclosing the personal relationship.

Hesse, who was called to the bar in 2006, was found guilty of 29 counts of professional misconduct following a disciplinary hearing at which he did not appear.

"Most of the clients that he wronged were vulnerable in that they would not have had English as their first language and they may not have had a good understanding of the Canadian legal system," says a disciplinary panel decision from September 2020.

"They lost not only millions of dollars, but also the chance to immigrate. While their financial losses may be compensated, Mr. Hesses actions may have forever shattered their hopes and dreams."

 Staff
An Indigenous land acknowledgement will open question period at the Manitoba Legislative Building for the first time, on Monday.

An Indigenous land acknowledgement will open question period at the Manitoba Legislative Building for the first time, on Monday.

Government house leader Kelvin Goertzen tabled the new treaty and territorial acknowledgement Friday.

Legislators unanimously agreed to adopt the statement to be used daily, alongside the prayer, for the remainder of the session.

Premier Heather Stefanson said the land acknowledgement will be formalized at a later date as part of the house rules.

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"I feel very honoured and humbled to be the premier of this province when this is starting," Stefanson said Friday. "Its the right thing to do and Im just looking forward to that."

The legislative assembly is one of the few public institutions in the province that doesnt open with a land acknowledgement.

The NDP has called for a land acknowledgement to be included in the proceedings since 2017.

In September, a government working group was directed to consult with First Nations, Metis and Inuit leaders and organizations and provide recommendations to the government. A draft of the statement was shared with house leaders Wednesday for fine-tuning.

Stefanson said Indigenous leaders and members will be invited to the legislature on Monday to hear it read into the chamber for the first time.

The four-sentence land acknowledgement recognizes the treaty territories and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg, Anishininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Denesuline and Nehethowuk nations; the homeland of the Red River Metis; the ancestral lands of the Inuit; affirms respect for the spirit and intent of treaties; and contains a commitment to working in partnership with Indigenous peoples in the spirit of "truth, reconciliation, and collaboration."
The province is revising the Workers Compensation Act to cover more types of work-related cancer suffered by firefighters.

The province is revising the Workers Compensation Act to cover more types of work-related cancer suffered by firefighters.

Primary thyroid, pancreatic, ovarian, cervical and penile cancer are being added to the 14 types of cancer on the list of presumptive cancers pertaining to firefighters and at-risk personnel in the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office.

"We are here to support all of you," Premier Heather Stefanson said at a news conference at the legislature Friday, with more than two dozen female firefighters  some with children in tow  standing behind her.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Heather Stefanson along with Finance Minister Scott Fielding and Alex Forrest (pictured), president, Manitoba Professional Firefighters joined a number of female firefighters on the grand staircase Friday afternoon, in the Manitoba Legislative building during the announcement that the government would be amending the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) to include coverage for five additional cancers to the list of presumptive cancers, pertaining to firefighters and at-risk personnel in the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office.

"We know firefighters are at a heightened risk of contracting various cancers due to the nature of their work and the inevitable exposure to carcinogens on the job in spite all the efforts to prevent and mitigate exposure risks," she said.

"Occupational cancer is the No. 1 killer of firefighters. It's not traumatic, on-duty accidents," United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest said at the legislature. "It's not one fire that kills us, its hundreds of fires over our career," he said. "That's why we need this legislation."

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Scott Fielding introduced Bill 6 (Workers Compensation Amendment Act), fulfilling a promise in Tuesday's throne speech. It was no surprise to the Winnipeg firefighters union that openly supported Stefanson in the Progressive Conservative leadership election.

Members of the firefighters union sold "hundreds" of party memberships on her behalf, Forrest said. Stefanson beat her rival, Shelly Glover, by 363 votes. Forrest made no apology for the union being involved in party politics.

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pictured), president, Manitoba Professional Firefighters joined a number of female firefighters on the grand staircase Friday afternoon, in the Manitoba Legislative building during the announcement that the government would be amending the Workers Compensation Act (WCA MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESSPremier Heather Stefanson along with Finance Minister Scott Fielding and Alex Forrest to include coverage for five additional cancers to the list of presumptive cancers, pertaining to firefighters and at-risk personnel in the Manitoba Fire Commissioners Office.211126 - Friday, November 26, 2021.

"We are politically active," said Forrest. "If you're not at the table, you're on the table," he said, noting the union has supported candidates from every political party.

"We support those who understand the needs of firefighters," he said. "That's why we supported Heather (Stefanson)."

Stefanson said Manitoba was an early adopter of presumptive legislation for cancers that inflict firefighters.

The first list of presumptive cancers for firefighters was added to the act in 2002. The list was expanded in 2005, with coverage extended to part-time firefighters. The list was expanded in 2009, and again in 2011, along with the addition of coverage for fire commissioner personnel.

The proposed amendments to the act do not contain regulatory requirements. The Workers Compensation Board will be responsible for administering the changes and identifying any concerns that arise, Fielding said in a news release.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
OTTAWA  Lake Winnipegs damaging algae blooms will only get worse if the federal government doesn't get its act together, an auditor reported Thursday.

OTTAWA  Lake Winnipegs damaging algae blooms will only get worse if the federal government doesn't get its act together, an auditor reported Thursday.

"There needs to be an increased level of co-operation, with a focus on the actual outcomes in the water," environment commissioner Jerry DeMarco told the Free Press.

"Otherwise, we can continue going from decade to decade, and having meetings but if the water quality isn't getting any better, that is what really matters."

DeMarco, who works in the auditor general's office, analyzed work done by Environment Canada and the federal Agriculture Department to reduce nutrients in the Lake Winnipeg watershed, which encompasses the area from the Rockies to northwestern Ontario.

The auditor found that the departments must improve communication with each other to avoid duplicating work.

As a result, Environment Canada has selected monitoring sites without being sure to include locales where best management practices had been implemented, which auditors found to be a missed opportunity to measure the effects of interventions.

The departments formed joint science co-ordination committees in 2018  but they only met once.

Both departments have done a shoddy job of sharing their research with non-scientists. The auditor found the departments hold conferences, but do little to translate their findings or ongoing work to groups with a stake in the watershed such as fishers, municipalities and Indigenous leaders.

The auditor made the same observations about two other watersheds in Canada, Lake Erie in Ontario and the St. John River basin in New Brunswick.

In response, the two departments said they would restart the joint committees and have a communications strategy by late 2022.

The Lake Winnipeg Foundation said phosphorus loading will worsen because trends suggest increasing amounts of water will enter the lake.

The weather fluctuates, as seen with this years drought, but wetland drainage and wetter springs increase flow into Lake Winnipeg, said foundation head Alexis Kanu.

"This problem is likely to get worse without specific efforts to reduce water flow and capture phosphorus on the landscape," she wrote.

Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid, who has overseen Lake Winnipeg projects for the Liberals, said his government is trying to tackle that through everything from upgrades to sewage treatment in Winnipeg to Indigenous conservation projects.

"It is a really ambition agenda to really transform our protection and management of freshwater," he said.

"Lake Winnipeg wont wait and we need to get on with restoring (its) health."

The auditor said the Trudeau government needs to clarify its competing objectives, with goals to reduce algae blooms while ramping up agricultural production, which will increase nutrient runoff.

"Even if we left the nutrient levels the same year to year, over time the problem would likely get worse, simply because the water temperature is going up," DeMarco said.

"It's a difficult question; it requires co-operation, not only between the two departments" but also governments, he said.

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Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said that plays into the governments pledge from two years ago to revive a federal water agency for the Prairies, that would co-ordinate provincial regulation of water flow and federal research.

"He said we could do better and I agree," said Guilbeault.

Duguid said the water agency is coming soon.

"We commit to its formal establishment in 2022, that is in black and white, but it is well on its way."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard will be back in court Friday morning to apply for bail on charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement in Toronto.

La Liberte Manitoba / Tadens Mpwene / Free Press files Peter Nygard will be back in court Friday morning to apply for bail.

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard will be back in court Friday morning to apply for bail on charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement in Toronto.

Nygard, 80, has been in custody since he was arrested at a Winnipeg house last December on separate sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges in the United States.

To read more of this story first reported by CBC News, click here.

This content is made available to Free Press readers as part of an agreement with CBC that sees our two trusted news brands collaborate to better cover Manitoba.
A civilian food services employee at Stony Mountain Institution was brutally assaulted by an inmate in August  sparking a work refusal from the prison kitchen staff that led to an occupational health and safety investigation.

A civilian food services employee at Stony Mountain Institution was brutally assaulted by an inmate in August  sparking a work refusal from the prison kitchen staff that led to an occupational health and safety investigation.

The kitchen at Manitobas only federal prison has been the site of numerous violent incidents involving inmates and staff since Stony Mountain stopped posting a correctional officer in the food services department more than a decade ago.

The latest assault came to light after the Free Press obtained a series of internal Correctional Service of Canada documents and correspondence. CSC did not issue a press release on the attack.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Stony Mountain Institution is rated as one of the most dangerous in the country.

A month after the assault, independent investigator Kim MacDonald ruled in favour of the kitchen employees refusing work, writing that CSC had "not properly identified, assessed and protected against all the hazards in the workplace."

CSC declined comment, beyond confirming the assault occurred. None of the written questions submitted by the Free Press were directly answered by the federal prison agency, which instead responded with several written paragraphs detailing safety protocols.

This is the latest in a string of episodes demonstrating the lack of transparency that has plagued CSC in general, and Stony Mountain in particular, for years  as detailed in numerous reports from the federal prison ombudsman.

The assault occurred Aug. 21 when an inmate beat an employee with a metal broom handle, then punched and kicked him in the head as he lay on the floor.

The inmate was assigned to the kitchen work program at the time of the assault. He has since been transferred to a prison out of province.

We feel it is unsafe to keep working with offenders without proper training. Training would put us in a better position to be able to respond to deal with incidents such as what happened August 21.  Employee representative in a written statement to prison administration

As there are no correctional officers stationed in the kitchen, it took prison guards more than a minute to respond to the assault, which ended when the inmate walked away.

The employee was taken to hospital and treated. He has not returned to work.

The following day, 22 food services employees refused to continue working with offenders until safety concerns were addressed. The employees requested improved staffing levels, a correctional officer stationed in the kitchen and training in non-violent crisis intervention and critical violent-incident response.

"We feel it is unsafe to keep working with offenders without proper training. Training would put us in a better position to be able to respond to deal with incidents such as what happened August 21," an employee representative wrote to prison administration.

The occupational health and safety review was launched Aug. 27.

While the investigation was underway, the inmate kitchen work program was suspended. CSC told the independent investigator it was concerned the suspension of the program would "impede progress to rehabilitation."

In a written statement to the Free Press, CSC noted food-services employees have access to "dynamic security training and practices," but provided no information on what such training entails.

The federal department also has "national training standards that provide safety training for all staff, including staff working in food services areas," a spokesman wrote.

But MacDonalds investigation found training deficiencies among kitchen staff.

"Training records confirm that one refusing employee has completed all required training, but one of the courses is expired and renewal training has not been completed. Six of the refusing employees have been partially trained. Fifteen of the refusing employees have received no training at all," MacDonald wrote.

The activity of working with offenders exposes (food-services department) employees to threat of harm including serious threat to the life or health of employees because refusing FSD employees have not been trained on how to interact calmly, how to defuse a crisis or how to intervene in a difficult situation."  Independent investigator Kim MacDonald

In response to this finding, CSC claimed it is not required to provide the same training to employees who work on a casual or contract basis. The investigator found one employee who was a "casual" staff member for 12 years.

CSC also noted that "informal training" is given to casual and contract staff, but said no records are kept. MacDonald delivered her ruling in the case Sept. 24.

"The activity of working with offenders exposes (food-services department) employees to threat of harm including serious threat to the life or health of employees because refusing FSD employees have not been trained on how to interact calmly, how to defuse a crisis or how to intervene in a difficult situation," MacDonald wrote.

Dying behind bars Eight prisoners have died at Stony Mountain Institution in 2021. The most recent occurred on Nov. 19, when Jesse Thomas, 36, was found dead in his cell in the medium-security wing of Manitobas lone federal prison. He was serving an eight-year sentence for drug trafficking. Corrections Canada would not comment on the cause of death when contacted by the Free Press, but two sources confirm Thomas died of a drug overdose. click to read more Eight prisoners have died at Stony Mountain Institution in 2021. The most recent occurred on Nov. 19, when Jesse Thomas, 36, was found dead in his cell in the medium-security wing of Manitobas lone federal prison. He was serving an eight-year sentence for drug trafficking. Corrections Canada would not comment on the cause of death when contacted by the Free Press, but two sources confirm Thomas died of a drug overdose. The death came two weeks after Stony Mountain announced the seizure of contraband  including methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine  in the maximum-security wing of the prison. The estimated institutional value of the contraband was $464,050. The police have been notified and the institution is investigating. That investigation is ongoing but no staff have been implicated in this seizure, the Correctional Service of Canada said in a written statement. On July 1, CSC announced another seizure of contraband at Stony Mountain, including methamphetamine and cocaine. The estimated institutional value of the contraband was $396,290. The recent Free Press investigation Life and Death Behind Bars found that Stony Mountain was the deadliest federal prison in Canada. In the past 22 months, 16 inmates have died. The following prisoners have died at Stony Mountain in 2021: Jan. 11: Tommy Beaulieu Feb. 1: Hardisty Ballantyne Feb. 17: Bruce Kaiser March 1: Dwayne Simard April 3: Kenneth McDougall July 9: Clinton McGeough Aug. 28: David Midouin Nov. 19: Jesse Thomas  Ryan Thorpe Close

After offering online training to food services staff, the inmate kitchen work program was reinstated. An appeal was filed by the food services staff Oct. 22, in which they said they welcomed the extra training, but the vast majority of their requests for safety improvements had been ignored.

"We need more security. How many more people have to be killed or seriously injured?... We need to lessen the severity of incidents by posting a correctional officer in food services and providing more staffing in our department," an employee representative wrote.

"The food services department has greatly suffered due to the gross negligence stemming from a lack of training and security provided by CSC."

Since 2007, when Stony Mountain stopped posting correctional officers in the kitchen, there have been numerous violent incidents in the food services department  the most notable being the slaying of Cosmo Valente, a 69-year-old inmate with early signs of dementia.

Valente was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate  an incident which, according to MacDonald, "continues to have a psychological impact on FSD employees."

Byron Alden Jacob, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the June 2012 attack.

In the 2017 inquest into Valentes death, Judge Mary Kate Harvie recommended that Stony Mountain develop "a written policy (on) the minimum number of stewards present in the kitchen area at one time (and) a policy which identifies the appropriate ratio of stewards to inmates in the kitchen area."

The food services workers claim Stony Mountain administration did not implement Harvie's recommendation.

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The Aug. 21 assault took place on the weekend when staffing levels in the kitchen are at their lowest, with civilian employees outnumbered by inmates three-to-one.

In a written statement to the Free Press, CSC said managers at Stony Mountain are "working with food service staff to improve processes and address any areas of concern to mitigate any further risk to staff safety."

But the leaked documents paint a different picture.

In their appeal of the decision to reinstate the inmate kitchen work program, an employee representative wrote that CSC and Stony Mountain administration have "failed to meaningfully engage" with staff to resolve safety concerns and are not being "transparent or forthcoming."

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught the world that our supply chains are fragile and vulnerable to disruptions. Panic-buying and product hoarding, such as the irrational run on toilet paper in the early stages of pandemic, cause shortages, a lesson Canadian consumers are learning again after recent extreme weather events in British Columbia.

Opinion

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught the world that our supply chains are fragile and vulnerable to disruptions. Panic-buying and product hoarding, such as the irrational run on toilet paper in the early stages of pandemic, cause shortages, a lesson Canadian consumers are learning again after recent extreme weather events in British Columbia.

The heavy rainfall caused severe flooding and mudslides, destroying portions of major highways, damaging railways and cutting access to the port of Vancouver.

The possibility of supply-chain disruptions as a result of the flooding put consumers in panic-buying mode again, almost two years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The emotional trauma from product shortages in the early days of the pandemic is understandably fresh. Unfortunately, a new bout of surging demand could significantly stress our already-strained food supply chains owing to ongoing global supply chain disruptions.

Good news is starting to emerge on the decongestion of ports, suggesting the end is near for the global supply-chain crisis. But the B.C. floods have delayed this recovery for some domestic supplies as the Vancouver port is disconnected from the rest of the country.

Does this mean a food crisis is looming in the months ahead?

As researchers of food security and supply chain management, we outline the critical steps consumers, policy-makers and producers must take to manage supply chain disruptions and guarantee continued access to food in the wake of the B.C. floods.

Panic-buying challenges food security

Food-supply chains are mapped out based on regular demand patterns. Very often, production is planned months ahead and commodities travel a long path before reaching the end consumer. With a sequence of long, interconnected events, unplanned changes and delays can grow in impact.

Adverse road conditions are one of the most significant reasons for delays in food supply chains. Delays and minor shortages are expected when there are interruptions to the usual delivery paths. But unless the roads take ages to clear, these pressures can be relieved slowly but steadily.

The most significant risk in the short term is due to panic buying. In fear of a supply shortage, people irrationally buy more than they can consume in a reasonable time and before food expiry dates. Such unprecedented surges in demand can even break fully functioning supply chains, let alone strained and disrupted ones.

The problem is often not a supply-shortage problem, but an excess-demand problem. In other words, fear of shortages becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as a result of hoarding.

Furthermore, excess purchases result in increased food waste, and disruptions can have a more significant impact on low-income people or those with reduced mobility. Demand surges also create a vicious cycle of backlogs and delays by spreading the panic to retailers and their suppliers, hindering the recovery from supply chain crises even further.

4 ways to manage supply chain disruptions

Both the pandemic and the B.C. floods remind us that staying calm and being prepared for the next disruption is a necessity. Here are four essential steps we can take:

1. More responsible media coverage: the first step is to avoid panic-inducing media coverage, such as doomsday images of empty grocery store shelves. Panic-buying should be discouraged immediately, not after the damage is done. The media should also report on effective and reliable retail policies, like temporarily capping the number of items per household, to help prevent speculative hoarding in food markets.

2. Transparent and timely updates by governments: the next important step is to share timely information with all stakeholders in the supply chain. Information on product availability, pricing, delivery lead times and disruption recovery plans can help tremendously in managing expectations. If the public is given frequent updates about the current situation, the potential shortages, how long they might last and how the government is addressing them, the impact of panic-inducing media coverage and social media posts can be lessened.

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3. Distributed risks: Since the beginning of the pandemic, weve seen the risks from putting all of our eggs in one basket. An example is the massive microchip shortage. If even one tiny component cannot be produced due to the disruptions, the whole supply chain comes to a halt. Supply chains are as strong as their weakest links. For businesses and policy-makers, the next logical step is to diversify and thereby reduce the risks. Some options are expanding the number of suppliers (ideally from different geographical regions), reinforcing transportation networks, creating alternative delivery routes and using alternative modes of transportation.

4. Emergency preparedness protocols in place: climate-induced weather events are expected to be more frequent in the years to come. But besides natural disasters, supply chains are susceptible to other dangers like strikes, accidents or financial risk. We cannot afford to wait until the next disaster catches us by surprise and then respond, because reactive emergency relief efforts can delay the recovery significantly. Instead, companies and local governments should proactively prepare for future supply chain risks by developing multiple recovery plans.

Theres an entire body of literature dedicated to developing disaster and emergency plans to minimize supply-chain disruptions prior to calamitous events  namely, humanitarian logistics, which involves organizing the delivery and warehousing of supplies during natural disasters or other emergencies to the affected areas and their citizens.

The public and private sector can also immensely benefit by collaborating with supply-chain management experts so the next time we face any type of supply-chain disruption, no one needs to fear theyll run out of food to feed their families.

Feyza G. Shahinyazan is an assistant professor at the Beedie School of Business in the department of technology and operations management at Simon Fraser University. Serasu Duran is an assistant professor of perations and supply chain management at the Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary.

This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca.
THE Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba made history on Oct. 30 when Heather Stefanson was elected as the partys leader and therefore assumed the role of the provinces first female premier.

Opinion

THE Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba made history on Oct. 30 when Heather Stefanson was elected as the partys leader and therefore assumed the role of the provinces first female premier.

The results were closer than many had expected and, unfortunately, the days following have been plagued by headlines about the selection process. But if we can look past heavily disputed claims about ballot-box chicanery, brighter days are in sight for Manitoba.

Despite claims by critics that this leadership process was set up to be a coronation for Stefanson, the past couple of months demonstrated the true power of grassroots politics. As a result of the leadership campaign, the PC Party has grown significantly in a short period of time, from roughly 5,000 members to more than 25,000.

Policy debates amongst members in communities throughout the province brought fresh ideas to a party that had gone far too long without a contested leadership race. Supporters of Stefansons rival, Shelly Glover, brought new perspectives to a party that was frankly growing too comfortable within the walls of the Manitoba Legislature.

Moving forward, the role for Glover and her supporters in a Stefanson-led government remains to be seen. Should Progressive Conservatives find a way to come together under the Big Blue Tent, however, the party will benefit heading into the next provincial election in 2023.

Stefanson will have little time to revel in her new role as first minister. The pandemic continues to demand significant attention as ICUs throughout the province are once again near full capacity. It will be critical for this new government to continue to take measured action that keeps the virus in check and the economy open.

The health system continues to be bogged down by significant surgical backlogs and historical staffing challenges made worse in the past 19-plus months. Both will need to be addressed  a point Stefanson readily acknowledged moments after being sworn in as premier.

Fortunately, Stefanson and her government will benefit in these efforts from the recent ratification of a new agreement with the Manitoba Nurses Union, which ensures any threat of labour unrest among nurses is now in the rear-view mirror. Attention can now be squarely focused on tackling these challenges.

Then there are the other health files that carry on from the Pallister-led government. I am a strong supporter of Manitobas much-needed health care transformation; it is critical, however, that all aspects of this plan be examined again, given the lessons learned throughout the pandemic, to determine what has worked well and what needs further triaging.

Stefanson has also voiced support for keeping the economy open. While Manitoba has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, this government must commit to continuing to do what it can to mitigate risk, while allowing businesses to serve customers and recover from the past two years.

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There are also the education reforms that were scrapped under premier Kelvin Goertzen during his short but effective time in the top job.

Looking ahead toward Manitobas return to the polls in 2023, the single most important priority for Stefansons long-term political survival must be an ongoing commitment to listen to Manitobans regarding how the government is affecting them and their families.

During the leadership campaign, Stefanson criss-crossed the province, gathering first-hand perspectives about what needs to be done to improve health care, how infrastructure can be improved to ensure Manitobas roads are as safe as they can be and how social services can better meet the needs of Manitobans who require assistance.

It will be critical for these conversations to continue with all Manitobans  not just PC members. Stefanson and her team must also ensure the views of Manitobans from throughout the province are reflected in the governments policies over the next two years and in a refreshed PC Party platform during the election campaign.

While the gap in recent polls between the PCs and NDP continues to shrink, failing to listen and recognize the wants and needs of Manitobans could prove catastrophic for the Tories in 2023. Stefanson seems to be acutely aware of this, which is a promising sign that shes the right woman for the job.

Nathan Clark worked in the minister of healths office for three years, including as special assistant to former health minister Cameron Friesen for two years. He is now a senior consultant with Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm.
Its only 2.6 kilometres from the Manitoba Legislature to Winnipeg city hall, but its been years since a provincial leader made the short trip. Premier Heather Stefanson did it Wednesday, and her shoulder-to-shoulder presence beside Mayor Brian Bowman bodes well for a new spirit of co-operation between the two levels of government.

Its only 2.6 kilometres from the Manitoba Legislature to Winnipeg city hall, but its been years since a provincial leader made the short trip. Premier Heather Stefanson did it Wednesday, and her shoulder-to-shoulder presence beside Mayor Brian Bowman bodes well for a new spirit of co-operation between the two levels of government.

If city hall staff seemed unaccustomed to welcoming a premier, its likely because relations between the mayor and past premier Brian Pallister were as frosty as the windshield of a vehicle left outdoors on a Winnipeg winter night. Meetings between the two Brians were rare, even though their respective governments were entwined in several significant issues crucial to the effective governance of both Winnipeg and Manitoba.

It didnt take long for Ms. Stefanson, who became premier on Nov. 2, to show she is more open to collaboration than her predecessor. She and Mr. Bowman had a sociable meeting soon after her election as Progressive Conservative leader and, on Wednesday, they got down to business.

At a press conference at city hall, they jointly announced the province has agreed to sign off on two key proposals that had stalled under the recalcitrant rule of Mr. Pallister.

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Mayor Brian Bowman and Premier Heather Stefanson at city hall.

The provinces consent was necessary to apply for $201 million in federal funds toward an upgrade of the North End sewage-treatment centre. The city needed a commitment for the provinces financial portion of the proposed tri-government funding of the project, and also required the province to access the federal funds because applications for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program must be sent to Ottawa by the province.

The city had warned earlier this month the Dec. 31 deadline was quickly approaching for the province to apply for the federal funding. With such a large sum at stake, it might reasonably be assumed elected leaders would never miss the deadline for application but, unfortunately, it has happened before.

In 2017, a missed deadline by the city ended a chance to recover $20 million in a lawsuit related to the construction of Winnipegs water-treatment plant in the RM of Springfield. There was a six-year time frame to sue the contractors, but the lawsuit couldnt proceed because the deadline was missed by a city lawyer, who was later dismissed.

Many details of the sewage-plant funding application are different from that costly misstep, but both share an imperative: to get the money, the deadline must be met.

Her joint press conference with Mr. Bowman also saw a second example of the getitdone attitude that seems to be driving Ms. Stefansons inaugural weeks in the big chair.

Mr. Pallisters apparent reluctance to speed the application to Ottawa  a reluctance seemingly with roots as deep as foundational political views  was disagreement about private operation and maintenance of the north Winnipeg plant. Perhaps unsurprisingly given its political bent, Mr. Pallisters administration had for months favoured private involvement in some aspects of the sewage-treatment centre. Equally unsurprisingly, unions spoke out against private operations, citing possible layoffs and safety risks.

It remains to be seen what balance between private and public operations will eventually be reached, but first things first. Ms. Stefanson committed Wednesday to submitting the application on time.

Her joint press conference with Mr. Bowman also saw a second example of the get-it-done attitude that seems to be driving Ms. Stefansons inaugural weeks in the big chair. She said the province will support an application to fund the first steps of the Winnipeg Transit Master Plan, which involves 110 zero-emission buses, a bus radio system and design of a rapid-transit downtown corridor.

Manitobas new premier has continually promised a new spirit of co-operation. Wednesdays trip to city hall is an encouraging sign she intends to deliver on that pledge.
Until Wednesday, Ruth Sampson had lived in Stonewall for 100 years.

Now she's in a hospital 2 1/2 hours away, and her family fears Auntie Ruth may die alone.

Sampson is one of the Manitoba patients who've undergone a long-distance hospital transfer under a provincial policy meant to shore up acute-care capacity during the fourth wave of the pandemic. She was transferred to a hospital in Crystal City, more than 200 kilometres southwest of her home.

Since learning the transfer was a possibility, "there's been a lot of sleepless nights, I can honestly tell you that," said niece Linda Tyerman, her primary caregiver.

Sampson lived independently with home care in Stonewall until she broke her ribs in a fall last month and spent 46 days in a Stonewall hospital bed until Wednesday.

Linda Tyerman and her aunt Ruth Sampson, 100, at Rock Lake Hospital in Crystal City after Sampson's transfer from Stonewall Hospital. (Supplied)

There is a two-year wait for a bed at the personal-care home in Stonewall and the family hasn't been able to find a space for her in Selkirk, their second choice. They don't know how long she'll be in Crystal City or whether  or where  she'll be moved next.

"We asked her how the ambulance ride was. She said, 'Well, it was a little bumpy, and it was pretty cold,'" Tyerman said.

She and her husband Dave Tyerman say there must be a better solution in the health system's battle with COVID-19, one that doesn't put seniors at risk.

They are "devastated" Sampson has been sent so far away, and they know there are many other families in the same position.

"She's really special to us, but every family has that. We're not alone, we know that," Dave Tyerman said.

The provincewide transfer policy was announced Oct. 1 as a necessary "operational step."

In a statement emailed to the Free Press Thursday, a Shared Health spokesperson acknowledged the stress the situation is causing.

"We recognize patient transfers to different sites  particularly sites located in other health regions  can be unsettling and disruptive for both patients and their families," the statement read.

"While we understand families may have some concerns regarding these transfers, we want to provide reassurance that hospitals across Manitoba continue to provide high-quality care."

Long-distance hospital transfer are a provincial policy meant to shore up acute-care capacity during the fourth wave of the pandemic. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press files)

The Tyermans said they understand the policy is in place as an urgent measure to protect hospital capacity so Manitoba doesn't have to send intensive-care patients out of province, as was the case during the third COVID wave last spring.

But the problems related to Manitoba's aging population existed long before the pandemic, and the government has to address them, Dave Tyerman said.

"We've had two years of COVID. I get that, I know it's hard on the government. I know it's hard on people. It's not something we get a lot of practice at, thank God, but having said that, what have we learned from this? We had people dying... alone, because nobody could sit at their bedside. And here we are now, creating that same problem on our own free will. Ruth is 100. She could pass tomorrow, she might live another six months, we don't know."

A drive-by parade marked her 100th birthday in Stonewall in July  about 100 people turned up to celebrate the centenarian's lifelong contributions to the community  contributions her family feels are being disrespected now.

"Ruth is 100. She could pass tomorrow, she might live another six months, we don't know."  Dave Tyerman, family member

NDP Leader Wab Kinew spoke about Sampson's situation in question period Thursday and called on the Tory government to stop the out-of-community transfers of elderly Manitobans awaiting care-home placement.

"Moving seniors in their time of need to free up beds is simply the wrong move and shows we haven't learned any of the lessons of the pandemic under this PC government," Kinew said remotely from his home, where he is self-isolating because of his recent COVID-19 diagnosis.

Deputy premier Kelvin Goertzen responded by saying the effects of the pandemic have been devastating for people across the globe.

He said the provincial government is relying on health-care experts to try to minimize those impacts as much as possible and determine where people should be placed within the health-care system.

"We know that its important to listen to those health-care experts," Goertzen said.

We know that its important to listen to those healthcare experts."  Deputy premier Kelvin Goertzen

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In an interview Thursday afternoon, Kinew said the government's response doesn't inspire confidence. The NDP has heard from a number of families who've raised similar concerns, including one whose relative faces the prospect of being transferred from Selkirk to Flin Flon, more than seven hours away. They're stressed and they want to be able to see their loved ones for the holidays, he said.

"Given the tragedies that we've seen play out in personal-care homes... I think any reasonable Manitoban, and any compassionate person in our province, would have expected that we could do better by seniors at this point," he said.

"The failure to invest in staffing and in the operation of personal-care homes is now playing out in a way that's damaging families, but it could have been prevented."

 With files from Danielle Da Silva

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
Manitoba's sick leave program covered more than $4 million in wages for 16,000 workers who would have otherwise lost income due to COVID-19-related illness.

Manitoba's sick leave program covered more than $4 million in wages for 16,000 workers who would have otherwise lost income due to COVID-19-related illness.

The provincial government is in discussions on whether it will renew the pandemic sick leave program, which concluded at the end of October, Finance Minister Scott Fielding said.

"We think that theres been benefits to the sick leave program that we put in place. It was a pretty generous program, its been well used," Fielding said Friday.

A total of 16,379 workers benefited from the program, which ran from May 7 to Oct. 29, and covered wages for people on COVID-19 sick leave, including time off for vaccination, he said.

The program reimbursed employers who continued to pay workers while they were away for COVID-19 testing, vaccination and illness, with up to $600 available per person.

The program also ensured cash kept flowing to workers who were waiting for financial support from the federal government, or who did not qualify for Ottawas programs.

More than 1,400 employers applied to the program and nearly $4.5 million was distributed, Fielding said; on average, employees received $275.

With parents and guardians now booking appointments for children to be vaccinated, booster shots recommended more widely and a high number of cases reported daily in the province, Manitobans can expect a decision on the sick leave program in the near future, he said.

"We have a really high vaccination rate here in Manitoba, so were proud of that. The big focal point now is obviously with children, so were happy that process has started, and we need to get as many kids vaccinated as we can," Fielding said.

"So anything we can do to make it easier to get people vaccinated, thats the best way to mitigate the issues of COVID-19."

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On Friday, NDP MLA Danielle Adams called on the government to introduce a permanent sick leave program to ensure people do not have to make a choice between staying home when ill or giving up their paycheque.

"We know that employees who do not have access to paid sick leave are often those workers who are low-wage and in precarious jobs and are more often women and racialized workers," the Thompson MLA said.

On Wednesday, the British Columbia government announced all workers would be guaranteed five paid sick days beginning in 2022.

While demand has been strong for Manitobas pandemic sick leave program,the introduction of a permanent program, similar to that of B.C. would require consultation, Fielding said.

"Before you would look at any permanent (paid sick leave), youd do some consultations, not just with labour, but also businesses that would be impacted by a program like this," he said.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca
Nursing homes were on high alert after two more COVID-19 outbreaks were declared at facilities and three more residents died Thursday as Manitobas health minister urged residents and visitors to remember the fundamentals to stop further spread.

Nursing homes were on high alert after two more COVID-19 outbreaks were declared at facilities and three more residents died Thursday as Manitobas health minister urged residents and visitors to "remember the fundamentals" to stop further spread.

Public health officials reported the deaths of five seniors due to COVID-19 on Thursday, three of whom caught the virus while residing at personal care homes.

Currently, there are five personal care homes and three assisted living facilities where COVID-19 is known to be spreading in the building, resulting in more than 130 infections. Ten Manitobans have died in personal-care home outbreaks in the past month.

Asked about factors that contribute to spread of the virus in health-care facilities, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said she's pleased public health expedited the rollout of booster shots in personal care homes.

Recent changes to visitor guidelines that require essential visitors to be fully vaccinated will also help, she said.

She wouldnt comment on whether the mandates, introduced within the past week and a half, came too late because she has no proof the outbreaks began with unvaccinated visitors entering facilities.

"There are a number of factors that may be leading to this but we continue to encourage individuals living in personal care homes and coming to visit, remember the fundamentals, because this virus spreads very, very quickly," Gordon said.

Long Term and Continuing Care Association of Manitoba executive director Jan Legeros said care home operators are all "on what we would call high alert."

New outbreaks were declared Thursday at Salem Home in Winkler and Country Meadows Personal Care Home in Neepawa; meanwhile outbreaks were also declared at Seven Oaks General Hospital and Grace Hospital in Winnipeg.

"They are being extremely, extremely diligent in terms of their infection prevention and control measures, screening of all persons coming into the personal care home," Legeros said.

More can be done, she said.

"We're hearing a lot about COVID fatigue, and we're hearing that some families aren't aware of how beneficial it is for their loved one to get that third shot," Legeros said.

"I think what we need to put out there to the public, and all of the families, is that it is extremely important that your loved one obtain that third booster, just as it's extremely important for you to obtain that third booster."

The rollout of third doses to care-home residents is expected to wrap up soon, the provincial said. The province hasn't said how many residents have received their third shots.

Despite recent outbreaks, care homes haven't had the same detrimental effects on staffing levels as they did in the first and second waves of the pandemic, Legeros said.

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"We're seeing very few staff being affected, so hopefully that will carry on. I think what that means, of course, is that the vaccines are doing the job that they were meant to do," Legeros said.

Manitoba NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said stagnant personal care home funding throughout the fourth wave may be contributing to large-scale outbreaks in care homes and hospitals.

"The tragedy at Maples should have been a turning point for the PC government, but unfortunately a year later, nothing has changed," Asagwara said. "The health minister needs to acknowledge the crisis in our personal care homes and take action today."

At Maples, 56 residents died from the virus in the fall of 2020.

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danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

Danielle Da Silva

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OTTAWA - Canada is closing its borders to visitors from southern Africa after the discovery of a concerning new COVID-19 variant was detected in the region.

OTTAWA - Canada is closing its borders to visitors from southern Africa after the discovery of a concerning new COVID-19 variant was detected in the region.

The new variant, dubbed Omicron, first emerged in South Africa and coincided with a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in that region in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organization.

"We are therefore acting quickly in order to protect the health and safety of Canadians," said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos at a news conference Friday.

So far there have been no cases detected in Canada.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam listen to a question during a news conference, Friday, November 26, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The ban will apply to foreign nationals who transited through a list of seven countries in the last 14 days, including South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia and eSwatini.

Those already in Canada who recently travelled through the region will need to quarantine, and be tested for COVID-19.

Global Affairs is also issuing an advisory to discourage non-essential travel to South Africa and neighbouring countries.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents arriving home from the region must get a COVID-19 test before they return, and will need to quarantine at a designated hotel until their entry test proves negative.

After that they will be able to isolate at home until they test negative 10 days after arrival.

People line up to get on the Air France flight to Paris at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday Nov. 26, 2021. A slew of nations moved to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday in reaction to news of a new, potentially more transmissible COVID-19 variant that has been detected in South Africa. Scientists say it is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Currently there are no direct flights from southern Africa to Canada.

Travellers from elsewhere will need to comply with existing COVID-19 prevention measures to enter Canada, including presenting a negative molecular COVID-19 test, even if they are vaccinated.

"We know very little about this variant right now," Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said at a briefing Friday.

The mutations that have been detected show the potential for greater transmissibility, she said, and could reduce natural immunity and even the immunity offered by vaccines.

"We are concerned about this new variant and closely monitoring the evolving situation," she said.

A passenger walks through International Arrivals, at London's Heathrow Airport, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. The U.K. announced that it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon on Friday, and that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Tam said she would not be surprised to see cases start to crop up in Canada, and Transportation Minister Omar Alghabra said the government will take additional border measures if necessary.

"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning," the WHO wrote in a statement Friday.

"Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other (variants of concern.)"

Researchers are already working to learn more about the effects of this new variant, according to WHO's COVID-19 technical lead Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove.

"Researchers are getting together to understand where these mutations are, and what that potentially may mean for our diagnostics or therapeutics in our vaccines," she said at a briefing Thursday.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is reflected on a television screen as Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, appears at a news conference by video conference, Friday, November 26, 2021 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The WHO has urged countries to enhance surveillance for variants and report any initial cases.

Cases of the Omicron variant have been seen in countries outside of southern Africa, including Hong Kong, but so far Dr. Tam said there is no community spread in those areas.

Several countries have taken similar actions to Canada, closing their borders to foreign nationals who have recently been in southern Africa, which could make it difficult for Canadians to find their way home.

Alghabra urged any Canadians in that situation to reach out to Global Affairs.

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Opposition parties and provincial premiers have called for strict border measures to prevent cases of the potentially dangerous new variant from being imported into Canada.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole had called on the Canadian government to issue travel advisories, banning non-essential travel to and from the region earlier Friday morning.

"With reports of the spread of a new COVID-19 variant, we have a small window of opportunity to act, and we must move now," O'Toole said in a statement.

The party was critical when the government delayed closing Canada's borders at the outset of the pandemic in 2020.

The premiers of Alberta, Ontario and Quebec also called for all travellers originating from those countries to be banned from Canada until more is known about the variant.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2021.
MONTREAL - Premier Francois Legault tried to reassure Quebecers on Friday that despite the fact health officials reported more than 1,000 new daily cases for the first time since May, hospitalizations remained stable because of the province's strong vaccination coverage.

A sign for a COVID-19 testing centre is shown in Montreal, Sunday, October 10, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

MONTREAL - Premier Francois Legault tried to reassure Quebecers on Friday that despite the fact health officials reported more than 1,000 new daily cases for the first time since May, hospitalizations remained stable because of the province's strong vaccination coverage.

Health officials reported 1,037 new COVID-19 cases on Friday but no new deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus. COVID-19-related hospitalizations dropped by four compared with the prior day, to 206, after 13 patients entered hospital and 17 were discharged. The number of people in intensive care dropped by two, to 43.

"We must remain prudent: Yes, we have (more than) 1,000 cases, but we have 200 hospitalizations, which is four or five times less than many countries in Europe and the United States," Legault told reporters in Montreal.

"Our hospitalizations, thanks to vaccination, remain relatively low, but it will be important to continue with the vaccination," he said, referring to children aged five to 11.

In early November, authorities had said they expected cases to rise as measures were relaxed but had not expected hospitalizations to rise dramatically.

Legault said his biggest worry came from news of a new novel coronavirus variant of concern, named "Omicron" by a World Health Organization panel. The variant originated in South Africa and has led to a rapid rise in cases in the southern part of the African continent.

Amid calls from Legault and other premiers to shut the borders to South African travellers, the federal government on Friday announced a travel ban on foreign nationals who had travelled from or transited through seven southern African countries in the past two weeks. There are no direct flights from the region to Canada.

"We are monitoring the situation closely with our experts (at the Health Department)," Health Minister Christian Dube tweeted Friday. "This shows us that the pandemic is not over."

Legault said Friday he was not willing to make any promises about his government's future health orders around Christmas gatherings. He said authorities will wait a week or two to reflect before proposing a plan. While the province has relaxed certain measures in recent weeks, gatherings at home remain limited to 10 people from three households.

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"I hope with all my heart that we'll be able to have a Christmas that's a bit more normal," he said.

Quebec has 7,324 active reported cases of COVID-19. Authorities said 19,266 doses of vaccine were administered on Thursday. The province's public health institute said more than 88 per cent of the population aged 12 and older was adequately vaccinated against COVID-19.

As of Friday morning, 172,600 vaccination appointments had been made for Quebec children aged five to 11, who were eligible to receive their first doses as of Wednesday. So far, 15,599 youngsters have received a first dose.

In Granby, Que., about 80 kilometres east of Montreal, local police were investigating after seven elementary schools in the area had anti-vaccine graffiti painted on their windows. Const. Marc Farand said police believed a single person could be behind the messages, which he said were written in similar handwriting and included messages such as "why vaccinate them?"

"The schools cleaned the messages and photos were taken for our investigation," Farand said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2021.
Covid-19 Update 76: Council approves Wits Covid-19 Mandatory Vaccination Policy

Read the full statement, the policy, and the Q&A information document wherein Wits experts answer questions about vaccination, legal, ethical, and more.

The Council of the University of the Witwatersrand discussed and approved the Wits COVID-19 Vaccination Policy at its meeting on 25 November 2021, following engagements with the Wits community over several weeks. These engagements will continue as the course of the pandemic becomes clearer. The Policy will be implemented from 1 January 2022 and will be reviewed regularly. Staff and students will have from 1 January 2022 to 1 March 2022 to either vaccinate or apply for reasonable accommodation. An implementation plan is being developed and this information will be shared with the Wits community as soon as it is available.

Summary of the Wits Covid-19 Vaccination Policy

Policy Statement

All members of the University community will be required to vaccinate against COVID-19 in order to access the Universitys precincts, aside from those who have been granted reasonable accommodation.

Purpose

The purpose of the Policy is to enable the return of employees and students to the Universitys precincts whilst protecting the health and safety of the University community, and all others who work, live, learn, and/or participate in activities on campus.

Context

The vaccination of employees and students will enable optimal access and the functioning of the University, including the delivery of teaching and learning, and the conducting of research. This is particularly pertinent for students who, due to their socioeconomic circumstances, benefit more readily from learning on campus, and those whose learning programmes require in-person engagement for pedagogic and professional reasons, in line with the 2022 Blended Teaching and Learning Plan.

Wits also plans to re-invigorate the student experience in 2022 by enabling more on-campus social engagement.

The Wits COVID-19 Vaccination Policy will help to protect the health and safety of the University community and the broader public. The University will make provision for the vaccination of employees and students on campus and at dedicated sites in 2022.

COVID-19 vaccines are proven to be safe and highly effective in reducing the risk of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19), in preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, and in reducing the spread of the virus.

In balancing the collective rights of the broader University and surrounding community to health and safety, against individual rights to bodily integrity, freedom of religion, belief and opinion which may be limited in terms of Section 36 of the Constitution, our view, supported by experts, is that the collective right takes precedence. This is in the broader public interest and is reasonable, justifiable and rational.

Principles

All members of the University community must be vaccinated regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past. Everyone will be required to comply with the relevant national and Wits COVID-19 safety protocols , including the wearing of masks. A vaccination site will also be established on campus.

, including the wearing of masks. Those who are not vaccinated and have been granted reasonable accommodation will be required to comply with additional protocols like daily health screening and weekly antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection, irrespective of whether they are symptomatic or not (Wits will cover costs of those unable to pay for the first few months).

like daily health screening and weekly antigen testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection, irrespective of whether they are symptomatic or not (Wits will cover costs of those unable to pay for the first few months). Staff and students who are not vaccinated and who have been granted reasonable accommodation, may also be limited from participating in certain University activities. For example, they may not be allow to participate in activities in common spaces where social engagements occur; to attend certain academic activities and/or graduations; and will not be allowed to secure accommodation in any University-owned residences.

Implementation of the Wits Covid-19 Vaccination Policy

A Wits COVID-19 Vaccination Policy Implementation Committee is being established. The Committee will develop an implementation plan that will include details of how the Policy will be effected, how access to campuses will work, how to apply for reasonable accommodation, etc. This information will be shared with the Wits community as soon it becomes available. There will also be ongoing engagement with staff and students to clarify aspects of the Policy and its implementation.

Access to Campus

The University can refuse access to campus to any person who has not been vaccinated and/or who has not been reasonably accommodated. Vaccinated members of the University will provide proof of their vaccination status, which will be linked to their staff or student profile to enable seamless access to the Universitys precincts. Visitors will have to produce their EVDS certificate confirming their vaccination status before being permitted access to campuses.

Reasonable Accommodation

Employees and students who cannot be vaccinated on medical grounds, or choose not to be vaccinated on Constitutional grounds, must apply for, and be granted reasonable accommodation between 1 January 2022 and 1 March 2022. If reasonable accommodation is denied, staff and students can appeal to the Mandatory Vaccination Appeals Committee.

Should these appeals be denied, the University reserves the right not to register students, to defer studies, and in respect of staff to address the matter in line with the Universitys policies and procedures, and relevant labour laws. Employees will not be entitled to refuse to return to work on the basis of not having been vaccinated.

Covid-19 Vaccination Questions and Answers

Two webinars and several dedicated meetings were held in recent weeks to engage on the Wits COVID-19 Vaccination Policy. A panel of experts, including a vaccinologist, scientists, clinicians, lawyers and ethics specialists responded to questions from members of the Wits community on vaccines, the proposed policy, and other areas. The questions and answers have been clustered and can be viewed on the Wits COVID-19 portal or via this Q&A link. Experts did not respond to questions from anonymous sources.

Watch this video that may help to answer some vaccination concerns.

Thank you

SENIOR EXECUTIVE TEAM

26 NOVEMBER 2021
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Landlords and tenants are urging New York to swiftly release almost $1 billion meant to cover months of back rent for tenants.

New York cautioned this month that the $2.4 billion set aside for rental relief will likely not cover additional applicants, and closed the program to most new applications.

The fund has dispersed $1 billion as of Nov. 19. But another $1 billion has remained held up for months in part because of tens of thousands of incomplete applications submitted by tenants from June through September.

Its far from clear when or how quickly New York can release those funds.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
Zhang Guimei, a 63-year-old teacher from Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, is honored the title of the March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter. [For Women of China]

Zhang Guimei, a 63-year-old woman who has devoted to education for needy girls, recently won a national-level honorary title, the March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter, one of the highest honors for Chinese women for their excellent achievements in different fields.

Zhang founded the Huaping Senior High School for Girls in Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, in 2008. It was the country's first all-girls public high school that does not charge tuition fees, and it has helped more than 1,600 students realize their dreams of receiving higher education.

Zhang has spent more than a million yuan (US $142,594), part of which was originally for her medical treatment, in running the school in the mountains, and she stuck to her position even when she was feeling under the weather.

Zhang Guimei (in black) sees off the gaokao students at the Huaping Senior High School for Girls in Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

[yunnan.cn]

For the past 10 years, Zhang has seen off graduates heading for the gaokao (the national college entrance examination), and was never absent.

"I will fight as long as I can still grab a breath," she said.

To her relief, her students achieved good results in this year's gaokao  among all the 159 students, 70 were eligible for admission to good universities in China, according to the local government.

Zhang was proud of all the girls as they ranked in the forefront both in Lijiang City and in the county as a whole, but she will never cease taking steps for better results. "Compared to big cities, we still lag behind," she noted.

Zhang Guimei accompanies a group of orphans at a children's welfare home in Huaping County, Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. [For Women of China]

In addition to the next generation's education, she also cared for their lives. As president of a children's welfare home in Huaping for two decades, she has shown care and love to 130 unaccompanied children.

The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) announced Zhang an outstanding example of a Chinese woman in the new era, who remains true to her original aspiration, keeps her mission firmly in mind as a CPC member, and dedicates all her life to the cause of education and impoverished people.

The ACWF called on more Chinese women to learn from her selfless devotion and struggling spirit and to continue to contribute to the poverty alleviation work.

(Women of China)
BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua)  The All-China Women's Federation has released a guide on collecting evidence of domestic violence amid efforts to help victims safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.

The guide lists validate evidence of domestic violence, including proof of police involvement, police caution for domestic violence, and proof of support from women's federations, social organizations, and employers. The lists also validate medical records and bills, recordings of the abusive process, written undertakings to stop abusive behavior, and testimony of witnesses.

If the abuser makes threats or intimidates the victim via phone calls, text messaging, WeChat messaging, or email, victims should document these with recordings or screenshots, the guide said.

Nov. 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

(Source: Xinhua)
Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), conducted an investigation tour of Beijing on November 18, to promote the spirit of the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Huang urged further studying and implementing the spirit of the sixth plenary session, following the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, drawing wisdom and strength from the major achievements and historical experiences of the Party over the past century, and implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi's important speech and the key CPC session in every dimension and phase of women's federation's work.

Huang Xiaowei (2nd from right, front row), Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, conducts an investigation tour of Beijing on November 18. [For Women of China]

In enterprises, communities and office buildings, Huang promoted and explained the significance, guiding principles and connotation of the plenary session, and talked with local women about their feelings, experiences and visions, as well as their understanding of the landmark resolution of the plenum.

When visiting two enterprises engaged in new technology and new business forms, Huang encouraged women workers to become builders of the great cause and advocates of civilized social conduct, to strive to pursue their dreams and to contribute to realizing the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects.

In two communities of Daxing District, Huang urged the grassroots-level women's federations to implement the people-centered philosophy, focus on the building of family, family education and family traditions, provide services for women and their families as needed, and safeguard the rights and interests of women and children.

Huang Xiaowei (right, front row), Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, conducts an investigation tour of Beijing on November 18. [For Women of China]

Huang communicated with staff members of grassroots-level women's federations, local women and families at a symposium. She stressed having a deep understanding of the significance of the major achievements and historical experiences of the Party over the past century and the spirit of General Secretary Xi's important speech at the session, taking concrete actions to give full play to the role of women's federations, uniting and guiding women to follow the Party's leadership, and greeting the opening of the 20th CPC National Congress with outstanding achievements.

Huang Xiaowei, Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group and Vice-President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, attends a symposium during her investigation tour. [For Women of China]

Huang also conducted field research on the work of serving women who are engaged in new business forms and women in new types of employment.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)
Kevin Strickland answers questions during an evidentiary hearing regarding his innocence on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021 in Jackson County Circuit Court in Kansas City, Mo.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says group of Russians and Ukrainians planning coup against him
Advice issued by Trading Standards on how to shop safely this Black Friday

With Black Friday here and Cyber Monday just days away local Trading Standards officers are advising anyone buying online to be aware of the pitfalls.

Last year online retail sales in the UK hit a record 130.6 billion and its expected to remain high this year.

However not all online sellers are genuine and many are out to take your money for substandard or fake goods.

Theres also many companies that increase prices before Black Friday and Cyber Monday in order to claim theyve reduced them by a significant amount.

Wrexham Trading Standards have issued the following tips:-

Dont be taken in by promotion or discount offers shared on social media  these can look inviting, but often link to copycat websites so fraudsters can steal your details.

Look for reviews of the product or retailer/seller  and ask yourself whether or not they look genuine.

Are there lots of spelling or grammar mistakes on the website? If so, that could be a hint that the business is not professionally run.

Make sure the website has an encrypted address  thisll show up if theres a padlock symbol in the taskbar (where you type in the address), or if theres an s at the end of the http part of the address. If so, this means that the website is using an encrypted system, which keeps your details secure.

Does the company have a landline number you can call if you have any problems?

Read the small print  notice if anything seems odd, repetitive or in incorrect English.

Dont be tricked by an impossible bargain  if something looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Keep in mind that fraudsters exploit high demand  if shops run out of things like toys and games, crooks will step in and sell poor quality or imitation versions.

Dont panic buy  just make a few common-sense checks like those above and make sure youre not handing your details over to a criminal.

Roger Mapleson, Trading Standards and Licensing Lead, said: The first question to ask yourself is, do I really need this item?

Recently published research by Which? shows that over half of shoppers regretted their Black Friday purchases last year.

If you really do need that new TV or coffee maker be careful and follow the simple checks above to make sure your money is well spent and you are not disappointed.



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Education minister appalled and deeply troubled by the recent trend of targeting teachers on TikTok

A trend that sees school pupils use the social media platform TikTok to mock and harass teachers has been slammed by the Welsh Government minister for education.

Accounts first started appearing on the platform last month and the trend is continuing to grow.

The TikTok accounts use school crests as profile pictures and a handle containing the name of the school.

Posts often name and show images of specific teachers, often mocking them and some make unfounded allegations.

Jeremy Miles MS, minister for education has now issued a written statement about the abuse teachers are suffering, in it he said:

I am appalled and deeply troubled by the recent trend of targeting teachers and school staff on social media.

It is completely unacceptable that teachers are being subjected to explicit, offensive and harmful content online and any such abuse should not be tolerated.

Protecting the well-being of staff is of paramount importance and this is even more crucial given the challenging times we are living in.

He said: Where such deplorable abuse is directed towards teachers and schools on social media I recognise that not only does this have a distressing impact on individuals, it can also have significant adverse implications for the education community.

Mr Miles has instructed his officials to contact TikTok directly to express my concerns around the considerable distress this is causing teachers and request that any instances of inappropriate or offensive content be removed immediately.

Executives at TikTok have confirmed that they are committed to resolving this matter urgently.

Mr Miles said: I understand that a dedicated trust and safety team has been established and are working at pace to remove and/or ban accounts that have been identified as impersonating schools or posting bullying and harassing content directed towards teachers.

TikTok has also confirmed that content moderators are working proactively to identify and remove any new instances of abusive content posted on the platform. My officials will continue to work with TikTok, and keep me updated on this matter. He said.

This trend has been seen right across the UK and it is essential we take a co-ordinated, collaborative and robust approach. Mr Miles said.

We are working closely with the UK Council for Internet Safety, whose members include leading online safety charities, UK Government and devolved nations.

The UK Safer Internet Centre, have agreed an escalation process with TikTok, to ensure the removal of abusive content reported through the Professionals Online Safety Helpline.

I urge all teachers or school staff who have experienced any instances of online abuse to report these directly to the Professionals Online Safety Helpline. Mr Miles said.

The education minister warned schools not inadvertently promote the trend to pupils, new guidance is to exercise care and caution to avoid inadvertently promoting, and thereby further encouraging, any harmful viral trend.

There is well-documented research that highlights instances where well-meaning coverage from organisations has unintentionally driven up interest in viral trends. 

As such, I would urge a responsible and careful conversation on this issue and would encourage schools to refer to this guidance. Mr Miles said.

Mr Miles said he is a firm belief that social media platforms must recognise their responsibility and duty of care to their users and play their part in stamping out online abuse.

I welcome the enhanced protections that the forthcoming Online Safety Bill promises to provide and look forward to working with Ofcom to ensure a consistent approach to ultimately provide a safer online experience for all, he said.

I would like to end by reaffirming that no teacher should be subjected to abuse on social media and I would encourage anyone who has been affected to draw upon the support available from your school, Trade Union and the Professionals Online Safety Helpline.

Finally, I wish to extend sincere thanks to all those teachers for their continued hard work and dedication to the profession.



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Local businesses asked for feedback as community bank plans progress

Small businesses have been asked for feedback on local banking services when the man spearheading plans for the UKs first community bank visited Wrexham.

Clwyd South MS Ken Skates welcomed Mark Hooper from Banc Cambria to his constituency earlier this month for further discussions on how the Community Bank of Wales could benefit local communities.

Mr Skates raised the issue of local bank closures in the Senedd earlier this year after previously launching the Community Bank plans during his time as Economy Minister. His Clwyd South constituency has seen 80 per cent of its high street banks close since 2015  more than any other area of North Wales  and now has just one surviving branch.

He said: Banc Cambria is working with the Welsh Government to create the UKs first community bank, which will provide everyday banking throughout Wales. Unlike other banks, it will be owned and controlled by members  not outside shareholders.

As I have said previously, communities right across North Wales have been abandoned by the big banks and left high and dry by the UK Government abandoning its agreement with the sector that that last branch in each community should remain open. We need this.

While I am hopeful that Clwyd South will be chosen for one of the first few Community Bank branches in Wales, Marks visit was about talking to small businesses in our area and finding out what they need and how this project could help.

After a walk around Ruabon with local councillor Dana Davies and talking to high street businesses including Ruabon Discount Store, Traceys Nail & Beauty Salon and Carolines, it was on to Cefn Mawr to chat with more small firms.

Mr Skates said: It was really a very productive morning showing Mark around Ruabon and Cefn and talking to local businesses.

Mr Hooper said: Small business owners told us from first-hand experience what its like to operate without a local bank branch.

Whether its depositing cash or dealing with an issue regarding mandates, you have to take time out of your business, and nobody wants that.

Pictured: Clwyd South MS Ken Skates and Banc Cambrias Mark Hooper discuss local banking services with small businesses in Cefn Mawr.



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Wrexhams MP thrilled as Wrexham will be home to new Reserve company of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh

Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton has said it is a win for Wrexham as it has been confirmed new Reserve company of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh will be located in Wrexham.

Yesterday we reported on news that the new Reserve company of the Royal Welsh was due to be located in North Wales, with it appearing to be confirmed as Wrexham.

In a statement to the House of Commons, the Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP, announced that Hightown Barracks in Wrexham would receive a new Reserve company of the 3rd Battalion The Royal Welsh.

Alongside this news for Wrexham, it was also announced that the Army footprint in Wales would increase, despite the fact that there would be an overall scaling down of the number of troops in the UK Armed Forces everywhere else. As well as 320 million investment from the Ministry of Defence, Wales will also see the return of the Welsh cavalry, The Queens Dragoon Guards, to Caerwent Barracks and the retention of The Brecon Barracks.

The announcement followed Ms Athertons question to the Secretary of State for Defence earlier this month at Defence Questions, in which she asked Mr Wallace if he would visit Hightown to thank Colonel Nick Lock and his team for their work regenerating the site. Ms Atherton explained that Hightown Barracks, once destined to be a housing estate now contains the Defence Mental Health Clinic, a reserve field detachment, cadets, a preparation college, support for transport and an inspiring anti-tank company. In response, the Defence Secretary said that he would be delighted to visit.

In response to the announcement, Wrexhams MP said, This is a win for Wrexham, and for Wales. The Reserve unit and funding is the next step in the regeneration of Hightown Barracks. Wrexham has a proud military history, which brings our community together so I look forward to seeing the positive impact that this announcement will have on our town.

This announcement is also a vote of confidence in Wales, proving our significance to the UKs Armed Forces. As a passionate champion of our Armed Forces, and a veteran myself, I am thrilled by this announcement for Wrexham and the recent news that Wales will finally get a Veterans Commissioner, funded by the UK Government.



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Ambulances have responded 971 times to emergency calls at Amazons UK fulfilment centres since 2018, according to data obtained by the Mirror under Freedom of Information (FOI).

Ambulance callouts happened at 24 Amazon warehouses, the Mirror reported this week. This included 178 visits to the companys Tilbury warehouse in Essex, the largest in Europe, where an employee died earlier this month.

The newspaper obtained information from nine NHS ambulance trusts. It reported, Paramedics treated people who had lost consciousness, or were suffering from traumatic injuries, breathing problems and chest or cardiac pain.

The Amazon distribution centre in Tilbury (credit: Google Maps)

Among the medical emergencies were two Amazon employees who were suicidal.

Ahead of this weekends annual Black Friday discount sales, the newspapers expose underscores the brutal exploitation underpinning the companys global dominance and the obscene wealth of its founder Jeff Bezos who is worth 154 billion ($USD 205.5 billion) according to Forbes .

Amazon is expected to take 2 billion in UK sales this weekend and more than $USD 10 billion in the United States. Its total sales reached 20.63 billion in the UK during 2020, up by more than 50 percent in one year. The company employs 55,000 people in the UK and took on 22,000 extra staff last year as consumers shifted to online retail during the pandemic.

Global Amazon profits hit $USD 386.6 billion (289.68 billion) this year, up 38 percent on the previous year. Amazon earned so much that even if all 1.3 million employees were paid a COVID bonus of $690,000, the company would still be as rich as it was in 2019. The company has a market value of $1.8 trillion.

The pandemic has vastly accelerated the grotesque inequalities and exploitation inherent in the capitalist profit system. Workers at Amazons UK warehouses report they are treated like slaves and animals, forced to meet impossible pick rates and bullied if they fall behind. A whistleblower from Tilbury told the Mirror, Amazon sees people just like numbers, just like rats.

Testimony from employees to an Amazon Workers Hotline set up by Unite and reported on Twitter includes:

When my second child was born, I requested the time off and was ticketed for being off work.

They are checking on you all the time. Once one of managers came to the toilet after me and my friend to check what we were doing there. It was horrible.

We have targets of 300 items an hour. The bosses are bullies. The last hour of the shift is Power Hour where if your targets drop it messes up your rate for the whole shift.

I had a panic attack at my work station and nearly passed out l, got told that I could only take rest of day off and was to come back to work the next day, there is no mental health support with the Amazon.

They have cut the staff by half and the volume has increased during the pandemic. The staff got smaller and smaller, and now we are having to work way more and they have the audacity to say it is for our safety's sake they reduced the number of workers!

In 2018, the GMB union published results from its own FOI investigation which showed 600 serious medical incidents at 14 Amazon warehouses in just three years. At Rugeley warehouse near Birmingham, there were 115 ambulance callouts, including two for electric shocks and eight for people who had fallen unconscious. Since then, conditions have worsened, with paramedics attending 30 percent more often in the past three years, or 120 additional ambulance visits per year.

Amazon's one million square-foot fulfilment centre in Fife. Credit: Chris Watt

Trade unions, charities, lobbyists, NGOs and other representatives of the upper middle class are staging their annual Black Friday protests today. The #MakeAmazonPay coalition is a top-down operation aimed at suppressing a worldwide rebellion by workers against social inequality and capitalist exploitation. Members of the coalition present themselves as champions of Amazon employees, tapping into workers desire for globally unified action. But as with the Black Friday sales, it is necessary to look at the fine print.

#MakeAmazonPay reports it is holding Black Friday actions in Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Ireland, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia.

But despite the horrific conditions facing warehouse and delivery workers worldwide, and despite (or rather because of) the awesome potential power of the companys 1.3 million strong workforce, no globally coordinated industrial action has been called. Amazons Black Friday profits will not be jeopardised. The protests are being widely promoted in the media precisely for this reason, in stark contrast to the media blackout of the explosive strikes by Spanish metal workers in Cadiz.

Token protests being held today in Britain confirm the stage-managed character of the Black Friday campaign. The GMB union announced it will protest alongside the Trades Union Congress, International Transport Federation, War on Want and Labour Behind the Label in the #MakeAmazonPay coalition. Four protests are taking place outside Amazon facilities in Peterborough, Coventry and Ellistown in the East Midlands, with the largest a gathering of 50-100 coalition supporters outside Amazons HQ in London. No doubt Jeremy Corbyn, that walking talisman against the class struggle, will be on hand to deliver Fabian homilies about the need to protect Amazon workers from rampant profiteering and the importance of Amazon paying taxes.

The #MakeAmazonPay coalition is led by the Progressive International whose founder, political charlatan Yanis Varoufakis, betrayed the Greek working class as Finance Minister in the Syriza government, imposing mass austerity diktats on behalf of the European Union, European Central Bank and NATO. These are people who have nothing to offer the working class except defeat.

The coalition has published a list of common demands, addressed to Amazon and capitalist governments, calling for fair pay, for Amazon to pay tax and to compensate for its impact on the planet. It calls on Amazon to begin sharing power with workers, for instance by welcoming worker representatives elected by their colleagues in different management levels, and by increasing options for workers to receive not only shares in the corporation, but also voting rights, so that the company moves towards a model of democratic governance.

Politically, its demands promote unions rights to promote workers interests and giving unions access to Amazon worksites to inform workers on the benefits of unionization. Its advocacy of the pro-company trade unions is in line with efforts led by United States President Joe Biden, whose Democratic Party administration has publicly encouraged efforts to unionise Amazon warehouses in Alabama, New York and elsewhere.

Union control of Amazon and logistics workers is viewed as a strategic imperative in ruling circles. The financial oligarchy is reliant on the unions vast apparatus to suppress strikes, discipline the workforce, weed out militants, promote economic nationalism and prevent the emergence of a global mass movement by the working class against capitalism.

To defend themselves, Amazon workers need to rely on their own strength. Independent rank-and-file committees, democratically controlled by workers, must be created at every Amazon facility worldwide, fighting for decent wages, health and safety, a reduction in line speed, reduced hours, and the outlawing of corporate spying and bullying.

A fight by Amazon workers would win enormous sympathy and support among delivery drivers, transport and logistics workers, health workers and in the working class internationally. The demand must be raised for Amazons transformation into a public utility and the seizure of Bezoss obscene wealth to meet urgent social needs, including the elimination of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Socialist Web Site urges all Amazon workers who agree with this perspective and want to take up a fight to contact the International Amazon Workers Voice (IAWV) newsletter.
The passing of an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill on Monday marks a devastating attack on the working class across England. It ensures that poorer pensioners will bear a greater financial share of their social care costs than the better off.

The Bill sets a cap of 86,000 on the amount anyone will have to pay personally towards the cost of their social care. However, the amendment excludes from this figure any means-tested support that is received to help pay for these costs, meaning that poorer pensioners will pay personally the same as the richer.

The cap was originally proposed by Sir Andrew Dilnots 2011 report on overhauling social care funding, commissioned by David Camerons Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government. The report was welcomed by then Labour leader Ed Miliband as an important step forward, and he offered Labours support in finding a way to make this work.

Sir Andrew Dilnot (Credit: Creative Commons)

Camerons government introduced the cap in the 2014 Care Act, but it was never implemented. The government is using the current amendment to effect its implementation, protect private assets and cut 900 million per annum from government expenditure by 2027.

The cap means that up to a quarter of those facing residential care in England could end up taking more from their assets than was envisaged in the 2014 Act. At least 125,000 people at any one time could face higher costs even than originally proposed by Dilnot.

Those with assets of less than 20,000 will not have to use these to pay towards care fees, although they might have to pay from their income. Those with more than 100,000 in assets will not be eligible for any council financial help.

Those with assets between 20,000 and 100,000 will qualify for means-tested support to help pay for care. However, this contribution will not be included in the 86,000 personal liability cap.

Dilnots proposal was that any means-tested support should be included in the total cap. Excluding it, wrote Dilnot, would be unfair for those on low incomes, as the result would be that the poorer would only contribute more slowly, rather than contributing less overall than the richer.

That was exactly the class calculation Boris Johnsons government introduced in the amendment. Dilnot himself noted that anyone with assets of less than 186,000 will be penalised under the amended scheme.

Torsten Bell, head of low income research thinktank the Resolution Foundation, tweeted: Heres a simple way to think about the problem the government has created: if you own a 1m house in the home counties, over 90% of your assets are protected. If youve got a terraced house in Hartlepool (worth 70k) you can lose almost everything.

Sally Warren, of healthcare charity the Kings Fund, said the amendment no longer protects those with lower assets from catastrophic costs.

When asked by the press, business minister Paul Scully refused to guarantee no one would need to sell their home to pay for care. He told Sky News: I cant tell you what individuals are going to do It will depend on different circumstances.

Dilnots review marked the emergence of an official consensus that even the most essential publicly funded social provision had to be dismantled and privatised. It accepted that those living in care homes had to pay their annual living costs, including food and accommodation.

The Department of Health and Social Care guidance on the Bill makes clear that daily living costs are excluded from the cap, so even the notion that 86,000 is the most an individual will have to pay personally is false. Set at a nationwide flat rate of 200 a week, these costs come on top of the cap.

Much of the press coverage has focused on a regional divide, as house prices vary wildly across the country. Analysis by the Guardian suggests that those requiring long-term elderly care in northern areas will spend at least 60 percent of their eligible property value, compared to around 20 percent in the wealthier south.

The amendment caused unease among Conservative MPs in the northern so-called Red Wall constituencies won from Labour in 2019s landslide election, capitalising on Brexit. Sitting in socially deprived seats, they are aware of the simmering class hostility that can be unleashed by yet more austerity and cuts and wanted to distance themselves from the reality of their partys policies and hide behind its promises to level up the north with the south of England.

Despite an 80-seat majority in the House of Commons, therefore, the vote only passed by 272-246, a majority of 26. Eighteen Tories voted against the government and there were 68 abstentions.

The rest of the Bill was equally vile. Since the planned changes were first floated in a White Paper in February, the press have been trying to spin them as a bold reversal of Lansleys 2012 Act, which extended sweeping privatisation across the National Health Service (NHS). The Bill will replace Lansleys Clinical Commissioning Groupsthe vehicle for privatisation through their buying of services on behalf of patients and putting those services out to competitive tenderwith Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).

The claim is that the ICSs are intended to eliminate the need for competitive tendering where it adds limited or no value. But this is far from hostility to private provision. The removal of fixed price tariffs, rather, offers the possibility of more private provision if companies come up with better prices.

Thinktanks have rejected claims that the Bill offered private firms a power grab, but it did not need to. It is a more thorough-going integration of private firms within the structures of the NHS. Each of the 42 regional ICSs in England will be made up of Integrated Care Partnerships, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), councils, charities and others. Alongside NHS clinicians and local public health officials, private health companies can have representatives on ICBs. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that such appointments will only be blocked if they could reasonably be regarded as undermining the independence of the health service.

The end to public tendering is likely to see existing outsourced work being rolled over, cementing the place of private companies. The NHS will only be required to tender services where this might lead to better outcomes. But competitive tendering and privatisation will continue, especially in the most lucrative sectors.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has expressed concern that the Bill allows contracts to be awarded to private providers without proper scrutiny or transparency. Given the naked cronyism of exorbitant private contracts handed out to government allies during the pandemic, this is well founded. Javid is keen to use the confused conditions of the pandemic as a smokescreen, arguing, This is exactly the right time for these reforms. The Bill also gives the health secretary a free hand to intervene in any local plans at any time.

Labours opposition to the Bill was for the record. Justin Madders summarised Labours ringing defence: we on the opposition benches believe that the NHS should be the default provider. If it is not the only provider, it should be predominant provider Where a service cannot be provided by a public body there is still the option to go beyond the NHS itself, but that should be a last resort and never a permanent solution.

Unite the unions national officer for health, Jacalyn Williams, described the Bill as a licence for politicians to run down and sell off our NHS, even as the health unions work might and main to prevent a struggle by their members to oppose the government and defend the NHS.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the UK has passed 10 million since the start of the pandemic. Yesterday Health Secretary Sajid Javid guaranteed that millions more cases will be recorded in the next months.

Javid addressed parliament to warn that the recently identified B.1.1.529 variant, now named Omicron by the World Health Organization (WHO), is of huge international concern, is likely more transmissible than Delta, may pose substantial risk to public health, and that vaccines may be less effective against it.

It was, he added, highly likely to have spread further than Botswana, where it was first discovered, and South Africatwo of six countries along with Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia where flights to the UK have once again belatedly been banned as of midday yesterday.

In this Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 file photo, Critical Care staff prone a COVID-19 patient on the Christine Brown ward at King's College Hospital in London. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

Javid said there were no known cases yet in the UK, but precautions were being taken because current vaccines may be less effective, and because it may be more transmissible than other variants.

In fact, data from South Africa shows the mutation appears to be significantly more infectious than Delta. Javid is employing soporific phrases and proposing only the most minimal measures to justify the Johnson governments policy of letting the virus rip through the population.

One of the lessons of this pandemic has been that we must move quickly, and at the earliest possible moment, he said. Were heading into winter and our booster programme is still ongoing, so we must act with caution.

But when asked whether minimal public health measures such as mandatory masking in public places and a return to social distancing would be reimposed, he made clear the governments position. The plan A, the policies that we put in place, they remain the policies that I think we need at this time. The governments entire pandemic response is based solely on vaccination, even though there is a massive question mark over the effectiveness of vaccines against the Omicron variant.

It is highly likely the variant is already in the UK. As of yesterday morning, there were only 100 cases of the variant confirmed in South Africa, and numerous others in Botswana. But South African healthcare professionals say it has likely spread throughout the country, is now the dominant strain and has spread more widely on the continent. Cases have already begun to spread globally, including two in Hong Kong, after a traveller returned from South Africa, one in Israel, of a traveller recently returned from Malawi, and two more suspected cases in Israel.

After Javids appearance in the House of Commons, it was confirmed the variant has hit Europe, with Belgian officials saying they had detected a case in an unvaccinated woman who had returned from Egypt on November 11. She first experienced symptoms on Monday November 22, according to reports.

Up until yesterday afternoon, between 500 and 700 people were flying into the UK from South Africa every day, walking through customs and getting into taxis, buses and trains, meaning thousands of potential infections. Thanks to the Tories ending of all measures of containment, anyone unknowingly infected with the new variant may already have come into contact with hundreds of other people. Anyone who has arrived in the UK from South Africa in the past 10 days is only being required to take a PCR test on day two and day eight, and to isolate at home along with the rest of the household. Flights from the six countries resume on Sunday, with the caveat that arrivals must enter hotel quarantine.

Information available to date about the new variant is chilling. South Africas surge has seen cases double in just two weeks, with fears the new variant accounts for most of them.

The variant has multiple mutations that might help it evade the bodys immune response, thwart vaccines and make it more transmissible. Along with 45 amino acid changes there are over 30 changes in the spike protein of the virus. A senior scientist said, One of our major worries is this virus spike protein is so dramatically different to the virus spike that was in the original Wuhan strain, and therefore in our vaccines

The spike protein is targeted by most vaccines because it is the mechanism through which the virus gains access to the bodys cells.

Professor Christina Pagel from University College London said, We dont have definitive evidence on transmission advantage or immune escape, but we have plenty of cause to suspect both.

Dr Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, said the variant could be of real concern because of its horrific spike profile.

Contrary to government and media lies, the UK is already heading towards a massive escalation of the pandemic and is not bucking the European trend at all.

Today the UK reported 50,091 cases and 160 deaths, compared to 47,240 infections and 147 fatalities reported Thursday.

Daily cases have been above 25,000 since Johnsons Freedom Day on July 19, when almost all mitigation measures were dropped in workplaces, public transport and social settings, after which children were sent back to school in September. Cases reached a high of 51,484 October 20, before falling back to 29,843 on November 6. They have since begun to climb inexorably and are now just below their previous post-Freedom Day peak.

Prior to yesterdays dramatic rise, COVID cases had jumped by 74 percent in a week.

One reason for the increase was the spread of the AY.4.2 variant of Delta, accounting for 15 percent of UK cases. It was only designated a variant under investigation on October 20 and is thought to be up to 10 percent more infectious than the original Delta variant first detected in India in late 2020. Delta was around 60 percent more transmissible than Alpha. It is one of nine known versions of Delta present in the UK.

The higher infectivity of the Omicron variant is not yet known conclusively, but initial estimates are that it is six times more transmissible than the original Alpha variant and twice as transmissible as the Delta variant.

In the face of this threat, not only the Johnson government but the Labour opposition and the trade unions are guilty of premeditated mass murder for their shared insistence that vaccination alone or a few paltry additional measures is enough to curb the pandemic. They intend to build on the mountain of 167,000 corpses left by the pandemic and the tens of thousands left incapacitated by Long COVID.

The Socialist Equality Party urges workers and young people to take up the struggle for a policy of elimination, including the immediate closure of all education institutions and non-essential workplaces with full support for those affected. The full array of public health measures must be deployed including compulsory masking, air filtration systems, social distancing and other proven mitigation measures. We appeal to all those wishing to see an end to the pandemic and who want justice for its victims to contact us today to take part in preparing the Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following discussion is with Cristopher Rogel Blanquet, one of this years W. Eugene Smith Fund Grant winners. The grant will allow Blanquet, a young Mexican photographer, to continue his Beautiful Poison project about unrestricted use of agrochemicals on workers in Mexicos massive flower-growing industry. His project documents the life of four families in the Villa Guerrero region who have suffered the death of children, genetic disabilities and chronic diseases related to these chemicals.

This is the seventh article in a series about the controversy surrounding Minamata, the new movie by Andrew Levitas and starring Johnny Depp, in addition to our original review.

Cristopher Rogel Blanquet

Minamata focuses on the decades-long industrial poisoning of Japanese fishing communities in Minamata by the Chisso Corporation and the efforts by acclaimed photo-essayist Eugene Smith (Depp) and his wife Aileen Mioko Smith to expose this crime before a global audience during the early 1970s.

The WSWS reviewed the movie in late July and followed this with several interviews. The first of these was with photographer Stephen Dupont, a winner of the W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography in 2007; the second with Australian documentary photographer Jack Picone; and the third with Kevin Eugene Smith, a lawyer, former television producer and journalist, and the manager of the photographic estate of his father, Eugene Smith. The fourth article featured comments from photographers David Dare Parker and John Hulme, the fifth, a statement by Jane Evelyn Atwood, the first winner of the prestigious Smith Memorial Grant, when it was established in 1980, and the sixth, an interview with Tim Page, veteran Vietnam war photographer.

While Minamata has been released in many countries around the world, MGM, which purchased the rights to distribute the film in North America, has not screened it in the US. The company, which is being taken over by Amazon, has refused to give any indication when it will be released.

Aileen Mioko Smith (Minami Bages) and Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) with Minamata disease patient [Source: Metalwork Pictures]

In July, director Levitas issued an open letter revealing that he had been told by MGMs acquisitions head Sam Wollman that the company was burying Minamata over concerns that the personal issues of Johnny Depp, could reflect negatively on MGM. The companys arrogant and censorious actions constitute an outrageous attack on all those involved in the films production, including Aileen Mioko Smith, who was co-author of the book on which it was based, as well as the victims and families of those poisoned by Chisso.

Cristopher Rogel Blanquet is one of a growing number of acclaimed photographers who have spoken out against MGMs ongoing suppression of Minamata. Blanquet became a professional photojournalist seven years ago and has worked in Mexico, France, the US, Peru, Turkey, Ukraine, Morocco and Syria, after having initially been a journalist for the Mexican periodical El Universal.

Rogel Blanquets intense and socially conscious photo-essays focus on workers and the plight of immigrants and the poor. His images have been featured in numerous national and international publications, including the New York Times, El Mundo, Milenio and Vice, to name just a few. His work has been exhibited at the Alliance Francaise, the Jose Vasconcelos Library and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City, the Honeyguide Gallery in El Paso, Texas and the Museo de la Memoria in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Many of the photographs in the Beautiful Poison project are of Sebastian, an 18-year-old with hydrocephalus, and his father Don Tino. Sebastians mother, Dona Petra, died from untreated kidney disease earlier this year due to the suspension of all treatments other than COVID-19 at Mexico City hospitals.

Sebastian is 18 years old although he has the body of a small child. As he has hydrocephalus, he cannot bathe alone; his father Tino is the one who bathes him (Copyright: Cristopher Rogel Blanquet)

The following is an edited version of our discussion with Rogel Blanquet. We began by asking about his first impressions of Minamata and what resonated in the film for him.

Cristopher Rogel Blanquet: I dont know to what extent the script accurately depicts Eugene Smiths life, but in cinematographic terms its very interesting and important that other people, not just photographers, watch it. It allows you to understand the mind, and the context, of a person dedicated to what we are dedicated tothe understanding that in journalism it is not the journalist that matters but the story.

Minamata gives a voice to the person behind the photos, in this case Eugene Smith, and like those dedicated to photojournalism, we are human. We have our own problemsour own demonsand are touched by what we report on.

We witness Eugene Smiths post-traumatic stress and his problems with alcohol. Again, I dont know how much of this is true, but it helps people who are not in the media business to understand something about the life of a photographer. This is important because many people think of photographers as rapacious; that we are vultures and are distant, and dont get involved with the people we photograph, or are interested in their story.

I teach at the National Autonomous University of Mexico [UNAM] and always tell my students that you cannot tell a story if you do it from an emotional distance. You have to be emotionally close to the story and have empathy. This is shown in Minamata .

If theres no empathy then you cannot tell that story, but theres an emotional price paid for this empathy. Theres always anguish after every story we document because we absorb the sadness and the pain. Theres an adrenaline rush, theres anger and rage because in the end we are human.

WSWS: Whats the significance of Minamata today?

CRB: This is an important film that should be available for everyone. The way Eugene Smith approaches the source is totally inspiring and I feel a real connection to his approach and the things he did.

I was already familiar with the Smiths Minamata work and the [Beautiful Poison] project that I won this years award for has similar subject matter. I felt a bit of pressure after winning the award and was worried my work would be compared to his, but it was an honour and very interesting that I unintentionally addressed a subject emblematic in Smiths career.

A section of the film shows Smith being unable to take the pictures because the family hasnt given him permission. He hasnt got authorisation and must gain their trust. Smith knows that if they dont let him intimately document their struggle and their pain the work will be useless. In the end, the people trust him and thats when he achieves his greatest photographic work. I very much identified with all this because its not easy to convince people to let you into their lives. Theyre rightly afraid that their image will be used in a wrong way.

WSWS: What do you think about MGMs refusal, up to this point, to release the film in US cinemas?

CRB: An actors personal life is one thing, Depps in this case, but the film is something different. Why should someones personal life be used to censor Minamata? The film and its message about pollution should not be punished in this way. The importance of Smith exposing the pollution in Minamata is something that is current and not just in Japan. There are many other similar examples of this around the world.

This is a must-see for journalism students and even more so for photography students. We are not working with furniture, we work with people and for this reason its imperative that we feel empathy. As [Polish writer Ryszard] Kapuscinski once said, This profession is not for cynics.

Sebastian, in his wheelchair, waits for his father next to a collection point for empty fumigant containers. The site is at street level without any public restriction or sanitary fence. (Copyright: Cristopher Rogel Blanquet)

Theres almost no photographic culture here in Mexico outside of photographers themselves. I know about Eugene Smith, and so do all my colleagues, but the rest of the population, including students, dont know anything about Smith or [James] Nachtwey, [Sebastiao] Salgado or [Manuel Alvarez] Bravo. Thats why I always try to give my students references to many authors because in this context in Mexico there is no knowledge unless you are already dedicated.

WSWS: What censorship or concerns by publishers have you faced and had to overcome?

Theres censorship, of course, but Ive never been censored as such. I do live in Mexico, however, which is one the most dangerous countries to practice journalism without there actually being an active war underway.

Its a dangerous activity here, but for this same reason its an activity that has to be conducted. We have to assume this is part of our vocation and our responsibility, and so with the proper precautions I always try to do my job as well as possible.

Under the pretext of a war on drug gangs, Mexican governments unleashed a bloody war against human rights advocates, left-wing activists and the presswith at least 86 activists and 120 journalists killed between 2006 and 2021. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, more journalists have been killed in Mexico so far this year than in any other country in the world.
Amid mutual recriminations between London and Paris over the deaths Wednesday of 27 migrants and asylum seekers in the English Channel, it was reported Thursday morning that 430 people are at imminent risk of death in a boat in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of north Africa.

The news was reported, with hardly any media coverage, by Alarm Phone, who provide a hotline for people on boats in distress. It said, A boat with approximately 430 people on board, including dozens of children and minors, is in severe distress in the central Mediterranean Sea.

Screenshot of Thursday's Alarm Phone article warning of the perilous situation facing over 400 migrants in the central Mediterranean Sea

Alarm Phone said it was alerted to the disastrous situation the previous day by people on board: According to them, the boat is disintegrating, and they cannot hold out much longer. Moreover, they report that several people have already died. There are over one hundred people below deckin case of a shipwreck, they would be trapped inside the vessel. It provided the co-ordinates for the vessel.

The European Union (EU) was unmoved, with Alarm Phone reporting that it has repeatedly informed European authorities in Italy and Malta. MRCC [Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres] Rome has informed us that they were not the competent authority in this case, while Malta simply hangs up the phone when we try to relay information on the case.

After Wednesdays preventable deaths, the attitude to the Mediterranean Sea boat underscores the criminality of the anti-immigration policies pursued by all the European governments. As this crisis unfolded, Britain and France stepped up their bitter recriminations following the deaths resulting from a flimsy inflatable dingy capsizing off the French port city Calais. Those on board were trying to reach the UK.

On Thursday morning the French government, who initially reported that 31 people had died, revised the figure down to 27still the largest number of dead in the Channel since the International Organisation for Migration began systematically monitoring crossings and fatalities in 2014.

Among them were 17 men, seven womenincluding one who was pregnanttwo boys and a girl. According to reports, most of the dead were Kurds from Iraq or Iran. Two of those rescued were from Iraq and Somalia. They are recovering from severe hypothermia. The deaths follow those of around 10 other migrants who also perished while attempting the crossing in recent weeks.

France, Britain and the entire European ruling class bear responsibility for the deaths. It is no coincidence that the origin countries of the victimsIraq, Iran and Somaliaare those which have suffered from decades of imperialist oppression, including the 2003 invasions of Iraq and imperialist intrigues in Iran and Somalia. Millions have been left homeless and internally displaced by these crimes.

On hearing of the deaths, France and Britain swung into damage limitation mode, with government figures from each country declaring that all responsibility fell on people smugglers and gangs. France launched a criminal investigation, with four men arrested on Wednesday and a fifth on Thursday. French President Emmanuel Macron declared, Everything will be put in place to find and convict those responsible.

No end of crocodile tears were shed. The European Parliament held a minutes silence Thursday. These are representatives of the EU powers responsible for turning the continent into Fortress Europe, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers by drowning in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

Recent tombs of migrants who died in their attempt to cross the English Channel are pictured in the Nord Cemetery of Calais, northern France, Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

On Thursday, Macron called for an emergency meeting of EU ministers concerned by the migratory challenge. The EU border agency Frontex should provide immediate reinforcement to monitor the Channel, he said.

Johnson and Macron pledged Wednesday night to step up cooperation to stop deaths in the Channel, with Macron cynically requesting that Britain not exploit the deaths for political purposes.

Their bromides were only the signal for a tirade of accusations and nationalist outbursts on both sides of the Channel, from right-wing forces and the media.

Even before their phone call, Johnson had already accused France of being slack in monitoring its coast. Weve had difficulties persuading some of our partnersparticularly the Frenchto do things in a way in which we think the situation deserves.

The right-wing gutter press in Britain, who for years have scapegoated and hounded illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, were awash with recriminations. Alongside a photo of the remains of the flimsy dinghy in which the 27 tried to cross, the Daily Mail ran the online headline, This is on you, Macron.

The Metros front page wailed, Why didn't France stop them? The Sun and Daily Mail s print edition led with a photo of migrants taking a dingy to the shoreline with a French police car parked nearby on the beach, with the headlines, Shameful: French police idly look on as rafts head to UK, and Youre letting gangs get away. A Daily Express article complained, UK has paid duplicitous France 160m since 2015 to stop migrant boats.

Macron was mainly concerned with parading his governments law and order policies aimed against migrants and asylum seekers. He declared, our security forces are mobilised day and night Our mobilisation is total as far as our coasts are concerned. The response to the deaths would be a maximum mobilisation of French forces, including deploying reservists and drones to watch the shoreline.

French interior Minister Gerald Darmanin spewed out a filthy nationalist, anti-immigrant diatribe in an interview yesterday morning with French radio station RTL, expressing more than a hint of envy at what he described as the UKs economic advantage: Everyone knows there are more than 1.2 million illegal immigrants in Great Britain, and that British employers use this labour force to make things that the British manufacture and consume.

Just days before Wednesdays Channel deaths, he declared, Why do people go to Calais? Its to go to Great Britain And why do they want to go to Great Britain? Its because the labour market largely works in Great Britain thanks to a large army or reservesas Karl Marx saidof people in an irregular situation but who can work at a low cost, obviously.

He flung back accusations from Britain that France was lax in its treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers by boasting, It is often said that France doesnt deport enough, but we deport about 20,000 people a year. By contrast, he said, the U.K. expels 6,000, four times less than France, even though there are more people and twice as many illegal immigrants.

Calais right-wing mayor, Natacha Bouchart, a member of the Gaullist The Republicans party, denounced the migratory policies of successive French governments, and attacked the The failure of Boris Johnson who obliges our country to endure this situation because he doesnt have the courage to assume his own responsibilities  in his country.

In his comments, Macron claimed that in order to prevent death, [A]bove all, we need to seriously strengthen cooperation ... with Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Commission.

Such cooperation will be based on the most ruthless suppression of the democratic rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Speaking in Parliament, UK Home Secretary Priti Patel stated that Channel crossings were illegal, adding, Ive offered to work with France to put [UK] officers on the ground [on the French coasts] to to prevent these dangerous journeys from taking place.

Patels Home Office is pushing through the draconian Nationality and Borders Bill, which is a declaration of war against established international law regarding the treatment of asylum seekers. As part of this onslaught, Patel is moving to impose a pushback policy, authorising the UKs Border Force to turn back migrant boats and said in Parliament that she will do whatever is necessary to secure the area to stop sailings reaching Britain. I have not ruled anything out she warned, noting that Greece, whose anti-immigration policies she has repeatedly hailed as exemplary, are using pushback.

According to the Times, Johnson met a group of Tory MPs on Wednesday to assure them that the UK would tighten its immigration policies even further. The newspaper reported, The prime minister left those present under the impression he was considering legal reforms to make crossings harder, something they have long demanded. It cited one of the MPs who said, We have to smash the merry-go-round of the asylum process. Another of the MPs told the Times, He [Johnson] agreed that we cant just wait for the borders bill, but that we have to do something now. He told us to watch this space.
The Socialist Equality Partys (SEP) fight against Australias anti-democratic electoral laws continues with long standing and new electoral members encouraging workers, students and young people to join the campaign.

The laws threaten the SEP, along with 35 other parties, with deregistration if they fail to submit a list of 1,500 members, treble the previous number, by December 2. Rushed through parliament in late August by Prime Minister Scott Morrisons Liberal-National Coalition government, fully backed by Labor, the laws are aimed at preventing the developing opposition to the major parties from finding a socialist and left-wing expression.

To join the SEP campaign against the legislation, sign-up as an electoral member today.

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Rick, 64, a decades-long supporter of the SEP, met the Socialist Labour League (predecessor of the SEP) when he was a teacher in the 1980s.

Ive been interested in history since I was a young man and that led me to an interest in socialism. Capitalism has no answers to the problems that confront the world. It has systems of oppression that exist to keep working people down and that includes the Australian Labor Party and the trade union movement, he said.

The new electoral laws are terribly undemocratic. Democracy and people having their say in the system, all this ideology is thrown out the window with this law.

Why now? The system is weak, its diseased and theres no longer any pretence about freedom of expression or allowing the peoples will to be heard. Its all about maintaining those structures of oppression.

Rick

Rick commented on the recent book launch of Vadim Rogovins Was There an Alternative? and noted that in the 70s and 80s the Stalinist groups were strong in Australia and there was confusion about socialism in the working class and still is today. One of the problems when talking to people about socialism is that they immediately think of Russia and China. They see Stalinism as socialism and say that kind of oppression is inevitable.

Rogovin demonstrates and documents the struggle that took place in the Soviet Union against Stalin. In previous works he wrote about the mass murder of socialists and members of the Bolshevik Party. These pose questions about how this happened? What qualities did Stalin have that allowed him to come out on top? Understanding all this is vital in order to answer the question as to whether or not socialism leads to oppression, he said.

Commenting on the rising danger of war with China, Rick said, The idea that its impossible for trading partners to go to war is false by reading the history of the First World War. Theres a wonderful passage by Leon Trotsky where he talks about how before the war the great powers were tobogganing towards conflict, although no-one wanted it. The UK and Germany were major trading partners and there were even familial connections between the ruling classes. But it happened. If we end up in a war, by any kind of analysis, the results are going to be absolutely terrible and Australia is likely to be on the front line. War is certainly not in our interests.

Rick urged workers and youth to become SEP electoral members, firstly to oppose these anti-democratic electoral laws and secondly, its a good first step to developing a resistance to the terrible reactionary forces that are leading us to war, vast inequality and ecocidethe destruction of the environment. Capitalism not only has no answers to those problems, it is the problem. Becoming an SEP electoral member, he concluded, is a great chance to develop a good understanding of whats going on. Its certainly something you wont get anywhere else.

Biljana, 58 and a former teacher, emigrated to Australia from Yugoslavia 31 years ago. She became an electoral member this year. Im a socialist deep in my heart because my family has always been a socialist family, she said.

We care deeply for social justice and ensuring that people have equal opportunities, decent standard of living and all the interests that a socialist party should stand for. When I arrived, I was only 27, raising a family and furthering my education so I didnt have a lot of time to understand politics in Australia. I was happy that the Labor Party was in power, she continued.

It was only when I started working for the unions that I understood that Labor and Liberal were basically playing a game. They werent sincere in their claims to be serving the people. I started voting for the Greens, but they supported the Labor Party too.

When enterprise bargaining was introduced by Labor it had disastrous results on vulnerable sections of the population because they couldnt negotiate fairer wages for themselves. It was an opportunity for people in power and ruthless employers to underpay them and take away their conditions of work, she said.

I came across the Socialist Equality Party, took a couple of brochures and thought, Wow, that sounds really interesting and decided to support the SEP. The world is a mess and I needed to find a party that I was confident in. I believe in social justice, freedom and democracy and equal distribution of wealth, these are the values that the SEP represents. No other parties have these values. I started reading the SEPs Statement of Principles and I continue to find points that reflect my ideas and ethical values. Im happy to support the SEP in any way because there is a global movement and its going to change the whole global atmosphere, she said.
Scientists have detected a new variant of COVID-19, called B.1.1.529 (or Omicron), which appears to have originated in southern Africa but has already been detected in several other countries. Initial indications are that an unusual constellation of mutations make the variant far more infectious than the Delta variant and potentially vaccine resistant.

The World Socialist Web Site will be posting live updates throughout the day.

Biden proposes no new pandemic restrictions, urges vaccination in response to Omicron variant

US President Joe Biden released a statement Friday afternoon noting that he had been briefed by his chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other members of his COVID response team about the spread of the newly detected Omicron variant. He announced as a precautionary measure until we have more information a travel ban on flights from South Africa and seven other southern African countries to go into effect on Monday, November 29.

Biden, however, announced no new measures to halt the spread of the virus, which is surging throughout the country even prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Instead, Biden encouraged Americans to get vaccinated or to get their booster shot. If you have not gotten vaccinated, or have not taken your children to get vaccinated, Biden said, now is the time.

Biden has made the full reopening of schools and businessesbefore the virus has been brought under control and while millions of children remain unvaccinateda pillar of his administration. Under Bidens watch, state governors have abandoned almost all mitigation measures, such as state-wide mask mandates, even as close to 100,000 people fall ill and more than 1,000 die every day from COVID-19 in the United States.

Jan. 21, 2021, President Joe Biden reacts to a reporters question after signing executive orders in the State Dinning Room of the White House, in Washington [Credit: AP Photo Alex Brandon, File]

While vaccines are a critical tool in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have insisted that vaccination is not a magic bullet which will end the pandemic. Lockdowns, in coordination with a robust testing, contact tracing and quarantine program, are essential to controlling the spread of the disease. Allowing the virus to continue to propagate internationally, scientists have repeatedly warned, will lead to new and more infectious variants, such as Omicron, that could evade the immunity that the vaccines provide.

Even in countries where vaccination rates are higher than the United States, such as the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands, infections are surging.

So far, just 59 percent of the US population is fully vaccinated, with the rates varying widely by state. In Vermont, where 73 percent are fully vaccinated, the highest rate in the country, cases and hospitalizations have surged to their highest level of the pandemic in recent weeks.

World governments scramble to implement travel restrictions following announcement of Omicron variant

The Biden administration announced on Friday afternoon that the US would restrict most travel from South Africa and other African countries following the announcement of a new, highly infectious variant of COVID-19.

Earlier in the day, the European Commission proposed that its members implement an emergency break on travel from countries in southern Africa. The variant has so far been identified in South Africa and Botswana, as well as Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.

In addition to South Africa and Botswana, the restrictions announced by Bidenwhich do not apply to US citizens and permanent residentswill affect travel from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Omicron variant was first detected in Botswana on November 12, more than two weeks ago. Since then, it has spread rapidly in neighboring South Africa, where COVID-19 cases have risen fourfold. Initial indications are that the variant is far more infectious and deadly even than the Delta variant, which has driven the surge of cases globally over the past several months.

The travel restrictions have the character of stop-gap measures, which will come too late to stop the spread of the variant globally. The removal of all restrictions on the virus in the US and the major European countries (including the reopening of schools and workplaces) guarantees that if the variant has been introduced it is already rapidly spreading.

The emergence of the new variant is product of the decision of the major capitalist governments to reject a strategy of eliminating COVID-19, instead allowing it to run rampant. Scientists have been warning for months that so long as the virus continues to spread, new, more infectious and possibly vaccine-resistant variants will emerge.

World Health Organization calls new COVID-19 strain variant of concern

Scientists have detected a new variant of COVID-19, called B.1.1.529 (or Omicron and also referred to as the Nu variant). The variant appears to have originated in southern Africa but has already been detected in several other countries. Initial indications are that an unusual constellation of mutations make the variant far more infectious than the Delta variant and potentially vaccine resistant.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized the strain as a variant of concern (VOC). In a statement, the WHO said that preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs, including the Delta variant.

The Omicron variant was first detected on November 12 in Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa. It is now quickly sweeping through South Africa, supplanting the Delta variant.

In just two short weeks, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases in South Africa has risen fourfold, from 265 to 1,043. Yesterday, South Africa reported 2,465 new infections. Seventy-five percent of all currently sequenced cases are the latest variant. New infections are exploding in highly urbanized Gauteng, a small northeastern province in South Africa, which accounts for less than two percent of the countrys land area and is home to one quarter of its population.

Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, a bioinformatician at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, and director of the Centre for Epidemic Response & Innovation, explained that the variant is really worrisome at the mutational level. It possesses over 50 mutations, with 32 on the virus spike protein, which it uses to bind to human respiratory cells and gain entry.

The rate at which Omicron is displacing Delta is exceptionally remarkable and horrifying. According to Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam, a complex system physicist who has been studying pandemics for nearly two decades, current rough estimates indicate that it is six times more transmissible than the original variant and twice as transmissable as the Delta variant. More concerning is that the crude mortality estimates for Omicron are eight times higher than the original variant.

Currently, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium have identified infected patients with the Omicron variant, which means that the current iteration of the virus has already spread globally. In Israel, one of the infected individuals who returned from Malawi was previously fully vaccinated. Two others are in quarantine, awaiting further testing.

Pentagon dispatches medical teams to Michigan as record case surge overwhelms hospitals

As COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to surge in Michigan, the Pentagon is dispatching medical teams to the state to assist doctors and nurses treating patients at the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. The two teams of 22 members consist of doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists. Hospital administrators had appealed to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to seek assistance from the Biden administration.

Michigan leads the US in per capita infections and hospitalizations over the last two weeks, with more than 8,500 newly confirmed cases per day and nearly 4,000 hospitalized. Newly confirmed infections are at an all-time high for the pandemic, and hospitalizations will soon surpass previous peaks. An average of 79 people are dying every day in the state, up from less than three in the second week of August.

Its actually as bad as or worse than it was during our last big peak in April or the peak that we saw the November-December before that, Aron Sousa, interim dean of the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University, told the Guardian.

As elsewhere, schools have been the leading contributor to the growth in cases. More than two dozen school districts in the state, including Detroit and Ann Arbor, closed for the entire Thanksgiving week in the face of growing infections among students and staff demands for action. As the WSWS reported last week, students and staff walked out at Martin Luther King High School to protest the administration's handling of the pandemic.

Despite the crush of cases overwhelming hospitals and growing opposition from workers and students, Governor Whitmer has taken no substantial action to stop the spread of the virus and ease pressure on hospital workers. Last week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued an advisory that urged residents to wear masks at indoor gatherings and suggested businesses could implement their own mask mandates.

No statewide mask mandate is apparently forthcoming, and Whitmer has ruled out a lockdown to break the chain of transmission, instead insisting that vaccination alone would be enough to control the virus. 'A year ago we did not have vaccines,' the governor declared at a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway Tuesday. 'Now we have the tools to stay safe.'

Whitmer, who was the target of a fascist murder plot last year over her implementation of limited pandemic mitigation measures, has followed the line of the Biden administration, which has pushed for the full reopening of schools and businesses and ruled out lockdowns as the pandemic continues to rage. The result has been more deaths from COVID-19 this year than in 2020, despite the widespread availability of vaccines.

WSWS Editorial Board Chairman David North calls for global elimination of COVID-19 following announcement of new variant

WHO provides update on B.1.1.529 variant: ...the more this virus circulates, the more opportunities the virus has to change, the more mutations we will see

Scientist Yaneer Bar-Yam says new variant mortality eight times the original variant

Dr. Yaneer Bar-Yam is an American scientist and founding president of New England Complex Systems Institute. He is an expert in the quantitative analysis of pandemics and was an advisor to policymakers on the West Africa Ebola virus epidemic.

British epidemiologist Deepti Gurdasani warns about the need for action in the face of new variant

A leading voice in the fight against the pandemic, Dr. Deepti Gurdasani posted this thread Friday morning raising her concerns about the newly detected variant which has a large number of concerning mutations and is spreading rapidly in southern Africa and has already reached Asia and Europe.

Rockefeller University virologist expresses concerns over Omicron variants mutations

In a Twitter exchange between virologists on the potential consequences of the number of mutations in the Omicron variants receptor binding domain, Theodora Hatziioannou wrote, I wish I was as optimistic as @jbloom_lab [affiliated with Fred Hutch]. Our polymutant spike [labs are studying how SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations lead to escape from antibodies] has 20 [amino acid] substitutions [compared to the original strain] and is almost completely resistant to neutralization by almost all vaccinated and convalescent plasma we tested. This new one [Omicron variant] has more [mutations] in overlapping [shared] regions.

Staggering: Feigl-Ding notes rapid spread of new variant in South Africa

Germanys incoming government vows to let COVID-19 run rampant

Germanys incoming government led by the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who is replacing the Christian Democrat Angela Merkel after 16 years as Federal Chancellor, has declared war on the working population before it is even in office.

When the so-called traffic light coalition, consisting of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), presented their government program on Wednesday, the number of COVID-19 deaths surpassed 100,000, according to the official count by the Robert Koch Institute. This gruesome coincidence had great symbolic power.

Social Democratic Party, SPD, chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, second right, stands with the Green party leaders Annalena Baerbock, left, and Robert Habeck, second left, and the Free Democratic Party chairman Christian Lindner, right, as they arrive for a joint news conference in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

The number of new infections every day is increasing exponentially and was 76,000 on Wednesday, more than twice as high as at the height of the second and third waves. Desperate parents and teachers do not know how to protect children. Every day, 350 people are dying from COVID-19. The intensive care units are overcrowded and preparing for triage. Without drastic countermeasures, the number of fatalities will double to 200,000 by spring, according to expert estimates.

But the new government is acting even more inhumanely and criminally than the old one. A week ago, the SPD, Greens and FDP used their majority in parliament to end the COVID-19 emergency, the legal basis for lockdowns and similar measures.

Scholzs appearance in front of the press on Wednesday was reminiscent of the notorious Emperor Nero, who fiddled while Rome was on fire. Scholz and his coalition partners praised and celebrated each other, but apart from a general appeal for vaccinations and the establishment of a crisis team in the Chancellery, they did not propose a single measure against the pandemic.

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The Thanksgiving holiday weekend threatens surge of COVID-19 infections across the US

On November 24, 2021, Thanksgiving Eve in the US, the World Health Organizations Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during the COVID-19 press conference, warned that the rising number of COVID-19 deaths and cases in Europe and other countries are translating into unsustainable pressures on the health care systems that are exhausting health care workers.

He also raised concerns that many countries governments have grown complacent with employing and maintaining public health measures due largely to their sole reliance on COVID-19 vaccines against the coronavirus.

Travellers queue up to enter a shuttle bus to a rental car facility as the Thanksgiving Day holiday approaches Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Denver International Airport in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

He said, In many countries and communities, we are concerned about the false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic and that people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions. Vaccines save lives, but they do not fully prevent transmission. Data suggests that before the arrival of the Delta variant, vaccines reduced transmissions by about 60 percent. With Delta, that has dropped to about 40 percent. If you are vaccinated, you have a much lower risk of severe disease and death. But you are still at risk of being infected and of infecting others.

In line with concerns raised by the WHO director-general for Europe, coronavirus cases in the US are exploding. On November 22, 2021, more than 162,000 COVID-19 infections were reported. The seven-day average has reached 95,000 cases per day, 25 percent above the averages two weeks ago. Deaths, a lagging indicator, have now turned upwards. Hospitalizations have once more exceeded 50,000 admissions. There are currently 38 states and the District of Columbia that are seeing growth in COVID-19.

Michigan hospitals and Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer have asked the federal government for immediate emergency staff to be sent in to support the catastrophe laying waste to the health care systems there.

The Henry Ford Health System, a health care organization in Metro Detroit, has seen COVID-19 cases skyrocket by 50 percent in just three weeks. Statewide hospitalizations have now surpassed over 4,000, bringing many health care systems to their knees. Adnan Munkarah, Henry Fords chief clinical officer, noted, Our emergency departments and our hospitals are functioning beyond full capacity. That means our beds are full, and we have patients waiting in the emergency department for hours for beds to open.

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The global pandemic and World War I: The ruling class decides for death

As the conclusion of the second year of the pandemic approaches and as mass death continues seemingly without end, the analogy to World War I is being tragically and brutally substantiated.

Already, the death toll from the pandemic is comparable to the death toll from World War I. Estimates of the total deaths of military personnel during the four years of the war range from between 9 million and 11 million. Civilian deaths are estimated at between 6 and 13 million, bringing a total estimated death toll to between 15 and 24 million.

By comparison, the number of deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic now stands at close to 5.2 million worldwide, according to official figures. We know, however, that this figure far understates reality. The Institute for Health Metrics at the University of Washington estimates that the total number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 (excess deaths) is more than 12.1 million, and possibly as high as 17.5 million.

Over the past several months, there has been a murderous shift in ruling class policy. Governments throughout the world are abandoning any pretense of ending the pandemic. The signal was given by Biden in July, when he announced that the US was declaring our independence from a deadly virus We can live our lives, our kids can go back to school, our economy is roaring back.

Independence from the virus has not meant that infections and deaths would decline but rather that no significant effort would be made to stop death on a mass scale. The same policy has been implemented in Europe, and enormous pressure has been brought to bear on countries that had pursued an elimination strategy (including New Zealand and other countries in the Asia-Pacific) to reverse course. Lockdowns, contact tracing, testing and all other public health measures essential to controlling and eliminating the virus have been systematically abandoned.

The consequences were both predictable and catastrophic. The claim that the virus could be stopped through vaccination alone is exposed by the massive spike in new cases globally.

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Last Thursday evening, NHS FightBack received a photo of an elderly patient lying on the floor in the entrance to the Emergency Department of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH). RBH is a National Health Service (NHS) hospital.

An elderly patient lies on the floor in the entrance to the emergency department at Royal Bournemouth Hospital (WSWS Media)

When the photo was published on Facebook and Twitter, it triggered a mass response.

The posts have been shared widely, with hundreds of retweets and shares. On the NHS Fightback Facebook page alone, it has reached over five thousand people, with thousands liking, sharing and commenting on the situation created by the UK government. On Twitter, it has been retweeted over eight hundred times, and liked 786 times, with almost one hundred quoted retweets.

Users responded with disbelief and anger that those seeking emergency help are being forced to lie in corridors, using words like diabolical, shocking, heart breaking, speechless and horrific.

Carl posted, This country is seriously corrupt for this to go unchallenged, how the Tory establishment is not being tried for crimes against humanity, is beyond my comprehension!

This is right wing capitalist politics, Carol said.

Alison wrote, The opening up of the economy and mixing of the people spreading the virus will just add massively to the already collapsing system. This is nothing to what it will look like in a month. She decried the deliberate and systematic culling of the elderly and vulnerable by the government.

Responding to the pictures posting in the Anti Tory Values Group on Facebook, Louise wrote, The social services costs are a typical example of Tory Party greed. They have NOT raised any income tax for the rich to pay their share of taxes. They have put up National Insurance for the poor to pay the taxes.

On the Defend Our NHS Facebook page, Stephanie called the image shocking and heartbreaking. She said Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cronies wanted to sell off the NHS to the scavengers of the market place. They will line their pockets with gold for every aspect of the NHS sold to the Richest Bransons of this world. A pox upon their houses!

Facebook user Owain posted, The buck stops with the Tories who have closed hundreds of hospitals and got rid of over 30 thousand NHS staff and other key workers. And the mass media are helping them to say that the NHS is no longer fit for purpose and we need to put it up for privatisation.

GP and activist against the privatization of the NHS Dr Bob Gill retweeted the NHS Fightback post to his nearly twelve thousand followers, saying, Been warning about meltdown in services for nearly 10 years. It is upon us and the political class remain immune from responsibility. Allies in media busy turning blind eye or redirecting blame. @UKLabour leadership complicit. Democracy my backside!

Thriller writer Steven Dunne tweeted, Tory Britain. A picture is worth a thousand words. #GTTO (Get the Tories Out)

Many shared their own experiences. Doddsy@HelenDodds17 wrote, Ive seen people lying on 3 chairs, wrapped in blankets for hours in North Tees hospital.

I spent 5hrs Wednesday evening waiting in A&E to be seen for severe dehydration due to gastroenteritis. I almost ended up laying across chairs to get some rest until I finally got seen. I cant blame the staff as theyre doing the best they can, given the government has tied their hands wrote Daniel @mrcraftyg.

@elaine_patten commented, My husband waited nearly 6hrs to be seen by a Dr in ED [emergency department], 9hrs after initial 999 call, & over 10.5hrs until he was in a bed, feeling dreadful & in pain sitting in a chair all night in the Dept. This is no way to treat sick people, let alone a veteran.

Anson Lewis said, My mum waited 16hrs for an ambulance to arrive, stuck sat on a dining room chair with a broken hip.

Pat Troake replied, Friend of mine had a stroke rang for an ambulance, told 5 hours!!! They took him themselves, if they had waited for the ambulance hed be dead, love the NHS but now not fit for purpose.

Jules Charrington: I have a friend who works in an A&E department and she has been witnessing queues of 8 hours outside just to get to the triage stage! She is a psychiatric nurse and they have been assessing people in the car park in order to get them through the system a little quicker.

@WAeonghus: Last week, I spent 18 hours in A&E in heartlands hospital in Birmingham with Bells palsy. The staff were run off their feet for all of that time. The ambulances were backed up outside. Im angry at the Tories and their enablers for creating this disaster.

@JayneNotPlain1: My neighbour was 13 hours just to be seen in there and finally they admitted her for a heart problem and now she has caught COVID.

The photo posted by NHS FightBack also received many international comments. Kate, an aid worker from Australia, tweeted, Living with COVID. This is beyond disgusting. It's bordering on third world health care. An elderly person lying on a floor for 4 hours.

Colette in New Zealand tweeted, This is damn appalling! Another person tweeted from New Zealand, Im guessing this is what the National Party & others who want Aotearoa/NZ to open up would like to see happen. Is this what the freedom fighters want & are protesting for?

N Yacoubi tweeted in French, The English aristocracy helped politicians to plunder the nation.

Some retweeted the photo to mainstream media outlets including the BBC, ITN, the Daily Mail and the Sun, criticising their constant downplaying of the pandemic in order to keep the economy open and satiate the profit interests of the super-rich. Many directed their retweets to members of the Johnson government, particularly Health Secretary Sajid Javid.

@sajidjavid is this your parent? @BorisJohnson yours? Of course its not. You can afford to pay privately. #SaveOurNHS, tweeted one person.

David Sainty commented, It can be guaranteed that you will never see a photo of a royal, an aristocrat or a Tory MP laid for hours on a hospital floor awaiting treatment.

Ambulances waiting outside Royal Bournemouth Hospital to handover their patients (WSWS Media)

Describing the situation on Thursday evening at the RBH, an eyewitness told the World Socialist Web Site, There were probably more than 12 ambulances stationed outside to handover patients. One female paramedic was waiting outside in the cold with a fully wrapped-up patient who was on a wheelchair. Corridors were full with paramedics and patients on stretchers waiting to be triaged. Then I saw the weary and busy ED staff trying to deal with so many things at once.

All the chairs in the waiting area were occupied and some patients and their relatives were standing. Then I saw this elderly person lying on the floor at the entrance to the ED covered in blankets to shield them from the draft coming from outside, as the door was constantly opening and shutting. Their young relative was there comforting them as much as they could. By 9pm, they had waited for 4-and-a-half-hours to be seen. God knows how long that patient had to lie there for!

A senior clinician said waiting times to handover patients were more than 11 hours that evening, adding that they were trying to transfer patients to empty beds in special units regardless of there not being enough staff to look after them.

According to a nurse, at around midnight on Friday the staff member who deals with beds went around the hospital trying to find 16 spaces for patients. They were insisting that others had to be moved to other wards, units and escalation areas, regardless of whether the patients were asleep, in order to accommodate new admissions.

Like other NHS hospitals up and down the country, the RBH has been under enormous pressure over the last period due to underfunding, staff shortages and COVID-19 outbreaks. Earlier this month, University Hospitals Dorset Trust (UHD), of which the RBH is a part, declared an internal incident due to these overwhelming pressures, placing it under Operation Pressures Escalation Level (OPEL) 4the highest.

COVID-19 admissions have more than tripled since the third week of last month. In the same period, COVID-19 related staff absences have gone up from 110 to 142.

The WSWS urges all NHS and social care workers to contact us with their experiences. For more information, visit NHS FightBack.
Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers Union (CMU) General Secretary Sylvester Jayakody is conducting a right-wing campaign against COVID-19 vaccinations, while insisting that the pandemic and resulting deaths should not be taken seriously.

Jayakodys unscientific and reactionary positions are outlined in a letter to Sri Lankas labour minister, Nimal Siripala de Silva, and were published by Wadabima, a Sinhala-language website, on November 6.

Ceylon Mercantile Industrial and General Workers Union General Secretary Sylvester Jayakody (Source: Facebook)

The letter was in response to the minister supporting a Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) official during a discussion about vaccine mandates in a meeting of the National Labor Advisory Council (NLAC) in late October. The NLAC is a tripartite corporatist body involving employer, government and trade union chiefs.

According to Jayakodys letter, Johan Lawrence, a former JAAF president, asked whether employers could block garment workers who refuse to be the vaccinated from entering plants and that they be confined to their homes without being paid. The labour minister fully agreed, declaring, [O]f course, you can.

Jayakodys letter, which was the result of a subsequent meeting with 52 CMU branch leaders across 18 different companies, declared that mandating vaccinations was a violation of the human rights of citizens as well as the fundamental rights guaranteed by our constitution.

That the Sri Lanka labour minister and a JAAF official agree that workers should be penalised if they refused to be vaccinated has nothing to do with protecting garment workersor any other section of the working classfrom COVID-19. In line with ruling regimes and the capitalist class in every country, the vaccination policy is to ensure that production is maintained and profits maximised.

From the outset, the Sri Lankan government and big business has pursued the policy of herd immunity, prioritising profits before human lives. The Rajapakse government, after a brief, poorly prepared, month-long lockdown in March 2020 began reopening the economy in mid-April in response to big-business demands and the impact on profits.

Elderly Sri Lankans queue up to receive second dose of Covishield, Serum Institute of India's version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, during a public vaccination drive against the coronavirus in Colombo, June 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

Hundreds of thousands of employees in garment and other manufacturing industries were ordered back to work without the provision of adequate health and safety measures. Within weeks many free trade zones (FTZ) workers and others were infected with the deadly virus and some died. In fact, the garment factories, which employ thousands in each facility, became a hot-bed of coronavirus infections.

In the past 18 months employers have eliminated thousands of jobs, cut wages, and extended working hours but not paid overtime, all with the agreement of the unions, including the CMU.

Jayakodys letter is not directed against employers or the governments criminal response to the pandemic. While falsely claiming that compulsory vaccinations violate personal freedom, the CMU chief insists that pharmaceutical companies and other interested parties have exaggerated the pandemic.

Jayakodys letter also ludicrously states that Sri Lankan deaths from COVID-19 are negligible. Only six workers have died, he claims, because they had various complications. The media has exaggerated the pandemic, he wrote, adding that rural workers should not be forced to accept western medical science because it is causing mental instability.

In a previous October 19 online meeting, the CMU leader callously declared: Even though a few have been died from COVID-19, we do not consider it to be a horrible deadly pandemic. This was the unions position, he added.

This brutal indifference to workers lives point to the vast gap between the privileged layers that run the unions and the sentiments of the Sri Lankan masses who overwhelmingly support coronavirus vaccines and have consistently demanded that health authorities provide them. Around 62 percent of the population is currently vaccinated.

Jayakodys claim that making vaccination compulsory is a violation of human rights and constitutional rights, is completely false. No one has the right to infect others by refusing to take all precautionary measures, including vaccination.

The CMU leader is also attempting to spread scepticism about vaccines, insisting that they are unreliable and that pharmaceutical companies have not guaranteed their efficacy. None of these spurious and unscientific claims has been substantiated.

The rapid discovery and development of coronavirus vaccines is a welcome development and made possible because of the initial research of scientists in China, the US and Europe. This was facilitated by extraordinary advances in science and technology in recent decades.

The unrestrained drive for profit by giant corporations such as Pfizer, Moderna, BioNTech, and conflicting interests of rival companies and the advanced capitalist countries, are the main barriers to the rapid, free and equal distribution of vaccines around the world. This, however, does not invalidate the importance of vaccines but poses the necessity for the abolition of the private profit system and for the nationalisation of giant pharmaceutical companies and every major industrial sector under democratic control of working class.

Jayakodys claims that the number of coronavirus deaths is negligible and the impact of the virus is exaggerated are callous and sinister.

According to Sri Lankas grossly underestimated official figures, over 560,000 people have been infected and more than 14,200 have died from the disease. The real numbers, however, are hidden by employers and government authorities, with union support, because they would fuel opposition to the criminal opening up policy.

Currently, the official global coronavirus death toll is over five million, with some studies estimating the real number of deaths to be as high as 17 million. In neighbouring India, the official death toll in July was over 400,000 but other studies estimated it to be 4.9 million. These infections and deaths are a direct result of the profit first, production at any cost policies of the government and corporate elites.

Jayakodys bogus claims that vaccine mandates violate basic human and constitutional rights are part of global right-wing campaign against vaccines and a scientific response to the pandemic.

Jayakody and the CMU bureaucracy are notorious collaborators in the governments attacks on the working class and its profits before lives policies.

In April 2020, the CMU and other unions wrote to President Rajapakse pledging their backing for calls to end the coronavirus lockdown, declaring, We do accept factories have to be re-opened to support the economy in its efforts to sustain the nation.

That Jayakody, the CMU and other Sri Lankan unions are coming out against vaccination is no surprise but in line with their commitment to the governments big business policies and the capitalist profit system as whole.

COVID-19 is a global catastrophe that has seen new and ever-more deadly and infectious variants emerge. It can only be fought through the independent action of the international working class and on the basis of the most advanced scientific knowledge and a socialist program. As the World Socialist Web Site explained in its Oppose the right-wing campaign against vaccination! editorial board statement on 29 July 2021:

The policy of the working class must combine political intransigence and patient explanation. The development of a class-conscious labor movement, through the organization of rank-and-file safety committees in every workplace, would enable workers, particularly those in health care, to become advocates in a political campaign to require vaccination and protect their class from the deadly danger of the pandemic.

The fight against the pandemic is not simply a medical issue. It requires a political struggle of the working class against the capitalist system. The response to the pandemic in the interests of public health requires a global plan and global coordination, which is possible only through the building of an international revolutionary leadership and the taking of power by the working class.
Anti-Chinese political forces supported by the US in the Solomon Islands violently mobilised against the elected national government in an apparent coup plot on Wednesday and yesterday.

Arsonists set alight at least 14 buildings in the capital, Honiara, including a hut adjacent to the national parliament, as well as a senior high school, police station, and multiple businesses owned by ethnic Chinese residents. Riot police reportedly blocked the rioters from entering the parliament by deploying tear gas.

Burning buildings in Honiaras Chinatown, November 25. (Photo: Twitter / @Nrg8000)

The Solomons government on Wednesday afternoon declared a 36-hour state of emergency, though further arson attacks were reported yesterday.

The Australian government has immediately seized on the unrest, dispatching 23 members of the heavily armed and riot-trained Specialist Response Group of the Australian Federal Police, as well as 93 members of the military. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared that the force would be in the Solomons only for weeks. This deployment may however only be the initial response, with the situation recalling the lead up to the launch of the neo-colonial Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) that dominated the country between 2003 and 2017.

The apparent effort to forcibly overthrow Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is the direct outcome of two years of US-fuelled provocations against the elected government after the country switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in September 2019.

Approximately 1,000 rioters mobilised in Honiara, largely comprising a group that travelled from the island province of Malaita as members of the separatist Malaita 4 Democracy outfit. Solomons police reportedly blocked the berthing of another ship from Malaita, preventing additional coup plotters from mobilising.

Just over a year ago, the same anti-government forces issued a pogromist threat to all ethnic Chinese residents of Malaita to flee within 24 hours. The provincial Malaitan government also then threatened to block any activity of Chinese-owned corporations within the province.

The anti-Chinese forces arrived in the capital on Wednesday waving Malaitan flags as well as one prominent national flag of Israel. The odd sight of the Zionist states banner being waved within an anti-government riot in an impoverished South Pacific state is explicable only within the context of the US-Australian drive to destabilise the Sogavare government as a means of countering Beijings influence in the South Pacific.

Ever since the Solomons diplomatic turn away from Taiwan, Washington has promoted fundamentalist evangelical and pro-Zionist Christian and anti-communist layers in the country.

In September 2019, Republican Senator Marco Rubio threatened to crash the Solomons economy by cutting off access to global financial markets. This came just after a team of American foreign policy, trade, and military officials had visited Malaita and the provinces premier, Daniel Suidani. The provincial leader subsequently declared that he did not accept the countrys recognition of Beijing and would instead maintain an independent foreign policy with Taiwan. He added that he had asked both the US and Australia to contribute to Malaita security.

In October 2020, Washington pledged $US25 million in so-called aid to Malaita. This donation500 times more aid than the province receives from all other countries put togetheramounted to a cash reward for the provincial administrations attempted sabotage of the national governments foreign policy.

Suidanis stance on Taiwan was accompanied by a provocative declaration that he would accelerate moves to declare Malaita an independent state, separate from Solomon Islands. This raised the spectre of a return of the civil war conditions that wracked the country from 19982003.

There has been a seamless transition from the Trump to the Biden administrations with regard to Washingtons anti-China drive in the South Pacific.

In response to the violence and destruction in Honiara in the last two days, regional and Australian media outlets have expressed surprise and shock over what has happened.

Yet nothing in what has developed was unanticipatedthe World Socialist Web Site warned in September last year: The Malaitan administrations reckless actions threaten a civil war within the impoverished South Pacific country. Between 1999 and 2003, a low-intensity civil war that involved the separatist Malaita Eagle Force militia cost around 200 lives and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. The threat of renewed conflict has been deliberately stoked by the United States, as part of its aggressive drive to undermine Chinas influence in the Pacific.

Sogavare told ABC News today that the latest unrest was influenced and encouraged by other powers countries that dont want ties with the Peoples Republic of China. He added: I dont want to name names, well leave it there, we know who they are.

Malaitan premier Daniel Suidani has prominently refused to condemn the violent riots over the last two days, instead insisting that Sogavare has to resign. National opposition leader Matthew Wale has issued similar statements.

Members of the national government from Malaita province issued a public statement denouncing the opposition for being instigators of strife, violence, anarchy.

Tensions have been escalating since Suidani spent five months last year in Taiwan undergoing brain surgery and receiving subsequent treatment. The Malaitan premier promoted this medical treatment as evidence of Taiwans political support for the Solomons. While recuperating, Suidani made time to speak with Australias Sky News Sharri Markson, who has prominently fuelled the Wuhan lab conspiracy theory over the origins of COVID-19. In between appearances on former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannons podcast, Markson falsely presented Suidani as a heroic anti-corruption fighter for democracy in the South Pacific.

When Suidani returned to the Solomon Islands last July, there were rumours that he alternatively would be arrested or removed in a no confidence motion through the regional parliament in Malaita. Unconfirmed rumours published at the time in the Solomon Star newspaper also hinted that pro-Suidani militia forces were preparing to forcibly overthrow the national government.
Windsor, Ontario police arrested 33-year-old James Harris last week in connection with the November 4 bombing at the citys Stellantis auto assembly plant. Harris has been charged with planting and exploding a crude home-made explosive device inside an isolated storage area at the plant.

Workers on the November 4 afternoon shift immediately evacuated the premises. No one was injured in the explosion. Stellantis ordered production to re-start the following morning.

Harris was a custodian at the Windsor facility for the past five years. He was an employee of a third-party contractor to Stellantis and a member of Unifor Local 195. The local organizes auto parts workers and various other third-party employees in the parts and assembly industries in the Windsor area. Harris was suspended from his job several days after the explosion. The official charges against him include explosion with disregard for human life and intending to cause an explosion likely to cause harm or death or serious damage to property.

The Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant (photo credit: Wikimedia)

Whether or not Harris carried out the bombingand there is considerable evidence to suggest he didthis disoriented and politically reactionary act should be unequivocally condemned by all autoworkers. Such acts of individual violence do not contribute, and indeed are detrimental, to developing the political struggle autoworkers must wage to defend their jobs against Stellantis global restructuring plans, and protect their very lives against the threat of COVID-19 infection produced by the automakers determination to keep production running during the pandemic.

The incident sheds light on the criminal role played by far-right anti-vaccination groups. It also reveals the complicity of corporations like Stellantis and trade unions like Unifor in fostering the political climate that gives rise to such acts of despair.

Everything points to the fact that the bombing was a direct response to Stellantis October 14 decision to impose a vaccine mandate for all employees, contractors and visitors to its facilities effective December 17, 2021. Harris was among a few dozen workers and supporters who protested this announcement outside the local Unifor headquarters on Oct. 18. According to Harris mother, Pauline Maisonneuve, her unvaccinated son was among the loudest protesters against the mandate and denounced it on social media. She has insisted, however, that she cannot believe her son would have bombed the plant.

One day after announcing the vaccine mandate, Stellantis said that it will eliminate an entire shift at its Windsor Assembly Plant as of spring 2022, costing 1,800 jobs. Unifor has refused to organize any opposition to this massive onslaught by management. Instead, Unifor president Jerry Dias has justified the company action as a business decision, motivated by the microchip shortage and the impact of COVID-19. The plant has only operated at full capacity for 15 weeks during 2021.

In fact, Stellantis move is part of a global restructuring of its operations across North America and Europe aimed at slashing labour costs and thereby guaranteeing bumper payouts to rich shareholders. The restructuring plan was a key element in the PSA Groups decision to merge with the smaller Fiat-Chrysler last January and create Stellantis.

Managements claims to be concerned with protecting our employees health are a fraud. Throughout, Stellantis pandemic policies, like its global-cost cutting strategy, have had as their goal maximizing profitsa drive in which workers lives and livelihoods are viewed as dispensable.

The company has been more than willing to see workers lives placed at risk from the deadly virus, as attested by its opposition to basic safety measures and the outbreaks and multiple deaths at many of its US facilities, including Sterling Heights Stamping and Warren Truck. If it has embraced vaccines, it is because it sees them as a way to minimize disruptions to its operations, while the federal and provincial governments, with the like aim of promoting corporate profit-making, eliminate all remaining COVID-19 protections and proclaim that working people must learn to live with the virusi.e., accept continuing waves of infections and deaths for the foreseeable future.

In contrast to Stellantis cynical exploitation of the vaccine to pose as a protector of workers health and well-being, the World Socialist Web Site has insisted that mass vaccination is a key public health tool to combat COVID-19. But mass vaccination can only prove successful in preventing COVID-19 from becoming endemic if it is combined with a comprehensive program of public health measures, including testing, the isolation of infected people, contact tracing, and the temporary shutdown of nonessential production like the auto industry, with full pay for workers impacted, until all community transmission is suppressed.

The central question raised by recent events at the Windsor plant is this: why has there been no organized worker resistance to managements savage attacks throughout the pandemic? Why was the only recent protest over Stellantis actions one organized by a handful of disoriented workers and some far-right, anti-vaxxer provocateurs?

The answer is that the Unifor bureaucracy has systematically suppressed any struggle by autoworkers, whether against the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangerous working conditions produced by the corporate elites profits before life policy, or Stellantis cost-cutting plans, which, including the latest announcement, have cost close to 3,500 jobs since the beginning of 2020.

Unifor has, however, given succour to far-right anti-vaxxer groups. The union filed a grievance against the companys vaccine mandate, which is opposed by only a tiny fraction of the workforce. And not on the grounds that the threat of immediate termination is excessive, but of personal rights.

In an October 26 letter, Unifor Local 44 thunders that that no worker should lose their job if they choose not to get vaccinated. Yet it has not lifted a finger to defend the thousands of workers and their relatives whose livelihoods have been involuntarily destroyed due to Stellantis global restructuring drive. In presenting the COVID-19 vaccine as a personal choice, Unifor is lining up with the far-right enemies of the working classwith the likes of Maxime Bernier and his Peoples Party and Trumps libertarian and fascistic supporters in the US, who fraudulently portray vaccine mandates and masks as an attack on freedoms and personal rights. In fact, nobody who has ready access to the COVID-19 vaccine has the right to refuse it so they can go around infecting others with a potentially deadly virus.

Throughout the pandemic, Stellantis (formerly Fiat-Chrysler) has focused on compelling its workforce to maintain production under dangerous working conditions so as to protect shareholder payouts and corporate profits. Recognizing that the company had no interest in protecting their health and lives as the pandemic spread, workers at the Windsor Assembly Plant spontaneously downed tools in mid-March 2020, sparking similar rebellions by workers at Detroit Three auto plants across the United States. The protests were also directed against Unifor, and the UAW south of the border, as both unions had pledged to work with management to keep the plants running without interruption. The rank-and-file actions played a major role in forcing governments in North America and Europe to impose temporary lockdowns.

Faced with this working-class upsurge, the automakers made a tactical retreat and shuttered their facilities for several weeks. But by May 2020, with the trade unions in the lead, management reopened all their facilities and forced workers back on the job with totally inadequate protections.

Canadian Stellantis workers in contact with the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter have, over many months, described steadily deteriorating working conditions at the Windsor and also the Brampton assembly operations. Overcrowded and poorly maintained washrooms, the impossibility of maintaining proper social distancing on the line and bottlenecks at plant entry points are common complaints. Initial extended and staggered break programs were quickly dismantled despite worker protests.

These dangerous working conditions, coming on top of decades of wage stagnation, attacks on workplace benefits, and speed-up, have fuelled an unprecedented upsurge of the class struggle across North America. Autoworkers and parts workers at Volvo Trucks, John Deere and Dana rebelled against the UAW over recent months, voting down concessions-filled contracts and organizing courageous strikes. These struggles have been met with enthusiasm throughout the working class, including among workers in Canada, who have sent statements of solidarity.

Unifor is bitterly hostile to these developments. In the fall of 2020, Unifor connived behind the scenes with the management from the Detroit Three to impose sellout contracts. The agreements gave Ford, GM, and Stellantis the power to vastly expand the use of low-paid second- and even third-tier workers. Despite widespread opposition from autoworkers, Unifor rammed through these contracts by presenting only cherry-picked highlights and threatening workers with the loss of their livelihoods if they did not keep the Canadian auto sector globally competitive.

With the consequences of these massive concessions now clear for all to see at Windsor Assembly, Unifors principal concern is that no organized worker opposition develops to Stellantis rampant profiteering and the corporatist union-management partnership that has imposed the cuts. In a menacingly-worded letter sent shortly after the November 4 explosion, when it was still unclear what had motivated the bomber, Local 444 president Cassidy wrote, Over the last couple of weeks, there have been some incidents going on in the plant based on anxietiesany lashing out in the facilities cannot and will not be accepted and needs to stop. All our livelihoods depend on the future of the plant.

Cassidys tirade underscores that Unifor fears it is sitting atop a wave of worker anger that could suddenly erupt into an open struggle for safe, secure jobs for all.

The decisive task facing Windsor Assembly autoworkers is to build a rank-and-file committee to initiate a worker-led counter-offensive against the auto bosses global restructuring plans. This committee should begin by organizing opposition to the elimination of the second shift at the plant and fighting for the implementation of basic protective measures against COVID-19. Such a struggle will immediately raise the necessity of adopting an international orientation to broaden the fight to all Detroit Three operations in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and parts plants throughout North America through the establishment of a network of rank-and-file committees. These committees must wage a political struggle against the auto bosses and their backers in capitalist governments around the world, which combines the demand for decent-paying, secure jobs for all with the fight to suppress and eliminate COVID-19.
The federal government is introducing new restrictions on some travel from southern Africa amid concerns of a new COVID-19 variant of concern known as Omicron.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced several new restrictions at a press conference on Friday in response to the discovery of the new COVID-19 variant, which the World Health Organization designated a variant of concern on Friday.

The government said it will ban the entry of foreign nationals who have travelled through seven countries in southern Africa, including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, in the last 14 days. Those who have already arrived in Canada from these countries in the last two weeks will have to quarantine, get tested for COVID-19 and stay in isolation until they receive a negative test.

Canadians and permanent residents with a right of entry into Canada who are returning from southern Africa will have to submit to a COVID-19 test upon arrival and then quarantine in a government-approved hotel until the results are known. If the test is negative, travellers will be able to quarantine at home until they provide a second negative test on Day 10.

"It may seem like an overreaction from some perspectives, but it's really following an abundance of caution principle," Duclos said on Friday.

"We really want to make sure that we do all we can to protect the health and safety of Canadians."

There are currently no direct flights to Canada from the region. As a result, the government will require travellers provide a negative test in the last transit country before flying back to Canada.

Global Affairs Canada will also issue a travel advisory asking all Canadians not to travel to southern Africa.

"We will continue to monitor the data that we're receiving from around the world and the data that we're receiving from our testing and the border and will take additional precautionary measures if necessary," Alghabra said.

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"If we need to adjust this list of countries based on the information that we have and based on the doctor's advice that we receive, we will do so."

Canada's travel ban comes shortly after the European Union and United Kingdom imposed restrictions on travel from southern African countries.

The World Health Organization said Friday that the variant, which was first reported from South Africa on Nov. 24, has "a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning."

Concerns about Omicron roiled global markets on Friday. Airline companies saw shares decline on Friday, with Air Canada's stock (AC.TO) dropping nearly 11 per cent.

Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.

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UPDATED: The U.S. restricted travel from eight African countries on Friday amid growing concern about a new variant of Covid-19, suspected of being more transmissible. The countries are South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mazambique and Malawi, according to the Washington Post. The new variant was first identified in South Africa.

A World Health Organization advisory committee today classified the new, heavily-mutated strain of Covid as a variant of concern. The organization has now classified five variants of concern: the original Alpha strain of the virus; the Delta Variant; Gamma, first identified in Brazil; and Beta, which also emerged in South Africa.

More from Deadline

WHO has given the new variant its own Greek name. Previously known as B.1.1.529, it has now been dubbed Omicron.

Watch the announcement below.

The Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution met today to review what is known about the #COVID19 variant B.1.1.529.

They advised WHO that it should be designated a Variant of Concern.

WHO has named it Omicron, in line with naming protocols https://t.co/bSbVas9yds pic.twitter.com/Gev1zIt1Ek  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) November 26, 2021

Yesterday, Omicron had been detected in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana. Today, Israel announced one confirmed case and two more possible cases. The confirmed case was discovered in a person arriving from Malawi. Belgium also announced it had identified the first case in Europe. Reuters reported that the case was a young woman who developed symptoms 11 days after returning from a trip to Egypt via Turkey.

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The first known incident of Omicron was collected in South Africa on November 9 and formally identified Tuesday.

The news of the concerning strain sent stock markets plunging, with the Dow down 900 points on Friday.

The New York Times says the growing list of countries that have restricted travel from South Africa includes Bahrain, Belgium, Britain, Croatia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. The AP reported that all of Africa is included in Canadas travel ban.

More from the WHO Report:

In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021.

This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this approach, this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage.

PREVIOUSLY on Thursday: The U.K. added six African countries to its travel quarantine list on Thursday after a new, potentially more-transmissible variant of Covid-19 was identified there. The BBC said the countries are South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini.

Twenty-two positive cases of the variant, which is being called B.1.1.529, have been recorded in South Africa, according to multiple reports. Some 59 cases have been detected worldwide, and only in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana. But some experts are concerned.

This variant did surprise us, Tulio de Oliveira, director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform told the New York Times. It has a big jump in evolution, many more mutations than we expected, especially after a very severe third wave of Delta [variant].

The World Health Organization has called a special meeting for Friday to the discuss the new variant and what it might mean for Covid treatment and vaccines.

We dont know very much about this yet, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHOs technical lead on Covid, said in a livestreamed Q&A on social media. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations. And the concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves.

The UK Health Security Agency also has its eye on B.1.1.529:

COVID-19 UPDATE:@UKHSA is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but we're taking precautions now. From noon tomorrow six African countries will be added to the red list, flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine.  Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) November 25, 2021

The new variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein alone, which raises fears of increased transmissibility, according to a South African researcher cited by the Times. The new variant has 10 mutations alone on the ACE2 receptor, which helps the virus to enter cells. Thats five times more mutations on that structure than the Delta variant exhibits, according to the researcher.

In Botswana, the health ministry confirmed four cases of B.1.1.529 were found fully vaccinated patients. The single case in Hong Kong was carried there by a traveler from South Africa, according to multiple reports.

South Africas National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement today that detected cases and percent testing positive are both increasing quickly, particularly in Gauteng, North West and Limpopo [provinces]. Seventy-one percent of new cases today are from Gauteng, which accounts for about 25% of the countrys population, said the statement. In Gauteng case rates are rising rapidly, and test positivity is 31.7%. For comparison, in California its under 2%.

Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be. Developments are occurring at a rapid pace and the public has our assurance that we will keep them up to date, said Professor Adrian Puren, acting executive director of NICD.

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

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The Boston Celtics have needed more shooting on their roster for what seems like ages now, but what if we told you a potential answer to their shooting woes might already be on their roster  sometimes?

What we mean by this is that they have a knock-down shooter under contract right now who isnt seeing playing time with the team, and that is because he is on assignment with the Maine Celtics (formerly Red Claws) most nights. That would be Virginia product Sam Hauser, who currently leads the G League in 3-point makes with 26 treys this season and is fourth in the developmental league for 3-point accuracy at 46.4%.

While he will certainly have a steep learning curve to get up to speed with learning the teams schema on both ends of the court, if Hauser keeps lighting up the G League with his shooting from beyond the arc, Boston would be wise to try giving him more run on the teams second unit.

Watch the video embedded above to see a little of the former Cavalier in action from deep, courtesy of the BallIsLife Shorts YouTube channel.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Pastor Mishael Bhujel, left, who created Home Church to minister to people from Bhutan and Nepal, shares a moment with his nephew Eden, 2, before he leads a service at the First Alliance Church building on the Northwest Side.

When First Alliance Church hired Pastor Monu Shinchoury as its new children's ministry pastor three years ago, Lead Pastor Josh Franks had a sense that her influence would stretch far beyond serving kids and their parents.

"God was going to do something beyond that," he said.

And that's exactly what happened.

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Shinchoury, a native of Bhutan, was instrumental in making connections that led to a new church that ministers to people from Bhutan and Nepal finding a home in First Alliance's building on the Northwest Side.

She introduced church leaders to Pastor Mishael Bhujel, who moved to Columbus from New York at the end of 2018 to begin Home Church and whom she knew from the refugee camp where they both lived in Nepal.

First Alliance church's denomination has history of welcoming immigrants

The journey to partnering with Home Church and having Bhujel and Shinchoury be part of First Alliance's church community officially started three years ago, when the approximately 125 members of First Alliance realized that if God was going to use them, they had to be intentional in their leadership and outreach, Franks said.

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But, reaching back well before that, the church's denomination has a long history of welcoming immigrants.

First Alliance Church is a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, an evangelical Christian denomination that recently moved its headquarters to Reynoldsburg from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The denomination was founded by Pastor A.B. Simpson in 1881 after members of the Protestant church he pastored weren't supportive of how he welcomed immigrant dock workers to worship with them.

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"There is a unique strength and beauty to any organization or community that respectively works and lives with people of diverse backgrounds," the Rev. Rosilio Roman III, assistant vice president for the church advance office and multicultural ministries at the Christian and Missionary Alliance, said in a statement. "The church, in its leadership and membership, should lead the way in modeling this kind of organization and community."

Finding the right people for church's diverse ministry

As First Alliance searched for a children's ministry pastor three years ago, they prayed for help finding the right person, Franks said.

"We had to be intentional in knowing that our community was very diverse and multiethnic," Franks said.

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Then they found Shinchoury, 30, who was resettled in 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. She spent most of her childhood in a refugee camp in Nepal and found Christianity there, through a friend who introduced her to Jesus.

First Alliance Church Lead Pastor Josh Franks preaches during a recent service.

She grew up in a Hindu family but was never satisfied by its answers to her questions about faith. She said she found answers through Christianity and eventually attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville.

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While in Kentucky, she saw the need for Nepali leadership in congregations, especially due to a language barrier between English-speakers and those who spoke native Nepali languages, she said.

When she heard about the position in Columbus  which she knew had the largest population of Bhutanese-Nepali refugees in the nation, at an estimated 30,000  she visited the church and felt instantly connected.

"I saw their heart for all nations and all ages, and I also saw space for women in leadership," Shinchoury said.

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She became the children's ministry lead, and, soon after, Home Church was able to move to the church.

Home Church's pastor, Bhujel, was a reluctant Columbus transplant, having lived in Buffalo, New York, since arriving in the United States as a refugee in 2012. He also found Christianity in the refugee camp and attended Elim Bible Institute and College in Lima, New York.

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Once he graduated, he said he yearned to focus not only on the people who attended church, but those who didn't. He read a Bible verse from Luke Chapter 15 about a shepherd who had 100 sheep and lost one. He left the 99 to search for the one, and that's what Bhujel wanted to do  to seek the one nonbeliever and introduce them to Jesus.

Home Church's pastor, Mishael Bhujel, left, helps lead a service on Nov. 14. The church that ministers to people from Bhutan and Nepal has found a home in First Alliance Church's building on the Northwest Side.

God pointed him to Columbus and its large Bhutanese-Nepali population, he said.

He started Home Church from his home and it grew. Now its small group of attendees, about eight families, meet on Sunday afternoons at First Alliance Church.

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The addition of Shinchoury and Bhujel to the denomination and First Alliance community has changed the church, Franks said. Now, there's more awareness and effort when it comes to understanding others and other cultures, he said.

"There's more relationship" among the different congregants and their cultures, Franks said.

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Shinchoury has noticed it, too, especially as the Bhutanese-Nepali population grows and members of it buy homes. Congregants who have lived in Columbus for years are beginning to ask her questions about their new neighbors.

"They come to me and are like, 'Hey, good news, I have a Nepali neighbor now. How can I build a friendship? How can I love them?'" she said. "People come to me and say, 'How can we understand the culture? Understand the people better?' ... Which is really fun."

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Pastor Monu Shinchoury, left, children's ministry pastor and a native of Bhutan, shares a moment with a girl before her parents pick her up after a service at First Alliance Church.

Franks said he has seen church members shift from a mentality of being the "American rescuer" of new neighbors to partners with them.

And more Bhutanese-Nepali people have been introduced to Jesus, Bhujel said.

"Our main reason for the Home Church is to build people to be who they are called to be," he said. "We believe God has a unique calling for every believer."

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bhutanese-Nepali leaders impact Northwest Columbus evangelical church
Editor's note: Berkey Filters's Black Friday sale runs through December 2, 2021. While the Big Berkey isn't included, you can stock up on accessories. (And for 12-percent off non-sale itemshello, Big Berkey!use code HOLIDAY2021 at checkout.)

Value: 18/20

Functionality: 17/20

Quality: 20/20

Aesthetic: 16/20

Water quality : 20/20

TOTAL: 91/100

When I noticed green fuzzy things floating around the gallon water filter we kept in the fridge, I knew it was time for an upgrade. And though New York City is said to have grade-A tap water (its what makes the bagels so perfect, they say), as a nursing mom, Im a little (OK, wayyyy) more careful about what Im consuming these days. So, when I spotted a statuesque stainless steel...vat (?)drum (?)keg (?) in my friends kitchen, I implored, What is that thing?

Her response? The Big Berkey.

Unbeknownst to me, Id stumbled upon a cult-favorite brand among both off-grid survivalists and urban dwellers alike. A couple weeks later, I was in possession of my very own Big Berkey. Heres my review.

What does the Big Berkey do exactly?

The Big Berkey is the 2.25-gallon option of Berkeys water filter systems. Its made of two stackable chambers. The top chamber includes two Black Berkey elementsessentially two long rodsthat, according to Berkey Filters, have been tested to remove 203 contaminants commonly found in drinking water, including viruses (99.999%), pathogenic bacteria (99.9999%), Chloramine (below lab detectable limit), trihalomethanes (99.8%), pharmaceuticals (99.9%), pesticides (below lab detectable limit), heavy metals and more. The bottom chamber is where all that (nearly) pathogenic-free water settles.

The overall promise is that one *could* take dirty pond water, run it through a Berkey and safely drink it (although, they dont recommend it), and I wasnt really up for the challenge. This is all without installing anything in your faucet or plumbing, which is precisely why folks traveling long-term in an R.V., living off-grid or preparing for the End Days have a special place in their hearts for Berkey. Its hefty, but its also portable if you need it be.

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The price is also quite hefty. At $317, the Big Berkey is an investment, for sure. But if you break down the cost per gallon, if you drink a lot of water, its worth it. Two filters equate to 6,000 gallons of water. Thatsa lot of water. Berkey recommends changing your filters every two to five years (a set of two replacement filters goes for $148), as opposed to your Brita, which requires much more frequent changesand lets be honestif you remember to do it.

And while the filters do require some maintenance that might feel a bit more hands-on than your store-bought water filter (cleaning every once in a while and priming when you first use them), for me, it seems like a fair trade-off.

So how does it fit and function in a normal kitchen?

As I dont foresee myself going off grid (let alone going camping) in the near future, my Big Berkey has been sitting pretty on my kitchen counter. Admittedly, in a New York City apartment, the Big Berkey takes up some major real estate. Not to mention, its 21-inches tall. Unless you have a large cubby or a walk-in pantry, anybody who walks into your kitchen is going to comment, What is that thing? So, if youre not wholeheartedly committed to seeing what looks like the Tin Man in your peripheral vision 24/7, this might not be for you. I personally like the look of itit has Catskills-by-way-of-Brooklyn aesthetic. Some might call it camping chic. Others might think its Wizard of Oz cosplay.

Its also a bitslow. To keep up with my households water demands, we basically have to fill the top chamber every time we take from it. And while this felt like a hassle at first, it just becomes part of your routine and makes you more aware of how much water youre consuming.

Can you taste a difference in the water?

Yes. Hands-down, yes. The purified water has a softer, rounder mouthfeel and no aftertaste whatsoever. It gives me peace of mind when Im chugging city water and I know it will be the first thing I pack with me when the world ends. Dirty pond water, here I come.

Try it yourself ($317) Psst: For 12% off non-sale items, use code: HOLIDAY2021

The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what's worth the spendand what's total hype. Learn more about our process here.

RELATED: Solo Stove Best-Selling Fire Pit

PureWow may receive a portion of sales from products purchased from this article, which was created independently from PureWow's editorial and sales departments.
BF Amazon

Edward Berthelot/Getty Images

Nordstrom's Black Friday sale has over 37,000 deals, so naturally you could spend days looking through all of the deals and still not come close to covering everything. Thankfully our job is to sift through them and find the absolute best. It's also our job to let everyone know there's an underrated designer section that's edited down and features all of the very best Black Friday deals on designer bags  including a brand Meghan Markle wears on repeat and the luxury brand behind Katie Holmes's most famous outfit.

If you're looking for a statement piece, an extremely nice present, or both, Nordstrom's designer section is exactly where to look. Right now the Black Friday deals are extremely good and feature brands like Balenciaga, Isabel Marant, and By Far, which we rarely see discounted like this.

There are also plenty of celebrity staples that suddenly feel more attainable for hundreds less. Kim Kardashian has been wearing Balenciaga sock boots since the dawn of time (it feels like) and most recently has been spotted wearing them all over Pete Davidson's New York. Nordstrom has them for $460 less than usual. Meghan Markle put the Scottish brand Strathberry on the map, so much so that its bags sell out at record speed, and styles go out of stock for months. Nordstrom has so many of its best-selling shoulder bags for hundreds off, like the iconic box crescent shoulder bag for $420.

And remember the brand behind Katie Holmes's famous cashmere cardigan and bra set? Khaite is as luxe as it gets, so to see more than one piece by the brand on sale feels like a Black Friday miracle. There's the Khaite Seville ankle strap toe pump for $574 and the Dallas short western boot for $686. We'll happily take both.

The prices are steep, sure, but for items that all of Hollywood wears that rarely go on sale, it's a steal. And if you're using Black Friday as a way to invest in timeless wardrobe pieces, this is the perfect place to look.

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Shop the best designer deals on sale at Nordstrom this Black Friday below.

Best Designer Handbag Deals

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Visitors in the gardens of the Alamo in San Antonio, Nov. 19, 2021. (Matthew Busch/The New York Times)

SAN ANTONIO  Raymond Hernandez was a boy when his grandfather would take him on walks to the Alamo, pointing at the grounds around the Spanish mission founded in the 18th century.

Hed tell me again and again, They built all this on top of our campo santo,  said Hernandez, 73, using the Spanish term for cemetery. An elder in San Antonios Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, he added, All the tourists flocking to the Alamo are standing on the bones of our ancestors.

On a busy day, thousands of visitors explore the Alamo, the site of a pivotal 1836 battle in the Texas Revolution where American settlers fought to secede from Mexico and forge a republic that would become part of the United States.

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But long before the Alamo garrisoned secessionists, Spanish missionaries used the site, known as the Mission San Antonio de Valero, to spread Christianity among Native Americans. People from different tribes built the Alamo with their own hands, and missionaries buried many of the converts, as well as colonists from Mexico and Spain, around the mission or right under it.

Now, a new battle over the Alamo is brewing, as Native Americans and descendants of some of San Antonios founding families seek protections for the human remains while Texas officials press ahead with a contentious $400 million renovation plan for the site.

The feud comes at a time when political leaders in Texas are trying to bolster long-standing depictions of the states history, restrict how teachers discuss the role of slavery in the Texas Revolution and target hundreds of books for potential removal from schools. As critics accuse leaders of political overreach, the dispute over the burial grounds has raised questions about whether the narrow focus on the 1836 battle at the Alamo comes at the expense of the sites Native American history.

Ramon Vasquez, a leader of the Tap Pilam (pronounced TAPE PEE-lam) nation, criticized state officials who have resisted calls for the Alamo and its surroundings to be designated as a historically significant cemetery.

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He likened the dispute to discussions about protecting important burial sites across the United States, such as those that surrounded the discovery in 2018 in Sugar Land, Texas, of the remains of 95 African Americans forced into plantation labor after emancipation.

Were not against telling the story of 1836, said Vasquez, whose people filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking to have a say in how remains found at the Alamo are treated. All were saying is tell the entire story of the site. We have a rare chance to course-correct.

In court documents filed this year, lawyers for the Texas General Land Office, custodian of the site, and the Alamo Trust, the nonprofit overseeing the development plan, said that the Tap Pilams claims of ancestral lineage do not give them a constitutionally protected right to have a hand in how human remains found at the Alamo should be treated.

If the Tap Pilam were to be granted such a role, the lawyers argued, the decision could set a precedent for other people who could trace their lineage back to someone who lived or died at the Alamo.

Courts have handed victories to the Alamos official stewards, which the Tap Pilam have appealed while raising pressure on the authorities in public protests and private mediation proceedings.

Their strategy has come close to producing results, though a resolution remains elusive.

Two people involved in the mediation proceedings, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the talks, said this week that Texas state officials were preparing to yield to several demands from the Tap Pilam. These included their requests to regain access to the Alamo chapel for religious ceremonies, improve training for Alamo staff and have a role in discussions over how human remains found at the Alamo should be treated.

The parties even reached a tentative settlement, according to court documents filed this week, though the settlement would need to be approved by the San Antonio City Council and other parties to take effect. But in a statement Tuesday, the Land Office said it would go on fighting the Tap Pilam in the courts.

We currently plan to walk away from the proposed agreement, Stephen Chang, the land offices spokesman, said. The proposed mediation  which was not finalized  was intended to end these frivolous lawsuits.

While this legal battle plays out, the $400 million renovation plan, which includes building a 100,000-square-foot museum and visitor center, is moving forward under a shroud of criticism.

Others have argued that the Alamo should keep its focus on the 1836 battle, which made folk heroes out of men like Davy Crockett, a former Tennessee lawmaker who died in the clash. Brandon Burkhart, president of This Is Texas Freedom Force, whose members have appeared openly armed around the Alamo to protest changes at the site, said he opposed efforts to place Native Americans at the center of the Alamo story.

They dont want to shine the light on the Alamo defenders who fought for 13 days and died there, Burkhart, a former fugitive recovery officer, said. Well, I got news for them: People come from all over the world because of that battle, not because of the Native Americans that were there prior to them.

George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner, seems intent on assuaging such concerns. The plan to restore and preserve the Alamo is focused on the battle of 1836 and the defenders who gave their lives for their independence, Bush said in a statement.

The recent tensions have shed light on crucial phases of the states Indigenous history. Texas was home to hundreds of tribes, such as the Anadarko and Karankawa, when Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1700s in what is now San Antonio.

The Alamos burial records include the names of hundreds of individuals from many different tribes. In 1745, for instance, priests said last rites for Conepunda, a Sifame Indian child. In 1748, Valentino Alphonso, an adult Mesquite Indian, and in 1755, Magdalena, an adult Ypandi Indian, were laid to rest.

After Texas seceded from Mexico in 1836, Mirabeau Lamar, who presided over the independent republic in 1838, reversed an appeasement policy toward Native Americans enacted by his predecessor, Sam Houston.

Lamar opted instead for what he explicitly called an exterminating war against tribes in Texas. As a result of this ethnic cleansing push, some Native peoples were annihilated outright; others were eventually forced to relocate to Indian Territory in what is largely now Oklahoma.

There was a state-sanctioned program of genocide during the Republic of Texas period, said Raul Ramos, a historian at the University of Houston who has written widely on the Alamo. Texas is now home to only three federally recognized tribes: the Alabama-Coushatta, Tigua and Kickapoo.

The issue over the Alamo has also raised new questions as to who qualifies as Indigenous. Similar to other groups that have coalesced, such as Genizaros in New Mexico and Colorado, some of whom began identifying as Indigenous after learning they descended from enslaved Indians, the Tap Pilam have decided against seeking federal recognition, contending it is up to tribal members, not the central government, to determine whether they are Native Americans.

The Tap Pilam, whose religious practices blend peyote rituals with Catholic traditions, have more than 1,000 registered tribal members. Their leaders have recently created a for-profit corporation to train Native American entrepreneurs in areas like carpentry and construction. The Tap Pilam estimate there are more than 100,000 people in San Antonio alone who descend from the Indians who once lived at the Alamo and other Spanish missions in Texas.

Still, the lack of federal recognition has worked against the Tap Pilam in their lawsuit over the burial ground. They filed the suit after being barred in 2019 from using the Alamo chapel to carry out private annual services during which they asked their ancestors for forgiveness.

That same year, the Texas Historical Commission rejected a request to officially designate about 10 acres around the Alamo as a cemetery, which would have instituted more stringent handling standards for any human remains, choosing instead to narrowly designate only the mission-era church as a cemetery.

Archaeologists had in 2019 discovered the remains of three bodies in a dig at the Alamo. But instead of consulting with the Tap Pilam on how to proceed, the Alamo Trust relied on five federally recognized tribes, none of which are based in Texas. (The Lipan Apache, a state-recognized tribe in Texas, has signed on as ally of the Tap Pilam in the dispute.)

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, commonly known as NAGPRA and enacted in 1990, was intended to provide more careful control over the removal of Native American human remains. But the Tap Pilam, who use mission birth and death records to show their genealogical descent from Indians at the Alamo stretching back to the early 18th century, are fuming at having been sidelined by the Alamos stewards.

As the conflict drags on, more people are poring over the Alamos burial records and finding ancestral connections.

The Tap Pilam estimate that about 80% of those buried around the mission were Native Americans.

People from a variety of backgrounds make up the rest, such as Juan Blanco, a free Black man who was a Mexican soldier on the frontier before he was killed by Apache Indians in 1721. One of the last to be buried at the Alamo, in 1833, was Antonio Elozua, the Cuban-born commander of Mexican troops in Texas.

Lisa Santos, president of 1718 Founding Families and Descendants, a group of descendants of San Antonios founders, said she was stunned to discover she also had ancestors buried in the Alamo cemetery.

Her ancestors, Bicente Guerra, who died in 1725, and his widow, Maria Sepeda, who died less than a year later, are thought to be buried near a federal building opposite the Alamo.

I dont know how to go up against the government when they continue to deny there was a burial site where our ancestors remain, Santos said. Sometimes I just stare at the sky, and Im like, what is keeping them from telling the truth?

 2021 The New York Times Company
What does your Thanksgiving table look like this year? It's likely you'll see some familiar faces on the holiday, or maybe meet the newest members of your family.

Yanklowitz had never met any of his Thanksgiving dinner guests until Wednesday evening, when his family hosted the meal for complete strangers, two families who recently immigrated to the U.S., to spread love and support during their first American holiday.

While the sun set behind the palm trees outside Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz's Scottsdale home, a family from Venezuela walked in through the metal gate to the backyard. Excitement and gratitude filled the air when he greeted the first five guests with a warm smile.

A short while later, a family of three from Afghanistan joined the group to eat their first Thanksgiving meal in the United States.

Yanklowitz, president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix and CEO of the Orthodox social justice organization Uri L'Tzedek, opened his home to eight newly arrived immigrants to the United States as part of the Arizona Jews for Justice's campaign to support refugees.

This show of fellowship has been a yearly tradition for Yanklowitz's family. For the last five years or so, Yanklowitz has hosted asylum seekers and refugees from Syria. This year, Yanklowitz said he felt the need to welcome families from countries facing the most ill will from Americans.

The essence of Thanksgiving for me is the time to be grateful to be American, and a time to give back, said Yanklowitz, reflecting on his new tradition. "Our goal is that people will feel less afraid of these populations that are coming in and seeking refuge.

"As Jews who have been strangers for millennia, we feel a particular responsibility to welcome the stranger. And so tonight we have Afghan refugees and Venezuelan asylum seekers who are coming to just join each other at dinner and get to know each other and share our stories," Yanklowitz said.

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'I want to treat people like how I wish I was treated'

An Afghan mother, father and 18-month-old baby named for "crossing waters" arrived in the United States just 28 days earlier. Both parents worked as English translators before leaving Afghanistan for fear of the Taliban.

The family from Venezuela had only been in the States for five months, and one family member just one month. The youngest member of the family was just 2 years old. The child's older brother, age 6, asked to play on the backyard swing set almost as soon as he sat down at the dinner table.

During the meal, which was both vegan and kosher, Yanklowitz spoke with the family about their experiences in the immigration process through a friend and campaign director who spoke fluent Spanish, Eddie Chavez Calderon.

Calderon said this meal was important for him to organize personally. He is an immigrant who was in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program but said he was approved for a visa just this week. He said his introduction to the States as a young boy was not nearly as rosy.

"I look at the young mom and her son, and that, to me, that was exactly my mom and me. You know, I came in when I was four ... I look at it like, 'How would I want to have help?'" Calderon said.

"That's why I do this, because I want to treat people like how I wish I was treated," Calderon said.

For Yanklowitz, the evening was one he wanted to make perfect for his guests to feel welcomed and comfortable in such a vulnerable time.

"My hope is that as they taste familiar foods, and as we enter conversation, that they will truly feel welcomed in a deep way that can be healing. And I think that's what Thanksgiving is about, it's about the healing of connection. That people who are divided or isolated come back together," Yanklowitz said.

Dinner guest Julia speaks with some refugee guests at an early Thanksgiving dinner hosted at the home of Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz in Scottsdale on Nov. 24, 2021.

'We're so grateful for this country'

In years past, Yanklowitz said, his family's Thanksgiving was open to one family newly arrived from Syria each year. This time around, two families from completely different cultures joined Yanklowitz, his wife, Shoshana, and their four young children at the dinner table.

Luckily, everyone enjoyed the meal, including stuffed bell peppers, rice, toasted cauliflower, spaghetti, and spring rolls.

Picture a Jewish family of six, a Venezuelan family of five, and an Afghan couple and their baby all chatting around the dining table in the backyard. You'd hear Spanish on one end of the table, English at the other and a symphony of thankfulness in between.

"My hope is that they can see their plight in the other's narrative as well, and they can see that they're not only part of the Afghan refugee community, but of a whole range of stateless people ... Because I think that that's what needed in the country right now more than anything, is that people aren't just advocating for their own population, but really see their common humanity," Yanklowitz said.

Egle, the Venezuelan mother of the two young kids, said her experience Wednesday night will be remembered for its warmth following a very difficult experience getting to the border. The family traveled entirely on land, from Venezuela to Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and through Mexico before reaching the southern border of the United States.

"The main thing I'm going to remember is the warm smiles, the warmth of everybody seeing me, the warm hellos, and how everyone was so excited to see me," she said through a translator.

Egle mentioned how thankful she was for her life, her freedom, her family's health, the meal and the support her family's been able to receive during this challenging time. She said she hopes that others in the U.S. will be willing to understand families like hers arriving in the country for the first time, and support them in their times of need.

"We're so grateful for this country that opened its doors for us. We understand that it's very hard to get a visa, and it's very hard to get in, but we're so grateful for everything," she said.

"I am now born," Afghan refugee Shah remembers telling his wife when they first arrived after facing extreme violence in Afghanistan. Twenty-eight days prior to his first Thanksgiving, Shah was able to "make a new life" with his wife and baby.

The families chatted about their recent travels, but also about their current day-to-day experiences. Shah celebrated getting his driver's license, and Egle's family discussed what they'd be studying at school in the coming months.

Early in the evening, Yanklowitz spoke with the Venezuelan family candidly, letting them know that they had friends in their corner.

"You may see on the news, people saying that we don't want you here. We do want you. We need you, and we are so excited to have you with us," Yanklowitz told the family. Awe and gratitude washed over, as all three families sat in mutual respect.

Reach breaking news reporter Athena Ankrah at athena.ankrah@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @AthenaAnkrah.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Scottsdale rabbi hosts Thanksgiving meal for refugees, asylum seekers
coronavirus

getty Coronavirus COVID-19

A heavily mutated COVID-19 variant is confounding researchers in South Africa, where it has spread quickly in recent weeks after being first identified in Botswana. Since then, it has been identified in at least 81 samples collected in the country (and one in Hong Kong, in a traveler from South Africa), with scientists expressing concerns over its spike profile.

The strain  currently known as B.1.1.529  contains more than 30 variations of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which is responsible for how the virus enters into host cells and spreads person-to-person.

Still, researchers say it's unclear whether or not the new variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, which has greater potential to infect people. (The people at greatest risk from the Delta variant are the unvaccinated and every vaccine approved in the United States has shown efficacy against Delta.)

Richard Lessells, an infectious disease physician at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, told reporters at a Thursday press briefing, per Nature: "There's a lot we don't understand about this variant. The mutation profile gives us concern, but now we need to do the work to understand the significance of this variant and what it means for the response to the pandemic."

In the Thursday briefing, Lessells said researchers in South Africa are studying whether the new variant causes more severe cases of the virus, or if it poses a threat to the effectiveness of vaccines.

RELATED: Child COVID Cases Are Up 32% in the Last 2 Weeks as Infections Spike Nationwide

The World Health Organization panel met to assess the variant Friday, officially naming it "omicron" and classifying it as a highly transmissible virus of concern (the category that also includes the delta variant).

The B.1.1.529 variant is currently designated by the WHO as a variant "under monitoring."

Though it's still being studied, officials in many parts of the world are taking precautions against the new variant. Six African countries were added to England's travel "red list" this week and several other European Union nations are attempting to halt incoming travel from South Africa as a means of containing the spread of the new variant.

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The Guardian reports that Dr. Susan Hopkins, the chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency, said the new variant has a level of transmission not recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, calling it the "most worrying we've seen."

Speaking on CNN's New Day Friday, the U.S.' top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said that American and South African scientists would be discussing the variant in a call later in the day.

"We want to find out, scientist-to-scientist, exactly what is going on," Fauci said. "But it's something that has emerged in South Africa and seems to be spreading at a reasonably rapid rate in the sense of, when they do test positivity, they're seeing that it's a bit more widespread than was originally felt a couple days ago."

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
Kristy Franklin

Former La Quinta City Council member Kristy Franklin has died, the city confirmed on Friday.

Franklin, who served about 10 years on the council, died Wednesday in Reno, Nevada, where she had and her husband, Bruce Franklin, had been living since 2017. She was 77.

The cause of death was not given.

Franklin was first elected to the La Quinta City Council in 1989, but had to resign midway through her term as she battled breast cancer.

She was then re-elected in 2008 and served two terms. She was defeated in her 2016 re-election bid.

Kristy was dedicated to our community, Mayor Linda Evans said. She encouraged me to apply for council, and Im grateful for her confidence in me. She was pragmatic in her approach, and was thoughtful in her decisions. She will be missed.

During her time on the council, Franklin served on the SunLine Transit, Jacqueline Cochran Airport and Mountain Conservancy boards.

Kristys dedication to La Quinta was never-ending during her time serving the community, the city said in a statement Friday. Our thoughts and hearts are with Kristys family during this time and we will always be grateful for her commitment and contributions to La Quinta."

Mayor Pro Tem Robert Radi said Franklin was one who always had the pulse of the community.

She was a very effective councilmember, Radi said.

She could take complex issues and make them understandable for others, Radi said.

She was always able to  make an elegant statement that people could understand based on her responses, without the lingo of government, Radi said. She really had that gift.

Franklin was also open-minded and never came to council with her mind already made up, but would listen to what residents and others on the council had to say, Radi said.

She was never my way or the highway, Radi said. She was always coming to council meetings knowing that there was some other perspective that would emerge and  I never saw her show up with a preconceived or foregone conclusion on any matter.

Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherryBarkas

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Former La Quinta council member Kristy Franklin died at 77
Autumn Carver

A Healing for Autumn/Facebook Autumn Carver

Autumn Carver has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

The Indiana mom of three, who has been battling COVID-19 side effects for months, celebrated the holiday from her hospital room on Thursday in the company of her loving husband, Zach Carver.

Though Autumn, 34, was unable to be home for Thanksgiving, Zach announced in his Facebook update that she was doing better and feeling extra grateful to be alive this year.

"Happy Thanksgiving from Autumn Carver and I from the Windy City," Zach wrote in his post. "We hope you had a great day. We are so blessed this year and have so much be thankful for. Autumn JOGGED down the hallway today."

"Her main PT trainer told her to 'start jogging'. I got to witness it and oh how amazing," he continued. "She could not walk without a walker 2 weeks ago and now she is jogging. It was a short distance but it was awesome."

Finishing his post, Zach said, "We are so glad we are on this side of this journey. We should be home very soon at this rate. Happy Thanksgiving again to everyone. Please continue to pray for us and we will continue to pray for all of you. God bless."

Autumn Carver

A Healing for Autumn/Facebook Autumn Carver with her newborn son, Huxley

RELATED: Mom Battling COVID Impact Comes Off Life Support, Meets Baby After Giving Birth on a Ventilator

Autumn was first hospitalized on Aug. 25 after testing positive for COVID-19 while pregnant with the couple's third child. The Indiana mom decided to not receive a vaccine after discussing her three previous miscarriages with a doctor, according to NBC affiliate WTHR.

However, in a health advisory, the Centers for Disease Control urgently warned pregnant women to get vaccinated against COVID-19 because of the significant risks of hospitalization or death from the virus. Pregnancy significantly increases the likelihood of hospitalization or death if a person contracts COVID-19.

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During Autumn's medical battle, which her husband has continued documenting online, Autumn was put on a ventilator before giving birth to Huxley via emergency C-section.

She was later transferred onto an ECMO machine, where she remained for close to two months as the virus wreaked havoc on her lungs.

In recent weeks, Autumn has been showing signs of improvement, with Zach noting on Facebook how she was being slowly weaned off the ECMO machine and doing more activities independently. She also got to meet Huxley in an emotional reunion on Oct. 19, which Zach called an "amazing moment."

RELATED VIDEO: 90-Year-Old Recovers From Coronavirus

The good news continued earlier this month when Zach announced that his wife had finally been released from the hospital's intensive care unit and gotten her feeding tube removed.

"She walked down the halls and worked on upper body strength with OT [occupational therapy] and did great," he noted in a Nov. 3 update. "She got a huge compliment this afternoon from her OT specialist. She said that Autumn was one of, if not the hardest working patient she has ever had."

"I'm very proud of her dedication and fight. She wants to get back home to our kiddos as soon as possible," Zach added.

Since then, Autumn's improvement has been steady, with Zach noting how his wife was staying persistent with her therapies and working on regaining her strength.

RELATED: Mom Leaves ICU After Giving Birth on Ventilator During COVID Battle: 'Very Proud,' Says Husband

In an update on Monday, Zach marked 90 days since Autumn had been admitted to the hospital.

"What a journey this has been. She is a complete miracle and does nothing but impress everyone she interacts with," he wrote.

Zach followed it up with an update on Wednesday, revealing that Autumn got a brace for her left leg, which has nerve damage, but that she showing more progression each and every day.

"She can walk better each day and her blood pressure and heart rate are becoming more normal each day," he wrote. "Needless to say, but we have a lot to be thankful for this year. I am very thankful for all the prayers toward my family. I'm so thankful for my beautiful wife and the miracle she is... Spend all the time you can with family. Hug the ones you usually do and especially hug the ones you normally don't. Life is short."

In addition to Zach's Facebook updates, "A Healing for Autumn" Facebook group was set up to inform loved ones about her steady progress. A GoFundMe page was also launched for the Carver family to assist with medical expenses. So far, it has raised over $52,000.

Those interested in donating to Autumn's GoFundMe page can do so here.

As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from the CDC, WHO and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
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New Delhi: AAP senior leader and MLA Atishi said BJP's politics is based on Fake News and the court's order of lodging a case against BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra for sharing a fake video of CM Arvind Kejriwal has proved that they indulge in cheap antics.

Tis Hazari Court has ordered the IP Estate Police Station to register an FIR on the fake video which Sambit Patra had posted in favour of the farm law. BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra put out a fake video of CM Arvind Kejriwal on 30 January 2021 while Twitter itself was saying that this video is incorrect. Atishi said that this video has been proved to be fake in the police investigation, forensic lab and court, the reality is that AAP and Arvind Kejriwal had repeatedly opposed these three farm laws. She said that we demanded Delhi Police to register an FIR through a complaint on February 2, but the FIR was not registered and then we went to court on February 24 where after 4 hearings Justice Rishabh Kapoor ordered registration of an FIR on November 21.

Senior AAP Leader and MLA Atishi addressed a press conference at party headquarters on Thursday. She went on to inform the media about the fake video posted by BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra and said, On 30th January 2021, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted a video, a screenshot of which I am sharing with you, captioned teeno farm bills ke laabh ginate hue Sir jee (listing the benefits of the three farm bills).

The video, which was clearly doctored, had a so-called interview of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he is heard supporting the three farm bills introduced by the Central Government which caused great unrest all over the country. Sambit Patras direction in sharing this was that Shri Arvind Kejriwal had initially supported the farm bills and now changed his stance on it. This video was marked by twitter itself for manipulation and fake news. Twitter added a manipulated media tag to the video as well. Despite knowing the truth, Sambit Patra did not take the video down and continued to mislead the people following his tweet. Spreading fake news and posting manipulated content isnt anything new in BJPs agenda, so it was no wonder that he did not delete his tweet. "

"You have often seen that even BJPs official social media handles share photos and videos that are repeatedly proven as fake and manipulated by many news agencies. Organisations like Alt News have time and again officially proved the misleading and fake aspects of content shared by the BJP on social media. But it seems that the entire politics of the BJP functions on the tenets of fake news, and this incident of Sambit Patras misleading tweet is one such example of the same.

"I would like to share the process of manipulation of the video and how it has been doctored with the public today by playing the edited video posted by Sambit Patra and then the original one in front of you. This will make everything clear, as has been done during the police investigation, forensics, and at the court."

In the fabricated video, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is heard saying, Your MSP will not go anywhere, your mandi will not go anywhere. Now the farmer can sell their crop anywhere in the country. Now the farmer will receive good rates, and they can sell outside the Mandis. This will be the biggest revolutionary step in 70 years in the agricultural sector.

Commenting on the fabricated video shared by Sambit Patra, Atishi said, This was the doctored video shared by Sambit Patra which shows Arvind Kejriwal speaking in favour of the three farm bills, when in reality the Delhi CM and the Aam Aadmi Party have repeatedly opposed them in Punjab as well as in Delhi. We dissented against these unjust farm bills in the parliament, in the legislative assemblies, through press conferences, and even on the streets. Now you can see how this fake video was doctored out of an original interview that Arvind Kejriwal gave to the Zee Haryana-Punjab Channel. Some parts of this interview where he is found saying that the BJP leaders say, that these are the benefits of the farm laws - the part containing the line the BJP leaders say has shamelessly been edited out. It is not that Sambit Patra did not have access to the original video, or that he did not know that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has been a staunch opposer of the farm bills. Its not like Sambit Patra was clueless about the Delhi CM repeatedly giving interviews and speeches listing out all that was wrong with the Central Governments farm bills. Despite being aware of all of this, he intentionally shared this video.

Atishi went on, Comparing the two videos, you can clearly see how the original one was edited and fabricated to show the so-called praises of the farm bills by Shri Arvind Kejriwal were in fact points being raised by him to point out the drawbacks of the bills. He was stating that the BJP leaders say these are the benefits, which in fact are not benefits at all. And later he says that if because of the Farmers Movement a legal guarantee of MSP is ensured, it will be the biggest revolutionary step and this sentence was taken out of context and shows as a praise for the farm bills. So it is clear that all that Shri Arvind Kejriwal said against the farm bills was doctored and shared by BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra on his Twitter timeline. Despite knowing that Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party strictly oppose the kale kanoon (black laws), he went ahead with this. But today I am happy to share that our countrys law and order has taken strict action against this fake news and propaganda. Two days ago, on 23 November 2021 the Tis Hazari Court issued a strong order regarding the fake news being spread through this doctored video and IT Estate Police Station has been ordered to issue an FIR against Sambit Patra for being complicit in spreading this fake news. People who are spreading fake news on social media will be warned by this order. Through this manipulation and fabrication, these people instil hatred among different societies and communities and try to defame the leaders of political parties. Today, the law and order system of our country has clamped down on them. They have been warned that if they share such fake or videos again, then accountability will be ensured and they will have to face the justice system.

The AAP MLA said, Unfortunately till the Tis Hazari Court did not issue orders, the Delhi Police did not take any action on its own. This video was posted on 30th January this year, after which on 2nd February I went to IP Estate Police Station to complain. I demanded to file an FIR but it was not registered by the police. After three days I filed a complaint in the DCP office that a fake video has been posted and action should be taken against it. But even in response to this, an FIR was not filed. Apart from this, the notice was not sent to Sambit Patra but to me  asking why I had filed such a complaint. They did not call Sambit Patra for investigation but me. We put all the facts and both the videos in front of the Investigation Officer. When Delhi Police finally reached Sambit Patra, the video was deleted from his Twitter handle the same day. What advice did Delhi Police give to Sambit Patra? "

"What happened to this tweet which was on his Twitter timeline despite being tagged manipulated media for so long, but vanished as soon as the Delhi Police visited him? Despite all this, the police did not file an FIR. We took this matter to court on February 24 - where, after 4 hearings, on November 21, Justice Rishabh Kapoor finally passed this order. The order clearly states that this video is fake. Apart from this, the report of the Forensic Science Lab has also shown that this is a fabricated video and a fake video. On the basis of this, orders for strict action have been given by the court to the Delhi Police," she added.

Atishi concluded by saying, I am happy that even though it took many months for action to be taken in this matter, today our efforts have finally come to fruition. This order is a message for those spreading fake news through social media - you can do your level best to mislead people with fake news, abuse them, try to pit communities against each other and instigate farmers against Arvind Kejriwal. But eventually, the truth will come to light. You will be held accountable and you will have to face the law.

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New Delhi: All major private and public banks will remain closed on several days in the month of December 2021 due to festivals and other compulsory offs. Bank customers should take note of the holidays in their areas before stepping out for bank work and plan accordingly.

According to RBI, public, private and foreign banks, along with cooperative banks and regional banks across the country will remain shut on dates specified by the central bank.

The holidays are announced by RBI in three categories - the Negotiable Instruments Act, Holiday, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) Holiday, and Banks Closing of Accounts.

However, most bank holidays differ from state to state. In December, banks will remain closed for a total of 16 days. The weekend leaves on all Sundays and the second and fourth Saturday will remain applicable to all banks in India.

Here is the full list of bank holidays in December 2021:

December 3  Fest of St. Francis Xavier (Kanakadasa Jayanthi/Feast of St. Francis Xavier) (Banks closed in Panaji)

5 December  Sunday (weekly holiday)

11 December  Saturday (Second Saturday of the month)

12 December  Sunday (weekly holiday)

18 December  Death Anniversary of You So So Tham (Banks closed in Shillong)

19 December  Sunday (weekly holiday)

24 December  Christmas Festival (banks closed in Aizawl)

25 December  Christmas (banks closed at all places except Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar) Saturday, (fourth Saturday of the month)

26 December  Sunday (weekly holiday)

27 December  Christmas celebration (banks closed in Aizawl)

30 December  Yu Kiang Nongbah (banks closed in Shillong) Also Read: Tomato prices could soften in December with arrival of fresh crop, says Centre

31 December  New Year's Eve (Banks closed in Aizawl) Also Read: RBI imposes Rs 1 crore penalty on SBI; should customers worry?

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#mute
New Delhi: Consumer goods brands such as Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) and ITC Ltd have increased the prices of select variants of soaps and detergents sold by two companies in India. The reason behind the price is a rise in input costs.

For instance, ITC has increased the price of its two soaps - Fiama Di Wills and Vivel - by 10 to 15%. The company has increased the rates after input costs went up significantly. The overall industry has increased prices, a company spokesperson told Mint.

While prices of select items have been revised, ITC's focus is on effective cost management, premiumisation, favourable business mix and evaluating all avenues to mitigate costs and enhance efficiency, to ensure that we dont have to pass on the entire burden to the consumer," the spokesperson told the daily.

On the other hand, the price of HULs Wheel 1 kg pack detergent powder has hiked by 3.4%, according to a report by CNBC TV 18. The price of the pack will reportedly increase by Rs 2. Moreover, the company has also initiated a price hike on a 500-gram pack of Wheel as well as on Rin detergent bar and Lux soaps. Also Read: This old Rs 5 note with 786 number can fetch you Rs 2 lakh, heres how

The soaring input costs have forced companies to push the increased expenses on customers. Rising fuel and palm oil prices, coupled with increased freight costs are forcing companies to increase the prices of their products to minimise the impact of higher input costs on their balance sheets. Also Read: PM-KISAN 10th instalment on December 15: Is Aadhaar linking a must to get Rs 6,000 annual benefit? Know here

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New Delhi: The admit card for Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) December 2021 edition is expected to be released next week.

The CTET, conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), will be held between December 16, 2021 to January 13, 2022.

For details and further updates, candidates are recommended to regularly check the official website of CTET at ctet.nic.in.

CTET exam will be conducted in two shifts. The first shift will from 9.30 am to 12 noon and the next shift will commence from 2.30 pm to 5 pm. The test will be held in 20 languages across the country.

How to download CTET 2021 Admit card

1. Visit the official website of CTET at ctet.nic.in

2. On the homepage, click on CTET December 2021 admit card link

3. Login using application number and password

4. Your admit card will appear

5. Download and take a printout for future reference

The official notification said, "In case of any discrepancy noticed in e-admit card regarding particulars of candidate, photograph, and signature or any other information, which is different from confirmation page, he/she may immediately contact CTET Unit for necessary corrections.

The CTET result 2021 will be announced by February 15, 2022.

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NEW DELHI: After winning hearts with her portrayal of Raji, an unwavering Sri Lankan Tamil liberation fighter on a suicide mission, in recent released 'Family Man 2' web-series, Samantha Ruth Prabhu is all set to go experimental. The souther star has signed her next project and she is all set to work with Downton Abbey director Philip John in a project titled 'Arrangements Of Love'.

Samatha Ruth Prabhu will be seen playing the role of a progressive bisexual Tamil woman, with ultra-traditional parents, who want her to have an arranged marriage. She plays a strong-minded and funny force of nature 27-year-old, who runs her own detective agency and becomes part of the search.

Excited about the project, Samantha was quoted by ANI, "A whole new world opens up for me today as I start my journey with 'Arrangements of Love', which has such an endearing and personal story. I am excited to work with Philip John, whose projects I have closely followed for many years, being a big fan of 'Downton Abbey'. I am looking forward to collaborating with Sunitha once again and I hope for only more success than we previously had with 'Oh! Baby'. My role is a complex character and it will be both a challenge and an opportunity for me to play it. I cannot wait to get on set."

BAFTA-winning Welsh director Philip John will helm the project, which is an adaptation of the bestselling 2004 novel of the same title by Indian author Timeri N. Murari, reported Variety. The film, which will be produced by Sunitha Tati's Indian outfit Guru Films, follows a Welsh-Indian man on his quest to find his estranged father with an impromptu visit to his homeland.

'Arrangements Of Love' is expected to go on floors in August 2022.

Apart from her professional life, Samantha has been in the news lately for her personal life. The actress recently confirmed her separation from her husband Naga Chaitanya four years after their marriage. The couple issued a joint statement on their respective social media handles and asked the media and everyone to respect their privacy.

Days after confirming her separation, Samantha also deleted her photos with Naga Chaitanya from her Instagram account. The couple had tied the knot in 2017.

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New Delhi: As the nation will mark Constitution Day on Friday (November 26), President Ram Nath Kovind will lead the celebrations at the Central Hall of Parliament House. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the distinguished gathering and participate in the programmes that will be organised in the Parliament and Vigyan Bhawan.

The nation celebrates Constitution Day on November 26 to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.

The Centre will celebrate Constitution Day as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. The programme organized in Parliament will also be addressed by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

After the President's speech the nation will join him live, in reading the Preamble of the Constitution. The President will also release the digital version of Constituent Assembly Debates, a digital version of a calligraphed copy of the Constitution of India and an updated version of the Constitution of India that will include all amendments to date.

He will also inaugurate `Online Quiz on Constitutional Democracy`, as per an official statement from Prime Minister`s Office. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the two day Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court, at 5:30 pm in Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, said the statement.

All Judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justices of all High Courts and senior-most puisne Judges, Solicitor General of India, and other members of the legal fraternity will be present on the occasion.

The observation of Constitution Day started in 2015, based on the vision of the Prime Minister to give due recognition to the significance of this historic date.

Notably, the roots of this vision can also be traced back to the "Samvidhan Gaurav Yatra" organised by the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2010.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: A one-day special session of Delhi Legislative Assembly will be held on Friday (November 26), the day when farmers protest marks one year.

As per PTI sources, the AAP government is expected to move a resolution in Delhi Assembly's special session for compensation to kin of over 700 farmers who died during protests and legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

It will also demand withdrawal of cases registered against the farmers during the protest against the farm laws, and removal and arrest of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur incident, the sources said. Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai will move the resolution, they added.

The Delhi government will also place the annual report of many institutions on the floor of the house during the one-day special session dedicated to farmers` movement.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP has accused the AAP government of shying away from discussion on Delhi-related issues like air pollution, liquor policy and condition of local farmers.

"The opposition will take up Delhi's problems vigorously and we have given notice of short-term discussion on these main subjects to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel," Leader of Opposition Ramvir Bidhuri was quoted as saying by the news agency.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Delhi government on Friday (November 26) announced its decision to include the Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan in the CM's free pilgrimage scheme for the senior citizens of Delhi.

As per the Delhi government's announcement, the first batch of devotees will leave on January 5, in a deluxe bus from Delhi to Kartarpur.

Earlier on Wednesday (November 24), Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal announced that the first train for Ayodhya, under the free pilgrimage scheme, would depart from Delhi on December 3, and the registrations for the same have started.

The Chief Minister added that the free pilgrimage to the Vailankanni Church in Tamil Nadu has also been included in the list of places of pilgrimage under the free Teerth Yatra scheme for the benefit of senior citizens of the Christian community of Delhi.

All the expenses for the pilgrimage will be borne by the Delhi government under the Mukhya Mantri Teerth Yatra Yojna.

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New Delhi: India commemorates November 26 of each year as its Constitution Day, as it was exactly 71 years ago that our freedom fighters, great thinkers along with the people of India decided that our country will be governed by its constitution and not by any religion or a religious book.

Zee News anchor Sachin Arora on Friday (November 26) discussed how leaders and politicians with different perspectives put the country ahead of their individual ideologies and came together to come up with the constitution that runs the country where all people are treated equally, irrespective of their religion, caste, race, or ethnicity.

The rights and duties that the Constitution ensures are the sole fascinating facets. Several facts make it one of the best constitutions that helps govern a robust democratic country. Here are some astonishing facts regarding the constitution:

After approval, the constitution was written on special papers that lasts for a thousand years.

The weight of this written copy of the constitution 251 pages is about 4 kilograms.

On 24 January 1950, 292 representatives of the Constituent Assembly signed this copy of the Constitution.

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of India was held on 9 December 1946.

A total of 11 sessions of the Constituent Assembly were held for the making of the constitution. A total of 53,000 people attended these conventions.

The draft of the constitution in both Hindi and English languages was handwritten by the committee that means no typing or printing was involved in it.

Before drafting the constitution, the constitution of 60 countries was studied under the guidance of BN Rao, advisor to the Constituent Assembly.

India's constitution is the largest among the countries of the world as it has more than 1 lakh 46 thousand words while the US Constitution is the shortest written constitution in the whole world.

However, the contemporary political parties failed to follow into the footsteps of their predecessors, who overlooked their individual differences for the Constitution. On Friday (November 26, 2021), the Congress-led Opposition boycotted the Constitution Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament, disrespecting the very constitution that led them to the Parliament.

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Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Friday (November 26, 2021) said it has seized foreign currency worth Rs 3 crore from two accused at Mumbais Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The accused have been taken into custody.

The raid was conducted under Operation Cheque Shirts, using data analytics, said the agency.

The DRI developed specific intelligence on two passengers, who were attempting to smuggle foreign currency outside India. US dollars and Saudi Dirhams worth Rs 3.7 crores were recovered from them on further examination.

As per the central agency, the foreign currency was found concealed deep in ingeniously designed false bottoms of the carry-on luggage and the way it was hidden would have made the detection difficult in ordinary baggage scans.

The DRI revealed that since the two accused had no documents for the licit possession or for legal export of the said foreign currency, it has been seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962.

The matter is under investigation.

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New Delhi: India is all set to resume scheduled international flights from December 15 after coronavirus-induced suspension, the Aviation Ministry said. According to sources, "India will restart scheduled regular international flights operations, except to/from the barred 14 countries, from the third week of December. Existing air-bubble flight arrangements with these 14 countries, however, will continue."

Based on the countries recognised as "at-risk" by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the countries have been categorised into three categories with separate capacity restrictions, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said.

Responding to questions on the new #COVID19 variant, Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs, said, "This is a developing incident. We just saw a briefing by WHO. I don't have any immediate information on the steps that we are taking. This is an issue more for our Health authorities & Civil Aviation authorities."

According to media reports, the 12 countries barred from the list include UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel.

South African scientists have identified a new version of the coronavirus this week that they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country's most populous province. It's unclear from where the new variant actually arose, but it was first detected by scientists in South Africa and has also been seen in travelers to Hong Kong and Botswana.

Sharon Peacock, who has led genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said the data so far suggest the new variant has mutations "consistent with enhanced transmissibility", but said that "the significance of many of the mutations is still not known".

Given the recent rapid rise in COVID-19 in South Africa, restricting travel from the region is "prudent," said Neil Ferguson, an infectious diseases expert at Imperial College London. He said the new variant has an "unprecedented" number of mutations and said that compared to previous variants, the newly identified version in South Africa might more easily evade current vaccines.

(With ANI inputs)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Indian constitution is the cohesive force behind the diverse country. He was speaking in the Parliament on the occasion of Constitution Day on Friday (November 26).

He said, Our Constitution binds our diverse country. It was drafted after many hindrances and united the princely states in the country.

He also said, Constitution Day is the day to salute this House, where many of India's leaders brainstormed to give us the Constitution of India. We also pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and all those who fought during India's independence struggle.

He added, Constitution Day should have been celebrated each year after 1950 to educate all about what went into the making of the Constitution. But some people did not do so. This day should also be celebrated to evaluate whether what we do is right or not.

#WATCH | Party for the family, by the family...do I need to say more? If a party is run by one family for many generations, then, it isn't good for a healthy democracy, says PM Modi during an address at the Parliament on #ConstitutionDay pic.twitter.com/q1t2UqI0Pm  ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2021

He said, "Party for the family, by the family...do I need to say more? If a party is run by one family for many generations, then, it isn't good for a healthy democracy."

"Dynastic parties are matter of concern to people committed to the Constitution ? Look at dynastic political parties from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, this is against the democratic spirit," Modi said.

"If a party is run for generations by a family and the entire party system is with a family then that is the biggest problem for a healthy democracy," he said in an apparent reference to the Congress.

READ | Constitution Day: President Ram Nath Kovind, PM Narendra Modi to address event

Modi also paid tribute to the martyrs of 26/11. Today on the anniversary of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, I pay tribute to all brave soldiers of the country who sacrificed their lives while fighting the terrorists.

Meanwhile, the BJP hit out at the Opposition for boycotting the Constitution Day celebrations in the Central Hall of Parliament and termed it as an "insult" to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution.

The party also used the opportunity to criticise the Congress which had denounced the BJP leaders for skipping the function held at Parliament to celebrate the birth anniversary of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14.

About 14 Opposition parties, including Congress, have announced to boycott the Constitution Day programme.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Chandigarh: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday (November 26) once again questioned his party's government in the state, asking why it did not move to the apex court against the blanket bail given to former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini by the state high court.

He also took a dig at his predecessor Sunil Jakhar, saying he never raised the issue and invited a sarcastic reply on Twitter from him.

Saini figures as an accused in the case involving the police firing on people protesting the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab's Faridkot district in 2015.

Speaking to reporters in Amritsar, Sidhu questioned the government over the steps taken in desecration cases and not making public the STF report on the drug issue.

"I keep giving reminders regularly. What is my interest? Yesterday, I said this from the stage (in Moga). The earlier president keeps tweeting but did he ever raise these issues? Sidhu asked taking a swipe at Jakhar. Jakhar responded with a couplet, which means the "idol" is calling him an "infidel".

Sidhu said the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the completion of the probe into the Kotkapura police firing incident, preferably within six months but the deadline has already passed.

Why no special leave petition was filed against the blanket bail to Saini, one of the accused in the police firing incidents, he asked.

"If that accused has got a blanket bail, how will the investigation be completed?" he questioned. "Everyone including me asks what is the government's intent. If Saini got a blanket bail (by the high court), did you file an SLP? On September 10, he got a blanket bail, was the SLP filed against it?" he asked.

On the special task force report on drugs, he asked the state government who stopped it from making it public.

He asserted that he always appreciates any good work done by the state government.

Replying to a question, Sidhu asserted that there is good coordination between the party and the state government though, he added, he would keep raising public issues.

Sidhu said he had talked about a reduction in power, fuel and sand prices, which have now been lowered.

The BJP took a dig at the Congress, saying Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and PCC president Navjot Singh Sidhu have made "a tamasha" of the entire state.

It has always been clear that Channi and Sidhu are not on the same page because of their conflict of interests but it is a shame that in the process they have made Punjab an ugly stage of political gimmicks,? BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh said in a statement.

Chugh alleged that the AAP and the Akali Dal were also doing the same to the state. "Instead of making sensible statements and promises to the people, they are ridiculing people of Punjab by making false and baseless promises," he said.

Chugh said the way Channi and Sidhu have been working at cross purposes indicated that the Congress high command has no idea how a sensitive border state like Punjab has been handed over to political "tamashbeens" (onlookers).

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had quashed in April the Punjab Police SIT probe into the 2015 Kotkapura firing incident.

The probe was conducted by an SIT team headed by the then IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who later took premature retirement.

Following the order, a new special investigation team was formed on May 7 this year. The new SIT was led by the Additional Director General of Police L K Yadav.

The state had witnessed the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and subsequent police firing on people protesting the desecration in Faridkot in 2015. One incident of police firing had taken place at Kotkapura and second at Behbal Kalan in Faridkot.

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New Delhi: President of All India Kisan Sabha, an umbrella body of farmer unions, Ashok Dhawale, on Friday (November 26) said that their protest will continue till demands are fulfilled by the Centre. The farmers mark one year of protest against the Centre`s three farm laws.

Dhawale told ANI, "Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has organised protests in different states to mark the first anniversary of the farmers` movement. The winter session of the Parliament will commence from November 29, the Centre should take actions on Minimum Support (MSP)."

Ashok Dhawale said, "We demand Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni to be removed from the post in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. He should be arrested on the charges of murder and conspiracy, adding that the Centre should give compensation to the families of those farmers who died during the protest.

"The constitution has given us the right to protest for the right. Our struggle will continue," he added.

The farmers also organised 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' on the first anniversary of protests against the three farm laws at Bahadurgarh.

Haryana | Farmers hold 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' on the first anniversary of protests against the three farm laws at Bahadurgarh pic.twitter.com/XFb9zWqst1  ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2021

They congregated in large numbers at the Singhu border to observe the first anniversary of protest against the three farm laws.

Farmers in large numbers gathered at the Singhu border to observe the first anniversary of protest against the three farm laws pic.twitter.com/gDBjr2VLgN  ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2021

"On the call of the SKM to mark one year of the historic farm movement with massive protests at Delhi, morchas in state capitals and district headquarters, farmers and workers are responding in huge numbers," the SKM had earlier said.

"Thousands of farmers have started arriving at various protest sites in Delhi. In states that are far away from Delhi, preparations are underway to mark the event with rallies, dharnas and other programmes," it had stated.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that the farmers of the country have taught us all how to fight for the right with patience.

Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi, "Today, the farmers` agitation has completed one year. This historical agitation faced many conspiracies along with heat-cold and rain-storm. The farmer of the country taught us all that how to fight for the right with patience. I salute the courage, courage, spirit and sacrifice of the farmer brothers."

              -, -                               , ,          Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 26, 2021

Farmers have been protesting against the farm laws on various borders of Delhi since November 26, 2020. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will bring necessary bills in the winter session of Parliament beginning later this month to repeal the farm laws. PM Modi had also announced that the government will constitute a committee to work on a new framework for Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had said that 60 tractors will head to the Parliament in the national capital on November 29 as a part of the tractor march to press for a statutory guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for crops among other things.

Farmers mark one year of protest at Gazipur border

The farmers at the Gazipur border today marked the first anniversary of the protest against the farm laws.

Speaking to ANI, Kawarveer Singh, a farmer from Pilibhit district, said, "In the last one year, during the protest, almost two farmers have died per day at Delhi borders while agitating against the farm laws. The future generation would understand that how farming and land were saved by the farmers."

"However, the ground reality has not changed. Over the years, prices of diesel, insecticides, and pesticides are soaring. We are now realizing the side effects of the Green Revolution. We can recover our cost only if you pay us the actual cost of the produce. So for this, we are protesting and demanding a law on MSP," he added.

Delhi Police issues advisory on traffic movement

As the farmers' protest completes a year, the Delhi Traffic Police on Friday asked commuters travelling from Ghaziabad towards Delhi to take alternative routes, anticipating traffic gridlock owing to its security arrangements. Commuters have been advised to take Vikash Marg or GT Road to reach Delhi, police said.

The Delhi Traffic Police tweeted, "Traffic coming from Ghaziabad towards Delhi side remains heavy due to barricading by local police at roundabout Gazipur Underpass. Commuters are advised to take alternative Vikash Marg/GT Road to Delhi."

The Delhi Police has beefed up security arrangements at various border points of the national capital as farmers on Friday gathered in large numbers to mark the occasion.

Notably, the farmer unions have planned a number of events across the country to mark the occasion.

(With Agency Inputs)

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New Delhi: As farmers protest against Centres three farm laws clocks one year on Friday (November 26), the security has been tightened at various border points of Delhi borders.

The Delhi police on Thursday said that security has been beefed up with additional deployment of paramilitary forces, along with the police personnel, at the spots where protesting farmers are on a sit-in. The police also held a meeting with farmer leaders in this regard, PTI reported.

Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order Division Zone - 1) Dependra Pathak said, "Adequate security deployment has been made and there will be close supervision by senior police officers on the ground. We are using professional policing to avoid any untoward incident."

"We are also talking to the farmers and persuading them to cooperate with us," he added. The farmers have been camping at three border points of Delhi -- Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur -- for the last one year.

Farmers have organized a slew of programs across the country to mark one year of agitation. Several protests, morchas will be held in Delhi. According to Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farm unions, "Thousands of farmers have started arriving at various protest sites in Delhi. In states which are far away from Delhi, preparations are underway to mark the event with rallies, dharnas and other programmes.

In Karnataka, farmers plan to block major highways. In Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, farmers will jointly organise protests with trade unions at all the district headquarters.

Farmers will take out tractor rallies in Raipur and Ranchi. In West Bengal, rallies have been planned in Kolkata as well as other districts.

In a surprise move, PM Modi had announced on November 19 that the three bills will be withdrawn in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. On Wednesday (November 24), the Union Cabinet cleared 'The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021' for repealing the three controversial farm laws passed by the Parliament last year.

Rakesh Tikait alleges Centre does not want to talk about MSP

Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said on Thursday that farmer leaders wrote a letter to the Central government and alleged that the government does not want to talk about the Minimum Support Price (MSP) because it will benefit the farmers throughout the country. Addressing a press conference here, Tikait said," We have written a letter to the Centre a few days ago but we have not received any answer yet. They do not want to talk about the MSP because it will benefit the farmers throughout the whole country."

He added that the Centre has not responded to the letter yet."The government of India did not have any conversation with us after January 22 when the last meeting was held. Now they have decided to repeal the laws. But our issues remain which include the MSP, compensation for the death of 700 farmers and Shahid Smarak of the dead farmers. The government should make a committee to address other issues like the electricity amendment bill, pesticide bill and others," Tikait was quoted as saying by ANI.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has reached Prayagraj on Friday (November 26, 2021) to meet the relatives of the family, who were found dead inside their house in Gogri village, ANI reported.

The leader met the family of the victims and narrated their ordeal to the media afterwards.

"The family is in terror. All of them are women, the male member works in Jharkhand. They don't know what will they do alone, somebody can come & torment them. Police didn't help them: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets the members of a family whose 4 members were murdered in Prayagraj," Vadra told ANI

A family of four labourers, Phoolchand (45), wife Meenu (40), daughter Sapna (17) and son Shiv (10), was found dead inside their house in Gogri village on Thursday.

According to police, the deceased family had filed an SC/ST case against some people of the village itself.

The allegations have been made against Prayagraj police as well for not taking timely actions against the accused.

"The allegation of not taking any action in earlier cases is also alleged by the family of the deceased. Keeping all these in mind, action is being taken, some people have also been taken into custody. Axes were found near their bodies, it looks like they were hit by those axes only," said Sarvashresth Tripathi, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Prayagraj.

The Congress leader also said that two police personnel were removed from duty.

"The women tell me that when they used to go to complain, the Policemen used to mock at them...How can the administration be silent? Vadra added.

Priyanka Gandhi, who has been the prime face of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh has been campaigning in the state for quite some time now. Last week, the Congress General Secretary visited Agra to meet the family of a sanitation worker who died in police custody.

Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in terms of population will go to the polls for Assembly elections next year.

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Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has said that the BJP government is sensitive towards the needs of the farmers and thats why the three controversial farm laws have been repealed.

Singh said, Our party is always sensitive towards farmers that's why our prime minister has repealed farm laws.

"Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonstrated a large heart and repealed the three farm laws. He (PM Modi) said that now that our farmers are adamant and we have failed to convince them, we should not develop conditions where we are forced to fire bullets on them, he said.

READ | 'India wants good ties with its neighbours, but...': Rajnath Singh warns Pakistan, China

The Defence Minister also slammed the opposition parties and said, "Whatever may be, our government cannot kill a farmer. We look at our farmers with respect and our heads are bowed to them."

"If you check the past of opposition parties, you will see that they have fired bullets on the farmers numerous times. We (BJP) can never fire bullets on farmers or the Ram bhakts," he added.

Singh claimed that the BJP only wants to form a government "for the country" and not for the hunger for power. "Our party is the worlds largest party because of dedicated workers like you," he said while adding that the party does not make false promises.

"Even our election manifesto is free from false claims," Singh said.

The Defence Minister also said that in seven years of governance in the country, BJP has not been involved in any kind of corruption. "Its been 7 years, no one can point a finger at our leaders for involvement in corruption," he said.

Singh lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and called him "exemplary" for the way he handled the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to go for Assembly polls in 2022.

Previously, in the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 312 seats out of the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly while Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) won 19 and Congress could manage to win only seven seats.

(With inputs from ANI)

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New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin will come to India on December 6, 2021, to take part in the 21st India-Russia Annual Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced Arindam Bagchi, MEA spokesperson on Friday.

Apart from the Russian President, his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will also visit India to hold the inaugural '2+2' ministerial dialogue between the two countries, the Russian embassy has said.

In an official statement, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi further confirmed that the first meeting of the 2+2 dialogue will be held in Delhi on December 6.

Lavrov and Shoigu will hold the talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The Russian chiefs visit will coincide with the delivery period of the first batch of S-400 aircraft and will build momentum for the military-technical cooperation between India and Russia.

Putins trip to India in December will mark his second international trip after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. His last international visit was the landmark Geneva trip where he took part with US President Joe Biden.

The 2020 edition of the Indo-Russia Annual Summit was deferred due to the pandemic situation in both countries.

On the pandemic front, Russia is reeling with the fourth wave of COVID-19 with over 34,000 cases reported on Friday.

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Agartala: As Tripura civic body elections concluded amid allegations of violence and booth capturing with opposition parties demanding that the polls be cancelled. The Election Commission of India on Thursday informed that 81.52 per cent voting turnout at Tripura civic polls till 9.30 pm was reported.

Refuting the allegations of the opposition parties that the ruling BJP government resorted to open intimidation and attacks on candidates and polling agents, it said that they are trying to obtain public sympathy fearing defeat.

BJP`s rebel MLA Sudip Roy Barman, however, came in support of the opposition parties and was quoted by ANI as saying id, "such kind of activities were earning bad name for the party. According to police, the situation is under control and an extensive security net has been extended across the city to avert any unwanted incident."

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Sadar Ramesh Yadav told ANI, "the whole election process is running peacefully and the media is keeping its close watch on the procedures. Nothing is there. People are exercising their franchise. One of the Trinamool Congress leaders said that enough security has been given to his booth. Now a separate delegation sat on a Dharna in front of the East Agartala Police Station. We are not going to tolerate this and if section 144 is violated strict action is going to be taken against them."

Yadav reportedly said that the CPI(M) had also staged a Dharna in front of the West Agartala Police Station and the police took note of the party`s grievances, adding "The CPI(M) people told us about their problem although the incidents were not reported under my jurisdiction, we noted down their grievances and communicated to the police of that subdivision."

Yadav was speaking on the sidelines of a Dharna staged by Trinamool Congress supporters led by party leader Subal Bhowmik in front of the East Agartala Police station. The SDPO and the officer in charge of the police station tried to convince them to lift the Dharna but failed. Resultantly, all the 30 to 40 leaders were arrested.

The Left has also held a Dharna in front of the West Agartala police station, as they were holding red flags, indulged in sloganeering, besieging the police station. Pabitra Kar, a senior leader of the CPI(M) told ANI, "our polling agents, candidates have been forcefully ousted from polling booths by BJP hoodlums. We demand fresh elections where polling agents of no political party will be allowed and only the poll staff are going to conduct the polls. I dare the Biplab Deb government to order such an election."

Tripura Left Front convener Narayan Kar said security forces were not mobilised properly, despite directions to that end by the Supreme Court. The Left Front sought fresh polls in Agartala Municipal Corporation and four municipal councils -- Dharmanagar, Khowai, Belonia and Melaghar.

Meanwhile, ruling BJP MLA Sudip Roy Barman has expressed his anguish over the conduct of polls and claimed that booths were being jammed and people from outside areas were being brought to the poll-bound urban local bodies.

An estimated 75.04 per cent of over 4.93 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 4 pm for elections to Tripura's 14 civic bodies, according to officials of the State Election Commission (SEC).

The total number of eligible candidates for the polls stand at 4,93,041 and with 2,43,249 male and 2,49,778 female voters in 14 Urban Local Bodies where contests are taking place out of 20 total such bodies.

The BJP has already won 112 of the total 334 seats uncontested in Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) and 19 other civic bodies in the state. Polling was held in 222 seats across six nagar panchayats, seven municipal councils and AMC. Votes will be counted on November 28.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court had directed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to provide two additional companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to secure the polling booths during the Tripura civic polls.

The Supreme Court, following a petition from the CPI-M and Trinamool Congress` Rajya Sabha Member Sushmita Dev. had earlier asked the Tripura Police to ensure that none of the political parties were prevented from exercising their rights to campaign, for the Thursday`s municipal elections, in a peaceful manner.

Similar directions, following petitions from the CPI-M, were also given by the Tripura High Court.

98 arrested for poll-related violence in Tripura

As many as 98 persons were arrested for poll-related violence in the state, as polling for Tripura civic polls concluded on Thursday evening.

Speaking to reporters, Director General of Police of Tripura Police, VS Yadav said, "98 people arrested for poll-related violence in Tripura Today. This includes people from AITC, CPI(M), BJP and 41 outsiders violating the restrictions."

He further said, "The pictures, videos and location of violent incidents that took place across the state were not reported to the police or state election commission beforehand. Things came in media first and after a long time, the officials were intimated. Accordingly, actions were taken."

(With Agency Inputs)

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Away from the City Crowd, Now Get Associated with Abundance of Mother Nature. At Fortune Park Vacation, we believe that well-planned, worry-free slices of time away from the routine are indispensable for sustenance in a tense city climate.

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With Fortune Park Vacation you and your family can travel to new or exotic places. These locales often help broaden our horizons. Youll meet new people, experience new cultures, and try new foods and activities. These locales often help broaden our horizons. Youll meet new people, experience new cultures, and try new foods and activities. The company also has some additional sites where it plans to add new resorts in the coming years. All resorts in Fortune Park Vacation have specially designed hotel blocks for the comfort and convenience of guests who prefer to vacation as one-time hotel guests.

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Fortune Park Vacation is clearly a leader in this category. They have expanded their footprint across all parts of India and abroad, but in a limited manner, in other countries too, here you have convenience to Split your entitlement and take multiple holidays within the same year and enjoy your holidays, just the way you want

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Fortune Park Vacation members may enjoy a vast array of exclusive benefits like Priority usage of switch Holidays in exceptionally mandatory destinations, including FREE Unit Upgrades and Resort Changes, FREE Ongoing Search, and much more. It has many four- and five-star hotels and resorts in India, and abroad. The massive network consists of social clubs in urban hot spots, city-centric luxurious hotels, serene wellness rejuvenation hubs, beachfront resorts, hilltop vacation homes and many more, and gives you the facility to Exchange your benefits with more exciting options with nominal cost i.e.

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(Brand Desk Content)
New Delhi: The Delhi government has called a meeting of the Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday (November 29, 2021) to discuss steps and the future course of action to handle the threat of the new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today.

In view of the threat from new COVID variant from African countries, we have requested experts to make a presentation to DDMA on Mon and suggest what steps we shud take. We will take all steps necessary to protect u and ur family,? Kejriwal tweeted on Friday.

The development comes a day after the Central government asked all states and union territories to take up rigorous steps by mandating screening and RT-PCR testings of all international travellers, coming from South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

As per the Chief Ministers tweet, the experts of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will make a presentation to suggest steps to protect the national capital from the B.1.1.529 strain of the coronavirus, which continues to be a health concern in the aforementioned countries.

Delhi has been one of the worst affected cities both during the first and second waves of COVID-19 infections. The Union Territory is now reeling with rising dengue numbers as well.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) is going to convene an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the potentially augmenting COVID strain found in South Africa and Botswana.

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New Delhi: After eight months of hiatus, the Serum Institute of India (SII), which is the world`s biggest vaccine maker, on Friday (November 26, 2021) said that it has resumed export of its COVID-19 vaccine Covishield to the COVAX facilities.

The vaccine maker further informed that the first consignment of Covishield has already left Pune.

COVAX is an international COVID-19 vaccine sharing platform where developed and medically equipped countries share vaccines to be exported to low- and middle-income countries.

The development came after SII surpassed its original target to produce 1 billion Covishield doses by the end of the year. It has produced more than 1.25 billion doses so far.

SII said its supply of doses through COVAX was expected to increase substantially into the first quarter of 2022.

It will bring into production other vaccines under licence, including COVOVAX from U.S.-based Novavax, to boost its output.

Last month, Serum Institutes CEO Adar Poonawalla said that his company is expecting to export 20-30 million Covishield doses to COVAX in November and an equal amount in December.

India in March put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca shot made by the family-run firm to inoculate its citizens during a devastating surge in COVID-19 cases.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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Bengaluru: A delegation led by opposition Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar on Thursday met Thaawarchand Gehlot and submitted a memorandum seeking imposition of President`s Rule invoking Article 356 of the Constitution of India for the failure of constitutional machinery in the State, referring to the Karnataka State Contractors` Association allegations on payment of 40 per cent of the project cost to government officers and elected representatives to get their dues.

The delegation in the memorandum also requested to order for a judicial probe by a sitting Judge of Supreme Court of India on the allegations made out by the above said Association in their memorandum dated July 6, 2021 submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We appeal to invoke the provisions of Article-356 of the Constitution of India and send a report to the President of India stating that a situation has arisen in which the Government of Karnataka cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India and for the imposition of President Rule on Karnataka," said the memorandum.

"To order for judicial probe by a sitting Judge of Honourable Supreme Court of India on the allegations made out by the above said Association in their memorandum dated;06-07-2021 submitted to Honourable Prime Minister, " added the memorandum.

"The people of Karnataka are shocked to know from the Karnataka State Contractors` Association that there is rampant corruption in various departments such as Public works, Minor and major irrigation, Panchayath raj, Health and Medical education and BBMP etc., and for every work, the contractors have to pay more than 40 percent Commission to some of the concerned Ministers, Legislators, Lok sabha members and other officials of the concerned departments," said the memorandum.

"It is also reported more than once in print and electronic media that some of the Contractors have been hiring professional hackers to manipulate e-procurement servers to get tenders allotted to them. The Contractors Association has also alleged that some of the Politicians are behind this manipulation of the e-procurement process," alleged the memorandum.

"The Honourable Prime Minister has become silent about this rampant corruption amounting to several thousand crores and by not initiating any action on the Government of Karnataka even after a lapse of more than 4 months from the submission of the above-said memorandum by the Contractors Association," it read.

"So far no action has been initiated on this issue. This shows both the Governments have compromised with the corruption," as per the memorandum. "Similarly, the Government of Karnataka, the State Police, CBI, ED, Income Tax Department and other concerned authorities have also failed to take cognizance and necessary legal action on the above said rampant corruption and money laundering issue," state the memorandum.

"The percentage of commission/kickbacks is a bribe, money laundering and amounts to an offence as per the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the prevention of Corruption Act, the prevention of money laundering Act and other provisions of law," it read. "The non-action by the Prime Minister and other concerned authorities really causes a lot of panic, anxiety in the minds of law-abiding citizens of our country more particularly citizens of Karnataka," it stated.

ALSO READ: Karnataka Bitcoin scam: Why did Congress not act when in power, asks CM Basavaraj Bommai

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Mumbai: It's been 13 years since the deadliest 26/11 terror attack shook the nation, and its haunting memories still echo in people's hearts and minds.

On Friday, Akshay took to Instagram Story and paid tributes to those who lost their lives in the horrific incident. "Remembering all those who lost their lives and loved ones. My heartfelt tribute to all the bravehearts who sacrificed their lives safeguarding our city," he wrote.

The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks were carried out by 10 gunmen who were believed to be connected to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation.

Armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades, the terrorists targeted civilians at numerous sites in the southern part of Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, the popular Leopold Cafe, two hospitals, and a theatre.

While most of the attacks ended within a few hours after they began at around 9.30 pm on November 26, the terror continued to unfold at three locations where hostages were taken -- The Nariman House, where a Jewish outreach centre was located, and the luxury hotels Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace and Tower.

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New Delhi: Amid breakup rumours between Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, the actress shared a loving post for her husband on the occasion of Thanksgiving, a popular festival in the US.

She had taken to Instagram to share a loved-up picture of her hugging Nick with her arms around him and smiling at him. Meanwhile, Nick was lost in her eyes. This pic proved that the love between them is still strong and quashes any floating divorce rumours.

She had captioned the picture, saying, "So much to be grateful for. Friends, family.. I love you @nickjonas, happy thanksgiving to everyone celebrating."

Take a look at her loved-up post:

The breakup rumours emerged after Priyanka had dropped her husband Nick Jonas' surname from her social media handles. This move sent her millions of fans in a state of bewilderment and confusion.

However, soon after, she shared a clip of her roasting Nick Jonas from the Jonas Family Roast and shared it with the caption, "perks of being a Jonas".

It is still not clear why she dropped the last name Jonas from her social media handles but one thing is sure - Nick and Priyanka are happily married.

For the unversed, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas tied the knot in a dreamy wedding on December 1, 2018, at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. The couple had two ceremonies, one Christian and one Hindu, to honour each of their families traditions.

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New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was spotted outside the Narcotics Control Bureau office in Mumbai on Friday (November 26) marking his fourth weekly presence as per his bail requirements in the drugs-on-cruise case.

The star kid was seen dressed in a black hoodie and sweatpants. A video of him outside the NCB office has been shared on social media by ace photographer Viral Bhayani.

Take a look at the video:

Last week, on November 20, the Bombay High Court, in its detailed order granting bail to actor Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan and two others in the drugs-on-cruise case, had said that prima facie it has not found any positive evidence against the accused to show that they had conspired to commit an offence.

As per a PTI report, the court said that perusal of the WhatsApp chats extracted from the phone of Aryan Khan shows that nothing objectionable was noticed to suggest that he, Merchant and Dhamecha along with other accused in the case have hatched a conspiracy of committing the offence in question.

For the unversed, Aryan Khan was arrested by the NCB on October 3 in a drugs case. However, he was granted bail by Bombay HC on October 29.

According to ANI, Bombay High Court had issued a detailed bail order of Aryan Khan on October 29, which stated that he should appear before NCB every Friday and was asked to surrender his passport.

The court had asked all three bail applicants - Aryan Khan, Arbaaz Merchant, Munmum Dhamecha - to appear before the NCB Mumbai office every Friday, between 11.00 am to 2.00 pm to mark their presence.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: The Central government is expected to increase the Dearness Allowance (DA) of its employees in the coming days. Lakhs of Central government employees are also expected to receive a Diwali bonus along with their salaries for the month of November 2021. And if reports are to be true, then Central government employees could also soon yet another increase in their salaries.

According to reports, the Central government is mulling an increase in the House Rent Allowance (HRA) after taking into consideration the requests made by lakhs of employees.

The demands to increase the HRA were put forward by the Indian Railway Technical Supervisors Association (IRTSA) and the National Federation of Railwaymen (NFIR). The organisations are demanding an increase in HRA from January 1.

For those uninitiated, HRA is an important aspect of the salaries of government employees. Currently, Central government employees get HRA according to the city of posting.

The government has divided cities into X, Y and Z categories. Employees deployed in the X category cities can get Rs 5400 more HRA than before while those in category and Y and Z can expect a hike of Rs 3600 per month and Rs 1800 per month, respectively.

All the cities that have a population of more than 50 lakhs come under the X category, in which employees are entitled to an HRA worth 275 of their basic salary. Whereas in category Y and Z cities receive HRA worth 18% and 9% of their basic salaries, respectively. Also Read: RBI panel favours no cap on promoters stake in private banks for 1st 5 years

Moreover, employees of several state-owned companies can receive promotions by the end of December, according to a ZeeNews Hindi report. Also Read: A bumper IPO makes THIS IIT-M alumnus India's newest billionaire

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#mute
New Delhi: Twitter is a social media platform that allows individuals to express their ideas, opinions, and perspectives with their followers. Similarly, anyone who follows someone on Twitter can read their posts. There are times, though, when you want to remove a tweet from your timeline without informing the account owner.

You can use the app's mute options in this circumstance. As per the information provided by Twitter, "Mute is a feature that allows you to remove an account's Tweets from your timeline without unfollowing or blocking that account."

Users should be aware that muted accounts are unaware that they have been muted, and that they can be unmuted at any time. You'll need to go to your muted accounts settings on twitter.com or your app settings on Twitter for iOS or Android to see a list of accounts you've muted. However, before you mute someone's account, you should be aware of several essential features, such as the fact that muted accounts can track you and that you can track muted accounts. You will not be unfollowed if you mute an account.

Additionally, muting an account has no effect on the account's ability to send you a direct message, and any muted account will no longer send you push or SMS notifications.

Muting from a Tweet:

Step 1: Click the more icon from a Tweet.

Step 2: Click Mute.

Muting from a profile:

Step 1: Go to the profile page of the person you want to mute and click the mute button.

Step 2: Select the "More" option.

Step 3: Select mute from the options given.

You'll receive a confirmation banner after you've muted an account on the web. You can click Undo to unmute the account if you made a mistake.

You can unmute an account at any time in the future by following the procedures below:

How to unmute an account

Step 1: On Twitter, go to the profile of the muted account.

Step 2: To unmute, go to twitter.com and click the more symbol. Tap the unmute symbol at the top of their profile in the Twitter app for iOS or Android.

Step 3: To see and manage your muted accounts list. Go to your Muted account settings on twitter.com or visit your app settings on Twitter for iOS or Android to see your complete list of muted accounts.

In the Twitter app for iOS:

Step 1: Select Settings and Privacy from your navigation menu icon.

Step 2: Select Privacy and Security. Tap Muted and then Muted accounts under Safety. By tapping the mute icon, you can unmute accounts.

In the Twitter app for Android:

Step 1: Select Settings and Privacy from your navigation menu icon.

Step 2: Select Privacy and Security. Tap Muted accounts under Safety. By tapping the mute icon, you can unmute accounts.

Via twitter.com:

Step 1: From the side navigation menu, select More, then Settings and Privacy.

Step 2: Select the Privacy and Security tab, then Mute and Block. Select Muted Accounts from the drop-down menu. By pressing the muted button, you can unmute accounts.

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#mute
We often hear the phrase, Money begets money, in our daily lives. What does it signify? It justifies the relevance of investments and savings in human lives. No matter where you live, no matter what you do, investment and savings are important for one and all.

The question that arises here is how to get started. Especially if you are a beginner or have just started making investmentsmake sure you invest your hard-earned money in the right avenues. But who will guide you on this?

Thats the time when you need to take the help of stockbrokers. At present, India is home to hundreds of stockbrokers and share market dealers. Its better to make your own stockbroker comparisons before you spend your money in the market.

Starting from necessary advice, charts, analysis, instant sell and purchase of shares, stocks, derivatives to the availability of proper trading platforms, stockbrokers are indispensable throughout your journey in the stock market.

Here are Indias top stockbrokers in 2021

There are two types of stockbrokers available in India: Full-service stockbrokers and discount brokers. If you are an intraday trader, opt for discount brokers and if you want to get access to a wide range of advisory services, go for full-service brokers.

Angel Broking

It is one of the reputed full-service brokers with the support of over 1.5 million active users. Its brokerage rate is quite affordable and almost equal to the one that is available with discounted brokers.

It charges just Rs 20/- per order for all trade segments. Through Angel Broking, you can save around 60% of brokerage fees and other charges as compared to other full-service brokers.

You can also use its app for mobile trading purposes. You can get access to its investment ideas, suggestions, tips, and analysis online. You can also get 5X margin on intraday trades on shares and equities.

Zerodha

It is counted as Indias most popular discount stockbroker with over 3.5-million customers scattered across the country. It offers advanced features and services along with all other safety mechanisms in place to facilitate safe and confidential online transactions. New investors can try its Zerodha Kite 3.0 to get started for its overtly simple user interface and platform.

Zerodha charges 0 brokerage fees for equity trades and delivery. It also offers 20X leverage on Intraday trading to all its clients. You can get your new Zerodha account opened today by paying a one-time fee of just Rs. 200/-. Other facilities like making investments in Futures and Options, mutual funds, and derivatives are also available on its website.

You can get access to plenty of Zerodha features on its mobile trading app too.

ICICIdirect

ICICI Direct is a reputed full-service brokerage company. It is the sister concern of ICICI Bank. Currently, ICICI Direct has a customer base of over 5 million users.

As an ICICI bank customer, you will get a 3-in-1 facility. It means by just being an ICICI bank customer, you automatically get a trading account and a Demat account too. There are plenty of attractive plans available: ICICI direct Prime Plan, ICICI direct Prepaid Brokerage Plan, ICICI Neo plan, and others. Based on your needs and requirements, you can opt for any of them.

It has a fixed brokerage of around Rs. 20/- for equity intraday and 0.55% fees for equity delivery. The company offers unrivalled customer support services and professional expertise to all its customers.

India Infoline (IIFL)

India Infoline is a famous stock broking company with a nationwide presence across India. In the last few years, the company has even launched its branch offices outside India as well. It offers bouquet investment services to all its clients.

IIFL still boasts of retaining a large number of HNI (High Networth Individual) clients. You can even learn stock market trading from scratch by watching online video tutorials. IIFL is a good option for both experts and new investors.

5paisa

5Paisa is one of the most popular discount brokerage services providers with over 1-million plus customers across India. It has a flat brokerage fee of just Rs. 20/- per order irrespective of trade segment and quantum of the stock.

You can get started by subscribing to its basic plan. Gradually, you can move towards subscribing to other plans like Power Investor and Ultra Trader Pack with more features and benefits.

On 5Paisa, you can get a margin up to 5X for equity intraday trading. Also, you will get access to essential features on its mobile trading app. A one-time trading account opening fees of Rs. 300/- will be charged from all clients.

Conclusion

Finding the right stockbroker is the key. You have to look into various factors while choosing an appropriate stockbroker for your investment needs.

Primarily, you must analyse the reputation of the stockbroker in the market, brokerage fees and hidden costs (if any), the availability of the mobile trading platform, the range of services offered, and market research facilities.

Make a detailed comparative study of all these aspects before you select a stockbroker. You can check out CompareOnlineBroker for more information.

(Brand Content)
Brussels: Belgium has detected the first case of the new coronavirus variant which was first found in South Africa, a virologist said on Friday (November 25). Marc Van Ranst, whose laboratory works closely with Belgium's public health body Sciensano, said on Twitter that the variant was found in a traveller returning in Belgium from Egypt on November 11. The person developed the first symptoms on November 22, the virologist said.

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Rome: Italy has given safe haven to Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed "Afghan Girl" whose 1985 photo in National Geographic became a symbol of her country's wars, Prime Minister Mario Draghi`s office said on Thursday.

The government intervened after Gula asked for help to leave Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country in August, a statement said, adding that her arrival was part of a broader programme to evacuate and integrate Afghan citizens.

U.S. photographer Steve McCurry took the picture of Gula when she was a youngster, living in a refugee camp on the Pakistan-Afghan border.

Her startling green eyes, peering out from a headscarf with a mixture of ferocity and pain, made her known internationally but her identity was only discovered in 2002 when McCurry returned to the region and tracked her down.

An FBI analyst, forensic sculptor and the inventor of iris recognition all verified her identity, National Geographic said at the time.

In 2016, Pakistan arrested Gula for forging a national identity card in an effort to live in the country.

The then Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, welcomed her back and promised to give her an apartment to ensure she "lives with dignity and security in her homeland".

Since seizing power, Taliban leaders have said they would respect women's rights in accordance with sharia, or Islamic law. But under Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, women could not work and girls were banned from school. Women had to cover their faces and be accompanied by a male relative when they left home.

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London/Geneva: Authorities around the world reacted with alarm on Friday (November 25) to a new coronavirus variant found in South Africa, with the EU and Britain among those tightening border controls as researchers sought to establish out if the mutation was vaccine-resistant. Hours after Britain banned flights from South Africa and neighbouring countries and asked travellers returning from there to quarantine, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned against hasty travel bans.

"It's really important that there are no knee-jerk responses here," said the WHO`s emergencies director Mike Ryan, praising South Africa`s public health institutions for picking up the new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19. "Because we`ve seen in the past, the minute that there is any mention of any kind of variation, then everyone is closing borders and restricting travel." The WHO said it would take weeks to determine how effective vaccines were against the variant.

South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla called the travel restrictions "unjustified", though he also said preliminary studies suggested the new variant may be more transmissible. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU also aimed to halt air travel from the region. Several other countries including India, Japan and Israel toughened curbs. "It is now important that all of us in Europe act very swiftly, decisively and united," von der Leyen said. "All air travel to these countries should be suspended until we have a clearer understanding about the danger posed by this new variant."

In Washington, top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said no decision had been made on a possible U.S. travel ban. There was no indication that the variant was in the United States, and it was unclear whether it was resistant to current vaccines, he told CNN. The news nonetheless pummelled global stocks and oil, which plunged 10%, on fears that new restrictions would hit the travel industry and already shaky economies across southern Africa.

'Most significan variant'

The variant has a spike protein that is dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that vaccines are based on, the UK Health Security Agency said, raising fears about how current vaccines will fare. "As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they`ve encountered to date," British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.

In Geneva the WHO - whose experts on Friday discussed the risks that the variant, called B.1.1.529, presents - warned against travel curbs for now.

It would take several weeks to determine the variant`s transmissibility and the effectiveness of vaccines, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said, noting that 100 sequences of it had been reported so far. British health minister Sajid Javid said the sequence of the variant was first uploaded by Hong Kong from someone travelling from South Africa. "It is highly likely that it has now spread to other countries," Javid told lawmakers.

South African scientists suspect the sudden spike in infections in the country is linked to the new variant, but it is not clear how far it has spread beyond its borders. Belgium identified Europe`s first case, adding to those in Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong. Denmark has sequenced all COVID-19 cases and found no sign of the new mutation, Danish health authorities said on Thursday. Israel imposed a travel ban covering most of Africa.

"We are currently on the verge of a state of emergency," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. "Our main principle is to act fast, strong and now." Brazilian health regulator Anvisa recommended that travel be restricted from some African countries, but President Jair Bolsonaro appeared to dismiss such measures. Bolsonaro has been widely criticized by public health experts for his management of the pandemic, railing against lockdowns and choosing not to get vaccinated. Brazil has the world`s second-highest death toll from the virus, behind only the United States.

Too late for travel curbs?

The coronavirus has swept the world in the two years since it was first identified in central China, infecting almost 260 million people and killing 5.4 million. One epidemiologist in Hong Kong said it may be too late to tighten travel curbs against the latest variant. "Most likely this virus is already in other places. And so if we shut the door now, it`s going to be probably too late," said Ben Cowling of the University of Hong Kong.

European states had already been expanding booster vaccinations and tightening curbs as the continent battles a fourth COVID-19 wave, with many reporting record daily rises in cases. Discovery of the new variant comes as Europe and the United States enter winter, with more people gathering indoors in the run-up to Christmas, providing a breeding ground for infection. Friday also marked the start of the holiday shopping period in the United States, when retailers offer discounts. This year, U.S. shoppers found stores less crowded than in years past. Realtor Kelsey Hupp, 36, was at the Macy's department store in downtown Chicago on Black Friday. "Chicago is pretty safe and masked and vaccinated. I got my booster so I`m not too concerned about it," she said.

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